Chapter 108

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Translator: Ryuma

Chapter: 108

Chapter Title: Night Raven Awakens

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BOOM-!

Scattered hunters lay dead everywhere.

Not one of them had a clue what had killed them, their faces frozen in confusion. That alone told her the enemy was no ordinary foe.

But even someone that strong couldn't handle every threat.

"Cough... cough..."

"You've gotten weak, witch."

"Haha... health issues."

Half a dozen arrows were lodged in Mirei's body.

She had lost the fight.

The hunting dog Dir emerged from the forest.

Grrrrr...

Those fangs had scarred her multiple times—Malacus's ruthless companion.

Sure enough, Dir's master, Malacus, soon appeared.

Blind as he was, he strode into the battlefield with utter confidence.

Milky glass orbs, lifeless—his eyes were dead.

"That dog... I see. You're quite the contradiction yourself."

"You'd better shut your mouth if you want to keep drawing breath."

"Haha... that really hurts... Couldn't you have been gentler?"

"...Where is he?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb. He reeks of shadow too. Is he here?"

"Not satisfied with me?"

"Answer me."

"......"

"Answer, or this dagger finds your heart."

"Stab me."

"...What?"

"I said stab me, coward. Poke my heart a hundred times. See if I talk."

Swish...

Mirei's senses were razor-sharp; she could feel Malacus's intent as he drew near.

'Is this it... Research failed. Guess it was impossible after all, Sodin. Sorry.'

She would die here, and Kang Seol beyond the wall would follow. A lifetime's research would end in futility.

'No, I need to buy time. Can't just give up my life!'

The thought hit her: stall for time before death.

"Hey, Malacus."

"......"

"Got a question. You know? Villains always yap when they've got the hero cornered. Stick to the script."

"I'm no villain."

"Haha... You killed me once already, and now you say that? Zero self-awareness?"

"I'm no villain."

Malacus turned his head toward her voice.

"I'm a judge."

"Judge? Of what?"

"...You lot."

"What?"

"You shadow summoners."

"What did we do wrong? No, what did I do to deserve this?"

"Your existence. That's the sin."

"Haha, you're all twisted up. What made you think like that? You... got burned by a shadow summoner, didn't you?"

Twitch...

She had him.

Like a fisherman sensing a bite, Mirei pressed the hook.

"Those eyes... resentment... something like that tangled up in it?"

"...None of your business. You're too weak anyway."

Malacus's dead eyes groped toward her.

Haggard appearance.

Eyes even duller than his.

Eyes of one living solely for a purpose.

Eyes that had castrated all else but the goal.

But then.

CRACKLE...

"So that's where you were."

"Damn it..."

The eerie groan from the wooden hut tipped Malacus off—someone was inside.

Kang Seol was there, no doubt.

Slither...

Thud... thud...

"I'll sever your lifeline and his too."

"...And then what? Feel better?"

"Rest... my weary life draws closer to rest."

"You're insane."

Malacus approached Mirei; now close enough to hear each other's breaths.

She didn't avoid his gaze.

He couldn't see her stare anyway, but she refused to turn from death.

"Farewell, witch... Hm?"

Creeeak...

Whine...

The clever hound Dir nudged in, halting Malacus.

"What's wrong, Dir?"

Something felt off.

Creeeak... creeeak...

"...Dir?"

Dir shoved its head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against Malacus, thrashing desperately as if pleading to flee.

Alarm bells rang in Malacus's mind.

"Damn it!"

Whoosh-!

Malacus retreated in a flash, and the warned peril unfolded.

KABOOOOOM-!

A massive explosion obliterated the hut.

Revealing the Kasya Guidance Device within.

Crash! Crash!

"Ugh... ugh... scary... so scary..."

Malacus slammed his head into the dirt, foaming and convulsing.

Blind, he couldn't grasp the chaos; only tinnitus screamed in his ears.

Even so, the reaction was extreme.

Mirei didn't know why, but she saw her chance.

She glanced toward the hut's ruins.

Whoosh...

Wooden shards that once formed the wall scattered, revealing two chained figures.

Beeeep!

BEEEEEp!

