Is That My Alter Ego

9 – What Did I Say

Kugugugugung…!

The ground beneath my feet shakes wildly, causing my body to vibrate in response.

However, the reason for my trembling is not only that.

‘What kind of aura is this…!’

From that enormous flower, an aura so powerful that an ordinary person would faint emanates.

In this world, the energy emitted by demons is sometimes referred to as ‘magi,’ but this was undoubtedly an aura filled with dense vitality.

D-d-d-

“Wha… What the hell is that…”

“Are we going to die here…”

“Ha… hahahaha…”

Even the mercenaries, some experiencing the fear of death for the first time, others chuckling nervously, were affected.

No matter how experienced one is in battles and encounters with demons, from a 4-star demon onwards, it was on a different level.

“Lea… Leader.”

Even Ceris, with eyes soaked in fear and a trembling body, called out to me.

Ceris, with the potential to become a future Swordmaster and a legend, but that was mere ‘possibility.’

At this moment, still not fully developed, even for Ceris, it would be a formidable opponent to handle.

Due to my lack of action, the mercenaries and Seris were gradually dying.

Were they lamenting their impending death? Or had they already given up on life?

“Hah. Are you going to give up?”

No. I absolutely won’t. No, I can’t.

I will definitely kill that monster and escape from here without anyone dying.

“Do you think I would surrender so easily?”

Until now, I have occupied the top rank in numerous games and have endured countless hardships.

Cheaters, teamers, hackers, and trolls. Those natural disasters have come at me without any way for me to intervene.

“But demon extermination is different, right?”

Even the 4-star demon, known as a disaster itself, has clear weaknesses and the possibility of death.

The saying goes that if you keep stabbing, slashing, cutting, and crushing, it will die.

And not giving up with perseverance is what I do best.

“Everyone!! Follow me! From now on, our Scar Mercenary Corps will exterminate the 4-star demon!!”

With a body that no longer trembles, I shouted loudly enough to shake the space.

“Commander…?”

-Hah. I guess it’s time to die now.

-Mother…

-That fried chicken from back then. I should have eaten a little more.

Even the mercenaries and Seris looked at me as if I were insane. Perhaps they could think of it as an unreasonable stubbornness or a show of bravado.

But do they really think I can’t do it?

“Did you all trust the advice I initially offered, from the very beginning?!”

“”………..!””

“Did I, perhaps, give you tasks and training that you couldn’t perform, expecting too much?!”

In the eyes of those who had lost their will, with lifeless eyes, vitality began to return.

“I believe in myself, and in our Ska Mercenary Group! I am certain! We can defeat that 4-star monster!!”

“…..We believe in you. Commander. Everyone, follow the Commander!!”

As if my cry finally reached them, Seris adjusted his stance and, glaring at Nephendes, shouted.

-Ha. Damn it. Yeah. What can’t we do?

-Becoming a spearman was thanks to the Commander. I have only faith this time too.

Spurred by Seris’s wholehearted shout, one by one, the mercenaries stood up, gripping their weapons.

“Everyone, rise! Shall our legend end at the hands of such a trivial monster?!”

“Yes! You are right, Commander!”

“….We will follow you!!”

I had no intention of falling to a mere 4-star monster, and I did not believe the Ska Mercenary Group would end here.

“Then follow me! Even if your hands shatter, do not let go of your weapons, and never lose focus!”

Crack-!

We all tightly grasped our weapons. Even if our hands were to shatter or be severed, our will would remain steadfast.

“Ska Mercenary Group, advance!!”

Uaaa-!

With our wills ablaze, we charged towards Nephendes.

It looked as if it were David, rushing to confront Goliath.

Vrrr-!

Whoosh, whoosh.

The Nepenthes, watching our advance, made strange noises and began to extract numerous stems from the ground.

These stems were much larger and seemed stronger than the biggest one we had seen in the earlier battle.

‘We can do this. We can win..!’

But, our united will was stronger and more formidable than their frailty and pettiness.

Human will is like a tiny droplet of water, but when these droplets gather and relentlessly struggle, they can even split a great rock.

Swoosh-!

“Gasp!”

Clang- Smash-!

Narrowly dodging the oncoming flower stem, I swung my sword.

It sounded as if striking steel rather than a stem, and my sword only managed to cut halfway through it.

Whirr-!

Screech-!

“…Phew.”

When I enveloped my sword with mana and exerted more force, the tough stem finally got sliced through.

