Chapter 185 : Chapter 185
Chapter 185 - Hardeon (17)
The speed at which the zombies expanded their numbers was truly astonishing.
It took merely an instant for one to become four.
For four to become nine would have been even faster, and if I hadn't intervened, it would have been only a matter of time before all members of the Gwangun Sword Family turned into zombies.
"I-impossible!"
"How could such a thing..."
The five survivors looked at the headless bodies of their comrades, each with complex expressions.
The group's leader was frustrated by the botched mission.
The two beneath him looked shocked, having realized that their mission entailed such a horrific outcome.
But there were others who were plunged into the deepest despair.
The two individuals who realized they carried the seed of the zombie within their bodies.
They clutched their heads, looking utterly defeated.
'Even if they live, it won't be living.'
They harbored a ticking time bomb, capable of turning into monsters at any moment.
Entering the Gwangun Sword Family with sub-par skills had, in fact, been the beginning of their disaster.
"You need to explain this entire situation."
I approached the group's leader.
His name was Yoo Gwang-ho.
"Only you here can properly speak."
He was probably in a position of considerable trust within the Gwangun Sword Family.
The command of such an operation couldn't be entrusted to just anyone.
"Screw you, Seo Ji-han."
He glared with intense force, revealing a fierce will to resist.
He considered himself a loyal subject of the Gwangun Sword Family, I suppose.
I had expected it wouldn't be easy.
From experience, I knew that people with such gazes usually possessed incredible stubbornness.
"Was it the Family Head's will?"
Of course, he didn't answer.
WHAM!
Suddenly, Shin Ah-yeon's kick struck his jaw.
"Hmph!"
Though not ordered, violence had been delivered at an opportune moment.
His head snapped back, and a front tooth flew into the air.
Of course, this was just the beginning.
"Heheheh."
Yoo Gwang-ho began to laugh as if he had gone mad.
WHAM!
Shin Ah-yeon's kick landed once more, and he vomited blood.
But his laughter didn't cease.
Something about the atmosphere wasn't right.
It was as if he had given up everything.
I had a premonition that getting him to speak might be even harder than I thought.
"Seo Ji-han, heheheh. You seem to have a lot of questions for me?"
This insane laughter was by no means an act.
"So you know something."
"Yes. Of course I know. Heheheh."
He closed his eyes with a wry smile.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
'Suicide?'
In this situation, it was a perfectly viable method.
If there was a possibility of confessing something under extreme torture, then ending one's life beforehand was the safest way.
But the current situation was by no means easy for him.
His hands were bound, neatly brought together.
Even if he summoned a sword from his Inventory, I could easily stop him before he could stab himself.
"Seo Ji-han, if you have questions..."
Suddenly, he summoned something from his Inventory.
And continued speaking.
"Just keep wondering."
What he held in his hand was a Mana Stone.
Yoo Gwang-ho smiled wryly.
His eyes immediately began to roll back.
"Could it be?"
"GURGLE!!"
Suddenly, foam spewed from his mouth.
It was the sight of the zombie's seed quickening within his body.
I had never imagined that this guy had also consumed a Zombie Rune.
'Could it be that he prepared for this worst-case scenario!'
I couldn't interrogate him, but this was an unforeseen development.
And the previous tragedy repeated itself once more.
"GROAAAAARRR!!"
Yoo Gwang-ho immediately bit the necks of the two individuals next to him.
Blood flowed profusely, and zombies were created in quick succession.
Out of the nine Gwangun Sword Family members who came here, seven had already turned into zombies.
'Serves them right.'
FLICK! FLICK! FLICK!
Three daggers flew from my hand.
Of course, their targets were each of the zombies.
The blades, fully imbued with mana, showed no mercy.
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
The zombies, whose necks were pierced, slumped to the ground.
A terrible stench emanated from the seven corpses.
Now, the remaining two Gwangun Sword Family underlings trembled.
Both of them harbored the seed of the zombie.
Beings who could awaken as monsters at any moment.
But a promise was a promise.
"Have you thought it over sufficiently?"
I gave them the choice of whether to live or die.
The eyes of the two trembled violently.
The desire to live and the despair of being potential monsters were probably fiercely contending within them.
But the stronger side seemed to be the former.
"W-we want to live!"
"But I cannot guarantee your freedom."
"Still, we want to live."
"Understood."
I nodded.
It would be a matter of careful management within the Haewon Sword Family.
Of course, the best-case scenario would be to find a way to eliminate the monster's seed dormant within their bodies.
I turned my gaze to the guide.
"...Yes? Me?"
She already looked mentally broken by this absurd spectacle.
"S-surely you won't kill me? I'll pretend I saw nothing! Please spare me!"
"How can you unsee what you've seen?"
"I can forget everything! I'll even hit my head to force amnesia!"
