Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

My heart raced as I held my breath, not sure if it was because of the adrenaline or because of something else.

"Hey, shouldn't we attack?" I pointed at the stupefied elf king who gave me a pissed-off glare.

"Not yet. I'm still talking to you." He grabbed my hand and brought it down while his eyes never left mine, which made me feel a bit embarrassed, so I looked away.

"N-Now's not the time--"

"Here." He cut me off and took off his shirt.

"WHOA!?" I gasped and covered my mouth. What was he doing!? Public flashing? Huh!?

My face went red when I saw his bare chest and abs glistening with sweat, right in front of my eyes. I quickly shifted my focus to Erenduill, who was equally shocked, seeing as he had his mouth wide open while staring at us.

"Your panties are showing. White." General Zhang said with a straight face as he tied his shirt around my waist.

"What the--! Get away! ACK!" I raised my arm, shoved him hard on his firm, toned chest out of embarrassment until he stumbled on his feet.

"You can take it off if you want, I won't force you to wear what you don't like," he shrugged it off and started stretching his body, "alright, let's get ready to proceed with the killings~"

"Uh!?" I exclaimed in bewilderment when I saw his trademark grin back up again. I mean... Thanks? I did rip most of my skirt off to use as a makeshift gauze for Emi, but... In the middle of a fight!? Seriously? Who even called time out just to change clothing!? I've fought in worse clothing than this, so I didn't mind much, honestly...

"... I thought I understood humans and their simple way of thinking, but I guess some of them are rather... Mystifying." Erenduill frowned.

"Ah, you may move now." General Zhang giggled and snapped his fingers.

"Wha--?" The elf king's eyes widened, and he blinked a few times while staring at his two arms that he started to move around, up and down, and then in circles.

"Ow ow ow, I have a tummyache! I think it's my period or something. I'll sit this one out and watch from the sideline, okay?" General Zhang pretended to have stomach pain by clutching his abs and sitting on the ground, before winking and mouthing to me, 'show me what you're capable of, little cub'.

"... A period? You?"

Although I was very confused, I knew that should be the least of my concern right now. It turned out that the elf king didn't stop because he was intimidated, but because somehow, he wasn't able to.

I still didn't understand this eel, but--

'BANG!'

--at least I understood that I must kill this elf king first.

"Come at me." I smirked and taunted the elf king that blocked my bullet with a wind shield, as usual. Not unexpected.

Instead of actually challenging me, he only gave me a quick glance before dashing straight for the white-haired general.

'THUD!'

"You shouldn't take your eyes off of your enemy, isn't that basic knowledge, king?" I scoffed as I grabbed his hand, stopping him. Now that my agility was also high, it wasn't a hard feat to catch up with him.

[Ding!]

... Oh?

I didn't expect my fighting dirty skill to activate. I even forgot that this skill existed, since it didn't trigger for such a long time... Could it be that 'stronger' opponent wasn't simply decided by stats alone? Well, but the trigger was still the same as I remembered. It was physical contact.

Anyway, the plus three stats weren't of much use anyway, I needed to find a way to level up this skill somehow once I got back.

'Crackle!'

"Tch!" Erenduill clicked his tongue when ice encapsulated his whole arm rapidly, and he quickly pulled his arm back, releasing it from my grip.

"You're not getting away!" I crouched a bit, and focused my strength on my feet to make one big leap at him, barely grabbing his finger.

'CRUNCH!'

"UGHH--!" Erenduill groaned in pain the moment I crushed his frozen finger into pieces, as blood spurted out of where his finger once was. Great, now it would be harder for him to use his weapons. I'd be happier if I could crush his entire arm, though...

Even though my palm got hurt in the process, I didn't mind and continued pushing him. He shouldn't be able to use his wind shield against physical attacks, right?

'BAM! BAM!'

I repeatedly punched him, targeting specific places like his temple, his ears, his epigastrium, and of course, his dongdong.

"Fighting, little cub~ You're on your own, we're all busy here!" General Zhang giggled as he cheered me from where he was seated.

Huh? Even Jeanne and Firiell?

"Ah, ah~ The villagers are starting to gather here. I'll go help Jean-jean to knock them out," general Zhang sighed, "don't worry, I won't kill them~"

'BAM!'

As I landed another punch that was blocked by the king, I cursed the fact that I was now completely alone against this lunatic.

