Wandering Mercenary in an Open World
chapter-58

Ruon shook off the corpses that clung to him stubbornly with his waist strength and punched the jaw of the corpse that had approached close enough to hear his breathing.

He pushed away the one whose jaw was torn off with his shoulder and secured some space. Then he gripped Ruin with both hands and swung it hard.

Wham-

The red rune letters that bloomed like flames over the blade showed his hostility towards the evil beings without holding back.

The fan-shaped area under Ruon’s feet, which was facing the wave of living corpses, gradually darkened with blood, flesh, and bones.

Ruon, who was the tip of the fan, cut down the rushing dead without hesitation as he had always done. It was his first time facing enemies that were so numerous and showed no signs of diminishing, but his heart did not waver. Rather, his boiling fighting spirit gave him a strange heat.

Ruon willingly entrusted his body to that heat and moved in a trance. He swung his sword, punched, and elbowed the lifeless ones and smashed them. He turned his head to the dazzling beam of light that burst out from the edge of his sight.

At the same time, a horrible scream was heard.

“Kieeeek!”

At that moment, the corpses that had narrowed the distance to a stone’s throw away began to collapse like marionettes with severed strings.

Was it Igor?

He saw the figures of his companions beyond the corpses that fell like dominoes.

Ruon wiped the blood droplets that ran down his chin with the back of his hand and walked slowly.

Kyle, who confirmed him coming with a pile of corpses behind his back, gave a sarcastic laugh and said.

“Is there any of your own blood on your body?”

“I might find some if I look hard enough.”

“That means you’re not hurt…”

Ruon, who shrugged his shoulders lightly, brushed up his hair that covered his forehead and approached Igor.

The priest, who felt his presence, turned his head with a faint smile. He said.

“Have you arrived?”

“Did you do something?”

Igor nodded.

“Thanks to you, Ruon, who held back… no, killed most of the undead, we were able to sneak into the loose gap.”

“Is that so?”

After a brief reply, Ruon tilted his head at the being that lay under Igor’s feet. He was the one who greeted them when they entered the cave.

“He came back to life even when his head was cut off.”

“He was a being that consumed corpses to replenish his life. This time, I burned his inside with holy power before he did that, so I don’t think we have to worry about him coming back to life.”

Strabo, who spat out blood-stained saliva on the floor, said.

“So these corpses are all victims of human sacrifice? What was that about an army from their own mouths?”

Igor answered to the dwarf who was poking the corpse’s torso with his toe.

“According to his words, the corpses that were sacrificed became a being that shared one ego after being exposed to Belducius’s power for a long time. I don’t know if it’s a good analogy, but like an ego sword…”

As soon as his words ended, Ruin trembled and the red light on the blade flickered on and off. As if he was in a bad mood.

Ruon, who was out of his mind, clenched the handle of the sword and muttered inwardly.

Stay still.

Meanwhile, Kyle tilted his head at Igor, who was quietly kneeling and putting on gloves.

“Didn’t you say you had no prayer earlier?”

“This is a prayer for the poor souls who were tormented by the will of the great demon even after death.”

“Oh, I see.”

It was hard to find any sense of duty or blind faith in the goddess in the priest’s voice, who was mourning the dead. He only felt a warm sincerity.

Kyle, who was watching him with curiosity, muttered.

“Should we stop by the cathedral when this is over?”

As soon as he said that, he made a surprised expression and started to slap his lips with his palm. Then he turned his head to Ruon.

“I told you not to say things like that… What if something happens because of this?”

Ruon, who smiled at Kyle’s wide-eyed look, answered.

“Usually, they die.”

“Shit, shit. Can’t you pick it up?”

Strabo, who was sniffling his nose, joined in with a chuckle.

“Ruon, that’s the tradition of where you lived, right? If you don’t want to die, don’t run your mouth… What, something like that?”

“Something like that.”

“Where the hell is that?”

Kyle, who was scratching his head with a disgusted expression, muttered.

“I think I heard it once when I was with Amella… Da, da… What was it?”

It felt like the conversation was going off track, but there was no reason to force the atmosphere to be tense, so Ruon opened his mouth slowly.

“South Korea.”

“Ah! Right. That was the name.”

Kyle, who clapped his hands as his question was solved, muttered with interest.

“It’s the birthplace of the Warrior of the Furnace… It looks like a place full of romance, don’t you think? Am I right?”

Romance? Well.

After a brief pause, Ruon spoke.

“It may not be the kind of place that matches your idea of romance, but it’s still a place where people live.”

Strabo chuckled at his words and replied.

“Then let’s all go there together next time! You’re not like me, who was chased out by my father, are you?”

Ruon didn’t tell the innocent-looking dwarf that such a thing was impossible, nor did he make a promise he couldn’t keep. He just smiled faintly.

He said.

“It looks like the prayer is over.”

