Chapter 115: Spreading Blood on Sand (6)
Ronan was about to place his hand on the hilt of his blade. However, the man turned his head without looking back and spoke.
“Welcome. It’s my first time meeting you in person.”
“…!”
The group froze. His voice was as friendly as greeting a neighbor. Ronan quickly scanned the surroundings, but besides them, there was no one else who seemed like a suitable conversational partner.
‘Crazy bastard. He noticed us?’
Ronan gritted his teeth. It was an absurd skill. Even without considering the long distance, detecting the presence of a concentration of mana like his was not an easy task.
In fact, Ronan and Shullifen’s detection abilities were not working properly due to the mana spewing out from the Dainhar Stones. Ronan took a deep breath and looked back at Raging Storm.
“Thanks for guiding us. Now go back quickly.”
“Well, but…”
“You idiot. You promised to only guide us, didn’t you?”
“…Fine. I’m going.”
Raging Storm reluctantly stepped back. It was only after he turned the corner and disappeared did Ronan feel relieved. The man’s voice rang out again.
“You must be quite loyal to let your colleagues retreat first.”
“Shut up. Where are the people you captured?”
“Easy there. At least let’s have a conversation while looking at each other’s faces. With the other person still left as well.”
Shullifen narrowed his eyes. The element of surprise seemed to have already failed. The boys, after exchanging glances, took a step forward. The man turned around only when they were within five paces.
“Nice to meet you. It feels different meeting in person after sensing your aura. I never thought you would be this young.”
“Fuck you.”
Ronan raised his middle finger. It was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance. His beardless face was as simple as a farmer’s, and he was neither tall nor short.
He wore the typical white robe of Nebula Clazier, but unlike other followers, a small star was attached to the sleeve. The man, who had been silently observing Ronan, spoke with an intriguing tone.
“Surprisingly, you’re not attacking right away.”
“Becasue I’m not an idiot.”
“Quite clever. Yes, there may still be some of the people alive”
Her man smiled. It was a statement close to a threat. Ronan had to exert considerable effort to keep his hand from reaching the hilt of his sword. It was a wickedness that contrasted with his gentle tone.
‘Disgusting bastard.’
However, Ronan didn’t attack as soon as the distance closed, not just because of the hostages. There simply was no opening to attack.
Shullifen’s gaze, who was ready to strike, proved it. Suddenly, the man’s gaze met Shullifen’s and his eyes widened.
“Oh my goodness. Aren’t you the Duke of Garcia? I never thought I’d see you in a place like this.”
Shullifen didn’t respond. The man greeted Shullifen as if he had come across some unexpected luck. The man turned his gaze back to Ronan and opened his mouth.
“I have something to show you. Let’s walk a bit.”
The man suddenly started walking. Ronan and Shullifen followed behind him. Suddenly, a question arose in Ronan’s mind.
‘He knows me.’
The man was aware of Shullifen’s existence, but did not know his identity. Of the three, Ronan was the only one he could identify completely. It also bothered him that he only saw things based on energy. Ronan, who was walking after the man, growled and asked.
“How do you know me?”
“I did some personal investigation. I’m quite interested in you.”
“Interested? Are you some kind of pervert?”
“Not in that sense. You probably know Miss Brighia and Cyril, right? Oh, there was also the bloodshed between Edwon and Aden.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. They were all followers of Nebula Clazier that he had either killed or imprisoned in Rodolan. The man continued to speak.
“They were all my people. All of them failed in their assigned missions and ended up in an unfortunate situation. At first I thought it was just bad luck, but that wasn’t the case.”
“Get to the point.”
“I noticed a common trace of mana found at the scenes of these incidents. It was a trace that was faint but had such a strong personality that it was impossible to be confused. And that mana was yours.”
The man continued explaining. Essentially, he discovered Ronan’s mana while investigating the reasons for his subordinates’ failures, and that led to further investigation.
“You must have already noticed that I came here.”
“Of course. I knew about your presence even before you entered Dainhar.”
The man claimed that he could detect Ronan’s mana from kilometers away. Ronan tilted his head.
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Because there was nothing you could do in the first place.”
“Your confidence is through the roof. Are there any other assholes out there chasing after my ass besides you?”
