Chapter 166
Chapter 166
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Sintu
Sintu.
Pabababat!
Countless arrows rained down.
It felt just like the darkness itself descending.
Not an inaccurate description.
The arrows blanketing the sky were a threat in and of themselves.
As they poured down in endless numbers,
it truly felt like the darkness was crashing down.
Yet amid them, purple lightning flickered about, and the wind whipped into a storm, accelerating the arrows even further.
And then.
In the space where the darkness had settled.
Pabababababak!
Countless arrows pierced straight through the people.
"Fuuuck..."
The surviving man spat curses as he staggered to his feet.
He'd barely made it by using one of his nearby underlings as a shield.
'Just who the hell...'
He gritted his teeth.
Fortunately, the power wasn't all that impressive. It felt like they'd prioritized quantity over quality.
Even so, it packed this much punch.
Who the hell was their opponent?
'Purple lightning?'
His eyes caught the purple lightning crackling and sparking amidst the chaos.
"...What the hell kind of technique is that?"
"Nothing special."
A despondent voice and one that brushed it off like no big deal.
The ambushed man instinctively realized those two were the intruders who'd broken in.
"That thing multiplies by at least ten times, right?"
"Damn, you're spot on like a ghost."
"Not just splitting—it can be applied to other stuff too, yeah?"
"Trade secret."
A lighthearted tone.
The man wearing a plain, featureless mask glanced around the area briefly as he arrived.
"Do you punks even know whose turf this is...!"
"Slave camp? So the humans who fled the Cradle have been pulling this crap on someone else's land."
"What?"
"Decent population you've got here. Ah, so it wasn't mainly targeting orcs—you were after the ones leaking in from the Cradle."
"......"
Just a quick glance around, and the thief's divine insight reverse-engineered the entire crime scene.
"Diago... passed through here. Looks like some pretty high-up guys showed."
"Unbelievable. How the hell do you even know that?"
Han Yuseong tossed the words casually at the muttering Sintu.
"Eh, simple stuff. Just reverse-calculating what scum like this would do to deduce the culprits."
That was all Han Yuseong said, but inwardly,
he gave a wry smile.
'Some parts are a bit patchy.'
High-ranking folks weren't your average joes, that much was clear.
Probably those noble faction types from way back.
Han Yuseong clicked his tongue to himself and pondered.
Digging any deeper might drag the clan into trouble just from the investigation alone.
But calling it quits now left a nagging itch.
The fact that they'd zeroed in on his clan specifically.
'Diago was bait.'
What they wanted was to meet him and cut some kind of deal.
He'd realized it the moment he arrived. They'd even accounted for his tracking skills.
What to do?
Han Yuseong mulled it over briefly before coming to a decision.
*
Take Sintu along or send him back?
Before settling that, there was one thing to handle first.
'Beat the shit out of these bastards.'
I eyed the men with cold eyes.
Crime syndicate.
I'd planned to slip past quietly for Diago's sake, keeping things covert.
'But they crossed the line.'
After dropping into this world, I'd drawn one line for myself.
More precisely, starting from the moment the Holy Sword told me mind, body, and mana needed to unite.
-You should start by sorting out your mind first.
'Me?'
-You're too vague... It looks like you don't have a clear line. You kill who needs killing, save who needs saving—that seems to be your motif, but... I think you should draw a firm line there.
The Holy Sword and I had that conversation once before.
I'd nodded along in agreement.
'Draw the line.'
Save the ones who act human.
Kill the ones who don't.
I wouldn't kill everyone who got in my way, but
if they needed killing, I'd kill them.
-No, that's way too broad.
'......Better than nothing.'
Ironically,
the moment I set that line, I noticed all my stats shift slightly.
It wasn't without side effects.
What to call it?
An oath, maybe.
Breaking that oath would bring even greater risks crashing down on me—that much I could feel for sure.
'Enough stray thoughts.'
I regarded the man with a coldly cleared head.
Pajijik.
Purple lightning crackled wildly in my grip.
Extreme Thunder God.
It granted me the power of lightning. Since I had the Sword Ghost class and the Holy Sword, I'd been wielding it through my blade up till now.
'No need to limit it like that.'
For a normal person, just a simple current that'd make their body tingle.
Stack dozens, hundreds of them.
Then scatter them everywhere.
'Hero's authentic... magic, I guess.'
Pajijijijik!
The violet lightning spread wide like a net as it shot out.
Chain Lightning.
The lightning bolt started from a single surge, branching out everywhere and chaining together. Add the hero's power to that.
Pajijijijijijik!!
The area was engulfed in purple lightning on all sides.
The unpleasant stench of burning humans. But
'Power's still lacking, as expected.'
Weaker than a proper sword slash.
Even pouring hero power into it, and this is the result?
'Means I've got no real talent for magic.'
-What nonsense is that? No talent for this?!
The Holy Sword sounded utterly flabbergasted at my words.
I surveyed the devastation I'd wrought. The lightning had swept through, wiping out most of the crime syndicate in one go.
Even so, I still considered it weak.
