I'll Never Be a Mercenary Again!

"How long have they been inside?"

Outside the Zane Dungeon, the Skyrim Strategy Team gathered near the portal. The night was gradually fading, and they estimated that dawn would arrive soon.

"Three hours and twenty-two minutes have passed." Ta Mi reported the time accurately, down to the minute.

"If they were lucky, they should have died three or four times by now," Lu Lu Wo said.

"Captain, that's a really bad omen," Bei Er Tuo retorted.

"No, I just mean, why is she wasting her time on this?"

Indeed, Elsa's goal now shouldn't be to conquer the Painting World, which has little to do with her, but rather to sever ties with the Light Eagle Legion as soon as possible.

Having gone through so much, Elsa should no longer be unable to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.

"I believe she knows exactly what she's doing," Ta Mi said.

Why?

"Uh, it's just about believing. Believing doesn't need a reason."

Lu Lu Wo pouted. She realized that, besides herself, the person Elsa was closest to in the Skyrim Strategy Team was Ta Mi. The two people, who were the same age, seemed to have more to talk about.

"Compared to that, Captain, I think we should be wondering about something else."

Bei Er Tuo adjusted his glasses and said:

"Why are two people allowed to enter the Painting World this time? And it's a type of game that allows multiple people to enter again?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Lu Wo muttered to herself:

"Oh right, why did I forget about that?"

Meanwhile, in the Painting World.

Elsa and Sally are currently on their second, third, and fourth restarts—I forgot which one.

Elsa has just rescued a group of Band of the Hawk members and is on her way to support the other side.

However, halfway there, the person she had just saved was suddenly attacked by a giant sandworm-like monster that emerged from the ground. The side she decided to go to help was then attacked by several apostle monsters, leaving her in a dilemma.

This moment of hesitation resulted in severe damage to both sides. She gritted her teeth and rushed towards the side with more survivors.

She doesn't yet know how many Band of the Hawk members she needs to save to clear the game, so she must prioritize ensuring a larger number of survivors.

Saving lives became the top priority, but at this point, the monster's troublesome aspects began to emerge.

These things looked haphazardly grown and ugly, but they possessed a wide variety of special abilities, ranging from abilities derived from their body parts such as spraying slime, whipping with long tongues, and launching sharp teeth, to fantastical abilities such as breathing fire and water, performing illusions, burrowing underground, and flying. This gave her the feeling of fighting a simplified version of the demon race.

Each time the Band of the Hawk restarts, the members are roughly in the same location, but the types of monsters are all different. It's impossible to predict what kind of monsters will attack from which direction, which means that even if she clears out the surrounding monsters, there will inevitably be some that slip through the net.

The members of the Band of the Hawk were able to be inspired by Sally to fight, but unfortunately their strength couldn't keep up. Even when a group of them fought one or two monsters, they would still fail. In the end, only two adventurers and Guts were able to consistently kill monsters, while the other centurions occasionally showed some outstanding performances.

Even the usually well-mannered Elsa felt an urge to swear, but she couldn't think of the right words and had to refrain.

Nothing is more infuriating than having to repeatedly defend!

They could certainly choose not to return to defend, but instead escort the rescued Band of the Hawk members, allowing them to gather together. Once their numbers increased, they would be able to resist the monster, right?

Well, putting aside the fact that the strength and number of monsters besieging the Band of the Hawk will also increase as the number of Band of the Hawk grows, the time spent escorting a group of Band of the Hawk to reunite is enough for two groups of mercenaries scattered in other places to be slaughtered.

Is it really that hard to keep the Band of the Hawk alive?!

These people have broken the heavenly law and must die today, right?

In this endless battle, Elsa felt as if her strength was increasing. She learned how to calmly fight when surrounded by enemies, and even her combat skills improved.

But she would rather clear the gates and leave as soon as possible.

But this Painting World has something that makes it different from other Painting World.

Even if Elsa and Sally don't both die, as long as Wing of Darkness Femto is successfully born, they will both be considered failures, and the world will immediately return to its starting point, as if there's a Flash who can reverse time working overtime here.

Restarting the world without dying sounds like a Spirit Power thing, right?

No, this is a terrible thing!

Sometimes, the death an adventurer encounters in a dungeon can be seen as a short break, temporarily pulling the adventurer out of the intense and exciting adventure.

Elsa and Sally, who did not die, did not get a rest. So far, they felt like they were constantly fighting, fighting and fighting, without any time to rest. Moreover, after each restart, the monsters slaughtered the Band of the Hawk without hesitation, forcing them to take immediate action.

Physically speaking, it felt like a non-stop battle, with no rest for a moment, and not even a blink of an eye.

Tired, bored, exhausted, don't want to move

These negative emotions eventually arise from the endless battles.

When these negative emotions accumulate, it seems that the only difference between them and these monsters is that the other side is ugly.

The greatsword slashed down, cleaving the monster in front of it in two under the weight of the blade, blood gushing everywhere.

Based on the pattern of previous restarts, this greatsword will soon be used to Execute even more monsters.

This time, however, Elsa, who was holding the greatsword, sighed and moved her wrist, but she did not raise the greatsword again.

She was tired, utterly exhausted.

She probably wouldn't be able to save the Band of the Hawk if she didn't really get emotionally charged, but getting serious here would feel like a waste.

"Drink up!"

Guts' roar came from the side. His longsword was broken, but he still fought the monster with the broken sword. Everyone could hear the anger in his voice.

Elsa was a little envious. If she could erase the memories of previous battles every time she restarted, she probably could have kept fighting too.

