Chapter 73
73. Phase
I’d heard that, for elves, their ears were an especially sensitive area.
Not physically sensitive, but emotionally sensitive, apparently. Touching them carelessly is said to be a huge breach of etiquette.
In fact, even dark elves, who were very friendly and open toward humans, seemed a little reluctant to be touched.
Eleanor kept insisting I touch hers, though. I figured that was because she was a pervert.
So what about the perception among high elves? You can tell easily from a community post I saw before—
[Author: Park Jin-ho#1556]
[Title: Why the fuck are these goddamn elf bastards throwing a fit?]
(Photo)
They're having a complete fucking meltdown just because someone touched an ear once.
They've been giving me dirty looks for days now like I'm some kind of child molester. What am I supposed to do?
Is touching an ear really that serious? Is it my fault?
- Yeah, that's on you for picking that goddamn race.
- What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? Would you forgive a rapist if he did that?
- ㄴIs this seriously something that gets called rape?
- ㄴYou clearly haven't tasted the shitty personality of forest elf bastards yet lol
- ㄴDon't you know even the busty elf ladies won't let you touch their ears casually?
- But if you sexually harassed those flat-chested forest elf bitches, isn't that basically the same as child molestation?
- ㄴForest elves are slender, you bastard.
- ㄴPedo caught.
- ㄴ‘Child lover,’ if you will?
In the community, a high elf's ear was treated like a button that instantly tanked your favorability the moment you touched it.
In fact, when Mercedes's ear was lightly nicked by my attack, she made an especially uncomfortable expression.
And at this moment, I went ahead and cut that ear clean off.
-Sshhk!
The ear was severed completely, and the blade sank into the shoulder beneath it.
Thanks to the defensive boost from Mana Enhancement, it wasn't a critical wound, but it was a solid hit I couldn't ignore.
But right after I landed the blow, Mercedes's sword shot out like a shaft of light and came at me.
-Sshk!
After my forearm, I was stabbed pretty deeply near the right side of my chest. I quickly moved my feet to get out of her attack range.
I thought she'd come chasing right away, but unexpectedly, that didn't happen.
Mercedes was clutching the severed ear with one hand, panting with her face screwed up tight.
That wasn't all. Her jaw was trembling, as if she'd gritted her teeth, and the sword hilt she was gripping tightly rattled.
“Y-you, you, you, human bastard...”
She was even stuttering badly. At this point, it wasn't because she lacked stamina and was panting.
She's fucking furious.
Usually, there are about two patterns an enraged opponent can show in a situation like this.
First, the blood rushes to their head and they charge in mindlessly, unable to tell right from wrong.
This is the best outcome for me. Making openings with this barrage of junk items was starting to reach its limit anyway.
Even if the inventory's capacity is endless, the items inside my inventory are definitely finite.
The [Durability]-maxed armor that served as the most effective obstacles had all been reduced to rags.
A lot of the other junk items had been smashed to pieces and were beyond recovery.
Besides, she's also getting more and more used to the [Lure] decoys, so it would be a problem if she didn't start weakening soon.
And second, there’s the case where anger triggers some kind of awakening or brings out hidden power.
-Rrrrumble!
Judging by how the magical light rising from her body suddenly became wild and violent, I guess the latter was the one after all.
It even has a third phase now?
**
Mercedes's power, which had started going berserk in more ways than one, was overwhelming.
“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, you human bastard, I’ll kill youuu!”
-Bang! Boom! KABOOM!
With every sword strike, the ground split open and shockwaves burst out. The items scattered around us were shredded to pieces.
Both her speed and strength had grown stronger than before, and naturally, being exposed head-on to those attacks made it hard for me to stay unscathed.
I didn't even have time to recover the wounds I'd just taken before new ones kept piling onto my body.
But I still hadn't taken any truly fatal wounds.
“Missed, didn’t you? Not hitting me, huh?”
“You bastard, I’ll kill you!”
It was because Mercedes was so far gone with rage that she'd lost her composure and was charging in blindly.
Her power and reflexes had improved, but the sharpness of her technique—the important part—had dropped considerably.
Just like spear specialist Choi Gil-hyeon, no matter how good your stats are, if your attack pattern is simple, you're just an easy mark.
-KWA-BOOM!
Of course, unlike Choi Gil-hyeon, this one was hard to ignore even when charging in like an idiot.
Compared to Choi Gil-hyeon, who could only thrust, she could still display master-level skill even while seeing red.
“You’re that pissed over losing one ear? More pissed than if someone insulted your precious prince? Hm, doesn’t that disqualify you from being a knight?”
“You disgusting bastard, and you dare speak of a knight’s qualifications with that filthy tongue!”
“Hm, weren’t you the one doing more disgusting things? Is hypocrisy a passive skill for you pale-eared bastards?”
