HC:Pacifist | Ch. 134 - Nice Mask

The player in the clearing had a race that Roth had never seen. His head was longer than normal. It was shaped like a cucumber as if the skull had run out of room to accommodate the brain. He stood with his arms behind his back and wore a brown and red robe that shone in beautiful patterns. This was a very high-level esper.

“So you’re Pax, the one who’s dared to get in our way and sabotage our plans.”

As Roth tried to recall how they could have found him out, he finally realized what had happened. It had to be the sheep thief. He must have seen his tag and told Pegasus about what had happened. Roth resisted the urge to run away. His gut told him that this was not an opponent he could outrun. The safest place he could run to was behind his pursuer. On the other side of this man was Prince Piglet and the Treeant. He locked his jaw, took a deep breath, and walked toward him.

“Aren’t you a brave one?” He stomped his foot, and an energy ripple went through the ground. “Nice mask. A zoomorph? That’s the first time I heard of this race. And you’re only level 23? Hahaha. Loki is going to love hearing about this.”

Roth clicked his tongue. The esper had used some sort of observation skill that had allowed him to get a look at several of his stats. His mask wasn’t enough to endure the scrutiny. The man didn’t seem afraid of him, which was his most significant advantage. He had to get as close as he could.

“You also have a race I haven’t seen before. What does it do?” tried Roth.

The man didn’t answer his question and licked his lips.

“What’s your name?” tried Roth.

“Xerxes. I’m an elder of the Pegasus guild. And your life is over, my friend.”

“How so?”

“Don’t try to play the fool. You’re the one who’s been selling guides to undermine us. You were the one targeting us on the sewers.” Beads of sweat formed on Roth’s forehead. It was as he suspected. Pegasus had been behind those monsters.

“So what are you going to do?”

“One-shot you.” He grinned evilly. “Many times.”

Xerxes joined his hands in a praying gesture, and two giant fists made of mud appeared from the ground. He had some sort of class that interacted with the soil. Fortunately, Roth was now close enough.

Peace Decree!

The giant fists closed on him like hands trying to kill a mosquito.

Null!

Null!

“What skill is this?” Xerxes looked around uncomprehendingly. He raised his hand, and giant boulders emerged from the ground. He sent them flying toward Roth, but none managed to land a hit. “This should not be possible. You’re 30 levels below me. How can you…?”

Roth didn’t let him finish. He tried to run past him, but a trap made of mud formed around him. It was a crowd-control skill. He was immobilized.

“Aren’t you a resourceful one?”

He’d been so close to the tree. If only he could reach its illusion, he would be able to hide from him.

Camouflage!

Miniaturize!

As his form shrank, the tight mud trap became loose, and he escaped it. He saw Xerxes using the same skill with the fists made of mud, but he managed to evade it thanks to his small size. Xerxes’ eyes looked directly at him. It was as if his camouflage had done nothing to hide his presence. Just as he was about to use what Roth guessed was another crowd control skill, he made it past the shimmering barrier, and he was safe.

Once Roth crossed the barrier, he saw the flock of sheep munching on the grass. Foxes played with mice, and badgers chatted with crows. Prince Piglet was the only one who looked unhappy, staring menacingly at Xerxes from across the barrier.

As Roth looked back toward the barrier, he saw Xerxes throwing earth-shattering skills toward where Roth had disappeared. But they were all effortlessly absorbed by the barrier.

“Greetings, human.”

Roth took heavy breaths and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Hey, Prince Piglet. What’s up?”

Prince Piglet turned his heavy axe over and over on his hands. “You brought trouble with you, hey? And it’s such an aggressive one. I almost want him to break through the barrier. I could use the exercise.”

Roth let out a deep sigh. “Something tells me that he’s about to bring friends along. Your axe might get the workout it wants.”

The prince smirked. “That only makes my recovery even more important. Did you bring any medicine from the city?”

“Here, prince.”

Prince Piglet has paid you 2834 gold and 76 silver.

20x[Prairie Balm] has been removed from your inventory.

30x[Acargomar Extract] has been removed from your inventory.

20x[Silverleaf Salve] has been removed from your inventory.

10x[Evergreen Elixir] has been removed from your inventory.

3881 gold has been removed from your inventory.

Congratulations on completing a trade between [Prince Piglet] and [Golden Mountain Inc].

2000 broker XP; 2%(x75%) of the profit (61 gold, 26 silver); +142 reputation with all boars.

*

“Xerxes, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Loki was in a good mood today. There was only a few days left before he revealed his full power to the world.

“Sir, I’ve located the Pax character.”

Loki licked his lips. More good news! “You’ve done well. Is he level 0 yet?”

“Not exactly.”

Loki bit the inside of his cheek. Xerxes was a loyal employee, and the fact that he hadn’t succeeded in his mission was deeply disappointing.

“Here. Check this footage I’ve sent you.”

Before Loki lashed out, he checked the footage he’d received. The recording was done from Xerxes’ perspective. Xerxes was standing in the middle of a clearing. Checking the map at the corner of the footage, Loki could see it was in the Green Woods region. Out from the treeline came out a player.

Even despite Xerxes’ high insight, the face of the player came in and out of focus. The player must have been wearing a very high-level disguise. For it to be able to fool even Xerxes was remarkable.

Seismic Sonar!

