Etranger

Episode 2. Book 4: Choice – Chapter 8

The two stood with dumbfounded expressions. The intermittent, misty rain fell through the rapidly disappearing illusory world.

‘They’re really strong! Are these Sages?’

Only the expression ‘overwhelming’ was appropriate in describing the enemy’s level of strength and aura. San and Biyeon felt suffocated. Their bodies trembled on their own. With his lips tightly closed, San looked alternately at the three people in front of him. He stopped on the person sitting in the middle. 

The man, who was over two-and-a-half meters tall, was sitting on a large tombstone with one knee propped up on the tombstone. Dite’s pale, white neck was held like a toy in his right hand, naturally stretched forward in his hand with his upright knee propping his arm. Dite was shaking like a ragged doll. Her feet were dangling above the ground and one side of her chest was exposed through her torn clothes. She had her eyes open, but her eyes were out of focus.

“Why?” asked Biyeon. 

This was a question that had several meanings.

“I have to collect defective products that don’t communicate effectively. Did it surprise you?” A woman next to the giant man said. She wore a silver-gray one-piece dress, which showed off her noble figure. However, her expression was cold and indifferent.

A white fog rose above her silhouette. She had delicate pink skin that was slightly revealed along her shoulder line. Her skin was not wet from the rain. The steam rising from her body gave off a purple, dreamy atmosphere in harmony with the surrounding dark landscape.

“It’s like a freak horror show. Our grim reaper wears black clothes, it seems like this neighborhood’s reaper is a bit different?” San lightly touched his sword and muttered. Contrary to his sarcastic remarks, he looked at Biyeon anxiously. She was frozen still from nervousness.

“…”

"Hey! Lieutenant Biyeon Kim! Wake up and ease your expression. Doesn’t it just mean death? It looks like we really fell into the deep end this time though… fuck…”

“I don’t want to die as a virgin. So why… Please, let us go,” Biyeon responded bluntly. 

Biyeon frowned at the man holding Dite. Dite’s body, with her head slightly bent, occasionally spasmed as if she was being shocked by electricity, repeatedly contracting and relaxing her muscles. Perhaps the man was playing around with his energy.

“We won’t kill you guys, so don’t be so scared. You both are very valuable specimens. We need to keep you both alive for a proper experiment,” the other man next to the giant in the middle said.

“That’s good news…”

“Not so. Being alive will make you feel more pain. Let’s see… If you’re already an Awakened Warrior, then it means you’ve already reached the Councilor level, so you both won’t die of natural deaths for at least a hundred years. There are so many others who are curious about what’s going on in your bodies. They’re all waiting in line, including us. What do you think? Don’t you think it’ll be fun?”

“We’re going to live that long? That sounds great. However, I don’t want to live to an age when I’ll be throwing my shit against the wall! We’ll politely decline.” San responded calmly with a bitter tone.

“The road to becoming a hero is not well paved. Furthermore, it’s impossible to evade us with your abilities. Just think of it as your fate. Those who Awaken with nectar live better than they had ever lived before. Even things that are forbidden in your world are possible. Anything your instincts tell you to do is possible. Why would you hate this kind of life?” the woman responded. The woman called ‘Sil’, short for ‘Siluroy’, stood up slowly, swept her blond hair back, and laughed.

“What can I do? It doesn’t sound very appealing?” Biyeon said as she stepped back. She was still short of breath. Her stamina didn’t fully recover.

“I was curious when I heard some famous children were coming over, but it seems that they’re still not very good. Well, it was said that you both are good with illusory techniques and thinking up alternative solutions, so you both aren’t acting normal right now, right? I’m looking forward to seeing your true colors.”

Biyeon looked at San. He was silently looking at his sword. There seemed to be no intention of avoiding the inevitable. Meanwhile, the other man jumped in front of them.

“We didn’t properly introduce ourselves, right? At one time, they called us Sages. My name is Sul, and that girl’s name is Sil. We’ll be the ones showing you around.”

He slowly took one step forward. His movements were beautiful. He looked like a Greek-era male sculpture.

“Stop your barking…” The man in the middle opened his mouth. Sil and Sul stopped moving.

‘Dammusa’, abbreviated as ‘Dam,’ gave off a completely different aura.

The man shook his hand and threw ‘Dite’ off to the side.

“Take her away. I hate those who are uselessly interested in our work.”

Dite’s body flew in front of the two. Her body rolled a few times on the rocky floor like a ragged doll and then stopped in front of San’s foot. Dite was still trembling with her eyes wide open. Her neck and limb joints were shattered and folded in random angles. Her chiton gown was terribly torn, revealing her thighs.

