Emotionless Swordsmanship Genius

Chapter 71: The Cemetery

A secluded mountain village near Wattsbell.

As time passed, the villagers moved to cities like Wattsbell, leaving only a few elderly folks to continue the traditions.

The village was naturally filled with a desolate atmosphere, with ruins scattered everywhere, adding an eerie feeling.

It felt like a ghost could appear at any moment.

In keeping with this mood, a few figures in black robes floated in mid-air within a ruin in the most secluded part of the village.

After settling in, they exchanged glances.

One of them removed their hood, revealing their face.

It was the very wizard who had fought Karon underground.

He closed his eyes slowly, sinking into thought.

Then, as if on cue, the other wizards surrounded him, placing their hands on his head.

A faint silver light enveloped his head, and for a while, they remained motionless.

Only their expressions, shifting over time, revealed a similar series of changes.

“Um…”

“Sigh…”

Finally, with sighs, they removed their hands as if repelled and opened their eyes.

Confusion filled their gazes.

Through memory-reading magic, they had witnessed Karon’s actions from the wizard’s perspective.

“This is impossible! To absorb magic and then repel it?”

An elder wizard exclaimed, prompting the others to jump in.

“He should not exist.”

“He must be eliminated. If word of this spreads across the continent, there will be great upheaval.”

But the elder wizard remained cautious.

“Hmm… If we act alone, it could backfire. Let’s contact the homeland first…”

“But we don’t have time. The trace of the spell energy on the child is still detectable, but it will soon vanish completely. We won’t be able to find them then.”

“Isn’t there another way?”

The two young wizards, anxious, caused the elder wizard to sigh deeply.

He paused, then looked up, speaking cautiously.

“Hmm… There is one idea. Would you be willing to try?”

Their eyes turned to the elder wizard.

—

From the capital to the port city of Wattsbell on the empire’s northeastern edge, the journey took five days on horseback.

The first night, they stayed at an inn in a nearby city.

However, as they moved farther, the distance between towns increased, and being on the empire’s outskirts meant comfortable sleep was not an option.

On the third evening.

The four found a suitable camping spot, set up a fire, and rolled out their sleeping bags.

Andrew, having purchased essentials in the city they passed on the first day, took care of himself.

For a ten-year-old, he showed a surprising maturity.

His once thin frame now looked healthier, with signs of strength.

“All set!”

Hinshan had lightly prepared two rabbits caught in the woods and roasted them golden brown.

Frequenting special missions across the continent, he was well-accustomed to camping life.

Andrew devoured one rabbit almost by himself, and Hinshan and Shong shared the other.

Karon took a few bites before retreating to chew on herbs.

“Karon, won’t you eat more?”

“Leave him be; he’s always like that.”

Hinshan offered the leftover meat to Karon, but Shong intercepted it with a casual remark.

The four quickly wrapped up their meal and went to sleep.

Andrew, being young, was the first to fall asleep.

Following him, Shong and Hinshan drifted off, and finally, Karon, who had been staring into space, began to close his eyes.

But only for a moment.

Karon’s eyes snapped open, and he rose to look northwest.

“It’s gone.”

Though his expression remained indifferent, he was troubled internally.

The faint aura of dark energy had completely disappeared.

Destroyed? Or had something blocked it? He couldn’t be sure.

This made tracking the Blue Raven Gang a bit more complicated.

Though Shong’s detection skills were still available, they only worked at close range.

It wasn’t too concerning.

He had managed without relying on anything before.

“Something wrong?”

Hinshan, sensitive to noise, sat up slightly and asked. Karon shook his head dismissively and lay back in his sleeping bag.

—

The next morning at dawn.

The four departed before sunrise and, by midday, found themselves passing through a massive cemetery.

This was where soldiers who had fallen during a large-scale monster subjugation at the empire’s northern frontier were buried.

The cemetery was so vast that the end was not visible.

The air around the cemetery was thick with an eerie feeling.

The intense sunlight of earlier had faded into a murky mist.

Creaking sounds scratched at their nerves, and the musty smell, combined with the damp air, felt like it crawled over their skin.

Shong’s face twisted in discomfort. An unpleasant feeling stirred in him.

But they proceeded through the cemetery.

While they could have taken a longer route, they saw no need to.

Unlike Shong, Karon and Andrew remained composed, while Hinshan kept watch with his bow ready.

“There’s an unsettling atmosphere. Feels like something could appear any moment.”

“That’s what I was saying—why didn’t we take the longer route?”

Despite Shong’s grumbling, Karon continued to lead them through the graves.

That was all. Shong knew Karon always had reasons for his choices.

