Chapter 74: Godok (4)
“……!”
“This is crazy!”
“Hmm!”
Aratus, Grizel, and Mets, seeing Rank 7 Cecilia's sudden action, were aghast and distanced themselves.
It was absurd.
This wasn't the village.
If it were that place where you had to kill first or be killed, some consideration might be possible, but in the current situation, it was utterly incomprehensible.
Where had the good atmosphere from just moments before gone?
Moreover…….
‘To aim for Harang, of all people!’
‘As expected, those bastards…….’
‘They're not normal! Why on earth?’
In an instant, various thoughts flashed through the minds of the three Godok.
Of course, even while doing so, their bodies moved swiftly, instantly retreating from the battlefield, and in that time, Harang and Cecilia exchanged three blows.
Clang!
Kaaang!
Kaaang!
Crack-!
A battle that took place in the blink of an eye!
However, even in that short moment, the advantage and disadvantage were clearly revealed.
Unlike Harang's undamaged sword, cracks were appearing on Cecilia's rapier.
However, Harang did not let his guard down, and the Godok watching the fight also did not relax their tension.
Having seen Cecilia's fighting style many times, they knew all too well that it wasn't over until it was over.
Clang! Kaaang!
Crack, craaack……
Kwaaaang!
A few more clashes between sword and sword ensued, and soon Cecilia's sword completely shattered.
It didn't just break in two; it split into dozens of fragments and scattered around.
It was then.
Sharp fragments, flung by Cecilia's rapidly waving hand, shot out like Hidden Weapons.
Faced with an attack several times more threatening than a simple sword thrust, Harang drew a circle with his sword.
Tatadadang-!
The fragments pouring onto the circular Aura barrier were neutralized with impact sounds, and Cecilia, taking advantage of the gap, stomped her foot hard.
Kwaang!
Thanks to the tremendous repulsive force, as if a flame had exploded, the distance between the two instantly widened.
Of course, Harang wasn't one to just stand by and watch.
Swaaaa-
A cold energy gathered beneath his feet as he prepared to shoot forward.
Utilizing the ice attribute, Harang, who had instantly reduced the coefficient of friction to 0, slid forward in an instant.
However, he couldn't reach Cecilia.
It was due to the intervention of the being who had been continuously gathering power since the start of the battle.
Village Rank 10, Verner.
Woooooooooong-!
Verner's weapon was too massive to be called a sword.
To be precise, the size of the Aura enveloping the sword was the problem.
While the fight with Cecilia was ongoing, Verner had continuously concentrated and succeeded in stabilizing energy in his sword.
Thus, the manifested Aura Sword surpassed the output of a typical Graduate-level by twofold.
Shwaaaaaak!
It fell.
It descended, carrying an immense force, as if to not just cleave the opponent but to shatter the landscape itself.
Of course, Harang was not flustered.
Thud!
Utilizing the property of Wood, he assumed a stable stance as if rooted to the ground.
Zwoooong-!
He fully roused the Aura of Gold, cloaking his body in a firmness greater than a boulder.
Not even the slightest hint of Aura was visible on the sword extended from his firm stance, but that was the illusion of the ignorant.
The Aura that flared up as if blinking at the moment of impact was smaller in size than Verner's, but it contained several times the sharpness, and.
Kaaaaaaang-!
It was enough to cleanly split the opponent's sword.
“Keuk……! Cough, kuheok!”
Verner was pushed back wretchedly.
Harang didn't chase him.
Instead, he charged straight towards Cecilia, who had hidden herself in the darkness.
Kagang!
Kagagagang!
In the meantime, dozens, hundreds of Hidden Weapons rained down, threatening Harang's vital points all over his body, but it was futile.
Drawing another sword from his waist, he swung both hands with an indifferent yet brilliant flourish, and as if a barrier had formed, all the blades bounced off to the surroundings.
That wasn't all.
Several of the Hidden Weapons shot towards the opponent with astonishing speed.
They weren't just fast; each one was aimed at a vital spot.
Cecilia's hands and breath gradually quickened.
A few seconds passed like that.
Ssk
“…….”
Harang's sword touched the neck of Cecilia, who had allowed him to close the distance.
If she had held out just a little longer, Verner, having calmed his shaken insides, would have joined in, creating some leeway, but such a thing did not happen.
Thus, silence descended.
In it, Cecilia, glaring sharply at Harang, opened her mouth.
“Why don't you kill me?”
“Why should I kill you?”
“You've always done so until now, haven't you? All those who targeted you died.”
“That's still mostly the case. But……”
Harang, glancing briefly at Verner, spoke again.
“You two didn't exactly attack me to kill me, did you?”
“……Is it that obvious?”
“Of course, it is.”
“In what way?”
“Your eyes? You didn't have that usual human-butcher feel.”
“Human butcher, that's a bit much. But……”
……It's not wrong.
Muttering in a low voice, Cecilia brushed Harang's sword away with her bare hand.
And then, plop, she lay down on the floor and looked up at the sky.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The three Godok were speechless.
To suddenly pick a fight with Harang, and then to gaze at the night sky with a nonchalant expression as if nothing had happened.
Moreover, she wasn't the only one.
