Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Isht's Spear
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The journey with Shatia was incredibly smooth.
Even Timac and the other underground dwellers seemed highly skilled at subterranean life from Arsen's perspective, but the knights of the Guider bloodline were on an entirely different level as guides.
They used bizarre secret passages more often than ordinary corridors during their travels.
"This way, there's a magic beast ahead."
Leading the group was a man named Wigen.
They all looked similar, making it hard to distinguish individuals, but he was the slimmest and most slender in build.
His weapon was a short sword specialized for thrusting, with an unusually sharp tip—it didn't seem suited for frontal combat.
It was more like a weapon designed for ambushing enemies.
Surprisingly, ever since following Wigen's lead, they hadn't encountered a single magic beast.
For Arsen, who had brute-forced his way down the central passages, slaughtering every magic beast in sight and charging toward the ballista installations, it was impossible not to be impressed.
"Auntie, there's a trap ahead."
During the march, Wigen called out to Shatia.
Arsen detected not tension or fear in his voice, but annoyance.
"How many?"
"Probably around ten... maybe a bit fewer."
"I'll wait. Go handle it."
With a nod, Wigen leaped from his spot and clung to the wall. It was a movement utterly impossible for a knight in metal armor.
Climbing the wall with a sword in one hand, he vanished like a spider.
Arsen turned to Shatia with a question.
"How do you know?"
"What do you mean? About the traps?"
"The movements of the other magic beasts too. If it's a secret, you don't have to tell me."
Shatia shook her head at Arsen's words.
"It's not that big a secret. Wigen has superior hearing compared to others. That's why he's our best guide. He hears them in advance, that's all."
Arsen thought of Zenovia, the knight he had grown close to in Belluan. Wigen seemed to possess a similar ability.
Zenovia had suffered more than benefited from hers, but in this underground world where visibility was severely limited, exceptional hearing was a special asset.
Moments later, Wigen returned, his clothes and sword splattered with blood.
It wasn't hard to guess it wasn't his own. There were no wounds on his body, after all.
"All taken care of."
"Good work. Let's move on."
Their exchange was as casual as swatting a mosquito. As if the underground hegemons, the ollmu, were just ordinary prey.
Not long after, the ollmu that Wigen had dealt with came into view.
'Whoa...'
Eight ollmu lay dead, sprawled in various places.
From their positions, they hadn't died in a proper fight—they seemed to have been killed while fleeing or covering their eyes.
Though Arsen hadn't seen it firsthand, these weren't foes Wigen could handle alone at that level, so he looked at him with curiosity.
"Impressive. Did you take them all down by yourself?"
At the question, Wigen gave an awkward smile and showed off something like a bracer on his forearm.
"It's a tool that emits intense light. I sneaked up, triggered it, and attacked. Ollmu go temporarily blind from strong light—that's what I exploited. Their hearing is sharp, but I can manage if I kill my presence while fighting."
In other words, he hadn't fought head-on; he'd blinded them all with light and massacred them unilaterally.
With that method, dispatching this number in a short time wouldn't be too difficult.
'Less like a knight, more like a hunter... no, an assassin's style.'
In the dark, narrow underground world, it was a technique evolved to survive against the dominant ollmu species. And its effectiveness was already proven once it landed.
A plain knight who could barely handle five ollmu head-on had slaughtered eight without a scratch.
After praising the creative approach, Arsen asked Shatia,
"Is there a reason you're avoiding magic beasts but hunting ollmu?"
"Ollmu are too numerous and dangerous. Magic beasts aren't hunted much unless they're excessively strong, as they serve as food for the other residents, but ollmu just become a bigger nuisance the more they multiply. If they get too many, even we have to flee."
True enough, ambushing like this could only handle dozens at most—not hundreds.
If cornered, these ordinary knights would be crushed under sheer numbers.
As Arsen nodded, Shatia calmly ordered them to advance.
During the march, Wigen raised his hand again, and the entire group halted.
Arsen caught a faint sense of crisis on Wigen's face as he scanned the group.
"Ollmu. Roughly thirty to forty... it's echoing a bit, so hard to pinpoint exactly. They're heading this way. This isn't even their territory."
"Can you handle it alone?"
"No way. I'd die."
Wigen joked lightly.
Shatia smiled faintly in response, scratched her chin as if pondering briefly.
Then, with resolve, she declared firmly.
"Alright. A bit annoying, but better to clear them here. Everyone, attack together."
At that moment, one of the three young knights raised an objection.
"Shouldn't we leave them here? They're not used to fighting here, so they'll just get in the way."
The tone was blatantly condescending.
The burliest of the three, probably Basha? The only one who had looked at him with disdain.
No, more like contempt.
Arsen met his gaze squarely and replied.
"No, we'll come along. More hands can't hurt, right."
