Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Disciplining the Cat
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Layer 8 of the Demonic Palace.
A massive explosion roared through the air.
"Ibling!"
With a sharp cry, Pendal yanked Ibling back just as he barely managed to grip his sword.
The explosion erupted right in front of them, and the two narrowly escaped the blast.
It was a weapon beast shaped like a soldier that had fired something like a cannon.
"Gahhh, thanks, boss!"
"Fall back!"
Pendal shouted, and his team members swiftly gathered around him.
"Hetoria!"
"Yes, boss!"
The moment Pendal called her name, the woman with dark crimson hair whipping around raised her staff.
A chunk of ice shrouded in red mana exploded forward from her staff.
The explosive blast accompanied the ice chunk as it shattered the cluster of sword-wielding soldier-like weapon beasts ahead.
Pendal landed right in front of them.
"Hoo."
Pendal let out a short breath and quickly scanned the surroundings.
Everyone looked a bit worn out, but no one seemed injured.
Clunk-clunk-
In the meantime, clunking sounds echoed from all around.
Pendal looked up to see scenery bustling outside the windows.
'Never gets less weird, no matter how many times I see it.'
It was a vast wooden space lined with seats, reminiscent of a carriage.
Remembering how those seats had been packed with soldiers just moments ago, Pendal made a queasy face.
Layer 8: Carriage District.
The area was divided into carriage sections, and the further you went, the more numerous and tougher the soldiers became.
Each carriage had four doors total.
Without a scout possessing special abilities, the soldier count in each carriage reset from the start—it was a brutally unfair setup.
"Boss, looks like we're almost at the end."
The scout adjusted his goggles as he spoke.
Victory was right around the corner.
Hearing that, everyone's faces tensed up.
"We've made it this far."
Pendal clenched his fist tightly and looked around at the team.
"This time, we're claiming Nakcheon."
Every eye in Pendal's squad gleamed with resolve.
That was the moment.
Clunk-
A brief jolt rocked the carriage.
By the time Pendal belatedly looked up, a woman stood there.
Tiger-striped ears perked up in vibrant scarlet hair, and a single eyepatch beneath.
Weapons covered her back and entire body. She swept her gaze over the people inside as the door hung open.
"What a pain, all clustered up like this."
The moment she muttered that, Pendal felt chills erupt across his skin.
"Everyone, run!"
And the instant Pendal shouted.
A short, wet bursting sound rang out.
When Pendal whipped his head around, there was the corpse of the man called Ibling.
"Clean that up."
His head was completely hollowed out.
"Ibling!"
One team member cried out in rage, but someone clamped a hand over her mouth and bolted for a door at full speed.
And that was the right call.
The other teammates fled through the nearest doors without even a chance to recover Ibling's body.
Pendal, the strongest among them, had ordered them to run.
They all knew exactly what that meant.
"Oh? Running away?"
As the woman smirked irritably, Pendal raised both arms high into the air.
The moment Lioner aura clashed with the sparks and detonated, Pendal drew Okcheon in a flash.
Aura bloomed from it as Lioner exploded once more, and he charged ferociously.
Clang!
But his charging blade was futilely blocked by the tiny dagger she drew.
"You've got a pretty nice toy there."
Her eye gleamed hungrily at Pendal's Okcheon from beneath the eyepatch.
True to her title of Armed Princess, her obsession with weapons flared once again.
"Urk!"
Pendal barely dodged a dagger slash aimed at his jaw, rolling across the floor.
Blood trickled down from below his jaw.
He'd thought he'd avoided it, but his reactions couldn't keep up.
"What's that toy's name?"
As she asked, Pendal gritted his teeth amid a chilling sensation.
Ibling had died in an instant, but the rest of the team had escaped.
"Figure it out yourself!"
Pendal detonated Lioner again and dove through a door without hesitation.
Soldiers in the next section noticed and rose, but he didn't care.
The danger alarm blaring in his body was the fiercest yet.
If he didn't want to die, he had to run.
That woman was beyond specs, no matter what anyone said.
Clunk!
But the Armed Princess kicked open the same carriage door Pendal had jumped through.
Ignoring her, the moment Pendal sprinted at full speed, the Armed Princess grinned wickedly.
"If you wanna save those teammates of yours, you shouldn't run."
That was when it happened.
As she raised a gauntlet spiked with thorns, her figure blurred.
Suddenly, five shadow figures resembling the Armed Princess appeared.
They couldn't compare to the real thing, but each one's aura surpassed Pendal's.
The gauntlet's name was Marfalga.
It only channeled 30% of her power, but it summoned shadow clones with identical patterns to hers.
Her shadows scattered through the carriage doors without hesitation.
Realizing what that meant, Pendal's eyes widened in horror.
She intended to slaughter his entire team.
"Stop!"
Pendal shouted, and she spun the dagger in her hand.
"Depends on you, birdbrain."
Her foul mouth curled into a smirk, as if telling him to figure out what she wanted.
She'd come hunting for Uroeseong and stumbled on a new toy besides.
She was thrilled.
Pendal knew exactly what she wanted.
From the moment she'd seen Okcheon, her eyes had been glued to it.
Seeing that, he gripped Okcheon tighter.
"...If I hand over Okcheon, you'll let us live?"
"Hmmm, we'll see."
Pendal lowered the hand reaching for the carriage door upon hearing the Armed Princess's words.
Then he began walking toward her, step by step.
Cold sweat beaded on Pendal's forehead.
