That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 263

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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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Chapter 263

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

“Ferdinand.”

At Tulia’s call, Ferdinand lowered his gaze.

He could see her densely pink crown of hair. Ferdinand had always corrected Tulia Frazier whenever she occasionally called him ‘Your Highness,’ asking her to use his name instead.

I want to be called by my name by you.

Thanks to this, Tulia seemed to have gotten quite used to saying his name.

She showed no signs of being intimidated even by ‘that’ Grand Duke Frazier, the Marquis, and the Twins.

Family would be the reason.

For that ordinary and obvious reason, Tulia treated them as ordinary and obvious family.

And Ferdinand hoped that Tulia would treat him the same way.

Forever, he hoped she would treat him that way.

“Why are you calling me? Tulia.”

Tulia didn’t answer immediately.

In fact, she was currently in a difficult situation. The delegation members from various nations and the knight orders all saw Tulia as a monster.

That strange pink-haired woman.

Because of her hair color that was too similar to that woman’s, just because of that one hair color, Tulia Frazier had become an object of distrust, suspicion, and fear to all the Blue Bloods present.

But Tulia seemed completely unconcerned. She was also thoroughly distracted by something else.

Something else.

Ferdinand stared at the Creatures that Tulia was blankly looking at.

In fact, the knight orders including the Nobles had been in shock and silence for a while now.

The sight of the Creatures, which had been charging like mindless monsters, now lined up like disciplined Knights at some point, was more bizarre than imaginable.

Tulia opened her mouth and asked.

“You know, Ferdinand.”

“Yes. Tulia.”

She lowered her voice and asked.

“Above the Creatures’ heads.”

“Above their heads?”

Reflexively, Ferdinand’s gaze turned upward.

“Do you see those Status Windows?”

“What’s a Status Window?”

“Ah. Let me correct that.”

Her light green eyes had sunk with unprecedented seriousness.

“Do you see glowing square boxes above the Creatures’ heads?”

 

* * *

 

Ferdinand, who had been staring at the Creatures intently, slowly answered.

“No. I don’t see anything.”

“…”

‘I see. So only I can see them.’

“What do you see?”

“Something difficult to explain. From your reaction, it seems only I can see it…”

I asked worriedly for a moment.

“Do I seem like a crazy person?”

“No.”

Ferdinand denied it briefly but firmly.

“If you can see it, then it’s there. I wish I could know what it is too.”

“I can’t explain it. There’s just something there.”

I looked at the Status Windows floating above the heads of the densely packed Creatures.

Were those really Status Windows?

They were so tattered that it would be more fitting to call them torn paper.

They were even quite different from the Status Windows I knew.

 

[System] Brainwashing Level: 100%

[System] Durability: 55%

 

Only those two items were floating there.

The ‘Brainwashing Level’ item written in the Status Windows above the Creatures’ heads was all identical at 100%, but the durability was different for each.

Some Creatures had over 90%, while others had less than 5%.

‘No. Wait a minute.’

I frowned. As if to refute my thought about why the Status Window was so shabby, new phrases began to appear one by one.

 

[System] Value Grade: D-rank

 

“…?”

I would soon learn what that ‘Value Grade’ meant.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince! The monster, that pink-haired monster has appeared again!”

I flinched for a moment. I see. So that’s why the Nobles and Knights had been looking at me hostilely.

‘They were just calling me the pink-haired monster.’

It was quite unfortunate. I could tell them a more appropriate term, but I couldn’t do so right now.

That wasn’t something like a pink-haired monster.

‘It would be more fitting to call it Coriko Main Body.’

The Coriko Main Body, still in its horrific form with its face completely covered by blood-stained hair, was slowly approaching this way.

The pink hair Tentacles dragging on the Ground writhed freely like living snakes, making people even more afraid.

Moreover.

“High Priests!”

“To take the High Priests hostage, it will receive God’s punishment!”

“Such an evil thing…!”

Twelve High Priests were tied up and dangling from the Tentacles attached to the Coriko Main Body.

They all appeared to be unconscious, and several deeply faithful Nobles couldn’t contain themselves and tried to rush forward before being restrained.

“Form ranks!”

“Request support from the Rear Area!”

“Don’t rashly break formation!”

I watched this scene quietly and then casually asked.

“Ferdinand, should I go hide in the back?”

“Stay by my side until I say otherwise.”

“Why? This is too far on the Front Lines.”

“Because I can only protect you if you stay by my side.”

I was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh. Was this the confidence of a Knight who had survived rolling around battlefields since he was a Boy?

Anyway, it wasn’t wrong. And I also had a destiny to inevitably face that Coriko Main Body.

 

[System]

Name: Coriko

Age: Immeasurable

Characteristics: Wearing your mask

Reason: To kill you and become you

 

Just as I was staring intently at Coriko Main Body.

“Gasp!”

“Ahhh!”

Screams filled with terror erupted from everywhere. It wasn’t because the Creatures, or Coriko Main Body, were attacking the Knights.

Rather, it was the opposite. Pink-haired tentacles wrapped around the Creatures, then brought them to its mouth and ‘chewed them up’.

Thud.

The sound of swords falling from several Knights’ hands could be heard. However, no one dared to point it out. It was such a shocking sight.

