NOVEL NEXT chapter 30
30. The Monstrous Bird (4)
The monstrous bird that descended from the sky furrowed its red eyes and growled.
“Ah, ah…”
The old butler clutched his head with both hands, recalling the most dreadful moment of his life.
The day when the pitch-dark night turned as white as day.
The pure white firestorm struck, and even the cathedral, said to be sturdily built, crumbled like lava.
Those nearby began to melt from their flesh, soon even their bones dissolving.
And there, in the center of the square, the monstrous bird chewed on the heads of people, young and old, indiscriminately, and I thought:
There’s no use hoping for mercy.
It’s a disaster without a concept of good or evil.
There’s no use hoping for help.
For there’s no human who could deal with such a thing in this world.
“…You’ve come, the demon of destruction, to claim the life you couldn’t take that day.”
“Oh, there goes that old man again.”
Jack was just about to move the old butler by the arm.
Thud!
The monstrous bird, with a hand as large as a pot lid, grabbed Hursel’s ankle and flung him away.
As his body flew and hit the ground, it rolled continuously like a pencil.
Swish───
When he stopped amidst a cloud of dust, he lay motionless as if dead.
Blood even flowed from his forehead.
Jack’s eyes widened as he shouted.
“Young master!”
Meanwhile, the monstrous bird raised its head and sucked in the air around it.
Seeing this, the old butler spoke in a resigned voice.
“It’s all over now. The firestorm will strike. A hellfire that will melt everything!”
Whoosh!
Black magic flickered around the monstrous bird.
After a quick lunch at the company cafeteria, I tapped away at my laptop.
It was a moment important enough to connect the gaming mouse and keyboard I brought from home.
“…Sir, you’ve even brought those now?”
“I’m about to take on a boss battle.”
“Really?”
“If I die, I lose the save file and have to start all over. Gotta play seriously.”
The scenario was at its midpoint.
The characters’ stats were at their current maximum.
Truth be told, I was no novice, and advancing chapters wasn’t particularly difficult.
Yet, I was this tense, deploying my familiar gear for one challenge.
【Phase III: The Diving Crow】
Could I really beat this creature, designed by the creators to be unkillable, with pure control?
I wanted to prove it.
Ratatatatata—
Click-click!
“Wow… your hands are really fast.”
The monster’s punches, kicks, grabs.
Even memorizing the patterns required reflexive responses that were challenging.
What I did went beyond blocking—it was complete evasion.
Aargh!
Ah, I died.
“Oh my!”
Despite showcasing possessed control, it was game over.
Miranda, with a puzzled expression, asked,
“You were at full health, and you died from just one laser beam?”
“That last one was practically an instant death hit.”
“But you didn’t get hit. You clearly dodged it properly? What kind of game is this?”
Just as Miranda said, not a single pixel was hit.
It was so obviously a bug that numerous players had complained to the developers, but all that came back were absurd responses.
[Breath is a superheated attack that melts everything around it. Even if you avoid a direct hit, being judged as dead is an intended feature, not a bug at all.]
In simpler terms, it means this.
[It’s not made to kill you. It’s made to kill you.]
But still, setting the death judgment to a 180-degree radius?
These people are insane…
“What do you expect from a game made so sloppily?”
He slammed the laptop shut.
Another failure.
He was tidying up the area with a drained hand when a strange noise came from the laptop speakers.
“Hershel!”
“Huh?”
“What are you doing? Snap out of it! Get up!”
Startled, he blinked.
[1-second invincibility cooldown: 39 seconds]
When he opened his eyes, a system window popped up.
Right, I’ve become Hershel.
Just before, I was smacked down by a monster during the cooldown.
So, that just now was a flashback… no, more precisely, a fleeting illusion.
“Ah… my head hurts. I thought I was dead, but I’m alive?”
“You’re alive thanks to rolling on the floor. But the shock was no joke.”
His right eye was searing red.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his eye and pushed himself up, his body aching all over.
Even in such times, the trait ‘Noble Blood’s Last Ember’ made him want to maintain a poised form, keeping his back straight.
Which only made it more painful.
“Ugh! Even my ankle is gone.”
“Now’s not the time to be whining, Hershel! Look over there!”
At Donathan’s warning, he looked at the monster.
The air shimmered around it, and its swollen chest was a sight all too familiar.
Crazy… it was preparing to unleash its Breath.
I’m going crazy.
With a chest that swollen, a breath attack will be imminent.
My heart shrank as I alternated glances between the monster and the system window.
[1-second invincibility cooldown: 29 seconds]
Given the state, it’ll fire in about 20 seconds.
There’s not enough time for the invincibility to reactivate.
‘But what about Mircelle? I thought she’d be here by now.’
‘Look up at 7 o’clock.’
I looked past the monster at the dormitory for the performers.
Mircelle was perched on the top window frame, ready to leap at any moment.
The last feather floated about 15 meters high, necessitating the need to climb.
Snap!
I pointed at the monster.
Then at myself.
Next, Mircelle.
And finally, the feather.
It was the hand signal I sent – after the breath is fired, slash the feather and run.
Mircelle seemed to understand, nodding with a complex expression.
[1-second invincibility cooldown: 15 seconds]
“Huff-“
I sighed while looking at the monster, its mouth brimming with magical energy.
What can I do to buy time right now?
There has to be something…
As I wracked my brain, a metallic object suddenly flew, flashing as it cut through the air.
Clang!
It was a helmet.
The helmet struck the monster’s head and bounced off.
“Hey, you senile old fool! I’m not planning to die doing nothing like you! Got it? I’m going to make my own luck before I go!”
It was Jack’s voice.
