NOVEL WEB Chapter 14 - The One Called a Legend (3)
✦ Chapter 14 – The One Called a Legend (3) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
Arriving at the entrance of the sacred shrine under the moonlight, we found the defense line already breached by skeletal dragons. Chaos reigned as people screamed in panic.
“Are we too late?” Del exclaimed, visibly shaken.
He looked at us and blinked his dark-circled eyes. He seemed to have something to say, but it wasn’t coming out easily.
“Del, if you have something to say, just say it.”
“I don’t know what’s about to unfold,” he began hesitantly. “Even so, are you all willing to risk your lives alongside me to save innocent people?”
“Let’s go,” I replied without hesitation.
Was I going to miss my chance to witness the resurrection of Imseti Paimon?
“Daniel! You’re truly something else! Follow me then! I know a secret passage!”
Del clenched his fist, his eyes brimming with emotion. And he skillfully navigated the chaotic gap to arrive at the secret room where Imseti’s body was said to be resting.
It was a particularly large, cavern-like room, devoid of torches. Moonlight from the full moon streamed through an opening in the center of the ceiling, illuminating the space with an almost blinding radiance.
I wondered if this was the exact same place as the large room in the pyramid made of ice when the bluish light flashed in the middle of the room.
— Eternal Ruler of Winter —
「LV.?? Imseti Paimon」
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a colossal skeleton, seated on a throne made of ice, looking down at us. It was a skeleton, but it didn’t feel imposing so much as majestic.
At the feet of the creature were men in black robes frozen in place. Judging by the situation, they seemed to be the necromancers who had resurrected the skeleton.
‘Necromancers. Looks like they failed to control it.’
Clack— Clack—
The skeletal giant rose with a bone-chilling creak. I was admiring its height, which must have been around 3 meters, when the giant skeleton reached out its hand towards the void.
Zzzt—Zzzzt—
In an instant, the air froze and an ice greatsword matching the giant’s height materialized into the skeleton’s hand. Its appearance was rough like a giant hailstone, but it was certainly not funny.
“Are we already too late…!?” Del exclaimed, visibly shocked.
However, as if he hadn’t given up, he spoke to me in a determined voice, “Daniel, you’re a kind soul who can’t ignore those in need, right? And you’re an exceptional mage capable of conjuring fire through the ice magic.”
I was neither particularly kind nor an exceptional mage. However, Del’s determination was palpable, so I decided to hear him out.
“Daniel, while I engage that creature, can you evacuate the people? There are shelters throughout the underground city of Avalam. They’re new shelters that were built after the Emperor’s invasion.”
“Shelters?”
“They’re built so sturdy that they can withstand even moderate attacks and the cold. They’re made using the ice from the snow-capped mountains, which are as hard as the blue stone. Evacuate the people there!”
“I understand what you’re saying, but you’re trying to buy time. Against that monster itself? Del, you’re going to die. That monster clearly outclasses you.”
─Eternal Ruler of Winter─
「LV.?? Imseti Paimon」
It was indeed a giant Skeleton King. Even I felt a mix of excitement and tension at the sight of such an unprecedented being. That’s when Del drew his sword and spoke.
“Daniel, there’s something I haven’t told you. The truth is, I’m a bit strong.”
Pow—!
As soon as Del finished speaking, he lunged at the Skeleton King. It was a very fast movement, and his sword slashed down towards the skull with the force to split it in two in an instant.
Swoosh—! Zzzt—!
In fact, the Skeleton King’s skull was split in half.
For a moment, I thought, ‘He did it! End of chapter 14!’
I thought that, but strangely enough, a bluish cold air froze the Skeleton King’s head and regenerated the split skull.
“Regeneration…!?”
Del clicked his tongue in frustration.
“If that’s the case, I’ll just have to keep slashing until it can’t regenerate!”
Del’s attacks continued relentlessly.
Clang, clang-clang-clang-!
