Volume 1 - CH 17
Act 1-17: The Beastman Proclaiming to be The King of Divine Beast; Nemea
—56000 years after the start of the game.
Tens of thousands of years have passed since then.
I started exploring the dungeon again. Although, I did it from the 1st floor again to hunt monsters in order to fill my picture book.
The monsters had suddenly become really weak some thousands of years ago, so I decided to seal my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】. It was a treasure I found in one of the chests in this dungeon. This treasure could provide me the enjoyment of a deadly battle that would burn my soul.
As for why I suppressed my ability, it’s simply because my opponents would be too weak otherwise. To be specific, it’s because I found out that each of my stats had almost stopped rising after crossing the ten-thousand mark.
Thus, I started to ask myself. Have I reached my limit? The answer I got was in the negative. I knew for a reason that I should be able to become even stronger. And that reason was none other than the only merit of my so-called gift, 【The Most Incompetent in this World】. Therefore, it couldn’t be said that I had reached the limit of my growth. I simply had yet to find a more effective way to raise my stats at my current strength.
Just as I had been mulling over this matter, I had found this 【Glove of Sealing God】.
By wearing this 【Glove of Sealing God】, I could freely limit my physical strength and magical power to my liking. In this way, I had gained a way to restrain my strength.
After I found and equipped this treasure, I realized something. My stats rose even higher if I killed an enemy after a deadly, fierce battle with my life on the line.
I realized this fact after many trials and errors in the way of researching a method to make me stronger. In one of the experiments of that research, I battled a powerful monster while restraining my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】. When I came out as the victor of that deadly and fierce battle in a tattered state, I discovered that my stats had risen again.
Even now, tens of thousands of years after that discovery, I still remember the delight I had felt at that time. After all, I had established proof that I could still become stronger.
Since then, I have captured this dungeon with my abilities restricted by this 【Glove of Sealing God】 to the very limit.
Right now, Faf and I arrived in front of the stairway leading to the 600th floor of the prairie zone.
We descended the stairways and arrived at the 600th floor, a semi-circular prairie surrounded by a waterfall. Then, my eyes fell on a beastman resembling someone from the lion beastman tribe. The beastman was donned in golden armor as he stood empty-handed in the center of the prairie.
『Newbie god(warrior), huh. FUHAHAHAHAHA! So you reached this 600th floor with just the two of you!! Interesting!! You guys are really interesting!!』
The lion-beastman laughed until his back bent backward. His face contained undisguised joy. He then pulled his right elbow, retreated half a step with his right feet, and lowered his center of gravity.
This was the most basic martial arts stance, yet it was honed to perfection. In short, my opponent was a martial artist, and the cream of the crop on top of that.
This is it! FINALLY!! This was the first time in this dungeon when I came across a monster that had mastered martial arts to the limit. Although the monsters I had fought and defeated until now possessed all kinds of troublesome special abilities, at the end of the day, they overly relied on their gifts and brute force. Therefore, the chance of fighting a genuine martial artist, like the monster before me, was a great stimulus that plucked my heartstrings.
Now, if I lowered my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】, I might be able to enjoy a battle that could burn my soul.
However, I saw Faf raising her small fists and growling at the lion-beastman.
「Sorry, Faf! Let me fight this guy. I’ve been waiting for this kind of opponent.」
I stopped Faf, then took out 【Unbreakable Stick】 from my item box. With the stick in hand, I walked toward my opponent.
「Yes, nodesu!」
Faf raised her face to take a peek at my face before replying to me. Then, she vigorously punched into the air with her small fists while replying to me and retreated.
『One-on-one is it? Is that arrogance? Well, I guess it isn’t. Seeing that stance, I can tell you’re the same as me, a genuine fighting god(warrior), huh! Very well! I’m the king of Divine Beasts, Nemea! READY WHEN YOU ARE!!』
When Nemea took a breath, a dense red aura leaked out of his body, dyeing his muscular body reddish-brown.
「I’m Kai Heineman, a swordsman!」
The next moment, my sword and his fist collided.
With us as the center, a shockwave strong enough to blast our surroundings created each time my sword and his fist collided.
***
The fist and the sword had collided for who knows how many times now. We kept attacking each other, ignoring the wounds on our bodies. Nemea’s body was drenched with blood and covered in numerous scratches. It was the same for me.
