Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 87
Jinryong (1)
The day has dawned.
The small sailboat the group was on was cruising slowly through the fog.
On the deck swaying peacefully. High-ranking paladin Maug yawned with a blank expression on his face. It was an irritated yawn.
“Damn rock trolls.”
“The same goes for Frogman.”
Pydna received the word.
“I heard frog legs taste like chicken. “I was thinking about tearing it all up and boiling it.”
She muttered, blinking her eyes with dark circles.
The group’s small sailboat was left in shambles all night.
The side of the ship was covered with Frogman’s poisonous stings, like a dartboard at an inn. The middle mast was broken after being caught in the spider people’s trap.
When the rock troll appeared at dawn, Maug thought for a moment that this was where the journey would end.
The barrage of rocks from the rock troll that smashed the bow figurehead was so threatening that even a small hit to the hull would cause it to sink.
If only the elder wizard of the Elgaia Tower had not finished his meditation and come up on deck at the right time.
And if he wasn’t a powerful earth mage who could turn a rock in the air and throw it back.
Maybe the journey really ended here.
“Thanks to you, I survived. “Wizard.”
Maug said. He still couldn’t forget.
The spell of a wizard who sent back a rock that was attacking him right in front of him with a flick of his wand, crushing the rock troll.
Felber gently stroked his brown beard in front of the high-ranking paladin who was looking at him with respect.
“No. By the way, is everyone coming?”
“We’re almost there. “It’ll just be another hour or so.”
“Right.”
Felber nodded. He walked slowly, holding a cane.
I was thinking of going up on the bow and seeing where the ship was going.
And one passenger who had the same thought had already taken his seat.
“You said it would take about an hour?”
“I see.”
The large mercenary scratched his chin.
He was leaning his elbows on the broken figurehead’s pedestal, staring out at the river.
Black eyes peering over the fog-covered river. His eyes looked a little dazed.
Felber blinked in the direction he was looking. All he could see was fog.
It’s natural. Because without a spell, his body was just that of an eighty-year-old man.
On the other hand, if you were to look at the warrior’s slightly hazy gaze, this dense morning fog would be as if it didn’t even exist.
Felber asked, plucking the gob from his eye with his little finger.
“What are you thinking?”
“Treasures of gold and silver in the dragon cave.”
“Don’t you already have a chest of gold coins?”
“The more money, the better. “Isn’t that capitalism?”
“…What is that again?”
Dallen didn’t answer. He shrugged and turned to Felber.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“As you can see.”
“It sounds like it’s not okay.”
Felber chirped. He leaned against the bow rail.
Felber’s eyes, looking into the fog, were not sparkling with magic light like usual.
At this moment, rather than the eyes of a wizard, they were the eyes of a tired old man looking at the end of a long life.
“I have lived enough. “It might be my last trip.”
said the old man.
“You don’t need to worry about your physical condition. “What’s important is how meaningful the ending is.”
“…….”
“I decide where I will die. “A way to die, too.”
And that is a grateful privilege that is not given to just anyone.
Dallen could not find an appropriate answer to the old man’s words as he continued with a faint smile.
How could he, who was only thirty years old, discuss death?
In front of the old man, he would not be much different from the blond young man who visited last night.
As Dallen stared at the water in silence, Felber laughed softly and lightened the mood.
“Open your face. “Do you think it will be like this for the rest of your life?”
“I think I’ll age more slowly than the old man.”
“Yekki! With my hair straight. “Do you want to be beaten by an old old man’s cane?”
The old man raised his staff like a sword. Dallen gave the old man a few hits out of respect. And for the first time in a long time, I laughed.
It was a cool laugh, not a low or fierce laugh.
The two people’s bickering made the boat noisy for a while.
***
Just as Maug said, the ship reached land about an hour later.
The entrance to a particularly wide valley even in the depths of the fissure where numerous valleys are tangled like a spider web.
The group lowered anchor near the sandy beach and moored the boat.
Beoseok. Beoseok.
Dallen, who got off first, felt his feet sinking. The sandy beach was deeper than I expected.
Moreover, even though the sunlight was mostly obscured by clouds, the sparkling sand field seemed to have been bathed in midday sunlight, and it felt somehow foreign.
Slurp.
