Chapter 41
Chapter 41: A Small Change (3)
The southern field of Millus Village.
The gusty wind made the reeds sway, and the drizzling rain stung their faces, but the three people looking down at the two corpses didn’t move an inch.
Two men and one woman. All three had black wolf tattoos on their forearms.
One of the men, a giant, had a greatsword strapped to his back, while the more ordinary-looking man had short hair and carried a longsword.
After a moment, the slender woman bent down to examine the bodies closely.
“They’ve been dead for about a day or two. No. 19 was decapitated in a single stroke. This suggests a highly skilled opponent. No. 24 was likely killed afterward. Judging by his posture and the wounds on his chest, it seems he was interrogated. All of their belongings have been taken. As for the longbow…”
The woman reached out to touch the withered, blackened longbow.
Then she flinched and pulled her hand back, looking at the two men with a startled expression.
“The energy’s gone. It seems…”
“The one who killed them absorbed it,” the short-haired man muttered. The giant man with the greatsword tilted his head in confusion.
“Is there someone in the Rob Empire with absorption abilities?”
“As far as I know, only the Blue Ravens have such powers.”
“And what are the chances it was them?”
Both men turned to look at the woman. But she shook her head.
“Highly unlikely. I’ve encountered them many times, but this is the first case like this. Whoever did this is cold and ruthless. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation. Normally, if someone hesitates, even for 0.1 seconds, they leave traces behind. But these two were killed cleanly. Whoever it was has the ability to suppress demonic energy with ease.”
The short-haired man stroked his scruffy beard thoughtfully at the woman’s serious words.
“If they could decapitate No. 19 in a single strike, they must be tall and strong. And if they have both composure and experience, they’re probably somewhat older.”
“How has someone like this gone unnoticed until now? A monster has appeared.”
“This is more than a monster. It might be a demon.”
“We’ve finally met an interesting opponent after a long time.”
“Don’t get careless.”
As the giant man licked his lips with a twisted smile, the short-haired man scolded him with a stern voice. It seemed that this man was the highest-ranked among the three.
“No matter how low-ranked these guys were, they were still members of the Black Wolves. They aren’t easy opponents.”
“I know, I know. They’ve probably crossed the river by now, right?”
The giant man’s question was met with a resigned expression from the short-haired man, as if there was nothing they could do.
“Yeah. We’ll make our report, then take the boat across. But first, we should gather some information from the village.”
“Sounds good!”
The giant’s booming voice echoed across the field.
These three were members of the elite Black Wolf Unit. The short-haired man was No. 6, the giant man was No. 10, and the woman was No. 11.
They had come to investigate after two of their comrades, who had gone to Millus, failed to report back.
* * *
As the sun set.
Karon scratched his ear and, feeling something was off, tilted his head and tapped the opposite side with his palm.
But his ear still felt clogged.
“Seems like the blood got in and dried,” Shong said nonchalantly as he walked by. Come to think of it, that made sense, given the blood had been gushing out everywhere earlier.
“Thanks to someone, we couldn’t make it to the village and now have to camp out. Go wash up by the nearby stream. The smell of blood is overwhelming.”
There was a fair amount of annoyance in Shong’s voice.
He had believed they would’ve reached the village by now if they hadn’t parted ways with the Miguel Mercenaries and continued north.
After dismounting and looking around, Shong found a suitable flat spot to set up camp.
“Hm…”
Karon sniffed himself for a moment and frowned slightly.
Despite his normally sharp senses, the smell of blood didn’t bother him.
Maybe he had gotten used to it.
While Shong set up camp, Karon headed off to find the stream.
He quickly located it, following the sound of running water nearby.
As he washed himself, the water turned red in no time.
No, it had already turned red.
Karon’s gaze instinctively shifted upstream, his expression turning cold.
A sense of foreboding crept over him as he walked up the stream. The smell of blood and rot grew stronger with each step.
And at the end of his path, he saw a horrifying sight.
Bodies were scattered across the rocks along the stream.
It looked like they had floated down from upstream and gotten caught on the rocks downstream.
Caw! Caw!
A few crows were feasting on the corpses.
Most people would have vomited at such a gruesome scene, but Karon calmly focused his senses on the upstream.
One irregular set of footsteps. Three others, fast and steady. The occasional labored breathing, a woman’s.
It meant one woman was being chased by three people.
Karon quickly surveyed the area.
Judging by the state of the bodies, it seemed they were killed for sport.
Suddenly, Karon recalled the time he was locked in a cage, dragged off to Palemon.
The time when he helped the slaves escape, only for them to be hunted down.
With his mind made up, Karon kicked off the ground lightly. Water splashed in all directions as his body shot forward.
In an instant, he raced upstream and saw a woman stumbling as she made her way down by the stream.
An arrow was lodged in her shoulder, and she looked like she could collapse at any moment.
Karon ran toward her, picking up a small stone along the way.
