Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Reunion with the Saintess
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“It's magic worthy of being called a witch.”
Eres glanced at the corpses of the dead knights and said.
Somehow, it felt similar to Corruption. But Na Young couldn’t possibly be here. The scents were too mixed to be sure, but there was no trace of Na Young’s fragrance either.
“I’ll follow the traces a bit.”
“Is it a woman you know?”
“No way… but I have to check just in case.”
The idea that Na Young had somehow crossed over to Tellus and was going around killing knights was less likely than there being a witch here with similar abilities to Na Young, but something felt off.
I used the continuing footprints and scents here to determine the direction and informed Maron.
The scents included more beastkin, orcs, and goblins than humans. While living with Blitz and Sonorim, I’d noticed their distinct monster scents, different from regular monsters, and it smelled similar.
“Master… you’re really okay, right?”
As we proceeded in the direction I indicated, Maron looked back at me with a worried, tearful face.
“Don’t worry. I have enough strength to protect you. And stop the carriage now.”
I said to Maron as I jumped down from the carriage.
A large group of beastkin was ambushing ahead. Beyond smell, intuition, and sound, I could even sense their life forces now, so my ability to detect ambushes had improved.
“Turn back now!”
A lion-headed beastkin shouted, his voice echoing through the valley from afar. I’d imagined lion beastkin as human-like figures with fur and ears, like Blitz in his werewolf form. In other words, it was a full lion head on a furry human body.
“This isn’t a place for you to enter! Turn back! And forget what you saw today!”
For people who massacred knights, they were surprisingly gentle.
“I’ve come to meet the witch!”
I shouted. It couldn’t possibly be Na Young, but it resembled her Corruption, and the feeling was there.
“There’s no witch! Only the Saintess!”
Is it really Na Young…
“I’m going in!”
I raised both hands to show I had no weapons and walked forward.
“Imperial bastards never listen when we speak nicely, anyway.”
From both sides of the valley, not just humans but beastkin, orcs, and goblins poked their heads out. Then the lion beastkin jumped down from a high rock and approached me.
“Turn back.”
The lion beastkin, a head taller than me, bared his sharp fangs and growled.
The pressure he exuded was incomparably stronger than any mere lion. A normal person would wet themselves just looking at him up close. But that was only about C-Rank Hunter level. Not enough to take those knights alone.
Even among the hidden ones, I didn’t sense anyone with strong energy.
“I don’t want to fight. I just want to meet that witch… no, the Saintess.”
“She’s not someone imperial scum like you can meet.”
“I’m not from the Empire?”
“...You’re hopeless. I’ve given you plenty of chances. Don’t blame me.”
The lion beastkin swung his hand. But his claws were retracted, so it didn’t seem meant to kill, and the speed was slow.
I lightly grabbed that hand and flipped him over my shoulder, slamming the lion beastkin to the ground.
“Gah!”
Seeing the lion beastkin, twice my size, go down so easily, his comrades flinched.
“I don’t want to hurt you either. Just let me meet her.”
“Let go of our leader!”
A sleek leopard-like beastkin charged at my face with claws extended.
“No!”
The lion, realizing I had no killing intent, tried to stop him, but the leopard was already upon me.
With my foot on the lion beastkin’s throat, I yanked the leopard’s wrist and struck his solar plexus.
The leopard tumbled forward, and that was the signal for them to swarm from all sides.
“Sigh…”
Reluctantly, I grabbed the incoming ones, flipped them, and knocked them out with strikes to the solar plexus or throat. Since it might be connected to Na Young, I didn’t want to kill them. I’m not a murderer anyway; I don’t slaughter everyone who attacks me.
“All… all of you, come out! He’s strong!”
“They’re after the Saintess! Evacuate her!”
Amid the commotion, dozens, then hundreds poured out. But among them, few seemed like actual warriors or mages. It felt like ordinary folk armed with farming tools.
“Stop! I don’t mean harm. Just let me meet the Saintess!”
I shouted, but they weren’t listening. It was tough taking them down without injury as they charged with desperate resolve.
Then cheers erupted from behind.
“It’s them! The ones who murdered nobles at the Fountain of Destiny!”
Dozens of imperial knights and mages who had tracked us charged in.
“There’s a black-haired woman over there! It’s the witch! Kill her!”
One knight spotted Eres, who was propping her chin and watching from the carriage, and yelled.
“So you’re imperial lackeys after all! Brothers! Arm yourselves!”
The beastkin group mistook us for being with the imperial army.
“Ah… damn it…”
Things were getting messier.
The power difference was clear. Without proper warriors on the beastkin side, they’d be massacred if left alone.
“My head hurts…”
I jumped in, breaking knights’ arms or legs to disable them.
But in the chaos, even as I helped, the beastkin didn’t notice.
Then I felt something trying to interfere with my mind. But with Resilient Mind skill leveled up, it had no effect.
I turned and leaped toward the source of the curse. I dashed like flying, stepping on the shoulders and heads of the oncoming beastkin.
