Chapter 136:
The hill surrounded with tents soon turned into a battlefield.
“F-fuck! an ambush by the cultists? What nonsense is this….! cough!”
“Shit! Where are the priests? raise the dead, use magic or something at least…!”
“Protect the priests! the enemy is aiming for them to dispel the spirit magic…! Guh!”
The sound of metal hitting metal rang out along with the flickering of light above the flames.
Looking at the scene in front of me, I quickly analyzed the enemy forces’ level.
‘it’s not a large number compared to before.’
With the number barely over a hundred, it was nothing.
However, at the same time, they were not as lousy as before.
Seeing them take out the priests and mercs through a sneak attack efficiently….
Most importantly, the elite unit members were using powers that had traces of divinity in it.
“Hahaha! Die, Die! Hurry up and drop dead you lot! insolent worms-!”
Crack!
When the man wearing a blood stained robe swung out their fist, a few mercenaries burst open.
That was not a metaphor.
Their bodies, unable to withstand the force behind the fist, burst open at contact.
Seeing how his body was littered with reddish bruises, it seemed like a physical enhancement typed power…..
‘We finally get priest-like enemies,’
After going through countless powers enhancing healing and attack, this was more comfortable for me.
It’s just that, Reinel who led me here, shivered as if not used to such sights.
“Wh, what kind of….. To have such inconceivable powers…..”
It was not that great of a power, but Reinel was trembling in fear.
‘This is the strongest mercenary…?’
She just felt like a coward, but I decided to understand it.
After all, the tower of trials never handed out easy trials in the first place.
Especially to the challengers that chose the hard difficulty.
I’d assume that this trial stage would’ve caused a total defeat of my allied forces if I was not involved.
But it was only a story of a stage.
“Miss Reinel. Get a hold of yourself.”
I placed a hand on her shoulders with a calm voice when she flinched at that.
“M-Mr. Swordsman….”
“Calm down and protect the priest. The holy war will only be victorious when they’re alive.”
“I, I understand. A-are you not going with us?”
“The tide of the battle doesn’t look too favorable for me to stand guard here.”
I looked at the cultist priests running amok like wild goats.
“There should be someone to settle things down.”
「Mercenary ‘Reinel Asir’ feels a strong respect towards you.」
「Congratulations, you’ve completed the special assignment ‘Object of Admiration’.」
「The allied forces spirits will increase twofold and under strict command, the battle formation will not be broken.」
「Recalibrating the rewards of the 15th trial floor.」
What I just said must’ve affected Reinel somehow as the special assignment got completed.
“…Best of luck to you Mr. Swordsman. If we survive this, I’ll treat you to a drink sometime.”
The confusion in her eyes disappeared and got replaced by a firm determination.
“I’d love that. I’ll see you later then Miss Reinel.”
I halfheartedly replied to that and unsheathed both of my swords.
Shhhk.
The moment the swords emitted the sound of being unsheathed, Reinel quickly left the area.
I moved midst the field while activating multiple skills.
And
「Activating skill ‘Dark Wolf’s Steps’.」
With the recently added movement skills, it allowed me to move without a presence.
The benefits of concealing my presence was overwhelming in the chaotic battlefield.
‘The effects can be really felt. I’m right behind them but they can’t even feel my presence.’
I neared the battle priest with crimson bruises and swung my sword.
Slash!
After cutting down the unnamed battle priests’ throat, I calmly walked through the battlefield and waved my sword around.
Fwoosh! Slash! Crash!
Most of them were unable to detect my presence and died with a smile on their face.
Well, skills are skills, and this situation is happening. But I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
‘The battle where I cut down a thousand had more edge to it.’
Of course, it’s not that the battle priests couldn’t figure me out.
“Wha- what…?! When did you…?”
Some of them managed to detect me when I neared them by managing to keep their cool during the excitement…..
Slash!
But the fact that their death was inevitable with a swing of a sword was an undeniable fact.
The only difference would be that unlike the priests that died with an unsightly smile on their face, these ones died with a dumbfounded expression.
But it was not that significant of a difference.
The expressions that the heads that flew across the air held mattered not.
‘It’s easy.’
These were enemies that couldn’t even scratch the ends of my clothing.
At least when I fought against a thousand, there were few incidents where I almost got attacked…..
This couldn’t even be used as a fertilizer of experience.
「Administrator ‘First Dragon Slayer Born in a Thousand Years’ is flabbergasted by the overwhelming powerlessness of the priests from the cult of battle.」
「Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is enjoying the demonstration of their contractor’s skills. 」
「Administrator ‘Fallen Heir of the Blood Demon Cult’ is looking at you favorably seeing you use Blood Demon Hole.」
「Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ is eager of your skills demonstration but unfavorable towards a certain demonic practitioner’s ki storing method.」
Numerous messages popped up as if the administrators were enjoying the scenery of a massacre…..
Ignoring their chats I continued my task of defeating the battle priests.
‘I hope that my potential of grim reaper will fully bloom by the time this holy war ends….’
Thinking about a totally unrelated topic.
»————- ★ ————-«
The battle got wrapped up quicker than I expected.
After about 70 battle priests died, the tide of the battle turned against them.
“W,what is this? Kazin, Hale, Raz! Darn it all! Where is everyone?!”
“Most of… the Battle mages… dead…! C,Cough! We must retreat…!”
“Retreat? To where? We did not plan for this! Arghh!”
After registering that their comrades have died without anyone knowing, they all panicked to be defeated or be taken prisoner.
And catching them was done by waking up Dam Cheonwoo asleep in my Blood Demon Sword.
