Level up with swords (157)
sand storm.
This was a common occurrence in the desert, where countless amounts of sand piled up and there was nothing to block the wind.
Unlike rocky deserts, sandy deserts, where the particles are small and light, not only had storms more frequent but also much longer in duration. According to records, a large-scale sandstorm that lasted for as long as 50 days was named ‘Khamsin’.
Once the sandstorm begins to swirl, it sweeps the ground and rises to the bottom of the clouds, blocking out the sun. Although it cannot be compared to the darkness of night, it casts a deep shadow in the desert during the day.
And there was evil stirring in the shadows.
“Kwaaaaaaak!”
“La, Lahmu! Argh!”
With a deathly scream, the two men disappear. I’m not using an analogy. It literally disappeared. Once the jet-black wave swept over, there was nothing left. Not even a single drop of blood was left behind.
Scarabs that shine black like obsidian.
Everything bitten by its snout rotted away, both its armor and its body, turning the creature into a handful of dirt.
“Ermud! Rahim!”
Calling out the names of his dead subordinates, Lahmu swung the sword in his hand with all his might. The blade imbued with a reddish aura makes the scarabs step back, even if only for a moment.
An aura of fiery heat.
A strike from a red-flaming scimitar could wound even those scarabs.
Nevertheless, Lahmu’s complexion was pale.
“He who is alive, answer my call! “Is there anyone here?”
It’s only been about 30 minutes since we entered the sandstorm.
The only voice that echoed inside was his.
It was good to find the person presumed to be the culprit of the disappearance, but it was a mistake to follow him and enter the sandstorm.
Among the Bedouin tribe, the elite and renowned warriors fell to their deaths without even making a proper attack.
“If we don’t get out of this storm… !”
Die.
Lahmu felt a vivid premonition of death creeping up his back.
Even when an arrowhead is stuck near the heart.
Even when a scimitar was placed in front of my neck.
Even when I was on the brink of death from deadly poison.
I have never felt death so clearly.
… Whioooooooo… .
Leaving the corpses of his men behind, Lahmu ran for his life. His feet, stiff from fear and tension, were buried in the sand several times, but that did not stop him.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters.
Even though I kept running until the sense of distance disappeared, there was no end to the sandstorm. The sun distorted above his head and the shadows beneath his feet wriggled strangely as if they were laughing at him.
Is it because of my mood?
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.
“Come out――!!”
Lahmu finally stopped running and turned around, suppressing his fear with pride.
This sandstorm is not natural.
It had to be that way.
When they found ‘the guy’, there was no wind around them. However, as I chased after the ‘guy’, my vision became blurry and before I knew it, I was in the middle of the storm.
“I can’t get out! “If you have honor and pride, show your face in front of Lahmu right now!”
It was a cry like a struggle.
There is no way I can respond.
Even though he knew that, Lahmu had no choice but to shout. He had to spit in the bastard’s face and die for the sake of his men who had been killed by this evil being.
The Auror, with his determination to die, inflates his spirit even more.
blow.
I will die after giving even a single scratch to that evil being who turned my subordinates into insect food!
【… Hehe… flaw… Hehehe… flaw… 】
As if to mock his resolve, the ‘bastard’ revealed itself with a gloomy sound.
The shape was unclear due to the sandstorm.
He looked like a man shimmering black like a shadow.
What he wears on his head is a luxurious nemeth. A shawl decorated in the style of the ancient kingdom. The beard attached to the tip of the chin was made of fake gold and was an accessory that could only be worn by the pharaoh who was chosen by God.
Orichalcon belts hung around his neck and waist, and he held a scepter Nekaka and a staff Heka in both hands.
【… abject… This is… me… I’m calling you… 】
A green glow blooms from inside the eye sockets, which are recessed above the skin as black as coal.
It was the image of Nephren Ka, the ‘Black Pharaoh’.
“Yes, what are you…” ?”
Lahmu, who instinctively recognized that the existence ‘should not exist’, screamed in a fit of rage.
“It is truly evil and blasphemous… ! “A monster that shouldn’t exist walks proudly under the sun!”
【sun… ?】
Perhaps stimulated by his words, Nephren Ka blinked her eyes and looked up at the sky. A brilliant sphere of light that did not completely lose its shine even when covered by a sandstorm.
【… me… corrupt… Cursed… light… !】
Nephren Ka’s eyes flashed, glaring at the light with clearly burning hatred, and then turned his eyes towards Lahmu.
The murderous intent and anger were obvious.
Facing it, Rahmu reflexively swung his sword.
“Haaaab!”
The atmosphere in the Aura Sword split apart as it burned, and the scimitar struck Nephren Ka as if it were splitting the top of Ka’s head.
however.
【… It’s laughable… Throw away… 】
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Nephren Ka did not move or chant a spell.
