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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Valian’s words startled Bervira.
“A… corpse?”
Even Zirai’s face showed a hint of surprise.
“Oh. Indeed. You must be an experienced warrior. Then do you know what name these corpses go by?”
Instead of answering, Valian simply stepped forward and struck down with his sword. With a sickening sound, the body that had been Zirai was split in half from the head down to the groin. Bervira made a choking noise as he gasped.
A girl’s voice came from the other side.
“I can’t tell if you’re impatient, pragmatic, or just find it not worth answering. In any case, by eliminating one enemy and starting the battle, you’ve proven yourself a warrior who understands combat. I’m impressed.”
“Babevo! Jeini!”
Bervira’s two remaining comrades weren’t the only ones. Including the bisected Zirai, there were seven pale, tattered figures with blank white eyes.
And they began transforming. Their nails extended into dagger-like claws, teeth became serrated, arms lengthened until nearly dragging on the ground, their bulk doubled in size. They let out chilling howls.
Kweh-eh-elll!
“Warrior from beyond Aynakio, won’t you tell me what you call these creatures?”
Valian furrowed his brow. What was this madwoman rambling about?
The transformed corpses charged at Valian almost as fast as loose arrows. They were so quick that Bervira’s eyes could barely follow.
Valian rolled forward to evade their attacks. But there were seven of them, so when he dodged a couple’s charges, the others would hurl their bodies at him immediately after. Valian had to keep rolling consecutively.
As he tumbled, Valian thought that if he captured the witch, he’d make her roll across the floor a few times before killing her.
At some point, the corpses’ charge paths overlapped, causing them to collide with each other. Valian didn’t miss the opportunity, standing upright he immediately plunged his sword into the face of the nearest one.
With its brain destroyed, the dark spell animating it was also broken. The 2.5 meter corpse collapsed with a heavy thud.
Kweh-eh-ekk!
The others howled as they tried charging again. But Valian couldn’t allow that. With their weight and speed, their charges were like being hit by cannon fire.
Instead of evading, Valian charged straight into their midst. They then tried to tear him apart with claws and fangs rather than just tackle him bodily.
The barbaric warrior grinned. It was hard to imagine losing such a frenzied melee.
He dodged a swiping arm aiming for his shoulder and counterattacked. A severed arm sprayed viscous black blood.
He evaded a stabbing hand towards his side. Though his large build prevented fully avoiding it, his leather and chain armor deflected the blow. He counterattacked, and that arm too was severed to the floor.
One tried opening its jaws as wide as possible to crush Valian’s skull. As it lowered its body, Valian thrust his sword upwards from below. It pierced through the jaw and out the top of the skull.
“Witch! You’re next after these dolls!”
It was the barbaric warrior’s roar. The transformed corpses flinched at the booming voice. Valian’s eyes quickly scanned them, then he thrust his sword into one’s face. Just like before, destroying the brain broke the spell animating it. Based on the eye movements, this one had been the witch’s vantage point.
With her direct link suddenly severed, the witch must have been staggered, causing the transformed corpses’ movements to falter momentarily.
That momentary faltering was all Valian needed.
He focused slightly. His muscles bulged and heated as he accelerated. He took one deep breath, that one inhalation’s force radiated throughout his four limbs. The warrior’s senses and experience guided him along a single trajectory. The mock barbarian gripped his sword with both hands and swung it along that path with full force.
Except for the three already killed, the corpses surrounding Valian all had their waists sliced horizontally.
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The witch Joanna was flustered. Who was this guy, so easily dispatching seven ghouls? The one whose vision she had shared died, and in an instant the remaining four were killed too, without a chance for her to reestablish the link.
‘Seems like I’m in trouble.’
Joanna felt an acute sense of crisis. The assassins Viraki had sent until now were all utterly incompetent. Without having to do anything special beyond inflicting the ghoul’s curse, they lost their minds, unable to resist it. Considering the ghoul’s curse was a low-level curse that could theoretically be overcome by sheer willpower, they must have been incredibly feeble-minded fools.
‘I should escape.’
With the ghouls dead, that man would come chasing after her next, and she honestly didn’t think her spells could stop him. Joanna hurriedly rose from her seated meditation pose, almost considering what to take before realizing there was no time.
Joanna opened the cabin door and stepped outside. The dark cloudy sky gloomily greeted her, smelling of impending rain. It looked like a storm was approaching.
She cursed under her breath. There was one important item. She rushed back inside and grabbed a small jewel case before coming back out. And Valian was standing in the yard.
“…Hello there, Aynakian.”
“Yeah, greetings, witch.”
“…Will you at least spare my life for now?”
“Why would I?”
“If you try to kill me, we’ll have to stake our lives against each other, no?”
