24 Hearts

[There will be a mass release Sat to make up for missing chapters. We will hit 35 chapters this week. (Jan 20.)]

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Chapter 3-1. ‘Black Tree’ Tribe

After the first orc clan, the second clan was already dead. The blood from the dead orc’s corpse was yet to harden as if it hadn’t been long since they went there. Unsurprisingly, no orc survived, and their bodies were all shredded. A little while ago, Arhil, who vomited, looked around in astonishment.

“God… “She muttered with her eyes closed.

“Who… Who the hell did this? Would you like to go to the next tribe?”

At Arek’s words, Judah pondered for a moment and looked back at Arhil. She had been moving around at her breaking point. Although there had been no battle at all thanks to Arek’s archery, it seemed that they had to take a break because of Arhil, who appeared to be quite exhausted. Judah shook his head.

“I understand the urgency, but let’s take a break and go to a clean place.”

“Well. Okay.”

They moved to a place without the scent of blood and took a break. As the sun rose in the middle of the sky, they grew hungry, so Judah took out the lunch box and water he had from their hotel in Aslan. Arhil refused her lunch box because she wasn’t feeling well, and Judah took out honey and poured it in warm water for her.

“That ability is amazing. Anything seems to come out of nowhere?”

“I have everything except what I don’t have. There are a lot more here.”

Judah had the -Bag- or a subspace in their terms, but he didn’t say more. They bought plenty of food in Serenia and Aslan and many other items from general stores, food outlets, and restaurants. He made considerable money by selling black wolf skins and gemstones, and thanks to the bounty he received from Langrisa’s official for defeating Count Jinmu, he had no shortage of funds to purchase such items. Judah, who smiled proudly from Arek’s words of admiration, gave him honey too. After drinking the warm and sweet honey water, Arhil’s expression grew brighter and a little bit better.

“Ha… Please, I would like them to kill the next tribe better.”

“If they have enough skill to do that, they will be able to kill them neatly. That person seemed to do that on purpose.”

“Ugh. Does it have to be like this? But that person… No, what if it’s not a person? Even if we are humans, what if they run into us? This is a problem, and they are a problem.”

Arhil worried with a sigh. No matter how hard he tried to think, it seemed unlikely. She spoke tirelessly to forget about her anxiety and the images of the orcs that kept popping up in her head. Judah was worried that their chatter would crowd the orcs, but if it happened, Judah and Jeanne would step up and stop it. No one silenced Arhil as Arek guided their way. They rather laughed and nodded their heads.

“Oh, smoke is coming from over there!”

They could see the gray smoke rising into the sky through the lush trees of the forest. Arhil saw that while Arek and Judah, who were focused more on their peripheral vision, missed it. Arek looked at the location and cried out with a frown on her.

“I guess they’re attacking even the third tribe! It’s not too late to see the battle! I will speed up a bit.”

Arek did not hear their answer and rushed out. The screams of the orcs rang out in the forest. While running, they looked to the side and saw an orc lying down as if they came from this way. The orc, neatly cut in half, had its eyes wide open. They passed through corpses that were scattered around like a totem and reached the place where smoke erupted. A burning tribe was seen down the hill. They didn’t know how long it had passed since they engaged in the battle, but the fresh smell of blood mixed with the smell of burning. Orc corpses were already piled up. The Orcs, angry at the death of their companions, screamed and ran to their attacker.

“…”

Judah’s eyes hardened as he watched the sight before him. In the middle of the tribe, there was a knight with a great red sword with the same hue as his Altemia. He was wearing a full-body armor stained with blood, but the armor’s appearance was very familiar. Hoowook! The knight, breathing wildly with a groan, brandished his sword with all his might toward the running orcs. Surprisingly, the orc swung around a proper weapon, but before it could even react, part of his upper body flew into the air. The red great sword was so sharp that it cut off even the weapon the orc was holding. The knight covered in the orc’s blood that soared like a fountain burst into laughter when he saw his lower body falling with his legs twisted.

“Ahahahahaha!”

