Chapter 190 : Stirring Up a Fight - 4
Chapter 190: Stirring Up a Fight - 4
A tremendous roar echoed from the direction of the Fifth Territory.
I couldn't see what had happened, but something major seemed to be taking place.
At the same time...
“I'm back.”
Sienne appeared beside us.
“Oh.”
Berseum quickly cast Invisibility Magic.
Karin ordered the spirits to lift Sienne into the air.
Yes, lift her.
We were floating high above the heads of the monsters of the Second Territory.
I'd never actually said we would travel on foot, had I?
Looking down from the sky, I could see the vast army of monsters from the Second Territory.
I turned to Sienne.
“Did the conversation go well?”
“Yes.”
“We broke up.”
“I see.”
“…….”
“Wait.”
“What did you just say?”
Sienne smiled brightly and shrugged.
“I said we broke up.”
“Uh... well...”
“Let's stop talking about me.”
“What are you planning to do now?”
“Jehar wanted you to reveal yourself to the monsters of the Second Territory.”
Is she really all right?
I looked at Sienne with concern.
But her expression remained completely calm.
In the end, I nodded.
“I suppose so.”
“They want the monsters of the Second Territory to confirm that we've left the Fifth Territory.”
“Will you grant that wish?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
“I want to give my 'former' lover one last gift.”
Aina grumbled at those words.
“Hmph.”
“You're taking it pretty well.”
“If it were me, I'd have beaten him into a pulp.”
“I did.”
“……?”
“Anyway, Mr. Mason.”
“Would it be all right?”
I answered gently.
“Of course.”
“Brother, if you would.”
“Hm.”
“Understood.”
Whoosh.
Berseum canceled the Invisibility Magic.
Our figures immediately became visible in the sky.
The monsters of the Second Territory didn't notice us at first.
But before long, one of them pointed upward and shouted,
“Huh?!”
“Isn't that Mason up there?”
“Y-You're right!”
“It's definitely that bastard!”
“You little bastard!”
“You've got some nerve showing your face!”
“Get down here!”
I chuckled and took the Replication Bag out of my pocket.
“The Replication Bag you're looking for is right here.”
“……!”
“Did you really think I'd hide something this valuable somewhere else?”
“Stop picking on those innocent 'newborns' in the Fifth Territory.”
“Shut up and hand over the jewels!”
“No, hand over the bag!”
“Ah, hold on.”
“I've got something to do first.”
After saying that, I looked at the Small Bulletin Board.
■ Popularity Poll in Progress
※ Total Voter Turnout: 100 Percent
1st. Edgar Tyler (43 Percent)
2nd. Mason Giad (27 Percent)
……
……
The Total Voter Turnout had reached 100 percent.
The voting was over.
Of course, it hadn't even been a month since the game had begun.
However—
If the Total Voter Turnout reaches 100 percent before one month has passed, the game ends immediately.
I shouted loudly,
“Big Sis Magireta!”
“…….”
“Don't hide and watch just because it's entertaining.”
“The game should be over now.”
“Sigh.”
Magireta slowly revealed herself.
I looked at her.
“You should do what you always do, shouldn't you?”
“This time there's not much for me to do.”
“I may not have taken first place...”
“But you've always given Gold Coins to participants who didn't finish first.”
In the Future Diary I'd seen, none of us had received any Gold Coins.
Back then, Magireta had said—
-Forget the First Place Reward, but why didn't you give us the Gold Coins you always hand out after participants pass?
-…….
-The Tenth Quest really existed, didn't it?
-It certainly did.
-But little brother didn't even know he was participating in a game.
-He didn't even know he'd passed.
-So why should I have given him any Gold Coins?
I spoke.
“If someone doesn't know they participated in the game or passed it, then of course you wouldn't give them Gold Coins.”
“But this time we clearly knew we were participating in the Tenth Quest.”
“…….”
“Please.”
“Give us the Gold Coins.”
“I didn't expect you to be this greedy for money, little brother.”
As she said that, Magireta casually waved her hand.
Gold Coins began raining down from the sky.
