Chapter 126. Aman (1)
Lun Fortis' regular army training was becoming more systematic with each passing day.
Under Frank's strict guidance and Noemi's magical support, the soldiers selected from the dungeon showed remarkable growth.
Watching them was a good stimulus for Iris as well, but right now, she had all her nerves focused elsewhere.
It was the conquest of the underground dungeon.
‘Adel is already on the 58th floor.’
Iris was currently catching her breath at a shelter in the 53rd-floor area.
Just a few days ago, she had been in a neck-and-neck competition with Adel, but the gap had now widened to five floors.
‘The enemies are getting stronger as I go. The wave of attacks is also relentless.’
Her rapid pace of conquest had noticeably slowed after passing the 50th floor.
It wasn't just the individual strength of the monsters, but also the coordinated attacks using cunning traps and terrain features.
The increase in difficulty was much steeper than expected.
On the other hand, Adel was still advancing without hesitation.
Armor with fraudulent performance that reflected all physical and magical attacks to a certain extent.
And two magic swords with their own egos. No, the Holy Sword Anceps.
She was truly showing the pinnacle of ‘item-power’ as she swept through the dungeon.
Of course, it was true that her sister's swordsmanship was excellent, but without such equipnt, she wouldn't have been able to maintain such an overwhelming speed.
‘At this rate, Adel will be the first to reach the hundredth floor.’
Iris felt a sense of impatience.
It wasn't just because of her competitive spirit.
She wanted to prove her own strength through this dungeon.
To her father, to her other sisters, and to herself.
But at this rate, it seed she would be overshadowed by her sister and wouldn't even get a proper chance to shine.
‘I have to do sothing. This can't go on.’
But no clever solution ca to mind.
Her assassination arts and stealth ability were powerful, but they had clear limits in a situation like this where powerful enemies constantly sward in.
She lacked the overwhelming power or defense of Adel or Noemi to break through head-on.
‘I need a powerful move that can turn the tables in one fell swoop…….’
As she racked her brain, sothing suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘Ah!’
The spoils she had obtained from defeating a rare monster in the 40th-floor area a while ago.
The existence of that forgotten item suddenly ca to mind.
‘That's right. I had that!’
An unsettling dagger, eerily stained with the color of blood.
When she first held it, it was an object that had pulsed as if it were alive, evoking a chilling impulse to kill.
It even exuded an ominous aura that seed to neutralize the blessing of the ancient artifact she possessed, the Lion Heart, so she had sealed it deep within her room at the mansion out of unease.
But the situation was different now.
If she couldn't catch up to Adel through ordinary ans, she had to try sothing else, even if it was a bit dangerous.
‘I have no choice. This is not the ti to be picky about my thods.’
A cold, calm resolve settled in Iris's red eyes.
She no longer hesitated.
Stepping onto the teleportation magic circle installed in the center of the shelter, she set the coordinates to her room in the mansion.
‘The Blood Dagger. That is the only key to break through this current stalemate.’
With a flash of light, Iris's figure disappeared from the shelter.
Only her cold obsession for victory remained, lingering in the empty space.
***
In the pitch-black darkness, Aman barely managed to open his eyes.
Instead of the sound of rough waves and the fishy sll of the sea, an unfamiliar wooden ceiling and the faint scent of dicinal herbs greeted him.
He was startled and tried to sit up, but the extre pain and fatigue weighing down his entire body made him collapse back onto the bed.
‘Where is this?’
Coming to his senses, he looked around.
It was a small, cozy room.
His body was wrapped in clean bandages, and there were clear signs that soone had treated him with great care.
Racking his mory to figure out what had happened, he recalled that he had miraculously arrived on the continent's coast and then lost consciousness.
‘Did soone save ?’
Just then, his eyes t with those of a young, blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who was peeking athim with a curious face from between the crack of the door.
When Aman opened his eyes, the girl shrieked in surprise and bolted outside.
A mont later, a middle-aged couple who appeared to be the girl's parents entered the room with worried faces.
They said sothing to him, but he couldn't understand it at all.
It was the language of a foreign continent.
‘Damn it. I don't know what they're saying. I should have studied the continental language beforehand if I knew this would happen.’
Aman was born and raised in Levangue.
He had neither the opportunity nor the need to learn the language of the continent across the sea.
Frustrated, he tried to explain with gestures that he had drifted from the sea and that he needed to go sowhere, but the couple just tilted their heads.
‘This is a problem. I'm in a hurry. There's sothing I need to tell them.’
But his body had not yet recovered, and the language barrier was high.
He had no choice but to stay for a few more days under the care of the fishing village couple who had saved him.
A few days later.
Barely able to move his body, Aman decided to look around the village out of frustration.
It was a small and peaceful fishing village.
Then, a poster on the village bulletin board caught his eye.
He couldn't read the letters at all, but the picture drawn in the center of the poster was very impressive.
A cave entrance that looked like the mouth of a giant monster.
Strange towers soaring high into the sky above it.
It was a picture that sohow reminded him of ancient ruins, exuding a powerful and ominous aura.
‘That place is?’
He felt his heart pound without realizing it.
Aman imdiately tore the poster off and returned to the house where he was being cared for.
Then, he pointed at the poster and asked the couple, as if shouting.
“Where is this?”
Fortunately, it seed that pictures were a universal language.
The couple looked at the poster for a mont, then shrugged and pointed a finger in a westerly direction.
‘West!’
Aman gave a short nod and imdiately prepared to leave.
There was no more ti to delay.
As he slung his old backpack over his shoulder and was about to leave the house, the little girl he had first made eye contact with stood by the door, looking at him with a sad expression.
