Chapter 35
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Devastating Arrows
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Shweeek.
The arrow, fletched with three owl feathers, spun rapidly as it built up power.
Thwack!
The force of the spin drove the arrow straight into the goblin's heart.
Its body exploded in a burst, leaving only its head and legs behind.
Kiek!
Only then did the goblins turn their heads toward the direction the arrow had come from.
They spotted Ruyan atop the hill, casually holding his bow.
The goblins shrieked in unison, and a swarm of small monsters poured out from the plank barracks.
Kieeek!
Alize's warning that they might have to face up to fifty had been spot on.
Like grasshoppers leaping over a fire, nearly fifty goblins bounded out.
Were they somewhat intelligent, after all? The goblins tore planks from the barracks to fashion crude shields.
Then they charged toward Ruyan like mad.
Tatata-tak.
The horde of little demons, baring sharp fangs and flicking red tongues, made for a chilling sight.
"Here they come at last."
Ruyan watched them approach and calmly nocked his third arrow.
Creak.
He drew the heavy bow to full length but held his fire, biding his time.
When the goblins closed to about a hundred meters, he released with a light touch.
Fweeet.
The arrow spun fiercely and flew straight into the heart of the pack.
Kwaduduk.
It pierced the lead goblin's skull. But that was just the beginning.
The arrow's momentum carried it through, shattering heads as it tore onward.
It obliterated six goblins before exiting the rear of the group and slamming viciously into the ground.
Kwaak!
That was why Ruyan had waited.
"My god! What the hell did you just do?!"
Alize couldn't believe her eyes. She wasn't one to see things at a mere hundred meters, but she'd rather believe it was a hallucination.
Even calling it a ridiculous dream felt too real for what had just happened.
'How does an arrow pack that much power...?'
Alize gawked at Ruyan, eyes wide as if they might pop out.
His hands, already in motion for the next shot, danced swiftly between quiver and string.
Fweeet!
Arrows flew one after another.
They came so fast that afterimages lingered on the bending and releasing bow.
And each one brought merciless destruction.
'I can't even see the bow—how is he shooting?'
Every eye in the mercenary band fixed on Ruyan. The goblin charge was forgotten.
They stared blankly at the bow's afterimages, entranced, until a dozen seconds later when reality snapped back.
Ruyan's bow had stopped. In truth, it had stopped long before, but no one had noticed.
"It's over."
His quiet voice jolted the mercenaries back to their senses. They hurriedly prepared for battle.
They took "it's over" to mean "out of arrows."
"Th-then, now it's my tu—"
Gerard, who never backed down from a fight, raised his shield and stepped forward first.
But he barely took two steps before freezing in place.
Was it gruesome?
Or neat and tidy?
At the base of the hill lay a pile of fifty goblin corpses.
Not one had closed within a hundred meters. Every head and heart was shattered.
"Ruyan, you... you're..."
Words trailed off unfinished.
Not just Alize—no one could complete their sentence.
'I figured there was something special, but this is on another level!'
Alize had thought wiping out half with his limited arrows would be a huge win.
That was the max she'd imagined.
But Ruyan was beyond her measure.
Overwhelmed by instinctive fear, Alize backed away and collapsed when she spotted his quiver.
'No way!'
Nine arrows remained.
Ten arrows had wiped out an entire goblin tribe.
Small mercies, at least.
Had the quiver been empty, Alize might have fainted outright.
She'd have sworn she saw "magic arrows" that didn't exist.
She had no clue Ruyan had held back.
In that moment, the Alize Mercenaries completely forgot Ruyan was a mage.
Crackle, crackle.
In the quiet camp, the bonfire's pops rang out loudly.
Even Eric and Eddie, who usually whined about hunger, stayed silent now.
Soon, a chill metallic scrape mixed with the flames.
Shrring.
Ruyan was recovering his spent arrows and sharpening the damaged tips.
Despite the grating noise, no one dared look his way.
Ruyan's demeanor was unchanged—stoic and composed.
Yet now, no one approached him lightly.
Alize was especially cautious.
She kept her head down, terrified of meeting his eyes.
'Just what is he?'
Ruyan was leagues above any mercenary.
Thinking of him calmly lowering his bow amid fifty corpses sent shivers down her spine.
He hadn't even broken a sweat.
'I suspected Sword Master level, but...'
He was far beyond that.
'That chilling sensation back then wasn't my imagination.'
Alize carefully recalled their first meeting.
That eerie voice from behind! The piercing gaze that stabbed her spine!
