The Pride of the Artisan Race (4)
While Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan maintained tense postures during the intense battle, the dwarves had exchanged sharp words, yet inwardly they felt the same bafflement when looking at the two of them.
No, if anything, the dwarves were far more astonished than the humans.
Even against humans, they possessed numerical superiority yet could not overpower them? It had crossed the realm of humiliation into something incomprehensible, leaving them genuinely puzzled.
‘How did this even happen?’
‘Why are humans this strong?’
‘That magic just now… what on earth…?’
‘This… I can’t understand it.’
Amidst the confusion and disbelief, some reaction lingered somewhere in their minds.
The dwarves, while thinking that humans could only last so long, now felt an unpleasant mix of lingering tension, wondering if they themselves might be the ones to suffer.
The smaller-bodied dwarves moved faster than Ji Yu-chan, utilizing their complex mobility for three-dimensional maneuvers.
They swung their short swords in various directions to attack him.
Clang!
Clash—clash—clash—
Ji Yu-chan pushed them back fiercely, blocking with his sword technique and parrying attacks with fluid swordsmanship.
The sight of him blocking with his blade’s edge rather than its line made Ji Yu-chan’s swordsmanship feel shallow in an almost painful way.
Ji Yu-chan moved in various angles, his expression darkening as he watched the opponent slowly closing in, but every time his breath caught, a magic spell would fly from behind.
Instead of complex magic, he used simple elemental magic to lightly harass them.
The dwarves laughed mockingly and tried to break through the magic with their bodies.
But another dwarf nearby panicked and rushed forward to block the magic with his sword.
Then.
Kaaaang—
Sparks flew violently as the bullet was barely repelled. The dwarf who had nearly been hit turned deathly pale.
If it had hit directly, even with a shield he would have suffered a head injury, and perhaps even death.
Realizing that, their spines chilled as they all gripped their swords tighter.
Thankfully, there was one fairly skilled dwarf among them; otherwise, he would have truly died.
Hana Rin watched that without feeling any pity and continued mixing bullets into her basic magic to seize an opening.
Ji Yu-chan did not miss the gap Hana Rin created and dove in.
But he was blocked by the buffer dwarf’s shield.
Swoosh—
Seeing the shield slice through in an instant, one dwarf retreated backward.
Then another dwarf fell back, and two dwarves crossed like scissors as they charged at Ji Yu-chan.
Ji Yu-chan slashed his sword to block the attack of one of the crossing dwarves who was trying to disorient him with his eyes, and kicked out at another approaching dwarf with his foot.
Boom——
Crack—
The dwarf who had grown slightly complacent after closing the distance was pushed back from his abdomen after giving it up, colliding with a tree.
With a cracking sound, the tree fell and the dwarf vomited blood.
“Cough.”
However, thanks to the buffer dwarf waving his hand from behind, he mitigated the damage and returned to the battlefield.
Without any gaps, three close-range dwarves stuck tightly to him again.
Ji Yu-chan blocked them as best he could, his expression growing darker.
At the same time, the dwarves prepared to launch at Hana Rin the moment Ji Yu-chan showed even a slight opening, so Ji Yu-chan swung his sword widely to tie them down.
And at that moment, Hana Rin’s magic activated, creating a wide-ranging explosive wall that instantly blocked the path between the buffer dwarf and the three close-range dwarves.
The buffer dwarf, blinded in his vision, looked puzzled for a moment.
Ji Yu-chan’s eyes glowed as he swung his sword.
The three of them blocked Ji Yu-chan’s attacks without hesitation in one swift exchange, continuing their rapid combat.
Once, twice, over ten exchanges per second, they exchanged blows swiftly.
At that moment, the explosive wall sprouting behind the dwarves twitched and moved.
“Wait, block it!!!”
A skilled dwarf spotted it and shouted.
But by the time he realized, it was already the moment the bullet hidden in the explosive wall was fired.
Ziiing——
Fwoosh—fwoosh—fwoosh—
The violently rotating bullet swirled with fire, painting red flames in the air as it was shot.
The dwarf who had shouted loudly quickly inflated his muscles, bracing for the pain as he leaped like a cannonball.
The shot dwarf looked furiously at the explosive wall and desperately tried to block the buffer by crossing it, but the buffer dwarf was just standing there with his eyes wide open.
The bullet was nowhere to be seen.
And the moment the dwarf crossed the wall, a scream came from somewhere else.
“Kuhk.”
It wasn’t from the buffer dwarf’s side.
A bewildered dwarf looked toward the source of the sound in shock.
The explosive wall had disappeared, and one dwarf was collapsing onto the ground with a hole in his chest.
Balance shattered.
Among the dwarves, only the cold sensation of a comrade’s death remained, colder than anger.
After the explosive wall disappeared, Ji Yu-chan’s eyes glowed as he saw him swing his sword at the last remaining dwarf.
The deputy commander dwarf tried to step forward and block.
But.
Thud—
With a sound of something snapping, his leg did not move.
It was the unnatural movement from forcing himself just now that had broken his joint.
The deputy commander dwarf had been trying to move somehow under pressure to act faster than the pain, so the buffer dwarf had attempted to recover him.
But the recovery was not fast enough.
