Monster Girl Quest, huh…?
'There's no way that's actually the case though, right?' Matthias thought as the memories of the aforementioned game resurfaced in his mind.
Everything he had seen so far matched with the elements present in that game.
In fact, even the angel in front of him heavily resembled a certain character from that game, both in physical appearance and fashion style.
Her long and luscious hair, her blue piercing eyes, her white silky clothes, her jeweled accessories, her… curves…
…She looked almost exactly like Ilias, the Goddess that reigned supreme over her world through power and fear, and acted as the ultimate main antagonist throughout the story.
Except… Well, she was not a mere character anymore.
She now resembled a person of flesh and bones just like him: a three-dimensional being, and she was also considerably much more charming than the art showcased in the game.
But that couldn't possibly be it.
Monster Girl Quest was supposed to be just… fiction.
He could understand being transported to a fantasy world, as weird and unbelievable as it was. There was still a line of logic behind it, albeit built under several theories and superstitions.
But being transported into a game's world? That was a different story altogether! That would imply that a fictional story made by one person and a bunch of artists was real!
And yet, as much as Matthias wanted to delve further into such thoughts, he knew he didn't have the time to do that.
After all, he had new company now.
So, not wanting to keep her waiting, he did the first thing that came naturally for him to do and…
"Umm… Hello."
…politely greeted her.
Suppressing the accumulated stress he built up within the last minutes, Matthias saluted the angel with an awkward wave.
In hindsight, however, that was a quite stupid decision as he thought about it.
Obviously, there was a language barrier separating him from the rest of the people; so, if there was nobody who could understand him, why was he acting as if it would go—
"Who are you?"
—any different now…?
Wait, what?
Matthias blinked when he heard the impatient voice of the angel, composing words that were surprisingly perfectly understandable to his mind.
"Ah… I'm… I'm Matthias, nice to meet you." Caught off guard for a moment, the young man's lips went on autopilot while he unconsciously extended a hand toward the angel.
These actions all came to him naturally, being the human being that he was.
Handshakes were among the most basic and formal exchanges between two strangers.
However, unfortunately for him, that was the wrong course of action to take under these specific circumstances.
After all, he wasn't speaking with a peer of his, nor was he speaking with a human either.
*Slap!* The angel slapped away the extended hand with the back of her own, much to Matthias' surprise, and narrowed her eyes even further.
"You dare treat a Goddess such as myself as a mere equal?" She rebuked with a deep tone filled with indignation, further confusing him.
A Goddess? Her?
'Don't tell me…' Matthias' eyes widened in slow realization, feeling his previous association resonating more strongly than before.
But, before he could muse on the subject any further, the self-proclaimed Goddess harrumphed and continued to speak.
"What insolence! I should just turn you into a pile of ashes right in this instant for this!"
"Huh? Wh—What are you…" Matthias dumbly stammered out before his mind caught on her words. The flashes of lightning sparkling out from her hand also helped him understand—
—Did she just say she would turn him into ashes?!
Panic immediately surged through his mind as he backed up by a few steps, building some distance from the angel while keeping his eyes wide open.
"Wow, wow, wow! Wait!" Matthias shouted.
However, the angel wasn't minimally fazed by his actions, instead shifting into a throwing stance as raw lightning began to build up on top of her hand.
"Hey! Wait! Stop! I'm sorry!" He screamed, his voice cracking in between under the terror of the impending death.
But the angel that was looking down at him wasn't listening to his pleas. In fact, she reared back her arm, ready to throw the gathered lightning onto him.
Holy shit, he was actually about to die!
"AHH!" Matthias crossed his arms in front of his face, a desperate attempt to defend himself from the angel's thunder of judgement.
And—
*—Crack!*
A clap of thunder boomed through Matthias' ears…
…But he was left unharmed.
As soon as the thunderous noise came out, he jumped in terror as he felt his heart threatening to pop out of his mouth…
…But, again, he was left unharmed.
The young man's thoughts lagged for a moment, not comprehending what was going on.
Was this how death actually felt?
Curiously, Matthias opened his eyes once again, and much to his surprise, he was welcomed with the familiar sight of the angel standing about a few meters away from him.
Her arm was still lifted upwards, although her hand was now clutched into a tight fist with no electricity in sight.
Meanwhile, the woman's face scrunched even further, replacing the indignation her visage displayed beforehand into pure rage.
However, it was worth noting that all the manifested irritation didn't seem to be aimed at Matthias, but rather, at herself.
