Chapter 75: Distinction and Overkill Part 1

In the end, Pencilgton’s brother AllSlot and his fellow Ashura-kai members disappeared in a matter of seconds…… Turning into a bunch of polygons and dropping dead on the spot, leaving lots of rare and unique items behind them in the process.

「Ah~, ah~, just look at all those items! Ashura-kai spent so much time collecting them, and now they are all that remains out of them!」

Even though his own brother was slew like a simple mob, Pencilgton seemed to be in a rather good mood himself.

It was their strategy to begin with. Even before the battle with Wezaemon, there was the matter of the remnants of Ashura-kai that needed to be dealt with. Pencilgton knew they would notice his disappearance and that they would eventually figure out where he went. Based on all that information, they came up with this maneuver.

Since I was, for some reason unknown to me registered as friends with Saiga-0, one of the strongest players of ShanFro at the current moment, I was to send her a rescue signal. I was glad that she chose to respond so fast, but the speed of her response was so fast that it was actually quite concerning. If not downright creepy.

「Umm……」

「Ahh, Saiga-0-san, thank you so much for coming!」

「N, no, it’s not a big deal…… Please don’t mind it. More importantly…… Unique Monster subjugation…… Congratulations!」

Ahh, that rather flashy GM announcement right now…… Thanks to that, it will become increasingly more difficult to actually take a stroll through town from now on. It will surely be quite a drag to deal with, but as long as I have my evacuation site in Rabbitz, I think I’m not going to pay that matter that much mind.

Thanks to Pencilgton’s machinations Ashura-kai was no more, and AllSlot was taken down by Saiga-0 just now. So all’s well that ends well, I guess?

But now there was this awkward silence between Saiga-0 and I yet again. What should I do now? It would be rude of me to just say “Now that you’ve served your purpose, you can go home!”. Should I thank her once more? Or maybe give her some kind of reward?

「Ah, Saiga-0-chan? I know it might be a little bit rude to ask you this since you came here to help and all that, but would it be okay with you if I asked you for something?」

「…… What is it?」

Saiga-0 looks at Pencilgton and asks him in a tone of voice that was completely different from the one she used a moment ago with me. But apparently Pencilgton paid that no mind at all.

「Would you be so kind and kill me as well? As a reward for that, you can have all of my reviving items and the loot that came from the members of Ashura-kai.」

「…… Are you sure?」

「It’s fine, it’s fine. What’s a game if there’s not some risk involved in it? Besides, I was getting kind of tired from all the penalties on my head and the life of a PKer, so I thought it might be good to settle my sins and crimes right here and right now.」

Wasn’t the penalty for PKK the confiscation of all of your items as well as huge financial fines? I can’t possibly imagine just how big of a penalty Pencilgton would receive, but according to him it was something he has decided upon since a long time ago.

「But just so you know, even though I said that, I’m not just going to sit on my ass and let you slaughter me like you did with that idiot of a brother of mine. No, you’ll have your share of work cut out for you……」

While saying that, Pencilgton picked up the sword that AllSlot dropped and pointed it at Saiga-0, in an act of a declaration of war. Saiga-0 looked kind of troubled there for a moment.

「…… I understand. I’m not going to hold back either, since you are the Giant Killer Pencilgton.」

Saying that, Saiga-0 drew her huge black sword. Only but a single glance was enough to know that it was something that no player could have crafted by themselves, that it was a weapon that was existing outside of the realm of human comprehension. With her weapon drawn, she was ready.

「Satanael…… “Satan” for short.」

At that moment, the black blade started to pulse as if it was alive. Then from the tip of the sword something white started to emanate, slowly covering the whole length of the blade. Before long, the sword changed its color from pure-black to pure white. A godly blade shining brightly under the moonlight, feeling completely different from the previous one.

It was as if the jet-black sword disappeared completely. As if the white shine eroded all the blackness from the blade. Was it the energy of Saiga-0 herself? But then the blackness started to cover the surface of her armor, and its initial shape was heavily distorted. Right now, Saiga-0 looked far from the holy knight she usually was, looking more like a Demon Lord incarnate right about now.

「Rumors have that this unique weapon holds the most attack power in the whole game: “Antinomy”, which can turn the very fabric of existence inside out.」

「I’ve heard about it from my Sis…… Ekhem, Ekhem, from the Guild Master. You won’t be able to see the blade coming, and if you try to run away you’ll get burned to cinders.」

「Am I a cockroach or something like that in your eyes?」

「「Bafuahh!!!」」

Hearing Pencilgton make a joke like that, both Katsu and I couldn’t help it but to erupt with laughter.

「Just you wait, maybe I should kill those guys first…… One last PK from Arthur Pencilgton, for old time’s sake.」

「Why the fuck are you suddenly pointing your weapon at us!?」

「Saiga-0, was it? Please hurry it up and dispose of this lunatic! Can’t you see that he’s dangerous!?」

「Um, umm……」

Saiga-0 seemed to be clearly confused by our weird interactions, but seeing Pencilgton taking a battle stance she readied her own weapon once more.

「…… “Highest Strengthening”. “Magic Enhance”. “Lightning Flash”. “Enchantment: Vermillion”. …… “Catastrophy”!」

「Uwah, talk about a crazy combination……」

I can totally see why Katsu reacted in such a way. Somehow, Saiga-0 managed to transcend beyond the level of a normal player and reached a place at which you could only look towards with envy. She was like a monster or a Demon Lord himself. Somehow, I even get a feeling that she would be able to take on Gravekeeper Wezaemon all on her own without any problems.

「Fuaah…… Surely the spells and skills she used right now say it clearly: she means business. Allow me to respond in kind: “I spill the blood, I eat the flesh of my enemies, I bite them to death, and snuff out their lives. I stand atop all and there’s no one better than me.” …… How about that?」

Pencilgton chanted, and AllSlot’s sword started pulsating. Quite literally, it wasn’t a metaphor. Then something of a black mass of flesh extends from his arm and bites into the blade, changing its shape and the aura surrounding it. The blade changed its color to black.