Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? - Chapter 78: Don’t Do This (3)

「Madness Gauge: 1%」

「❖ Fangs Aimed at Jacrati

∎ Liberate Ayu Hin

∎ Optional: Kill Vipurit」

The three members of the 72 Knights, the commander who was with them, and the dozens of soldiers behind them were cut down in a single [Slash], which corresponded to 1%.

It might be slow to fill as it was still in the early stages, but even considering that, it was quite worth using. The amount the gauge got filled by was less than I’d expected.

“Phew…”

Could I stop acting now? I thought it was safe enough for me to say that the Great Demon had gone home now.

I checked the gazes of the sentries standing on the castle walls and the guards behind them. I also had to deal with Lukkwan, who might still be around here somewhere…

Shit, I would have to show them the scene of the Great Demon somehow so things wouldn’t be awkward later. I also had to consider that this information might reach the ears of the Demon Worshippers—I might have to bluff my way out under the guise of the Great Demon.

“Urgh.”

After finishing my calculations, I pressed a hand over the eye covered by the eyepatch and bent down. To give this a name, it would be the ‘The Demon and Demon Knight are fighting for dominance’ pose.

Of course, extreme embarrassment overcame me right after.

I was okay with playing as an unhinged person, but this transition scene was simply too much for me to endure. However, if I wanted to live, I had to overcome this.

“Phew.”

Still, I was a professional roleplayer! I kept going somehow.

My body, which I’d bent at the waist, straightened again. I immediately straightened my back, as well. When acting as the Great Demon, I deliberately didn’t straighten my back completely, standing quite crookedly so anyone paying me even the slightest attention would notice the difference.

Baaang!

At that moment, I heard another explosion from a distance away—Roaaaar—followed by a dragon’s roar. It seemed the kids were doing a good job, given there was a lot more pain in that roar than the one before.

In that case, I should probably clear out this castle.

Based on that sound, the Inquisitor could hold on quite well, so it wouldn’t be too bad if I joined in a bit later.

On the other hand, the enemies still left in the castle were a different matter. There weren’t only pirates here, but also Demon Contractors capable of casting curses and other spells through human sacrifices.

And the civilians they could use as sacrifice.

If left be, they might return to me as a lump of regret. Removing those bastards now would be a lot more convenient.

So, I took a slight step back. Even after I unleashed that [Slash], the scimitar remained enveloped in Arcane Power, giving off screeching sounds.

“Well…”

Huh? What, someone survived this? The voice sounded too close to belong to one of the sentries atop the castle wall.

I halted my steps and turned toward where the voice came from. Looking back, I saw someone whose upper and lower body had been cleaved apart clawing at the dirt ground in anger.

Focalor. Or was it Vipurit?

“You’ve done well.”

No, but I just saw the Quest update. Why was he still alive?

“For a mere mortal…!”

I swallowed down the absurdity I felt. At the same time, disappointment crept in.

This guy was probably supposed to be the final boss… While I may have landed a surprise attack on them, it felt strange that he was done just like that.

I felt empty because I technically skipped the boss fight. I kept wondering whether this was really fine or if this was really the end.

But what about it? If this was just your run-of-the-mill game, I might have cursed out loud, but this was actually better for me right now.

I had to move while keeping an eye on the Madness Gauge, and I was currently in a situation where every second counted.

“However, the Demon is still alive.”

As such, I picked up a sword and brought it down on him without any hesitation.

Stab!

At that moment, the slaughterer of the Yabad region and a traitor to humanity died as though cut off from his life source. Compared to what he had done and had been planning on doing, it was a rather insignificant end.

However, I didn’t want to be disappointed about it. I could only criticize it from a gamer’s standpoint, but the end of a slaughterer like him didn’t need to be dramatic or tragic.

I picked up his severed head and tried to stuff it into my inventory.

Since my client requested that I bring proof of his death, I intended to bring his entire head to simplify the verification process.

Grab!

Or that’s what I had planned to do, had Focalor’s decapitated body not stretched out an arm and grabbed me.

“Heh, heh, hahaha!”

No, rather, the more pressing issue was that the severed head was sporting a wide smile, or that something like tentacles were emerging from the severed neck.

As such, an octopus with a human face came into being.

“…!”

Wow, that was actually horrifying!

I kicked away the hand holding onto my foot and threw away the head before it could wrap its tentacles around me.

Swoosh!

That wasn’t all. I swung my sword so fast that one might say it was by reflex.

