Chapter 87 - Holy Sword Bastian (5)

Rushing down the long sea path, about a hundred warriors appeared before us.

So many had gathered.

Their target would have been just one person, Claude.

Even when faced with the large-scale assassination squad, Claude's face looked extremely calm.

There would be no fear.

For he was a man who had once let go of all attachment to life.

“You've all worked hard coming this long way!”

To Claude's calm greeting, the man at the forefront replied.

“I won't mince words. If you have any last words, leave them now. Although you were the leader of a wicked group, we will show you the respect due to the continent's greatest swordsman.”

“I have no last words. If I had enough time, I'd just like to show you around the island, but that would be impossible, wouldn't it?”

Silence fell.

A moment after Claude's words ended, the assassination squad drew their swords in unison.

They had no time to delay either.

The sea path was only open for 4 hours.

“I did not know there were more remnants of Karma! I thought you, the leader, were the sole survivor.”

It was already expected that they would misunderstand me and Heo Jeong-ah.

I had no intention of explaining anyway, so it did not matter.

“Seo Ji-han. Are you ready?”

Heo Jeong-ah sent me a signal.

We had agreed to secure an escape route and get out through the sea path as soon as the battle began.

This was Claude's wish.

He said that our presence would be more of a burden for a defense without killing.

I understood to some extent.

I, too, in my days as Johan Raven, was more comfortable alone when facing a large number of enemies.

“Old man, can you do it alone?”

Claude just smiled at me without answering.

I believe he can do it.

He had gained an insight through me yesterday, and above all, Claude was burning with the will to live more than ever before.

Shwa! Shwa! Shwa! Shwa!

The assassination squad advanced without delay, starting to pressure us.

‘It was called an SS-rank difficulty starting point.’

I completely agree.

With ordinary skills, it would be impossible to break through an enemy formation of this scale alone.

Even a skilled person like Heo Jeong-ah is no exception.

If I had not been here, the Taeseong Sword Family would have faced another tragedy.

“Heo Jeong-ah. Follow me.”

“What? Have you suddenly gone mad? You were supposed to cover the rear!”

I was sorry, but that was not my forte.

And it would be easier to create an escape route with me at the forefront of the escape rather than Heo Jeong-ah.

I planned to follow the route where the flow of mana was most unstable and thin in the enemy's formation through my Mana Eyes.

On top of that, I could take a bold gamble using Pallas's Shield as a primary protective barrier.

Kwakakakang!

As expected, the battle started on Claude's side.

The assassination squad launched a planned, coordinated attack on Claude all at once.

Their organized movements were like those of a suicide squad, betting everything on a single move.

‘They're prepared to die.’

To break Claude's momentum from the first clash by sacrificing some of their forces, but to put it bluntly, it was a flawed strategy.

To bet on a single move by simply catching him off guard when there were no openings created?

It was a perfect plan to instead be met with a counterattack and produce only futile sacrifices.

Kwakakakang!

But in this first clash, no one was sacrificed.

Claude, who leisurely slipped out of the baptism of swords, had his hands filled with affection.

Of course, if he had wanted to, the previous clash would have thoroughly soaked the seawater with blood.

In that moment, Claude sent me a glance.

He had delved into the heart of the enemy formation himself to open up an escape opportunity for us.

And this would be the last I would remember of Claude.

I can only hope he survives and continues to strive for the pinnacle of the sword.

[Pallas's Shield is activated.]

“Seo Ji-haaan!!”

I could hear Heo Jeong-ah's urgent voice as she hurriedly followed behind me.

She seemed quite worried about me.

But no matter how high the difficulty here was rated as SS, the probability of failure had become close to zero.

The table Claude had set was neat and easy to eat from, and the rear, which Heo Jeong-ah was covering, had become much safer.

However, following Claude's will, I also intended to refrain from killing here, which was just a bit inconvenient.

***

The journey after escaping the sea path was smooth.

Following the map's guidance to the destination, there were no obstacles whatsoever.

“Is the place the map is pointing to that house over there?”

“It seems likely. I can feel the presence of people inside.”

“You can feel a presence?”

Heo Jeong-ah wore a puzzled expression.

At her level, it would not be easy to sense a presence from this distance.

“Someone is already here. Two of them, in fact.”

“Seo Ji-han, are you kidding me? It's not funny at all.”

“I'm not saying it to amuse you. We're not that close, are we?”

“W-well, that's true, but what you're saying right now is just too absurd. It's not like you have some divine power or anything.”

“Divine power. Anyway, the level of your thinking.”

“Le-level?”

Heo Jeong-ah was dumbfounded, but I did not bother to react.

“It seems they are the other challengers. Well, since their starting point's difficulty was lower than ours, it's only natural that they would arrive first.”

“What! That's not sensing a presence, that's just a guess. And here I was thinking.”

Walking a little further, we finally arrived at a small, abandoned house in the forest.

Only after getting closer did Heo Jeong-ah also realize that there were two people inside.

“Not bad, Seo Ji-han. You were very sharp. By the way, aren't you curious who those two are?”

