Blade Forest – Labyrinth (5)

In an instant, a storm raged.

The fierce gale sent several soldiers carrying luggage flying backward. I braced my feet to keep Clark from being blown away and stared at Gankan. A gray body covered in wounds. But looking a bit higher, instead of a face, there was only an empty neck.

Gankan, the mountain master of the Blade Forest. Its build was no different from that of an ordinary horse, but instead of fur, sharp, thorn-like protrusions covered its body.

Gankan was leading the wind, rushing forward at a transcendent speed. Only after seeing Gankan’s form could I understand why the cave was shaped like this.

This was a runway.

Like an airplane gaining speed before takeoff, Gankan was kicking off the long, horizontal tunnel, building up murderous speed.

“…!”

Kamieru, dripping with cold sweat, raised his weapon. But he couldn’t move. With each blink, the distance closed in an instant. How could he stop that? Even if he used magic, could he stop it? He wasn’t sure. The other soldiers were the same. Facing something like that would mean being bounced off and instantly killed.

Someone had to stop it, though.

If that someone was him.

He would surely die.

“Kamieru.”

I spoke to Kamieru in a subdued voice. He only turned his eyes to look at me. Was it possible for you somehow? Wouldn’t the Red Witch, who had created thousands of stairs in an instant, have a solution? His eyes held a slight hope.

Of course. Of course, there was.

But.

“Lead everyone and retreat.”

It was a bit of a hassle if I wasn’t alone. I ordered with an indifferent face. Kamieru gave me a look that said he couldn’t do that, his eyes burning with intensity. He couldn’t abandon me after coming all this way.

“Haa…”

Overwhelming power had many restrictions. Especially with so many eyes watching and people to protect. I had a feeling it would end up like this. Again, I had to fight while protecting everyone alone.

But, unfortunately.

“Kamieru, could you take care of Clark?”

“…?”

“There’s no veto. I’m sending you away even if you don’t like it.”

I was long tired of doing things like that.

Group teleportation gave me a splitting headache, so I tried not to use it if possible… but who cares. It’s better than them dying. If they ask why I didn’t use it on the way down, I’ll just say I can only use it once.

Forty seconds until Gankan collided with us. I twisted my hands, preparing a long-distance teleportation spell. The coordinates were in front of the labyrinth… no, the base camp would be appropriate. It would be a hassle if they made a fuss about coming back in.

“Clark?”

“Yes, yes?”

“I might be a little late. You have to wait quietly. Got it?”

“What, what are you going to do…?”

Twenty seconds until impact. The soldiers’ tension reached its limit. I prepared fifty layers of thick barriers and snapped my fingers.

“Wait a minute! Yujin-“

“Witch-nim-?!”

-Ttak!

A blue magic circle appeared beneath their feet. I waved my hand, watching them disappear, bathed in light. Kamieru’s expression as he reached out to me was so funny and dynamic that I wanted to take a picture, but unfortunately, I didn’t have time.

“Kkeueung… shall I use some power?”

That’s enough preamble.

I created a magic circle on my wrist. Unlike Peca Polis, a bright blue magic circle. When I crossed both wrists, the size of the magic circle grew. I braced my feet on the ground to avoid being blown away by the wind pressure and deployed a defensive spell.

I lowered my stance, and my hands, with the magic circle spread out, were in front of me. Geometric shapes rotated, emitting a mysterious light.

“….”

Ten seconds until impact.

I prepared crystallization.

‘Now.’

-Kugugung…

A giant glass curtain. When the headless horse arrived right in front of my nose, I unleashed mana and erected a giant glass curtain. Space was distorted by the light. A dreamlike scene as if the world was splitting. Everything began to shatter into glass shards.

But Gankan didn’t stop. Even knowing that the glass shards floating in the air would tear its body apart, it couldn’t stop its running feet. The murderous speed that even it couldn’t control was not something it could stop just because it wanted to.

Gankan greatly inflated the thorns on its body and collided with the glass.

“Heeup…!”

My body was pushed back.

-Jjaenggeurang!!!!

A thick pane of glass, one layer, two layers, three layers. Losing its shape and collapsing. Gankan broke through the glass curtain, which was no different from a barrier, with only physical force.

’47 layers…’

A total of 50 layers of barriers.

Gankan stopped its charge only after breaking through 47 layers of barriers. Of course, it wasn’t ordinary glass. It only looked like glass, but its hardness was no different from steel, and it broke through 47 layers of it. With only a body slam, without magic or aura.

‘And it’s fine.’

Its innate mana resistance was beyond imagination. Gankan shook off the glass shards embedded in its body and tapped its hooves at me.

-Kung!

‘It’s angry, huh.’

I raised my hand and pushed the entire glass curtain away.

-Jjeojeojeojeok!!!!

The distorted world flew towards Gankan. Tens of thousands of glass shards brushed past me. The red hair reflected in the glass passed by incessantly.

Gankan took all the glass shards pouring down on it with its body. It inflated its thorns, wrapping its body like armor. The fragments that directly hit Gankan’s body couldn’t penetrate the thorns and were destroyed as they were. I gave a hollow laugh, watching the glass debris scattered in the air.

“Ha.”

As expected of the master of the Blade Forest. It had no injuries at all. Blades were of no use to that bastard.

But.

-….

Gankan stopped attacking and stared at me silently. I didn’t know if the expression ‘staring’ was appropriate for a guy without a face, but that’s how it felt. Was it wary? I lightly rolled my foot, threatening Gankan.

