Etranger

The Marquis’ Inspector General Natin had an exasperated expression on his face. One couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying. He looked at the chiseled man who only came up to his chest. Natin didn’t know what to do.

Natin strode forward light-heartedly. This didn’t mean he wasn’t vigilant. Only after seeing twenty of his men swept away in a moment did he understand the strength and power of his opponent. The opponent’s unpredictable strategy and overwhelming strength made him extremely tense.        

Natin immediately stopped his subordinates. He couldn’t send them to their deaths. Their strength represented his power. He had invested so much in their development. Natin was a veteran warrior who had personally experienced over a hundred battles, large and small. He understood the battlefield. He was well aware of how psychological impacts affected the flow of the battle. He assessed and determined that it would be difficult to beat his opponent in this state.

Natin pulled a short sword from his waist while receiving the gaze of the man. He poked his left forearm with the sword and twisted. The blood oozed out. The tip of the sword cut through the skin and cut into his nerves.

From his tailbone to his head, an excruciating pain struck him instantly and shook his body. The pain awakened the senses he had forgotten… the 2nd Stage of Acceleration, the Dark Warrior’s instinct, the feeling of a life-threatening duel, the madness on the battlefield after smelling blood.

“I came to get something. Do we need more conversation?” Natin, who was ready for battle, shouted out. His cry was a representation of a warrior’s spirit. His cry resonated throughout the forest.

“It seems like thieves are looked upon as respectable people in this neighborhood. Would you like me to clean out all your followers while we’re at it? Are you sure you want to go down this road? Chunky?”

“When a warrior dies in battle, he is happy. I still have forty warriors. All of you will die here. The Marquis will pursue you until all of you are dead. The Marquis of Norian is a scary individual. He’s cruel and persistent,” Natin slowly stated. 

He gestured with his fingers gracefully while speaking. The eyes and expressions of his subordinates changed. The level of operation was being redefined from simple looting to an all-out war. 

The subordinates felt their commander’s nervousness.

Natin’s troops took out their shields and marched ahead. They moved slowly into battle formation. It was now becoming a war between San and the Marquis’ troops. The Marquis was a member of the Ki-Jang Clan, an Absolute Clan that produced many mercenaries and was known for its organizational tactics and movements. Thus, the Marquis’ troops were well versed in group battle strategies and tactics.

San stood tall. He was alone. Behind him, the bonfire was going out, flickering its last few flames. He stood where only one person could pass through. If someone wanted to get into the camp, they had to go through San.

“It’s not a battle… this is a full-blown war from the start… damn…” 

Cecil's whistle rang out. Honbi’s trumpet tune soon followed. It seemed that preparations were now complete in the camp.

Episode 2. Book 3: Infiltration – Chapter 4

San watched the approaching soldiers. They were bringing their shields closer together as they got into a tight formation. San had his sword in his right hand and a few stones in his left.

A smile hovered around his mouth. It was a bitter yet ridiculing smile. What had he done since coming to this world? It was only killing. At first, he killed to survive without any thought. He killed everything that he was told to kill. Whether it be a human or beast, he killed. He didn’t have a choice. He wouldn’t exchange anything for his life.

Now? In order to live, he was starting to ‘calculate’ if he needed to kill. No one would leave him alone in this god-forsaken world.

It seemed that one needed to first show the qualifications to continue living in this world. It resembled beasts who were battling over turf. Nobody would purposely make a place for him. Thus…

“I guess I’ll need to continue killing…?” San muttered. 

The harsh reality came in front of his nose in the form of a sword. Two soldiers rushed in with their shields stuck close together. They had swords in their other hands, attacking San from both sides of their shields.

One soldier was attacking right-handed and the other one left-handed. Another two soldiers came up from behind the first two soldiers. One held his shield above the initial two shields and attacked from the top while another soldier put his shield below the first two and attacked from the bottom.

San nodded. It was a good combination attack.

He took a step back. Two currents of wind rushed past his nose, shaking the surrounding air violently. He avoided their initial attacks, but the enemy’s swords returned once more. He took another step back and looked at the formation. This time, long spears from both sides of the shields poked through. Again, he took a couple of steps back.

The next attack came from above. Two soldiers jumped up into the air with their shields and spears. He could see their tensed muscles as they arched their backs to powerfully strike. He took another step back…

San clenched his jaw.

How far can he avoid confrontation? Whenever he dodged, the number of enemies increased like an arithmetic series. Furthermore, their intent to kill seemed to grow exponentially. Their attacks were relentless, continuing until their target was trapped in a corner, until the weak and powerless could no longer escape, or when one’s promise to another was crushed… 

‘Fuck…’

Bang-!

San took a step forward. A thick plume of dust rose up. It was time to change tactics… 

‘As you wish, I’ll enter this world with a heavy hand… Fuck you all…’

A large rock embedded in the ground shattered and fragmented, sending sharp shards of rock everywhere. Along with the sound of an explosion, a dusty plume rose up from the ankle-deep hole he created on the ground.

At the same time, San swung his sword without any preliminary action. It seemed like he was ready to beat the surrounding air into submission.

The enemies’ swords and spears met the trajectory of his white sword. In the air, broken blades and spears scattered like firecrackers. The soldiers who had rushed in quickly retreated with their mouths wide open in shock. He had broken their swords and severed their spears. Their hands were still numb from the vibrations…

San took another step forward. At the same time, he twisted his waist to the side and swung his sword horizontally. The tip of the sword swept through space with terrifying force and speed. He had already accelerated into the 3rd Stage.

Following the trajectory of the sword, a cross-section of wind, parallel to the ground, passed through.

Six shields were instantly split horizontally, causing the shields to fall in perfect halves.

