Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 275

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Episode 275

The moment I met Ron, the dark entity’s aura that had been stimulating the Black Aura vanished as if it had been washed away.

A situation where chasing it was pointless.

I decided to ignore it for now and focus on Ron.

I headed to the outskirts of this unknown ancient city with Ron.

The city’s interior was too noisy for a conversation, and more importantly, I wanted to explore the city to understand the current situation.

As we walked towards the outer wall.

Ron was… different than usual.

The usually talkative guy was quiet, and he even flinched every time I reacted to something.

“I thought it was Nordic… but that helmet is a style found in Celtic artifacts. What do you think?”

“Yes, yes? Oh, oh, it is, haha!”

Flinch!

Whenever I paused, Ron would exaggeratedly stop and be on guard.

After walking a few more steps, when I stopped again to look around.

Flinch!

Ron flinched, stepping back at every little thing.

I finally sighed and turned around.

“…Why are you acting so strange?”

“Wh-What are you talking about! Lee Cheol?”

“Why are you being so wary of me?”

Ron hesitated for a moment at those words, then slowly backed away and said.

“Uhm, well, aren’t you being a bit… intense, Lee Cheol?”

“What?”

“First of all, we’re participating as representatives of different organizations, aren’t we? I thought you’d try to kill me as soon as you saw me….”

I let out a dry laugh.

Ron tensed up at the dry laugh and swallowed hard.

“Even so, would I start a fight without even hearing a word from a friend? What do you think of me?”

“Someone without blood or tears….”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. A cool and decisive, true leader of this era… ahem!”

Ron, who had been rambling, coughed awkwardly as if he was embarrassed.

From Lee Cheol’s perspective, it might seem a bit strange, but in fact, Ron had no choice but to be nervous.

Ron still remembered Lee Cheol’s appearance at the conference.

That radical and resolute demeanor.

Deep down, he felt relieved, but in any case, Lee Cheol’s power and actions were truly unconventional.

In that situation, since the Russell family had also participated in the aerial fortress competition… he couldn’t be sure that Lee Cheol’s sword wouldn’t be pointed at him.

‘He might say, ‘Die, competitor,’ or ‘Sorry about this,’ and point a sword at me.’

Because it was Lee Cheol, he couldn’t help but be nervous.

If they fought, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Jeez.”

I chuckled and looked at Ron, who still couldn’t relax his body.

‘Was the dignified Sword Emperor of my past life like this when he was young? Or was he always like this, and he was just putting on an act….’

I could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression.

…Well, to be honest, it wasn’t like I hadn’t thought about drawing my sword first.

‘But right now, the test comes first.’

The aerial fortress’s test was more unconventional than I had imagined.

With Ron here, there might be others, and if it was Ron, I thought I could get quite a bit of help here.

“Don’t worry. I won’t suddenly start swinging my sword without saying anything.”

At least not until I understand this test.

“I trust you. Lee Cheol is a man who knows honor.”

“Let’s cooperate until this test is over. You’re also in a situation where you don’t know how to do the test, right?”

“Well, yes, that’s right. I was fighting monsters until just now, and then suddenly I was dropped into a place like this.”

Until recently, he had been fighting Earlisters [likely a type of monster or enemy], and when he opened his eyes after receiving a reward, he was in a place like this.

It felt like his stamina and fatigue had been fully recovered, but he couldn’t help but be flustered.

Soon, we arrived at the outskirts of the city.

The city was surrounded by a thick and high wall.

A massive structure that didn’t fit the era.

We climbed onto the city’s wall and looked at the city’s scenery.

“Indeed, you can see the entire city from here.”

“Then tell me something now.”

“What do you mean?”

“About this place. You know this cultural sphere better, right?”

Northern Europe still has a lot of veiled history.

I had studied quite a bit for various plans, including Gyeongcheon [likely a specific plan or project], but I didn’t know it as well as Ron, who was fluent in the ancient languages of this region.

