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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 22
The ground burst open, and dozens of tentacles shot out, racing toward the knights.
Moving in tight formation, Louise and the knights worked together seamlessly, maintaining minimal distance between each other.
Their coordination helped cover blind spots and offered decent defense.
"These pests sure know how to struggle."
Boom!
The black mage slammed his staff onto the ground again.
A black film formed over the surface of the tentacles, which now clung to the knights’ swords instead of being cut.
“Urgh! What is this?!”
“Get off!”
“Damn it! Don’t slash them! Deflect and dodge as much as you can!”
The knights, thrown off by the enemy’s unfamiliar tactics, tried to defend each other as best as they could—but it wasn’t enough.
“W-whoa!”
One knight lost his sword to a tentacle, and just like that, their formation fell apart.
“Graaah!”
“Grey!”
“Damn it! Protect the prince!”
Louise gritted his teeth.
If Ren had said this enemy was on the level of an elite knight, he should’ve planned more strategically.
Having sparred with his knights daily, Louise could tell—they’d tried not to underestimate the opponent, but deep down, they hadn’t seen him as a true elite.
‘Where on earth did this guy come from…?’
Thanks to his innate sword talent, Louise adapted quicker than the others, slipping past tentacles more easily.
As he dodged and glanced behind him, she saw Ren's ash-gray eyes staring calmly at the black mage.
‘He’s tense… but not shaken…’
Was it because of his natural courage?
Or maybe...
— Louise, I secretly assigned a guardian to your expedition.
— Huh? Sister, that’s not necessary.
— No! It’s better than nothing. He’s pretty strong, too.
— Who is it?
— You know the gravekeeper in Decaine?
— The gravekeeper from the Arzen family?
— Yup! I saw him with a sword once. He looked decent. So—
— Sister, really, you don’t have to worry.
— Stop cutting me off. And you… you don’t believe me, do you?
— No, that’s not what I—
— Whatever. Just know I made arrangements. Try not to be too surprised.
Why was that conversation suddenly popping into his head?
He’d dismissed it as his sister’s childish meddling...
“Huh?”
Was it just his imagination, or was that Ren charging through the black tentacles with a sword?
Tap tap tap tap tap!
‘Am I seeing things…? No…’
Five quick strides and a swing of his sword.
Slice!
Thud.
The tentacle entangling a knight fell limply to the ground, severed.
Louise’s eyes widened as he realized he wasn’t hallucinating.
“Wha… Ren?”
The knight who’d fallen to the ground looked up at him in confusion.
‘He… cut it?’
Louise couldn’t believe his eyes.
No one had been able to cut through the tentacles shrouded in black magic until now, but Ren had sliced through it like a twig.
He weaved through the mass of tentacles, swinging his sword like a warrior of a wild desert tribe.
‘That’s not the Arzen sword style…’
His strikes were swift and fearless.
His swordplay was so sharp and clean, it almost brought relief just watching him.
Then Ren grabbed a tentacle with his left hand and bit into it with his teeth.
Crunch!
He spat it out roughly.
Ptuh!
“Was Ren always like that?”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“He definitely infused that bite with energy… is that even possible?”
Louise and the knights were left speechless by Ren’s combat display, their jaws slack until the battle was over.
* * *
The black mage is stronger than expected.
Seeing how easily he overwhelmed Louise and the knights confirmed it.
If I jump in now, I might just mess up their formation.
While I clenched my teeth and watched the fight, Zalatan muttered beside me.
— Tsk, these weaklings fight so damn clumsily.
“Help me.”
— Hmm… how?
“Like this.”
[Descent – Zalatan]
I immediately invoked Zalatan through Descent.
— Hooh...
With a breath of awe, Zalatan flowed into my body.
My lips twitched as he took a deep breath and then launched forward.
Slice!
A tentacle was cleanly severed.
Each of his swings sent waves of pain through my muscles like they might tear apart.
“So weak.”