It had been a long time since I was this excited. This scramble for life against an extremely powerful opponent was truly the best. However, every festival would eventually end.
I tried to dodge Nemea’s right fist, which pierced the sound barrier by a paper-thin margin. Its orbit had suddenly changed out of nowhere and it was now headed toward my temple. I quickly wrapped my broken left arm around Nemea’s right arm and diverted his punch toward an empty area.
『NUH!?』
When Nemea’s posture crumbled a little due to his punch being diverted, I launched a counter-horizontal slash toward his flank with my 【Unbreakable Stick】.
Although Nemea barely managed to block the slash with his log-like right arm, he still had to roll on the ground due to the residual force of my attack. He immediately stood up while heavily breathing.
『Strong… you’re way too strong! This is strange. My physical strength should be above yours. And yet, I can’t beat you even with my strongest weapon, my martial arts! No matter how much I think about it, this situation is way too abnormal. Are you, by any chance, holding back against me?』
「No, I’m going all out against you.」
Yes, Nemea’s martial arts were the real deal. I had realized that I wouldn’t be able to win against him if I cut corners. In fact, Nemea’s kick had managed to break my left arm.
『There’s only truth in martial arts. We know not of humility! On top of that, I’m a martial arts god. A defeat against an opponent who’s holding back their true strength is something I can never accept. Please, I know that I’m unworthy of fighting against you in your most powerful state. But, please allow me to see you in your peak state.』
Nemea deeply bowed after he readjusted his breath. Having fought him, I had realized that he was a proud fella who wouldn’t lower his head to just anyone.
「I’m not holding back because I’m underestimating you. But, I guess you’re right. I mistreated you as a fellow martial artist by holding back. My deepest apologies!」
Thus, for the first time in tens of thousands of years, I completely canceled the effects of 【Glove of Sealing God】, revealing my peak state to Nemea.
『W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? GUHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! LIKE HELL I CAN WIN AGAINST THIS!!THE DIMENSION IS WAY TOO DIFFERENT!!』
Nemea let out a maddening laugh as he spread his arms. His face was dyed with pure wild joy.
I unsheathed 【Raikiri】, which hung on my waist, from its sheath and raised it above my head in an upper stance.
「This is an apology gift from me for staining your pride. I’ll kill you with my current, most powerful strike.」
I heaved a sigh, sharpened my mind, and then―
「True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form―Sekai(World Destruction)」
I swung down 【Raikiri】, which was covered in a jet-black aura, toward Nemea.
My slash tore Nemea’s body from his shoulder. Then, Nemea’s body slowly turned into black ashes as if it were being eroded by the darkness from the wound of my last attack. Yet, he laughed with pure wild joy until his body turned into ashes.
True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form―Sekai. Even a small scratch caused by this strike would enlarge and spread to its surroundings while corroding the body of the target. The corrosion won’t stop until the target gets decayed and turned into ashes. It was an extremely vicious sword art.
I had perfected this sword art after I finished Girimekhala’s rehabilitation and created a world in the picture book for him. Considering the timing, this sword art was clearly related to this picture book.
I had confirmed that “world destruction” wouldn’t affect the target’s soul. Now, it was the time for this picture book to shine.
And, just as I expected, a transparent board appeared before me, saying, 『Nemea’s soul has appeared. Do you want to capture it with the picture book?』
Just as planned, I got that fella’s soul. I couldn’t bring myself to hate such an honest-to-bone opponent. That’s why I decided to make him my subordinate.
I captured Nemea’s soul with the picture book and recreated his physical body by injecting my mana into the picture book.
When Faf and I reached the upper ground again, I opened the picture book and released Nemea.
The lion-beastman clad in golden armor reappeared in front of me. So far, everything had gone according to my plan. Next, I had to see whether that fella was willing to become my subordinate or not. If he didn’t, I thought of just forcing him to accept it.
「From now on, you’re my subordinate. I won’t allow any objections. Just accept it.」
The resurrected Nemea stared at me with a dumbfounded expression for a while without saying anything.
『BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!』
He then burst into laughter.
What’s wrong with this fella? Is there something wrong with what I told him just now?
Nemea rolled around in laughter until he was satisfied. He then stood back on his feet. His demeanour had changed from how it was a moment ago. He kneeled on one knee with a sober look on his face, placed his right fist on his chest and his left arm behind his back, and bowed to me.
『My loyalty is yours!』
He spoke the words I wished to hear the most.
