Why… why won’t [Normal Mode] activate?! Have I become so weak that even my own power doesn’t acknowledge me anymore?! Me! I…!
Gritting my teeth, I desperately tried to control my unbearably sore eyes, refusing to let those pathetic tears fall.
My eyes hurt so much, and my chest felt so hot! Why is this pain worse than all those previous times filled with regret?! Has my sense of guilt finally reached its limit?! How can I ruthlessly kill enemies a thousand times greater in number, yet can’t bear the thought of innocents dying indirectly because of me?!
“Don’t move, I’m trying to help you… stop struggling…” My hands trembled uncontrollably, making my cuts on the wound unstable. Too shallow and they’d be ineffective, too deep and I might hurt him further.
The mercenary’s gaze had frozen. For a moment, I thought he had already passed on. But the scene before my eyes didn’t confirm it—he wasn’t dead, he wasn’t dead! Replaying this thought in my mind, I grew frantic and directly sliced my palm, letting my blood drip onto his fatal wound.
“Well, well, looks like we’ve got something fresh here.”
I froze, my bleeding hand hanging motionless in the air.
“Boss! It’s a woman!”
I seemed to have forgotten why the mercenary was injured like this in the first place.
“To be precise, a girl who hasn’t fully grown yet.”
It was those prisoners… the ones I myself had set free.
Then, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, striking the side of my face before I could react. With my mind in shambles and the intense pain from my wounds, I completely lost control of my body, thrown heavily to the side. I tumbled over and over before finally coming to a stop, only to realize my whole body burned with pain.
My forehead and palm were worse. Thick, crimson blood flowed over my eye, dyeing half my vision scarlet. When I finally came to my senses and the ringing in my ears subsided, I realized I was covered in injuries…
The opponent possessed strength on par with [Daily Mode], which is how they so easily overwhelmed the mercenary… But right now, I couldn’t switch to [Normal Mode] to teach them a lesson—It hurts. My mind is a mess, so dazed that “logic and emotion” are tangled together.
Forcing my head up, I took in the three prisoners. The tallest one held a thick, black club, likely made of special wood. The second tallest was pointlessly flicking his tongue, playing with a dagger deftly in each hand. The shortest, and also the most peculiar, held only a tough, flexible branch—clearly, he was a mage.
Against these three, [Daily Mode] alone might not give me an advantage. Coupled with my current state of having no “heart” for battle, the possibility of fighting and winning was minuscule.
“Sorry about that, little girl. I just gave a little push, didn’t expect you to fly so far.” Ugh… his smug face was so infuriating—Aahhh!! My hair, it hurts!!
A sudden, powerful yank on my hair jerked my head up. The violent motion and the unbearable stinging pain on my scalp snapped me to full awareness.
Now I get it. I finally understand how much it hurts for a girl to have her hair pulled—It really hurts! The kind of pain that makes you forget all your other injuries. Although it felt excruciating, I didn’t show any expression of pain… Strangely, my facial muscles seemed sealed. Other than being expressionless, I rarely showed any “expression.”
Gritting my teeth, I tried to reach up and stop it—but another person pinned my hand, twisting it behind my back. I couldn’t move at all. In this state, I was like a trussed-up crab, completely at their mercy.
“Hey, this girl’s quite the looker… The ‘figure’ still has room to grow, but the ‘looks’ are pretty good already. Delicate as a doll.”
“Hey, stop squirming. Be careful not to damage your skin, then you won’t be so tempting anymore.”
How long has it been since they last saw a woman? There are plenty of girls in this world prettier than me… And I’m just a guy inside**, how can I stand this kind of teasing?
“Deep golden eyes, so beautiful… and this azure-blue long hair, feels so smooth to the touch… Ah, I almost got lost in it.”
Ugh, stop touching me.
The short mage gently lifted my chin with his fingers, then stared at me intently. His fingers, his palm, then widening the area, pressed against my face. It seemed endless, wanting to go even further… Then he gently wiped away the film of blood over my left eye—
Aren’t you already lost in it? Hypocrite…
“If her face is this lovely, her voice must be sweet too. Come on, let me hear your voice, sweet as a lark’s.”
Hmph… In your dreams…
I struggled violently a few times, making my refusal perfectly clear.
“Tch, a mute, huh?… How can we fetch a good price for her then?” As if losing interest, the tall one abruptly released my hair and stood up.
Finally, he let go… My hair roots and scalp still throbbed with the recent pain. I never want to experience that again…
Perhaps following the tall one’s lead, the knife-wielder also released my hands, leaving only the mage who was still caressing my face.
