Kanna Blitz (4)
Asura field. That single word was enough to describe the scene Yun-seok witnessed upon arriving at the campsite.
“Kyaaak!”
“Stop, stop it!”
“What the hell is this! Why can't we get in?!”
A group of around twenty challengers encircled the carriage, while sharp, feminine screams erupted from inside. The 3rd-class holy knight Wellington knelt on one knee before the carriage, collapsed. Looking closer, a sword was embedded in his abdomen.
Wondering what the hell was going on, Yun-seok scanned the surroundings for a moment—then Zerpa's voice came from behind.
“I wondered why you were heading toward the carriage earlier. Did you set up some kind of alarm skill? What a cautious guy.”
The other party members were nowhere to be seen. When Yun-seok had vanished without explanation, it seemed Zerpa had pursued alone at full speed. Even in this situation, he remained composed.
“Do you know what's happening here?”
“Are you really asking because you don't know?”
The situation was obvious, really. All the challengers crowding the carriage were men, and the blatant greed in their eyes was unmistakable. But there was only one thing Yun-seok was truly curious about.
Why was everyone just standing by and watching? Zerpa included.
“Tsk tsk. I had a hunch Wellington might hold a clue to the additional objective, but what a shame.”
That was all he had to say, even now. But when Yun-seok drew his sword and moved toward the carriage, Zerpa's expression changed as he stepped in front to block him.
“What do you think you're doing? You're not thinking of joining in there, are you? Don't tell me you're planning to help?”
“Yes. If you're not going to help, then get out of my way.”
“Heh, turns out you're the sentimental type after all. They're just beings recreated by the Tower, anyway. And our mission is escort.”
Zerpa spoke as if lecturing him, which grated on Yun-seok immensely. Noticing the mood, Zerpa hurriedly continued.
“It's not like helping once will kill them. But if we fight them and one of us dies, that's a loss for us.”
“……”
“No, even killing them all would be a problem. We won today, but quite a few of the heretics survived and returned.”
Zerpa was shrewd and pragmatic. He always viewed the world through the lens of cost-benefit, picking only the most efficient choices. If he'd judged it pointless, he clearly wouldn't have cared if Yun-seok charged in alone.
“They don't want mission failure either, so they won't kill the High Priestess. Just sit back and watch.”
That should be enough for you to get it, right? Yun-seok could almost hear those unspoken words in Zerpa's eyes.
His logic wasn't utter nonsense, to be fair. As they said, these were beings recreated by the system, reset the moment the mission ended. It was only natural they wouldn't feel like real people. That explained why the female challengers and other races weren't stepping in, despite their disgusted glares.
But…
“Get out of my way. If you keep blocking me, I'll cut you down.”
Zerpa flinched at Yun-seok's icy voice. Offended, his face hardened as he forced a smile.
“Whoa, calm down, friend…?”
There were no further warnings. As soon as Yun-seok drew his sword, Zerpa's smile vanished.
Yun-seok silently counted to three in his head. Any longer, and he'd sever the man's neck on the spot.
“Hah, you're insane. Do whatever. I won't give a damn if you play hero and get yourself killed over there…”
Not wanting to fight, Zerpa finally stepped aside, muttering under his breath. Yun-seok ignored him completely and headed for the carriage.
And…
Slash!
He decapitated the nearest man in the attacking group. Yun-seok extended his palm, absorbing the fountain of blood that sprayed up. Thanks to that, his Blood Demon Qi, which had been scraping bottom to maintain Shaman's Law, recovered somewhat.
Thud.
Hearing the decapitated corpse hit the ground? Or sensing the aura of Blood Demon Qi as he began circulating it in earnest? Either way, the challengers pounding on the carriage's barrier turned back in unison.
“Wh-what the hell?! Who's that guy?!”
Yun-seok didn't answer. He simply beheaded them one by one, starting from the front. The swings looked ordinary aside from the rippling sword energy, but no one could block or dodge them.
The man closest to the carriage muttered upon seeing Yun-seok approach.
“Ch-Choi Yun-seok…? N-no way, that psycho should've been from the Duel trial…”
Yun-seok paused mid-swing at the mutter. From his travels, the man seemed to be from Earth.
“You know me?”
Taking that as confirmation, the man's face drained of color, and he nodded vigorously several times.
“How do you know me?”
“Tw-two days ago, back on Earth. I heard about what you did in Korea.”
“……”
Heard about something from two days ago… two days ago?
As Yun-seok's brow furrowed, the man—mistaking it for offense—blurted out in panic.
“I didn't dig into you or anything! It's already spread everywhere. Everyone knows what happened at the 6th Floor Plaza. And that you became famous as the Blood Demon because of it!”
He'd asked them to keep his name out of it this time, but maybe that was an impossible request? Or had they never intended to honor it?
As Yun-seok pondered silently, murmurs swelled uncontrollably around him.
“Blood Demon? That guy's the Blood Demon?”
“He killed a thousand people alone at the 6th Floor Plaza. Why the hell is he here…?”
“Blood Demon? Who's that?”
Some didn't know the name Blood Demon. In fact, proportionally, most didn't.
And regrettably… Yun-seok was one of them.