Verner, who had been coughing up blood, also stealthily approached Cecilia's side and, in the same posture, lay down and began to look at the sky.
Even Harang did the same.
As the three lay on the floor in such a peaceful manner, Aratus, Grizel, and Mets, who had been tensely wary of them, felt like fools.
But Cecilia didn't care about them.
Verner was the same.
They looked up at the sky with blank expressions for about a minute, and just as the impatient Grizel was about to say something, they spoke first.
“Harang.”
“Yes, Cecilia.”
“Unlike the other guys, we enjoyed killing people.”
“I know.”
“Yes, everyone probably knows. I'm not trying to make excuses, but there was nothing else fun. Stomping on those weaker than me so they couldn't climb up, and desperately chasing and overtaking those stronger than me…… There was a certain fun each time my rank rose like that. Other than that…… Nothing was fun. Nothing.”
“…….”
“So it's awkward. Your words, your experiences. Everything you tried to convey to us.”
She was sincere.
For Cecilia and Verner, the village was their entire world, and murder was their only amusement.
It was only natural that they couldn't immediately accept it even if told that there was a wider world, with far more amusements.
But…….
“Now, I guess we have to accept it.”
“Hmm.”
Verner nodded while lying down.
Cecilia was right.
They couldn't live by the village's ways forever.
If they weren't going to remain in the village and move according to their intentions, it was right to adapt to the flow of the outside world now.
So…….
“Before that, I challenged you to shake off all remaining lingering attachments.”
“Lingering attachments?”
“Yes, the lingering attachment to Rank 1. The kind that Maya, Gael, and all the other guys must have had……”
“…….”
“Well, there's still some regret left…… But it's okay. I've shaken off most of it with this fight. We probably won't be able to catch up to you even if we try until we die. Perhaps in the past, this would have tormented me greatly, no, before that, I wouldn't even have acknowledged it……”
“There's no need for that anymore. Because I know there are many things to enjoy besides the village's ranking game.”
“Correct, Verner.”
“Ugh-cha!”
“Hup!”
Cecilia and Verner, who had been conversing among themselves, sat up.
And looked at Harang.
He, receiving their gazes, also slowly rose from his spot and stared at them, then turned his gaze towards Aratus, Grizel, and Mets, who were still far off, and spoke.
“Everyone coming back?”
“…….”
“…….”
“……Why?”
“We need to finish what we were talking about. The pleasures of the outside world.”
Harang's expression, as he grinned after finishing his words, looked brighter than any expression seen in the village.
* * *
“It ended much more peacefully than I thought.”
“Hmm.”
After the Godok's meeting ended.
Cecilia and Verner, once again left alone, looked at each other and nodded.
It was unexpected.
In fact, the two of them had been thinking of killing anyone weaker than themselves or any higher-ranked individual who appeared alone without fear, but now that the meeting had dispersed without any bloodshed, the feeling was strange.
Still, what was certain was…….
“It's not a bad feeling.”
“……I can't deny it.”
It wasn't just because they had obtained information related to the village.
Of course, what came from Harang's mouth about the ‘Black Hydra,’ and what they heard from Aratus about the ‘Demon-Worshipping Group Heukdang(brown sugar),’ were extremely useful, but…… the biggest gain today was ‘how to enjoy the outside world.’
“I've decided.”
Bolt upright
Cecilia, who had been leaning against a suitable rock, shot up from her seat.
Verner watched her intently.
Cecilia also looked back at him.
And said.
“Aren't you going to ask? What I've decided?”
“You'll tell me anyway even if I don't ask.”
“That's true, but wouldn't it be polite to ask, little brother?”
“What did you decide.”
“What I want to do. No, what we want to do.”
“Without even listening to my opinion…… Phew. Fine. So what is it. That thing you want to do.”
“Musician.”
“……?”
Verner made a dumbfounded expression.
It was absurd.
He had thought she would talk about being a Mercenary at best, or perhaps a guest swordsman, but for ‘musician’ to suddenly come from her mouth.
However, at Cecilia's following words, Verner couldn't help but nod, albeit lukewarmly.
“It's a genre where harmony is important, right? It requires hand skills, and senses are important too…… I don't think there's anyone who suits it as well as you and I.”
“Hmm…….”
“How about it, wouldn't it be okay?”
“Is that so? Hearing it, it doesn't seem bad……”
“Who is it.”
Swish
Wooooong-!
It was before Verner's words could even finish.
Cecilia, quickly drawing her sword and manifesting an Aura Sword, stared intently in one direction.
Verner was the same.
He, who had perceived the situation half a beat later, also took a combat stance with a tense expression.
Tension filled the eastern forest of Viscount Kilkearn's domain.
About 10 seconds passed like that.
A man stealthily revealed himself.
Cecilia and Verner, exchanging glances, quickly widened the distance to simultaneously cover the Mysterious Figure's front and rear.
And were horrified.
“……Hydra Tattoo!”
Black Hydra.
And beneath it, the neatly engraved number ‘3.’
An even deeper tension filled the expressions of the two as they recalled the story they had heard from Harang.
However, the 3rd Hydra remained composed.
With a face as emotionless as if carved from rock, he merely said this.
“Musician, you say…… That's good too, but the field where you two would be more useful is elsewhere.”