"What? What's going on?"
Croix was puzzled by the strange behavior of the fleshy creature.
The eyeballed mass of flesh was a creature whose power matched its terrifying appearance, an incarnation of an ancient god.
Though it brought only a fraction of its original flesh with it, it possessed the power of an ancient god.
Its mere presence here was enough to exhaust even the most sensitive Attila and cause him to suffer long-lasting repercussions.
She called out with such great intent, but what is this reaction?
Through the writhing mass of tentacles and flesh, its large eyes darted about, lost and confused.
Normally, a cocky stare at his foe should have been enough to strike fear into his opponent, but instead, he was the one who was terrified, and Osian's face was somber.
'Why does he have such a relaxed expression?’
Normally, humans should be terrified when faced with an incarnation, but Osian was so relaxed that his eyes were even shining.On the contrary, it was avoiding his gaze.
"Hao, does it recognize me?"
The reaction of the incarnate body convinced Osian.
It recognized him.
‘Come to think of it, when I finished the 99th time, I cleared the area quest thinking it was the last time.’
At first, it was difficult to fight the incarnations, but by the time I reached the 99th time, there was nothing to worry about.
The Incarnation's health was quite high, but its increased attack, damage, and control overwhelmed everything else.
Osian's new record for the fastest no-hit kill was set in Episode 99.
He literally didn't take a single hit against the Incarnation, and did it faster than any other player.
Naturally, the incarnation he fought is the same one he sees in front of him now.
It was the one with the memories of the 99th time Osian had played.
-Purrrrrrr.
It was an embarrassing thing for the incarnation but even though it was a long time ago, he clearly remembered it.
Even if it wasn't its body, but a part of its power, how could it forget when it had been beaten like a dog?
It was the first time an ancient god, who had treated humans as less than insects, felt fear for their existence.
But why is he here?
-Purrrrrr.
The bundle of tentacles twitched like a withered tree.
Its large, terrified eyes were saying.
"─Why is that monster here?”
If it was just a mere appearance, it wouldn't matter. But the moment it saw Osian, it could tell by the power within him.
It was the man who had disgraced him.
A knight who was both human and transcendent, emitting celestial power from his sword!
"Hmm?"
In response to Osian's puzzled reaction, the incarnation shuddered violently as if he was suffering from epilepsy, before shrinking into a single point and disappearing.
Croix could only stare at the scene in disbelief.
'An incarnation, fleeing in fear, from a human?’
It was unbelievable to see.
Attila, the younger sister who had expended a great deal of energy to summon the incarnation, raised her bowed head.
"Uh, sister."
"Attila. What the hell is going on? Why did your incarnation suddenly......."
"It showed tremendous emotional agitation."
Attila shuddered in fear as she wrapped her arms around herself, perhaps picking up on the emotions the incarnation felt.
"I must never fight him."
"Attila, you seem to be in better shape than you were before, even though you summoned an incarnation."
"Huh?"
Attila wondered if she realized her situation.
The voice of the Ancient One always gave her a nervous breakdown. It was the reason she stuttered.
In severe cases, she would hallucinate, and her tentacles would grow out of control.
She was labeled as high-risk, even though she had no malicious intentions, and was sent to prison but right now, Attila was fine.
Her head was clear and she didn't stutter. Even her tentacles, which usually fluttered around the outside of her body, were unusually quiet today.
After touching every inch of her body, Attila burst into tears.
"No, Croix, I......am perfectly fine now."
"Attila......."
Croix wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tightly.
She had always been tormented by the power of the ancient gods.
Excessive sensitivity and talent brought Attila pain along with power.
She had the qualities that would have made her a saint if she believed in any other god, but because of the Ancient One, she was branded as dangerous in Tirna.
She tried to comfort Attila, telling her he would be fine, but she knew more than anyone else that she could not be, not with the power of the Ancient One.
"Attila......!"
"Sis!"
The sisters burst into tears and hugged each other.
"......What has happened to them?"
Princess Orlea's expression was especially harrowing.
The sisters were followers of an ancient god who had come for her life.
They had cornered Osian with horrific spells that made her skin crawl, and as a last resort, they had summoned an incarnation, a piece of the god's flesh.
That's when Orlea thought it was over. No matter how powerful Osian was, he was only human, and he couldn't do anything about it.
He had saved her life, and she had been tortured by the thought of not being able to repay him…until just now.
"......."
The fleshy creature that made her dizzy and nauseous at the mere sight of it turned and fled with its tail between its legs.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
She tried to think about it, but it didn't make sense.
'What the hell is that guy.......?'
Sisters Croix and Attila, who realized it later, also looked at Osian with fear in their eyes.
‘What is he?’
‘I don't see any emotion in his face, in fact, I think he's offended.’
