Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Violent Welcome
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Inner Chamber
Whooshhh.
—It was a gruesome sight.
The once-magnificent walls had crumbled.
The colossal divine beast had ceased to move.
Between them lay nothing but the countless corpses of monsters and intelligent beings alike.
And so, in the ruins of a city that once prospered, now being buried beneath the fierce downpour.
We were looking down.
“How foolish.”
[…….]
“You must have known I wouldn't have died, even if you hadn't risked your life to shield me.”
Broken armor.
Lifeless pupils.
An arm, torn clean off.
And a gaping hole in the center of her chest.
Beneath the pouring rain, her body had already grown cold.
Yet her features remained as beautiful as ever.
So familiar, so accustomed.
Looking at that terribly unfamiliar face.
We murmured.
“—Parsha.”
We had spent a lifetime together.
Yet she had shown nothing but cynicism.
Never offered a single warm word.
But as a nanny and a guard, she had always stayed by my side in place of the mother I lost as a child.
Before the corpse of the dark elf maid, my only personal servant, my only family.
The Voice spoke.
[She would have been satisfied.]
“I know.”
Yes, I knew.
Ever since I sifted through the ashes of the dark elf tribe for days on end to find the bones buried within.
I knew that life no longer held any meaning for Parsha.
That was why she had protected us more faithfully than anyone.
Because she knew better than anyone that we were the only ones who could avenge her people.
In that sense.
This was a destined end.
The final moment she, who had been living as if dead for so long, had yearned for.
Whooshhh.
Beneath the cold, pouring rain.
Looking at the dark elf maid's face, which showed no pain or regret in her final moments, but rather a hint of peace.
And at the gaping hole in her heart, we…….
***
Immediately after passing through the gate.
Dion's assessment of Soma Castle was quite simple.
“Hmm, it's quite shabby.”
“Surely you aren't comparing Soma Castle to the capital, Nightless City?”
“I am, but it's true that this place is too small and run-down, even for a satellite castle.”
“……”
Parsha fell silent.
It was true that Soma Castle was particularly shabby, even when compared to other satellite domains.
So much so that any noble who valued cleanliness would hesitate to even set foot inside.
Yet, it wasn't Dion who hesitated to enter the dilapidated castle.
“So, where's your house, Parsha?”
“I have already left home, so it is not mine. It is merely my family's home.”
“Right, so where is it?”
“……Are you truly going to go?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn't?”
“It is simply not a place fit for you, Gongja.”
“You're funny, Parsha. Is there any place I can't go, when I'm used to being called a wretch living in a fancy house?”
“I can only lament my fate, having to serve someone who says such things with pride.”
Though she showed a blatant reluctance on her usually expressionless face, as if she truly didn't want to, Parsha eventually led the way with a sigh.
Following the complex paths, which were fundamentally structured like a maze for defensive purposes.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Perhaps it was due to the structure of the satellite castle, built in vertical layers because of the lack of space compared to the relatively flat and sprawling capital city.
The deeper they descended into the lower levels, the shabbier the alleys became, the dimmer the light grew, and the fouler the air turned.
And when they reached the very bottom of Soma Castle, a place darker, gloomier, and more foul-smelling than even the Waning Moon City.
The two were greeted by a loud commotion.
*Clatter!*
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Meaning? We're teaching a lesson to criminals who ignore the simple fact that debts must be paid.”
“What debt are you talking about? When did we ever owe you anything?”
“You don't know? Your taxes are overdue. Taxes.”
“We pay our taxes diligently every year, and we have the receipts to prove it.”
“That's for ordinary residents. It's only natural for vulgar creatures like you, who defile our castle, to pay an additional tax, isn't it?”
“……We received the right from the House of Unlight to live here with the same treatment as other residents.”
“Ha, sorry, but we don't know anything about what those high-and-mighty folks say.”
A group of men, who at a glance looked nothing like soldiers or tax collectors, loitered in front of a half-collapsed, shabby shop.
They grinned at the residents surrounding them, whose beautiful features stood out despite their tattered clothes.