A barrage of slashes tore apart the airborne head. While I completely ripped it apart, thin tentacles came out of the pieces, reached out to each other, and reattached themselves.

To me, who was quite squeamish, this process looked absolutely disgusting.

“How hideous.”

What the hell did that guy do to his body? What did he do to allow his head to knit itself together after being cut to pieces and then merge with his main body again?

“Hahahaha!!”

This whole thing was even scarier because he was laughing like a madman.

I delivered another barrage of slashes with the sole intent of fully killing him before he could fully reattach his head to his body.

“It’s useless. The thing I did first after leaving this land was completely removing this body from death.”

However, as Focalor said after he finally stopped laughing, the tentacles coming from his body completely closed every wound and reattached his severed head once more, as well. My actions were meaningless.

「Madness Gauge: 2%」

Then what was I supposed to do? I lowered my scimitar. At that moment, Focalor’s recovery sped up even further.

“I don’t know how you managed to overwhelm the Great Demon again and take control of the body, but… there’s no need for me to know.”

…I had to correct myself. Not only had he recovered, but he also began transforming.

“A Demon overpowered by a mere human isn’t worthy of respect, even if they are a Great Demon!”

The skin on Focalor’s legs burst open, and tentacles resembling the legs of an octopus stretched out from them. They twisted around each other, forming something like the hind legs of a lion.

They only formed rear legs. The front was carried by those tentacles, giving him a bizarre appearance.

That wasn’t the only thing. Focalor’s upper torso twisted and let out crunching sounds before finally expanding. His body no longer seemed human.

An exoskeleton covered his head like a helmet, eventually sporting horns and teeth.

> [For those who desire to destroy my kingdom, only death awaits!]

The sound his changed vocal cords produced spread out like waves.

「??? │???」

「❖ Fangs Aimed at Jacrati

∎ Liberate Ayu Hin

∎ Eliminate Focalor: 0 / 1」

* * *

* * *

I closed the useless Information and Quest Window and adjusted my stance.

Since I already knew that [Slash] wouldn’t work, I had no idea how I should fight that thing.

Was I supposed to get a blunt weapon and crush it to bits? Or did I have to find some weak spot and attack it? Or should I burn it?

Bang!

Just as I briefly fell into thought, an attack came my way. Focalor stretched out the sprawling tentacles on his arm, shooting them toward me in a straight line.

However, penetration damage set aside, stabbing attacks had the clear disadvantage of being easy to read. I quickly jumped out of its attack path.

Whoosh!

One of the tentacles twisted into the spiral broke off from the rest to follow me.

Stab!

I somehow managed to avoid it by backstabbing once again. However, Focalor’s tentacles didn’t stop with that one attack, so I had to keep moving without even a break to catch my breath.

> [For someone embraced by a Great Demon, you are rather insignificant, aren’t you? Just jumping around like a mere animal in a desperate attempt to dodge my attacks!]

Countless tentacles continued piercing the ground right before me, one after the other.

As soon as I stepped back, a tentacle would pierce the ground where I had been standing. I didn’t know whether these tentacles were indescribably hard or if the ground was soft, but the long appendages effortlessly and rapidly dug into the ground.

> [Still, I must praise you for killing that annoying 24th rank.]

Still, avoiding them wasn’t that difficult. The maximum number of tentacles Focalor could move at once was seven.

> [Well, I still have no intention of keeping you alive, though.]

Furthermore, the length of those tentacles wasn’t infinite, either.

Earlier, I estimated their length as Focalor was monologuing to be about 15m. While it wasn’t that helpful, knowing their length was limited wasn’t a bad thing.

> [I shall offer to you this unclean blood, this unclean flesh, and these unclean bones.]

However, something wasn’t right.

Focalor, who had been attacking me from a distance—I’d backed away as far as I could to determine the length of his reach—grabbed the corpses around him using the tentacles.

The tentacles that had been attacking me earlier now hung unmoving down his arms, like sleeves.

> [Give me more strength.]

Now that he’d transformed completely, I harbored some slight hope that my attacks might work. Or maybe if I used my Zweihänder instead of the scimitar, it might have some effect.

I tried to [Slash] at him again with some expectations.

Unfortunately, or obviously, my hopes were dashed.

Although I managed to damage the corpses, it didn’t inflict significant damage to Focalor. Even the places where I cut off some tentacles just sprouted more.

