Read Novel Full Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Chapter 167 – Naive Thinking
It’s my fault.
That’s why I couldn’t turn away from what was about to happen.
The sound of an explosion echoed through the room.
Immediately after, the man called Palm disappeared from the chest up, leaving the arm resting on Ria’s shoulder.
As if he had been blown up from the inside, only a large amount of blood was scattered around.
It was truly a disappearance, as the word implies.
No one, including me, could understand how or why this had happened.
As I listened to the sound of blood dripping from the wall, I just stood there, stunned, staring at Ria’s left hand, which had turned red.
Ria turned her icy gaze on the men…
Unlike before, amidst the angry shouts and strange cries of the men, my first goblin battle suddenly flashed through my mind.
At that time, I was hit in the cheek and had the nails driven into my skin because of my cowardly thoughts, and I suffered needlessly.
When I think about it now, I was reluctant to kill the goblins, who were like humanoid beings, even going so far as to make up a reason that would make people laugh and say, “What is he talking about?”
I was tormented by the taboo of killing a being so close to human form, and I wasn’t prepared at all.
The same was true of the mock battle with Ril.
If I weren’t in a situation where I would be seriously killed, I would only think about “running away” and “choices that would probably earn forgiveness,” and I wouldn’t have the courage to kill my opponent.
And as a result, I died at that time.
“(That’s right, I swore then that I would never be a coward… but I didn’t grow up at all.)”
All talk, a coward, a hypocrite…
There are many words that can be used to belittle me.
Even though Ria asked me if I was ready before we entered the cave, when the time came, I was unable to take a single life.
I just made up excuses to avoid killing before I had to.
I said I didn’t want to see Ria take a life, but I ended up doing something so weak that it was nothing more than a self-satisfying act of non-violence, and now I just crawl on the floor and watch Ria clean up the mess.
“H-hey, Amalie! Estelle! You’re hunters, right? Don’t just stand there! Kill that woman!”
In an instant, my eyes widened, my heart was gripped in a vise, and my breathing stopped completely.
This is not just for men.
If anyone shows hostility, whether he is a human or a monster.
They will meet their death as the price for defying ‘God’…
If this continues, the two of them and the children, too…
Maybe it was because they were looking at the men whose torsos were disappearing one by one as they looked at them in a flash.
Amalie and Estelle, probably unable to refuse an order, walked to Ria’s back while large tears rolled down their eyes.
“…Ah…Guh…”
It’s all my fault…
My throat burned, and even if I wanted to speak, I couldn’t.
I can’t even tell her to stop, that it’s enough.
My fists clench in frustration at my inability to do anything.
I want to hit myself with my fists in frustration at my own weakness and incompetence, but my arms only rise a little.
“(What the hell is wrong with me?!)”
Even in such a situation, I still shed tears.
While I feel like vomiting from the tears of uselessness, a wave of half-abandoned thoughts suddenly rush in as I hold the fist with the teardrops on it.
“(Can I save them…?)”
In this brief moment, if I can sort out what I can and can’t do now and find a way to save her…
―――――.
It was a gamble with an uncertain outcome.
Still, in this situation where I couldn’t speak, it was the only way I could think of that had a chance of working.
There was no time to think.
The sword was still at my waist, and I was unarmed.
But if I could muster some strength in my limbs… don’t run.
――Do it.
――Do it!!!
――Do it!!!!!!
――Body Strengthening――
First, strengthen my stats.
Then, while focusing on the target in front of me to the right, gather strength in my limbs and propel my body forward… Jump!
“(Rush!――Then Flight!)”
The skinny guy didn’t react at all to my leaping from the ground like a beast about to rip out his throat.
On the contrary, he was screaming at Ria, who wouldn’t stop with his senseless ‘hostage’ actions.
“Stop it! I’ll really kill you! Because of you, the children are――”
“(You should die…! Bite!!!)”
“Die―Giii?!”
I bit the man’s throat and flew on, blowing him up.
I slammed him into the rock wall, and while using the Hardening on myself, I smashed my body into him, crushing his face.
Part of the rock wall collapsed under the impact, and as small rocks rained down from above, I, unable to move the rocks myself, prayed for an outcome I couldn’t see because I was buried.
“(The skinny man was definitely dead.)”
The man who had lost his head was reflected in my field of vision.
However, this does not mean that the problem is solved. It is still a gamble.
I could not stop Ria because I could not speak.
The Divine Communication I used last night could not be used here, and if I could not speak, I could not use magic.
Even if I rolled in front of Ria in the same way, it was doubtful that I would be able to stop her, and even if I did, the lives of the girls who were being held hostage were in danger.
That’s why I was betting on the mechanism of the skill that was probably related to the slave.
What would happen if the master, the user of the skill, died?
I can’t hear the sound of the explosion anymore.
“(I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…)”
If this doesn’t work, it’s my fault.
It’s my fault for trying to get through this with naive thinking, no matter how far I go.
I repeated my apology in my heart like a curse…
The rocks were pushed back, and I saw Ria’s face illuminated by the torchlight…
…And the worried faces of the two hunters behind her. I felt a sense of relief and fear, and my consciousness fell into darkness.
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