Survival 70

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Goosebumps creeped up on me. It’s natural for the underground dungeons of the North’s dark world to be cold. But the goosebumps on my arms weren’t because of that. Malice, hatred, resentment. Things that couldn’t be confirmed in the game were vividly revealed in Oparn’s true face. Though he looked no different from a human, lacking horns on his head, his face was undeniably that of a demon. 

[Hidden Condition (1/2)] 

[Condition: Achievement of identifying Oparn’s true identity] 

[Upon achieving the additional hidden condition ??? (2/2), a hidden mission will occur, and reward ??? can be obtained.] 

An oblivious status window pops up. Normally, I would have been excited about discovering elements unknown in the game, but it wasn’t the time for that. 

“…Ha. Those damned vampires. Never getting tired of chasing.” 

“Bathory, behind me!” 

I grabbed Bathory’s wrist, grinding her teeth, and pulled her back. Although she could be considered one of the strongest under normal circumstances, here in the Speda domain, she was merely a girl who knew a few tricks due to a binding magic. Of course, that was not to say she was weak. If Oparn used his physique to attack, she would be knocked out immediately, especially since he was also a demon and capable of any trickery. That’s why I stepped forward. But, my throat was also dry. 

‘Oparn, his initial specs must be no joke.’ 

A stamina sturdy enough to be called a reliable source of energy. Strength that easily meets the requirements for wearing heavy armor and shields. True to his tank character, Oparn showed excellence in both aspects, even hiding his deep demonic nature. 

A frontal confrontation with such a warrior? In this narrow room? 

‘It’s too disadvantageous. It’s not suitable for a counterattack, so for now, the plan is to buy as much time as possible, ensuring Bathory’s safety before widening the battlefield…’ 

My thoughts on escaping this predicament were made moot by the sudden action of my opponent. 

-Clang! 

He made the first move in an entirely unexpected direction. 

“What, what the…” 

“Are you just going to stand there gawking! You plan to let him escape?” 

I had only considered the possibility of him attacking. I never expected him to jump out the window. 

“We’re on the fourth floor, and he managed to throw himself out with an injured body.” 

In another sense, that was quite characteristic of a tank character. 

“Why are you so calm?! Hurry up and follow him! He might be a minion of the Demon King!” 

“…Well.” 

I still had my doubts. 

Was Oparn really the enemy? Was this guy, who could only run away from us, really hostile? 

-Lennok, time is of the essence. 

I remembered that even in the original work, he, known for his good nature, showed a temperamental side only once. 

-Wait. There are still many patients. We can’t leave them behind. 

-You’re kind, like a saint. But, we can’t take care of everyone! Don’t obsess over the small sacrifices now! Remember, we must eliminate the source. 

The final boss, the disaster subjugation. In this mission, he was more sincere and took the lead more than anyone else. 

‘I thought it was just his righteous heart being expressed in the game, but…’ 

I got goosebumps. 

The fact that he was a demon. Whether in the game or now, hiding his true nature. Using the nonexistent civil war among mercenaries as an excuse, the pursuer who strives to hide the victim. All these elements intertwined to form a single picture. 

“Come on, hurry up and chase! Do you have time to just stare blankly at me! If only I hadn’t made that worthless contract, I would have chased him myself…!” 

Why, I wonder. Why does Bathory, who is fidgeting anxiously in front of me, keep catching my eye? 

“Bathory. I have something to ask you.”

“…Sigh. What a time to ask.”

“It’s about the Demon King. It wasn’t just vampires he attacked, was it?”

Perhaps it was because her sworn enemy was mentioned. Sharp fangs peeked out from between Bathory’s red lips.

A fierce aura began to flow around the blonde girl.

“Why do you ask such a thing?”

“It seems I’ve made you uncomfortable with my unnecessary question.”

“…No. Feel free to ask. There’s no reason to hide anything from a follower.”

The last puzzle piece. It flowed out from Bathory’s mouth.

“It’s not just me. Who would look kindly upon his absurd declaration to rule over all demons? Naturally, it started with opposition from his own kind and spread to others.”

The intensification of the civil war. The sparks did not just fly towards the vampires.

“Gargoyles as well?”

“…Well, yes. Unlike us, who have a few individuals with strong individualistic tendencies, they live in groups. I’ve heard rumors that they banded together and even went to war.”

Just like vampires, gargoyles, who also occupy one of the three major demon positions, were not spared from this calamity.

In the future wars with the demons, they appeared almost as slaves.

“I see. Thank you.”