I shouted toward the monsters of the Second Territory.
“Everyone.”
“I'm sorry for speaking to you so arrogantly until now.”
“And I'd also like to apologize for deceiving you before.”
“And now what?!”
“Do you know what these falling Gold Coins mean?”
“Of course you do.”
“Some of you used to be Game Participants yourselves.”
The monsters tilted their heads.
I quickly continued.
“It means the game has completely ended.”
“And whenever a game ends, Magireta sends the participants to the location they request.”
“Y-You don't mean...”
“Well, we could've traveled there with the Teleportation Orb anyway...”
“But there's a reason I deliberately had Big Sis Magireta step in.”
“I wanted you all to realize one thing.”
I smiled.
“My dependable ally isn't Mr. Drod.”
“And it isn't the monsters of the Fifth Territory either.”
“…….”
“My real ally is our kind Big Sis Magireta.”
“Little brother.”
“You can be adorable sometimes.”
“So...”
“Wouldn't you forgive my rudeness this time, if only for Big Sis's sake?”
Even I thought that was shameless.
Naturally, every monster in the Second Territory exploded in fury.
“You bastard!”
“You think saying sorry fixes everything?!”
“Die!”
“Die!”
“We'll never forgive you!”
“You've deceived us again and again!”
I let out a small sigh before speaking to my companions.
“It doesn't seem like they'll forgive me.”
“Why did you think they would?”
“That's what surprises me.”
“I was hoping to settle things peacefully.”
“But I guess things don't always go the way we want.”
Aina asked,
“Why does it matter if they forgive us?”
“They're monsters anyway.”
“There might be more quests that take place in Hell.”
“I guess that's true.”
“But honestly?”
“If I were them, I'd be furious too.”
“I don't think a few nice words would be enough.”
“Hm.”
“Is that so?”
I scratched my head.
So they wouldn't forgive me.
……
Well, it couldn't be helped.
I gave up cleanly.
Then, in a refreshed voice, I addressed Magireta.
“I guess they won't forgive me.”
“Isn't that obvious?”
“In that case, we're done here.”
“Please send us to Deut Territory.”
“Hehe.”
Magireta laughed as she raised her hand.
At that moment, one of the monsters from the Second Territory shouted,
“Wait!”
“Lady Magireta!”
“We're not finished with that bastard Mason yet!”
“So?”
“…….”
“You're not finished with him.”
“So what?”
“N-No.”
“My apologies.”
Wearing the business smile I'd perfected while working as a waiter, I said,
“If there's another opportunity, I'll come visit you again.”
“Let's meet with smiles next time.”
“You little...!”
“Everyone.”
“Stay healthy.”
My consciousness gradually faded.
Then the voice of the Future Diary echoed.
[You have safely cleared the Tenth Quest, "Popularity Poll."]
[The records from the duration of the Tenth Quest, "Popularity Poll," have changed.]
[Parts of the Future Diary have been updated to reflect the revised history.]
[The Future Diary's "Second Memory Fragment" function has been upgraded.]
[Hidden Quest: Armelia's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[Hidden Quest: Aina's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[Hidden Quest: Berseum's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[Hidden Quest: Sienne's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[Hidden Quest: Benjamin's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[Hidden Quest: Karin's Survival achieved. Reward: 100 Points.]
[You saved 46,883 Ordinary participants. Reward: 46,883 Points.]
[Current Points: 50,788]
I couldn't suppress the laughter rising up my throat.
“Ahahahaha!”
I did it.
I've exceeded 50,000 Points!
Edgar hadn't died.
The First MVP realized that he wouldn't die.
So instead of killing him like ordinary monsters, she simply absorbed him.
Yes.
Absorbed him.
After regaining consciousness, Edgar muttered,
“Where am I?”
-So you're alive.
-You foolish fool.
“Odline.”
-I figured you must be.
-I tried to revive you, but Omnipotence didn't work.
-Which means one of two things.
Either he'd become a human instead of a half-monster.
Or he had never died.
-You aren't dead.
-But your body won't obey you.
“Why?”