“Well, don't you worry too much. If you're short on cash, we can introduce you to some special jobs so you can pay with your bodies.”
“……”
“Of course, we'll have to take a little something for the introduction, arrangement, and brokerage fees.”
For a moment, he stared blankly at a dark elf who reminded him so much of someone else—one who glared coldly at the jeering thugs but couldn't drive them away.
The boy slowly turned his head.
“Parsha, you know what?”
“……”
“I really like Odobaekryeong.”
Striding past his maid, who had stopped dead in her tracks while leading the way, her gauntleted fist clenched tightly.
Dion finished his sentence with a wide smile.
“Because wherever I go, there's always trash overflowing, so I never get bored.”
With the leisurely remark that there was nothing better than being able to gain experience wherever he went, Dion strode forward.
He cut through the crowd of dark elves who flinched at the sight of him—or more accurately, at Parsha, who had appeared with him.
He walked right up to the thugs, who were still grinning, oblivious to the situation, only now beginning to show expressions of confusion.
Having arrived at a leisurely pace, the boy casually reached for his waist.
And the moment Dion's small, white hand, no bigger than that of most girls, lightly gripped the souvenir he'd swiped from the Vlad estate.
“Huh? What's this little brat—”
*Shunk!*
—a knife plunged into the thug's eye.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
The thug, who had suddenly lost an eye, let out a piercing scream and writhed on the ground, but thankfully, his suffering didn't last long.
As if annoyed by the noise, the blade swung again, this time severing the screaming man's head.
Holding the blood-drenched blade in one hand, the boy spoke with a beaming smile.
“Now, for the crime of oppressing the people of House Unlight, who's next to die?”
***
For a very brief moment.
The lowest level of Soma Castle, the residential area of the dark elves, was plunged into a heavy silence.
Not only the surrounding dark elves but also the thugs who had just lost their companion couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
The entire process, from the boy's sudden appearance to him cutting down a thug, had occurred in an instant.
But the corpse of the thug who had met a violent end and the blood dripping from the boy's blade forced them to recognize the situation.
“Th-this bastard! How dare you kill my brother!”
*Clang!*
Whether they were just close companions who called each other brothers.
Or actual blood brothers who had happily taken up a life of thuggery together.
The first to snap out of it was a large man, who bellowed in fury and drew a dagger.
As if to prove the bulging muscles on his body weren't just for show.
The giant's charge, dagger swinging, was so ferocious that he could have minced an ordinary person in the blink of an eye.
There was just one problem.
—the opponent the thug was charging was no mere commoner.
*Swish!*
“Guhk…?!”
From taking a single step to dodge the swinging dagger, to extending his own blade and piercing the man's throat.
Dion, having executed the entire sequence as smoothly as flowing water, smiled widely before the two corpses.
“Hmm, it's a shame. Your loyalty in charging to avenge your brother is admirable, but your skills are lacking.”
“That damned brat, how dare he!”
“Kill him!”
“Eh? Wait a minute. Surely you grown adults aren't going to gang up on a frail little kid like me?”
“Cut the crap and die!”
That was as far as the thugs' rationality could take them.
Pissed off by seeing their comrades die one after another and then being mocked for it, the five remaining thugs charged forward in a frenzy.
The corpses of their friends were proof enough that Dion was not just a pretty-faced boy, and above all, they were thugs.
They weren't the type to have a conscience or honor that would make them hesitate to attack together.
However…….
*Whoosh!*
“Oops.”
*Thwack!*
“Ghk?! Where are you hitting!”
“S-sorry. The brat's too fast...”
*Stab!*
“Keok?!”
Dodging a dagger.
Slipping past their flanks.
Subtly baiting a kick.
Cunningly making them kick their own allies.
And stabbing the back of a thug who staggered after being struck in the leg.
The thugs were thrown into disarray by Dion, who scurried about like a rat in a sewer.
Though the thugs had the advantage in both numbers and size, their very numbers and size became a hindrance, preventing them from catching the small and agile Dion.
It was, in a way, an expected outcome.
Unlike them, who were ultimately commoners that had only ever threatened the weak in back alleys, Dion was now a proper Awakened One.
