Chapter 146

146th

Hassan and the Long-standing Grudge

146? Hassan and the Long-standing Grudge #4

“Come at me all at once. I’ll handle you.”

Elpride boldly declared in front of us. The low growl she emitted, as if suppressing her anger, sent shivers down my spine.

“Is this a fight?”

“Sounds fun. Tavern Owner, bring me more grilled meat!”

“Of course, coming right up.”

Despite our serious situation, the atmosphere around us was more like a festival, evolving into excitement.

It’s understandable that the drunken brawls in the tavern are one of the few entertainments in this world devoid of options. However, I was in no mood to laugh.

“Elpi, should we help?”

Her companions, who were leaning on the table with smiles on their slender faces, were engrossed in eating the food before them, oblivious to the turmoil around them.

They must be feeling relaxed. They probably don’t believe their companion Elpride would lose.

“Delphina, this is my fight. Stay out of it.”

“Hmph. Since when did you start saying things like that?”

“I don’t need to use magic; those guys are no match for my fists.”

“Do as you wish. But are you sure? That Samaritan seems quite strong, Elpi. Unlike what you said, I sense some strange Karma from her. She’s the real deal as a warrior.”

“Not a chance. I know that one well. I know better than anyone in the world. I can handle this alone.”

Swish, swish.

Elpride slickly removed the white gloves on her hands and placed them on the table. She was clearly filled with the desire to fight.

But to say she would face me without using magic…

It was certain that Elpride was strong enough that I shouldn’t let my guard down, even if she mentioned not using magic.

Yet, I felt this might be a challenge worth attempting.

Elpride’s level was 35 to my recollection.

Currently, my level was 19.

Luna’s level was 15.

And Paranoi’s level was around 21, if I remembered correctly?

If we fought three against one, it felt like we might stand a chance.

“Hassan! Show us what you’ve got…! I’m sure you can handle this, so I’ll cheer on Paranoi…!”

However, it seemed Paranoi wasn’t planning to fight but intended to step back and just watch.

d*mn, does this one think I’m some kind of incredibly strong warrior? That would be a problem in itself.

“First, you.”

At that moment, without even agreeing to a duel, Elpride stomped the wooden floor of the tavern. The ground shook and, as she sprang towards us, it felt as if she bounced off the ground.

Her clenched fist was aimed directly at Luna’s head.

“Hi, eek!”

Perhaps feeling the fear of d*ath, Luna quickly crouched down, covering her head to avoid the punch.

I remembered Luna’s agility stat was about 8. She must have had enough agility and reflexes to dodge the attack.

“What the…?”

Elpride seemed not to have expected her punch to miss. Angered, she relentlessly continued to throw punches.

Yet, remarkably, Luna managed to dodge all of her attacks narrowly.

“Voodoo of Evasion!”

Elpride’s punches either sliced through the air or crashed into the table, shattering dishes but never made contact with Luna’s body.

“Ha-ya!”

“Do you think I’m joking!?”

Watching Luna evade the attacks with gymnast-like agility made me feel even more startled.

What is going on?

I couldn’t understand the situation. Luna’s reflexes were impressive, but honestly, Elpride’s movements felt unusually stiff.

“Can you not come here? Come here!”

“No way!”

“Ugh!”

Like a robot that had grown rusty from a lack of maintenance, her movements were awkward and slow.

Having spent quite a long time with her, I could tell that Elpride’s condition was far from what it used to be.

“Now you can’t run away, little one. How dare you try to mess with me? You really need to be put in your place.”

Yet, Elpride was still strong.

Luna, who had been evading wildly, found herself cornered before I knew it. She seemed to tremble, unsure of what to do since there was nowhere left to flee.

“H-Hassan!”

In the end, Luna called for help from me.

At that cry, I broke out of my frozen stance and charged towards Elpride. The fear was overshadowed by the urgency to help Luna.

“d*mn it!”

“Hmph, as if someone like you could take me on!”

Elpride said, as if she didn’t care about my presence.

In reality, the gap in strength between her and me was so massive that even if I thrust a punch into her solar plexus, the thought of Elpride staggering didn’t even cross my mind.

Could that be why?

Elpride’s body appeared even larger and more intimidating than it truly was. My own self-created illusion left a brief opening for my punch.