"You've got some experience in hand-to-hand combat, don't you?" The elf king smirked as he kept parrying my strikes, "I don't know who taught you, but it pales in comparison with my training!"

'SLAM!'

"Kkh--!" Frowns appeared on my forehead as I used my bruised arm to shield myself against his powerful attack. I swore I could hear something cracking, this crazy bastard!

"Peasant-- no, a dirty human like you won't ever match up with me." His eyes glinted with malice as he raised his hand while a mana sword formed inside his palm.

As the sword's reflection glimmered inside my eye, I focused all my attention on it. I could see its course, as if it was moving in slow-motion.

Ah, having high agility sure was great. Definitely going to invest more points on this stat later.

'Whoosh! Whoosh!"

I ducked, side-stepped, jumped, and backflipped, doing all sorts of things just to avoid getting sliced by his mana sword.

As a few of my hair strands flew in the air, getting cut, I could see him smiling, as if he was enjoying this back-and-forth.

"Come on, human. You won't get anywhere just by dodging me!" He laughed like a maniac, "as I thought, most humans are just subpar at best. I don't understand why they think they're so special."

'Fwoosh!'

I ducked again, and rolled away on the ground, dodging his angry swings. This time, his expression had changed, from a crazy, laughing one, to a more hateful one, which reminded me of Ioriell. They really were blood brothers, huh? They could look so much alike, but at the same time, so different.

"Looking at you," he dashed and tried to stab me on the ground, which he failed to do, "really makes my blood boil," he slashed up, barely hitting my thigh, which made me flinch at the pain, "how do you guys have so much ego when you're so helpless?"

'SLAM!'

"Urk--!" Suddenly, he switched from using his blade to kicking me in the stomach, which cleanly connected, sending me flying to the ground a few meters away.

As my body slammed against the ground, dirtying myself from top to bottom, I could hear his steps coming towards me.

"Pathetic. You can't even get your dirty hands on me." He glared down at me.

I stretched out my hand towards a nearby rock, and he instantly stomped on it, making me groan in pain.

"Disgusting," he scoffed, "if only you're an elf, though. I'm sure someone as... Interesting as you could at least be my royal knight... Or even my right-hand man. My queen, perhaps, with enough training?"

"No thanks. I don't want to associate myself with someone who judges by race." I snickered, mocking him.

'Crack!'

He stomped on my hand harder, until the sound of bones cracking could be heard by the both of us. Dang it, it was painful, but I bit my lips so I wouldn't scream, thus not giving him the satisfaction he wanted.

"As I thought, a dirty human like you could never understand our values." He sighed and looked down upon me.

"... Yeah," I smirked and glared back at him with confidence, "I'm a dirty, unfair human, you cold, soggy fries."

'CRACKLE!'

"Huh--!?" He gasped when the foot that was stomping my hand suddenly froze alongside my own hand, connecting us together.

"Don't think you're hot stuff when you're a week-old burger at best." I raised my other hand, formed my trusty ice claw, and grinned.

'SLASH!'

Ah, the color of his blood shining under the moonlight sure was beautiful. It was different from when I was back in the army, mindlessly following orders to kill people I didn't even know, and whose past and wrongdoings I didn't even know.

Fighting for a cause I believed in felt way better than just fighting under someone's command.

"You rascal!" He cursed as he fell down on the ground, his tendon and calf already messed up from my attack.

I didn't miss this chance and quickly threw some dirt into his eyes, which made him grunt and furiously rubbing his eyes.

"You called me dirty, so expect a dirty fight." I coldly stated as I stood up and pressed the tip of my rifle to his forehead.

"Don't get cocky yet!" He grasped the tip of my rifle and pushed it back little by little.

"Goodbye." I said with a flat tone.

'Crumble!'

Suddenly, my rifle's tip broke into little tiny pieces, crushed by the sheer power of his grip.

"Hahhaahaha! That's why you humans can't ever do anything, even with your self-proclaimed superior technology!" He laughed maniacally while staring straight into my unbothered eyes.

'Stab!'

"...Uh?"

I smirked, looking at his confused face.

"I meant it when I said goodbye," I chuckled as I saw horror struck his face upon the realization that I had stomped on his chest using a long, sharp ice heel, "have an unpleasant death."