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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 61: Who are you?
I reflexively turned my head and looked in the direction of the sound.
The left staircase.
Below it, towards the basement.
It was a faint scream, but there's no way I could have misheard it.
"This idiot is for real."
I swung the flagpole in one hand to create distance, and with the other hand, I grabbed the unconscious Blok by the hair and dragged him towards the stairs.
"Out of my way."
Thugs with their swords drawn still surrounded me.
But they didn't dare attack, and instead, they retreated while maintaining their encirclement, following my steps.
The space was narrow, and there was a risk of Blok getting killed if a sword fight broke out. Also, the surroundings were ablaze, making everyone's mental state unstable.
While the thugs were hesitant, I took a step down the narrow stairs and turned around.
"From here on, it's the stairway to hell. I'm going first."
The thugs flinched and stopped.
With each step down, Blok's body kept bumping against the edge of the stairs, making a dull thudding sound.
The basement was pitch black.
The moment I saw a faint light leaking through the gap under the door at the end of the hallway, I heard another suppressed groan.
"Ugh."
I ran quickly while still holding Blok's hair, then positioned the flagpole's tip forward, ready to throw.
Whoosh—
The door with the light leaking out was ripped open, and a thick murderous intent emanated from beyond.
I quickly lifted Blok, using him as a shield.
"Huh?"
The moment the opponent hesitated before attacking,
I crouched down, extended one arm over Blok's shoulder, and chanted.
'Wind Spear.'
The wind blade shot out in a straight line with an explosive force, passing right through the opponent.
The opponent twisted their body bizarrely like a mollusk, deflecting the wind blade.
I seized the moment their posture crumbled and threw Blok over my shoulder.
Blok's body flipped upside down in mid-air, crashing into the opponent and sending them flying into the room.
Bam—
As soon as I entered the room, I looked to the left as if possessed.
"..."
The one-eyed man was chained up with his shirt off.
His entire body was covered in blood, and various crude metal skewers were scattered around.
"One-Eye."
As I approached, One-Eye barely managed to raise his head and look at me.
"..."
I ripped apart the chains that were digging into his flesh, and One-Eye let out a groan and a sigh at the same time.
"You idiot. What are you doing here?"
One-Eye took a few ragged breaths and answered incoherently.
"I'm sorry... Ugh... I got caught on the way."
"Where are the others, and why are you the only one in this state? Surely you weren't planning on making a heroic sacrifice. Were you bullied or something? Those guys have no loyalty."
"...We split up midway. I managed to get past a few of them, but... there were too many enemies... Ugh."
At that moment, I grabbed a metal skewer lying on the ground with lightning speed and hurled it backward.
There was no sound of impact.
Turning my head, I saw a mollusk-like man grinning, holding the skewer I had thrown.
"Heh, another one has arrived?"
I stared at the man, searching my memory. I had never seen him before.
I asked One-Eye.
"Did he do this to you?"
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"I don't know him."
I turned back and pointed at the man.
"He says he doesn't know you."
"So?"
"If you don't know him, why did you do this? Are you insane?"
"..."
"You've turned this kid into a cripple. Look at the hole in his stomach. It's disgusting."
While I examined One-Eye's injuries, the man twirled the skewer and asked,
"How did you get in here?"
"I walked in."
"There should have been guys upstairs."
"There was no one. Except for you, everyone went to eat earlier. Are you being bullied, by any chance?"
While the man flinched in surprise, I continued,
"If I ask you a question, answer me. Why did you do this to One-Eye if you don't know him? Don't tell me you're taking revenge for your parents or something?"
The reason I kept asking the same question was that this was a very important matter.
If they were sworn enemies with a vendetta, I was willing to cut him some slack.
The man replied with a childlike laugh,
"He kept provoking me and running away. He looked like he wanted to be bullied."
"So there was no reason at all."
The man licked the blood-stained skewer with his tongue and said,
"It's fun, isn't it?"
Just then, a timely groan, "Uuugh," echoed, and I immediately turned around.
One-Eye was taking his last breath.
"Don't die, you bastard. Don't die. Stop faking it."
"Yes."
The man approached from behind and said,
"You also look like you want to be bullied. It would be even more fun with the two of you, wouldn't it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a skewer flew towards me at high speed.
Whoosh—
I quickly ducked to avoid it, then grabbed two skewers lying on the ground and threw them backward.
"Heh. Too slow, too slow."
The man once again contorted his body like a mollusk and easily dodged them.
'Wind Barrier.'
I created a barrier in front of One-Eye and immediately turned to face the man, taking a step forward.
At that moment, three skewers flew towards me like lightning.
Not wanting to lose to the man, I wrapped myself in wind and dodged them with godlike movements.
"Oh. You dodged them?"
The man walked a step closer with a grotesque smile.
He wiggled his fingers, as if urging me to throw the skewers.
Somewhere along the way, this fight had turned into a pride contest of "who can dodge better."
I nodded, picked up four skewers, and glared at the man.
"Here I go."
The moment the man's body turned rubbery like a mollusk...
"Wait!"
"What?"
"My top is uncomfortable, so I'll take it off and throw it away. It's a bit in the way."
The man's eyes were so serious that I, too, intended to throw with all my heart.
As expected, the man, who also held this duel sacred, nodded without a word.
The moment I untied the front of my top...
"Huh?"
Fwoosh—
A black light shot out from the front opening, leaving an afterimage, it was that fast.
