NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24
When I first possessed this game world, I found myself sold as a slave to the Northern Black Eagle Mercenary Group.
All I knew was the name Elliot, and that I was a slave. I couldn’t even remember my origin, my parents, or how old I was.
I was thrust over the barrier into a situation I had no understanding of.
There, I encountered monsters, and in our first encounter, thirty percent of the newcomers, including myself, perished.
It took a year after that for me to realize that I was in the game world, specifically in the realm of Sword & Chronicle.
The reason I came to understand this was simple.
A high-ranking member of the Demon King’s Army suddenly appeared and challenged us to battle.
That high-ranking officer had a face I recognized.
The boss from the game, One-Eyed Knight Geldmier.
His attack took out half of the mercenary group.
After that incident, I realized something profoundly important.
I was not the protagonist.
There was no way I could keep up with Geldmier’s swordsmanship, not even if I died and resurrected.
There was no status window, no divine mark.
Because of that, I deeply engraved into my heart the truth that I wasn’t the protagonist in this world.
Fortunately, the body I possessed, that of this Elliot, was resilient.
Maybe it was because I was well-suited to absorb mana, but I could draw out sword energy even with cheap mana techniques, and my body’s recovery was considerable. Thanks to this blessed body, I was able to survive amidst the countless newcomers dying.
For three years, I went to and from the front lines and grew significantly.
Then, in the final year, Geldmier reappeared, and I faced him in battle.
And I was utterly crushed.
“Impressive, human. You possess remarkable skill.”
I hadn’t lost outright. I had succeeded in smashing his helmet. But since my sword was broken, that meant I lost. Simply surviving was all I managed.
That day’s battle resulted in the entire leadership being wiped out, leaving me unexpectedly as the head of the mercenary group, but I retired without hesitation.
What business did I have claiming to defeat the Demon King when I couldn’t even beat a high-ranking officer of his army?
The hero. And the many characters with divine marks, including the saintess.
I judged that they were the future.
Leave the rest to the hero. Surely, the protagonist of the game could handle anything.
“Damn it.”
That faith shattered before this bastard standing in front of me.
Clang!
I swung my sword and shattered a chain. In that split second, I steeled the blade and hurled my body into the air. Just where I had been standing was filled with the Black Thorn summoned by the dark mage.
“Kyaaaah!”
The monsters charging toward me.
There was no need to swing my sword.
I infused my fist with mana and punched the monster square in the jaw, just as Wuzmund’s arrow hit the creature between the eyes.
Clang!
After deflecting several successive Black Thorns, a chain flew in from my blind spot.
I couldn’t defend. So, I would simply roll.
A knight would shudder at the thought of rolling like a fool, but as a slave mercenary, it didn’t bother me. Surviving was all that mattered.
“Damn it! Stop! Stay back!”
The dark mage gathered all the magic swirling in the workshop and launched an attack at me. Chains flew in from eight directions, mixed with the occasional Black Thorn. With no chance to avoid it altogether, I twisted my body as much as I could and swung my sword vigorously.
Thud. One of the thorns embedded itself in my side. It hurt like hell, but I could endure it. It was a glancing blow, after all. I gritted my teeth and leaped hard forward, right up to the monster’s face.
“How! How can you endure that!”
“I’ve faced worse.”
The Black Thorn used by the dark mage causes necrosis from merely a scratch and inflicts tremendous pain, but that much I could endure with resolve. The necrotic area could be sufficiently healed later with Holy Magic.
I snickered and pulled the thorn from my side. My darkened blood soaked my clothes.
If I had worn armor, it would have just grazed me. I regretted that deep down.
“Yikes!”
The dark mage contorted his face.
He unleashed all the magic and threw the black chains at me.
Clang!
Swoosh!
The chains clashed with my sword again, and I wrapped the blade around with a sweeping motion. The chains entangled my sword and tightened firmly around it.
A smirk flashed across the dark mage’s lips. He must have thought he had subdued my sword.
But it was the dark mage who was truly subdued.
To me, this was exactly what I wanted.
The dark mage’s chains wrapped around my sword, which was connected to his hands.
In other words, this was a pretty decent fishing rod.
“You foolish idiot. What kind of wizard attempts to wrestle with a knight?”
As I said this, I pulled my sword hard, and his feet lifted off the ground.
With no resistance, the dark mage flew towards me, and I planted my fist into his gut with all my might.
“Guh!”
The dark mage coughed up blood.
Taking advantage of the weakened grip on the magic, I shook off the chains from my sword and plunged it into his armpit.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
A scream filled with pain.
Not wanting to hear it, I punched his mouth shut.
The dark mage’s teeth fell out, and his snot-faced expression was in my grasp.
“Ugh, ugh! I surrender! Stop! Please, just stop beating me!”
“That was boring.”
I spat on his face.
His resilience was weaker than the dark mage I faced in the north. Did he use that much magic? It seemed the Demon King’s army really lacked competent personnel.
“Then why did you attack Lauren Village?”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“I know, I know. Your mouth is sealed. I’ve got something to ask.”
