บท 88: Monster village (part 4)

"Share Status Window."

*TA-DING*

[Your Status Window is visible for others for the next five minutes]

{Name: Zorey

Race: Human

Class: Priest of Death

[Title: Challenger (hidden)]

Level: 58

HP: 87 EP: 62

ATK: 63* MAT: 62

DEF: 62 MDF: 62

SPD: 62 LUC: 62

* (Fist mightier than a sword) achievement's buff active)

Skills: Appease undead (active) (level 44)

Lesser prayer (active) (level MAX)

Prayer (active) (level MAX)

Choir (active) (level 19)

Pact (active) (level 6)

Staff proficiency (passive) (level MAX)

Staff mastery (passive) (level 7)

Lesser poison resistance (passive) (level MAX)

Lesser poison immunity (passive) (level MAX)

Poison resistance (passive) (level MAX)

Poison immunity (passive) (level MAX)

Deadly poison resistance (passive) (level 2)

Mend (active) (level 36)

Biomechanical enhancement (passive) (level 19)

Bullet punch (active) (level MAX)

Piercing impact (passive) (level MAX)

Draining touch (passive) (level 21)

Wrath (passive) (level 1)

Throw (passive) (level MAX)

Lock on (passive) (level 2)

Gemstone creation (active) (level MAX)

Gemstone creation (active) (level 7)

Overdrive (active) (level 1)

Number of contracted undead: 0/6}

"..."

Zorey declared, and his status window was revealed to Lesia, whose eyes bulged out as she continued staring at his status window.

"This... none of this makes sense... What in the System's name are you...?"

Lesia gulped down her saliva and asked.

"It's all as you can see. What else do you want me to do? Free me."

Zorey shrugged his shoulders and demanded, unable to take a single step outside the boundaries of the red circle at his feet.

"As I can see?! You don't have MP! What the hell is EP?! Why do you have a double skill with the same name?! How can you have MAX out eleven of your skills?! How do you even have that many, and what is half of them in the first place?! There are at least five I have never even heard about! And how old are you in the first place to be level 59 as a priest of death without any contracted undead?! I-is it true that you can take the EXP out of dead players?! That's what the draining touch Skill is about?!"

Unfortunately, instead of resolving the issue, the revealed information seemed to cause even greater confusion and distress, pushing the issue of releasing the black-haired boy even farther away than it was before.

"Haaa... Gemstone creation. Lighting."

*krk*

*WHOOSH*

Zorey shook his head and activated his Skill, throwing the yellow gem right at Lesia's head while it was being created on top of his palm.

*ZAAAAP* *thump*

"GHHHHHHHHHH?! GH-augh-puah...!"

The projectile hit the confused girl, and her clothes and body became charred as the surge of electricity spread through her, causing her eyes to flash white as she screamed and fell to her knees, releasing a cloud of steam from her mouth and nose – unconscious and dropping the metal spheres she was so confident in.

"HMPH!"

Zorey scoffed and gritted his teeth as his body turned grayish and released a cloud of steam before...

*UMPH*

[You have broken out of the pinned-down status]

"Haaa..."

For a second, Zorey disappeared completely and reappeared outside of the red circle – right beside the fallen Scout.

"Gemstone creation – healing."

*Krk* *crack*

The black-haired boy picked up the metallic spheres and pocketed them all – including the ones still inside the pouch the dark-brown-haired girl kept on her waist behind her back – and used his Skill to create another gesture and crushed it against her shoulder.

Lesia still looked the same – charred – but her HP has definitely recovered.

With that, Zorey jumped over the wall, armed with items that could reverse the flow of battle without him killing anyone.

"HOLY SMITE!"

*HAAAAAA!*

"HURGH...!"

While in the air, Zorey put Vernlily's mask back on – but the moment of his landing marked the moment that the leader of the attacking adventurers, the Paladin Erol, clashed with the undead girl and activated his Skill, engulfed both of them in a blinding light to the sound very similar to the priest of death's appease undead Skill.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" *UMPH*

"Wha...?!"

Zorey roared, getting the Paladin's attention, but the armored adventurer couldn't even properly realize what was happening as the black-haired youngster vanished in thin air...

*WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

...and the very next moment, a blow outspeeding the perception of the armored man sent him flying across the entire monster village and crushing into the hut of the deceased beastman shaman, completely wrecking the structure.

"No...! NO!"

*ghaaaaa*

The light of the holy smite Skill was still bright, but Zorey, who was the culprit behind Erol's involuntary movement, stuck both his hands into it and pulled the steaming undead that was already half-roasted and with a massive hole piercing right through her shield arm and chest.

