The Beginning of Independence

“You insolent bastard!”

Zaid let out a resounding shout.

Hakan, holding his side, twirled around with a cheerful face.

“If you’ve been gorging yourselves all this time, isn’t it about time to stop?”

Hakan bluntly threw a straightforward verbal punch.

There was no longer any trace of courtesy toward the provincial official.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand! Our Rashka creed will certainly continue. Protecting the weak, safeguarding the people, checking the powerful, punishing the wicked, eradicating evil are the core precepts of our order…”

Hakan added, opening his eyes wide as if he had forgotten.

“Shouldn’t we help those who are powerless and weak to live in harmony with all creation? We receive small tokens of gratitude like food, necessities, and occasional local specialties. A life where we blend with each other like flowing sand. That was also part of Desert God Karayan’s teachings.”

“Y-you…!”

Zaid trembled, clenching his fists with bloodshot eyes.

The core inferiority complex within him ignited.

‘If I hadn’t been demoted to the provinces…! I wouldn’t have been humiliated by these dirt-eating barbarians!’

Hakan, with his hands behind his back, began to stroll and added:

“…By the way, this was approved by the White Sovereign. If he had expressed disapproval, I would have chosen to continue living as before. …Oh, White Sovereign. Great White Sovereign.”

Hakan spread his arms again, looking at the ground.

He showed signs of falling face-down on the dirt again.

This time he restrained himself and didn’t do so.

Zaid was suddenly gripped by a different question.

‘Who the hell is this White Sovereign?’

Just like Abdul who visited in the morning.

He had no idea who that was referring to.

Zaid had walked the path of a thorough civil official.

Naturally, he had no knowledge about monsters.

“So get out! I’m clearly asking nicely!”

Hakan pointed again at the open village entrance, urging them to leave.

Zaid was in a complicated situation.

‘To think I’d fall right into the middle of a rebellion!’

The Rashka uprising had begun.

They were attempting their own independence.

They had clearly raised the flag of rebellion against the existing system.

His own fate was also hanging by a thread.

Hakan had clearly given him an opportunity to escape.

But if he returned like this, would that really be the end of it?

It was Zaid himself who inspected the site today.

He would bear the heavy responsibility of not detecting abnormal signs or of ignoring them.

In the worst case, his severed head would be displayed at the entrance of the Khanate fortress.

Without a doubt, this was the greatest crisis of his life.

He hadn’t been coveting some absurd magic lamp…

Now, he didn’t need such things; he only wanted to escape the current situation.

‘Damn it!’

At this point, it was all or nothing.

He had to do something in this situation.

“Gudba!”

Zaid turned to look at the soldiers he had brought and shouted.

“Ghrut! Financial Officer.”

Thump, thump.

Artificially loud footsteps echoed.

An exceptionally large figure emerged from among the Tasham Khanate soldiers.

He wore a turban helmet and was heavily armored in chain mail from his face, except for his eyes, to his entire body.

His upper body was additionally equipped with gleaming scale armor, and he wore gauntlets and greaves with circular iron plates reinforcing the joint areas—a heavy warrior.

“Oh! A man bigger than me!”

Hakan burst out in admiration as if pleased.

He was a giant towering a head taller than Hakan, who stood at 202cm.

He was a bodyguard of mercenary origin personally employed by Zaid.

“Gudba! Gudba! Gudba!”

“Tearing Gudba! Tearing Gudba!”

“Man-eating Gudba! Ghost of Chandra! Battlefield Fiend!”

The Tasham Khanate soldiers began to cheer enthusiastically.

Gudba’s eyes above his chain mask gleamed.

“Ghrut! White Sovereign! Come out, yes! Cut, throw away!”

Gudba spoke in an awkwardly mixed Arubian common language and Eastern Median regional dialect.

The giant mercenary grabbed the sword hilt protruding diagonally from his back.

Sring-

A large sword was drawn with an eerie metallic sound.

A distinctive flame pattern was crafted along the blade.

It was at least a giant greatsword comparable to a human body.

Hwaryuk-

A blade wider than those of Eastern Median culture, with a knuckle bow that protected the gripping hand.

A curved form unique to Western Ksharia culture, a great talwar, emitting blue energy.

Hwaryurururuk-

The magic power condensed on the blade finally became roaring flames.

It was a magic talwar with a 5th-grade magic conductivity.

Gudba, brandishing his dual fire-burning swords, burst into laughter.

“Ghrut! Weak, Eastern guys! Rashka! All, kill them!”