Then, using the momentum of his sprint, he threw it with all his weight.
Whoosh—
The stone flew with incredible speed, narrowly missing the woman as it continued upstream. And then—
Thud!
“Gah!”
A scream echoed through the air.
One of the men, who had been aiming an arrow at the woman, was struck in the face by the rock and flew backward. The force was so strong that his face caved in, and he died instantly.
The remaining two, without needing to communicate, swiftly changed direction, hiding behind the nearby rocks. They wore leather armor, carried bows on their backs, swords in one hand, and small axes at their sides—clearly hunters by appearance.
“Help…”
The woman, who had made it to Karon, collapsed into the water.
Karon gently lifted her from the stream and laid her on a flat rock. He didn’t pull the arrow from her shoulder but instead broke it off so it wouldn’t be in the way.
“Who’s there?!”
“Identify yourself!”
The two men, hidden behind the rocks, shouted while drawing their bows, ready to fire as soon as they heard a response. But what they heard was unexpected.
“Tripolas soldiers.”
The voice was calm and indifferent.
The two men exchanged glances, their faces filled with confusion.
‘What the hell? Who is he?’
‘How does he know about us?’
They whispered to each other, stealing glances downstream. Karon stood boldly on top of a rock, looking directly in their direction.
In truth, Karon had seen their faces from a distance as he raced upstream. The moment he saw them, he recognized them as the Tripolas soldiers who had transported him to Palemon.
He remembered every one of their faces vividly.
“Why are you here?”
Karon’s dry question left the two men feeling uneasy. They leaned out a little further to get a better look at him.
‘Does he know us? He seems familiar… but from where?’
They couldn’t recognize Karon. Of course, they couldn’t. Karon had grown significantly since then, and his face had matured, leaving him with a completely different appearance.
“So, you don’t recognize me. Well, you did spend your time just following me around in Palemon.”
Palemon!
At that moment, the two men’s eyes widened. They finally realized who Karon was.
How could they forget? They had failed to capture Karon and, as a result, were exiled to this remote mountain mining village!
“You bastard!”
“It’s you! You rat of a man!”
Angered by Karon’s provocation, the two men jumped over the rocks, slinging their bows over their backs and drawing their swords.
Karon, with his upper body bare and no weapon in hand, stood calmly. Perhaps this made them even more reckless in their movements.
But Karon was no longer the boy they once knew. Of course, they had no idea of that.
Splash! Splash!
“Die!”
The two men charged at Karon, splashing through the stream and swinging their swords. The water droplets scattered, and the veins in their arms, gripping their swords tightly, stood out clearly.
Their faces twisted with determination, their eyes narrowed in concentration.
Karon, reacting to even their smallest movements, narrowly dodged their blades.
“You slippery eel! Huh?”
As the distance between them increased, the two men suddenly noticed the small axe in Karon’s hand. They instinctively touched their sides.
It was gone.
He had dodged their attacks and simultaneously snatched the axe from their belts.
“What the hell… this guy…”
Their attitudes shifted. They now realized that the aura Karon emitted was far from ordinary.
More cautious now, they slowly positioned themselves on either side of Karon.
Their eyes met.
Swoosh—
The two men dashed forward, one swinging down at Karon’s shoulder, the other slashing horizontally at his legs.
It was an attack that seemed impossible to evade. Even if Karon blocked it, he would have to sacrifice either his shoulder or his legs.
Karon remained calm. He deflected one of the swords with the axe and lifted his leg to avoid the other strike.
Even though he was standing on the loose gravel of the stream, his body showed no sign of losing balance. His movement was almost inhuman, as if he defied the laws of physics.
Startled, the two men swung their swords again, but this time, Karon acted first. He brought the axe down with incredible speed.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
One of the men barely managed to block the axe with his sword, but he couldn’t withstand the force behind it.
The axe dug into his shoulder, and the man attacking from the other side was sent flying by a powerful kick from Karon.
Splash!
In a split second, both men were sprawled in the stream.
“Ugh… this… can’t be…”
The man under the axe struggled to push it away, but it felt as if a boulder had settled on his shoulder.
His eyes turned bloodshot, and his face reddened as he fought against the crushing weight.
Karon looked down at him indifferently. He placed his other hand on the axe and pressed down harder.
“Go ahead first. I’ll send your comrades to join you soon.”
Thunk!
“Gah!”
The axe buried itself deeply between the man’s shoulder and neck.
As the man’s body went limp, Karon pulled the axe free and looked down at his hands. He was undeniably stronger than before.
The Tripolas soldiers, once towering walls to him in Palemon, now felt like nothing more than local thugs.
Karon finished off the unconscious man on the other side and returned to where the woman lay.
He gently placed his fingers on her neck and nose.
Her pulse was weak, and her breathing was shallow.
She was likely suffering from severe blood loss. She needed immediate treatment. But Karon had never treated anyone before.
After pacing for a moment, he carefully lifted her and quickly left the stream.
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