< 113. Blood wets the sand (4) >
#113
“Everyone…dead.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Ronan realizing that things were going very wrong let out a curse. The native boy lowered his head.
“Mr. “Let’s lay it down first.”
Ronan took off his coat and laid it on the floor. Schlieffen who carefully laid the boy down fell asleep.
“It’s my fault. “I was so weak I didn’t even know I was riding a bird.”
“Did you fall from a very high place?”
“okay. “If the ground wasn’t soft sand I would have died instantly.”
Schlieffen described Lockbird’s fall as quite rough. As expected the boy’s condition did not look very good.
He not only suffered large and small bruises but also showed signs of fractures. Every time I heard irregular breathing the breath coming out was reminiscent of a soul leaving the body. Ronan said looking back at Sita.
“Sita. “Please.”
“Bye!”
Sita’s eyes twinkled as if she had been waiting. A swarm of red light seeped from her feathers and enveloped the boy.
Paaaa…! The bruises all over the boy’s body began to heal quickly. The bruises that had appeared all over my limbs disappeared. Eventually the boy’s breathing became stable.
“It’s increased a lot. “I guess I’m learning well from Ophelia.”
“Pyeol~”
Ronan stroked Sita as if she were blessed. It had a healing power that was superior to that of most luxury potions. However even after treatment was completed the boy did not open his eyes.
“Wake up quick and explain to me what’s going on.”
It seemed like he needed more time to regain consciousness. Ronan who had been carefully looking at the boy frowned.
It was clear that they were natives from Dainhar. His black hair and reddish skin. The geometric tattoos engraved all over the body proved it. Ronan recalling memories of her past life narrowed her eyes.
‘They are not people who can be easily defeated…’
The boy’s words that they were all dead were ringing in his head. However judging from experience the natives of that demonic region were not easy opponents.
Ronan thought that if they used Dainhar as a fortress and entered a sit-in even the imperial army would have a hard time taking over it. At that time a low moan escaped from between the boy’s lips.
“Uh…uhhh….”
“What happened?”
The twitching eyelids slowly opened. Ronan and the boy’s eyes met. The boy raised his body as if it was going to bounce and fell hitting his butt.
“Huh?!”
“Calm down man. “I didn’t do it.”
Ronan approached the boy with his hands in his pockets. He sat down and walked backwards scattering as much sand as he could get in his hands. The boy shouted in a tearful voice.
“Don’t come any closer! You guys killed people!”
“Ah you’re so dirty. “Can’t you quit?”
I still felt like I was out of my mind. Ronan hit by his sand pulled out Ymir and threw it. Sigh! The dagger flew through the air and stuck right between the boy’s crotch. The boy completely white froze.
“Hey!”
“Are you coming to your senses now?”
Ronan approached slowly and pulled out his dagger again. Only then did the boy stop throwing sand. The boy who was breathing heavily and looking around opened his mouth.
“…Where am I?”
“The front yard of your house. “How are you feeling?”
Only then did the boy realize that Ronan had no malicious intent. The boy who had fallen grabbed his hand and pulled himself up.
“It’s okay. “Did you heal me…?”
“Him to be exact.”
“Bye!”
Ronan winked. Sita who was sitting on his shoulder flapped her wings as if responding. The boy bowed his head to Sita.
“I see. Thank you strange bird. “I’m serious.”
Ronan laughed after seeing the novel reaction. I couldn’t believe that the friendly people were the same as the native people I had seen in the past. After saying thank you the boy turned around.
“Now I have to go. “I will definitely repay this favor.”
“Where are you going?”
“Going to fight. “We have to get revenge on them and save those who are still alive.”
Instead of responding the boy began to walk unsteadily toward Dainhar. Ronan walked slowly. Cheolpudeok! The boy fell on the sand his feet tangled.
“Phew! “What are you doing!”
“Yumma. “How can I not even take care of my body properly?”
“Do not disturb. I have to go. Otherwise…!”
“We are going to Dainhar anyway. “I’ll help you so tell me what happened.”
“Thank you for saving me but I don’t need your help. At most you guys seem to be around the same age as me. “Run away quickly before they get here.”
“Hey Schlieffen.”
Ronan laughed and looked back at Schlieffen. Understanding what he meant he fired his sword energy towards the middle of the desert. Quaaaaa! A huge sandstorm rose from the spot where the sword energy collided. The boy’s eyes widened.
“It’s a monster…!”
“Don’t you think this will be of some help?”
“…That’s right. Are you as strong as me?”
