The Great Sword is not the Main Body!-Chapter 126: Branch point (5)

"Surely, it was strange."

Ser, who had been looking at Hermila with a peculiar expression, opened his mouth.

"From what we've heard so far, Hermila's plan is strictly a plan to hunt only Valoran."

"That’s obvious... Ah, no way..."

"Hmm, it seems either we were mistaken, or Hermila was intentionally hiding this, but... maybe that woman is just crazy."

Ser, who had been staring at Hermila, turned his gaze to me.

"Do you understand, Noah?"

"What, what do you mean...?"

What does he mean? Is it about needing a bait? Or about hunting Valoran... what was it again?

"Hmm, I don’t think you understand, so let me explain it clearly for you, Noah."

"U-uh... Okay."

"Do you know the difference between protecting Cartia by hunting Valoran and hunting Valoran to protect Cartia?"

"...Eh? I-I don’t know."

What is he talking about...? Isn’t that the same thing?

"Anyway, the result is the same. Valoran will be hunted, and Cartia will not be destroyed. But the process is completely different. In the first case, the priority is to protect Cartia. Do you understand?"

"Y-yeah."

"The second case, the most important thing is hunting Valoran."

"Ah... Y-yes?"

"Yes, that's how it is. If you choose the first option, the goal is to protect Cartia, minimizing the damage. On the other hand, in the second case..."

Ser’s gaze shifted back to Hermila.

"...We’ll do anything to hunt Valoran."

"Yes. That’s correct. My plan is solely focused on hunting Valoran, with everything else excluded."

As if it were obvious. As if it were the right answer.

"So, any damage that occurs in the process will be handled by me."

Hermila responded with a voice thick with strong conviction and a deep madness, smiling kindly.

"If you’re taking responsibility for it yourself... it’s definitely something that can’t be refuted in the current situation."

"...What... what kind of insane thing is that...?"

Rubia spoke with a voice full of anger and disdain.

"Well, yes. If I had tried to exclude Noah... I would’ve said I didn’t care whether she lived or died. But... but this is different. What’s the difference between us killing her ourselves?"

"Rubia, we’re not killing the villagers. Valoran is the one killing them."

"That’s... true, but..."

"Because of Erden’s surveillance, we can’t evacuate the villagers. Of course, if we tell them to all leave right now, we might be able to chase them away. But if that happens, it will only create more confusion, and more people might die. If we’re not careful, Erden could accelerate Valoran’s summoning."

Rubia’s face twisted in response to Ser’s horrifyingly rational words.

"Sacrificing the small for the big. That’s not a good method. To be honest, it’s a complete shitshow. But, in this situation, I think it’s the only choice we have."

Although he appeared fine on the outside, Ser wasn’t in great condition either. His heartbeat was intense, and blood flowed quickly. His teeth clicked intermittently, and his nails dug into his skin.

"Well, if you feel too bad for the villagers, we can use adventurers or knights as bait. In such a situation, they’d have to defend the village. Hermila, I think you would’ve planned something like that, right?"

"Yes. That’s correct."

"Then let me ask one thing. Is there a future where Valoran is hunted using humans as bait?"

"Of course, there is."

"...I see."

Ser sighed deeply and nodded, slouching.

"I feel pretty shitty. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this bad."

Rubia, who had been grinding her teeth, struggled to speak.

"...Then, please explain why you need the bait."

Hermila, still wearing a calm expression, picked up a branch and started drawing on the ground again.

"When Valoran spreads its wings, it will begin releasing magic spheres. If you only hear about it, it might sound normal, but those spheres are magical entities with a will, hunting down nearby living beings and not disappearing until they kill them."

"Can’t my spirits handle them?"

"No. They only target humans."

"Tch."

"...Then, is it impossible to evacuate all the villagers and make them the target?"

Hermila shook her head.

"The range of the spheres is too wide to make that possible."

Inside the newly drawn circle, dozens of dots started appearing.

"The range covers roughly 30% of Cartia. It would be less damaging to gather people in one place to limit the range."

"Then... how many people need to die?"

"I couldn’t count them exactly because it happens so fast, but it’s about 150. So, we’ll need around 200 people every hour."

"Every hour...? Does that mean you’ll keep using that attack?"

"Yes. They’ll shoot the spheres roughly every hour. Until the hunt is over, continuously."

"Ha, haha..."

After a moment of exhausted laughter, Rubia lowered her head and wiped her face.

"...How many hours will it take to hunt?"

