Chapter 106 – LV.? Mage Troll – [Three]

“Why the sudden Geas?”

“Because of you, Seo Yun. I can’t stand watching you get played by that creepy bastard anymore.”

“What does that even mean?”

Gaeulbi didn’t answer the question right away. It seemed less that she didn’t want to answer and more that the Geas had forcibly sealed her lips.

After a slight hesitation, the chimpanzee’s mouth finally opened.

“I’ll talk if you lift the Geas.”

Seo Yun shook her head.

“Don’t.”

“Let me say it again, it’s because of you—”

“I mean don’t do it because of me. Didn’t you almost have a fit when I asked if it was okay to lift the Troll’s Geas? You even threatened me, saying who knows what he’d do if we dared to dispel that Spell. If we lift the Geas, we have no idea what he might do, and we can’t stop him.”

“So, you’re just going to let it slide, whatever his scheme is?”

“If necessary, yes. And for the record, this isn’t because I’m overflowing with self-sacrifice; it’s common sense. You know last time the Troll alone took down an Epic Level Paladin and a bunch of his lackeys, right?”

At Seo Yun’s answer, Gaeulbi bit her lip and then nodded.

“Okay, fine.”

Then Gaeulbi walked off somewhere. Watching her slender back tremble slightly, Seo Yun felt uneasy. She must be boiling with resentment, right? She didn’t seem like she’d give up just like that.

Seo Yun looked at Han Siwoo, who was still there.

“Stop her if she does anything weird. Got it?”

When Han Siwoo hesitated to answer, Seo Yun pressed him.

“Answer me, man! You don’t want to see her get messed with by an Epic Level Troll, do you? But where is she going…”

Seo Yun glanced over and saw Gaeulbi entering the Chief’s tent. Realizing her intent, Seo Yun was horrified.

Inside that huge tent lay Oh Haengbok’s Warhammer, the Spell Shatterer, on the floor. An Artifact that erases two layers of any Spell on a target upon contact.

“Stop her!”

Seo Yun ran, and Han Siwoo ran with her.

By the time the two entered the tent, it was already too late. Seo Yun’s body froze.

“Eulbi?”

Gaeulbi, who had been fidgeting with the Spell Shatterer, looked over at them. With Oh Haengbok staring in confusion, Gaeulbi stood up and spoke.

“Sorry, I lifted the Geas.”

“What on earth…”

“I’ve been tagging along with you, Seo Yun, doing almost nothing while my Level just keeps shooting up, right? It felt cowardly, like I was just using you, to keep my mouth shut and enjoy that. Since we don’t know when that Troll might show up, I’ll say it quickly.”

Gaeulbi continued in a trembling voice.

“That Troll is a creep obsessed with women.”

“Obsessed with women?”

“He acts like he’s not, but he’s crazy. From what I see, he’s targeting you, Seo Yun.”

When asked what that meant, Gaeulbi explained like this.

“Last time, Han Siwoo was surprised seeing the guys curse, so I asked him about it later. When that bastard was in the village, didn’t the Troll pop up out of nowhere whenever we cursed, anywhere, and traumatize us? He even did it when we were in our private quarters, driving people half-mad—who’d feel like cursing again after that?

So, Han Siwoo said the Troll sometimes startled him by doing that, but he never did it when he was alone in his personal space. The more I listened, it seemed I was the one being harassed especially badly.

So, what did the Troll do to me…? Even when I was alone in my personal tent, cursing to myself, or having a relaxed conversation with a close Unni, mixing in curses, he’d pop up out of nowhere and warn me not to curse. I don’t know if he was using an Invisibility Spell to spy, or if there was some magical trigger that alerted him the moment a curse was uttered and he’d Teleport over…

Once, I complained that it was too much for him to show up even when a girl was alone in her room, and he boldly said he’s a Troll, not human, and his aesthetic sense is different from humans’, so he doesn’t care if I’m a woman or a female? That he had zero interest in whether I was pretty or not.”

All those words poured out breathlessly. Gaeulbi paused to catch her breath, then said this.

“Then one day, out of the blue, he confessed his love to me.”

Han Siwoo muttered in a dazed voice.

“Confessed his love?”