“I’m twice as strong as that. So stop being so stubborn and tell me man. Just looking at it it doesn’t seem like it’s something you can solve alone.”
“Ugh….”
Ronan said calmly. It was a cold but rational decision. The native boy who was gritting his teeth nodded his head.
“I get it. So…woowoo!”
Suddenly the boy became nauseous. It seemed like a memory of him that had been forgotten for a while came to mind. Ronan waited until he had vomited out everything inside him. The boy catching his breath opened his mouth.
“…Strange guys killed people and took them away. “Almost all the men who could fight were killed.”
“Weirds?”
“That’s right. “They were really strange guys.”
The boy continued speaking in a trembling voice. He described the unidentified intruders.
One was a middle-aged man who appeared to be quite old and the other was wearing strange clothes so his face or gender could not be recognized. They entered the village and committed massacre.
‘village?’
Ronan suddenly remembered Dainhar’s devastated rescue and tilted his head. Even Ronan had never entered the native village said to be at the center of Dainhar.
“Did those bastards fall from the sky? “How did you crawl in there?”
“I didn’t hide. They pushed in front of them. “Our defense line was completely breached in three days.”
“what?”
“I couldn’t stop it because of my strange power. None of our attacks worked but all of their attacks worked. “The chief also died in the end.”
The moment Ronan heard those words his face hardened. It was a feature I had heard a lot about.
“I tried to keep fighting but the adults sent me on a big bird. “I was attacked while flying and fell… Where are you going?”
Suddenly Ronan turned around. He hurriedly ran to Rock Bird and began examining the body. As he observed carefully he noticed a wound that he had not seen before. A large metal object reminiscent of the tip of a harpoon was embedded in his feather-covered side.
“You bastards.”
Whoa…! Suddenly a white light came up from Ymir’s sword body. It was a sight as if objects with the same properties were resonating with each other.
Wow. Ronan gritted his teeth. The metal which was sharp enough to feel malicious had an all-too-familiar aura.
“…Nebula Clage.”
Although it was weak it was unmistakable. It was the sparkling mana that was the symbol of Nebula Clage. Ronan who was silent for a moment looked back at the boy and said.
“hey. “What is your name?”
“It’s a dreamy thunder.”
“okay. “Thunder.”
“Are you okay? The expression…”
The boy seeing Ronan’s face hesitated and backed away. He was so violently distorted as if he had become a completely different person than before. Ronan growled his eyes focused on Dainhar.
“We are leaving right now so please guide us. “The fastest way.”
****
They quickly packed their bags and headed to Dainhar. The sun had already risen and was heating up the ground.
There was no break time. The problem was that it was Nebula Clazier’s doing but the most terrible thing was that it had already been three days since the incident occurred.
‘It wouldn’t be strange if they were all dead.’
Ronan clenched his fists. They were doing so many different things so I couldn’t tell what they were up to.
However judging from their cruel actions it was highly likely that the indigenous people had already been wiped out. Ronan and Schlieffen walked without stopping following the thunder’s guidance. Ronan looking around twitched his lips.
“…It wasn’t such an easy path.”
The tragedy unfolded even before reaching Dainhar. A disgusting smell was spreading through the hot wind. The monsters that were supposed to act as gatekeepers were lying dead all over the place.
The feathers of the loch birds that had been killed in droves were fluttering like fallen leaves. Sandworms a nightmare for adventurers were also uprooted and withered to death.
Among them it was common to find gigantic individuals exceeding 10 meters in length. If they were at a disadvantage they would burrow into the ground and were not difficult to catch so I was wondering how they were able to pull them out. The blood-soaked sand was shining under the sun.
“I feel really uncomfortable….”
It was something different from before. Ronan suddenly felt a throbbing sensation in his chest and frowned. I couldn’t tell which heart was sending the warning.
They entered Dainhar towards afternoon. It was like shortening an entire day.
Rocky mountains so high that the end was not visible were rising before my eyes. It was hard to believe that something so sharp and organic in shape could have been created naturally. Thunder who was walking ahead pointed to the middle of the rocky mountain and said.
“You’re so quick to come this far already. Just go into that gap. “It’s a shortcut to the village.”
“Damn it I can’t find the entrance because it’s in that place.”
Ronan narrowed his eyes. Indeed at the spot where the thunder pointed there was a small hole that could barely fit a single person through.
“Go up first. “Be careful because you might get caught by these guys.”
With those words Thunder began climbing the rocky mountain with his bare hands. The movements were so quick that it felt like I was seeing some kind of insect. Ronan and Schlieffen followed.