And as the buffer dwarf looked at him, the deputy commander dwarf shouted.
“Idiot! It’s not me….”
The buffer dwarf’s misjudgment had already been revealed before the deputy commander dwarf could finish speaking.
The dwarf who had clashed with Ji Yu-chan quickly swung his sword to block, but it was in vain.
Using his body, he lowered his posture quickly and swung his sword horizontally, slicing through the dwarf’s neck.
Swaack—
Thud, roll.
The head rolled on the ground after the neck fell.
The buffer dwarf continued treating the deputy commander dwarf with his eyes wide open, unable to make a judgment.
However, before he could finish healing, the sound came from in front of him.
Ziiing——
The high-speed rotation sound of the violently spinning bullet reached his ears.
The deputy commander dwarf tried to raise his sword, but because his lower body was still shaking from his incompletely healed legs, he had no choice but to fall right where he stood.
Taking advantage of the shaken gap, the bullet, which had been focused solely on recovery and not caring about the buffer’s head, pierced straight through it.
Crack.
The head exploded like a vacuum, rolling across the floor as the buffer dwarf’s body fell.
And as the deputy commander dwarf, clenching his teeth while watching that, struggled to stand with his half-healed legs trembling, Ji Yu-chan stood before him, wielding his sword with maximum concentration and a tired expression.
The deputy commander dwarf raised his short sword and muttered.
“Damn it.”
“……”
On the other hand, Ji Yu-chan swung his sword without saying a word.
The deputy commander dwarf could not hold out much longer and, like the others, had his neck sliced and his head rolled on the ground.
His expression was not one of lingering resentment and injustice, but one that could not even understand how humans could be this strong until the end.
Having defeated all four dwarves, Ji Yu-chan and Hana Rin wiped their heads with tired expressions.
“Huuu, there’s not a single easy fight.”
“……Still, thanks to this, our growth is pretty fast.”
“That’s true, though.”
Ji Yu-chan’s words made Hana Rin nod in agreement.
And hearing the distant battle sounds, she muttered.
“It looks like that side will end soon too. Why did they have to stir up this much trouble?”
At first she had been a little suspicious, but given how obsessed they had become, there was no doubt that the curse was real.
After all, neither Ji Yu-chan nor Hana Rin could have thought that Do-hyun’s emotional result was wrong. They had been a little shaken, but.
Anyway, so while looking toward the side where Do-hyun was, she said softly.
“Why did they have to touch Do-hyun and cause this mess? What bad luck those guys have.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
If they had heard Ji Yu-chan and Hana Rin’s words while alive, the deputy commander dwarf’s head would have been even more baffled as it rolled emptily on the ground.
As the battle sounds from the other side gradually faded, Ji Yu-chan moved and said.
“First, let’s collect the loot. When Do-hyun comes, he’ll be excited to see it.”
“Good.”
At first touching the dead bodies felt a bit uncomfortable, but this was already the third time, so maybe?
Somehow the two of them looked familiar with it.
Then suddenly.
‘Doesn’t this make us seem like villains?’
‘……Wasn’t there really a curse?’
As if thinking that, while rummaging through the loot, their eyes met and they both trembled slightly, turning their heads away as if nothing happened.
It was probably better not to have such pointless thoughts.
How long had passed like that?
When they had finished organizing all the loot, the battle sounds from the other side had completely disappeared.
* * *
Far away from Ji Yu-chan and Hana Rin, Do-hyun moved, unable to help but smile faintly as he looked at Talgreen following behind him.
If he was this obvious, it was really hard to ignore.
Now that he was wearing the necklace, his senses had risen, and he could clearly feel it.
Talgreen was currently desperate to obtain the necklace.
The more he thought about that, the more certain Do-hyun became.
He was certain that this necklace carried that much value.
Well, he already knew its usefulness after wearing it, but if even an artisan race dwarf was that greedy, it must be even better than expected.
While thinking that, as monsters charged toward him and he ran through them, he heard Talgreen’s voice from afar.
“Just hand it over!!!”
Looking at Talgreen shouting like he was issuing an order, Do-hyun said with a puzzled expression.
“What necklace did you leave me with? If someone saw it, they’d think I’m the thief.”
Muttering that with a puzzled look, he surveyed his surroundings.
There was quite a large open field.
Do-hyun stopped there.
The monsters that had come as well had killed quite a few, so the pressure around him was minimal.
Judging that it would be fine to fight here, he stopped.
Talgreen, perhaps having made a firm misunderstanding, smiled slyly and said.
“Yes, so you’ve finally thought of handing it over.”
“……That’s a real misunderstanding.”
“What?”
“When did I ever say I would give it?”
Rather than Do-hyun showing that attitude, Talgreen twisted his face like a demon.
Among the dwarves, who could have said such insolent words to one with such talent?
The arrogant attitude he had felt for a long time made Talgreen’s face flush red as he glared at Do-hyun.
And Do-hyun, looking at such Talgreen, smiled faintly and said.
“If you glare like that, you think I’ll hand over the necklace? What, come at me. Is the artisan’s pride something to say with words?”
Do-hyun issued a provocation.
Crackle—crackle—crackle—
The effect was tremendous.