Monster’s Streamer Star Chapter 125 : Punishment (4)

Brooks Vessilja was underestimating Squishy.

No, to begin with, he had very little information about Squishy at all.

The only knowledge he had ca from the draft paper that Gracie had handed him.

A sli that could extend tentacles and use magical tools.

He had only guessed the power of its tackle after seeing it smash into barriers when caught in traps.

Aside from that, Brooks Vessilja knew nothing about the various special traits of slis.

That it could reshape its tentacles, or that with mana, it could extend them even further.

Above all, he didn’t know how much Squishy had grown since disappearing from the Magic Tower.

That was why he panicked when a suddenly extended tentacle grabbed hold of his staff.

“Let go, let go!”

Brooks Vessilja swung his arms wildly, trying to shake off the tentacle gripping his staff.

But aside from his magical skills, his body was just that of an old man, and there was no way he could overpower the tentacle of Squishy, who could easily lift Paulen’s custom dumbbells.

Squishy’s tentacle wrenched the staff away.

“Ah! Give back my staff, you damned sla—urk!”

Wooooong!

Sensing danger, Brooks Vessilja hurriedly stretched out both hands to deploy a magical barrier.

Bo~yooong!

At that mont, Squishy, having seized the staff, imdiately launched a Bounce Jump Tackle.

It was the most powerful attack Squishy could currently muster, and it crashed into the mana barrier.

Without the staff, the barrier’s defense was weakened.

On top of that, Squishy’s Bounce Jump Tackle—empowered further after evolving into a Mighty Sli—smashed the barrier to pieces.

Jjjjaaang!

Thuuuud!

“Guhhhk!”

Squishy’s tackle struck Brooks Vessilja square in the torso.

[Just Slam First] ▶ Yeah! Bastards like that need to be crushed!

[Squishy Queen] ▶ Glorious, my kin!

▶ I kept dodging to build montum!

▶ Stupid human, kuooohh!

▶ Finally got revenge, lololol.

Viewers cheered at the sight of Squishy shattering the barrier and counterattacking in a single strike.

“Cough! Cough! Guhh! Urgh!”

Even after taking Squishy’s tackle, Brooks Vessilja only spat blood—he was not yet dead.

The mana barrier had absorbed most of the impact.

But the remaining force was still enough to leave the old man in critical condition.

“No… cough! To think I, I would die to a re sli…! That cannot be! Not after… everything it took for to get here!”

He had thought it would be an easy victory.

That if it was just a one-on-one, he could finish off a sli instantly.

After all, the only reason it kept dodging was because this space prevented the use of large-scale spells.

If he simply endured a bit of damage and blasted it all at once, he had thought he could erase it instantly.

But the result was the exact opposite.

“I can’t accept this. I won’t accept it! I am the Tower Master! The Tower Master, you hear ! To lose to a re sli? ? Brooks Vessilja?!”

Not to a legendary hero, not to a paladin, not to a saintess, not even to the magical-tool sorcerer Gracie.

To lose to nothing more than a sli was sothing that must never happen.

Wooooong!

Brooks Vessilja gathered mana.

Through sheer force of will, he forced his broken, pain-ridden body to channel what control he had left, reaching out toward Squishy.

He didn’t need complicated formulas.

He only needed the thought of erasing his opponent.

A simple arrow of pure mana, into which he poured everything he had left.

—How pitiful you are, Brooks.

Sshhhk!

Brooks Vessilja’s hand was severed.

“Ghhk, ghhaaaahhh!”

Screaming in agony, he turned toward the source of the voice.

There stood Troll, erging from the darkness.

[Noblesse Fire] ▶ What the—Troll? Why are you here?

▶ Ahhh, it was just getting good too~

[Squishy Queen] ▶ Troll! Do you an to steal the prey of my kin?

[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy already gave him a good beating, ㅇㅇ. Sorry, but now it’s my revenge ti.

▶ Lmao, can’t hold back revenge lol.

▶ Was that human Troll’s enemy from when he was still human?

▶ Yeah, exactly.

Originally, Troll had planned to just watch.

But after Squishy shattered the barrier and Brooks Vessilja lay coughing blood and dying, Troll felt the urge to finish it with his own hands.

“A… a lich? Why! You should have disappeared with the Saintess!”

—How foolish, Brooks. Even after seeing the ones who revealed my identity, you still say such things?

“Urgh! So, you’ve been deceiving us all along! To cover up an evil lich and keep it hidden—disgraceful! That elf woman too! And the Saintess at her side! They’re all wicked, all of them!”

—How laughable. You, who harm others without a second thought for your own petty greed, dare to speak of wickedness?

“Shut up! Shut your mouth! What I’ve done is justified! I’m not like you, who clings pathetically to life after death! My beard—give back my beard! The Tower Master’s seat was mine by right! You tried to steal it from ! Hhhghk! And to think you beca a damned lich!”

His words tumbled out in rambling nonsense.

Blood flowed endlessly from his severed hand, leaving him unable to even string his sentences together properly.

Even as his face grew pale, he continued spouting incoherent justifications, and even Troll felt more pity than anger at the pitiful sight.

—Truly pathetic. Just watching you makes pity you.

Troll then addressed Squishy through the chat.

[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy, would you allow to finish him?

Since Squishy had already shattered the barrier and struck him down, he considered the punishnt delivered.

▷ Yeah!

Squishy gave his permission without hesitation.

