Chapter 215: Omen of Crisis (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 215: Omen of Crisis (4)
A human who had appeared out of nowhere. A boy with black hair and black eyes. The elder recognized him instantly.
The elder went into a fit.
“B-B-Balor Hoa... quin! How—how are you still alive?! And why are you even younger?!”
Balor Joaquin was a figure surrounded by endless rumors even in the Demon Realm. A transcendent being who had vanished into thin air after subjugating Thunder Emperor Lycan, the 1st Corps Commander, centuries ago. Very few demons who looked into his black eyes had ever survived.
And even those who did survive were all out of their minds. They would shudder in terror and babble:
‘Th-the human with black eyes... you must avoid him... H-he... isn't human. Nor is he a demon... He is a god... A black god!’
Those were the exact words Log, the current Dark Elf elder, had muttered with unseeing eyes seven hundred years ago. The Dark Elf elder had narrowly escaped with his life thanks to Balor Joaquin’s whimsical mercy—or rather, by begging for it. He had even sworn never to go near humans again.
Centuries had passed since then. The dark desires lurking within the Dark Elf had begun to boil over, prompting him to show himself before humans once more.
And yet.
The elder Log’s dark blue face turned deathly pale. At a glance, he looked like a standing corpse. A close aide whispered to him.
“Elder, forgive my presumption, but that man is not the Hero of the Origin. He is likely the boy who was recently appointed as one of the Seven Stars.”
“Ah.”
“He is the one called the ‘Heavenly Sword’—the one said to have slain two Corps Commanders.”
A strange glint returned to the elder’s cloudy eyes. The aide moved closer to reassure him.
“Still, do not worry too much, Elder. Even if he fought Corps Commanders, they were all in an unstable state. Furthermore, this is near the Gehenna Gate, and we far outnumber them. The only problem is...”
Trailing off, the aide glanced upward. The shadow circling overhead gradually grew larger. The moment its shape entered everyone's view, it slammed onto the ground.
THUD!
The swirling dust grew thicker, blurring the surrounding view. Hon, having transformed into human form, stepped up to stand beside Kang Geomma. Seeing this, Director Seong asked with wide, bewildered eyes:
“H-Heavenly Sword... What is going on? Is this young lady... d-a dragon?”
“Yeah, well. I’ll explain the details later.”
Kang Geomma answered, scratching his eyebrow. Then he turned his gaze toward the Sword Emperor.
“Sword Emperor, please take care of the rear. There are about fifty of them, but working together with this friend—I mean, the dragon—it should be easy enough for you.”
The Sword Emperor still looked baffled. Teaming up with a dragon out of nowhere? What kind of absurd nonsense was this? And yet, Kang Geomma’s eyes were calm.
Is he telling me to just trust him and follow along?
The Sword Emperor nodded.
“Understood. I will handle the rear somehow. I leave the front to you.”
“Thank you.”
Kang Geomma turned to Hon.
“Hon, you help out alongside the Sword Emperor. If you get the chance, it’d be even better if you could rescue the people with magic. Can you do that? If you do well, I’ll buy you Triple Hanwoo instead of 1++ Korean Beef.”
Nod, nod. Hon nodded furiously, her saliva flying.
“Yes!”
Kang Geomma smirked. He then fully drew out the sashimi knife he had half-unsheathed.
“Kill him!” the aide shouted.
Ssssswoosh!
Dark bluish blood spewed from the aide’s loud mouth. His body collapsed like a wooden puppet with its strings cut.
The aide died instantly with a Daixo sashimi knife lodged in his windpipe. He was the greatest warrior in his tribe—and he had just been sentenced to a death worth three thousand won.
“...!”
“I realized something today,” Kang Geomma said, taking a step forward. Twirling the two sashimi knives into a reverse grip, he continued, “I definitely prefer letting my blades talk before my mouth does.”
The smile on Kang Geomma’s lips deepened. The blades of Murasame and Ten-Thousand-Year Frost seemed to carve bright smiles as well.
