Academy’s Genius Swordmaster - Chapter 56

[ 56. Baidian Mountains (5) ]

#56

Sarante, who wiped all the statues, opened his mouth.

“The bird you haven’t seen has changed a lot. Brygia.”

“You are the same. Sarante.”

A voice came from the side. Sarante turned slowly. Brygia was leaning against the pillar, playing with her hair. I couldn’t believe it was someone who had just been sick.

“This temple too. Nothing has changed too much.”

“Looks like you didn’t come here to show respect to Seniel.”

“What is it?”

“I didn’t know that you would betray too. The Church is so horrendous to send an old friend as an assassin.”

Sarante folded the rags and put them in his pocket. Brygia snorted.

“Ha, even you, who poured paralytic poison as soon as we met, is not easy. corrector? You have to sound like a horse.”

“Do you think it makes sense that Lemeheim’s shadow was captured by the orcs? I was helping you with your immature acting.”

“That’s right. Still, wasn’t it plausible to untie the rope?”

“yes. If it wasn’t for that treasure, I might have worried about you a little bit. I never thought you would write Gland that way.”

The rope that bound Brygia’s hands and feet was a treasure called Glang. It is very tough and has the effect of being unfastened and tied only according to the will of the user.

Sarante frowned at the thought of her untangling the rope pretending to faint. A poison that permeates mana, a spell that untangles ropes… Sarante had to talk all sorts of nonsense to fool Ronan.

“Still, the words you said when solving the glang were a little cool. ‘Don’t touch this child.’ Rani was so scared that her body couldn’t move.”

“Agriculture is like that. Why did you do such a hassle when you could have just visited? To be bound and captured by a group of orcs. I am very concerned about your taste.”

“What…it’s fun, right? And I didn’t want to see possible blood in the temple. I am also a person who has believed in those stones for a long time.”

“It’s fortunate that even a sediment-like faith remains.”

Brygia was looking at the statue of Seniel with eyes as if she were looking at an ex-lover. Leaving herself off the pillar, she stood facing Sarante.

“Also… I knew that if I did a situational play like that, you would come even if I was curious. Since the Baidian Mountains are your territory, Sarante, you must have sensed my presence anyway. But even though they were held all night, they didn’t come.”

“There was no rush. It’s because I’m receiving precious guests.”

“A precious guest? Are you referring to the human children from earlier?”

“Will there be anything else?”

“…I let him live because he did something extraordinary, but I should have just killed them all. I lost my strength with useless acting.”

“I thought it was an act of goodwill. It must have been a simple whim.”

“Everything has been a whim since I forgot to count my age.”

The smile disappeared from Brygia’s face. Sarante politely put her hands together and continued.

“Brygia. Where did your faith in Seniel go? Didn’t you move the boulder where the soul dwells all the way to Konya together?”

“It was too late to open my eyes. The world will be enveloped in starlight anyway.”

“Don’t fall for the sophistry of a false god. It’s just a delusion and an escape. The path to salvation can only be found in the life of each individual.”

“It’s time for you to get used to it. Sarante.”

match. Suddenly Brygia clapped her hands. Soon, a scream that seemed to shake the mountains resounded from outside the temple.

“Kuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

“Gaaaaa!”

Sarante narrowed his brows at the sporadically resounding screams. I closed my eyes and saw the ogres surrounding the temple. There seemed to be well over thirty.

“…It’s a strange sorcery. To summon so many tyrants of the forest.”

“This is also the grace of the stars.”

Quaang! At that moment, a huge hand broke through the outer wall of the temple and came in. A part of the wall collapsed as the hand gripped Sarante. An ogre whose whole body was as red as blood appeared.

“Kwoaaaaa!!”

The ogre roared while holding the sarante in front of its eyes. Brygia let out a coquettish laugh and continued.

“Like you said, we’re friends for thousands of years, so I’ll tell you a special order I’ve received. Appease Sarante Remation. Kill if impossible. ”

“Not very good news.”

“What are you going to do? If you’re as skilled as you are, it’s easy enough to become a branch manager. Sooner or later, you will be able to fill the position of the leader’s aide.”

Sarante did not answer. He was just staring at the top of the ogre with sorrowful eyes. Soon, his mouth opened.

“…original way, I would have just accepted death.”

“hmm?”

“To be honest, I was exhausted. The great soul still has no answers, and the hide-and-seek game with the church shows no signs of ending even after thousands of years.”

His voice was calm. Even though the ogre’s teeth were gleaming in front of her eyes, Sarante’s expression was as peaceful as that of a person sleeping. Brygia asked with a straight face.

“What are you talking about?”

“It is literally. This time, I was about to drop everything and start a new cycle. But in the last few days I have seen hope.”

“hope?”

“yes. Seniel has not abandoned us yet.”

At that moment, something like a whistle rang out. dump! The ogre’s arm holding the sarante fell to the floor. A gut-wrenching scream erupted from the ogre’s mouth.

“Kuwoaaaaagh!”

Sarante, who landed softly, swung her finger at the ogre. The sound of the wind rang again, and the ogre’s body split in half. Brygia glared at Sarante and said.

“Can I accept the latter as my choice?”

“I have no intention of agreeing.”

“I’m sorry. Sarante.”

Brygia stretched out her arms. The gathered shadows formed the shape of a dagger and held it in her hand. A voice as if reciting a will came from between Brygia’s lips.

“Once walked the same road…my friend.”

The shadows over the temple began to wriggle. Brygia’s aura was much more elevated than I’d seen before. Said Sarante as if sighing.

“Drake skin. Storm Song. Double Tornado.”

A magic circle spread from Sarante’s feet and covered the temple. At the same time, Brygia’s figure disappeared from sight. One area of mana swirled and began to gather towards the ridge.

