Chapter 234
Chapter 234
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: A Hero for the Little Ones (4)
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A chill, like a sharp blade biting into flesh.
A puff of white breath escaped his lips, scattering like cigarette smoke.
*Thump, thump.*
In the chilling silence of the ice cave, only the wild pounding of his heart echoed in his ears.
Oh-jin looked down at the unconscious Namgung Hwi and swallowed dryly.
*‘For Namgung Hwi to end up like this...’*
...it means the ‘monster’ in this cave is at least a 10-star beast.
Of course, Namgung Hwi had only just reached the 10-star level. Compared to a true 10-star Awakened like Isabella, it was almost embarrassing to call him a 10-star.
But.
*‘Still, he’s not someone who would be taken down this easily.’*
Personality aside, it was an undeniable fact that Namgung Hwi was skilled enough to be considered a candidate for the Seven Stars.
For him to be so utterly overwhelmed, beaten to a pulp, was proof of just how powerful the black-grade beast inside was.
“So she wasn’t just saying that for no reason.”
He let out a dry laugh, recalling Olivia’s calm expression as she had warned him.
A cold sensation trickled down his spine.
Oh-jin gripped his spear and slowly advanced deeper into the cave.
The long, icy passage opened up into a wide, spacious cavern.
A stream of pure white light poured through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the cavern as if it were broad daylight.
Beneath the brilliant cascade of white light.
A beast wearing a black necklace stood tall.
Its entire body was covered in blue armor.
Through the gaps in its helmet, ominous crimson eyes blazed, and a single rusty sword hung at its waist.
It wasn’t massive, the size of a house or anything like that.
The beast was so similar in size to a human that one might believe it was just a person wearing full plate armor.
No, it was a beast that seemed better described as a ‘knight’ rather than a monster.
*‘A living armor?’*
The name naturally came to mind upon seeing the blue armor.
*‘No.’*
Oh-jin quickly shook his head.
He couldn’t feel the eerie, ghostly aura characteristic of living armors.
In that case.
*‘What kind of beast is it…?’*
As Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, studying the knight in blue armor.
“……”
The knight in blue armor, who had been staring up at the light from the ceiling, lowered its head.
Its ominous, blazing crimson eyes fixed on Oh-jin, who was hiding behind an ice pillar.
And then.
“……!”
He knew.
He understood.
Though they had only met eyes, he realized everything.
*‘In… sane.’*
*Click, clack, clack.* His teeth chattered.
A cold that felt like a sharp blade digging into his flesh washed over him.
Cold, cold, cold.
So chilling it felt like he was freezing solid.
“What the…?”
Oh-jin clenched his trembling fist and gulped.
“……”
The blue knight, staring intently at Oh-jin, drew the rusty sword from its waist.
It slowly raised the sword, then gently lowered its stance.
*Claaaang!*
It deflected an arrow flying from behind with its sword.
“Kugh! N-No way! It wasn’t even looking this way!”
Behind an ice pillar on the opposite side, a blond young man with a unique bow made of green leaves cried out in shock.
Orlando Veil.
He was a high-ranking Awakened of Sagittarius who had participated in this Seven Stars Council.
“Hmph! You stupid archer! You couldn’t even hit it with a sneak attack?”
A bald man leaped out from behind a pillar with a pathetic look on his face.
It was Jason Hardy, the high-ranking Awakened of Taurus known as the Iron Fist.
“Shut up! Didn’t you see it knock away a shot from out of its sight?”
“Tch! This is why I said we didn’t need a sneak attack in the first place!”
Jason grinned and charged toward the blue knight.
True to his title of Iron Fist, his clenched fist turned a metallic silver.
“Die!”
His fist broke the sound barrier, swinging with a terrifying roar.
The blue knight, holding its rusty sword and watching Jason impassively, took a single step forward.
And then.
*Swish.*
There was no loud boom, no great clash of power.
Just a faint sound, like air escaping a balloon.
“…Huh?”
Jason’s eyes widened.
Blood gushed from his right arm, which had been cleanly severed at the wrist.
“Wh-What.”
Jason stared down at the cross-section of his severed wrist in disbelief.
His fist, the so-called Iron Fist that had crushed the heads of countless beasts, was rolling on the ground like a piece of rotten garbage.
“What the hell is this!”
The terror of the incomprehensible situation was greater than the pain of his severed arm.
“With… with something like this…”
*Tremble, tremble.* He tried to steady his pitifully shaking legs.
Jason raised his tightly clenched left fist.
“Don’t think you’ve broken this Iron Fist, monster!”
The Stigma of Taurus shone brilliantly.
A powerful wave condensed in his fist and surged toward the blue knight like a tsunami.
*-Ruuuumble! Craaash!*
Just before the wave hit, the blue knight’s body vanished like a phantom.
The blue knight, which had disappeared as if melting into thin air, reappeared right in front of Jason.
“Hup!”
As Jason scrambled backward with a panicked expression, a blue gauntlet struck him in the stomach.
*Thwack!*
With a sound like a club hitting wet leather, Jason’s body shot backward like a cannonball.
“Keoheok!”
Jason, slammed into the ice wall, clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground.
“……”
The blue knight turned its head away indifferently, as if it had lost interest.
“Kuh!”
