Chapter 66 : Chapter 66
Chapter 66. Homilia Sotolts
Odekerkh’s sword reached Gwanju.
‘That was close.’
Around Odekerkh’s heart, the two circles spinning his mana shone with a clear light.
Perhaps if he had been just a moment later in completely reaching the 2nd Circle, Odekerkh would have been reduced to ashes. It seemed Terion, the God of the Earth, was quite fond of Odekerkh.
That aside.
“Is that a tattoo on your chest?”
Odekerkh’s slash had laid Gwanju’s chest wide open. The skin was split, and blood trickled down. Beneath it, a snake and a cross were faintly visible. I needed to get closer to check it out.
“Is this all you’ve got? For revenge, it’s like child’s play.”
Gwanju grabbed Odekerkh’s sword with his hand.
The man’s aura was ominous.
“Don’t you dare attach a grandiose word like ‘revenge’ to such a pathetic act!”
Gwanju’s heart glittered. One, two, three. Three mana circles were emitting a fierce energy.
A scorching heat undulated from his hand.
Chiiik.
Odekerkh’s sword melted away.
A scorching heat rose from Gwanju’s entire body. The wound on his chest sealed shut as if cauterized by fire.
The scorching heat reached Odekerkh as well. Though he wasn't touched by the flames, his clothes caught fire. A startled Odekerkh let go of his sword and tried to distance himself from Gwanju.
But Gwanju didn’t just stand by and watch.
“Beg! Like your brother did. That you want to live, that you want eternity!”
Gwanju swung his sword, which had transformed into a whip.
The whip, spraying fire into the air, tore through the darkness and enveloped Odekerkh.
I released my mana and leaped towards Odekerkh.
Kkaang!
The whip lost its fierce momentum and fell to the floor.
Gwanju looked at me with sharp eyes.
“Couldn’t you wait for that?”
He asked, retracting his whip.
Instead of answering, I stared intently at his chest. Up close, I could tell what the tattoo was.
“Sotolts.”
Gwanju’s eyes widened and his brow furrowed.
“Homilia Sotolts. Do you guys still get such tacky tattoos over there?”
The image of a snake coiling around a cross with its fangs bared—it was the symbol of Homilia Sotolts, Uresra’s special forces unit.
“What are you?”
Gwanju asked.
So I tilted my head.
“That’s what I want to ask. What the hell are you? Why is a guy from Uresra causing trouble here?”
“I must kill you.”
“You’ve been blabbering about wanting to do that since a while ago.”
“……You bastard!”
Gwanju’s whip rained down on me, drawing dozens of arcs.
The sharp sound of it tearing through the air sounded like the screams of small birds. I held up Dawn and watched the fire flow.
Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
Sparks flew every time Dawn and Gwanju’s whip clashed.
“You’ve been getting on my nerves from the start!”
“Same here.”
“……Be silent! I will severely punish you for trying to ruin the Moonlight Festival. You have learned something you should not have known, so for that too, I will punish you severely!
You are not worthy of being a sacrifice!”
“I never said I’d be a sacrifice. And you’re the loudest one here.”
“Shut up!”
Gwanju’s circles blazed even more fiercely. A fourth circle also began to glow faintly. He was drawing out all the power he could use.
‘So the plan is to kill me, even if he collapses himself.’
The speed of his attacks increased. Just blocking wouldn't be enough. The longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for me.
“Huu.”
I let out the breath I had been holding. My mana heart beat strongly, rapidly spreading the mana it held.
The blade of Dawn absorbed the mana and sparkled with a clear purple hue.
Paat!
I sliced the tip of the whip as it fell from above my head. The metallic clang that had been piercing my ears throughout the exchange finally disappeared.
The severed fragment of the whip fell in front of Gwanju’s feet. He stopped his attack and retracted the whip. Then, with eyes full of killing intent, he glared as if to pierce me.
So I, too, stared back at Gwanju.
“A 4th Circle guy, holed up in a corner doing human trafficking. What’s your deal?”
“It is to protect a noble spirit. Something you could never understand.”
“The Moonlight something-or-other?”
“Do not speak of it so carelessly!”
“What are you on about? Making such a big fuss over an event that’s only a few years old.
And you’re not even from Poinus, are you? No, I’m asking why a Uresra bastard is doing this here. Did you desert?”
