The Orc Sword Saint
The Orc Sword Saint. Though only a subordinate, the appearance of an S-rank demonic beast sent the raiding hunters into shock.
"R-run... Ghk!"
Another hunter collapsed, vomiting blood. The Orc Sword Saint swept his gaze around, searching for his next target. Then his eyes fixed on where Sojin stood. With the rear secured, going after a healer was almost the obvious choice.
"D-damn it!"
Sojin was in danger. Kang Hyun-jun started running, and Ingi drew up his mana.
"Fall back!"
Ingi seized Sojin by the hood and hurled her backward. It was a rough method, but there was no other way to save her. A flame barrier immediately rose to cut across the space between the Orc Sword Saint and Sojin. In the end, the saint’s blade turned toward the others instead.
"Kraaaagh!"
"Aaaagh!"
The sight of his dazzling sword dance made it look as though he were venting his rage. Watching the hunters who had thrown themselves at him go down helplessly, Kang Hyun-jun bit his lip so hard that blood seeped out.
Did he avoid the vital points?
It was not mercy. It was meant to distract Kang Hyun-jun by leaving the wounded alive.
What a vicious bastard.
Before long, the distance had shrunk to almost nothing.
"Heal!"
With Sojin’s voice came the flow of mana. A pure white light of healing settled one after another over the wounds of the fallen hunters.
Sojin’s complexion went pale. She was forcing herself now. Healing multiple people at once was no easy technique. The mana she had held within her drained away in an instant, and a pain like her skull was about to burst came crashing down on her, but she could not stop.
Eliminate him as fast as possible.
Kang Hyun-jun flicked a glance at Sojin, who was overexerting herself, then charged the Orc Sword Saint with a dazzling sweep of his blade. In the darkness, the Aura Blade flared blue as it aimed for the saint’s left arm.
"Kuh!"
Kang Hyun-jun cried out in pain and staggered back. Blood gushed from his abdomen. He had clearly aimed first for the Orc Sword Saint’s left arm, yet he was the one who got struck.
"Damn it!"
He spat out the curse and swung his sword to halt the saint’s aggressive advance. Even though he had been taught the strongest sword techniques by the Last Sword Saint, Sidenmiller, in the room of past lives, he still had not fully mastered them. Against an S-rank subordinate beast with such deep mastery of swordsmanship, his training was still lacking.
"You wield swordsmanship unknown even among the higher sword arts. Are you a disciple of a Sword Saint?"
The Orc Sword Saint asked while showering him with blade strikes. Kang Hyun-jun blocked them with his shield and lifted his head slightly.
"Do I need to answer?"
"There is no need."
"Kraaaagh!"
By the time the pain hit, the blade had already swept past his thigh. Blood splattered, and the Orc Sword Saint hastily withdrew his sword to launch a second strike. But so did Kang Hyun-jun. The sword he raised was already seeking the enemy’s weakness.
"Heal!"
Sojin’s voice rang out from behind him, and at the same moment he felt the wound in his thigh beginning to recover. But the pace was slower than usual. She had already reached her limit. When he glanced aside, he saw Sojin’s face had turned blue.
Mana exhaustion...
It was the result of excessive mana consumption. She must have been in excruciating pain, yet even so, she refused to stop healing.
"K-Kang Hyun-jun... I'll help you..."
There was desperation in the voice that called him so anxiously. Kang Hyun-jun hardened his resolve and thrust his sword toward the Orc Sword Saint. Then a fierce exchange erupted. Mana fragments sprayed in every direction. As time passed, wounds accumulated on both their bodies.
At first glance it seemed evenly matched, but in truth Kang Hyun-jun was being pushed back little by little. Though he had trained in the room of past lives, it still was not enough to contend with an S-rank subordinate beast specialized in swordsmanship. Sojin had not stopped using Heal, but in a situation where she had to keep moving violently, there was no way the recovery hunter’s mana-depleted healing could work properly.
"Kuh!"
A groan slipped from his lips. The Orc Sword Saint’s blade slipped past the shield with cunning precision and plunged into his abdomen. But Kang Hyun-jun was not taking it lying down. The sword he swung also carved deeply into the saint’s chest.
"A human brat...!"
The Orc Sword Saint’s pride had been wounded, too, but he had no choice but to retreat in a hurry. He had suffered injuries as serious as Kang Hyun-jun’s, so continuing the exchange was impossible. While the assault broke and the distance opened, Kang Hyun-jun reset his stance as well.
"Heal!"
Sojin’s weary voice came with a wash of white light over his wounds. Kang Hyun-jun shifted his eyes briefly to gauge her condition. It was not good. Her face had gone blue. That meant the mana exhaustion was severe. But she still did not stop healing. She was pouring Heal not only into Kang Hyun-jun, but into every fallen hunter as well.
The bleeding is bad...
He held a defensive stance, keeping the Orc Sword Saint in check while checking his own condition. The blood loss was enough to blur his vision slightly. Without Dantzig’s blessing and Sojin’s faint healing, he would have collapsed already.
No...
Kang Hyun-jun shook his head. The instant he went down here, the raiding team would be annihilated, and Sojin would lose her life. He ignored the pain and raised his sword once more.
*
"Kraaaagh!"
