Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 47 – The Defeat Event

—–CROW—– 

I’ve loved throwing stones since I was young.

It’s not like I have some baseball prodigy anecdote. I just enjoyed throwing stones at the sky.

I still don’t know why I liked it so much. Maybe I wanted to knock on the gates of heaven with pebbles.

Anyway, the act of throwing, which I’ve enjoyed since childhood, has now become my greatest weapon.

– *Bang!*

The metal ball, cutting through the air, suddenly changed its angle in front of the elf knight’s shield and hit his thigh.

This is the third time already. The elf knight kept moving his body and manipulating his shield, trying to block the metal balls.

But against my various throwing techniques that freely change trajectory, he couldn’t block a single one and was just getting hit unilaterally.

“Ugh, ugh! You cowardly bastard!”

The elf knight shouted at me as I threw metal balls from a distance. It seems like he doesn’t have much to say.

“Uoooooh!!”

The elf knight, hit by the fourth metal ball, couldn’t contain his anger any longer and charged at me with his shield raised.

His swordsmanship is overwhelmingly superior, but when he charges like that, swordsmanship doesn’t matter.

I dodged his charge, took out an axe from my inventory, and swung it widely, aiming for his side.

– *Clang!*

The elf knight skillfully manipulated his shield and blocked the attack, but he couldn’t do anything about the follow-up attack.

I took out a one-handed sword from my inventory, stepped closer, and swung at his neck.

– *Clang!*

Although the damage wasn’t significant due to his armor, it definitely landed a solid hit.

I kicked off the ground and created distance again, this time taking out a hand axe.

The elf knight seemed to have adapted to my switching strategy, as he regained his posture, anticipating an additional attack with the axe.

But that was the wrong choice. I know how to throw, but I’m not playing baseball.

Why do you think all I can throw are metal balls, you pointy-eared bastard?

– *Whoosh, Thwack!*

The hand axe, thrown with force, struck his broken nose.

“Gah!”

It wasn’t a critical hit, but it was fatal enough. A clear opening appeared.

Dagger, short sword, longsword, greatsword, shield, short spear, long spear, blunt weapon, axe, throwing—the attack patterns I can use aren’t limited to these.

Since I’ve also honed my dual wielding skills, I can create new patterns by wielding each weapon with both hands.

I can add a few more patterns by throwing melee weapons in different ways and trajectories.

I can also mix in close-range combat and grappling, and I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

I was nervous, thinking he was too strong an enemy for the 7th floor, an unscrupulous bastard.

But once I started fighting him properly, I was able to overwhelm him without letting him land a single effective hit.

As expected, my hard work hasn’t betrayed me.

I won.

**

The situation completely changed from the beginning of the fight.

The elf knight, who was easily pushing me back with his superior skills, was now battered and gasping for breath.

I, who was desperately defending while breathing heavily, am standing unscathed.

The damage from the shield bash was completely healed by the [Combat Healing] effect, and my HP is full.

The victory was clear to anyone, but the elf knight was still burning with fighting spirit, maintaining his stance.

“I, I am… the 7th Seat of the Pendula Knights, Perith Vetera! I will not fall to a wicked human!”

“Hey, fucker, you attacked me first, and now you’re calling me a wicked human?”

“You attacked His Highness Eluyon and are pretending to be innocent.  Just like a human who wields the power of darkness, your face is thick!”

The elf knight’s legs were already trembling as he chattered.  Tsk, are all High Elves like this?

I don’t know why he keeps spouting nonsense about wicked humans and wielding the power of darkness.

If I were truly wicked and evil, I would have already taken their heads and juggled them.

Perhaps his hatred for humans is so strong that he can’t properly judge the situation.

Or maybe the elf named Eluyon, whose shoulder I dislocated, is this guy’s trigger.

Anyway, it seems like it will be difficult to join the High Elf faction now.

It’s not that it will be difficult to join because I beat them up, but that I don’t have the confidence to be on the same side as these guys.

Just exchanging a few words with them is making me suffocate. How can I be on the same side as these guys?

