Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World - Chapter 72: Floor Guardian (3)

Ellie, Lydia, and Karen too. Even Lemon, who had become moist, and Apple, who had slightly distanced herself from her, couldn’t take their eyes off the scene before them.

The fight Jonah was showing was that fierce.

With eyes wide open, and the corners of his mouth subtly distorted. He threw his body diagonally to swing the dagger once more. The minor wounds that occurred were quickly healed each time, but the scars remained clearly visible.

The light armor made from the skin of the Iron Wolf, the finest material available on the first floor, was becoming tattered, and bright red blood seeped through.

If it weren’t for the unicorn dagger, ceaselessly emitting white light and healing Jonah’s body, he would have collapsed from excessive bleeding long ago.

Watching this, Ellie clenched her lips. A single line of blood ran down her cheek.

It goes without saying, but if Ellie wants to intervene, she can do so anytime. The same goes for Lydia and Karen.

The wooden figure covered in thorns was certainly strong. But at best, it was just the Guardian of the first floor.

Since they all had long surpassed the level of the first floor, they could easily defeat it.

Yet, the reason they only watched Jonah was simple.

It was because Jonah wanted it that way.

Lydia gently wrapped her hands around Ellie’s tightly clenched fist and said,

“Are you okay, Senior Ellie?”

“…Yes. I’m fine. Jonah is hanging in there, so I need to be fine.”

Jonah had killed with his own hands, a close friend with whom he had spent the toughest moments of his life with, but walked down a separate path.

And now, Jonah was fighting against an enemy that had grown by feeding on his own resentment.

Sad and difficult, yet to move forward into the future. He was facing the past clinging to his ankles for a better life.

How could one not cheer for Jonah, who was willingly taking on such heavy burdens with his small body?

Especially when all of this is known to be for Ellie herself.

If the small figure… Cena considers Ellie an enemy of faith that has shattered his world, then Jonah regards Ellie as a benefactor who rescued him from the mire of heresy.

Ellie watches Jonah’s struggle. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked if he might collapse, yet he didn’t. Lydia pondered for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“Senior Ellie. Do you know about what happened to Jonah before he was captured by The One Who Devours the Twilight?”

“…Uh?”

“This is just a guess, but…”

Ellie, who blamed herself for everything, was so pitiable that Lydia, who had decided to keep it a secret unless Jonah spoke up first, whispered the story softly.

Only loud enough for Ellie to hear.

As she quietly listened to Lydia’s whisper, Ellie’s eyes gradually widened.

And at the same moment. Karen was equally shocked.

‘Could it be that Sir Jonah…’

Ellie and Lydia didn’t go into details, but Karen had a sense of things.

She didn’t know the exact circumstances, but she could gather that Jonah had once been a victim of One Who Devours the Twilight, and that he had killed a fellow victim with his own hands at that time.

A flash of her first meeting with Jonah crossed Karen’s mind.

The statement that he loved everything in the world was clearly sincere. There was no doubt he was saint material.

But his words that he did not want to be involved with the Temple were also sincere.

At that time, she guessed that the Goddess had a profound intention and followed him, and she was convinced when she heard that the Pope was a traitor…

Witnessing his faceoff with The One Who Devours the Twilight, and fighting against the Floor Guardian, she saw something.

The anger and sorrow felt from Jonah while carefully laying down the small figure that he had fought with were real.

A heart that resents the world as much as it loves it.

Inside Jonah’s heart, such ambivalence, such contradiction, was filled to the brim.

But now. As he was fighting the thorny wood figure that seemed to project Jonah’s negative emotions as they were, Jonah was changing.

Because the deep-seated hatred towards the world was slowly melting away.

It is not merely about fighting off one’s own darkness. It involves confronting it, accepting it, acknowledging it, and ultimately, transforming it into love.

“Ah….”

In reality, he had only joined in the praise of the Goddess internally after finding it manageable once he tried, but Karen, unaware of this, found it a profoundly moving moment.

Just as a caterpillar breaks out of its cocoon to become a butterfly. It was the process of a still tender saint metamorphosing into a more wholly formed being.

This was what was happening before her eyes.

“Oh, Goddess…”

Holding the statue of the Goddess she had received from Jonah close to her chest, she made a vow.

No matter what, she would follow the Goddess’s representative who had descended to this land.

Thus, Ellie, Lydia and Karen each deepened their own thoughts under different misconceptions.

Lemon and Apple had no thoughts at all.

“I don’t understand what everyone is saying.”

“It’ll hurt when you try to know. Just ignore it.”

This was because everyone had cast a sound control barrier around themselves with magical tools and divine power so that others couldn’t hear!

To Lemon and Apple, it merely appeared as a bizarre scene where each person was twitching their lips, either gritting their teeth or shedding tears…!

Even Lemon and Apple had no ability to intervene in Jonah’s battle.

Eventually, Lemon, who had been continuously amazed by Jonah’s struggle, cautiously asked, wondering if it was alright to do so.

“Apple. What can we do?”

