CHAPTER 110: 110 - RAVEN THE LEECH

(Ervin’s POV)

S L A S H—!

"Haa... ha... Haaaa... haaaa..."

Rough breaths escaped my mouth as I stood there, drenched in blood, after killing a total of 23 goblins.

My hands were trembling slightly. Not from fear— but from fatigue.

The blood coating my sword had already started to dry, sticking to the blade like thick syrup.

Goblins are much weaker than me. They only have the physical strength of a normal teenager— maybe even less.

But because they attacked in waves, one after another, without giving me even a second to breathe, the whole fight ended up feeling way more exhausting than it should’ve been.

Annoying, too.

Their screeches, their twitchy, erratic movements, the stench of their bodies— everything about them grated on my nerves.

I’ve been fighting nonstop for about 15 minutes!

Fifteen minutes of constant slashing, dodging, and trying not to get mobbed.

’I should rest for a bit...’

I thought as I finally let my stance loosen and tried to lower my sword. My arms felt heavy, and my shoulders were stiff from tension.

–KIEEK!!

But just as I was about to relax, a goblin suddenly lunged at me from behind!

"Fuck...!"

I shouted and twisted my body violently to meet it with my blade—

PHUCK–!

But before I could even swing, a black dagger flew right past me and embedded itself into the goblin’s skull.

The goblin’s body dropped like a ragdoll, landing right beside me with a sickening thud.

I immediately turned toward the direction the dagger came from.

And there, I saw Raven.

He was mowing down goblins like it was nothing.

SWOOSH–

With a heavy swing, he slashed his sword diagonally downward—

S L A S H—!

And carved through multiple goblins like they were made of paper.

BOOM!

But it looked like he didn’t regulate his strength again, because his blade didn’t stop. After slicing through the enemies, it smashed straight into the ground, cracking the earth beneath.

’That happened too when he fought me during the test...’

I recalled, frowning.

It’s like Raven still isn’t used to how powerful he’s become. He’s really weird.

Anyway, he stayed there, crouched down weirdly in an awkward position like he was picking something up off the ground.

Tap–

Suddenly, he lifted his right foot—

Swoosh–

Then spun his body to the right, using his embedded sword as a pivot.

It was oddly graceful. Too smooth for a move that destructive.

Then...

Fwoosh~

Something black slithered up his leg and covered his right foot like a liquid, and before I knew it, his foot had transformed into a sleek black blade!

It shimmered slightly in the light. Razor-thin and deadly.

Without a moment of hesitation—

S L A S H—!

He executed a wide, horizontal kick with it, instantly cutting down a bunch of goblins that had been creeping up behind him.

Limbs flew. Blood splattered the air like rain. It was a rare sight, really.

Swish–

Right after that, Raven released his grip on his sword, then turned to me—

He aimed his left hand in my direction.

Fwish–

A gun appeared in his hand out of nowhere!

PSH–

"!"

Then he fired without hesitation!

The bullet zipped right past my face—

PHUCK–!

—and drilled into the skull of another goblin that had almost reached me from behind!

That one was really close. I didn’t even notice it.

’Ugh, that bullet was too close to my face... I thought I was going to die.’

I mumbled inside my head.

Anyway, while spinning back to face forward—

Fwip–

Raven reclaimed his sword from the ground, and just like that, the gun vanished from his left hand again.

Everything happened in less than five seconds.

I couldn’t even fully process it. It was just... unreal.

’He’s really a monster... what the hell...?’

The whole thing felt like watching a machine at work. Fast, efficient, and terrifying.

All I knew for sure was that Raven had already wiped out most of the goblins... and he saved my ass. Twice.

’I wouldn’t die just from a couple goblin hits anyway...’

I tried to tell myself that. Maybe it was ego. Or just denial.

But then—

"Don’t let your guard down just because they’re weak. They’re still going through hypersexuality..."

Raven said that, loud enough for me to hear it.

"...!"

My eyes immediately widened when I processed his words.

That... actually explained a lot.

That’s why so many goblins were going for my back instead of just attacking me head-on.

They weren’t just trying to kill me. They were trying to sexually harass me!

