Chapter 225

Chapter 225: Bastard

Alec, who had been blankly holding the burning carving of Sierra Abalan, belatedly came to his senses.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Startled, he hurriedly tried to throw away what was in his hand, but letting the one remaining torch go out so vainly was not particularly welcome.

When I stopped him from opening his hand, Alec looked at me with a bloodless face.

The flame, which had changed from candlelight to torchlight, lit the cave more brightly, and Alec’s face was revealed just as clearly.

His face, drenched in cold sweat, reflected the firelight, so at a glance, it looked as if it was not Sierra’s carving but his face that was burning.

“Let go of this.”

A sound like his vocal cords were being scraped came from Alec’s throat, which had regained a little calm.

This time, I obediently let go as he said.

Alec shook off his hand as if an insect had been stuck to it, and the carving rolled across the floor.

Seeing him throw it onto the floor like that, it seemed he was more afraid of sinning against god than of God Abalan himself.

Before the flame could go out from its friction with the floor, I picked up the carving and set it upright.

“......”

Alec watched me do that without a word.

I expected to hear at least something like you should be killed, but his reaction was more boring than expected.

When I set the carving up and rose, the round light and shadow made by the flame covered the tops of my feet.

Looking down at it, I raised my head and looked at Alec, who still kept silent.

“What does this look like?”

“Do you know what you just did?”

Having returned to polite speech again, he ignored my question and asked.

“I set fire to wood.”

“That is not just wood. That is......!”

“If it’s not wood, then what is it? A god? To you, is god such a pathetic existence?”

When I lightly kicked the carving with my foot, anger entered Alec’s face.

“Do not force your logic. You have just blasphemed against god.”

“Did god say that if you set fire to a carving modeled after him, he would accept that as blasphemy?”

“He must be watching your sin from the sky.”

What a joke.

Because the god Alec believed in was probably busy chasing after the protagonist’s backside right now.

He probably would not even know if I laid out a whole round of curses against him here.

But if I said that, Alec seemed likely to charge at me immediately on grounds of blasphemy.

In truth, it already seemed that he was displaying considerable patience by enduring until now.

It seemed disposing of the first holy object was effective after all.

After thinking for a moment, I turned my gaze toward him, who was still looking back and forth between me and the carving with confused eyes.

“If the god you believe in is truly someone who looks down upon people and guides them to Territum, he would not be angry over something like this. He would not be that petty.”

“You set fire to his head and now what are you......!”

“If it is the role of becoming a lamp for a believer trapped in darkness, would he not willingly take it?”

“......I am not trapped in darkness yet.”

Seeing he still had the mind to cling to my words and nitpick, it seemed he had regained quite a bit of composure.

“That is something we still do not know.”

After answering half-heartedly, I watched him trying to move as far from the carving as possible, then similarly put distance between myself and the carving.

Alec glared at me with wary eyes, as if he did not know what strange thing I might do next.

Since he expected it that much, I had no choice but to meet those expectations. I quietly placed my hand on the ground and opened my mouth.

“From now on, take the torch and run toward the exit.”

“Run?”

“Yes, as fast as possible. Seeing you earlier, it looks like your legs have stopped trembling now.”

“What am I supposed to run from? Is that what will destroy this underground passage?”

Alec asked, unable to hide his anxiety.

The reason I could not immediately answer yes was because the next question would obviously be “from what?”

Because I could not answer that I would make it that way from now on.

***

In the original work’s Werewolf episode, there were three central locations.

The cave that made people feel filthy, the Werewolves’ tent village, and lastly, this underground passage.

In the original work, the cave protecting the village was the main stage.

Until Jing and Ria brought the holy object, I had tried to read Sierra Abalan’s memories inside it, but after being splendidly struck by the curse from a thousand years ago, I had no desire to challenge it recklessly.

If a thorny path lies ahead, it is wise to take a side path.

The side path I found was this underground passage.

Another place where Sierra Abalan’s power might be dwelling.

Fortunately, this underground passage was suspicious enough to turn my feet and jump into.

Because, whether in terms of location or structure, it had too many strange parts to simply dismiss as a refuge for humans.

“Before being dragged here, I was in another monster’s dwelling place.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

When I suddenly opened my mouth, Alec, who had been watching me with an extremely tense face, asked back.

“There, whenever I tried to use even a little power, there was a lot of interference. I was suddenly dragged away, or submerged in water.”

“You were attacked that badly by a monster?”

The man who had treated me like a bastard who should die just earlier examined me with a shocked face.

Was he good-natured, a pushover, or both?

“I was attacked by a being stronger than monsters. So I could not do anything as I pleased, but this place is a little different.”

On the ground, there was no power of Sierra that caught me when I used Manis.

I had not considered the cave anyway, so that meant among the three locations in the original work, the only place left was this underground passage.

“Whether you run away holding that or run away empty-handed is up to you, but if you miss the chance once, you will regret it.”

When I pointed at the burning torch with the warning, Alec frowned again.

Since I had said this much, the choice was now for the individual to make on his own.