In fact, the angel was taking deep and methodical breaths while keeping her eyes shut, until all that anger was thoroughly suppressed into an uncanny serenity that didn't quite fit her image.
And then, she exhaled a long sigh before opening her blue eyes once again, staring back at Matthias with an eerie calmness.
"Matthias, was it?" She asked.
Hearing his name mentioned, the man in question hastily nodded as cold sweat started to fall from his forehead. "Y—Yes, that is… that's me."
"Very well," She said, before proceeding to ask him a very strange question.
"Do you recognize who I am?"
Matthias blinked in surprise, left confused by her query.
…What?
She… She asked him whether he knew who she was?
…Of course not?
He literally just met her a dozen seconds ago, in no way could he possibly recognize—
'—Wait.'
Like a thunderclap, the image of Ilias appeared in his mind for the third time, and this time, it wasn't just a mere association with the figure in front of him that formed in his mind.
'Is she really her?' Matthias thought about it more carefully, thanks to the opportunity the angel granted him to meditate on the idea.
The angel in question looked and behaved like Matthias would imagine Ilias to be in real life, and coupled with the many details he noticed so far, that was the only coherent answer he could come up with.
If she was indeed Ilias, then he did know her.
But was that truly it? Because if she was, then that would imply he was inside a video game, and that wasn't possible…
…Although, he didn't think getting transported to another world was possible either, before it actually happened to him.
In the end, it ended in a fifty-fifty scenario… No, the chances of the correct answer being "Ilias" might actually be higher, since it was still better than nothing at all, to begin with.
Matthias softly gritted his teeth for a few moments, sharply inhaling a long breath between the gaps, and then he gave out his definitive answer.
"You're… Ilias?"
And his gambling ended up being successful.
The angel—No, the Goddess' eyebrows rose in return, although her general expression didn't change at all. "So you do know my name."
Then, Ilias began to approach Matthias with relaxed footsteps, until they were about an arm's reach from each other.
They shared a similar height, although the Goddess appeared to be a bit taller than him despite standing on her bare feet.
She looked down on him with an unreadable expression, while Matthias returned the gaze with a meek one.
"You know me as everyone else does, and yet my all-seeing eyes can't recognize you. So, pray tell…" Ilias spoke.
Her tone dropped by a few pitches in her last words, as if she was demonstrating the level of respect he needed to show when speaking to her.
But Matthias didn't even have the time to acknowledge the meaning behind her words, before he got blindsided by the worst question she could possibly ask him.
"...How do you know me?"
In that instant, all the repressed anger, anxiety, and fear Matthias displayed so far disappeared all at once, replaced by pure and unadulterated dread.
"Well…" Matthias mumbled, before trailing off into silence.
'...Crap.' As he processed the question, he realized that he was royally fucked this time.
He did actually know the answer to that question, and with the positive response he received with their previous exchange, he had no doubt over his thoughts this time.
Except… He couldn't just say it.
"I recognize you as a member of the main cast of Monster Girl Quest", he couldn't just say that.
So… How was he supposed to answer that question?
Should he just… lie?
The idea of lying to her sounded tempting in Matthias' head, but, even then, he still didn't know what he was supposed to answer her with.
And if she found out that he lied to her… there would be no coming back from it.
"I take it you don't want to tell me?" Ilias asked, noticing the unusual silence from Matthias.
"No no no! I'm—I'm just finding the words…" The young man hastily answered back, trying to buy more time for himself.
However, much to his chagrin, the Goddess' face started to display irritation and impatience. She didn't seem to take his silence well.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! He was wasting too much time! He had to give her an answer now!
"I—I… I know you because… Well…"
He couldn't make up any story.
It was too late.
There was no other choice.
If he wanted to stay alive, he could only say the truth.
And, hopefully, he could still salvage the aftermath somehow, even after saying these following words:
"There is this game—"
—Matthias blinked in surprise.
His words got stuck in the middle of his throat before he could even finish speaking, but it wasn't because he got an anxiety attack or anything as ridiculous as that.
It was because the Goddess suddenly disappeared from his sight!
Yes, that was correct! In a blink of an eye, just as he first came up to Heaven, he was now back in the building he was previously standing in, right in the very same spot.
"...Huh?" Bewildered by the sudden and unexpected turn of events, Matthias could only shift his eyes left and right, trying to make sense of what just happened.
But as realization set in…
"...Oh, holy shit. You have some amazing timing, Alice." Matthias mumbled with disbelief, unable to believe the sheer coincidence behind what had just happened.
