Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 37
Devil’s Holy Sword (10)
After completely wiping out the gnoll residence, Dallon and Lucia decided to take a rest that day.
It was because of Lucia’s condition.
After hanging on to the carapace wolf for four hours and immediately sweeping through the gnoll settlement, her stamina was literally drained.
Even the small amount of divine power that remained was completely depleted by purifying the altar of evil spirits built within the residence.
The cave where the devil hid was a week’s walk south of here.
If you start too hard and end up running out of power again midway, it would be better to take a break now.
Since the travel time was extremely shortened by using the Carapace Wolf anyway, taking a day off did not cause any major disruption to the plan.
Grumbling.
Dallen lit a bonfire using the firewood the gnolls had collected.
Meanwhile, Lucia thoroughly washed her body and armor in the stream flowing inside the residence.
She put on the light clothes she had brought with her and dried the armor and clothes she had washed by the stream by the bonfire. She went straight into the tent and fell into the water.
The tent still had a bit of an animal smell, but as a highly intelligent species, it was perfect as a place to stay for the night.
A soft fur bed.
A thick tent to block the wind.
With these two things alone, it was no wonder that it was the most luxurious bed you could find in the labyrinth.
Jerk.
Dallon put the hard-working paladin to sleep and took a look around the residence.
He too had washed away his blood and internal organs in the stream, so he was now wearing only a layer of light cloth.
Jerk. Jerk.
After looking around the residence and re-confirming its safety, his steps naturally head towards the tent of the Nol warrior commander.
Hundreds of gnoll corpses were cooling in the cold night air.
And the biggest corpse of them all.
Dallen slowly stretched out his hand in front of the corpse of the gnoll warrior whose arms and head had been cut off.
Two ashen corpses, visible only to him, turn into a halo of light and are sucked into his hand.
[The body of the first-timer to the labyrinth has been recovered. Ability is inherited.]
[Inheritance reward: Prowess +1]
[The body of a mature fighter has been recovered. Ability is inherited.]
[Inheritance Reward: Stamina +1 Prowess +1 Lapantella’s Crushing Sword (C)]
One corpse of a worthless character and one corpse from the time when I was researching my own strategy.
Fortunately, my strength did not increase.
Dallen opened the status window for the first time in a very long time.
――――――――
Name: Dallon
Level: 10
[Strength: 30] [Skill: 18] [Stamina: 19]
[Sense: 17] [Intelligence: 19] [Magic Power: 14]
Skill: Dehaman’s Armor Fighting (D) Night vision (E) Dragon’s blood regeneration factor (C) Leap (E) Flame arrow (D) Quick freeze (D) Lapantella’s crushing sword (C)
――――――――
Finally, double digits. level.
Of course, it didn’t mean much. Because this damn game doesn’t give you any special rewards just because you reach level 10.
Anyway, as I invested additional abilities into my stamina, my stamina value finally entered the 20s.
‘This makes enough sense.’
Just by stretching out your body a few times, you will feel that the amount of force you can handle without internal injury has significantly increased.
Dallen swiveled his shoulders and got used to his changed body.
‘I guess I’ll have to raise my other abilities equally as well.’
When one ability score was excessively high, unexpected side effects occurred.
Maybe there would be some side effects when certain abilities were excessively low.
‘First of all, I need to put out the urgent fire first and then take care of balance.’
Dallen stopped warming up and pulled out the sword he was carrying.
Sreung –
The starlight, a little darker than during the day, sparkles and breaks on the tip of the well-polished and sharpened sword.
The sword made entirely of metal remained intact even after cutting up hundreds of gnolls.
Indeed, this is a work that LeVeron put a lot of effort into creating.
The armor that was drying by the campfire was also not torn significantly, although the chain was partially broken.
Sigh –
Dallen took a slow breath.
His intelligence level breaks the newly acquired knowledge into pieces and analyzes them.
The sense and skill values were embodied in body movements by applying the analyzed products to the muscles and internal organs.
My fingertips are numb. My head felt hot.
My pounding heart was pumping hot blood all over my body even though I wasn’t particularly injured.