“Seriously, you’re still a fool. Just stay there and watch.”

In that moment, an unexpected counter punch from Elpride struck me in the solar plexus.

Thud-!

“Gueh-!”

I barely got hit by her punch. How could a noise like a building collapsing erupt from my body? Was that really the sound that came from me?

Did I just get a hole in my stomach?

Regardless, my vision went dark, the air in my lungs escaped, and even breathing became a struggle. It felt like I could faint right then. I probably would have in the past.

“Ho, did you take that and hold up? Guess you’ve been training lately?”

“Hassan-!”

“Where do you think you’re going? You come here too.”

Luna who was running towards me in a panic was ultimately caught by Elpride’s hand.

Elpride, with Luna’s waist in her grip, slowly raised her palm.

“Finally got you. This little loser is making me work. Stop squirming. It’s not like I’m going to eat you or anything.”

Elpride’s hand grasped the helmet worn on Luna’s head. Luna flailed desperately like a hen that had its egg stolen by a raccoon.

“Oh no! This is a gift from Hassan!”

“Wow, what a thoughtless gift. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t take something like this. Anyway, now that it’s come to this, let’s see what you look like.”

“Hieek!”

Luna strained to keep her helmet from being taken. Yet, Luna’s stamina and strength stats were relatively low, and ultimately the strap that fixed the helmet to her head snapped with a pluck.

Swish.

As always, her fun pink hair emerged into the world.

“L-Let go of that!”

Despite this, Luna struggled desperately to get her helmet back.

However, the expression of Elpride, who was watching the scene, morphed into one of a considerable shock, as she appeared momentarily frozen.

“Is this possible…? Did you have some kind of weakness…?”

“Let go of this! Graah!”

At last, Luna bit down hard on Elpride’s nape.

“Ugh! How dare you bite me!”

Whether that attack had some effect, Elpride screamed, letting Luna’s head tumble from her grasp.

d*mn, that must hurt.

Having experienced many bites from Luna, I knew how painful that was. That could easily be referred to as Luna’s special move.

“What is this!?”

However, Elpride, genuinely enraged, threw Luna she had been holding towards the corner.

“Ugh-!”

Thud, bang.

Luna flew and crashed into the corner, landing on a table. Seeing that, the pain in my solar plexus seemed to vanish instantaneously, replaced by overwhelming anger.

This Elpride. Not only did she make my life miserable, but now she’s tormenting Luna too.

“You nasty witch!”

Thus, I stood up against the pain and charged at Elpride. I couldn’t understand where such courage and boldness had come from within me.

Elpride merely scoffed, whether she understood my feelings or not.

“Just stay still. Do you really think I would fall for a clearly visible attack?”

“Ugh-!”

I squeezed my right hand into a fist with all my might. I hadn’t even considered that Elpride might evade it.

“Ugh….”

Because over there, I could see Luna, who had fallen in the corner.

She pulled out a peculiar obsidian dagger from her waist and plunged it into the shadow cast by Elpride.

“…T-the Curse of Shadow Binding…. P-please succeed… Hassan, I’m counting on you….”

The Curse of Shadow Binding was a voodoo spell that temporarily restrains an opponent’s movements. It was said to have a 50/50 success rate against opponents of similar levels.

While it was obvious that the spell’s success rate would drop significantly against a vastly higher-level opponent like Elpride.

I chose to trust Luna.

Believing in Luna and trusting my punch.

“You b*tch-!”

Thus, my punch shot out.

“…M-my body!?”

Just moments ago, Elpride wore a confident and arrogant smile, but her expression suddenly twisted into one of alarm.

“Ugh, what kind of curse is this? Hassan, that pathetic, soft punch of yours- it doesn’t even hurt!”

Elpride growled again. As a result, my guilt about punching a girl vanished.

“Then take this-!”

Consequently, my fist collided with Elpride’s white face.

“Guh-!”

A battle of strength ensued between Elpride, who seemed to be putting all her might into resisting the punch, and my own blow that aimed to break her down.

“You little loser! W-when did your strength get this high-! Ugh!”

Soon, a scream that didn’t suit her erupted from Elpride as she was batted around and slammed into the corner.

Crash, bang!

Elpride was knocked back by my punch and fell.

