Chapter 56: Pavane For A Dead Dwarf (9)

***The Saintess was the first to pull the trigger. The brightly shining bullet pierced through the back of an unlucky pig-headed figure, climbing down the cliff beyond the veil of the night.The pig-headed figure, who was descending the cliff precariously, spasmed and then fell.His final scream lingered for a moment before a barrage of gunfire drowned it out.Without giving the pig-headed figures hanging on the cliff a chance to react, the mercenaries ruthlessly rained bullets down on them.The enemy was taken by surprise, and the terrain was thoroughly in their favor. It was the perfect ambush."Ambush—! It's an ambush—!"The pig-headed figures who noticed the group's presence belatedly reacted in two different ways.Either they squirmed, trying to climb back up, or let go and jumped down.The seasoned mercenaries, led by Captain Kwon, didn’t spare those climbing back up.They steadily reduced the number of pig-headed figures, starting with those in the top row.And there was no need to worry about the ones that jumped. All they did was add more bloodstains to the valley floor.The one-sided massacre continued for quite a while.And by the time the group had emptied their magazines, nearly 30% of the pig-headed figures had fallen."Damn, I guess I won't be eating pyeonyuk1 for a while."Vice Captain Kim Mansoo mumbled as he reloaded his magazine, cracking a joke to ease the tense atmosphere.The Saintess, who didn’t know what pyeonyuk was, looked sideways at the chuckling mercenaries and then tilted her head on noticing that Yeomyeong was still standing expressionless. Was the joke not that funny?Given that he always turned serious whenever someone tried to crack a joke, it did seem like a possibility.Yeomyeong's lack of humor strangely reminded the Saintess of her friend back at the Academy...As the Saintess was thinking about this and reloading her rifle, the pig-headed figures suddenly started screaming.As if they had received some signal, the pig-headed figures began to spasm simultaneously and then dug their fingers deeper into the cliff."...Why are they doing that all of a sudden?"Fixing themselves to the cliff in this situation? Did they come to a conclusion that dying by bullets was better than falling to their deaths?While the group was puzzled by their dubious action, Yeomyeong spread his mana surveyed the cliff above with a hardened expression.As expected, he sensed some distorted mana with his sharp senses. There was definitely someone who hadn’t descended yet.And it wasn’t a pig-headed figure, but someone on the level of a cow-headed or horse-headed figure.As if to confirm Yeomyeong’s suspicion, a chilling sensation crawled up his skin as the creature suddenly released the distorted mana.It was a sign of a spell, and a rather large-scale one at that, being prepared.Yeomyeong turned to warn the group. Or rather, he tried to."Captain! They're about to cast a spell—"However, before he could finish his warning, a twisted voice echoed from the top of the cliff."Jump—! Jump down—!"As the voice intertwined with mana completed the spell, all the pig-headed figures turned to look down at the group.As countless red eyes gleamed eerily, the pig-headed figures let go and leaped off the cliff without a moment's hesitation."Holy shit... What the hell is happening...?"However, contrary to the group's tense expectation that the pig-headed figures were committing some kind of mass suicide, they defied gravity and slowly descended into the valley.Of course, compared to a moment ago, they were descending several times faster. And it would only take them a few seconds to reach the ground.Glaring up at the cliff, Yeomyeong drew his sword."Yeomyeong? Wait...!"Noticing his expression, the Saintess reached out, but Yeomyeong had already leaped forward."It's dangerous, come... back...?"The Saintess who was yelling at Yeomyeong fell silent. Contrary to her worries, Yeomyeong wasn't fighting the pig-headed figures.Instead, he was using the pig-headed figures as footholds, leaping from one to another, all the way up the cliff.He jumped on their shoulders and heads as they descended, and when one resisted, he simply kicked them hard in the stomach, sending it flying into the cliff before propelling himself off it towards another pig-headed figure.After repeating this four or five times, Yeomyeong had already reached the top of the cliff. It was a stunt—no, a divine skill—that was hard to believe even though they had witnessed it with their own eyes.The Saintess stared blankly at Yeomyeong’s back as he disappeared over the cliff, only snapping back to reality once the pig-headed figures landed on the ground.", seriously. If I had known this would have happened, I would've done some physical training like Dad said."* * *When the mercenaries began fighting the pig-headed figures in the valley, Yeomyeong, who had landed on top of the cliff, came face to face with four cow-headed figures who were chanting spells.

