00011 <-- Episode 11: Hunting the Demon (2) -->
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The Barkelon expedition force fought bravely.
Under the command of Captain Ted, all soldiers fought against the brutal group of demons without sparing their lives.
In the end, they won.
“I finished them all!”
After the last wolf was killed, the soldiers cheered.
The corpses of demons were strewn all over the forest. Twenty or so Ignis Wolves were the total number of demons they had detected. The subjugation was a great success.
Ted shouted, catching his breath.
“Report the damage!”
There were three serious injuries and seven minor injuries. Fortunately, there were no deaths.
“Not a bad result.”
During the first Demon Slayer expedition, he only had ten men under his command and the main force was just him and Magian Nagran. On the other hand, Ignis Wolf had over twenty. That’s why he had no choice but to lose.
But now the number of soldiers has increased to thirty, and the number of opponents has decreased to ten.
The other half was taken care of by two freelancers.
Ted was pleased, saying that it was worth the money.
“Wait? What happened to those freelancers?”
By the way, I don’t see Shihan or Alita. The last thing I saw was Alita stabbing the leader wolf with her sword deep into his head.
One by one, soldiers who were still excited about the battle began to report.
“The boss wolf was biting the girl.”
“The man was chasing the boss wolf.”
“All the other wolves are dead.”
It was a report worse than not hearing it.
‘… … What happened?’
Those who were conscripted while doing farm work would not have the broad perspective to understand the situation during battle. They would have been preoccupied with fighting the demons right in front of them.
‘Oh, I should go find those two, they might be in danger?’
No matter how much he ignored Free Hire, he wasn’t so evil that he would treat human life lightly. However, there were seriously injured people here, so it wasn’t easy to move around carelessly.
‘Yes, a great lord would take care of the lives of his subjects first.’
There was no guarantee that the two would be in danger. I hate to admit it, but their skills were by no means inferior to mine.
Considering the depth of the sword wound in his head, there was no way that the leader of the demons could live long.
‘It was probably his last struggle before he died.’
In that case, the two of them would likely wander around the forest for a while and then quickly return to their territory. It’s unlikely that someone with that level of skill would get into trouble in the forest.
Ted gave the order, making excuses so earnestly.
“Everyone, prepare to return!”
***
A giant demon runs through the forest like the wind. A girl bitten by its snout flailed her limbs helplessly.
Sihan chased the wolf furiously, jumping over bushes and kicking the ground. He clicked his tongue inwardly as he climbed over rocks.
‘Damn, I don’t have enough stamina so I can’t go any faster.’
I had been running behind him for nearly ten minutes.
He is deploying the sprinting technique he learned in his old days, including the whirlwind. He has also taken off the talisman hanging on his face. There is no need to waste your fighting skills when no one is watching.
Thanks to this, I haven’t lost my opponent yet, but the distance between us isn’t getting any closer.
Obstacles and steep terrain are not a big problem. They can be easily compensated for with honed experience. However, the movement speed is affected by the absolute amount of speculation.
You can run the shortest distance and most efficiently, but you can’t increase your speed itself.
But I couldn’t give up on Alita. How did I return to Terrano? Didn’t I suffer for ten years?
‘You were prepared to expose yourself naked in broad daylight in front of people! Do you really think you’ll be sent back so absurdly?’
Somehow, it seemed like the trauma from the past ten years was greater. Anyway, Sihan continued to chase after Ignis Wolf, gritting his teeth.
How long did he run? Little by little, the wolf began to slow down. After all, he couldn’t run that long with a knife stuck in his forehead.
The time has come for the sword to be drawn.
“Dragon Breath!”
The invisible sword stretched out to nearly two meters. Incredible aura flowed down the blade. It would be difficult for even a knight of average skill to stretch the aura that far.
Although it was an amazing ability, Shihan rather had an expression of disappointment on his face.
“Oh, is this all there is?”
If everything had gone as planned, a giant sword of light over 10 meters long should have been formed.
The brilliantly shining blue light became an incredible power that could cut through all things, and with that power, Shihan was able to hunt countless otherworldly monsters summoned by the old Gwangje.
Compared to that time, it is a sadly pathetic power.
“We need to increase the amount of speculation, otherwise it won’t work out.”
Still, it was enough power to take down a boss-level Ignis Wolf. With the Dragon Sword deployed, Shihan ran ahead of the wolf and blocked its path.