“….”

However, the attack without killing intent didn’t even elicit a reaction. I canceled all magic and looked at Gankan. I would be torn to shreds like paper if I attacked right now, but it didn’t move, not even a twitch.

“…What?”

My energy drained away.

A standoff… but Gankan didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking. I put a barrier around my body and approached Gankan. It wouldn’t suddenly kick me, would it? There was nothing as dangerous as standing behind a horse, but I had a barrier, so there wouldn’t be any problems. Probably.

-…Goya.

At that moment.

A strange voice that echoed through the cave was heard.

-…What are you doing?!

The voice of someone who seemed a bit young. Presumed to be male. The unidentified voice echoed off the walls. I crossed my arms at the bizarre situation and looked up at the ceiling.

-Gankan! What are you doing?! Kill her quickly! Ah, no! Don’t kill her!

Gankan’s master? Or the dungeon master? Judging from the circumstances, it was highly likely to be the dungeon master. The reason why Gankan wasn’t listening to orders was secondary, and the situation was quite interesting. I was intrigued by the strange Demon and the unmoving Gankan.

I chuckled and approached Gankan. The closer I got to Gankan, the louder the dungeon master’s voice became. Why aren’t you listening to me?! I’m the master of this place! It was a line that reminded me of the white-horned Demon running hell somewhere.

“…What the hell are you?”

Even though I had come right in front of Gankan’s nose, it didn’t think of attacking.

“Hmm….”

Come to think of it, this guy was also a horse, so was it related to that? The way animals, including horses, showed me an unusual amount of favor. It wasn’t just animals, but spirits also liked me. I had felt it to the bone in Kardrasil.

But this guy was a monster. I didn’t know if this was right.

“….”

Gankan, the mountain master of the Blade Forest.

Usually, these guys aren’t classified as ordinary monsters, but are classified separately as special monsters or unique entities.

Because there’s only one of them.

‘It might not even fall under the definition of a monster.’

How can it move without a neck? Has this world ever followed common sense? I just assumed it did. There were dragons, Elves, Dwarves, and Mana, so why wouldn’t there be a horse without a neck? It could just make thorns protrude from its entire body, and it was an ordinary horse except for the fact that it didn’t have a neck…

‘…That can’t be.’

The dungeon master scolded me as I approached Gankan and even stroked it.

-Immediately! That short-lived bitch! Bring her to me quickly! K, knock her out!

“I don’t think he’s going to do that.”

-Shut up!

Was it a young Demon? It just seemed like a nameless wandering Demon had picked up a core that didn’t suit it and was acting like a master. Its voice was young, and its actions were clumsy. It had modified the labyrinth to somehow use Gankan, but, well. It didn’t seem to have any intention of doing that.

“Can you give me a ride?”

Gankan retracted its thorns and revealed its smooth, gray leather. It didn’t lower its back like the horse I rode when I left, but seeing it disarm like this seemed like a silent permission.

-If you don’t listen, I’ll kill you both!

The dungeon master shouted in a blood-boiling voice.

“How are you going to kill me?”

I gave a bitter smile. I flipped off the dungeon master and climbed onto Gankan. It was still docile. I should have sent the soldiers back. I should have left at least Clark behind. I could have protected and fought with one person. It was a shame.

-What does that mean? Explain it immediately!

I ignored it and flipped it off again. The dungeon master gnashed its teeth and growled. I could even hear it stomping its feet.

“Can you go to that bastard?”

Gankan scratched the ground a few times with its hooves and then slowly moved its body.

-You’ll, you’ll regret it!

Those were the dungeon master’s last words.

I was ready to smash whatever was waiting for me. Magic nullification might be a bit of a headache, but after a long study at the magic tower, I had found a suitable workaround. If I came into contact with the body of the sorcerer, I could regain some control.

‘Well… it doesn’t seem like a very strong Demon…’

It gradually increased its speed. Riding a horse without reins or a saddle was quite difficult. My current appearance was more like ‘transportation’ than ‘riding’. I tied my body with threads of Mana and fixed it so that I wouldn’t fall off.

How should I kill it… it wouldn’t be bad to just break its horns and let it live. Then it would die on its own. No, that’s a bit boring. The problem was Gankan, and the main body was clearly terrible. Like most dungeon masters, it had a strong tendency to rely on the core.

‘Should I pretend to be defeated?’

It would be fun to pretend to be defeated. It seemed impossible to be dissected alive because Aileen was there… then torture? That seemed like the most likely situation right now. Personally, the situation I was most looking forward to was Gankan betraying me in the middle or-…

……

…I wonder if it would listen if I asked?

“…Gankan?”

I whispered to Gankan, who was running excitedly. Gankan created thorns around the severed neck to answer instead. I even put up a soundproof barrier so that the dungeon master couldn’t hear and asked Gankan.

“When we arrive in front of your master, um, can you attack me? First… yeah. The legs would be good. Cut off my legs.”

Even I thought it was crazy, so I was a little worried, but Gankan readily nodded its neck. It meant it understood. I was briefly dumbfounded by the expression of intent that was the same as a human, but then I thought about the plan for the future and gave a bitter smile.

‘…I’ve been holding back a lot lately.’

There was a limit to tormenting Clark. Um, to be exact, the types of desires that were satisfied were different. When I solved the timidly rising sadism, violent masochism boiled in the corner of my heart.

A cursed body that would go crazy without stimulation.

“Haa…”

I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from rising even as I bit my lip.