Chapter 55: Racial Duel (4)
Chapter 55: Racial Duel (4)
“I am going to kill someone tomorrow.”
You said those words on a day when the dawn sky was an exceptional, piercing blue.
“I don’t know what kind of life they lived, nor do I know how they will die. I won’t even know what they are thinking as they pass away. I suppose I’ll never know, not for the rest of my life.”
You spoke with a haunting calm.
Leaning against the transparent glass window, your face looked deathly pale.
“Tomorrow, I will recite a spell woven from the knowledge I’ve spent my entire life gathering. The magic I unleash will tear people to pieces. So efficiently, and so simply.”
In my eyes, your face looked even more translucent than the glass.
“With a mere chant and a wave of my hand, they will vanish from this world. Innocent people who are loved by someone, and who love someone in return.”
It was an event that was bound to happen eventually.
You were a wizard invited by the Lord of Labyrinth City—a guest of honor brought in to ensure a decisive victory in the war atop the city walls. The Lord wanted you to grant as many people as possible a gruesome end with a single spell. He wanted you to destroy lives efficiently and shatter the enemy’s morale by unleashing terrifying mysteries.
You had a duty to fulfill the Lord’s wishes.
And so, you would kill tomorrow. Even if it wasn't tomorrow, it was a fate that would have found you eventually. This chaotic era of unending war forced wizards to kill. It screamed that their only worth lay in the destruction of countless lives.
As long as you remained a wizard, murder was your destiny.
But.
“...I’m so scared.”
Was that truly your only worth?
“I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t want to take the lives of the innocent, and I don’t want to harm others with the magic I’ve spent my life studying.”
“...”
“I’m terrified. I wish tomorrow would never come. I wish time would just stop here, forever.”
Tears streamed from your clear, transparent eyes.
It pained me to see you sobbing, your face buried in your hands.
I didn't want you to cry.
I didn't want you to be sad.
I wanted you, and only you, to be happy.
“I wish this moment would last forever, rather than that horrific one. I wish this dreamlike moment would never end. I’m praying for it, so desperately.”
I felt the same.
“If tomorrow comes and I end up killing those people... I feel like I’ll lose something precious. I feel like I’ll become something else entirely—a thing wearing a human mask, but fundamentally different.”
“...”
“That’s why I’m so scared. It’s driving me mad.”
I watched you tremble as you sobbed.
Then, for the first time since we met, I reached out to you. With my rough, calloused fingertips, I wiped away the tears flowing down your cheeks, then gently stroked your soft skin. Your transparent eyes widened slightly. Those eyes, like shimmering droplets of water, turned toward me.
Soon, we were looking into each other's eyes from a hair's breadth away.
“Do not be afraid.”
Feeling your breath against my skin, I was certain.
“Nothing will happen.”
A man like me would do anything for you.
“When you wake up tomorrow morning, nothing will have changed.”
Truly, anything.
“So sleep peacefully, and stay just as you are.”
“...”
“Nothing will change; everything will remain the same.”
You nodded with a dazed expression.
The dawn of that day was an exceptionally deep shade of blue. The window in your room was blue, the walls surrounding Labyrinth City were tinted blue, and the dawn light reflected off my sword was blue as well.
“You only need to remain yourself.”
That day, I stood alone against the legion that had come for Labyrinth City, armed with nothing but a single sword.
I did not fight as a 「Sword Runner」 spreading his wings.
I did not fight as a stranger from the 「Great Land」.
That day, I was simply a man.
I was merely a gust of wind blowing from far away.
To use your words...
I became the Gale.
*
The sword in my hand shimmered hazily. In this moment, the blade I held was no longer the dwarf-made steel sword gifted by Daisy, but the Eastern Continent sword wielded by a certain Ronin in the distant past.
My appearance shifted as well.
My clothes became scraps of cloth bordering on rags, and a worn bamboo hat sat upon my head. The scenery before me was no longer a forest of swaying bushes. The landscape reflected in my eyes became a wasteland where sandstorms swirled. Beyond the dust of the sun-drenched wilderness stood a legion—the enemies I was destined to strike down.
“Move, human fighter—”
Killing intent poured in from all directions—front, back, left, and right. The various attacks were all meant to pin me down, to defeat me, and to break me. But such attacks could never bind me. No blade in the world would dare try to hold the wind.
『Who can defy the blowing wind?』
I swung my sword as if dancing.
