Episode 181 – Clear Skies After the Storm

“That son of a bitch!!!”

I wanted to jump in every time Ian was hit, but seeing Ian collapse with the trickle of blood seeping from Kaisan’s calf, I rushed forward.

And at the same time, watching my husband sacrifice himself for others without a moment’s hesitation, my heart started pounding like crazy, just like when I fell for him.

In the blink of an eye, I stood in front of Ian, glaring at Kaisan, whose face was flushed with rage.

Kaisan, grinding his teeth, said to me.

“Get out of the way… This is the last time I’ll go easy on you just because you’re a woman.”

Kaisan’s voice was filled with volcanic fury.

When I didn’t say anything, Kaisan clenched his fists and continued.

“Get. Out. Of. The. Way…!!!”

“Pfft…”

The voice was so loud it made the air tremble, and his ugly appearance, like a child throwing a tantrum, made me laugh. Seeing my ridicule, Kaisan’s face turned as red as if it would explode, and I replied in a calm voice.

“Are you saying you won’t keep your promise?”

“….. Kuddeudeuk…! Can’t you hear me? I! Told you to get out of the way!!”

Kaisan, blushing as if he knew how ugly he looked, didn’t answer my question and just repeated the words “get out of the way” like a parrot.

“Haa…”

I was getting tired of this farce, so I glanced around.

The barbarians, who were nothing if not honest with their emotions, were watching the chieftain’s disgrace with distorted faces.

On the other hand… Chieftain Kaisan, twitching his muscles all over his body as he glared at me, didn’t seem to care about the gazes around him.

His appearance… to put it bluntly, was utterly pathetic.

‘Still… hmm… his lower body was useful…’

Nevertheless, because his lower body was useful, I was feeling an abnormally inflated affection after just one night.

But I didn’t hesitate.

No matter how much you value following your heart, that’s only precious when you have affection through your own determination and will. The affection that’s been inflated by the choker is worthless to me, like a pebble on the road.

I looked at him with calm eyes and said, picking my ear with my little finger and wearing a blatant sneer on my face.

“So, you’re not going to keep your promise?”

Perhaps he felt the ridicule permeating my voice, because he was enraged by the fact that he was being ignored and threw a punch at me without a moment’s hesitation.

The air exploded with a sound like a jet tearing through it, and in the blink of an eye, his full-force punch was rushing towards my head.

But…

‘… Ah, I really wanted to say this.’

With a bit of playfulness and wanting to leave with my husband as soon as possible, I also went all out and didn’t refuse his challenge.

Chiiik…!

I pull my right foot back.

The dirt on the ground makes a grinding sound, and soon my foot reaches its intended spot and presses down hard on the ground.

I pulled my right hand back, feeling the raging flow of magic that seemed to be rising from the soles of my feet, and smiled pleasantly.

The manifestation of overwhelming violence, I thought this was the best I’ve felt since coming to this world.

Using abilities to raise the earth, split the sky, and destroy people.

The most primal violence that a human body can perform can transform nature… I muttered again quietly.

‘I’m glad I was born into this world.’

And I unleashed my fist, swirling with power to the point of being visible, directly towards Kaisan’s fist.

…..!!!!!!

With a sound like the sky falling, dust covered everything like fog.

The barbarians, murmuring at the unimaginable blow, fell silent as they looked at the scene beyond the slowly settling dust.

Kaisan’s face was horribly distorted, half of it gone, as if he didn’t even know he was dead.

Ah, it’s not like when grandmothers worry about their grandchildren’s chubby bodies and call them “half-and-half.”

Literally, half of his face was gone, nowhere to be found.

Also, from the point where my fist met his, half of his torso was twisted and torn as if in a vortex, and red, fresh entrails were falling to the ground.

The barbarians were horrified by the outrageous destructive power.

‘… Did I get stronger or something…’

Of course, I was also surprised because I had never thrown a punch with all my strength before.

After a moment of awkward silence in the open space, I dusted off my slightly sore hand and looked around.

“Who’s next?”

“……”

Silence enveloped the barbarians.

Perhaps the barbarians didn’t even think about rushing at me after seeing such a natural disaster-like blow.

Like, fighting a strong warrior is good, but I don’t want to throw myself into magma?

Anyway, that was it.

Looking around, I was able to find the barbarian who had led us to the chieftain.

“You.”

When I called him, the barbarian, who was looking at Kaisan with a slightly bitter and sad expression, turned his head and looked at me with lukewarm eyes, as if resigned.

“Yes, you.”

“…. Why are you calling me?”

“What are you going to do now?”

“……. The chieftain is dead… I have to go back to my hometown.”

“What about the others?”

“…….. I don’t know.”

“Are there any of you who don’t want to go back to your hometown…?”

The barbarians, wondering why I was asking such a thing, looked at me with listless eyes, as if they had lost the heat from before.

Seeing their cold eyes, I realized that the chieftain was making them awaken.

The compass that was already pointing the way for the barbarians’ hearts had clearly lost its function and was spinning around, so I continued.

