novelraw Chapter 44 : A New Era (1)
Chapter 44 : A New Era (1)
Chapter 44: A New Era (1)
[‘Vivian Astraia’ has sent a ‘Tribute’.]
Only after seeing that message did Yohan finally understand everything.
‘Good grief….’
He had only acted with the intention of obtaining a Seed of the Living Spirit or two, but it seemed Vivian had completely misunderstood his intentions.
Otherwise, there was no reason for her to offer thousands of Orcs as tribute.
It wasn’t as if she were some collector of heads.
This was an entirely different kind of madness.
‘Looks like Priscilla was right. I’ve gotten tangled up with her for real.’
She must have been seeking revenge against the Great Witches’ Assembly that had cast her out— or perhaps she had other ambitions entirely.
What was certain was this:
If he didn’t prepare thoroughly….
Then next time, the heads in that bundle wouldn’t belong to Orcs.
Yohan swallowed dryly.
A sense of relief from having dealt with the enormous obstacle named Murugan so easily, mixed with the heavy pressure of drawing the attention of a monster that couldn’t be compared to him.
Those two conflicting emotions churned inside him.
‘Still….’
For now, he might as well savor the victory.
Yohan pulled out the massive Great Blade lying on top of the bundle.
He staggered.
Nearly fell backward.
Damn it.
It was heavy— unbearably so.
But showing composure was what mattered most.
“Was this so-called Great Chieftain you believed in nothing more than this guy?”
Crunch!
The Great Blade, Murugan’s personal weapon, was driven deep into the marble floor.
It was unmistakably the same blade that had symbolized freedom and pride.
A shockwave erupted— one incomparable even to the moment when Jadrak had fallen.
“T-that’s….”
“N-no way… impossible! I can’t believe it!”
The Orcs screamed.
Five minutes.
How were they supposed to comprehend that Murugan had died in such a short time?
But no matter how much they tried to deny it, the truth couldn’t be hidden.
Both their Chieftain and Great Chieftain were dead.
And the invasion they had spent so long preparing for had turned to dust.
That was the cold and only truth.
Clang!
Thud!
Weapons and shields fell to the ground.
Some warriors’ legs gave out, and they collapsed on the spot.
Having lost both Jadrak and Murugan—their great centers of gravity—the very will to resist had vanished.
Of course, not everyone had given up.
“It might be a lie! Don’t drop your weapons, warriors!”
“Until we confirm the truth, do not lay down your swords!”
The Warrior-class Orcs, their red skin marking them as seasoned veterans, tried desperately to reorganize their crumbling lines.
He couldn’t just let that happen.
Crunch!
Yohan pulled the Great Blade out of the floor once again.
“Scarlett. Sambok.”
“Yes, Yohan-nim.”
“At your command.”
“Pant… pant… yeah, got it.”
Woom!
Scarlett created stairs in midair, woven from Threads of Blood.
Whoosh!
Sambok surrounded the area with black flames shaped like thick clouds.
Step.
Yohan began walking up the staircase that rose through the dark clouds.
Calm. Majestic.
With each step, the clouds shattered, scattering black sparks through the air.
“The time it took me to annihilate Murugan and his army didn’t even reach five minutes.”
His voice rang with unshakable authority.
In one hand, he held the Great Blade.
In the other, the Sacred Relic of the Orcs.
Now, the finishing touch was about to begin….
[‘The title was changed to ‘Knight’s Token’.]
[‘Trait ‘Sacred Flame’ was activated!’]
Kukukuku!
A beam of holy light shone behind Yohan.
The spectacle that blood, flame, and light had combined to produce.
Having reached the highest step, Yohan looked down on everything and said.
“How long would it take me to kill all of you?”
With that single line, every fight ended.
Even the red-skinned warriors were overwhelmed by the sight.
“Kruuu….”
“Mo-monster.”
In the end, every Orc in the Louvre Museum chose flight toward the Gate that led back to their homeland.
“No!”
“If you get away from here, what are we supposed to do!”
A few priests of the Requiem Cult fought to the end, but that too was meaningless.
“Almost… it was almost complete—why. Did you have to trample my dream so cruelly!”
The captive Kim Geunsik glared at Yohan with eyes bloodshot and red.
He had been wasting Ashen Grace everywhere to lay traps around the museum.
Naturally, the mana he had left was less than a fifth of his usual.
“You should’ve at least dreamed of fields of flowers to cheer me on.”
Offer both body and soul to the Evil God, and you expect people to accept that quietly?
He desperately wished they had thought before they spoke.
“Profit! You damn swindler, what do you know!”
“Swindler? Me?”
“When the message that Murugan had died appeared, I saw you look flustered too. Weren’t you pretending someone else’s deed was yours? That’s a swindler. Or what else is a swindler!”
Kim Geunsik shouted until his throat broke.
Wow, he’d noticed that in the middle of all this?
His perceptiveness was extraordinary.
So our Geunsik hadn’t merely been given a mid-level post in the Requiem Cult for free.
“Ha! You won’t deny it, so I suppose you have nothing to say.”
“Hmm. Hearing it, I suppose I am a swindler. No. I’m definitely a swindler.”
“What?”
“Why are you surprised? You were right. Want me to write you a certificate by hand?”
“No, that’s not necessary, but….”
Kim Geunsik trailed off.
His grievance was understandable.
But what could he do?
That was simply how the world worked.
If he felt so aggrieved, why didn’t he become a swindler too?
“Damn….”
With the swindler admitting to being a swindler, there was nothing more Kim Geunsik could say.
“Then sleep a little.”
Kahang!
Yohan struck Kim Geunsik’s head with the hilt of the Great Blade.