I just looked.
The moment the gaze focused on Lahmu, the scarabs that had been avoiding the Aurors by instinct moved. Without a moment of hesitation, it coalesced like jet-black waves and blocked the blade.
There are dozens of scarabs that can be cut down in one go with the <Aura Sword>. A wave of hundreds or thousands of animals could not be broken.
That’s not all.
“What?!”
Lahmu’s eyes widened, startled by the sudden feeling of losing all his strength. His fiery scimitar gradually lost its light, and soon broke in the middle.
No, it wasn’t broken.
When I looked closely at the cross section of the scimitar, I saw that scarabs had been gnawing away, and small fragments were flowing out like dust.
“No way, my auror… “You ate it!?”
An astonished Lahmu took a few steps back and shouted.
It was ridiculous.
Auror was a refined form of life force, a force compressed to extremely high density. Even metals famous for their hardness cannot fully contain its power, so you have to look for special metals such as mithril or orichalcon.
But scarabs, creatures that aren’t even made of metal, eat Aurors as if they were grass?
【… my… The descendants… Life… Eat it up… 】
Originally, the pharaoh was the incarnation of the sun.
Nephrenka, who was supposed to symbolize life and light, but was corrupted through dealings with foreign powers, was the exact opposite.
Death and darkness were his powers.
【… Cursed… Only the sun… my… Territory… I humiliate you… Your… The flame… Indeed… It’s insignificant… 】
“Huh… Hmm… !”
【… Are you afraid?】
When Lahmu unconsciously nodded at those words, Nephren Ka giggled and stretched out his staff.
As if making fun of someone hanging on the edge of a cliff.
With the most evil and hideous meaning.
【… Mercy… I’ll give it to you… !】
The darkness flowing from Nephren Ka’s staff overtook Lahmu. Even her eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Unholy and evil power flows into every hole in the face.
It is more terrible and powerful than ‘Foreign Law’.
Nephren Ka’s power, which borrowed power directly from foreign sources, was greater than that of an evil church bishop.
Soon Lahmu’s struggles stopped.
The skin, which had lost its vitality, cracked and dried out like dried fish, and soon stuck together, leaving only the skeleton.
Then, the tentacles extending from Nephrenka’s body wrapped around the body like a bandage, and wrapped the entire body, leaving only the eye sockets and mouth.
【… Wake up… my… Servant… 】
Lahmu opened his eyes at the sound of Nephren Ka’s voice.
Green eye glow.
Lahmu, who was reborn as a ‘Mummy’, an undead created through the <Outer Law>, kneeled down respectfully. And he spoke in a hushed voice, completely different from when he was human.
“Command, great Pharaoh.”
Nephren Ka nodded in satisfaction.
【… yes… A fellow countryman… To those… Guide me… 】
“I will follow Pharaoh’s will.”
As if the fact that he bravely faced him was a lie, Lahmu followed his orders without a moment’s hesitation.
To offer the Bedouin as a living sacrifice to Nephren Ka.
To bring the kingdom of death back to this great desert.
【… how much… Namji… Didn’t… 】
Nephren Ka, who was following Lahmu, muttered darkly.
The fact that my speech was slurred and the fact that I wasted dozens of minutes with the chase team was all due to an incomplete summons.
There was no way that a demigod-level being could be called lightly.
So, after being summoned, he had to eat a living sacrifice to make his body and mind perfect. There is still a long way to go, but unlike the old days, there will be few entities that could pose a threat to him.
【… Sun… I… I’m back… !】
With the ambition to reign over this land again, Nephren Ka, the Black Pharaoh, laughed evilly.
* * *
Meeting duel, the next day.
Leon and his party immediately took three seats at the tribal leaders’ meeting and joined in the conversation. Although they were concerned that they might be displeased with the intervention of an outsider, the beastmen thought of Leon and the others as great warriors, one of the few among the human race, due to the duel the previous day.
Perhaps that’s why the atmosphere in the meeting room was warmer than expected, and there was no problem for the three people to speak.
“hmm.”
Why?
“Hmm.”
Leon glanced sideways at the Huracan sitting next to him.
The wounds suffered from the previous day’s duel must have been significant, and even though Ellahan helped treat them, a pungent smell of medicine could be felt all over his body.
He was the master of breaking through 〈Hocheon Samyeonseong〉 head on. No matter how strong the bodies of the Tigris are, the Seven Star Sword is a martial art that remains a legend. It was fortunate that he survived because he threw himself into that model of Oui.
“Hmm.”
Leon finally couldn’t bear it anymore and turned his head to whisper to Huracan, who kept making an incomprehensible snort.
“Why do you keep doing that, it bothers me.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Huracan!”
When he complained, Huracan spoke while baring his teeth.
