Chapter 311 - The Great Expedition (13)

“You're Von, right?”

The short, handsome boy greeted Von with a bright smile while raising one hand. An innocent smile accompanied his beautiful features, and anyone would’ve assumed that he was the son of some noble family.

In response, Von drew his sword and rebuked, “How disgusting it is for a monster to take the shape of a child...”

“Disgusting? I specifically took my time to come up with this appearance. Anyway, that one next to you... He’s a Warlock or something, right?”

The innocent-looking boy, who didn’t seem taller than roughly one meter and a half, was none other than Narva. Despite Von’s disparaging remark, Narva maintained his cheerful smile as he greeted Hoosler.

“Nice to meet you. It’s my first time seeing a Warlock, so I was curious about something... Are all Warlocks cowards by nature like you?"

“Th-that’s...!”

“Well, I guess they are. Why are you shaking so much, old man? Don’t worry. You’re just kind of a bonus to me.”

“A bonus?" Von questioned Narva’s choice of words.

At this, Narva laughed and explained, “Yeah, bonus! Surely you don’t think that Sir Arthus has split you apart randomly, do you?"

“Tell me what you’re talking about,

monster

.”

“You’re quite slow, aren’t you? Is it perhaps because you’re a swordsman? It’s simple. You’re here because I chose you. Of course, I only wanted you, Von, but I realized that facing an additional enemy wouldn’t make much of a difference to me. Besides, I wanted to see a Warlock with my own eyes, so I asked Sir Arthus to bring that old man as well.”

Just like Narva had said, they were in the middle of nowhere; not even he knew where they were. However, he had asked Arthus through his will to specifically bring Von and the Warlock here.

The Warlock was just a curiosity, but Narva wanted Von for one simple reason. He squinted his eyes and asked him, “Are you the one they called Enkelmann’s Guardian?”

Chills ran down Von’s spine at Narva’s sinister smile, and a disturbing thought flashed his mind. Seeing this, Narva’s smile grew wider, his eyes looking like two crescent moons. When he eventually couldn’t hold in his laughter, he confessed, “I did it. Enkelmann.”

“You fucking bastard!”

Bang!

Von’s gut feeling was right—Narva had chosen him purely for his entertainment, but when the monster confessed his abhorrent crime, that he had destroyed Enkelmann, his hometown, Von lost it.

In a fit of rage, Von rushed forward and unsheathed his sword in an instant, just as McDowell had done before.

Clank!

Along with a loud, reverberating clank, sparks flew here and there when Von’s blade came into contact with his enemy. He had put all his force into his attack, but Narva had effortlessly blocked the blade with his index finger.

“Judging by your reaction, it seems that you truly are, or were, Enkelmann’s Guardian. But I have to say I’m disappointed. Is this all Enkelmann’s Guardian has to offer...? Was this why you didn’t see me coming back then? Because you’re so weak?”

“AAAAH!!!”

In Von’s eyes, Narva no longer looked like a child from a noble family. Rather, he looked like a little devil, one that had come to Earth to start his hunt.

Von lost it, swinging his sword wildly. In response, Narva merely put his hands behind his back and didn’t bother to defend himself. He just withstood every slash with his flesh.

Clank, clank, clank!

Von slashed Narva unrelentingly, but blue sparks flew every time his blade made contact.

It was indeed an eerie scene.

Even though Von was slashing Narva with his Aura-infused sword, it looked like he was striking an impenetrable slab of metal. He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

“GAAA!!!”

Von screamed even louder, his battle cry having devolved into a scream of desperation and insanity. He swung his sword even harder, putting all his might in each attack to somehow take down this abomination that had wiped out Enkelmann.

But as he kept swinging, he couldn’t get rid of the disgusting feeling that this little devil was just playing with him.

Narva eventually extended his hand.

“Boring.”

Bang!

Narva struck the air, sending an explosive shockwave straight through Von’s abdomen, violently expanding as it pierced him.

Not being able to withstand the fierce attack, Von went flying and landed next to Hoosler with a dull thud as though he were some sort of doll.

“Ghh-!”

Even though he was enveloped in Aura, Von was in tremendous pain. He felt like his ribs had been shattered. He used his sword as a cane to get himself up, panting heavily. His legs were wobbly, unstable. However, the viciousness in his eyes didn’t abate one bit. He glared at Narva as though he was about to rip him apart at any moment.

‘Shit!’

Von was irritated, but most of all, furious. He was terribly frustrated that despite his daily rigorous training over the past month, he still couldn’t deal a single proper blow to a small kid. He had vowed to avenge Enkelmann, and yet he had nothing to show for it. All kinds of dark thoughts went through his head, but thankfully they were drowned out by the wave of anger.

Von still wasn’t moving because he knew well that making any sudden movements after taking such a heavy hit would be dangerous.

His anger simmered down after reflecting on how the fight had gone so far. He figured that it might’ve been for the best. If his attack had been slightly effective against Narva, he would’ve continued to attack him, which could’ve led to him getting injured way worse or even dying.

Narva eventually broke the silence.

“Your fierce glare is definitely one of a guardian, I’ll give you that. But see, what can you really do? You can’t even scratch me with only one ring, let alone kill me.”

Narva caressed his jade-like cheek as he mocked Von.

‘Divine Power!’

Von once again realized that he was lacking divine power, that it was something outside his realm. What chances would he realistically have without divine power?

