Then Die (1)
“Aaaah! It’s Yu Jihun’s party!”
“This can’t be happening······.”
Yu Jihun’s party lay in ruins, half-destroyed. The camera zoomed in on Yu Jihun, who had lost his right arm. Beside him, the healer’s severed head rolled across the ground.
Such scenes should never air on the news, even on YouTube, but the administrative system had long since collapsed. The media now overflowed with sensationalism and shock value. Citizens had grown accustomed to far worse sights anyway. Blood flowed and heads rolled, broadcast in full detail.
Despair hung over viewers, experts, and reporters alike.
“Ah······ That······.”
“Ha······ It’s horrific. But five party members remain, including Yu Jihun. At least half are still······.”
The military spokesperson wanted to say they should keep fighting since half were left, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Then—
“Huh? Isn’t that a hang glider?”
A triangle appeared in the frame at the height of despair.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know······? As a military official, I can say its movement looks off.”
“In what way?”
“It’s flying completely against the wind!”
News channel viewers shared the confusion.
It moved too straightforwardly to be a skill, yet too freely to be an ordinary hang glider. Then music swelled.
Villain BGM
The Constellations heard it clearly, even if those on the ground did not.
A man appeared, drawing every Constellation’s attention through sound and every reporter’s through sight.
“Hey. Yu Jihun. Heard you met some orcs?”
He called out to Yu Jihun.
‘What the hell is that guy······.’
Yu Jihun stared up at him, dazed.
Even Yu Jihun’s Constellations grew excited. The man landed.
Thud.
Yu Jihun asked, still dazed, “Who the hell are you?”
“Ah.”
Click!
The man struck a bizarre pose, as if he had been waiting for the question.
“If I say 4th Line Goblin Slayer······ does that answer it?”
‘No······ that didn’t answer anything.’
Yu Jihun had asked who he was, not expecting “Sagosul” to suffice. It was absurd. Yet—
“Whoa!”
“S-Sagosul!?”
Perhaps it was the power of the signature pose. Gasps erupted from every direction. Helicopters suddenly changed course and cameras swung in unison. Reporters exclaimed as the zoom tightened.
“Th-that pose······!?”
“That’s!?”
Some reporters even copied the pose and shouted.
“It’s Sagosul!”
The news chat exploded, scrolling wildly.
Reporters and experts inside the helicopters shouted in excitement.
“The man on the hang glider! His identity is Sagosul! Abbreviation for 4th Line Goblin Slayer—Sagosul!”
“It’s definitely Sagosul, right? The mask looks a little different from before!?”
“Look at that angle! It’s obvious!”
Sagosul had appeared like a lifeline dropped from the sky at the moment of greatest despair. The impact was enormous.
‘Nailed it this time.’
Junil was satisfied. The scene erupted in surprise and cheers, and even the “Each Kill Method” community that had once downplayed him flooded with posts.
Even those who had claimed Kang Hae-il was stronger than Sagosul couldn’t help but admire the entrance itself. Sagosul had simply been underrated due to fewer appearances; his actual combat strength had never been fully known.
With this, Sagosul’s fans, forced to stay quiet until now, spread their wings once more.
Just like the post said, it would soon become clear who was truly stronger.
The orc “Notaura” grew intrigued by the figure descending from the sky.
“An interesting one has arrived.”
Orc warriors were drawn to the strong. He instinctively knew the newcomer was no ordinary being.
‘He might even be stronger than that guy fighting Kerak······.’
The human male wreathed in flames clashing with Kerak was a monster. Yet the one who had just appeared was no less formidable. His mana presence wasn’t overwhelming, nor did he radiate immense power, but every step he took toward them felt expertly controlled. It was the bearing of a true professional—the kind of presence earned only after decades on the battlefield.
“I am Notaura, the Warrior of Ruthlessness!”
The orcs introduced themselves.
“Dabuk, the Warrior Who Knows No Fear.”
Notaura gestured with his chin and addressed the man.
“State your name, warrior!”
He was acknowledging him as a warrior and asking for his name.
‘Damn······.’
Junil felt slightly troubled by the repeated questions, but—
‘Gotta do what you gotta do.’
If they asked, he had no reason not to answer.
Click!
“If I say 4th Line Goblin Slayer······ does that answer it?”
“Sagos······ what?”
“Sagosul. Call me that.”
The orcs repeated the name, clearly impressed.
“Sagosul!”
“Sagosul······!”
Notaura spoke.
“Good! Sagosul! I, the honorable orc warrior Notaura, acknowledge you as a true warrior! Choose your opponent!”