Gudba was a warrior from the west.

A veteran with a formidable and countless reputation piled up like mountains.

“Nadia, handle him.”

“Yes, Father.”

Hakan, with arms folded in his sleeves, smiled and directed.

Nadia stepped forward at her father’s command.

Seeing this, Gudba’s eyes widened.

“Ghrut! Ghrut! Small, pretty things! Cutting kill, feeling! Especially, best!”

Hwaryuk!

Gudba released more magic power from his entire body with greater momentum.

Nadia crossed her hands at her sides.

Sring-

Nadia drew a scimitar in her right hand and a jambiya in her left, each from their sheaths.

Deep blue magical haze rippled from her body as well.

Magic power emanated from the curved sword in her right hand and the dagger in her left.

Gudba raised his great talwar with both hands with all his might.

“Ghrut! Pretty female! In front of father! Cut kill!”

Thump!

With that as the starting point, Nadia’s form accelerated rapidly as she stepped into a combat stance.

Nadia, lowering her upper body tightly while crossing her dual swords, rushed toward Gudba.

Kaang-!

A loud ripping sound echoed through the air.

Pakakakakakang──────!

Their swords collided at ultra-high speed.

A violent collision occurred between mana users.

Blade winds rippled around, slightly cutting objects.

Zaid’s Khanate soldiers and Hakan’s assassins watched the fight.

Kang! Pakak! Tikiiing-!

Nadia blocked with her brilliant dual sword technique.

Gudba employed sword techniques focused on strength.

Their skills could be assessed as evenly matched.

All spectators were completely entranced.

“Guhahah! Strong, pretty female! Miserable, kill!”

Laughing, Gudba twisted his body greatly and swung his great talwar with both hands.

Huuuuung-!

At the moment when a sword pressure that could uproot even substantial trees rushed forth.

Nadia bent her body and fell to her knees.

She slid between Gudba’s legs.

Seuuik-!

“Ut?”

At the moment when Gudba had effectively missed spectacularly.

Nadia’s bent gaze saw Gudba’s groin.

It was a vulnerable area unlike his heavily armored body.

Nadia drove her left hand’s jambiya into Gudba’s vital point.

Pyut!

A stream of blood immediately spurted.

A sudden vital point attack was executed.

“Guheu.”

Gudba’s eyes above his chain mask instantly became bloodshot.

Nadia’s left hand moved at high speed, creating afterimages.

Puk! Pushushushushuk-!

She stabbed his groin with her dagger over dozens of times.

The area was becoming completely tattered like a rag.

It was enough to make all men instinctively wince.

“Kuhok.”

Clear foam bubbled up from Gudba’s mouth.

The giant with monstrous strength involuntarily bent his knees at the merciless vital point attack.

Passuk-

Nadia pushed off the ground and retreated backward.

She saw Gudba kneeling in front of her, his height lowered.

Nadia twisted her waist and rotated her body elegantly.

Her master’s scimitar also whirled brilliantly in a full circle.

Skeung-!

Gudba’s exposed head was completely severed and flew away with the magic-imbued sword strike.

“……”

Gudba’s form, having lost its head, fell into silence.

Finally, he spread his arms and fell face down in a spread-eagle position.

Thump.

Red blood gushed from the cut surface of Gudba’s severed neck as he perished.

This was the end of the mercenary from the opposite side of the Median cultural sphere.

Nadia with her cold gaze moved her lips.

“…Don’t you dare insult the White Sovereign, the likes of you.”

“U-uwaaaak-! Impossible!”

“Gudba! Is dead!”

The Tasham Khanate soldiers were instantly engulfed in confusion.

Hakan, with folded arms, congratulated with a satisfied smile.

“Well done, daughter.”

“It was merely a mission.”

Nadia bent her knee and collected the spoils.

She claimed the 5th-grade magic talwar by right of victory.

She also undid the leather belt scabbard hanging on Gudba’s back.

Nadia slung it on her own back like a guitar.

Next, Nadia flipped over the fallen Gudba.

She removed the upper body armor from Gudba, who was now lying face up, and even loosened his clothes to expose his skin.

Nadia drove her jambiya into Gudba’s solar plexus.

Pyushut! Jjeok-

Nadia tore open Gudba’s chest and extracted his heart.

As she further cut out the heart, a shining blue crystal was revealed.

Nadia marveled inwardly as she looked at it.

‘B-grade mana stone…’

In the heart of a being containing mana, a mana heart is formed as a magical organ and tissue.

