I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

>TAP<

>TAP<

>TAP<

As Dustinel heard the steadfast footsteps of his enemy draw nearer, he put his brain to work in an attempt to hatch a plan.

'His ears indicate he's not an Elf. He also possesses no distinguishing features like animal characteristics or a short and stout body—even a muscular and massive stature.'

There and then, Dustinel determined that the malefactor couldn't have been a Beastfolk, Dwarf, or Giant. After analyzing for a while, he arrived at the answer.

'A human? And he's alone? How was he able to get past the barrier?!'

Dustinel was confused, and he still had many questions. Unfortunately, he was running out of time, thus he needed to act fast.

'Since he's human, and he doesn't seem like a very strong one, I should be able to handle him—even if only for a short while.'

It was settled then!

Dustinel decided to find a way to occupy the human, at least until he found a way out to escape. Tinme was of the essence and he couldn't afford to drag things out for too long.

'Alright… let's go!'

The gentle stride of the human caused the nervous Elf to slowly panic, but he decided to bide his time and carefully wait for the perfect moment to strike. And then… finally—!

>WHOOOOSSSSHHH<

Dustinel moved his body in a swift motion—as fast as he could go—and leaped for the young human the moment he got close enough.

As a frail Elf, suspecting himself to be sick as well, his stamina and Magic ability were well under par. He was fortunate enough to have had some Mercury and Mana Chalk on him, but he had exhausted most of them in the earlier explosion.

At this point, he had neither the time nor the resources to depend on Runes to act in his favor. As much as it was a hassle and strain to him… Dustinel knew he had to use the skills at his disposal.

'[Mana Boost]' His body glowed, and he felt a sharp rise in his physical abilities.

Not only was Dustinel now stronger and faster, but his senses were hrightened above his normal capacity—which was already plenty high. In this state, Dustinel observed his surrounding more and figured out how to escape.

'We're on one of the tall mountains south of the Elf Sanctuary. I'll have to move quickly, then use something as a cover to take them off my trail!.'

He knew full well that it was practically impossible to return to his home in such disadvantageous conditions. He was too weak, and his opponent seemed healthy enough to eventually catch up to him.

In that case, he would find a way to hide and wait for dawn. It ws his best bet!

'Fake my escape. Hide. Wait. And hopefully… things get better!' Dustinel prayed his plan would work.

It was the only one he could rely on given his circumstances.

"[Wind Pu—]"

Before Dustinel could use the his second—and only offensive—skill to blast the human away, the most shocking thing occurred.

>WHUUUUUUMMMMMMM!!!<

A pressure unlike any other manifested, causing the older Elf to stutter and tremble. He, who was already making a break for it, suddenly felt numb all over. It felt like icicles were poking him all over.

Frozen in place, feeling the chilly presence of the human boy, yet also sweating profusely as the boy kept approaching, Dustinel realized that his plan had failed. He had failed to examine one critical fact that his entire strategy was dependent on.

The power of his opponent.

Thus, with each footstep he heard, Dustinel's heart jumped and his body shook with fear. Until finally, the young boy stood in front of him—gazing coldly as though the Elf was nothing but a lowly worm.

"Did you think you could escape me? How laughable."

Those words sent more shivers down Dustinel's spine, and he felt his fever return with even greater intensity.

"M-mercy…" He managed to utter, though the human before him didn't seem like the kind or type to show such sentiment.

"Mercy, eh? Your Elven brethren must have pleaded that from you on several occasions."

Dustinel's eyes widened when he heard this. Just as he suspected, this human must have indeed invaded their sanctuary. How else would he have known of the horrific conditions of the Elves?

'T-this power he has… it's possible…!' Dustinel felt his heart racing beyond the safe margin.

His vision slowly got blurry, but at this point, the human was right in front of him. He was saying certain things, but Dustinel couldn't hear coherent words. The words simply danced around his ears as he staggered.

'I… I'm really going to die here?' He thought to himself as his eyes slowly closed and he felt himself losing consciousness.

His life flashed before his eyes, and the image of an Elf whom he regarded as his own brother appeared in his mind. His heart ached as he pictured the Elf's sad face and grim expression.

'Raphael… I…' Tears fell from his eyes as he neared the ground.

The image of the previous Elf Chief, and then that of his wife and daughter, surfaced. He could never forget his late comrade's imprisoned wife and missing daughter too. They were like family. Dustinel knew how he had descecrated their legacy due to his selfishness, but…

… He only did what he had to do to survive!

That made this current turn of events ironic to him, though. Despite his best efforts, karma finally caught up with him. This truly seemed like the end. It made him wonder what the point of all his struggles were.

'I truly am… a fool'

With that single thought echoing in his mind, Dustinel finally gave in to the darkness.

********

'E-eh…?'

I watched as the Elf before me fell to the ground—most likely scared shitless as a result of my [Domination] Skill. I could only use it in a limited way, soI didn't expect it to work to this extent.

'I overdid it, didn't I?' I nearly shivered, watching the Elf known as Dustinel foam in the mouth as he went completely out of it.

Was I so scary? I didn't think so.

I mean, I only wanted to interrogate him in a somewhat fierce manner so he would fess up and give me the information I wanted. It didn't have to get so extreme—though even that wouldn't have been too bad.

'Asa told me about what she saw—same as Lucy and the other Demons. To think the situation is this grim…' Dustinel was a part of the governing body, no doubt.

He was the supervisor in charge of both major project sites—the mines, and the mills. He was quite despicable, in my opinion. I didn't think I would feel any remorse rattling him down a little bit.

But now? After seeing his reaction towards me, and how frightened he seemed, I wasn't so certain any longer.

'Asa told me he was frail, though. Maybe that's the problem.' Drawing closer to the unconscious body of Dustinel, I paid close attention to his sweaty body and reddened face.

Something about his rough breathing, his excessive perspiration, and how his color was, seemed abnormal. It was almost as if—

'He has a fever. He's sick?!' My thoughts echoed the moment I knelt and touched his skin.

My eyes were widened at the surprising degree of his skins heat. This Elf was seriously ill, no doubt about it. The worst part was that the symptoms seemed identitcal to the Elves I saw, as well as the ones the others reported.

If I pooled all the information together, I could only arrive at one conclusion.

"A flu. A flu is going around… could be worse." I had no idea on the cause, but this was clearly the sign of a contagious illness.

Things were even worse than I thought!

"Damnit! If we don't act fast, the Elves might be in worse trouble than what I imagined. If I'm being realistic, the worst case scenario for this is death—for sure!"

There was no longer time to waste. I had to act fast.

"You can all come out of hiding now." I raised my voice, my eyes still focused on the passed-out Elf.

As rehearsed, my subordinates slowly emerged from the darkness, undoing the effects of the Magic Ring I gave them. For Asa, since Dustinel could sense her family heirloom, I had to grant her an additional layer of protection, so even she had remained indetectable throughout my exchange with him.

"What seems to be the matter?" Lucy spoke first as they all gathered around me.

Ana looked worried, but the Demons didn't seem all too surprised. In fact, they didn't seem to have much of an interest in the situation, even with a dying Elf in front of them.

"You know what this is, don't you?" I glanced in the direction of the most experienced of the Demons.

"I'm not certain, but… lower life forms are susceptible to a certain illness gotten from overexposure to Mana Ores and Mercury emissions. Since their body can't handle the radiation, they develop what is known as the M.M. Sickness."

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