Chapter 171. Rival (2)
“……Heh, hehehe.”
Pain.
Ecstasy.
Anticipation.
Maya, letting out a laugh tinged with various emotions, looked at Harang.
Until now, Harang had been a great disappointnt.
The enigmatic presence he had in the village, which had been impossible to pin down, had completely vanished.
The atmosphere that had kept her on edge at every mont also felt so clumsy that it was as if he had beco a different person.
If it was a misunderstanding, I would have sensed sothing was off at the mont of our clash… but no. Harang was definitely weakened.
Yes.
The current Harang was weak. If there were no unexpected variables, he seed easy enough for her to take his life, simple enough to handle.
That was the impression she had gained from facing Harang so far.
But.
Gush, gush, gush.
Blood flowed.
No, it poured out. From the gap of a wound so deep that bone was visible, crimson liquid erupted like a waterfall.
Yet, despite this, Maya laughed.
She was delighted.
She was thrilled.
Unlike monts before, when she had felt nothing, every cell in her body now buzzed with excitent, to the point that she couldn’t even feel the pain.
Normally, I would have fled to plan for the next opportunity….
Maya thought to herself.
That would have been the right move.
Her opponent, Harang, had awakened a new power.
A power he had never shown in the village. It was undoubtedly a technique he had learned in the outside world, and since she had no information about it, she couldn’t think of a way to counter it.
No, even before that, her physical condition was at its worst. She had managed to stop the bleeding quickly using black magic and the village’s secret techniques, but she estimated she could only keep moving for about five minutes at most. It was barely enough ti to escape.
But she couldn’t.
More precisely, she didn’t want to.
One last clash.
Maya gripped her sword tightly.
Harang, the one she had so desperately wanted to surpass.
He was looking at her.
It wasn’t the Harang from the village.
The Harang who had always been a nuisance, soone she avoided, was now glaring at her with a deadly serious expression. Step by step, he approached her, intent on killing her with all his strength.
She gave a faint smile.
And murmured softly.
“The mont I’ve longed for has co, so I can’t back down ekly.”
Whoosh-!
As she finished speaking, Maya raised her sword high into the sky.
Most of the blood pouring from her body was sucked into the blade, swirling around it like a blood-red vortex.
The Blessing of Blood.
Originally, it was a spell that stole the life force of others to enhance the sword’s power, but by sacrificing herself, she could montarily draw out an even greater force.
Crack, crunch!
Her skeleton began to transform.
Rip, tear-!
Her muscles expanded. Maya, who had already been known in the village for her imposing physique, grew to a size comparable to Werner, ranked 10th, or Hagio, ranked 11th. With a foolish grin, she took a step forward.
Boom-!
Despite stepping on solid ground, it was as if she had trodden on a puddle, sending shards of rock flying in all directions. Boom, boom, boom… Creating cracks with each step, she approached Harang and grinned.
“Shall we… try again, you and I?”
There was no reply.
Harang swung his sword at a terrifying speed.
Swishhh-!
BOOM!
Sword clashed against sword.
There was no finesse.
No trickery.
It was an honest, brutal contest of strength that continued for a long ti. The shockwaves from their clashes swept through the cavern, shaking its interior. It was as if an earthquake was raging on.
Clang!
CLANG-!
Clang!
“Ugh, heh, hahaha!”
But such a situation couldn’t last forever.
Little by little.
Yet, as ti passed, it beca clear to anyone watching… Maya was being pushed back. Blood burst again from her hastily treated body, and her sturdy legs, which had anchored her to the ground, began to tremble. Each ti she blocked Harang’s sword, her body swayed left and right, looking as fragile as a reed.
But she didn’t retreat.
She didn’t flee or hide.
Maya’s incessant laughter seed to proclaim that this place was paradise, a heaven, filled with joy, delight, and happiness.
Of course, such a display stirred no emotion in Harang.
BOOM-!
Swish-
CRASH!
“Urgh…!”
Unable to fully block Harang’s swing, Maya was flung against the cavern wall.
She didn’t get up.
Twitching like an insect, she struggled to resist, but it was futile. She had already far exceeded the five minutes she thought she could endure, and her wounds were too severe. The amount of blood she had lost was enough to kill an ordinary person, so the fact that she was still moving at all was nothing short of a miracle.
Of course, Harang didn’t care.
He was fed up.
No, at first, he had been, but… now, he was actually enjoying it a little.
The thought of finally ending the life of the rival who had endlessly annoyed and tornted him brought a faint smile to his lips. The corners of his mouth, now slightly upturned, proved it.
“Phew.”
Standing before his rival, Harang took a deep breath and raised his sword.
Looking up at him, Maya grinned.
And spoke.
“Harang.”
“…What?”
This ti, Harang responded.
He was a little curious.
The village’s second-in-command, who had driven countless peers into the abyss of death.
What would she say in her final monts?
Harang gazed at Maya with cold, piercing eyes, and shortly after, an unexpected statent ca from her lips.
“See you next ti.”
Crack, crack…
BOOM-!
Right after Maya’s farewell, the blood-red demonic sword she held began to crack and exploded violently.
