Ch.75Hunter, or Prey (6)

There are things called Masterpieces.

Forty-seven weapons forged by the Primordial Blacksmith, relics that cause miraculous phenomena. Since ancient times, opinions have been divided on whether to classify them as weapons or relics.

That’s inevitable. Some take the form of blades, while others appear as lanterns, monocles, or accessories like watches.

But everyone agreed that Masterpieces are “dangerous.” After all, Masterpieces contained mysteries.

It was only thousands or tens of thousands of years after the creation of Masterpieces that the concept of mystery was defined. None other than by the great sorceress Merlin. According to her, mystery carries the following meaning:

“That which is not bound by rules.”

“That which lies beyond common sense.”

Fire burns, ice is cold, shadows fall opposite to light… such obvious rules. Mystery is what isn’t bound by these rules. In other words, it refers to things where common sense doesn’t apply.

Concepts beyond common sense.

Weapons imbued with such concepts.

How could such things not be dangerous?

Though an extreme example, there was a case where the Masterpiece ‘Bookmark’ in a child’s hand killed a Sword Seeker-level warrior, so its danger level is beyond question.

Masterpieces ignore power differences.

They break common sense and reverse battle situations.

If one doesn’t understand the mystery imbued in the weapon, fighting against someone wielding a Masterpiece becomes extremely difficult. That’s why most warriors avoided battles against opponents with Masterpieces, especially those with lesser-known ones.

This is a rational decision.

One needs to know the mystery imbued in a Masterpiece to prepare for variables, but typically, the only way to discover the mystery is to “get hit by it.” And most who were struck by Masterpieces met their end.

For the No.4 Masterpiece ‘Bookmark’, a total of 68 knights lost their lives before its mystery was discovered.

Naturally, no warrior wants to be among those 68. It’s wiser to wait until someone else sacrifices their life to figure out the Masterpiece’s mystery.

…Of course, needless to say.

“It’s a mirage.”

There are always exceptions in this world.

Some individuals can penetrate mysteries without getting hit repeatedly, understanding them with just a single observation. This great sorceress, for example.

“The mystery imbued in that Masterpiece is a mirage.”

The great sorceress who defined mystery.

Merlin explained to Najin.

“It confuses your vision and senses. But not both simultaneously. If you look directly at the fire, your ‘vision’ wavers. And if you step on the fire’s shadow on the ground, your senses waver.”

Look at it, step on its shadow, or be engulfed by it.

“Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the shadow here.”

Merlin clicked her tongue.

There might be several reasons why the opponent hid in the underground waterway, but this underground waterway was an extremely advantageous environment for using that Masterpiece.

“But there is a way.”

“Remember what I told you before?”

While running toward Faube, Najin said inwardly.

That he remembered. And that he knew what she was trying to say. Najin opened his eyes. As he opened them, he became aware of the flow running through his body.

It is the starlight that has dwelled in his body since that day.

Hidden and invisible to anyone else, but definitely existing within him. A starlight more brilliant than anything else in the world flows through Najin’s body.

“Your body is like Excalibur’s scabbard.”

“It might have been difficult to realize when you were an Expert, but…”

Merlin smiled.

“Can you feel it now?”

He had awakened fragments of mental imagery. He was stepping into the entrance of Sword Seeker. In that process, Najin’s soul and body had clearly grown, and growth is also a process of becoming aware of what’s hidden within oneself.

Now he can feel it. The light dwelling in his soul.

Something he still cannot control. A starlight too vast and fierce. But it’s possible to grasp just a little bit, a handful of it. He can’t cover his entire body with a handful of starlight. The range where starlight can be used is limited.

And where to use it was already decided.

Starlight dwelled in Najin’s pupils.

Eyes tinged with platinum stared directly at the flames burning in the lantern. When engulfed by the cast fire shadow, Najin’s senses were disturbed, but his vision never wavered.

“Excalibur exists above Masterpieces.”

“The Sword of Stars is a concept that exists above all else, how could a mere Masterpiece compare to Excalibur?”

Because Excalibur was a higher concept than Masterpieces.

Merlin grinned, and Najin charged.

Though his senses were in disarray, his vision remained clear. His body moved contrary to his will, but since he could see those movements with his eyes, correcting them wasn’t difficult.

Bang.

Najin accelerated by kicking off the ground.

Seeing Najin closing the distance at a terrifying speed, Faube’s eyes widened. Charging straight ahead while staring at a Masterpiece?

“This madman…!”

Faube swung her staff.

The circle floating above her back sparkled and spewed forth spells. Bone stakes. Bone swamp. Spells to block that charge and buy time. The instantly cast spells blocked Najin’s path… but Najin didn’t slow down at all.

He could see.

If he could see, he just needed to cut through.

The bone stakes turned to dust as they were swept away by Najin’s sword energy. The bone swamp covering the floor, walls, and ceiling met the same fate. Najin never stopped to swing his sword, and the actions of swinging and stepping forward were indistinguishable.