It was just that the place itself felt ominous.

A while later.

“How big is this place?”

“Looks like it never ends.”

Even after riding for a while, they still saw no end to the cemetery.

The identical graves repeating in patterns started to make them dizzy.

Then, Karon, leading the group, suddenly stopped his horse.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Rustle!

Thud!

As the ground near the fourth grave on the left began to tremble, Hinshan quickly reacted, firing an arrow with lightning reflexes.

The arrow struck the grave’s soil precisely, and there was no further movement.

“Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive,” Hinshan murmured, tilting his head.

Yet Karon remained still, as if waiting for something, then slowly spoke.

“It seems we’ve stepped into something.”

“Something? Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Karon replied, recalling the unsettling feeling he’d experienced in Count Filmore’s castle basement a few days ago.

‘Could it be him?’

Rustle

As soon as Karon voiced his vague suspicion, the graves around them began to stir.

Hinshan aimed his bow, but the situation was quickly spiraling beyond control.

Suddenly, their horses neighed in alarm, raising their front hooves as if frightened.

Andrew clung tightly to Karon to avoid falling.

After calming the horses, they glanced around and noticed skeletons emerging from the earth, pushing aside the soil.

These were faces Karon recognized.

“W-What the hell are these?!”

“No way! Skeletons!”

At Shong’s panicked question, Hinshan grimaced and shouted.

This was the first time he had ever seen skeletons in his life.

Both of them glanced at Karon simultaneously, and without delay, he pulled on the reins and shouted, “Follow me!”

Gone was the calm Karon; he now urged his horse forward at full speed.

Caught off guard, Shong and Hinshan hurried to follow.

“Damn it! What are those things?!”

Looking back, Shong saw more skeletons clawing their way out of the ground wherever they passed, their numbers growing with each step.

But they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the speed of their horses.

They believed they could escape the cemetery this way.

However, Karon suddenly stopped, forcing Shong to pull his reins too.

“Why are you stopping?!”

Shong shouted in frustration, and Karon scanned the surroundings before answering.

“It seems we’re trapped somewhere. I still can’t see the end of this place, and that broken tombstone—I’m certain we passed it before. We’re going in circles.”

“No way! That can’t be!”

Shong protested, but he knew Karon’s memory was impeccable.

Even at full gallop, nothing escaped Karon’s sharp eye.

Hinshan, while shooting an arrow through the head of an approaching skeleton, spoke up.

“If Karon’s right, we might be in a barrier.”

“A barrier?”

“Yes! I’ve only heard stories from my father, but some wizards can create a space-confining spell during battle. It’s often called a barrier!”

Hinshan spoke quickly as skeletons closed in from all directions.

“And how do we get out?”

“The only way is to find the wizard who cast it. Usually, they are at the center of the barrier.”

“The center…”

Karon looked off into the distance, contemplating.

Though the barrier’s boundaries were unclear, he had a vague sense of where its center might be.

Hinshan, cutting down another advancing skeleton, shouted urgently.

“Could they be after the child?”

“No idea. Let’s go!”

“Do you even know where you’re going?”

“More or less.”

Karon spurred his horse forward, leading the group.

But with skeletons charging from all sides, the frightened horses hesitated, refusing to move forward.

Simultaneously, scratches started appearing on the horses.

“Abandon the horses.”

Without hesitation, Karon dismounted.

Shong and Hinshan quickly jumped down and regrouped behind him.

Leading the way, Karon swung his sword, shattering the skeletons’ bones with every strike.

Andrew clung to his back, but oddly, his presence didn’t hinder Karon’s movements.

Karon’s swordsmanship was fierce, sweeping through the skeletons like a storm.

Over time, a faint red aura enveloped his blade, and his energy swirled like a tempest.

“Amazing.”

“He’s definitely refined his stance since before.”

As they cleaved through skeletons that Shong and Hinshan couldn’t handle, they made surprisingly smooth progress toward the barrier’s center.

Skeletons continued to surge around them.

But nowhere was there a sign of the wizard.

“Are you sure we’re in the right place?! Hey!”

Shong shouted irritably, standing back-to-back with the others.

At that moment, he noticed Andrew was no longer clinging to Karon’s back.

Instead, the boy was standing alone atop a grave.

Right then, as if waiting for this moment, a wizard appeared like a ghost, emerging from thin air.

The wizard wrapped Andrew in his black robe, as if shielding him.

“Kid! Watch out!”

Shong yelled urgently, but Andrew stood motionless.

In the instant that the wizard’s black robe enveloped him, something gleamed in Andrew’s grasp, piercing straight through the wizard’s neck.

“Urgh!”

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