“If there are any guys who want to settle down here, stay here. Those who don’t, leave. And if there’s anyone who wants to challenge me, speak up. I’ll take you on.”

They were confused by my words. I ignored the guide’s questioning gaze and turned around.

“Hhikk…. Hhik…. Hhik….”

There, Ian, whose entire body was thoroughly destroyed, was breathing heavily.

When I put my hand on his body, Ian instantly returned to his original form. After a little time, he returned to his normal appearance, except for the blood on the outside.

I stroked his sleeping face for a moment, feeling the warmth spreading from my heart, and smiled warmly without realizing it.

Surprised that I had made such an expression, I stroked the smile on my lips.

And… realizing that the choker’s performance wasn’t perfect after all, I chuckled, put the unconscious him on my back, and stood up.

The barbarians were talking to each other after hearing my proposal.

Whether to stay or go back to their hometown.

I waited leisurely for their debate to end.

Even in the midst of this, the guide was looking at me with indifferent eyes.

When I glared at him as if to say, “What are you looking at?” he came up to me.

“May I ask you for a favor?”

Hearing his fluent Imperial language, I could tell that this guy was deliberately speaking awkwardly.

‘… What, he speaks well. Hmm… well, it’s all over now.’

“What is it?”

When I asked back, he bowed politely and replied.

“Please allow me to recover Kaisan’s body… He was a man who tarnished his honor and acted cowardly… but he was still my sworn brother, so I want to recover his body and let him rest in his homeland.”

“….. Is that so? I don’t mind.”

“….! Thank you… I will never forget this favor…”

His eyes widened at my words, and he bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

As I watched him turn around and walk towards Kaisan with confident steps, I said as if throwing it away.

“Aren’t you resentful of me?”

The guide flinched and stopped at my question. He hesitated and turned his head slightly to answer.

“I am resentful.”

“Then why don’t you take revenge?”

“…. It was my brother’s fault. If you’re a man, you should keep your promises. He lost the importance of promises for his own greed… How can it not be his own fault? And… from the moment he said he wouldn’t keep his promise, he was as good as dead.”

“…. Why?”

“…… He made a promise in the name of God and broke that promise, so wouldn’t he naturally be punished by God?”

Leaving those last words behind, he walked towards his brother as if he wouldn’t answer any more questions.

The guide, respectfully and with great sadness, recovered his brother’s remains and went through the barbarians, and soon his figure was out of sight.

Despite their chieftain’s remains passing by, none of the barbarians paid any attention and continued their debate.

It was a very pathetic end for the chieftain, who had seemed like he was going to burn the world down just a moment ago.

I shook my head, feeling a bit of lingering emotion, and shook off the lingering emotion in my heart.

And I slowly organized my thoughts as I watched the figures who seemed to be the leaders of the barbarians approaching.

In conclusion, there were less than a thousand barbarians remaining.

The remaining barbarians, a total of about twelve thousand, decided to return to their hometown.

When I said, intending to threaten them, that if I heard any rumors of them not leaving and plundering the area, I would find them and kill them, they frowned as if they had heard a great insult and said.

“We are different from those who do not keep their promises! If you insult us any more, we will not stand it.”

“It’s the former chieftain’s promise, but you’re going to keep it?”

When I said with doubt, he nodded as if he was displeased.

“Even if he is a chieftain who does not keep his promises, he made a promise with the tribe when he was the chieftain. Anyone who opposed his promise should have come forward and expressed their opinion at the time of the promise.”

“…. But he’s dead. Doesn’t that mean he didn’t get the tribe’s agreement?”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the tribe is following the chieftain’s opinion just by not stepping up to the point of killing the chieftain. The chieftain doesn’t have to keep it, but the tribe must keep it. That’s the meaning of a promise made in the name of God.”

I nodded, confirming their firm belief and will like a fortress on promises.

Thinking that it would be wrong to doubt a group showing such fanatical will any further, I said to him.

“Then when are you leaving?”

“We’re leaving right now. We’ve already benefited enough, and we’re no longer interested in the lands of the weak.”

The words “benefited enough” probably refer to the spoils they gained by looting the border cities.

Spoils… Come to think of it… Are there any slaves?

Thinking of rescuing them if there were any, I asked him.

He nodded as if asking the obvious, and I made a proposal to him.

“I’ll buy them at a reasonable price in the city. If possible, sell them here and go.”

The representative, who was worried about my proposal, nodded.

“Wait a moment.”

The representative, who had returned to the group of barbarians, began to say something, and he returned to me after the debate ended in a fairly short time and said.

“We’ll sell.”

It was a faster decision than I thought, probably because they wanted to get rid of the troublesome things and return to their hometown quickly.

After that, they left the two thousand who chose to stay and the slaves behind, and quickly disappeared with the other barbarians.

In that way, the great invasion of the barbarians quickly subsided, leaving only embers, unlike the grand start that seemed to burn the border.

And Ian opened his eyes two weeks after the barbarians left.