Chapter 143. First Meeting with the Great Hero of Friendship
Leaving the noisy arena behind, I headed lightly toward the office.
Wow.
Just how much money did I make from this whole thing?
Sure, it had been a huge match between a Champion and the owner of the arena, but an absurd amount of money had gathered.
If I convert all of this into cash!
Woooow!
Khhhhh!
“...Master....”
“Hm?”
Unlike when he had appeared in the arena, the Undertaker was now walking along with his coffin resting on his shoulder.
He spoke to me.
He looked creepy enough to resemble a corpse, but when you actually talked to him, he was extremely gentlemanly.
Talking with him was surprisingly comfortable.
“What do you intend to do with this man’s soul?”
“Why? Do you want it?”
“Both this man’s soul and his body are things that surpass everything I currently possess. I cannot handle them right now, but if I am given a little time, I believe I could create an excellent doll.”
Oh?
He wasn’t normally someone who talked this much.
He must really want it.
Well, I suppose he was probably getting tired of those heavily modified dolls made with the Hollow Tree and machinery.
“For the youngest?”
“...The only one capable of properly controlling the dolls I create is Doll, so naturally I would give it to her. However, this is also my personal desire.”
The tenth child.
The last one to awaken from the cocoon.
More accurately, she had died once and barely managed to come back to life.
That was the name we gave her.
Because the Undertaker had played such a major role in bringing her back, Mr. Jang and the youngest often acted like a grandfather and granddaughter.
Even with that kind of relationship, he wanted this soul and body enough to admit it was his personal greed?
Having fought the guy myself, I could completely understand.
“Hmm, sorry. I’d give it to you if I could, but that’s probably beyond what I can decide.”
“Ah... I see. Understood. I shall give up.”
“Haha! I’ll get you something similar later!”
“Hoho. I shall believe you, Master.”
The Undertaker disappeared through the shadows.
Maybe because they were all under me, every one of them seemed to possess shadow movement like some kind of passive skill.
It was convenient for me, but seriously, what a broken ability.
Especially when you considered that it was originally Pie’s skill.
Why did all of you have it too?
I wanted to ask, even though I knew I would never get an answer.
Thump! Thump!
After the Undertaker disappeared, heavy footsteps approached from beyond the corridor.
I had a bad feeling.
Something unpleasant was definitely about to happen to me.
It sounded like whoever it was would appear around the corner at any moment.
I stopped walking and tried to speak as calmly as possible.
“If you come any closer, I’ll grind up Mr. Champion’s soul.”
The footsteps stopped.
Apparently, the Haemo Church had one Great Hero.
Surely it wasn’t her, right?
If my opponent was a Great Hero, I probably wouldn’t even be able to run away properly.
“Indomitable Hero... What exactly are you doing?”
A deep, rough voice.
Just from the weight behind that voice, I could feel how powerful the person was.
Ramsane Gildeupin, the Great Hero of Friendship.
A woman who supposedly used a body tougher than the hardest ore as a shield and chopped off enemy heads with a one-handed axe as easily as cutting down trees.
From what I heard, she was from Power.
What kind of place was Power anyway...?
I had influenced it to some extent, so I really should visit it someday.
But that would probably be after meeting Hayangi.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean exactly what I said! Why did you kill him?! The agreed duel was not supposed to be a fight to the death!”
Crack!
The pressure coming from around the corner caused cracks to spread across the wall!
As expected of a Great Hero!
Once again, I was reminded of the difference in level!
Let’s prepare to run!
Y-Yeah!
I can use the contribution points I gained this time to buy something like affection points!
...
But seriously, what kind of nonsense was this?
These people sacrificed completely unrelated humans to the sea, didn’t they?
And now they were saying this?
What kind of arrogant lawless bastards were they?
The title of Great Hero was being wasted.
“If someone overheard you, they might think we had made some prior agreement. Weren’t we only promised that a new Champion would be chosen in the arena?”
“You bastard...!”
“The Haemo Church’s strongest Champion. You’re being awfully cold toward your new Champion, your new comrade.”
I smiled.
“I can practically hear the name Friendship crying. Or is that just me?”
“Shut up! What kind of comrade kills another comrade?!”
“He’s not dead yet.”
That was true.
Thanks to the Undertaker’s incredible skill, his soul and body had simply been separated and preserved.
It wasn’t like I had outright killed him.
The moment I stated that firmly, the Great Hero’s pressure paused and slowly faded.
People in this game who held Hero titles generally leaned toward good, so they were at least reasonable enough to talk to.
Thinking about it from their perspective...
I was also someone with a Hero title, yet I ran private gambling matches.
Calling me eccentric probably wasn’t even enough.
“Gildeupin, I don’t know what you think of me, but I can’t forgive people who whisper behind my back and scheme to screw me over.”
“Are you saying we deceived you?”
“Don’t pretend otherwise.”
I continued.
“You sent out someone I couldn’t possibly beat in the first place.”
I looked toward the corner.
“Gildeupin, you tell me. Do you honestly think I could beat Hashidaba in a straightforward fight?”
“....”
The Great Hero couldn’t answer.
But my answer was—
Yes.
I could win.
If we repeated the same conditions as this time, I’d probably only win the first match out of a hundred.
But in a genuine frontal battle where I could use any means necessary?
I was confident.
My full fighting force included Jayeon, Modak, and Jjikjjiki as summoned creatures.
It was basically four against one from the start.
How could I lose?
What?
It was supposed to be one-on-one?
Nope.
Why should I?
History is written by the winner!
“...You would win.”
“Huh? What?”
“Yes. I do not like admitting it, but I know your strength.”
The voice remained calm.
“In a restricted situation like this, you would be unable to use your full strength. More importantly, you are not the kind of person who would allow yourself to remain trapped in such restrictions.”
She continued.
“You would find an escape route somehow.”
She was calmer than I expected.
Was this what made a Great Hero a Great Hero?
I really couldn’t underestimate her.
“And the reason you are behaving so confidently even in front of me...”
Her voice lowered.
“Is because you either found a way to persuade me, or a way to escape from me, correct?”
Grab!
Crack!
A huge hand suddenly reached around the corner and grabbed the edge of the wall.
She barely applied any strength, yet cracks spread through it and pieces crumbled to the floor.
That wall was fairly sturdy too.
She was breaking it way too easily.
Should I schedule repairs?
Maybe strengthening the building against siege attacks wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“But you are soft.”
The Great Hero continued.
“The fact that you refuse to finish things with your own hands, even at the very end...”
“Isn’t that because you do not trust yourself?”
A huge muscular woman slowly stepped out from around the corner.
She was so massive that the one-handed axe hanging from her waist, shaped like a goat’s head, was directly at the level of my face.
I froze for a moment.
A Great Hero was such an overwhelming existence that I couldn’t read her flow.
But I could feel flow from the axe.
