Chapter 148: Chapter 147: The Monster Tribe Part III
Translator: HunterW3
Editor: RED
“A monster? No, a deva?” I was sure that it was a monster before it revealed itself, but now, I wasn’t sure anymore. I had no idea what she was supposed to be. I had never seen anything like this in my past life.
-Then again, I’ve experienced many things that I haven’t in the past.-
I wasn’t really taken aback by her appearance. My new life was completely different from the past. I never knew that I could sit at a table and drink with the guild master of the Sunbin Guild or ever end up as the Myth Guild’s greatest ally. Many more things would continue to happen that I was unaware of, especially now that I was strong. I would gain more allies and more enemies.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lee Jiwon.”
“I’m not pleased to meet you, though. I don’t even know who you are.”
“My apologies. I should have introduced myself first…” the beastly-looking woman bowed her head and apologized.
-Hmm…a dog? Or a cat? How interesting. Is she a deva and a monster at the same time?-
I wasn’t surprised at her appearance. It could well just be the effect of a skill or item effect or even some sort of buff. I may know more than most, but that didn’t mean I knew everything. What was really interesting was that she seemed like a deva and a monster at the same time. If I killed her, I could get EXP and she might even drop items. No one told me that; it was just something of an instinct.
“I am a deva and before that, I was a normal human being.”
“I can see that.”
“I am also a monster. If you kill me, you can receive EXP and items, just like the Crocs here.”
“I can see that, too.” My suspicions were right, but I also noticed a small bitterness from the woman as she spoke.
The woman began to thoroughly explain who she was even though I hadn’t asked her to. “My name is Kylie van Aga.s.si. A year after the world changed, I became a deva at the age of nineteen. As per my clan’s traditions and laws, I was given the choice to become a werewolf and I accepted without hesitation. I became a werewolf, even though there is no way to turn back and I haven’t regretted that decision to this day.
“I came from the Faroe Islands, which are currently the homeland of all werewolves, to meet you under orders of my clan head, Lodin Schutt van Aga.s.si… my father.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Somehow, I doubted she came all this way for something trivial, like signing a survey or something.
“To ask for your help.”
“Help?” I asked, pointing a finger at myself.
“Yes.”
“Uh…” I was taken aback at her straightforward answer. I’d never seen her before, nor had I ever heard of the van Aga.s.si family. Then again, if I hadn’t heard of them in the past, there was a chance something happened to them by whatever reason she came to ask me for help.
-How interesting.-
I could somewhat see what was going on here. There was a law in alchemy used these days as a philosophical idea. To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost. These werewolves… became half-monsters, allowing other devas to obtain EXP and items by killing them, incentivizing the act, an extreme loss. That meant that whoever this Lod person was had something of great of equal value if it got him to curse his entire family line.
It must be something that provided him with great strength, and it wouldn’t be easy for someone like that to have to ask for help. Unfortunately, my feeling was right.
“Please help us. The Predator Duke is hunting my entire family to extinction. We have children who haven’t yet become devas. If you help us, we’ll do everything we can to pay you back.”
“Who?” It didn’t matter if she begged on her knees, crying, for my help. We were complete strangers; I had no real reason to help her or her family. However, my ears p.r.i.c.ked when she said the Predator Duke.
He was one of the Seven Monarchs.
He, the Blood Prince and another Monarch were infamous in the past for killing without discrimination, devas and mortals alike.
I now knew the reason for the Blood Prince’s genocide in Egypt in the past; it all stemmed from the war between him and the Myth Guild. When he won, he exacted his revenge on the entire country by initiating the Blood Purge, killing men and women, old and young.
Thankfully, that had all changed in this timeline.
Be that as it may, the Blood Prince at least had a reason behind his insanity. The Predator Duke, on the other hand, didn’t have a reason. He just ate. He didn’t care if he ate devas or mortals; he just ate.
-Wasn’t he ten meters tall?-
The Duke was a giant man, covered in rolls of fatty flesh. Every time he ate mortals, devas and monsters, they were added to his flesh.
“The Duke also aims to steal away our land. Its small, but it also has its own low, mid, and high-grade dungeons,” she said, visibly desperate. “If he manages to steal away our land, we will end up becoming his infinite food source. Every time we die, we always resurrect in our homeland. Even if we use the Sea of Reset, we always come back as a werewolf and awake in our homeland. We are also unable to leave our homeland for good. If we stray too far from it, we grow weak until we die and resurrect again.”
She continued to explain that her people yielded EXP comparable to elite monsters upon their death, and would end up as the Duke’s slaves.
“I a.s.sume there’s more to it?”
“Yes. We worry more about the safety of our people than about the Duke’s growth. I won’t make any excuses; that is our top priority,” she replied, as teardrops streamed down her face. She must really be at her wit’s end. “We will end up living as his slaves, no; we’ll end up becoming literal fodder for him, and he’ll only get stronger and stronger.” She ignored her now-drenched cheeks and continued, “We’ve asked all around. Our clan boasts an 800-year history with the connections to go with it, and asked everyone we knew to save us! But no matter how much we begged and begged, no one reached out to help us. So we asked them not to save us, but to help us stop the Duke’s advance. If we couldn’t stop him, he would turn to the rest of the world, but they all turned us away.”
I didn’t say anything as she cried. What she said was true. That was what had happened in the past. No one ever stopped the Predator Duke. It was more like no one could. He was avoided like the plague as he came to power because no one ever wanted to fall victim to his abilities. But once he was at full strength, it was already too late and many gave up, even though the Duke just needed to die once.
I had heard in the past that if the Duke was killed just once, then all of the abilities he stole would return to their rightful owners. There was a chance, a chance to destroy all of his work in an instant, but no one wanted to risk it. Then again, I didn’t want to, either.
In the end, the Duke continued to grow to the point that it was impossible for anyone to face him in combat. In the end, it was the ignorance and self-preservation of devas that made the Duke who he was.
“He could wipe us all out whenever he wants, but he ceased all attacks against us when he found out that we were planning to come to you.”
“Why’s that?”
“He wants to use us to lure you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The Duke wishes to consume you and absorb your abilities.”
“Why are you telling me that when you want me to help you?” That was the last thing she should be saying.
“Because it’s true. We don’t wish to lie to you.”
I began to feel sorry for her, I really did. The Predator Duke was the worst enemy for the Werewolf Clan. It was right for them to be at a loss when no one would help them.
But I was at a loss, too. I knew what the future entailed. There was no way to leave the Duke alone like an idiot, but there was no way I could go around asking anyone else to help me. I would most likely end up revealing the fact that I had turned back time. In the end, I would have to step in.
-s.h.i.t! It’s not like I knew I would return to the past! All I know are rumors; I don’t know where to find them or what their weaknesses are!-
The Seven Monarchs may as well have been the American President to me. I knew a little about them and heard a few rumors here and there, but didn’t know them personally. I didn’t care about them and they didn’t care about me.
“Our final battle is nigh and I only came just in case there was even a sliver of hope that you would help us. We don’t have anywhere else to turn to now. You’re the only one to ever defeat one of the Seven as well…”
“Ha…” I could only sigh. Ignorance is bliss. There’s no way I could turn them down. I can’t let the same thing happen again.
-f.u.c.k.-
I stared into Kylie’s eyes and spoke. “I…”