Chapter 114: Strength and Weakness (23)

"Admittedly, although they were legends in terms of strength, their performance before death was hardly all that awe-inspiring."

Although Herbert was outside the Third Commandment's domain, with Nie Nasha's help he had a thorough grasp of everything happening within.

It could be said that no one understood what was going on inside better than he did.

The battles in there, heh!

What a sight too wretched to look at, too painful to face directly.

"To put it bluntly, their performance was somewhat wretched — even shameful."

Scorched by lava, dissolved within song, launching fearless charges against the giant dragon, lost within the Illusion, strangled by blood kin…

Is this the strength a legendary powerhouse should have?

You call that a battle?

No.

It was nothing more than a one-sided slaughter.

These legendary dark elves did not stir up much of a ripple before their deaths.

Like a pebble tossed into a lake — though it sent out layer upon layer of faint ripples, within moments they vanished entirely, never managing to splash up much water at all.

But were they… truly that weak?

Just a bunch of small fry?

Herbert shook his head, rejecting the thought.

Of course not.

"To judge whether one is strong or weak, there is one prerequisite that must be met — you need to choose the reference point."

"Compared to the me of one month ago, the me right now is unquestionably a powerhouse of considerable strength."

"Aside from my mind being unchanged, I can almost say I've achieved an all-around crushing advantage in strength, speed, physique, charisma, and perception."

He raised his arm to grasp at the moon; a sacred brand lit up at his fingertips, traveling downward, finally shining through his sleeve and illuminating holy patterns.

High-tier holy power, high-tier flesh, and a month of crash-course combat techniques — these three combined were enough to let him charge alone into the wilderness and solo his way through it, in and out seven times.

Herbert had a fairly clear and objective self-assessment.

The him right now truly was not weak — enough to throw his weight around in front of the weak.

But at the same time — he truly could not be counted as very strong either.

"But compared to those legends… I am a weakling through and through."

"Whether it's that 'Good Man' or that 'Wise One,' I have no confidence I could last ten moves against them."

Especially that "Wise One" — by sacrificing others, he actually managed to hold out until the very end against the joint assault of Kreti and Flora, and nearly succeeded in escaping to another region.

"Not to mention the most destructive among them, that 'Madman' — if I faced him in that berserk state, I probably wouldn't even have time to run."

Completely outclassed in speed, strength, and physique; whether I could even break through his defense is a question worth pondering — if we really fought, it'd be like Loki fighting the Hulk — getting straight-up smashed.

"But they're dead now. All of them, dead."

"They died at the hands of the very monsters I casually interact with, chat with, and fool around with every day… and their manner of death was so… utterly helpless."

Herbert's expression turned subtle; he raised half an eyebrow as he recalled the various scenes he had perceived.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the monster girls' strength, nor that he lacked a rough estimate of their abilities.

But when he truly "saw with his own eyes," he still couldn't help but sigh with feeling.

I was before… truly freaking brave!

Wow, how did I dare!?

Not to mention Valentina — the Hungry Dragon Young Lady's destructive power in a berserk state had always been astonishing.

Herbert saw for the first time, with his own eyes, just how terrifying Fu Leimei's song was — killing invisibly.

The victims noticed nothing at first when they heard the song, and there was no major change on their bodies either; but the moment a bleeding wound appeared, the corrosive power would take immediate effect, rapidly corroding them away completely.

That song was like a fierce poison — non-toxic, colorless, odorless, yet deadly upon contact with blood.

What surprised Herbert most, however, was actually the Treasure Chest Mimic (coffin-type) Young Lady.

Eliza, weren't you originally just a comedic character squatting inside a coffin?

Always thinking about eating good food and drinking fine wine, getting half-killed by spice every time, looking like a total slouch squatting in her coffin.

Herbert had even worried she'd drop the ball at this stage, so he prepared several contingency measures — but in the end, he never even got to use them.

The moment Eliza came on, she opened with an area-wide forced control, dragging every enemy — legends included — into the Illusion in a single move, then leisurely drained each of them of their blood one by one.

Th-this can't be right!

How did she pull off something this cool this time!

Did you hack or something?

Or did you invite the wrong god — Aizen, of all people?

When did you cast Kyōka Suigetsu?!

Was it from the very start!!?

This treasure chest mimic is far too scheming — she must not be allowed to live!

Next time, I'll add some hemp and extra spice to her blood bag…

After watching their performance, Herbert was indeed struck by a considerable shock, and grew ever more wistful about his own bold exploits back then.

What is "the ignorant are fearless"?

What is "the newborn calf fears no tiger"?

What is "a virtuous woman fears a persistent suitor" … ahem.

To be honest.

If Herbert had had a clear understanding of their strength a little earlier… he might still have done the same thing, but he certainly wouldn't have been as natural about it back then, and the outcome afterward might have been different from what it was now.

So, in many cases, knowledge is like a curse — a curse that makes one grow ever more cautious, ever more timid and hesitant.

The more ignorant a person is, the more inflated they become; the more learned, the more low-key.

Ignorance is not necessarily wrong, but over-inflating oneself is certainly not right.

"The powerful ones aren't me — I have no right to look down on their strength."

Herbert shook his head, putting himself in his proper place: "The truly powerful ones have always been Valentina and the others."

Although he now possessed the ability to command them, this power came from his identity as Warden, from the control permissions granted by the Third Commandment.

This is power, but it is not entirely his own.

To forge iron, one must be hard oneself.

To truly become the master who controls them, his current self is still far from enough — he still needs to keep working hard.

【"You're calmer than I expected — I thought I'd have to properly... talk some sense into you."】

"Were you originally planning to take the chance to give me a good dressing-down?"

【"No, no way~"】

Herbert listened to that slightly guilty-sounding voice, curled his lip, and didn't press the matter further; instead, he asked a question he'd been somewhat curious about:

"Are Valentina and the others rather special existences even among Legends?"

【"Hm? You only just noticed?"】

Nie Nasha paused for a moment, then said with a grin:

【"Setting aside the rest, just take that little dragon — a normal giant dragon is nowhere near a hundred meters tall; being half her size already counts as a very massive individual."】

Body size doesn't necessarily represent full strength, but it can explain a great many things.

【"Sea-Sovereign royalty, Vampire Princes, dark elves obsessed with blood-and-flesh research, the sages among demons, devils who fixate only on noble blood, Fallen Angels in their primordial form…"】

【"Yes, just as you're thinking."】

At the highest point of the monastery, Miss Xie Shen whispered softly into the youth's ear:

【"The prisoners held in this prison…"

【"…are all anomalous bodies."】

(End of this chapter)