Chapter 380: Monster in Sheep’s Clothing

Chapter 380: Monster in Sheep’s Clothing

Three hours had passed since the preliminary Game and the contestants had gone through four others since; a puzzle room, a dungeon tower, a race, and a sports game on its way to conclude the morning. It was a rather unusual sport called JetBlitz involving ball play inside a sphere of water.

"This is boring..." Zialtra yawned as she flopped her arms on the table. "I didn't come here for this lame crap."

"What are you, a child?" Hans frowned at her.

"Shut up, you're not enough to entertain me anymore."

"How heart-wrenching and oh so cruel that is," the boy deadpanned. "I will miss it."

The Hunting Queen gave him a sulking eye. "Little bastard... you're not sad enough."

"A much distressing and shocking observation, I am sure. You will overcome it one day."

"'Overcome', my ass!"

Azheim blinked at the sight of the duo's bantering and leaned a bit closer to Rakna. "Your friend is really something... I've never seen Zialtra so easily led on before."

"If I have learned something, it's not to challenge Hans in a battle of wits," the therian uttered.

"Yeah, it's a lost cause," Higure agreed with a huff.

Rakna was about to add something when a familiar presence entered his perception range. A small and soft smile appeared on his face, something that Kaelith and Nyx quickly noticed. He stood up and looked at them. "I'm going to welcome someone," he said and flickered away in a flare of black and purple star energy.

Zialtra's attention was immediately roused and she blinked at the empty spot before grinning. She whistled, "That's gotta be one the best fast movement skills I've ever seen."

Kaelith snorted as she refilled her drink. "Everything wolfy uses is of the highest tier. I would be more surprised if he used anything other than a rare skill or an inexistent one altogether."

"Hmm... Is that so?"

"Though, if you're interested in unique," Nyx interposed and eyed Hans, who raised an eyebrow at her in response. "He does not fall far behind, even compared to Rakna."

The Hunting Queen actually narrowed her eyes a bit at that and a few people at the table turned to look at Hans as if they had suddenly been allowed to acknowledge his presence. Both Kryas and Merlina were particularly severe in the way they looked at him. More subtly, King Gulon seemed to be rattling on its wielder's back.

The azure-haired boy sighed and snapped the book he was reading shut. He looked up with a lazy mien and returned their stares, eventually glaring at Nyx. "Was that necessary?"

The Night Goddess crossed her arms and leaned back. "You still haven't explained it," she replied with a simple tone. "I gave you a pass because I trusted Rakna... but you didn't think I was going to disregard it forever, did you?"

Astraea nodded to the side, agreeing with her words.

"Um, what is going on?" Allan raised his voice in confusion, voicing the thoughts of the rest of the people who were either not in the know or incapable of sensing the anomaly that was Hans.

"You know, I've always wondered since the first time I saw you," Kaelith spoke up. "Every time my senses try to pick up on your presence, I feel nothing. But then, as if in a panic, a fake aura suddenly appears as if tricking me into believing nothing was wrong and that it was there from the start."

The author quietly gazed at her.

"It's like your existence itself is trying to deceive the world into being real."

"Back in Zero," Astraea continued and everyone looked at her. "When you died to Roias and came back to life... the truth is that neither is true. You never died; because you were never 'real'."

"Whenever you Rewrite yourself, you don't modify yourself," Nyx stated afterward. "You alter the doll you inhabit instead. The Hans we know is just that; a doll. But now... to whom is it a vessel?"

Hans clicked his tongue and took off his glasses, casually folding them. "Of course, a deity of your caliber would reach the correct answer," he huffed derisively. "No... perhaps you reached such an answer due to him," he uttered and waved at Cura, and most accurately, King Gulon. LaaTest novels on (n)ovelbi/n(.)com

Said creature opened its mouth and let out a chuckling growl. The Shark King narrowed his eyes and translated for his weapon, "You amuse me, Wailful One. Why not tell them?"

Hans rolled his eyes. "Truly, all of you are fools to willingly seek a bad dream," he spat and rubbed his eyes as if to banish his weariness. "You already know who I am," he told Nyx with a scowl. "You heard it well the first time."

"Wailful Nightmare..." The Night Goddess muttered. "What does it mean?"

The 'doll' sneered and tilted his head at Astraea. "Why do you not ask her? She ought to know."

Rakna's eyes widened slightly, but other than that, he simply watched Lana look away with a sad look. That applied also to Nyx and Flavia whose expressions barely changed, as if such a tale was random trivia. Only Astraea, Allan, and Evelyn seemed a bit disturbed while Higure had a curious expression on her face and Marie failed to understand why it was a big deal.