Ignis Wolf hesitated, threw Alita in his mouth onto the floor, and opened his mouth.
“Awww!”
Howling and eerie fangs swarm the time limit.
Shihan quickly approached the wolf, dodging the attack by jumping to the side. As he swung his sword diagonally, the thick wolf skin tore like paper and blood gushed out.
“Koooooo!”
The wolf let out a scream and repeatedly swung its front claws. Its size was larger than that of an average bull, so its range was considerable, but even the sword of the time-limited fighter that unleashed the Dragon’s Embrace was not inferior to that of the Ignis Wolf in terms of reach.
“Taaaat!”
Keeping his distance, he continued to attack the wolf’s left and right.
As the wounds grew, the red wolf turned even redder.
Eventually, the wolf charged at Shihan with determination. It approached him while ignoring the throwing sword and let out a loud roar.
“Aww!”
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A torrent of red flames poured down, targeting Shihan. He could have avoided it if he had wanted to, but Shihan deliberately did not take any action to defend himself.
“Sorry, that doesn’t work.”
Just throw yourself into the flames. The heatwave splits and explodes, straying left and right.
Kwakwakwakwang!
The wolf panicked and showed an opening. Shihan flew away with a smile of satisfaction.
“Huh!”
The figure of a black-haired young man flying above the astonished demon’s eyes was reflected. At the same time, the dragon’s head cut off the thick neck of Ignis Wolf with a single blow.
Paaaaah!
A huge fountain of blood gushed out as if a flood had occurred. The headless body of the wolf slowly collapsed.
As soon as he finished dealing with his opponent, Shihan immediately ran to the opposite side. Towards the blonde girl who was lying in the distance.
“Alita!”
After helping her up from the fall, he put his ear to her mouth and carefully checked her breathing.
“Alita?”
I could hear small, colorful breathing. My heart was also beating smoothly.
“… … You’re alive.”
He didn’t seem to be seriously injured, just fainted from the shock of the lightning. Of course, he must have been shocked to some extent, but that was easily overcome by Sword Hire’s resilience.
“Phew.”
Shihan sighed in relief and smiled bitterly.
“You shouldn’t be so cocky from now on. You almost went home because you were being carefree.”
***
After laying Alita down gently under the tree, Shihan started a bonfire. He thought that since there was an injured person, they would need warmth.
After briefly lighting it with magic, I look at Alita again.
‘Still, I can’t let my guard down since I was bitten by a demon.’
Her condition was better than expected. The combat uniform she was wearing was a little torn and her skin was a little damaged? There was no damage to her muscles or bones.
Considering that he was taken by Ignis Wolf, he was surprisingly intact.
“I guess you were trying to take it alive from the beginning. But why?”
Ignis wolves do not have a habit of storing prey. However, since they live in packs, they do have a habit of offering food to the leader.
So, is it that you are running slowly to offer it to someone?
“He was the leader, wasn’t he? He wouldn’t have anyone to pay tribute to.”
Although he was puzzled for a moment, Shihan quickly put his worries aside.
“What does it matter? If you’ve done it, that’s the end of it.”
After distracting himself from the dead demon, Shihan waited for Alita to wake up while warming himself by the campfire.
It was much later, as the evening sun began to set beyond the forest, that she woke up.
“Ugh… … .”
“Oh? Are you awake? How are you feeling?”
After moving her body around, Alita answered with relief.
“I don’t think there are any serious injuries. My body still hurts here and there, though.”
“If I get struck by lightning, that’s fine.”
Alita was impressed by Shihan’s joke. It was truly humiliating to be defeated by the likes of Ignis Wolf after becoming a Sword Hier.
She grumbled, pouting.
“No, why on earth did Ignis Wolf use lightning… … .”
“I guess it’s a mutant demon. Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”
Shihan looked around, accepting the message roughly. And he looked embarrassed.
“Anyway, what do we do now?”
While waiting for Alita to wake up, the sun had already set. The forest was already dark except for the campfire.
There is one truth that does not change, whether you are a common person or a swordsman, or on Earth or Terranor.
The point is that if you enter the deep forest at night without a map, there is no way out.
“What should I do, Shihan? Should I go back to the territory?”
“It’s dangerous to wander the forest at night.”
Alita was familiar with the geography on Mount Depilan, so she was able to move around even at night, but it was impossible here.
