Chapter 40
Thud! Roll……
Bruno’s head, which had soared into the air along with a spray of blood, tumbled across the ground.
I dispelled the twin daggers I had been gripping so tightly that blood was seeping from my palms, then let out a long sigh.
‘He wasn’t easy.’
If my memory was correct, Bruno Kurt’s level in the game was 39.
Among 30-level characters, he was one of the strongest.
For reference, the level of the Night Fiend I had struggled immensely to defeat before was 30.
Which was also my current level.
In short, he was an opponent I normally shouldn’t have been able to beat at my current level.
‘Still, I won.’
Whether in <Soden> or any other game, a 9-level gap was enormous.
I had overcome that gap and achieved victory.
‘My level is 30, but in terms of actual combat power, I’m probably in the early-to-mid 40s now?’
The proof was that I had shattered the aura shield Bruno had created with all his strength using pure physical power.
As expected, he had been an excellent benchmark to measure how far I had progressed after <Trial of Entur>.
Moreover,
[You have achieved victory against an opponent with a large level gap. <Authority of Growth> reacts!]
[Rank value is…….]
He even left a gift.
Well, it wasn’t common for a level 30 to defeat a level 39.
It was a natural reward.
<You’ve changed a lot in a short time.>
While I was sitting on the ground for a moment to catch my breath, Entur suddenly spoke.
“What do you mean?”
<Compared to when you fought the Dragonfang Soldiers and Drakes during my trial. And when you learned the secret sword art from this body’s apostle over a week. Your movements have become much more refined.>
“Really?”
<You’re not doubting the discerning eye of an ancient dragon, are you? If this body says so, then it is so.>
This one really has an enormous ancient dragon ego sometimes.
Well, she did fight the Knight King, so her assessment that my movements had improved wasn’t wrong.
I agreed with it too.
<Hmm. But don’t get cocky. Compared to that damned Knight King, you’re still not even worth the dirt under his claws—>
“Why isn’t the quest completion message popping up?”
<Don’t ignore me!>
No, I wasn’t ignoring her. It was genuinely strange.
I had killed Bruno, yet the system remained silent.
Wondering if there were any remaining enemies, I spread out my senses, but there was no one else here……
“Ah. I guess I still need to kill the Fierce Dragon too.”
The quest completion condition was to eliminate all elements threatening Riter Village.
It seemed the Fierce Dragon was included in those elements along with the <Silver Snake Group>.
I had just finished a tough fight and was a bit tired, but there was no helping it.
Still, dealing with the Fierce Dragon was an extremely simple task for me now.
‘All I have to do is keep it suppressed with the Demon God Stone and cut off its head.’
In other words, free farming.
I stood up and looked toward the Riter Mine where I had earlier stuffed the Fierce Dragon using the Demon God Stone.
Anyway, to obtain the mineral Vulcart that Jackson had mentioned, I had to go to the Riter Mine.
Just as I was about to take a step,
<Are you heading into that mountain now? You’d better be careful…….>
Entur suddenly uttered an ominous warning.
“What?”
<You probably can’t sense it, but this body, as an ancient dragon, can feel it clearly even now. A powerful presence writhing in the depths of that mine.>
“You mean the Fierce Dragon? Why are you suddenly—”
<If it were the Fierce Dragon, would this body even bother warning you? It’s something else. Something incomparably stronger than that fake dragon.>
“……?”
Hearing that, I quickly went over all the content related to the Riter Mine in my head again.
No matter how much I thought about it, aside from the Fierce Dragon, the <Silver Snake Group> raid, and a few hidden pieces inside the mine, nothing else came to mind.
Then who was this “strong being” Entur was talking about? If even she called it strong, it had to be no joke.
The scent of those damn variables was wafting strongly, so I asked Entur again.
“Explain in detail.”
<I’d like to explain in detail, but how am I supposed to know exactly what it is just from its aura? However, I can guess that it is in an extremely deep sleep, almost like a seal.>
“What’s your basis for that?”
<If it weren’t, then surely this mine… no, this entire area would already have been turned into ruins.>
“…….”
Is there even a Constellation sleeping in there?
My heart, which had been light with the thought of free farming, suddenly grew heavy.
After a brief moment of contemplation, I made my decision.