“What happened?”
-Open your eyes.
“Grrr.”
With great difficulty, Edgar opened his eyes.
He tried moving his neck, but it refused to budge.
The only thing he could tell was that something had wrapped itself tightly around his entire body.
What was binding him?
'Threads?'
'No...'
'That's not it.'
'Is this... a mass of flesh? Muscles and bones?'
What in the world had happened?
Edgar stared blankly in confusion.
At that moment, Magireta appeared.
“Edgar.”
“Ms. Magireta.”
“Hehe.”
“It suits you perfectly.”
“Would you like to see what you look like now?”
Snap.
She flicked her finger.
A Bulletin Board appeared.
No—
It wasn't merely like a mirror.
It was an actual mirror.
A gigantic mirror large enough to reflect an enormous landscape.
Only then did Edgar finally see himself objectively.
“Urgh.”
Even Edgar nearly vomited at the sight reflected within it.
“What... is this?”
“My greatest masterpiece.”
“The First MVP.”
“…….”
“You've become part of the First MVP's body.”
Instead of asking what she meant, Edgar slowly examined the reflection.
A mountain-sized mass of flesh.
The surface of that flesh was covered in countless grotesque scars.
No.
They weren't scars.
Every single mark he had mistaken for a scar was actually a person's—
A monster's face!
Monsters had been fused together again and again.
Absorbed over and over until they formed one gigantic mass of flesh.
Edgar was merely one of the countless bodies that had become part of it.
“Abomination.”
“That's what I call this one.”
“…….”
“Abomination can instantly kill everything nearby.”
“After that, it absorbs its prey into its own body.”
“It normally prefers killing them first before absorbing them...”
“…….”
“But since you don't die...”
“It seems it absorbed you while you were still alive.”
Edgar struggled desperately.
Trying to escape from the grotesque mass of flesh.
But it was useless.
“Don't waste your effort.”
“Do you have any idea how many millions of years' worth of flesh make up that body?”
“T-The MVP I saw was an ordinary woman.”
“That was the First MVP's appearance from her previous life.”
“When she needs to act, she walks around using that face.”
“…….”
“Right now she's asleep.”
“Would you like me to wake her?”
“You'll be seeing each other for a long time.”
“You should properly introduce yourselves.”
Edgar didn't panic.
Panicking wouldn't help him now.
Instead, he asked what he needed to know.
“What happened to the Tenth Quest?”
“…….”
“Did Mason take first place?”
“Hehe.”
“Good question.”
“That's actually why I came.”
Whirr.
She opened a portal and pulled something out.
“This time...”
“You're the one who finished first.”
“What?”
“That can't be.”
“I was certain that bastard Mason had taken first place.”
“Well...”
“A lot happened.”
“I have no intention of explaining it.”
“And no reason to.”
“So I'll leave it at that.”
“What's the First Place Reward this time?”
Magireta didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she spoke as though giving him advice.
“I'll tell you this in advance.”
“If you can't escape that state before the Eleventh Quest begins...”
“You'll be in danger.”
“Right now, the entity called Edgar is recognized as part of Abomination's body.”
“You mean...”
“It means that when the next game begins, you won't be summoned.”
“If that happens, you won't even be able to participate in the Eleventh Quest.”
“You'll be eliminated immediately...”
“And just like during Intermediary Trade, you'll be dragged into Hell and become my toy.”
Even if that happened, the so-called 'broken' Magireta would save him again.
That was what Edgar believed.
But Magireta shattered that expectation.
“Do you think the broken version of me will help you?”
“…….”
“How many times do you think I...”
“No.”
“How many times do you think we would allow something like that?”
“Tch.”
Edgar bit his lip before speaking.
“Fine.”
“Then hurry up and give me the First Place Reward.”
“Here.”
Whoosh.
Magireta tossed something toward him.
Since his mouth was the only part of his body he could still move, Edgar opened it wide and caught the object with his teeth.
His voice came out slightly muffled.
“Explain its function.”
“And how to use it.”
With a twisted smile, Magireta said,
“Well, you see...”