Chapter 143: In the basement (6)

"Haa... does that mean that the legend about lady Envy abducting you is false then? Do you even know about that legend in the first place?"

Cranberry sighed and asked, squinting her eyes in suspicion.

"..."

Once again the answer didn't come immediately, just as if Saint had a hard time making words come out from his dead-looking shell of a body.

"..."

Cranberry was also silent, but in her case she was focusing on the surroundings, preparing to counter any surprise attacks that might come at her from the darkness.

Nothing seemed off for the moment so she cautiously stepped forward.

"...the legend about me is... mostly false..."

"Mostly...?"

Saint suddenly spoke, getting alarmed Cranberry's attention.

"...that woman... your legend suggests that she had abducted me around the same time that the six monstrously strong players went against the six administrators... but that isn't true... she..."

Saint stopped talking as if they had to recharge their energy, and Cranberry walked a bit closer.

"...targeted me only after she saw the great benefits the other players received from taking down their administrators..."

The empty husk sounded angry, but there was no passion in their voice as if the fires of hatred burnt out through the years, and only lukewarm ash remained in their place.

"...the silly little legend, about me being sneaked away from my bedchamber while I slept, under the noses of other administrators, was a lie that woman made up... my so-called abduction..."

Saint had to take another break before he could continue, but this time he started speaking much faster than before.

It seemed like he was slowly getting used to talking with someone after the long years in isolation.

"...the truth is... what happened to me was just an event orchestrated by the system... I should have known that it would happen... I trusted the system's will... and didn't know what suffering would that bring me..."

The anger in their raspy voice changed into self-loathing.

"...if I knew what would happen to me... I would have fought with all my might to change my fate even a little bit... just as you did..."

Saint let out a tired sigh, but if he wanted to gain some empathy, he picked the worst possible target.

"I was under the impression that the gods, or how you call it, the administrators, had the power to change the system to their will?"

Cranberry spoke, checking the countdown in the corner of her vision.

There were still four whole minutes until it would reach zero - which felt a bit odd to Cranberry, with all the lengthy breaks that Saint took while talking, she almost expected it to have finished already...

"...the administrators didn't create the system and could never go against the grander plan... we were only tasked by the system to supervise the specific fields, and were given the right to ru-... to guide a selected group... my task was to watch over the elves, and therefore they are the only race I can directly influence with..."

The husk answered in a pained voice.

"Seeing them getting routinely abducted, stripped from their beauty, and imprisoned, I would say you aren't doing a very good job with ruling them. Whoops, I meant with guiding them."

Cranberry smirked mockingly.

"..."

And it looked like she struck the nerve.

"...bringing down the administrator does grant the player some benefits, but it doesn't grant them the same privileges that the administrator had... but that Envy woman did things differently..."

"...?"

The amount of self-loathing in Saint's voice increased by a large margin causing Cranberry to raise her brow curiously.

"...using my elves as the bait, she ambushed me and by using her unique skills, she managed to steal just a tiny bit of my power... just a tiny bit... but it was still enough for the system to count it as her victory...  most of my privileges got locked out... except the ones that she had stolen..."

"Ha..."

Cranberry furrowed her brows and nodded, the countdown was still at the three-minute mark...

"So what you are saying, is that the avatar of Envy can bend the elves to their will?"

The red-haired girl tilted her head and smirked.

"..."

The husk didn't answer.

Cranberry took a small step forward.

"...in a small way, they can... it's a stolen power, they can only partially rewrite the race's setting, but as long as the power isn't fully theirs, they won't be able to make it permanent..."

Saint explained with a hint of joy in their raspy voice.

"...but thanks to that, Envy's steal-type skills are much more efficient on my elves..."

They added.

/Quest progression

*learn the secret of Envy (completed)

(80% completion - all status points +25%)

/Tier 8th reward granted

/Master's base status points greatly increased

/Servant's base status points greatly increased

"Haa... I would prefer to have a proper sit-down and learn everything the way it really went, but I guess this has to do..."

Cranberry let out a deep sigh and shook her head in disappointment.

"..."

The last administrator became silent.

"..."

And so did Cranberry, only with a mocking smile plastered on her face.

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

Funnily enough, it was Saint who broke the silence first.

"I'm saying that I will begrudgingly settle with learning those half-truths since they do seem to be real enough to trigger the quest completion."

The girl shrugged her shoulders and enlightened the confused administrator.

"...you...!"

"Ha ha! Haa? Are you mad that your pathetic trick was seen through?"

When Saint's voice became dyed by real anger, Cranberry laughed in delight.

"..."

Not even Saint stopped talking, but even the gaping mouth of his empty husk closed.

"You were too impatient and made some mistakes, but I guess that's what centuries of imprisonment would do to you~"

Cranberry giggled playfully, not dropping her guard for even a second.

Then, she suddenly pointed her thumb at her right eye.

"You've said that you've lost all the privileges? But you're the one who makes the quest timer loop, aren't you? The timer for my Zombie's rewardless quest. Just now it went from 1:00 to 1:59, again. You seriously thought that talking only right when the loop happened would distract me enough so I wouldn't notice?"

The lighthearted feeling surrounding her disappeared.

"..."

Saint refused to comment.

"And then what was that system message informing me that you've tried to check my player's info? Hallucination? Or maybe your powers momentarily returned?"

Cranberry's voice was cold as ice.

"You would either start talking before the timer would loop, or when I got closer to you. You moldy bastard, you are leading me in."

She raised her head up high and glared at the glowing husk with disgust.

"...the descendants of that Envy woman all know to never approach me... because even the laughable EXP that players give would be enough to revitalize me enough to break through the measly chains their ancestor put on me...!"

The empty husk not only talked again, but it also moved and stood up in its rooty cradle and stared down at Cranberry with its empty eyeholes.

"Haa? I gave you the benefit of a doubt since you could speak, but it seems that you really are just as brainless as you look."

"..."

The red-haired girl scoffed mockingly, while the moldy shedding's glow intensified, it looked exactly like a light of the active skill.

"Haa... idiot..."

Cranberry shook her head and sighed.

"Listen, Saint. I'll give you a choice."

Despite all the warning signs, she seemed to drop her guard and lifted up her index finger.

"You can wait for me to go back onto the surface and kill the avatar of Envy who is in possession of your so-called missing powers. After that, you will be free and able to restore all the damage they've done to your favorite elves through the years..."

She declared.

"Or - if you choose to attack me - I will kill you. But don't despair. You've said that yourself - Envy cannot save the changes to the race setting - Their steal-type skills cannot exist without an original owner. Without you, the elves will be able to free themselves just as good."

Cranberry raised her middle finger.

"...or I can continue with my original plan..."

*RUMBLE*

Husk's mouth tore open forming the creepiest smile and the whole cave trembled.

Countless roots, those fluorescent as well as the plain ones erupted from every square foot of the cave and shoot right at the distracted girl.

"...I WILL NEVER TRUST A PLAYER AGAIN! NOW DIE SO I CAN BE FREE...!"

Saint's voice raised in a mad song as the roots reached their target, destroying everything in their path.

"...?!"

But when no EXP was gained and Saint's laugh stopped.

As their head was raised, Saint could clearly see the red-haired girl materializing above him from the thin air after a perfectly timed blink skill.

Her body, eyes, and even the weapon she was wielding were shining with the blinding white light of multiple active skills.

The girl realized that the last administrator had noticed her and a joyful smile bloomed on her face.

"Wrong choice."

She said and swung down.