The muscles of his entire body were anxious to tear the air apart with explosive movements at any moment.
Lapantella’s Crushing Sword, a skill obtained by recovering the corpse of a mature fighter.
This martial arts skill, which he acquired for the first time after fighting with Dehaman’s armor, was a powerful martial art that enhanced even his superhuman body.
Considering the regeneration factor of Dragon Blood, which is also in the C grade, the performance of the Crushing Sword is naturally expected.
Additionally, unlike the Dragon’s Blood Regeneration Factor, which he had never properly used, Lapantella’s Crushing Sword was a sword technique that Dallan had also obtained and used several times.
It is no wonder that expectations double as we have felt its power even through the monitor.
‘It’s a two-handed sword technique that focuses extremely on attack. A swordsmanship that considers even defense as part of attack and focuses only on destructive power in all attacks.’
Phew –
exhale slowly.
Slowly raise the sword held with both hands over your shoulder.
In front of him, the gnoll warrior’s ax spear was stuck upside down.
An ax spear made of an unknown material that did not leave a single scratch even after splitting a rock. I quickly gather my
exhaled
breath again.
Turn the stretching sensation inward, not outward.
Slowly move forward with your left foot dragging the floor.
A strange flow of magical power begins to swirl from the shoulders of both arms.
Swoosh –
A strange haze-like energy covering from the shoulders to the forearms.
The moment that energy reached the fingertips holding the sword.
Whoosh!
The sword strike, which was nothing special, came down diagonally from above the shoulder.
“…….”
The change came one beat late.
Kang!
The ax spear that smashed the rock split in half.
Blah blah blah!
It was shattered from the tip of the handle to the ax head, turning into hundreds of pieces of scrap metal and exploding forward.
It was a sight of hundreds of twinkling stars in the dark sky blooming and disappearing on the ground.
***
next day.
The two set off south early in the morning.
Dallen planned his route to avoid battle as much as possible.
This was because it was better to refrain from even minor battles until Lucia’s stamina recovered.
The group went south without any trouble for three days.
It was the fourth night since I came down to the labyrinth.
Cracking.
Dallen was sitting in front of the campfire, waiting for dinner to be ready.
Lucia asked from across the campfire.
“How did you catch more today than usual?”
She was slowly turning the skewer over the fire.
Ten tunnel rabbits, skinned and prepared, were cooked on skewers.
Although the tunnel rabbit is much more dangerous and fierce than the rabbit on the ground, it was one of the beast-type monsters at the bottom of the food chain in the labyrinth.
The taste of the meat is not much different from that of rabbit, so it was also a favorite food of hunters and explorers.
“Dallen?”
Sizzling.
The sound of oil gurgling makes my mouth water. The savory yet fragrant smell had been tickling my nose for 10 minutes.
Dallen swallowed his saliva before belatedly answering.
“Because I’m hungry. And because it was near the forest, there were quite a few rabbit holes nearby.”
“Is that so. I know that Dallen eats several times more than the average person, but I hope you don’t eat more than ten if possible. “It’s not easy to cook all at once.”
“I can help you.”
“You damn…no, please don’t say such horrible things.”
Lucia furrowed her eyebrows and glared at Dalryeon.
It was a look in his eyes that explained exactly what it means to swear with your eyes.
Dallen scratched the back of his head. Well, did I give someone food poisoning?
“The dish that Dallan cooked… it’s strange to even call it a dish in the first place. “It’s not something people can eat.”
“I still think it’s worth eating.”
“Better eat it raw. “Wouldn’t that be more nutritious and taste better?”
Dallen scratched his nose with his finger. In fact, even when I was an Earthling, I was a sucker for cooking.
Even after coming to this world, the only cooking I did was making a few stews in the early days of my mercenary career.
Even the senior mercenaries tried to stop him by saying they would do it themselves, so he ended up just getting the job.
‘But I didn’t think it was so bad that I couldn’t eat it.’
I thought that way a few days ago when I was cooking the animal I hunted for the first time.
