Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Nederman (1)
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Rumble.
The surrounding buildings, unable to withstand the shockwave, collapsed.
The plaza, overturned and cracked into ruins.
From the deeply cratered ground caused by the massive explosion, a man staggered to his feet.
His appearance was no different from rags, smeared with dirt and flowing blood.
He had barely stood when he crumbled again, dropping to his knees with a thud.
“……Damn it.”
A self-mocking curse escaped the lips of the man with his head bowed.
“So the title of Dragon Hunter isn’t just for show.”
A black shadow fell over him. Nederman looked up at the owner of the shadow. Isoluuni was gazing down at him. Nederman bared his bloodied teeth in a languid smile.
“It would’ve been nicer to hear that after I won.”
Isoluuni met his gaze, revealing her fangs.
“It might have been. But now you’ll never be called by that name again. I’m going to take both your arms myself.”
Her lips twisted cruelly.
Losing one’s arms would be a huge shock even for ordinary people, but for a swordsman, it was akin to a death sentence.
Especially both arms.
Nederman made a troubled expression.
“Hey, that’s too much for a first meeting. You’ve got to leave me at least one arm for forking food, right? A person can’t be that heartless.”
He glanced at the female agents standing behind her and continued.
“Well, if those pretty ladies promise to feed me, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Funny guy.”
Kamiang licked her red tongue as she watched him.
“I could play with you for about a month.”
“Huh? Just a month? I’m way more charming than that. I’m more substantial than I look.”
“You’ve got quite the composure even now.”
Isoluuni looked at him with interest, even as he kept up his banter in this situation.
“I’ll leave you one arm, as you wished.”
“Oh, thanks. You’re someone I can talk to after all. If I’ve offended you before, I’ll apologize right now.”
As Nederman brightened and spoke, Isoluuni simply shook her head.
“No need. I’ll take your tongue instead of the second arm.”
……Damn bastard.
Swallowing his urge to curse, Nederman forced an awkward smile to plead for mercy.
“How about showing a bit more generosity?”
Nederman naturally didn’t want to lose his tongue or his arms.
He had lived his whole life enjoying wordplay and swinging his sword. To take both at once?
That was going too far.
Seeing Isoluuni’s menacing expression, Nederman hurriedly continued.
“How about making a deal with me?”
“I’ll hear it after I rip out your tongue.”
“It’s a deal with your arms and tongue as collateral. Don’t you want to at least listen?”
Isoluuni looked at him. Nederman seized the opportunity and spoke.
“The White Lion you’re after. I know that guy’s face. Of course, I know where he is too. But I need my tongue to talk, right?”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Why would I lie in this situation? Take one arm first, and if it turns out to be false later, you can take the other arm and my tongue. No loss for you, right?”
Isoluuni nodded after briefly calculating the gains and losses.
“Fine. I’ll hold off on the tongue for now.”
“Whew. Good thinking. Let’s settle for one arm. You’re a bigger man than you look.”
Nederman let out a sigh of relief and extended his left arm horizontally.
“Come on, make it clean in one go.”
But Isoluuni shook her head, seemingly dissatisfied with something. Knowing what that meant, Nederman lowered his left arm and raised his right.
“……Stingy.”
Nederman smiled bitterly.
He would never hold a sword in his right hand again.
His heart already ached at the thought.
It was the sword he had honed his entire life.
Losing his right arm was no different from a death sentence, but it was still better than actually dying……
Comforting himself like that, Nederman closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth.
Isoluuni’s raised sword blocked the sunlight before dropping vertically.
Boom!
A powerful explosion and a raging gust of wind.
The wind wasn’t coming from him.
In the unexpected situation, Nederman hurriedly opened his eyes and saw Isoluuni frantically retreating.
Kwarung!
Isoluuni was deflecting a blue beam shooting like an arrow and falling back.
‘What the—’
Before he could grasp the situation, something landed beside him. As he turned to check, his body floated up—whoosh.
With his stamina depleted, Nederman flew far away, tumbling across the ground.
Crash.
“Urgh.”
Forcing himself up, he clutched his waist and looked at the man who had thrown him. He couldn’t see the face from the back, but he wore a mask.
‘White Lion?’
Regaining his senses, Nederman hurriedly looked down at his intact right arm.
He spun it around, moved it every which way, touched it with his left hand, confronting the dreamlike reality.
The right arm he thought he’d lose was perfectly attached!
“Feels like I grew an extra arm or something?”
His lips stretched into a grin involuntarily.
His mood soared like walking on clouds, but it wasn’t time to relax yet.
The prairie wolves who had cornered him were still alive and well, and his own stamina was rock bottom.
Could the White Lion handle them alone?
Having witnessed their strength just moments ago, he honestly felt skeptical.
But the White Lion wasn’t an idiot who would come without any plan.
‘At least not as planless as me.’
He shifted his attention from his right arm to the confrontation ahead.
“It’s you. Heh.”
Isoluuni laughed as she looked at the White Lion. At his appearance, the prairie wolves who had been hanging back stepped forward to stand in line.
The White Lion spoke.
“If you don’t want to die pathetically, you’ll have to go all out.”
An arrogant demeanor, and in his hand was an imperial long sword. Nederman tilted his head at the sight.
‘Not that guy after all?’
The one he suspected carried a sword style unseen on the continent.
But this one held an imperial long sword.
Of course, he couldn’t jump to conclusions based on that alone. With a mask covering his face, it was natural he’d switched swords.
Looking closely at the White Lion again, Nederman snapped his fingers, convinced of his identity.
‘My guess was right after all.’
Aside from the sword, the physique and the way he gripped it matched that guy.
While Nederman deduced the White Lion’s identity, the plaza’s air grew denser, taut with tension.