So I was deliberately taking injuries while rubbing salt in her wounds, making sure she couldn't regain her composure.
“Human filth, and yet you dare...!”
But no matter how I looked at it, her anger was gradually settling down, while more and more wounds were accumulating on my body.
My remaining HP was around 60%. Being worn down this much without taking a direct hit was serious.
If I took a critical-level attack, it could easily shave off more than half my HP at once.
The only good thing was that I could see her condition gradually getting worse.
That was thanks to the cost of forcibly cranking up Mana Enhancement's output, and the poison I’d spread by hurling items at her.
I’d mixed in some poison-type potions obtainable on the sixth floor with the items I was throwing, constantly scattering them around.
Poison scattered this way naturally isn't very potent, and I take damage too if I'm within the area.
Because it wasn't made to be used like this in the first place.
But I have resistance skills at an absurd level compared to my level and stats, so that's fine.
“Haa... haa...”
By now, Mercedes was breathing hard not out of rage, but because her condition was getting worse.
Of course, her expression was still twisted, so she still didn't look like she'd fully regained her senses.
“Human bastard... I won’t let you get away with this...!”
I had a feeling. This was the moment to land the decisive blow on that elf bitch.
Even if her condition got any worse, if she regained her composure, it would be hard to win.
-Tap!
Boosting my agility with the [All-Out] skill, I charged straight ahead with sword and shield in hand.
Mercedes also charged toward me with a wild gleam in her eyes.
Her speed was terrifying, but the way she came at me head-on with her teeth clenched left her wide open.
“Huu!”
At the exact right timing, I threw the shield in my left hand with all my strength.
Her center of gravity tilted sharply as she dealt with the shield that had suddenly flown at her.
One step forward—at this timing, this has to hit.
The moment I thought that and swung my sword, something was driven into my chest.
-Sshk!
“What.”
What had pierced me was a beautiful ivory-white blade that should never have been able to reach me from that distance.
“This time, you were the one who fell for it, human.”
Mercedes had thrown her sword.
**
Had she already regained her composure halfway through and just been pretending to be angry?
I never imagined she'd fake me out at that timing and go for a throw like that. Especially not from a high elf like her.
“Damn it... so that was your plan, and earlier you were acting all high and mighty, calling me cowardly and shit...!”
“I’ll throw back at you the exact words you used earlier. Compared to what you’ve done, it couldn’t possibly be much, could it?”
“You goddamn elf bastards, what rotten personalities you have...”
Mercedes's sword was pulled out from my swaying body. Blood streamed out, and the world spun before my eyes.
Had I gotten too complacent thinking I’d already won? I wasn’t in any position to criticize anyone else.
“Is that all you’ve got to say? I doubt you’re about to say the word surrender.”
What an obvious thing to say. At this point, who could possibly surrender?
-Tsssh...
The light of Mana Enhancement was fading from Mercedes's body. It seemed she'd reached her limit.
But compared to me, who had suffered serious injuries and dropped below half HP, she still seemed to have some room to spare.
Even with Mana Enhancement turned off, her stats were probably still higher than mine, so that was only natural.
-Srrk.
Mercedes's sword was raised high to finish off the half-dead me.
“For a human, you were decent. Farewell.”
With my body in tatters, there was no way to dodge the sword as it came down leisurely—
“Yeah, right, dumbass.”
—there were tons of them.
-Sshhk!
I easily dodged the sword and, as a counter, sliced through her arm. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
“G-gah... h-how, in that condition...”
“What about my condition, you ear freak bitch.”
Thwack—I kicked Mercedes in the solar plexus and sent her flying as she stammered in bewilderment.
I was definitely in bad shape. The bleeding was heavy enough to make my vision swim a little, and there were very few parts of my body that weren't injured.
But hey, bastard, what do you think my combat endurance level is?
Normally, even after injuries that would leave someone unable to move, I can keep fighting.
“Khk... ggh... what are you, this power... what the hell...”
Mercedes, who'd been hit squarely by my kick, muttered after that.
Apparently she was wondering why my strength had gotten higher than a moment ago. She's certainly curious.
It's nothing special. It's the effect of a certain skill I got as a reward for clearing the first floor.
A passive skill called Indomitable, which raises all stats when HP falls below a certain threshold.
It doesn't separately boost attack or defense, but in that it raises all stats, it's similar to Mana Enhancement.
But I have no intention of explaining all that in detail. Why should I?
Besides, why are you asking like you don't know? You all do this kind of thing a lot, don't you?
“What else? You got cut down to half HP.”
I poured everything I had into beating you half to death, and then you suddenly pulled out hidden power and powered up.
“From here on, this is Phase Two.”
And like that, I won the duel.