Chapter 56

#056

"It seems like he's serious. Should we join him?"

Kenneth, who was standing behind, added.

Kyle, shuddering, shouted.

"Shut up! If you interfere, I'll kill you too!"

He glared at Ian with reddened eyes and ground his teeth.

"I'll tear your mouth apart, you bastard!"

Yes, I knew he would react like this.

The moment Ian suppressed a chuckle and drew his sword, Kyle charged forward.

His speed was surprisingly fast for his size.

A dagger flew at his face again.

Crack, whoosh!

He deflected the dagger with his arm and swung his sword down.

Ian leaped to the side, rolled on the ground, and the scale sword sliced through the air.

The ground was gouged by the wind pressure.

What incredible strength.

As he thought this, Kyle braked by stomping one foot and immediately turned to swing his sword.

Ian hastily raised his sword.

Clang!

The sword of condemnation caught the blade, and Ian was pushed back.

With his arm on the sword blade, Ian barely managed to stop.

Kyle glared at him as if he wanted to devour him.

"You're called a swordmaster, and that's all you can do?"

"You're mistaken."

Ian's eyes turned red.

"I've never claimed to be a swordmaster."

"……!"

Whoosh!

Flames burst into life around Ian.

Kyle, eyes wide open, pushed Ian away and retreated.

Boom!

The flames that followed him exploded in succession.

While shielding his face with his arm, Kyle turned.

Swoosh!

Ian, breaking through the explosion, swung his sword horizontally.

Despite his panic, Kyle raised his sword to block.

Crack! Bang.

"……?!"

A silent explosion erupted from Ian's sword.

A vacuum explosion, which momentarily pulled everything in and then pushed it away.

It was one of the most convenient spells for such a chaotic battle because it barely showed any signs of being magic.

Crash!

Kyle, thrown back like a cannonball, rolled on the ground.

Whoosh!

As he reignited the dancing flames, Ian charged at the fallen Kyle again.

The moment the sword of condemnation flew, leaving a trail of air.

"Are you a spellcaster? Well, that's convenient!"

Swoosh!

With a shout, a shockwave erupted from Kyle's entire body.

The scorching heat. Ian was pushed back by the shockwave, and the flames flying towards him exploded in mid-air.

Pushing away the thick smoke, Kyle got up.

"I can do something similar."

Despite being hit by the vacuum explosion, his arm didn't even break.

The magic stones embedded in his black armor glowed red.

Crack!

Sparks flew from his grip on the hilt.

"Ah, I see. You're the type who relies on gear."

Ian, landing, adjusted his stance and said.

Kyle asked.

"Gear…?"

"It means your equipment is better than your skills."

"You… damn spellcaster…!"

Crash!

Kyle charged like a cannonball.

Sparks flew in all directions behind him.

Maybe I should have fought with blue magic.

Ian, surrounded by wind blades, leaped.

Boom!

The flames surged along the trajectory of the descending blades.

For a mere guard, to have a full set of magical weapons.

A hollow laugh escaped him, but considering he was an imperial, it wasn't surprising.

The reason why the border kingdoms, no matter how they tried, could never surpass the empire was because of things like this.

The kingdoms couldn't secure or produce magical weapons for individuals like the empire could.

The magical weapons Kyle wore were a kind of privilege.

Boom! Rumble!

Kyle's attacks continued relentlessly.

Lacking finesse, but his strength and stamina were exceptional.

Ian, with his focus and instincts enhanced by the wind blades, was eventually cornered in a situation where he couldn't evade.

Gritting his teeth, Ian raised his sword to meet the incoming trajectory.

In his eyes, the flying scale sword slowly etched itself.

The scorching heat followed the trajectory.

"……!"

But the furrowing of Ian's brow wasn't due to the flames.

A sudden sense of foreboding.

Clang!

Sparks flew from the collision of the scale sword and the sword of condemnation, and a murderous intent flashed in Kyle's eyes.

"Die-!"

Click, whoosh!

As he pressed the hilt, the scale sword extended like a snake.

The blade wrapped around the sword of condemnation and aimed for Ian beyond it.

Ian leaned back at that moment.

"……?!"

Kyle's eyes, which had been confident of victory, finally widened.

The scale sword grazed past Ian's nose.

The following flames.

But they weren't hot enough to penetrate Ian's resistance.

The flames reddened his skin and singed his bangs.

Whoosh!

While retracting the extended sword.

Ian, springing up like a coiled spring, took advantage of the gap and plunged into Kyle's embrace.

"Try blocking this."

A blue light flared as the sword of condemnation swept the ground.

Kyle's eyes were bloodshot.

"What?!"

Swoosh!

And that was his last word.

The sword of condemnation, thrust upward, stopped at Kyle's side, but the flash of light pierced through his upper body.

Blood gushed from Kyle's mouth, which was wide open.

His upper body, cut diagonally from the waist to the chest, fell backward.

The flames and embers that had been swirling around him gradually subsided.

"…Huh."