‘Once again, it comes down to this...!’

If it were a matter of skills and techniques, of Aura mastery, Von would’ve tried to find another solution, but divine power was a completely different story.

“

Sigh

...”

He let out a long sigh and took a few deep breaths, each one releasing his anger and restoring some of his composure. After he came back to his senses, Von finally noticed that Hoosler was next to him, trembling from head to toe.

“Sir Hoosler.”

“Y-yes?”

“Please summon him.”

“

Him

? Now? Are you sure you're ready?"

“It’s now or never.”

Von fiddled with the Log Stone in his pocket. He didn’t know when the Sage who had the pair to his Log Stone would show up, and he knew that Narva could kill him and Hoosler well before the Sage came to save them.

They would die in vain if they just waited for salvation.

‘He was prepared for situations like this anyway.’

Henry’s expedition team only had ten rings from Herabola, so their collective divine power was limited. However, they shared the rings between them, so their individual divine powers were meager, insignificant against the apostles.

Because of that, they needed different strategies to compensate for their lack of divine power, and one of them relied on Hoosler, the Warlock.

“Hmm? What are you two whispering about? Do you have any tricks up your sleeves?”

Narva was certain that he had already won. He had learned about Warlocks from Dracan, and he knew that they posed little threat. He had also learned from his previous clash with Von that the knight couldn’t hurt him at all.

Thus, all Narva had to do was to put on a good show and entertain Arthus, his idol, his god. He was already giddy with excitement at the thought of making Arthus happy.

“I hope you’ll manage to put on a better show than that guy named Harz.”

Throb!

Narva sure knew what to say to rile up his opponents.

Von almost fell for his taunt again, but he tried his best to keep his composure and not lose it again. He wouldn’t let anger get the best of him and compromise their plan.

Von genuinely resented Narva, despising him with every fiber of his being, but he was determined to endure his revolting mockery if it meant eventually exterminating him, the root of his anger.

After finishing his preparations, Hoosler said, “Sir Von, I’ll go ahead and start.”

“Yes, please.”

“DurlRkwl dlfrdj wntls ehrwk dufjqns tkfkdgkqslek dkvdmfheh wkf qnxkrgody!” chanted Hoosler. A red light glowed around his eyes, and his hair floated as though he were underwater. He extended his arms as he kept chanting the spell.

Then suddenly...

“Gha!”

The target of the spell was none other than Von. The moment Hoosler’s spell took effect, several red threads that looked like spiderwebs formed between the two.

The red threads were made from Von’s blood.

Hoosler was a Warlock, so he needed a reliable energy source in order to use spells. In other words, he needed blood from a living human.

“Hmm?”

Narva watched the two with a curious expression. After thinking about it for a few moments, he decided against giving them a chance.

“Not today.”

Narva vanished with a flash and appeared right in front of Von, throwing a punch at his face. However, Von had sharp reflexes, so he drew his sword slightly and instantly blocked his punch.

Clang!

The wind picked up following the loud clang between them, and Narva was still airborne, his fist still pressing against Von’s blade.

As Narva remained suspended in the air, defying the laws of physics, he pushed his face closer to Von and sneered, “What kind of trick do you have up your sleeve for you to relax like this?”

“Sh-shut up!”

“Oh?”

Bang!

In response to his defiance, Narva twisted his waist and winded up his left foot, planning to blow away Von’s side, but before his kick landed...

“Oh...?”

Von managed to defend his rear just in time with the sword he had just used to block Narva’s punch.

“

Cough

...!”

Although Von managed to avoid a direct blow from Narva’s foot, he couldn’t withstand the entire impact. He was coughing up a mouthful of blood. The pain was excruciating, the internal damage severe.

Narva’s kick hadn’t been ordinary. The blood vessels in his eyes had burst and veins were bulging all over his body.

“Hmm...”

Narva's left foot remained planted in Von’s side, and being still in the air, he took a look behind Von.

“You two are an interesting duo. I thought you humans didn’t like those who practice black magic, so why are you working with a damn Warlock?”

“Sh-shut... Shut up!”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s none of my business. Well you also have no business being in this world anymore.”

Narva thought Von’s arrogance had crossed the line and that he had exhausted his usefulness as his toy. And so, Narva raised his fist again, intending to strike Von with all his might, crushing him to a pulp.

Narva bid farewell as he hurled his fist.

“It’s over for you.”

Swoosh!

Even though Narva was right in front of Von, the sound his fist made through the air was amazingly loud.

Just as his fist met Von’s head, it stirred up an enormous amount of dust.

“Hmm...?”

Narva furrowed his brows.

Something wasn’t right. His right hand was hurting, which should’ve been impossible, given that Narva possessed far more divine power than Von with his single ring.

And yet, his right hand was hurting.

- Playtime is over kiddo.

An unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke to Narva, accompanied by a pair of eyes glowing red through the thick cloud of dust.

The atmosphere grew tense, and Narva was overcome by a terrible coldness as though he were about to freeze.

The coldness came from a murderous presence, one that couldn’t possibly be human.

“Fuck!”

Narva lowered himself on the ground and instinctively took a few steps back. As the dust went away, Narva murmured, “You’re...?”

- You don’t know me, you phony.

With those words, the sinister figure emerged from the cloud of dust.

He was none other than Hector, reborn as a Death Knight with Hoosler’s help.