Matan’s Shooter

TL: xLordFifth

ED: 

The black cranes were larger than the red goats. Each one, giant-sized, numbered over a hundred. It meant that more than a hundred living flame bombs were falling from the sky!

“Wood! Everything below is wood – if it catches fire!”

“Huuu—–did! You stupid idiot!”

Leeha’s ears rang as he looked around in confusion. Next to him was  Aibex shouting with all his might.

“You fool! You look like a black crane with its head twisted——–! [Suppress]!”

Light flashed from Aibex’s horns. The fire of the black cranes, descending rapidly, went out all at once.

“Go, my children! Flame Burst!”

And Aibex once again used his power towards the red goats. When their bright red fur sparkled as if coated with wax, the red goats broke the branches of the Redwood and soared into the sky.

Each of them, with their horns thrust forward, would directly receive the tremendous kinetic energy of the descending paleos.

“Gwaaaah!”

The charge began. Kwaaaah——— Kwaaaah——! Red goats and black cranes entangled mid-air, starting a fierce battle. The red goats couldn’t fly in the sky. In other words, they were fighting on the ground as they fell! A red goat trying to tear off the wings of a black crane, a black crane trying to entwine the head of the red goat with its horns to avoid them.

‘Crazy….’

This was not a level of combat where they exchanged punches. They were a new race of NPCs who used their bodies as weapons. Even in the midst of breaking the branches of the Redwood and falling, they showed determination.

“Hudid. This stubborn friend…”

According to Aibex’s words, paleos could borrow the power of a being like a ‘guardian deity.’ Leeha hadn’t fully grasped the concept yet, but he felt that he was something close to his children. Why would he send his children into a deadly charge? Hudid, soaring proudly in the night sky, and Aibex, sadly looking at Hudid. Leeha cautiously opened her mouth, recalling what Aibex had said.

“Are you two… originally close?”

“…Didn’t I say? He makes fire, and I extinguish it. Over the more than five thousand years this forest has been growing, we had a special relationship.”

Indeed.

Leeha nodded. He vaguely seemed to know the whole story of the incident.

“Hudid-nim changed like that not long ago, right?”

“Aibex probably—probably…”

“You think that Le made Hudid-nim like that.”

“Someone like Le couldn’t have made Hudid like that. It’s impossible.”

Aibex shook his head.

The place where Leeha and Aibex stood was at the top of a tall Redwood. From various places on the ground, the sounds of fierce battles were still audible. Here and there, black cranes, breaking through walls of leaves and branches, were soaring back into the sky. In the midst of such noise, Leeha looked at Aibex shaking his head.

“No. Absolutely not. I mentioned earlier that Le contaminated the water spirits and came here, but that’s not all. Not only ordinary water spirits but even the ruler of the sea who governs the vast ocean, the Sea God, was somewhat affected by Bluebeard’s influence.”

“Is that so…?”

The eyes on Aibex’s back squinted.

“Yes. The sea god endured it. If he had completely fallen, the Dragon Palace would have been completely destroyed, but the sea god endured. However, Hudid-nim is clearly different, and his purpose is also clear. It’s more serious than the case of the sea god.”

The sea god attacked indiscriminately, both mermaids and mermen. He was only swayed by something like symptoms of insanity just before completely losing his mind.

“But Hudid is different. He’s not blind. Literally… he’s corrupted.”

Leeha stared intently into Aibex’s eyes. Now he seemed to understand a little about the concept of the ‘tribe guardian god.’

Having lived for a long time, he was based on a specific ‘ordinary creature.’ Despite gaining tremendous power and special abilities, he lacked the wisdom of dragons or gods.

“Aibex-nim, you also think that way, don’t you? The expression when you heard my story about Le crossing to the Erica continent was clearly—”

“No! No way. That’s not true. Hudid and I were the strongest guardians in this Redwood! We  even kept the demons that ran away from the old continent in check!”

He might be thinking that way himself, but the stubbornness or pride prevented him from saying it out loud.

Leeha didn’t back down. Then, with the realization that if there was a hole, this was the only thing, he made an irresistible proposal.

“Leave it to me. I will handle it.”

“…Can a human do it? Something that’s not even clear in its reasons!?”

“I’m the one who resolved the contamination and corruption of the sea god.”

The eyes on Aibex’s back widened again. Just before he could say more, Leeha spoke first.

“But… promise me the site for building the mana relay tower and ensure its safety.”

Shwaaaa—– A notification window appeared in front of Leeha a few seconds later. The battle was still in full swing.

[Come to your senses, my friend.]

Explanation: “Can you really do that? Can you do that without killing him? In this vast continent, the only one I relied on for such a long time is Hudid. We are each other’s enemies and friends. Born to kill each other but beings that must coexist. Among the numerous creatures spread across Erica, we are the only ones who truly understand each other. If you can reverse that insane guy… I would rather ask you for a favor. Just to confirm the abilities of humans and gods.”

