Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Audience
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Chains.
The distinct, inorganic coldness seeped through my clothes.
I sighed and twisted my body back and forth.
“Stop your pointless struggles. These chains are an artifact. The Chains of Vine. Surely you've heard of them?”
“Never heard of them.”
“Behave, and you won't get hurt.”
From the sound of it, they didn't seem to want me dead.
Perhaps that fact didn't sit well with one of them.
“What are you talking about?”
A heavy voice echoed from beneath the ground.
The one who had grabbed my ankle emerged from a pile of dirt.
Strangely, this one wasn't cloaked in a robe.
A shaved head and a body like a boulder. His physique was no less impressive than Hariba's just moments ago.
‘What a nasty-looking face.’
He looked less like an assassin and more like a mercenary, or perhaps a bandit.
That nasty face turned toward me.
“You… you can't be planning to take this brat with you?”
“That's the plan.”
“I object. He's only received a single Blessing. He's useless as material.”
“You're not the one who decides that.”
They don't seem to get along, do they?
There was a sharp edge to their exchange.
I decided to stay quiet for now.
“Still, he is of the Iron-Blooded Duke's line. If he hadn't received even a single Blessing, I wouldn't have brought this up.”
“Even so—”
“Then what do you suggest? Hariba, the one you were so invested in, is dead. Should we take his mangled corpse back instead?”
I couldn't fully grasp the context of their conversation.
But I could tell they were treating me like a fish already caught in the net.
“What do you think?”
The bald man asked the one behind me.
It wasn't like he was asking a superior's opinion; rather, since the two of them had different views, it seemed he was leaving the choice to the third person.
“Taking him seems like a good idea.”
Judging by the voice, it was a woman.
“Your reason.”
“We can't return empty-handed, and besides, the brat's Blessing doesn't seem half bad. You saw it too. He took down Hariba after he'd consumed the 'potion'.”
“……”
“And he still had enough in him to put on that pathetic act. It means he knew we were hiding. The trash of the Bednicker Family improved that much in a single day. The Blessing he has must be top-tier.”
They were misunderstanding again, of course.
But for someone who doesn't know about the Spirit Mountain, that interpretation is the most realistic.
In fact, there are quite a few people whose lives have been changed by a single Blessing.
“…Hmph.”
The bald giant hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“Even so, taking a direct descendant of the Iron-Blooded Duke is too great a risk. It's completely different from taking someone from a branch family like Hariba.”
“You don't need to worry about that either. Once someone is out of the Iron-Blooded Duke's favor, he doesn't care about them, even if they're his own blood.”
I lifted my head and looked at the mysterious figure.
It was still a voice I'd never heard before, but…
For some reason, I felt the greatest sense of unease from those words than anything else I'd heard so far.
“…If you say so.”
The bald man's attitude was what sealed it.
I closed my eyes for a moment and organized my thoughts.
Even in this situation, these people were being somewhat cautious with their words, but…
I was still able to grasp the basics.
First, the mysterious figure who appeared first knows me.
The bald giant is hot-tempered.
Finally, the woman is the calmest of the three.
Having made my assessment, I opened my mouth.
“Just one of the three.”
“What?”
“If you release these chains right now, I'll spare one of you.”
“……”
Was this the expression people made when they saw a talking dog?
Of course, I couldn't see the expressions of the other two; this thought came from looking at the bald man's face, who was closest.
“What did you say?”
“Are you deaf? I said, undo the chains, get on your knees, and beg for forgiveness, and I'll spare one of you.”
The bald man bared his teeth and laughed.
It didn't seem like a laugh of amusement.
“You've lost your mind.”
“No, I haven't.”
“Then are you relieved that we're only capturing you alive? Do you think we'll treat you as a prisoner? You may not know this, but there are fates in this world far more miserable than death. And I am an expert in such work.”
The bald man twisted his lips into a sneer.
“Depending on the technique, I can keep you alive for a month with your eyes and tongue plucked out and your limbs severed. Though I'm not sure you could call that 'living'.”
“……”
“Do you understand, brat? Learn to distinguish who you can joke with and who you can't. Otherwise—”
“You talk too damn much. You're out, baldy.”
Immediately after, the bald man swung his fist at me. Not at my face, but at my chest, not caring that it was wrapped in chains.
“Mukad!”
The mysterious figure shouted, trying to stop him.
Given the context, that must be the bald man's name.
His real name, or an alias?
Either way, it's a clue.
*CRACK!*
Despite the figure's shout, the bald man didn't stop his attack.
I was sent flying by the blow.
‘Brutish bastard.’
How strong is he?
Even with the chains wrapped around me like armor, my ribs throbbed. It was the familiar pain of a fractured bone.
But I achieved what I wanted.
I had no intention of stopping.
Instead, I kicked off the ground mid-flight, adding more force to my momentum.
“Uh…”
The moment the one who had produced the chains let out a belated, dumbfounded sound… I spun my body rapidly.
*SHRRING!*
‘Ughhh.’
Round and round, I became so dizzy I couldn't tell which way was up, but I didn't stop spinning.
As I flew backward, spinning dozens of times, the chains wound tightly around my body like a fishing line.
