The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 31

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Episode 31

The Towel Tribe (5)

“Haa…”

While a rescue team was being organized outside, Yoo Seong-woo found himself stranded in the swamp.

Fortunately, Nox was holding on tight, so they didn’t get separated, but he couldn’t figure out their current location.

“It’s a swamp.”

The humidity felt like it was over 100 percent. A sweltering heat that made sweat pour down just from standing still enveloped his entire body.

For other people, even moving in this environment would be difficult.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh, uegh.”

Nox was throwing up what he had eaten. This was because the mana circuits were disrupted as they were sucked into the Abyss.

Yoo Seong-woo lightly patted Nox’s back and rolled his eyes.

‘Swamp, a harsh environment that restricts movement. There are quite a few swamps where you can fall in and die if you’re not careful.’

There’s also a lot of vegetation he’s never seen before. The sounds of insects he’s never heard, the flow of air, and the faint sounds of beasts.

After quickly gathering information, he tucked Nox, who had finally regained his composure after throwing up, under his arm.

“It’s disadvantageous to move with those short legs, so I’ll carry you.”

“Can’t you carry me on your back?”

“That’s more uncomfortable.”

“Okay…”

Then, holding Ilseong in one hand, he jumped high and climbed onto a tree.

The view from the tree was a vast jungle. The forest, densely packed with trees of drab colors, looked like a maze designed to trap someone.

“…It would be difficult to escape from the forest without considerable skill.”

Since they were caught up in this, he wanted to save people if possible, but the trees were too dense and there were too many creatures, making it difficult to detect any signs of people.

“Hmm.”

Yoo Seong-woo controlled his breathing and lightly ran across the branches. After all, the trees were easier to move on than the swamp where his feet would sink, and the swamp was full of all sorts of creatures.

“Your relatives are down there. Relatives.”

He pointed down with his finger.

Nox looked down, frowned, and said.

“What makes you think they’re relatives!”

“They’re lizards. Reptiles.”

“They’re completely different species!”

Walking around on the swamp, flicking their tongues, were bipedal monsters with the appearance of reptiles.

Lizardmen who had some degree of civilization, equipped with armor made of animal skin and crude iron weapons.

The creatures tilted their heads at Yoo Seong-woo and Nox’s voices from above and threw the spears they were holding.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

However, the flying spears were easily deflected by Yoo Seong-woo’s sword.

“Sh-Shaking, again.”

“Hold it in. Swallow it.”

He casually replied to Nox’s words and lightly swung his sword, shattering the spines of the lizardmen who had thrown the spears with a gust of wind.

Looking down at them from the tree, he pondered for a moment before saying.

“Nox, it seems like we need to catch the boss of these guys.”

“…When are we going home?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to find the entrance to go back, but I don’t know where we came in from.”

“Then shouldn’t we wait for rescue instead of moving around recklessly?”

Nox was right. When caught up in the Abyss, you are taught not to move carelessly and to wait for the rescue team in a safe place.

However, Yoo Seong-woo had no intention of doing that.

“There are other people besides us who have entered this Abyss.”

“…So?”

“We’re deliberately drawing attention. If we cause a ruckus here, they’ll have to divert their forces.”

This is the best option right now.

This method was possible because the monster in the Abyss was not just a beast, but a lizardman with some degree of civilization.

They don’t seem to be very intelligent, but they should be able to call their comrades.

Yoo Seong-woo, having decided on a course of action, landed on a slightly damp ground without a swamp, and swung his sword to cut down a few trees.

Then the trees fell like dominoes, making a loud noise. The lizardmen began to rush in to see what the noise was.

Yoo Seong-woo gripped his sword tightly and smiled faintly.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

* * *

The priestess of the Towel Tribe, Yuwol, left the cafe to prepare something to lure Yoo Seong-woo, but was suddenly caught up in the Abyss.

The Moon Gate [a mystical portal or divination tool] listens to the sounds of the moon and predicts many things, but it couldn’t foresee everything.

She first struggled to escape from the Abyss with the civilians who were caught up with her.

“Where do you think you’re putting your hands on, you damn reptile bastards!”

Yuwol, at the head, grabbed the snout of a lizardman who was approaching and tore it apart with both hands, then surveyed the situation.

The situation was not good.

As soon as they entered the Abyss, many were injured by the harsh environment, and some were harmed by poisonous insects or poisonous plants.

Moreover, the environment here was so harsh that it was not easy to take a single step.

The sweltering heat and incredibly high humidity. A strange sensation that even confused the excellent senses of the Towel Tribe. Even the deep swamps where you would be dragged straight in if you took a wrong step.

‘At this rate, we’ll be annihilated…!’

It would have been easy for her to abandon the people and run away alone. Since there was no one to protect, she could fight as much as she wanted.

But she couldn’t do that.

She was a proud member of the Towel Tribe and a priestess who led the people.

Even if they were of a different race, she couldn’t leave the living behind as bait and run away.

“Uwaaaaaaack-!!”