He wanted to gauge their skills firsthand and show a lesson to avoid being underestimated before the fight.
And since fighting their own would only breed resentment no matter how he proved his strength, demonstrating it on other targets was easier.
Ollmu, in particular, were perfect—no need for restraint or mercy.
Shatia stared at Arsen for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, let's see your skills. And Basha?"
"Yes."
"Don't mumble—use proper titles. Arsen is your brother."
"......Understood."
Basha bowed his head and murmured.
As they approached the ollmu location, Shatia and the other guardians began scaling the walls using irregularities, just as Wigen had done earlier.
Naturally, Arsen didn't. He wasn't skilled at wall-climbing anyway.
[Eli, I could use some support.]
[Got it.]
He added, glancing at Maroon,
"Sir Maroon, please look after the young lady."
"Don't worry about a thing!"
Her mock arm-roll didn't inspire much confidence. If anything, it was the opposite.
Arsen sighed inwardly and advanced toward the ollmu.
'Let's give it a try.'
The plan was simple: Eloise would disrupt the enemies, Arsen would charge in, and the Guider bloodline guardians would ambush from the sides.
Shatia had voiced concerns about one knight charging thirty-plus ollmu, but she nodded along to Arsen's insistence that it was no issue.
Arsen didn't miss her muttering softly as she agreed.
"Won't hurt to test him."
Arsen didn't say her judgment was off.
Nothing drives it home like seeing it firsthand.
[The moment I say so, blast light forward. Then just keep them from coming your way.]
[Okay. Don't worry about me. If any come this way, I'll sweep them all.]
After instructing Eloise, Arsen urged the Black Lion forward slowly toward the ollmu.
There were more ollmu in sight than expected. Forty, maybe fifty.
Spotting Arsen, the ollmu tilted their heads in confusion before approaching him.
"Hmm?"
"Human."
"Human, alone."
"Catch it."
"Big, monster. Shoot it."
Each carrying a crossbow, they appeared to be elites of sorts.
A normal knight charging head-on would have been showered in bolts and killed or incapacitated in seconds.
"Huu...."
Steadying his breath, Arsen began his charge.
The ground-kicking Black Lion surged forward at lightning speed, prompting the astonished ollmu to aim their crossbows in unison.
"Reckless!"
Shatia's urgent voice echoed from afar.
Then the ollmu barrage began.
Arsen's relic for detecting projectiles predicted the impact points.
Eight arrows headed for his body.
With his thoughts accelerated to the limit, the arrows seemed frozen, and his sharpened senses identified which would hit and their trajectories.
[Now!]
At the signal, Arsen positioned his axe in front and deftly deflected the arrows.
Of the eight aimed at him, five struck the blade and three the haft, all rebounding.
Simultaneously, an immense light poured from behind, as if the sun had risen.
Directed at the forward-focused ollmu shooters.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"Kroooaaak!"
Amid the blinded ollmu's screams, the wolf finally infiltrated the sheep flock.
And the one-sided slaughter began.
The swung axe severed two or three necks in an instant, while the mounted Black Lion lashed out with its forepaws under Arsen's control, wreaking havoc.
By the time the ollmu partially regained their sight after a dozen seconds or so, nearly half were already annihilated.
The ollmu charged Arsen in rage.
"Cowardly human!"
"Kill it!"
Riding the Black Lion, Arsen's weight made silent stalking impossible for assassination.
Thus, even half-blind, they detected his footsteps and rushed him.
Their blades gleamed menacingly, but Arsen—who could unilaterally butcher even healthy ollmu until exhaustion—had no reason to fear half-blinded ones.
"Come on!"
Taunting them, Arsen leaned back to dodge their slashes, then swung his axe with overwhelming power and speed.
Four approaching ollmu were diced in an instant. Followed by the Black Lion's maw opening to spew flames.
Witnessing ten kin burn at once, the survivors judged they couldn't win and turned to flee.
Then Shatia's shout rang from somewhere.
"Attack!"
From the ceiling—what Arsen hadn't watched.
The guardians clinging to it and nearby pillars pounced nimbly, cutting off the ollmu's escape.
They struck the fleeing ollmu's backs like wild predators.
In the end, none escaped successfully.
After the one-sided battle, the bloodline's gazes toward Arsen had completely flipped. Basha, the challenger, couldn't even meet his eyes.
Shatia spoke in genuine admiration.
"I'd heard you were skilled and sensed it somewhat, but... this exceeds imagination. We barely did anything at this point."
"I'm still sorely lacking. Wigen's method helped a lot too."
She laughed incredulously at his words.
"That's not humility—that's arrogance."
All the bloodline guardians nodded in agreement, even Eloise and Maroon.
Arsen fell silent, at a loss for words.
* * *
"We've arrived."
