Chapter 169
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Severed Ties
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- Kkuung!
Wooden seemed pleased with its accomplishment, buzzing with excitement.
“Good job.”
Pernyan patted Wooden's head and gave it a piece of World Tree bark chocolate.
Drained of its essence, the shriveled piece of chocolate fell to the floor.
“Did you really find it?”
“Of course, Sunbaenim.”
“What will you do now, Gongjanim?”
“We'll wipe them out.”
Go in and sweep them all away. Then, he would wait and see how Adguif reacted.
“Let's go.”
As they stepped out of the tent, the five dwarves who had been chatting quietly on a rock all stood up at once.
“You're back.”
“You stayed because of us. We're counting on you.”
“Yes, we're the ones who…”
“Before that, could you do this for me?”
Pernyan took out a crystal orb. It was an artifact made by the Dragon God Cult to detect demonic energy.
Who was a Vile Breed, and who was not.
He intended to find out, one by one.
With Adguif gone, now was the perfect opportunity.
The dwarves, though puzzled, obediently followed Pernyan's instructions.
Adguif had left instructions for them to cooperate with Pernyan as much as possible.
“What was that?”
“He had us pour our aura into that strange crystal orb. And nothing happened.”
“What kind of artifact is that, anyway?”
Unaware of the orb's purpose, they tilted their heads in confusion, but thankfully, there were no Vile Breeds among them.
“Ahgrot, we have somewhere to be for a moment. Hold the fort here.”
Showing the demonic beasts to Ahgrot and the other guards to secure them as firm allies wouldn't have been a bad idea.
But Pernyan chose to hide Wooden instead.
‘As for evidence, I can just have Wooden record it.’
“What? But…”
“Just make up a good excuse for them.”
“Uh, well…”
Without waiting for Ahgrot's reply, Pernyan's group disappeared down the mineshaft.
Once out of sight, they began to dig into the ground.
“What? Where are they going all of a sudden?”
“What's going on?”
“He said his stomach hurts…”
“All of them?”
“That's not the way to the latrine.”
“Hmm.”
Facing the questioning gazes of the other dwarves, Ahgrot scratched the back of his head.
***
Digging through the earth with magic was one of the things Pernyan did best.
He had even out-dug Ahgrot once, blocking his path.
- Kkung!
Pernyan advanced without hesitation, with Wooden acting as his guide.
“It's quite far.”
“That's why the dwarves couldn't find it.”
Although it was also true they hadn't been looking, if it had been close, the dwarves would have surely stumbled upon it eventually, no matter how well Adguif and his lackeys had concealed it.
“Stop.”
Pernyan stopped digging. He poked a small hole with his finger and peered through it.
A vast cavern, filled with demonic beasts.
It was a sight he was now tiredly familiar with.
“These bastards never change their pattern.”
After confirming what lay beyond the small hole, Pernyan turned to Gismond.
“There are demonic beasts ahead. I won't interfere, so how about you take them on by yourself, Sunbaenim?”
The whole reason he'd brought Gismond along was to build up his lacking combat experience.
A vast cavern. Filled with demonic beasts of a manageable level.
It was the perfect stage.
“By myself?”
“Yes. You didn't come all this way just to watch, did you?”
After a moment of hesitation, Gismond asked.
“What kind of demonic beasts are they?”
“Grade 5 demonic beasts, Zikriks. Giant insects of various sizes. They're skilled at burrowing.”
“Grade 5? That sounds a bit too strong…”
“I'll help you if it gets too dangerous.”
Pernyan had no intention of letting Gismond die here. While not on the level of Ruina or Aint, he was still a useful card to have.
“You'll have to fight demons in the future. Think of this as practice.”
“Me? But we have Aint…”
“Aint can't be everywhere to protect you.”
“That's true… Alright. I can't just keep running away in this world.”
He was actually curious himself.
He wasn't originally from this world. Naturally, he had never properly learned swordsmanship.
He had tried to train by recalling the memories of the real Gismond's training, but there were clear limits.
“I can do this.”
That changed after he met Pernyan. He had sparred with and been coached by powerful individuals at the Bercefe estate, and the same continued after returning to the academy.
The swordsmanship that had only existed in his head was gradually becoming second nature, and he could feel his skills improving significantly.
Above all, Pernyan's words, though gentle, were not a suggestion. They were a command.
