Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 270

This sound is different.

That was the thought that crossed my mind as soon as Jang Han and I heard the cry and made eye contact.

It was a type of cry that neither I, who had defeated countless monsters, nor Jang Han, who had experienced all sorts of hellish situations, had ever heard before.

“Ah, no! No! It’s awake!”

The scouting party from the Nine Dragons Fort, who were not yet unconscious, screamed almost hysterically.

“Get a grip, Sura Commander.”

Jang Han frowned and grabbed the arm of the trembling warrior.

‘Sura Commander? If it’s the Sura Commander, isn’t that a warrior group with the status of a death squad from the main family?’

It was the main military force of the Nine Dragons Fort.

They were famous for being ferocious and tyrannical.

But, for the commander of such a group to be showing such a disgraceful appearance.

“It’s no good. We have to, we have to run away. This is really bad. Young Master. You felt it too, didn’t you? That thing…….”

The Sura Commander clung to Jang Han, almost begging, fidgeting.

“Regain your senses. Why are you so afraid? What on earth did you see there?”

The Sura Commander paused for a moment.

His eyes, looking at Jang Han, seemed to recall what he had seen, becoming dazed, and then his body trembled like an aspen tree.

“I can’t say. I mustn’t say. I don’t know what it is. I, I can’t do anything about it. We’re going to die. No, dying would be a blessing…….”

Jang Han clicked his tongue and said.

“Tell me more specifically, Sura Commander. Was that just a monster’s fear?”

“Monster? Fear? Hahaha. No. That, that’s just like stretching. Waking up from sleep and breathing was this much!”

The Sura Commander was now starting to raise his voice.

“So, so we have to go back quickly. Before it wakes up. Quickly, further away. As quickly as possible…….”

“……Don’t disappoint me any further, Sura Commander. What kind of disgrace is this with the enemy right in front of us.”

It was the moment Jang Han said in a cold voice.

“Damn it! I don’t care if you’re here or not, Young Master! I, I’m getting out of here. It’s coming. It’s awake……!”

Thud!

The Sura Commander pushed Jang Han’s arm away and turned around and ran.

It was then.

The earth shook, and the previous cry was heard on a fierce gust of wind.

──────!

The Sura Commander was right.

An ominous cry, incomparable to the first sound, pierced my ears.

BEEEEEEEEEP-!

Tinnitus followed, and I felt nausea rising from my stomach.

“Kugh!”

It felt like dozens of bugs had entered my head.

Like a human voice.

Like the cry of a beast.

Or like a mechanical sound or natural sound, an unpredictable, bizarre noise echoed and confused my mind.

‘Get a grip.’

I soon focused my eyes and stood up from my seat.

Woo-oong!

Subsequently, the black energy of the heart emanated through the empty magic circuit.

Soon the terrible energies that had penetrated my body receded, and before long, composure returned.

‘What was that just now? Fear? But fear is supposed to be transmitted through magic, isn’t it?’

I glanced around.

The warriors of the main family, including Choi Inha, were lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

And that was the same for the Nine Dragons Fort side.

Only one person.

Only Jang Han was breathing roughly and managed to stagger to his feet.

“Ku, ku…….”

But he’s not normal either.

Unlike me, who used black energy to push out the energy that had penetrated my body, Jang Han’s complexion was still pale.

“Hoo. What was that just now? Fear…… it wasn’t. Definitely.”

Jang Han asked, still frowning.

It wasn’t like he had directly faced the cry containing magic, but only encountered the echoed sound.

But for a moment, his will was broken, and he felt fear.

“I don’t know exactly either.”

It wasn’t that I had no idea.

But I couldn’t be sure.

If my guess was correct, there was no way for the people participating in this test to survive.

“You seem quite calm for someone who doesn’t know anything?”

“A warrior must always be calm.”

“You’re good with words.”

Jang Han turned his head and stared beyond the forest where the fear had spread.

“But…… if that’s fear, what kind of monster is inside there?”

“…….”

I frowned for a moment, then clicked my tongue and replied.

“More than that, take care of the warriors first. They all look like they’re about to die.”

I checked the condition of the main family’s warriors.

I saw Choi Inha regaining consciousness.

“Do, Young…… Master…….”

He had woken up, but his eyes were shaking.

For someone as strong-willed as Choi Inha to be shaking so much.