With each strike, his already rapid assault grew even faster, until his movements became mere afterimages.
「━─.」
However, to the Skeleton King, who easily regenerated its wounds, his speed was meaningless. Del was getting tired like a mortal, and the Skeleton King, as if being already dead, didn’t seem to feel fatigue at all.
“Huff… huff…”
To top it off, Del hadn’t slept properly in the past few days due to insomnia. Perhaps because he had just moved at a speed beyond his limits, Del’s eyes became noticeably heavy and his speed slowed down.
“Not… yet…”
Finally, Del collapsed to the ground.
Thump— Thump—
His breathing steadied as he fell into a deep sleep.
Falling asleep in the middle of a fight. I thought it was another strange and funny situation. At the same time, I felt a surge of excitement, sensing it was my turn to step in. How long had it been since I’d faced a truly powerful opponent?
Zzzt—
Suddenly, the hair on my skin stood on end.
Turning my head, I saw Del standing motionless, though I’d thought he was asleep.
‘Did he wake up?’
No, that wasn’t it.
Under the full moon’s light, Del’s eyes remained closed.
There was no sound of breathing, not even the slightest movement.
He was like a corpse.
Sling—
Then I heard what sounded like metal being pulled out, followed by a deafening metallic explosion that shook the mountains.
Crack, crack-crack-crack!
「━─.」
The Skeleton King, who had remained on his throne until now, made an eerie sound. Somehow, Del had approached the skeletal king and plunged his ivory dagger into its ribcage.
「━─Sakulazak!」
Whoosh-!
The Skeleton King swung its massive greatsword in apparent rage, but Del’s figure disappeared in an instant.
“Huff! Huff! I’ve only just arrived at the entrance! What… what’s going on here? What’s that enormous skeleton?”
Findman, who had just reached the tomb, was flustered as if he couldn’t understand the situation. But I was finally able to confirm the identity of the ominous feeling I had been feeling strangely all along.
‘So that’s how it is.’
Now I could now see Del swinging his limp arms like pendulums – an odd posture. The moment I registered this, he disappeared.
No afterimage or footprints remained.
“Fast,” I muttered.
I heightened my senses, something I hadn’t done in a while.
Clang—!
My ears picked up the continuous sound of sharp metal clashing. As I scanned the area, I noticed new gashes appearing on the ice walls, as hard as blue stone.
“Of course, that was strange for claw marks. Anyone could see they were sword marks. You were the 「Claws of Silence」all along, weren’t you, Del? Are you the legendary Hel? Or did the legendary Hel never exist in the first place?”
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
Clang-! Clang-!
Del, moving at an invisible speed, pressed his assault against Imseti Paimon.
Imseti Paimon continued to heal the wounds he received from Del with ice magic, but he seemed to be struggling against Del’s attacks, which were coming faster than his healing speed.
Findman expressed his honest astonishment at the situation.
“To think Del was the legendary Hel! The ‘Claws of Silence’ was Del all along! How could this be! He was right beside us, and we never realized!”
It must have been like the feeling of a man who had been on a long adventure to find treasure only to find out that the treasure was buried in front of his house.
However, I doubted Del was truly the ‘legendary Hel.’
Perhaps the ‘legendary Hel’ never existed in these snowy mountains. It might have been just a violent sleepwalker, whose exploits grew into the legend we know.
“…What about the hunting competition then?”
“Daniel! With an ancient king resurrected, how can you worry about a hunting competition? Look at that instead! Is that an aura?”
Findman pointed, his eyes wide with amazement.
The blade of sword in Del’s hand glowed with a bluish light — the sword aura, symbol of the Sword Masters. Could Del, in his sleepwalking state, rival a Sword Master? As I pondered this, the Skeleton King Imseti let out a thunderous roar.
「━──!!!」
With that alone, it seemed like all the air in the world had frozen, and everything became quiet.
At that moment, Del collapsed to the ground, his face pale.
