Chapter 43 - Seollang (5)

Maliam the Grotesque Beast knew full well how strong Seollang was. What she had shown in Coloni thus far had left an even stronger impression than Kalman Arentz, who had been a Baba Yaga for a very long time.

Even so, neither Maliam nor Kalman believed she would overpower them in this fight. Both were Baba Yagas just like her, and more importantly, they had absorbed Abyssal Cores.

Abyssal Cores.

Maliam did not know how they granted power. All he knew was that anyone of sufficient stature who used one would receive power in some form.

But that was enough information for him. Even now, as they fought Seollang, both men could feel that simply using the Abyssal Cores had made them almost twice as powerful as before.

BOOOOM!!!

Maliam's fist slammed into the spot where Seollang had stood, shaking the cavern as though an earthquake had struck.

CRAAACK!

A single stomp of Kalman's foot collapsed the ground.

And that was not all.

CRAAASH!!!

Maliam displayed such absurd strength that he tore the top off the forgotten city's fortress and hurled it at Seollang.

That overwhelming power, plainly beyond anything human, filled the mercenaries, mages, and beastfolk fighting the assassins with despair.

Yet the two men unleashing that impossible strength, fighting as though they meant to demolish the entire cavern, looked increasingly grim as time passed. The reason was Seollang, who was still holding her own against them.

The golden-eyed figure vanished in a crackling flash, then appeared before Maliam in an instant and struck him in the waist. She blocked an attack from Kalman Arentz as he appeared behind her, then drove her fist into him.

BOOOM!

Maliam and Kalman crashed into the great cavern's wall, shattering it.

'This is impossible...!'

Maliam scowled at Seollang.

Her body was certainly covered in wounds. Blood stained her shining hair, and injuries covered her fearsome body.

Yet she was overwhelming them. Against two Baba Yagas who had absorbed Abyssal Cores and become twice as strong as before, she had not yielded an inch.

"You damned monster...!"

Maliam grimaced as he reshaped his hideously transformed right hand into a blade.

'She isn't emitting black mana, so she can't have absorbed an Abyssal Core...!'

She was strong enough to gain the upper hand against two Baba Yagas who had consumed Abyssal Cores.

'... We really can't deal with her by force...!'

His easy expression had vanished. He frowned deeply and looked at Kalman.

"Tch."

Recognizing their prearranged signal, Kalman clicked his tongue and lunged—not toward Seollang, but toward the beastfolk.

"!"

The moment Seollang saw him move, she realized he was charging at Ralga, her tribesman fighting the assassins at the front. She immediately moved—

CRUNCH!

—and met Kalman's punch with her own.

BOOOM!

She briefly winced at the terrifying shock wave, far too powerful to have come from a mere clash of fists. Then she sensed something wrong.

Kalman, who had looked so grave only moments before, now wore an unmistakable smile.

At that moment—

SHUNK!

"?"

Seollang turned at the searing pain in her back. Ralga stood there.

"Finally...!"

His lips twisted upward, Ralga had plunged a blade into Seollang's back.

Her eyes filled with questions.

"Urgh!"

Blood spilled from her mouth.

####

BANG!

Sent flying by Kalman's kick, Seollang rolled across the ground, unable to comprehend what was happening. Her eyes held nothing but questions.

Questions. Questions, and still more questions.

She stared at Ralga, her eyes betraying her utter inability to understand. He wore a vile smile.

She could not understand it at all.

"... Why?"

The question escaped her lips.

As Seollang tumbled across the ground following Ralga's betrayal, despair spread across the faces of the mages, mercenaries, and beastfolk, while a sneer curled Kalman's lips. Relief entered the assassins' eyes, and triumph showed on Maliam's face.

Seollang saw all of it, but her gaze remained fixed solely on Ralga.

"Why...?"

She asked again.

Then Ralga, who had been sneering all this time, walked toward her.

Seollang tried to move.

"!"

She realized her body would not respond.

"The blade was coated in Kamonasis poison, so you probably won't be able to move for the next hour. Stop wasting your strength."

Looking down at her startled face, Ralga came to stand right before her.

Unlike his usual solemn self, he crouched with his lips curled into a smirk.

"Ah... What was it? You asked why?"

He stripped the gauntlets from her hands.

"Because I wanted these."

"... What?"

"Didn't you hear me? I wanted these."

Ralga grinned as he waved the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe before her, as though mocking her. Seollang blinked slowly.

"You betrayed me... for that?"

