Chapter 171: Conditions Met
Lucian pushed the unpleasant thought out of his head.
His gaze returned to the battlefield.
What was in front of him didn't quite match his plan. The broad shape of it was right, but the specific details had come together differently than he'd anticipated.
That was how this world worked. Surprises were the only reliable constant.
He just hadn't expected the lolicon reputation to have traveled quite this far.
Lucian let out a quiet internal sigh.
Not the moment to dwell on it. He pulled his gaze from the girl hanging in the guard captain's hand, still in that way that was harder to look at than struggling would have been, and moved it to Touch Me.
The boy was standing not far away, covered in blood.
The silver-white armor had been caved in at several points. His left leg clearly wasn't carrying his weight. He was leaning to one side, using his sword pressed into the ground as a prop just to stay upright.
His breathing came in short pulls, like he was running on the last thing he had.
Lucian looked at Touch Me's more-or-less-dead expression and quietly ran the numbers.
HP below fifty percent in real terms.
That was approximately where he was right now.
This was the first trigger condition Lucian had built into Touch Me's [Dimensional Slash] when he granted it.
Based on his extensive YGGDRASIL experience, skills that only activated below a certain HP threshold were common enough among the game's more powerful abilities. He had transferred that logic to Touch Me: once HP dropped below fifty percent, one of the conditions for the Innate Ability [Dimensional Slash] would be met.
Adding that restriction had knocked the experience cost down by an entire order of magnitude.
It was also why Lucian had always been reluctant to put Touch Me in dangerous situations. He was afraid the boy might hit the threshold at the wrong moment and awaken the ability too early.
More importantly —
Lucian's gaze rested for a moment on Touch Me's face, twisted with self-reproach.
What self-respecting shonen protagonist unleashes their ultimate move at full health?
The impact of a full-health power awakening was just not the same. Dramatically speaking, it didn't work.
The second trigger condition: a cooldown of one month.
Touch Me had never used [Dimensional Slash]. The cooldown requirement was naturally satisfied.
As for the ability's power, Lucian had built in a characteristic that allowed Touch Me to spend remaining HP to amplify the strike, with an upper ceiling equivalent to one all-out attack from a Hero-Level fighter.
For Touch Me, who was still in his mid-teens levelwise, that was an output that far exceeded anything his own level should have been capable of.
But raw power had never been the point.
The point was the fundamental nature of the ability itself: cutting space.
All that was needed was for Touch Me to demonstrate that essence in front of Sebas.
The moment that happened, Sebas's disappointment would reverse completely.
The third trigger condition: intense emotional disturbance.
Lucian's gaze moved to the small figure dangling from the guard captain's hand.
The girl hung there in the air, limp and still, the way a small cat goes when lifted by the scruff.
He didn't particularly think a girl he'd known for a few days would be enough to shake Touch Me to that degree.
Lucian had originally planned to satisfy this condition himself: feigning defeat at the right moment, letting himself get captured by the beastmen, maybe taking some visible damage in front of Touch Me.
Given the boy's loyalty and the way he looked at Lucian, the emotional disturbance would have been more than sufficient.
But the plan was going to need some adjustments.
Lucian brought his thoughts back.
He raised one hand and made a gesture.
"Stand down."
The Aindra cavalry didn't look happy about it, but they followed the order and drew back into formation. The electroplated mithril armor caught the light as it shifted. Swords returned to scabbards in an uneven scrape of metal.
Gazok and the guard captain exchanged a look.
The wild boar chief blew two hard puffs through his nostrils, and a self-satisfied grin spread across that ugly boar face.
He raised his club and swung it once behind him.
"Hold."
The wild boar and lion beastmen stopped their assault but maintained the encirclement, keeping the Aindra cavalry locked in the center of the camp.
A brief quiet settled over the camp. Only the muffled sounds of the wounded.
Lucian lowered his gaze, his brow slightly furrowed, giving every impression of a lord caught in a genuine dilemma.
In reality, he was quietly counting in his head.
Against his chest, the magic tool's temperature was rising, degree by degree.
At first it had been barely perceptible, like the last ember in a winter fireplace flickering before going out. Now it was unmistakable. He could feel the warmth clearly through the layers of clothing over it.
Sebas was coming. And moving quickly.
Lucian hadn't been dishonest with Sebas; Sebas could use the disc to send him a signal. But the disc Lucian had kept for himself had an additional function: as the other disc drew closer, this one's temperature climbed proportionally with the distance.
That was the real reason Lucian had insisted Sebas keep the disc.
Lucian let out an invisible breath and raised his eyes.
"Made up your mind?"
Gazok's voice came from across the camp. That ugly boar face was starting to show impatience.
The guard captain's claw tightened slightly around the blanket holding the girl. The pressure lifted her body another inch — but the girl still hadn't cried out or begged.
Lucian's gaze rested on her for a moment.
This child is considerably tougher than I expected.
"My lord."
The adjutant's voice came from behind him, kept very low.
Lucian turned his head slightly. The adjutant had appeared at his shoulder without him noticing, his face tight with worry.
"We can't agree to this." The adjutant's voice was urgent. "We fight our way out. Even if it costs us every last man, we get you out alive."
"That's exactly right." Germann's rough voice cut in. "I'd rather die here than watch you take this kind of insult."
More of the veteran soldiers broke from the formation and moved to stand behind Lucian.
They pressed in close. Close enough that he could feel the heat radiating from them.
"Give the order, my lord."
"We'll fight these animals to the last."
"Take us all down if they want. We don't care."
The voices came one after another, like water coming to a boil.
Lucian raised his hand.
The voices went quiet immediately.
He turned to face them. His gaze moved across all those faces: every one of them prepared to die for him, and meaning it.
Lucian was quiet for a moment. Guilt and something that wasn't quite grief filled his chest. For the sake of his plan, a significant number of the people in this camp would not be going home.
The only thing he could do was make sure their loss counted for something.
And then, strangely, Lucian felt something he hadn't expected.
A surge of growth, faint but unmistakable, the kind he recognized from leveling up.
His hidden advanced special class, [Corruption Purifier], had just leveled up.
What a bitter irony. So this is how it advances in the real world.
Lucian exhaled quietly in the privacy of his own thoughts.
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