Xerxes used a skill that allowed him to channel his intelligence into insight temporarily, and the mask that had been disguising the player stopped working. Some information on the character was revealed.

CHARACTER INFORMATION

Name: Pax

Class: ???

Race: Zoomorph

Profession(s): Novice Broker, Novice Ecotailor

Level: 23

As Loki focused on the player’s face, he felt like his blood had turned to acid, and he could feel his veins throbbing. The tall figure, the dismissive facial expression, the big hands that had broken his bones. It was him. “The Slayer?! Pax is the Slayer?! Those IDIOTS!” he roared.

“Sir? I don’t follow.”

Loki kept studying the footage. Even though Xerxes had attacked him masterfully and hadn’t held back, the vermin had still managed to survive and magically disappeared from Xerxes' view. There were no signs of him even after he used [Seismic Sonar] again.

“Summon your whole squad. Level that whole map to the ground. Smoke him out. I want this individual slaughtered over and over again. I don’t care how you do it. Destroy him!”

“Sir, but I…” Loki hung up the call and got Zin.

“You called, sir?”

“Zin, study this footage. Gary and the others were lying. Make them disappear!” He hung up before Zin could respond.

Loki wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. It had been a long time since he’d been this angry. Those fools had dared lie to him. The diversion maneuver and blaming it on a few group members had been clever enough to fool him, but the truth had come out.

It had been a mistake to use the IronIre squad. The thought of the Slayer playing happily had instantly soured his mood. He had prepared so carefully to make him suffer as much as possible. His cold calculations always seemed to be off regarding the Slayer. Should he just have him killed in the capsule? For a few moments, he pondered whether he should just send Zin to finish him, but something held him back.

He went through the footage again. The Slayer had a race he had never heard about before. He was also level 23 after just a couple of months in the game. That was incredible progress. Additionally, he had managed to get the hidden ‘broker’ profession. He knew about its existence, and one of the top players in the ranks was a broker, but he still didn’t know how to unlock it.

The Slayer also had another profession Loki hadn’t heard about before. Ecotailor. Worst of all, if the Slayer was Pax, that meant that he was the first player, to his knowledge, to unlock light affinity. Were it not for his deep-seated hatred for this man, he would go out of his way to hire him into his guild.

Memories of the Slayer leveling battlefields and destroying his enemies came to him. He then weighed all the accomplishments he had and clenched his teeth. The vermin… was he trying to challenge him? He had come with nothing into the game, had already become this strong, and put a massive dent into his plans. Was he trying to prove he was better than him?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The Slayer was defiant to the end. Did he dare think he could stand up to him on his turf? How dare he? Loki clenched his jaw so hard that had this been reality, he would have cracked a tooth. He’d show who was superior. He would remind the Slayer of how tiny and powerless he was.

He would let him live inside the pod he’d arranged for him. After a few more days, he and everyone else could witness his greatness. Then, as all strength and will to fight was drained from that brute, he would end his life and ensure that the last thing he saw was the world burning by the flame of Pegasus.

*

As Roth sheared the flock of twenty sheep, he nervously watched as more and more Pegasus players appeared. They had already found the barrier’s edge and were bombarding it non-stop. Even though at first the dome hadn’t budged, sometimes, when the attacks were concentrated enough, it slightly shook.

His heart sank. It seemed like this was going to be his life from now on. To run from hideout to hideout, having to find things to do while others were trying to destroy him. Once again, he was stuck. But this time, there was no sneaking out. At least, he still had some things that kept him busy.

You have sheared a sheep and built a bond with it.

+56 ecotailor XP.

+3 reputation with the flock.

You’ve gained 6x[Raw Wool].

In the time that Roth hadn’t seen the sheep, they had developed a coat of wool thick enough he could shear. He didn’t know if sheep’s wool grew this fast in the game or if there were still some vestiges of the experimental drugs that the Beanies had given the flock that were making the wool grow faster.

After shearing the whole flock, he had a few stacks of raw wool. But unfortunately, after this, he had run out of things to do. He sighed. He should have just gone off to Rock Canyon. Why did he have to come here to trade? He should have just left it up to Bucky. As he thought of the Husky, he wondered whether the dog was talented enough to make it through this encirclement undetected. Time would tell.

Since there was nothing to do, he decided to chat with the Lord.

“Lord, I’m sorry for bringing trouble to your doorstep.”

A breeze blew past him, soothing him.

“Will your shield hold?”

“Yes.”

Roth sighed. Xerxes was evidently one of the most powerful players of the Pegasus guild. It was almost certain that Loki now knew that he was Pax. The arrival of all these Pegasus players only confirmed it. He wondered what this meant. It had been hard enough to play around his former squad. But what was he supposed to do now that he had the whole guild at his doorstep? What about his real body out in the capsule? What would Loki do to him now that he knew the truth?

All that was left to do was wait. He tried lying with his back against the tree, but seeing dozens of players bombarding the shield with hatred on their faces wasn’t exactly relaxing. He lay on the grass instead, looking up. That was better. Up above, crows engaged in a lively exchange of riddles, and Roth focused on their voices.

After a while, Roth saw something move off to the corner of his eyes. He stood up and drew his head closer. It was a small black ant.

Ch. 133 - Bucky

INDEX

Ch. 135 - Micromanagement