He threw his steel gauntlet at the monster and yelled loudly towards the dormitory.
“Is everyone just going to stand around like this useless old man? Toiling away to earn money here, only to never spend it? You don’t like that either, do you? Then throw something, anything! Who knows? You might end up blinding someone in the eye!”
“……Do you have some sort of grudge against me?”
“Quiet!”
Perhaps Jack’s words had some effect.
“It’s not that! Do you know how much money I’ve saved up!”
Led by the furious face of Selly, everything from knives and shields to glass bottles and dolls rained down like a shower from the dormitory windows towards the monster.
“Ouch!”
Someone threw a shoe at my head.
It felt intentional, but I’ll let it slide just this once.
Thanks to that, I earned another turn.
[1-second invincibility cooldown: 1 second]
…
…
…
[1-second invincibility cooldown: available]
The monster, glaring at the dormitory, opened its mouth wide.
Inside its beak, a completed orb of white light boasted its heat.
It was ready to fire its breath.
“Where do you think you’re pointing that snout?”
I taunted the monster with a sneer, my coat draped over my shoulders as it looked towards the dormitory.
“Wasn’t that prepared just for me?”
The monster glared this way, its eyes wide open, and with a roar, it unleashed the light.
Kiiiiiiiiiiing───────
Wasn’t white light the color of flames at their hottest?
As the foreground turned white, Mircel cut the last feather.
That was all I saw.
Then, a light hot enough to melt even steel completely engulfed my vision.
[A physical attack has been detected.]
[A trait has been activated.]
[Invincible for 1 Second: 59 Seconds Remaining]
Whoosh!
After the inferno passed, I emerged from the dense smoke, my clothes melted away, covering my bare body with the coat that had clung to my back.
As I casually fastened the buttons, my hand slipped.
It was because of the blood that had smeared while wiping my forehead.
‘…How peculiar. I thought I’d get hurt even from a mere slap, but to be unscathed by a truly dangerous strike.’
‘It’s not omnipotent, after all.’
Anyway, it’s a situation where I’ve used up the extra life I received as a bonus.
The barrier is down, and all that’s left is to escape outside, but I wonder if that’s really possible.
According to the original plan, I was supposed to take them to the next place to buy time and look for an opportunity to escape.
“Hmm.”
At least one positive aspect is that I’ve instilled in the monster the belief that neither brute force nor its most powerful finishing move, the Breath, have any effect on me.
What will it do now?
I’ve heard that wild beasts tend to ignore creatures they can’t hunt, like tough armadillos, and simply pass them by.
It would be nice if it acted that way in this situation…
Unfortunately, it was a vain hope.
Snap!
The monster approached me without hesitation, drooling.
Its gaze, like that of a predator eyeing its prey, filled me with unease.
I tried to appear calm, hiding the turmoil inside as I ignited the ‘Noble Blood’s Last Ember.’
“Why? Do I look that tasty to you? Go on, take a big bite. If you want to break your beak, that is.”
Was my bluff completely ineffective?
The monster seemed to find me amusing, letting out a bizarre laugh.
Kekekeke!
A chill ran down my spine, and cold sweat broke out.
The crescent shape of its eyes seemed to say, ‘You’re edible, aren’t you?’
At that moment, a single streak of bright red rain reflected in my right retina.
Drip!
The sound of droplets hitting the ground made me cautiously roll my eyes.
Countless red dots began to appear on the floor.
The blood that flowed from the wound I got when I rolled on the ground earlier was mine.
…To bleed in front of that thing?
Before the monster, I, who had seemed invincible, ended up showing my bleeding self.
The implications were significant.
The creature might not know about the ‘1-second invincibility,’ but like a wild beast, its sense to discern an enemy’s weakness must be exceptionally developed.
By now, it must have thought of me as meat ready to be tenderized.
And my fleeing after taking a hit must have looked suspicious too.
My heart pounded, leaving me breathless.
[1-second invincibility cooldown: 23 seconds]
While I was looking at the system window, the monster opened its beak wide.
Even then, knowing I couldn’t escape, I moved my trembling legs.
It followed me with a slow stride, its beak still agape, as if to mock me.
Kee-ah-ah-keh-keh!
As I stumbled backward, dizziness clouded my mind, and consciousness began to fade.
Was it anemia?
Yet, why did the pain in my ankle feel so vivid?
…Honestly, I just want some relief now.
It’s a miracle I’ve lasted this long in the body of a sunfish.
But my pride wouldn’t allow me to just drift away, so I clenched my fist.
I thought, since I’m going to die anyway, I might as well not go down pathetically to a monster I’ve killed countless times.
“Huff!”
It was the moment I tried to punch its beak.
The surroundings were engulfed in a white light.
The light lingered only for a blink of an eye.
Boom!
Then, as if thunder cracked in a clear sky, it roared.
My half-closed eyes gradually widened, and soon, I opened them in shock.
Before me now stood a man, who knows when he appeared, holding the monster by the neck, standing tall.
Kee-ek!
“You’ve really wrecked the place, haven’t you?”
At the sound of a voice that seemed familiar, I realized that the recent thunder was certainly not a mere natural phenomenon.
It might be hard to believe, but the man before me could make it possible.
He was a man who had stepped into a realm of power comparable to nature itself, with extreme speed, strength, and skill all fused into one.
“……”
He turned his head, and though it was slight, he revealed his neat upper teeth as he looked my way.
“Hershel, I’ve seen you again.”
A complex charisma emanated from his voice.
In an atmosphere that was overwhelming yet comforting, I closed my tired eyes with a reverent heart.
The man among the strongest in the Asares worldview.
Aol Ben Tenest.
With his return to the mansion, there was nothing more for me to do.