Chapter 45: Village of the Wandering Arcran Descendants
As I followed Alexandr through the portal, a seemingly authentic nomad village came into view.
"Oh... what an intriguing village this is."
Triangular huts and mysteriously bound animals scattered about evoked the atmosphere of this world. As I approached, one of the nomads came toward us.
The man, towering at least two meters with bulging muscles, had an unusual pair of reverse eyes. His impression was utterly different from Alexandr, who resembled a human.
Looking at him like that, he's definitely no human.
The approaching nomad smirked.
"What, Shasha? Finally surrendering to us?"
"Don't make me laugh, Nikola. Surrender's not happening."
The abyssal entity called Nikola narrowed his eyes at Alexandr's defiant attitude. But what caught my attention more was the nickname he used for Alexandr.
"Shasha?"
"...Haa."
Alexandr scratched his head with a look of utter defeat.
"It's like a nickname. Back in the old village, everyone called me Shasha."
A smile crept into my eyes at the cute moniker.
"I see, Shasha. Here's to getting along from now on, Shasha."
"...Don't call me that in front of others."
Seeing Shasha bite his lip, I nodded.
"Hehe, are you embarrassed, Shasha? Such a cute little thing you are, Shasha."
"Shut up! Damn it, this is all because of you, Nikola."
"Hmph. So, did you bring the surrender documents?"
As the giant man, easily over two meters tall, drew closer, I gathered ether.
"What? A Challenger? Shasha, did you sell out your own kin?"
"Don't be ridiculous. The land you're after is this Challenger's foundation to begin with."
The man furrowed his brow at those words.
"You expect me to buy that nonsense? Haa~ Shasha."
Squatting down to meet our eyes, the man continued.
"Does your village need to burn to the ground before you come to your senses?"
Sensing his killing intent, I nodded.
"Now you see why you needed me, Shasha."
There was no sign of reason getting through to him.
"Bring your leader here. I need to speak with him."
The man sneered at my words.
"Sorry, kid, but that's not happening. A mere Challenger demanding an audience with our great king? Make some sense."
Glancing around at the shabby hut-like dwellings, I replied indifferently.
"True, for a king living in huts, meeting him does seem to involve quite the procedure."
"You little brat...!"
In an instant, I blocked the fist that appeared before me with one hand.
"Huh? You blocked it?"
The moment I stopped his punch, a blade was suddenly pressed to my throat from behind. It belonged to a woman who had appeared out of nowhere.
"......"
"Kid~ Play too rough, and you die, you know?"
Blinking at her coquettish voice, I murmured.
"Hmm... I see."
Grabbing the blade with my hand, I casually pushed the knife away. The woman looked back and forth between the knife and me in bewilderment.
"Wha? Wh-what? Why won't it budge?"
"First time being overpowered in strength?"
Smiling faintly, I grabbed her clothes and slammed her to the ground.
BAM!
"Ella!"
As Nikola rushed over, I stepped back.
"That's why I told you to bring your leader..."
Before I could finish, Nikola charged. I sighed.
"This is why it's so hard to get a word in."
3-level Enhancement
Stella Maris
Using Nikola's charging momentum against him, I flipped him over and stomped his side with my foot. A vibration rang out, followed by a loud crack.
CRACK!
A few ribs must have shattered.
"Where is your king?"
Nikola lunged silently at my question.
"Well, there's ways to make you talk."
Shasha nodded vigorously at my words.
SMACK!
My fist sank into his massive face, caving in his cheek.
CRUNCH!
Next, his jaw shattered, teeth flying through the air. After a few more punches, Nikola's body turned into a purple pulp.
"Hmm..."
Thinking I'd gone a bit overboard, I pulled back my fist. Nikola spat out blood—and a tooth.
"Wh-what the hell are you? You're ridiculously strong."
"Oh, you can still talk? Then a little more..."
As I spoke, Nikola hurriedly dropped to his knees.
"Our great king Peter is currently away. I... I'm acting in his stead."
Sighing, I sat before him.
"So the king's proxy acts no different from a common thug."
"That's..."