“Well, not really.”

“You're so carefree. Among the four people with the maps, only the two of us were publicly known. The other two were veiled. In a way, isn't that a disadvantage? Since we have to compete with them.”

“They're probably nothing special anyway. If they were confident, they would have appeared in the open long ago like you.”

“No. My thoughts are a bit different. Somehow I feel like they'll be formidable? At least, they'll be well-known people.”

“Why?”

“Because it wasn't a map that could be obtained easily.”

“Does that mean you're also formidable?”

“Well, that's true.”

“Then what about me, who got the map at an auction?”

“Well, a wealthy person, maybe?”

A wealthy person…….

It was the first time someone had described me like that, so it was refreshing, but come to think of it, it was not wrong either.

Because I am also a person with a lot of money.

Heo Jeong-ah walked to the door and boldly turned the doorknob.

And a message immediately followed.

[You have cleared the 1st quest.]

[Please wait until the linked quest is generated.]

As expected, waiting for us inside the house were two other challengers.

“Huh?”

“How are you two together?”

They were wide-eyed at our joint appearance.

Heo Jeong-ah also looked at the two of them alternately with a puzzled expression.

“Are you from Earth?”

Contrary to her guess, it meant they were completely unknown people.

The two introduced themselves first.

One was Jo Sung-tae of the Xeon Guild.

The other was Lee Tae-sung of the Ganymede Guild.

Even after hearing their introductions, Heo Jeong-ah still looked like she did not know them.

“It's natural that you don't know. We're both from newly established guilds.”

“Ah!”

“And we also just met here.”

“Oh, my apologies. Our introductions were late. I am Heo Jeong-ah, and next to me is Seo Ji-han of the Haewon Sword Family.”

“We know. You two are very famous.”

But the atmosphere that Jo Sung-tae and Lee Tae-sung exuded was somehow awkward.

Gauging them with my senses, they were by no means third-rate individuals who would be in a new guild.

‘They're hiding their strength.’

And my Mana Eyes captured another interesting fact.

The flow of mana they were operating was exquisitely similar.

It meant they were practicing the same internal energy technique.

Just as hands have fingerprints and voices have voiceprints, the mana a person emits has an identity.

With a very high probability, the two of them already knew each other.

To go a step further, the two were likely from the same sword family, not a guild.

Naturally, their faces were also highly likely to be fake.

‘Human Skin Mask.’

It was not a common item, but since I also used one, that suspicion immediately came to mind.

What I had to find out from now on was why they were lying. And what kind of scheme they were plotting.

***

After a simple background check, the four of us decided to speak informally.

Coincidentally, we were all twenty-four years old. I found it absurd.

Just by their aura, Jo Sung-tae and Lee Tae-sung looked at least ten years older, and I thought it was quite shameless of them to deceive like this.

‘Then again, am I the same in that regard?’

In terms of years lived, I was the overwhelming elder here.

“By the way, Seo Ji-han, how did you break through that difficulty? It must have been a hell level.”

Lee Tae-sung expressed his doubt to me.

“You speak as if you know, without having experienced it.”

In truth, the SS-rank was just a means to classify the difficulty, and without experiencing it directly, one could not grasp it.

By the same logic, I had no feel for the A-rank and B-rank that the two of them had gone through.

“Well, you got the map through an auction, so you probably didn't know about that information.”

As expected, there was information that had not been disclosed.

“Tell me now. It's all over anyway.”

“A clear probability of 0.1 percent. That was the difficulty of the map you had. It was a message from the Abyss.”

It was a fact I could not have known at the auction house.

“I thought some great story would come out, but it was nothing special.”

“You think this is nothing special?”

“The clear probability can change depending on who has it.”

“That's not it. It was said that the difficulty is adjusted based on the mana of the map's owner.”

To think the settings were that complicated.

In the end, it meant that the 0.1 percent was a fixed value, but even calculating all that, it was an advantageous setting for me.

Anyway, I had to look at Heo Jeong-ah again.

She must have known all of this, and yet she had chosen the same starting point as me.

“Honestly, I didn't think you would be alive, Seo Ji-han. Your starting point was too dangerous.”

“So that's why you were so surprised when you first saw me.”

A probability that could not be explained by just being lucky.

The two only understood the situation after learning that Heo Jeong-ah had chosen the same starting point as me.

It seemed Heo Jeong-ah was quite a big shot in this field.

And the linked quest was revealed a moment later.

[Two dungeons have been created in the front yard. Form parties of two and clear each dungeon. The difficulty of the two dungeons will not be revealed.]

[Time Limit: 4 hours]

“We have to form parties ourselves?”

Pairing up with Heo Jeong-ah here was a bit of a cliché setting. The moment I thought that, Lee Tae-sung and Jo Sung-tae expressed the same opinion.

“Seo Ji-han. What do you think?”

The one who made me the offer was Lee Tae-sung.

I nodded without hesitation.

Somehow, I felt like these guys were about to reveal their hidden scheme.