Chapter 14: Corruption

El’s mood had been terribly weird recently.

It began when Lucas heard of him becoming a father in a prophecy.

Before that, El’s mood had been stable. She had gotten used to living inside this man called Lucas and had mostly dropped her guard.

She would even walk around his [World Home] with loose shirts and hot pants as if she’s just strolling her own house, completely oblivious the the inner struggles of the young man Lucas.

Without anything to do, she spent her time surfing the internet and found animes and such. Recently, she also began watching movies and dramas. She even got into korean drama for a while but soon found other interesting things and moved on.

She has completely gotten used to this kind of daily life where she laze around and have Mei wait on her and have Lucas occasionally tease her or scold her.

She was happy.

In fact, she even thought that it won’t be a problem if she don’t recover her memories. It was fine living like this.

Yes, maybe living with Lucas isn’t so bad...but then, the huge bomb called ‘prophecy’ arrived.

Hearing Lucas would be a father soon, her heart was in a terrible mess.

She didn’t know what the feeling was. Only, she thought that her daily life would change a lot if Lucas were to be a father and be with someone else.

Although she scolded Lucas and accused him that he somehow impregnated her like Virgin Mary, in a small corner of her heart, she kinda hoped that was the case. At least, that way, she can still retain her daily life with him…

“No no no! What am I thinking!? How can I possibly t-t-think that!!!???”

El shook her head as her face turned red.

“I-I don’t like him at all! R-right! This is just to retain my daily life! It’s not because I l-l-l-like that pervert!”

Convincing herself, she nodded furiously and calmed herself.

To the side, Mei just curiously looked at the mumbling El then continued cleaning the house.

Just when El finally managed to calm down, another ‘enemy’ arrived!

It was none other than Moonlight. The sexy mage with huge bust!

“T-this bastard! Here I am worrying about the prophecy and this pervert is already eyeing another woman!”

Pissed, El started to lash out curses at Lucas.

However, due to conversing with both El inside his head and the people outside, Lucas was unable to keep up with both conversation and eventually led to Moonlight somehow accepting Lucas to court her.

As for El, she only focused on her conversation with Lucas and when she suddenly heard Moonlight’s acceptance, she snapped.

“LUCAS YOU IDIOT!!!”

After shouting loudly, she ran to her room and covered herself in her bed.

She still don’t know what the feeling in her heart is. But she knows one thing.

Right now, it really hurts.

+ + +

“Uhh...I think there’s a misunderstanding here somewhere...”

Utterly confused with the sudden series of developments, I smiled wryly.

“Misunderstanding? Don’t you like me?”

“Well...I would be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you...but it’s not love?”

“Huh? Then why do you look like you want to kill yourself when I rejected you earlier?”

“No, that...well...that’s a bit hard to explain...but it has nothing to do with your rejection. Rather, I’m relieved.”

Not knowing how to explain, I just laughed awkwardly and scratched my head.

Moon looked at me weirdly and said.

“Relieved? Relieved that I don’t like you? You’re weird.”

“Haha. You know, there’s this time when someone suddenly demanded me to marry her and it was a bit hard to reply...at least you’re not like that, is what I thought.”

Remembering Xiuying’s demand that time, I truly didn’t know what to do.

Actually, I wonder what happened to that? After all, the quest reward from that time was to marry her...oh well, if they don’t bring it up, I have no reason to.

“Someone actually wanted you to marry her? Haha, you sure can joke. Usually, it’s the man who proposes. And you’re not even that handsome.”

“Well, whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

Seeing as she didn’t believe me, I just shrugged.

“Eh? In my case though, I was the one who proposed.”

Suddenly, Evie spoke.

“...Eh? You’re engaged?”

Both me and Moon looked at Evie in surprise.

This girl looked to be around her 20s and seemed terribly naive. Yet she was the one who proposed first!?