Far away, Orlando, who was aiming his bow, flinched.
“O Chiron, Constellation of Sagittarius! Grant your Apostle an arrow that can pierce the heavens!”
A brilliant light flared from the arrowhead made of leaves.
Like the archer from myth who was said to have shot down stars, Orlando released the bowstring.
*Kwagagagagaga!*
A deafening roar accompanied the fired arrow.
The ice along the arrow’s trajectory cracked, shaking the entire cave.
“……”
The blue knight’s steps halted.
As if sensing this attack would not be easy to block, its blazing crimson eyes burned even more fiercely.
The blue knight sheathed its rusty sword and lowered its waist.
It took a rough step forward and drew its sword.
*Chwaaaaaak!*
A line of pure white sword energy shot forward, splitting Orlando’s arrow in two.
The two halves of the arrow carved a V-shape of destruction into the ground as they passed.
“Hah, hah, hah! Insane…”
Orlando gasped for breath, stumbling backward.
“Wh-What kind of monster did those Council bastards unleash?”
The blue knight lightly kicked off the ground, heading for the fleeing Orlando.
In the blink of an eye, the blue knight appeared before Orlando and seized him by the throat.
“Keoheok! Kkuck!”
Lifting Orlando with one hand, the blue knight slowly turned its head.
Its gaze fell upon the ice pillar near the cavern entrance.
The place where Oh-jin was hiding.
“…This is insane.”
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh and looked at the blue knight.
A cold sensation trickled down his spine.
He wanted to wholeheartedly agree with Orlando’s scream.
*‘What kind of monster did those Council bastards bring here?’*
He had expected the black-grade beast to be powerful.
But this was a strength that far surpassed any expectation.
*‘Run.’*
The decision was swift.
Unless he used Heaven-Shattering, this was a beast he couldn’t face normally.
The moment Oh-jin turned to leave the cave.
“So the black-grade is in here, right?”
“I’m telling you, it’s certain!”
“Fair is fair, the one who gets the last hit gets the points, okay?”
Five candidates entered the cave.
It seemed they had formed a party, thinking it would be difficult to face a black-grade beast alone.
“Uh…?”
Seeing the situation inside, they flinched.
Jason lying there with a severed arm, and Orlando struggling while being held by the neck.
“Wh-What is this?”
“I-Isn’t that Jason and Orlando?”
“Crazy! Those two were taken down?!”
Moreover, the blue knight that appeared to have subdued Jason and Orlando didn’t have a single scratch on it.
“……”
“……”
A chilling silence fell over the cavern.
The five candidates, exchanging glances, all turned around at the same time.
“R-Run!!”
“We can’t possibly beat that thing!”
The five candidates fled without looking back.
Oh-jin also followed them and fled out of the cave.
*‘It’s following.’*
Oh-jin glanced back and bit his lip anxiously.
The blue knight, which had been standing there so impassively, could be seen chasing after them.
“Dammit.”
Oh-jin’s gaze fell on the five candidates fleeing ahead of him.
There was only one way for him to escape the blue knight’s pursuit.
*‘Buy me some time.’*
Just as he was about to fire a wire at the five fleeing candidates.
“Hah, hah! N-No way! Why, why is this…”
He saw Namgung Hwi, panting for breath at the cave entrance, having apparently woken up from being unconscious.
“Namgung Hwi? Th-That’s Namgung Hwi, right?”
“S-Sir Namgung Hwi! There’s a black-grade beast over there!”
The five candidates who had just entered the cave, unaware that Namgung Hwi had already been beaten by the blue knight and fled, called out with bright voices.
Namgung Hwi looked at the five candidates, his face pale with shock.
“D-Don’t tell me the monster in there too…? N-No, then.”
“Sir Namgung Hwi?”
The candidates tilted their heads, looking at Namgung Hwi muttering incomprehensible words.
Namgung Hwi asked the candidates in a trembling voice.
“Wh-What happened to that monster?”
“It’s chasing us from behind right now!”
“That’s not what I mean!”
With a deathly pale face.
“The monster’s necklace! Does it still have the necklace?”
He cried out as if wailing.
“Yes?”
“Of course, it was wearing a necklace.”
“Don’t all the beasts in here wear necklaces?”
The candidates looked at Namgung Hwi as if asking what he was talking about.
Namgung Hwi silently lifted something from the ground.
A gorilla-like beast.
Around its neck, something that should have been there was missing.
“…Why the necklace.”
The candidates’ expressions hardened.
*-Thud, thud.*
The low echo of footsteps.
The blue knight walked out of the cave and looked up at the clear sky with its crimson eyes.
“Sssssss.”
The blue knight took a deep breath.
Raising its rusty sword high, the blue knight roared toward the sky.
“Hooooooooooooooooo!!!”
An eerie cry echoed out.
As if in response to its cry, the faint roars of beasts could be heard from all over the snowy plains.
No, it probably wasn’t just the snowy plains.
The dungeon where the Seven Stars Council was being held.
All the beasts inside the dungeon let out monstrous cries in unison.
“Ssssss.”
The blue knight’s crimson eyes blazed fiercely.
It slowly raised a hand and gripped the black necklace around its neck.
And then.
*Crack!*
The necklace that had been around the blue knight’s neck.
Fell to the ground, shattered into pieces.