The Armed Princess who appeared out of nowhere was a monster dangerous to anyone.
There was no guarantee she'd let them go even if he gave her Okcheon.
Meanwhile, Pendal began gathering Lioner with all his might inside his body.
This would prevent him from even challenging Nakcheon, but surviving took priority.
'Just once.'
He had to kill the Armed Princess in that one shot.
It was his trump card meant for Nakcheon, but whatever.
Right now, focus on killing her.
"You."
The Armed Princess's grinning face flashed in his mind.
"Leaking killing intent like that—think I'm a joke?"
"Shit!"
The moment she sneered, Pendal unleashed Lioner at full power without hesitation.
Okcheon's effect numbed all senses around the caster in an instant—except for the user.
Even the Armed Princess couldn't resist it; her single eye twisted in pain.
Within that white void.
Pendal converted his aura into Lioner and poured every ounce of power into Okcheon.
Forcing the conversion tore at his flesh with agony, but he gritted his teeth and endured.
At the same time, he thrust the drawn-back Okcheon forward with all his strength.
Thunder Wolf Sword Strike
Lightning wolf lunges forward
The lightning from Okcheon shot out, propelled by Pendal's thrust.
It resembled a wolf perfectly.
The lightning wolf pounced to tear into the Armed Princess's throat, her senses paralyzed by Okcheon.
As Pendal intended, the lightning wolf vividly ripped her throat apart.
The moment Pendal sensed victory.
The Armed Princess's single eye slowly opened.
"Told you."
"Gahk!"
Pendal clutched his throat.
A wound identical to the one on the Armed Princess's torn neck mirrored it perfectly.
Blood gushed out as Pendal's eyes bulged.
Black smoke writhed from her shredded throat, and she showed no sign of pain.
"Think I'm a joke?"
As she finished, Pendal's body flew through the air.
Her gauntlet-clad fist had slammed squarely into his gut.
Pendal felt his insides shredded and tumbled across the floor, smashing chairs.
The soldiers mindlessly rose and swung at him, but the Armed Princess casually swatted them aside.
"Don't go getting more blood on my new toy."
It wasn't to save Pendal—she just didn't want more blood on Okcheon.
She approached the prone Pendal.
"Why'd you bite my neck? Now the toy's all bloody."
As she regretfully reached for Okcheon.
Pendal suddenly grabbed her wrist.
The Armed Princess narrowed her eye, and Pendal spoke through half-lidded eyes.
"If I give you Okcheon... you won't touch my team... right?"
His voice rasped from the throat wound. She tilted her head.
"Oh, that."
She shrugged nonchalantly.
"They're probably all dead by now anyway."
Her tone implied she'd never intended to spare them.
Pendal ground his teeth in fury.
"You bitch... I'll definitely... kill you."
"Really?"
She raised her gauntlet at him.
Aiming for his head.
She grinned brightly, anticipating his brains splattering.
"Looking forward to it."
The moment she swung down with no expectations.
Black flames erupted from behind her, shattering a carriage door as she tumbled away.
"Ah, shit?! Hot!"
She rolled on the floor, screaming as the black flames clung to her. Pendal dazedly lifted his head.
A boy was slowly walking past him.
Jet-black hair, a pitch-black sword in hand, and a crow fluttering up from the boy's shoulder.
"K-Krash Valheim?"
Pendal muttered blankly. Krash glanced at him briefly and continued past into the carriage section where the Armed Princess rolled.
As he passed the shattered door, the Demonic Palace's self-repair mended it shut.
Krash eyed the Armed Princess, who had already extinguished the black flames.
She had some burns, but no serious wounds.
'Fired with Combined Arts: Flame Extinguishing Strike, and that's all?'
It was ridiculous that he'd only inflicted that much damage.
What a monster.
"What the hell are you? Why'd I get hurt? Igardium's supposed to protect me!"
She swung her dagger wildly, yelling at Krash as if baffled by her injury.
'Because Igardium can't reflect World Erosion.'
But instead of answering, Krash cracked his neck lightly.
A pre-battle ritual of his.
He'd planned to time it against Nakcheon or just bail.
But she'd tried to kill Pendal, forcing his hand early.
'Tch, can't lose Lioner before stealing it.'
Every skill mattered right now.
He'd have to endure some bleed.
Krash glared at the Armed Princess.
'That dumb-looking face hasn't changed.'
True to her feline nature, she acted cautiously until she was certain.
Of course, if the gap was obvious, she pounced without mercy.
But against suspicious foes, she held back.
So the Armed Princess hid her full arsenal.
Probing with lesser weapons first.
But the instant she deemed them inferior.
She hunted without a shred of hesitation.
'And that habit will be your worst mistake today.'
Time to teach her caution can be poison.
"...Sh-shit, you're a Valheim direct descendant."
She clocked it from his features, eyes, and hair.
Krash added one more thing.
"Armed Princess, Shua Delphia."
Calling her full name made her eye narrow slowly.
"...No wonder Igardium failed. You're a World Eroder, aren't you? Wearing a Valheim shell?"
She reacted as if she'd pierced his secret completely.
Classic Armed Princess probing talk.
But her sharp gaze sized up Krash warily.
She knew fellow World Eroders were tough.
Her caution kicked in.
Krash didn't respond. Instead, he ignited pitch-black Black Flame atop his ink sword.
The Black Flame convinced her he was a World Eroder.
"Uroeseong is mine. Get lost."
Don't eye what's not yours.