novelraw Chapter 200 : Chapter 200
Chapter 200 : Chapter 200
Chapter 200: Southern Calamity (4)
“…….”
I felt empty. To the point where laughter escaped me.
I had wanted so desperately to escape.
I had wanted so desperately to be free from the village’s influence, but in the end, I hadn’t succeeded.
‘Damn…….’
Splash-!
The Village’s General Manager roughly drew his sword.
Blood gushed out in torrents. The Sword Demon, who had been looking down at his own pierced abdomen, collapsed to his knees and bowed his head.
However, he never allowed his body to fully lie on the cold ground. As if that were his last shred of pride.
“…….”
The manager gazed down silently at the Sword Demon.
He controlled the muscles in his left arm with Aura to stop the bleeding, then took a few steps and swung his sword. The loss of his arm had thrown off his balance, but thanks to his genius talent, that inconvenience was resolved in an instant.
And so, the final moment of the duel arrived.
As he looked down at the Sword Demon once more, a blue energy hummed and rose from his sword.
An Aura colder and more piercing than the eternal snow of the northern great mountains, colder than the ice of the North Pole.
It was raised to strike down the Sword Demon’s neck. It was only natural. As someone whose roots were in assassination, he never let his guard down until his opponent’s breath was completely cut off.
However, at that moment.
Because of the two young swordsmen who suddenly leaped into the battlefield, he had no choice but to hastily alter the path of the sword he had been about to swing down.
Whoosh-
The first attack that flew in was Harang’s.
It wasn’t the warmth of a bonfire.
A hot and destructive energy, as if drawing fully from the power of a volcano, pierced through the manager’s frost barrier and flew in at high speed. Unable to disregard it, he hurriedly swung his sword to deflect the crimson Aura projectile.
Boom!
Ziiing-
“……!”
It was a strike far more powerful than expected!
The manager who held the sword looked down at his own hand. Ziiing, the sharp tingling in his bones far exceeded his expectations.
But that wasn’t the end.
Gael’s successive attacks followed, sharply threatening the vital points of the Village’s General Manager’s entire body.
Swish-!
Boom! Bang! Kaboom!
The manager swiftly drew a circle with his sword.
Then, an Aura Shield, transparent and cold as ice, unfolded in the air. The sword gusts that arrived with a slight time lag failed to penetrate it and shattered, but some of the impact was transmitted, shaking the manager’s body.
Stagger-
Finally, the Village’s General Manager stumbled back a step.
With his misty eyes, he assessed the two Godoks and grasped the situation.
‘In my current state, this won’t be easy.’
Had he been in perfect condition, it would’ve been no problem.
No, honestly, even in his current state, he was confident he could easily overpower both of them. The Sword Demon was exceptionally strong, but these two hadn’t yet reached that level.
Still, it was undeniably surprising.
Harang, already wielding the Color Sword without difficulty, was impressive in his own right.
And Gael, who had awakened as a master without even realizing it, firing razor-sharp sword gusts, was truly shocking. Though he was breathing heavily, suggesting that was his best effort, the fact that he had reached such a level so quickly was even more encouraging.
Indeed.
The manager didn’t see the current situation as a crisis.
Instead, he wore a joyful smile, pleased that more Godoks were growing stronger as the Lord of Calamity had planned.
“…….”
The manager glanced downward.
The Sword Demon’s body was growing cold.
It seemed like he could be saved if handled properly, but there was no reason to let that happen.
‘If he dies quietly here, wouldn’t that help the Godoks’ awakening even more?’
The deliberation wasn’t long, and his actions were even faster.
The manager kicked the injured Sword Demon hard and began to flee at high speed.
“No way!”
Fwoosh-!
Boom!
Harang, witnessing the scene, stamped his foot with a ferocious expression. Propelled forward by the strong recoil, he unleashed a lethal thrust, with heat like a dragon’s breath swirling fiercely around his blade.
Kaboom-!
“……!”
“You’re still too green, kid. Hoo.”
But it was in vain.
Despite it being a full-powered attack, Harang’s sword didn’t reach the manager’s body. The opponent’s sword, precisely extended, nullified everything.
Of course, the aftermath made the manager’s form stagger, but that didn’t last long either.
“Well then, see you later.”
Swoosh-
The Village’s General Manager disappeared into the distance, scattering his frost barrier.
Sparks flared in Harang’s eyes.
He couldn’t let it end like this.
Just as he entrusted his body to rage and prepared to stomp the ground to chase the opponent to the ends of hell, it happened.
“Harang, snap out of it! The Sword Demon is here! Are you going to leave him like this?”
“……!”
Harang’s forward-leaning form came to a sudden halt.
A moment of fleeting hesitation.
But the thought didn’t last long. He glanced once at the retreating manager, forcibly turned his gaze, and spun around.
A slight disgust toward himself welled up.
He felt deeply disappointed in himself for trying to act emotionally, abandoning the Sword Demon who had protected them and Marzen at the cost of his life.
“Elder!”
“Cough, kuh…….”
That feeling intensified after checking the Sword Demon’s condition.