When was it again?
Back when I hit level 3 in the Cradle.
Judging by the standards from when I'd newly learned the purple technique,
'This much would've let you survive.'
On the flip side, a sword swing now?
Even one hit from my current hero's authentic sword aura would've had them dancing on death's doorstep.
Not that I had zero talent for magic.
But if I asked myself whether it was worth ditching everything I'd built so far to pursue magic?
'Magic's meh.'
I'd given it a shot just in case, but grinding magic wasn't worth it.
Of course, I'd picked up a few useful spells here and there.
"You picked up magic too?"
"Just basic proficiency."
"......This?"
Sintu stared at me with a slack-jawed expression.
His face twisted into something truly bizarre.
What was it?
He'd already been looking at me like some kind of monster, but now
'......It's turning into the way Volkan's been eyeing me lately.'
Not even Volkan exactly.
It was starting to resemble the gazes from Black Hope or So Yeonhwa.
"So, what's the plan?"
"......We'll call it here on our end."
I sent Sintu on his way.
"You good without me?"
"Yeah. Thanks for coming this far."
But now that we'd come this far, it was time to split.
From here on, better to move not as Han Yuseong, but another identity.
"Hmmm..."
Sintu gave me a strange look.
He tried to read something from me, but soon sighed in resignation and said he got it.
Then he vanished somewhere with his signature trick.
'Always so unique.'
-It's an escape using light. He didn't earn the nickname Sintu for nothing.
After saying that much, the Holy Sword tossed a question my way.
-Reason you sent Sintu packing...
'When else am I gonna use it if not now.'
I donned another mask.
I hated using this one,
but since Ermé had stepped in midway to quash the rumors, it probably wasn't well-known around here.
-Heh... Time to end the era of scorn and persecution and return as the Fist Demon.
'Era of scorn and persecution?'
I laughed in disbelief at the Holy Sword's words,
then melted into the darkness.
*
Tak. Tak.
In the dimly lit darkness,
a single man took a seat.
"......"
The man simply stared at one presence.
A knight with disheveled blue hair, body bound tight.
One of the imperial hidden blades.
Truth be told, he hadn't wanted to touch this knight.
It was like poking a hornet's nest for no reason.
"Tch. Who told you to get all uppity? Even knowing the imperials wouldn't have your back."
A man steeped in shadow.
Alber, follower of one of the empire's noble faction leaders.
He gripped Diago's head as he spoke.
'This is getting messy.'
It wasn't supposed to turn out this troublesome.
He hadn't wanted to touch an imperial blade in the first place.
'But when you catch one of the imperials' hidden blades, they show no mercy.'
The imperial hidden blades held value precisely because they were hidden.
That's why the imperials preferred cover-up operations over outright protection.
In fact, one reason they'd snagged this imperial blade here.
But even so.
'Not safe.'
The price of targeting an imperial hidden blade would come back to bite them eventually.
The blades had value because they were hidden.
They'd dispose of it if exposed, sure.
But the imperials wouldn't sit idle knowing an imperial noble had captured one of their hidden blades.
Even so, he'd gone and attacked anyway.
'Gotta make a deal.'
If he could slap a leash on Han Yuseong, it would reset everything to zero.
There was risk, sure, but the returns were far greater.
One of the noble faction leaders backed him, and who knew? He might even become a pillar of the faction himself.
That's why he'd gone out of his way to force contact with Han Yuseong.
Truth was, the window to reach him was only while he was here.
A directive had come down from the church.
They were summoning the heroes soon.
He'd have taken more time to observe them otherwise.
But the church had stockpiled too much power right now.
They were straining to push it outward.
To weaken the empire's prestige and bolster their own.
That's why they'd hastily summoned the heroes.
'Only shot is now.'
The perfect timing to pressure him into cooperating.
So he'd forced it.
Gone and attacked Diago on purpose.
'No issue.'
Just a tiny prick of conscience, nothing more.
For that alone, he could secure the whole noble faction's backing.
A most satisfactory trade-off.
Then Han Yuseong would have no choice but to cooperate with them.
With the double- and triple-layered traps set.
"So that's how it is."
"......"
From the empty darkness where no one should be.
A voice echoed.
He flinched for a split second, but Alber clamped his mouth shut and fixed his gaze ahead.
Tak. Tak.
Clear footsteps rang out.
What emerged was
not the Archer Hero in a black coat, with those footsteps and flowing white hair.
Black martial robes.
Long, trailing black hair. A mask concealing the face.
And
Hwarururuk!
Black flames raging fiercely around him.
"Don't bother opening your mouth. I don't wanna breathe the same air as scum like you."
"Kuhuk...!"
An overwhelming pressure that made it hard to even breathe.
Alber realized he'd unconsciously staggered back two steps. No, this was
'Did I pass out?'
Just from exposure to the pressure, he'd blacked out for at least a few seconds?
'What kind of monster is this guy?'
As Alber thought that,
the Fist Demon assumed his stance.
Puak!
The fist wrapped in black flames pulverized his head.
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