The cross-section swipe destroyed everything in its path. The soldiers who held the shields quickly followed suit and fell onto the ground. The upper half of their bodies were perfectly disconnected from their lower half. The backline of soldiers came into his view. The soldiers were startled by the sudden opening. The slash had passed through a couple of lines of soldiers.

Shhh-shhh-shhh-

Stones flew continuously from his left hand. Three soldiers fell backward instantly.

Whack-

San took another step forward. This time, his body soared upward. He twisted his waist to the other side. Five soldiers jumped into the air to counter his attack.

He swung his sword with an outstretched arm, drawing the largest circle that his body would allow. The five soldiers who had jumped into the air were cleanly split into pieces.

He turned his body once more and sped downwards. Using the momentum of his previous swing, he swung his sword around his back, connecting into a strike from atop his head downward.

His sword’s rotation left an afterglow as it swung from his side, behind his back, and from the top of his head downward. Again, five soldiers collapsed at once. In the back, Natin sat speechless atop his horse with his crescent blade limply held in his hands.

San came down lightly onto the ground. It was the place where he first stood when they started their attacks. His indifferent gaze was the same as before.

However, after his attacks, everything changed.

No one took a step towards him. San wouldn’t take another step backward. Twenty warriors had lost their lives in this brief clash.

The soldiers fell into complete silence.

Natin grabbed his long, crescent sword with both hands. He couldn’t stop his hands from trembling. He tried to relax his body and mind with deep breaths, but his fluttering heart seemed to want to burst.

In one continuous attack, more than 20 soldiers, all elite-level warriors, died.

The legend of the great Ki-Jang Clan strategy crumbled in front of his attack.

What could stop a force that can slash through six shields and multiple lines of people, especially if that force was just the wind from a swinging sword…

“An Awakener…”

Natin sighed with a hazy expression on his face. His following words were cut short by San. Natin lifted the sword he held with both hands. Natin knew it was too late. In one step, San had appeared in front of him. In one motion, San jumped over ten people and wielded a sword at him. His eyes seemed to be raging with anger.

Natin clenched his teeth. He lifted his crescent longsword to block the incoming attack. San’s white sword made contact with his sword. Natin felt that he had seen a strong light flash as the swords collided.

Bang-

“I told you to avoid it when you had the chance. You stupid chunky lump of muscle!”

Natin’s blade seemed to be screaming. His gloved hand’s muscles tore. Soon afterward, a terrible pain shot up his arm, tearing the muscles within and shattering his bones into pieces.

San’s blade seemed to bounce off the attack and naturally connect into his next move, a diagonal slash that started from the top right to the lower left.

Natin turned his body to block the blow with his heavy armor. Oddly enough, San’s attack speed was slow enough to be seen and reacted to.

“Keu-Euk-”

“This idiot… having all his subordinates die for no reason… you don’t know how to reflect on your mistakes.”

San used the rebounding force to set up his next attack.

Natin screamed from atop his horse. If he could, he wanted to let go of his sword. He felt like his fingers were burned together and that his bones were still in the process of breaking.

Natin pushed his body to the maximum level of acceleration, endured the pain, and stabbed his sword at his opponent.

It was an attack based on instinctive reflexes. However, San’s white sword rolled around Natin’s curved blade. Putting pressure on his blade for stability, San shifted his waist to the side and swung his right foot backward.

He roundhouse kicked Natin’s neck. The blow was strong enough to break any normal person’s neck.

Keu-Euk-

Natin lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground with his horse. Natin threw himself off the horse at the last moment and rolled on the ground. He then stood up with the support of his sword and tried to establish a defensive posture.

However, before even being able to lift his sword up, a second kick crashed into his shoulder. Natin fell back onto the ground. He was on his knees taking rough, deep breaths. With his head tilted downward, he could make out San’s toes. Natin knew that his neck would be next. Along with all the men he brought…

“Now that you know who your opponent is, go back! Make sure to wrap things up cleanly on your side before you go.”

“… Why?”

Natin raised his head.

“I’ve already won, and there’s no real damage on my side. If I add one more head tonight, how will that benefit me? Even if I don’t do anything to you, the Marquis will decide your fate. You may not believe it, but I hate fighting. However, once I decide to fight, I fight to win. Do you know what true victory is… you chunky lump of muscle?”

“…”

“Winning doesn’t just end with killing someone. If I can carry out my will, then the purpose of my fight has been achieved. So… I want you to share what happened here with the Marquis.”

“What…?” 

“I have to be compensated.”

“Compensation?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be compensated for damage from your attack? Even if you’re grave robbers, you shouldn’t have forgotten your manners, right? There wasn’t much damage, so we won’t ask for too much.”

“Impossible. The Marquis will kill me.”

“That’s your problem. Just tell him what happened here. Count Essen officially demands compensation for this illegal raid. If adequate compensation is not made, maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“Two second-level Awakened Warriors commissioned by Count Essen may have to take over Marquis Norian’s territories…”

Episode 2. Book 3: Infiltration – Chapter 5

Natin retreated to the Marquis’ castle with the surviving men. Only about twenty people returned. They took eighty people and were almost annihilated within a short span of time.

Natin’s face was drained of life. He couldn’t have predicted anything that happened tonight.

‘What in the world should I report?’

On the other hand, the soldiers were filled with fear, causing them to act like they were comatose.

The sound of people shouting, the sound of the forest crying… the fear of never wanting to see that person again. This fear will probably spread throughout Marquis Norian’s entire military tomorrow.

San gathered the crew members and arranged for them to take care of the aftermath. The bonfire was lit again. A shot of strong liquor went down San’s throat.