“Married actually! I’m already 30, if I don’t marry, then when will I? My boyfriend’s pretty timid and didn’t have the courage to propose to me so I did it myself!”

“O-oh...congratulations then?”

Moon and I were taken aback.

Seems like this girl is already 30 years old!

She must’ve used the character creation to change her appearance and looked younger.

After thinking of this, I remembered that it is possible to change such things at the start and unconsciously looked at Moon’s towering peaks.

“Hey! These are my real breast size! I only changed my hair color!”

Seemingly knowing what I was thinking, Moon glared at me and combed her red hair angrily.

I just coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.

The thing about girls, once you talk about love, you will only dig yourself deeper into an abyss.

It’s better to steer clear of it. Un, let’s move on.

“Any idea what you’ll all do when we reach [Kiel]?”

“Hmm...not really. Ah, how about I stick around you? You mentioned something about a B rank quest. I want in!” Moon demanded.

“Well, I don’t think it’s possible to share this quest...”

After all, it seemed that it would end with me being a father...eh? Maybe if I accept her to go with me, she’ll be the mother!!!??? Is that how the prophecy worked!?

“Ehh, I also want to go!”

Evie seemed curious as well and also wanted to join.

Hmm...if it’s two of them, then is it fine? It’s not like two mothers are possible...maybe that wasn’t it?

There’s also a chance that it’s not even my biological child or something...Arghh! I don’t know! I don’t understand!

Let’s just not think about it and deal with it later!

“Fine, you can stick around.”

“It’s cute how you think you had a choice! Good, what’s the quest about?”

“Like I said, I don’t think it’s the type of quest that can be shared...anyway, I have to go to the [Church] branch at [Kiel] then show them the letter of introduction to let me in.”

“That’s all? How is this a B rank quest? And what are you supposed to do once you get in?”

Moon frowned as she was unable to completely understand.

Don’t look at me like that, I know more and I understand even less! Am I supposed to tell you I’m going to be a father soon!?

“The difficulty probably lies in the journey as I said before...so if I’m not wrong, then on the way, we will be encountering some-”

I sighed and explained what I know when a sudden roar echoed from above.

*ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!*

“...-problems...”

...And by problems, I meant a gigantic lizard with wings.

And by gigantic lizard with wings, I meant a dragon…

“A-a Sky Dragon!? And a mature one at that!?”

And by dragon, I meant a sky dr-

“Look! Someone’s riding on its back!”

...Sky dragon rid-

“There are more coming towards us!”

...An army of sky dragon riders…

This...this...no matter what, isn’t this too high leveled for a B rank quest!?

How are we supposed to deal with these people!?

Wait, are they even enemies? Maybe they’re just flying by…

“Sire! There’s a group of people here!”

The dragon rider above us shouted to the back where the huge army of dragons are.

“Kill them! The dark oracle has prophesied that ‘he’ will be passing by around this area at this time! Kill anyone you find!”

...Okay, I am 120% sure that the ‘he’ these guys mentioned is the ‘me’ in the prophecy of the [Church]...

Which means that these guys are here to find me…

Ha ha ha...I’m going to die aren’t I?

Just when I was thinking that the future was bleak, a surge of coldness spread through my chest.

My heart grew cold, it reached my head and I felt the coldness in my mind.

Gradually, I became expressionless and an invisible force surged from within me.

Killing intent!

The moment the killing intent was released, I regained a slight moment of clarity and was dumbfounded!

This...isn’t this [Dragon’s Wrath]!? Why is it activating!? I’m not even getting angry!?

No good. I need to suppress it...suppress...think of happy thoughts…

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to think of something happy.

Happy...happy...what am I supposed to think about!?

Suddenly, El’s laughing face surfaced in my mind.

Right now, El’s been pretty sulky and always scowling. I kinda missed hearing her laughing voice in my head.

The sound of her laugh...

The sight of her smile…

Thinking about it, before I got the [World Key], I’ve lived a pretty normal life.