＊＊＊
“At this level, you could certainly call it my victory, couldn’t you?”
“Hoho. It was indeed a very fascinating spectacle.”
White Spirit, who had appeared in midair, nodded as if satisfied.
He looked as if he had just watched a movie.
Indeed, if this had been released as a film, it would have easily broken ten million viewers.
There was only one slight worry….
If White Spirit had seen the moment the Great Chieftain died, things could have become complicated.
‘Vivian would surely suspect why she had helped me.’
If he traced things back to the Withered Garden and then to Priscilla, she might notice truths from the past.
Fortunately.
“By the way, how on earth did the Great Chieftain get dealt with? I was so engrossed that I neglected the other side of things.”
White Spirit seemed to have missed the most decisive scene.
Of course, it might have been a probing question, but that was unlikely.
If White Spirit had seen Vivian, he would not have asked so bluntly; he would have approached much more slyly.
“Are you asking a magician for the trick?”
“Haha. That wouldn’t be polite, would it? Well, what was missed was also the Management Bureau’s fault.”
For some reason, White Spirit looked quite pleased.
Snap.
At the snap of his fingers, Priscilla and Meiba appeared.
Two lower-level administrators whose fortunes had turned in opposite directions.
One would live; the other would die — naturally their expressions diverged.
“Then, it’s time to settle accounts.”
Clack.
The chains that had bound Priscilla were released.
Meanwhile, the chains binding Meiba slowly began to thicken.
“Ke-keek! P-please spare me. I… I will surely make amends. Please…”
“My, my…. How could you be so talkative until the very end?”
Crack!
The chains crushed Meiba completely.
A waterfall of blood spurted out.
The foot soldier-ant who had been running on the frontlines of the episode vanished just like that.
This was Mid-level Administrator White Spirit.
Someone who used and trampled countless lives without compunction.
He had done so until now and would continue to do so.
Therefore.
‘I must eliminate him.’
He could not leave this madman, who blindly protected the episode, alone.
White Spirit then indicated the unconscious Kim Geunsik.
“What should we do with this one?”
“We will take him along for now.”
They would not kill him immediately.
Kim Geunsik was beloved by one of the Evil Gods.
If they killed him carelessly without safeguards, they would receive a brutal pursuit.
It was better to make use of him in another way.
A priest of the Requiem Cult could be useful in countless ways.
“Haha. Whether by chance, instinct, or deliberate knowledge, it’s a wise decision.”
“If it’s absolutely necessary, sure. But I don’t particularly enjoy killing.”
“Killing, huh… Well, the reason hardly matters anyway. Then, I shall take my leave. I hope you’ll perform just as well in the next episode….”
White Spirit smiled faintly, and his form was soon covered by falling snowflakes.
[The ‘Knight’s Token’ awarded to Kim Geunsik has been revoked.]
[All abilities of ‘Kim Geunsik’ will be sealed until the third episode.]
[You have been granted 10 Skill Stones.]
[The sacred relic of the Orc Tribe has been retrieved.]
[As a reward for clearing the episode, you have received a ‘B-rank Treasure Chest’.]
Shrrrk.
Skill Stones engraved with ornate runes poured out.
And along with them—an episode-clear reward.
Good.
He had obtained everything he wanted.
The injured, as well as the civilians trapped deeper inside, could be left to Seo Changhee.
That meant his work here was just about done.
At least, that was what he thought—until someone entered Yohan’s sight.
No. There was still one thing.
One thing he couldn’t let slide.
Yohan walked toward Lee Saerom, who was standing alone some distance away.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Ah, Yohan oppa! Yes. It was such an overwhelming battle that I was completely dazed, but… maybe they weren’t interested in someone as weak as me. I didn’t get any serious injuries.”
Lee Saerom answered with a sigh of relief.
And at those words—
“It’s not that they weren’t interested in you. It’s that I killed every Orc that got near you, isn’t it?”
The corner of Yohan’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
Lee Saerom blinked, pretending not to understand.
Heh, look at this one.
Quite the actress.
‘Not on my level, but she can control her eyebrow position, eye tremors, even pulse rate fairly well.’
However—
A sparrow could never follow a stork.
The eyes of a seasoned actor had already detected every minute change.
To fool him completely, she would’ve had to suppress the vibration of her throat.
Lower her eyebrows by about 0.09 millimeters, and slow her pulse by half a beat.
“I thought something was off from the very beginning.”
Yohan drew out an item Lee Saerom was well acquainted with.
‘Apache Totem.’
This was something that couldn’t be obtained from the Louvre Museum.
As someone who had once worked as a curator in the 451st run, he knew all 600,000 artifacts in that place. So she’d better not spout ridiculous excuses.
More importantly—
“This totem can’t even be used by anyone below 11-Star rank, and yet I found out it’s already been used once. Didn’t you say your rank was too low to use it?”
“T-That was used by someone else! And oppa… why are you suddenly being so scary? I barely survived those Orcs, you know.”
Lee Saerom’s eyes welled up, as if in protest.
Hmm. Still trying to play innocent?
But then—
“If that’s the case, how do you explain the fact that you, an 8-Star at best, have two mid-tier traits?”
[Weak Point Detection], [Emergency Recovery]
Both traits were impossible to obtain through normal means in the first episode.
Yohan looked at Lee Saerom calmly.
Then, in the next moment—
“Heh. So you even had an ‘Eye’, huh? You knew the number of uses and even my traits… must’ve gotten quite the rare one. I even used an item to hide my information just in case, but tch—guess I just wasted something expensive.”
Lee Saerom’s expression changed completely.
Of course, the tears in her eyes were gone without a trace.