Chapter 408 371 – Would You Remember a Nameless NPC in a Game?

Listening to his father, Gabiru grew increasingly resentful.

"Chief—no, Father! Stop kidding around.

"I think you've gone senile and can't even tell what's really going on anymore. You want me to lower myself and go negotiate with some random human faction that appeared out of nowhere?"

His outrageous words immediately made the chieftain stare at him in confusion.

"What did you say?"

"Lord Gabiru, what do you mean by that!?"

The captain of the chieftain's guards, who had been standing nearby, also questioned him sharply.

Gabiru merely looked at the two of them with a sorrowful expression.

He had always regarded the chieftain as his father, which was why he had repeatedly tolerated his rule and supported him from behind the scenes.

There was no denying that his father had many admirable qualities, and his leadership as chieftain was worthy of respect.

Gabiru didn't hate his father, the leader of the lizardman tribe.

In fact, it was exactly the opposite.

He had always wanted his great father to acknowledge him, and that desire had constantly driven Gabiru forward.

The fact that his father refused to recognize him was something he found impossible to accept.

In that case, he would simply climb to an even higher position and prove his strength.

Then, as chieftain, his father would have no choice but to acknowledge him!

With that thought, Gabiru nodded to himself and gave his subordinates a meaningful look.

His booming voice echoed through the hall as he loudly declared,

"Father, your era is over."

"Starting today, I will become the new chieftain of the lizardman tribe!"

The moment those words left his mouth, goblins poured into the hall one after another.

They raised their stone spears toward the chieftain's guards.

The elite lizardman warriors who followed Gabiru entered right behind them and cautiously blocked off the passageways.

"Gabiru, what do you think you're doing!?"

The lizardman chieftain was stunned by the scene, his voice becoming agitated.

Seeing his father react like this instead filled Gabiru with a sense of superiority.

"Father, you've worked hard all these years. Leave everything from here on to me and enjoy a peaceful retirement."

Gabiru ordered his subordinates to confiscate the weapons of the chieftain and his guards.

The chieftain, already furious, became even angrier at Gabiru's actions and demanded,

"Answer me, Gabiru! What exactly are you trying to accomplish by doing this!?"

Faced with his father's questioning, Gabiru puffed out his chest and answered loudly,

"Father, using the natural labyrinth to fight the orc army may be a good strategy, but it's too slow."

"We lizardmen are strong!!"

"The wetlands are where we can display our true abilities. The muddy ground lets us maximize our mobility while naturally slowing down the enemy."

"We are the rulers of the wetlands! How can we cower in the shadows like this?"

As he spoke, Gabiru seized the chieftain's weapon—the Vortex Spear that symbolized leadership of the lizardman tribe.

It was a magical spear worthy only of the tribe's strongest warrior!

The instant Gabiru gripped it, he felt a powerful force flow into his body.

That proved the spear had already acknowledged him as its master.

Gabiru raised the magical spear high, unleashing his arrogance without restraint.

Takumi, who had already arrived at the scene, watched the coup unfold with an amused smile.

At that moment, the captain of the chieftain's guards standing beside him let out one final shout.

"Lord Gabiru—no, Brother! Are you planning to betray us!?"

Hearing his younger sister's accusation, Gabiru scoffed.

"Little sis, you need to separate personal feelings from official matters!"

"Besides, I'm not betraying any of you."

"I'm going to prove it to you… I'll let you witness the new era of the lizardman tribe."

Just as he finished speaking, Takumi and the others smashed through the ceiling above and appeared before the gathered lizardmen.

"Who's there!?"

In an instant, stone spears were raised and pointed at Takumi's group as they slowly descended.

Takumi swept his gaze around the room, briefly passing over the captain of the lizardman guards before finally settling on Gabiru.

Completely ignoring the lizardmen's wariness, Takumi spoke to himself.

"You lizardmen are actually pretty interesting. You even have hair."

"And judging from your builds, you can still tell the difference between males and females."

Takumi had just made a dramatic entrance from above, yet the first thing out of his mouth was such a baffling remark.

The lizardmen immediately stared at one another in confusion.

Only the captain of the guards—Gabiru's younger sister—felt as though Takumi's comment had been directed at her.

By lizardman standards, even if Takumi was incredibly handsome, he still wouldn't normally count as an attractive lizardman male.

But Takumi possessed [Authority of Beauty], and his charm transcended species.

Even the lizardman guard captain found herself developing feelings of attraction toward him.

Realizing this, she immediately felt like the greatest pervert imaginable.

Takumi, having read her thoughts, felt absolutely nothing.

Leaving aside the fact that it was merely the influence of his supernatural charm, there was already precedent with Third Brother.

No matter how strange a lizardman might be, could she really be more perverted than Third Brother?

Shizue also looked rather speechless at Takumi's muttering.

"Speaking of which, Takumi, haven't you already seen lizardmen before? How did you forget them that quickly?"

"Would you remember a nameless NPC in a game?"

Takumi's counterquestion immediately left Shizue speechless.

Meanwhile, Gabiru grew furious watching Takumi talk as though none of them even existed.

This was supposed to be the day he seized power—the day the name Gabiru would become famous throughout the world.

"You nonsense-spouting human! I have a name! I am Gabiru!"

"You dare invade our territory? Are you looking to die!?"

Gabiru shouted and raised the Vortex Spear, whose head resembled a trident, pointing it straight at Takumi.

That finally drew Takumi's attention back to him.

"Gabiru, right?"

"Hmph! Naturally! The name of this great Gabiru will soon be known by everyone!"

Gabiru proudly raised his head, taking immense pride in possessing a name.

After all, in the vast lizardman tribe, he was still the only one who had been given one.

The next second, without any warning, Takumi flicked a finger.

Whoosh—!!!

A violent burst of force, concentrated into a single point like a low-yield nuclear explosion, blasted outward.

Gabiru's body was instantly sent flying backward and slammed into the stone wall with a wet smack.

The shockwave crushed his flesh and blood, leaving only his skin and leather armor flattened against the wall like a painting.

Even the so-called symbol of the lizardman chieftain in his hand was instantly reduced to powder.

The sudden scene left everyone present unable to react.

Only when Takumi raised a hand, extracted Gabiru's soul, and tossed it into Pseudo-Hell to be tortured did everyone finally come back to their senses.

"Th-This… this…"

The lizardman chieftain and the captain of the guards pointed at the two-dimensional Gabiru plastered across the wall, unable to form a complete sentence.

At that moment, the way they looked at Takumi was filled with the terror of someone staring at an unimaginably dangerous monster.

Having attacked without so much as a frame of warning, Takumi now leisurely glanced toward them.

"I'm your neighbor, the king of the empire that was recently established nearby.

"You… or rather, the lizardman envoys Gabiru sent to me were extremely disrespectful.

"So I killed them, and now I've killed him too. Do you have any objections?"

Takumi's calm voice spread through the hall like a simple statement of fact, laying out the entire reason with complete bluntness.