“Alright, alright, I don’t care anymore.”

I raised my sword, intending to kill the elf knight and end it.

That’s when it happened.

“!”

The tingling sensation unique to the [Intuition] skill sent a warning from around my temples.

– *Whoosh, Thud!*

I moved my hand almost instinctively and caught an arrow. It was aimed precisely at my temple.

What is this, where did it come from?

The enemy isn’t in my sight. It must have been shot from quite a distance, but is that even possible in this dense forest?

– *Screech!*

A strange cry echoed from the direction the arrow came from.  It’s a sound I’ve heard a few times during my military service.

“An eagle?”

Soon, I heard the rustling of bushes from all directions, and the owner of the arrow and the owner of the eagle cry appeared simultaneously.

“That’s far enough, human intruder! You dared to step into our forest alone!”

One male elf archer appeared with a bow and a giant hawk, two male and female elf knights in similar armor to the one I defeated,

And another High Elf woman holding a wooden staff and leading a shimmering light.

They all had consoles above their heads indicating hostility, and all but one were orange.

“Well done, Perith. You protected His Highness admirably.”

The console floating above the head of one of the two elf knights, the female knight who drew a silver one-handed sword, was… black.

“Crazy.”

The color being not just dark, but pitch black, means that she has a level incomparably higher than mine.

It seems like this damn tower is determined to kill me.

**

If the enemy were moderately strong, I might have been excited, thinking a good opportunity for growth had come.

But this is not it.  The pitch-black console above the elf knight’s head looks like a symbol of death.

Just how big of a level difference does there need to be for the console to be pitch black? Is she level 100 or something?

If I run without looking back, would I be able to escape?

No, the knight and the prince I knocked down were both quite fast. It’s probably a racial trait of High Elves.

Considering that, it’s obvious that I won’t be able to outrun them. I don’t even know the geography of this forest.

Damn it, what should I do?

I carefully tightened my grip on my sword. I thought I might be able to land a blow if I attacked by surprise.

“It seems you’re not going to be captured quietly. Shall we hear your explanation after subduing you?”

– *Rumble!*

Suddenly, a thunderous sound echoed, and a white light began to swirl around the elf knight’s body. It’s a skill I know.

Mana Enhancement, an active buff skill considered one of the three sacred treasures of Warrior classes.

A skill that explosively increases all stats and attack power in proportion to the Intelligence stat. No challenger would be unaware of it.

Did I get transferred to the 70th floor instead of the 7th? Why is there an NPC using that here?

I carefully changed my equipment to full gear by manipulating the inventory with my eyes.

And without taking my eyes off the silver sword, I slowly shifted my footing.

“Going somewhere?”

Fuck, I’m screwed.

As the elf knight’s fingertips seemed to move, a blade approached me in an instant, and…

– *Swish!*

Something black emerged from somewhere and wrapped around the blade, stopping it.

What is this now?

“Hold it right there.”

I turned my head at the unfamiliar voice coming from behind, and there was an elf standing there, I don’t know since when.

Not just any elf, but one of the three major factions on this 7th floor. A Dark Elf woman with dark skin.

“These forest bitches are always like this.  They don’t even think about their own mistakes, and if they feel offended, they just draw their swords.”

The Dark Elf woman, uttering words I strongly agreed with, smiled slightly and placed her hand on the ground.

Then, the shadow beneath her feet bubbled and boiled, spitting out several figures.

What emerged from the shadow was a group of Dark Elves with the same dark skin as the woman.

“Greetings, unknown human swordsman. I was watching you fight. You’re quite skilled.”

“What?”

“I was originally going to step in and help if you seemed like you were going to lose to that annoying bastard, but I didn’t expect you to win.”

The Dark Elf woman said so and pointed at the High Elf knight whose face was a mess.

“But thanks to her, I have another chance to make a grand entrance, so I’m quite grateful.”

My head was spinning. I understood the situation immediately from the Dark Elf woman’s words.

This… was this a forced defeat event from the beginning?

The situation got messed up because I won a fight I was supposed to lose!

—–CROW—–