A stream of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

He must have regained his senses with the pain of biting his lip.

“You’ve worked hard.”

I immediately pushed the Choi family’s power into the bodies of the main family’s warriors, including Choi Inha, to restore them.

The main family’s warriors, who had been convulsing as if they had epilepsy, soon began to regain their senses.

“W-what happened? What was that just now…….”

Choi Inha, who had regained his senses, asked with a bewildered expression.

I couldn’t give a definite answer yet either.

So…… I had to confirm.

“Return to the main family right now. Take care of the troops following behind. Even if you encounter enemies in the middle, do not engage and return to the main camp as quickly as possible.”

“What are you planning to do, Young Master?”

“I…….”

At that moment, I felt a gaze from behind. Jang Han was casting his gaze at me from afar.

My gaze and Jang Han’s intertwined in the air for a brief moment.

Without even exchanging words, we simultaneously came to some agreement.

“I…… will go with the Nine Dragons Fort’s Young Master to check the place where this fear was heard.”

Choi Inha’s eyes widened.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’m going to check the existence that set off that thing just now.”

Thud!

Choi Inha grabbed my arm.

With a tense face, he said urgently.

“No way. No matter how strong Young Master is, that thing just now is clearly strange. At least the direct line members…….”

“It’ll be too late by then. Clearly, that thing we heard just now is the condition of ‘survival’ that the aerial fortress’s test spoke of. Then the main family will be in danger. Go and tell them.”

I let go of Choi Inha’s arm and stood up from my seat.

Jang Han also left the warriors around him behind and stood up from his seat.

Jang Han said with a strange expression.

“I never thought I’d be joining forces with you.”

“Same here.”

Well, I had an ambiguous relationship with him.

Too brutal to call him a friend, too friendly to call him an enemy.

Anyway, he was a trustworthy guy once he became an ally.

“Let’s go.”

I said that and kicked off the ground.

I took a step quickly into the darkness of the ancient jungle, reminiscent of an unexplored zone.

* * *

The yellow glow of the aerial fortress’s dwarves wearing robes intensified.

“It’s out.”

The dwarf presiding over the first test was reaching out to the crystal ball.

According to his gesture, the energy rippling inside the crystal ball began to change.

All that could be seen inside was a hazy stream of energy, but the dwarf kept staring inside as if he could see something.

“They’ll figure it out. The secret.”

“They moved first. Two people.”

“There. Running. The serpent’s cub and the returner.”

They sparkled their eyes.

The dwarf who was touching the crystal ball muttered quietly.

“It would be good if they could find it. More detail is needed. The record. More power must be added to the record…….”

“It’s already awake.”

“It will start from that.”

“When we show the end of the first test.”

Woo-oong!

The entire castle vibrated.

The dwarf who was touching the crystal ball reached out and snatched something from the air.

It was another crystal ball.

Unlike the crystal balls that emitted a hazy milky light, this crystal ball emitted a jet-black dark light.

Crack!

That black crystal ball dug into the hazy crystal ball.

“It will start. A proper. Now the test.”

The crystal ball begins to move.

Inside the crystal ball.

Small, vaguely visible dots move busily.

Each one, when looked at closely, was taking on the shape of a human.

* * *

The Sixth Sense of the Soongmoo Lee family holds a power close to an ability.

Although it is only a very short moment, it sometimes conveys a conviction close to foresight.

Now that I have no magic, and I cannot receive the help of the magic eye, I was feeling an unprecedentedly intense warning from my sixth sense.

‘……This feels like crap.’

The problem is that the warning…… is making me feel an emotion close to joy.

If I think rationally, I should feel danger no matter what anyone says, but my sixth sense wanted me to approach the side where the cry was heard even faster.

And the discrepancy between this sensation and my body was further solidifying my speculation.

“Are you okay?”

Jang Han asked.

I nodded nonchalantly.

“……Those Sura bastards. Even though their magic is gone, they left traces like this.”

We were following the traces left by the Sura Squad while scouting.

But soon, we lost the need to follow those traces.

Because it was so clear, the quality of the air had changed.

Both I and Jang Han exchanged glances with unprecedentedly tense expressions.

A haze-like energy was overflowing around us.

It was a dark mist, as if it were swallowing light.

The more we moved, the thicker the fog became.

“Wait.”

