Chapter 67
Bzzzt-crack!!
"Dodge!"
Lightning sprays from its entire body.
The radiating blue bolts ruthlessly stretch out in all directions.
Boom! Crash!!
I rolled hastily but felt an indescribable chill on my left arm.
Twisting my body urgently—
Bzzzt-crack! The Thunder Wolf Dragon's claws slashed through the air.
Crash--!!
The ground gouged along its claw marks exploded from the enveloping lightning, trees bursting and igniting into flames.
Blown back about one meter by the shockwave, I immediately rose to my feet.
My heart ran cold. A moment later and my left arm would have been torn off.
I immediately drew the Paehwang Sword from my waist.
Grrrung-!
The gravity around me as the center grows heavy.
The ground sinks in a circular shape, and I circulate the divine power of Manhwabongyuk's First Peak, Second Peak, and Third Peak through my divine veins.
All preparations complete.
A stifling silence consumes the surroundings.
But the Thunder Wolf Dragon's attack ended anticlimactically.
"It ran away."
Its presence vanished.
It had already concealed itself long ago.
I dispelled the gravity and surveyed the surroundings.
I spotted Brans trembling in the bushes, and Helena and Alfredo covered in dust.
"That thing just now... it was, right?"
"Correct. The Thunder Wolf Dragon."
"Wow, insane. You're going to catch that? No, is it even possible to catch?"
Its speed, befitting the phrase "lightning fast," was truly like a lightning bolt.
Claws wielded with such speed, combined with the destructive power of the lightning imbued within, exceeded imagination.
Honestly, I didn't think it would be this strong. Without the trait I gained this time, 「Instinctive Intuition」, I would have struggled to notice its surprise attack.
‘I thought I heard it was still a juvenile.'
Surely Bernard, that old man, must have been mistaken.
"We must catch it."
"Why?"
"If we leave it be, the damage to the north will gradually increase. Demonic beasts will gather based on it."
Leave it alone and it becomes a source of disaster.
And I need to catch it to strengthen the lightning of the Noecheong Sword.
With the number of demonic beasts noticeably reduced by the orcs, if not now, the opportunity to catch it might never come.
‘And I'm not even sure how long the quest lasts.’
I must act while I can.
Though it was stronger than expected, it's not like I have no chance of winning.
"It's being arrogant."
The competitors in the north.
In other words, the heavy hitters of the north died in large numbers.
With the strong ones of the forest gone, it must feel like it owns the world.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have revealed its power so brazenly.
"Ah! Kallias! It killed the horses! Where did one go?"
"Probably carried it off."
"I wondered why it attacked, so it was trying to take the horses."
"What about my saddle?"
"Pardon? Um... it probably took that along too?"
Creak.
The horse it carried off had Humasis's saddle on it. Just now, another reason to catch it was added.
"Insolent bastard..."
Its actions are quite cunning.
"But it's truly violent. We do need to subdue it, but... I didn't know it would be that ferocious."
"Probably because someone stirred up its temper."
"Pardon? Who would do that?"
"Didn't I tell you? There are people who went hunting before me. I'm not sure if they're still alive, though."
"They are alive."
Speak of the devil.
Ryburn walked out of the forest, apparently having tracked the Thunder Wolf Dragon.
Of course, his condition wasn't very good.
"You look like hell."
Whether from several life-and-death struggles with the Thunder Wolf Dragon, Ryburn had an appearance that could definitely not be called good.
His trademark glasses seemed to have been shattered, as he was squinting hard, and his armor was cracked and blackened from lightning scorches.
"Did you clash with it?"
"About twice."
As expected of a captain.
To have clashed with it twice and not seem seriously wounded.
"How was it?"
Ryburn let out a deep sigh.
"Initially, I couldn't respond to its surprise attack and took a big hit. The second time, we waited in ambush, but in the end, we were the ones who got hit. It's a born hunter. It scattered lightning, fighting at an impossible speed, and toyed with us without giving a proper fight."
Ryburn and the captains had encountered the Thunder Wolf Dragon from the first day, but couldn't even engage in a proper battle.
Whenever they could somewhat fight, it would flee, and then it repeatedly drained their stamina and launched surprise attacks when they let their guard down.
"How cunning."
"It has dragon blood, after all. Besides, wolves are naturally intelligent animals."
Is it using its specialties to hunt the hunters who came to hunt it?
It's definitely worthy of being a quest target.
‘And its blue lightning.’
The power of Noecheong shouldn't be underestimated either.
"Paladin Helena. What are you doing here?"
"I had business in the north. But I didn't know you'd be here."
Just drop dead.
Ryburn let out an awkward smile at Helena's words murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Were you acquaintances?"
"They dug into our family in the past, claiming we were suspicious."
An Inquisitor's suspicion leads to interrogation, which results in damage to the family.
For the Bolivian Merchant Group engaged in commerce, it was a devastating matter.
"Thinking about the amount of damage we suffered when so many families cut off trade because of you, my hands and feet still tremble, you know that, right?"
"I was only fulfilling my duty."
"What about compensation for the people who suffered because of that idiotic duty?"
"I clearly conveyed my own apology and compensation back then."
"An apology conveyed with just a few swords and a letter? You don't seriously think that was the end of it, do you?"
