Chapter 165: The Two Men Will Go All the Way Through (8)

In his previous life, he always found those who could travel abroad whenever they liked enviable. To be more exact, he envied their ‘leisure’ that allowed them to travel to countries with different languages and cultures.

For him, who had difficulty making ends meet and didn’t even dare to dream of traveling domestically, the overseas was like a different world. Back in his early 20s, he envied and resented such people for no reason. That was how immature his young self had been.

However, after he got a little older, he learned through domestic travel—not overseas—that…

I see. Traveling isn’t just about going out to have fun, but also a form of study that broadens your horizons and thoughts.

And so, Lee Han set a goal for himself. Once he was discharged from the military, he’d take a plane and travel abroad. He wished to gain those life lessons and experience the culture and environment of a new country.

Back then, he wondered if he had the spirit of adventure and insatiable curiosity.

That was the story of the moment when he wrote his life’s bucket list.

However…

“…If I knew it’d turn out like that, I’d just leave the military early and travel across Europe. Why the fuck did I save so much money if I ended up dying without spending any of them…”

“…”

“You think so too, right?”

“U-Um, I don’t understand what you are talking about, Sir Knight…”

“Why?”

“?”

“Why don’t you understand?”

“…”

“I said, why don’t you understand, you bandit bastards?!”

Bang-!

“Ahhh!”

“P-Please, forgive us!”

“M-Mother…”

After that, Lee Han beat up the bandits into pulp.

He had caught these fuckers red-handed when they were looting a village he was passing by, so he crippled their arms, shoulders, legs, and so on, one by one.

Now, let alone about stealing, these bandits would have to put all their effort into living their lives normally first.

“I’ve been treating you so kindly, yet this is what I get from you fucks?! How could you not understand what I’m talking about?!”

“…No one could, let’s get real. You had just been sitting there blankly and suddenly wanted people to pity you.”

“So what? That’s not my fault.”

“…Crazy guy.”

“Ha! The pot calling the kettle black!”

One thing to note was that Lee Han only crippled those guys; he didn’t even cut their limbs.

The other guy on the other hand…

“You literally turned them into minced meat.”

“…”

“If I’m crazy, then you’re an unhinged motherfucker.”

“…That’s a discriminating comment.”

“Oho?”

It’d be one thing if it was someone else, but it was this guy who made such a comment, so Lee Han was quite surprised. Perhaps his communicative skills were improving because they kept arguing with each other.

At that moment…

“Thank you so much, Sir Knights. I don’t know how to repay you for this…”

The village chief of the farming village approached them to express his gratitude. He was a relatively young village chief who looked to be in his early 40s, but from his gait, it was clear that he was a retired mercenary.

His muscles were a bit saggy, but if he put his mind to it, he could probably take on the bandits on his own.

“No need to thank us. Even if we weren’t here, you could’ve cleaned them up on your own.”

“Regardless, the villagers would’ve suffered a lot more. I would’ve been seriously injured as well.”

The village chief had seen the knights wiping out over a hundred bandits in an instant, that was why he knew. They were strong. Even back when he still worked as a mercenary in his youth, the village chief had never seen knights of their caliber.

Their spirit was no less terrifying than that of a general he had once seen on the battlefield.

The village chief was grateful for their help, but he couldn’t help but wonder why such people had come all the way to the foot of this deep mountain.

“Then you take care of the rest. I don’t care if you want to work them to their deaths or kill them.”

“Thank you, but you should rest here before departing. We can’t just send you off like this…”

“Sorry, but we’re in a hurry.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

The two knights shook their heads before immediately running after giving out those light parting words. They were as quick as horses, to the point that they left a gust of wind in their wake.

“…Hoho, I feel like I’m possessed by a fairy.”

They clearly ran into the mountain, but their backs were already out of sight in an instant. It would be difficult for even wild animals to climb as fast as them.

However…

“Why are they climbing the mountain?”

The village chief tilted his head.

Red Mountain. It was the largest mountain range that divided the South and the Central, but it was also known as the [Mountains of Despair]. Questions filled the village chief’s head as he watched the knights climbing the mountain covered only with ridges.

It was an understandable reaction. After all, up ahead was…

“There are only cliffs there… Are they trying to go to the Central Continent or what…?”

