novelraw Chapter 25 : My Tardiness Has Romance (2)
Chapter 25 : My Tardiness Has Romance (2)
In the dark mountain valley, a couple of huts began to shake with a gloomy airflow.
As if a typhoon had come, the old wooden doors burst open.
“What is this?!”
“It’s a surprise attack!”
The bandits came out in a flurry, holding their swords.
However, what appeared before them was not a mysterious wanderer or a bounty hunter, but an overly dark plain.
“What is this?”
They gathered in front of the clearing, facing the cold wind.
Just then, something was stepped on under a bandit’s foot with a crunching sound.
“Ice?”
The moment the bandit muttered, exhaling steam from his bearded mouth.
Crash!
The ground where the bandits were standing collapsed, and nearly half of them sank down.
“Ugh! Gurgle!”
“It’s cold!?!”
“It’s a trap! Get a grip!”
The bandits, in a panic, tried to get out of the icy puddle.
However, the flashing in the ensuing darkness thwarted their attempts.
“Kuaaaak!”
Sparks poured down on the bandits who had fallen into the icy water.
As their muscles, which had already contracted from the low temperature, were stiffened by the electric shock, a succession of them collapsed from shock.
At that sight, I this time controlled the formation to make the cold dawn wind blow.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind rushed in roughly like a cold wave.
Before long, some of the bandits were showing symptoms of hypothermia, with their lips turning white.
‘About half of them have been neutralized by that attack.’
Since I had made the cold of the mountain, which was full of yin energy at night, pool in the puddle like a cave, they were bound to lose their body temperature much faster.
The bandits who had fallen into the ice were fated to struggle and then end.
‘Now there are about 10 left.’
I rotated the circle, which had become bloated from absorbing the remnants of the elixir, and activated the next magic.
“What is that?!”
Saaaaa-
In an instant, the moisture in the area evaporated, and a fog began to spread around.
“I-I can’t see!”
“Is it a ghost?!”
The bandits fell into a panic in the area that had become so hazy that it was difficult to see even an inch ahead.
However, to me, who had set up a search formation in the area in advance, the bandits’ locations were clearly visible.
“First, secure the vision!”
“How?”
“Just swing your arms!”
Watching the bandits who were flustered by the unexpected situation, I raised my mana.
Crack!
From my fingertips, the surrounding steam froze and condensed into ice fragments.
Soon, the blades of ice that had floated in the air were shot, riding the condensed wind.
“Kuaaaak!”
The bandits screamed as the ice blades were embedded in them.
Some were desperately trying to stop the blood gushing from their necks, while others collapsed with their eyes rolled back as the blades were embedded in their temples.
Although they were just ice fragments, if you were ambushed in a situation where you couldn’t see anything, you were bound to react like that.
And most of all, weren’t they at most third-rate bandits?
I prepared for the next magic again.
Perhaps because of the remnants of the elixir, I still felt a fullness of mana.
‘I should try using it properly this time.’
I raised one hand and adjusted my senses. Then, the mana spread around.
Soon, there was something that was caught in the flow of mana.
‘Now!’
In an instant, a fist is clenched.
Crack!
At the same time, the fog that was enveloping the bandits’ shoulders condensed and crystallized into ice.
The sharply frozen blades of ice in the air surrounded the bandits’ necks in an instant.
“Huh?”
“Oh, I can see?”
Beyond the fog that had lifted in an instant, all the bandits could see were the faces of their comrades, standing with dazed expressions, with ice blades aimed at them.
“H-how is the ice floating?”
“Impossible…!”
Swish!
The ice blades, shot at high speed, tore through the bandits’ carotid arteries.
“Damn it!! What is this crazy thing?!”
“It’s an evil spirit! The evil spirit is angry!!!”
The bandits were in a complete panic from the attacks that flew in unexpectedly in a world filled only with fog that filled their vision.
Covered in the hot blood of their comrades, they each let out a scream and ran.
But no matter how much they ran, they couldn’t escape the maze created by the formation, the fog.
Everywhere they went, it was the same scene.
Then, the comrades in front of them fell one by one from unexpected attacks, and a succession of them sat down and held their heads.
A situation where they could see nothing and go nowhere continued.
It was truly a white hell.
A situation where no escape route was visible.
Just as I was about to finish off the remaining bandits.
“You idiots! Don’t scatter!”
The largest of them, the leader, shouted in a booming voice and gathered the remaining bandits.
“Stick together! I don’t know what trick was used. Getting out of here is the priority!”
‘His head isn’t just for decoration.’
I stared at their movements in the fog. My mana was running low.
I had to move more efficiently.
“This way!”
Just then, I heard his voice. Even if he was a bandit leader, he seemed to have some sense.
‘Come to think of it, there was a rumor that the leader was close to the first-rate level.’
