Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Lion Swept Away by the Storm
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Shadow soldiers and thugs wielding brutal weapons were sweeping through the night streets.
"Kyaaack!"
"Get inside the buildings! Don't open the windows!"
Nobira was cleansing the unclean aura that had infested the city with blood and steel.
"Grrraaagh!"
"C-Can you handle it? Heka's going to slaughter you all!"
"Things would be different if we wipe you out first."
"W-Wai..."
Puuk...
The spark of life flickered out.
The same scene was unfolding all across the city.
They say death sets the value of life, yet only worthless deaths were painting the city red.
"Wolf... ngh... you've gotten clever this time, but wouldn't it be better to pull back now?"
"Why's that?"
"Heka's coming soon. To rip out your throat from behind for biting this Doju... heh heh..."
"I know. That's why we're hurrying."
"......"
Doju scanned everywhere for an escape route. But everywhere his eyes landed, there were people.
No, even without people, there were shadows.
"Kibo, are you still taking in your dead squad members as shadows?"
"Well, for now."
"Disgusting bastard... your men are so pitiful."
"You're talking too much. The night will be long even after you're gone, so hurry up and die."
"Th-That hur... kughhh..."
Serack-!
A chilling sound rang out as the line connecting head to body was shredded down to the bone.
"Doju's dead. Spread the word—anyone who surrenders lives."
"Yes, sir!"
"Now... only Heka remains..."
"With Heka still alive, the plan is just beginning."
"Right. Stay sharp and watch how Heka moves. First, link up with Shur."
The city was dyeing red with blood.
It was a cruel sight, if you called it cruel, but no one pitied the tyrant's end.
Kibo successfully linked up with Shur amid the chaos.
Here, Kibo's first prediction missed the mark.
'Heka should have shown up before we could link up... why?'
Either overconfident to the point of arrogance, or the situation didn't call for jumping into the fray just yet.
Suddenly, Kibo recalled the mission he'd given Yumira before the wolf's night began.
He'd sent her after hearing intel that Heka and Kang Seol were on a collision course. No word since.
"What the hell happened..."
"Kibo, you're safe."
"Ah, you too."
"Heard you took out Doju. Just Heka left now."
"A fierce reputation doesn't mean he's brainless. He's probably regrouping for another push..."
That was when it happened.
Someone approached the two, who had sensed something off.
"Lord Kibo! Yumira's back!"
"Yumira?"
"Yes! But..."
"What is it?"
"You have to see it for yourself."
Thud. Thud.
A listless gait.
A figure approaching Kibo, as if lost without purpose.
"Yumira!"
"Kibo..."
"You're safe. Thank goodness."
"Kibo... um..."
Yumira bit her lip, hesitating to speak.
Kibo waited patiently. For the hot-tempered her to hesitate this much, there had to be a good reason.
"Hoo..."
Swish...
With Yumira's sigh, her hand extended forward. And dangling beneath it, something else.
'A head?'
A normal person's head wouldn't have surprised him. Heads littered the city streets right now.
But Kibo couldn't help being shocked.
"...Isn't this Heka?"
"Yeah."
"Dead? How? Did you finish him?"
Yumira shook her head.
"When I got there, he was already like this."
Wobble...
One of Kibo's knees buckled.
"Kibo!"
"I'm fine. Just shocked. He did this?"
"No one else was around. It was on the table, waiting for me."
Kibo closed his eyes and murmured.
"In the end, the lion was swept away by the storm."
- He's probably the most crucial storm in this rebellion. We can only hope it blows against the lion.
After that, everything fell into place smoothly.
Shur and Kibo's forces reaped the lives and hopes of the scattered remnants.
The relic hunters named this night the Wolf's Night and flocked to Kibo and Shur.
Shur yielded most of the credit to Kibo. He owed his survival this horrific night largely to him.
Thus, Nobira's power structure was realigning. Scattered forces were coalescing powerfully around the wolf.
And now, Kibo—the new head of Nobira's relic hunters—was in a secretive meeting spot with Yumira.
They were waiting for someone.
"Kibo."
"What?"
"Can I go outside and spread the word that you're waiting for someone here?"
"Do what you want. But who would believe it?"
Shouting in the streets that Kibo was waiting for someone would just get you called crazy.
He had effectively seized all of Nobira already.
For such a man to wait at a rendezvous? It had to be a bad joke.
Knock, knock.
"He's here."
"Got it."
Kibo's subordinate quietly reported before opening the door. Kibo straightened his clothes and told Yumira,
"Be quiet today."
"We'll see. I have my own feelings on this."
"Sure you do."
"Hee hee."
The two wore broad smiles, like people free of worries.
But when the door opened and one person entered, the smiles vanished into tension.
Creeeak...
"Feels familiar."
The one who entered was Kang Seol.
He looked a bit fatigued, but his heavy presence remained unchanged.
Kibo shot to his feet in welcome.