Aman wanted to repay this family who had saved him, especially this little girl.
He smiled warmly, approached the girl, and stroked her head.
Then he took off the old wooden necklace he wore, which he had brought from his hotown, and placed it around the girl's neck himself.
“This is a reward for saving my life. I hope you will cherish it.”
The girl couldn't understand his words, but she nodded as she looked at his warm eyes and smile.
Aman bid the girl a final farewell and left the village.
His steps headed west without hesitation.
It was as if the ruins in the poster were calling to him.
***
On the dark training ground, faintly lit only by the moonlight.
Only the sound of clashing tal and rough breaths broke the silence.
I was continuing a high-intensity special training session, alone with Douglas Junior.
“That's not good enough! Your center is wavering!”
“Keuk! I haven't lost yet!”
The Hero's power that returned at night filled my body with overflowing vitality.
Based on that power, I pushed Douglas Junior to his limits.
The guy was drenched in sweat and panting for breath, yet he tenaciously endured and received my attacks.
‘As expected of the next-generation Hero. His growth rate is truly amazing.’
The guy who was just a naive country bumpkin a few months ago was now starting to exude the air of a proper Hero.
Although he was still far from matching my power during the night, his rate of developnt was nothing short of marvelous.
Teach him one thing and he learns ten, which was rewarding for
as a teacher.
I smirked and widened the distance between us.
The atmosphere of the training ground changed in an instant.
The playful mood vanished, and a heavy, sharp energy began to gather at the tip of my sword.
“That was just a warm-up. The real thing starts now.”
A blue aura began to envelop Valisardo.
It even created the illusion that the surrounding air was being sucked into the tip of the sword.
The blade soon emitted a dazzling light, illuminating the darkness of the night.
“Try to block this. It's my trump card.”
Douglas Junior stepped back, horrified at the sight before him.
His pupils trembled violently.
“D-don't tell
that's the Hero's Sword Ki that defeated the Demon King?”
The guy tried to say sothing more, but I rcilessly swung my sword.
“If you have ti for such idle talk, you'd be better off dodging it!”
A trendous beam of light shot straight towards Douglas Junior.
The guy hastily brought up his shield and gathered strength in his sword, struggling to sohow block it.
But it was not enough.
Kwa-ang!
With a brilliant flash, a huge explosion roared.
Douglas Junior was sent flying backward like a piece of paper with a scream, tumbling across the ground.
“Keuhat!!”
The guy coughed up blood and writhed in pain, but I wasn't too worried.
I had definitely controlled my strength so that he wouldn't die.
He had to overco this kind of ordeal to be reborn as a true Hero.
But what was this?
An unexpected person suddenly jumped out from the darkness.
“Daddy!! What do you think you're doing!”
It was Noemi.
With a tearful face, she ran to Douglas Junior, took out a small vial from her pocket, and poured it into his mouth.
Then, she whirled around to face
and demanded an explanation.
“You're really too much! He could have died if sothing went wrong!”
“Huh? N-no, it's not like that……”
I was so flustered that I even stuttered.
‘What is she doing here?’
She was a kid who usually shut herself in her room, focused only on magic research.
I tried to explain that I had controlled my power, but Noemi continued to rebuke , her voice choked with tears.
“Even if it's training, this is too much! Aren't you treating our talent too carelessly!”
At my daughter's worried nagging, I could only manage a bitter smile.
‘I'll have to control my power much more ticulously from now on.’
I never thought Noemi would worry this much.
I scratched my head, having to end the night of special training that had been cut short by an unexpected intruder.
***
The eastern island nation, Levangue.
Amidst the giant towers built along the endless coastline, Knox was engaged in a difficult battle, wielding the magic of destructive rust.
The ancient barrier surrounding the towers was more solid than he had imagined.
But his real agony was not physical fatigue.
“……”
The being standing before Knox, Primus, grimaced, openly showing his displeasure.
“You couldn't even handle one human and let him get away? Tsk. How disappointing.”
At the cold reprimand, Knox's body, which was nothing but bones, trembled as he hurriedly bowed his head.
He couldn't tell if what flowed down his spine was cold sweat or condensed fear.
“I-I am sorry, Lord Primus! It was due to my incompetence that……”
“Enough.”
Primus cut off Knox's excuse as if it wasn't even worth listening to.
“In any case, that guy probably wouldn't have been able to cross that vast ocean properly. It's a place teeming with all sorts of vicious marine demonic beasts. He's probably beco good food for the fish by now.”
He casually concluded a life's death and stared at Knox with cold eyes.
“However, do not create a situation where you have to apologize to
again. Those who fail to et my expectations do not even deserve to exist.”
With those words, Primus's figure vanished as if seeping back into space.
As his overwhelming presence disappeared, Knox finally relaxed and slumped to the ground.
‘To think there would be soone who could break through my surveillance network and escape to the sea.’
Just destroying the towers was a bone-aching pain, and now an unexpected variable like this had occurred.
He couldn't believe the fact that there was soone who had tried to oppose Primus.
But he soon shook his head.
Thinking deeply about it would only give him a headache.
‘Just as Lord Primus said, the guy has probably already beco fish food. That cursed sea is a place that even I dare not attempt to cross.’
Knox comforted himself, trying to shake off his anxiety.
The only thing important to him now was one thing.
To follow Primus's command and destroy all of these ominous towers.
He once again raised his gaunt hand and began to gather dark magic power towards the giant tower before him.
Within his empty eye sockets, only the obsession for destruction burned black.
Before long, a red light tore through the sky, and cracks began to form from the top of the tower.
And soon, with an explosion that shook the earth, one of the towers collapsed.
The ti for Lord Primus to be perfectly revived was not far off.
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