Chapter 188: Bloody Revenge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188: Bloody Revenge
“For Blood Dagger!”
Gark gripped his sword. The Chieftain’s words had been true. He recalled the sound of Ragia’s voice, her expression hardening at the sight of the young eastern chieftain who had come to their village for monster meat.
‘Please tell me the location one more time. Half Blade and Mirror Blade will prepare to move out at once…’
He had been briefed on the situation as he rushed here.
“Grrrrrrr…”
Revenge for what happened three years ago. He could easily guess why the other clan members hadn't been told. Blood Dagger might not have seemed to care much for the three clan members who hadn't died an honorable death, but Gark, who observed him more closely than anyone, knew he had taken the incident to heart.
Blood Dagger was definitely worried.
He was always worried, always agonizing over the possibility that his warriors, including Gark himself, might easily lose their lives.
That was why he never fought recklessly.
That was why Blood Dagger always thought ahead, inviting his clan members only to the most advantageous battlefields.
While he was grateful for his chieftain’s consideration, to Gark, it was a form of humiliation. He felt that they were holding him back.
So Gark swung his sword.
He swung it day and night. Not to become his equal, but simply to stop being a burden. To stop holding Blood Dagger back.
And yet, they were still being worried over. To be precise, they weren't being trusted. The very fact that he thought he had to win this fight alone proved it. If Gark had been stronger, if he hadn't been a source of worry, he would have been here from the start. All he felt was rage at himself.
Gark raised his sword and stared at his opponent.
A strong opponent, but one he had to overcome. An opponent he had to defeat to earn recognition.
This was a test of sorts. The human before him was strong, but this was a battle he absolutely could not lose. Gark began to glare at the man with the longsword.
“Grrrrrrrrrrr.”
Perhaps from the thrill of battle, his eyes kept turning red and his muscles swelled as if they would explode. His breath caught in his throat, and heat radiated from his entire body.
Letting out a scream that had been caught in his throat, Gark charged. Their swords were of similar length. In terms of pure skill, the human was undoubtedly superior.
But Gark swung the sword he had wielded every single day. Being invisible was a tremendous advantage in battle. This was especially true for Gark, who had once aspired to be an assassin like Blood Dagger.
However, those who reached a certain level could sense it, if not clearly, then at least vaguely. Enemies with keen senses were one thing, but the fact that his form was revealed upon landing a hit meant that any foe with quick reflexes could easily counter him.
If he used the ability continuously, his opponent would adapt. That was why Gark was engaging him head-on.
The human swung his sword from a considerable distance. Seeing the slashing wave fly toward him, Gark swung his own sword in the same manner, cutting it down. His eyes reddened once more. Gark kicked off the ground and shot toward the human.
Confident, his opponent also charged in, sword raised. They clashed dozens of times, but the human remained unscathed. Gark's body, however, was steadily accumulating wounds.
The more his body was wounded, the more his instincts screamed.
His movements grew hasty, driven by the desire to see his opponent's blood.
It screamed at him to hurry up and tear off the human's arm, to drench his throat in its blood.
“Kwoooaaar!”
A loud cry erupted from his throat. Driven by instinct, his body grew faster, his muscles tighter. But strangely, he couldn't land a hit. The man would pull away, and another wound would appear on his own body. He grew anxious, worried that he would cause his chieftain concern. Gark hid his presence and lunged at the man with the longsword.
The human blocked the sword that shot out from empty air with a nonchalant expression. The smirk he directed at Gark looked quite relaxed.
The human began to create distance, and Gark slowly exhaled.
He was getting hasty again. This wasn't the feeling he was supposed to have.
When he swung his sword in the forest while everyone else slept, when he swung it again and again, praying to become stronger, when he swung it with the resolve to no longer be a burden—it definitely wasn't this feeling. The sensation he'd felt when he wished to draw even a little closer to Blood Dagger wasn't the excitement of battle, but a tranquility like a still lake.
“Grrrrrrr…”
Gark took a deep breath. His swollen muscles compressed once more, and his ragged breathing began to quiet.
His reddened eyes seemed to be returning to normal, and the situation around him slowly came into focus.
The path Gark had chosen to become stronger was one of martial discipline. He centered his mind, calming his instincts.
The instinct that had been screaming inside him finally grew quiet.
He followed that back, sword in hand. The very back Gark had wanted to chase for his entire life.
Suppressing his instincts was familiar, but erasing them completely was not. He could see his opponent's movements. An enemy, but a strong one.
Gark cut down another of the human's slashing waves. He began to observe the man's form in detail. The series of movements—imbuing his sword with mana and sending it flying—remained etched in Gark's memory.
It looked effortless, but it was unmistakably a specific form.
He steps forward, swinging the sword from low to high. The movement of his fingers, his toes, the timing of the mana release—Gark memorized every single one of the human's movements.
He stepped forward. He swung his sword from low to high through the empty air. He didn't grip the hilt as if to crush it. He pushed mana into the big toe of his leading foot. He imbued the mana at the exact moment he swung. It wasn't a feeling of simply swinging a sword, but of sending mana forth.