San stared at Dam. Dam was smiling back. There was no change in San’s expression. San bent down on one knee and held Dite in his arms. He put a hand under her neck, cleared away her blood-tangled hair, and straightened her neck bones and neck. Then he started placing her bent limbs back in their original, natural place. He tore off parts of Dite’s ragged clothes and straightened her broken bones in place. He hugged her body, which was still shuddering from excruciating pain.

Then he moved her to a flat area. The Sages didn’t pay much attention to his actions.

‘Why?’ Light briefly returned to Dite’s hazy eyes while she was still in his arms. Her little lips fluttered for a moment. San smiled.

“Our contract period isn’t over yet. Three years, right? Until then, shouldn’t we help each other and strive to live? Nevertheless…”

“…”

“It seems like it’ll take us a while to get your revenge. Please understand.”

Biyeon took over for San and carefully laid Dite’s body on some dry ground nearby a rock. She took out the nectar she had and poured it into Dite’s mouth to give her some energy.

Biyeon’s movements were slow, but she continuously moved. Her movements were like flowing water, constantly moving. However, in the silence, something else may be flowing. As it was their preferred way of communicating…

The three Sages looked at the two of them with interest.

“Certainly, they are different. What does it look like to you two?”

“I think they’re having a conversation. It was on Nil’s record. There seems to be a channel we don’t know about that they can use.”

“But how can they be so calm? Is it possible to maintain internal homeostasis even after being exposed to the waves of ‘Dragon Fear’ we sent at them?”

“I don’t remember any humans who acted this way after even one wave. I guess it’ll be pretty fun and interesting for us, right?”

“Ah… they only seem to be at the 4th Stage of Acceleration, right?”

“It’s better that way. We’ll have to conduct physical examinations and dissect them, so we’ll have to catch and hold onto them…”

Sil and Sul stretched their bodies and stood up. In front of them, San and Biyeon were taking deep breaths while holding their swords in one hand and hugging each other’s backs with the other hand. On their shoulders, the misty rain was evaporating. Their cloudy aura started spreading out like a storm.

Episode 2. Book 4: Choice – Chapter 9

“Are you ready?”

[If it wasn’t for that ‘Dam’ guy, I think we’d have a pretty good shot.]

Biyeon raised her head and commented her opinion to San on their private channel.

“Yeah… I feel bad. It’s like I’m walking into my own death, right?”

[Let’s stick to the goal…] San communicated briefly. Biyeon smiled lightly.

“Well, we have to go through it at least once, no?”

“Let’s go!”

San went out first. Biyeon followed closely behind. They took off their heavy outfits. They were wearing only their swords, gloves, and simple clothes. It was like that day in the forest plaza…

“They don’t want to be specimens! This is too much fun! How interesting!”

Sil walked out leisurely with her hands behind her back. Sul followed closely behind.

As if he wasn’t interested in the battle, Dam pulled out a strange-looking cube and seemed to be trying to match different patterns, like a modern-day Rubik Cube.

Kwang-

San burst forward after stamping on the ground. Biyeon followed closely. Their bodies were already at the 4th Stage of Acceleration. Sil’s hair slightly fluttered as she approached the rushing San.

San swung his sword without hesitation. Sil was his opponent. He rotated the blade on an axis to slice her body into pieces. He had already broken the speed of sound.

His sword went out first as the sound followed later. The opponent was a woman and was unarmed. However, San’s aggressive strike was decisive and unwavering.

Sil raised both her hands and waved them lightly as if shaking some water droplets off herself. She looked at San blatantly…

San’s sword glided smoothly between her fingers and away from his original target.

But…

‘Hoh-?’

Sil’s eyes grew slightly larger. With a time-difference attack, Biyeon’s sword came from behind San, targeting Sil’s right chest area with a piercing strike.

This was where the second heart of this race was located. In fact, while in the process of moving forward, Sil’s body suddenly moved backward, barely avoiding Biyeon’s attack.

However, due to the opponent’s next successive movement, Sil had to hurriedly twist her waist to avoid the incoming attack. At the same time, Biyeon’s sword swiped down from above like an ax.

Sil twisted her body and avoided it, but the passing aura left a scar on her shoulders and legs. Sil’s relaxed expression quickly hardened.

‘Oh! These guys are stronger than we presumed! They’re using different levels of acceleration in consecutive attacks…’

San’s sword, which had been lightly deflected with her finger in the first attack, had bent twice in space and approached Sil at a much faster rate than expected. Furthermore, Biyeon’s sword was seemingly striking a larger range with her stabs. They were both attacking above the upper limits that Sil and Sul expected.