Slash!

With each sword swing, bones were swept away in chunks. Unable to hold Najin’s steps for even a second, Faube’s spells were swept away. Seeing Najin charging toward her with wide eyes, Faube felt a chill.

What is this?

What on earth is this?

2.

Faube felt a chill.

Though she should have disturbed his senses and vision with the Masterpiece, he was charging as if unaffected. He was closing the distance at a terrifying speed, shattering the spells she cast for restraint head-on.

‘What…?’

The spells meant to buy time for casting 3-circle or higher spells couldn’t even buy a single second. By the time she blinked once, the distance had already been closed to right in front of her.

Crash!

Najin’s swung sword shattered Faube’s veil. As the veil shattered, the veil of rejection generated repulsive force, but the situation didn’t change.

“Kuk!”

With her collar grabbed, she was thrown away using the repulsive force that occurred with a time lag. Faube realized she was being driven further away from the main force and into a corner.

‘This madman…’

She cursed inwardly.

Originally, the veil of rejection is not a spell that can be used so liberally. Not only does maintaining protective spells consume circles, reducing combat ability, but it also consumes spell computation ability.

Therefore, for most mages, ‘protective spells’ are just insurance for emergencies.

Wearing multiple layers of protective spells is only possible for Archmages of 6 circles or higher, who have abundant computation ability and circles. Yet Faube can use the veil of rejection multiple times… thanks to the relics she wears.

‘Relics hidden by the seven-circle black mage Kefalon.’

Kefalon’s workshop hidden in this underground waterway is overflowing with such relics. Just the relics she obtained during a few days of exploration are this significant. Such relics are typically worn only by disciples of tower masters.

This many relics in just a few days. That’s why Faube didn’t want to give up on this workshop.

Deeper inside, there must be even more amazing relics hidden in abundance. That’s why she chose to intercept her pursuers. She thought if she could buy time, she could raise her level here.

Buy time, raise her level, and leave this city.

That was Faube’s original plan. But that plan was now being completely shaken. By the crazy swordsman charging at her.

‘I shouldn’t be losing. Why on earth?’

Faube broke into a cold sweat.

Her danger level was known to the public as four-circle, so it was obvious that at best, a Sword Seeker-level warrior would come.

And she was confident she wouldn’t lose to a Sword Seeker-level warrior.

With a Masterpiece, numerous relics, and a group of black mages and corpses following her. With such forces and variables, she thought she could handle a Sword Seeker sufficiently. But what’s happening now?

Crash!

Once again, the veil of rejection is stripped away.

“Kugh!”

Once again, she’s thrown away.

When she came to her senses, most of the relics she had been wearing were shattered. There were plenty of relics that had been shattered, bearing the cost of the veil of rejection.

The remaining count is just four.

And even that number is rapidly decreasing.

Faube gritted her teeth and chanted a spell. Restraints are useless. Rather, assuming the veil will break, she’ll land a solid hit. Faube’s circle turned blood-red.

3-circle magic, Blood Ray.

There’s still blood left extracted from the corpses.

The swirling blood flashed and was fired toward Najin. The fired blood ray dyed the underground waterway red. Befitting a spell with outstanding power among 3-circle spells, its destructive power is incomparable to spells meant for restraint.

Sizzle!

It melts everything in its path.

The surface of the underground waterway touched by the blood ray boiled, steam rose, and the walls of the waterway touched by the ray melted. A spell that can inflict fatal wounds just by grazing.

Kaufman had dispelled it with a dagger engraved with magic, but Najin has no means to dispel it. That’s what Faube thought, but…

What she overlooked was Najin’s physical ability, reaction speed, and his dynamic vision. The moment Faube’s staff glowed blood-red, Najin was already moving. After all, the blood ray is shot from the tip of the staff.

Predicting the firing path.

Moving the body one step ahead.

The moment the light flashed, Najin kicked off the ground in a lowered posture. The ray and its hot air passed over Najin’s head. But Faube isn’t just taking it either. She moved her staff to adjust the ray’s trajectory.

However, it’s meaningless.

Najin’s eyes are fixed on the tip of Faube’s staff. It wasn’t difficult to predict the trajectory of the blood ray from the movement of the staff. Kicking off the ground and running along the wall, Najin once again closed the distance.

And then, crash!

Another veil of rejection is stripped away.

Only three veils remain now. Faube’s eyes began to waver. She sensed it. At this rate, she would be defeated.

‘He’s insane.’

Clearly, the variables should be on her side, but instead, he’s creating variables.

She’s already far from the main force, and they can’t come to help her. She’s also too far from the corpses she uses as material for magic, so she can’t shoot another blood ray. The advantages she had are disappearing one by one.

It’s coming. Death.

The crazy swordsman is coming. To behead her.