The burgundy flames covering Vernlily's face were out, revealing the burnt remains of the girl's visages. Her body leaned against the young priest of death's arms.

"VERNLILY!"

"!!!"

The deafening howl of pure despair that the black-haired boy released caused the battle to grind to a halt as both sides immediately recognized the face of the adolescent human shaking the charred masked fiend (defender), looking as if he was about to have a total mental breakdown.

Zorey couldn't even see or perceive them properly. He could not register either the wolfmen tribesmen backing off with their tails tugged between their legs or the shocked adventurers staring at his boldly displayed Status Window...

...and the name marker that appeared over his head and turned from white to red...

{You have killed a fellow player.}

{Return to the command center and make a report explaining the circumstances}

[EXP points granted]

{The System can no longer provide additional support unless the report is provided and the correction program is manually initiated by the direct commander of the soldier committing the offense if deemed necessary}

Even the notifications – in black and green and blue and white in between– that showed up in Zorey's upper left side of vision didn't reach him.

And he definitely didn't pay attention to the mangled body of Erol that was embedded into the debris of the shaman's hut, looking like a can of sardines that was blown out with a stick of dynamite.

"NO! NO.OOGH...! ANYTHING BUT THIS! NOT DATA ERASURE!"

The young priest of death wailed, choking on his own tears as he was clinging onto the incapacitated undead.

"PRAYER!"

*HAAA*

Unable to make any sane judgment, Zorey used the purifying Skill, successfully making the undead's body light up with a warm light.

Whether he intended to attempt to hear her voice in his head or not, nothing like that happened anyway...

"APPEASE UNDEAD!"

*HAAAA~*

*crack*

Zorey cried out, and the Skill connected without a hitch, which was further confirmed by the charred undead in his embrace cracking open and leaking a translucent vapor that began to form up a figure of the Vernlily as she was when she was still alive while hundreds of dreamy-like bubbles of light that emerged from the surroundings, momentarily turning the hellish surroundings into a screwed-up parody of idyllic painting.

"YES!"

Zorey's let out an elated gasp...

"N... NO!"

...before all the blood drained from his face as the realization of this grave screw-up dawned on him.

*thump*

"NO! NO! NONONONONONONONO!"

The black-haired boy's tears began to flow again as he attempted to grab onto the translucent vapor and force it back into the cracked corpse that fell to his feet...

...all in vain...

"Zorey...! I'm so, so sorry!"

"...!"

The translucent apparition of Vernlily wasn't even looking at him, instead opting for hiding her face in her hands and crying out in embarrassment which had the effect of freezing the boy in place.

"I have been lying to you...! The truth is my grief had nothing to do with the wolfman shaman that killed me and was always about not being able to see you before I died! The truth is, this whole time, I could have been appeased at any moment, but I stayed quiet and deceived you because I wanted us to stay together as long as possible...!"

"!!!"

The apparition revealed, making Zorey's eyes regain some light as he opened his mouth, fully intending to assure the girl that being with her was all that he wanted.

Even more, than that, the idea of using a Drain touch skill in order to attempt to grab ahold of her data and tether her back to her earthly body appeared in his mind, and he was about to do something about it when...

"FIREBALL!"

*WHOOOOOOOOOOO*

A massive sphere of crimson flames, the same kind that has blown apart the wall surrounding the monster village and set most of the buildings on fire, crushed against the young priest of death, blasting him away.

"...!"

The charred boy in burnt clothes got back to his feet, shaking his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears...

*whoosh*

*TA-DING*

[You have successfully appeased the undead (masked fiend (defender))]

[EXP points granted]

...when a short series of notifications made his eyes widen as his chest and stomach felt as if they were pierced by dozens of razor-sharp icicles.

He didn't even have to look up to know that the translucent apparition of Vernlily ended up breaking into hundreds and thousands of zeros and ones, and they disappeared together with the dreamy bubbles and warm light as the undead girl's earthly remains crumbled into fine, highly flammable dust.

"HE'S A RED PLAYER, AND HE KILLED EROL! GET HIM FIRST WHILE HE'S STILL OUT OF IT!"

"IF WE DON'T FINISHHHH THHHE ONE WHHHO CRRRRRUSHHHHES THHHHEN WE WILL ALL DIE! RRRRRRRRRIP HHHHIM APARRRRRRT!"

In a rare display of monsters and humans realizing a common goal, the mage who successfully had her Skill connect with the black-haired boy roared a command in unison with the fiercest-looking wolfman, tribesman.

*TA-DING*

[Skill – Wrath – level up]