Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Dark Orc Hunt
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035
I still knew very little about the world.
This place was no longer the Sanctuary I once knew.
The information available in that cramped Chichiron was limited, and I'd spent little time in other cities.
—Future plans.
I was busy discussing even more critical matters with Arin.
So.
“It took quite a bit of time after the Empire's fall for the New Empire to establish itself.”
Times like this were unavoidable.
In the dark of night, moving beyond the city walls, Sis spoke in a quiet voice.
“The biggest problem was creatures like the Darkspawn—even decent mercenaries or knights from the lower districts hesitate to face them.”
At that time, the Underworld was making its mark amid the chaos.
And the heads of the Underworld...
*Saw their chance.*
Problems erupting across the world.
They would handle them, so in return, the Empire should recognize them and grant them rights.
It was the moment those who lurked in the shadows stepped into the light.
—Underworld Accord.
That was the Underworld Accord.
Part of that accord was the hunting of Darkspawn.
“Well, it was our line of work anyway.”
The Underworld's origins lay in the back alleys.
And what back-alley thugs did was collect protection money, plain and simple.
Monster hunting was just an extension of that.
The only difference was the scale.
“That all you're curious about?”
Sis asked.
“I'll ask if anything else comes up.”
Sein's gaze held the look of someone eyeing an all-purpose cat robot.
*Useful for the time being.*
That was Sein's assessment of Sis.
“Oh, one more thing.”
Another question occurred to him.
“Ask away.”
The hour was still deep in pitch-black darkness.
Magic lamps and gray mist cast a faint glow, but this was no time for hunting under normal circumstances.
He figured it was to avoid competition, but the behavior seemed too obvious.
“Why head out for a hunt at night?”
That was the reason.
“……?”
All the candidates turned to look at Sein.
“……?”
Sein tilted his head in the same confusion.
Was something so obvious to him not common sense here?
No—even recalling Chichiron or other places, his own knowledge held up.
“......You haven't awakened your Blessing yet?”
“I thought that massive mana pool was thanks to your Blessing.”
Sein frowned at the candidates' voices.
Silence fell soon after.
“I don't know if you're hiding it or whatever..., but even he didn't tell you?”
Sis addressed Sein.
“The Blessings we possess.”
Whoosh.
Flames erupted from Sis's hand.
They shone with brilliant light before vanishing with a sharp *pop*.
An instant of scorching heat.
*Hellflare?*
A fragment of an awakening skill only gained at the tail end of a magical career.
“It's even stronger in the darkness.”
“......”
“So the Underworld took charge of Darkspawn hunts. That's why we operate at night.”
There was a reason like that.
“Interesting.”
“......You're really impossible to figure out.”
All his questions had been answered.
*I've definitely got to look into Blessings more.*
Especially since it was a trait unique to the Underworld's direct bloodlines.
*Wonder what mine is.*
That could wait.
After the back-and-forth with Sis and nonstop travel.
“We're here.”
They arrived at the Dark Orc village.
*
*
*
Psssh.
The snort of breath evoked a train's steam whistle.
Nearly twice the size of regular orcs.
Creatures normally treated as boss mobs.
Psssh.
They moved in a group.
Dark Orc village.
Scritch.
Sein scratched one ear as he gazed at it.
“Hope these suit their tastes.”
A momentary thought of someone driven mad by Darkspawn.
Boom!
The battle began.
It started with Sis's Hellflare.
Inferior to the original in power, but true to an awakening skill capable of leveling cities.
Roooar!
Flames of intense heat began devouring the Dark Orc village.
“Now!”
Sis's voice rang out.
“Waaah!”
The candidates charged toward the Dark Orc village like heroes from a fairy tale.
Clumsy to the point of embarrassment.
“Kraaa!”
The Dark Orcs, enraged by the sudden assault, sprang into action.
Whoosh!
Their massive glaives swung toward the candidates without a hint of hesitation.
The candidates, buoyed by Sis's opening strike.
Boom!
Faced the incoming Dark Orc attacks.
“Gahk!”
And came to a halt.
“......”
Sis had mentioned that most candidates were ordinary folk who hadn't even known they were Demorus until recently.
In a world where fighting was unavoidable, most had grown up facing scraps.
“Mi, insane....”
But their first brush with Dark Orcs reduced them to civilians.
“Zaan! Snap out of it, Zaan!”
Zaan, struck by a Dark Orc glaive, dangled limply with his body half in tatters.