Gismond drew his sword. At the same time, Pernyan completely demolished the wall.
Krrrrr-
The gazes of the demonic beasts focused entirely on them. Gismond felt the hair on his body stand on end.
“I can do this. I can do it…!”
Gismond steadied his breathing, trying to push back his fear.
He focused his mind and drew up his aura.
He had learned it late, but the Erdt family's swordsmanship was centered on speed rather than power.
“You learn a swift sword style and then swing it with brute force like an idiot? What a moron…!”
That's what a veteran knight—Haken, or was it Baken?—had told him during a spar.
“Remember this. A swift sword is an explosion.”
No matter how much a human trains, there are limits.
The same goes for speed. Aura was used to break those limits.
The swift sword style was about exploding one's aura to create a recoil, then using that force to push the sword's speed to its absolute limit.
People often mistakenly called it a style that was only fast, but that wasn't true. A strike powered by an explosion couldn't possibly lack force.
He felt his heart pound. Aura raced through the mana pathways of his entire body.
It settled in his sword and legs, then exploded.
—!
An explosion heard only in his mind. In an instant, his body shot through space, adding acceleration to the tip of his sword.
He struck the head of the Zikrik at the forefront.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar and impact, unbelievable for a mere sword thrust.
It was proof that Gismond's aura control was imperfect. But he smiled. He couldn't help but smile.
“It works!”
The head of the Grade 5 demonic beast, the Zikrik, was blown off in a single strike.
An incredible feat he could never have accomplished before.
“Did you find a field of elixirs somewhere? Your body is overflowing with aura. It's like casting pearls before swine, but it's not bad.”
“Because the more aura you have, the more violent and powerful the explosion.”
Haken had been right.
Taking a deep breath to calm his trembling body, Gismond glared at the demonic beasts and growled.
“Come on!”
And then he charged.
Peeeong!
A series of explosions rang out.
Without fail, Zikrik heads exploded one after another.
“I am strong!”
A strength he could never have imagined before possessing this body.
Gismond laughed heartily.
“I am strong!”
The fear of having been possessed into a world where demons descended, a world heading for ruin, was gone.
Right now, he felt confident he could cut down anything.
The superhuman he'd only read about in novels was him.
Kurrrrr-
Just then, the ground rumbled, and a massive shadow rose up.
Another demonic beast. Gismond thrust his sword without hesitation.
Like a runaway car, his strike drew a straight line of light.
———!
A shockwave spread. Aura scattered in all directions.
But the result was completely different from before.
“Keuk…!”
The sword failed to pierce the obstacle. The unreleased recoil struck the user directly.
Gismond coughed up blood and was thrown to the ground.
“What in the…?”
He rubbed his trembling right arm and looked up.
A huge shadow loomed over him.
It was a massive demonic beast. Roughly five meters in size. It resembled a turtle with a giant shell, but it had six legs and two heads.
And the demonic energy it radiated was on a completely different level from the Zikriks.
Gismond realized it instinctively.
“I am weak! I am weak!”
Without even thinking of picking up his dropped sword, he turned his back.
“Help me, Pernyan!”
You said you'd help if it got dangerous!
***
Pernyan enjoys it when someone begs him with tears and snot running down their face.
In most cases, it was people who couldn't repay their loans begging for an extension, or pleading for him to deliver goods.
Reaching that point meant the Fallenbergs had much more to gain.
The Fallenbergs never lent money without collateral.
But Gismond's case was different.
“Seeing you cry is quite pathetic, Gismond Sunbaenim.”
The sight of a demonic beast rolling fiercely with its legs and heads tucked into its shell, and Gismond fleeing with tears and snot streaming down his face, was not something he particularly wanted to see.
“A Terhel, is it?”
The Grade 2 demonic beast, Terhel. A monster resembling a turtle, its shell was said to be harder than most metals.
“It would be perfect for Wooden.”
He could easily imagine Wooden, returned to its original size, fighting with a giant shell shield.
- Kkung?
At the word "shield," Wooden's expression brightened.
“Go. Get your shield yourself.”
And please get that stupid, blubbering face out of my sight.
Wooden grew to a massive size and entered the fray.
“I am strong!”
With Wooden taking on the Grade 2 monster, Gismond regained his confidence and began to slaughter the Zikriks.
That day, they fought three battles and cleared out three caverns.