As the grade increases, it follows the seven colors of the rainbow.

Nadia placed the mana stone at her solar plexus.

Then she gently closed her eyes.

Pachang-!

The mana stone was crushed in Nadia’s grip.

Srururururuk…

A brilliant mana stream immediately generated.

Blue magical currents rose like haze streams, and immediately headed toward Nadia’s solar plexus that was in close contact.

Thump.

Her heart faintly pulsed.

The energy was drawn into Nadia’s heart.

This was a means of magical recovery and the enhancement method for Elzeria adventurers and Earth hunters.

A powerful warrior who was equal to Nadia but inferior in combat sense.

Gudba’s B-grade magic power became completely Nadia’s nutrient.

“Mo-monster…!”

“Wrong… the Rashka are all monsters…! We can never win…!”

“U-aak! S-spare me!”

With Gudba’s defeat, the Khanate soldiers completely lost their will to fight.

Zaid’s mouth fell open in shock.

‘This is insane! Impossible!’

Hakan unfolded his arms and raised both hands.

“Haha! That’s why I told you! That you’d be fine if you just left. But… now you’ve crossed the line.”

Creak, creak-

Something was moving in the village that had shown no signs of residents until now.

Assassins appeared, walking on rooftops.

Each heading toward the confused Khanate soldiers in different directions.

“Accept your fate.”

With Hakan’s gesture, the assassins on the roofs all jumped down simultaneously.

Assassination blades extended from below their wrists gleamed chillingly.

Puk! Pushushushushuk─────!

“Kkeok!?”

“Khuheok-!”

“Uaak!”

The Khanate soldiers beneath the roofs were instantly pounced upon.

A group aerial assassination by the assassins was carried out.

The forces were annihilated in an instant.

“Hu, ieek-!”

Terrified, Zaid urgently spurred his horse.

Clop! Clop!

Zaid, having lost all his private soldiers, began to dash toward the open village entrance.

Somehow Hakan was already blocking the entrance.

“You fool! Where do you think you’re going!”

“M-move!”

At Hakan’s shout, Zaid hunched tightly on the back of his horse.

He intended to crash into Hakan with his horse and get past him.

“Hmph.”

Hakan simply applied force to his outstretched arm.

The distance between him and Zaid closed instantly.

The horse immediately body-slammed Hakan.

Thung!

“Nee-heeng-!”

Surprisingly, the horse whinnied and raised its front legs.

The horse stopped as its front neck was caught by Hakan’s left hand.

It was superhuman strength that stopped a cavalry charge with his hand.

“Ha!”

Hakan instantly launched his body toward the rider’s position where Zaid was.

Tup!

“Huak!”

Zaid, whose throat was caught in Hakan’s grip, floated up.

Hakan, having snatched Zaid, landed lightly on the ground like the wind.

“…Treatment of witnesses varies by tribe. But right now, it’s a situation where we need to eliminate everyone. But there’s a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.”

Hakan lifted Zaid up with one hand.

“Kuk!”

Zaid winced with a grimace.

Hakan’s face, which had always been smiling, contorted.

A demonic expression befitting his fierce appearance was displayed.

“You fool, how dare you touch a daughter’s father? Even though we forbid wielding power against ordinary weak people, that crossed the line.”

Hakan’s sermon suddenly began.

Kuguguguguk…

“Ku, heok…!”

Tremendous grip strength assaulted Zaid’s neck.

It was overwhelming strength that could crush even wood.

“There’s no need to always try to live kindly. Just don’t extort and harass powerless people without cause. But you’ve lived that kind of life until now. This is why we Rashka don’t get entangled with the secular world because of such filthy creatures.”

Hakan’s eyes burned hotly.

“I cannot forgive you, not as an assassin’s resentment, but as a father.”

“Ku, eok…! S-save…!”

Zaid pleaded with bloodshot, bulging eyes.

Foam bubbled from his open mouth.

“It’s already too late.”

Hakan simply applied force to his grip.

Chwaaaak-!

A blood explosion occurred in Zaid’s neck.

His head, severed with its throat cut, tumbled on the ground.

“Eich, repulsive fellow.”

Hakan cursed and kicked Zaid’s head at his feet.

Thuk, thuduk-

The decapitated head flew far away, having become a soccer ball.

This was the moment when the inspection team from Tasham was annihilated.

“It’s over now.”

A male assassin jumped down from the roof of a nearby house.

A landing as light as a feather, making no sound at all.

It was the First Great Warrior Bajid.