The veins on Gwanju’s forehead bulged. Even in the dark, I could see his eyes were bloodshot red. It seemed all the capillaries had burst from extreme rage. The muscles in his jaw were also bulging; he looked like he was about to shatter his teeth from clenching them.
“Everything about you, down to your very soul! I will burn it all without a trace!”
The whip spun rapidly, creating a vortex of fire. Nearby objects were sucked into the fiery whirlpool.
“You guys haven’t changed a bit.”
Whether they used water, fire, or electricity, they were all similar. The Homilia Sotolts bastards always tried to kill their opponents by creating a vortex. Without answering a single question.
“Fine. I wasn’t planning on listening nicely anyway.”
I fixed my grip on Dawn, my eyes on the center of the vortex.
“Those who kneel before gods cannot defeat those who fight against gods.”
The very idea of doing something by praying to gods, offering sacrifices for divinity, was flawed. So I would tear that notion apart right here.
Kuuung.
My mana heart beat loudly. Then, the Soul’s Library opened.
Long ago, I had fought a short war against Uresra alone. The ones who greeted me on the front lines then were the special forces unit called Homilia Sotolts, known as Uresra’s strongest.
“I fought them, risking my life. Have you ever had such an experience?”
An old book shook off its accumulated dust and opened wide.
「The old man cried.
O, cruelty of the frozen land, why do you stand embracing death?
‘Look here, please help us.’
With frozen and cracked fingertips, fingertips that could not bleed a single drop, he embraced the corpse.
‘My child was eaten by them.’
‘My parents were burned by them.’
The terror that bloomed upon the earth is immeasurable.
Screams and shrieks ride the flurries of snow and come to me.
-Give me land that does not freeze.
-Before I eat you out of hunger.
The red bear from the east tramples on blood-stained eyes.
The flesh of the dead stuck to its face is sorrowful.
-The way of eating life to live.
-As all life was in the beginning.
-The weak are nourishment for the strong, a rule set by the gods.
They hold their heads high and speak of barbarism.
-Do flowers bloom in land that does not freeze?
The child’s fingers, frozen to the bone, are caught between teeth.
Licking their impudence, dripping their vileness, they use the gods as a shield to chew and swallow life.
‘Why do you volunteer to become a beast?’
O, you who enjoys the corruption of the soul,
Do not speak of the cruelty of the frozen land.
Confess upon the death you have brought with you.
Do not sing of land that does not freeze.
Do not carelessly wipe away the blood, flesh, and pain smeared around your mouth.
If you must use the gods as a shield, then do so.
For I will raise my sword and shout loudly.
I will shout that the gods are dead.
For the old man’s tears, do not speak of the cruelty of the frozen land.」
The last page turned, and a blue and red energy flowed out.
「Do not speak of the cruelty of the frozen land. - Wandering Knight, Leonhardt」
A strong light emanated from the book’s title. The light became several stems, spreading out in all directions. The space dominated by darkness distorted as a storm of light raged. Within it, I gripped Dawn tightly. I took one step, then another, breathing in the blue and red energy created by the Saga. The two energies swept over my entire body and flowed into Dawn.
The two colors mingled viscously on Dawn’s blade.
Hwaak!
Gwanju, as if sensing the Saga’s momentum, increased the speed and size of the vortex.
The flames rotating along the whip lunged at me.
Kaang!
A purple energy shone within the vortex of flames. Soon, that energy sliced through the fire.
“Wh, what?”
The vortex shattered.
Dawn, emitting a purple light, cut through the whip and advanced.
Gwanju scowled and pushed mana into the whip. The whip, having regained its sharpness, tried to pierce my torso. But it couldn’t get through Dawn, which was imbued with the power of the Saga.
Seogeok!
Several purple lines passed through the whip. The whip, made of blades, was minced into small pieces, losing its original form.
A flustered Gwanju threw away his sword and began shooting fire magic.
I launched myself towards him.
Peong! Pepeong!
Dozens of flames that had filled my vision were split and deflected by the spinning Dawn.
The startled face of Gwanju was right in front of me.
“Uwaaaak!”
The man hurriedly turned his body. But it was already too late to flee.
The blade of Dawn cut through his shoulder and dug into his back.
Gwanju turned his head to look at me. He was already crushed by the fear of death.
Paak!
Blood spurted from Gwanju’s body.
“Why……”
The man, losing his balance and collapsing, cried out to me. His face was one of incomprehension. No, it was a face full of injustice. It was his end.