Ron would be able to answer my questions.

* * *

Six residents of the aerial fortress stood quietly, separated from the crystal ball.

Only one dwarf was holding his hand on the crystal ball.

“Are you okay? Your body.”

“I am. I can endure.”

One of the dwarves drooped his yellow eyes in his robe and spoke in a very subdued voice.

Like a sick person, he seemed quite exhausted.

He was the dwarf who appeared in the first test.

“Annihilation. Must endure. Our wish has begun. A waste if you can’t endure.”

“I know. I will.”

The dwarf, who had been drooping, staggered but raised his head.

“Why did you do that?”

“What?”

“You said too much. It wasn’t originally allowed, that far for us.”

The other dwarves, except for the one holding his hand on the crystal ball, all looked at the dwarf who had presided over the first test.

“I want him to be the one who returned from death. The protagonist of our wish.”

At the dwarf’s words, the other dwarves frowned as if they were angry.

“Don’t judge prematurely. Possibilities are diverse.”

“The grand finale. You could ruin it.”

“No one knows who will be. No one. The one who returned from death is just one of several candidates.”

“A descendant. He is also ultimately ‘his.’ He might betray your expectations.”

The dwarves poured out their concerns as if scolding the ‘first dwarf.’

The exhausted first dwarf just quietly thought of the one who returned from death… Lee Cheol.

But then.

“Oh, oh.”

The ‘second dwarf,’ who was holding his hand on the crystal ball, let out a groan as if he was flustered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Th-The test. Something strange. Two people in one place. There is… their fate is tangled.”

The dwarves all gathered near the crystal ball.

“You, progressing too fast. The test is….”

Woo-oong!

The crystal ball vibrated slowly.

Above the hazy crystal ball, a small crystal ball dyed black appeared and began to approach.

That black crystal ball was injected according to the full-scale start of the test.

It was definitely not the ‘record’ that should be injected now.

“Whose fault is it?”

“The one who returned from death. The one who accepted the dragon’s blood.”

The dwarves’ gazes were fixed on the first dwarf.

The dwarves muttered something again, whispering.

“…It can’t be helped. We can only watch their test.”

“This is also a mandate.”

“The result. Ultimately determined by all processes.”

The dwarves said that and looked at the crystal ball again.

The black crystal ball slid from the sky towards the central crystal ball.

* * *

Ron and I looked down at the wall below.

I observed the city’s scenery for a moment, then asked Ron.

“Can you roughly guess what era it is?”

“Well, I’ve been looking around, but I don’t really know.”

“…Is that so?”

Ron frowned and looked down at the city.

“Usually, you can roughly guess by looking at the costumes, the characters and languages used, and the architectural style, but everything here is mixed. It looks like it’s at least 1,000 years before Christ….”

That’s at least 3,000 years before modern times.

It was such a distant time.

“Ah, do you see that?”

Ron pointed to the ground between the buildings.

There was a ditch-like thing that was hollowed out there, and a thin stone plate covered it.

“It’s a drainage facility. The central road floor is even covered with stone tiles. Many buildings have magical energy or special magic on them. This wall is also… quite high level.”

Ron pointed to the people walking around.

“The races are also ambiguous. They are mainly from the northern system, but over there are Latin and Hebrew systems. The cultural style is similar to ancient Northern Europe… but there are no records anywhere that they built such a huge fortress city.”

Ron glanced at me.

“Lee Cheol, you know what these things mean, right?”

“Yeah. I was guessing to some extent.”

Drainage facilities are traces that can give you a glimpse of the city’s civilization.

It means that there is sewage treatment or a reservoir, and it is evidence that there was a project at the national level.

The same goes for the tiles on the floor. Civil engineering is evidence of national power.

The fact that magic and magical devices are applied to general buildings means that magic is quite developed, and the various races are traces that transportation has developed.

