Chapter 60
Overpowered Sword Chapter 60
Level up with swords (60)
After a quick dinner, the Storm Merchant Marines quickly went to sleep, leaving only a few watchmen behind.
Unlike forests or mountains, the days were long in the desert.
Since there was nothing blocking the view in all directions, the sunrise had to be earlier and the sunset slower. If you waste time just chatting, the time to sleep will disappear.
The situation was the same for mercenaries and adventurers.
Unlike the lightly dressed merchants, the daytime heat was murderous to them, who were heavily armed. Even though I didn’t come out of the carriage, I was covered in sweat, so it was only after the sun went down that I was able to wash up and go to sleep.
Fortunately, Leon was able to stay more comfortable than others because he did not feel the heat thanks to the aura of the ‘sun’ attribute.
Was it because of that?
“…Hmm.”
It was midnight.
Leon, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly opened his eyes.
‘what?’
It wasn’t a natural feeling.
An unpleasant feeling of discomfort, as if something was stuck in my teeth, was tickling my whole body. Not only did I have five senses, but I also had no auric sense, but the feeling of discomfort did not go away at all.
In the end, when Leon was about to get up from the bed, there was someone whose eyes flashed before him.
“…Karen?”
“Shh.”
She put her index finger to my lips and blinked.
Eyes glowing turquoise.
An application technique that focuses the aura in both eyes, which Leon cannot use yet. If your skill level is low, it may be enough to brighten your eyes at night or slightly improve your eyesight, but if you are skilled at Karen’s level, you can see through the tent of a carriage.
Karen silently looked around in all directions and whispered softly as if she had grasped the situation.
“There are quite a lot of people. “What do you want to do?”
Leon, who understood what he meant, immediately asked back.
“Are you the enemy?”
“huh.”
Karen nodded, her eyes shining blue.
“I didn’t notice it until I got closer because it didn’t feel alive. “I don’t think he has any intention of fighting.”
“There must have been a watchman.”
“I burrowed under the sand. Unless you are skilled enough to read even the slightest vibration, you won’t know. Ah, it’s moving toward the cargo. “I plan on getting out of the way as soon as I steal it.”
There wasn’t much time to think about it.
Karen didn’t say anything more, perhaps leaving it to his discretion, but kept an eye on the bandits moving in the sand.
Leon’s head began to spin.
How best to respond in this situation.
‘Should I scream and let others know? No, the moment I was approached, I was at a disadvantage. It’s hard to think that people who are sleeping unarmed will immediately become a force.’
The thieves’ primary target was cargo.
They probably know that they can’t win if they just collide with the escort force of this storm tier. So, he sneaked in with the intention of stealing things without any hesitation.
If you wake up others and fight back, you can win. Because we are not prepared, the casualties will only increase.
“How many people exactly?”
“Fourteen are transported by cargo. There are twenty-two people guarding the remaining carriages. “That’s all they have in my detection range.”
“36 people…”
As I belatedly extended my Aura Sense into the sand, I felt the presence of those people whose presence I was unable to completely erase.
The skills of each person are not great.
However, their numbers and their ability to use the desert environment were quite threatening. If we tried to attack first clumsily, there would be someone killed or seriously injured on this side.
“Karen.”
Leon, who soon decided on a countermeasure, whispered softly.
Then, Karen, who heard his instructions, had a wry smile on her face. I was worried that even though he was a hero, he would sound withdrawn, but what Leon said immediately dispelled those concerns.
Goodness and foolishness are different things.
Enemy. Even a three-year-old child could figure out which one to give priority to.
Pot!
Karen jumped out without a sound, climbed onto the roof of the carriage, and jumped even higher.
20 meters in the air.
Her eyes caught 36 life reactions in an instant as she jumped higher than most buildings. At the same time, the rings on the middle fingers of Karen’s hands sparkled several times.
Subspace magic. The daggers that poured out from within passed through her hands and turned into cyan-colored thunderbolts.