But that was the candidates' plight.
Whoosh!
The Dark Orcs pressed their assault, convinced they'd seized the momentum.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
Tall and slender, with long hair whipping in the wind.
A greatsword that suited her perfectly.
Claaang!
Roberta parried the Dark Orc's glaive amid the chaos, never losing her composure.
“Kraaa!”
The Dark Orc roared in fury.
Slash.
She cleaved it in two.
“......!”
The faltering candidates.
“You all planning to just stand there and die?”
Roberta's skill and voice shook them awake.
“U, uwaaa!”
A motley crew, but they overcame their fear.
Boom!
Another explosive Hellflare erupted.
“Now!”
Sis's shout bolstered their courage.
Their skills were lacking, but they had the combat techniques learned growing up.
And what they'd picked up in their short time in Rasiel.
Clang clang!
The candidates were clashing with the Dark Orcs.
“That's impressive.”
Sein's verdict.
They'd insisted their skills couldn't handle Dark Orcs.
“But these Blessings....”
Yet here the candidates were, holding their own against Dark Orcs.
“More impressive than I thought.”
An across-the-board boost in ability.
Even the power to wield degraded awakening skills.
In this absurd fight, the Blessings were somehow carrying the candidates.
A battle of perilous acrobatics, but they were growing through it.
And Sein, who had merely watched.
“Guess it's time for me to get moving.”
He finally stirred.
*
*
*
A fierce battle raged with the Dark Orcs.
But the direction Sein headed was elsewhere.
The forest at the Dark Orc village entrance.
Roooar!
With the Hellflare-ignited village at his back, Sein stood there.
He had deliberately sat out the hunt for a reason.
“......”
Something far more valuable was at hand.
“You knew and came anyway?”
A shadow slithered out from the dark woods.
Not just one.
Swish, swish.
Several shadows.
“Why's everyone clustered here? The Dark Orcs are that way.”
Sein's deadpan remark twisted the face of the figure in the darkness.
“Crazy bastard.”
The foe in the shadows.
Shing.
Drew a pair of daggers.
His identity: Kindra.
The one who had lost both eyes to Sein.
“Heard you got your eyes fixed. Looks like it's true.”
Grin.
Sein met his gaze with a smile of his own.
“Seeing clearly, are we.”
Crazy fuck.
That's me.
“Waiting around for the killing blows on Dark Orcs?”
Sein asked.
“Or did you stash some prime prey?”
Sein smiled, but his eyes were cold.
He had sensed the presence trailing from Vice toward the Dark Orc village.
From the start, he had known Kindra and the others were following.
“We have.”
Kindra bared his fangs as he spoke.
“Some rabid mutt.”
“Wow, how'd you guess? You from the main house too?”
“......?”
“Anyway, perfect.”
Sein scratched his ear.
“Gotta make skipping the Dark Orc hunt worth it.”
The reason he had abandoned that honey pot of experience.
It was the same as why he had tagged along with Sis.
*Blessing.*
He wanted to witness the nature and limits of that mysterious power.
Through Sis and the candidates, he had confirmed its effects against monsters.
Now it was time for something even more crucial.
“The rest of you are in the same boat as that Shim servant guy?”
How it held up against a proper opponent.
“......?”
No clue what “Shim servant” meant, huh.
“Then I'll assume so.”
Sein's eyes sharpened.
Kindra reacted fastest, as expected.
Speed meant quick dynamic vision and combat judgment.
“Die!”
Kindra kicked off the ground in a rush.
But it was already too late.
“About what I figured.”
Sein's shadow loomed behind Kindra.
Behind one of the other candidates.
Crack.
The snap of a neck bone—no scream.
Dangle.
The candidate, who had unwittingly offered his head, crumpled to the ground.
“Roughly that, right? I look like the biggest threat, so better take me out now.”
It would only get trickier as time passed.
Failing that.
“If you're jumping before your nerve cracks, that's solid judgment.”
The one chance, while rage still filled their hearts.
They must have seen the opening to target him alongside Kindra.
But they needed to understand.
“The price of that judgment.”
Stab!
The sound of flesh pierced.
“......!”
The candidates' eyes flew wide in shock.
They had seen the aura blooming at Sein's fingertips.
An aura wielder—one only the most skilled could wield.
Something these green candidates couldn't even mimic.
“Will be your lives.”
Sein's slaughter began.