“Na Young!”
“Huh? Oppa?!”
The curse lifted.
“S-sorry! It was too far; I couldn’t see your face!”
“...You shouldn’t cast curses without seeing faces, right?”
“Well… our side looked in danger, so I cast it as an area effect. Sorry.”
I pointed to the beastkin I’d taken down first.
“Didn’t kill them. Just knocked out. Let’s clean up there first. Calm your friends down. I’ll handle the knights.”
Na Young signaled them to retreat by interfering with the beastkin’s minds, and they startled before pulling back en masse.
“They’re fleeing! Chase them!”
I zigzagged through the charging knights, knocking them out one by one.
With one group retreating, it was actually easier to move.
It didn’t take long to finish them all off.
“How did you get to Tellus?”
While the beastkin group bound the knights, I went to Na Young.
“I begged Sonorim and Blitz until they let me.”
“But where are Blitz and Sonorim?”
“Western Continent.”
“...You crossed alone?”
“They kept saying no, so I snuck out.”
“Saintess!! Run!”
Young beastkin charged and bit my neck and legs. Their teeth didn’t even penetrate, though.
“Kids! Stop! This is the person I was looking for!”
“Huh?”
The young dog beastkin biting my neck spat drool all over it and widened his eyes.
* * *
“So… you thought I was captured, so you smashed through imperial POW camps one by one, and ended up as the leader of this huge group?”
“Yeah…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong… the wrong ones are…”
My girlfriend threw herself into another world to save me. Not content with that, she crossed to the Eastern Continent alone. I admired her determination, even if it was a bit scary.
“Thanks. But don’t do it again. You got lucky. If you’d run into a Master-class being, even you would’ve been in danger.”
“Got it.”
“You crossed right after I disappeared?”
“Sonorim stalled me, so not right away. When I said I’d make a demon contract and go alone, they said let’s go together.”
“Hahaha.”
“Hohoho.”
“You weren’t really going to do it, right?”
“...”
Na Young turned her head.
Her sly smile suggested it wasn’t a joke. She probably would’ve figured out a way and contracted a demon to cross. I need to get stronger so this doesn’t happen. Otherwise, Na Young could turn villain in a flash.
“But… Oppa… who’s that woman? How long have we been apart…”
Na Young pinched my arm while glaring at Eres. She got anxious about other women approaching, especially after Yesl.
“No, no.”
“No? Why do women keep multiplying wherever you go?”
Her words shortened in anger.
“No relationship at all.”
“You’re trying to make a harem around you?”
“Hmm… how to explain? You know the great beings Sonorim mentioned?”
Na Young nodded.
“She’s one of them.”
“...I think she cast something like a curse earlier…”
“If she hasn’t said anything yet, she’s fine. She’s not someone our attacks could affect anyway… something’s coming.”
I pushed Na Young behind me.
“You bastards!”
A booming voice echoed through the valley. The knight was well past his prime, but his voice rivaled any young man’s.
“You insolent wretches who dared harm imperial nobles on imperial soil! Imperial Guard, knight of the Sudun family, Sudun, shall punish you!”
The elderly knight drew a greatsword as tall as himself from his back and slammed it into the ground.
Thud.
It hit with considerable weight, the sound resounding loudly.
“Crime demands retribution. Sinners, gladly accept justice’s execution.”
He gripped the hilt of the grounded sword firmly with both hands. He spread his feet wide and tensed his arms.
“Everyone, get down!”
He swung the sword with full power. It wasn’t just any swing. It carried his all-or-nothing resolve.
The high-speed yet heavy swing unleashed a wide, sharp aura blade forward.
If this were a forest, trees would’ve been sliced at shoulder height and toppled.
Those who ducked at my warning survived, but some beastkin were bisected at the waist.
If I let it continue, innocents would just die pointlessly, so I went down.
“Leave the innocents alone and fight me.”
“Innocents? You’re all sinners. I’ll punish you first, then the rest behind you.”
Sudun gripped his sword again.
“I committed the crime; what did the people behind have to do with it?”
“Killing nobles is grave. Those who violate the Empire’s sacred laws, and those who aid them—all death. If we don’t punish lawbreakers, who will obey the law?”
“What kind of bullshit law is that? Anyway, I’m not going down easy, so come at me.”
Sudun veined his forehead and pulled his sword back.
The power surpassed Hunter Jeong Min-gi’s Moon Fang. The issue was speed. Not some shonen manga; no need to wait for his prep time.
I charged before he swung.
As if anticipating, Sudun leaped back and swung. The sword came diagonally low, aiming for my shin. With my feet already airborne, unable to dodge, I infused aura into my fist and smashed the flat of the blade.
Boom!
The moment the sword met my fist, Sudun released it and threw an aura-charged punch at me.
I’d underestimated seeing him gather energy for the attack. He hadn’t wasted his years; he accurately judged what to discard and seize, executing it swiftly.