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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Crunch.
Ash crumbled beneath the man’s foot.
Ignoring the sound, he continued towards his target.
He wasn’t close enough for such a minor noise to be heard anyway.
‘That’s him, for sure.’
Dull blonde hair.
A physique that seemed a bit small for someone wandering the outer world.
And that relic in his hand… It was definitely the same boy.
‘Why is he alone?’
He had been with that monstrous red-haired girl the last time.
But according to recent reports, he had been seen alone for the past week.
‘Did he lose track of her?’
Out here, beyond the barrier, questions were a good thing.
The more questions you had, the better your chances of survival.
But a bandit couldn’t afford to miss a golden opportunity.
‘In any case, that girl isn’t around, so this is my chance.’
This boy was much weaker compared to the girl.
His instincts told him so.
His instincts, honed from years of surviving in the outer world, were rarely wrong.
‘Alright…’
He raised his hand, signaling to his subordinates.
‘Time to attack.’
The archer instantly released the arrow nocked on his bowstring.
The rest of his men, who had been hiding, charged forward, weapons drawn.
He calmly observed the arrow’s trajectory.
‘Direct hit.’
He was certain of it.
The arrow was aimed directly at the boy, and his posture made it difficult to dodge.
But then, something strange happened.
Whoooosh!
The arrow, slicing through the air, abruptly veered off course right before it reached the boy.
It hadn’t simply missed. The arrow had clearly changed direction.
His instincts screamed in alarm.
‘What?’
The boy was already charging towards the archer.
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A group of bandits residing outside the barrier is planning to ambush you. Defeat them all.
› Danger Level: B
› Reward: 35 SP
Despite my improved stats, it was a difficult quest.
A danger level of B meant that a poorly-developed character would be advised not to attempt it.
But compared to my stats, my items and skills were decent.
‘Don’t get careless.’
This was a good opportunity.
But I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.
I remembered my first quest.
‘I almost died to a wolf.’
Of course, I was different now.
I had been wary of my surroundings from the moment the quest appeared.
‘Should I disable Wind’s Authority for now?’
Two straws twirled in the air beside my head.
It was a training method I had devised to increase my proficiency with Wind’s Authority while hunting Chaos Beasts.
It might seem trivial, but maintaining it required a considerable amount of mental energy. I wasn’t confident enough to fight at full strength while sustaining the skill.
It was then.
Crunch.
I heard footsteps.
Allen’s body was surprisingly sensitive to sound.
Not that it was particularly useful.
‘Here they come.’
As expected, there wasn’t just one “bandit.”
At least nine figures were approaching from all directions.
Pretending not to notice them, I started assessing each one.
‘Four swordsmen, some with spears and axes… and one archer.’
Of course, there could be more hidden somewhere.
‘An archer complicates things.’
I couldn’t afford to worry about ranged attacks while engaged in close combat.
Logically, an archer wouldn’t shoot with his allies in the line of fire, but expecting logic from bandits was foolish.
My priority became clear.
‘The archer goes down first.’
As soon as I made that decision…
I saw the archer nock an arrow.
‘At this distance…’
He would fire before I could reach him.
But I wasn’t far enough to dodge the arrow either.
I didn’t know the archer’s skill level, so I needed a different approach.
‘Wind’s Authority it is.’
The arrow shot towards me.
I released the two straws I had been controlling with my authority.
And focused all my attention on the approaching arrow.
‘Now!’
I sensed something foreign within my authority.
It was faster than anything I had ever experienced.
Catching the arrow with my hand was impossible, but deflecting it with my authority… that was possible.
“Whew…”
Exhausted from the mental strain of deflecting the arrow, I let out a breath.
Clearly, engaging in close combat while doing this was still beyond me. Taking down the archer first was the right call.
I started running towards him.
“Get him!”
Bandits emerged from their hiding places, but they couldn’t catch me.
My experience as a track athlete, combined with the weight reduction effect of the Gravitas Replicant, made me surprisingly fast.
Unless they were Heroes, catching me in a footrace was impossible.
The archer, looking panicked, frantically tried to nock another arrow.
But it was too late. I was already upon him.
I raised my sword. I felt a strange resistance in my arm.
‘Knew it.’
It was Allen’s resistance.
These bandits were the ones who tried to kill him first, yet he hesitated to kill them.
‘Idiot.’
That’s why he always ended up dead.
Of course, I wasn’t completely comfortable with taking a life either.
But here, in the Chaos Realm, killing your enemies was a necessity. If you didn’t finish them off decisively, they could turn into Chaos Beasts.
‘Kill him.’
Trait [Absolute Obedience] has been activated.