While tearing apart the lizardmen at the front, a scream was heard from the back. The lizardmen, who had approached unnoticed, began to attack the relatively weak rear.

The flesh of the people was torn by the blunt weapons the creatures wielded, and blood soaked the swamp.

Yuwol immediately moved to the rear, but it was already too late.

The person pierced by the spear was dead, and others were being dragged into the swamp, or were suffering from wounds inflicted by the creatures.

They were dying from poisonous plants and poisonous insects.

The survivors were getting closer to death with each step. Yuwol saw her own people reflected in their 모습 [Korean word for appearance or figure]. The lives that disappeared without being able to do anything against a powerful enemy.

“N-No way. This can’t be happening.”

She frantically moved her body to exterminate the lizardmen in order to save even one person.

However, she was starting to feel overwhelmed. Even if Yuwol had excellent skills, her stamina would gradually decrease.

In that situation, the number of lizardmen did not decrease, but only increased.

The sight of them rushing in without regard to the corpses of their comrades around them was like that of berserkers.

“No-!!”

As her stamina gradually decreased, gaps began to appear. Taking advantage of her hesitation, one person, terrified, was pierced by a spear, and now only Yuwol was left.

She glared at the lizardmen who had begun to surround her, expressing her hatred.

She was filled with fighting spirit and prepared for a desperate battle.

Suddenly, the lizardmen all turned their heads and began to run in one direction.

“Wh-What is this…”

Yuwol, left alone on the blood-stained swamp, did not even think of chasing the lizardmen and collapsed to the ground.

Then, she looked at the corpses of those who had already died and bit her lip tightly.

“…Why did things turn out this way?”

Was it because she came to covet power beyond her means?

Was this a fate that could have been changed?

If her ‘Moon Gate’ had heard a deeper sound.

Could this tragedy have been prevented?

Such thoughts swirled in her head.

But soon, she shook off the noise in her head, got up from her seat, and walked in the direction the lizardmen had run.

The fact that they had all rushed off meant that something was definitely happening. She had to find out what was going on.

* * *

“Hwaaaaaaaack!!”

“Why are you screaming? I told you to hide safely in the back.”

“You’re the scariest one, mister!”

“Is that what you say to the person who’s protecting you? Really?”

Yoo Seong-woo glanced back.

Then Nox cowered as if he was even more scared.

It was natural. Currently, Yoo Seong-woo was covered in green fluids all over his body due to killing over a hundred lizardmen.

He looked like a monster that had just popped out of the swamp, so Nox even shed a few tears.

“By the way, they’re swarming in like crazy. I thought it would be just one colony at most, but it seems not.”

The plan to induce the lizardmen’s forces by constantly causing a disturbance was successful.

He deliberately let one or two live and induced them to bring their comrades, killing over a hundred, but they kept coming.

Although the momentum of the attack had decreased somewhat, the number seemed to be increasing, so he couldn’t even guess how many there were in total.

“At this rate, it’s not a colony, but a small city.”

Moreover, the equipment and skills of the creatures attacking were getting better and better.

Still, the fact that they were being cut down in one blow hadn’t changed…….

‘I don’t know how many of the people who came in are still alive.’

Especially if the people who were sucked into the Abyss fell into various unspecified locations inside the Abyss.

It was a difficult environment for non-divers [those not trained for such environments] to move around in.

And the lizardmen’s senses were so sensitive that they would quickly find and kill any intruders.

“Hoo.”

He took a breath and swung his sword greatly.

Then the swamp overturned, creating a huge wave. The wave that rose was sharply split by Yoo Seong-woo’s continued sword strikes, bisecting the approaching lizardmen.

“Ugh, ugh…….”

“…It’s about time to move to another place. Nox, come here.”

“Y-Yes…….”

Nox trembled, but steadily approached Yoo Seong-woo and was tucked into his waist.

With Nox tucked into his waist, he released the killing intent he had been deliberately hiding.

Yoo Seong-woo’s presence increased rapidly in an instant. The energy that began to densely fill the space suppressed the lizardmen, who had been rushing in even as their comrades died.

The difference in power was originally clear, and even the momentum was reversed.

Only then did the lizardmen instinctively realize that they were not beings they could face, and they turned around and began to run away.

Yoo Seong-woo chased after them with Nox tucked under his arm.

“I’m going to go and take out their leader.”

“What’s a leader?”

“Head.”

“Head, I see.”

The lizardmen were moving in a certain direction.

Yoo Seong-woo followed them, and then stopped at a familiar presence and turned around.

There was Yuwol, half of her body stuck in the swamp, unable to move.

“What are you doing here?”

“H-Help me. My body is stuck and I can’t move. I was moving when suddenly my body lost strength and I just fell into the swamp…….”

“You’ve been poisoned.”

Yoo Seong-woo clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for Yuwol.

In this kind of environment, the most important thing to be careful of is unfamiliar vegetation, especially poison.

He was always defending himself with his energy, so he didn’t allow any poison to enter.

As he squatted down for a moment and looked at Yuwol, she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“C-Could you pull me out……?”