His abdomen was pierced wide enough for a fist to pass through.
No matter how many expensive potions were poured in, it seemed impossible to save him. Perhaps if a high priest from the Holy Kingdom arrived, there might be a chance, but such a great figure wouldn’t be in a small nation like the Nadan Kingdom.
In the end, all Harang and Gael could do was listen to the dying words of the Sword Demon, who would soon leave this world.
Realizing this, the two looked at the old man lying on the plain with dark expressions.
“It feels… better than I thought.”
“…….”
“…….”
“It’s true. I’m not just saying this… cough! Kuh… you don’t have to make those faces.”
The Sword Demon whispered.
He meant it.
From the earliest memories he could recall until the moment he was fatally wounded by the manager’s sword, he had never once been free from the village. The more he hated the village, the more he feared the calamity, the more vividly it lingered in his memory, eating away at his life.
But now, that wouldn’t be the case anymore.
Death.
With perfect liberation just within reach, a satisfied voice flowed from the Sword Demon’s lips.
“I’m leaving peacefully… but I’m sorry for passing such a heavy burden onto you. Still… since I managed to cut off one of the manager’s arms, I think I achieved the minimum result… cough.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Gael.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“If what you said is true… the Lord of Calamity will continue to send trials. He’ll use them to spur your growth… and I have no idea how he plans to control you once you’ve grown stronger… but that’s how it’ll be.”
“……You’re probably right.”
Gael answered.
The Sword Demon was correct.
If the Great One, the successor to the Ancient Assassin, had chosen them as his prospects, the Lord of Calamity would continue to create artificial incidents to drive them into a corner.
‘People awaken in times of crisis… so he’ll keep throwing his many powerful warriors at us. Even if he doesn’t take our lives, the safety of those around us can’t be guaranteed.’
That was what Gael feared most, and what Harang dreaded the most.
Could they truly stay sane watching those dear to them lose their lives because of them?
What was even more infuriating was that growing stronger faster to prevent this was exactly what the Lord of Calamity wanted.
Having deduced this much, Gael glanced at Harang’s expression.
Harang, with an expressionless face but eyes more terrifying than ever, clenched his fists tightly while staring at the Sword Demon.
“Get stronger…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“Faster than they think, faster than they hope… I hesitated to say this because it feels like a burden, but… you can do it. You two are the most talented youths I’ve ever seen… please, become strong enough to face the entire calamity… find true freedom…….”
The Sword Demon’s words didn’t continue.
Death, which had crept in unnoticed, had taken the last of the warmth from his body.
Realizing this, Gael silently closed the Sword Demon’s eyes, while Harang, without taking any action, stared at the old man’s body for a long time.
Of course, he couldn’t stay like that forever.
Though they had defeated all the enemies, Marzen was still in utter chaos. Thanks to the Eddy Mercenary Corps, the Portville Sword Family, and the Charvaud Family giving their all, the damage was less than expected, but that was only relative to expectations.
The city was still burning in places, and the streets were littered with bodies. Children who had lost their parents and parents who had lost their children wore vacant expressions, pouring out resentment toward the Red Magician.
Indeed.
The fault lay entirely with the Red Magician and the Lord of Calamity. The Godoks, too, were merely victims whose fates had been toyed with by them.
But… Harang couldn’t bring himself to think that way.
He couldn’t free himself from the anger and frustration pouring out from Marzen’s residents.
“…….”
Silently, Harang shouldered the Sword Demon’s body and moved quickly toward Marzen. Gael, with a sigh, followed him, and thus the chaos of the night was somewhat resolved.
However, the anger that had sparked in Harang’s heart, the ice-cold hatred, showed no signs of subsiding and only grew larger.
At that moment.
Whether he knew or didn’t know that Marzen’s residents were crying out in pain, the Lord of Calamity was enjoying fishing by a small pond.
His expression wasn’t visible. He wore a black mask. Only the glint in his eyes, revealed through the eyeholes, could hint at his state of mind, but even that was so emotionless that it was impossible to discern what he was thinking.
At least, that’s how the leader of the Black Hydra, the First Hydra, felt as he faced him.
It instilled an inexplicable fear in him.
‘……I can’t back down.’
Indeed.
Having come this far, there was no turning back. With a soft sigh, the First Hydra spoke to the Lord of Calamity.
“Lord.”
“Speak.”
“Do you intend to keep pushing forward?”
“What do you mean?”
“……You know what I mean. Because of this absurd plan, 70% of the Black Hydra has been wiped out.”
“…….”
“And this isn’t the end, is it? How long, how long do you plan to treat the talents of the calamity like expendable tools? Do you really believe you can recreate the legendary realm this way? Do you truly think you can erase the Holy Kingdom and seize dominion over the continent?”
“What are you trying to say? Don’t beat around the bush.”
The Lord of Calamity spoke, and the First Hydra took a deep breath before exhaling sharply.
That was the signal.
Step, step.
Step, step.
Numerous figures gathered behind him.
As they radiated a terrifying killing intent, the Lord of Calamity looked at them calmly and spoke again.
“So, you’re willing to risk rebellion.”