Valian let out a mocking laugh.
“If you want to kill someone, you have to be prepared to die yourself.”
“So you’ve already made that resolve?”
Nonsense. He hadn’t made any such resolution. He didn’t want to die. But why was he saying such things?
A real barbarian warrior would prepare for battle that way.
The witch’s hand moved slowly. But rather than suddenly casting a spell at Valian, she rested it on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
“Let me ask, do you truly believe Viraki will properly reward you?”
“You don’t need to worry about my reward.”
“He’s utterly vile. He’s never honored a contract. You know why his brother fell under that curse? It was the price for his betrayal.”
“I’m not interested in those circumstances. As long as he pays well, what’s the issue?”
The witch’s expression contorted.
“Doesn’t Valtazar’s great warrior know of honor? That’s the same as dishonoring the god!”
Valian let out a mocking laugh.
“A sorcerer is lecturing me about Valtazar’s honor? Valtazar’s honor is about never avoiding or abandoning battle, fighting valiantly until your dying breath. Don’t confuse things with some chivalric code. My god would consider seizing any gains through battle more praiseworthy.”
The witch seemed to give up on further discussion, sliding her left foot back while drawing her sword – a thin, narrow-bladed weapon that looked more like a metal poker.
“…You want to duel blades with me now?”
“Why? Ashamed to cross swords with a woman’s body?”
“No. But aren’t you a witch?”
“True.”
With those words, she charged directly at him, thrusting her sword in a straight line. Valian stepped back, trying to catch the blade with his left hand. It was an incredible technique, easily risking a severed hand, but Valian’s hand quickly seized the witch’s sword.
“So now what?”
The witch grinned slightly.
“I didn’t expect you to actually grab it.”
Her expression froze as she swiftly incanted a spell. Just before Valian could plunge his sword into her mouth, it happened. The poker sword wound itself around Valian’s left arm like a snake.
Valian let out a groan. With the blade’s keen edge, his left arm was instantly shredded into a torn rag.
The witch retreated while continuing her incantation. The snake-sword constricted Valian’s arm powerfully, as if intent on severing it completely. Blood gushed out heavily.
“Shit.”
The snake-sword paused. The witch then spoke.
“If I apply a bit more force here, your arm will be severed. I’m sure you don’t want to become a cripple.”
Valian looked at the witch. From her expression, she seemed to think she had won. She even started to smile faintly as she continued.
“Think about it carefully, Aynakian. Do you really believe Viraki will pay my bounty in full? Do you even know why he’s trying to kill me to begin with? It’s because of the contract I made with his family long before the Eastern War…”
Regardless of whatever drivel the witch spouted, Valian slightly tensed his left arm. Just flexing didn’t seem enough to tear free, only causing more blood loss. Of course, if he really exerted himself, severing it was possible – Valian trusted his strength that much. The issue was that the witch wouldn’t just stand by during that time. She’d either attack Valian or flee while he was occupied. So what should he do?
It was a simple problem.
“…So it started with his brother-in-law. That bastard later sacrificed dozens of humans to me-”
Thump. The witch’s decapitated body collapsed. Thunk. Her severed head landed a short distance away.
Valian’s thrown sword had sliced through the witch’s slender neck before embedding in a wooden post. Her eyes still looked earnestly imploring. Valian gazed at her face for a moment before turning his attention to his left arm.
The serpentine sword, which had been squirming alively, regained its original rigidity. Using his right hand, Valian easily bent the slim blade. Steel was no match for his monstrous strength.
Removing it from his arm, he examined the sword – it didn’t seem to be any special enchanted weapon, just animated by the witch’s spells. He inspected his bloodied left arm. Though it looked like hamburger meat, the injury wasn’t too deep. Only the outer flesh was gashed, the rock-solid muscle undamaged. It had already scabbed over, bleeding stopped.
Incredible muscle and recovery, but Valian paid it no particular admiration. One should simply know one’s own body well.
Leaving the witch’s head on the ground for a while to drain of blood, Valian entered her cabin to search for anything valuable. He shoved aside bookshelves, upended the bed, checked every nook for hidden compartments, even the floorboards. In one corner was a small safe.
“Nice.”
Too lazy to find the key, he forced it open, revealing gold coins and some strange wooden doll. He counted twenty gold coins, while the doll’s purpose was unclear. But he took it anyway.
Back outside, he retrieved the witch’s head and jewel case. The case was locked, but looked quite fine and valuable, so he didn’t try brute force. It seemed he’d need to find someone to deal with it properly later. He wrapped the head in a piece of torn cloth from the witch’s dress.
Dark storm clouds raced by overhead, with the smell of rain and gusty winds carrying moisture. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Not wanting to get soaked, Valian moved quickly.
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