Chapter 119

Chapter 119

—Krrrrrrrr…!

Of course, their attempts were futile. Even if this was a dungeon boss monster only one step above C-Rank, the lowest of all existing dungeon ranks, it was still a monster, and the people running here were civilians who hadn’t even undergone Awakening. The creature could tear them apart whenever it pleased.

So, I stopped in my tracks.

“H-Hey? H-Hey, you!”

The person whose arm I’d been holding naturally let go as I stopped, looking at me in bewilderment. I gave her a single nod, meaning for her to leave me behind, then immediately turned my back to face the creature. It seemed a little surprised that one of its fleeing prey had stopped, its pupils dilating wide as it let out a low, rumbling growl.

“H-Hey! What do you think you’re doing! Hurry up and follow me, before I really leave you behind!”

Even in this situation, the person who couldn’t abandon me stomped her feet, urging me to come quickly. What a rare kind-hearted person, in a life-or-death situation like this. So I waved my hand at her again. It’s fine, go on ahead.

Fortunately, she seemed unable to hold out any longer. With a face holding back tears, she started running, leaving me behind. A good person. I hope she makes it through this chaos without getting hurt or dying. Thinking that, I immediately began striding toward the monster.

‘Even if it’s a C-Rank dungeon monster, it’s not something a single C-Rank Hunter can handle. Originally, a C-Rank dungeon requires about five or six C-Rank Hunters to clear.’

But fortunately for me, I had the blessing of capitalism. I immediately pulled out various equipment I’d bought with money from my Inventory and put them on.

A B-Rank item, the Rivira Leather Jacket; the A+-Rank Ring of Ard’s Guardian, with a three-time limited shock absorption effect I’d owed a great debt to in an A-Rank dungeon; and the Hero’s Relic Ring with an S-Rank magic power increase effect, which I’d received as a reward for completing a request.

‘With this much, I should be able to put out combat power at C+… maybe even C++-Rank.’

Of course, since I didn’t have a single decent attack skill, all I could do was swing a sword infused with magic power, but that was enough. My goal was to buy time for the people running away, not to completely defeat that boss monster.

Just then, the creature stopped putting all its weight on its front legs. Its body, larger than an adult male, shot straight toward me. I immediately summoned the sword that had become mine by necessity during my last trip to England.

‘Caliburn!’

[The Great King’s Sword, Caliburn (EX), answers your call.]

Fortunately, even in this chaos, the sword that had become my possession answered my call. I gripped the familiar hilt that fit snugly in my hand and poured magic power into it.

‘The Ruler’s Garden… for now, I’d better conserve it.’

[It seems you’ve been neglecting me far too much since returning to Korea, Master.]

‘If you’re that unhappy, just go back to England.’

[…Hmph.]

In a situation where everything was uncertain, recklessly using the Ruler’s Garden, which consumed a large amount of magic power, was hardly a good choice. I swung Caliburn, filled with magic power, toward the Black Hound lunging at my neck.

[Finally, my master wields me properly!]

Of course, I completely ignored Caliburn’s useless commentary. Seriously, if it wanted to be used often and well, why did it come to someone like me instead of going to someone who would?

—Krrrrrrrr!!

Naturally, as expected, the sword I swung didn’t even reach the Black Hound. It dodged my attack with its characteristic swift movement. Then, immediately after, it lunged at me again, aiming to bite my torso. Of course, I didn’t just stand still. I swung Caliburn in my hand at the creature again, while also gauging the speed of the people fleeing far in the distance.

‘This should be enough. Fortunately, thanks to Caliburn, my attack power seems to be coming out quite well.’

Swoosh, a flash of red briefly streaked through the Black Hound’s fur along the path where Caliburn had grazed it. It was a valuable experience, proving that even a low-rank Hunter of only C-Rank could produce considerable power with a weapon like this.

Without further delay, I charged at the creature again and swung Caliburn down from above.

—Kiiiiing!!

Caliburn’s performance was unexpectedly outstanding. No, it wasn’t that I hadn’t known Caliburn was outstanding, but experiencing it firsthand made it feel even more incredible. Caliburn sensed my mana at every moment and adjusted the amount of mana enveloping its blade. Thanks to that, the Black Hound, which had retreated backward to avoid my sword, couldn’t dodge the suddenly extended blade and took a deep gash on its leg.