The Guider bloodline's home base was at the deepest end of a side passage—the safest spot from ollmu threats.
After three secret passages, a vast cavern opened up, dotted with religious-looking structures like altars or shrines.
"Bigger than I expected."
With this scale, contrary to her words, there'd be ample space for Arsen's group.
Shatia gave an awkward smile at his remark.
"Many of those buildings are off-limits. Shrines for honoring ancestors and such. Stocking enough food here to feed your subordinates isn't feasible either."
Bringing them would have taken far longer to reach, Arsen agreed.
They'd made it this fast with just three on mechanical beasts; soldiers or regular mages on mounts would have multiplied the time.
"First, let's pay our respects. Your great-uncle is especially looking forward to it."
As they entered, people began appearing, sensing their presence.
All had jet-black hair and eerie, glowing purple eyes marking them as kin.
"Shatia's back."
"Then that blond boy over there is him?"
"Vitea's son, they say."
"He does look like her. No need for verification tools."
"His eyes are a bit dull, though?"
"Well, he's a surface half-blood—what can you expect."
Their whispers rivaled a marketplace, shattering Arsen's faint illusions about the Guider bloodline.
In the end, everywhere was much the same with people.
Deeper in, a balding middle-aged man of small build bowed to Shatia.
His eye color, looks, and demeanor suggested he wasn't bloodline.
"Miss, the family head awaits. He said to bring... the young master who's returned right away."
"Knew it. Hear that, Arsen?"
Arsen nodded calmly.
"Got it. Let's go see him."
[156 - Isht's Spear]
In a spacious room, Arsen sat across a table from an elderly man.
The old man eyed him and let out a short groan.
"Hmm...."
A persistent, probing gaze on Arsen.
Not an ordinary elder by any means.
He was a knight, towering at 2.4 meters, with a muscular build so massive his neck seemed as thick as his head.
Judging by his seventy-something appearance, he'd been even more robust in youth.
His piercing gaze pierced like a hawk's.
This elder was Everic, father to Shatia and Vitea—Arsen's great-uncle and head of the Guider bloodline.
Everic spoke in a low voice.
"You know who I am."
"Yes, Great-Uncle. I've heard you're the family head leading the bloodline."
"Right, that's me."
Arsen's great-uncle, Everic, nodded.
"Head of the Guider bloodline, first guardian, eldest grandson of Radus, master of the lightning hand...."
Rattling off titles, he trailed off flatly.
"Skip the fluff at the end. Family head or whatever—that's irrelevant now."
With that, Everic extended his hand.
A thick, rough, scar-covered hand proving he'd survived countless battles.
Arsen reached out and clasped it, feeling the coarse, wrinkled texture.
"I had Shatia and Vitea late in life. Both irreplaceable treasures, impossible to rank."
Shatia looked mid-thirties, Everic nearing seventy—the stark gap had tipped him off from first sight.
Twins, so his mother Vitea was around that age too.
"Unlike the quiet, reliable Shatia, Vitea was lively and mischievous from childhood. I scolded her often, but she kept life vibrant in this house."
The old man's eyes no longer saw Arsen.
He reminisced on over a decade ago, when his daughter still lived here. Smiling brightly at her father.
Before long, tears welled in the old man's eyes.
"Why...."
Fat tears fell as he pounded Arsen's chest. The feeble blows mismatched his massive frame, seeming pitiful.
"Why did you leave before this old father, foolish girl."
Everic saw his daughter in Arsen's face.
The one who left seeking freedom, now dead and sending only her child.
Arsen sat quietly, letting the old man vent. It dragged on for dozens of minutes.
* * *
Later, Everic composed himself, donning an iron mask over his face.
The elder asked Arsen brusquely.
"You're not staying here, right?"
"Auntie already told you that much?"
Shatia and Arsen had come straight from Timac's without sending anyone ahead.
Arsen had come alone to see Everic upon arrival.
"We have tools to relay messages over distances. Not much detail, but essentials work."
Likely an upgraded relic like the earrings he and Eloise shared.
Arsen nodded politely without prying, respecting boundaries.
Though his expression didn't change, Everic seemed pleased, his tone warming slightly.
"Good, well-raised. Who's your father?"
"Sir Lenoc, knight of Crata Citadel in Belluan territory. Here, they'd call him a guardian."
"Fortunate. Vitea chose well."
Evidently, they hadn't mentioned Lenoc abducting and making her a concubine.
This doting father might collapse if he knew.
Or perhaps sparing Arsen—knowing it would taint Lenoc's son.
"I've prepared something for you. Oron-uncle struggled to retrieve it, as only Guiders can. Thank him when you meet."
"Understood."
Oron-uncle was easy to guess: one of the two successors here, too elderly to move much. If Everic in his seventies called him uncle, his age was unimaginable.