“Both of you.”
“······What?”
The orcs and the exhausted Awakened alike were stunned.
“H-hey, you have to team up! Are you even S-rank!?”
“You can’t do it alone!”
Instead of answering, Junil drew his sword—a cheap blade once wielded by a goblin.
Shring.
“A-Ahahahaha!? Warrior! Is that your sword?”
Notaura burst out laughing. Orcs looked down on goblins as the lowest creatures, so the sight of a human wielding one was ridiculous.
“You think that goblin sword will be enough? I’ll give you a chance to change weapons.”
“You’re looking down on goblins?”
“?”
The ever-relaxed Sagosul suddenly grew serious over an odd point.
‘You get attached while fighting.’
Somehow the goblin overlapped with his own F-rank self, and anger flared. So angry, in fact, that he changed the BGM.
Cool BGM
Play
From that moment, everything happened in an instant.
“Goblins······.”
He murmured the word, hunching slightly.
“Don’t look down on them!”
Thud—
At the same time, he kicked off the ground.
“!”
A shadow suddenly fell over Notaura’s eyes.
And when the shadow passed and sunlight returned—
“?”
Thud.
Notaura’s head rolled across the ground.
“······!”
Dabuk, standing beside him, felt a chill run down his entire body.
Even the Constellations couldn’t properly follow the speed. Yet the cut was perfectly precise, leaving a clean cross-section on the neck. It was so clean that Notaura still thought he was alive.
“Uwahaha! Sagosul! You think you can face me with a goblin’s sword!?”
He laughed while rolling on the ground.
“Uwahaha! Sagosul! I like you!”
Notaura spouted nonsense as if a bug had triggered. Or perhaps his true feelings only surfaced after death.
“Crazy······.”
Even Dabuk, the orc who knew no fear, found the sight terrifying.
“You bastard—”
Dabuk tried to shout “What the hell are you!?” but immediately had to swing his prized moon blade with all his might.
Kaaang······!
An enormous impact traveled up his forearm, over his shoulder, and straight to his heart. It wasn’t an ordinary attack. A single slash carried tremendous pressure.
‘Mana······ Blade?’
A Mana Blade pushed to near perfection.
‘This level of mana in this place?’
As both warrior and swordsman, Dabuk instinctively realized the human was overextending.
‘He’s the type who decides the fight in a single strike.’
Targeting the off-guard Notaura had been the same. The man was clearly the ambush-and-finish type. He must already be quite tired by now.
‘It’s true, he’s already exhausted.’
Orc battle instincts were formidable, and Dabuk’s intuition was correct. Junil’s body was straining under the burden of wielding Julian’s power. However—
“Ho.”
Junil showed no sign of fatigue as their blades locked.
“You’re holding out?”
His tone was utterly relaxed. War was deception, and battle was momentum. He couldn’t afford to lose in either. He gritted his teeth and pretended to be at ease.
“Gravity, 500 times.”
“!”
Music reached its climax. Dabuk realized—
‘Crazy.’
This guy wasn’t normal. In more ways than one.
‘It’s getting hard, so let’s use the ring for now.’
Thud—
Junil’s purple ring flashed. The swinging moon blade slammed into the ground, followed by his knees.
“Kuh······!?”
‘Nice shot.’
A named orc kneeling before Sagosul. Notaura’s death hadn’t been properly captured on camera, but—
Click!
Countless flashes erupted now. Junil walked forward, fully aware of every gaze.
Step—
“This is the difference in our eye level, orc.”
“Kuh······ Heh. Still, I’m taller.”
Even while suffering, Dabuk, who knew no fear, got one last word in. Even on his knees, the orc was taller than Junil.
‘This is the only chance.’
Junil knew the gravity magic was his only opening.
“You bastard, using height against people!”
He adjusted the height immediately.
Shwaaak!
The Mana Blade flashed once more, and Dabuk’s head flew off.
‘Done.’
A perfect cut.
Even with a Mana Blade, the Constellations marveled at the thick orc neck being severed in one blow. Dabuk’s head—the very orc who had been every Awakened’s nightmare moments ago—rolled across the ground. Junil stood calmly beside it, Notaura’s head lying next to Dabuk’s.
“Uwahahaha! Sagosul! I like you!”
Notaura’s laughing face, Dabuk’s pained one, and the black-masked man looking down at them both.
Click!
“Shit······ This is huge.”
A reporter’s camera captured it all. It was Do Juhye, the reporter who had first interviewed Sagosul.
The goblin-only Sagosul’s perfect orc-hunting debut.