“Suddenly polite?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I think I’ve got a grip on the situation.”

[Hidden Condition (2/2)] 

[Condition: Achievement of identifying the identity of those chasing Oparn] 

[A hidden mission is unlocked.]

The status window, always affirming my speculations, inevitably intruded into my sight.

“…You’ve realized something by yourself again.”

“Of course. Though I’m not entirely sure yet.”

The confirmation should come from the person involved.

But revisiting it, it was indeed surprising.

“Seriously. I thought he was just a genial bear, but he turned out to be a fox.”

How pretentious he was in the game. Hiding his true intentions until the end.

A cheerful yet cunning male protagonist candidate, touching the window he had jumped from.

In the blue window.

Reading the continued text, I twisted the corners of my mouth slightly.

***

“Huff, huff…”

In a deserted alleyway, a man gasped for breath and merged into the darkness.

He leaned against the cold wall to calm his bloodthirsty throat, self-deprecating.

“I thought I had safely escaped to the human realm… Were there already demons infiltrated?”

How did they cross the border, where he had to cut off his horns to pass?

Even if it was a hornless vampire, they must have checked thoroughly.

No, this wasn’t the time for questions. The hostility the vampire showed him was real.

“Hurry, if I don’t escape…”

Oparn couldn’t forget. The seemingly eternal, grand, and beautiful underground palace crumbling under the feet of Levain’s troops.

“May the diamond grant us protection…!” The sight of his admired elite heavy infantry being sliced up in their armor.

“Run, my children.”

Lastly, the king who had protected their retreat, including the gargoyles, until they could escape.

Even after some time had passed, all those nightmares were still vivid in his head.

“This isn’t the time. Before those guys catch up, I must…”

Pain screamed from his body. But there was no time to care.

As he gritted his teeth and was about to move, “Found you.”

Suddenly, assailants swarmed around him.

Oparn’s face twisted. It seems those demons from earlier had leaked his location.

“Damn, to think you’d chase me all the way here.”

Their identity was not hard to guess.

Unable to hide under the robe, a crooked horn protruded conspicuously, while some, apparently not even bothering to conceal, had scales-covered tails stretching out behind them.

“Levain…!”

“Krh! Who are you to be angry? Do you have any idea how many we had to sacrifice to get here?”

Slowly, but surely, they tightened their encirclement, weapons in hand. The man in the robe at the forefront sneered.

“This is where your fate ends, young gargoyle. Hand it over.”

“Absurd!”

‘It’s an item entrusted to me by Diamond!’

Oparn’s eyes widened.

Could he really hand over what Diamond entrusted to him, even at the cost of his life, to these vile creatures?

But then, “Well, if that’s the case, we’ll just have to take it along with your life.”

A scoff laced with murderous intent flowed.

“…Is this the end?”

In truth, he knew.

He was already at his limit.

The only thing keeping him on his feet was the duty entrusted to him by Diamond.

But if willpower alone could overcome reality, his radiant homeland wouldn’t have fallen.

Even at full strength, it was hard to predict the outcome, let alone now, injured as he was.

A mere touch from them would have him collapsing.

Weapons flew at him from all sides.

As he braced for the end and closed his eyes, that’s when it happened.

“Wow, so much for the impregnable Barant Fortress, known for keeping demons at bay. Who knew it would be teeming with demons like this.”

In this tension-filled battlefield, an incongruously calm and leisurely voice flowed.

“That person is…….”

The man who had been with the vampire earlier.

Oparn’s mind became a whirlwind of thoughts at his appearance.

‘I thought he was aligned with Levain.’

However, given the current circumstances, it seemed the opposite.

The man’s face, chuckling with laughter, was filled with mockery towards the other party.

“Who are you?! We cast a spell to hinder recognition around here…?”

“Ah, thank you. That actually made it easier to find you. Should I say typical of Levain? Always so sloppy with the cleanup, magic skills so awkwardly good.”

In an instant, all of Levain’s gazes turned towards him.

‘Made it easier to find’

‘Typical of Levain’

‘Awkwardly good magic skills’

A blatant.

Disdain for their race.

His words pricked at their sky-high pride, and from within the robes, a dangerous light emerged.

“…Ho. Quite a loose tongue you have there. Makes me want to tear it out.”

“Ha-ha. Is that so? I take that as a high compliment in our line of work.”

‘…Oh.’

Oparn couldn’t help but admire him for a moment.

The man’s shrugging figure was so irritating that even Oparn wanted to punch him, let alone the Levains, the actual subjects of the mockery.