The rope of blood more intricate than Truth-seeker of Blood completely sealed off the might of battle priests.
I was not planning on showing this to the allies, but their reaction ended up being more positive than my expectation. Perhaps it was because it came from an item.
This could be called an accomplishment of Soul Ego.
―……How absurd. To use this great self in such manner instead of battles.
I agreed.
‘I never thought that I’d use the Soul Ego’s powers like this’.
Truthfully, when they said that it was an ambush, I thought I’d get to use Soul Ego.
But that did not happen.
None of the enemies were of my caliber and they were all idiots drunk in their powers.
It would’ve been nice to be able to at least get some references like the time I faced Nam GungHyuk.
Because this was full of those drunk in the power of divinity, there was nothing that I could use.
― I suppose, it’s acceptable that you massacred every enemy. If you were a part of the murim dimension, you’d make an excellent criminal or a demonic practitioner. What a shame.
I realized something fascinating while hearing him talk.
A shallow stream of mana was emitting from the Blood Demon Sword like a thread.
However, this strange stream of mana was spreading only towards me.
Outside of this path no amount of mana leaked out.
‘….is this what he meant by Advanced Stealth-communication?’
At that, I managed to figure out the method of using Advanced Stealth-communication that Dam Cheonwoo spoke about.
―……Were you talking about transfer of audio through controlling mana as Advanced Stealth-communication?
After sending out the mana through the mana circuit, an immediate reaction followed.
―Wha, what on earth? Did you learn how to Advanced Stealth-communication in that short amount of time…?
Dam Cheonwoo was stupefied as if he never thought that I’d learn the Advanced Stealth-communication method.
―Other than the fact that you create a path using mana wavelength and send out a voice in that path, it’s not like there’s a special system to it.
I could not understand the reason for his reaction.
―No, of course it’s a simple system in itself….. But…. that’s impossible. A brat who doesn’t know how to use Stealth-communication learns it on their own? It’s not like someone taught them either.
―It’d be even weirder for someone who knew how to control their mana to not learn it. As long as you can manipulate mana, you should be able to do this easily.
― Following that logic of yours, then over half of the martial artists born and raised from Murim becomes an idiot.
―……Forget it. It’s not that important.
I said it just to avoid the topic but Dam Cheonwoo reacted positively.
―Heh! As expected! The one who can summon this great ones’ soul must be a genius indeed! Who else could sumon me? Hmph, you said right.
It was quite ridiculous that the direction he took was praising himself…..
―Yawwwn. This great one needs more rest. Call me when you need me later. I will be biding my time until then.
Since this soul ego that seemed to have an…. Atypical mind was quite useful, I did not bother reprimanding him.
During the conversation the chaotic battlefield was settled and a priest wearing a black robe approached me.
“……The archbishop seeking an audience with you. Please follow me.”
Perhaps they saw my battle, as their voice was trembling.
“I-it will be about your compensation so it would be beneficial for you to come with me.”
And their manner of speech had a strong vibe of pleading so I followed suit.
“Understood.”
After following the apprentice priest, a large black tent appeared before me.
Once entering, a thin sickly looking man greeted me.
“……Slaughterer, many thanks for your cooperation. Please, sit wherever you’re comfortable.”
There were two chairs across the desk he sat on, so I chose a random one to sit on.
“No need to address me with that title of slaughterer. Please, call me by my name.”
“……Unfortunately, when the church of dark does not write down the names of hired mercs unless they are a higher ranking mercenary.”
“Then please address me as unnamed.”
“……Heh, naming yourself as unnamed. What an interesting fellow you are. I’m sure that the god of dark would surely favor a man like you.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
It was a formal response without an ounce of sincerity, but the archbishop seemed to be satisfied with that.
The man wore a small smile and continued.
“Unnamed. Do you know that I called you here in order to discuss your compensation?”
“I briefly heard about it from the apprentice priest who led me here.”
“Correct. Under the condition that you will not leave the frontlines until the Holy War is over.”
“I have no intention to do that. Let’s get to the point.”
“…… With my authority, I have decided to give you the relic of the church as your compensation.”
He spoke as if I was being given a huge reward, but I had no idea what relics were.
“……Sorry, but can you explain what relics are?”
So when I honestly asked if he could explain what it is, the archbishop nodded with a bewildered face.
“I never thought that you’d not know what relics are, but I’ll explain. Relics are items of miracle containing the power of gods.”
“Power of gods…….”
“Because it has divine powers in it, you can use one of the powers through the relic. Under normal circumstances, outsiders are never allowed to have one…..”
“Is it because it’s a wartime, a holy war, and my achievements?”
“Correct. I’ll get right to the point since you already know.”
A flash of merchants’ aura briefly passed through the archbishop’s eyes.
“Tell me the compensation that you’re expecting.”
It was a typical bargaining process, but it worked.
And since I just mentioned that I do not know what relics are, it was a bargaining tactic to ask me what my expectations are first.
Since they could potentially use me while underpaying me.
“Then let me ask you instead.”
But he chose the wrong target.
They most likely assumed that they’d have the upper hand with my ignorance on relics…..
“What do you expect to pay me?”
But this situation was actually in reverse.
The one with things to lose was not me.
「Activating skill ‘Absolute Charm’.」
「Archbishop ‘Keinel’ has fallen under the abnormal status [Fear].」
「Under the influence of abnormal status [Fear], they will have their judgment lowered and will greatly recognize your existence.」
“I’d hope to get well compensated you see.”
How much he’d have to pay me to convince me.
The Archbishop would have to think deeply starting now.
[To be continued.]
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