Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Demon, Witch, and Demon Sword (8)
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"I don't know who it is."
Jeo hadn't followed. No, he couldn't. Even without a fatal wound, moving recklessly would only make his condition worse. There wasn't much hope for help anyway.
"Was it a mission to capture a witch?"
"Not to capture a witch. It was to bring back some woman. She just happened to be called a witch here by coincidence."
"She didn't seem out of place being called one. Yeoryeong said she went looking for that witch and got lost."
"Got lost? Hah, that's nothing."
Shade laughed. He continued, his eyes fierce.
"We were trapped in the forest for a week."
"...A whole week?"
"That was the price for entering without permission. Damn, if I'd known it was a mission this tough..."
Shade sighed. It must have been more grueling than expected, because only then did Ban notice how much stubble had grown on his face.
"Wasn't your group strong enough? To... find that witch."
"We haven't even seen her face once. No clue what abilities she has. The forest moves on its own, shifting paths... sometimes blocking the way with vines. Streams flow away from us, and fruits withered before we could eat them."
"You survived well enough."
"After three years at the Academy, we're not dying to getting lost."
Shade twisted his lips. The Academy taught survival in all situations. If the witch thought they'd collapse that easily, she was too naive.
"It's a mission straight from the Royal Knight Order. I have no intention of failing."
"...Royal Knight Order? Why send us instead of those elites?"
"No idea. Maybe testing us, or maybe they can't move directly for some reason..."
"Either way, doesn't matter. I'm using this mission to join the Royal Knight Order."
"...Hmm, I didn't think you liked the kingdom that much."
"I don't."
Shade answered. He'd considered hiding it at first, but his deep-seated hatred for the kingdom was impossible to conceal. Better to admit it outright; it felt less strange that way.
"That's why I'm going to change it. By standing at the top of this country myself."
"Sounds like the Revolutionary Corps. Totally."
"...Honestly, I don't know if you'll be much help even if you came."
Shade changed the subject. He glanced at Ban and said,
"It's not just about finding a path. We have to conquer the forest. When Anya appeared, her White Flame lit not just their way but ours too... but you don't have something like White Flame, right?"
"But I'm stronger. Stronger than Anya, stronger than you."
"What's that got to do with here?"
"Means it's better than just you alone."
Ban shrugged.
He met Shade's group shortly after that. The sun had risen in the sky, and Macdead laughed wildly with it at his back.
"Umhahaha! Ban! My old friend! What a delightful reunion!"
"...Tone it down a bit, Macdead. So this is the place? Where the barrier starts."
"Ahem... Yeah. From here, no matter how hard you push, you snap out of it and you're back at the entrance... Anya's White Flame held the forest at bay, but the witch took her and Yeoryeong away... Kugh... Sorry!"
"Forget it. So we just need to break through here."
Ban's eyes sharpened. He didn't know what this witch was up to, but with comrades kidnapped, he couldn't just sit twiddling thumbs waiting for the forest to part. Ban drew Kishin. From the moment he heard the story, he had only one answer in mind.
If the forest hides the witch,
Then cut down the forest.
'Nothing compared to a mountain, right?'
Ban grinned as he gripped Kishin with both hands. Kishin hadn't fully recovered; even its presence felt faint.
But its power was still there.
"What's that sword...?"
Shade frowned and asked. Even ignoring the blue qi rippling over the blade, the sword Ban held gave off an instinctive sense of rejection. Ban grinned.
"The holy sword."
His condition wasn't honestly normal. How could it be? From Yucheong to Kishin, after clashing swords with powerhouses you wouldn't meet easily, all through the night. No sleep, and yet he'd run all the way to this forest.
His waist throbbed. The sensation in his soles was duller than usual. But the weight of the sword in his hand was clear.
Thanks to the 'demonic qi' from Kishin?
No.
Simple reason. A swordsman must never lose feel for his sword.
Even without sleep. Even after running through the forest. Even after fighting all night.
No matter how tired, just as one doesn't breathe sloppily, he couldn't lose the sword's sensation.
He stepped forward. He got a sense of this 'barrier' they mentioned. The moment he crossed that line, writhing vines and the earth tried to grab his ankles and wrists.
'Witch, huh...'
A dangerous smile spread on Ban's lips.
'What are you?'
Others might not have felt it. But Ban didn't sense it as just the 'forest' interfering. He felt a will and qi permeating the entire forest. To spread one's consciousness and will across such vastness, what kind of mind must one have?
That arrogance, as if she could bend the world to her whim, was amusing.
So, he slashed.
