LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 27 - Shall We Call It a Draw?
Chapter 27 Shall We Call It a Draw?
“No way…”
“……”
“It’s just ‘fists’ anyway… You think swinging just one fist could raise your stats like that? Then what, if you use your ‘legs’ or something, it could be even more…”
Even more…
More!
Could it be even more?
Could stats rise even higher than now?
“…Ha! This isn’t some 21st century ‘Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal’ or ‘Heracles’ situation…”
Jin-ah Lee let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
So much disbelief that she mentioned the names of ‘great monsters’ known throughout world history.
But the laughter only lasted a moment.
…Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, Jin-ah Lee glanced nervously around as the jet-black monster walked toward her.
Beside her stood the Blue Knight, silent.
She watched as the blue magical light surrounding the humanoid monster’s body slowly succeeded in control, being absorbed back into its owner.
Then, as the white skin gradually returned to human flesh color, the man… opened his eyes.
“…Ah, ah…”
“……!”
“How, long have I, been unconscious?”
“Krk?!”
As the Blue Knight began to ‘speak,’ not only Jin-ah Lee but even I stopped in my tracks, wearing a blank expression.
“Krkkrk?!”
‘A monster that speaks?’
“…? Why are you so surprised? If the vocal structure is similar to a human’s, a monster can speak human language too.”
Well, I knew that…
I knew that, yes.
It was natural to react to something that was ‘theoretically’ possible.
And of course, the Blue Knight, true to his monster nature, understood my ‘krkkrk’ speech very well.
Who on earth is this man?
“If you’ve awakened, it means you’re the only monster left for me. Sir ‘Lancelot.’”
Lancelot.
Jin-ah Lee clearly called that knight Lancelot.
Having played many fantasy games and familiarized myself with various folklore and legends, I quickly grasped who Lancelot was.
“Krkkrk. Krk?”
‘Could it be… Sir Lancelot of the Knights of the Round Table from the legend of King Arthur?’
“That’s right. For a monster, you’re surprisingly smart.”
“Krkrkrk.”
Western legends, particularly in Britain, are as famous as Korea’s Dangun mythology.
Being praised by a knight from such a legend made me feel quite bashful.
So, as I scratched the back of my head, I realized, aren’t you also a monster?
Wait, before that, Sir Lancelot, you were a monster as well as a Knight of the Round Table?
‘Before I was possessed,
They said other countries would be released later as DLC, but I never expected to experience the British expansion pack like this.
So, feeling a sense of wonder all over again.
“Jin-ah Lee.”
“…Yes, Sir.”
“Did you find my wish, my treasure more important than the ‘Holy Grail’? That was the condition of our contract, as I recall.”
“Well… not yet. I’ve roughly identified its location, but the problem is it’s deep underground in America. With our current capabilities, we’re still not enough.”
“Is that so…”
“Yes. Moreover, we’ve already lost one of our limited forces.”
Jin-ah Lee conversed with Sir Lancelot, her familiar, in an apologetic tone.
Listening to them, it was hard to tell who was the master and who was the familiar.
However, one thing was clear: I now had to fight both of them.
“Grrr…”
I couldn’t wait forever for the two of them to finish their chat.
If Jin-ah Lee used her authority as the head of the Korean Hunter Association to gather all the hunters in Seoul to Gangnam, it would be troublesome.
I didn’t want to kill people with my own hands, even if they were monsters.
However.
“Judging by the situation, I believe we can resolve this matter through words.”
Sir Lancelot stepped in between Jin-ah Lee and me, attempting to mediate?
“Sir?”
“Grr?”
I thought he would naturally help Jin-ah Lee to take me down.
“Jin-ah Lee, give up on that little monster.”
“…! Sir! That’s mine!”
“Yes, I know. But it’s clear you don’t want it to truly become yours.”
“That, that’s…!”
Jin-ah Lee fell silent at Sir Lancelot’s perfectly logical words.
Then, Sir Lancelot turned to me and spoke.
“You too. You seem to be a monster ‘friendly’ to humans, like me, isn’t that correct?”
“Grr.”
Nod.
“I understand. Then, let’s negotiate as monsters on the side of humanity. We will no longer pursue the little monster. So, you should back down from here.”
Sir Lancelot was clearly trying to mediate this fight.
Jin-ah Lee, seemingly unable to fully control him now that he had regained his senses, could only stand by anxiously.
It seemed everything depended on my response.
Therefore.
“Grr!”
‘I refuse!’
“What?!”
I couldn’t trust them, so I responded firmly.
“Grr, grrr grrr!”
