The skeleton, struck by the mace, staggered as it tried to rise again, only to fall back to the ground with a chuckle.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say it was forced down. The bones around its knees had shattered.
“The power of the Evil God is dissipating. Is morning approaching?”
What had moved it was the energy infused by the dark Evil God. As the ti of Tariki ca to an end and morning arrived, the skeleton’s body would naturally crumble away.
As the skeleton observed its gradually disintegrating body, it chuckled softly and then lifted its head.
The skeleton. The remains holding Garad's mories. The one who believes itself to be a noble knight. Its empty eyes gazed at .
There were no pupils. No eyes. No brows, frowns, or expressions. Yet, I felt a softness from the skeleton's face.
It was a strange feeling. Considering the earlier situation, the emotion that should have been emanating from the skeleton was anger and annoyance.
That was only natural. The many insults I hurled at the skeleton would have been reasonable responses to any sort of provocations.
But the skeleton did not respond that way.
“You were excellent. To have this level of skill even before reaching adulthood, your na will surely be rembered in history.”
Instead, it simply praised with sincerity.
That gentleness made feel embarrassed.
While so would go to any lengths to exact revenge for perceived wrongs against the skeleton, I, amidst countless insults, had not used even a single assassination attempt.
At that mont, a thought crossed my mind.
In this instant, I realized that while I had won, I had lost.
I had won in the contest, but lost as a human.
No, did I even win in a real contest?
No matter how I thought about it, it seed like I would end up being the arrogant brat, basking in the fact that the adults around were deliberately letting win.
To be honest, if the skeleton hadn’t gone easy on , I would have died long ago.
...
Let’s not think about it. The more I think, the more miserable it feels.
As I was at a loss for words, my lips twitching, the elder raised his voice.
“If you keep that up, I’ll throw you to the idiotic creature as a toy.”
Why does he keep nagging when I’m already starting to feel self-loathing now that the excitent from the sugaki skill has worn off?
I had originally planned to yell “You can’t do anything, can you?” but now I really felt like committing suicide.
So just stop. If you want to be licked by that foolish creature, I won’t stop you.
After saying that, the elder hurriedly closed his mouth.
“Why are you saying nothing? Ah! Are you feeling weighed down by what I said during our duel? Don’t worry about it. In a fight, it’s only right to do whatever it takes to win.”
Damn this skeleton! Stop showing such an adult side of yourself!
You should show your ugly side to at least hide my own ugliness a bit!
“More importantly, this fight was born out of my shortcomings. If anything, it should be apologizing.”
Please stop.
No, please stop it.
Can’t you sacrifice a bit of your honor to save from this situation?
“Take this sword. Compared to the one I used in the past, it may be lacking, but it is still worthy of being called a fine sword.”
Is this really necessary?!
“Whoever you give it to or sell it to, it will surely be useful no matter how you use it.”
Ugh. How could I have said sothing like, “You’re dickless,♡ talentless,♡ and characterless, but you’re full of perversion, skeleton lady?♡ That’s so cool!♡”
Feelings of self-loathing and guilt mixed, creating chaos in my head.
The most despairing part is that all my remarks from before were words I threw to provoke the opponent, unrelated to the sugaki skill.
There’s no place to make excuses! What do I do?!
I feel like I’m becoming more and more of a trash person, and what should I do now?!
As I internally scread, a thought erged. Since I had already beco trash, I might as well follow through with my original plan and beco true trash, but I forcefully pushed that devil’s whisper away.
If I did that, I felt like I’d really lose the chance to turn back.
“By the way, can I ask one thing?”
With the bare minimum of courtesy, I thought to respond, and the skeleton asked a small question.
“Are you receiving teachings from Ruel?”
...Ah. You figured it out. You realized that I was receiving help from the elder.
Well, considering that I had been provoked by words that could only be known from mid-way through the fight, there’s no way you wouldn’t know.
Nodding without denying it, I heard the skeleton chuckle softly.
Following that laugh, I saw its ribcage start to crumble.
“Indeed. So that was the case. I thought you were devout because you showed no interest in won, but is this kind of girl actually your type?”
“Disgraceful. Ruel. To hide behind the one you’re teaching while focusing on ridiculing a friend. That’s why you didn’t obtain the shield.”
I knew that the elder’s words were correct since I knew various episodes from the ga, but I didn’t bother to correct him.
Seeing the skeleton’s ribcage crumble, I realized ti was running out.
Until just a mont ago, I had only caused the skeleton trouble. I should repay him in so way, right?
For a while, while the skeleton continued to insult the elder, it seed to rember sothing and attempted to clap, only to realize its arms were missing, chuckling to itself.
“...Ruel. You might not know this, but let tell you sothing interesting. Do you think this place is the only thing that crazy Karon has created?”