"The shortest time I’ve seen in the future was 52 hours."

"Ah..."

After that, Rubia couldn’t say anything more and just sighed, filled with self-loathing.

"When Valoran spreads its wings, it becomes exponentially stronger. From that point on, the real hunt begins. It really... shows the absurdity to the extreme."

That’s true. Valoran up to phase 2 isn’t that hard to deal with. Valoran in phase 3 is where the real raid begins. The battles before that are relatively easy.

Phase 3 Valoran... Just like Hermila said, it doesn’t just shoot guided missiles, but there are attacks that can hit you in just 0.2 seconds. Besides that, there are range attacks and various status curses.

And... even a mis-timed attack can reduce your health to 1 with a single hit. Uh... what was the timing again? Shooo— shwooo— whoosh— whoosh! Shooo— whoosh— shoo— whoosh— shoo— bang— whoosh, whoosh— bang!

Anyway, if you endure all that and survive... the more annoying and difficult phase 4 awaits.

Flying in the sky like a pigeon, creating walls of magic that can’t be dodged with a delay of just 0.5 seconds, and summoning the words it absorbed from thin air.

If you manage to endure that too...

Then phase 5 awaits!!

In phase 5, Valoran curses a random player with a death curse. A curse that kills you if you just graze Valoran. A ridiculous curse where you die even if you just step on its little toe.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

But me... I... I had no friends!

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So, I always got cursed!

Does that mean I couldn’t kill it? Of course not.

I. Alone. Wore nothing but underwear and set a record for the fastest clear without getting hit.

In Valoran raids, I can confidently say I’m the best.

So...

"Rubia."

"Yes, Noah..."

"It’s okay."

I hugged Rubia, whose body had become cold, as tightly as I could.

"I’ll... handle it all."

"Yes...?"

"Just trust me."

Until now, I had been quiet because I wasn’t sure about the information regarding Valoran.

Even now, I can’t say I’m 100% certain... but I don’t want to see Rubia suffer like this anymore.

"Hmm, Noah, have you gone crazy too? That’s not bad, though. Let’s all get out of this monkey state and become humans."

"...That’s not it."

I stuck my tongue out at Ser and looked at Hermila.

"Hermila, I have a favor."

"...What is it?"

"Please trust me."

"Noah, in this situation—"

"I trusted you, Hermila. So... if we’re friends... please trust me too."

Hermila, who had been silently staring at me with a serious face, sighed and opened her mouth.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yes. You don’t need to endure anymore. There’s no need to drag it to the central plaza... You don’t need to use ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ people as bait."

"I... don’t understand at all. Noah, you’ve never seen Valoran. How are you going to handle it?"

"I don’t know Valoran, but..."

I raised my right arm and shook the bracelet connected to Cartia.

"Cartia knows."

Sorry, Cartia. This... this couldn’t be helped.

Are you mad? Annoyed? Really pissed off?

Then come out and say something.

Not coming out? You’re not going to come?

Really?

Well then, I’ll just do whatever I want.

Bad... bad lady... just stay quiet.

"So... please trust me."

"It’s strange. Even if you’re a hero from the age of chaos, you wouldn’t know Valoran. Even if you do know, I heard from Sirin that Cartia has lost most of her memories."

"Th-that’s..."

"Noah, you said friends shouldn’t have secrets. Tell me. Is there something... you’re hiding?"

You arrogant little shit. I’ve been gone for a while, and you’ve gotten so damn bold.

At that moment.

You said friends don’t lie, but what’s this about you lying?

I heard Cartia’s voice mixed with laughter in my head.

Tch... What would you do in this situation, anyway? Fine. I don’t know what you want or what you know, but...

Then, the bracelet started vibrating.

I trust you, so I’ll help you just this once. You little shit.

Cartia showed herself.

"Ca... Cartia?!"

[Oh, it’s been a while. Rubia.]

"It’s been a while, Cartia. By the way, didn’t you have something to do?"

[Oh, Ser, it’s been a while. Something to do? Sure, I was pissing myself.]

Rubia and Ser’s faces turned pale.

Cartia, seeing their reaction, chuckled and looked at Hermila.

[So... you’re Hermila?]

"Ca... Cartia, is it really you...?"

[Yeah, I’m Cartia. The one who banished Valoran into the dimensional rift when tigers used to smoke. That’s me.]

Huh?

[What? Why? Are you ignoring me just because I’m talking like an adult? Huh? Are you not opening your eyes nicely? Damn.]