“No, the answer is…”

Just then, Igor, who had shaken off his seat and stood up, approached the group.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

Strabo closed his mouth as if he thought it was no longer a situation to chat.

Kyle, who had been scanning the wide cavern, pointed somewhere.

“There, that. It looks like a path.”

As they followed his finger, they saw a large entrance that was not very neat.

Now that there was nothing else to measure, Ruon nodded and answered.

“Let’s go.”

***

Unlike the passage that showed the artificial touch through the carved murals and the slabs on the floor, the path that followed now had a raw feeling.

The ceiling and floor that rose sharply with stalactites and stalagmites reminded them of the mouth of a giant monster, and the damp air that lingered in the air felt ominous.

Ruon, who was leading the way on the unpolished path, suddenly listened to the sound that came.

Drip-drip-

From the sound that repeated at regular intervals, he could easily picture the scene of water droplets falling onto the surface.

Then Strabo sniffed and said.

“It’s getting more humid. Is there water rising from the rocks above?”

At the mention of water, Igor swallowed his saliva. His face showed signs of anxiety.

“I, I can’t swim.”

Hearing that, Strabo dipped his pincer finger in the dirt and brought it to his mouth without hesitation.

Here we go again.

Ruon, who had seen his act of eating dirt before, didn’t say anything, but the other two people didn’t seem to like it and frowned.

Kyle nudged him.

“Hey, why are you eating dirt all of a sudden? Igor, Strabo seems to have gone mad. Don’t you have to pray for him or something?”

Whether he did or not, Strabo spat out his saliva and said.

“It’s not deep enough to consider swimming. No… there’s no way. At most, it’s ankle deep for you guys.”

Kyle asked the dwarf who answered confidently.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s because your ability to resonate with nature is weak. I’m a proper druid, too! This is nothing.”

Kyle muttered.

“It’s nothing, huh? It doesn’t seem like something you should say while eating dirt…”

As they walked along the natural cave for a while, Ruon’s prediction came true and the underground water greeted them.

As Strabo said, the depth of the water was only enough to wet their ankles, but since the inside was dark, they couldn’t gauge the depth properly with just the light of the ruin.

Was that what made them anxious? Igor hastily created a few lights with his divine power and floated them in the air.

Then the stuffy view opened up.

What is it?

At that moment, Ruon felt a strong sense of deja vu sweep through his head.

The dark and damp air that filled the air, the murky water that rose to his ankles…

The scenery in front of him matched exactly with one of the images that the master of the tower had shown him a long time ago.

At the same time, the ruin in his hand began to shake. The will contained in it was clearer than ever.

-Danger!-

“Be careful…”

Splat-!

Before Ruon’s warning was over, something flew at Kyle’s body at a tremendous speed, cutting through the water.

“Huh!”

Kyle’s body floated up as he instinctively raised his shield. The sound of his body colliding with the limestone pillar echoed.

But Ruon didn’t look back. Something he couldn’t identify was already rushing at him in front of his eyes. He moved his shoulders, which were softly relaxed, with an explosive momentum. Following the blurred trajectory of his arm, the red afterimage that flew collided with the attack and flashed! and scattered light.

Igor and Strabo shouted something from behind, but they couldn’t hear it clearly because of the gushing water.

Suddenly, Ruon felt a burning sensation on his head and raised his arm without lifting his head. He twisted his wrist and threw the heavy feeling in his hand, and something like a metal claw pierced and dug into the ground next to him.

Ruon, who had effectively deflected the attack, swung his arm without hesitation. It was an attack that relied on pure arm strength without the power of the lower body, but it was enough to cut the frog in front of him.

Gurgle-

The thing that fell into the water with a disgusting sound was not a frog.

Tentacles?

The slimy tentacles with suckers that looked like those of a cephalopod aroused an instinctive disgust just by looking at them.

Then a low voice came from afar.

“Have you finally come this far?”

It’s hard to listen to.

Ruon frowned at the bizarre tone that had different pitches and speeds for each syllable.

He spoke to the opponent who was writhing ominously beyond the darkness that the light source could not illuminate.

“Why? Were you waiting for me?”

At his words, a snickering laughter came from the darkness. Actually, it was a good thing to say snickering laughter. The sound of hundreds of people taking turns laughing one syllable at a time, ha, ha, ha, was creepy beyond measure.

He said.

“Of course. How can I not wait? You, who have been chosen by the heavenly fools, have come to find me yourself.”

Ruon began to increase his strength instead of a hasty answer. His night eyes pierced the darkness and captured the horrible appearance of the opponent.

It was a huge three hands.

Red, yellow, and black hands of different races were intertwined. And the hands were made up of hundreds of corpses.

His bizarre voice was coming out of the mouths of those corpses in turn.

After coming to this world, Ruon, who had faced the most horrible enemy, clenched the handle of his sword tightly.

He suppressed his hostility and growled low.

“Belthucias.”