I Became a Hunter with the Heavenly Slaughter Star Trait. - Chapter 88
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 88
Episode 88
The Emperor’s eyes turn toward me.
Eyes whose thoughts I cannot read.
“….”
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I’m not nervous.
The commander and the inspector.
I saw with my own two eyes how those two elves burst and died like bugs.
However,
behind the nervousness, there was also excitement.
Should I call it anticipation?
Like the heart-pounding feeling right before opening a gift box.
‘…Am I insane?’
Even I found it absurd.
I’ve seen firsthand just how overwhelming the Emperor is,
yet instead of being afraid, I find it interesting.
Have I really gone a bit crazy because of the [Cheonsalseong] trait?
“Huhu.”
That’s when it happened.
“Huhu, hahaha. Hahahaha!”
The Emperor suddenly burst into laughter.
Laughter like a child who had discovered an interesting toy after a long time.
On the contrary, the elves,
-….
-….
-….
couldn’t even make a sound of breathing.
As if they had encountered a disaster.
“Indeed….”
The Emperor, who had been laughing for a while, looks at me with the corners of his mouth raised.
“You’re looking at everything as if they were bugs.”
“….”
“I like those eyes.”
“….”
“You resemble me.”
As if that could be true.
I don’t drive humans into Jamsil Baseball Stadium and say ‘now kill each other.’
We’re too different, even if we are different.
“So that’s why, despite being a mere human, in my sanctuary,”
However, the Emperor didn’t give me a chance to object.
“you slaughtered my people.”
The Emperor was still smiling.
However, only his eyes weren’t smiling.
Clichéd as it was.
“…So what?”
I asked, pulling up the corners of my mouth just like the Emperor.
“Are you going to kill me or something?”
Is it because I’m thinking of fighting this bastard?
My fingertips are tingling.
I’m going crazy wanting to grab my sword right now.
To stab a sword into that neck,
twist it to draw blood,
how wonderful would it be if I could tear apart his heart?
-Thump.
-Thump.
-Thump.
Surely,
it would be joy on a different dimension from killing mere orcs.
-Let’s kill.
-Let’s kill.
-Let’s kill.
An intense impulse.
‘I can kill him.’
And certainty.
-Swi….
My body moves before my mind.
-Sh….
As if already knowing where to go,
-Shk…!
the moment my sword tries to pierce the Emperor’s heart.
-Snap.
The Emperor flicks his finger.
-Fsssss….
Two swords that turn to dust and disappear just like that.
And, simultaneously.
-BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
* * *
Lee Tae-pyeong lost consciousness just like that.
“….”
The Emperor looking down at the collapsed Lee Tae-pyeong.
‘…I almost died.’
If he had been just a little slower,
Lee Tae-pyeong’s sword would have pierced the Emperor’s heart.
The Emperor knew this fact better than anyone.
If the Emperor hadn’t had experience accumulated over hundreds of years.
Or, if Lee Tae-pyeong had just a little more experience.
The one who would have fallen,
would have been the Emperor, not Lee Tae-pyeong.
Nevertheless.
“Huhu.”
The Emperor was smiling.
As if he couldn’t contain his joy.
-….
The ones who couldn’t smile were all the elves except the Emperor.
The elves didn’t know why the Emperor was laughing,
or why he wasn’t killing that insolent human,
I didn’t know.
“Narin.”
The Emperor calls to Narin, who is still kneeling.
Until Lee Tae-pyeong called her ‘Narin’,
she was an elf whose existence I didn’t even know about.
“…I await your command.”
Narin answers with a trembling voice.
It was natural, since she couldn’t even imagine that the Emperor would know her name.
The fact that she managed to answer without biting her tongue was a miracle in itself.
“Load the human onto the ship.”
“…!”
At the Emperor’s words, Narin felt relieved.
Loading onto the ship meant he wouldn’t be killed.
“I shall obey.”
Narin lifted Lee Tae-pyeong’s collapsed body onto her back.
Then,
“The Promotion Trials are concluded.”
The Emperor declares briefly.
The surviving elf is Narin alone.
And even she isn’t the strongest elf.
Moreover,
the human who slaughtered the elves and ruined the Promotion Trials ‘survives’.
It was the most pathetic
and most shocking Promotion Trials in history.
However,
-…
-…
No one opposed the Emperor’s declaration.
Neither the nobles who wailed that they couldn’t accept it,
nor the soldiers who had lost their commander,
nor the commoners who had witnessed their kinsmen’s deaths.
Not a single elf dared to open their mouth,
only kneeling before the Emperor.
“…Tsk.”
The Emperor looked at those elves as if they were bugs,
then boarded the ship carrying Lee Tae-pyeong.
-Whirrrr.
As soon as the Emperor boarded, the ship flew toward the palace.
“Your Majesty, this human is…”
“Place him in the audience chamber.”
The audience chamber, not the underground dungeon?
“And.”
That wasn’t all.
“Prepare the ─.”
“…!!”
It was an incomprehensible command.
The ─ was an honor given only to the most outstanding among the elves who passed the Promotion Trials.
It wasn’t something that should be given to an elf who survived with a human’s help.
Furthermore,
a human was even more…!
But once again,
“…Yes.”
No one dared to oppose the Emperor’s words.
* * *
“Gasp!”
When I opened my eyes again,
what I saw was an incredibly lavish space.
‘…What is all this?’
Gold, jewels, and silk or whatever plastered all over the place,
typical nouveau riche style.