Since he was at a level where he could consciously control the energy in his body to some extent, it seemed he could also grasp the energy of the formation.
‘How troublesome.’
If they overlap like that, it becomes difficult to aim for the vital points. Of course, in a normal case.
I slightly changed the flow of the formation.
Whoosh-
Then, the wind began to blow fiercely. Hair flying wildly.
In the midst of that, I aimed at the enemy and threw a dagger imbued with mana. Then, the blade flew, curving in an instant.
“Keok!”
A bandit with a dagger embedded in the nape of his neck collapses on the spot.
The reason why harsh weather is tricky is because the direction of the wind is unpredictable.
But if you could know the path of the wind in advance, you could even use it.
Just like now.
“Gurgle! My side…!”
A guy collapses from shortness of breath with a hole in his lung from a dagger. I gripped the next dagger, watching the confused enemies.
They were bandits anyway. Since they were villains who committed murder and robbery as a basic, there was no reason to hesitate.
A dagger flashed in the darkness.
Cold wind. Hardened skin. And a fog so thick that it was difficult to distinguish even an inch ahead, and a mysterious blade that changed its trajectory following the strong wind.
It was not an offensive that the bandits could handle.
And so, the number of people decreased, and finally, when there were only about five bandits left.
“At this rate, we-we’ll all die!!”
One of them finally fell into a panic and started to run away. Of course, in a situation like this, splitting up is the worst choice. Especially within a formation.
Swish!
Then, the leader swung his sword and cut down the bandit who was trying to run away.
“Don’t scatter!”
He knew it instinctively. That if the formation broke now, they would all die.
But reason and emotion are different.
I aimed for their division and threw the next dagger. A dagger flying towards the defenseless bandit’s side, as it had been until now.
Clang!
But this time, it was different. The bandit leader had drawn his sword and blocked the flying dagger.
“Don’t be scared and just walk! The fog won’t last forever!”
He was right. A formation is limited.
If you don’t get lost in the fog and just walk in the right direction, you can break through most formations.
‘So that guy is the problem.’
My gaze calmly settled.
At first, the bandits were in a state of confusion, but the reason they were gradually moving towards the edge of the formation was all because of that guy’s sense.
I wanted to finish him off right away, but in my current state, close combat was dangerous.
Because a considerable load had accumulated on my body in the meantime.
‘It’s better to decide the match from a distance for sure.’
“Ugh!”
The dagger continued again. This time, the voice of a bandit who had become unable to fight from a dagger that had curved in sharply echoed.
‘That makes three.’
I deliberately broke his knee. Because it was the ecology of bandits to abandon them if they became useless anyway.
As I thought, they began to move, abandoning the fallen bandit.
I flew a dagger to finish off the guy who was left alone and then chased after them.
It had been smooth so far, but I couldn’t be at ease.
Before I knew it, the bandits were setting foot at the exit of the formation.
The fog lifted, and the life gate and the death gate. Two paths appeared before the bandits.
“Keok!”
Just then, the bandit leader grabbed one of his subordinates by the scruff of the neck.
“You should be useful at a time like this.”
And then he threw his subordinate over the path.
“Heok!”
In an instant, the dark background swallowed the bandit’s subordinate.
The death gate is a place where the energy of the formation is extremely empty or condensed.
A person with weak qi will faint the moment they enter, or they will lose their senses from the huge pressure and wander inside the formation.
‘Now there are two left.’
The problem was that a considerable amount of the formation’s energy was consumed to activate the death gate.
And what that fact meant was the advent of a crack in the formation.
Woooong-
Soon, as a result of the activation of the death gate, the opposite path wavered, and the original pitch-black background disappeared, and in an instant, the original mountain area unfolded.
‘Did he find the life gate right away?’
I clicked my tongue with a displeased heart and hurriedly drew my dagger.
And then I controlled the airflow of the formation and mixed yin energy into the moisture mixed in the air to create a blizzard.
Just enough to block the vision.
Swish!
‘One.’
At the same time as the dagger pierced the neck of the bandit who had been sticking with the bandit leader, the guy finally passed through the life gate of the formation.
“I’m out!”
The guy shouted. At the same time, daggers flew towards his vital points.
Clang clang clang!
In the darkness, sparks flew for a moment, and what was revealed between the flashes was the sight of a rotating greatsword deflecting all the blades.
“It’s you.”
The daggers are powerlessly embedded in the ground. In the middle of them, the bandit leader glared at me with his eyes shining brightly.
‘So a dagger isn’t enough?’
Still, he was a guy with the energy sense to break through a formation.
On the other hand, I was in a state where it was difficult to even swing a sword properly.
The bandit leader bared his teeth as he scanned my figure, which was clearly visible under the moonlight.