“You became a different person in just one day. “I heard that humans grow quickly, but this is a bit too much.”
Is it his sense as a beastman, or his insight as a warrior?
Either way, it was great insight.
Leon answered those words with a shy expression.
“Well, I was lucky.”
“Damn.”
Huracan laughed.
“Anyone who succeeds in anything and says they got lucky is a fool. It happened because it had to happen, and it won because it was worth winning. Don’t be so humble. Because it’s annoying.”
“Huracan, it looks like you have gained quite a bit.”
“It’s even weirder that they fight like they did yesterday and don’t learn anything.”
Sometimes you learn more from one actual experience than from a hundred practices. Moreover, Huracan had no opponent in this steppe that he could compete with in martial arts.
The day he dueled with Varg was the only experience he could recall.
But then Leon appeared in front of him.
In some ways, he is a deeper martial arts practitioner than Varg, and a warrior who calls himself the immediate disciple of Saint King Roderick.
“Next time, let’s fight longer and harder.”
Huracan remembered yesterday’s excitement and clenched his fists.
“If you promise to give us one more fight after this, I will fully support your opinion. how is it?”
“They say all Tigrians are battle fanatics… .”
“Okay, I take it you agree.”
With just one sparring promise, you can gain the support of the strongest player in the main airwaves. Leon sighed at that aggressiveness but nodded his head.
It is easier to win now than yesterday.
After mastering the elemental body, he was a different person than he was yesterday, just as Huracan said. If the instantaneous speed added to 〈Icarus Wing〉, wouldn’t it be worthy of competing with Bargue’s 〈Cheonrang〉?
It was a time when he was lost in his thoughts for a moment.
“Then I guess we’ll have no choice but to go into the middle of the desert to eliminate the guy who tried to pit us against the nomads.”
Basil, the chief of the Capri tribe, summarized the situation.
It was indeed as he said.
The purpose of this unknown guy is war. It was a strategy designed with the goal of driving the nomads out of the desert and making them fight against the beastmen.
To stop it, you had to kill the monsters that were attacking food and residents inside the desert.
“We can’t move on a large scale. You said the Bedouin don’t know exactly what’s going on, right? “If we move a large number of troops for no reason, they might think we are launching a preemptive attack.”
“That makes sense.”
Alice from the Lepus tribe and Totuga from the Ursus tribe exchanged words.
Until yesterday, the neutral faction and the mainstream faction had different positions, but after the duel, they exchanged opinions without hesitation.
Although it may seem barbaric, it was also the strength of the beast people.
After that, the discussions among the tribal leaders continued.
“If you’re small, you have to raise the bar. “If we send out a bunch of people, they will spread in the desert without any effort.”
“I agree. “He should be at the level of a tribal leader, or at least his successor.”
“However, if all the tribal leaders are mobilized, order in the grassland will be… .”
“There might be a war, so what order is that?”
“Then you’re saying we should just ignore the internal anxiety!?”
Some violently, some calmly.
Each person presented his or her own opinion regardless of whether it was right or wrong. Both sides have their own positions.
But Leon became a little frustrated.
The longer we delay, the worse the situation becomes. According to what I heard from El Cid, the opponent is a monster that regains its power depending on the passage of time and the collection of living sacrifices.
There was a need to subdue it as quickly as possible.
“-Noisy!”
It was then.
bang! shouted Huracan, placing both feet on the round table.
“You’re being a coward and saying you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do this! “How long are you going to keep talking in front of this table!”
“Chief Huracan! “Even you have to be polite at meetings.”
“shut up!”
Bang again! shouted Huracan, who kicked the table and stood up, raising his arms.
“I don’t care what you guys say! I’m going! Even if I die, the Tigris will eat well and live well. Isn’t that so, you bastards!”
He looked around the audience and shouted, and the Tigris, who were lined up with bored faces, responded with cheers.
“Take us with you, Chief!”
“Are you trying to have fun alone again!”
“behave shamefully!”
“Woooo!”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the meeting room changed.
The attitude of approaching the issue cautiously ended up being treated as cowardice due to Huracan’s declaration of war and the Tigris’ positive response.
Even the tribal leaders who spoke of caution eventually had no choice but to step down.
Varg, who was watching the flow, raised his hand.
“It’s decided.”
There was no need to even go to the polls.
“Gather the warriors who will leave for the great desert. “We are going to subdue the despicable son of a bitch who dared to use us as living sacrifices.”
The tribal chiefs’ meeting was organized in just two days.
With Barg’s declaration, the beastmen gathered in the meeting hall raised their hands and shouted, causing the entire Fenrir village to tremble and fight.
A fighting spirit that comes from justified anger, not hatred and resentment!
It was the moment when the hostility of the beast people turned its blade towards evil.