“Del! What’s wrong? Del!”
“He’s reached his limit,” I explained. “He tapped into superhuman strength through a death-like sleep state, but now his body can’t withstand the backlash. Remember his apparent suicide during the Galakrod duel? It’s similar to that.”
“Then… what should we do now?”
What else could we do?
It was my turn to step up. I drew my long sword from my waist. It was a worn-out item that my father Nimrod used, but it was still a decent weapon.
As I brandished it, the Skeleton King spoke.
「O’ strong one.」
“What, you could even talk?”
「I shall test if you are worthy to put me back to sleep. Should you fail, eternal night and winter shall befall this land─.」
“Eternal night, huh? That sounds fun. But I hate winter. I’ve had enough of snow.”
I ran with all my might and lunged at the Skeleton King.
Boom-!
There was a loud noise and the Skeleton King staggered greatly.
「Your strength is formidable.」
“Brute force is my specialty.”
「But alas, you cannot manipulate mana at all. Without that, your impressive sword is nothing more than a blunt club.」
“What’s wrong with a club?”
Clang—! Clang-!
I continued to rain down powerful, straightforward strikes on the Skeleton King. From one direct hit to another – this crude, lethal swordsmanship was Daniel’s technique.
「It seems futile after all. The beings of this era are weak. You struggle against me, who’s been resurrected by forbidden necromancy and is not even at half my prime. You cannot stop the eternal night.」
The Skeleton King distanced itself from me, its aura suddenly intensifying. The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly.
「Absolute Zero Sword.」
Whoosh-!
Crack, crack-crack-!
The Skeleton King swung its massive greatsword, and an icy cold air that seemed to freeze my bones brushed past my body. Soon, everything in sight was covered in white cold frost.
“M-my arm froze instantly! It’s frostbitten! Damn it! Pochita! Are you alright?”
━Woof woof!
“Thank goodness! Come here!”
Findman, whose arms were frozen, called out to Pochita in a panic. It was amazing to see how he melted his hands with the warm fur of the squirrel Pochita. I guess veterans are different. I don’t have to worry about them.
The real problem was on my end.
Crash!
The sword of Nimrod that I was holding in my hand froze and shattered like glass. It was my father’s heirloom, and now it was broken into pieces.
「Challenger, you’ve lost your club. What will you do now? Will you bite with your teeth? Will you scream? Beg me for mercy? Or will you despair?」
“…………..”
It was a moment that gave me much to ponder.
Of course, I didn’t have much time to think.
“Lizardman! Take Del and get out of here! And evacuate the people to the shelters! There are plenty of shelters in the underground of Avalam that were newly built and reinforced after the emperor’s invasion! Hurry up!”
“My name is Findman! And Daniel! What are you going to do if I get out of here! You just lost your only sword!”
“Don’t worry about me.”
Findman continued to look around the freezing surroundings and seemed to think there was nothing he could do, so he carried Del like a bundle and left the tomb.
“Daniel! If you can buy enough time for people to evacuate safely, you’ll be hailed as a hero for generations! I know it’s impossible, but try to survive! Don’t die!”
Crack-!
Finally, everything around was encased in ice.
Even the exit was sealed.
I picked up Del’s dagger that was lying on the floor. It was a high-class item with an impressive ivory scabbard, something Del usually kept strapped to his waist.
The Skeleton King inquired—
「That dagger is quite remarkable. Its edge hasn’t dulled even from my attacks. But in the end, it’s just a small, pitiful dagger. Do you intend to challenge me with that tiny blade, challenger?」
“No, only the weak rely on weapons.”
I carefully sheathed Del’s dagger.
Then I exhaled lightly.
“I’ll be honest. I admit defeat. The current ‘Daniel’ can’t beat you. But from now on, things will be a little different.”
「?」
“From this moment, you’re the challenger.”
— End of Chapter —
⚘ ⚘ ⚘
Translator’s Notes :-
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