To chew up Creatures as large as sturdy adult men, Coriko Main Body unhesitatingly enlarged its mouth like a demon’s maw.

Just like when it tried to devour me…

Could there be anyone who wouldn’t be shaken by such a horrific sight? Even I wanted to faint when I first saw that appearance.

“Mon, monster…”

“It’s a demon… It’s a demon…!”

Trembling voices could be heard. I reflexively grabbed Ferdinand’s collar, then felt a firm hand grasping me back.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“I’m the type who feels disgust rather than fear when seeing giant bugs.”

“…Bugs?”

“Yes. Bugs.”

“…”

So right now Coriko Main Body looks like a big cockroach to him?

That nonchalant remark actually made me feel reassured.

I held Ferdinand’s hand and watched Coriko Main Body carefully, when I suddenly noticed one peculiarity.

‘That thing is only eating Creatures of Grade B or higher, isn’t it?’

While there were hundreds of thousands of Creatures, the number of Grade B or higher Creatures was significantly fewer.

‘Could that grade be their grade as sacrifices?’

I’m someone who knows that thing has sacrificed 23,804,280 bodies.

It was practically intuitive.

Seeing Coriko Main Body still only devouring Grade B and above among the countless Creatures, my speculation became almost certainty.

‘There are no Grade A ones.’

“Ferdinand.”

I whispered.

“What do you think will happen to that monster if it eats all those Creatures?”

“Bugs that finish eating their food tend to grow bigger.”

Ferdinand looked at me with a slight smile.

“I understand what you’re trying to say.”

At the same time, Ferdinand pushed me back. Then he issued a command with the dignity befitting a Crown Prince.

“We shall slay that demon monster!”

“Yes, sir!”

While the Imperial Knight Order moved in perfect unison, beside them, Delegation Nobles with pale faces rushed over to dissuade him.

“You mustn’t! Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“The High Priests are being held hostage right now!”

“If we try to attack, it will surely kill the High Priests! Look!”

The High Priests hanging from thick tentacles swayed like cheap toys, following Coriko’s main body’s lead.

“Then what do you suggest we do.”

Ferdinand asked coldly in return. The Delegation Nobles hesitated at the chill felt in his voice.

“Are you saying we should let that demon monster achieve its purpose and massacre all the Knights here? Right now we’re inside the Great Temple, but where do you think is next? Do you plan to hesitate here until countless countries outside the Great Temple are annihilated?”

The Delegation Nobles’ faces turned pale.

“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince…”

“We just need to rescue the High Priests first. If we do that, we can engage in full battle, kill the Creatures, and that pink-haired…”

The noble who met Ferdinand’s eyes flinched and changed his words.

“We can eliminate that d-demon monster, can’t we?”

“Excellent!”

“Let’s quickly rescue the High Priests!”

As if finding a ray of hope, small signs of life returned to the delegation members’ voices. However.

“How?”

Ferdinand’s voice, like pouring cold water, blocked them.

“How exactly do you plan to break through those Creatures, avoid that demon monster’s attacks, and rescue all twelve High Priests?”

“There are many Knights stationed here now. Though we’re slightly outnumbered physically… if we fight with our lives on the line, we can surely rescue the High Priests…!”

“That’s right, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Really?”

Ferdinand looked around at them with emotionless eyes.

“According to your strategy, it would involve tremendous sacrifice from the Knights, but that’s acceptable?”

“They are the High Priests! None other than the High Priests! The spiritual pillars of this continent have been captured by disaster, so naturally…!”

“Naturally?”

“…Naturally we must sacrifice our lives!”

“I see… So that’s what you’re saying.”

Ferdinand adjusted his steel helmet as he spoke.

“As Crown Prince of Briyang, I hereby notify you in advance.”

“…”

“…”

“All Knight Orders of Briyang under my command will not participate in your strategy.”

The Delegation Nobles’ eyes widened greatly.

Briyang was the continent’s only Empire. If, according to the Crown Prince’s orders, Briyang’s Knight Orders didn’t participate in battle, their chances of victory would plummet miserably!

“Your Highness the Crown Prince! Why on earth…!”

“Though we are nobles from Foreign Countries, we know well that the High Priests cherished Your Highness the Crown Prince more than anyone!”

‘Cherished my ass.’

I know those High Priests somewhat, and they’re the ones who offered Ferdinand as a sacrifice through backdoor schemes.

While I was sneering inwardly, Ferdinand also asked back in a sneering tone.

“So you’re saying I’m ungrateful?”

“N-not exactly that, but…!”

The Delegation Noble trembled, unable to meet Ferdinand’s eyes.

Well, Ferdinand was no longer the boy who suffered from those side effects.

He was a Crown Prince of a nation who commanded an overwhelming presence just by standing there.

No one would have the confidence to continue talking back like that. Not anyone standing here.

“Right.”

Ferdinand continued speaking as he shifted his gaze.

“The High Priests did treat me very well indeed.”

The corner of his mouth moved subtly.

“And they always taught me. To always remember God’s mercy.”

“…”

“The High Priests would be more pleased to save countless people through their sacrifice.”

“…!”

The face of the Delegation Noble who had been arguing with Ferdinand now began turning deathly pale.

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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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