I intentionally tried attacks from various angles and severed various parts, but nothing was effective.

> [Did you really think that would work?!]

Shit. In that case, how was I supposed to kill him?

I wondered if I really should have followed Hercules’ example from when he fought the Hydra and used fire to deal with this thing. What happened next made me open my eyes wide.

“This can’t be…”

Not only did the skin on his belly split horizontally, but he also stuffed the corpse into that gash and somehow swallowed it.

Was he performing cannibalism followed by human sacrifice? That was quite hard-hitting.

I firmly gripped my Zweihänder, keeping my eyebrows furrowed. While it was hard for me to stop him completely, I couldn’t let him fully consume the corpses.

I at least had to chop them up and crush them into mush so it would be difficult for him to even bring them to his mouth without a shovel.

> [How unseemly!]

It was effective. The slippery tentacles couldn’t grab ahold of those dismembered bodies, much less pick up the crushed intestines and spilled blood.

「Madness Gauge: 3%」

「Madness Gauge: 4%」

…Of course, that didn’t mean I felt comfortable doing these things. I knew they were all extremely evil people, but did that give me the right to desecrate the dead?

「Madness Gauge: 5%」

I had to stop. I couldn’t just keep on desecrating these corpses. If I didn’t deal any damage to that guy, this fight would eventually lead to my defeat.

My Arcane Power recovery speed was much faster than before—I had no idea why—so that was fine, but the same wasn’t true for the filling of the Madness Gauge.

It rose by three percent while I wasn’t looking.

I also needed to get fire from somewhere.

I moved toward Focalor, who was greatly enraged. Thinking I was aiming for him, he sent a bunch of tentacles at me.

However, I already vaguely understood how I should attack.

Since I received assistance from the skill earlier, the cooldown wasn’t over yet. I moved my body using my own power, thinking back to when I’d magnificently played around with those various flying monsters.

The first tentacle landed beneath my raised foot, and after I cleverly managed to avoid it, a second one approached me.

As I cut it off by lightly spinning my sword, a third tentacle, bending slightly, aimed for my back.

I twisted my waist just as it charged forward. It pierced the fluttering ends of my coat, passed through the air right in front of my chest, and pierced the ground.

I grabbed it with my right arm and swung it around. As I flipped it over, swinging it like a skipping rope, I used it to hit the fourth tentacle.

The fifth, I kicked off the ground. The sixth, I easily avoided the appendage while twisting my body in the air.

The final seventh. I cut it off right before Focalor’s face.

I rotated my body once more and slid right behind Focalor.

> [You slippery wretch…!]

Was that still better than being a monster that was neither human nor Demon? I ran, turning my back to Focalor, insignificant worries occupying my mind. Tak! I started climbing up the wall.

Flap!

The ends of my coat billowed upward as I raised my eyebrows.

Before me was a guard who had seen both my dramatic acting and Focalor’s transformation. He was simply standing there, trembling.

“I-I-I!”

The guard only opened and closed his mouth, unable to say a single proper word. Would there be any good in keeping that guy alive?

I pondered as I jumped over the castle wall. There was only one answer.

Stab!

There wasn’t. The only people in this city whose lives deserved saving were the poor citizens caught up in this tragedy.

「Madness Gauge: 6%」

I struck down on the guard’s head with my fist—I already stabbed my sword into him—and immediately turned my head. Atop the wall, I found a fireplace as expected.

Burn.

I lit a torch using the brazier placed atop the stove.

> [The sight of you running away is truly pitiful!]

I could hear a certain someone shouting below the castle wall, completely unaware of what I was doing. He was voicing his disappointment.

I tightly held onto the torch and checked Focalor’s location. I could reach him from where I was.

I grabbed one of the brazier’s legs and lifted it. Bang! Then, once it reached the wall, I threw the brazier into the air and kicked it.

The loose firewood inside of it floated into the air before pouring down on him.

> [A mere mortal dares…!]

The fire raining down on him from above made Focalor curse out. However, he couldn’t avoid all the embers and firewood, and that was more than enough for me.

Focalor couldn’t recover from the burns right away. The tentacles writhed as though shuddering the moment the fire touched them, and the flesh simply shriveled up without recovering, like pieces of grilled meat. That proved it.

“I’ll roast you until you turn into charcoal, you insect.”

I plunged down my body, torch in hand.

「Madness Gauge: 7%」

The intense scarlet tint dyed even my gray eye a reddish hue.