“Still, I’m going. I can’t just give up and turn back now.”
<That is true.>
“If it’s in a deep sleep almost like a seal, then as long as I’m careful not to wake it, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
<That is also true. Though I cannot guarantee it.>
Thinking about it, the Fierce Dragon had caused several commotions by bursting out of the mine before.
Yet it had never woken up until now?
Then, if I quietly kill the Fierce Dragon, quietly mine the ore, and quietly leave, nothing should happen……
Mm, no. I should avoid saying anything that might raise a flag.
<What could possibly go wrong?>
“Don’t say that. Be quiet.”
<Why are you suddenly getting annoyed……?>
***
“It… it’s quiet now…….”
“Is that kid okay? Shouldn’t we go check on him?”
“Are you crazy? What could we even do to help?”
Meanwhile,
The residents of Riter Village muttered with anxious expressions.
Since they had no way of knowing what was happening on the <Silver Snake Group>’s side, their reaction was natural.
The only thing they could guess was that one side had won, judging by how the continuous explosions had suddenly stopped.
The problem was, if that “one side” turned out to be the <Silver Snake Group> instead of the unidentified boy……
“W-what if they come for revenge? What are we supposed to do?”
“……We all die, that’s what.”
“T-the Monster of the Mountain is strong, but there’s no way that kid could handle all of them alone! The fact that it’s gone quiet must mean the boy is dead……!”
As the residents, consumed by negative thoughts, turned pale and shouted in despair,
“No. Sir Ruth won. I’m sure of it.”
A firm voice without the slightest tremor rang out among the people.
It was Nora.
In contrast to the others who wore gloomy expressions, her face was filled with unwavering conviction.
“Jackson’s granddaughter?”
“What do you know that makes you say that…….”
“Right now, among everyone here, I’m the one who knows the most about him. A while ago, he saved me when I was captured by evil god worshippers.”
Nora looked straight into the doubtful eyes of the villagers one by one and spoke.
“If any of you had seen the swordsmanship he displayed back then, you would have reacted the same way I did.”
Even though it had happened more than two weeks ago, the memory was as vivid as if it had been yesterday.
The scene of Ruth unleashing the <Black Radiance Divine Sword> and cutting down the wicked with godlike swordplay.
“Moreover, Sir Ruth… has become much stronger than when I saw him back then. He achieved incredible growth in such a short time.”
When Ruth had declared that he would wipe out the <Silver Snake Group> and even kill the Monster of the Mountain earlier,
Nora had initially thought he was aiming for an impossible goal.
Her mind changed the moment she saw him split the Fierce Dragon’s breath with a single sword strike.
Having followed her blacksmith grandfather, she had seen countless martial artists, but……
‘I have never once seen swordsmanship so beautiful and so powerful.’
Seeing such martial prowess, she came to believe that Ruth could definitely defeat both the Monster of the Mountain and the <Silver Snake Group>.
Nora hoped that the people here would also hold onto that same belief.
“Ah. W-well… I did see that kid facing the Monster of the Mountain earlier, and it was definitely incredible.”
“I saw it too.”
“I couldn’t even tell which one was the real monster.”
As more and more people began to agree with her, the heavy atmosphere started to lighten, as if the fog had lifted.
“Yeah, let’s believe in him.”
“There’s nothing we can do but pray, though…….”
Hope began to bloom among the people who had only been repeating words of despair.
Jackson placed a hand on his granddaughter’s shoulder—the one who had given them courage—and smiled.
“You spoke up well, child.”
“Hehe. It was nothing.”
“Let’s go home. We should start preparing right away so we can begin working the moment he returns.”
“Yes.”
As the two walked toward the smithy with matching steps, Jackson suddenly muttered with a bitter smile.
“It’s a little… regrettable.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“If he had come to this village just a little earlier… perhaps we wouldn’t have had the ‘Rune of the Master Craftsman’ taken by those bastards.”
“Ah…….”
The Rune of the Master Craftsman, one of the three great family heirlooms of the Steel & Anvil lineage.
Jackson had once struggled to pay the tribute before, and in place of his lifespan and the tribute, the Rune had been stolen by them.
“If we still had it, I could have made him an even better sword.”
“We don’t know yet. If Sir Ruth wipes out those bastards, maybe we can recover the Rune of the Master Craftsman from somewhere in their base.”