‘Tacky…’
As I looked around,
“Y-you’re awake!”
Someone came running hurriedly.
“Tae-pyeong sir!”
“…Narin?”
It’s Narin.
“Where is this?”
“The Imperial Palace.”
The Imperial Palace?
Then…
“Where’s the Emperor?”
“Shh…!”
Narin urgently covers my mouth.
“You mustn’t speak carelessly!”
“If I don’t call the Emperor ‘Emperor’, then what should I…”
“Tae-pyeong sir!”
Seeing her face turn pale,
she seems quite frightened.
Anyway.
“Ugh, I thought I was going to die.”
My body feels stiff somehow.
Maybe it’s because I killed so many elves.
“Tae-pyeong sir.”
Narin grabs me with a determined look on her face.
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I’ll send you back.”
What are you talking about.
“If we don’t escape right now, there’s no telling what kind of torture you’ll endure.”
No, so what are you talking about.
“Hey, when the Promotion Trials end, I…”
Can go back, you know?
Just as I was about to say that.
-Snap.
The sound of fingers snapping was heard.
And at the same time,
“Urgh!”
Narin crashes into the ceiling.
“I thought she might be useful so I kept her alive.”
The Emperor’s voice comes from behind the veil.
“But she’s no different from the bugs in her foolishness.”
-Kuuuung!!!!
This time Narin crashes into the floor again.
There’s no movement, unclear if she’s dead or alive.
“Keueu…”
She’s alive then.
I roughly got myself up.
And,
-Swish!
I pulled back the long, flowing veil.
“Taepyeong.”
Behind the veil stood the Emperor.
“…Is that what I should call you?”
The Emperor smiles and offers me something like a wine glass.
‘What’s this?’
An intricately crafted golden chalice.
And purple liquid contained within it.
-Shururururuk…
The purple liquid was swirling as if it were alive.
“It’s [■■■’s Blood].”
The Emperor’s voice continues.
“A reward rightfully given to those who pass the Promotion Trials.”
[■■■’s Blood].
I remember it was a reward given for surviving the Promotion Trials.
However, since I don’t know what ■■■ is.
I’m not particularly impressed.
“…You’re not surprised.”
Rather, the Emperor sounds surprised.
Well of course I don’t know.
If I suddenly said “Gangwon Province’s bitter kimchi,” would you know what that is?
“If you drink [■■■’s Blood].”
“…”
“You can inherit the memories of the elves.”
Inherit memories?
“For those who handle swords, the memories of the Imperial First Sword.”
“Oh.”
“For those who handle magic, the memories of the Transcendent Sage.”
“Hmm.”
“All the knowledge and experience accumulated by the elf race is inherited.”
“…”
“An elf might kill their entire family for this one cup.”
“…”
“You might be able to inherit the memories of loyal Berner.”
-Shururuk…
As if tempting me,
[■■■’s Blood] begins to emit a sweet scent.
“If you, a human, drink [■■■’s Blood].”
“…”
“The effect would be…”
Ah, seriously.
Why is this explanation so long?
You said it’s a Promotion Trial reward.
Then it’s mine anyway, right?
-Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
I took the golden chalice and downed the purple liquid called [■■■’s Blood] or whatever in one shot.
“Keueu.”
This just tastes like grape juice.
“…This is the first time I’ve seen someone drink it this way.”
“You prepared it for me to drink anyway, didn’t you?”
“…”
The Emperor is unable to continue speaking.
The moment I blink,
as if a movie started playing,
someone’s memories come flooding in like a tide.
An enormous amount of information rushes in explosively.
Experiences accumulated over hundreds, no thousands of years were stacking up layer upon layer in my head.
-Drip!
Whether from overload,
even my nose started bleeding.
Regardless, Alteion’s memories and experiences continued flowing in endlessly.
“Hah…”
A hollow laugh escapes.
It had to.
It was practically like getting free skills in real time.
Of course, they’re not skills but just ‘memories.’
But just moving according to those ‘memories’ is more than enough.
Until now I had only been moving instinctively based on basic swordsmanship and combat techniques.
With [Alteion’s Memory] being automatically input,
it completely replaces all the ‘roughly’ areas in my head.
Thousands of duels.
Tens of thousands of battlefields.
All of it was being vividly engraved.
‘This is insane…’
Methods to kill wyverns I’ve never seen naturally come to mind.
Ways to disarm traps I’ve never seen naturally come to mind.
As if a Tower strategy guide was uploaded directly to my brain.
‘With just this…’
Up to the 80th floor would be a piece of cake.
“Hahaha…”
What a jackpot.
I laughed even while bleeding from my nose.
Then,
“…Just whose memories are you inheriting?”
His initial composure gone,
the Emperor asks in a voice that has become anxious.
“The Sage Ersil?”
“Hehe…”
“The Knight Kairon?”
“Kekeke…”
Without answering, I grinned foolishly,
absorbing Alteion’s memories like mad.
Normally, it seems the ’emotions’ of the memory’s owner would also be absorbed,
but is it because I’m human?
Alteion’s love for the Elven Empire kept bouncing right off me.
Now I understand why the Emperor readily handed over the [■■■’s Blood].
He thought that fanatical loyalty of the elves would be inherited too.
That’s how it had always been until now.
“Answer me, Taepyeong!”
At the Emperor’s shout,
I gently raised my middle finger and answered him.
“Ancestor Alteion.”
Thanks, you bastard.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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