****

“Hmm? Didn’t you hear something just now?”

“sound?”

Braum looked around. For a moment, it seemed like I heard someone yelling. But looking around, all I could see was shadows gradually mingling with the darkness and densely-lined trees. Asher shook his head from side to side.

“I couldn’t hear you.”

“is it? Ha ha ha I must have heard wrong.”

“Isn’t that a voice from heaven? Ugh…look at the clouds. I don’t even have clothes to change into.”

Marja looked up at the sky and whimpered. The dark clouds that covered the mountains were adding to their weight. The black mass, full of water, looked like it would roar at any moment and spit out rain and lightning.

After leaving the temple of Sarante, the party was in the midst of going down the mountain range. The speed of descent naturally slowed down because of the increased luggage than when we arrived. Marja, who was wearing a backpack three times as big as the others, opened her mouth.

“Ah…it’s not heavy, but my back keeps rubbing. You can’t call Ronan’s ghost horse in the mountains, right?”

“Pump~”

Ronan didn’t answer. The same was true when Sheeta rubbed her face against her cheek. Asher tilted his head.

“Ronan?”

“Don’t talk to me for a second.”

“Yes.”

All the way down the mountain he was thinking about what had happened today. Ronan’s mind was filled with the woman he had taken to the temple, Phrygia.

‘Something is strange.’

His condition looked so bad that he could not make a rational observation. However, the more I thought about the memory, the more it all felt strange. The fact that Brygia was captured by a group of orcs was questionable.

Orcs are not monsters that keep their prey alive. Under normal circumstances, it would have already been reduced to a meal.

It was also strange that he couldn’t feel mana at all. No matter how much I lost consciousness, it was normal for it to leak out, albeit weakly, under normal circumstances.

However, the woman’s mana, Brygia, was invisible even though her senses were strengthened by drinking Sarante’s magic tea. As if it was deliberately hidden.

-Quaaaaaa!

At that moment, a roar exploded, and the sky overhead lit up at the same time. Asher screamed and sat down.

“Aagh!”

“Assel! what’s the matter?!”

Marja and Braum ran to Asher. Ronan hurriedly turned his head in the direction of the sound. Two huge waterspouts were gushing over the ridge. Ronan’s brow furrowed sharply.

“Nimi, what is that…”

A torrent of mana could be seen swirling around the whirlwind. It was in the direction of the temple of Sarante. Inside the fluctuating mana, there was a unique sparkle mixed with the nebula clage that Dolan had seen.

“What is it, cutie? Were you startled by the sound of thunder?”

“It’s not thunder… the head…!”

Asher groaned as he grabbed his head. In an instant, a shock like pouring cold water on my brain hit me. Of the four, only Asher, who had the overwhelmingly high mana sensitivity, felt this sensation.

“Hey Braum.”

Then Ronan approached. He took a white stick out of his inside pocket and held it out to Braum.

“This…?”

“It’s a whistle for a ghost horse. Everyone, go back to Phileon first. Never follow me.”

Braum couldn’t say anything. The face of Ronan, who warned him not to follow him, was distorted like a demon.

“never.”

Ronan left those words and started running along the straight road he came from. The voices of Marja and Braum came from behind.

“hey!”

“hey! Where?!”

Ronan’s figure disappeared over the rocks in an instant. At that moment, a cold drop of water landed on Marja’s head. She raised her head, frowning.

“It must be now…!”

Thick drops of water fell again and hit my cheeks. Took. Tuduk. It didn’t take long for the raindrops that fell one or two drops to become heavy rain.

****

Shoot aaaa –

Darkness fell over the mountains. The rain was pouring with the momentum to drown the world. The rainwater rushing down the slope was a coppery, earthy color.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

Ronan, who spat out curses like vomiting, rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. The vision, which had been clear for a moment, quickly became blurry enough to say it was straight.

I could feel the fishy taste of blood in my throat. It seemed to have run for an hour, but the temple was nowhere to be seen. When I raised my gaze, the mana flashing like an explosion came into my eyes.

“What the fuck… are you saying…?”

The battle seemed to be still going on. The two Yongoreums turned into four and twisted their bodies. Even in the middle of the darkness, shadows that looked dark were rising like thorns.

“Whoa… whoa… good.”

After catching his breath for a few seconds, Ronan started running again. His gaze was fixed on the sky. puck! At that moment, something hard hit Ronan on the other side.

“Sir!”

It was not the touch of wood or rock. A huge shadow stood in front of my eyes. Ronan frowned at the stench that suddenly filled his nostrils.

“Fuck, what does this smell like?”

Ronan raised his head. High up there were four lights blazing. It didn’t take long to realize that it was eye light. For a moment, a strong sense of déjà vu hit Ronan.

“You…”

Then a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree. For an instant, the world brightened like broad daylight, and at the same time a two-headed ogre appeared. The right head, which met Ronan’s eyes, tilted its head.

“Is that so?”

“It’s big.”

“…long time no see.”

Ronan laughed. I could feel the thrill running through my limbs.

Significantly larger than other ogres. A forearm thicker than a beautiful tree. In the past, there was an opponent who had not been able to win even after three days and nights in front of his eyes. Ronan glanced at the twin-headed ogre and frowned.

“By the way, does it look very bad?”

It was a short time, but I saw it clearly. The ogre’s chest had the same pattern stamped on the cave giants. At that moment, the light faded. The roar that erupted as if it had waited swallowed up the thunder.

“Gaaaaa!”

“Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The double-glazed windows pierced the sound of rain and echoed across the mountains. The ogre raised his fist. Ronan, who ran off the ground, pulled the hilt.