"Right.... Keeping you this long alone isn't proper. Hey, is dinner ready?"
"All set, family head."
The servant bowed deeply.
* * *
Led by his great-uncle to the dining hall, people were already seated at the long table.
Shatia stood out among them, nodding at Arsen in greeting.
Naturally, Eloise and Maroon were absent. Even if mages were revered underground, dining beside them would be awkward.
They had luxurious meals separately, so no complaints.
Everic waved his thick arm grandly.
"Introduce yourself. Shatia knows you, but the others are new."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Arsen, son of Vitea."
Arsen greeted the main Guider bloodline family—his closest relatives.
The man in his forties was uncle Dorit, next family head; beside him, aunt Raya; their children, cousins Rite and Turik.
Introducing the young boy, Everic smiled faintly.
"This is the youngest, Turik. A Guider like you."
The boy Everic introduced was young—seven or eight perhaps.
Intimidated by the stranger, Turik hid behind his sister, refusing to emerge.
"Turik... don't hide. It's rude."
Each time sister Rite tried pushing him out, he clung to her sleeve like a lifeline.
Hard to imagine this timid child harbored ruin-dominating power.
"Nice to meet you, Turik."
"N-Nice... to meet... you...."
So shy he couldn't even look Arsen in the eye.
Forcing it would feel like bullying, so Arsen backed away slowly and sat.
Watching quietly, Everic said,
"Come, welcome the long-lost family... let's eat."
* * *
As befitted noble treatment, the meal was delicious.
Unknown spices abounded, and the tender, savory meat suggested dedicated livestock. He didn't ask what kind.
Few underground meats stayed appetizing once identified.
Talk centered on the underground world's state.
"Heard an ollmu hero died up front recently."
"Good news. Who got it?"
"Beram—a notable guardian there. Costly sacrifices, but better to cull them when possible."
Ollmu heroes were rare special specimens among them, faster and stronger than average knights, infamous.
But so few they were rare in human areas—only encountered raiding ollmu bases, not major threats.
Then Shatia turned to Arsen smugly.
"My nephew could've handled an ollmu hero easily. Brother would faint seeing him fight."
"That good?"
"Of course. On the way, we ran into an ollmu army...."
Shatia recounted the tale gleefully.
How valiant Arsen overwhelmed fifty ollmu head-on, forcing flight—with exaggerations.
He had the ability, so not entirely false.
Everic, listening, turned to Arsen.
"Such a strong guardian from our bloodline is a true blessing. Arsen, tell us about the surface. None here have seen the outside world."
Arsen nodded politely.
"Of course, Grandfather."
At Everic's request, Arsen became a skilled storyteller, describing the surface.
Plenty of tales from traveling countless territories and unimaginable adventures.
Narvik's knight mafia wars; the central continent-splitting Wiju Mountains, blocked by a colossal bandit lord.
Manar territory hunting mages; mysterious Darkwood barrier.
Giant relic city Shatien swarming hundreds of knights; relic-packed trap ruins and steel giant-guarded ones.
Gal aio desert; sand king's colossal form rising beneath endless dunes....
Even the initially friendly grew entranced; the skeptical forgot their bias, faces blank.
Shy Turik sparkled, asking eagerly.
"W-Weren't you scared, brother?"
"Not scared—too vast for reality. Creatures bigger than our habitats moving. Some companions might've wet themselves."
"Ah...."
Arsen glimpsed adventurer spirit in the boy's eyes. The gaze of one piercing peril for desire.
The weak, timid facade was gone.
"I wanna see it too!"
"Train more when older. Become a knight—guardian here—to protect yourself outside. Even guardians aren't safe there."
In the underground with scant large magic beasts, knights' biggest threat was ollmu hordes.
But surface had ma-in rivaling knights, and common magic beasts overpowering them.
Knights traveling in groups had reasons.
* * *
Post-meal, Everic led Arsen to a shrine-like building deep in the residence.
The stone structure was aged but dustless, well-maintained.
"Here stores our ancestors' treasures for descendants. Only the family head enters."
"Yes."
First image: a muscular elder sweating while scrubbing floors.
If non-heads can't enter, only he cleans inside.
Arsen restrained asking about cleaning frequency.
"Of course, some items can't be touched by non-Guiders, so even as head, I can't retrieve them. What I'm giving you is one such."
The displayed items screamed relics, from archaic style.
At center, unlike ornate-cased others, one relic lay plainly on the floor.
"This is for you. Isht's Spear. A mighty weapon only Guiders can wield."
A fancy name, but Arsen couldn't agree. He'd seen its form before.
'No, this is....'
The sleek metal shaft was a fine spear.
The problem: the blade end.
Its shape resembled something Arsen had seen multiple times.
Not this world—but his past life.
'......A drill?'