"Come in. Have a seat right here."
The seat for Kang Seol gleamed gold, adorned with bizarre decorations.
"The chair's a bit much."
"Haha... the situation's reversed from our first meeting."
Kibo chuckled, recalling when he'd sat in a decorative chair in Kang Seol's annex.
Kibo watched Kang Seol, expecting him to speak first. Kang Seol met his gaze and said,
"It was a deal."
The reason for Heka's death spilled from his lips.
"As expected. Then wouldn't it have been better to accept back then?"
- Help us a bit in this fight against Heka.
Kibo hadn't forgotten his request to Kang Seol either.
"I had no intention of getting involved then either."
"Ahem... well, water under the bridge. Neither of us should waste time on trivialities... What do you want?"
The price for Heka's head.
Kibo asked what he desired in return.
Kang Seol pondered briefly before replying,
"Anything."
"Not an item?"
"Anything that would help me."
"Hoo... looks like you're going to bleed me dry today."
Kibo furrowed his brow momentarily before answering.
"I've felt it since we first met—you're no pushover."
"Is my demand too burdensome?"
"Heavens no. A demand from the man who took my enemy's head? I'd grant it tenfold. I even prepared a few things you'd likely want."
Kang Seol made unusual demands, but Kibo showed bold magnanimity in agreeing.
"Have something in mind?"
"Of course. Something you'd be very interested in."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Who'd have thought I'd be telling this to someone else... hope I don't get teased for being soft."
Kibo hesitated a long while, as if it was hard to broach, before speaking.
"This happened when I was very young. Back then, I'd do anything for money—not just relic hunting. Escort jobs, searches, even assassinations that mercenaries might take."
He gazed into the distance with wistful eyes, as if dredging up old memories.
"It was when I was wandering the western deserts. While camping with my squad, we spotted someone fleeing desperately."
"You saved him?"
"Young and reckless. My body moved before my head. Got a nasty scar for it, though."
"Glad you made it."
"They were already worn out from the long chase. Buried them all in the sand."
"What you're offering me is related to that man you saved."
"Spot on."
Kang Seol grew more intrigued with every word.
'The way he's dragging it out, it has to be major intel.'
Thinking that inwardly, he listened closely.
"Anyway, that fateful encounter in the sands endures to this day. He swore he'd repay the debt big one day."
"What do I get?"
"His debt to me. More precisely, I'm passing on the favor I earned by saving him—to you."
"Is that worth a head like Heka's?"
Kang Seol sounded a bit disappointed, and Kibo laughed—as if he'd been waiting for that.
"Do you know someone named Orungo?"
"Orungo... Orungo... Blood-Drenched Orungo?"
"More knowledgeable than I expected. Interested in this world too?"
"Picked it up here and there. No way the man you saved is connected to Orungo?"
"Orungo's disciple."
"Ah..."
Blood-Drenched Orungo.
A blacksmith and exceptional warrior.
Curiously, despite the derogatory nickname, he didn't kill indiscriminately.
The reason for that mocking moniker was different.
'Because of the weapons he made.'
He forged many in his lifetime, and whoever wielded them drenched the continent in blood.
Deeply disheartened, Orungo eventually vanished from the world.
Kang Seol knew so much about him because...
'I was Orungo.'
Memories from back then flooded back.
He'd experimented with various concepts and characters then, and Orungo stood out.
His innate talent turned every material into something extraordinary. Even loot from adventures at similar levels paled compared to his creations.
Orungo was incredible and could have rivaled the ten late-game characters Kang Seol made in fame.
But he didn't.
'His mentality was too fragile...'
His creations fell into villains' hands, bloodying the continent. That's when he grew cynical toward humanity.
Orungo endured many ordeals that wore him down. He cornered himself mentally, and Kang Seol agonized over it.
In the end, only one path remained.
[Will you abandon Orungo's adventure?]
1. Yes.
2. No.
Kang Seol chose to let Orungo live as he wished.
Better than watching a tragic end.
[Adventurer Orungo will now forge his own destiny.]
[Though the thrilling adventures end, his life goes on.]
From humble blacksmith to bearer of humanity's resentment, Orungo faded away.
'To hear Orungo's name again here, of all places.'
Unlike other times, Kang Seol brightened at the name for a reason.
Orungo was a character he'd made after somewhat adapting to the Eternal World.
He hadn't died pointlessly and left behind achievements.
'Tracking his traces could really help me now.'
More adventures and worldly experience than most.
And another reason.
'Hamon... he was still alive?'
Hamon, the disciple he'd taken as Orungo.
Over ten years later, seeing him again.
Kibo spoke.
"His name's Hamon. He makes nothing nowadays. But he vowed to repay his debt to me. And so it passes to you after all these years."
"...Where's Hamon now?"
"Why do you think I brought this up?"
Kang Seol's eyes grew serious.
"He's in Nobira right now."
"That's right. Hamon's here in the city."