—56000 years after the start of the game.
Tens of thousands of years have passed since then.
I started exploring the dungeon again. Although, I did it from the 1st floor again to hunt monsters in order to fill my picture book.
The monsters had suddenly become really weak some thousands of years ago, so I decided to seal my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】. It was a treasure I found in one of the chests in this dungeon. This treasure could provide me the enjoyment of a deadly battle that would burn my soul.
As for why I suppressed my ability, it’s simply because my opponents would be too weak otherwise. To be specific, it’s because I found out that each of my stats had almost stopped rising after crossing the ten-thousand mark.
Thus, I started to ask myself. Have I reached my limit? The answer I got was in the negative. I knew for a reason that I should be able to become even stronger. And that reason was none other than the only merit of my so-called gift, 【The Most Incompetent in this World】. Therefore, it couldn’t be said that I had reached the limit of my growth. I simply had yet to find a more effective way to raise my stats at my current strength.
Just as I had been mulling over this matter, I had found this 【Glove of Sealing God】.
By wearing this 【Glove of Sealing God】, I could freely limit my physical strength and magical power to my liking. In this way, I had gained a way to restrain my strength.
After I found and equipped this treasure, I realized something. My stats rose even higher if I killed an enemy after a deadly, fierce battle with my life on the line.
I realized this fact after many trials and errors in the way of researching a method to make me stronger. In one of the experiments of that research, I battled a powerful monster while restraining my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】. When I came out as the victor of that deadly and fierce battle in a tattered state, I discovered that my stats had risen again.
Even now, tens of thousands of years after that discovery, I still remember the delight I had felt at that time. After all, I had established proof that I could still become stronger.
Since then, I have captured this dungeon with my abilities restricted by this 【Glove of Sealing God】 to the very limit.
Right now, Faf and I arrived in front of the stairway leading to the 600th floor of the prairie zone.
We descended the stairways and arrived at the 600th floor, a semi-circular prairie surrounded by a waterfall. Then, my eyes fell on a beastman resembling someone from the lion beastman tribe. The beastman was donned in golden armor as he stood empty-handed in the center of the prairie.
『Newbie god(warrior), huh. FUHAHAHAHAHA! So you reached this 600th floor with just the two of you!! Interesting!! You guys are really interesting!!』
The lion-beastman laughed until his back bent backward. His face contained undisguised joy. He then pulled his right elbow, retreated half a step with his right feet, and lowered his center of gravity.
This was the most basic martial arts stance, yet it was honed to perfection. In short, my opponent was a martial artist, and the cream of the crop on top of that.
This is it! FINALLY!! This was the first time in this dungeon when I came across a monster that had mastered martial arts to the limit. Although the monsters I had fought and defeated until now possessed all kinds of troublesome special abilities, at the end of the day, they overly relied on their gifts and brute force. Therefore, the chance of fighting a genuine martial artist, like the monster before me, was a great stimulus that plucked my heartstrings.
Now, if I lowered my abilities with 【Glove of Sealing God】, I might be able to enjoy a battle that could burn my soul.
However, I saw Faf raising her small fists and growling at the lion-beastman.
「Sorry, Faf! Let me fight this guy. I’ve been waiting for this kind of opponent.」
I stopped Faf, then took out 【Unbreakable Stick】 from my item box. With the stick in hand, I walked toward my opponent.
「Yes, nodesu!」
Faf raised her face to take a peek at my face before replying to me. Then, she vigorously punched into the air with her small fists while replying to me and retreated.
『One-on-one is it? Is that arrogance? Well, I guess it isn’t. Seeing that stance, I can tell you’re the same as me, a genuine fighting god(warrior), huh! Very well! I’m the king of Divine Beasts, Nemea! READY WHEN YOU ARE!!』
When Nemea took a breath, a dense red aura leaked out of his body, dyeing his muscular body reddish-brown.
「I’m Kai Heineman, a swordsman!」
The next moment, my sword and his fist collided.
With us as the center, a shockwave strong enough to blast our surroundings created each time my sword and his fist collided.
***
The fist and the sword had collided for who knows how many times now. We kept attacking each other, ignoring the wounds on our bodies. Nemea’s body was drenched with blood and covered in numerous scratches. It was the same for me.
It had been a long time since I was this excited. This scramble for life against an extremely powerful opponent was truly the best. However, every festival would eventually end.