“Not at all. The branch is not so free as to pay attention to you. I brought this up at a meeting not long ago, but I ended up getting scolded by the Leader.”
The man quenched his appetite. He explained that investigating Ronan was something of a hobby for him. No matter how Ronan looked at it, he seemed like a complete pervert, but regardless, Ronan breathed an internal sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness.’
If he could just kill this perverted bastard today, it would significantly reduce his troubles. Of course, he didn’t have the confidence that it would be possible. The man still hadn’t revealed even a trace of weakness.
‘…Even Brighia was his subordinate. What on earth is his identity?’
They continued to walk. The sound of three footsteps echoed. No matter how much Ronan looked at the space covered in white, he couldn’t get used to it.
Even dwarves would likely struggle to handle metal with such grace. The source of light shining from the distant high ceiling was mysterious, and the glimmering radiance of the surroundings was not from fire or mana-induced light. Suddenly, the man spoke.
“Do you know what this place is?”
“I don’t.”
“It’s an ancient ruin. It holds a secret that should never be revealed to the world.”
“A secret?”
“Yes. I don’t know the details, but if the Leader speaks of it in that manner, it must be an incredible secret. Our mission is to retrieve the Mana Stone and destroy this place.”
Ronan frowned at the unfamiliar words. There was a fishy smell of blood coming from somewhere. The man continued.
“We brought the natives here to find out more. Since we’re going to destroy everything anyway, it doesn’t matter if we learn the secret of the ruin. I’m quite curious by nature, as you can see.”
“What bullshit have you been spouting since earlier?”
“But, they didn’t cooperate at all.””
At that moment, the man stopped. In front of them, a wide and deep staircase unfolded. The scent of blood became even more intense. Ronan’s face hardened as he looked down the stairs.
“This…”
It was a scene reminiscent of a corpse pit on a battlefield. Numerous indigenous people, seemingly hundreds, lay dead. The stairs were stained with a flowing crimson, pooling at the bottom.
At the end of the transformed staircase, like a low and wide rectangular prism, one structure stood. Complicated metal fittings and ten buttons of different colors lined up in a row on the top surface of the prism. The man sighed as he tilted his head.
“Even though we’re all going to be blown away, they didn’t know that we would keep the promise not to touch them.”
There were no survivors in sight. It seemed that they refused to reveal the secret and were all murdered. Among the corpses were not only women and the elderly but also children who appeared to be under ten. The man, surveying the corpses, smirked.
“Well, even though they are from a barbaric tribe, I liked their grit. I really wanted to show you this.”
“Why does this sick bastard wanna show us this?”
Ronan pulled at the hilt of his sword. Almost at the same time, Shullifen’s sword was drawn.
Suddenly, attacks flew at the man at an incomprehensible speed. His lips, previously curved into a faint smile, parted slightly.
“…A storm is brewing.”
Bang! In an instant, Ronan and Shullifen were thrown backward. Ronan collided with one of the hexagonal pillars. Clang! Metal tiles flipped, sparking, and the lights in the room momentarily went out before coming back on.
“Ugh!”
The impact took his breath away. The impact was so great that even if his spine was completely shattered it wouldn’t be a shock. Blood burst out from deep within his throat. Ronan, sliding down the pillar, collapsed on the ground.
“Keeuuughhh!”
Ronan, using Lamancha as a support, stood up. As he lifted his head, a copious amount of blood poured out. Ronan gritted his teeth, noticing that his nose was broken just from the impact.
“This feels… familiar.”
It was something of a déjà vu. Thud! He glared at the man after fixing his broken nose.
A pair of translucent yet gigantic wings were growing on the man’s back. Wings covered in feathers were something he definitely remembered seeing in the past.
The wings gradually faded and disappeared from sight. Ronan chanted his archnemesis’ name as if he was possessed by something.
“Ahaiyute.”
Gradually, the wings, which were becoming faint, disappeared from his sight. Ronan soon realized that the texture of the wings was made of a bizarre mana, similar to the Protection of the Stars. The man turned towards Ronan and smiled.
“The introduction is overdue. I am Teranil, Bishop of the Southern Diocese of Nebula Clazier.”
“Bishop… fuck.”
Ronan spat on the ground. Somehow, it felt damn irritating. Although he didn’t know much about the organization structure of these heretics, it seemed clear that this guy was strong enough to be ranked at least in the top 20.