— Go easy, will you…
“I can’t go easy.”
At first, his movements seemed a little awkward, but they quickly became fluid.
He twisted and dodged like a boneless creature through the tentacles.
Crunch!
And just like Ren, he grabbed a tentacle and bit into it without hesitation.
I couldn’t help but gape at his wild, over-the-top fighting style.
“What the…?”
As I dashed through the tentacles, the black mage’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he slammed his staff down again.
From the tip of the staff, a dark spirit rose and charged at me.
Fwoooosh—
Zalatan couldn’t dodge in time and was struck by the black energy, collapsing to the ground.
— What the…? Zalatan, are you okay—
— I’m fine.
Zalatan’s spirit answered nonchalantly.
Next to him, the dark spirit that had just attacked me was now held in his hand.
How the hell did he do that?
“Gurk…”
Zalatan, still in my body, buried his head in the ground and let out a groan.
He was obviously unharmed—just pretending.
“Ren!”
“Damn it! What did you do to him?!”
The knights’ worried voices came from behind, unaware it was all an act.
With his face buried, I couldn’t see the black mage, but from the sound of his footsteps getting closer and his smug chuckle, it was clear he’d fallen for it.
“Khuhuhu… It’s over. Now you’ll slowly be devoured by a demon and—”
Whoosh—Thunk!
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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“Guh-hurk…!”
Noticing the distance had closed enough, Zalatan suddenly kicked off the ground and lunged forward, plunging his sword into the dark mage’s chest.
The mage, eyes wide, slowly looked down.
With trembling hands, he gripped the blade that pierced his heart.
Blood dripped from his palm, sliced open on the sword, hitting the ground with soft splats.
His eyes shook violently, as if there was an earthquake, and he glared at me.
“How... how did you…?”
“Khahaha! That puny demon can’t—Gah!”
Zalatan suddenly groaned in pain.
As he dropped his head, the mage’s blood slithered up the sword like a snake, piercing into his side.
“Hehehe…”
The dark mage chuckled slyly at the sight.
Chaaak—!
Slice!
With a grimace, Zalatan roughly yanked out the sword and beheaded the mage.
— Kraaaah…
At the same time, in my mind, the demon bound to Zalatan let out a powerless wail.
— Pathetic.
Then Zalatan’s soul began devouring the pitch-black demon.
[Absorbing spiritual power.]
[Spiritual Power +1.3]
‘Oh, what’s this?’
As Zalatan devoured the demon, it felt like that spiritual power entered me too.
An unexpected bonus.
“Ren.”
Just as I was surprised by the stat increase, Louise and the knights approached, concern in their eyes.
[Summoning has ended.]
Having finished his task, Zalatan exited my body.
— Tch, even weaker than those flimsy guys... If this were my body, a wound like that would’ve healed in no time.
I ignored Zalatan and reassured Louise and the others.
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t fine.
It hurt.
Badly.
“Are you really okay? Your side…”
Seeing blood gush from my side, the mustached knight hurriedly pulled out a spare bandage and wrapped it around my waist.
“Thank you.”
“No, we should be thanking you.”
“Yeah. If it weren’t for you, Ren, we’d all be dead by that dark mage’s hand.”
“But earlier, didn’t you collapse like you were possessed or something? Are you sure you’re alright?”
At Louise’s question, I feigned ignorance and played dumb.
“I’m fine. The dark mage must’ve made a mistake.”
A lame excuse, but I couldn’t think of anything better.
“Really? I could’ve sworn I saw something with my own eyes.”
“Me too.”
“Exactly. Just watching from the side gave me chills.”
Luckily, the knights weren’t the type to dig too deep.
‘Looks like they bought it…’
I glanced at Louise.
His eyes, burning with intensity, were definitely suspicious.
“Ren, you’ve been hiding your true skills, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. The way you dealt with those desert beasts... That wasn’t normal.”
“How the hell did you cut those tentacles? We couldn’t slash through them no matter what we did.”