Though there were happy moments, they didn’t stick to my mind long enough.

It wasn’t when I got the [World Key], it was when El started living inside me did I feel like my life had really changed.

Even though most of the time, she just laze around, not helping at all, but when I need her the most, she comes out and supports me.

“Lucas!”

As if on cue, he worried voice rang in my head again.

Her voice was like a spark of light in a dark world.

Now, I just need to follow that spark of light...to get out of this dark world…

My mind grew clearer and the killing intent dispersed.

It took a while to explain but the killing intent only appeared for about a second. But it was enough to scare the dragons as they all panicked and scurried away, dropping the riders at their backs.

Maybe because the [Dragon’s Wrath] had a better effect on dragons, anyway, all that’s left are the ‘riders’.

This should be enough for me to deal with.

“Thank you El. I’m fine now.”

“...That’s good then.”

I smiled wryly and took out my two daggers.

“There, now it’s about the same as a B rank difficulty now right?”

I laughed and looked at Moon and Evie whose eyes were wide and jaws to the ground.

“This is just the beginning of a chain quest. What’s coming next, it would be even more difficult. If you can’t handle this, then it’s best you don’t follow me.”

I no longer minded them and charged straight towards the ‘riders’.

They all fell from quite the height and some had broken legs. But those who manage to land quite safely are still panicking on what just happened.

I need to kill them before they regain their bearings!

I approached every ‘rider’ with [Blink], used earth [Elemental Manipulation] to grab their feet and deal a clean slash at their throats.

It would probably be fine even without the [Elemental Manipulation] but I need to raise my elemental stats. Right now, [Earth] is still at 10 and I can only manipulate the earth about the size of a fist so it has very limited uses.

In the future, things would be way easier if I can just swallow every enemy in the earth...though I wonder how many points do I need for that?

Out of all my skills, I know that [Elemental Manipulation] is my greatest asset that I can willingly use. Right now, [Earth], [Wind], [Dark], [Ice], [Lightning], [Holy], and [Space] needed to be increased as they are really too small.

However, out of all these elements, I can only use [Earth]. [Wind], [Dark], and [Holy] as they can be found anywhere I go.

Last time, in order to increase [Ice] and [Lightning] a bit, I brought ice cubes from my refrigerator and played with it and also brought a stun gun to play with the electricity...however, at best, they can only be increased to 10...if I want to increase them more, it would take way too much time.

As for [Space]...this, I really don’t know what to do…

I know that there is [Space] around me, but as for it usage...the best thing I can do is deflect projectiles.

Anyway, I can focus on the other elements first.

In order to reach the best result, I first [Heal] the enemy, use the earth, wind, and darkness of the shadow to restrain him a bit, then kill him in one slash.

I need to get stronger so I don’t need to use [Dragon’s Wrath] all the time I’m in danger.

Only when I’m strong enough, will I have a choice.

If I’m weak, whether I like it or not, [Dragon’s Wrath] will activate by itself again.

I continued to kill but after a while, some of the ‘riders’ had already sobered up and started counter attacking as they swung their swords at me.

However, with qi surrounding my body, and with the slight assist of [Space], all they can do is tear my clothes and only a few had managed to leave a wound on my body before I quickly killed them.

At the distance, I saw a ‘rider’ that was different from the rest.

It was pretty obvious as this one had a different attire than the others.

This must be the one mentioned as ‘sire’ by the others.

There are also a dozen ‘riders’ guarding him. Though right now, his expression grew ugly seeing me easily killing his men.

Normally, dragon riders are hard to deal with since the hardest point in fighting them is their advantage of a higher ground and the prowess of the dragons.

But with just the ‘riders’ alone...well, they’re just slightly stronger than normal people.

Some of them casted fireballs and lightning bolts towards me but I managed to repel most of it using my [Elemental Manipulations]. Just enough for me to dodge in time.

