The underground Prison was surrounded by darkness. A person was lying in a narrow s.p.a.ce, which measured to little over 3 square meters on all sides. His whole body was wrapped up in bandages, and he looked like a patient who could die at any moment. The person with the splint on his left hand was none other than Dok-gosong.
He was in a state where he was mindlessly sleeping. Most of the wounds he received from the battle with the Troll was treated, but his internal injuries still remained. Only the sound of the rough breathing could be heard within the prison, and there was a quiet feeling of loneliness that had swept over.
However, right then someone suddenly emerged from the darkness. He was a handsome middle-aged man with blue eyes, and he wore a blue robe. His name was none other than Benitez. The Ikarot Kingdom’s palace magician had directly appeared inside the underground prison.
He wordlessly observed Dok-gosong, who was sprawled out on the other side of the iron bars. He was observing to evaluate the state of Dok-gosong.
“Most of his treatment have been roughly finished. Well, we steadily used healing for a week….”
He quietly raised his hand. He had already prepared the healing magic while he was coming over to this place. Suddenly, a bluish light was emitted from his hand. The light flew in a straight line towards Dok-gosong and it covered his entire body. The light itself looked to be alive, and it circled around Dok-gosong once before it was absorbed entirely into his body.
“If my prediction is correct, this man will awaken soon.”
Benitez saw that Dok-gosong face was gradually taking on a healthy glow, so without a word, he turned his body. Behind his back, a low and weak voice was heard.
“Please wait.”
Without realizing it, Benitez turned his head. He could weakly detect a pair of eyes watching him. The foreigner. He had opened his eyes and he was watching Benitez.
Benitez walked towards the iron bars. The foreigner said something, but he didn’t understand it since he hadn’t casted the translation magic. After Benitez stopped his steps in front of the bars, the foreigner slowly raised his body. Then he slowly walked towards Benitez.
“I have something to say.”
The foreigner kept speaking words he couldn’t understand, but all of a sudden, Benitez was swept up by the idea that he would like to speak to the foreigner. However, it wasn’t sensible to do such a useless thing. It would require a considerable amount of mana to do so and he didn’t need to or had a reason to do so. However, he casted the translation magic before he knew it. It was because he felt compa.s.sion for this person, who was miserable.
When he dimensionally shifted to the other world, this man inside the prison was a strong existence that was infinitely proud.
Against the numerous master cla.s.s swordsman, he wasn’t inferior in the slightest against them. He was a strong expert that fought while standing tall.
Of course he didn’t feel good seeing this person’s shabby appearance. After casting the translation magic, Benitez spoke to Dok-gosong in an elderly tone.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
The complexion of Dok-gosong’s face became brighter. How long has it been since he was able to converse with someone? He didn’t know he would be this happy just to be able to talk to anyone.
However, the other person seemed to have an unfavourable att.i.tude towards him. Dok-gosong knew that he had to find out everything he wanted in a limited amount of time.
“What happened to Shrekheimer?”
The opponent suddenly brought up Shrekheimer so he showed a puzzled expression. However, it wasn’t a secret, so he decided to meekly answer the question.
“Couple days ago, that person left for the battle field. He went to heal the injured soldiers. He said that was the only thing he could do for Truvania, so he went to the dangerous battlefield. You probably won’t get to see him again.”
“Mmmm.”
Dok-gosong was silent for a moment. Dok-gosong somewhat identified with the decision Shrekheimer had made. Of course, the reason was probably mixed with the reprimand made by the monarchs for failing his mission. He could someone what guess how the events were transpiring. After finishing his introspection, Dok-gosong stared intensively at Benitez’s face.
“Now I remember your face.”
“………?”
“When I was falling off the cliff, I saw someone, who looked like you. I lost track of the situation so I did not remember it. It is coming back to me now. The person who rescued me from the cliff was you.”
Benitez gave a bitter smile. Dok-gosong remembered that he had saved him, and it didn’t feel too bad. He had thought at the time that the foreigner was the savior, who would save the continent from danger. However, he had lost all his power, and he was unable to help them. Benitez tried hard to maintain a cold att.i.tude towards him.
“Well, you don’t have to show grat.i.tude about that incident. At the time, I was just carrying out my mission….”
After giving a terse reply, Benitez was about to turn back when Dok-gosong called out urgently.
“Please wait.”
Benitez paused and he looked at Dok-gosong again.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“I’ll be straightforward. When will the test I am taking end?”
Benitez’s face was surprised for a moment. In general, a person who is in this kind of situation would logically feel despair and fear. It was normal for a person to obsess about the possible fate that was coming towards him, and go half mad from it. However, this man was different. He never lost his patience, and he was able to see through his situation with a level-head…… After his attention was aroused, Benitez spoke before he knew it.
“How did you know this was a test?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Let us not make this too complicated with petty tricks. I just want to know one thing. What is going to happen to me after this test? If I will die any ways, then I don’t think it’s necessary for me to fight. Please tell me the truth.”
Dok-gosong stared into Benitez’s face. After looking at his figure, Benitez eventually nodded his head.
“If you pa.s.s the last test then you might be able to live.”
Dok-gosong’s face was filled with some light of antic.i.p.ation.
“I should be grateful for small mercies.”
“However.”
After pausing his words for a moment, Benitez made a sad expression.
“I think the probability of you surviving the test is almost impossible.”
“Ho, why would that be?”
“The opponent you are going against is a monster called an Ogre. Even amongst them, it is the most violent Twin Head Ogre. Twin head ogres are powerful monster even most knights avoid going up against it.
It is an existence that cannot be compared to the troll you previously fought against. Therefore, I recommend you throw away any hope of surviving.”
However, the foreigner was not scared in the least.
