Chapter 16
Bandits surged up from the ground, and a Dirtling sprayed poison at Deruna.
The intoxicating powder, Manchiru, used for capturing targets alive, would slow metabolism and incapacitate its victim for a week once it covered them.
However, Deruna, unfazed, swung her swords in all directions.
Simultaneously, a Wind Spirit appeared, shielding her from the Manchiru with a wind barrier.
“These pesky Spirits!”
The Dirtling burrowed back underground, thrusting up with a long spike from below, but Deruna evaded their attacks with a dancer’s grace, effortlessly deflecting the onslaught of four strong opponents.
Serupe, mesmerized by her seemingly hypnotic movements, stood frozen, watching Deruna.
But suddenly, a chill of steel descending from behind made Serupe roll across the ground.
“A woman is fighting, and you’re just standing there watching her back? You didn’t think you could just sit back and relax, did you?”
“Uh… haha, dear bandits, can’t we settle this with words? If you need money, I can give you as much as you want.”
“You got lots of money?”
“Uh… If you give me five years, I can earn five million gold for you. Please, take that as the price for my life! Hic!”
“Hahaha, if I had five years, even I could earn that much, kid.”
Deruna watched Serupe flee pathetically toward the silver-haired bandit. Then, turning her focus back, she kicked away the spike from the ground and parried attacks with her twin swords.
She didn’t have the luxury of paying attention to Serupe.
All her opponents were fighters on par with herself.
Had the Lord been alive, Deruna wouldn’t have stood a chance on her own.
‘I didn’t think they’d send this many strong foes at once. Should I feel honored or enraged?’
Though Deruna could have bought more time, she regretted emerging from her coffin too hastily.
Had she used her time more effectively to break through and hide repeatedly, she might have been able to save Serupe or Elenien. Or perhaps Karon might have arrived to sweep away the bandits.
But Deruna wasn’t the type to dwell on regret.
In fact, simply admitting regret bruised her pride.
Even if she had given up surpassing Karon, clinging to him wasn’t an option.
If she couldn’t overcome trials like these, there was no way she could shine among the stars.
These powerful enemies were nothing more than stepping stones for her.
“Impressive!”
“For an old-timer, your back seems pretty spry!”
“Hahaha! Let me confirm that for you!”
“Let’s see how long you can hold out! Hehehehe!”
Deruna frowned.
What repulsive bastards. It seemed the Archil Count Family, experts at fighting larger groups of weaker enemies, had sent only the strongest to face her. She needed to shatter their delusions.
Gritting her teeth, Deruna launched a ferocious assault on the bandit with the filthiest mouth.
“Gah!”
“Kekeke, looks like the old hag’s finally at her end. Should’ve just gone underground and stayed there.”
“Shut up!”
With one opponent’s strength diminished, the relentless assault began to weaken.
The fight balanced into a three-against-one battle.
*
Serupe rolled on the ground, barely avoiding the sword aimed at him.
Ugh, what should I do…?
Though Karon had given him crash-course lessons, the silver-haired bandit bore an uncanny resemblance to the White Serpent, a formidable foe.
To maintain status among so many bandits, one had to be overwhelmingly strong.
And his skills proved it.
“You dodged all my attacks…”
Crossing swords with him seemed impossible.
“They call me the White Serpent because I’ve yet to earn a title with my sword. I joined the Green Forest Alliance to challenge the Empire’s strongmen. What’s your name?”
“Uh, I’m Serupe…”
“Hmm, you seem to be hiding your strength. Are you the ‘Weeping Swordsman’?”
“Eh? Who’s that?”
The White Serpent tilted his head before lunging with his sword.
This time, Serupe felt he couldn’t dodge, but Karon’s voice echoed in his mind.
—If the opponent’s beyond your level, you’re not going to win.
“But…”
Doing nothing isn’t an option.
—Dirtling!
The young Earth Spirit, Dirtling, emerged, binding the White Serpent’s legs.
—When your enemy lets their guard down, you can flip the battle with a single decisive strike.
While evading the strikes, Serupe calculated the sword’s range.
As the sword lunged forward, Serupe stepped in and thrust his own blade toward the White Serpent’s throat.
Success…
But the White Serpent bent backward at a perfect angle, shattering the earthen bonds with his sword and dodging the strike.
The dirt mound, created by the young spirit Dirtling, crumbled too easily.
Leaping acrobatically backward, the White Serpent swung his sword several times in the air, creating an indecipherable trajectory, before charging again.
“Gahhh!”
“Hmph… resorting to crude tricks. So you’re not hiding your skill after all?”
“P-Please spare me! I’ll introduce you to someone truly skilled!”
“Should’ve used your tricks to assess that woman’s skill instead. What a waste of time. Die, brat!”
Serupe’s eyes sparkled.