“Kuh…! No way!”
He seemed to have realized my intention too late.
*SNAP!*
The sound of something snapping.
The mysterious figure reached out a step too late, but the end of the chain was already out of his reach.
Naturally, the chain wasn't infinite; it had an end.
The same was true even for an artifact.
So, rather than trying to undo the chains, I escaped capture by wrapping my entire body in them.
‘But man, this thing is really tangled.’
It was more than just a tangled skein of yarn.
Seeing no way to untangle it quickly, I ran into the forest, the chains clanking.
With both my arms bound, it wasn't long before I sensed a presence behind me.
“What a cute little trick, brat.”
It was the bald giant.
The bastard was chasing me relentlessly with a stupid grin on his face, as if he was enjoying himself.
Since he was the one who opposed capturing me alive, he might be happy that he could kill me now.
“You're really fucking ugly.”
“What?”
“Shouldn't you be the one wearing a hood, not your friends? You inconsiderate bastard.”
“Hahaha…!”
He burst out laughing even after being insulted.
But once again, it wasn't a laugh of amusement.
It seems this guy has a habit of laughing when he gets angry.
*Shing—.*
A bizarrely curved blade appeared from his waist.
‘He looks like he'd be good with his fists, but he's got a weapon too.’
He was so huge that the curved blade looked like a toy sword.
*Thump!*
The giant closed the distance in an instant and swung his blade.
Fast.
But not so fast I can't dodge it.
*SWOOSH!*
I dodged the first attack, but the giant's onslaught had just begun.
He unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes, belying his size.
His bizarrely shaped blade was a perfect balance of power, speed, and killing intent.
‘He's pretty good.’
He's no worse than Hariba, but I have to fight him in a much worse condition.
Counterattacking is tricky.
With my hands bound, I could only attack with my feet, but I couldn't risk a kick unless it was a decisive moment.
It would leave a fatal opening right after the attack.
‘The only silver lining is…’
The giant's companions aren't joining the chase.
It's not because they trust each other, I think.
It seems their relationship is more like that of dry business partners than comrades.
‘This isn't good.’
Stalling for time isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at this rate, it wouldn't be strange if I got cut down by his sword at any moment.
A brief moment of thought.
After making my decision, I moved toward the giant.
As if waiting for it, his blade flew at me, and I pushed my body even closer.
*CLANG!*
It was a desperate move, using the chained part of my body as a shield.
“This bastard…!”
The giant seemed surprised, but it looked like he would quickly regain his composure.
‘He's experienced in combat.’
If it weren't for this situation, I would have fought in a variety of ways… but I don't have that luxury.
I gathered heat in my head.
There was a way to attack without using my hands or feet.
Heat gathered in my head, but it wasn't like there was a specific technique for this in the White Sun Eclipse.
This attack was a simple headbutt.
*CRACK!*
“Ugh…”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
For a moment, the useless thought that headbutting a bald guy might be more damaging to me crossed my mind.
But since the crown of my head had slammed squarely into his face, he would have taken more damage.
A quick glance showed the bald man's eyes rolling back.
Even so, he was still gripping his sword tightly. I spun my body and struck the bald man's hand with the end of the chain.
“Agh…!”
Getting your finger bones hit by a chain would be quite painful.
Painful enough to make him drop the sword, no matter how tightly he was holding it.
I didn't miss the opening when the bald man dropped his sword, and I caught the falling hilt in my mouth.
A feat so impressive I was amazed I'd pulled it off myself.
And then, I slit the throat of the bald man as he staggered back.
*Grind…*
I could feel blood seeping from my gums.
If my jaw strength had been even a little weaker, all my teeth might have shattered.
Immediately after, my strength gave out and I collapsed.
*CLANG!*
The sword fell from my mouth, and instead, I tasted rotten leaves and dirt.
Without even time to spit, I checked on the bald man first.
He seemed to be dead.
It wasn't surprising.
Though the situation was chaotic, I had sliced his vital point precisely.
“Ugh…”
My jaw still ached, but there was no time to relax.
I slowly got to my feet.
You'd know if you tried it, but getting up using only your legs, without the help of your arms, is surprisingly difficult.
“Don't move.”
Just then, a chilly voice spoke.
I could see the mysterious figure crouching on a tree branch.
A strange one.
Even looking up from down here, I couldn't see inside his hood.
That meant his clothes were likely an artifact as well.
“You're making things troublesome.”
A cold voice came from behind me.
It was the woman, their companion.
I let out a sigh.
‘Of course they wouldn't just leave it to the bald guy.’
I already knew how thorough these people were.
Anyway, this is it for me.
No matter what, defeating two more unknown enemies in this state, in this condition, is impossible.
“…I took one of them down.”
“So what?”
“I wasn't talking to you.”
I said, gasping for breath.
“Isn't it about time you helped me out, Family Head?”
“……!”
The two of them froze.
Their gazes shifted stiffly toward one spot.
I should add, that man had been in my line of sight from the very beginning.
The figure of a boy leaning casually against a tree.
“You said you'd spare one of them, did you?”
The Iron-Blooded Duke spoke without even looking at them.
“You decide, Ruan. Who should we let live?”