Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Chapter 3-1. Black Tree Tribe
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I had killed the two mercenaries who threatened me when I first arrived in this world.
I killed the black wolves that strayed from their territory to gain experience.
I killed the weary gladiator who was fighting for his life.
I killed the ghosts who had already died once, killing them twice over.
I killed Viscount Jinmu, weakened after his mind was gnawed away by the ghosts.
I had killed orcs too. I had taken the lives of many living beings.
"So I can take yours as well."
The reason I had kept stroking Artemía just moments ago was due to hesitation. Even after steeling myself in my heart, it wasn't easy to move strangely. I hesitated and threw the dagger, but thinking I was throwing away my hesitation and lingering attachments along with it, I moved my body.
The dagger slicing through the air headed straight toward Cain, who was precisely slashing the orc and grabbing its throat with his bare hand to slam it into the ground. Sensing the dagger flying toward him, Cain used the orc he had gripped in his left hand as a shield to block it.
Cain had lost his reason, swallowed by the rage of the fragment, but that didn't make him a typical berserker. He possessed a black fragment. One containing Perlnirn's power! Even without reason, he found the optimal method and efficiency in battle and moved accordingly. The efficiency varied depending on how exceptional the user's instinctive senses were.
The orc, twitching in Cain's grip around its neck, struggled even more violently as Artemía embedded in its back sucked in its blood. Whether it was annoying to hold or simply in the way, Cain tossed the orc aside and charged toward Judah. Nearby, orcs that had lost their reason were rushing in recklessly, and Cain was approaching from the front.
Judah checked the influx of surrounding information injected into his mind through his B-rank agility, Shadow Deployment, and Demon Eye, evading attacks and preparing to counter while readying himself to face Cain. In an instant, he thrust Artemía into the bodies of the orcs surrounding him and summoned the fifth Artemía.
Whoosh!
He ducked his head to dodge the greatsword swinging with a laugh. The wind pressure from the greatsword, swung with immense power and speed, roughly tousled his hair. Having lowered his stance to evade Cain's attack, Judah drew his sword upward in a diagonal line from his left side. Black mana coated the sharp blade as [Shadow Swordsmanship 2nd Form - Slash] activated. The tip of the blade dug into the thick armor Cain wore.
It was the plate armor of the temple knights, reforged from minerals infused with holy power—far sturdier than expected for entry-level gear. It withstood the sword enhanced by codes and skills with attack bonuses. But judging by how deeply the blade had penetrated and the sensation transmitted to his fingertips, it didn't seem to have cut flesh. Perhaps because of that, Cain blocked the attack and swung his greatsword downward. Just before it fell on his head, he retreated backward.
Boom!
With a sound like an explosion, the ground caved in, sending stones and grass flying. Frowning, Judah deflected them with the flat of his sword and immediately turned to throw a dagger. The dagger embedded into the forehead of an orc charging with the intent to grab and tear him apart with both hands, sending it tumbling backward. And with that, the orcs rushed in.
They weren't targeting Cain and Judah specifically; they just needed an outlet for their rage. Even after seeing their kin die, they showed no fear, swinging fists and club-like blunt weapons. But their attacks lacked coordination, relying on numbers and sheer force, leaving Judah no room to dodge anymore. The skills he had were still single-target, not area-of-effect techniques.
With no other choice, Judah unleashed the power of the Artemía in his left hand. Red energy burst from the blade in multiple streams, and upon touching the nearby orcs, red lines appeared on their bodies. Blood seeped from those lines, and their life force was drained away.
Oops. The orcs' bodies withered in an instant, an utterly unreal sight. Even the fearless charging orcs snapped to their senses at the bizarre scene and backed away from Judah.
Slash!
But as the orcs retreated, red lines appeared around their waists, and they lunged toward Judah. Startled, Judah hurriedly thrust out Artemía. The red lines emanating from the unleashed Artemía clashed against the incoming sword energy, holding it at bay before slowly being pushed back.
The bisected orcs stared in confusion, unable to grasp the situation, floating in the air as they looked at Judah before falling to the ground. Judah gripped the dagger tighter and pushed, shattering the sword energy like broken glass, melting away into the air like snowflakes.
The blood spurting from the ownerless lower bodies, staggering and losing direction, was sucked into the red lines from Artemía. Beyond that, Cain's figure appeared. His body was drenched in fresh blood, as if he had cleaved through charging orcs wholesale with his greatsword.
Thud.
The tip of the greatsword Cain held dropped to the ground. Dragging it indifferently, heedless of the damage to the blade, Cain stepped over orc corpses, stared silently at Judah, took a deep breath, and charged. Like Judah's Artemía, the fragment Yakar in Cain's grasp had its power unleashed.
Like electrons orbiting an atom's nucleus, it affected Judah not at all. Cain smashed through the red lines from Artemía with his greatsword and swung wildly, but Judah evaded with agile movements.