The faint resistance in my arm disappeared.
I swung the weight-reduced Gravitas swiftly.
Just as the blade sliced downwards, connecting with the archer, I released some of the weight restriction.
BOOM!
A powerful impact reverberated through my hand.
Chunks of flesh and bone splattered.
This was the only way to be absolutely sure.
I grinned at the remaining bandits, who had frozen in place, watching the scene unfold.
‘You messed with the wrong guy.’
Mistaking my grin for a provocation, several of them charged.
Of course, ordinary bandits were no match for B+ rank Swordsmanship.
And the Gravitas Replicant, with its sudden weight increase, possessed unstoppable destructive force.
“Aaaagh!”
Two of the charging bandits were ripped apart in an instant.
The remaining bandits, witnessing this, finally realized they were outmatched.
They each pulled out a black sphere from their pockets. It was the same item they used to escape from Gwen before.
‘Are they running?’
There was no need to chase after fleeing opponents.
The quest was to suppress them, not annihilate them.
But those smoke bombs… those were a problem.
BOOM!
The black spheres exploded upon hitting the ground, releasing black particles into the air.
The particles quickly spread, enveloping the area in a dense fog, blinding me.
This was bad. It left me vulnerable to a surprise attack.
‘The quest’s danger level was B.’
It couldn’t end this easily.
Something was amiss.
With that thought in mind, I remained vigilant within the black fog.
‘…’
Suddenly, my Wind’s Authority shrieked in alarm.
Something was behind me.
I whipped around just in time to see a dagger inches from my throat.
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The archer was cleaved in two.
Two more of his men, who had charged recklessly, were also killed in an instant.
The rest of his subordinates, without needing orders, fled.
It was a disastrous situation, to say the least.
Out here, in the unforgiving Chaos Realm, every single life was precious.
He had built this bandit group from scratch.
He had been furious when that red-haired girl killed one of his men.
And now, he had lost three, including a valuable archer.
But strangely… he felt a thrill of excitement.
‘That’s it.’
His gaze was fixated on the relic in the boy’s hand.
It was a plain-looking sword, devoid of any ornamentation, barely recognizable as a relic.
But he knew. He knew that the boy’s strength stemmed from that sword.
He trusted his instincts.
They had never failed him before.
The boy was weak. But he was strong when he wielded that sword.
There was only one answer.
‘I have to get my hands on that sword.’
He didn’t care if he lost a few more men.
He wouldn’t need to replace them anymore.
He would sell the sword and buy Sak’s ID.
And finally leave this hellhole behind.
He readied his dagger.
The darkness mana bombs his men had detonated had shrouded the area in thick smoke.
The conditions for his victory were perfect.
‘Nightfall.’
That was the name of his dagger.
The weapon that had protected him ever since he became a wanted man.
And a relic.
He melted into the darkness, his form vanishing.
The relic Nightfall allowed him to completely conceal himself in shadows.
He stalked towards the boy, unseen.
Finally within striking distance, he lunged.
The boy, completely oblivious to his presence…
His dagger aimed for the boy’s throat.
‘One strike, one kill.’
He tightened his grip, preparing to deliver the fatal blow.
A sharp pain shot through his right hand.
It was an excruciating pain, unlike anything he had ever felt.
He dropped the dagger, his hand spasming uncontrollably.
He watched as the dagger fell…
…and saw his own palm beneath it.
He saw the cut he had received from his dagger earlier, and around it, a dark, murky substance was spreading.
(Thief)
(Scum)
(Beyond redemption)
Voices whispered in his mind.
He recognized them.
He had heard them before, when he severed his own left arm.
It was the prelude to Chaosfication.
‘Damn it.’
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‘What?’
The man dropped his dagger before it reached my neck.
I didn’t understand why, but I was grateful.
I almost died that time. It was pure luck.
But what happened next wasn’t good.
“Aaaagh!”
The man, having dropped his dagger, started screaming.
At first, I didn’t understand why he was behaving so strangely. Then, I noticed…
…his body was swelling.
‘Chaosfication!’
I had to stop it.
Human Chaosfication was incredibly dangerous.
There was a reason why humanoid Chaos Beasts were rarely seen outside the barrier.
For some reason, humans, unlike other creatures, couldn’t fully integrate with Chaos.
If a human underwent Chaosfication, the resulting Chaos Beast would go on an uncontrollable rampage… before ultimately self-destructing, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.
I had to stop it.
As I swung my sword…
Something sprouted from the man’s severed left arm, wrapping around my blade.
It was grotesque, more akin to a tentacle than an arm.
‘This just got a whole lot more complicated,’ I thought, as I was flung back, my sword still trapped.
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