She was certain: one mistake then, and she'd be dead.
'But why did he spare me?'
She'd wondered at first, but now she knew. Someone of his skill must have watched her.
Yet he let her go.
Why?
Alize stole a glance at Ruyan.
He sharpened arrowheads with an impassive face.
Which was his true self? Unfathomable man.
She watched him for ages, losing track of time.
Shrring.
The rhythmic scrape went on endlessly.
Watching soothed her unexpectedly.
'Wait. Why do I keep thinking he could've killed me?'
It hit her as odd. Ruyan had no reason to kill her.
'No grudge or anything.'
Her failed assassination had nothing to do with him. Pure coincidence they'd been there.
Still, his overwhelming presence had cowed her.
Absolute power made her shrink.
Realizing that, she finally saw Ruyan's true nature.
'Ruyan, who are you really?'
He was strange. Sitting right there, yet worlds apart.
'How can he be like that?'
Her parents taught her strength wasn't everything. She wanted to live that way.
But the world proved otherwise. Might made right and justice.
The strong could kill the weak without hesitation.
Alize had grown numb to that ruthlessness.
'He's different.'
Ruyan was. Indifferent, but not arrogant. Powerful, yet restrained.
He rejected excuses like "that's just how the world is."
'Maybe...'
Alize toyed with a thought, then shook her head vigorously.
'Sigh. What am I even thinking?!'
Tension eased, her stomach let out a loud gurrrrgle.
The silent camp made it echo. All eyes turned to her.
"W-what are you staring at?!"
Flustered, Alize snapped. Even Ruyan's head turned her way smoothly.
She flinched but held his gaze.
Meeting her eyes, Ruyan set down his arrow and approached.
"Come to think of it, dinner's late. Hungry?"
His low voice drew all gazes to Alize.
No one dared meet his eyes, so they bored into hers instead.
'Sigh, you idiots.'
Alize cursed them inwardly but smiled softly outwardly.
"Yeah. You did the work, but why am I the hungry one? Ruyan, since you're at it, cook dinner too."
Her calm response stunned the crew.
Facing terrifying Ruyan without flinching? Impressive.
"Whoa! Classic Alize. Guts for days."
"Her head's not right. She'd spit in a dragon's face!"
The twins finally chimed in.
Alize glared at them fiercely, unlike with Ruyan.
"What's wrong with my head? Sounds like you're calling me crazy."
"Nah, misunderstanding. But if you wanna hear it that way, be our guest."
"Right! Knowing yourself is key... no, sticking to your convictions!"
The Alize Mercenaries bantered as usual.
They snuck peeks at Ruyan but strove for normalcy.
Reading the mood, Ruyan chuckled and grabbed a pot.
"I'll handle dinner tonight."
As Ruyan simmered stew, the twins' screams echoed through camp.
Everyone thought it joking, but Alize was dead serious.
"Yeah! Die at the hands of a crazy bitch!"
Her hefty greatsword was serious too.
A dense forest choked the secluded mountainside.
A scrawny orc, reduced to bare bones, spewed beams of dark glow from its eyes.
Night had fallen, but its black glare cut deeper than shadow, radiating ominous menace.
"Chwiik. Human. Dangerous human!"
Astonishingly, the orc muttered in human tongue.
Orcs had some intellect, but speaking human language was rare.
Trembling as it recalled someone, the orc gingerly touched its forehead.
Flesh and muscle stripped away, the bare skull bore a coin-sized hole punched clean through.
A scar from that monstrous arrow days ago.
"Dangerous. Dangerous."
Cracks spiderwebbed around the hole in its brow, the cranium crumbling bit by bit.
Yet the orc lived on.
More precisely, it had never been truly alive.
Lich!
A mage turned undead for immortality. That was the orc's true nature.
As known, a lich persists unless its phylactery shatters.
Thus, even skull-pierced by Ruyan's arrow, it felt no pain.
Still, without 6th Circle "Blink" to escape, it'd have been trouble.
Intact phylactery or not, shattered bones render one useless.
Recalling the close call, the orc lich clenched its bony fist.
"Chwiik. Dangerous. Eliminate. Kill."
Suddenly, immense killing intent surged from the orc lich. The air roiled, whipping sudden gusts through the mountains.
"Chwiik. Special. I am special."
Special orc.
Weary words the orc lich had heard endlessly. Too special to die.
"Won't die. Chwiik. Kill."
Burning with enmity, the orc lich clacked its bare jawbones.