"I..."
"Quiet. What's important right now isn't that, but catching the Thunder Wolf Dragon first. Save personal matters for later."
Helena frowned, clearly displeased, and whipped around.
"Where are you going."
"You said we need to catch the Thunder Wolf Dragon, right? I'll scout out its location my own way."
Walking away with Alfredo, she tapped the twin swords hanging at her lower back.
Helena's twin swords.
「Shadow Sound Swords - Rosetta」
If she uses her shadow, tracking the Thunder Wolf Dragon wouldn't be impossible.
"I'll let you know when I find it."
Helena gestured at my shadow and disappeared into the forest.
"Where did the other captains go."
"They scattered to search. Since it's so elusive, we figured moving in a group wouldn't work."
"You could be picked off one by one."
It also makes it easier to be ambushed.
"They're confident in their skills. If they get taken down by it... it can't be helped. We'd just have to forge them into swords and avenge them."
Bastards with no camaraderie.
Well, expecting comradeship from those belonging to the cult in the first place would be strange.
All they possess is faith in their god and obsession with the sword.
"Lord Kallias. No, perhaps it would be more proper to call you Count Zervan now."
"As you prefer."
"Count, when you faced the Thunder Wolf Dragon. How was it? Did it seem like you had a chance?"
I nodded.
There is a chance of winning.
Perhaps because it inherits dragon blood, it was stronger than expected, but the Thunder Wolf Dragon is a novice that hasn't been the ruler of this place for long.
Its arrogance pierces the heavens.
The very fact that it ambushed us just now means it's intoxicated by its own power.
Originally, it should have acted more cautiously and carefully.
So there is a chance of winning.
And one curious thing—
‘Carried off a horse, huh...’
A provocation? I can't tell.
But what needs to be done is clear.
"My sword didn't work on it. Its scales were hard."
"Did poison not work either?"
"Yes. Even my poison didn't work on its scales..."
The Inquisitor of Yecheol.
Even the Poison Root Akasha didn't work.
"I see."
Ryburn won't be of much help in hunting the Thunder Wolf Dragon.
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
I naturally drew a sword from my waist, as if it were obvious. A sword revealing a beautiful blade alongside the smoothly unwinding cloth.
Judgment Sword - Mida.
I placed it against Ryburn's neck.
"What are you doing. Count Zervan."
"Do you know the name of this sword?"
"What does this have to—"
"It's the Judgment Sword. A sword that judges its opponent. If even one answer to my questions is a lie, you die."
I'd had a pretty hard time hiding in Trista because of him in the first place.
Since then, I've received some help, but it's only natural that my feelings toward him aren't good.
But separately from that—
If his roots had rotted, I'd have to kill him for Karpe, for the cult.
"Aren't you afraid of God's wrath? Making an enemy of the Inquisition! This is turning the cult into an enemy!"
"I'm laying the groundwork to sever the rotten roots of Karpe."
I pushed divine power into the Judgment Sword.
Ryburn's neck touched the faintly glowing blade tip.
"Ryburn. Have you ever been an enemy of the Empire?"
"Never once!"
If his words were lies, the blade would turn black.
But if true, there would be no change.
I secretly hoped for a lie to be mixed in. Unfortunately, there was no change.
"What a pity."
When I lowered the sword, Ryburn contorted his expression and voiced his complaint.
"What was that just now!"
"Judgment Sword - Mida. A sword of the previous generation passed down through the Zervan family. It enables the discernment of lies. If your words just now were false, the blade would have turned black and your head would have rolled."
Honestly, it was unlikely.
The Inquisitor of Yecheol I knew of.
Ryburn behind Valus was a devout believer of Valterus. But I decided not to blindly trust the information I knew, so I tested him.
The result is as visible.
"...How rude. But I have heard of the Judgment Sword once before. Discernment of lies. I've seen records of the cult requesting to borrow the Judgment Sword from the Zervan family in the past."
Oh, has that happened?
"Of course, you were refused."
"Yes..."
There's no way they'd lend a sword created from the generations of family heads who protected Zervan their whole lives.
"Your faithfulness is guaranteed by me and the Judgment Sword."
"..."
Ryburn's complaints rose to the tip of his throat, but they couldn't be spat out.
His current title is a count. He would become the future lord of the north, and above all—
‘He couldn't react.’
Until the sword reached his throat.
Ryburn couldn't dare to react.
Though his body and mind were exhausted, even so, to think he could do nothing but tremble.
‘Is it truly not the power of a holy relic?’
I don't know.
Not knowing, I had to bring him along.
The one who needed to undergo the cult's interrogation, to have their faithfulness verified, wasn't himself, but Kallias.
"Let's go. I have a rough idea where the Thunder Wolf Dragon might be."
"Yes, sir!"
Watching Kallias enter the Black Forest, Ryburn stroked his own neck once.
The moment he was about to move his feet, his throat bobbing—
Kallias's attendant who went ahead.
Brans smirked.
"..."
When Ryburn narrowed his brows and gripped his beloved sword, the Poison Root Akasha—
"I'll take the lead, sir!"
The bastard used Kallias as a shield.
Ryburn felt an inexplicable displeasure as he followed behind him.