*
Footsteps echoed. Light and brisk, like someone taking a stroll, they became a melody of death.
“Eeeeeek!”
A female elf let out a shrill scream. Kang Geomma launched a surprise thrust with his sashimi knife. The tip poked out through the back of her neck before snapping right back out.
“Guhhhhh...”
The female elf groaned, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
“Damn it, I can’t see him!” a male elf nearby screamed in panic. No matter how frantically he shifted his eyes, the human was nowhere to be seen.
He was right there a second ago. Why isn't he there now? Just as that life-or-death question flashed through his mind, a blade gouged into his temple.
Splat!
Plunged halfway in, the sashimi knife churned inside his skull before retracting. The male elf died without even realizing his own demise.
“Form ranks and fire your arrows! Those armed with wands, rain down magic!” an officer elf commanded, veins bulging like spiderwebs across his neck.
“A-Arrows! F-F-Fire arrows! Fire!”
The panicked horde of elves barely managed to reform their lines before unleashing a volley.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Magic-infused arrows flew in rapid succession. Moving at speeds comparable to bullets, mixed with illusion magic, each arrow multiplied into over a dozen ricocheting projections. Countless arrows poured down like a relentless torrential rain.
Kang Geomma slowly curled the corners of his mouth.
“Ranged attackers always try to restrict my range of movement. Just like the 5th Corps Commander and the 3rd Corps Commander.”
Because of the rain of arrows, the sky darkened as if a solar eclipse had occurred.
“But do you really think I’d get hit by attacks from point-ears like you?”
Kang Geomma stomped his right foot, then his left, planting them firmly on the ground. Thud! Thud! A momentary darkness settled over his hair as if melting into it.
A black-clad human stood beneath the dark sky. Kang Geomma took a short, cold breath.
Slash!
Steel flashed. He batted away the pouring volley of arrows. Moving at blinding speed, twenty silver afterimages lingered where his sashimi knives passed.
The arrows snapped and bounced away like matchsticks. The sharp arrowheads couldn't even brush his skin before deflecting in all directions. It looked as though a spherical barrier had formed around Kang Geomma.
His black eyes observed every single arrow.
There are a fuckton of them, but...
His two sashimi knives grazed the red lines drawn across the arrow shafts.
...if I just cut through the magic, they're nothing more than toys.
The magic dissipated, and the arrows snapped into pieces.
“W-What...?!”
Only after wasting a mountain of arrows did the officer elf realize something was terribly, terribly wrong. Halting the ranged bombardment, he drew his sword and charged forward himself.
“I, Gremfield, right-hand man to Elder Log, shall avenge my younger brother who was the first to fall—” Gag!
A Daixo sashimi knife bored a tunnel right through his jabbering mouth.
“Y-You... demonic... bastard...”
A heartwarming compliment from a Dark Elf. Generously, Kang Geomma threw another sashimi knife his way.
The tip of the new blade tapped the pommel of the first knife, pushing it out and taking its place.
Gremfield was better off than his younger brother. Daixo sashimi knives x2. His life was worth six thousand won—twice his brother’s price.
Moved to tears of blood by Kang Geomma's generosity, the officer elf died.
The Dark Elves froze like statues. Everyone present felt their blood run cold. It was no exaggeration—the very air felt chilly.
Kang Geomma tousled his messy hair and spoke, his eyes fixed squarely on the Dark Elf elder.
“Not coming?”
The elder, Log, pointed his index finger at him. The finger trembled helplessly like a dead tree in the wind.
“Y-You scoundrel! How can you wield such power when you are not Balor Joaquin?!”
“I’m that guy’s disciple.”
“Wh-What?!”
Kang Geomma gave a faint smile. Murderous intent and madness swirled in his black pupils.
“Anyway, if you don't plan on coming to me, wait right there. I'll come to you.”
Kang Geomma’s feet dug into the ground once more.