In his opinion, he felt that the flesh was reasonably chewy and the skin was cooked well and crispy.
Of course, after Lucia tasted it and spewed out all kinds of double insults, she was becoming more self-objective.
I almost broke my teeth after taking a bite, and I saw before my eyes that I could barely chew and swallow the tough flesh after strengthening my skeleton with sacred tattoos.
“It’s done.”
Just as I was about to sink into untimely self-loathing, Lucia presented me with a finished roast.
The fragrant smell of spices sprinkled moderately on the surface of the oil and honey that was cooked to a smooth surface.
When I took a bite, the sweet yet savory skin broke apart crisply in my mouth, and the inner flesh gently cracked, spraying juice into my mouth.
At this level, it was almost believable that he had A-grade cooking skills.
‘I never thought a demon slayer would have a natural talent for cooking.’
Dallon thought as he ate half of the second fish in an instant.
“Do you usually like cooking?”
“When we had to camp during training, I would take care of it. “The Holy Knights’ manual states that eating is also part of battle, so various spices are widely distributed.”
If they brought spices and honey to the labyrinth, their supply would probably be better than that of any other army on the continent.
Dallen nodded, remembering the supply list of the Holy Knights that he had seen at a glance on the other side of the monitor.
Even as the world was falling apart, salt and pepper were included in the bag.
‘For some reason, I felt sad when the Holy Knights were left out of the last supper before destruction.’
Dallen chuckled at a random thought that suddenly occurred to him. Lucia asked, having just finished finishing one of the rabbit legs.
“How much longer do you think it will take to reach the devil’s abode?”
“At this rate, we’ll have to go for about four more days. “It could be a day earlier than that.”
If we speed up here even more. Dallon added:
Over the past three days, Lucia’s physical strength has fully recovered. Even if I moved a little faster, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
Lucia nodded. Nothing much was said after that.
For a while, the only sounds that came between the two were the crackling of a campfire and the sound of meat being munched.
Dallen suddenly opened his mouth.
“What kind of person was Barrett?”
Lucia’s eyebrows twitched. Dallen said, wiping his oily hands on the hem of his clothes.
“I’m not trying to sound like a brat or anything, so don’t worry. At that time, I told you to come to your senses. In fact, doesn’t that mean he’s a pretty good person to be recognized by the Holy Sword?”
“It wasn’t quite good.”
Lucia slowly put down the meat she was eating.
“He was a more loyal paladin than anyone else. “Many of his classmates and juniors respected him, and some of the senior knights even tried to salute him first.”
Her expression was complicated. It was a whirlpool of emotions mixed with sadness, disbelief, memories, and remorse.
Dallen looked at the complexity on her face and responded briefly.
“What a pity.”
“So I don’t understand. Why on earth was the holy sword stolen and why…why was it so easily taken away by the devil? Of course, I am not belittling the devil, but the fact that he was defeated so easily even though he received support from the crusaders and explorers of the punitive force…”
Lucia was unable to continue speaking. She was staring at the fire with her lips pursed.
Dallen took another bite of meat and stroked his chin. It was definitely something strange.
If he is recognized by the Holy Sword, it means that he is not an ordinary paladin.
In addition, dozens of explorers would have flocked there to subdue the devil.
‘It is said that the trainee knights and crusaders also followed, so it seems like they could handle the lowest level demons who were driven out to the first floor of the labyrinth.’
What I don’t understand even more is the testimony of the bald explorer I overheard before entering the labyrinth.
‘He said the devil was stabbed in the stomach by a holy sword.’
The sacred power of the holy sword could easily overwhelm the regenerative power of the lowest level demon.
It is said that the devil’s unique regenerative power becomes useless in a situation where a hole is made in the stomach and the intestines spill out.
If we had continued the offensive, we would have been able to catch them.
‘There’s more than one or two things that seem suspicious.’
As Dallen grew more and more suspicious, Lucia shook her head. She said.
“This is a comrade who has already died in action. “Even though I made mistakes and deserved reproach, I think it was a glorious death because I died fighting the devil.”