Dallen grabbed a handful of sand.
Moisture-free sand crumbles easily in your hands.
When I looked closely, it was a little different from an ordinary grain of sand. Grains of sand that look like ice or crystal.
Each and every one of them was a decision with a bitter chill. Even Dallon’s thick skin felt slightly cold.
‘I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s a spell.’
Dallen stepped on the sand a few times. A chill passed through the soles of my feet even through my thick leather boots.
Is it because of that? Tommy, who got off the boat last, trembled. Dallen chuckled.
“Is it cold?”
The young man shook his head.
“it’s okay.”
“It will be cold. The realm of Cheongrin is full of magical cold. “It’s not a problem that can be solved by putting on more clothes, so if you’re having a hard time, just raise your magic power and get through it.”
Domer said. Dallen asked, stroking his chin.
“Have you ever been here?”
“once. “It was about a hundred years ago when I had just become an adult.”
He’s over a hundred years old. He looks like he’s about seventy.
It was a moment when I realized once again that it is impossible to tell the age of superhumans just by their appearance.
Domer picked up a handful of sand from under his feet like Dallen had done and continued speaking.
“If you think about it, the situation back then was similar to now. Estra Fortress fell due to a series of invasions by monsters, and the leader went out to hunt the dragon with dozens of elite members of the Knights. “Unlike ordinary dragon hunters, our prey was real dragons, not subdragons.”
“True dragon hunting. “That’s a crazy word.”
“That’s right. “If it wasn’t for you, no one would have dared to do it.”
Domer grinned. It was the laughter of an old man reminiscing.
“The results of the hunt…well, I guess you could call it a half-success. “The mortally wounded dragon has been confined to his den since that day.”
“You couldn’t have killed him at all?”
“Unfortunately it was. “Because the leader, the only person who can fight the dragon directly, was injured.”
The old man answered the young man’s question with a calm smile.
“It was that day that the leader lost his arm and eye. “The elite knights, who were in their fifties, all died except for a few, including me.”
A soft voice and a calm tone, as if you were telling an old story to your grandson.
However, the contents contained a faint regret.
A sadness that has not been worn away even after a hundred years. And it must be a longing for those who have been lost.
Tommy looked embarrassed after hearing the answer. I wondered if I had asked something pointless.
Domer patted his back, telling him not to worry.
“Anyway, he hasn’t come out of the dragon’s cave since that day. The leader said it was because the wound he received from the sword was so serious. Even if that’s not the case, they are also the ones who are not happy about the dragon race itself coming out of their den in the first place.”
The deputy interrogator smiled kindly at the young man again.
“So at least the odds of us meeting each other on this mission are slim. “Don’t worry too much.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
Was he embarrassed to be found out that he was scared? Tommy made eye contact with the old man and lowered his head.
Dallen lowered his hand from scratching his chin and placed it on his belt. The fog was getting thicker.
Even though we were already a long way away from the water, the chilly fog showed no signs of abating.
In fact, it has become darker, to the point where he can no longer see farther than he thought.
The sand beneath my feet was also gradually becoming colder compared to the beginning of the valley.
‘That’s not good.’
My heart was pounding.
A little faster and a little stronger than usual.
I wasn’t nervous. Of course I wasn’t afraid.
In response to an unknown body reaction, Dallon’s hand had suddenly moved from his belt to the handle of the holy sword.
How long did it take to walk like that?
“for a moment.”
Felver, who was walking at the very rear, stopped the group.
“There is someone.”
He said. At the same time, Dallon pulled out the holy sword.
Suaaaa—
The whirlwind that started from the shoulder passed through the arm and wrist and covered the sword body. Dallen lightly scattered the whirlwind.
Since it was not intended to attack anyone, the range was extremely widened and the power was reduced.
Huh!
As the fog broke and dispersed in front of the whirlwind, a slender figure was seen in the distance.
[It’s an interesting trick.]
And then, a chilling sound pierced everyone’s ears.
***
Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….
The fog disappears.
Rather than disappearing, it would be more appropriate to say that it crystallizes.
The dense fog quickly compressed into crystals similar to the sand grains underfoot, and rainwater fell, adding another layer to the sandy field.