He felt a slashing wave erupt from his sword. It was a massive, concentrated force. Unused to the sensation, Gark explosively pushed out his mana, and the two slashing waves began to clash.
*
I saw Gark bare his fangs as he clashed swords with Lee Hyunhak. I wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden arrival of reinforcements. The enemy bastards looked a little flustered as well.
With time already running short, the appearance of a new, powerful opponent was bound to be annoying for them. Go Woongjin, who looked a bit dim-witted, seemed completely lost.
Just then, a massive explosion echoed from within the forest.
It was likely an explosion created by the Spider's magician, but interestingly, it wasn't aimed at me. I naturally realized that someone other than Gark had also arrived. Hark was tangling with their mage.
Park Hyeri and Go Woongjin's expressions began to distort as they, too, realized their magician was under attack. A wrench had been thrown into their little hunt. For them, the priority had shifted from returning on time to finishing this fight without any casualties.
“Dammit… Let's finish this demon quickly and get back to Jaehyung.”
“Got it.”
Park Hyeri gave a short nod. From the way she was still radiating a blazing killing intent toward me, it didn't seem like she was particularly concerned for her companion's safety. But her resolve to kill me was genuine, and she lunged at me.
Having had a moment to recover some mana, I naturally had more leeway. Against just two of them, the mana I had was more than enough to put up a fight.
After drawing Dainsleif, I took the initiative and charged toward Go Woongjin. With my high attack power, Go Woongjin's defense was no issue. As long as I didn't get hit by his attacks, he was nothing more than a meat shield to me.
“You bastard!”
While keeping Park Hyeri in check with a curtain of blood, I narrowly dodged Go Woongjin's swing.
“Kwwwaddd-deuk!”
The swing must have contained an immense amount of mana, as the aftermath tore up the terrain behind me, but it was useless if it couldn't hit its target. After dodging his attack once more, I used the critical hit property of Weapon Switch and swung my sword, sending a fountain of blood erupting from his body.
“Dammiiiit!”
If I allowed even one of his full-power swings to connect, I would obviously be the one to lose. But I didn't feel like I would get hit. It was the same state I was in when I fought Jang Giyoung; I could feel myself completely focused on this battle.
I could see his breathing, the movement of his muscles.
I stared directly at Go Woongjin, not even blinking at the immense wind pressure.
His form gradually began to look like it was in slow motion.
I realized I had entered a kind of heightened state. The same went for Park Hyeri's attacks. I was definitely slower than her, but she couldn't catch me. I dodged with minimal, efficient movements, never allowing them to close the distance.
“Huuu… Huuu…”
My own breathing started to sound unusually loud. As he swung his blunt weapon at me again, I used his momentum against him and swung my sword at his arm.
‘I felt it.’
The sensation of Dainsleif slicing clean through Go Woongjin's arm. His tough skin and muscle were cut through as if they were tofu.
Blood bursting from his arm splattered across my face, and a scream rang out, but time was still slow. I could see the drops of blood falling to the ground in extreme slow motion. I imbued the blood drops with mana and shot them back at him, and wounds began to form on his abdomen.
“Fuck, fuck!!”
The bastard was clutching his arm, cursing nonstop. I used Dainsleif to take the blood that had gushed from his body and forced it back inside him. Countless blood swords formed and began to embed themselves in his body.
A series of unpleasant sounds began to ring out, but to me, they were incredibly satisfying.
The more mana the blood swords absorbed, the harder they became. Even so, it wasn't enough to pierce his skin, but with a continuous barrage, it was bound to break.
“Uwaaaaaaack!”
His vitality was tenacious, but that was all he had. He was trying to swing at me with his remaining arm, but both its power and speed had weakened significantly.
Watching this, Park Hyeri slowly began to back away.
She didn't look frightened, but whatever she was thinking, she turned her back and started to leave.
‘Crazy bitch.’
In that moment, Go Woongjin swung his blunt weapon again. It was an attack I could dodge, but I didn't. The weapon fell precisely toward me, homing in on my body as if drawn by a magnet.
I extended Dainsleif toward the weapon as it came crashing down.
To be precise, it wasn't the blade I extended, but the pommel. I held the sword upside down and met the tip of his weapon perfectly.
KWAAAAANG!
A sound like that rang out as mana clashed with mana, but I felt no internal shock.
‘Deflect.’
My concentration, pushed to its absolute limit, made it possible. I used the pommel of Dainsleif to deflect his attack. With a half-turn of my wrist, the blade, not the hilt, came into view.
I thrust my sword swiftly toward his wide-open chest.
“You're… crazy…”
With those final words, Go Woongjin's body was split completely in two, and he finally fell silent. At the same time, I heard a roar.
“Uwoooooooooooh!”
It wasn't mine. I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound. There, I could see Gark, standing tall with his foot planted on Lee Hyunhak.