The man hurriedly twisted his body, but a hole had already been pierced in his thigh.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Ah, right."
I remembered that I had attached a dagger to the front of my top.
"Uuugh, you cowardly bastard!"
"I can forget things too. You should have dodged better."
Since things had turned out this way, I started throwing the four skewers I was holding one by one.
"Kyaaaaaak."
"It's fun to hit the same spot."
I approached the mollusk-man to pull out the black dagger, then suddenly looked to the right.
The sound of someone pounding down the stairs echoed through the hallway.
I took the eyepatch out of my pocket and tossed it to One-Eye.
"Can you walk?"
"...Yes. I can."
"Let's go."
I held the mollusk-man hostage, slung the flagpole over my shoulder, and stepped out into the hallway.
"Uuuuugh."
I pressed the dagger against the mollusk-man's neck. Even though the blade hadn't touched him, blood trickled out, perhaps due to the sharpness of its aura.
"I-I was wrong. Please don't... Ah, it hurts."
"You're contradicting yourself. You just said it was fun. If it's fun, why are you telling me to stop? Enjoy the situation."
Up ahead, the gangsters had drawn their swords and were blocking the narrow hallway.
"I told you it was the stairway to hell."
"Die!"
I swung the flagpole vertically, repeatedly smashing the heads of the charging thugs.
After a while, no one dared to attack anymore.
Slowly, I led the mollusk-man up the stairs. At the central table, Raven was perched, striking a pose.
The fire that had been blazing earlier was now completely extinguished.
"Uuuuugh... Raven!"
Raven, startled, stopped posing.
"You were captured?"
Only then did Raven notice the four skewers piercing the mollusk-man's body and frowned deeply.
"All of them in the belly button... How dreadful."
I observed the unfolding situation and then began the hostage negotiation in earnest.
"Clear the path, or I'll kill everyone."
"What about Blok?"
"I don't need him anymore. I smashed his forehead."
"...Go check."
One of the gangsters nearby rushed down the stairs and back up, reporting Blok's condition to Raven.
"Choose. Will you clear the path, or will everyone die?"
Raven looked at me and the mollusk-man for a moment, then sighed and said,
"Stand down."
I sent One-Eye out first, then turned my back to the gangsters, holding the mollusk-man, and slowly exited the tavern.
Raven stood at the entrance and said,
"Let him go now, Crazy Mage."
"Why should I?"
"Didn't you say you would let him go? Are you going back on your word?"
"When did I say that? I told you to choose between clearing the path or everyone dying. You cleared the path, so I won't kill everyone."
The mollusk-man trembled and muttered,
"Uuuuugh... L-let me go!"
I turned my head to gauge the distance to One-Eye.
Then, I kicked the mollusk-man's back, pushing him towards Raven.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
As the mollusk-man lost his balance and fell, I gripped the flagpole with both hands and swung it forcefully.
Thwack—
"Gah!"
The flagpole split the mollusk-man's head, and a fountain of blood erupted.
'Wind Step.'
Without looking back, I ran quickly and scooped up One-Eye.
As the gangsters cursed and tried to chase me, Raven raised his hand to stop them.
"Don't chase them."
Raven looked down at the man with the shattered head, then back at the rapidly disappearing Crazy Mage, and muttered,
"Where did such a character come from? Yale was captured? Damn it, I should have charged more for this. Let's head to Bayern for now."
* * *
I carried One-Eye on my back and ran, cutting through the wind.
I had a rough idea of what had happened.
It seemed One-Eye ended up like this because of the order I had given him.
One-Eye was the fastest runner among the mercenaries.
He must have been captured while running back to report to me.
So that's why no one else came.
'It was bound to happen.'
For some reason, the number of gangsters had suddenly increased.
Moreover, no matter how much I thought about it, the mollusk-like man was someone I didn't remember.
Even if it was plausible that I hadn't seen him before, it didn't make sense that One-Eye, who had been a gangster in Khaoto for a long time, hadn't seen him either.
'He's an outsider.'
He was definitely someone who hadn't been in Khaoto before.
"One-Eye."
"..."
One-Eye's head drooped forward onto my shoulder. I glanced sideways and saw that he was dozing off.
'He must have been tired.'
As we neared our destination, Garlic, who was guarding the main gate, spotted me and ran over with a hardened expression.
"Boss!"
His eyelids were bruised, suggesting something had happened. Grid, the other gatekeeper, was nowhere to be seen.
Garlic approached and then jumped back in surprise when he saw One-Eye on my back.
"What in the world...?"
"Did the group happen to come this way?"
"Y-yes. They're inside."
"Take him to the group. They should have potions."
Garlic helped One-Eye and went in first...
I paused for a moment and looked at the main gate.
The wooden pillars were dented as if something had smashed into them, and the side walls were scraped.
The Samael signboard was partially torn, its lettering faded.
"..."
Suddenly, I felt my hand slipping on the flagpole and looked down.
Blood from the flag was running down the pole, staining my hand.
I jumped up onto the gate and thrust the Blue Sea Flag into it.
[TL/N: I have decided to make various changes in this series (sort of a revamp), mainly some inconsistencies here n there, how people are addressed like a big example would be house head→Patriarch and various small changes like Great Houses—>Divine Clans. The revamped chaps will uploaded as soon as I am done with the revamp but from this chap you'll see the changes applied in the chapters]
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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