Nah, there’s no way…

“Hahaha, of course not. No one’s crazy enough to go to the Central Continent through the Red Mountains! Hahahaha!”

Even when he thought about it once again, the ridiculousness of the idea didn’t dissipate.

After all, the Red Mountains was a place that even suicidal people would avoid.

Crossing the Red Mountains to get to the Central Continent…

“What a dumb idea.”

“Is it really possible to get to the Central Continent through this mountain range?”

“The terrain is rugged, has a bunch of cliffs, poisonous water, monsters, and the path was like a natural maze that feels like it was created by a Mystic, but you could get to the Central in four days if you go through it.”

“…Hmm, what you just said is a bit concerning, but if it’s a shortcut, then I’ll take it.”

A bunch of cliffs, poisonous water, and monsters?

Doable.

The path was like a natural maze that was created by a [Mystic]?

That’s just similar to Vulcan, isn’t it?

All that mattered to him was…

“A shortcut is a shortcut.”

That.

-Where did you say you want to go to?

That was what Isis said to him after he handed the magic freak to her and told her that he’d set out right away.

He still remembered her bewildered face as she stared at him.

-The empire? Do you even know how far the Central Continent is?

-To be exact, I’m going to the Magic Tower.

-Potato, Pohtato, same thing! The distance between Pendragon and the empire is so great that it’d take someone at least a month of non-stop walking!

-Don’t worry, I’ll run, I’ll get there faster.

-…Who taught you how to bark with your mouth, you rascal?

-…Now, that’s just too much, Elder Sister.

Her displeasure was evident, but then again, who’d react positively after hearing someone telling them they’d go to the empire by foot?

But, he had no choice, he had to do this.

-I can’t help it. There’s a magic freak there that I have to kill—I mean, beat.

-…Kill, beat, that’s the same thing, isn’t it?

-Forget it, I’ll go now. Can I trust you to take care of the sultan, Elder Sister?

-Who do you think you’re talking to?

-…Forget it, I’ll just leave.

-Haa…

Unable to bring herself to say goodbye, she wiped her face for a moment and…

-Go back quickly.

-Of course. I only have 8 days of vacation, I gotta return by then.

-You’re unnecessarily diligent when it comes to the strangest things…

After listening to her cheers and encouragement(?), Lee Han left the capital. Along the way, he met up with the guide who was waiting for him.

-…Why are you here?

-His Excellency’s order.

-Haa… He appointed the wrong guy.

-…You ungrateful thug!

Whether it was because of Galahad’s intention to help him with all their strength, or because this guy knew that the Magic Tower was after Galahad’s magic sword and volunteered, the spear joined him.

Although they were like sworn enemies, Lee Han was still a knight that could acknowledge someone else’s skills.

-Keep up with me. If you can’t I’ll leave you behind.

-…Such an unfriendly guide.

They bickered a lot along the way, but their legs didn’t stop moving.

Lee Han had taken off all his cumbersome armor, and only carried a sword and an axe with him, meanwhile, the Spear Guy only carried a spear with him. Both ran at full speed without saying a word.

The guy didn’t slow down a bit, as if he really was going to leave him behind if he couldn’t keep up, staying true to his words.

Whether it was running through the fields and mountains or climbing the cliffs, the guy kept on running as if he was on plains. It seemed like he was trying to show his skills off, but Lee Han could keep up with him no problem.

They went on, running while breaking the law of physics.

-You just need to run before you fall.

-Just use your toes to push yourself upwards.

-??

-?

Though they had different approaches, the important thing here was that they both were able to run along the cliffs skillfully.

After running at full speed for half a day, going up and down the mountains and cliffs, at some point they entered the Red Mountains.

Normally, to get to the Central Continent where the empire was located, one had to walk around in circles, and take a boat to cross a wide river. The Red Mountains were the only straight route to the Central Continent.

But no one in their right minds would even think of crossing the Red Mountains to get there. Even more so after a certain incident 300 years ago, when 100,000 troops of the empire died when crossing the Red Mountains.

Indeed. What the two knights were doing was going through the mountain range that had taken the lives of 100,000 troops. They even went through paths that weren’t drawn on the map.

But…

It doesn’t matter because it’s a shortcut!

In their eyes, that didn’t matter. Because they’d get to their destination faster this way.

So, they ran. And ran.

