Chapter 182: Great Chaos (1)

“What’s this? Am I dreaming or something?”

“What are those things? What’s falling down?”

“Snow? No… bone fragments?”

“Danger! Get out of the way!”

Thud!

Thud-thud-thud!

Bone fragments of monsters poured down from the sky like trash.

They soon transformed into skeletons, rising briskly from where they fell.

The only difference from typical undead monsters was that their heads weren’t skulls but had cute cat-like faces.

This confused the crowd.

Was this some overly dramatic performance by the Seton Swordsmanship Hall?

To celebrate the unprecedented advancement of two participants in their twenties to the main stage finals, had the swordsmanship hall prepared such an event?

‘No!’

That wasn’t it.

The first to realize this was Sheratiya Viyan.

She had experienced something similar at a banquet in the Crove Kingdom: snowflakes falling with a magician’s spell, piles of snow on the ground, and cursed creatures crawling out from within…

It was the same now.

They might look somewhat cute at first glance, but one mustn’t be fooled.

Swallowing hard, she quickly gathered the orphanage children to her side.

“Kids! Come here!”

“What’s that? They look so cool! Can’t we take a closer look?”

“Yeah, I’m not scared of those things at all…”

“Stop talking nonsense and come here now!”

“What’s her deal?”

“Yeah, she’s not even our teacher.”

The orphanage kids grumbled.

Beyond that, two of them started creeping toward the cat-faced monsters.

Though Sheratiya had always been kind to them, their childish impulses made them act rebelliously, like contrary frogs.

But that lasted only a moment.

Swish-

Splat!

“Arghhh!”

“Ugh, ugh, aaahhh!”

“What! Someone died! They really died!”

“What are these things! What are these bastards!”

“Run! Run away!”

“Arghhh!”

“…!”

“…!”

The kids froze like ice as they saw a monster draw a bone sword from its sheath and indiscriminately slaughter the spectators in front of it.

Splat!

“Kyaaa!”

“Argh, aaah!”

Another monster rose and swung its bone sword.

A woman, paralyzed and unable to move, screamed as her waist was severed, while a man who seemed to be her husband wailed and charged at the monster, only to meet his demise.

Seeing this, some people began pushing others aside to flee.

The problem was that the arena’s structure wasn’t conducive to escaping.

They were blocked by countless passersby, their feet tangled, or they slipped on the slopes, tumbling clumsily.

Some were even trampled to death by the crowd, not by the monsters, showing just how chaotic the arena had become.

“Kids! Hide behind us!”

“Yes! Kids, get behind our mercenary corps! Sheratiya Viyan, you come here too!”

“Everyone else, it doesn’t matter! Those who don’t have the strength to survive on their own, hide behind our Eddy Mercenary Corps! We’ll protect you!”

The silver lining was that the Eddy Mercenary Corps, quickly regaining their composure, began confronting the monsters.

Eddy, Pale, the Fist Brothers, and even Glen.

All of them, having reached the Expert level, had more than enough skill to handle the undead monsters.

Occasionally, a larger-than-average specimen would charge, creating a crisis, but Eddy, the corps’ leader, stepped in to resolve it.

They weren’t alone.

Though most spectators were ordinary people, given the nature of the swordsmanship festival, there were also many who lived by the sword.

At first, they only fought approaching monsters to protect themselves, but inspired by the Eddy Mercenary Corps’ bravery, they began to follow suit.

“Here! Hide behind me!”

“Our Jeten Swordsmanship Hall won’t stand idly by in this crisis either! Members, draw your swords and protect the civilians!”

“The Mazenka Swordsmanship Guild is no different! Let the guild’s valor be known across the southern continent!”

Famous swordsmanship halls, guilds, unknown swordsmen, and even a few magicians from various regions abandoned their self-preservation instincts and courageously stepped forward to save civilians.

Of course, their efforts didn’t eliminate all danger.

Several undead monsters, sensing the unfavorable tide, fused into a single entity to amplify their strength.

Crunch, crunch, crack!

Rumble…!

Roarrrrr!

The bones transformed into something resembling a bone dragon from history books.

As soon as it took form, it unleashed a powerful fear attack, paralyzing those nearby, and swung its long, massive tail to collapse part of the arena.

But it couldn’t fulfill its intent.

Hagio, who had instantly seized the bone dragon’s rear, sliced its tail clean off.

Slash-

Rawrrrr!

That wasn’t all.

Manifesting an Aura Sword larger and sharper than any other swordsman in the festival, he began demolishing the bone dragon with robust, weighty swordsmanship.

Crack!

He shattered its massive hind legs.

Crack-crack!

He smashed its razor-sharp wings like breaking glass.

Crack-crack-crack!

Finally, before it could spew its acidic breath, he leaped into its massive maw, obliterating its head entirely.

All the swordsmen watching wore stunned expressions.

‘Who is that guy?’

‘It’s not Harang or Cecilia. Someone that young and that strong…!’