“He called me to his room and said he liked me. I thought he was insane. And he kept emphasizing that he liked my cheerful personality, that it was pleasant to watch, and it was definitely not because of my looks. It was so…

When I flat-out refused, I guess he felt ashamed. He immediately cast a Geas on me to prevent me from disclosing the incident. When I resisted, saying I didn’t want to, he asked if I wanted to die…

After the Spell was cast, I was scared to death. If he could prevent disclosure after confessing, couldn’t he do worse things and still prevent disclosure?”

“So that’s why you ran away from the village?”

“Right. Anyway, that’s how he acts. Pretends to have no sexual interest in women, then suddenly…”

So, Gaeulbi’s claim was this. All that talk about needing to fill the absent gods’ seats, about preparing for the future—it was all an excuse to latch onto this side, the one with 10 points in Charm.

“From the start, his claim that three Chief Gods must be born for the Meteorite to cease further activity has no basis, right? Since an Epic Level guy said it, it might have sounded somewhat credible, but from my perspective, it’s clearly a statement to package himself as having a grand purpose and to manipulate you as he wishes.”

Gaeulbi continued explaining her speculation.

Why did he bring a Doppelganger to replicate this side? To replicate a 10-Charm Angel and keep her by his side. But the replicated Angel ended up in a different village, not his. The Troll must have been disappointed, so he might turn his attention back to the original Angel…

“So, everything he said was nonsense, a trick to deceive me?”

To Seo Yun’s question, Gaeulbi answered.

“Yes.”

“But it definitely seemed like a Goddess of Beauty needed to come into being… Seeing that the Goddess of Beauty had my appearance, it feels like I should act.”

“Seo Rayeon is there, right? Let her do it! Seo Yun, don’t get more entangled with that Troll, okay? That Troll bastard isn’t some great, devoted guy who would move for such grand reasons! What could that pathetic—”

Seo Yun sighed and looked at the people inside the tent.First, Han Siwoo slightly nodded his head as if agreeing with what was just said. In the previous conversation, he also seemed to view the idea of me becoming the Goddess of Beauty negatively, so maybe that’s why?

Meanwhile, Oh Haengbok seemed to have understood that the problem was related to the village priestess girl, even if he couldn’t comprehend the talk about goddesses and such, by roughly following the flow of the conversation. Even that Orc was looking at me with a serious expression.

The Troll’s voice was heard.

“I said, don’t, undo, the spell.”

Everyone flinched, and Seo Yun was no exception.

Seo Yun bit her lip and thought. That Troll bastard must have noticed the Geas was undone and came right away. Did he hear Gaeulbi insulting him just now?

It seemed he did. He muttered in a voice that stuttered even more than usual.

“You don’t even know, what I’ve, done so far. A wench who wouldn’t even, be alive, if not for me, dares to spout, such words? Do you know, how much I’ve contributed, to people’s survival here?”

The Troll approached. His body was so large that the sound of his footsteps was excessively clear.

Everyone held their breath as only the Troll’s voice echoed inside the tent.

“The Rulebooks scattered all over Korea… Do you think they just appeared naturally? Do you think a meteorite gave them to you, already translated for you to read?”

The Troll grabbed the Rulebook placed on the table with his large, thick hand. He opened it to pages densely filled with Korean text, showing them to everyone, and shouted.

“I translated them myself, and placed them in each village. The spellbooks that Mages need to learn, who? I made them and distributed them everywhere! The method for making Divine Statues for Player Class Changes, who? That was me too!”

Things the Troll had hidden until now, not out of humility but because he couldn’t say them. In his excitement, the Troll was spewing out such content.

Seo Yun moved her lips and cast some spell.

And failed.

“You?”

As if sensing the spell directed at him was deflected, the Troll looked at me. His face, hidden behind the mask, must have been glaring at me viciously.

Just hearing the Troll’s voice made that fact clear.

“What spell did you just, cast on me? Mind Control?”

Seo Yun answered, trying hard to remain calm.

“A Calm Spell. Please calm down. I still trust you… and I’ll cooperate in the future too.”

The Troll moved his lips and then closed his mouth. He turned his head toward Gaeulbi and muttered.

“How did you, undo my spell? A normal Dispel Magic Spell shouldn’t have been able to, undo it.”

Oh Haengbok answered.

“There was such an item…”

“Then you can undo it again anytime. Can’t leave her here.”