[Free Spirit] ▶ Much obliged.

Troll used his mana to lift Brooks Vessilja into the air.

“W-what is this?! Put down! Release at once!”

Snap!

With a flick of his finger bones, a new black space appeared inside the secret workshop.

[Free Spirit] ▶ I’ll take care of this guy and be right back, Squishy. Please wait a mont.

…Did he really have to go sowhere else?

[Free Spirit] ▶ It wouldn’t be a good sight for you, Squishy.

[Squishy Queen] ▶ Begone with him elsewhere, at once!

▶ Lololol.

***

The place Troll brought Brooks Vessilja was a secluded forest, far from any village.

“Let… let go… release …!”

Blood was still pouring from his severed hand, leaving him without the strength to shout.

Ignoring his feeble protests, Troll spoke.

—Brooks, there was a ti when I wondered how I would kill you, if given the chance. And the thod I decided on as best was this.

Wooooong!

A barrier ford around Brooks Vessilja, encasing him.

“Haa… haa… this is…!”

—Just like you tried to kill , I’ll finish you with an explosion. Ah, and this barrier is to keep your filthy corpse from defiling the forest.

“Ghhhk! Ventus! VENTUUUUS! You undead lich! How dare you treat , the Tower Master, like this?!”

Woooooong!

Mustering the last of his mana, Brooks Vessilja tried to resist.

But Troll no longer had the patience to watch Brooks Vessilja’s pathetic struggle.

—Explosion.

BOOOOOOOM!

A massive fla blood inside the barrier with a deafening blast.

***

After Troll vanished with Brooks Vessilja, Squishy was left alone in the secret workshop, lost in thought.

‘Troll is amazing! So strong!’

It was a thought he had already had many tis before.

It was about Troll’s strength.

Originally, the sli had only intended to punish Brooks Vessilja with a Bounce Tackle.

But the Bounce Tackle had been blocked too easily.

And when he tried to prepare another attack, relentless spells followed, giving him no opening.

Dodging was simple enough, but landing a hit was another matter.

Squishy knew this because he had tested his attacks countless tis against Troll’s mana barriers.

The sturdiness of Brooks Vessilja’s barriers had been on par with Troll’s.

Squishy wasn’t even sure if his strongest attack could break through them.

That was why he had waited for the right chance, striking only when Brooks Vessilja’s offense briefly faltered.

But unlike him, Troll had severed Brooks Vessilja’s hand the very instant he appeared.

So swiftly that even Squishy realized what had happened only after the hand was already cut.

That alone was enough for him to instinctively feel Troll was far stronger than himself.

If Squishy were stronger, he would have ignored the barrier entirely, crushing his opponent with a direct assault.

But he couldn’t.

When he had tried to protect Gracie, he was too weak, and his attacks had been blocked.

That was why—

‘I’ll get stronger!’

Squishy’s heart blazed with a new resolve to grow stronger.

***

After Brooks Vessilja and Squishy disappeared, the others continued waiting at the sa spot.

Def and Alia, flustered, shouted Squishy’s na, but Nellin and Paulen cald them down.

“Hey, don’t worry. Ventus is with him, right?”

“Yes, Saintess. Since Lord Ventus is watching over Squishy, he’ll be fine.”

“Y-yes, I suppose so?”

And then, a few minutes later—

Before them appeared a black space.

Troll’s warp.

—Sorry to keep you waiting.

“Greetings, everyone.”

Troll stepped out, holding Squishy in his hand, with Presia at his side.

““Squishy!””

‘Def! Alia!’

Poyong!

At the sound of their voices, Squishy hopped down from Troll’s hand.

Nellin, seeing that Squishy was unhard, asked Troll,

“What happened to that guy?”

—I dealt with him.

“Really? So your revenge is done. What about the body?”

—Sorry, but this is all that’s left. The rest I blew apart.

Troll handed over Brooks Vessilja’s severed hand and the staff Squishy had taken.

“Haah, how are we supposed to explain this?”

As Nellin fretted, Paulen spoke up.

“Just say I cut off his hand with my sword. Since it’s the right hand, we can say that’s how we got the staff as well… and we’ll say Lady Gracie delivered the finishing blow.”

“M-?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that does sound best. The descendant avenging her ancestor’s enemy—it makes for a good story.”

“Even though you were the one who finished him. Huhu.”

“…Presia. You’re upset, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’m hurt and angry that you handled sothing this important without waking .”

—P-Presia. I only didn’t want to disturb your rest…

“If you needed to enter the Tower in the first place, you should have woken . I too could never forgive the one who trapped the man I love.”

—Ugh! I-I’m sorry. I’ll never do that again.

“Hey, enough flirting already. It’s late—let’s go inside. We’ll handle the rest.”

“Yes. We should talk about this after we return.”

—P-Presia…

Troll felt cold sweat dripping down, even though he hadn’t broken a sweat.

Not only because of Presia…

▶ Wait, what? Troll’s living with that human woman?

▶ So he’s really a human-lover now~.

▶ Well, since he was human before, maybe it’s fine?

▶ I guess?

[Thread-Lady] ▶ My, my, co to think of it, she was a comrade, wasn’t she? But to live together? What’s going on? Don’t tell she’s Troll’s partner?

‘Tch! In the end, even this has been exposed.’

What he had tried to keep hidden—his cohabitation with Presia—had now been revealed to the viewers.