He laid on the nearby table with one hand covering his mouth, while his eyes laid on the floor beneath his feet; as if he was afraid it would change again before he could even realize it.
Then, he took deep breaths, calming down.
As someone who held most of the game plot by heart, Matthias already understood what happened. And, by taking into consideration the sequence of events that happened until now, he guessed that the present timeline reached "that" part of the game's plot…
…The part where Ilias was quite literally "punched" out of the game's tutorial.
To begin with, the protagonist of the game: Luka, had a dream of the Goddess, who expressed his potential to slay the Monster Lord, the supposed "Big Bad Guy" of this world.
But then – shortly after his awakening – he was welcomed by a chaotic village that entered into a state of panic, all because of a monster that had been sighted nearby.
Being the naive Hero-wannabe that he was, the boy rushed out to deal with the monster, and he did eventually find the monster girl.
However, just before they fought, Ilias appeared once again in some kind of daydream for Luka, and started to explain to the player about the turn-based gameplay and thus began the tutorial
And then, just as she was about to tell Luka something important at the end of it, the conversation was cut off abruptly and the fight between the boy and the monster resumed.
The reason for that bizarre turn of events wasn't explained until later, when the female lead of the game – Alice – mentioned that she ambushed the Goddess around that specific time.
It wasn't specifically mentioned that the two events were connected, but it was easy to guess as such.
Because why else would this prideful and egocentric Goddess interrupt herself like that?
Why else would she just stay quiet right as she was warning Luka about something important?
And thus, why else would she just let Matthias go when she was interrogating him?
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Matthias couldn't help but silently praise Alice at her uncanny timing.
He really owed this one to her…
…Still—
'—This is the world of Monster Girl Quest, huh?' Matthias thought, unable to ignore the matter any longer.
There was no doubt left that he was transported in that particular game, somehow, and he was sent right at the beginning of its storyline: in the village of Iliasville, during the day of baptism.
If he had to be honest, he was relieved that this was the case, because now he had a very large advantage that he didn't possess beforehand.
Information. Information derived from both the visual novel this game began with, and the first two chapters of the JRPG sequel he played that expanded further into the elements of the first game.
'Speaking of which…'
Was he in the original world of Monster Girl Quest? Or was he in one of the parallel worlds depicted in Monster Girl Quest: Paradox?
Depending on which one it was, his next actions would inevitably change drastically.
Of course, in both cases, his ultimate goal was to leave this world behind, but – regardless – he was still forced into staying in this world for a significant amount of time…
…Whether he liked it or not.
Even if the game had shown the possibility to actually travel between worlds, it wasn't something that could be accomplished within one day; not if he was alone, at the very least.
"...White Rabbit, are you there?" Matthias tentatively asked, hoping that his calls would be heard. "Reaper? Any administrator who's out there, can you hear me? I need your help."
He pleaded for help…
…But nobody answered.
Matthias sighed, shaking his head in surrender.
'Well, it was worth a shot.'
Whether they were ignoring him, didn't hear him, or simply weren't here to begin with, it was clear that he couldn't take the easy way out of here by asking help from an administrator.
It seemed like he had to do things alone, on his own, as per usual.
Matthias walked away from the table, stroking his chin in a thoughtful manner as he mused on this huge problem plaguing him.
He had to find out in which version of Monster Girl Quest he was situated in, so he could better understand the world around him and the options at his disposal.
Only then could he find a way to return back home, or, at least, create a living plan for himself to live in this new world.
So far, beside his own presence, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the circumstances around him, meaning that he was most likely located in the original world of Monster Girl Quest.
But Monster Girl Quest: Paradox was a game whose storyline involved the theory of the multiverse, with multiple parallel worlds that were all similar to each other, except for a few differences.
For all that mattered, Matthias might actually be in one of those parallel worlds, and he had no way to know that without fully envisioning the world's state with his very own eyes.
But, as for now, the fact that the world so far didn't display any unusual change worked in his favor.
He could guess the future with more accuracy that way, and if this was indeed the first game's world, it was all the better.
In fact, he could even manipulate the future to a certain degree, due to him knowing every important piece in its history… Albeit, it might be quite tough.
After all, there still was that annoying language barrier between Matthias and everyone else in this world.
It would be difficult to interact with the world when verbal communication was already off the table.
There was one exception to that, but for very obvious reasons he'd rather not have anything to do with them ever again…
…God knew what Ilias would do to him if they met again.
Unfortunately—
'—That bitch will come back for me, in the end.' Matthias mused with hints of dread surfacing on his visage.