The Troll approached Gaeulbi. Oh Haengbok blocked the girl’s path.

“Wait, you’re taking her?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do with her?”

“From now on, I have to make sure, she can’t talk.”

Not only Seo Yun but even Oh Haengbok’s eyes widened. That was a statement open to multiple interpretations. Was he going to kill the girl after taking her, or do something else?

Oh Haengbok spoke urgently.

“Geas? Cast that again. I’ll give you this hammer so you can’t undo it again… huh?”

Saying that, Oh Haengbok picked up the Warhammer lying on the ground. He probably intended to hand it over, but if he wanted, he could just swing it as is. Seo Yun saw Oh Haengbok subtly remove the Ring of Strength Weakening and put it in his own pocket.

Is he planning to fight if necessary? Against an Epic Level, really? Seo Yun, who had guessed the Orc’s thoughts, was horrified.

Whether he knew that thought or not, the Troll warned.

“Don’t, interfere. This wench wasn’t originally, from your village either.”

“You’re no different! If you think about it, aren’t both you and I just playing the role of protectors in this messed-up world for a while? You don’t have the right to forcibly take her and tell me not to interfere either…?”

Oh Haengbok retorted, but the Troll was too excited now. He wasn’t in a state to listen to logic.

“I’ll say it again, don’t interfere. I’ll kill you.”

At the Troll’s words, Oh Haengbok snorted. The Orc’s characteristic flat nostrils flared repeatedly. His Spirit had increased by 1 point thanks to the necklace he obtained recently, but his race’s inherent excitable nature hadn’t disappeared.

Oh Haengbok growled, holding the hammer.

“Is your name perhaps Taeyang? Something like Kim Taeyang?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t kill me.”

And the Troll laughed. It was a laugh dripping with anger.

“Over, confidence?”

The Troll, who until now had never flaunted his power or pressured anyone by demanding something based on that power, appearing almost emotionless, seemed now to be boiling with anger not only at Gaeulbi but also at Oh Haengbok who was trying to stop him. Perhaps, even though he hadn’t expressed it in words until now, resentment might have built up from when Oh Haengbok, in his mentally unstable state, treated him harshly…

Time stopped.

Seo Yun realized this by looking at the frozen Han Siwoo and Oh Haengbok.

And also, she could now see how that Troll had dealt with the Paladins during the Crusaders’ invasion.

Seo Yun saw the numerous purple spheres piled up at Oh Haengbok’s feet. They were probably magical substances created by the Electrical Trap spell.

Furthermore, eight thick Frost Spikes were floating in the air in front of the Troll.

Spells used in a state of stopped time are placed in a ready state to activate as soon as time flows. So, as soon as time flows, all those Attack Spells will simultaneously descend upon Oh Haengbok.

Gaeulbi screamed. She probably expected to be taken away for undoing the Geas, but didn’t expect harm to come to those around her.

“No! Stop!”

Seo Yun also spoke.

“You won’t work with me anymore? If you do something like this…”

“I only used spells, enough to leave him half-dead. Just enough to barely, cling to life. I arranged for you to see this scene, to explain that I handled it with restraint.”

The Troll answered like that while glaring at Gaeulbi, as if to demonstrate that if he had the intent to kill, he really could have killed.

Seo Yun tried to say something more, but it was already too late. There wasn’t even room to interfere with that action. As could be seen from the numerous spells activated without Seo Yun’s awareness, considerable time had already passed after the Troll stopped time.

The Time Stop was released.The attack spells the troll had laid out all activated simultaneously.

At the moment when a dazzling electric blast exploded and swallowed the surroundings, and frost spikes flew spinning like drills, Seo Yun saw Oh Haengbok transform into a crimson mist.

Then, she saw the red mist flying through the storm of lightning, the mist shifting back into the form of an orc, and Oh Haengbok swinging his warhammer in front of the troll.

The troll made no attempt to dodge the hammer. Was it unable to react, or was it trusting the Mage’s Protection Spell it had cast in advance?

Either way, the spells cast upon the troll’s body shattered the instant Oh Haengbok’s warhammer made contact. Crunch! The air around the troll seemed to crack, and with the sound of something breaking, the troll was flung away, crashing into the furniture inside the tent.

“You son of a—bitch—!”

As if to prevent it from casting any more spells, Oh Haengbok charged forward.