‘What guarantee do I have that Chief Jin-ah Lee will completely let go of the little monster just because I back down now? If you go back to being quiet like before, she’ll definitely stab us in the back again!’
“That’s… undeniable…”
“…? Sir, what is the monster from Jamsil saying?”
“Hmm, I’ll explain it to you later.”
Of course, my reasoning wasn’t just about calculations.
“Grr grrr! Grr! Grr!”
‘And as for the little monster itself, it was almost used as a test subject right after being born and has suffered all sorts of humiliations from that woman. Are we supposed to just pretend that didn’t happen?’
“That… that’s right. Jin-ah Lee owes you a ‘debt’ for that.”
‘So at the very least, I need to give her a good whack.’
With that, I breathed onto my tightly clenched fist.
I didn’t intend to kill her, just make it hurt a lot.
However.
“A whack? You might as well say you’re going to kill her.”
Did it look that way to others?
Sir Lancelot started to point his sword at me. In response, I took a karate stance and gathered strength in my legs, which were beginning to heat up.
It was a tense atmosphere where it wouldn’t be strange if we clashed at any moment.
Then.
Klang!
Sir Lancelot drove his sacred sword not into me, but into the ground right in front of him.
“After all, aren’t you a monster who fights for humans!”
“?!”
“So, whether you like it or not, there will surely come a time when you and Jin-ah Lee must join forces and fight together!”
At his words, I couldn’t immediately think of a retort.
“As long as Jin-ah Lee is a hunter!”
As long as Jin-ah Lee remained in the profession of a hunter.
“No matter her goals, she is on the side of humanity.”
According to the original plot, she could certainly be a strong ally who would fight alongside me.
“Think about this troublesome woman becoming your ally. Wouldn’t that be reassuring?”
A hunter who could handle two monsters of national disaster level. Just based on her abilities, she was undoubtedly a valuable asset.
But no matter what, this woman was rotten to the core…
“We will compensate you for the matter of the little monster later!”
“Grrr….”
“Think carefully. Throwing away a card you could use repeatedly in the future because of a moment’s anger. Are you really that short-sighted?”
My eyes met Sir Lancelot’s tense gaze.
“If you need something later, go to Jin-ah Lee. You can even use her like a subordinate.”
Unlike Jin-ah Lee, there wasn’t a hint of falsehood in Sir Lancelot’s eyes.
“I swear on my ‘chivalry.’”
Chivalry, pledged by the knight himself.
When he said he was staking something more precious than his life, I finally felt a bit of trust.
However, I needed even more solid ‘trust.’
“Grr.”
‘Sir, then I have one more thing to say before I back down.’
“Understood.”
I glared at the two in front of me with a murderous intensity.
And since I wasn’t some grand hero aiming to save everyone in the world.
I was just an ordinary person fighting to protect ‘my people,’ those who genuinely trusted and loved me.
“If you try to mess with ‘what’s mine’ again, there won’t be any conversations like this.”
I gave my final warning.
“…! I’ll remember that!”
Sir Lancelot replied gratefully as he pulled his sword from the ground again.
After that, there was nothing.
The two of us simultaneously turned our backs and started walking our separate ways, as if everything had come to an end.
Meanwhile.
“Sir Lancelot, are you really just going to leave like this?”
Jin-ah Lee still had a somewhat dissatisfied look on her face.
On her side, she had lost a major result of eight years of research and a significant part of her power.
And not only that, she had effectively chosen to play the role of a monster’s underling.
Her expression showed she wasn’t pleased about leaving with a net loss.
But Sir Lancelot’s next words.
“Jin-ah Lee.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Do you wish for me to die again?”
“…Pardon?”
Lancelot, who had been placing the sacred sword Saber and the rapier of memories back in his respective side sheaths, turned to look at Jin-ah Lee.
The man who had sat right beside the king among the Knights of the Round Table, the most famous knightly order in the world.
“Never become his enemy!”
Seeing him sweating from his temples, Jin-ah Lee finally clamped her mouth shut.
“Become as friendly with him as possible. Pour all your power and wealth into it if you must!”
A life that had come back from death once.
I thought there would be nothing more to surprise me.
But as I was almost about to disappear, faced with that unknown strength that made me recall my quest for the Holy Grail.
“Give him whatever he wants! Anything!!”
“A-anything?”
“Yes! Money, if it’s money! Power, if it’s power! Women, if it’s women! Pile it up like a mountain and keep giving it to him so he never gets bored!”
Lancelot, in place of Shin-woo, knocked Jin-ah Lee on the back of the head as if to tell her to stop whining already.