I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 397: Stable Channels

“How is this possible?” Fisher looked as if he had witnessed something that overturned his worldview, his face written with disbelief.

Of course, it was understandable. After all, the one who granted him power was a god in his mind, and that divine spell had once helped him easily kill powerful captains who were once insurmountable. Now it had lost its effect against Gauss. To him, it was no less than the sky falling.

“You tried to use monsters’ resentment against me, and that was a mistake from the start.”

Gauss shook his head, looking at the enemy in front of him whose faith seemed shattered, an indifferent sneer on his face.

That trick might work on ordinary people. Curses, especially those originating from special beings, were unsolvable techniques for the vast majority. And any slightly experienced adventurer inevitably had blood on their hands. The enemies who died by their hands might not have been individually as strong, but the combined resentment that erupted could cause heavy damage. At best wounds, at worst immediate death from the curse’s burst. But he was different—he was a Bane. This wasn’t a boastful title, it was truth and fact. From Hunter rank up to Expert rank, those titles were the best proof. Every single life of every type of monster that died had been woven into an inseparable part of his power; one commander’s success at the cost of countless bones was exactly like that. So any monster-resentment attack that involved causality was utterly ineffective against him.

He sensed the evil energy in Fisher had greatly weakened from using Beast’s Punishment and knew the outcome was decided. But before formally killing him, there was a curiosity he needed to solve: when and by what chance had Fisher come into contact with that same-root energy shared with the ratfolk priest? Fisher was certainly an evil man, but he was clearly enticed by that energy and had fixed on him. Gauss had to find out.

Fisher swallowed saliva. Maybe because the divine power inside him was almost gone and his intellect reasserted control, he felt he had regained complete calm. Seeing Gauss looking at him with the same gaze one uses to inspect merchandise sent a chill through him. Without divine power, he had no confidence in defeating Gauss. He was only a recently leveled-up level 9 spellcaster—how could he beat the famed level 7 archmage before him? Thinking that, he glanced down toward the Red Dragon Guild’s direction. Because Luna and the others had temporarily joined the Red Dragon Guild, and the guild’s elite force was already strong, the Red Dragon side even held the upper hand. Perhaps there was still a chance to turn things around. After all, he and the Red Dragon Guild leader were far from a do-or-die situation, right? Conflicts between adventuring groups often didn’t end in slaughter; there were mergers, absorption of leaders, even betrayals. Maybe they had their own designs on him, which was why they hadn’t acted right away after he dismantled Beast’s Punishment, instead watching and measuring him.

Fisher was a man who could bend and stretch; otherwise, he wouldn’t have lain dormant in Fang of the Pale Wolf for years when his strength was lacking. Now, to survive, he was willing to submit to Gauss. Survival meant a future. With that decision in mind, a strained smile crept across his pale face.

“Lord Gauss, it’s all a misunderstanding.”

“During this time I was enticed by that evil god, which led me to commit many evils, but none of it was my true will.”

“I was loyal to Captain Wolf, but I could not resist the evil god’s power.”

“Now I must thank Lord Gauss for dismantling that evil force and rescuing me from that muddled dream.”

“If you will accept me, Fisher is willing to serve you like a dog.”

Gauss blinked. He hadn’t expected Fisher’s surrender to be so straightforward, to kneel without reservation. In a way, Fisher was a “unique talent.”

“Serve me?” Gauss gave a half-smile.

He had high standards for recruitment; strength alone wasn’t enough. Fisher before him failed those criteria in every way. With the lesson of former Fang of the Pale Wolf leader Wolf in mind, he did not want to bring a poisonous snake into his group. Even if he theoretically had the professional specialty Proof of Leadership to subtly grow members’ loyalty, he instinctively despised such treacherous scoundrels. Besides, Fisher had already set himself on the path to death when he turned on teammates like Aria.

Aria, who had transformed into a peregrine falcon, glanced at Gauss. As an old teammate, even before Gauss spoke she already knew what he would decide. In the glow Fisher expected from him, Gauss’s answer was...

“Dimension Door!”

After a brief flash of blue light, Gauss’s figure approached Fisher rapidly.

Gauss’s movement was unbelievably fast. Having lost his special power, Fisher’s body was more exhausted than usual, which was the main reason he surrendered so decisively. Even at full strength he wasn’t a match for Gauss, a renowned level 7 archmage, let alone now. By the time he realized Gauss’s choice, it was too late—Gauss had already blinked to a spot not far in front of him.

“You—!”

Fisher’s shout mixed surprise and rage, but Gauss had already slammed a barrage of Magic Missiles into him, physically silencing him.

“!!!”

The Magic Missiles struck the fragile shield he’d barely formed, erupting with a terrifying radiance. Fisher, after all, had the foundation of a level 9 spellcaster; magic shields were almost instinctive. But the clash didn’t last long. His shield withstood several missile strikes, but it was far too weak against Gauss’s relentless, gapless storm of projectiles. In the blink of an eye the shield shivered into danger.

“Shatter!”

With a crisp explosion, the crystalline shield in front of him shattered. More missiles locked onto his body. He tried to cast Fly to evade, but inexplicably he felt locked in place, as if there were nowhere to avoid. The missiles quickly swallowed him.

Gauss’s Magic Missiles were no mere first-circle spell. Underestimating them because of their name would be painful. When the magical glow faded, Fisher had become a bloodied ruin. His robe, pierced through by water arrows condensed from Godwater and then saturated by round after round of Magic Missile assault, hung in tatters like a beggar’s rags. He hurriedly wrapped several more shields around himself, trembling all over. He had known Gauss was strong, but never imagined him to be this terrifying. A single common Magic Missile forced him to such ruin—unbelievable.