***
Inside a dark mineshaft.
Adguif walked through the mineshaft with the dwarves who followed him.
The shaft was cool and dark. It was an abandoned mine, so there were no miners or guards to protect them.
Nor were there any lights to dimly illuminate the darkness.
When he reached the end of the shaft, he was surprised to find someone there.
Brilliant blond hair and dark eyes. A man Pernyan would have called "Count" had he seen him.
“Daniel Cole.”
“It's been a while, Adguif. Have you been well?”
“I have.”
“But what is it? To request a meeting so urgently. Is there something special about these days?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, it's just that I've had some business to attend to outside. Nothing for you to worry about.”
Count Daniel smiled faintly, but Adguif's business was far from pleasant.
“I've come to inform you that our relationship ends today.”
“…I see.”
Count Daniel's reaction was different from anything Adguif had expected.
He simply watched Adguif with a cold smile.
“…You're not surprised.”
“I've already been surprised enough.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Is that why you attacked the demonic beasts?”
Adguif was taken aback by the sudden accusation.
“Attacked the demonic beasts?”
“No need for excuses. There's no other culprit but you.”
The demonic beasts hidden deep underground, a place humans and elves wouldn't dare to venture, had been completely wiped out.
“It would be impossible for anyone other than you, who knows their locations from cooperating with me.”
“That's absurd! I did no such thing!”
“I see you have a talent for acting as well.”
Dark demonic energy surged from Count Daniel's body. The surrounding mineshaft collapsed, revealing a hidden cavern.
Hundreds of demonic beasts revealed their ferocious killing intent.
“Do you take us for fools? Did you think you could use us and discard us whenever you pleased?”
Of course not. They wouldn't just laugh and wave goodbye when told they were no longer needed.
“You will pay the price. And you will bitterly regret today's choice. Pathetic creatures.”
“…Yes. I thought as much.”
Adguif gripped the axe on his back. The other dwarves drew their weapons.
He didn't know what Count Daniel was talking about, this attack on the demonic beasts. But it didn't matter.
He had expected the Vile Breeds wouldn't let him go willingly.
“Let me make myself clear as well. I'm not asking for your permission; I'm informing you.”
“An ultimatum is something the powerful deliver. From the weak, it is mere recklessness.”
“That is why I am informing you. I will not sacrifice any more dwarves.”
At his resolve, Count Daniel burst out laughing.
“Phuhuhu, trying to play the hero now? The dwarves you personally sacrificed will be sneering from the afterlife.”
“Let them sneer.”
Adguif laughed as well.
He had no intention of asking for forgiveness in the first place.
“I have certainly sinned against them. But so what? I simply made the best choice I could.”
He didn't expect it.
“Even if I could go back, I would make the same choice.”
“What a trashy thing to say.”
“In your eyes, I may just seem like a dwarf driven mad by kinslaying, easy to exploit.”
But Adguif could endure it all.
“Dozens of times. Hundreds. No, even thousands of times.”
Even if it meant building mountains with the corpses of dwarves and flooding cities with their blood.
“I would always have made the same choice.”
Because as things were, the dwarves had no future.
It was a matter of being isolated and slowly withering away, or killing half to save the other half.
And Adguif had simply chosen to sacrifice the few for the sake of the many.
He didn't care if some called it madness. He didn't care if he was cursed as a villain.
That was his cause, his mission.
If there was one thing he felt sorry about…
…it was that he, thinking the mayor had driven Pernyan Fallenberg away, had uncharacteristically escalated the situation in anger.
“Sophistry. Then why the change of heart now?”
“The situation has changed. Until now, this was the best option. But a more benevolent savior than you has arrived, so there's no reason to persist.”
“You've only made the deaths of the dwarves you killed meaningless, Adguif. Don't act so noble.”
“I have no intention of doing so. I simply push forward with what I believe is right.”
And right now, I believe this choice is the right one. Adguif unleashed his aura.
A brown aura enveloped his axe.
“Therefore.”
Count Daniel manifested his magic.
“You are no longer needed. If you cannot step aside quietly, then die. For the dwarves.”
“Elves and dwarves, these vermin look down on us so!”
The demonic beasts charged.
“Kill that abominable Vile Breed who slaughtered hundreds of his own kind!”
The dwarves gripped their weapons and charged forward.
———!
The mineshaft collapsed.