All the cow-headed figures had only one reaction on seeing Yeomyeong rise from the depths of the valley.They were struck silent.And before the silence could stretch for long, one of the cow-headed figures, who still had some composure left, reflexively raised a pistol."You... How did you...?"He never got the chance to finish his question. It was the last question he would ever ask.The next moment, Yeomyeong pulled the trigger of his Remington MH750 without a word.Following a flash of light created by the bullet, the cow-headed figure was pitifully blown away as the bullet struck him. Only then did the remaining three cow-headed figures wake up from their stupor and begin to summon their mana."Kill him!"""Yeomyeong didn't give them an opportunity to cast their spells. He infused his sword with mana as soon as he retrieved his shotgun.Blue mana shimmered along the surface of the standard-issue iron sword.The mana was similar to Mara’s palm blast he had encountered in the plains.Unlike the pig-headed figures, who were barely Superhumans, the cow-headed figures immediately recognized the nature of the mana."Sword Aura...! Dodge!"Two of the cow-headed figures leaped in opposite directions as the Sword Aura came crashing down in the place they had been standing.The Sword Aura sliced through the air, making a long, sharp winding sound.…And a moment later, the severed winds reconnected, now mixed with the scent of blood.Yeomyeong lowered the arm that was holding the sword and withdrew his mana. And the next instant…The cow-headed figure who was unable to avoid the Sword Aura had his head fall off from his shoulders."You crazy—!"The cow-headed figure who managed to dodge the Sword Aura by a hair’s breadth groaned.In a short span of time, two cow-headed figures had been slaughtered. The bloodshot eyes of the remaining two trembled with fear."You, you! I know who you are. Cheon Yeomyeong! How can a mere rookie mercenary possess such skills...!"The cow-headed figures muttered something as they tried to summon more mana, but once again, Yeomyeong lunged at them without a word.He had no time for conversation, and above all, Yeomyeong needed to deal with them as quickly as possible and go after the Royal Seal.The horse-headed man and Mara, who were not here, were surely searching for the Royal Seal at this very moment. Time was running out.Just as Yeomyeong raised his sword with these thoughts in mind, the cow-headed figures instinctively unleashed their mana.""He had seen the same red beam in North Manchuria’s coniferous forest.It seemed to be some sort of ultimate move, but it was no problem for Yeomyeong. He reached for the Handle of Uragan at his waist to counter the spell.Or rather, that was what he intended to do.However, the moment he pulled out the Handle of Uragan, the entire valley began to tremble.The cow-headed figure, who had been preparing the beam, and Yeomyeong, who was about to strike back, both halted mid-attack and turned their attention towards the source of the tremor.Deep within the valley, inside the cave where the Royal Seal was said to be resting.An intense vibration and a massive amount of invisible mana began to emanate from there.Was it already too late? Had the horse-headed man and Mara already dealt with the young dragon guarding the treasure?Reigning in his sense of urgency, Yeomyeong charged at the cow-headed figure.As much as he wanted to rush off immediately, he first had to deal with the enemy in front of him.Having no intention of going down easily, the cow-headed figure unleashed the mana he had gathered.!Seeing a twisted beam of mana shoot out, Yeomyeong calmly raised the handle of the Uragan.For some reason, the unicorn's voice addressing him ‘O Virgin’ didn't resound. But at the same time, it didn’t seem like its effectiveness had diminished, as a radiant shield protected Yeomyeong.The red beam shattered before it could reach Yeomyeong’s body."What?! How—"A flash of light tracing the sword's path emerged from behind the barrier. A thin line of blood appeared on the cow-headed figure’s neck as he let out a cry of agony.Without even checking to see if the cow-headed figure had fallen, Yeomyeong immediately turned his attention to the last remaining cow-headed figure.The last cow-headed figure could be seen fleeing in the opposite direction from Yeomyeong. Perhaps he had begun his escape even before the earthquake, because he was now so far away, that he looked like a small dot.Yeomyeong frowned, glancing between the retreating cow-headed figure and the bottom of the cliff.His decision was quick, and his choice was made without hesitation. He abandoned the cow-headed figure and turned his attention to the valley below.The mercenaries were waging a bloody battle against the pig-headed figures in the valley.Captain Kwon Mongjoo had dealt with more than seven pig-headed figures, flames spewing from his hands, but the other mercenaries were in a rather precarious situation.Yeomyeong didn’t hesitate. He leaped straight off the cliff.