The stormy arrival placed him suddenly in the midst of everyone.

The firmly held encirclement had long since crumbled.

“Hey, human. You should pay the price for wagging your tongue freely, shouldn’t you?”

“Why, are you proposing a draw?”

“No, that would be too generous. We won’t be able to hear your screams then.”

One of the Levains, wielding a massive two-handed ax, approached him.

“First an arm, then a leg, then…!”

The Levain, boastfully continuing his cruel sentence, couldn’t finish his words.

“Kraak?!”

A streak of light grazed his shoulder, passing by.

“Oh dear, how frightening. Perhaps hold your weapon properly before you say such things.”

“……!”

“And that weapon. It’s almost like your clone, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you lose it? If the True Dragon saw this, he would be furious.”

In everyone’s shock.

The man, brimming with a cheeky smile, kicked away the ax that had fallen at his feet.

At the same time, he sighed ostentatiously, holding his cheek as if showing off. He seemed to be sculpted entirely out of mockery.

But that no longer mattered.

“Who are you?”

Confusion spread among the demons.

Not just among the Levains. Oparn felt the same surge of emotion.

‘How could such a young human…?’

The racial traits of the Levains, their tendencies, even the name of their king. These were not things an ordinary human would know.

‘…Could he possibly be a wizard who has extended his life to its limits?’

However, the magical power he exhibited was almost nonexistent.

“It’s quite early to ask, isn’t it? This feels like betrayal among our own kind.”

“Our own kind…?”

“Then let me introduce myself again.”

In his right hand, a dagger, and in the other, a golden mask.

Moving his left hand to don the mask, ominous magical power emanated from him.

“Ah, I’m not sure if you can hear me well.”

A voice full of static and unidentifiable, yet the playfulness and malice within it were unmistakable.

“My name is Frost Mane, the most inconsequential doppelgänger, at your service.”

His empty hand exaggeratedly placed on his chest, he looked ridiculous, as if a demon was clumsily imitating a human.

“And there’s no need for you to introduce yourselves.”

And in his left hand, which had been empty after the mask vanished, now flashed a golden dagger.

At first glance, he might seem comically like a jester, but the ominousness swirling behind that facade left everyone speechless.

“After all, I have no intention of leaving those who would disturb my peace alive.”

“What…?”

“Be careful!”

A dazzling line was drawn across the neck of a Levain who had just voiced his confusion.

Despite his comrade’s warning, the owner of the robe that had allowed the attack stumbled and fell.

“This bastard!”

“Hmm. This pattern is more like a mercenary’s! No wonder they felt much weaker compared to the regular troops I’ve encountered before.”

Damn! To form a surrounding formation…! Behind! Above… no, below!

What followed was sheer mockery.

The doppelgänger Oparn witnessed was truly a carnage, ripping through the Levains as if the word ‘domination’ was coined just for him.

The ingenious footwork dodging incoming halberds, spears, and greatswords by a hair’s breadth.

A golden dagger that eerily deflected any hit that happened to land.

The relentless taunts that tortured everyone’s ears.

Soon, silence enveloped all.

The Levains, who had been so boisterous just moments ago, had long since been laid low by the sword.

“Hmm. Why did you even run? It only attracts annoying flies.”

Oparn’s eyes fluttered.

The instigator of this debacle was now slowly walking towards him.

“Kill me.”

With that level of skill, he wouldn’t get far even if he ran.

Just as Oparn resignedly accepted his fate.

“What? What are you talking about?”

The slight tilt of his head and the rise in his tone seemed genuinely questioning.

“Aren’t you going to kill me?”

“Hmm. I owe Diamond from long ago. Perhaps saving you will settle that debt?”

As Oparn mulled over his words, the bizarre doppelgänger extended his hand towards him.

“Come with me for now. If you went to the lengths of cutting off your horn, there must be a situation. I’ll provide a hideout, and we can talk it out slowly there.”

Should he take this hand?

Perhaps this being, like the Levains, was after his possessions.

The doubt that had briefly surfaced in Oparn’s mind was quickly dismissed.

‘I have no choice but to comply.’

He could still determine the stranger’s intentions by following him.

“…Ugh.”

“Looks like your wounds have gotten worse.”

Above all, he was at his limit for moving any further.

His body screamed in agony.

“Well, why don’t you close your eyes and rest for a bit.”

“…What are you, offering charity as if it’s a favor? You’re not the one who will be carrying me.”

With the vampire’s voice as the last thing he heard, Oparn gave in to unconsciousness.

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