Kenneth's mouth finally opened at the scene revealed through the smoke.

He had only seen a blue light flash in the thick smoke caused by Kyle's attack.

The next moment, he saw Kyle with a split chest, dead, and Ian now looking at him.

"Unbelievable. Was what I saw just now real? I've never seen a spellcaster who uses a sword, let alone divine power…."

Kenneth, barely blinking, said.

To Ian, who only shrugged, he added.

"Even if it's a holy relic, the gods wouldn't grant divine power to a spellcaster. How did you do it?"

"Beats me. They just granted it to me."

"What's your real identity? A wandering mercenary in a backwater village couldn't possibly kill Kyle."

"Well, I'm not from this world."

"……?"

The more he answered, the more puzzled Kenneth's expression became.

Ian, without saying more, swung his arm to shake off the blood on his sword.

A hollow laugh finally spread across Kenneth's face.

"So, you have no intention of answering honestly."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Why lie to someone who's about to die?

Ian, muttering to himself, looked at Kenneth with sunken eyes.

"One question. Among your group, how strong was this guy?"

Kenneth's gaze turned to Kyle's corpse.

A bitter smile spread across his lips.

"The weakest… I wish I could say that. Unfortunately, except for Charlotte, we're all about the same. Charlotte is definitely different, though."

"Charlotte…?"

"Ah, you don't know her name. She's a beastkin. She remembers you. We chased you because of her."

"Ah, a beastkin. I remember her too."

Ian nodded.

"In fact, I thought she would come after us. But it was you guys."

"That's what we were doing. We were the vanguard. …We thought we would kill you all and return with the lady. I never imagined this backwater village would be my grave."

"That's life. I never thought I'd end up in this dog-eat-dog world either."

"You're good at talking nonsense. Is it because you're a spellcaster?"

Kenneth drew the spear on his back.

Twisting the shaft, a crescent-shaped blade sprang out from the side of the spear.

"Even with a holy relic, you can't continuously draw divine power. I know you're a red mage and your sword skills aren't that great. You've revealed quite a bit of your bottom line…."

Kenneth, speaking calmly, smiled at Ian.

"Would you let me go with this? To be honest, I don't have the confidence to win without any injuries."

"If I let you go, will you not chase us?"

"I want to, but I can't guarantee my employer will do the same."

Kenneth's bitter smile deepened.

Ian shrugged.

His heavy breathing had almost subsided.

"So, it seems we've reached a conclusion."

"Pity. We should have joined forces earlier. I thought you were provoking Kyle. You were actually showing us a way to survive."

Crash!

The next moment, Kenneth charged without warning.

The magic stones embedded in his armor glowed, and a cold mist pushed him forward.

Blue after red?

Ian, smirking, leaped backward.

At the same time, he extended his hand and launched a fireball at Kenneth.

Boom! Boom!

Kenneth, swinging his barbed spear, casually cut through the fireball and continued his charge.

Narrowing the distance in an instant, he extended his hand.

Sizzle!

Ice spikes shot up instantly behind and to the side of Ian.

Ian rolled to a stop on the ground.

Sizzle, the spikes that followed blocked his escape route.

Ah, I see. There's a reason for this combination.

Ian, crouching, looked at the charging Kenneth.

Though he acted as if he had already lost, the look in his eyes was far from that of a man who had given up on life.

It was clearly a ploy to make Ian let his guard down.

But the same could be said for Ian. He had no intention of prolonging this battle.

Sizzle!

An ice wall rose in front of Ian.

"……?!"

Crack!

Kenneth, eyes wide open, struck the wall.

But he couldn't shatter it with one blow.

Instead, the ice pillars that protruded like stalactites from the surface pierced his armor.

The frost shield manifested by chaos power could block even a dragon's breath once.

"Blue…?!"

As shock spread across Kenneth's face.

Boom! The shield exploded, and fragments swept across his body. A sword-like wound appeared on his face under the helmet.

Ian, who had charged through the gap, met Kenneth's eyes, which were swirling with magic power.

Just as Kenneth, gritting his teeth, tried to activate the magic inscribed on his armor.

Crash!

A wave of magic power burst from Ian's grip.

Crackle!

The forming spell was scattered, and the magic stones embedded in the equipment began to flicker randomly.

Confusion spread across Kenneth's face.

"What…?!"

It's a magic backlash.

Ian, responding internally, immediately prepared the next spell and leaped.

Magic backlash is a skill that reverses the flow of magic to temporarily disable magical equipment or spells being cast.

Despite its usefulness, it has a short range and requires precise timing.

It can't disable the skills of artifacts, holy relics, or boss-level named entities.

But in terms of catching someone off guard, it has a definite effect.

Ian, having completed the spell, extended his hand towards Kenneth, who was still processing the situation.

Sizzle!

Hive-like ice pillars rose around Kenneth.

Blue magic, ice prison.

"How…?"

Kenneth, who was about to speak, stopped breathing.

Ian's eyes, which were now glowing red again, were looking down at him.

Crack! Crash!

