I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Goodbye, Everyone!

[As of April 2nd, chapters 159 to 163 have been revised and extended to chapters 159 to 167. The content is entirely different, so if you read before April 2nd, please start from chapter 159 again, or read the summary provided at the beginning of chapter 168.]

“Ah, this isn’t right.”

The priest, wearing a dumbfounded expression, blankly stared at the chaotic scene around him.

‘This… this wasn’t my plan at all.’

The false god’s plan had been simple.

Using the limited causality he possessed and the dark energy lingering in the Necromancer’s body, he would cast a terrifyingly ominous dark magic.

A massive, hellish flame would erupt, spewing dark energy and terrifying the villagers.

At that moment, an eerie voice would shout, “You filthy humans! Die a horrible death under this curse!”

The frightened villagers would scream, and the Duke’s party would draw their swords.

Then, the ominous voice would point to one of the Duke’s group and say, “Killing all of you wouldn’t be fun. If you offer that one as a sacrifice, I’ll spare the rest of you! If you refuse, I’ll turn you all into undead, cursed to never rest!”

Naturally, the villagers would scream for the outsider to be sacrificed. Just as they were about to rush at the Duke in desperation to save themselves—

The devout priest, himself, would step forward and shout, “You demon! Take me instead!”

The ominous voice, as if waiting for this moment, would sneer, “Hoho! To think there would be such a faithful believer in a place like this. Very well! If you offer yourself willingly, I shall be satisfied!”

The faithful priest would then give a kind smile to the Duke’s party (making sure his trembling hands were subtly visible) and leap into the ominous flames as a sacrifice.

In the midst of the dazzling, but completely harmless, light, he would let out a dramatic scream, “Aaaah!” and activate ‘Blink.’ After a short while, his body would seem to turn to ash and disappear, teleporting him to a distant location.

The ominous voice would then cackle, “See? You humans are selfish and vile creatures! The priest’s wretched death will forever remain a stain on your souls! Hahaha!” before vanishing in a blaze.

Demons, after all, were notorious for doing bizarre things purely for their amusement, so no one would question such a departure.

Even after the demon disappeared, the Duke would stay in the village for a few more days to investigate. During that time, the priest would quickly return to the village.

As he approached, snow would begin to fall again, and the once-green grass would wither away. Monsters, which had previously vanished, would reappear, and the villagers would scream that it was the demon’s curse!

At that moment, the priest, covered in burns, would return to the village, claiming to have barely survived by the grace of the gods, showing some sacred-looking object as proof. He would then smile benignly, saying how fortunate it was that everyone survived. And then—

The villagers would shout, “It’s all because that old man is still alive! We must kill him to lift the demon’s curse!” and attack the priest.

The inhuman actions of the villagers would evoke sympathy for the priest, and the false god would naturally be taken in by the Duke’s party, eventually heading to the Duke’s estate.

During the journey to the Duke’s estate, similar ‘sacrificial acts’ would occur multiple times, and by the time they reached the estate, the priest would be treated as a benefactor, allowing him to infiltrate the heart of the empire!

‘But my grand plan…’

“Yes! I will be the sacrifice!”

The person from the Duke’s party, who was supposed to tremble in fear at being chosen as the sacrifice, raised his hand confidently and shouted that he would volunteer.

“Huh…? R-really?”

“T-thank you…”

“Uh, um, thank you.”

The villagers, overwhelmed by Lian’s confident attitude as the sacrifice, began to awkwardly step aside, as if unsure of what to do.

“…Is this a dream?”

“I feel like I’m dreaming too…”

Even the Duke’s party, baffled by the unrealistic boldness of their ‘sacrifice,’ could only stare blankly at Lian as he strode confidently through the parting crowd, like Moses parting the Red Sea.

“Is he going to a performance or something?”

“But… doesn’t he give off a terrifying aura?”

“Or maybe he’s just… crazy…”

The villagers, who had been panicking in terror when the massive flame first erupted, were now standing up with dazed expressions, whispering among themselves, all because Lian had shouted “Yes! Sure!” the moment he was chosen as the sacrifice.