First of all, you can’t find your way.
In Korea, where civilization is advanced, there are city lights even in the middle of the night, so if you roughly follow the lights, you will eventually find a place where people live.
However, Terranor is different. The human habitat is not as large as Korea, and the amount of light is also very different.
Even if you climb to the top of a tree and look around, it’s hard to find any light.
“Then should we wait until tomorrow morning?”
“It might not be very safe to light a fire and sit down in the deep forest… … .”
Shihan shrugged.
“If it’s equally dangerous, wouldn’t it be better to conserve stamina? Let’s stay here for a night and move when the sun rises.”
***
The night was getting deeper. Sihan and Alita sat around the campfire, silently igniting the fire. Suddenly, Alita’s shoulders slumped.
“hungry.”
The two men left their luggage from Kagon City at the Bakelon Estate. Since they had only participated in the expedition in combat gear, they had not brought emergency food supplies with them.
“I never thought I would get separated from my group when entering the forest within the territory.”
Sihan nodded slightly as he watched Alita grumbling.
“If you’re really hungry, you can grill that and eat it.”
What he was pointing to was the corpse of Ignis Wolf, whose throat had been cut off. Alita rolled her eyes. The blood of the demon was venomous to humans, so it could not be consumed carelessly.
“Who are you going to send to goal?”
“Actually, if you handle it well, you can eat it.”
It just doesn’t taste very good.
In the past, Shihan and his colleagues were so hungry that they tried it once, but two of them fainted and three of them hallucinated. The wise Magians, Lilstein and Saparan, ended up not eating it.
“Oh, I saw my house in Korea for a moment.”
“Are you telling me to eat something like that?”
Of course, it was just a joke to break the awkward atmosphere. We both ate a full breakfast and lunch, so skipping a meal or two is no problem.
Once the awkward atmosphere had dissipated, Alita stared at Shihan. Then she cautiously opened her mouth.
“Hey, what’s the deadline?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Alita continued.
“I didn’t really need to know before. I thought we would break up soon. But now that we’re colleagues, I think I should know the reason.”
Shihan chuckled. He guessed what she wanted to ask.
As expected, Alita asked the question he had expected.
“Why are you hiding your identity?”
The Rusclan Empire has fallen. The enemies that the old Seongshihan fought for with his life are no longer anywhere in Terranor.
If there were any, it would only be the six kingdoms established by the colleagues at that time.
“If it were a deadline, you would be treated as a state guest wherever you go in the world, so why on earth do you hide your identity?”
Shihan replied softly.
“Yes, we were colleagues.”
For a moment, Alita was startled. A fierce emotion that she couldn’t describe rose over Sihan’s face, visible through the campfire.
“We fought together, risking our lives… … We were truly precious comrades… … .”
***
Alita deserved to know the truth. So Shihan calmly continued the story from ten years ago.
“We burned the heart of the madman Rustanad and won.”
The story wasn’t that long.
It wasn’t particularly long. It was a short period of time, at most a few minutes, between killing the light agent, his comrades betraying him, and Shihan’s return to Earth.
But that wasn’t the case for Shihan.
The last day was like a nightmare, where I was so happy that I felt like I had gained everything in the world, but then I lost everything and had to return to Earth.
Even though ten years had passed, that day still felt like an eternity to him.
“… … In the end, that’s how I ended up returning to Earth.”
As he finished his explanation, Shihan muttered in despair.
“I still don’t understand. Why they betrayed me… … Why they changed so much… … . It’s been ten years, but I still can’t understand… … .”
A hollow look wavered over the empty smile. Alita nodded calmly. And then asked seriously.
“Why don’t you understand that?”
“……huh?”
“It’s completely clear why he betrayed me. Wasn’t Shihan the strongest of the Seven Heroes of the Revolution and the most famous?”
Seong Si-han, the savior of the other world, was one of only three god-level swordsmen in Terranor, and was the floor master of the 9th floor, the ultimate magician.
Also, because he came from another world, he was regarded by the people of the empire as a kind of messiah, a savior sent by God.
Although they are often grouped together and remembered as the Seven Heroes of the Revolution, in reality, their abilities and reputations were far superior to those of their peers.
“If there is such a deadline, the other six will have to live as number two. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just deal with the deadline and reign as number one?”
Instead, Alita asked back with a look of not understanding.