I lifted my foot and pressed down on his palm. Crunch! The sound of bones breaking rang clear.
The dark mage’s eyes rolled back as he moaned in pain.
“Only the truth in response to my questions. Speak in one sentence. Got it?”
“Ugh.”
“Good. So, one more time. Why did you attack Lauren Village?”
I removed my hand from his mouth.
The dark mage coughed up a chunk of blood and hurriedly spoke.
“Because there’s a hero in Lauren Village!”
“….”
My face hardened.
The Hero’s Divine Mark. The strongest mark said to be blessed by the goddess. And the only means to defeat the Demon King.
That mark dwells in a boy from a rural village without anyone knowing.
That is the prologue of the game.
The Demon King’s army couldn’t possibly know about it.
“How did you find out the hero was in Lauren Village?”
“….”
“Not going to answer? Do you want your other hand broken?”
“…That—”
As he hesitated, I lifted my foot again.
The effect was remarkable. The dark mage shut his eyes tight and shouted.
“I saw it in the game!”
“…What?”
For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what he meant.
Game.
Yes. Game. A word that expresses recreation.
At the same time, a term commonly used on Earth. I never imagined I would hear that word after arriving in this world.
I clutched my throbbing head and looked back.
Wuzmund, though a bit dull, was quick to catch on. The moment he caught my eye, he subtly stepped out the workshop’s door.
“Say that again. What? Game?”
“It’s a game from Earth.”
“….”
Initially, I had two hypotheses regarding why Lauren Village was attacked.
One was that the personalities of the characters in the game differed, causing that distortion to bring disaster to Lauren Village.
The other was…
“Are you a possessor?”
“…Yes.”
The dark mage nodded as he looked at me.
Then he continued.
“I thought you were also a possessor.”
“….”
“Hearing about Lauren Village and coming this far means… you have to be a possessor… Gyaaaaah!”
Without hesitation, I stamped on his other hand.
“I told you not to talk without my permission.”
The irritation coursing through me was undoubtedly due to the confusion in my mind.
I never doubted that I wouldn’t be the only possessor.
However, I certainly didn’t want to find myself in a troublesome situation where there were multiple possessors, one of whom killed the hero.
“Did you possess this body while playing that game?”
“Yes.”
“Are there other possessors?”
“There are… dozens of possessors in the Demon King’s Castle.”
“…Why the Demon King’s Castle? If you had played the game, you’d know that the Demon King is an evil force.”
However, the dark mage’s expression was one of astonishment.
“I don’t understand you.”
“What?”
“How can you act freely? Freely!”
The dark mage shouted as if he were aggrieved.
“All possessors are summoned by the Demon King!”
“….”
That was news to me.
I had no idea why I was possessed in the first place or what the purpose was.
I rubbed my throbbing forehead and gestured for him to elaborate.
“I was possessed as a slave in the Demon King’s Castle. They summon possessors from Earth using captured slaves. To win a war…”
“….”
“I, too, had to go through that…”
The dark mage couldn’t continue his words.
He widened his eyes and began to twist his body.
“Hey, hey. Get a grip. What the….”
In that next moment, I spotted a magic circle glowing on his chest.
At first glance, it was somewhat similar to the mark on Ophelia’s collarbone.
But it was subtly different. If the marks bestowed from the benevolent god were one thing, then what the evil god delivered was…
“Brand?”
And the brand devours its owner and unleashes indescribable destruction.
In that process, the will of the owner is disregarded.
The fact that possessors were branded meant they could be treated as puppets.
“Damn it.”
I hurriedly tried to distance myself from him, but the speed of the brand’s glowing was faster.
My vision lit up.
Suddenly, a tremendous explosion echoed in my ears.
The brand detonated the dark mage’s corpse, creating a massive explosion.
I had no time to evade and was engulfed by the bright red blast.
*
I opened my eyes.
My body lacked control. I searched through my memories.
“Ah.”
I had been caught in the dark mage’s self-destruction. Surviving that place was nearly impossible. Yet here I was, opening my eyes.
At first, I thought I’d lost my limbs. But I could still feel every part of my body.
The moment I realized this, I was hit with an enormous surge of pain.
“Ugh.”
The agony felt like my entire skin had been turned inside out.
I wanted to thrash around, but my condition wouldn’t allow even that. I was too weak to move a single finger.
“….”
I took deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly.
After a few minutes of deep breathing, the pain began to subside.
Only then did my body start to respond again.
“…Where am I?”
I was finally able to grasp the situation.
I was lying on a bed.
This place had wooden walls.
A small, flower-bud-shaped lamp illuminated the room.
In other words, I was in the city of elves.
Had someone moved me here?
Was it Wuzmund?
What a surprisingly loyal guy.
Thinking that, I mustered all my strength to turn my head sideways.
“….”
“What the hell, you little bastard… sniff.”
There, Ophelia was glaring at me with an expression that looked like she could burst into tears at any moment, her eyes brimming with tears.
“You… you bastard! Leaving me alone… and coming back like… a pile of rags… damn it….”