With that, she began to punch herself in the head.
"And you'll conveniently lose your memory by doing that."
"Then should I hit harder?"
It was obvious she was holding back her strength even now, so "harder" was out of the question.
"What's seen is seen. There's no need for that."
"Then you're really going to spare me? Thank you! Thank you!"
"However, there's a condition."
"I know! I promise I won't ever speak of what I saw today! I'll keep my mouth shut until I go to my grave—"
"No. There's no need for that."
"...What?"
Honestly, whether Hardeon became a land of death due to zombies or not was none of my concern.
However, I wanted to leave a tiny possibility before I departed this place.
The guide witnessing today's tragedy might just be a small flap of a butterfly's wings.
Whether that flap would end in a meaningless struggle or become a mighty storm was a matter to be left to the people of this world.
"And one more thing."
I needed a place to temporarily entrust the two surviving Gwangun Sword Family members.
I still had quests to resolve, after all.
***
Remme had requested 50 volcanic rocks from me.
In fact, I could have acquired ten times that amount during the ten days in the volcanic dungeon, but I didn't bother.
I took exactly 50 to Remme.
"You're heartless."
"Because I'm not obligated to do more than that."
"Yes. You're right about that. Honestly, when I requested 50, I wondered if it was even possible, but seeing you bring exactly that amount, it must have been very easy?"
I neither affirmed nor denied it.
However, I wanted to confirm something with Remme.
Though it was uncertain if he would answer.
"Do you truly intend to destroy the world through this?"
After experiencing zombies multiple times, I had become certain.
If this monster were to appear in the world, well-prepared, then the end would most likely come.
In fact, I was, to some extent, contributing to that very event.
"You know something."
"Coincidentally."
"Let me make one thing clear. We are not trying to destroy the world. We are trying to rebuild it after setting it right."
"Do you have a way to rebuild a destroyed world?"
Frankly, nothing came to my mind based on my common sense.
Ultimately, only a few prepared mages and the Barbarians beyond the mountains would survive.
But considering the vastness of Hardeon, it felt like nothing short of a human reset.
It would likely take an enormous amount of time for life to return to the world.
Perhaps even that would be a fortunate outcome.
If this organization had no countermeasures, that is.
"That is not for you to worry about. However, our Master is not one to embark on a great undertaking without a plan."
"You've seen this Master, then."
"I will not answer."
The Master, in the organization, would be a Black Code or an individual above that.
I probably wouldn't encounter him in Hardeon.
According to the Gwangun Sword Family's report, merely contacting Blue Code would provide clues to conquer Hardeon's quest.
And now, there was only one stage left.
"I've completed the request, so guide me. Where can I make contact with Blue Code?"
Even up until now, it hadn't been without gains.
Because I had clearly understood what the Gwangun Sword Family was plotting.
***
Hardheon's capital, Medanya.
In the city's market, the very heart of Medanya, there lived a renowned blacksmith.
Delkhan.
And it was said that the greatest gladiators of the Empire all shared a common bucket list item.
That was to commission Delkhan for a weapon and obtain the finest sword.
The problem was that the time he took to craft a weapon was ages.
Sometimes it would be finished in a few weeks, but in some cases, it could take several years.
It was naturally overflowing with commissions, and it was said that most gladiators couldn't even commission him.
Unless they were top-tier experts, Delkhan would simply reject them all.
CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of hammering iron resonated from his forge.
CLANG! CLANG!
Even just hearing the resonant strikes, I could tell.
Uniform and precise mana control.
The fact that it continued for over ten minutes without a single lapse was astonishing.
Even gladiators who had trained their mana for a long time found this difficult to achieve.
CLANG! CLANG!
He must have felt my presence, but Delkhan paid no mind and did not stop hammering.
The same was true when I cleared my throat.
He never once looked back at me, standing behind him.
Waiting like this was neither pleasant nor familiar to me.
WHOOSH!
I drew a dagger from my Inventory.
The dagger, floating on my palm, began to spin.
Chilling mana swirled around its blade.
As the blade's rotation accelerated, Delkhan's back twitched slightly.
I knew this would happen.
I lightly flicked the dagger towards Delkhan.
WHIZZ!
Instantly, Delkhan's hammer swung rapidly towards the dagger's trajectory.
It was an astonishing skill.
Most gladiators wouldn't be able to defend my thrown dagger with such accuracy.
However, the thrown dagger curved, changing its trajectory.
As a matter of course, my Sword Control Technique was far more advanced than his.
WHIRR! WHIRR! WHIRR! WHIRR!
Eventually, the dagger stopped next to Delkhan's forehead and began to spin.
"I thought you might be hot, so I wanted to cool you down a bit."
I looked at Delkhan, a slight smirk playing on my lips.