A cry full of pain tore through the chamber. It was Kang Hyun-jun’s voice. He was trading ferocious blows with the Orc Sword Saint to protect everyone. Sojin could not even follow their exchanges with her eyes, yet even she could tell that with each passing moment, Kang Hyun-jun was becoming more and more bloodied.
"Please! Pleeease!"
Sojin screamed as though begging, pouring mana into herself, but once her mana was already drained, there was no way her healing would work properly. Kang Hyun-jun’s injuries showed no sign of healing, and instead, as the battle dragged on, they only deepened.
"Heal! Heal! Heal!"
Pain like her whole body was being torn apart crashed over her, but she did not stop casting healing. She knew she was suffering mana exhaustion. She knew that if she kept consuming mana, it could spiral into mana rampage and threaten her life. But she wanted to help, even a little. She wanted to save Kang Hyun-jun. If she could save him.
Even if I die, that's fine.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She hated herself for being so helpless, so useless that it was sickening.
"Cough!"
As if mana rampage had begun, a violent fit of coughing burst from her throat and bright blood spilled from her mouth. The pain grew even worse. Her whole body spasmed and trembled, but she still did not stop using Heal. The instant she coughed up blood again, the Orc Sword Saint’s blade pierced Kang Hyun-jun’s chest.
"N-nooooo!"
Her despairing scream shook the stone chamber.
You sacrificed yourself for someone precious to you. You have met the minimum conditions required to challenge the Paladin Trial overseen by the Dungeon Guardian God. If you overcome the trial, you will gain powerful strength capable of protecting the one you cherish.
The Absolute Emperor, Romanov, has invoked his imperial authority to forcibly skip the Paladin Trial.
From this moment on, you have inherited the will of the Noble Paladin. Raise your sword to protect the one precious to you.
A nameless voice pierced her ear. Sojin shook her head, thinking it must be an auditory hallucination, trying to drive it away, but it was useless. And when at last the voice finished speaking, she felt an overwhelming torrent of mana flooding into her body.
"W-what is this..."
Her voice trembled. Sojin could not understand what was happening to her. But her wavering in the midst of utter confusion did not last long.
Noble Paladin, raise your sword. Protect the one precious to you.
Along with the mana filling her body, fragments of broken memories flowed in. There was no room to fully digest them. She still could not make sense of the situation, but at the very least, it was clear that her mana had replenished and strength was surging through her body. And within the flood of those fractured memories, the method of use for several helpful techniques was carved into her mind.
"I have to protect him..."
It was an unknown power. She began to think this power might be enough to protect Kang Hyun-jun. Perhaps it had been taught to her by some wicked demon; perhaps there was some dreadful price waiting for her. But it did not matter. If it meant she could protect the one precious to her, she would even offer her life.
"Light!"
Instinctively, she shouted the activation word she had found in her memories, and pure white light settled over Sojin’s body. It was a sacred buff used by paladins. Before she knew it, she had drawn the short sword at her waist, and her gaze locked onto the Orc Sword Saint.
"C-could it be... second awakening...?"
Ingi, the leader of Raid Team 2, who had been knocked down, felt the overwhelming pulse of mana and struggled to lift his head. Soon his eyes caught sight of Sojin’s back, wrapped in holy mana.
"Holy Spear!"
"Kraaaagh!"
She shouted another activation word she had found among the fragments of memory, and a spear formed of sacred mana shot forward to pierce the Orc Sword Saint’s thigh. He stopped swinging his blade at Kang Hyun-jun and staggered.
"Ripper!"
Kang Hyun-jun did not miss the chance. He drew mana up and called upon Ripper.
The blood of slaughter awakened the slumbering killing intent of Ripper. A portion of its deadly malice has been released.
Ripper responded.
With a heavy boom, the released killing intent briefly paralyzed the Orc Sword Saint’s entire body and shook him from within. Kang Hyun-jun’s sword then went straight for the saint’s abdomen. It was only a split second, but the body numb from Ripper’s killing intent reacted too slowly. The saint lifted his blade to defend against Kang Hyun-jun’s strike, but
"Carthago!"
At the same time as the thunderous shout, the Orc Sword Saint saw a shield wrapped in aura rushing toward his face with terrifying speed.
BOOM!
With the collision, the Orc Sword Saint was sent flying and slammed into the wall. Part of the wall collapsed, burying him under a heap of rubble.
"Did we get him?"
But Kang Hyun-jun soon had no choice but to shake his head. An artificial wind blew away the dust. As the rubble exploded outward, the Orc Sword Saint’s figure emerged.
"Aura Armor..."
Kang Hyun-jun bit his lip slightly. Blue aura had gathered over the Orc Sword Saint’s face. It seemed he had concentrated Aura Armor on his face to block the shield impact, but even so, his cheekbone was badly caved in.
"You human bastard..."
"Noona! Heal!"
Without taking his eyes off the Orc Sword Saint, he called for healing. He had no desire to know right now how Sojin had suddenly gained this power. What mattered was that she could help now.
"Heal!"
As soon as Sojin’s voice rang out, white light settled over his wound. In an instant, the injury began to recover. It was a healing amount that could not even be compared to before. That made it certain.
She was.
A second awakening user.