Kryas noted those reactions to himself and chuckled. "This group is quite something," he muttered as an afterthought and then focused back on the sheep girl. "Regardless, it does not stop here. She was not invited into any Guild for obvious reasons and thus advanced in solo."

"However, a month later, alone, she decimated an entire Guild with members surpassing her by at least two hundred levels," the Pavilion President uttered dryly.

"By that point, she had already gained quite a lot of infamy. Some called her a demon, cursing her inoffensive and clumsy attitude, even when found covered in blood, as a malicious disguise. Two more months later, she wiped out so many Wilden in the 30th Plateau that Hosts began to only find corpses despite the System's infinite lands."

"Five months forward, she earned the genuine Title of Sheep Empress," he said and glanced at the only other person here who had the title of Emperor. "Additionally, that promotion had come from killing two former Kings; both Sixth Ascent Hosts"

"Similar occurrences happened over and over again everywhere she went," he followed up. "But one of the most recent and striking ones was nine months ago. A Guild named Topaz went to war against her. In the fields of Old Eden, she fought hundreds of their members concurrently as well as their leader; Zenra Calna... the Top 89th Host at the time, with a level of 912."

Kryas paused and allowed a mirthful smile to appear on his face. "Guess what happened."

No one seemed about to deign him with an answer until Hans did so nonchalantly, "They all died without contest. The 'Monster in Sheep's Clothing' left behind a sea of blood and, discovered after a subsequent investigation, every single member had died from one attack; bisected one way or another. The leader, however, was decapitated... and his skull split in two as well with perfect symmetry."

Lana lowered her head even more at that, but Rakna knew it wasn't out of guilt. The emotion she was currently exuding wasn't remorse but merely simple shame. She was embarrassed; nothing more, nothing less.

"Well, uh..." Allan tentatively raised his voice, not knowing what to think. "That's... impressive?"

Then, much to the shock of half the people present, Rakna softly patted Lana. "It's fine. I don't care about any of that. You're still my friend," he said with a gentle smile that roused a decent amount of jealousy from a few of the girls at the table.

Lanata looked up at him with wide eyes before breaking out into a cheerful grin. "Thank you!" She exclaimed happily and hugged him with one arm, still making sure not to drop her sword. Rakna let out an amused huff at her reaction.

"...did the cuteness get to his head? Is he okay?" Allan whispered to Flavia. "He's acting like some kid who can't see anything bad about his crush," he mumbled but didn't get an answer even after a few seconds. "Um... Flav—iiii!" He yelped in fear when the fork in the Chaos Witch's hand broke into two pieces.

"You were saying?" She questioned with a dark smile and he raised his arms in defense.

"N-nothing..." He blurted out and scooted closer to Marie. "Save me!" He cried out mutedly to his girlfriend who rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Don't provoke a maiden's love, idiot," the lamia retorted.

"Oi, oi, little Majesty," Zialtra playfully looked at Rakna. "Did you hear what Kryas said? The girl at your side is a bloodthirsty killer hiding under a sheep's clothing... Though, I suppose there is some irony to be found in you being a wolf, eh?" She joked.

"Do you keep count of the number of people you have killed?" Rakna suddenly asked and she froze on the spot, unsure of what she was being asked. "This is not a trap question," he added.

She raised an eyebrow. "I've never counted anything. Pretty sure I would have given up quite fast anyway."

"Same here," the therian said with a smile, and the Hunting Queen's lips twitched upward. "I'm not much of an optimist, honestly. I don't believe in the idea of finding good in people. There is or there is not; it doesn't go much deeper than that."

"..."

"Point in case, Zialtra Lanfor, both of us are much worse bloodthirsty killers than she will ever be."

"Hah... Hahahaha!" The Boss of Trafford chortled at first before she burst into maddened laughter that earned her many uncomfortable stares.

And as she continued laughing, Rakna had an idea and turned toward Lana. "By the way, that does mean you're not in a guild, right?"

"Eh? Um... yes, you're right," she nodded timidly.

"Then how about joining mine?" He asked and then heard someone from a neighboring table drop their cup on the floor. His companions were not much different while Zialtra just laughed louder.

"...be normal... please... just once..." Kaelith buried her face in her hands.

"Let it be," it was Hans who amazingly came to the sheep girl's defense. "None of you at this table have skills stronger than either Xiorra or myself when it comes to appraising others. Celebrate to have gained such a competent ally rather than waste your energy reasoning untenable opinions."

The vixen stared at the azure-haired boy with murderous eyes before extending her empty cup to her mother. "Mom, another shot," she said blankly and Kara giggled, raising the bottle in her hand and complying with the request. "And STOP laughing, you muscle-brained woman!"

Despite the complaint, Zialtra's hilarity persisted for several more minutes.