Aibex, the one who extinguishes fires, wants to heal Hudid, the one who starts fires. Investigate the reason why the spirit Hudid has fallen, resolve the cause, and restore peace to Erica’s ‘Redwood.’

Content: Healing the corrupted spirit of the creature Hudid

Reward: Designation of mana relay tower construction site and safety assurance

Increased intimacy with Aibex and his Paleos +100%

Increased intimacy with Hudid and his Paleos +100%

Failure condition: Hudid’s death

In case of failure: Achievement – “Are Humans Born to Betray”

Decreased intimacy with Aibex and his Paleos -100%

Decreased intimacy with Hudid and his Paleos -100%

Will you accept?

“Insane… insane, this is unbelievable. What is this?”

Leeha was already convinced. If Hudid, that giant black crane, was contaminated by the Bluebeard, then the treatment method was simple as well. Just remove the source of contamination!

Moreover, since this type of quest came up, the method Leeha guessed was practically confirmed. However, what surprised Leeha wasn’t the request to heal Hudid without killing him. Was it because the reward was really just that? Or because the failure condition was too simple? No, that wasn’t it.

The reason Leeha was surprised was solely one thing—the words Aibex casually threw out in the quest description window.

‘On the Erica continent… [numerous creatures spread]…?’

Like Aibex and Hudid, beings that evolved differently while based on the form of a beast. Aibex himself referred to them as creatures. If the story that came out of his mouth was true, this meant it was a setting in Middle Earth.

‘Creatures of that level are spread widely?! And the NPC race called Paleo, uses the power of a tribe guardian god! And if the tribe guardian god means creatures, then… in the Erica continent, it would mean not being surprised by something like red goats or black cranes, creatures that are ‘something between humans and monsters’! Because there would be much more diverse life forms!’

Leeha’s expression momentarily showed surprise, and the eyelids on Aibex’s back narrowed.

“Aren’t you confident? If not—”

“No! No, no. I’m confident. But…! I can’t do it alone. Please release my colleagues below.”

[Negotiation skill has been activated.] [The probability of convincing the opponent increases by 57%.]

Leeha skillfully initiated negotiations. [Expert Negotiator Lv.5] The convincing probability surpasses ‘half and half’! This quest is different from the compelling quests before. It’s not a mandatory quest, and the conditions are not too tight. If there’s room for negotiation, it should be used, of course.

However, maybe Aibex didn’t like Leeha’s attitude. Helping while placing conditions might have been impolite in Erika continent customs. Aibex’s expression wasn’t particularly bright.

“I still can’t trust you completely. Why should I?”

“I know the cause and the solution.”

Leeha didn’t avoid the eyes on Aibex’s back. The eyes on the back and the mouth on the face made a faint ‘hmm’ sound, creating a bit of distance and making Leeha slightly uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Leeha remained determined.

Shwooosh! After a while, the quest notification window finally changed.

Content: Heal the corrupted spirit of the creature Hudid with one human companion.

“…Okay. Then release only one person.”

“One person?! At least two should be released!”

“One person. If you don’t like it, you can just stop—”

[Failed in persuasion.]

“Ah, okay! I got it. One person! Let’s do it with one person.”

Just before the notification window disappeared, Leeha clicked the accept button. The mention of a 50-50 persuasion success rate meant that one of the attempts could fail, and Leeha was well aware of that.

Although the complete goal wasn’t achieved, Leeha felt somewhat relieved with at least some progress.

‘There are no specific regulations on the method. Just need to restore the contaminated spirit.’

In extreme terms, it meant suppressing and tying up Hudid, then fixing the ‘mental education’ and ‘batting’—in other words, what if it came to the worst-case scenario?

‘Bring out Bailephus, then subdue and educate Hudid to the point of not killing him. Simple but effective.’

Perhaps the Ancient Gold Dragon might know another skill to cure the contamination by the Blue Beard. Leeha’s thought of bringing out at least ‘one person’ was not wrong. At least, up to this point.

“…I’m going back today.”

“Black crane! Withdraw! Withdraw!” —

As Hudid spoke, the surrounding black crane screeched loudly. Leeha suspected that the black crane was the ‘big brother’ in the opposing camp.

The black cranes that were entangled in a battle with the Red Goats around them flapped their wings and soared into the air.

“Don’t let them escape! Capture them!”

“Red goat!”

Although the red goats tried to catch the retreating black cranes by running and jumping on the Red Wood, it was not an easy task. Paleo was not in a complete animal form; it only possessed the characteristics of an animal.

The claws of the cranes were far from dull. Even when the Red Goats tried to counter with their horns, Palaeo’s ‘human arms’ could hold onto them and absorb the impact.

Moreover, flying faster than running on the ground was a whole different challenge.

“Indeed… so, at that time, it was the black cranes planning to attack from the sea.”

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