“So I just have to pa.s.s the last test.”
“Y..Yes.”
“Then after I pa.s.s the test, what will be my circ.u.mstance after being let go?”
He was taken aback by the other’s fearless att.i.tude, but Benitez started giving a comparably truthful explanation. If he pa.s.sed the test then he’ll probably be taken up as a laborer, or be drafted as a soldier. After hearing Benitez’s word, Dok-gosong smiled bitterly.
“Since you paid a big price to bring me here, you are going to thoroughly use me.”
“That is why I said to just think about pa.s.sing your upcoming last test.”
After Benitez spoke bluntly, he didn’t hesitate to leave. He was really busy. He had no time to waste.
Chul-kung. (TLN: sfx metal door clicking into place )
After Benitez left, the door closed firmly.
Dok-gosong continued thinking, while making a perplexed face. He was worrying about how he should act.
“First, I have to live by doing everything possible.”
His thoughts concluded not too long after that, so he decided to go back to his spot and sleep. Then he thought about the only period in his life that he was happy. The happiest moment in his life was in the center of a battle field with blood spraying.
(TLN: another flashback~ & the difficult part to translate Q_Q)
Shoo-ru-ru-ru.
One sword was flying to a location, while causing countless changes. Accompanying a thick scent of plum, many plum flowers were drawn in the air. By looking at the proficiency he was drawing the plum flower, one could tell he was a disciple of the Volcanic sect and it wasn’t hard to see that he was someone possessing an enormous amount of skills.
“Kuk.”
The two men in black with the Asura mark on their breast was moving energetically with their swords, when they were cut down before they were even able to scream.
They were Ma-do(TLN: Demon/evil sect) experts with a great deal of skill, however they was no match against a proper expert from the Righteous sect. The middle-aged swordsman with a long beard swung his sword lightly, and the droplets of blood flew off. Then he threw his body towards the new targets.
Jang-hunsu. He was the 42nd disciple of the Volcanic sect. Currently, he was an elder of the Volcanic sect with high prestige, and he kept 10 disciples under him. He was raised as a direct disciple since his childhood, so his future road was smooth. With his robust naegong, he was able to build his fame in the Murim over a long period of time. Now he had stepped back from the front line, and he had concentrated on growing his disciples.
However, the current reality didn’t allow him to be complacent. The political great war simultaneously erupted all over the Murim. He had lost many disciples through the war, and he had no choice but to grasp his sword again. Right now he was leading his subordinate disciples towards rescuing the endangered Moyong family. However, at a glance, they could tell that the current battle was disadvantageous to themselves.
“It’ll be difficult to go forward. Somehow we have to find the leader and slice him.”
After looking around frantically, Jang-hunsu saw a figure that looked like the leader. He had Hojos equipped on both hands and he was sweeping everything. He was a black masked person with a somewhat small body.
His instinct told him that the person was the head of the Bae sect’s ambush party. After realizing this, Jang-hunsu threw his body towards that direction.
This spring was a period of time where the struggle for power between the Baek-do and Ma-do(good sects vs evil sects) was at its zenith. The lengthy armed conflict between the small sects triggered a political war that started out as a localize war. However, not long after, it finally turned into an all out war. The nominal peak existence of the Ma-do was reputed to be the Bae-sect and the various other sects. The small sects banded to together to form the Ma-In-Yun-Meng(TLN: league or alliance of evil/demon people). To oppose them, the White peach sect created the Murim-mang with the traditional nine great sects as the lynch pin. This resulted in the Ma-In-Yun-Meng and the Murim-meng fighting head on, and all the sects were swept into the political war……
“Kuk.”
One swordsman dropped his sword and fell in place when he was pierced through the throat. While taking the Hojo out of the swordsman’s neck, the black-veiled man moved his body reflexively after feeling a strong presence. He moved his body pretty fast, but the sword followed his blood as if it had eyes in front of it.
“This time the b.a.s.t.a.r.d is pretty good.”
Before the man in the black mask could evaluate the situation, the plum flower had approached close to his body. It was beautiful, but the flower of death was calling for blood. Before he knew it, it was covering his entire body. The man in black mask did not panic in the least, and he started fiercely swinging the Hojos equipped on both of his hands.
Pah-pah-pah-paht.
“The Plum Flower Sword Art was broken by a mere Hojo…..” (TLN: another reminder Hojo is his weapon, blade attached to fingers)
“Ku-ku-ku.(TLN: low laugh) Do you think I’ll be beaten by the mere Plum Flower Sword Art?”
Surprisingly, the plum flower petals that covered the air was being steadily destroyed. Jang-hunsu, who had struck first, saw this and he was shocked.
The man in black mask ran toward Jang-hunsu, while letting the thick scars fly. (TLN:I think it means scars in the air created by his weapon-you see it in mangas where mc cuts air and a wind-like projection is formed) As if he wasn’t able to block all of the Plum Flower Sword Art, his mask was ripped into pieces.
Chang-Chang.
After exchanging several blows, Jang-hunsu was finally able to see black masked man’s face.
“He really is ugly. Ooong? Wait a second, you are?”
He was the Bae-sect’s sect leader, who is an ugly hunchback that uses a Hojo. His opponent’s ident.i.ty was obvious.
After realizing the situation, Jang-hunsu’s eyes were filled with the fire of anger.
“You are Dok-go-song? I’m glad I met you. You ungrateful b.a.s.t.a.r.d dared to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Shaolin holy monk.”
“Bulls.h.i.t! You guys killed him, so hold back your careless words?”
Dok-goson’g eye was fountaining with anger. As if he didn’t need to speak any more, he started running while waving the Hojo. Of course, Jang-hunsu didn’t back down.