Chapter 98: Let's Kill Woo Hyo. Woo Hyo Is My Enemy! |
The extermination inside the cave was so smooth that it was almost yawn-inducing.
The undead lurking in the cave would rush towards me at the slightest hint of my presence, only to be cut down as they recognized me and started making Woo Hyo noises…
After this happened about three times, Jang, who was following me and collecting ears and noses of the corpses as proof, began to cluck his tongue beside me.
“Having such an ability and still treated as a foreigner, the empire really lacks vision.”
“Well, I never thought it would be this effective either. If I had known earlier, I would have specialized in hunting undead.”
It was inevitable that I realized this so late.
When I was acting as a porter, I stayed back and observed, and the only time I directly faced the undead was when I was captured by the Knight of Death.
After I started adventuring, I encountered undead forces right away, but at that time, it was difficult to fully realize this because I encountered exceptional beings like Gorgon Zola and the Red Knight of War.
“But it doesn’t work on beings with self-awareness… So there’s a problem in considering this enough to be considered a hero.”
“Haha… Having seen many incredible people die, it’s not easy to be confident.”
Indeed, having seen nearly fifty heroes die or fall, how could I be confident with just this?
Even though it was smooth sailing now, this world was a ruthless dark fantasy.
Even a slight lapse could lead to death, so I couldn’t afford to let my guard down in this darkness.
Clunk.
Yes, even now, signs were beginning to show.
Strange sounds started to come out from the depths of the cave.
From sounds like the friction of old armor seams, I realized that an undead of a different caliber than any I’d encountered before had appeared.
“…Boss, please stay back.”
Eyes flashed in the darkness.
And an ominous aura emanating from the sword in hand.
“The enemy, the enemy is…”
That alone was threatening, but what required more attention was that the words uttered were clearly ‘a language comprehensible to humans.’
“The enemy must be eliminated. Our nemesis…”
It wasn’t too surprising. After all, not all undead mindlessly eat flesh.
The Four Knights I met had clear objectives and acted with determination.
The reason could be understood by recalling what I heard when I faced the Knight of Death in the past.
‘To create undead like me, with self-awareness, a strong longing for life is needed. A desire beyond the innate instinct for survival of all living beings!’
The survival instinct inherent in humans—a longing greater than that.
An incomplete rationality awakened from such yearning.
Such self-aware undead, awakened to emotions and a sense of purpose, tend to grow into beings of greater power.
“…I’m not your enemy. Can’t you just let me pass quietly?”
If communication was possible, I’d prefer to avoid fighting and move on.
Though all the undead on this mountain were targets for extermination, I still wasn’t confident about fighting a powerful entity.
“Uh… Woo Hyo?”
As I took a passive stance, the undead tilted its head, looking at me.
Its reaction was no different from the other undead I had encountered, but that was only for a moment.
“Woo Hyo, Woo Hyo!”
The shouts from its mouth grew louder, and the sword, starting from that point, emitted an increasingly fierce aura.
The blood-like currents springing from its hollow eyes flowed fiercely like tears in response to those emotions.
As if my ability acted as a poison specifically for that entity.
“I finally found you. My killer, the enemy who killed me and my comrades, right before me~!!!”
“What enemy…?”
“Don’t play dumb. If you’re not an enemy, what else would you be that I remember you so vividly?!”
Damn, it seemed my memory-imprinting ability had replaced its object of vengeance.
Now, avoiding a fight seemed virtually impossible.
As I gritted my teeth and raised my spear, the undead also raised its magic-infused sword and began to shout.
“Die, Woo Hyo! Die, my enemy!!!”
“Damn it, my name is not Woo Hyo, it’s Woo Hyo-sung…”
Clang!!!
The shout was brief.
Immediately after the loud noise from my quickly raised spear, the undead began swinging its sword at me.
Clang, clang!
The violently struck sword repeatedly collided with my spear.