“You’ve killed the official dispatched from the province and his private soldiers. With no more witnesses, this is also an assassination. It’s been a while since we’ve had a large number of corpses in the village, but how should we handle them?”

Bajid asked, looking down at Zaid’s corpse.

“Always the same. Completely strip them naked down to their underwear. Thoroughly search and take everything that can be money or useful. If anything seems suspicious, even check their mouths and anuses, and cut open their bellies to examine their stomachs.”

Hakan, with folded arms, gave instructions very familiarly.

Bajid spoke with a concerned tone.

“…However, it’s worrying since it will soon be night. If we don’t fill their mouths with salt and orient their heads toward the east where Sun God Zanitra rises, they will resurrect as undead when the sun sets and the moon rises.”

The Shahar Great Desert is under the curse of the Immortal Giant King.

Corpses that do not undergo the specific formal procedures to prevent resurrection will all rise at the point when night descends.

If the regret of the soul remains and has not yet left the body, not only the corpse but even the vengeful spirit will be destined to be enslaved.

“Bajid’s words have merit. In fact, this is a very important matter now. We don’t want to cause an undead apocalypse in the middle of the village.”

Another male assassin approached around them.

It was the Third Great Warrior Kasim, following the Second Great Warrior Nadia.

The three were the highest-ranking warriors after the village chief and elders.

“Must we formally purify and bury them? I suppose the Chinese army we dealt with yesterday would have been handled by passing beasts, but unfortunately, being in the middle of our village is problematic…”

“Oh, that is a problem…”

Hakan immediately folded his arms and stroked his chin, appearing to be in deep thought.

“But is there any need to do that for garbage? And there’s a better way to dispose of them, you know?”

“What do you mean, Chief?”

Kasim didn’t understand Hakan’s intention and asked again.

Hakan simply lowered his head and looked down at the ground he stood on.

“Do we need to worry about such things anymore? We now have excellent corpse disposers.”

“Ah…! I see. Indeed.”

“Of course…!”

Bajid and Kasim nodded simultaneously as if they understood.

It referred to the tribe that had settled in the village as of yesterday.

“In fact, I think they’re the most perfect experts in that field.”

“That’s certainly true. Even more than us assassins.”

“Does this mean we’ll have less troublesome work in the future?”

Hakan smiled with utmost satisfaction.

Bajid and Kasim also raised the corners of their mouths and laughed with relief.

Right below the ground they stood on was the White Sovereign.

The White Sovereign was also laughing at the cheerful conversations of his subordinates.

“Well… it feels like things will become more convenient in many ways. Incomparably so compared to before. However… we’ll still need a space invisible to outside eyes. Like a dirt floor inside a large warehouse. It would be quite troublesome if someone were to witness the scene.”

After saying this, Hakan turned his gaze to look outside the village.

It was toward the hill beyond the village where the sunset was descending.

“Huk!”

Abdul, whose gaze met his, lowered his eyes in great alarm.

From the beginning of the incident, Abdul had been watching from the hill.

Everything from Zaid’s group entering the village, to them picking a fight and being annihilated by the assassins.

‘Did our eyes really meet?’

Abdul desperately hoped that what just happened was an optical illusion.

He clearly felt that his eyes had met Hakan’s.

Assassins have such sharp instincts after all.

“Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.”

The obese fat merchant frantically bit his nails.

Cold sweat poured like rain all over his body.

He could hardly believe what he had just seen.

‘Lord Zaid has been killed!’

The shock was so intense that it made his head dizzy.

Killing an official dispatched on duty is clearly a serious crime.

Such villages would be exterminated down to the third generation of relatives.

The Rashka… could they possibly be plotting rebellion?

‘Wh-what… should I do now?’

At the moment Abdul pondered while moving his steps down the hill.

His foot slipped right out.

“Hu, eok!”

Kwasssss-

His round body rolled down the hill like a ball.

He was so flustered that he hadn’t properly looked at the ground.

“Huk! Hieek! Uh-uheok-!”

Abdul tumbled down to the bottom of the hill and sprawled out.

Thump!

Abdul was completely spread-eagled in an unsightly manner.

Intense pain assaulted him as his entire body ached.

He could see the sunset-tinged sky.

“Uuuk!”

Abdul hastily rose his dirt-covered body.

The pig-like fat merchant ran like a dog.

This was no time to be leisurely.

‘Next measure! Next measure! Huak!’

He had touched a subject that should never have been touched.

He regretted his foolish choice.

But since he had already done it, there was no choice.

He needed a next plan to survive.