“Arrogant bastard. Let’s see your skills then.”
As Isoluuni twisted her lips and assumed a stance, a formidable aura emanated centered on them.
The gust following the burst of energy swept the plaza. Nederman bit his lower lip watching the White Lion face it head-on.
‘If only we could fight together……’
Feeling their aura on his skin, it was clear the White Lion’s chances were slim.
Having faced the prairie wolves directly, their strength was real.
Perhaps from rolling through battlefields and doing dirty deeds together, their coordination was seamless.
Unless one was a Sword Master, no one could handle them alone.
“Tch, looks like I’ll lose my tongue too.”
He smacked his lips. He had tried to escape this pinch by selling out the White Lion’s location, but now that he had walked in himself, it was meaningless.
At least his path to death wouldn’t be lonely, but without a tongue, he couldn’t even talk, so that was pointless too.
“……Now what.”
As Nederman pondered ways to save his tongue and arms, their clash began.
Boom!
The battle started from Isoluuni’s toes. His form seemed to sink and scatter, only to suddenly rise before the White Lion.
Then, a horizontal line of dark red light slashed across.
Aura was mostly blue, but depending on the cultivation method, it could be other colors.
Among them, dark red was the most sinister and vicious aura.
He knew it well, having experienced it himself.
The enemies’ assault didn’t stop there. As Isoluuni slashed, Parfe followed with his spear.
The growing shadow of the spear encroached on space and fell.
Kwarung!
Explosions rang out in succession from the interlocking attacks, and the aftermath flipped the ground, raising thick clouds of dust.
Moments later, the White Lion burst through the clouds, revealing his form.
Unscathed, without a scratch.
Then, a jet-black whip flew at him.
Snap!
Writhing like a serpent’s body, the whip dominated the surroundings.
It was Kamiang’s attack.
Her whip relentlessly and viciously tore through the space where the White Lion stood.
It was then that Nederman’s eyes widened.
Afterimages bloomed as if the White Lion’s form multiplied, and the whip lost its target, merely upheaving the ground.
Kwarung!
“…….”
In that instant, having seen the White Lion’s movements, Nederman put aside thoughts of escape for a moment and focused on their battle.
Scree—
Horquin’s side slash was already aiming for the White Lion’s back.
A stealthy, sharp sound, sweeping at the ankle like cutting rice stalks.
The White Lion swung his sword low enough to touch the ground, deflecting it.
Kwang!
In that split second as the White Lion’s gaze dropped, a hammer plummeted vertically from above.
Kwaaang!
The ground that blocked the heavy blow cracked like a spiderweb, spewing soil vertically.
A blow heavy enough to transmit vibrations through the toes.
He dodged it with fluid movements, but only for a moment.
Without giving him a breath, Isoluuni and the other agents’ sword strikes poured down on the White Lion.
True to those who rolled through battlefields, their irregular swordsmanship meshed like gears, pressuring the White Lion.
‘……It felt like fighting one person.’
Nederman recalled facing them, gripping his sweaty hands as if he were fighting himself.
Ku-kwarung!
The plaza screamed massively as it withstood their attacks.
The wolves’ assaults on the White Lion continued relentlessly.
As if they had a rule never to let go once they bit, they hounded him viciously without respite.
Nederman stuck out his tongue watching their combined assault.
Even he, who had endured it somewhat, was impressive.
‘I earned my reputation too.’
……But what the hell was that guy?
Their onslaught was no less—no, fiercer—than against him, but his response was different.
Unlike him, who had desperately swung his sword on the defensive, this one nullified their attacks with elegant, fluid movements.
‘Insane.’
Nederman couldn’t hold back his exclamation at the sight. Each movement sparked small insights in his mind.
Like long ago, when learning and mastering the sword, watching him felt fresh.
Movements he couldn’t replicate even in death.
‘That bastard, a Sword Master?’
Too early to say, but his level was different. At least his body movements had reached Sword Master.
Seeing that, Nederman felt a sliver of hope grow.
“Rat-like bastard. You’re pretty good at running.”
A brief lull.
Isoluuni spoke, seizing the gap.
The White Lion replied calmly.
“Is this your full power?”
Hearing that indifferent voice, Nederman felt his heart stir.
Despite the fierce battle moments ago, his breathing was steady. Even standing still, an air of leisure emanated from him.
Not the feigned leisure he put on with oiled words.
Leisure born from overwhelming power.
The voice of one confident in victory.
‘……Maybe he can win?’
Hope was thickening.
That’s when killing intent arose from behind. Already sensing the approach, Nederman twisted lightly to dodge the sword, snatched it, and severed the throat in one motion.
Spurt!
The severed head spun through the air, spraying blood.
Nederman bellowed at the crows trying to surround him.
“You heartless bastards. Knights or not, watching a once-in-a-lifetime duel and still pulling side tricks? Don’t you know the unwritten rule that even dogs don’t mess with fight spectators?”
Nederman spun the sword, feigning composure. Unlike the White Lion, it was leisure manufactured with tongue oil. In truth, with his stamina drained, even holding the sword was taxing.
Proof was the faint tremble in his sword hand.
“Stand down.”
Erka said to his subordinates.
“No need to intervene and suppress now.”
At his words, those pressuring Nederman stepped back. Even depleted, the opponent was the Dragon Hunter. No need for unnecessary casualties.
The outcome would be decided by that fight anyway.
Knowing that well, Nederman shifted his gaze back to the battlefield with a long smile.
“Let’s watch together which side the goddess of victory favors. Our fates probably hinge on it.”
A deal with no loss even in defeat.
“I bet my tongue and both arms on the White Lion winning. What’ll you bet?”
Nederman decided to go big.