His arms, shoulders, waist remembered. The trajectory of the sword swung thousands, maybe tens of thousands of times. A secret technique maximized for pure slashing.
Cho Swordsmanship.
Tree bark and vines were too soft and fragile to block his blade. Cut one vine, another shot out. Cut a tree, another approached to block his path. A swamp from somewhere tried to swallow him.
He slashed that too.
"...Crazy bastard."
Shade watched Ban from behind with a dumbfounded expression. He'd thought the same. But there were limits. Trees came endlessly, vines like arrows. No matter how cunning and fast his Scorpion Sword, there was a limit to deflecting and breaking through all.
Yet Ban walked forward.
Vines couldn't approach him, and before trees could fill gaps, his steps advanced. Little by little. But without stopping. Ban was overcoming the forest's resistance bit by bit.
And seeing that, Macdead burst into laughter.
"Haha! A real man! Ban! Good! I'll join in! This Mac—dead of the Black Mountains charges!"
He threw himself forward. Massive qi wrapped his axe, smashing trees with booms. In the end, Shade and the others had to help Ban too.
'A strange feeling.'
Gripping the demon sword—no, Kishin—Ban raised his lips. A thrill that made him forget fatigue. Did the Eustaine and Cho Clans live with this sensation always? No, probably better. Their power, agility, incomparable even enhanced by this faint demonic qi.
The sword sped up. Excitement whipped him. Not even fighting evil, just against an ordinary forest, and this power... How much against the Seeds of the Night?
"Kuh..."
Before long, strained sounds came from around him. Constant movement wasn't easy as said. Especially while circulating qi. Swords and axes slowed, vines drew closer.
'...How much farther?'
Ban blinked, gripping Kishin. Slashing was losing efficiency. He stuck to it to secure a safe path...
"You guys cover my back. I'll break the path. In one go."
"...How?"
The answer was obvious.
To make a path only humans could pass, thrusting was far better than slashing.
Once, Ban thought of Obun every thrust. That young swordsman devoted to thrusting had reached a realm even knights admired.
But now Ban no longer needed to dwell on Obun's thrusts.
His own had surpassed Obun long ago.
He poured qi into the sword. Aspiration and conviction. His thrust wouldn't be blocked by anything, couldn't be dodged by any means—that belief. Not just thought. Long experience and training scars made it solid. Inexpressible confidence flowed through his arms and eyes.
Not first sword, second, or third.
Just a thrust. Faithful to basics.
But sometimes, basics... hold more power than any technique.
Boom! Like lightning shattering rock. Swamp, rock, tree, vine—nothing withstood Ban's thrust. The fierce vortex along the blade tore and swallowed, growing larger. Forest everything swarmed to block the thrust... futile.
And atop that thrust's vortex, another thrust struck.
Kishin's demonic qi. Ban's qi. And determination.
The moment proving humans could unleash natural disasters. Shade and his team blocked side and rear vines and branches, groaning at the apocalyptic scene Ban created. After this sight, no one would doubt Ban as Academy's strongest. Not even Shade.
"Run!"
Ban shouted, following the all-devouring thrust. He thrust repeatedly after. With sides and rear guarded by Shade and others, he focused purely on thrusting.
And at some point.
The forest fell silent.
"...Is it over?"
Macdead asked, bewildered. Covered in leaves and dirt, he looked more barbarian than warrior. Ban stared ahead without relaxing.
"No, now it begins."
Ban gripped his sword tight and stepped forward. It didn't take long for a massive tree house to appear before them. Unbelievably large for such a forest. And there were Anya and Yeoryeong, and...
"Ban!"
"Are you the witch?"
Ignoring Anya's cry, Ban stared at the witch. The witch smiled.
"Few pierce my barrier... Impressive."
"Impressive my ass. What are you? Why kidnap my comrades?"
"Just entertaining guests. Kidnapping is a harsh word."
"Cut the crap and come at me. I'm tired. Let's end this quick."
"Ban, shut up!"
That was when Yeoryeong shouted at Ban in shock. Ban frowned at her.
"What? Me? Shut up? Why?"
"...Just shut up. If you knew who she was, you wouldn't say that."
"Hah, what? Brainwashed already? Don't worry. I'll beat her and fix you. Damn, that bitch dares to..."
"Not a bitch, a princess!"
The moment Yeoryeong screamed hysterically. Ban turned his creaking neck to her, then back to the witch—no, princess. The princess smiled as if watching an amusing circus.
Ban made a dumb face.
"...What, she's... no, she... huh?"