Osian was inwardly disappointed at the ambiguity of the situation.
'It's a shame. I would have liked to fight him again.’
The moment he saw the incarnation, he remembered playing the game intensely.
It wasn't just a 3D graphic blob on a computer monitor, but a real-life incarnation.
The realistic grossness of it all made him feel a little overwhelmed, but the knight's physical body lightly suppressed that minor emotional stirring.
What remained was intense curiosity.
Hundreds of years later, in a world that had changed completely, he found himself face-to-face with a creature that had remained the same.
Does he still have the same power? What about his attack patterns? Will they be more varied now that he's real, beyond the limits of the game system? Or maybe he'll use techniques I've never seen before?
As a gamer, and as a fan of one of my favorite things in the world, it was hard not to want to find out.
And yet, the incarnation walked away as he recognized me.
The obvious embarrassment in its demeanor convinced Osian that it was indeed the incarnation of the ancient god he knew.
Osian's gaze shifted to Croix and Sister Attila.
"Mm."
"Hic!"
The two sisters hugged each other even tighter.
Osian stared at them wordlessly, his intense gaze causing Croix to break out in a cold sweat and Attila to roll her eyes and almost break down.
"Can you call him again?"
Osian's question was enough to frighten the sisters even more.
Instead of being relieved that the horrible creature was gone, she asked if she could summon him again.
It was clear at once that the question was not asked out of any anxiety about the possibility of summoning it again, but out of genuine regret, the sisters thought.
They were about to argue with a truly absurd human.
"That's it."
Osian jerked her head and stepped closer to Orlea.
The tension that had been building to a boiling point ebbed and flowed, and then Croix turned to Ossian.
"You're not going to kill us?"
Osian stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly to answer.
"Yes."
"Why? We were targeting you......."
"Because I couldn't sense any intent to kill in the attack."
Croix and Attila hadn't intended to kill Ossian from the beginning.
The technique they used was ugly, and their intentions were more about incapacitating their opponent.
If they had intended to kill him, he would have reacted the same way, but since they didn't, they were granted a single act of mercy.
Beyond that, Osian was reluctant to touch them.
'The reason is a simple hunch.’
But he knew that this hunch was not to be taken lightly, so he decided to go along with it.
"After all, it's been a long time since I've been entertained, so consider it a reward."
A flesh-and-blood incarnation of an ancient god is hardly a pleasant sight.
Sisters Croix and Attila are relieved to have survived.
Even though they've failed this mission and will likely end up in prison once again, they've got their lives to live.
Attila's condition had improved thanks to the Ancient One's retreat, so Croix had little to complain about.
She would never give up for the freedom that would one day come.
"No, no. No. What if I do that?"
-Poof!
A sharp metal spear flew out of nowhere and pierced Croix's back.
"Kwak!"
"Sis!"
Attila gasped and looked at Croix's condition.
Fortunately, the spear missed Croix's vital spots and only pierced her wing joint, but it was thrown with such force that the blade was embedded in the ground like a stake.
"Ugh, what the hell......."
Attila was in the path of the original spear.
In that split second, Croix had flung himself to save her sister.
"Kk, kk!"
Croix grabbed the spearhead with her hands and tried to pull it out, but it didn't come out easily.
The polearm was filled with magic and was pushing back against her strength.
"You, you bastard, you ambush me!"
Croix's bloodshot eyes turned toward the back.
A man stood there.
Muscles bulging through his ragged clothes, bleached yellow hair cut short and a large scar that cut an X across his face.
The man, who looked like a live bear, bared his sharp teeth and laughed.
"Hahaha! Croix, what are you doing, you look like a squid with a harpoon!"
"Bola. You asshole!"
The man called Bola looked at Croix's writhing in pain, his eyes filled with amusement.
"Mmph. That's right. Keep the bitch on the floor like that, it suits her.
Infighting? Since when are we coworkers? Wasn't it our sole purpose to capture or kill that princess bitch in the first place?"
Bola's gaze shifted to Orlea.
"From there, we're competitors."
Those fierce eyes narrowed, casting a ferocious glow.
Bola moistened his lips with his tongue.
"This is a rare prize, and since I'm going to kill it anyway, I might as well play with it before, right?"
With that, Bola strode on, but stopped in his tracks.
Osian stood in his way.
"What are you?"
Ossian was quite tall, but Bola, who was over six feet tall, looked down on him.
"Ah, so you're the fixer, the one who comes out at a time like this? You must have some pride."
Bola muttered that with a grin, then his face twisted into a grimace and he extended his arm toward Osian.
"Then I will kill you as you wish!"
An arm swung with enough power to tear a man alive, but not before it touched Ossian's head.
-Quang!
Osian grabbed Bola's face with his hand and slammed him face-first to the ground.
"You talk too much."