Ch.157Desolate wind

The sound of white-breaking waves envelops the small village. Delia, a tiny settlement of no more than 40 households, was an exceptionally peaceful place. The abundant fish catch from the sea had made the village prosperous.

Craven, a resident of Delia, left his house only at late lunchtime today as well. In one hand, he carried a basket filled with snacks to eat while out at sea, and in the other, he held a large fishing rod.

Just as Craven was heading toward the dock, a sudden wind blew from the sky, different from the usual breeze. It wasn’t the familiar salty sea smell, but rather a mysterious, dreamlike, yet refreshing scent.

“What…?”

Looking up at the sky, Craven couldn’t believe his eyes. Two people were flying through the air. If they had merely been floating, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. But the pair—a girl and a young man—were riding on gleaming swords.

Swords—weapons meant to be held and swung. How could such fearsome blades carry people and fly through the sky? It defied all common sense. Craven stopped in his tracks.

The two people, who had been flying in a straight line, gradually descended and landed on the village dock.

Whoosh!

The mysterious wind was coming from the girl.

After landing on the dock, Theo looked back at the sword he had been standing on.

‘When I return to headquarters, I’m definitely learning this.’

It was a martial art with countless applications. Until now, Theo had thought it unnecessary except at Thunder Island, but as he spent more time with Se-erin and encountered powerful enemies more frequently, he changed his mind.

“By the way, why did we land here? I thought we could keep flying?”

At Theo’s question, Se-erin looked up at the sky. Right after, a heavy shadow fell from above.

Thud!

It was the head of a monster, several times larger than an adult man’s torso—the head of the lesser dragon they had just slain. Se-erin frowned as she looked at it. Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered collecting monster trophies, but her inner sister had spoken to her.

Make sure to bring this one’s head.

How could she refuse her only sister’s request? So Se-erin had brought the massive head.

“It’s because of this thing.”

“This? What’s the problem? Too heavy?”

“No.”

Se-erin shook her head at Theo’s question. If weight had been the only issue, they wouldn’t have landed here. Cutting off the dragon’s head had been fine, but the problem was the energy leaking from it as time passed after its death.

Se-erin approached the head immediately. At the same time, her right hand began to move beyond her control. Her inner sister, Se-ran, who had been dormant within, had taken control of her right arm.

The autonomously moving right hand reached into the dragon’s mouth and scraped her fingers forcefully against the sharp teeth. Without the protection of Sun Force, her bare skin quickly tore, and red blood flowed out.

“Se-erin?”

“Wait.”

Using the flowing blood, Se-erin’s right hand drew various symbols and characters on the dragon’s head.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m not sure…”

Se-erin tilted her head at Theo’s question. She didn’t know exactly what her sister’s actions meant. She had simply surrendered control of her body because her sister wanted it.

The symbols and characters that Se-erin’s right hand had inscribed soon began to take effect. Emitting a faint light, they instantly contained the energy that had been dispersing in all directions. The inscription prevented the corpse from decaying while concentrating its energy in one place.

Now for the next step. Se-ran, with her faint consciousness, tapped her brother’s left hand—not physically touching the flesh, but sending signals to the internal nerves.

Se-erin recognized the signal and extended her left hand.

“What are you trying to—”

The right hand moved without hesitation. It grabbed a handful of the viscous blood flowing from the dragon’s severed head, mixed it with her own blood, and drew a circle on the back of her left hand.

In the White Frost tribe’s shamanism, a circle symbolizes binding. Se-ran wanted to bind everything the lesser dragon possessed. The small girl had such ability.

Tap—

As the tiny finger lifted from the back of her hand, the enormous dragon head was instantly sucked into Se-erin’s shadow.

“I-is it over?”

“I think so…”

Se-erin looked down at the back of her left hand. The dark red blood was absorbed into her skin, forming a tattoo. It seemed like it wouldn’t wash off no matter how hard she scrubbed.