“Those thorough bastards wouldn’t have hidden it somewhere easy to find. Haa……”
***
[<Silver Snake Group>’s hidden vault has been opened!]
Oh, jackpot.
In a remote corner inside the mine.
When I recited the incantation, the ordinary-looking wall turned transparent, revealing a hidden stone chamber.
‘So their special vault was beyond this.’
It was a hidden piece even I, a veteran of <Soden>, had never seen before.
Well, it was a hidden piece that could only be found by reciting a command that only Bruno himself knew, and none of his subordinates did. How could anyone have known?
Unless it was a Blood Mage who possessed the skill to read the memories of the dead, there was no way to find it.
‘When I played the game, there wasn’t even a Blood Mage class. Why the hell did the developers make a hidden piece like this?’
That question briefly crossed my mind, but I decided not to think about it.
How could I understand the thought process of humans without brains?
I shook off the idle thoughts and examined the inside of the stone chamber.
Most of it was money and gold items plundered from the villagers.
Aside from that, there were piles of items the bastards had gathered while committing evil deeds in other places.
‘Nothing immediately useful stands out.’
Excluding the villagers’ belongings, it might be better to just sell the rest at the market or auction house.
For now, I’ll take everything without missing a single item.
Hwaaaak—!
When I opened the black backpack the size of a handbag, a black hole-like attractive force appeared and sucked in all the items scattered in the vault.
It was the expandable backpack ‘Hole Pocket’ I had looted from the dead Bruno, capable of carrying up to 200kg.
It was an item I would make very good use of from now on.
“Clean.”
Leaving behind the now spotless stone chamber with not a speck of dust, I continued exploring the mine.
My destination was the depths where the Fierce Dragon was. The crafting material Vulcart that Jackson mentioned could only be mined from the deepest part of the mine.
Crossroads kept appearing almost once every minute, but I advanced straight ahead, choosing only the correct paths without wasting any movement.
<Hmm, have you been here before?>
“No.”
<Then how do you know the way so perfectly as if you’ve memorized it? It’s strange……. You don’t even have a map.>
“Instinct.”
<Ah, instinct!>
I thought to myself as I watched Entur nod in understanding as if she had realized something profound.
Maybe this one is the dumbest among the ancient dragons?
In the meantime, after passing all the crossroads, an elevator connected to a pulley appeared.
Riding this would finally take me to the depths of the mine.
<You didn’t get lost, and you even found the treasure vault on the way. In this body’s view, you are not only good with instinct but also incredibly lucky. If you keep this momentum, surely nothing will—>
Before that damned flag-raising statement could continue, I hurriedly got on the elevator and descended.
A short while later.
Clang!
The iron mesh door of the elevator opened, revealing a vast cavern before my eyes.
Lava flowed in various places and blade-like stalactites densely protruded, making it feel like an entirely different world.
And in the middle of the cavern.
Grrrr……
The Fierce Dragon was there.
It was curled up, deeply asleep as per the command I had given through the Demon God Stone.
“…….”
I suppressed my presence so as not to wake it, then slowly summoned my blood-red greatsword.
The Fierce Dragon’s heart was not in its chest but on its back.
All I had to do was quietly approach, climb onto its body, and stab the sword in.
It was an extremely simple task. As long as an unprecedented variable beyond my expectations didn’t occur—.
Kugugugugu—!!
[‘Soul Eater that Swallowed the Martial God’ detects outstanding martial potential and awakens from its slumber!]
“…….”
<Ah, I thought nothing would happen……!>
Faced with an unprecedented variable beyond my expectations, I unintentionally glared at Entur.
Should I just let this one ascend to heaven? A slightly serious thought crossed my mind.
Kugugugugu—!!
The earthquake shaking the depths grew more intense.
In the middle of the stone chamber, a ‘stele’ emitting green haze burst through the ground and began to tremble violently.
‘What the hell is that?’
Extremely perplexed, even I, a veteran, couldn’t recall what that stele was.
No, to be precise, since it was something I had never seen before, it didn’t even exist in my memories.
The only thing I could tell was that whatever was trying to burst out from within that stele……
Was most likely the owner of the ‘powerful presence’ that Entur had warned me about so strongly.
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