Chapter 47: The Invincible Chaos Obliteration—3
Shika’s attack landed a perfect blow.
The sheer power of the Frost Daiken—regardless of half of its original strength—was unimaginably catastrophic.
The demon was S-ranked, yeah, and our numbers alone didn’t match the necessary strength to take him down. However, adding a Daiken to our side gave us additional advantages and we outmatched him.
As Shika sliced him in half, the rest of the demon’s body froze in ice that couldn’t be melted easily. Frozen in the ice, the demon’s eyes still burned in crimson as if there was still life left in him and he could awake any moment to get his revenge.
"Let yourself swallow by the same darkness you once created for me. Embrace the despair and experience what you’ve made others go through." Shika mumbled, her gaze pitiful at the demon. That wasn’t the end, though.
As the momentary effects of the Daiken began fading, She used a final move. She manipulated the ice with her Daiken. She poured the remaining energy on the two parts of the demon which were frozen by the ice.
Cracks appeared on them. As the energy reached the maximum, it overloaded. Then it shattered into tiny particles—eventually, obliterating the existence of the demon entirely.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the Mercenary Quest]
’Nah-uh. I owe this one to Shika.’
I thought, looking at the system delivering the report. ’By the way, are there any rewards this time?’
As I continued thinking, several new notifications appeared that made me happy and pissed at the same time.
[According to the Mercenary Contract, your sponsor has received the reward money]
[You have received 10% Commission as per the agreement]
’Agreement? What agreement?’ I frowned, ’I have no agreement with anyone. All I received is a mere 10%, with the rest going to my sponsor. What kind of crap is this?’
[You have received 100,000 Arthum]
[Your sponsor, the individual called Yuukina, has received the rest]
’Wait... if my 10% commission is 100,000 Arthum, that means the reward was One Million? And Shika’s mother got 900,000 Arthum. It’s not fair. That damn bi—ahem! Well, I shouldn’t be using the slang. She’s Shika’s mother after all.’
It was annoying, and yeah, I was pissed slightly. However, it was we who accepted her proposal, so there wasn’t anything we could do about it right now. Besides, the nightmare was now over and we achieved what we were here for. Therefore, there was nothing to complain about.
’But the money...’ I was crying inwardly, ’Guess I have to let it slide this time. I bet she’s laughing at me right now.’
****
After defeating the demon, Shika stood still, ruminating something that I couldn’t guess. I walked towards her—Zariel was following me silently. She was quiet. Perhaps, she waited to start her bragging any time but held herself back, seeing the seriousness on Shika’s face.
"Good job, Shika!" I congratulated with a smile, "If you weren’t there, we couldn’t take down the demon by ourselves."
"Hey! That’s not true." Zariel began her bragging, "We could still take down the demon by ourselves. But the way Shika fought him, was remarkable. I don’t recall seeing you fighting that way."
’Jeez! Thanks Zariel.’ I looked at her with an annoying smug face.
"Heh-heh! Is that so." Shika smiled warmly, "But I didn’t defeat him alone. You guys were there to lend me a hand. We earned it together."
"Well, if you say so then there’s no harm in taking a small credit," Zariel replied, bracing her chest with pride and smiling cheerfully. "I did help you guys to defeat him after all. But you are the real MPV, Shika!"
"But seriously, how did you manage to break out of his spell? He was quite strong. His spell might be strong too." I inquired.
"Yes indeed." Shika nodded, "The spell was quite powerful, to be honest."
She then stopped for a moment, and glared at me with a solemn smile before saying,
"But I have something special that was far greater than his spell. It helped me win... nah-uh, it helped me to conquer the nightmare."
I couldn’t understand her sudden change of tone. Of course, she was a bit different after the incident. However, she was the same Shika I’d known. There was no doubt about it.
"Anyway,"
If Shika didn’t interject, I might’ve been lost in thoughts. My attention diverted to her and I listened to what she had to.
"The task here is completed and it hasn’t past midnight. What should we do about the rest of the night?"
A fair point.
There might still be dangers out there—not that we were afraid of, but still. If we decided to return soon after the battle that exhausted all of us, it was uncertain whether any of us would make it to the central kingdom.
Besides, I didn’t want Shika to start walking soon after she burned up her stamina. She was more exhausted than I was.
Zariel’s consent was irrelevant, by the way. She can undo the summoning for her return. Though I doubted she’d agree to leave us behind.
Considering all the facts there was but one solution. Yeah, I might help us.
"Why don’t we stay the night here." I suggested, "If we can make an igloo or something similar, we can spend the night resting inside of it. We all are exhausted after all. I don’t recommend to return at once."
"That’s a great idea, Zanthrix!" Shika nodded, "I need a break too. My muscles are resisting my will."
"Now that you mentioned it, I’m feeling a bit tired too," Zariel added. "I might as well need a break."
"Seems like everyone has the same tho—"
My words were cut short. I couldn’t understand what had happened, but it felt like something had suddenly begun consuming me from the inside. My consciousness... was still active. I felt the sensation of cold along the left side of my body as my body fell on the soft snow.
My vision was blurred. Soon, it became blank. I was breathing. I was alive.
There was the system alerting me of something.
I couldn’t see.
I couldn’t hear.
I lost track of my senses.
Eventually, I lost my consciousness.
My bidy became numb.