Red lights flashed wildly on the Kasya Guidance Device, blaring warnings.

Mirei shouted at the sight.

"...Did it work?"

* * *

It felt like emerging from a dark tunnel. Kang Seol had crossed the final hurdle.

Clink...

Clink...

He and Jamad were bound tight in chains.

Somehow they'd been inside the hut, but now walls and ceiling were gone.

'Focus.'

He shoved aside trivialities and concentrated.

Whirl!

Whirl!

Karuna and Karen returned to the shadow space.

Malacus from before must be nearby, but that was minor.

This moment was critical.

Zzzzzt!

Black veins and black eyes.

Kang Seol's condition was dire.

Then.

Whooooosh.

"RAAAAAARGH!"

Kang Seol screamed in fury.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Veins bulging on his neck, chains rattling—it signaled something immense unfolding.

"My god..."

Mirei murmured in disbelief at the sight.

Ping!

Piiiing!

Ping!

The iron chains snapped one by one.

Jamad's held firm, but Kang Seol's were breaking.

Jamad wasn't unchanged. At some point, he'd liquefied, slipping through the chains toward Kang Seol.

"Success... Sodin, it's a success..."

Kang Seol's form shifted too.

His body blackened as if cloaked in night.

"Finally..."

Swish.

Shadows engulfed even his face.

Whoosh.

Kang Seol became a being of pure black.

Devoured by shadow?

Sizzle-!

A fire monkey emblem burned onto Kang Seol's face.

Purga's blessing lingered.

But even it wasn't unchanged.

It melted, flowing to his mouth.

Golden light gleamed from his eyes; at his lips, Purga's emblem reformed into a tattoo symbolizing Jamad's fangs.

Drip...

Ping-! Piiiing!

KABOOOOOM-!

The chains finally shattered.

A flood of messages assaulted Kang Seol.

His body blazed.

He checked the first one.

Messages kept pouring in.

The birth of an ultimate art.

Kang Seol had imagined inheriting one, never birthing his own.

Kang Seol surveyed the battlefield.

Mirei caught his eye first.

"Mirei."

"Like a hedgehog, right? Haha... Mind taking out that creep in the woods first?"

"...Understood."

Kang Seol headed into the forest where Malacus lurked.

Grrrrrr...

"The shadow stench is thick. Eaten after all?"

Kang Seol glanced at his transformed body and replied.

"I like it. You?"

His fang tattoo parted, voice emanating.

"Flesh and bone moving again... It's been ages. I'm satisfied."

Malacus's bewildered voice echoed from the woods.

"A horrific being is born. I'll save you from that horror."

Kang Seol asked Jamad.

"Horrific?"

"Horrifically good life."

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Grrrrrr...

Presences flickered from multiple spots.

Malacus had begun the hunt.

"This movement... Felt it before, but no ordinary lifeform."

"I know."

"Kang Seol. How about leaving this one to me?"

Jamad phrased it delicately, but he was the close-combat expert, not Kang Seol.

Kang Seol nodded.

Instantly, the presences flanking them thinned on both sides—but didn't vanish.

Rooooar-!

'Right... no, left?'

Before Kang Seol could decide, Jamad moved. Odd sensation—his body guided by another.

Whoosh...

Thwack-!

Kyeeee!

Crack!

Craaaack!

A light blow.

Dir flew, smashing trees.

Squeeee-!

But Malacus's arrow exploited the gap. Perfect hunter-hound duo.

"Hm?"

He'd take multiple arrows to the back.

But.

Whirl-!

Grab!

Splat!

Grab!

All three arrows caught.

Night Raven Kang Seol stood firm, but Shadow Hands erupted from his back, snatching them.

Precision to catch all three, grip strength unyielding.

Shadow Hand was now formidable.

Post-enlightenment, Kang Seol was incomparable.

"Ho, not bad."

Jamad praised the reaction.

Jamad struck Dir, but Kang Seol wielded the Shadow Hand.

Silence from the woods beyond, then Malacus's voice.

"This... this power... What are you?"

Kang Seol countered.

"Me?"

The fang tattoo quivered.

"Or us?"