“Hahaha…”
The questions wouldn’t stop.
And since I wasn’t the one who actually did it, I didn’t know how to answer.
How did those tentacles get cut?
My spiritual energy is weak—I couldn’t overpower them through force.
— Tch. Fighting isn’t about strength. Same goes for using energy. Just sever the flow of magic.
Zalatan scolded me, as if reading my expression.
I wanted to ask, “What’s the flow of magic, anyway?”, but I held back.
The knights’ admiring eyes were still on me.
At the same time, a bit of embarrassment flickered on their faces.
They must’ve felt ashamed for trying to protect someone stronger than themselves.
But seriously, I am weaker than you all…
I wanted to come clean, but couldn’t.
Frustrating.
“Enough. Ren probably wants to rest after that battle. Stop pestering him.”
Surprisingly, Louise, whose eyes had been the most intense, didn’t ask a single question.
‘Honestly, that’s even scarier.’
Still, thanks to his intervention, I finally got some rest.
Even during the break, Louise remained deep in thought, staring off into space.
‘Is he looking at where I fought earlier? Nah, probably just imagining things.’
I stopped thinking about Louise and leaned against Zalatan’s tomb to rest.
— Clean up that corpse before you leave.
“Can’t I just bury it here?”
— This is the Red Moon Tribe’s graveyard. You think we can bury such a worthless guy here?
“I don’t have the strength to haul it somewhere else. If we leave it out, his comrades might find this place.”
— Hmm…
Zalatan fell into silent thought at my reasoning.
“If he becomes a wraith here, you’ll get to torment him yourself. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
— Hah, you’ve got a point. My side still aches from that stab—this is perfect.
Judging from his tone, it seemed the dark mage wouldn’t rest peacefully even in death.
[Sub Quest – Red Moon Tribe’s Toy]
[The Red Moon Tribesmen, who have long slumbered in this grave, want to make a toy out of the dark mage who defiled their cemetery. Build his grave here.]
[Reward – Strength +0.2, Stamina +0.1, Vital Energy +0.1]
‘Huh?’
Didn’t expect to get a quest out of this, but hey, I’ll take it.
‘Definitely gotta finish this one.’
After a short rest, I glanced at Louise.
Eyes closed, still deep in thought.
I quietly rose and approached the mustached knight.
“We should get going. If another mage like him shows up, it’ll be really dangerous.”
“You’re right. And you’re still in rough shape.”
“Louise doesn’t seem ready yet. Could you give me a hand?”
“Of course. If you ask, how could we refuse?”
At the mustached knight’s words, the others nodded and stood up.
“Could you dig over there?”
“…Huh?”
“I want to bury that dark mage.”
“Do you really have to?”
“As a gravekeeper, I can’t just let this slide. You’ll help, right?”
With a bright smile and wide, innocent eyes, I stared him down.
His eyes darted nervously before he finally gave a resigned nod.
The knights clearly didn’t want to dig with their bare hands again, but that’s not my problem.
I saved your lives—this much you can do for me, right?
Scritch—scritch—scritch—
Four knights crouched in a circle, digging with their hands.
It was kind of funny.
But they were strong, so the grave was dug in no time.
[Spiritual Power +0.1]
[Sub Quest - Red Moon Tribe’s Toy completed.]
[You gained: Strength +0.2, Stamina +0.1, Vital Energy +0.1]
‘Nice.’
A smile spread across my face.
Once I finish Zalatan’s final request, this whole trip will have been worth it.
Just as the grave was finished, Louise suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.
“Sorry. Did I hold us up?”
“Not at all.”
His eyes gleamed even more sharply than before—or was that just my imagination?
“Let’s get moving. We don’t know when more of them might show up.”
“Right.”
After packing up, we started ascending the stairs.
Thump—thump—thump—
My heart suddenly started pounding again.
“What the hell…”
I almost swore out loud.
Why is my heart acting up again?
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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