His opponent had let his guard down once more.
He felt confident… not in himself, but in the teachings of his mentor.
Slowly, Serupe extended his blade.
—In that moment, he entered the realm of clarity.
His sword emerged from the blind spot of the White Serpent’s vision.
The White Serpent froze in place, realizing something was wrong. His reflexive attempt to grab his falling blade was too late.
Splat—!
Blood spurted from his arm.
“What was that…?”
Holding his sword awkwardly with his offhand, the White Serpent grimaced. Without healing magic, he’d live the rest of his life as a one-armed swordsman.
The White Serpent felt chills down his spine.
The boy was an assassin of unimaginable caliber.
“You deceived me completely… Was that youthful appearance a lie too?”
“Huh?”
“I won’t be fooled again.”
The White Serpent charged toward Deruna with everything he had.
The three-on-one balance broke.
Deruna, absorbed in her fight, couldn’t react in time to the sudden external attack.
Stabbed in the side, her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees.
The Spirits desperately protected Deruna, buying her some time.
Though she escaped, a flurry of swords descended upon her.
“Hahaha! It’s finally over. I’ll admit, you fought well for a woman!”
“If that old man hadn’t interfered, this would’ve ended quickly.”
“I’m sick of being underground! Just lie down already!”
Sensing the end, Deruna prepared to use her final trump card.
But someone stepped in her way.
Serupe was busy deflecting the attacks.
Deruna shouted at him.
“Fool, run away! These are not opponents you can handle!”
Entering a state of transcendence isn’t something that can be done at will, and Serupe was merely a novice with only a month of swordsmanship experience.
Even with overwhelming talent, it was impossible to defeat opponents who had spent decades honing their skills.
“I can’t run away on my own.”
“What are you trying to pull, acting all cool? You’re just a coward who hasn’t even learned how to use a sword properly. Stay out of this! You’ve barely trained for a month!”
Hearing Deruna’s words, the White Serpent growled and charged forward.
“Don’t make me laugh! That kid isn’t just some ordinary person! I won’t be fooled by his deception any longer!”
“Hehehe, playtime is over. Take your tearful drama to a prison cell.”
“Ack!”
Deruna, despite her injured state, did her best to fend them off but was struck by a blade. One of the blades that stabbed her was tipped with poison.
“Lady Deruna!”
“Call me… sister…”
Deruna’s body began to stiffen.
If she fell here, Elenien, whom she had hidden, would inevitably be discovered, and Serupe and the mercenaries would also meet their end.
“Kehihihi, now that you’ve been poisoned, you won’t be able to act all fierce like before. Just lie there quietly and watch as your beloved ones meet their fate.”
“That brat… That brat is the one who did this to my arm! He’s no ordinary kid—he’s hiding his strength, so be careful!”
“That brat? Tsk tsk, White Serpent, it seems even you lack the necessary discipline.”
“Shut it, old man! You don’t understand unless you’ve experienced it firsthand!”
At the White Serpent’s outburst, four bandits cautiously surrounded Serupe.
“Se… ru… pe. Run… away.”
Deruna called out to Serupe with her stiffened tongue, but Serupe, sensing the murderous intent of the bandits, trembled in fear.
This was entirely different from when he had faced Adela.
However, upon hearing Deruna’s plea for him to flee, Serupe screamed back.
“I don’t want to see Lady Deruna get hurt! Elenien, Elenien… sniff, sob… I can’t lose Elenien and then lose you too, Lady Deruna. Sniff… sob… sob…”
Watching the weakling trying to protect her made Deruna’s heart ache.
If he ran, he could still escape somehow. Even if he was weak now, he was a genius who might one day surpass Karon, but to fall here to mere bandits…
Hearing Serupe’s words, the bandits taunted him to test his resolve.
“Elenien? Hehehe… are you talking about that Spirit Mage? Sounds like they were caught by another bandit gang.”
“Kehihi, I heard she’s a Half-Elf. How exciting! I bet she’ll be delicious to play with! Should we just keep her barely alive?”
Hearing the bandits’ provocations, Serupe stammered tearfully.
“Elenien… is she alive? I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I’ll save her no matter what… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“Kishashasha, who knows? Those bastards might have already done so much that she collapsed and died from exhaustion!”
“Why… Why… Why are you doing this? We’ve done nothing wrong…”
“Ugh, I hate seeing men crying like that! Just die already!”
“Ugh… ugh…”
The sword struck, shattering in half.
“What…?”
When Serupe didn’t immediately counterattack, the old man retreated and grabbed a sword from one of the lesser bandits.
Meanwhile, the four elite fighters of the Green Forest Alliance swallowed hard.
“What… is he…?”
“Se… ru… pe?”
Deruna had only seen videos of the duel between Adela and Serupe and had no idea how Serupe had performed against the bandits the previous night.