“It’s such a normal and human choice. What on earth don’t you understand about it?”
“… … .”
Shihan was silent. No, are you saying that betraying a friend because of your greed is normal and humane? Of course, if you look at the reason, it’s not wrong… … .
“But don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate to say something like that in this atmosphere?”
“Why? Isn’t that the logical answer?”
It’s certainly logical, but it’s definitely not a normal reaction. It’s too much to take too seriously when you’re still in a serious situation…
But judging from her expression, it seemed like Alita Tan really thought that way. Shihan burst out laughing in shock.
“… … You are so logically fourth-dimensional.”
“What is the fourth dimension?”
“Sorry, that’s Korean nonsense. Don’t worry about it.”
Still, thanks to that, my depressed mood has subsided considerably. Sihan said, chuckling.
“Yeah, to be honest, I do know the reason.”
I had ten years to think about it. If I still don’t know why, I’m an idiot.
“At that time, I had no intention of going into hiding or anything like that, saying that I had brought down the empire.”
Shihan also dreamed of becoming king. It wasn’t because he had any particular desire for power…
“Because Levina wanted it.”
Born a thief and living at the bottom, she had a strong desire for power and showing off.
Although she was born with a genius talent and reached the level of a superhuman swordsman in her late teens, she still could not escape the limitations of her birth.
A splendid palace, numerous servants, dazzling jewels and gold and silver treasures, and the respect and awe of the people.
Levina dreamed of all that, and Sihan, who loved her, wanted to make it happen.
And certainly, if he wanted to become king, as Alita said, the other comrades would have had to remain second in command.
“The thing I really don’t understand is this.”
Shihan muttered gloomily.
“What the hell was I looking at? How could I have spent all these years without noticing? How could I not have read the heart of the person I love?”
There is absolutely no way they would have made that decision on the spur of the moment.
In the first place, the return magic is not a magic that can be created by studying it for a day or two. The story is that Lisstein had been preparing to return Shihan for a long time.
Of course, at first, he may have started his research purely for the sake of the deadline, to send him home.
But at that time, the six heroes joined hands as soon as the signal was given.
It means that it was definitely discussed in advance. And yet no one gave him a word.
At least before the final battle, it is clear that they were trying to betray the time limit.
“Phew… … .”
Sighing, Shihan straightened his back.
The campfire was starting to die down. He looked at Alita as he added more fuel to rekindle the fire.
“Well, that’s kind of the story.”
Alita nodded.
“Yes. So Shihan returned to Terranor for revenge. In that case, he must definitely hide his identity.”
As she finished speaking, she turned her gaze back to the campfire. Her expression was so indifferent that Shihan was taken aback. It was a story she had brought up in a serious way…
“Isn’t your expression too calm considering you understand?”
“Huh? What’s strange about someone who was betrayed wanting revenge?”
Instead, Alita makes a dumbfounded expression. Perhaps she doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation, so Shihan continues.
“No, I’m saying that I’m going to be hostile to the Six Kingdoms from now on. That’s no different from saying that I’m going to fight all of Terranor.”
However, it seemed that Alita did not not understand the situation.
“Aren’t all the Six Kingdoms my enemies anyway? I’ve been fighting the entire Terranor for ten years now.”
“Isn’t the situation completely different than when you were hiding by yourself?”
“I’m already caught up in the time limit, and I have no choice. So I have to do my best according to the current situation. Then I’ll either live or die.”
She understood the situation well. And yet she accepted everything calmly without much agitation. In short, it was like this.
My life is f*cked anyway.
Even if I f*ck around here more, nothing will really change.
So, no matter what bad things happen, I have to understand everything and live faithfully every day!
Now I understand Alita’s weird personality a little better. Shihan stuck out his tongue.
“… … You really have a negative personality that’s optimistic.”
Alita responded with a surprised expression.
“Wow, my dad said the same thing.”
“Rustanad?”
“Not that crazy guy, but my real dad. Keranyo.”
A gentle smile appeared on Alita’s face. It seemed that Keran truly cared for and loved her. Without realizing it, Shihan also had a gentle expression on his face.
It was during that time.
Suddenly, Shihan’s face hardened.
“hmm?”
“What’s wrong, Shihan?”
Alita asked in confusion. Shihan glared at the darkness beyond, his eyes wide open.
“Someone is coming?”