Pipipipipipit–!
Ten strands of lightning strike the ground.
There are few people more skilled than her in dagger throwing. Ten daggers thrown at a speed faster than sound dug into the sand and pierced the limbs of the thieves hiding there.
Normally, he would have died without even moaning, but that was not the purpose of this attack.
“Kwaaagh!?”
“Oops! “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?!”
“Ahhhh! My eyes!”
The bandits, who were critically injured but not dead, screamed loudly.
Immediately after that, Leon jumped out and shouted.
“The enemy! “The thieves are targeting the carriage!”
Karen overpowers the thieves with her instantaneous explosive power and takes advantage of their hesitation to wake up the guards.
It was a bonus to raise the holy sword high and burst into light.
‘I can finally see it.’
Is it because it has become a situation where there is no choice but to fight?
The murderous intent of evil, which had not been felt until now, leaked out sharply from the sand.
Leon aimed his sword while keeping his eyes in that direction. As the light emanating from the blade was aimed at them, the thieves realized that they could no longer hide and ran out.
“Don’t hesitate and move! Remember your priorities! “Prioritize the merchant and important cargo first and protect the surrounding area!”
Gustav, who quickly puts on his armor, settles the situation.
The charisma that comes from his physique and skills worked well in this unexpected situation. Even with half-asleep faces, the people moved according to his instructions and formed a formation.
These are thieves whose numbers have been reduced by Karen’s first attack.
By the time they faced off like this, it was as if they had already lost.
“Tch, damn bitch…!”
The thief who looked like a leader or executive swore.
If it weren’t for her dagger fee, it wouldn’t have been this bad.
The guy, whose eyes were shining like a poisonous snake, seemed to have given up on the fight and raised one hand to signal to his subordinates. There was no thought of rescuing the injured.
Gustav recognized this and rushed in like a gale.
“Run away! “Don’t miss a single one!”
However, the speed of the thieves was greater than expected.
Those equipped specifically for the desert ran as if they were on flat ground, even on sand where their feet felt soft. It was a speed that the mercenaries wearing heavy armor and adventurers who were not yet B rank could not keep up.
Moreover, the direction was not constant, so it was scattered in five different directions, making it impossible to chase after it.
That doesn’t mean we couldn’t catch a single one.
The great sword thrown by Gustav cut off the waists of two people, and the arrows fired by Hamel pierced the backs of the heads of four people.
Kaang!
In the meantime, Karen targeted the bandit leader, but the bastard struck away the dagger with skill unbefitting a thief and jumped into the sand.
He was a skilled person worthy of a bounty of at least B rank.
And Leon glared at the back of the thieves and lowered his sword.
‘If I had used , I would have killed ten more people…’
The scene after that came to mind and I stopped.
The ten thieves who were hit by Merak were cut in two at once, blood and internal organs gushing out like a fountain.
It was a one-sided massacre.
It is not a fight to the death against an overwhelming enemy, nor is it a monster that cannot coexist with humans. Leon wasn’t ready to step into that territory yet.
[Well, it’s a natural concern.]
El Cid, who had been silent until now, intervened.
[It’s okay to worry. Because there is no answer to that agony. You are a warrior, not a human butcher. Whether it’s carrying out a fire or punishing evildoers in the name of justice. Find your own answer.]
“…Okay.”
Leon, with a bitter smile, sheathed his sword.
The advice of El Cid, who passed that road first, was quite impactful. There is no absolute standard for right and wrong. There is no standard like the laws of physics when it comes to forgiving or punishing someone.
Not tolerating thieves and cutting them to death.
To subdue without taking one’s life.
Educating thieves through words and actions.
All of them can come from a just heart, and what is more right depends on each individual’s opinion.
‘My values are not yet complete.’
How much can be forgiven and how much should be punished?
Leon’s experience and ego were too immature to determine that. It was a topic that I had to ponder endlessly after meeting more people and experiencing more things.
So Leon put it off until later.