With that, the air surrounding me surged violently. A powerful wind swirled, and the attacks pouring toward me wavered in disarray. I spun in place, blade in hand. Free-flowing winds blew in sync with my rotation. The bodies of the enemies surrounding me shook mercilessly. The lashing wind struck them, tearing them down.
『Before the wind, we are but drifting dust.』
I lunged forward. I thrust my sword, sliding it against the enemy’s weapon with a harsh, rasping screech. I dug deep and spun smoothly, breaking through the encirclement. For a fleeting moment, I was the wind. The moment I broke through, my fluidly swung sword slashed the enemies' vitals. Red droplets of blood splattered the earth.
“This is insane—”
The memories of the 「Gale」 surged intensely, and my senses became unnervingly sharp. I could see clearly how to move to be at my freest. With a single step, I could leap across vast distances; with a single swing, I could dismantle dozens of attacks.
Amidst the chaos, an attack from a winged warrior poured down from above.
I did not dodge. If I retreated here, I wouldn't be able to break the encirclement.
Where in the world is a wind that looks back?
The wind only moves forward.
Relentlessly.
“Whew—”
My second heart throbbed, vibrating with power. As the power of Steel infused my entire body, two blades collided. I was the victor. A deafening roar erupted, and the weapon of the warrior who attacked me flew into the air. His eyes trembled violently.
“How can the sword of a mere 「Sword Walker」 be this hard—”
I didn't stop.
The moment I thought that, a vivid line appeared in my vision. I thrust my sword along that line instantly. A fierce wind blew, and Steel was infused into the lashing gale. A wind that no one could resist swirled intensely, and soon the bodies of those surrounding me were lifted high into the air.
『There is no paradise in the place you flee to.』
I shifted my grip on the sword.
The moment I stood before the numerous enemies, the 「Wildness」 dwelling within me thrashed and burst forth. Drawing a massive arc, the blade cut through several enemies in a single swing. Red blood sprayed. At that moment, someone aimed for my flank.
『My duel of honor was not for the sake of honor.』
The crude Orc sword transformed into the sophisticated blade of a knight. With a smooth, connected motion, the ambushing fighter was slammed into the dirt floor. It was a feat of skill that surprised even me.
“The rumors of you being a Sword Demon were true.”
Indeed.
To others, this skill must seem like that of a ghost.
“Phew.”
I recovered my spent stamina with a single breath. The 「Mana Heart」, which held the power of Steel, replenished its master’s strength in an instant. The lines drawn within my body became even more vivid. Like iron heated in a forge, the muscles throughout my body burned hot—as if they might melt.
A taut tension filled the air.
And then.
“Burst them all!”
An anomaly occurred.
“We don't need to take them down ourselves! It's night!”
Along with an explosion, grayish powder poured down like mist. At that moment, my exceptionally sensitive senses rang an alarm. A danger signal. Commands to flee the area flooded my mind.
Poison?
I saw the eyes of the fighters near the explosion go hazy and unfocused. However, there were no signs of poisoning. Rather than groaning in pain, they looked as if they were surrendering to an overwhelming drowsiness. Languidly, comfortably.
I saw fighters falling asleep where they stood.
Sleep. Drowsiness.
When those two keywords surfaced, Seol-yoon’s voice flashed through my head.
‘Falling asleep at night in a place where demons are present is no different from jumping into a pit of fire yourself.’
Demons.
As soon as I recalled that word, someone shouted from afar.
“We don't need to take them down ourselves! It's night!”
Only then did I realize their intention.
This place had become a stage for the demons.
However.
I can't even imagine what's going to happen.
I didn't know much about demons.
I didn't know what happened if you fell asleep in front of them, nor did I know what kind of beings they became on a night when the moon and stars were out.
But one thing was certain.
“—!”
It was dangerous.
It sounds like livestock having their throats slit.
Eerie screams erupted from all over. They sounded like the screams of living creatures, yet also like the voices of devils from legends. Goosebumps broke out all over my body.
“We have to get out of here!”
The fighters who had been fighting frantically had now lost all will to battle. As they scattered in total chaos, I gripped my sword and glared at the encroaching mist.
I had a better method than retreating.
『I am not swept away.』
Becoming the wind.
『I am the one who sweeps.』
My sword drew a circle.
The wind swirling around that circle gathered the grayish powder floating like mist and transformed it into a single tornado. I didn't know the specifics, but I had just seen with my own eyes that this would be a powerful weapon where demons were present. If so, there was no reason for me not to use it.
“Seol-yoon! I’ll make a path!”
This would become a new path.