I rather welcome them using lightning bolts or ice spears as I would have a chance to grind [Lightning] and [Ice].

However, they sure are a lot...this is really troublesome.

I’ve already killed a hundred or so but they still have a lot!

The ‘sire’ is also starting to retreat! I can’t let them get away! They are precious EXP!!!

Thinking this, I condensed a small ball of light in front of me, marked the ‘sire’ with [Hunter’s Mark], and fired it away at light speed, hitting the ‘sire’s’ left leg!

That should buy me some time.

But these wall of cannon fodders are really troublesome!

Seeing their ‘sire’ get hit, they quickly condensed in front of me, blocking my way!

Just then, reinforcements finally arrived!

“To hell with it! If I don’t let loose, I won’t calm down at all!”

“Hehe, I’m also in!”

Moon and Evie started acting.

Moon used a C rank magic, [Lightning Cannon], and pierced the wall of cannon fodders and giving me a path!

Evie on the other hand, was like me, appearing behind the enemies one by one and assassinating them!

The other ‘players’ also started to move and joined in on the fun. Probably to get more EXP out of it.

Still, Moon was the biggest help as her AoE magics had depleted the enemy rather quickly.

Soon, I finally reached the ‘sire’.

Killing the guards was easy, but I didn’t hurry myself to kill the ‘sire’.

“Who ordered you to kill me!?”

“!? S-so it was you! Y-you’re ‘him’!”

“Answer me!”

“H-heh! You’re going to kill me anyway! What’s use is there in telling you!?”

I saw Moon conjure a fireball so I used my [Elemental Manipulation] and took a bit of her flame and send it in front of me.

“Choose, a quick death, or a long lasting one?”

I brought the fire close to his face and glared at him.

“Y-you-!!! F-fine! I’ll speak! I’ll speak!”

However, I didn’t pay attention and brought the fire to his hand and burned it.

“Y-you! I said I’ll speak!”

Still not answering, I burned the other hand.

“F-fine! Fine! It’s the [Dark Church]! I belong to the [Dark Church]!”

He answered, however, I new sensation appeared inside me and I no longer paid him any attention.

The only thing in my mind was...how long can I let him live while burning his body?

*Ssssshhhh*

His feet burned and he squealed like a pig.

Next, I burned the other feet, then the thighs, slowly moving upwards…

“Lucas! Don’t let the darkness consume you again!”

El’s voice brought me back and the flame dissipated.

I looked at my trembling hand, then the ‘sire’ who's still alive but unconscious due to the pain.

Damn...is this what the corruption truly meant!? I...I…

Gritting my teeth, I beheaded the ‘sire’ cleanly and killed him instantly.

“I’m...I’m fine...I can still handle this...as long as you’re here...”

“Lucas...”

“El...no, nevermind...”

El, once your memories recover...will you leave?

I wanted to ask her but I’m afraid to hear her answer so I didn’t.

But still...once the time comes...can I really let her go?

El...I think I…

Status

Name

Lucas

Level

12

Race

Human - Dragon

Gender

Male

Class

Wanderer

7

Stamina

8975

Mana

9025

Qi

100000000000

Spirit

1840

Cultivation

Peak Martial Emperor

STR

123

INT

121

SPD

122

DEX

120

VIT

119

LUK

182

Fire

56

Earth

17

Water

234

Wind

16

Light

221

Dark

16

Ice

12

Lightning

12

Holy

18

Space

16

Fame

-27000

Rage

0

Sealed

Elena Shenxue

Skills

Concoct

3.54%

Dragon’s Wrath

10.18%

Elemental Manipulation

Passive

Star Convergence

Passive

Spirit Formation

3.94%

Implosion Palm

7.51%

World Eyes

Passive

Smith

32.54%

Blink

8.51%

Stealth

7.02%

Heal

8.12%

Cure

1.12%

Triple Stab

3.25%

Successive Shots

2.45%

Hunter’s Mark

Passive