A Splash of Salt
But the battle raged on even faster and fiercer than before.
Rune stood with his back to the tree, slamming the shield against Dullahan’s wrist joint with a resounding crack!
Even though Dullahan had no joints, the wrist was the pivot point where a weapon would be gripped most firmly. Yet the strike had no effect.
‘This won’t work either.’
Rune’s thoughts flashed through as he quickly dodged aside. The spot he had vacated was immediately pierced by an axe.
Whooom!
That wasn’t the sound of an axe. It sounded more like a boulder being heaved and thrown.
Seizing the opening, Heungmi darted through the trees like a bolt of lightning.
“Hoit!”
She moved with blinding speed and ruthless precision.
Tap! Tap!
“Huuueup!”
Heungmi puffed her cheeks as she swallowed hard, then finally caught up behind Dullahan.
“Eit!”
A swift kick landed square in the back of his helmet.
His head twitched slightly, but there was no real impact.
“……”
Slowly turning, Dullahan’s glowing green eyes flared with a sinister light.
Between his clenched gauntlets, a web-tipped spear materialized in the air.
The instant it appeared, Rune shouted at Heungmi.
“Run, Heungmi!”
Heungmi instinctively twitched her ears at the warning, then spun mid-air to change direction.
Pop! Clonk!
But Dullahan had already calculated her escape route and hurled a second web-tipped spear.
Crack!
“Waaat!”
Thud!
In the end, Heungmi was caught helplessly in the net and collapsed to the ground.
She sprang back up, grunting as she tried to free herself.
“Ouch! I can’t get this thing off!”
With a metallic clang, the massive shadow of Dullahan loomed over her wriggling form.
Thump!
A gauntleted hand seized her head.
In the end, Heungmi lifted her face with a dejected look.
“Heeheeing. Heungmi got caught?”
A series of clanks.
Dullahan nodded once in confirmation.
Eliminated.
With her ears drooping, Heungmi gratefully accepted Dullahan’s assistance as she pulled the net free with a tired groan.
Looking toward Rune and Perdikion with a face full of regret, she spotted Dullahan and clicked her tongue.
“Huuu, so disappointing.”
Heungmi stared at Dullahan for a moment before muttering softly.
“N-next time, I’ll do better.”
Pouting with her lips thrust out, Heungmi stuck her tongue out playfully, then leaped straight beyond the line where Amelia was waiting.
For a short while the battle paused as Heungmi returned.
Rune watched Dullahan standing motionless, his dark green eyes blinking slowly.
The sight was strangely pitiful, like a dog that had been scolded for not playing.
Rune thought with disbelief.
‘You didn’t actually get hurt, did you?’
Yet when Dullahan resumed the lesson, no trace of injury showed on him.
There were two left.
As expected from the very start.
The two most powerful fighters, with exceptional weapon mastery, of course that would be the outcome.
Perdikion furrowed his brow and asked while gripping his sword.
“Your sword has no weaknesses?”
“Yeah. No bones means I can’t even bend joints.”
Rune answered, just in case he might have missed something.
The red dragon hatchling let out a long, exasperated sigh.
“I’m going crazy.”
To settle the mood, Dullahan swung his axe at the trees.
Crack!
Boom! Crash!
With a splitting sound, the trees were halved in two.
The mighty old-growth trees withered instantly, dried out, and twisted into brittle shapes.
Because of the dark magic and miasma infused into the weapons.
“U-ugh.”
Amelia couldn’t help but let out a sound as she watched.
Heungmi raised her tiny fist in encouragement.
“Defeat him, Rune-ssi! Perdikion-ssi!”
Rune looked at Dullahan and spoke.
“If you make an opening, I might be able to try something.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Perdikion confirmed the small nod and gripped his blazing sword.
“Then go for it.”
A corner of Perdikion’s mouth lifted in a half-smile.
His expression was a mix of bravado and ferocity as he said to Rune.
“You’ve never failed when you’ve said you would.”
Grateful for that trust, Rune answered calmly.
“I’m glad you believe in me.”
Flames danced across the hands of the red dragon hatchling.
The flickering fire cast shadows and light across Perdikion’s face.
“Dullahan. Weaponizing power isn’t only yours.”
Whoosh!
The blazing fire sword scorched the air.
Dullahan moved toward the furnace-like heat of Perdikion.
The moment arrived.
Flash!
A magic circle activated beneath Dullahan’s feet.
Boom! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Explosions.
Simple, destructive power tore through magic and erupted one after another.
The already shattered rocks and wood became black charcoal and burned fiercely.
Rune hid behind the dazzling blast and flying debris, holding his breath motionless.
‘You made an opening and gave it a spectacular show.’
Thanks to that, Rune slipped out of Dullahan’s line of sight and changed his breathing.
Exactly as he had during the waterfall lesson.
He had become one with the flow of nature.
“!”
Dullahan realized Rune’s presence had vanished completely.
When he tried to search, the fire sword charged without allowing him to look away.
“Haah!”
Clang!
The greatsword collided with the fire sword.
Through the helmet, the green eyes of Dullahan and the dragon pupils of Rune burned red and locked together.
Fizz!
The cascading waterfall met the burning ground and began to steam.
Moisture and dryness clashed in a fierce battle.
Whoosh!
The heavy greatsword split the air, and Perdikion raised his fire sword to block it.
Clang!
The power of a dragon close to adulthood clashed with the brute strength of a knight.