The sight of him relentlessly attacking, wielding a greatsword as tall as himself without tiring, was impressive—but that only worked on orcs. Not a single strike reached Judah.
On the contrary, Judah's thrusting sword and the red lines from Artemía that he couldn't fully block were shaving away Cain's armor like a pencil. The blood-soaked armor might have withstood the attack power of a trainee gladiator's sword, but it was helpless against Artemía.
However, it wasn't easy. Occasionally ignoring his body's condition to attack, forcing Judah to block with Artemía in surprise. Feeling the pressure too much for one hand, he kicked Cain's body away with his foot.
Staggering back a couple of steps, Cain immediately swung his sword at Judah again as if nothing had happened. Matching the timing, Judah threw Artemía and slashed downward with his sword from above.
The blade wrapped in black mana severed the armor, now too damaged to expect much defense, and cut through the chain protecting his shoulder and arm. The sensation of slicing muscle and bone transmitted to his fingertips. His heart pounded heavily.
He raised his left hand and braced his leg on the ground. His thigh muscles bulged in preparation for the impact. He blocked Cain's downward slash with Artemía.
Clang!
"Urk!"
His left arm trembled. He wanted to retreat. But thanks to the frenzy effect, even with one arm severed, Cain didn't groan in pain and simply gripped his greatsword tighter with his right hand. He felt one knee buckle under the force of Cain's slash.
It wasn't surprising, recalling Yakar's trait of granting ever-higher strength stats to the user the longer the battle lasted. Gritting his teeth, Judah's gaze shifted downward as he blocked the sword. Amid the orc corpses on the ground lay the severed left arm, blood gushing from the shoulder stump. Seeing the blood flowing profusely, he pulled back the sword in his right hand.
With his left arm gone, Cain faced him with his body wide open and defenseless. It was an opportunity. As he thrust his sword, Caseun flashed in his mind, but he didn't hesitate and stabbed.
Clang!
Even with the armor's durability severely damaged, piercing it with the sword wasn't easy. Knights didn't wear expensive armor for nothing. Judging he couldn't penetrate Cain's armor with the sword to deal damage, Judah discarded it and summoned Artemía in his right hand, stabbing again.
Stab!
Unlike the sword, it sank in smoothly. Not stopping at one thrust, he summoned a second and third Artemía and stabbed repeatedly.
Stab, stab!
Cain's body jerked as he growled, but he didn't die. It seemed Yakar's fragment power was blocking Artemía from draining his life force. Sorry to Caseun, but as he tried to unleash the Artemía stabbed into Cain's body, he detected movement of a third presence over the deployed shadow.
'Someone's approaching!'
He urgently turned his gaze to sense it visually, but before he could see the figure, an unfamiliar voice whispered in his ear.
"Stop there. Push it further, and he might really die."
"!?"
A powerful impact sent his body flying backward. The thirteenth fragment, Yakar's power, didn't just explosively amplify the user's strength—it also granted tremendous regenerative ability like Artemía. He'd gone to the trouble of severing the left arm, but if he let go now, Cain would recover fully. As the thought hit him, Judah detonated Artemía like a remote bomb, but upon landing and looking ahead, the thorns rising from Artemía were merely stabbing empty air.
"..."
It felt like being haunted by a ghost. The presences of Cain and the stranger over the shadow had vanished as if it were a lie, and Cain's severed left arm was gone too. All that remained were fragments of the armor he had worn.
Who was that?
Judah ground his teeth. He had definitely sensed it. The approach. Yet he hadn't visually recognized it, let alone respond.
'Quake, perhaps?'
Quake, owner of the spirit sword, chieftain of the Red Bear Tribe.
Owner of the thirteenth fragment, Yakar. Only he could have attacked and vanished with Cain in an instant. Of course, it could have been a demon like Asmodeus, but the mana he sensed was unmistakably human.
'Damn it.'
Of course. There was no way Cain had taken the fragment from spirit sword owner Quake. He couldn't have. Lacking the skill, it must have been handed over willingly. As he picked up the sword Cain had discarded, a light thud echoed from the hilltop, followed by an orc tumbling down. Then Jeanne appeared atop it.
"Judah! Are you alright!?"
She had finally dealt with the orcs who had gone up the hill. Well, the battle with Cain had ended so abruptly that not much time had passed.
"Yes, I'm fine! How about you?"
"No casualties! We'll head down soon, so wait just a moment!"
At Jeanne's words, Judah immediately shouted back.
"No, I'll come up! Wait there!"
There was nothing to take from the orc tribe anyway, and he didn't want to linger in this place reeking of blood. Judah climbed back up the hill, confirmed that Arhil, Jeanne, and Alec were safe, then returned to the tribe. There, Alec must have relayed what happened to Isabel, as Judah was invited to her dwelling.
========== Author's Note ==========
Huh? The author doesn't just ignore your opinions outright.
You'll see the results soon enough!