Pushed back by the force enough to spark flames, my body was forced back a step or two.
Damn it, what made this already dead corpse so strong?
“Woo Hyo…! I’ll make you pay dearly for killing me!!”
But more striking was the torrent of emotions I never thought an undead could exhibit.
The mana driven by those emotions swirling around the sword was threatening, but focusing solely on evasion was not feasible.
Not only its speed, but its movements were unpredictable.
Whoosh! Clang!
Abnormally staggering steps.
Despite the unstable center, the swung sword, with its precarious posture, did not lose its power and was swung with enough force to slice through me.
In haste, I tried to gather magic in my armor for defense, but without Pheloi, my combat power was less than half of usual.
“Kraraa! Aaaaah!”
Feeling provoked just by seeing me at a disadvantage, the undead began to shout as if it were spewing blood.
If this turned into a one-sided defensive battle, I would run out of stamina and be slaughtered.
Clang!
I had no choice. It was not yet practical in real combat, but staying put would get me killed.
I backed away from the undead as much as possible, and immediately tried to gather more magic in my armor.
According to Airi, the armor’s limit had already been unlocked.
With the will to use it, I could exert the same output as before, even without Merilyn’s performance.
Creak!
But that confidence was shattered in an instant.
Just as I was about to swing my spear, my body stiffened as if caught on a wall.
The will of the armor intensified, restraining my actions when I was about to act on my own.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing?!”
-Annoying.
“You damn…!!”
There was a proper time for this lazy bastard to act up, and a time not to.
But by the time I realized my mistake, it was already too late.
Soon, the undead’s sword, having reached me, was about to cleave my head in two.
Damn it, is this the end?
Clang!!!
Right after, sparks burst from a staff, swung by someone who suddenly intervened.
Pushed back by that force, the undead stumbled back, while the old man in front of me began to raise his staff towards it.
“Really, taking out your anger on a young man with so much life ahead when you can’t even age anymore?”
Jang Cleo.
The one who brought me here, like a mentor.
“Wh-what…? How dare you interfere with my vengeance…?!”
“That armor, I remember it.”
Jang casually spoke to the provoked undead about to charge.
Upon hearing this, the undead paused and began to listen to Jang’s words.
“Are you a former enemy soldier who fought against my homeland?”
Along with that, its trembling body showed a reaction that could not ignore his current words.
“The enemy of your homeland…? Y-you couldn’t be…?”
“Yes, a soldier from Britannia, your enemy country. I was just a low-ranking soldier back then.”
“Bri… ta…”
“How come a soldier, who died in the war half a century ago, is still wandering this world? Your homeland must be far from here, in a remote borderland.”
“Uh, the pain…!!”
The undead clutched its head in apparent pain.
Considering that the undead don’t normally feel pain, this reaction was highly abnormal.
“Britannia, my enemy…”
“Yes, it was always like that in those times. The higher-ups start it, and the subordinates carry on the hatred, despising people they’ve never even met…”
And then the direction of the hatred shifted from me to him.
Yet Jang Cleo remained calm, merely raising the staff in his hand towards it.
“But, deceased one, this is no longer an era of war, but of catastrophe. It’s a time when humans should unite to confront disasters, not turn swords against the living. Why do you do so?”
“Such things… I don’t care about them!”
Swoosh!
Once again, its motionless body began to move, with magic gathering in its empty eyes and spreading out.
“I just want to kill. All those who made me this way! Everyone!”
The sword, glowing red, now felt even more powerful than when it was directed at me.
“So die… Let your blood atone for my homeland!!”
Even as the sword strike neared, Jang Cleo remained unfazed, merely wielding his staff upright.
Though the mana in his staff was much less than that of his opponent, his actions were quiet and composed.
“…Even as times change, you remain trapped in the past, oh deceased one.”
Unwavering, he simply swung the staff in his hand.
Swish!
The sound produced was neither like bludgeoning flesh nor like an explosion from gathered mana.