Finally, he too let me go.
“Judging by her appearance, she’s still very young, probably around 11 to 13.”
“…So, she’s a child.”
“In a way, it’s fun to play with children. Their reactions are always so adorable.”
“So, shall we take her with us?”
“Good idea. Wait a moment.” The tall one left, saying he’d look for ropes.
“I’m not so sure. Having her with us increases the chance of being spotted while we escape.”
“Then when the time comes, we’ll finish her off. Two birds with one stone.”
Hearing this, and thinking about the unspeakable things that would be done to me afterwards, I felt all the hairs on my body stand on end.
To be teased, toyed with, and finally killed and discarded… If I can’t access the higher modes from now on, will it all end here? Would my whole life have to be spent in the shadows? No, it can’t end like this…
Elf, Alec, Huihui… they’re still waiting for me. But are they really waiting? Maybe I’m just a temporary inn on their journey, a place to stay or leave as they please.
…
…
No.
I want to live.
I can feel it for sure.
Someone is waiting for me.
They need me.
I need them.
It’s not over yet.
Even in my daily state,
They are absolutely no match for me.
Right,
“Me”?
…
【Power Anomaly】
[Daily Mode active] — Combat attributes reduced by 50% compared to [Normal Mode].
————
New Switch Added:
【Boiling】— Each time you are hit/injured, your combat skills and damage dealt are enhanced (effective for a single battle).
…
“You’ve got to be kidding me… You think I’d give up that easily?”
My hands shot upwards, firing several cyan-blue ropes that hooked onto something on the ceiling, easily pulling me upright.
After the ropes dissipated, the two remaining enemies noticed me. The knife-wielder charged at me without hesitation, his dagger slicing through the air, emitting a chilling aura. The mage, seemingly aware of my power, immediately began muttering an unknown incantation.
“Bring it on.”
With inexplicable confidence, I threw a taunt at the knife-wielder and completely exposed my back to him.
“Ah?! You little— Don’t get cocky! I’ll put a hole right through your head—!”
Clearly provoked, the knife-wielder’s spinning blades whirred with an increasingly sharp, grating sound, and then—
It stabbed towards me, only to be blocked by a shimmering violet disc. Blocked isn’t quite right; it more accurately stopped automatically, and the knife-wielder himself froze in place.
“What a pity.” After the taunt, I snapped my fingers. A shockwave erupted, instantly sending the knife-wielder flying.
As for how I knew this would happen, it’s because I anticipated it—【Purple · Perseverance】. Not only can it copy all attacks and return them multiplied, but it also automatically casts a momentary 【Time · Absolute Deceleration】 on the attack source.
However, the attacks that can be reflected require the use of my mental energy (special mana) to create. Even with the 【Vigorous】 trait that locks mental energy, if the special mana needed to create an attack exceeds my mental energy limit…
Well, it doesn’t really matter.
And compared to 【Time Stop】, 【Time · Absolute Deceleration】 isn’t technically one of my skills, yet in a sense, it “belongs” to me. It should be considered a derived sub-skill of 【Purple · Perseverance】.
No time for more explanations—
“Ugh!”
Before the knife-wielder could recover from his confusion, several ethereal violet daggers materialized in front of me, flying towards him in quick succession—one, two, up to five.
These daggers alone only managed to give the knife-wielder superficial wounds. After all, I didn’t want to be branded with the “nickname” of “murderer” again.
“This is… a deceleration spell! And those unfamiliar energy projectiles… Just who are you?! You were pretending to be weak and helpless to trick us earlier, weren’t you?! You liar!”
Finished speaking, the short mage chanted a brief spell I didn’t understand, then immediately turned and melted into the air.
“Invisibility, impressive. Judging by that, you’re likely a wind mage. And that comment earlier… you’re also an Elf-summoner, aren’t you?”
I kept throwing remarks into the surroundings, hoping to intimidate him a little. But from the looks of it, he wasn’t planning to surrender.
“I don’t understand how someone with such low character could form a contract with a minor spirit. Well, that’s none of my business—”
《Don’t you dare speak of him that way!! Clayt was forced into this!! Wind, heed me!!》
“Oh? So everything he did to me earlier was forced? He seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit.”
《I don’t care! Clayt did nothing wrong!!!》
The voice screamed at me angrily, and then a powerful gust of wind, impossible indoors, blasted towards me. It seemed like I would be blown away, but it had no effect—my weight classification doesn’t allow me to be easily blown away.
【Soul Perception】 locked onto two targets. Using the Force on each, I pinned them to the ground.