Did the skeleton’s words shock that much? As the elder fell silent, a calm enveloped the atmosphere, and I could hear the skeleton continue speaking.
“Since there’s no ti, let’s stop playing around. Child blessed by the goddess. You will have to overco many hardships ahead. Although I’ve said many bad things, that foul knight is a reliable fellow. It may be picky, but if you trust him and follow him, he will surely be of great help.”
Even if you don’t say that, I already know he’s more trustworthy than anyone else. If I don’t trust the one person who understands my struggles, then who can I trust?
“Please, don’t give up and keep moving forward. It’s shaless for to say this, considering that I am the one who has burdened you.”
‘Don’t worry.’
“What are you worried about? Do you think I’ll lose to the trash that’s been beaten down and is now rotting on the ground? I’m just a skeleton without a brain.”
“Heh. You know, they used to say I had good taste in people back in the day.”
After laughing for a while, the skeleton slowly looked up at , realizing its shoulders were crumbling.
“Hang in there.”
With that one phrase, the skeleton’s head fell to the ground.
In a panic, I rushed over to pick it up, but by then, the skeleton’s head had already turned to dust, scattering across the ground.
Ugh. Damn it. I really hate facing good people. The ending is unsettling. If my opponent were trash, I’d feel refreshed after smashing their head in.
I want to hurl insults as I leave.
Could this have been their intention?! To give discomfort while simultaneously boosting their reputation?!
...Ugh. That’s unlikely.
‘Yes.’
As I sighed inwardly and heard the elder’s urgent voice, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
No way. Elder. In this situation, shouldn’t you be the one feeling the aftermath more than I do?!
Why are you only worrying about yourself and not even glancing at the skeleton?! Are you really a knight?!
‘It’s true. It’s a place I intend to visit soday.’
I don’t particularly want to go there.
It’s a place that’s difficult to enter. Plus, it’s not a place where I need to suffer to obtain sothing.
But I don’t need to tell the elder that honestly.
Ha ha. Be afraid of the fact that you don’t know when your dark history will co back to haunt you, elder!
Ignoring the elder’s urgent voice, I looked up and saw the figure of a sword.
With a face and body that seed to have taken a beating, Luca, who had a perfectly normal expression, bowed his head without saying a word.
Wow, this guy really is disgustingly strong. Even though Luca was in a state of losing his mind, that guy was still on the list of strong ones.
To overpower soone like him without a scratch, was it thanks to the foolish creature helping him little by little?
“Are you going back right away?”
‘No. Just a mont.’
“Ugh. Is that worthless knight rushing us while his master is waiting? You’re really lower than a dog.”
“I'm really sorry! Miss!”
After tossing Luca’s body like a sack of rice and leaving his head on the ground, I opened the quest window to properly check the reward I just received.
...Huh? Why is there another quest I don’t know about?
Clear the knight’s trial.
Ah, right. They ntioned they’d give a reward for passing this trial initially. How did I forget that?
I completely blanked due to the evil god’s interference earlier.
Hmm. For now, let’s check the reward I know. After all, it’s said that fun things should be saved for later.
[Reward ‘Holy Domain’ has been granted!]
Holy Domain. A skill that covers a certain radius around oneself with holiness, turning that space advantageous for allies and disadvantageous for enemies.
It’s ambiguous.
While it is a good skill in the late ga, it only becos effective in the late ga.
Using it consus a massive amount of holy power, and if the level of holiness is low, the holiness could just dissipate without activating. Furthermore, it consus a lot of holy power just to maintain it, making it extrely difficult to use.
To be honest, it was a skill rarely used unless one wanted to have a fun concept.
Given that I had just cleanly defeated the dark Evil God, to receive such a skill as a reward made my voice almost rise to my throat in protest.
Yet I forcibly held it down.
The rewards given by the useless god had proved their worth at so point in the past.
I could always curse later.
Who knows? If I were blessed with the holy power of the useless god, it might be different?
For now, I’ll check this out after I recover my physical condition, and then look at the other rewards.
What could it be? What will they give ?
I wasn’t really expecting much due to the useless skill I just received, but it was still a reward, so I needed to check.
[You have succeeded in earning the recognition of the Guardian of Trials.]
[Achievent that even the creator of the trials could not have anticipated.]
Oh? Was the explanation like this? I thought it was a different description.
Am I mistaking sothing?
[...]
[The past hero Garad excelled at grasping his opponent's weaknesses and taking control of the flow. So of the abilities he possessed have been granted to your mace.]
[Weakness Recognition.]
[You will now be able to identify weaknesses more effectively.]
Was there such a skill in Soul Academy?
If there was a skill with such a good effect, there’s no way I wouldn’t have rembered it!
I concluded one thing as I pondered deeply with my arms crossed.
This skill didn’t exist in the ga.
...
This is insane.
So, are they granting a skill that didn’t exist in the ga right now?!
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