With the subject brought up once again, the image of Ilias almost killing him sparked out of his memory.
Regardless of his feelings and fears on the matter, her mere existence brought up yet another issue he would have to eventually face: her return.
According to his information about her, she could be considered a totalitarian, using her divine power to control the world for the sake of putting her on a pedestal to be idolized, and using the title of "Goddess" to blind the faithful men from the cruel reality.
And in no way was that an exaggeration, as one parallel world in the Paradox sequel displayed such characteristics, all to represent what her ideal world was supposed to be like.
Of course, unknowns like him definitely didn't go hand-to-hand with that ideal world.
Once she recovered, she would undoubtedly bring him back to Heaven and resume their interrogation.
And under normal circumstances, Matthias wouldn't actually mind following her requests.
He wasn't the kind of person to treasure his own freedom over his life, far from it.
In fact, freedom was one of the last things he truly cared about right now.
If it gave him one less thing to worry about, he would immediately act as her chair if she asked for it. If it meant he wasn't going to die, he'd even lick her feet, beneath the nails, and the gaps in between each toe.
However, the real issue was that what she wanted didn't involve just him, but the rest of the world too.
Ilias wished to learn more about his knowledge, and she definitely wouldn't be satisfied with the minimum necessary.
Once she understood where he learned about her, she would end up asking him how he did so;
Once she understood how he learned about her, she would end up asking him what else he knew;
And once she understood everything else, she would definitely apply that knowledge for her ideal world's sake, regardless of the opinion or safety of the lesser men.
Matthias definitely couldn't afford to let her know, because if she did, he wasn't going to be the only one getting hurt from the reaction of it.
He would then become the impetus who derailed the world's future from a happy one to another filled with suffering.
And to make things worse, he didn't have much time to work with either.
If everything went according to the game's plot, Ilias would show activity on this very night… at most.
Alice's ambush supposedly left a mark on her face, one that was ugly enough she wouldn't dare to show herself to the public because of it. That didn't mean this state of peace was absolute, however.
If push came to shove, there was no reason for Ilias to protect her image against her plans, especially when she could kill any witness while doing so.
It wouldn't be weird if she appeared in front of him within a couple of minutes from now, if not much later.
Either way, he still had to prepare himself for their eventual second meeting.
The interrogation would resume sooner or later, that was a fact. However, he still had a chance to not doom himself to death and the rest of the world to eternal torment.
All he had to do was to find a proper excuse, or an answer that could satisfy her curiosity at the very least.
And yet… What was he supposed to say, anyway?
Matthias began to fidget as he couldn't find an answer yet, anxiety started to settle in his heart, and sweat started to build up on his forehead again.
The current climate wasn't helping either, much warmer than what he was dressed for.
He removed his winter jacket and a hoodie within, leaving himself with lighter clothes, but his thoughts never truly left the problem at hand.
How could he possibly avoid ending up in a pile of ashes in his second meeting with the Goddess Ilias?
To begin with, it was a good idea to get into her graces.
At the very least, he could avoid getting killed over some minor misdemeanor that way, and hopefully even have some leeway with his answers.
He could show her proper respect fitting a person of her level, demonstrate that he was on her side and nobody else's, and definitely not break any of her commandments: whether it was mating with a monster girl or showing any hint of disrespect toward her being and her name.
On the other hand, he could strike her directly to her weaker spots, such as… supporting Luka—
"—Oh shit." Matthias blinked as he just remembered the purple-haired kid from before, only now making the connection between the brat and the aforementioned protagonist.
But while his mind's thought process regressed back to before he realized where he actually was, he didn't panic as much as then.
At that time, he was afraid that the kid's parents would catch him trespassing, but now that he had the full picture of the situation, such fears practically didn't exist anymore…
…Just like Luka's parents, one would say.
'He's an orphan, after all. They died about a decade ago...' Matthias thought before his eyes wandered around the hall.
'...But where is that bastard, anyway?'
According to the game, Luka was supposed to be outside at this time, fending off the invading monster girl.
However, the current circumstances were different.
Was he still outside to do like in the game's storyline? Or was he hidden somewhere in this building, away from him?
Matthias walked with sluggish movements, feeling his bruises ache once more now that the adrenaline left his system. He endured the pain, however, as there were more important things to focus on.
If Luka was still inside, then he could only be on this floor, since the upper one was solely represented by the bedroom they recently came out from.
Of course, there still was no trace of the purple-haired kid in the surrounding room, just as there was nothing before, hence why Matthias was heading elsewhere instead.