Startled, Harang swung his sword like a windmill, creating an aura shield. Most of the fragnts were blocked, but a few pierced through, leaving significant wounds on his flesh.
That wasn’t the end.
Hiss-
The red smoke from the sword’s wreckage split into two.
One took the form of a skull, hoisting Maya and fleeing sowhere, while the other beca a typhoon, starting to tear everything in the cavern apart.
Whirrrr-!
Crack, crunch!
“Haha, hahaha…”
Watching it all, Harang nodded.
And muttered.
“I was definitely too careless.”
It was true.
The version of himself from the village would never have shown such a gap.
Instead of indulging in sentintality and exchanging final words with his opponent, he would have swiftly brought down his sword to end her life.
No, he wouldn’t have fallen for such a crude ambush in the first place.
Well, it’s fine.
Harang nodded.
Yes, it was truly fine.
He just needed to return to how he used to be.
Back to the days of Godok.
If he returned to the ticulous, flawless self from the village, he still had a chance. A chance to end Maya’s life and crush her soul—he had plenty of opportunities left.
Hummm-!
Harang drew out his aura even more strongly.
The sword’s durability was already at its limit due to corrosion, but it didn’t matter. He just needed to catch up to her before it broke. Even if the sword shattered, he could take her down with his bare hands.
As he thought this, a dark red haze began to rise from Harang’s body. Unbeknownst to him, the demonic necklace he had obtained from Delkaro’s dungeon was also emitting a black aura, fueling his killing intent and malice. It was an insidious, relentless process.
But then.
A different kind of energy, entirely unlike the others, began to spread through Harang’s body.
Hummmm-!
“…”
Harang looked down at sothing hanging around his neck.
A pendant glowing with holy light.
It was a gift from Sheratiya Viyan.
A holy relic said to have the effect of a top-grade healing potion in ergencies. He recalled how she had boasted about it when she gave it to him.
That wasn’t all that ca to mind.
The people he had bonded with in Marzen.
Eddy, Pale, the Fist Brothers, Glen, Daereon, Philip Portville, Ransel Grantz, Hagio, the city’s rchants…
People so precious they were irreplaceable.
As they ca to mind one by one, people who had turned his monochro world into vibrant colors, the dark red haze emanating from his body began to fade.
…Humm.
The demonic necklace, which had been trembling faintly and exuding darkness, stopped moving around then.
But Harang didn’t notice.
Instead, he focused on sothing far more important.
Catching Maya can wait.
Of course, if he chased her now, he could put an end to this long, tireso feud. The village version of himself, the Godok version, would have undoubtedly done so.
But the current Harang was no longer a man of the village.
The current Harang was no longer Godok.
Sothing far more important than harming others.
That was saving soone.
With that thought, Harang looked not in the direction Maya had fled but to the opposite side.
He saw the human thief Shylock and the elf archer Queir. They were struggling against the red typhoon that was devouring everything, but their strength was waning, and they seed monts away from being swallowed in their precarious state.
Swish-!
Harang moved.
In an instant, he appeared before them and swung his sword. The aura sword that burst forth wasn’t as ferocious as when he faced Maya, but it was as steadfast as a paladin’s.
Shhh…
Monts later, the red typhoon dissipated, and peace returned to the boss room.
Of course, not everyone was safe.
Looking at the spirit master, Allen ir, now a cold corpse lying on the ground, Harang wore a bitter expression.
…Maya.
Should he chase her now?
The thought crossed his mind briefly, but Harang shook his head.
He couldn’t leave Shylock and Queir behind. Though their ti together had been brief, it hadn’t been bad.
“…Let’s get out of here. We don’t have the strength to deal with the Ancient Magician… It’s best to find the exit, return to the Yellow Magic Tower, and report what happened. That there was an attacker.”
“…Got it.”
“Alright. Allen ir’s body…”
“We can put it in a spatial pouch. It might be disrespectful, but given the situation, there’s no choice.”
“Sigh, how did this happen…”
“…”
Shylock and Queir were still reeling.
Looking at them, and thinking of his long-ti rival, Harang secretly ground his teeth.
***
At that mont.
Soone was watching Maya, who had escaped the battlefield with the help of the blood-red demonic sword.
He muttered.
“The Lord of Calamity said so. Except for the 1st and 3rd ranks, anyone could be taken.”
It wasn’t a bad offer.
Doing unwanted errands still didn’t sit well with him, but as soone with limited power, he had no choice.
At least he could gain valuable materials this way, he thought, as the Red Magician moved his dummy.
If I gather these one by one… soday, I too will break the wall of the Black Magician.
The Red Magician thought as he collected Maya’s unconscious body.
Just as the Lord of Calamity was chasing an absurd dream, he, too, was dedicating his life to an impossible goal.
Returning to the origin.
Shedding his human form and transcending the limits of his race to beco not a Black Magician but a ‘Demon.’
He didn’t know when it would happen.
He didn’t even know if it was possible.
But he had to try.
He had to strive.
That was the duty and responsibility of those with talent.
…I hope this specin proves useful for my research.
With that thought, the Red Magician’s dummy, carrying Maya, escaped the Demonic Palace.
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