Like a very thin blade slicing through paper—only that quiet sound filled the space as Jang Cleo, having sidestepped the charging undead, retrieved his staff and spoke softly.
“I will remember you, so lay down your sword now. Rest in peace.”
Slaaash!
The sound of flesh being split echoed suddenly.
Then the undead’s body split in two and collapsed to the ground.
A cold corpse with no post-mortem rigidity. But more strikingly, the sword in its hand was also split in half.
To slice a sword with a staff, and to swing it fast enough to leave an afterimage…
Was this really a feat achievable by a human without any special advantages, like a hero?
“Ah, my joints. With my age, it’s not easy to move around.”
But the person who performed such a feat only complained about the soreness in his body.
I approached him, immediately asking in an excited voice,
“…Boss, what was that just now?”
“That’s the level you need to reach.”
His answer seemed to downplay its significance.
Yet, I felt a surge of excitement in my heart from his words.
“To become a hero, one must transcend human limits in the moment of battle, right?”
A skill comparable to that of a hero, as previously demonstrated.
I felt the assurance that I would soon achieve this myself through his dignified demeanor.
Jang Cleo.
I preferred not to create situations where he had to step in.
Respecting the elderly was one reason, but it would be troublesome if someone who came this far to train me fell.
“Here we are, at the appropriate place.”
The place we arrived for training, following him, had an entirely different atmosphere from where we had been before.
The blue light illuminating the surroundings, even without a lantern, emanated from the cave’s outer walls.
“This place is fascinating. Where are we?”
“If we must name it, it would be called a Dragon Vein.”
“…Dragon Vein?”
“This mountain is where the bones of a dragon are buried. The residual power of the dragon has spread and settled here, so calling it a Dragon Vein seems fitting.”
A Dragon Vein, where the dragon’s leftover power gathered in abundance.
An intuitive and fitting name.
“I’ll explain why this place was chosen for training later. For now, let’s check the prerequisites.”
Saying this, Jang Cleo, who sat on a nearby rock ledge, pointed his staff at me and gave an instruction.
“So, young man. Can you create a circle right here?”
“What? A circle…?”
“Have you never used it before?”
“No, I have, but only with my equipment in perfect condition.”
If I couldn’t do that much, how could I have fought against fallen heroes?
But a circle is formed by concentrating mana in a ring shape on a part of the body, a feat achieved by reaching a high level of mana control.
Those not accustomed to using mana naturally couldn’t even attempt it, and I, needing Pheloi’s help, couldn’t even fathom it.
“Why not try it? Just like when you created a circle with that child’s help.”
“Yes, well. I’ll give it a try.”
Whatever the reason, I thought as I gathered the mana in my armor again, focusing power into my hand.
Of course, I didn’t expect it to work. After all, when I was a hero hunter, it wasn’t me but Pheloi who was in charge of creating circles.
So, even recalling how I handled Pheloi, I thought it wouldn’t work properly…
Ziing.
Contrary to my expectations, a ring-shaped mirage formed around my wrist.
This indicated that a mass of physical force, driven by will, had concentrated into the form of a ring at this moment.
“…It worked.”
Why did it work?
Until recently, I needed both the armor and the spear to do this, but now I could create circles just by wearing the armor.
“Ha, I somewhat expected it, but did I really manage to do it?”
But Jang Cleo looked at the circle formed in my hand with a serious gaze, as if immediately understanding.
With my curiosity piqued, I quickly turned to him and asked,
“Do you know something about this, Boss?”
“Yes, it’s clear to me now that you are loved by her.”
“Loved?”
Loved? What does he mean?
Looking at him cluelessly, he soon provided a more definitive answer to my question.
“Tacchia Pheloi, the lady I introduced you to, is the one who loves you.”
“…What?”
Despite his explanation, I couldn’t comprehend his words.
Love? Tacchia loves me?
Why did he come to such a conclusion just because I was able to create a circle?