Right behind a corner, beside the entrance of the building, there was a long hall that gave way to numbered doors. It was just like an inn, albeit Matthias wasn't surprised by the sight as he knew Luka actually owned an inn in Paradox.
With slow but rigid steps, he approached their doors one by one and peeked inside, revealing rooms filled with only the bare necessity for a few nights' stay.
There were double beds, small tables, a few chairs, and wardrobes that were big enough for a couple to share. However, there was no trace of the kid or anybody else.
Upon seeing that the kid was nowhere to be found in the entire tavern, Matthias guessed that he had to be outside, most likely fighting the monster girl by now.
…What if he was still in the village, though?
Just as quickly as he began doubting his previous notion of Luka following the original storyline despite his presence, those doubts died immediately as they first rose when he looked outside a nearby window, seeing soldiers wandering around keeping the few citizens in sight inside their houses.
He almost forgot about it with all the things happening to him so far, but Iliasville should be on high alert now.
The entire village had to be panicking like never before in the last decade of this place's history, all due to the sudden presence of a monster girl in the outskirts.
If Luka was still within the premises of the village, he would end up being carried back here according to protocol. He wasn't an official hero yet, so he doubted anybody would grant him any sort of privilege during this period of emergency.
Matthias didn't even bother thinking of the idea of the boy reporting him to the guards either, because if the brat actually did it, the soldiers that were just outside would be already marching in his direction by now.
*Sigh!* A disappointed sigh left his mouth as he tried to guess what went through Luka's head a short moment ago.
Going so far as to jump down the stairs just to catch him, and then rushing outside to deal with the monster girl, all while completely shrugging off everything that happened seconds before that.
Why did he even risk his life with that stunt if he wasn't going to follow up with his actions anyway?
"... Let's just forget about it." Knowing that he would get nowhere trying to guess Luka's bizarre train of thoughts, Matthias simply marked Luka's reckless attempt at both their lives as one of the many, many moronic moments bound to happen through the boy's lifetime.
The game itself did set the brat up to make him appear like an absolute idiot, after all…
After realizing that Luka had to be in the wilderness as for now, Matthias' thoughts returned to the more important subject: helping Luka for the sake of appearing good in front of Ilias.
The idea of assisting the boy in his journey was basically a staple plot device in many fanfictions, but now… that definitely felt like one big challenging task from every angle imaginable.
Direct communication was impossible, any tip he might be able to give Luka during his battles would undoubtedly fall on deaf ears;
He wouldn't be able to help the boy get stronger either, since Matthias was just as much of a newbie in combat as the kid himself.
He couldn't use brains, and he couldn't use brawn.
Even if he fought alongside Luka, without any way to communicate, he would just look like a stalking weirdo.
And that was to not mention what already happened between the two of them...
Matthias did think about helping Luka for his own benefits as if it was an option, but that same kid tackled him down a staircase, filled him with bruises because of it, and broke his phone's screen in the aftermath.
Help him? If it wasn't for the fact that he recognized that damnable brat as Luka now, he would have already gone to chase after the kid just so that he could end him with his own hands!
The mere idea of helping Luka felt repulsive to him. As if that detestable brat deserved anything out of him!
And there was no doubt that the kid also held a negative opinion of Matthias, since he appeared in his house like some kind of intruder and all that.
The only reason why Matthias was even considering such a thing was because, regardless of how hard and hateful it may appear at first, it was admittedly the quickest way to get in Ilias' graces.
But even if he pushed aside his hatred of the kid, there was barely anything he could possibly do in that regard. The best he could do was pick up Luka's sword, and—
—Wait.
A feeling of incongruence suddenly surfaced from Matthias' heart, a feeling that forced him to look down at the broken sword lying in front of the staircase.
"..."
It was broken, huh…
…And if the timing of Alice's ambush was to be taken into consideration, by now, Luka must have already met the monster girl at this point, with nothing but bare hands to defend himself—
"—Oh fuck." Suddenly, Matthias' voice dropped by several tones as the gears in his mind clicked together…
"OH FUCK!"
…Followed by a much louder exclamation filled with panic.
What an idiot! What an absolute moron he was! If Luka was done for, who was going to save the world?!
*Slam!* The doors of the tavern slammed open with great force as Matthias pushed through in panic.
Needless to say, for taking such hasty and forceful actions, his bruises were pulsating in great pain, but Matthias didn't seem to even notice the intensifying pain.
There were way more pressing and urgent issues at hand, as if he had the time to bitch over some bruises!