That's just wishful thinking.

Saving the Band of the Hawk had become an impossible task in her eyes. If she were the kind of adventurer who relied on speed, she might have succeeded.

She turned to look at Sally, only to find that he was also looking at her, and the two remained silent.

They both saw deep weariness in each other's eyes, the kind of weariness that comes from being forced to play a massively multiplayer online Yugi for an extremely long time.

For a fleeting moment, both of them considered giving up.

This Painting World is too torturous. I really don't want to come in a second time, and I definitely don't want to come in again.

Just then, the Band of the Hawk was almost wiped out, and the giant hand opened as usual, as if it were a routine matter.

However, unlike usual, both adventurers this time considered giving up and didn't want to fight anymore. The monsters here were also very difficult to kill, so...

Suddenly, the two found that the scene in front of them had turned into an image. A giant hand opened, and Griffith, who had transformed into Dark Wings, flew out from it and stood in front of Guts, who was being held firmly by the monsters.

"Griffith—"

Guts was about to say something when the person opposite him waved his hand, and a naked woman was grabbed by the monsters and brought to him.

This woman is a centurion of the Band of the Hawk and one of Guts' friends; in fact, it could be said that the two have feelings for each other.

Under Guts's horrified gaze, Griffith seized the woman and committed an extremely vile act of blasphemy.

Sally quickly covered Elsa's eyes, but things weren't that simple; even with her eyes closed, the image would still appear in her mind.

"Griffith!"

Guts's beast-like roar echoed through the hellish landscape. He forcefully severed the arm that the monster had bitten with his broken sword and attacked Griffith in a fit of rage. However, the attacks of a mortal were utterly ineffective against Griffith, who had already ascended to godhood, a fact that Elsa had already verified.

But the next moment, Elsa's eyes widened again.

Although the movement was very small, she saw that Guts' broken sword was slowly, little by little, getting closer and closer to Griffith!

Just as he was about to break through the invisible defensive field and attack his opponent, his roar reached its most heart-wrenching level!

"Null--"

But with a single glance from Griffith, Guts was instantly flung away, falling into a sea of blood composed of the corpses of his comrades.

The damage from that one look was more severe than all the previous attacks from the monsters combined. He struggled on the ground, slowly getting up.

But the next moment, the monsters swarmed forward, completely engulfing the man's body.

The roars of monsters, the shouts of men, and the mocking sounds coming from nowhere—all these sounds mingled together, yet gave the listener a sense of silence.

Suddenly, the scene shifted to the sky, to a dark sun beneath a sky made up of human faces.

The black sun suddenly cracked open.

"Crackling and popping"

The sound of burning firewood reached Sally's ears, and she slowly opened her eyes, feeling an indescribable exhaustion all over her body.

The bright sunlight shone on him, and a gentle breeze brushed past his ears. Only then did he realize that he had returned to the Firelink Shrine.

An immense sense of security welled up within me.

It felt just like coming home. Nothing gives you a greater sense of security than a campfire. If there is one, it's the campfire at Firelink Shrine.

"Want some? It'll give you some energy." Elsa handed over a large, white egg that had been roasted over the campfire; it was clearly Happiny.

Sally felt disgusted when she saw this thing.

But, but Elsa gave it to him, wouldn't eating it make her happier?

Suppressing his disgust, he took a bite of the Happiny, and his eyes suddenly cleared.

"Good, delicious."

How come I never realized this stuff was so delicious before?

While eating his Happiny, he asked, "Did we lose? Were we kicked out?"

"Yes, we lost."

It's strange that the Painting World didn't squeeze them dry before releasing them this time.

What is the final crack?

"I don't know, the footage just stopped there."

Is that so?

After swallowing the last bite of the Happiny, Sally felt healed, both physically and mentally. Her fatigue eased, and her intelligence returned. She said, "I have a guess."

"Perhaps, when we have the thought of giving up, we have already been judged as losers, which is why such a despairing image appeared at the end."

"If we can keep fighting, will something turn around? Like the last crack, it gives me a sense of hope."

To put it simply, Sally realized that if they could persevere, perhaps the final image of the Painting World would be different from what they saw, and hope would surely be born from the deepest despair.

"I don't think this story will end like this. Saine has never told a story that is completely hopeless before."

Many people feel that the Zane Dungeon are full of negative and depressing stories, but Sally noticed that at the end of each depressing story, a small spark of hope always ignites.

Perhaps what Sion wanted to show was not simply a desperate situation, but the light shining through it.

Thinking about it this way, it actually inspires me to strive for improvement; it's so positive!

Sally had a few ideas in mind that he wanted to try to apply to the Painting World, but unfortunately, he seemed to have no one to help him realize these ideas.

Elsa had replenished her strength. Although the fatigue of the battle still lingered in her eyes, she was able to move around without any problems.

She stood up, threw eggshells and other things into the campfire as fuel, and said:

"This time I have to leave the Light Eagle Legion."

Yes, no one who has entered this Painting World would want to be a mercenary again, at least not for a long time!

This is the impact a story can have!

The subtle feelings that Guts and Griffith evoked in Elsa made her even less willing to stay in the Light Eagle Legion, and no one could stop her from leaving the Light Eagle Legion.

Sally heard the determination in her tone and was about to offer her usual advice, but suddenly she coughed violently for a while and coughed up some egg yolk from Happiny.

He choked because he ate too fast.

When he came to his senses, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to dissuade him, as if his mindset had undergone a slight change.

In the end, he just sighed and said:

"I'll go with you."