I tried to dodge Nemea’s right fist, which pierced the sound barrier by a paper-thin margin. Its orbit had suddenly changed out of nowhere and it was now headed toward my temple. I quickly wrapped my broken left arm around Nemea’s right arm and diverted his punch toward an empty area.
『NUH!?』
When Nemea’s posture crumbled a little due to his punch being diverted, I launched a counter-horizontal slash toward his flank with my 【Unbreakable Stick】.
Although Nemea barely managed to block the slash with his log-like right arm, he still had to roll on the ground due to the residual force of my attack. He immediately stood up while heavily breathing.
『Strong… you’re way too strong! This is strange. My physical strength should be above yours. And yet, I can’t beat you even with my strongest weapon, my martial arts! No matter how much I think about it, this situation is way too abnormal. Are you, by any chance, holding back against me?』
「No, I’m going all out against you.」
Yes, Nemea’s martial arts were the real deal. I had realized that I wouldn’t be able to win against him if I cut corners. In fact, Nemea’s kick had managed to break my left arm.
『There’s only truth in martial arts. We know not of humility! On top of that, I’m a martial arts god. A defeat against an opponent who’s holding back their true strength is something I can never accept. Please, I know that I’m unworthy of fighting against you in your most powerful state. But, please allow me to see you in your peak state.』
Nemea deeply bowed after he readjusted his breath. Having fought him, I had realized that he was a proud fella who wouldn’t lower his head to just anyone.
「I’m not holding back because I’m underestimating you. But, I guess you’re right. I mistreated you as a fellow martial artist by holding back. My deepest apologies!」
Thus, for the first time in tens of thousands of years, I completely canceled the effects of 【Glove of Sealing God】, revealing my peak state to Nemea.
『W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!? GUHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! LIKE HELL I CAN WIN AGAINST THIS!!THE DIMENSION IS WAY TOO DIFFERENT!!』
Nemea let out a maddening laugh as he spread his arms. His face was dyed with pure wild joy.
I unsheathed 【Raikiri】, which hung on my waist, from its sheath and raised it above my head in an upper stance.
「This is an apology gift from me for staining your pride. I’ll kill you with my current, most powerful strike.」
I heaved a sigh, sharpened my mind, and then―
「True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form―Sekai(World Destruction)」
I swung down 【Raikiri】, which was covered in a jet-black aura, toward Nemea.
My slash tore Nemea’s body from his shoulder. Then, Nemea’s body slowly turned into black ashes as if it were being eroded by the darkness from the wound of my last attack. Yet, he laughed with pure wild joy until his body turned into ashes.
True Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style: 7th Form―Sekai. Even a small scratch caused by this strike would enlarge and spread to its surroundings while corroding the body of the target. The corrosion won’t stop until the target gets decayed and turned into ashes. It was an extremely vicious sword art.
I had perfected this sword art after I finished Girimekhala’s rehabilitation and created a world in the picture book for him. Considering the timing, this sword art was clearly related to this picture book.
I had confirmed that “world destruction” wouldn’t affect the target’s soul. Now, it was the time for this picture book to shine.
And, just as I expected, a transparent board appeared before me, saying, 『Nemea’s soul has appeared. Do you want to capture it with the picture book?』
Just as planned, I got that fella’s soul. I couldn’t bring myself to hate such an honest-to-bone opponent. That’s why I decided to make him my subordinate.
I captured Nemea’s soul with the picture book and recreated his physical body by injecting my mana into the picture book.
When Faf and I reached the upper ground again, I opened the picture book and released Nemea.
The lion-beastman clad in golden armor reappeared in front of me. So far, everything had gone according to my plan. Next, I had to see whether that fella was willing to become my subordinate or not. If he didn’t, I thought of just forcing him to accept it.
「From now on, you’re my subordinate. I won’t allow any objections. Just accept it.」
The resurrected Nemea stared at me with a dumbfounded expression for a while without saying anything.
『BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!』
He then burst into laughter.
What’s wrong with this fella? Is there something wrong with what I told him just now?
Nemea rolled around in laughter until he was satisfied. He then stood back on his feet. His demeanour had changed from how it was a moment ago. He kneeled on one knee with a sober look on his face, placed his right fist on his chest and his left arm behind his back, and bowed to me.
『My loyalty is yours!』
He spoke the words I wished to hear the most.
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