After a long time, Dullahan and Perdikion became fully immersed in the duel.
“Haah!”
Kiing!
Perdikion activated Dragon Fear.
To resist it, Dullahan opened his mouth.
“Grrrrrrraaaaargh!”
A howl erupted from deep inside.
As a non-adult dragon, Perdikion found it hard to withstand head-on.
“Kuhk!”
Perdikion coughed violently and collapsed.
The instant Dullahan tried to bring down his staff.
“Stop right there.”
A single word from Rune, laced with a chilling aura, froze Dullahan in place.
“……”
A cold miasma, a lethal darkness, and a blade tempered by powerful light.
It threatened Dullahan’s neck.
The sword in Rune’s hand was The Despair That Summons Hell, gifted by the demon Lepanon.
Cooouu.
Dullahan remained exactly as he was, staff still raised.
Although sealed, it was undeniably a demonic weapon.
If cut, even a knight without a body would suffer severe damage.
Cling!
The staff disappeared from Dullahan’s hand.
Clatter!
Then, obediently, he relaxed his combat stance and slowly raised both hands in surrender.
Rune offered a faint smile and expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you, Dullahan.”
Rune sheathed his sword slowly and approached Perdikion, offering his hand.
“Thanks for your hard work, hyung.”
Perdikion grasped the offered hand and stood up.
“I knew you could do it, Rune.”
He glanced at the sword in Rune’s hand.
“But using a demon’s weapon that reeks of curses… that’s disgusting.”
The red dragon hatchling looked visibly displeased.
Rune looked at the sword and answered.
“This was the only weapon that would work.”
He hadn’t wanted to use it if possible, but he had no choice.
‘This was the only way to win, and Dullahan never saw it coming.’
For Dullahan, this sword and its wielder had the worst matchup imaginable.
It was already infused with the poisonous miasma of a demon, plus the powerful binding magic of the Light Clan Elder Christina.
It was bound to be deadly for him.
Heungmi and Amelia approached from the side.
“Waaah! Rune-ssi, what kind of sword is this?”
Rune answered Heungmi’s question.
“A sword left behind by the demon we fought at the World Tree.”
“Ahhh! I remember it now. But I feel Christina-ssi’s power too.”
Amelia, who hadn’t fully understood the situation, looked especially curious.
In the end, Rune gave a simple explanation.
“A demon who nearly wiped out the Elf Kingdom left this and ran. This is the loot we gained from him.”
Amelia nodded slightly, stared at the sword, and rubbed her arm.
“You… you look really awful…”
She hadn’t seen the demon, but her instincts screamed in revulsion and her expression hardened.
“The… the power to… deny the world… Rune, it’s… dangerous… I can… purify… and help…”
Amelia offered her help for a danger that could not be ignored.
Perdikion let out a loud breath.
“I asked him about it earlier. He turned me down.”
Rune showed an apologetic face.
“It could cause all sorts of problems if done wrong.”
It just so happened that the demon had directly pointed Rune out and ordered him to “take him.”
Rune had accepted.
Christina had explained that this was how demonic contracts were formed.
If Rune were to forcibly break the contract, the demon might target the dragon clan and spark a war.
‘It’s like adults fighting when kids fight.’
While Rune pondered this, Heungmi puffed out her cheeks and placed a hand on her hip.
“Uuu. That demon Lepanon is so weird. Rune-ssi is… obsessed… wait.”
Heungmi covered her mouth with both hands and gave Rune a quick glance.
Rune met her eyes and spoke.
“You can use it on him. It’s the truth.”
There was no need to call him anything other than the weird thing he was.
‘As long as I don’t use it often.’
Heungmi accepted the permission and said the word out loud.
“Umm, it’s definitely an obsession-crazed demon!”
Rune nodded and continued.
“That’s right. For a while, don’t mention that guy at all. Because if I see him, I might have to sprinkle salt on him.”
“Salt? Why sprinkle salt?”
Wait.
This world had no custom of “sprinkling salt if you’re unlucky.”
After a short thought, Rune explained as best he could.
“Salt makes food taste good, it’s clean, and it’s white. It has a feel of something transparent and pure.”
“White, transparent, pure, and delicious salt.”
Heungmi’s eyes sparkled as she repeated the words.
It seemed to make sense to her.
Perdikion, who had been thinking for a moment, added his opinion.
“Now that I think about it, salt stones are quite rare even in my own fire lair. Dwarves use them to prevent food from spoiling.”
‘Good.’
Rune thought inwardly to Perdikion.
“Among humans, they sometimes chew salt water to disinfect or sterilize.”
Rune finished with satisfaction.
“Hyung is right. It even comes from the clean sea. That’s why it feels like it chases away anything impure.”
Rune quickly corrected the slip of the tongue and felt relieved inwardly.
“Rune, you have surprisingly emotional side. You feel that way about salt?”
Rune clenched his teeth inwardly at the words.
‘How could that be.’
But Heungmi giggled happily.
“If I sprinkle coarse salt, it’ll be super salty and burning! Next time a bad guy comes who needs to be sprinkled with salt, I’ll do it!”
It seemed salt had become Heungmi’s ultimate weapon against enemies.
“……”
Should he tell the truth? Rune paused briefly.
‘Fine. I’ll ask. I’ll ask and be done.’
In the end, he decided it was better to let the emotional misunderstanding stand.