But this was incomparable to that.
“Dead… why…? Why…? Why…? Why…? Why…? Why…? Why…? Why…? Why…?”
Lifting his head, tears streamed from Serupe’s eyes.
The grief-filled gaze in Serupe’s eyes made it seem like the entire world had been destroyed. The trees in the forest appeared lifeless, and the four bandits surrounding him seemed like demons.
Staggering, Serupe’s mind began reconstructing the teachings of his mentor.
How could he kill them?
How could he drag those who had hurt his precious ones into a deeper abyss?
Serupe’s mana rippled, spreading as a black wave through the forest.
The four elite fighters froze in place, unable to move.
—Die, die, die, die.
Startled by the intense malice, Elenien’s Spirits, following Serupe’s will, blocked all paths of escape for the bandits.
The bandits cried out in terror.
“Aaaah! Run, run! Please, spare us! We were wrong! We’ll live good lives, so please let us go!”
“What… what is that thing…?”
Even the mercenaries blocking the bandits stared at Serupe in a daze.
Though they were in the middle of battle, they could hear Deruna’s cries.
—That kid learned swordsmanship for just a month…?
Shocked, the mercenaries collapsed to the ground.
“Kill him… you idiots! Strike him while he’s out of his mind! Otherwise, we’re all going to die!”
The old man, barely regaining his composure, shouted, and the other three fighters sluggishly began to move.
“I told you… I told you he wasn’t normal…!”
“This is insane…!”
“Who the hell sent us here? Shakara! Shakaraaaa!”
“Shut up and fight, you fool!”
As their stiffened bodies started moving again, the four of them simultaneously charged at Serupe.
And the bandits and mercenaries watching from the sidelines couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Karon…?”
Deruna muttered to herself.
Like a slow-motion replay, a black shadow flowed seamlessly through the strikes of the four enemies.
And before anyone realized it, a calamity stood before Dirtling, who had mocked the most viciously.
Dirtling swallowed hard and made a resolution.
If there were a next life, he would be born with his mouth sewn shut.
The monster, silently staring at him, swung the blade of death downward.
As if the world were being engulfed in darkness, the descending shadow cleaved Dirtling in half, painting him crimson.
Gritting their teeth, the remaining three bandits thrust their swords at what appeared to be a defenseless Serupe.
And slowly, ever so slowly…
The monster, who had turned his back, shed tears as he gazed down at them.
Their intended vital strike now felt as if it were a million light-years away, and the old man’s head rolled across the ground.
Thud, thud, thud.
Bouncing several times, the old man realized belatedly.
Ah, I’m dead.
The remaining fighters, at last, fully understood their situation.
The last two trembled uncontrollably and dropped to their knees.
“I… I was just following orders. I’ll do anything, anything you ask…”
Even this desperate plea for mercy failed to reach its mark.
As the blade brushed past, the White Serpent, now alone, looked up blankly at the swordsman who had achieved the level he had always dreamed of.
“One month…?”
The White Serpent collapsed, filled with regret.
In a moment when time seemed to freeze, the gazes of the bandits locked onto Serupe, who now seemed like the center of the universe.
“Elenien… Elenien…”
Tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his chin.
He began to move forward.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaah! Aaaaargh!”
“Don’t leave me behind… Please save me.”
At last, the bandits screamed in terror and threw themselves against the Spirit walls blocking their escape, desperately clawing their way out.
The bandits, fighting for their lives, fled the mountain where the battle had unfolded.
And thus, the tale of the “Weeping Swordsman” began to spread across the continent.
Alongside it, an unspoken rule emerged among the people.
—If the enemy swordsman is crying, don’t question it—just run.
“Ghk, ghk…”
Until all the bandits had fled, Serupe knelt, covering his face with both hands, and wept uncontrollably.
The mercenaries, regaining their composure just in time, brought the hidden Elenien to him.
“Lord Serupe! Lord Serupe!”
“We’ve found Lady Elenien. She’s safe!”
“Se… Serupe…”
Serupe, dazed, lifted his head to see Elenien.
Seeing her alive, something he thought he’d never witness, Serupe lost all sense of reality and crawled toward her, hands grasping at the ground.
“El… Elenien… Elenien… Is it really you?”
“Yes, yes… It’s me…”
“Huuaaah… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… I’m sorry. Huuaah, I’m sorry. Elenien…”
“It’s… it’s okay… It’s okay. It’s okay. Serupe, Serupe… It’s okay.”
Elenien held Serupe as he clung to her, gently patting his back.
While comforting Serupe, who wept like the world’s sorrow was on his shoulders, Elenien finally felt relieved, though she kept it a secret.
As she watched the battlefield with the Spirits… she might have wet herself a little because of Serupe.
—
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