‘This… this isn’t the scene I wanted!’

The priest clenched his fists tightly, furious at how his carefully crafted stage had turned into a farce.

‘Damn it! Why did I have to pick such a lunatic?! If this keeps up, my entire plan will fall apart!’

Truthfully, his plan was already halfway ruined, but he couldn’t give up so easily.

‘Do you know how much causality I spent on this?!’

Though it was a minuscule amount compared to others, for the false god, even that small bit was precious. He quickly cleared his throat and, in a panic, pushed through the crowd to grab Lian.

“Young man, snap out of it! If you die, you’ll be condemned to hell for eternity!”

How desperate he must have been! The priest, who always spoke formally even to children, was now using informal language! Can you grasp how dire the situation was!?

The priest’s voice, filled with such urgency, seemed to have an effect, as fear began to spread among the villagers.

“Is it really a demon?”

“Eek..! Save me!”

“Priest! Let him go immediately! Offer him as the sacrifice!”

Subtly releasing dark energy to heighten the villagers’ emotions, the priest finally began to create the atmosphere he had wanted.

Even the Duke, who had been rushing to attack the ominous flames, turned back at the word ‘sacrifice’ and shouted fiercely at the knights standing dumbfounded behind him.

“What are you all doing?! Hurry and save my so—no, the benefactor of the Duke’s family!”

“Gasp…!”

It wasn’t just the knights who were startled by the Duke’s words.

‘Did… did he just say s-son? He definitely said it…!’

Lian, his face turning pale, shook off the priest’s hand and began sprinting forward like a madman. He even summoned his cursed sword, running with all his might.

“Lian! Where… where do you think you’re going… huff… huff…!”

“Huff…! Noah, when did you get here…!”

Noah had caught up to Lian, sprinting right behind him at an incredible speed. She was gasping for breath, clearly exhausted from using all her strength to chase after him. Each step she took left deep imprints in the ground, as she had used up all her magic power as well.

“Th-they said we’d all die if we don’t offer a sacrifice. So, I had no choice…”

Lian, not even out of breath, rolled his eyes. It was hard to keep his expression in check while spouting such blatant lies.

‘Gargandoa… it really doesn’t have any offensive magic other than the teleportation spell, right?’

[Yes, it’s all about flashy appearances and defense. That creepy voice spell and the teleportation spell are all it has. It’s nothing but an empty shell with a shiny exterior.]

The cursed sword, which had been excited at the thought of fighting a powerful opponent when the spell first activated, now grumbled in disappointment.

‘The condition for the teleportation spell to activate is just to step inside, right? No other requirements?’

[Only the chosen sacrifice can enter, but—since you’ve been chosen, there’s no problem. Even if you hadn’t been chosen, you could easily break through that level of defense magic.]

‘But if I do that, the spell might break!’

The teleportation spell, which had appeared before Lian like a lifeline, felt like his salvation from the forced marriage ending looming before him.

‘If I can just interrupt the flow of events, the forced marriage event will be canceled!’

Even if he was caught and brought back to the group after teleporting far away, the event’s flow would be broken, and the forced marriage would be avoided. It was a win-win situation.

Noah, completely unaware of Lian’s intentions, looked at him with a face full of worry. Feeling guilty, Lian could only scream internally.

‘I wish I could tell her not to worry… but how am I supposed to explain a forced marriage event?!’

After the spell activated and the event ended, Lian planned to reunite with the group, even if only briefly, before leaving the Duke’s estate as originally planned.

‘As long as I avoid them for about a month, I should be fine. After I escape, I can send them a letter to let them know I’m alive!’

Having shed the last bit of guilt for the sake of his survival, Lian shot forward even faster, moving so quickly that not even Noah could catch up.

“Brother! Brother!”

“Master!”

Iris and Jess’s desperate voices called out to Lian from far behind, but he didn’t look back.

‘Sorry, everyone! I’ll send you a letter later!’

End of Chapter