‘Wow, so this is what a C-Rank can do with good gear.’

[Now you finally grasp my greatness…]

‘I didn’t ask.’

If I praised Caliburn any further, it was obvious the aftermath would be a pain. I cut off Caliburn’s insufferable narcissism in one go, then swung the sword at the hound again. *Swoosh.* For something that looked like a ceremonial sword, the moment my mana wrapped around it, Caliburn transformed into the finest blade in the world. Its golden, glowing edge sliced through the monster’s flesh.

‘Ugh.’

I knew it was unavoidable, but still, there was an instinctive revulsion I couldn’t help. I gritted my teeth to keep from stopping my movements at the sensation of cutting that reached my grip.

—Krrrk, krrrk, krrrrrrk…

“Not yet!”

At this rate, it seemed unexpectedly possible to completely take this thing down. I poured more mana into Caliburn and charged at it again. *Kiiing.* The sharp metal, imbued with holy-attribute mana, let out a ringing cry.

“Hyaaah!”

The creature twisted its body desperately to avoid my attack, but with its leg already injured, that was futile. The sword I swung pierced straight through its core, where its nucleus must be, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. *Thunk.* I groaned at the sensation of the metal piercing flesh, splitting bone, and finally driving toward the monster’s center, but I never let go of the sword.

How much time passed?

After a short while, the monster’s form began to collapse. I pulled Caliburn out and immediately stepped back a few paces, just in case. Its eyes wide open until the very end, it crashed toward the ground.

*Thud.*

Its not-insignificant body lay fully prone on the earth. Holding Caliburn at a diagonal angle, I steadied my ragged breathing and quietly looked down at its corpse.

‘…It’s one of the “abandoned ones,” isn’t it. This one too.’

A pitiable being that had been cast out from this world, or another, and had to drift here—one I could not afford to pity. I barely tore my gaze away from the monster’s form, which soon dissolved into motes of light. Now was not the time to stop moving out of sympathy for a monster.

“Hey!”

As if on cue, a familiar shout came from afar. I stared at the woman, who had run all the way back here after fleeing so far, with a bewildered expression. She was panting as if she had been running for a long time as she approached me.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness… You’re safe, right? Are you hurt anywhere? Is anything uncomfortable…”

Her trembling white hand reached out toward me. It was the hand of someone who clearly wanted to confirm my safety, who worried about the person she had to leave behind more than the life-threatening danger that had just befallen her.

I grabbed that hand.

And then I pulled that hand—and her—forcefully toward me.

“Huh…?!”

“Come over here, quick!”

With all my strength, I swung Caliburn upward vertically with my other hand.

—Krrrrrk…!

‘What the hell!’

But the bone horse monster that attacked us this time was no easy opponent like the last one. It easily dodged my strike and then reached out twelve skeletal arms toward us.

‘No.’

I gripped the sword tightly again to counter its attack, but no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out a way to protect the woman in my arms from twelve arms. Holding the small, trembling body close in my embrace, startled by this sudden situation, I pulled out the last resort I had been saving for a final moment.

“—Ruler’s Garden, G—”

“Duck your head.”

Just as the light from activating the skill was about to burst forth, an all-too-familiar voice dropped from above my head. I responded to that voice by reflexively ducking my head, even as I recalled the owner of that familiar voice.

‘…That voice.’

*Swoosh.* A sound like something being severed came from above. I held the woman in my arms tightly, and as soon as I felt the clattering of bones from above stop, I lifted my head.

‘Ah.’

“Looks like you’ve undergone an Awakening.”

There was a man, his figure gleaming an especially dark black as he caught the faint sunlight filtering through the cloudy sky.

“No matter how strong you are, you should at least pick your fights wisely. Sometimes you run into a bastard as tough as this one.”

A tall man, with hair that seemed a mix of ash-gray and black, and golden-tinged black eyes, standing a full head taller than an average adult male. The moment I took in his appearance, I couldn’t help but let out a groan of dismay.

“…How did you get here…?”

Just as I let out that barely audible groan, the man’s golden-tinged eyes locked onto where I stood. His pupils dilated for a moment, as if he were greatly surprised, and then, not long after, he began striding toward me.

“You.”

The gold settled over the man’s black pupils deepened.

“You were here?”

I didn’t answer.

Because I was certain that whoever he was looking for, it wasn’t ‘me.’