“Let everyone in battle hear this! These stems can only be completely cut with weapons imbued with mana!”

Screech- Crack- Snap.

Hearing my shout, the mercenaries also imbued their weapons with magic, and the stems, seemingly uncuttable, began to be sliced one by one.

“Okay. I can do this!”

“As expected, Captain!”

With a growing sense of possibility that we could win, we continued the battle with even greater determination.

“hahahahap-!”

Sshh- Sshh-!

In this chaotic battlefield, it was Seris who was most active, as expected.

While I could barely cut through just one strand with a sword strike fueled by all my strength, Seris effortlessly sliced through multiple strands with a single strike, as if cutting through paper.

“Okay. I can do it!”

If it were ordinary people, they would never have even imagined it.

To exterminate a 4-star monster with just one mercenary unit, and that too with only a small number of members? Most of the Empire would probably consider it a fantasy.

However, the mercenaries I selected are not ordinary people, of course.

Each and every one of them is exceptional, to the point where they could easily be targeted by the captain of a mercenary unit, and they are talented individuals overflowing with abilities.

Sshh-!

Another strand is cut by Seris. Now, all that’s left is Nepenthes’ main body.

Even the main body of Nepenthes is heavily damaged from numerous attacks. Soon, we should be able to exterminate it!

Pshh…Grrr-!

Thud..!

However, something unexpected happened.

Nepenthes began to crouch down, its heavily wounded body.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I think we’ve got them all! Let’s finish them off!”

“I’ll take the lead…!”

At first, it was the mercenaries and Ceris who seemed puzzled. However, Nephendis’ crouched posture seemed as if he was trying to defend himself, given his wounded appearance and hesitant movements. Understanding that he might have suffered a fatal blow, Ceris ignited his zeal and rushed towards Nephendis.

But… is that defensive posture really effective?

Clenching his body tightly, Nephendis’ wriggling figure seemed as if…

“Is he gathering something…?”

“….Damn it! Everyone, retreat! We need to get away from Nephendis…!”

Pushiiing-!

As soon as I grasped Nephendis’ true intentions and shouted at them to flee, Nephendis, faster than my voice, released an enormous amount of powder after releasing his crouched posture.

“Ugh…cough…body…”

“sh*t… Why won’t it move…!”

“…Commander…!”

The mercenaries, who directly faced that powder in large quantities, all simultaneously froze in their tracks as if they were paralyzed.

“Paralyzing powder…!”

Even I, who was furthest away and had less contact with the powder, couldn’t move a single fingertip due to the tingling sensation all over my body.

Plogrgrgr~!

That repulsive, gigantic flower began to shake its entire body as if it found joy in its victory, just like taunting a thoroughly defeated opponent.

Srruuk-!

“Ugh… This… Let go…!”

“My body won’t move…!”

“Cough… Captain…!”

Despite numerous wounds, they lifted Seris with an untouched stem.

“Captain Seris…!”

Plop~

Instinctively, it seemed their intention was to deal with Seris first, the strongest and most threatening.

Squelch-!

“Ugh… aaargh…!”

That stem started to wrap around Seris, squeezing tightly. As the steel-like firm stem pressed hard, the sound of Seris’s body struggling resonated far and wide.

“Captain…”

“Seris… Captain…!”

Soon, in Seris’s dying gaze, a desperate look towards me appeared.

“Damn it. Is there no way?”

I and the mercenaries could do nothing but watch as Seris was defenselessly attacked.

If only my body wasn’t so numb… Wait a moment.

Swish-!

“It seems more movable than before.”

Since I received the dust from the farthest away, it seemed the paralysis was wearing off a bit faster for me than the mercenaries.

The biggest problem now was that even my mind felt dizzy, as if paralyzed.

Wake up. We need to save Ceris.

“Wake up!”

Poof!

With my body slowly starting to move, I drew my sword and stabbed my own thigh.

Of course, I didn’t feel any pain, but since it had entered the body of my doppelganger, my mind became clearer instead.

“Vice Commander Ceris!”

Tadadak!

Finally able to move properly, I led my body and filled it with magic before rushing towards Nephendes.

Poof…. Swish?!

Chak!

Nephendes showed a surprised gesture and immediately sent the remaining bundle of tendrils towards me.

Whish- Kkaang-!

I dodged the tendrils and struck them down with my sword infused with magic. It was natural that I couldn’t cut them all at once since each tendril was strong.