“Huu.”
As I still didn't possess enough mana to handle the Saga, extreme fatigue and pain washed over me. My mana heart also seemed to be signaling danger, shrinking as much as it could.
It seemed I had only about a speck of dust’s worth of mana left.
I planted Dawn on the roof to support myself.
“Ma, Maxim!”
Odekerkh scrambled over and caught me as I swayed.
“A, are you okay?”
“How do I look?”
I looked at Odekerkh and raised the corner of my mouth.
“Y, you don’t look good.”
I nodded at Odekerkh’s answer. Still, it was much better than the first time I used it. Back then, it was a struggle just to stay conscious, but it wasn't like that now.
“C, can you move?”
“Let’s rest a bit before we move. I have no strength.”
Even without the Saga, we had fought fiercely, so a little rest was needed.
I sat on the floor and leaned my back against Dawn. Odekerkh also took a seat next to me.
“Th, thank you.”
Odekerkh took my hand and swallowed his tears.
I nodded and patted his shoulder.
“It’s not free.”
Odekerkh’s bloodshot eyes turned round.
“Th, the sun is rising.”
“Changing the subject won’t work. They say if you like free things, you’ll go bald.”
Odekerkh expressed his horror with his face. But it didn’t last long. A bright smile was hanging on his face.
The deep night was passing, and morning was coming.
Maxim was staring intently at Nigues, Adellian, Piontek, and Michelle.
“Can’t run, can’t fight, what on earth are you good at?”
Everyone kept their mouths shut and their heads bowed low.
“If you couldn’t do it, you should have come back and helped. Going here, going there. What were you doing, just wasting your energy?”
At Maxim’s continued rebukes, Nigues glanced at Adellian and muttered, ‘See? I told you we should have gone back.’
Adellian, for her part, made her own argument, saying, ‘No, if we did that, he would have obviously asked why that person came in the first place…….’
“What have you done right to be fighting amongst yourselves? It’s a good thing I dealt with him. What if I hadn’t?”
“……”
“Do you think staying silent will solve anything? Some of us risked our lives and suffered, while others sat back and reaped the benefits.”
At Maxim’s words, Nigues’s face hardened, and Adellian’s brow furrowed.
‘We weren’t just sitting.’
‘He’s asking for compensation.’
Nigues forcefully swallowed his sense of injustice.
Adellian thought that Prince Maxim was still in a coma, and that some mercenary or merchant with a similar face was impersonating Maxim.
“S, so, why did we come here?”
Odekerkh, who had been watching Maxim’s expression, cautiously asked. They were currently in Gwanju’s room.
“Because there’s work to be done here.”
“Wh, what work?”
Instead of answering, Maxim looked around the room. Expensive items that looked valuable dizzied everyone’s eyes.
At this, Adellian shook her head from side to side.
‘He’s definitely an imposter.’
If such a materialist was indeed the 5th Prince, the future of Poinus was nothing but despair, she thought.
“Aren’t we leaving?”
Michelle raised her hand and asked.
In response, Maxim pointed out the window with his hand and said, ‘If you have eyes, look.’
Chaengrang!
A shop’s glass window shattered, and goods were smashed. Someone, having stolen money, had wrapped a money pouch around their body and set a fire.
As the Black Market’s management system collapsed, the users’ true natures emerged.
“Why are they suddenly doing that? Didn’t they say they were mindful of each other?”
Piontek asked.
“That only works when there’s a minimum of order. When that collapses, it becomes like that.”
At Maxim’s words, Piontek tilted his head.
“Haa, can’t fight. Not smart either. This is a problem. A big problem. What am I supposed to do with them?”
“Ow! I said I’m sorry.”
Piontek made an aggrieved face.
Maxim clicked his tongue and began to explain, saying, ‘I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.’
He said that within order, only a few people cause trouble because everyone is watching each other. Therefore, it’s easy to find the troublemakers and punish them. But now, when order has collapsed and everyone is causing trouble, finding the troublemakers is impossible.
“Either punish everyone or cover it up. It’s one of the two, but it’s bad guys doing bad things, right? They’ll just cover it up, saying what’s the problem. Isn’t that right?”
Everyone nodded at Maxim’s explanation.
“Then how do we get out?”
Nigues asked.
Maxim looked at Nigues as if he were pathetic.