She still felt no anger. Ralga briefly looked incredulous, then let out a derisive laugh.

"For this? Listen, Seollang. What do you think is keeping that guild of yours together? Huh? Don't tell me you think our kin gathered to play along with your disgusting little family game? No—of course not."

TAP, TAP.

"It's because of these. Our kin are still in the guild because of the power they can get from you, understand?"

Seollang's brow slowly furrowed as he taunted her, tapping her face with the gauntlets.

"Why? Do you think I'm wrong?"

"..."

In truth, Seollang knew, to some extent, that Ralga was not wrong. She knew she had been able to gather the Golden Mane Tribe so quickly in Coloni because of the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe, the gift she had received from the Great Moon.

Even so, she had not thought her kin remained in the guild solely because of the Essence, not after all this time.

Even if they had initially gathered to gain power, the time they had spent together in the two years since she founded the guild had been real. She had thought she was steadily rebuilding the family she once had.

No—she had believed it.

"That... can't be—!"

Seollang clenched her teeth, but Ralga merely stared at her, his sneer undiminished by her denial. Then he chuckled and snapped his fingers.

SNAP!

And then—

"..."

Seollang stared in disbelief as the remaining Golden Mane tribespeople began lining up behind Ralga, as though they had been waiting for the signal.

The kin she had greeted so warmly just two days ago. The kin who had chatted with her on the way here earlier. She watched blankly as they all stood behind Ralga, without exception.

Then she noticed that, unlike the mercenaries, none of them had any wounds.

"Ha..."

For the first time, she let out a hollow laugh. Not the smile full of warmth she had always shown her kin, but one of bitter cynicism.

"Well, look at that. You finally look like you've woken up from your dream. How satisfying."

Ralga chuckled with satisfaction and mocked her, tapping her on the head.

"Honestly, every time you acted up, you disgusted me. You got lucky and found these, then ran wild with power you didn't deserve... I really couldn't stand the sight of it. How does it feel to wake up?"

"... Are all the others traitors too?"

Seollang answered his question with one of her own.

Glimpsing the betrayal and hatred behind her bitterly cynical smile, Ralga curled his lips in amusement and started to speak.

"That's enough. Let's finish her off."

Before Ralga could even open his mouth, Maliam stepped up to Seollang, transformed his arm into a blade, and raised it.

"It'll be a nuisance if she starts moving again."

As though determined not to give her the slightest chance, he swung the blade down to execute her on the spot.

CRUNCH!

A flicker of confusion crossed Seollang's face, which had been resigned only moments before.

She was not the only one. Ralga, who had been sneering; Riyan and the mages, whose faces had been filled with despair; even Kalman, who had been smiling with interest a moment earlier—all looked puzzled.

The reason was simple.

"Ah...?"

A huge hole had opened in the head of Maliam, who had been thoroughly intoxicated by his victory only moments before.

THUD!

Maliam's body slumped lifelessly to the ground.

As everyone struggled to comprehend such an ignominious death for one of Coloni's Baba Yagas—

"Ah...?"

Riyan, who had been staring blankly at the sight, realized her breath had turned into white mist.

At the same time, everyone there saw him.

Far in the distance, a man was walking out of Kahara, the city of the forgotten god, without a word.

CRACKLE.

White frost settled with every step, freezing the path beneath him. Gray-white mana rose from the bracelet on his left wrist and enveloped his body like a thin barrier of ice.

STEP. STEP.

There was no hesitation in his stride. Even with a Baba Yaga and dozens of enemies before him, his expression remained utterly impassive.

Everyone began to tense at the sight of him approaching, his face betraying neither feeling nor emotion.

Ralga, who had been mocking Seollang moments before. Kalman, who had been smiling so easily. Every enemy there grew tense as they watched the expressionless man.

They had seen it. They had seen Maliam, a man known as a Baba Yaga, have his skull pierced in a single strike.

"Urgh!"

As the man slowly approached, Ralga instinctively recoiled.

He was not alone. Every being there defined as the man's "enemy" naturally backed away. His mere presence exerted a pressure that tightened around their throats, filling them with irresistible envy and fear.

Even Kalman, the strongest among them, faltered.

'What the hell is that—!?'

He felt an instinctive terror at the black eyes and blue eyes visible behind the man. He knew instinctively that the moment he fully perceived them, his mind would collapse.

"Mentor...?"

At last, Alon reached Seollang, the blade still lodged in her back. Looking intently at her, he spoke a phrase unlike any he had uttered before.

"Ice Crystal."