The crystals rustle through my clothes. The height of the crystals was about half a span, and my ankles were buried in the sand.
But no one in the group paid attention to such small things.
Inside the field of view that expanded in an instant.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on the woman who was about an arrow’s throw away.
[It’s been a long time since I’ve been a guest. How long has it been a hundred years?]
Let’s go.
The woman walked slowly and said.
Small and slender body.
Long, dull blue-white hair.
The clear facial features and thin jawline clearly indicated a beautiful face, but the aura felt there was not beauty but eerieness.
Was it because of the pale, non-human skin?
Or maybe it was because of the vertically torn, flashing yellow eyes.
Either way, a tense silence fell among the group, and the woman looked at it with amusement and a smile on her face.
[So, I hope you understand even if the reception is a bit lacking. Isn’t a hundred years a long time only for mortals?]
“Cheongrin…!”
Domer said as if chewing. The woman tilted her head slightly.
[Do you know me?]
Sereung –
There was no answer. Domer drew his sword and walked forward with strides.
Holy power flowed out of his body, and pure white flames exploded from his sword body.
“You guys run away. Don’t look back, get on the boat and leave. “Let’s go and tell them that Cheonglin has escaped the dragon’s den.”
My voice trembled slightly. It was the first time I saw him.
The old man always had leisure.
Even when the gnoll army stormed into the knights’ fortress, and even when the dragon’s clan attacked the party in the middle of the night.
This was true even though he himself was injured in the attack.
However, the old man who was clicking his tongue and stepping on the large gnome was no longer there.
There was only a strong paladin standing in front of the slender woman with signs of tension evident all over his body.
Kurrrrrr…….
The sand under my feet is pushed away. It was a divine power that was more explosive than ever before.
The densely engraved sacred tattoos add respite to an aging body that cannot withstand great power.
The woman, who was staring into the old man’s eyes burning like flames, clapped her hands as if she had finally remembered something.
[Oh, I remember,]
she said.
[You were the young one who came with that disgusting seed of God.]
Those words were the signal.
The air is inverted. Life materializes and weighs down. The flame of divine power shook dangerously from the intangible pressure that pierced my skin.
[Do you know?]
Yellow eyes said.
[I was just waiting for this day.]
The old man opened his eyes wide. he shouted.
“How can I recover from the wounds of that time…!”
Whoosh –
the wind caressed my cheeks. It was a cold breeze.
After the trace of something that swept across the sandy floor and caused the breeze, the paladin’s chest turned into a handful of blood and disappeared.
Only Dallon could tell that it was a huge lump of flesh.
The dragon’s tail swung mysteriously as if there was no resistance.
The head, which had lost its upper body, fell flat on the sand, and the two legs that were half attached to its waist also tilted and fell.
The old man still had his eyes wide open. Pydna screamed.
“The deputy interrogator…!”
Huh –
the trajectory split the air again. Dallen reacted this time.
Kkkwang-!
Shinhyeong, holding the holy sword with both hands and exploding the sand beneath his feet, shoots forward.
The thunder inside cried. The holy sword resonated with that thunder.
The whirlwind that wrapped around the sword body weaved together flashes of light, and the flames that sprouted from both hands instantly enveloped the entire body.
It’s all just a moment.
The end of that moment.
The holy sword and the tail meet.
Jeez━━━━━━
It breaks.
The space was torn apart.
Rather than a clash of strength and power, it was a clash between mystery and mystery that needed to be explained.
The mystery of mortality was strong. The fabric used as a passageway could barely hold up.
However, in front of a being who has been a mystery since birth, it is not even enough to give one tail.
Kwahaak!
The moment the torn space healed, it was Dallon who turned the sand over.
Kugwagwagwagwa…!
A storm broke out. The sand that had accumulated over a hundred years turned into waves in front of the storm and washed away.
As the huge valley rumbled, old rocks fell down from the cliffs.
Kugung. Thump.
Rocks crashing and breaking at the speed of their own mass on the bare, hard ground.
There were only two people standing on the slightly trembling ground.
A warrior standing tall with both feet on the ground and steam blowing out from his entire body.
A few steps behind him, the golden main house flashes, an old wizard.
[Hoo.]
Cheongrinyong Tedera Riulak smiled softly.
[They are interesting guests.]