“There’s nothing we can do. Just bring some pea fritters.”

Thanks to the foolish (?) cultists who took weapons but not snacks, the pea fritters were safe.

After rummaging through her flat chest, Lemon pulled out a neatly tied pouch.

And then she began to share the traditional elf cookies she took out with Apple.

Crunch crunch.

“Ah, to think that Sir Jonah really did summon the Floor Guardian.”

“It’s definitely surprising. There must have been some thought behind it.”

Munch munch.

“…By the way, that Guardian. Doesn’t it look familiar?”

“I thought so too. But I can’t remember where I saw it.”

Yum yum.

“Um… Ah! I remember now! Isn’t it the thorn bush monster from Basilieus!”

“No, why suddenly bring up the founding myth here…eh?”

Apple, baffled, paused and took a closer look at the Floor Guardian Jonah was fighting.

A thornbush grown in the shape of a human. Now half-cut, but with crown-shaped thorns grown on the head, the ability to eat wood and produce new thorns, and the power to freely manipulate the thorns on its body.

From a distant past. The story of Basilieus, who first became the king of elves after enduring the ordeal of the World Tree.

The entity that represents the ordeal of the World Tree is this thornbush monster, or what is called the King of Thorns.

And now. Jonah is fighting the monster of that ordeal.

“…….”

“…….”

Lemon and Apple look at each other silently. Both nodded at the same time.

“A line, something that must be queued in advance.”

“To be Sir Jonah’s concubine? A sweet deal indeed.”

No need for pea fritters now.

Taking out a comb which was last used was unknown, Lemon and Apple, with serious expressions, nodded as they neatly combed each other’s hair.

“There seems to be many competitors, but our Boss Eve is indeed the best.”

“She who is seasoned with experience is in a different class from those kids.”

The two made unapologetically rude remarks to both sides.

“Isn’t it best to just ride on Boss Eve’s coattails?”

“If it’s under the guise of serving, that should be enough. Besides, the conditions for marrying Boss Eve haven’t changed, have they?”

Lemon and Apple exchanged cunning smiles. But the two blockheads didn’t know. They didn’t realize that no matter how hard a blockhead squeezes their brain, they just end up being more blockheaded.

“I want to live life the easy way.”

“Living the easy way…doesn’t it sound a bit lewd? Like doing it raw?”

The two flat-chested elves puffed out their unshaking chests proudly.

“Sir Jonah loves money.”

“Surely if we offer money and ask for it once, we’ll be despised and trampled on, but will be granted permission.”

It was indeed a trashy idea, but unfortunately, there was no one here to stop the two of them.

Everyone was floundering in their own delusions.

“…But I don’t know how much is needed.”

“Money! Only more money will make the Elves great again!”

Lemon and Apple, like other elves, eventually began to obsess over money. The naive two began to ignite their ambition…no, their desires.

It was spring.

“Kkeuk!”

I didn’t expect them not to help for real.

I swallowed a scream as I pulled out the thorn deeply embedded in my forearm.

Of course, I can’t really complain since I told them not to help unless it was really dangerous.

Ptooey!

Spitting out blood-mixed saliva, I glared at the King of Thorns before me.

My mana was nearly depleted. My already scant stamina was on the brink of exhaustion after an endless full-speed sprint, and my body, pierced and healed numerous times, retained pain like an afterimage.

But the results of my all-out spinning slashes were clear.

Most of the thorns wrapped around its body were broken and slashed away. Of course, it wasn’t as exhausted as I was. However, it was true that it had lost its weapons and armor.

The King of Thorns hesitated and began to increase the distance between us. It’s a different approach from its previous attempts to come close and stab me to death.

Considering his ability to absorb arrows that it had displayed at first, it must be planning to replenish its lost thorns by consuming the surrounding trees.

This could be useful.

“Ugh.”

I feigned exhaustion and staggered, showing a gap. Then, as if it had been waiting for it, it dashed in the opposite direction.

The moment I saw its back, I realized. This was the decisive moment I had been waiting for.

I quickly pulled out a Low-grade Magic Potion from my subspace pocket and drank it.

Thanks to the Gluttonous Stomach, mana surged immediately. I pushed it into the Invisible Cloak and Haste Boots, activating my Sound-Eating Footsteps.

Now accustomed to the sensation of being isolated from the world.

I swung my dagger at the unprotected nape of the King of Thorns, who was reaching out towards the trees of the Great Forest across the plains surrounding the World Tree’s illusion.

Slash!

The neck, half-sliced, revealing its growth rings. With the effects of Haste still lingering, I did not miss this opportunity and continued to swing my dagger.

Slash. Slash. Slash.

The white light emitted by the Unicorn Dagger filled the space, rapidly mutilating the body of the King of Thorns.

Wrist, hip joint, waist, shoulder, spine…

No longer shielded by thorns, the defenseless body is dismantled piece by piece.

Thud.

The head fell last.

I plunge the Unicorn Dagger towards the still-burning eyes.

Thud!

“Thank you, Wish Ticket.”

That was the end.