Chapter 641: Candlelight Ripper
Chapter 641: Candlelight Ripper
After the shattering of the Martial King Realm, Kiernan landed on his back on a solid forest floor, the branches of the trees dangling above him.
“…Am I back?”
He turned around, inhaled the air, and thought it was different from Martial King Realm’s air.
Martial King Realm’s air was so rich, which was why everyone managed to become a Martial King over there.
For some reason, no one managed to advance to Martial Legend.
Ding! Ding!
[Congratulations on Passing the Test!]
[Middle Stage Martial King Achieved!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 14 → 15]
[Congratulations on reaching Level 15!]
[The system is ready for a new update!]
[Do you want to accept the update?]
[Y/N]
Without hesitation, Kiernan pressed yes.
[Downloading the update…]
[1%…]
‘That will take a while. Now where am I?’
Kiernan stood up and looked around. He checked his pockets and remembered that he didn’t have his phone with him.
In that moment, something fell from the air and landed on top of Kiernan’s head. It was a heavy little thing, but it didn’t make him even budge.
“Fen… Thank god you also got out of there.”
Kiernan said with a smile, and Fen excitedly wagged his tail while hopping off his head and looking around the forest excitedly.
It looked like even he was aware that they had returned back home.
However, Kiernan looked at where the sun was, and it was in the wrong direction. The air also smelled strange.
It felt richer. More powerful. Even slightly darker.
They were not in New Rakuya; that was certain.
‘I better find where I am. I have been gone for so long, and I don’t want everyone to think that I am dead for even a second longer than I have to.’
Kiernan thought and started trekking through the thick forest, going deeper and deeper into the unknown.
He didn’t know whether he was moving closer to civilization, but he was following the trace of salt and hoped that it would take him close to the ocean at least.
With Martial King’s physique, every sense was heightened, and he was able to experience the world around him like never before.
The ordinary people had no idea what they were missing out on.
Fen, with his tongue lolling out of his mouth, followed closely behind him, and while his sense of smell was also incredible, it couldn’t match that of current Kiernan.
…
The night had fallen over the land, and Kiernan sat around a campfire made of pieces of wood he had gathered earlier that day.
He was able to create fire by rubbing two sticks together. It was very easy, as it barely took him five seconds to do so.
Crackle~ Crackle~
The fire crackled, shining warm light on his handsome face, and Kiernan enjoyed it while he was busy thinking about what Answer said to him.
It really bothered him, especially the stuff about Earthlings, as they might not be looked at favorably by the Judges of the afterlife.
He still hoped that those Judges would see past their clouded glasses and judge them accordingly, but he wasn’t sure.
‘…I don’t want to keep living while being afraid of death all the time. I would just start avoiding any risks at all, and with that attitude, my martial arts path will get blocked sooner or later.’
He rubbed his forehead and sighed in frustration.
Tumble~ Tumble~ Tumble~
In that moment, he heard a sound that sounded like something was rolling over bumps, causing the contents inside to jostle around.
With his sharp gaze, he looked past the trees and saw a wagon move between thick trees. It had lanterns hanging on each side, flickering in the darkness.
The driver was a hooded man. It was hard to see his face. The wagon had all kinds of boxes inside, but mostly they were covered with a tarp.
‘Maybe he knows where I am.’
Kiernan scratched behind Fen’s ear, waking him up, and he sleepily started walking behind him as they started chasing after the wagon.
He arrived on a dirt path that pretty much only had two tire tracks on it, acting as a road of some sort, and Kiernan hadn’t noticed this road before.
The wagon was wheeling down in the distance, and he quickly followed after it.
“Hey!”
Kiernan shouted to get him to stop, and in that moment, the wagon came to a rolling stop, and the horses let out a painful whinny.
The hooded man stepped out of the wagon. In his right hand, he was hiding a long, pointy weapon that looked like a crowbar but was much sharper and had just one spike at the end.
“I am not looking for trouble.”
Kiernan said, raising his arms, after noticing the weapon in the man’s hand.
“I am just lost, and I’d like to know where I am. If you could help me.”
“…You really shouldn’t go to talk with just anyone over here. Especially when the night had turned dark. That’s one way to die.”
The man said with a grin, no longer hiding the weapon, and threateningly pointing at Kiernan.
“I am not looking for a fight. Just point me in the direction of the nearest town, village, or city—anything really with people living.”
Kiernan said.
“Hehehe~ I can’t do that. You should really avoid the people with lanterns at the side of their wagons. That means death.
“As I am Candlelight Ripper.”
Candlelight Ripper said coldly, and then lunged at Kiernan, the pointy weapon already spearing through the air.
Kiernan put his fingers between his lips and whistled.
“HOWL!”
[Fenrir Used Loyal Fang!]
With a mouth wide open in a bite, Fen latched onto Candlelight Ripper’s weapon-wielding arm, digging his teeth into the assailant’s flesh.
“Argh, you fucking pest!”
Candelight Ripper tried shaking him off, but Fen was holding tightly, refusing to let go no matter what.
“Mastered Iron Style, Frontal Kick!”
Kiernan pushed his foot against Candlelight Ripper’s chest and sent him flying. He crashed through the wagon and destroyed all the boxes inside.
The contents of the boxes spilled out onto the ground. They were holding human parts, such as eyeballs, fingers, and organs.
“Good boy.”
Kiernan patted Fen and approached the destroyed wagon, taking a glance at all the human body parts.
‘Where the hell did I end up?’