Jang Han stopped me.

I looked at the bush that Jang Han was heading towards.

There, several corpses were lying, damaged beyond recognition.

“……Sura Squad.”

Jang Han picked up a piece of military uniform lying on the floor and frowned.

Some of those who went out on patrol had not returned.

Did they fight here?

Stop!

And the next moment, I and Jang Han stopped walking at the same time.

Without even exchanging opinions, we kicked off the ground at the same time.

Kwaaaang!

Something bounced out of the darkness of the bush and tore through the spot where we were standing.

-Kieeeeeek!

A strange cry, a huge body, and a reptile’s rough scales covering its skin.

Earlister, an ancient monster.

Woo-oong!

As soon as I landed on the ground, I kicked off the ground and charged at the monster.

Black energy clumped like mud in my outstretched right hand, forming a shape similar to my second sister’s Giant Mountain [a powerful attack or technique].

“Jang Han! I’m counting on you!”

The Sword of Decapitation was swung low as if it would touch the ground, striking the monster’s lower body.

-Kiek!

A sensation of being crushed rather than cut.

The monster’s body tilted, and Jang Han’s long sword plunged down onto the top of its head.

Poooook!

The guy, whose crown was pierced as if skewered on a skewer, suddenly opened his eyes wide and began to struggle.

-Kyaak! Keieeeek! Kiiiiiek!

Movements that were too violent to be called post-mortem convulsions.

I and Jang Han moved far away, and the Earlister, who had been convulsing for a while, soon slumped down and met his death.

“……What an absurd guy. His brain was pierced, but he moved for several seconds after that?”

“Quiet.”

I silenced Jang Han and focused all my senses on the front.

Jang Han, who had been frowning for a moment, also looked ahead in surprise a beat later.

‘Stench…….’

It seemed to have come on the wind from the front.

Beyond that, I could hear a series of rough breaths that made the back of my neck tingle.

Not one or two.

Countless presences.

“…….”

Both I and Jang Han hesitated for a moment, reaching out to the bushes that were blocking the front.

I could instinctively know.

‘That’ is beyond this.

I shouldn’t see it.

Going back like this…… is safe.

‘Useless.’

I suppressed such a powerless feeling with my mental strength and bit my lip.

There’s no way I can go back from here.

I had to see it with my own eyes.

Chwaak!

I spread black energy throughout my body and cleared the bushes as they were.

* * *

-Krrr…….

-Kiiii…….

Monster, monster, monster…….

No matter where I looked, there were only monsters.

Endless.

So many ancient monsters that the word ‘vast ocean’ was fitting.

The forest was covered with something like black-stained mucus, and the monsters, densely packed on top of it, were all nodding and staring somewhere.

‘Center?’

It was the moment I was about to turn my head to check where their gazes were directed.

Tak, tak, tak!

I heard a strange sound of something colliding.

The moment I turned my head towards the sound, I realized that the one making the sound was Jang Han.

Jang Han’s hand was shaking, and the long sword he was holding hit the ground.

As if he had lost his mind, Jang Han was looking up ahead without even realizing that he was trembling.

“…….”

Slowly, I turned my head towards where Jang Han’s gaze was directed.

Feeling an intuition that I shouldn’t see it, and at the same time, an unidentified attraction…….

The moment I finally looked ahead, I was able to see ‘that’ standing beyond the monster’s army.

Darkness.

Even though the sunlight is so brilliant, only that place is dark, as if the light doesn’t reach it.

Kuuuuung!

A heavy vibration echoed.

That’s the sound of ‘that’ breathing.

That wasn’t darkness.

A shapeless life form that doesn’t have a fixed form.

Every time I blinked and looked anew, the shape of that thing was reflected in my eyes in different forms.

“Wh-what on earth…… what is that…….”

Jang Han muttered in a trembling voice.

I know that thing.

‘Why the hell…….’

My mouth went dry.

That thing.

The mother of all monsters, with many names.

That was the source of black energy, and the existence that destroyed this world several times.

‘Why is that in the aerial fortress?’

The ominous speculation became a certainty.

That wriggling, dark thing pulsed unpleasantly.

‘It’s looking at me.’

I thought ‘that’ was looking at me.

The next moment.

-Kieeeeeeeek!

The countless monsters turned their heads towards me and Jang Han.