The passage was dark and narrow. It was so twisted and curved that I felt like I might lose my balance and fall.
They walked in the dark hearing only the sound of footsteps. It felt like about an hour had passed. Ronan suddenly felt a glare and raised his head.
“Have we arrived?”
There was a crack-shaped entrance not far away. Light was pouring in from there. Thunder breathing heavily suddenly rushed forward.
“We have arrived. Everyone…!”
“You said it’s dangerous?!”
Despite the restraint the thunder did not stop. Ronan hurriedly ran after him. The moment I left the crack the view was wide open. A curse escaped Ronan’s mouth.
“Fuck.”
The thick scent of blood came rushing in. There was no village in sight. Broken household items and children’s corpses. Only the remains of houses destroyed beyond recognition provided any indication that people had lived here.
The same iron objects that were stuck in Locke Bird were stuck in people’s bodies. There were over a hundred corpses embedded in the rock wall like plaques. Schlieffen who was worse off sighed softly.
“It’s terrible.”
There were corpses everywhere you looked but it was rare to find one that wasn’t damaged. Torn off limbs were as common as rocks in the outside world.
It seemed that no cruel and ruthless mercenary group could carry out such massacre and destruction. Nebula Clazie’s sparkling mana was blooming like a haze everywhere. The frozen thunder roared softly.
“…Everyone died.”
He began to walk through the village which had become hell in a dazed state. Ronan came to his senses belatedly and expanded his senses. There were no survivors but neither were the bastards who had done this. He turned to Schlieffen and said:
“Can you feel anything?”
“Nothing is detected immediately.”
Schlieffen shook his head. He explained that his sensing abilities have been disrupted since entering Dain Har. A bitter voice came out of his mouth as he looked around at the devastation.
“Ronan. If it’s three days it’s likely already too late. “Why not focus on rescuing any survivors?”
“That makes sense but… it seems like something is still here.”
Ronan was confident that Nebula Klazie had not yet left Dainhar. The evidence was the heightened chest pain.
Ronan who had been considering the situation was about to take his next action. A scream of thunder was heard from behind.
“Waaaaaaah!”
“What the fuck?”
It was the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. The two people turned their heads at the same time. A large monster was running far away carrying a thunderbolt on his back.
“Fuck it stop!”
Judging by his behavior he was a native of thunder. It was unbelievably fast to get rid of one person. Ronan who had drawn his La Mancha ran after the assailant.
A chase broke out out of nowhere. The gunman jumped over the corpses and turned here and there trying to elude his pursuers. But Ronan followed along tenaciously.
“이 개새끼야 서라고!”
In fact the gap was gradually narrowing. It was the moment when the gap between sword energy was narrowed. Suddenly the stranger disappeared around the corner of the rocky mountain. Ronan who turned the corner a beat later frowned.
“What…where did you go?”
The monster and the thunder had disappeared from nowhere. Ronan quickly looked around. Unless it had wings it couldn’t have suddenly disappeared.
Sure enough I noticed a hole not far away at about the height of my feet. There was no other passage.
“I hid here. “You weak bastard.”
Ronan put his foot into the hole without hesitation. And he let out a curse. Where I expected the floor to be there was nothing.
“Damn it…!”
To be exact there was a very steep sandy slope. He rolled down like a barrel and stuck his knife into the wall. Sigh! The sand split and the speed decreased.
“Sigh! “They made it so damn well.”
Ronan fell for a while before landing on the floor. It was the moment when he spit out sand and was about to turn his back. A loud voice rang out along with the sound of rattling metal.
“Don’t move. gentile.”
“what?”
It was the moment when Ronan tilted his head. Whirling! A sound reminiscent of a whistle was heard from behind.
Ronan swung La Mancha and turned around at the same time. visor! Sparks flew in the air and the crossbow broken in two fell to the floor.
The cleanly cut crossbow was made entirely of metal from the tip to the body. Murmurs of astonishment were heard from everywhere.
“What…!”
“You still do a shitty job of greeting guests.”
Ronan grinned and looked back at the direction his crossbow had come from. There were about thirty people gathered together who looked like thunder. Half of them were holding strange-looking bows in their hands aiming them at Ronan. A voice of thunder was heard from that corner.
“Everyone calm down! Ronan is not a bad person. We are here to help!”
“You stay still. “Dreaming Thunder.”
Others stopped him. Ronan suddenly looked behind the natives and his eyes widened.
Black crystal covered the walls and ceiling of the cave. It was the magic stone from Dainhar that everyone was looking for.