*Whoosh—*the wind roared in his ears as he channeled mana into his legs.The next moment, he kicked off the cliff’s midsection and executed the Feather Step from the Flying Kick technique.Yeomyeong fell in a long arc toward the bottom of the cliff. And his silhouette against the moonlight was enough to draw everyone's attention.Kim Mansoo, swinging a hatchet, the pig-headed figure preparing curses, and even Captain Kwon Mongjoo, who was calmly facing his enemies, furrowed their brows as they looked at him.And then... As soon as he landed, Yeomyeong clenched his teeth to endure the pain.Despite channeling mana and reducing the height once by kicking off the cliff, he could feel his ankles and calf bones shatter.Despite the intense pain in his legs, Yeomyeong appeared unscathed on the outside, which was enough to inspire courage in his allies and instill caution in his enemies.The Saintess, in particular, gaped at him, almost as if she would burst into applause at any moment.“You bastard! If you're this good, what does that make your seniors?”Fortunately for Yeomyeong, he didn’t have to stand still for a minute because one of the glaring pig-headed figures charged right at him.As the pig-headed figure charged at him with mad, bloodshot eyes, Yeomyeong felt a sense of relief as he swung his mana-infused iron sword horizontally.—the pig-headed figure was cleaved in half by the blade with Sword Aura, spilling out blood and entrails.“…Aren’t you going to keep attacking me, Shepherds?”The moment they heard the word ‘shepherd,’ the pig-headed figures’ eyes changed.The short taunt laced with a small truth.The pig-headed figures didn’t hold back their fury nor did they try to hide their killing aura. In fact, some of the ones surrounding the other mercenaries immediately turned and charged at Yeomyeong.“Kill him!”“That guy knows about us!”“”The taunt had worked pretty well. Yeomyeong gathered his mana once again.And just as he was about to unleash another Sword Aura—A familiar earthquake shook the ground once more. But this time, it didn’t stop at just there.Starting from the other side of the valley, the ground split open and a massive fissure formed throughout the valley. It was a sign that the ground was about to collapse.Amid the ensuing chaos, Captain Kwon Mongjoo was the quickest to assess the situation.“Damn it, everyone retreat! Retreat! Saintess, please evacu—”However, the omen became a reality before he could finish his warning.The other side of the valley, where the cave was located, exploded. Rocks and dust shot up into the sky accompanied by a tremendous quake, as if a volcano had erupted.It was a terrifying sight that demanded immediate evacuation, but everyone in the valley remained frozen, unable to look away.Because amidst the flying rocks and rising dust, a colossal red dragon spread its wings across the sky.“…The dragon guarding the Royal Seal!”As Captain Kwon shouted while shuddering, Yeomyeong frowned.Yeomyeong recalled Darulma Dune at the base camp, who had mentioned a ‘young’ dragon, and suppressed a bitter laugh.He was glad that they had renegotiated the terms of the contract before coming here. Otherwise, he might have had the urge to cut off that damned dwarf’s head to feel satisfied.As Yeomyeong entertained these thoughts, the dragon that had emerged from the ground came to a halt in the sky, bathed in moonlight.It beat its massive wings, stirring the air, and its yellow reptilian eyes scanned the people gathered in the valley with a menacing glare.Was it about to unleash its Dragon’s Breath on the invaders? Or perhaps a spell? As everyone in the valley held their breath in tense anticipation—The dragon spoke, uttering words no one could have predicted.[Finally!][The one bearing the token of the bloodline has arrived!]1. Pyeonyuk is a traditional Korean dish, which consists of thinly sliced meat that has been boiled and pressed. Either beef or pork may be used to make the dish. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.