“Um, excuse me…”

Only then did Theo and Se-erin turn to look beside them. They had been aware of his presence since landing on the dock—a young man who appeared to be an ordinary villager.

This was perfect timing. Se-erin asked him a question.

“Do you happen to know which direction the Karma Empire is?”

“Y-yes…”

“Which way?”

“Th-that way…”

Se-erin turned her body toward the direction the young man, Craven, had pointed. As a gentle breeze flowed from the small girl’s body, she caught one of the swords floating nearby and threw it high into the sky.

Though it was a light movement, the aftermath was tremendous.

Swooosh!

The blast wave that erupted pushed against Craven’s entire body. Se-erin wasn’t finished yet. Maintaining the posture from throwing the sword, she spun around and kicked the remaining sword at her feet, sending it flying.

Clang!

After launching the two swords, Se-erin spoke to Theo.

“Let’s hurry.”

Before her soft voice had faded, Se-erin and Theo’s figures vanished instantly.

“W-what just…”

Left alone, Craven could only blink. Everything that had happened before his eyes felt like an illusion.

***

“Lord Flora! I’ll stay behind and buy you time!”

“Don’t say such things! The border is right ahead! Keep running!”

On the vast plain, a carriage and six horses were galloping at full speed. Flora shouted at the elven warrior.

But the elf ignored Flora’s words. While still on horseback, he pulled the reins to change direction, then separated from the group with wind swirling around his body.

“Damn it…!”

Flora bit her lip and glared into the darkness. Her sight, enhanced by mana, confirmed the approaching attackers in the distance. Though their faces were hidden behind masks, the sword technique they used was familiar.

Sun Tail. It was definitely the sword technique primarily used by soldiers from the hot desert regions.

‘Why would Sun Tail…’

The reason Flora was certain the attackers were backed by Sun Tail wasn’t just their sword technique. It was because of the large man who occasionally appeared among the mounted attackers.

Through his torn clothes, she could see mana stones protruding from his skin. He also possessed a physique no ordinary human could have. He was clearly a mana stone soldier—a biological weapon created by Sun Tail.

‘One or two wouldn’t be a problem…’

Even while riding at full gallop, Flora swung her sword to deflect incoming arrows. She could handle one or two mana stone soldiers without issue. The problem was the arrows flying from a distance and those approaching to seize the carriage.

That’s when it happened. Right beside Flora’s group as they charged forward, blue mana began to concentrate in the empty air—the precursor to a blink spell. Flora immediately swung her sword toward it.

Slash!

As the extended black slash scattered flower petals, a mana stone soldier emerged from the light and blocked the attack with his massive arm.

“Kuwaaa!”

“Enemy!”

“Be careful!”

This situation had been repeating for hours. Flora and the elven warriors were quickly becoming exhausted. The horses carrying them were also breathing heavily. At this rate, the horses would collapse from exhaustion first.

Neigh!

Finally, one of the horses carrying an elven warrior collapsed. At that moment, a light flashed in the dark night sky.

Flash!

It wasn’t just a simple gleam. The light that revealed itself fell rapidly from the sky toward the ground.

Boom!

“M-meteor!”

While the masked attackers screamed in terror, Flora furrowed her brow and looked up at the sky.

‘Meteor? No, that’s not it… That’s…’

There was no need to run anymore. Flora, who had been leading the group as temporary leader, pulled on her horse’s reins and shouted:

“Everyone stop!”

At that moment, nearly a hundred lights flashed in the sky, and bombardment rained down on the ground.

KABOOM!

The solid earth was overturned, and the attackers’ bodies were pierced and scattered like explosions. Some mana stone soldiers blocked the bombardment with their sturdy bodies, but only once. The subsequent lights pounded the mana stone soldiers’ bodies until they exploded.

Silence fell over the area after the bombardment. As the horses’ heavy breathing filled the plain, a breeze blew away the dust that had risen.

Flora smiled at the scene before her. Between nearly a hundred swords embedded in the ground, Se-erin and Theo were walking toward them.

“You’re late.”

“We hurried.”