Arhil, watching his heartfelt joy in his murderous spree, raised her hands to her chest. The knight easily dealt with the rest of the orcs running at him. He shredded the orc’s corpse at the end of one attack, leaving their headless bodies before him. Seeing the incredulous sight, anyone could tell that he was the knight who destroyed the two orc tribes they had seen so far.

“Oh my gosh…”

Arhil trembled. The man laughed and shook his body, and looked around. A dangerous glance flashed through the gap in the faceplate of his pressed helmet. Judah looked at it and observed the knight with very cold eyes.

The sound of laughter echoed in the air, the armor that was stained with blood looked familiar, and the red greatsword in his hand gleamed in Judah’s eyes.

Judah clinched his knowledge of the knight.

“…Kain.”

He expected him to be here. And in the end, he even saw the fragment in person.

“Ha-!”

The strength goes into both eyes and captures Kain’s appearance. He wielded the great sword and watched every enemy silently as he slaughtered the Orcs. Then, whether he felt Judah’s intense gaze, Kain’s head swung up, and he turned to his group on the hill. He cut one orc before him and then began running. He charged at them with his armor, like a running tank.

Thud! Thud!

He cut through the orc in front of him and ran at a tremendous speed. He seemed to slide several meters at a time. They gawked at him as he ascended the hill, and then Arek, belatedly coming to his senses, shot an arrow. Kain reacted at the arrow flying at him at a very close range. He lowered his posture with a step to dodge, all the while cutting the arrow with his greatsword, then he grabbed the third arrow shot at him with his hand.

“What?”

Confusion hit Arek, shooting arrows in a row, that Kain crushed with a swing of his sword with great magic power. The magical power wrapped around his blade was reddish and left a mark like a gently curved crescent moon.

‘Bloody Wind!’

It was one of the skills that can be learned when obtaining the thirteenth fragment, the Yakal of Wrath. Judah hastily grabbed Arek’s collar and pulled him back. Bloody Wind whipped through the hill and disappeared into the sky. Then Judah jumped down the hill with his blade and Altemia in his hands. Kain, who was coming up, did not think that Judah would jump suddenly, cringed, and held his great sword one beat late. But Judah’s feet were faster. He stepped on Kain at the same speed as he jumped off the hill, jumped up the air as he used him as a footstool, and landed on the hill again. He had almost tripped, yet he stayed in place by pushing himself off the ground using his hands. On the other hand, Kain, who was kicked by Judah, went back and rolled down the hill worn down by his armor, and fell to the ground with a thud.

‘Are you dead?’

His armor was ten kilos or more and even if the armor had lightening magic, it wasn’t negligible. Even if one of his arms was scathed, there was nothing wrong with it, and Kain jumped up as if he had not been hit.

Oh, oh, oh, oh!

And the orcs who watched at a standstill started running like a horde of zombies. At first glance, the orcs, who were not small in number, seemed to consider Judah and Kain to be on the same side. When he tried to kill all of them by throwing Altemia, Kain, who had arisen, rushed in at him.

“!”

Looking at his attacking sword, he reflexively crossed his blade and Altemia to stop him, but he changed his mind and turned his body in a hurry. He tried to counterattack, but he had no choice but to spread the distance before Kain could get his shoulder. Potential Liberation, Magic, and Spreading Shadow — Judah stared at Kain, activating his skills. Kain stared back at him with a bizarre look, smacked the edge of his blade to the ground, then swung it off at an orc approaching behind. In a blink, he had cut the orc’s throat in half.

It was unexpected that he met Kain here…

‘It’s rather good.’

He could kill him here and take away the fragment as well. It didn’t matter if Kain had a job called -Gabriel’s Sword- and had enormous potential. He would not have been a Wielder of the Sword yet. The wrath of the thirteenth fragment would not have eaten him if he had enough skills to be a Wielder of the Sword in the first place or had the same mental power. Judah turned his head to the left to avoid the rushing orcs’ attack, then swung his blade, cutting their necks. It wasn’t the level of cutting as Kain did, but seeing the blood spurt through the wound of their neck, they would die soon. Judah, who took his gaze away from the orc grasping his neck with a grunt, threw Altemia that he had been fiddling with his left hand, toward Kain.

Clank!