“Did you see that, Elpride?! That’s me!”

I knocked down the fearsome Elpride with my fist! I felt a wave of relief wash over me, realizing that all the levels and experiences I had suffered to gain were not in vain.

d*mn, is this what they call a power trip?

Regardless, I felt incredibly good.

“Wow, you just defeated a Silver Tier Adventurer.”

“Is it really true that Samaritan’s level doesn’t matter?”

“They say she’s from the Desros Arena. Those folks are all terrifying…”

“Hmph, I hated seeing those outsiders puffing out their chests. Never underestimate Sodomora again!”

The people around me began to chatter loudly as they looked at me. Here, in front of all these people, I had defeated Elpride, who had ruled over me.

The realization washed over me like a refreshing wave. I felt so good.

Maybe I had been living for this moment.

But at that very moment.

Swish-.

Something sharp touched my neck.

d*mn, what is it?

“Alright, that’s enough. It was a nice punch, but Elpi, wasn’t that a bit too loud? It makes it seem like you really lost. It makes our party look weak.”

It was Delphina, the leader of a party of women known as the Silver Rose.

Had she approached unnoticed? No matter how absorbed I was in victory, I hadn’t sensed her at all.

Is this what a Silver Tier warrior is like?

Swish-.

At that moment, Elpride rose from the broken table.

“Ha, I’m more surprised by your strength than I thought. What’s going on? I don’t understand. When did Hassan get this strong…?”

Elpride touched her flushed face and shook herself out. Two streams of red bl**d dripped from her nose.

“Ha, what’s this? This really hurts. Ugh, this is seriously painful… Hassan dared… to hit my face without a second thought…”

Moreover, she spat a mouthful of bl**d onto the ground.

d*mn, she’s tough.

Honestly, I thought she might faint for a day after taking such a heavy punch. Yet she snapped back to reality immediately. Seems like a high level comes with some merit.

Frowning-.

Elpride’s furrowed gaze was split between me, the one who’d struck her, and Luna, who lay crumpled on the floor, gasping for breath.

What will happen now?

With my feeble imagination, I couldn’t foresee what would come next.

“Guards! Someone call the guards! A big fight has broken out here!”

Just then, a hurried shout rang out from far away. It sounded like Malco. Was he around here too?

At that booming voice, the sharp thing that had been aimed at my neck shook. Looking closely, it was just a finger. What the hell, I thought it was a kn*fe or something.

“Uh-oh, we’re in trouble. The master told us not to make a scene. Let’s run…!”

And then, hurriedly, they began to move. The female monk, who had been silently watching the situation from a table, chimed in.

“I enjoyed my meal-.”

She was capable of speech after all. I thought she was mute. The only one who had kept silent till the end was the fighter in the red Chinese dress, focusing solely on her food.

“Let’s bounce!”

At Delphina’s words, they quickly rose from their seats and gathered their belongings. Then Delphina asked the perplexed Tavern Owner.

“Tavern Owner! Where’s the back door?”

“Over there-.”

At last, the Tavern Owner pointed, and they all quickly filed out. Just before disappearing through the back door, Elpride glanced back at me.

“…”

With her face still flushed, she seemed to have something to say to me.

I was filled with worry about what she might say to try to mess with me again. Just then, a delicate arm reached out from behind Elpride.

It was Delphina. She had wrapped her arms around Elpride from behind.

“Let’s go, Elpi. You look stiff. I guess it’s time for your massage again. I’ll help you relax. All over, even the nooks and crannies…. Hmph, hmph-.”

“…”

Elpride glared at me fiercely in silence before finally turning to leave.

With that, I felt as if a storm had just passed, and all my strength drained away.

“d*mn it-.”

“…Hassan.”

Only then could I finally help Luna, who had collapsed and was trembling in the corner, get back on her feet.

“Hey, are you okay? You really flew over there.”

“Ugh, ugh. It was loud, but honestly, it didn’t hurt. More importantly, Hassan. I think I know her.”

“W-well…”

“The Desros Arena, what is that?”

I couldn’t hide it anymore.

So I decided to just tell the truth.

“I set fire to it.”

[Author’s Note]

Continuing with Hassan’s recollection scene… Just kidding… There’s actually no recollection… The story always… moves forward…