24 Hearts

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Chapter 3-1. ‘Black Tree’ Tribe

Standing silently under the hill, Kain pulled out the great sword he had in place and then ran as he swung it wildly. The red energy from the blade radiated like an aura and then came out to take form and mass.

The magical power emanating from it struck the arrows shot by Isabel. The two energies ate at each other and extinguished at the same time, whether they had similar strength.

Kain screamed at Isabel on the run. “I’m not your opponent!”

Isabel leaped into the air, lightly evading her Kain’s scorching greatsword and trampling at his shoulders. When Kain staggered and almost fell on the floor, he looked behind to see Isabel was already approaching Quake.

Quake, who calmly watched with his arms folded, laughed when he saw it.

“Are you going to attack me, the chieftain of the Red Bear tribe, in close combat? Isabel!”

He took out a great sword from his back that had the same shape and weight as Yakal. Even if they had the same sword, they had different specialized abilities. Quake had spent his entire life engaged in close combat with his sword, while Isabel had been in hiding and had her bow all her life. However, to his advantage, she felt that Quake was petty as she got closer. She shot off arrows to the broad side of his greatsword. The arrows with magical power struck him like heavy giant rocks. And when he cleared his sword, Isabel was right in front of his nose.

“Isn’t this something you’re good at?”

Quake smirked as she swung her bow like a blunt flag. As he wielded the sword he was holding down, her body leaped away.

‘She’s stronger than I thought?’

With her escape, Isabel aimed her bow at him. Interesting. Fun. Was this the sensation when fighting without giving into the wrath of Yalal? Quake couldn’t hide his excitement from the joy that soon came.

Defenseless, he saw the arrows floating in the air, and he swung his greatsword at them. His blade, covered in magical power, split the arrows in half. Arrows slipped through his attack and landed treacherously on the ground, and Quake realized what Isabel was aiming for.

“Haha! Will our fight end first? Will those children’s battle end first? Either way, you’re at a disadvantage, Isabel!”

“…Where is the confidence coming from?”

Isabel looked absurdly at Quake, jumping her at a stronger momentum. She was displeased with how sure he was that she was going to lose. Isabel shot an arrow. It looked like he was holding back, but her attacks were doing enough force so far. She conjured more magic power into her arrows than before. Their whistle broke through the wind heavily, and their rotational power was unparalleled.

Kwakakakaka!

Quake, trying to avoid the attack by lowering his posture, widened and stepped backward. He quickly spurred the ground and jumped into the air. The range of the arrows hit only a small point. That was its limits. However, the arrow she just shot did not hit a point but attacked a certain area itself.

“Huh?”

When he dodged the second arrow that landed on the ground, it pushed him and his greatsword away with the impact radius. He felt the giant sword push back his weight, and his back hit a tree. It seemed that he was being forced into the tree. When he felt the attack subside, he pushed himself off the tree, but the same attack as before was already flying at him.

“Huh, hahaha!”

Quake grabbed the greatsword’s handle and swung it with might as if swinging a baseball bat. A harsh wind pressure occurred from the edge of the blade, turning the ground upside down and picking up the flying arrows.

While Isabel was pushing against Quake like that, Judah’s party was fighting Kain. Kain, dressed in armor with a color scheme that cannot be found anywhere else, ran and dragged his sword to the floor. Red eyes pierced through the faceplate of his helmet. They couldn’t see it, but they could feel his gaze.

‘Kain!’

Judah shouted his name in his head as he saw the knight wearing the full plate armor. His speed as he kicked off the ground to run uphill was tremendous. Seeing Kain approach in an instant, he spread his left hand to summon Altemia and brandished the Flying Fighter’s spear at the same time. He ran down the hill with magic power.

‘?!’

However, Kain evaded Judah’s attack. No, to be precise, he just passed him. In a blink, Kain was charging at the Arhil behind Judah.

‘Are you aiming for Arhil?’

Attack the weakest first, or was he aware that if Judah remained alone, he would be in danger? Judah, in shock at whatever the reason was, looked back in haste. It was too late to run around. Judah saw Jeanne next to Arhil.

“Jeanne, stop him!”

“I know!”

Jeanne, dressed in a beautiful silver armor that contrasted Kain’s, brandished her shield with a dignified appearance, triggering her own Blue Lancer skill. It was a skill she learned by hunting orcs and fighting monsters while walking around Regen. A technique used by experienced Blue Lancers affected the shield’s durability and defense by two or three times and repairing it over time.

Qwaaang!

An explosion rang out rather than a simple bump. There was a blue curtain on top of her shield, and it broke as the fragment held by Kain crushed through it and grazed the shield within, but it was able to withstand the attack power of the Yakal.

“Quick!”