“This little scholar has caused a big accident.”
I took advantage of the gap while the guy was talking and threw a dagger as a surprise attack.
Clang!
Sparks flew in the darkness, and the metal blades scattered in the air.
It was threatening in the fog, but if you throw it openly like this, the threat of a dagger is halved.
“You think that will work!”
The bandit leader who rushed at me in an instant.
At the same time, I spread my palm, which had condensed mana.
Fwoosh-
A red flame rose and covered the bandit’s vision.
“Fire?!”
He belatedly crossed his arms holding the greatsword, but that was a bad move.
“Then what will you block with?”
Daggers are embedded in various parts of the opponent’s body.
“This much is nothing…!”
I made a gesture of flicking my fingers at the guy who was rushing through the flames.
Crackle!
A strong spark flew between my thumb and middle finger.
In an instant, a streak of lightning tore through the air and blazed towards the embedded dagger of the bandit leader.
“Kuaaaak!”
The bandit leader, who was running, stopped in his tracks from the explosive lightning strike that covered his entire body.
“As expected, this isn’t enough.”
It was certainly difficult to finish him off in one blow since I was still at the first circle.
I muttered, staring at the bloodshot eyes of the bandit who was barely standing.
“Then I’ll just do it until it works.”
Sparks flew from the fingertips of my hand, which was raised in the air.
Soon, the blazing lightning magic. In an instant, the dark surroundings became bright white.
But this time, it was a little different from the previous appearance.
The bandit leader was grounding the current by sticking his sword into the ground.
“You’ve used your head a little.”
I raised my dagger, watching the bandit leader who was approaching, staggering.
A dagger that flies straight away and a lightning strike that is shot as if tracking its trajectory.
The greatsword was swung wide to block this.
Clang clang clang!
The dagger was deflected in all directions, and the soaring lightning strike was absorbed into the greatsword as if being sucked in.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good countermeasure to avoid stiffness.
‘This will get troublesome if it drags on.’
I narrowed my brow slightly and stepped back to avoid the approaching bandit leader.
And then I threw a dagger at the opponent’s feet.
The bandit leader, who avoided it with a clumsy footwork, covered his body with his greatsword.
But the expected lightning attack did not come.
The guy who was looking this way over the greatsword with a puzzled look. At the same time, his eyes widened.
Crackle!
Before I knew it, a sphere of current that had grown large in my hand was illuminating the area.
“If you had a chance, you should have rushed in without being scared.”
I shot the condensed lightning magic as it was. The bandit leader who saw that scene lowered his stance to defend with his greatsword.
However, the flying lightning magic soon spread in the air and then split into five directions towards the dagger stuck in the ground.
Crackle!
In an instant, the lightnings that drew a pentagram on the ground flashed.
“It will be hard to endure this time.”
“Keoheok…!”
As the binding formation made of magic and a formation was spread, the current covered the bandit leader’s entire body like a living net.
Soon, the opponent, with his whole body burned black, collapsed on the ground.
I added a word, looking at the guy who was staring at the sky with his eyes wide open, his whole body paralyzed.
“I’ll make good use of your bounty.”
Then, the guy who was cursing with his eyes. It seemed he was still conscious.
I squatted down and looked down at him.
“But you have a place where you’ve hidden the stolen goods, right? If you tell me obediently, I’ll send you to the authorities with your life intact.”
“Uh, ah…!”
As his mouth didn’t seem to be working well yet, I drew my sword, and the guy, with his trembling lips, continued to pronounce haltingly.
“W-wait! Do you know who I am? This body is the… of the Martial Inspection Team…!”
“Yeah, yeah. I also want to be the true successor of the Heaven-Shattering Demon in my heart and all that.”
I cut off the guy who was about to talk nonsense and raised my sword.
“But the sword is closer here, isn’t it? Then from now on, your only connection is me. If I say I’m your older brother, I’m your older brother, and if I say I’m your dad, I’m your dad. Got it?”
“You… you vicious!”
As I said, patting his cheek with the flat of my sword, the opponent’s jaw trembled as he glared at me.
Perhaps because his blood pressure had risen, the muscle spasms seemed to be getting worse.
I need to hear the story quickly. I don’t want to go through the trouble of torturing the remaining bandits and then personally robbing the area around the hut.
“Choose. Do you want to be beheaded like this? Or do you want to leave room for repentance while receiving a labor sentence at the border? The price is the same anyway. Let’s make it easy for us.”
“Damn it… to be caught by a guy like this! It’s under the rock behind the hut. You son of a bitch, worse than a heretic…”
The leader, who had barely spat out a curse with his now-free mouth, collapsed on the ground.
“See, you can do it if you try.”
At the answer that finally came out, I stood up from my seat with a satisfied expression.
(End of Chapter)