“Uraaaah! Die!”
Driven by the inertia of terror, the elves threw themselves forward. Kang Geomma worked his sashimi knives. A single slash. Cut diagonally like stalks of bamboo, their ranks collapsed in heaps.
The elves’ eyes widened in horror. Before they could even show off their magic, Kang Geomma swung his blades. Shouts and screams of ten men echoed at once.
Five elves launched a counterattack. Throwing their bows to the ground, they drew the swords at their waists. It was a wise choice—stubbornly sticking to ranged weapons in close quarters was a blunder.
But the elves managed to draw their blades by only a hand's breadth. Blue lines of blood had already been carved across their forearms and thighs.
Their balance broken, the elves stumbled. In that split second, the sashimi knives shattered their collarbones one after another. Five died.
A group of elves in the rear began chanting magic. Kang Geomma moved accordingly. Activating the Blessing of Borrowed Power, he flicked his fingers—and before they could even snap, the elves' fingers were chopped off like thin twigs.
Then, Kang Geomma leaped high into the air, landing square in the middle of the horde. Their gazes tried to focus on him, only to be shattered—his sashimi blades swept through their eyeballs faster. In the very next instant, six blinded elves dropped dead.
Kang Geomma wiped the bloody grease off his blades onto his trousers. He wiped his slick hand across his mouth to clean it, then burst into a run again.
“E-Elder...!”
The elves fled frantically. Behind them, blades swooped down like swallows skimming the water.
Slash!
Numerical advantage was meaningless. The group of fifty-odd elves was cut in half by a single man. As his slashes continued, that number would dwindle even further.
Slice!
As the elves died one after another, the Dark Elf elder lowered his head. Thick, sticky blood flooded the ground.
“Kee-hee-hee-hee!”
The elder clutched his stomach and cackled.
“Indeed... I heard that Balor Joaquin and Lycan joined forces, but to think I would witness the result with my own eyes!”
Laughing like a madman, the elder shouted toward the Sword Emperor, who was engaged in the melee behind:
“Descendant of Nibelung! Though we Dark Elves face extinction today, mark my words! This demon’s blade will spare neither human nor demon!”
The Sword Emperor half-turned and stared at Kang Geomma. His graying eyebrows furrowed.
Heavenly Sword... you...
Kang Geomma was massacring the elves. Even though victory was already secured, his blades relentlessly hounded dark blue flesh.
At this rate, he might lose his mind.
He had heard about it. When Kang Geomma faced Vesna, the 3rd Corps Commander, his hair had faded to the color of ash. It was what people commonly called an Awakening. Indeed, the tips of Kang Geomma's hair were burning white right now.
However, the Heavenly Sword’s Awakening is different.
It was too extreme. The sashimi knives thirsted for blood endlessly. Left unchecked, those two blades would cut down friend and foe alike.
Yet it was difficult for him to approach carelessly right now. Although he was handling things easily thanks to the dragon's magic, he couldn't afford to lower his guard.
I’ll have to find an opening to get close to him.
The sounds of breathing had diminished significantly. Not a single elf remained standing on two legs. Even those who still breathed had mangled limbs. They looked up at Kang Geomma with eyes filled with terror.
Some struggled in vain, others crawled on all fours, and still others cast magic until their very last moments. Yet every single one of them met the exact same end: death.
“Phew...”
Kang Geomma closed his eyes. The skin around his eyes felt stiff and dry. A sharp, metallic stench made the tip of his nose sting.
He slowly opened his eyes. Then, he trudged forward.
There were many obstacles. Fragments of bone and bloody debris caught beneath his feet like stumbling stones. He kicked them aside as he walked.
Step after step. With each stride he took, his hair slowly regained its black hue.
Step.
Kang Geomma stood before the elder. The elder clutched his forehead and cackled, his hand soaked in cold sweat.
Staring down quietly at the elder, Kang Geomma spoke.
“I know you’re sane.”
“...”
The laughter stopped.