“The times are all mixed up. It’s strangely advanced, but at the same time, you can see traces of subtle backwardness. When you look at the magical side… it’s unbelievable. It’s perhaps comparable to modern times.”

I nodded at Ron’s words.

Even if I lost my magic and my senses deteriorated, it didn’t mean I couldn’t feel it.

The magic level of the people walking around was by no means low.

Rather, it’s high.

If the people gathered here are unusually strong, then those people would be average, and there were so many magicians who seemed to be at least 5th grade that they were everywhere.

‘Wait, but why hasn’t my magic recovered yet?’

Unlike the first test, the existence of magic is felt here.

But the magic system is still dry without a single point of magic.

‘Is there a restriction that prevents me from absorbing magic?’

My body is in a state where magic has evaporated after passing the first test.

Magic should have risen even if I didn’t bother to use magic.

‘No, rather than a restriction… my body is just rejecting it.’

While I was thinking that, Ron narrowed his eyes and looked down at the city scenery.

“Anyway, I only know that this city itself is… a ridiculous place that has not been found anywhere in history or relics. What do you think, Lee Cheol?”

“It looks that way to me too.”

If the relics of this era had remained in that era, wouldn’t all sorts of conspiracy theories and mysteries have been produced?

“This is just my opinion. Could it be that this is a space created directly by the residents of the aerial fortress? By piecing things together here and there.”

“That’s not it.”

I shook my head.

Unlike Ron, I had heard directly from the dwarf.

All the tests of the aerial fortress are a part of history that already existed.

‘You can know a lot just from that.’

If it was real history, why aren’t those records left in that era?

There is only one answer.

The primordial monster.

Only he can do that.

‘These are histories erased by the record annihilation phenomenon.’

I saw him in the center of the first test, and as soon as I entered this test, I encountered a canine creature dyed black.

The aerial fortress… is showing us the era erased by the primordial monster.

“Why do you think so?”

“That’s….”

Thud!

At that moment, a brake was applied to my consciousness.

A dull sense of incongruity felt on one side of my head.

Was this what the dwarf meant by ‘cannot speak’?

“…It’s just my feeling. I don’t think I can explain it in detail.”

I sighed and turned my gaze.

“I’ll have to investigate first. What point in time is this?”

“That’s what we should do. First, we need to find out the exact location of this place.”

The dwarves did not say the detailed conditions of the test.

This time, like the first test, they just told me to find something.

‘The singularity of the era.’

-What you are looking for is related to you, remember the history that dwells within you.

-Be careful. The world nearing destruction will target you.

I recalled the contents of the test delivered by the dwarf.

‘The world nearing destruction is targeting me.’

It was that moment.

Doo-geun!

Once again, my heart started beating rapidly.

The Black Aura was raging, moving my consciousness towards somewhere.

-Krrr….

The black hunting dog.

The guy sleeping in the darkness was seen in the darkness far beyond the wall.

“Monster? No….”

Ron looked at him with slightly trembling eyes.

No one in this world could recognize us.

However, that creature was looking straight at us.

Poo-woo-woo-!

At that time, a huge trumpet sound that shook the entire city began to ring.

“Enemy! West wall!!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of bells to announce an emergency rang out, and I could feel the tension rising throughout the city.

‘Something is coming.’

I felt a large number of presences gathering outside the wall.

My heart was pounding, and the Black Aura continued to warn me.

‘It’s starting.’

I realized that the full-scale test had begun.

At that time.

“Get out of the way! Who are you guys! Don’t stand around like you’re dazed, go to your places!”

Ron and I were pushed by someone who jumped up from below the wall.

Following that, shouts mixed with annoyance burst out one after another.

“Wait. Can they see us now?”

“What? Of course! What kind of idiots are these!?”

Ron looked at me with bewildered eyes, and I looked around with Ron.

Wriggle!

And at the same time, I felt some kind of power being born in the empty magic source.

It’s magic.

The magic that had disappeared when I entered the aerial fortress was rising again.