Letting the sound of Alec muttering something beside me pass in one ear, I focused my mind and pictured in my head the form I wanted to change into.

A hot energy began to circulate from deep within my body.

“Wh-what is this? Why are you suddenly like this?”

Beside me, Alec’s flustered voice reached my ears.

But that did not last very long either.

His meddling voice, asking whether something hurt or whether I felt like I was going to collapse, gradually grew smaller.

When his voice stopped completely, I knew that the transformation had fully finished.

As I slowly rose, I looked down at Alec, whose face had turned white.

Judging by his expression and my eye level that had leaped high, it seemed my body had transformed properly.

“Ho-how, how, how......”

Alec stammered more severely than ever and stepped backward.

I wondered if he would fall over like that, but perhaps he had adjusted somewhat amid the storm of shocking situations, because fortunately, he succeeded in standing with both feet on the ground.

Though his whole body trembled.

“What is so surprising? You lived among Werewolves until now.”

It was something I said to loosen his tension in my own way, but it had little effect.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Alec screamed and stepped backward.

“If you are going to run away, run while holding that. It should be safer that way.”

It was a suggestion I gave because there was still something more left to be surprised by, but Alec only screamed again.

“Yo-you-you were a Werewolf......! You tricked me completely......!”

Emotions that might have been anger or fear mixed together and burst out as resentment.

“I told you I was not a good person.”

“I didn’t know you weren’t a person!!!”

As if dumbfounded, he screamed sharply.

If I moved even one step, he seemed so heated that he might faint, so I raised both hands to show that I had no intention of attacking him.

“What I said earlier about you needing to run quickly was not a lie.”

“Why are you going to eat me?”

His jaw trembling, he asked.

Because I did not want to eat human meat even if I starved to death, I firmly shook my head.

“I have no intention of eating or attacking you, but that is because something that does not care about such things will soon come.”

Perhaps thinking I was going to call my comrades, Alec looked around with a terrified face.

As I wondered whether I should tell him there was no one else even if he looked, I felt the “something” I had been waiting for wrap around my feet.

I lightly pushed Alec, who was still stupidly looking around.

Flustered by the sudden attack, he glared at me as if to protest.

His mouth, which had opened as if to ask what I was doing, opened this time in shock.

“What, what is that?”

It seemed he had finally discovered the darkness eating me from the tips of my feet.

When I lowered my head along his gaze, I saw the darkness that had swallowed below my waist spreading farther and farther around us.

“I am fine. This will not kill me. It does not seem to care what happens to other people, though.”

I picked up the burning carving of Sierra from one side and placed it in his hand.

“I told you, did I not? That you would need this. If your heart feels that uncomfortable, you can just think I forced you to hold it.”

Alec, who had been stupidly looking down at the carving, seemed to fully come to his senses at my words.

Looking back and forth between me and the carving, he ground his teeth.

However, looking at the darkness growing larger and larger, he had no choice but to realize there was no other option.

His hesitation lasted only a moment, and in the end, Alec lifted the burning firewood and began running back.

“Run without looking back. Other humans will probably come rushing in soon, so handle it well so they don’t become too agitated. Well, everyone will handle things on their own.”

“You bastard!!”

The sound of his footsteps and his voice answering with curses grew farther and farther away.

Being cursed at was not anything particularly new, so I quietly closed my eyes and entrusted myself to the darkness that had climbed up to my neck.

***

My vision was darkness.

But I was not afraid.

Because from experience, I already knew what would happen after this.

And that at times like this, it was better to simply leave my body to it and listen to the voice I heard.

When I relaxed my body, voices began to be heard this time as well.

It was the voice of the man in the memory left in the orc cave.

-This is a gift. In some worlds, they call it a service.

The word, which did not suit the toneless voice, was so unexpected that my body stiffened again.

What did that bastard just say?

While I racked my head because I could not understand the words spoken by the voice of someone I had heard in the orc cave, this time, an unfamiliar voice dug into my ears.

-How is this thing a gift?

It was a low voice with clear rebuke, but it did not feel aggressive.

Somehow, it also sounded sad.

-Is it lacking? I made it thinking it was what you longed for more than anything else right now.

But the other party did not seem observant enough to notice the simple fact I had noticed.

Or perhaps he lacked consideration.

At the calm voice that did not suit the emotion called longing, I heard the other answer with a hollow laugh.

-Do not make me laugh. If you truly cared for me, you should have shown me something else. This kind of, this kind of......

-I cannot leave you to waste time chasing an illusion.

The tactless one coldly cut off the words of the other, who could not continue speaking.

-Waste time, you say......

Someone nameless muttered hollowly.

-Yes, waste of time. If you obsess over such things, you will miss what lies before you. I hope you do not make such a foolish choice. I cherish you very much.

I did not know what was funny, but along with the man’s words, a small laugh came from the other side.

-I wondered what whim made you appear saying you would borrow our power, but now I finally understand.

Perhaps unable to stop the hollow laughter, the voice still carrying laughter sounded especially clear.

-From the beginning until now, not even once have you ever been able to understand humans.