I didn't even need to lift a finger. The nighttime drowsiness was the medium that summoned the demons, and the fighters who feared it would all clear the way—just as they had fled to the outskirts of the Black Forest to avoid the Orcs.
But there was something I had overlooked.
I didn't know much about demons.
In other words, I was ignorant.
“No! Small gladiator!”
Seol-yoon’s voice thundered from behind.
“The demon has already appeared! If you go that way, it’s danger—”
Instead of saying more, Seol-yoon lunged toward me. As she drew closer, I couldn't quite make out her words.
“—!”
And before I could think of anything, a pitch-black darkness enveloped us. A total darkness without a single ray of light poured down, and with it, all sound vanished. Absolute silence and absolute darkness. The darkness that arrived without warning brought an instinctive terror.
Simultaneously.
“Do you know the creation myth of the continent?”
A deep male voice echoed like a reverberation. From all directions.
“Ironically, the words of a devil are quite logical. They speak far more persuasively and valuably than the idealistic and irresponsible words of an angel.”
Every time the voice echoed, it felt as if an invisible hand was strangling me. It was hard to breathe. My five senses were failing, as if I had fallen into deep water. Along with that, cheerful laughter erupted from everywhere—laughter that burst out as if they were having the time of their lives.
It was a mad laughter that didn't fit the situation.
“It is a wonderful night, young human boy.”
While the laughter echoed, a flame flickered within the darkness. The faint flame drove away the dark, revealing what had been hidden within. A man stood there. A man of great elegance, with neatly slicked-back hair and wearing a pitch-black formal suit.
The moment I saw him, the word ‘Noble’ circled in my mind.
How else could I describe him but with the word noble?
I knew the moment our eyes met.
A demon.
A Noble of the Night stood before me.
“I invite you to a delightful night that will never end.”
A charming voice echoed clearly, as if whispering into my ear. Before the approaching man, I felt like a tiny insect. I felt like a lowly being who wasn't even permitted to resist, let alone take action.
But then.
“Oh.”
While helplessness was gnawing at my body, a heat rose in a corner of my chest as if a fire had been lit.
“You possess something interesting.”
The sudden heat spread throughout my body like a wildfire. Along with it, my fading consciousness gradually became clear. A sharp and lucid mind began to drive away the darkness.
“That is... something a human cannot possess.”
It was as if I was waking up from a dream.
The heat from my chest soon warmed my head. Heat surged as if my head were on fire. Starting from the crown of my head, it spread inside my skull, then down to my eyes and the bridge of my nose. This strange yet intense heat was oddly familiar.
This was a heat I had experienced before.
‘Descendant of Steel, with your immature sword, you cannot cut through mystery.’
Right.
The Orc Elder I met at the Holy Land.
The great Orc Shaman, Sherdic.
‘So, when a darkness you cannot handle falls upon you, this shall be of help.’
The heat that had rushed in when he stroked my head, claiming he would give me a gift.
‘This is a gift from the Orc Shaman Sherdic to the descendant of a great warrior.’
His gift, at this moment, began to devour the darkness.
*
“Puh-hel-hel.”
On a high mountain, looking up at the stars flowing through the pitch-black night sky, the Orc Shaman Sherdic let out a laugh that was quintessentially Orcish. Having read the movement of the constellations, Sherdic knew exactly what situation his ‘human friend’ far away was in. He was watching the ordeal faced by the Descendant of Steel, whom he thought he might never see again.
“Indeed. With that immature sword, you cannot yet cut through mystery. Puh-hel-hel, so for now, surrender yourself to my small assistance.”
Sitting in the Holy Land, Sherdic laughed vulgarly.
“The gift this Orc Shaman Sherdic gave to the descendant of a great warrior is finally shining, puh-hu-hu. As expected, this Sherdic hasn't kicked the bucket yet. Everything flowed exactly as the destiny I read.”
Orc Shaman Sherdic bared his teeth and laughed heartily once more. Naturally, the heart of a gift-giver feels proud only when the recipient uses the gift correctly. In that regard, Sherdic was very pleased that his gift had finally come to light.
A gift that couldn't even be compared to something like five guardian stones.
A grace that was originally never bestowed upon any race other than Orcs. A blessing that only the noble ones recognized as great warriors among Orcs could possess. Sherdic could not hide his joy as he looked up at the stars in the night sky.
“Those things that put on airs at every opportunity. I wonder what kind of faces those blood-clots spawned by devils will make. Puh-hel-hel!”
In the Holy Land, a quintessentially Orcish laughter echoed loudly across the sacred ground.