He looked at Gauss and decisively chose to keep fleeing. The two of them, in chase and flight, traded spells. Fisher was suppressed almost the entire time; Gauss’s attacks always hit him precisely. Even when Fisher tried to dodge ahead of time, they tracked him like they had eyes of their own. His own attacks felt like wasted mana. Escape was even more absurd—no matter how fast he flew, Gauss seemed to stay steadily behind him, toying with him.

After they flew more than ten kilometers, Fisher’s body and spirit grew weary, and his remaining mana dwindled; despair crept in. Gauss ignored his pleas and simply hammered him with spells.

“Hiss!”

In flight he accidentally reopened a wound; red blood soaked the strapped clothing. He kept downing vial after vial of health potions to stay alive, otherwise he would have been dead by now. But even so, the situation was bleak. Healing potions couldn’t be taken in large amounts in a short time without heavy bodily burden. Under the twin pressures of potion limitations and retreat, Fisher felt his mental and physical strength near collapse.

Originally he planned, at worst, to drag Gauss down with him before dying, sacrificing his life and the remnants of divine power to wound Gauss. But whether Gauss had mind-reading or what else, he kept a cautious distance behind, constantly probing with long-range spells. Fisher felt suffocated. He could neither beat him nor escape; he couldn’t even self-destruct to make Gauss pay. His eyelids grew heavy.

“Damn it, keep my eyes open!”

Sensing his consciousness dim, Fisher forced himself awake. In the gap when another volley of missiles shattered his shield, two spells hit him.

“Confusion!”

The fourth-circle spell struck Fisher. Normally, the mental power of a level 9 spellcaster would be hard for this spell to affect. But Gauss had deliberately worn him down—Fisher was already at his limit. Once Confusion’s magic entered him, it spread like a spark meeting tinder, uncontrollable.

“Who am I?”

“Where am I?”

“So sleepy, should I sleep?”

“Ha~~”

Following that, a second-circle Hypnosis Charm also spread through him. After the combo, Fisher rapidly fell into deep sleep. While flying, he suddenly lost control of Fly and plummeted. Seeing he was about to become a pulp on the ground, kind-hearted Gauss hurried over and cast his own Fly on him. He could not let him die now—at least not until the investigation was complete.

Gauss guided Fisher’s rapid descent. Watching him in infant-like sleep, Gauss quickly began asking the questions he cared about. Under Hypnosis, the unconscious Fisher answered everything.

After extracting enough intelligence, Gauss formed a network of thin water filaments.

“Control Water.”

“Thousand Threads Severing Boundary!”

Soon the glittering water threads cut across his body rapidly.

“Flame—light!”

Like throwing flesh into a meat grinder, Fisher was shredded into thousands of pieces. In the blink of an eye he was dead beyond recovery. The last trace of evil god energy in his body was extinguished by the sacred power in the water threads, and after a curl of eerie black smoke rose, it vanished completely.

“Commander-level Monster defeated, Evil God’s Follower *1”

“Gained Divine Factor 0.05%”

“Current Divine Factor: 2.7%”

Gauss’s eyes flashed. He hadn’t expected Fisher to lose his human identity on the bestiary and become classified as a monster. And he’d gained Divine Factor too? Though only 0.05%, connecting that to Fisher’s intelligence and his identity as an evil god’s minion, Gauss felt he may have found a somewhat stable path. “Vespertilia...” Even the name felt almost friendly in his eyes.

“Right, Albenia’s side.”

After burning Fisher’s remains completely with Burning Hands to ensure no trace remained, Gauss flew swiftly back the way he had come. Fisher’s subordinates seemed to possess similar evil energy, albeit far weaker—mosquitoes are still meat.

When Gauss returned to the original battlefield, the Red Dragon Guild had already gained the upper hand. Though Luna’s condition wasn’t ideal, she had been Fang of the Pale Wolf’s deputy leader, a level 9 warlock, and with several other experienced members and the Red Dragon Guild’s high-end forces, they held a steady advantage even against those captains who had special power augmentations. Even without Gauss, in a dozen minutes they could have killed those captains.

“Leave it to me.”

Hearing the familiar voice descend from the sky, Albenia and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Gauss’s presence brought overwhelming security. Contrastingly, several captains of Fang of the Pale Wolf felt as if their hearts had fallen into an ice pit. No, this was bad. Gauss’s return meant Fisher had fallen. They had noticed their strength draining recently and hadn’t expected Gauss to return so quickly.

“Trying to run?”

Gauss looked at one of them and raised an eyebrow. He used Control Water to condense Godwater into a giant bow.

“Whoosh!”

Without much aim, the blue-golden arrow struck precisely through the energy knot in that captain’s chest. The sacred power, amplified by mana, detonated in an instant.

“No!”

Flesh burst and a several-meter-diameter crater opened on the ground. Faced with Gauss’s merciless killing, the others didn’t dare hesitate. They exchanged glances and fled in different directions.

“Whoosh!”

Each of Gauss’s attacks left a deep pit and another enemy corpse.

“Gained Divine Factor 0.02%”

“Current Divine Factor: 2.72%”

Fisher’s five subordinates combined to contribute 0.02% Divine Factor. Gauss closed his eyes. He felt the mysterious energy in him grow stronger, and his grasp of the recently obtained World Rule power fragment Precision deepened. These minions of the evil god must be killed.