“You bastard… why bother blabbering if you were going to do this?”
“It’s a gift from the underworld… and I just became convinced.”
The man who introduced himself as Teranil laughed mockingly. Two additional crescent-shaped blades, absent before, crossed his body.
One from the back of the hand to the elbow, and the other from the thigh to the calf. The fabric where the blades passed turned red, a reminder of the wounds left by Ronan and Shullifen just before the storm was fully unleashed. Teranil’s once composed face stiffened for a moment.
“You must die here.”
“Give it a try.”
Bang! Ronan kicked the ground and rushed forward. Simultaneously, Shullifen, who had been pinned to a pillar in the distance, appeared.
“Shoot now! Don’t give him a chance to rest!”
Ronan shouted. If manipulating wind with his wings followed the principles of the Protection of the Stars, continuous activation would be difficult. Shullifen, clutching the hilt with both hands, swung his sword.
“Hmph!”
A purplish-black brilliance drew a curve. A gigantic crescent-shaped aura shot towards Teranil. The massive aura, with a diameter of at least 5 meters, vibrated with the energy of a storm.
“Heh, you even know about that?”
Teranil laughed as if he found it amusing. Indeed, he couldn’t unleash his wings. The distance between him and the aura was about five steps. Thud! Suddenly, a massive shadow landed right in front of him. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
Kwaaaang! Shullifen’s sword energy collided with the shadow, but instead of a whirlwind, only an explosion occurred. At that moment, dozens of metal spikes shaped like arrows shot towards Ronan and Shullifen through the lingering smoke.
“Shit…!”
Swoosh! The two hastily raised their swords and deflected the metal spikes. Sparks flew every time a spike was blocked, littering the ground.
Ronan realized that these were the same objects that were impaled on the bodies of the natives. Swaaah… Gradually, the smoke dissipated, revealing the appearance of a gigantic hedgehog.
“What the fuck is this?”
“Grrr.”
It was a hedgehog with a much larger build than most water buffaloes. Its entire body was made of bright red metal, and on its back were thousands of spikes similar to the ones Ronan had dodged. In many ways, it felt more similar to Philleon’s Magic Knight than to a living creature.
“Hmm? You blocked all of that?”
The hedgehog without thorns on its head had a person sitting on top, wearing wide clothing and a veil covering the face. The veil made it impossible to identify the person. A voice emanated from behind the veil.
“Ha… Isn’t this a bit much, Bishop Teranil?”
“What do you mean, Branch Manager Yuria.”
“You left me with such a boring task, and then you enjoy such a fun event all by yourself.”
It was a woman’s voice. Her billowing veil stood between her and her boys. It was undoubtedly the Protection of the Stars.
‘It’s much bigger.’
The only difference was that it was much larger than the one used by Brighia and the old man riding the wyvern. Her Protection of the Stars spread out in a hemispherical shape, encompassing not only her and her hedgehog but also Terranil. Terranil, who heard her complaints, smiled kindly.
“Haha, don’t be angry. You can join the fun now. Are there any more natives left?”
“I’m parched. I should’ve enjoyed it moderately… Well, if by any chance I find them, my two children will bring them.”
It seemed like her mission was to capture natives who would reveal the secret. She was conversing about various things with Terranil as if the situation had already been concluded.
The tension had completely evaporated. It seemed she believed the Protection of the Stars would solve everything. Ronan tightened the grip on his sword.
‘I have to capture them this time.’
The thought that this was the only opportunity crossed his mind. For a moment, Ronan and Shullifen exchanged glances. Ronan ran out after counting to three and swung his sword. Whoosh! A crescent-shaped sword energy was fired along Lamancha’s path.
“Huh?”
The red aura flew directly towards the woman called Yuria. She turned her head and chuckled.
“Right, you guys don’t know about this.”
“Shullifen!”
Either way, Ronan shouted. Shullifen, who was waiting, swung his sword. Crack! In that moment, the Protection of the Stars and Ronan’s Aura collided, simultaneously disappearing. Shullifen’s sword, which was flying right behind him, hit the monster’s chest directly.
-Slash!
“What?”
Yuria’s eyes widened. Teranil tried to shout something, but it was already too late. Kwaahhh! A massive whirlwind engulfed the two figures.
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