Even yesterday, no, a few hours ago, it might have been a close fight, but…….
*Ah, being Awakened really makes things easy.*
His level had skyrocketed from facing Gerald.
The Class he'd stolen by killing him.
And the new Trait he'd acquired.
Dion smiled widely as he felt the power that had multiplied several times over in just a few hours due to all the boosts.
This was why Odobaekryeong was great.
With higher-grade Classes and Traits, he could play with commoners like they were insects.
Of course, this also meant he could be completely dominated by a higher-level Awakened One…….
But for Dion, this was an advantage.
Because with the power of 【Bloodlust Star】, he could achieve in a single day the growth others needed decades and vast amounts of magic stones for.
Of course, the process required a great deal of blood and death instead of magic stones, but that didn't matter.
Just like these thugs, there were plenty of people in Odobaekryeong who would willingly become Dion's experience points.
Including those who weren't even intelligent species.
*Slash!*
“Kuaargh!”
“Wh-what kind of monstrous brat is this…!”
And so, Dion cut down the thugs without hesitation.
One by the neck.
One through the heart.
One by gutting the abdomen.
In the blink of an eye, only two thugs remained, their faces pale as they staggered back.
Just as Dion, with a beaming smile, was about to pursue them.
*Whoosh!*
“Whoa!”
A fist-sized stone came flying toward Dion's head.
Dion quickly dodged the stone, which flew as sharply as an arrow, but the surprise attack didn't stop there.
As if expecting him to dodge, a flail attached to a chain swung through the opening.
*Whoooooosh!*
“Whoa, whoa, my head's gonna get smashed!”
The swinging flail.
The tearing air.
A brutal weapon that could demolish a building with a mere graze, even pulverizing the remaining thugs.
After dodging several swings, the moment the flail swung toward his legs, Dion leaped up and stabbed his opponent's chest with his dagger.
It was an excellent counterattack that perfectly exploited the opponent's opening, but…….
*KANG!!!*
“……!”
He wasn't even wearing armor.
Yet the dagger slid off his bare skin, failing to pierce it.
Now exposed, Dion quickly flipped his body to evade the hand reaching for him and kicked his opponent.
He then backflipped several times to create enough distance before finally letting out the breath he'd been holding.
“Huuu……”
It had only been a few breaths.
A short time, not much different from when he'd stabbed and sliced the first thug.
But as Dion gasped for breath in the aftermath of the incomparably dense and fierce exchange, a question was thrown at him.
“Who are you?”
“Hm?”
“Who are you and where are you from? Spit it out, why are you sticking your nose in our business?”
The last of the eight thugs who had been threatening the dark elves.
Dion tilted his head at the threat from the scar-faced lizardman.
“That's what I'd like to ask.”
From the moment the thugs threatened the dark elves until they attacked Dion himself.
The lizardman had been watching from the sidelines as if he were a mere bystander.
Checking the status window of the opponent he couldn't help but be wary of, Dion narrowed his eyes.
“—Why is a 2-star Awakened One using back-alley thugs to do something so petty?”
Name: Zod
Race: Lizardman
Title: None
Class:
【Thug】☆☆ Lv3
【Petty Thief】☆ LV10
【Gambler】☆ Lv7
【Laborer】☆ Lv6
【Porter】☆ Lv4
Trait: 【Hard Scales (N)】, 【Powerful (N)】, 【Agile (N)】, 【Ambush (N)】.
【Thug】☆☆
1. Evil Deeds Boost ↑ (Small)
2. Combat Boost ↑ (Minor)
3. Good Deeds Penalty ↓ (Small)
4. Class Trait [Body Enhancement]
—Those for whom assault has become not just a pleasure but a way of life shall gain the power of violence, but shall grow distant from peace.
【Powerful】
1. Strength Boost ↑ (Minor)
2. Agility Boost ↑ (Minimal)
3. Stamina Penalty ↓ (Minor)
4. Satiety Penalty ↓ (Minimal)
—Trained muscles make everything faster and easier, but hunger will arrive just as quickly.