Volume 3 Chapter 96 The Swamp Adventure I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Ms. Ninini, can you walk? If it’s too much, I’ll carry you.”
”N-no, I’m good-nya. I can walk myself-nya.”
Looking scared, Ninini slipped past Kian and hurried ahead.
Serena brushed Kian’s arm and gently nudged him. “Come on. Let’s go.”
* * *
After getting the village head’s permission, they checked the communal graveyard.
Not a single grave looked freshly dug.
Serena and Ninini took a sniff.
The old graves held nothing but dry bones; the new ones──rotting flesh, bodies halfway back to dirt.
After that, Kian finally got to speak with the mother of the missing girl, Nerea.
Only then did he leave the village behind.
By then, the sun was already slipping away, and night’s cold breath was blowing in from the grasslands.
Kian headed north on the farm track, right against the flow of villagers returning from a day in the fields, plunging out towards the wild, grass-scented plain.
He kicked up his speed, almost like he was running from the clouds of gnats snapping at his face.
Even weighed down by his Silver Ice armor, Kian tore across the prairie at a bear’s charge.
’Kian, keep your guard up. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’
(Anything specific?)
’Just a hunch.’
Dodging through the scrub at the roadside, Kian narrowed his eyes behind his glasses.
(You never warn me just for “hunches,” do you?)
’I do! Believe it or not, I can be pretty impulsive sometimes, you know.’
(That’s me. You always have a reason for what you say──even now, you must have picked up on something from the clues or the atmosphere, right?)
’……’
”Glasses?”
A sudden silence from Glasses made Kian frown and slow his pace.
The rush of wind felt too loud in his ears.
The grasslands stretched on, but now the trees gathered thicker on either side.
In the distance, an unearthly howl began to echo.
That wasn’t a wolf.
It was the howl of a Bloodsucking Kind──the ones they called Sword Cains.
”What’s wrong? You were talking just now──don’t clam up suddenly.”
’……’
”Talia?”
’Don’t call me that name.’
”So you are listening, huh?”
After the showdown with Oswald, there was this uneasy stretch where all trace of ‘glasses’ just vanished.
It set Kian on edge.
But in the end, the one inside hadn’t gone anywhere──she was still here, like always.
Not that he was worried about some shady character like that──Kian shut down the thought before anyone else could call him out for it.
’Kian, be mindful of the thorns.’
”Would’ve been helpful to hear that back when we were monster hunting at Izerland fortress.”
’This is different. I can sense something real this time.’
”Real, huh?”
He asked, picking up the pace again.
Only Kian could hear ‘glasses’──which meant, unless he was alone like this, he had to keep their conversations bottled up inside.
He didn’t actually want to talk to ‘glasses’ out loud or anything──but somehow, using his real voice just felt better.
So he did.
’It’s got the presence of a Thorn Demon.’
”You’re saying there’s a Thorn Demon lurking in the marshes? Wasn’t Ms. Aliona supposed to have wiped those out 80 years ago?”
’To be precise──it’s a monster that feels just like a Thorn Demon.’
”Hmm…?”
’Glasses’ pressed on, her tone dead serious.
’Don’t underestimate its regeneration. If things go south, use the Windsong Blade. No hesitation.’
”Wasn’t planning on holding back anyway.”
The problem was, with Natra and Rufna gone, Kian had no magic power to draw on.
Without it, his warrior monk techniques, his ‘Silver Ice’ armor, and even the Windsong Blade──all of it became worthless.
His offensive options dropped to almost nothing.
If he tried to fight blind, with no clue where the enemy actually was, he’d burn through what little he had and collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.
’Maybe bringing Natra or Rufna along would’ve been wise, hm?’
”No. This is how it should be. Leaning on those 2 all the time’ll just dull my edge. Azrael’s putting me through this trial so if I ever get separated from them──by accident, or worse──I’ll still be sharp enough to survive.”
’But your own life could be at stake here, you know!?’
Kian’s lips curled up at the edge.
That’s it.
A battle to the brink of death.
A dance of deception with an unknown foe.
Colliding with all their might, the thrill of finding life in the land of the dead.
That’s what Kian seeks.
Despite having no talent or magic power, Kian has tirelessly honed his blade, driven by a primal instinct and a thirst for battle.
A battle maniac.
No words could capture Kian’s essence more precisely.
Kian accelerated further, barreling through the vast greenery like a cannonball.
In his wake, the withered remains of plants, drained of life by the ‘Silver Ice’ equipment’s special effect, Energy Drain, marked his trail like scars.
Though unintended, it made Kian’s path through the swamp as clear as day.
But no villager who stumbled upon this would ever suspect a human hand at work, so it posed no issue.
He kept running until dusk began to fall, and finally, through the trees ahead, a milky mist started to rise.
(A swamp)
Kian’s keen sense of smell detected the swamp’s distinctive gases.
Plop, plop ── the sound of bubbles bursting from the water echoed all around.
Of course, he had already sensed the countless monsters lurking nearby.
Through the milky fog, red eyes flickered, luring prey.
Kian drew the Windsong Blade from his back.
The magic sword, shattered in battle with Oswald and restored by Guy, whistled through the holes in its blade like a high wind.
Today, its tune resemble the cry of an eagle.
With the sword poised vertically, Kian dashed into the fog.
(Four Sword Cains)
The Sword Cain is a creature with a rodent-like body and the appearance of a praying mantis.
An average-sized one stretches about 3 meters long.
Its defining features are the sharp scythes on its arms and the 4 curved blades that serve as legs.
Kian’s eyes glowed red.
He would mesmerize and control just one.
Navigating the swamp is difficult.
With a mount, it would be smooth sailing.
”────?”
But defying expectations, the Sword Cain slowly approached Kian, and without falling for the mesmerize, it let out a metallic howl and, with a leap, bounded through the swamp’s mud, launching itself at Kian.
Four legs, crooked like scythes, sliced through Kian’s field of vision from bottom to top.
In the very moment Sword Cain’s joints grated as he steered his scythe, Kian vanished from the spot like a wisp of mist.
A line of dazzling slashes.
The resounding cry of the Windsong Blade.
Kian’s sword flash, resembling a lightning bolt, precisely severed Sword Cain’s limb joints in an instant.
(The charm had no effect.)
The remaining 3 closed in for the attack.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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