Before he knew it, the owner of the band who had tied up the injured thieves with rope and sorted out the situation found him.
“Ah, everyone gathered together. thank you.”
It’s not just Leon.
All the talented people, including Karen and Gustav, were gathered. Considering that C-rank mercenaries and adventurers were excluded, it seemed like they had a separate story to tell.
Arnold’s complexion was not good.
The reason was immediately apparent.
“Several pieces of cargo were stolen in the raid a while ago.”
“What…?”
“That can’t be possible.”
Gustav and Leon were the first to be shocked. Their response was literally close to optimal.
They won without a single person being killed or seriously injured, and the bandits retreated without even thinking about fighting back. But in the meantime, did you have time to steal the cargo?
Only Karen spoke without any surprise.
“It’s him. “The guy who looked like a boss.”
She wiped the bloody dagger and looked back at Leon.
“There were a total of 37 attackers. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…I didn’t detect your presence?”
“okay. Since the stealth skill itself was so-so, it must have borrowed the power of an artifact or something. “They were probably already stealing things before the battle started.”
If he hadn’t brought his men, he might have succeeded without her and Leon getting caught.
The best efforts turned out to be poison.
At those words, Arnold took a deep sigh and said.
“He is a formidable man. “By any chance, there is a piece of valuable cargo involved… I’m sorry, but I’d like to ask you to track it.”
“Chase.”
Gustav said with an embarrassed expression.
“I don’t know about forests or mountains, but the desert is a bit difficult. How about Hamel?”
“If you’re going to do it, you can’t wait until tonight. “Due to the nature of the desert, any traces left behind are erased in an instant.”
Former Ranger Hamel answered seriously.
Although it was possible to follow them with their unique observation skills, the desert was an unknown place for mountain rangers.
Even if you catch up from now on, your chances of catching up are less than half.
What if there wasn’t one more person here?
“I can track it.”
Karen declared with a sour face.
“The dagger I threw at him had tracking scent on it. “If I had avoided it, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, but if I blocked it, it would have gotten on my body and weapons.”
“Oh oh! then!”
“If you pay me well, I’ll give it a try. How about you?”
Leon thought about the suggestion for a moment and then answered.
“I will follow you too. Are you fine?”
“It won’t matter. “This guy and I can handle the tracking, and we know how to move on the sand, right?”
Leon, who had already reached level 4 in the walking technique that allows him to demonstrate his abilities in any environment, was able to walk and run even on sandy ground as if on flat ground.
A cargo tracking team was formed in a matter of seconds.
A former ranger, a special assassin, and finally a warrior. It was as if they were going to catch a special bounty criminal, not a band of thieves.
“How do you distinguish between cargo that needs to be brought to you by the merchant?”
“Oh, take this.”
In response to Hamel’s question, Arnold held out a small compass.
The needle inside was not moving, as if it had stopped working, and Arnold soon explained why.
“There is a magical seal on that cargo. I can’t open it unless I have the key. It looks like other boxes, so you can’t tell them apart without the compass. “If you approach within a ten meter radius, it will point out the location.”
“10 meters… I understand.”
Hamel, who put the compass in his bosom, immediately moved.
Karen and Leon followed suit and ran to the sand.
Pabababak!
It is not a hard ground where a carriage can run, but a sandy field where you sink up to your thighs. Nevertheless, without a moment’s delay, the three ran in the direction where the thieves had disappeared.
The rest couldn’t run at the same speed as them anyway, and there might be a second attack, so they entered the sand bar.
“Don’t even blink until the tracking team returns!”
Gustav’s eyes widened as he sunk his greatsword into the ground.
It’s a race against time until the sun rises.
Since there was also an A-rank adventurer attached, I didn’t think the chase team would lose. To miss it or not, that was the question.
Ignoring Arnold’s fretting as he stood at the crossroads of his life, Gustav expanded his sharpened senses to all directions. Even if he had been hit once, it was humiliating enough.
The Storm Sangdan stayed up all night like that.