“I get the 6th Floor Plaza reference, but what's this Blood Demon crap?”
“Y-you've really never heard…?”
Yun-seok nodded, and the man explained how a challenger named Jang-il had hunkered down at the 6th Floor Plaza, proselytizing his name not just to settlers but passersby—practically worshiping him.
Yun-seok was dumbfounded. Calling him Savior one minute, now Blood Demon…
Did he pull it from Blood Demon Divine Art or something?
It was too coincidental to be chance. Unless Jang-il had some ability to check others' skills, it made no sense.
“Just like Earth has challenger groups exchanging info, that dimension has them too. That's probably how they know you.”
“I see.”
“Uh, anything else you're curious about…?”
“No. Nothing.”
Yun-seok knew exactly why this man was answering so cooperatively. So he gave him one last chance.
“What were you planning to do inside the carriage?”
“Th-that's…”
As the man opened his mouth, he locked eyes with Yun-seok's bloodshot gaze and froze. His sweat-soaked body trembled violently.
He barely squeezed out words.
“J-just… everyone else was doing it. And it's Normal difficulty, so it ends tomorrow morning anyway…”
True enough, but not the answer Yun-seok wanted.
He saw no need to ask again.
Slash.
With that, every challenger eyeing the carriage met their end. The women's screams from inside fell silent.
Wellington, stabbed in the gut, leaned against the carriage wheel, staring blankly at Yun-seok with listless eyes.
Yun-seok glanced around. His gaze met Zerpa's.
But this time, unlike before, Zerpa couldn't even force a smile—he averted his eyes.
The other challengers who hadn't joined the attack were the same. Whether during the assault on the carriage or Yun-seok's slaughter… they'd kept their distance, just watching. Now, under his gaze, they all turned away awkwardly.
Revulsion churned in his gut, but Yun-seok held it back.
“……”
They were different from the attackers. They'd stood by, but hadn't participated. Wanting to kill them anyway was surely just the Blood Demon Divine Art's influence.
Thinking that, he barely restrained himself.
It wasn't easy, though. Shouldn't he at least ask what crimes they'd committed in their lives?
Such thoughts flickered—
Creak.
The carriage door opened. Kanna Blitz stepped down cautiously to the ground.
Like a lamp on the verge of extinguishing, light returned to Wellington's eyes.
“High Priestess…”
“Don't say a word.”
Kanna channeled holy power to heal him. Soon, some warmth returned to his paling face.
Judging the emergency measures done, she left the unconscious Wellington behind and approached Yun-seok.
“You're Rick Gersey, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you set up the barrier on the carriage too?”
“Yes.”
“I owe you a huge debt. Thank you, truly. And…”
Kanna bowed to Yun-seok, then straightened and surveyed the surrounding challengers.
“As for you…”
She trailed off. The words wouldn't come.
It was understandable. The mercenaries she'd hired had rebelled, and everyone except Yun-seok had turned a blind eye.
If Yun-seok hadn't been here… She wasn't naive enough to imagine otherwise.
“How could you? Are all mercenaries like you?”
Rebuke spilled from High Priestess Kanna Blitz's lips. Her voice carried a note of resignation, making it sound all the more cynical.
The challengers said nothing. Who knew if they had that much conscience, or if they wanted to argue but couldn't because of Yun-seok.
But she clearly had no intention of forgiving them. Not that she had many options anyway.
“I'd rather hide among wolves than entrust my safety to you. As of this moment, I'm terminating our contract. Go back to the castle or wherever—just get lost.”
The ripple from those words erupted a beat late.
Contract termination? So what?
Smirks of defiance turned to panic across their faces.
“What? Mission failure from breaking the contract?!”
“This is bullshit! I've never heard of anything like this!”
“There's still time! Make her cancel it before—!”
“I-I'm really gonna die if I fail this time!”
Yun-seok quickly grasped the situation. He drew both twin swords and stepped forward, solidly guarding Kanna.
That slight movement halted the challengers mid-rush toward her.
Slash.
Yun-seok flung Blood Demon Qi, precisely slicing the nose of the foremost challenger.
“That's far enough. Anyone who crosses will die.”
His curt warning was more effective than anything. They outnumbered dozens if united, but they knew force was futile.
So they tried another tack.
“Listen! High Priestess Kanna Blitz! This is unfair. Only a few attacked you—we didn't do anything!”
Kanna's icy glare was her reply.
But the challengers pressed on.
“It's true! Believe us!”
Their desperate pleas even drew an involuntary smirk from Yun-seok.
The man spoke factually. He and the other challengers here had done nothing.
Literally… nothing.
No threats, no orders. It was each one's choice.
Then they should bear the responsibility of that choice.
“N-no!”
“Damn it!”
Whether they truly had only one coin left, some challengers squeezed their eyes shut and charged Yun-seok. Might as well try, since death was death.
But the outcome was as they feared.
Slash, slash.
A few more corpses hit the ground.
And at that moment—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Emitting faint flashes, the hundred or so challengers filling the campsite vanished in unison.
“……”
As if the Asura field had been a lie, heavy silence descended on the campsite.
Yun-seok looked up at the sky. The starless night, blanketed in clouds, remained hidden.