Swoosh~

A disgusting chill ran through my body.

"..."

FWIP-

Rage boiled inside my chest, and I gripped my sword tighter.

I immediately returned to a combat stance.

–Kieek...

Then I heard another goblin approaching from behind—

SLASH–!

I didn’t even think. I just turned and swung my blade where the sound came from.

Clean kill.

It dropped dead on the ground before it could even raise its filthy weapon.

"That’s more like it."

I heard Raven comment a few meters away from me.

I didn’t reply.

I just focused on the remaining enemies, eyes locked, ready to cut down the next bastard that tried anything.

’Bastards... I won’t let any of you come near me!’

I exclaimed in my head, remembering what happened to Sean and the others.

*****

(Raven’s POV)

After a few more minutes of fighting, or to be more accurate, one-sidedly butchering the goblins—

PSH–

I finally took down the last one with [Nyx].

Their blood still dripped from the edge of the blade, steaming slightly in the cold air.

Sariel said the total count of my kill was 73.

’I’m a bit tired now...’

I let out a slow breath.

The battle lasted for about 18 minutes.

[Dumbass, it lasted for 19 minutes.]

’Shut up. I was just a minute off.’

"Haa... haa... ha..."

Anyway, off to the side, I saw Ervin sitting on the ground, panting like a dying dog.

He’s definitely strong.

But this kind of situation was outside his usual experience.

’He used to enter dungeons with pro-level heroes backing him up.’

That meant he could focus on single-target fights while others handled the rest.

But this time?

He was surrounded by enemies.

No one to cover him.

No one to help. Well... except me from time to time.

Anyway, with that— he still survived.

It was a good experience for him.

Me?

I’ve had some solo fights before— like that one against Sean’s entire squad.

I held out well, yeah, but if Jeanna and the others hadn’t arrived when they did...

I was planning to disappear into the forest and pull a hit-and-run until they got too exhausted to keep up.

"Here."

Fwoosh–

I pulled a low-grade stamina potion out of my spatial storage and tossed it at Ervin.

Fwip–

"...Thanks."

He caught it, popped the top off—

Gulp–

—and drank the whole thing in one go.

After that, I approached him.

Fwoosh–

I pulled something else from storage and held it out toward him.

Ervin glanced at it, then narrowed his eyes.

"What’s that?"

He asked.

"A mana contract. High quality one."

I casually replied.

"I know what it is. I meant, why are you giving it to me?"

"Just take it. Read it."

I told him lazily.

"...Okay."

He gave me a weird look, but eventually took it from my hand.

His eyes scanned through the text—

"...!"

Then he looked up at me again, startled.

"Are you serious about this?!"

I nodded.

"Can you even fulfill this condition?"

He asked, frowning.

I smirked.

"Of course."

I replied with confidence.

"...Who the hell are you really?"

He muttered.

I shrugged my shoulders, and calmly opening my mouth—

"I’m Raven Obadiah. A handsome dude."

I declared that.

"...Really?"

He looked at me like he was reconsidering everything.

But in the end, he just sighed and shook his head.

"I’ll think about it."

He said.

"I’m fine with that."

I replied calmly.

The contract said I would provide Ervin with whatever he needed to create and manage a guild—

Under the condition that the guild would operate under me.

Starting a guild isn’t cheap. But Ervin’s not launching a major one overnight.

He’d begin small.

And with my partnership with [Paradise] now giving me millions in monthly income...

Funding a new guild was nothing to me.

Why was I doing this?

Simple.

In the novel, after Sean’s downfall, Ervin formed a mercenary group that later grew into a powerful guild.

A very successful one.

He becomes an important figure.

Strong as hell.

I’m not doing this because I’m a nice guy.

I’m investing early like usual.

I’m going to ride that success all the way to the top.

[You leech-like bastart...]

Sariel appeared and said that to me.

’Shut up, Sariel.’

I replied telepathically, secretly smirking a bit.

I just looked down at Ervin, he’s reading the contract in his hands again and again.i know he said he’ll think about it... But seeing his small grin—

’I already know what his answer is going to be.’