"We apologize, great Challenger."
The woman who had held a knife to my throat knelt beside Nikola.
"Your attitude changes are amusing."
"In our people, might makes right."
"Hmph, what a foolish tradition."
Shasha grumbled at that, but I decided to hear them out for now.
"Is the reason you're eyeing my land tied to your king's absence?"
"......"
Somehow recovered, Nikola nodded, looking somewhat less battered.
"Yeah. A Challenger suddenly appeared in our dimension and started abducting our kin."
"The king resisted... but in the end..."
"Abduction, huh."
Something clicked, and I poked Shasha.
"Isn't it Spectrum? Since you all fled, they needed replacement workers."
"Ah!"
Shasha frowned but nodded.
"Makes sense. With nearly a hundred of our kin escaping, their ether production must have suffered."
"What? Escaped?"
The woman stared at Shasha in shock, and Nikola nodded.
"Spectrum? Now that you mention it, the Challenger who hit our village said Pathos from Spectrum would protect us."
"Then it's certain. Spectrum invaded your village."
"No way... Ella, did you know?"
Ella shook her head.
"No, young master. I only learned today that Shasha's village was hit too."
"Well, no one really cares about other villages."
As I glanced at Shasha, he pouted and explained.
"Arcrans are individualists by nature. No matter how big, they don't care beyond their own village and kin."
"Quite perceptive, Shasha."
At my warm gaze, Shasha scowled deeply.
"Ugh, seriously, stop looking at me like that, miss?"
"Didn't you call me miss too, Shasha?"
"......"
At a loss for words, Shasha hung his head.
"Anyway, I understand your situation well enough."
I pondered briefly, then shrugged.
"If it's dangerous, you can settle in my foundation. But..."
Glancing at Shasha, I shrugged again.
"If our peoples don't get along, it'll be a problem for me."
"That's why I brought you."
Nikola and Ella clicked their tongues at Shasha's words.
"Shasha, leeching off someone instead of your own strength..."
Ella grabbed my hand from beside the grumbling Nikola.
"We'll stay quiet. Now that we know there's someone powerful here. Truth be told, even Nikola was probably thinking of protecting Shasha's people too."
"Hey! Ella!"
"Who are you to say you'll protect our kin, Nikola! Our people are fine with me and Yupri!"
"Ha! You, weaker than before?"
"Urk..."
As Nikola rose, his massive frame cast a shadow. Shasha jumped up from within it, but at just 120cm, he was no match for Nikola's size. Comparing their ether, I nodded.
"No chance of winning."
"Right?"
"No! Back in the day, I could've beaten this guy!"
Seeing Shasha's face flush, I nodded.
"Sure, sure. The old Shasha was strong. Plenty of fun to be had."
"...You weren't this strong back then."
"Oops, right?"
Ella watched our exchange with curiosity.
"But how do you two know each other? And honestly, an abyssal village in a Challenger's foundation..."
At Ella's words, Shasha crossed his arms and recounted everything: working as a tuner for Spectrum to save his kin, dying to me, reviving in my foundation, then losing to me and rescuing his people here.
Nikola clenched his fist upon hearing it all.
"So in short, you were a Spectrum lackey, Shasha?"
"Ugh..."
Shasha dry-washed his face, annoyed.
"Haa... This is why I hate talking to this guy."
Ella whispered to the fuming Nikola.
"Master Nikola, Shasha's people suffered under Spectrum too."
"Oh, right?"
Calming down, Nikola sat back. Ella alternated glances between me and Shasha, then nodded.
"Looks like you two are bound by an abyssal pact. But..."
Her reverse eyes pierced right through me.
"Uh..."
Her eyes glowed an ominous red, blood dripping from beneath. Clutching her eyes, Ella bowed her head.
"Guhhh!"
"Wh-what did you do to Ella?!"
"I didn't do anything...?"
As a panicked Nikola stood, Ella gripped his pant leg.
"Nikola! Restrain yourself! I'm fine..."
Ella wiped the blood with her sleeve, panting.
"Challenger, I saw Him within you. Who exactly are you?"
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