Jeanne knelt on one knee to brace against his power. They heard his footsteps against the ground. Kain crept closer as he swung his greatsword one after the other. Arhil’s blessing was given priority to Jeanne. She held her shield roughly to hold back Kain, who was approaching close, as she stabbed her lance roughly. Her lance hit the air, then she retrieved it back and aimed again at other areas.

Kain, eaten by anger, judged the attack as threatening, looked at the gap, and paid attention to her shield rather than her attacks. Altemia flew just like his Bloody Wind skill, its blade wrapped in red magic. Jeanne kept Kain occupied and allowed Judah to catch up with Kain.

“Kain!”

“…”

Unsurprisingly, Kain did not respond to Judah’s call. He stepped back silently and then approached again. His eyes narrowed as he swung his sword.

Something was weird.

Gabriel. He came to this place with her help, yet he seemed to have been eaten by Yakal.

Was she not helping more than this? Or was she watching Kain believing that he will overcome his powers?

So, if ever Kain died, would Gabriel appear?

What happened to Riel?

She must have gone on an adventure with Kain, but where the hell was she, and what were his companions doing?

No one answered. Kain, who was controlled by wrath, knew the answer, but he couldn’t answer even if he asked aloud.

“Ha!”

He laughed at Kain, holding his dagger, and saw Kain wielding his sword to cut his throat. He was far more demanding and menacing than their previous battle in the orc tribe.

Judah, holding the Altemia in his left hand, brandished his spear in the other. His blade gently dug into a cold area and cut off Kain’s flesh. Whether he got an artery, blood spewed out through the cracks of the armor. Angry at the pain,

Kain screamed and flailed his greatsword. With Bloody Wind, a red slash whipped out from the sword.

Judah avoided it reflexively, but it flew toward Arhil again. Jeanne, who anticipated it, moved in front of him and blocked it. Kain’s eyes sharpened as he saw the attack bounce off her shield and cut through the trunk of a tree. Then Judah threw Altemia at Kain.

Caaang!

His first attack was blocked by Kain’s greatsword and bounced off a tree, and then he avoided the second attack. Third, fourth, fifth. He kept summoning daggers and throwing them at him repeatedly, and finally, Judah struck Kain with the eighth dagger.

Kain’s strength amplified as the battle continued, but with Arhil’s divine power and strength higher than his level, he pushed Kain into a place where Altemia would hit. Kain, who couldn’t respond appropriately to Judah, stumbled and retreated, and at that moment, Judah liberated every Altemia that he had summoned.

Altemias buried on the floor, tree posts and branches spewed out bloody energy like a mine and stabbed up into the air. Rather than avoiding the blades rising from all directions, Kain wielded his greatsword to smash it. In the meantime, several strands of red lines slithered out from the last Altemia blade in Judah’s hand.

Kain, who had already been hit once, was wary of it and stepped back, but unfortunately, it was completely different from before. As he threw Altemia with the snap of his wrist, the red lines extending from the blades settled in a spiral shape, then rotated like a drill and turned to Kain.

“!”

Surprisingly, rather than looking at it to block or evade, Kain held his Yakal in a stabbing position, then stabbing the great sword at the flying Altemia.

────!

Accurately hitting with the edge of the great sword, Kain broke through it with force. Judah gaped when he saw Altemia bounced back into the air, unable to cope with that force.

This was indeed, Yakal’s power.

He thought that the more the battle continued, the more powerful it grew. Jeanne’s lance flew toward Kain from behind. Judah, seeing the lance flying with heavy momentum, immediately spurred the ground and followed.

When Kain swung his sword from the inside out to strike the incoming lance, Judah plunged into Kain’s arms with the spear he held in his right hand, lowering it into Kain’s body.

Foook!

He aimed at the heart, but in a rough movement, it stuck to his shoulder. Kain’s body reacted and tried to put his knee against Judah’s abdomen. Taking a step back, he twisted his body to avoid it and grabbed Kain’s right wrist with his left hand.

Along with the cold metal touch, the force that cannot be ignored was felt at his fingertips. Through the Yakal, he could see that tremendous power was given to Kain. He quickly summoned Altemia in his right hand. The Altemias stuck on the floor disappeared, and a new one appeared. He stabbed down the one he held firmly.

Kain tried to fall back as if knowing that his arm would be cut off if he stayed still. Since he grabbed Kain’s left hand, his palm was cut by the armor’s metal material. Still, Judah did not let go.

‘Cut it!’

It was an instant moment. A little faster than Kain’s retreat, Altemia cut off Kain’s right arm, holding the Yakal. The Flying Fighter’s spear was deeply embedded in his left shoulder, and as he retreated, he spurted blood from his severed right arm. Kain coughed and glared at Judah silently.

“…”

“…”