Late to react, Kenneth began striking the ice prison with his spear.

Rumble-

But the yellow flames that engulfed him were faster.

The flames covered not only Kenneth and the ice prison but also the surrounding area.

A mid-level red magic, fire wall.

One of the new skills he had learned.

Kenneth, breaking through the prison and engulfed in flames, tumbled out.

The magic stones in his armor finally glowed again, and a cold shockwave erupted.

It was already too late.

Kenneth, though not dead, suffered severe burns all over his body and was blinded.

"Ha…"

A sigh of resignation escaped his lips as Ian, frowning, landed in front of him.

It wasn't the result he had intended.

He hadn't meant to cause Kenneth such pain.

He thought he would burn to death instantly.

"I'm sorry, I'll put you out of your misery now."

A resigned smile spread across Kenneth's lips.

"Repaying the sins of killing people for money…."

Crack!

Ian's sword, swung down, cleanly severed Kenneth's neck.

The cold mist around them subsided.

"Huh…."

Ian, sighing, sat down beside the body.

A headache and dizziness hit him.

It was due to the excessive use of magic.

But it wasn't without gain.

He had confirmed that his combat style, which he had been researching and mastering, was effective even against the empire's experts.

Though they weren't the strongest, Ian hadn't used his full strength either, so the result was meaningful.

At the very least, it gave him a strange sense of relief.

"I can hold back a bit more."

It wasn't time to use all his stat points and skill points yet.

Just confirming this made Ian feel like his life had been extended.

"……?!"

Ian's eyes twitched a moment later.

A strange flow of magic power came from the two guards' corpses.

Since the dead couldn't come back to life, it must have been a phenomenon from their magical equipment.

Ian's brow furrowed as he picked up Kenneth's body.

"Ah, damn."

A pattern of magic power was forming beneath the body.

Like the essence of Conraud in the past, a faint wave of magic power continued.

It was probably sending a signal to their employer.

It was impossible to stop it.

"…It was better dealing with villagers."

Ian, shaking his head, finally got up.

***

"So, this is some kind of magic mark or something?"

Miguel asked.

Ian nodded.

"Probably."

"Damn, this is bad."

"Will our location be revealed?"

Lucy, only her head peeking out from the cargo area, asked.

"Most likely. Once they get here, they'll know we're heading north."

Ian, answering, turned to her.

"Stop looking and go back to sleep. Don't get involved in this."

"I'm used to corpses. They don't bother me. I've seen them before."

"Hah…."

Ian's sigh deepened.

A twelve-year-old used to corpses.

It was as terrifying as him becoming a ruthless killer.

"Can you help me take this off? It's not coming off for some reason."

Meanwhile, Miguel, struggling with Kyle's corpse, said.

He was still captivated by the guards' magical equipment.

Ian, clicking his tongue, said.

"To take it off, you'd have to cut the body into pieces."

"Eh…? Why?"

"It seems to have an ownership magic on it."

Ian knew this because he had tried to remove their armor.

"These weapons won't function properly without their owners."

The scale sword and the barbed spear.

These weapons, which could be identified, required a re-engraving process to function properly.

For that, a craftsman skilled in magical equipment was needed.

It was a system designed to prevent the game from becoming too easy, and it was still working in this reality.

"Still, this crossbow looks usable. It's a bit scorched, but…."

Miguel, picking up a mace from Kenneth's waist, his eyes lit up.

A small crossbow with a double string.

"…This…."

"Use it. Don't hesitate."

"Really? Is it okay?"

Miguel, delighted, hugged the crossbow.

Ian, unenthusiastically, added.

"We might be chased soon. We need to use everything we can."

"…Ah, that's why."

"There will be more trackers from the guild. And soon, Bel Rond's mercenaries will catch up. The guild trackers will be noticeable."

As he spoke, Ian checked the weapons and magic stones he had taken from Kyle and Kenneth's bodies.

Though he couldn't remove the armor, he could separate the magic stones by inserting the blade and twisting.

They might not be as powerful as essences, but they could be useful in emergencies.

Putting the scale sword and the barbed spear into the subspace, and attaching the imperial dagger Kyle used to his waist, Ian finally picked up Kenneth's dagger and headed for the carriage.

"……?!"

As he extended the dagger, Lucy's eyes widened.

"Is this mine?!"

"I'm not giving it to you to play with. Only use it in a real emergency. Otherwise, I'll take it back."

"Yes…!"

Lucy, nodding, took the dagger.

…Already feeling uneasy.

Ian, swallowing, heard Miguel's voice.

"Come to think of it, you're quite a nag, aren't you? Lucy's not a little kid, she knows… ahem."

Miguel, meeting Ian's gaze, cleared his throat.

Quickly approaching the carriage, he continued.

"So, what do you plan to do now?"

"We need to move faster."

"How…?"

Ian's gaze turned to the side.

"……!"

Miguel's eyes widened as he looked at the same spot.

Two warhorses in full armor finally came into view.

The magic stones embedded in the armor were still glowing.