As she was continuously pushed back, what she discovered was a passage leading to Kefalon’s hidden workshop. Using this passage now would leave traces and eventually expose the facility, but… there was no time to consider such things now.

As she fled, she struck the wall with her staff.

Black mana enveloped the wall, and a passage leading underground revealed itself with a thud. Faube jumped into the passage. Najin threw himself toward the door that was about to close as soon as she passed through.

And then, boom.

The door leading to the workshop closed firmly.

3.

A dark, damp, unpleasant place.

As soon as he entered the workshop, Najin felt his senses prickle. The energy permeating this space was ominous.

“Black mages’ workshops are all like this.”

“This seems to be the workshop hidden by that Kefalon or whatever his name is.”

While half-listening to Merlin’s words, Najin pursued Faube. Though it was dark without any lights, Najin could clearly see Faube fleeing.

Tap.

Najin, who kicked off the ground, swung his sword toward Faube’s back as she fled. Having become somewhat accustomed to the repulsive force created by the veil of rejection, Najin kicked Faube’s back instead of throwing her.

“Kugh!”

Screaming, Faube rolled on the ground. There was a sound of something hitting and breaking. Following that, there was a crackling sound of a relic shattering.

“Two left.”

Merlin, who had been counting the relics, said.

Najin approached Faube with his sword in hand. The tide of battle had already turned, and the Masterpiece’s duration had ended, returning his senses to normal. Najin judged it was time to end this tedious chase.

“Kheuk, kheuk…”

And at that moment, laughter echoed.

Najin narrowed his eyes. Faube, slowly rising, was laughing. Had she lost her mind? No, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“You shouldn’t have followed me in here.”

It’s not bravado either.

Faube laughed and struck her staff down. At that moment, rings began to rise behind her. One, two, three… and four.

Faube revealed all four of her circles (四環).

With the light emitted by the rings, the surroundings brightened.

And the scene revealed was horrific. Traces of biological experiments. Materials suitable for use as mediums for black magic were strewn nearby.

“Haven’t you heard that if you step into a mage’s workshop, you won’t die peacefully?”

A mage’s workshop. Their domain, a place prepared with numerous formulas. Moreover, this is a workshop created by ‘Kefalon’, who was a seven-circle black mage.

“It’s all over, crazy swordsman.”

Faube grinned and swung her staff.

Along with the mana spreading from her, the mediums strewn in the workshop began to flash. The four rings rotated roughly and immediately began to weave a spell.

Sparks flew from the rotating circles, assisted by mediums and relics. It’s coming. A massive spell with the power of 4 circles or more.

But in front of the rotating circles, Najin remained expressionless. Who wouldn’t know that entering a workshop would be disadvantageous? Despite that disadvantage, he had pursued Faube immediately because he believed he could win.

Screech!

The noise of mana surging echoed.

But Najin didn’t pay attention to that noise. What Najin listened to was the voice resonating from within him.

“It’s a bit much to draw Excalibur.”

“This level of facility can’t hide Excalibur’s light. It would take at least the power of a high-ranking demon to momentarily hide the light.”

But, Merlin laughed.

“It’s enough to hide your sword energy.”

Najin exhaled briefly.

With closed eyes, Najin raised his sword high. Grasping fragments of mental imagery and traversing that imagery, Najin realized that his mental imagery was somewhat peculiar.

The scenery forming the center of the mental imagery.

The intense memory manifested as sword energy.

Typically, there should be only one, but in Najin’s mental imagery, there were two. One is a pure white star hanging low, and the other is a platinum star hanging high.

‘What I’ve always called upon is.’

The pure white star. The pure white sword energy.

The other one shouldn’t be revealed in front of others, and the pure white star was more suitable when acting as a knight.

‘But.’

What he’s doing now.

It’s slashing a black mage, cutting down something wicked and evil. Najin knows that the pure white sword energy isn’t the most suitable for such a task.

What he’s recalling now is the highest star.

The platinum sword energy that he hasn’t had a chance to summon until now.

Merlin, who was inside Najin, saw it. The star high in the sky shone fiercely and then was sucked into somewhere. Watching this, Merlin closed her eyes. Where the star was sucked into was the sword in Najin’s hand.

The form of the sword energy changes.

The nature of the sword energy changes.

The sword energy burning platinum is like a star. In a place where stars can’t be seen, the sword energy drawn by a boy who longed for stars is beautiful and sorrowful.

“…!”

The sorrowful starlight filling the black mage’s workshop.

The moment she faced the platinum sword energy, Faube’s eyes widened. Even someone ignorant about swords would know what the platinum sword energy signifies.

Sword energy granted to only one person in history.

The sword energy wielded by King Arthur is right there.

What this means is simple and clear. In front of the platinum sword energy, Faube realizes.

That the hunter and the hunted have been reversed.

That from the beginning, she was merely prey.