‘There was another powerhouse in their twenties besides those two?’

‘Is this even possible?’

It was an utterly absurd situation.

Just a year ago, Hilus was considered the southern continent’s greatest prospect, yet now three youths, younger and far stronger, had emerged all at once.

Where had they been, and what had they been doing to appear so suddenly?

No, more importantly, what kind of training had they undergone to achieve such strength at such a young age?

They didn’t know.

They didn’t know that for the Godoks, training was a life-and-death struggle every moment.

In an environment where failure to grow meant being discarded like trash, they had no choice but to become stronger just to see tomorrow.

Of course, that wasn’t important now.

Having single-handedly neutralized the bone dragon, Hagio, breathing heavily, looked toward the center of the arena.

“Harang, Cecilia…”

Two monsters engaged in a fight as fierce as his battle with the bone dragon.

Seeing them, he muttered to himself.

‘Harang. I don’t know what Cecilia was like when you saw her in Viscount Kilkearn’s territory… but I can’t trust that girl. Absolutely not.’

This incident was likely deeply connected to Cecilia.

Hagio glared at her briefly before moving again, darting through the arena.

There were still many undead to deal with.

Considering those that had fallen outside the arena, he couldn’t afford to rest his sword today.

***

Clang!

“What’s this all about?”

“What’s it about? Weren’t we in the middle of our final match?”

Harang’s question was met with Cecilia’s casual response.

No, not casual—she seemed almost amused.

Her usual gloomy smile was replaced by a mischievous expression.

Harang couldn’t understand it.

Why?

Why was she smiling so gleefully in the midst of such chaos?

“Could it be, all this commotion is…?”

“Slow on the uptake, aren’t you? Really slow.”

Boom!

As she spoke, Cecilia thrust her sword powerfully toward Harang’s chest.

Harang, blocking it, wore a hardened expression.

It was far stronger than he’d expected.

Her growth since Viscount Kilkearn’s territory was far steeper than his own!

The Cecilia now wasn’t the Cecilia he knew.

Each strike felt as heavy as if he were facing Gael.

‘Of course, even so, she’s no match for me.’

Step

Harang stepped back, taking a deep breath.

His mind was still in turmoil.

Had Cecilia orchestrated this chaotic situation?

If so, why?

Was her gloomy smile tied to the Red Magician or the Black Hydra?

‘…Maybe she’s reconnected with the village.’

Nothing was certain.

Yes, truly nothing.

That’s why he wanted to ask.

He wanted to set aside his sword, break down the walls of their hearts, and confirm each other’s true intentions.

But to do that, he had no choice but to raise his sword.

To reach that stage, he’d have to completely subdue the seemingly rampant Cecilia.

With that thought, Harang focused his mind.

‘I didn’t want to use this if I could help it…’

But this was an emergency.

Nodding to himself, the memory of Allen Meir’s death flared like a spark in Harang’s mind.

Hum-

Hummmm-!

Harang’s Aura Sword grew even stronger.

The unpleasant memories from the Demonic Palace constantly provoked and tormented him.

His negative past darkened and reddened his life and existence.

It was like a curse, but that’s why it was powerful.

It held enough strength to bring Cecilia down.

‘Cecilia. After subduing you with this strike, let’s have the conversation we couldn’t finish.’

Muttering to himself, Harang finally lifted his gaze from his sword to Cecilia.

For some reason, she was floating in the air as if stepping on nothing, but that didn’t strike him as odd.

It only reinforced his certainty of her connection to the Red Magician.

But the scene that unfolded moments later surpassed his expectations.

“Hey, Harang.”

“What?”

“See you next time.”

“What does that…?”

Before Harang could finish, it happened.

Another circular portal formed in the sky.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

A deafening roar, like a stone wall splitting open, echoed as the portal expanded.

It was almost identical to the dimensional gate that had opened above the arena earlier.

The only difference was that instead of spewing something out, it was sucking in the undead monsters.

Whoosh-whoosh!

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

Not just the monsters.

Swordsmen fighting them, the injured, civilians—countless people were indiscriminately pulled into the portal.

It was a spectacle one might never see again in a lifetime, yet also a grotesque, horrifying phenomenon one would never want to witness again.

“That was fun. See ya.”

With those words, Cecilia vanished along with the portal.

Harang, snapping back to his senses, fired Aura projectiles into the sky, but the portal had already disappeared without a trace.

“….”

“….”

“….”

A deathly silence filled the arena.

The only sounds were the groans and wails of the injured.

No one could properly explain the situation.

This was the hallmark of the Red Magician’s deeds.

Terror acts carried out without discernible reason, targeting unspecified masses.

The only difference this time was that instead of indiscriminately killing, some were abducted.

What was the reason?

No one knew, but for Harang, that wasn’t the important part right now.

“Daereon’s gone, Boss.”

“….”

Hearing Eddy’s report, Harang fell silent, thinking of one person.

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