“…”

“…”

After climbing the Red Mountains, their conversations completely stopped. No, it would be more accurate to say that they had no choice but to stop talking.

[Krr!]

[Kaaa!!]

[Kieee!!]

Because the Red Mountains were home to countless monsters. Goblins and Gnolls were the most common, and they also had to fight against plant-type monsters called Wood Demon.

Since the mountains were their natural habitat, these plant-shaped monsters were all over the Red Mountains.

Crack-!

Boom-!

However, they continued to advance, cutting, tearing, and destroying any monsters on their paths. They slaughtered all of them without stopping. Besides, the monsters were the least of their worries when it came to the Red Mountains.

Because they could just kill them.

If anything, the real problem was…

Rumble-!

“Another earthquake.”

“The wind is blowing… Another rockfall is going to happen soon.”

This phenomenon, the so-called the Wrath, or the Mischief of the Mountain.

Like Vulcan, the Red Mountains was a Mystic Mountain Range. Although, it wasn’t quite as sacred as Vulcan since one could say that it was relatively young, but…

It was because it was young that…

Rumble-!

It was quite moody and completely unreadable.

Earthquakes, rockslides, and gusts of wind swept everything away.

Whoosh-!

Rain would pour down so hard that they couldn’t see what was ahead. Thick fog would spread, making them unable to even see the road properly.

Whoosh-!

The sticky, thick fog eventually obstructed their vision, and finally…

Bang-!

Hail poured down; hail which was bigger than an average adult’s fist fell from the sky.

But…

Bang-!

“Are we on the right path?”

“If you don’t believe me, just leave.”

“I’m just asking, why are you so aggressive?”

“You’re disturbing my concentration.”

“So sensitive.”

“!!?”

“Look ahead.”

The mountain’s interference didn’t stop them from running. They ran without resting for two nights already, but they kept on running, as if they didn’t know how to get tired.

Even when they were hungry, they ate their dried beef jerky and fruit, drank their water, all while running.

They didn’t stop.

Even when facing cliffs or rivers in their path, they’d just jump or swim over them.

The natural obstacles couldn’t affect their paces. Earthquakes were nothing but something for them to overcome. Gusts were something to endure. Rockfalls were just an obstacle course.

Fog and waterfall-like rain were a bit of a hindrance, but even that couldn’t stop them.

…Eventually, perhaps because the mountain found them annoying…

Whoosh-!

At some point, the temperature of the mountain suddenly rose.

A crazy heat swept over them, and then…

Boom-!

“…I guess this mountain really doesn’t like us.”

“It just hates humans in general.”

“Same thing.”

A huge forest fire that seemed to be trying to burn them to death occurred.

The great fire just started without any particular cause, and going through this fire was pretty much tantamount to committing suicide.

However…

“We are going through.”

“…”

It wasn’t even an obstacle to them.

Bang-!

Lee Han pulled out a tree with both of his hands. It was a huge tree that weighed around 5,000 kg, but Lee Han now had the ‘strength’ to easily pull out a tree of this size.

In the past, he could only perform this technique by relying on a certain old magic freak, but he had grown a lot since then. He didn’t need that old freak anymore.

-Sun Piercing.

Boom-!

A single tree flew into the sky like a howitzer, accompanied with a sound that sounded a lot like a cannon.

This all happened with his own [strength].

And…

“…This works?”

“You ignorant thug, if you could do this, then do it from the beginning.”

“Hey, I didn’t know it’d actually work!”

Lee Han retorted, as if making excuses.

It was understandable.

Wow, so I can just fly through the sky on a tree like this…

After all, he was just imitating something that once saw in an old cartoon. He never expected that it was actually possible to do it in real life.

With a little strength, tricks, and timing, he manifested that scene. And the moment when that dream came true…

They were floating through the sky as if they were flying an airplane…

Crackle-!

And crashed into the cliff.

“…Hmm, our time in the sky is too short.”

“…”

The flight lasted for a minute.

But still…

Isn’t it longer than the Wright brothers’ first flight?¹

Even as they were swept away by the river below the cliff, that fact alone was a source of pride.

After another two and a half days passed…

“It took half a day longer than planned.”

“Oh, so my calculation was right.”

“…Were you not sure that we could really arrive on time?”

“…”

“Hey!”

After four and a half days, they succeeded in crossing to the Central Continent.