“It seems true that Paladin Barrett lived a glorious life to have a colleague who thinks that way.”
“…….”
Lucia did not answer. She picked up the rabbit meat she had put down and started taking another bite.
Dallen also took another piece of meat off the skewer. It was already the fifth time.
Lucia stopped eating for a moment and looked at it curiously.
Her expression was questioning.
Where on earth does all that meat go?
***
The night deepened. Dallen decided to stand watch first.
As soon as Lucia got into the blanket, she fell asleep in less than a minute.
Cracking. Crack.
Dallen stared blankly at the campfire. Sparks are blown by the wind and rise into the sky.
Its shape was like a separate star. A shooting star that rises instead of falling.
They expressed their desire to reach the stars with dizzying movements, as if they were claiming that the night sky was their home.
In the end, the light faded and all that remained was darkness.
As I was quietly looking at the darkness, a conversation we had a few days ago suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Who are you…?’
It was Felber’s voice.
A story that the elder wizard muttered, unable to hide his embarrassment after reading Dallen from the memories of the land.
‘The earth says that your life is but two years and one month. This…this is really unexpected. ‘I thought it was something out of the ordinary.’
The old man, after taking his territory and taking a moment to catch his breath, spoke to him with a slightly stern expression.
‘I’ll keep today’s incident a secret. An old man like this shouldn’t become an obstacle in the path of a hero like you.’
Dallen laughed lowly.
I’m going to keep it a secret.
I was a little wary at first, but the more I saw him, the more I trusted him.
If you think about it, it was like that in the original as well.
Every time the devil’s army invaded the labyrinth city, Felber Valentino led the Elgaia Tower and fought until the end.
Since it is one of the extra NPCs that cannot be recruited, I have never made it a companion, but it is quite possible in this episode.
Cracking. widely!
Dallen poked the campfire a few times with a twig. And then he stood up.
After confirming once again that Lucia was asleep, he left the campfire and walked toward the forest.
There were quite a few more trustworthy people in this world than I thought.
But at the same time, the opposition was incomparably greater.
It’s natural. Because it is human nature to be driven by self-interest rather than the cause.
Dallen himself was just a human being, so he didn’t think it was a bad thing.
‘But in the process of pursuing that greed, if there is someone who holds a knife to my throat.’
He also thought that in that case, there was absolutely no need to look after his hands.
Peeing!
An arrow flying through the darkness.
The arrows, which were painted black from tip to feather, were optimized for surprise attacks in a dark environment like a labyrinth.
Dallen reached out and caught the arrow.
Judging by the slightly tingling feel of my skin, it seemed that the device that fired this was definitely not an ordinary bow or crossbow.
After looking at the arrow here and there for a moment, he flicked it toward the grass at the border of the forest.
Wedge!
An arrow that returns half as fast as when it was launched.
Immediately after the black trail disappeared as if being sucked into the bushes, the sound of a watermelon exploding was heard.
dump!
A corpse with half its head missing rolling out of the bushes.
The complicated mechanical crossbow he dropped was in the process of being loaded with the next arrow.
At that time, other bushes trembled. Dallen turned his head with his hand on the sword handle.
Soon, heavily armed people begin to walk out one by one through the grass.
They were explorers.
They looked at the man whose head had exploded and swore.
“Fuck you! Lacus!”
“I will kill you! “You savage bastard!”
Explorers, everyone, drawing their weapons. Dallen found a bald mercenary among them.
The bald head also made eye contact with him. The guy’s shoulders shook. Dallon said with a grin.
“It’s been a while. How are you?”
“…luckly.”
Dallen nodded. He slowly drew his sword.
“Let me ask you something. “Since when have you been following us?”
“…….”
The bald head didn’t answer this time. He closed his mouth and quietly stepped back.
An explorer who was watching this screamed.
“Attack! “Kill me!”
Explorers rush in. Spears and swords were stabbed, and arrows were fired from crossbows.
In front of dozens of flashing blades, Dallon held the sword together with both hands and smiled fiercely.
It was time to get honest testimony from the witness who witnessed the Paladin’s end.