If he didn't save that accursed brat from the monster girl, the whole world could end up in danger!
Matthias immediately started looking around, trying to find some semblance of a road that might bring him toward Luka's direction, but he barely had a few moments of freedom before unintelligible shouts snapped him out of his thoughts.
Those shouts came from the soldiers of the village who were tasked to keep it safe, and right now, they were rushing in his direction after taking notice of his rampant actions…
…Wait, that's right. He could just tell them about the problem! Why did he have to go on his own when he could trust professionals with the task?
However, Matthias' voice quickly muffled itself as he realized that he didn't even know what to say.
'Fuck, we can't understand each other!' Out of panic, he almost forgot that they didn't speak the same language, so he had no way to warn them about Luka being in danger – at least not verbally.
But what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't just… just…
…?
…Wait, couldn't he just go there himself and deal with the problem?
The villagers of Iliasville were just too afraid of monsters in general, thus they exaggerated the issue to such extreme levels. It was better being safe than sorry, after all.
But, at the end of the day, the invader was just an innocent and horny Slime Girl that couldn't harm even a fly…
Even Matthias could probably deal with her on his own, considering that the earliest and weakest iteration of Luka – out of all people – managed to scare her off.
Although, he still had to find them across the entire forest that extended itself beyond his vision, to begin with…
「おい, 外は危険だ! 中に戻れ!」
…But, regardless of hows or whats, he had to start moving NOW!
Before the guards could get any closer, Matthias sprang into action as quickly as he could and dashed for the woods standing right outside the village.
Of course, his seemingly careless decision to go out of Iliasville alone caused the soldiers to enter in a state of alarm, and they began chasing him with a sense of duty and worry, shouting as loudly as possible to pull his attention back at them while also running after him.
If only they were to know that another person was already outside the village, behaving like the reckless hero he actually was… It would have been great if Matthias actually knew how to speak their language.
But he couldn't.
All he could do was take a random direction and sneak into the first gap between trees he found, officially leaving Iliasville's territory and entering the wilderness.
However, much to his chagrin, some soldiers split off among the rest, leaving the majority to keep guard on the surroundings while a few ones continued the chase.
A glance behind him revealed two fully armored knights running at full capacity, surprisingly reaching similar speeds to his even though he wasn't carrying any weight at all.
Further irritation flashed in Matthias' eyes as he gazed forward once again, dodging trees left and right and jumping past any protruding root on the way.
Since when were the guards in this village actually capable of their job?
The game displayed them being practically a bunch of cowards that probably never saw a monster in their entire lives, so why were they acting like a genuine military force now when he needed it the least?!
Why couldn't they chase after Luka with the same ferocity they had with him?!
"Huff… Huff…" Knowing that he'd have to run for some time to get rid of these soldiers, Matthias began to take deep breaths as he ran forward, although that merely served to turn him into a more embarrassing sight rather than regulate his stamina as intended.
Maybe he didn't mention it before, but Matthias was not the most fit human in the world.
Only his mental and physical tenacity were worth something, but otherwise, he was the symbol of averageness: neither excelling in any particular field nor reduced to the same levels as the lazy bums back in his world.
In fact, if it wasn't for the armor and equipment the guards were carrying, they would have most likely caught up and captured him already.
On the other hand, he wasn't in peak conditions either, as his body still ached a bit from his bruises.
In the meantime, the clanking of armor was gradually getting louder behind him with each passing second, a terrible sign that Matthias grasped as the soldiers approaching him even closer than he wished for.
It looked like he was eventually going to get caught either way, but Matthias couldn't let himself get seized by them… He couldn't afford to, especially not now.
If that happened, he would be brought back into the village and be kept under surveillance, and with no way to communicate with them, Luka would be left alone with the sexually-frustrated Slime Girl and get a Game Over.
And letting Luka reach a Game Over in this world… The consequences would be way too dire for Matthias' liking, regardless of whether this world was the original one of Monster Girl Quest or, even worse, one of the many parallel worlds within Paradox—
—Which brought the current goal that – somehow – he had to throw those people off their loop before they could catch him.
But how?
How was he supposed to gain an advantage over trained soldiers?
He couldn't possibly go any faster than this, and he was already feeling the burden of running as fast as he could for this whole time.
He needed something more subtle than physical prowess: a distraction, something else that would actually bring them to a stop.
But, pointing in random directions and shouting unintelligible stuff wouldn't work under these circumstances.
What he truly needed was something bigger than that, like a real monster sight, or…
*BOOM!!*
…That.