My hand trembled, and the tendrils pressed harder towards me.

“aaah!”

I channeled all my magic into the sword and struck down the tendrils.

…Zzzt.

Zzzzt-! Sshh-!

At first, only small gaps appeared, but as I relentlessly attacked towards those gaps, the bundle of tendrils was cut in half.

Pogeurgeur-!!

Alright. There is only one target left.

I dashed towards Nepenthes, writhing in agony, screaming due to the pain of losing all its limbs.

This time, I will definitely exploit your weakness.

Thud-!

Approaching Nepenthes, I focused my magic into my feet and ascended high into the air.

Information I glimpsed in the demon encyclopedia flashed through my mind.

Its body is as tough as steel, and Nepenthes, with its exceptional regenerative ability, seems to have no weaknesses.

However, there is one. Nepenthes has a vulnerable spot.

That petal, or in human terms, there is a bulb the size of a human head at the back of its head.

That bulb is Nepenthes’ core, and if I can strike only there, I can defeat Nepenthes.

…Although it was described that the success rate was extremely low due to only a few hundred cases of those who were hit by the intense stem attack before getting close to it, anyway.

“Huaap-!”

I soared high into the air and, towards Nepenthes’ weakness, swung my sword.

“Captain… Ugh. Behind…!”

…Behind? Hearing Seris speak in a voice fading away as if dying, I looked behind.

Swish-!

Whether Nepenthes had been concealing it until the end or not, a single stem charged towards me.

Thunk-!

“…Damn it.”

I acknowledged it, but due to the speed that I simply couldn’t react to, the stem pierced into my left abdomen.

I didn’t feel any pain, but my body seemed to jolt to a stop, and blood oozed from my abdomen and mouth.

“No…this can’t…be…!”

I heard the voice of Seris, filled with despair. It seemed she thought I would be unable to fight back here and would die.

‘But, can’t I still move?’

Naturally, as an avatar, I felt no pain, and my body could still move.

If it had been my real body, I would have been in terrible pain, unable to even twitch a finger. But, this is my avatar, isn’t it?

Slash-!

….Brrrzzzz?!

Screech. Thud, thudding…

I concentrated my magic and cut off Nepenthes’ core.

Swoosh… Thump.

As Nepenthes’ form collapsed, I too was able to come down to the ground.

“Captain!!”

Nepenthes was dead, and it seemed Seris was freed, as I saw her running towards me.

…Ah. But why do I feel so sleepy? And my vision is a bit blurry too…

“…Cough. Vice-Captain Seris…”

“Captain?! Please, come to your senses! Open your eyes, please!!”

Rustle-!

“Damn it all..!”

“Captain…”

Finally, whether the paralysis was completely gone, other mercenaries also rushed towards me.

Hmm… Upon closer inspection, no one had died. That’s a relief.

“Cough… Didn’t I say it? We can do it… Cough!”

“Captain…! Please don’t speak…! Your wounds are getting worse…!”

“…Don’t cry. Seris, the vice-captain… No one is dying.”

Seris looked down at me, tears streaming down her face. As the sobbing sounds reached me, I looked around with blurred vision, realizing that other mercenaries were also shedding tears.

‘No. Guys, I’m not dead.’

I’m perfectly fine. Must be the fatigue. I’ll be fine if I just rest a bit, right?

“Cough… Cough…”

Of course, I’m still coughing up blood, but it doesn’t hurt, and at this rate, a little rest and I’ll be back to normal.

“Captain! Please wake up!!”

“Seris, Vice-Captain…”

What is she saying? It seems like Seris is saying something while crying, but I can’t hear it well.

Ah… I might lose consciousness soon, but I still need to say something.

“Ma Jung-seok… Secure Nepenthes’s nucleus… and grab that sword… Cough.”

Hmm. With the nucleus and nucleus of a creature at the level of a 4-star demon, we could earn an unimaginable amount of money.

And that sword… for some reason, it seems like it’s going to be expensive.

We have to grab everything, guys. Now it’s all ours.

“I’ll… take a little nap.”

Ah… I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll take a short nap and then enjoy the lively settlement time!

“No… Lord Commander! Please don’t open your eyes… Please… Please!! Nooo…!!”

“Sob… Lord Commander…”

“….Je…gi… Ral. Sniff..”

It seemed like I could hear something. Overwhelmed by drowsiness to the point I couldn’t bear it, I fell asleep just like that.