“Keuk, why is there a sandstorm right now...?”
“Ignore it and chase him. We can’t miss him after finally finding him.”
“Today we will definitely kill him.”
The dark blue dopos fluttered lightly. A fierce sandstorm was blowing over the yangbans in the desert, obscuring their view, but their running became faster. It was difficult to stop a yangban even if the natural world took hold of everything.
‘Did he think he could get rid of us with just this?’
The yangban, Yeum—the right arm of Mir, who was chosen to be the guardian of the Blue Dragon Dao and was staying in Kaya. In fact, she thought this task was easy. She determined that even the rumored Grid wouldn’t dare to invade Kaya when Mir was guarding the Blue Dragon Dao. During her time in Kaya, she planned to study with Mir and focus on training.
Then half a year ago, a human other than Grid hid in Kaya—Sword Saint Kraugel. At first, he moved stealthily. He seemed to be looking for the secret technique of the former Sword Saint, Muller. Yet at some point, he started to move boldly and started to kill the yangbans.
The number of yangbans killed by him was three. Although they hadn’t yet taken off their gats and weren’t qualified to receive the humans’ faith, they were still great beings with half the blood of a G.o.d flowing through them. Yet they were killed by a mere human.
Yeum had no intention of forgiving Kraugel.
“......?!”
Is it because she was immersed in her anger for a while? Yeum was running in order to break through the sandstorm quickly and belatedly noticed that one of the yangbans following her had disappeared.
“Stop!”
“......!”
Yeum’s sharp cry stopped both parties.
“Ugh!”
The pressure of the sandstorm became more violent once they stopped moving. The yangbans were pushed back a few steps before barely stopping and they felt it when they were close to each other. They couldn’t see the companion right next to them. The sandstorm was this thick.
“Dat Byeol is missing.”
“......?!”
The yangbans were confused by Yeum’s words and raised their senses. Then they realized that their number had suddenly been reduced from four to three.
“Did he get swallowed up by the storm and flew away?”
“No way. He must’ve become lost.”
“No...” Yeum looked back the way they came. She couldn’t see in front of her, but her keen senses hadn’t been lost. “He was hunted.”
“What?”
“The Sword Saint is here.”
“......”
The sandstorm that was becoming more violent...
Dat Byeol and Kraugel were fighting in there right now. The scent of blood at the tip of her nose must be from Dat Byeol. The fight between the two men would’ve started with Kraugel’s ambush.
“That is ridiculous. Yeum, the word ‘hunted’ isn’t appropriate.”
The other yangbans denied it. Yeum’s words were like... it was like Kraugel knew beforehand that a sandstorm was coming and lured them here. No swordsman could have such foresight. Even if he predicted the appearance of this sandstorm by using daoism like a daoist, it was impossible to exercise his strength freely in this powerful sandstorm. Even they, who had better senses and vision than humans, couldn’t see ahead of them.
“Hup.” One of the yangbans filled with disbelief suddenly sucked in a breath. He thought he tasted iron in his tongue and then a hot, sticky liquid filled his mouth. “U-Ugh...”
The expression of the yangban hardened as he barely stopped his body from falling and grabbed the thing stuck in his neck. It was a sword. A cold sword was piercing his neck.
“...You!”
Yangbans didn’t die easily. Even if they were stabbed in the heart, they just paused from the physical impact. He pulled out the sword that was stuck in his neck. Blood spurted like a fountain from the hole that suddenly opened up. The yangban who survived quickly unwrapped the soft sword that he was wearing like a belt. At the same time, he swung it like it was a whip and counterattacked.
However, the powerful sandstorm was exerting its influence on the thin sword. The yangban’s soft sword could take all types of forms and attacked irregularly but its ma.s.s was low. It couldn’t withstand the strong winds and shook, its trajectory twisted.
At this moment, the yangban realized it. Why did that mole-like b.a.s.t.a.r.d choose to fight in the sandstorm?
“Thunderbolt.”
The condensed sword energy created lightning. It was a sight that suggested the springboard for acceleration had been laid. A hunter crouched in the sandstorm. Sword Saint Kraugel’s body gained acceleration and he linked the next sword technique.
“Frenzy Sword.”
An explosion occurred. At the same time, Kraugel turned into a beam of lightning and broke through the sandstorm, pa.s.sing through the yangban’s body.
“Cough...!”
Explosive sounds occurred in connection. Every time, Kraugel’s body disappeared from the yangban’s view. Then he would appear to the front, the back, or the side of the yangban and stab the yangban with his sword.
“......!”
The yangban forgot to even scream. Kraugel appeared and once again pierced the tattered body of the yangban before shaking off the blood on his sword. Just then, the dust that had risen due to the sandstorm repeatedly combusted and exploded.
It was a dust explosion caused by the heat and pressure of the thunderbolt called Kraugel. It was a series of explosions that seemed to recreate the power of great magic. It destroyed the s.p.a.ce in the affected area of the sandstorm.
“......!!”
Yeum, who was looking around after realizing another companion had disappeared from her side, was surprised by the explosion and jumped into the air. She only flew to look from the sky. It was just that her body was crushed by the storm and that chain of explosions accelerated through the storm and chased her.
Before Yeum could escape the influence of the storm, an explosion swept over her body. The devastating explosion shredded her clothes, burned her skin and broke her bones. However, Yeum didn’t groan at all. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain with boiling anger. She glared through the storm that had briefly scattered from side to side due to the explosion.
She could see a man wearing a golden dragon dopo. Yeum’s expression was disgusted and crazy as she saw the man stabbing his sword in the chest of a half-G.o.d. Just a few months ago, he was a man with a lacking heart and body. She didn’t know when but he had built a new body and heart and created such chaos.
“You—! Just wait there!” Yeum barely squeezed out as the explosions continued.
“No, my mother is looking for me.”
“......?!”
Kraugel turned around with an absurd excuse.
“Stop! I said stop!! This...! This rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
The dazed Yeum doubted her ears for a moment before she woke up and shouted. She even spat out swear words. Nevertheless, it was useless. Kraugel had already disappeared beyond the storm. She would have to search for days again to find the guy hiding somewhere in the vast desert.
***
At a canyon in the north of the desert...
Thanks to the help of super sensitivity, Kraugel barely managed to escape the sandstorm and bandaged his body. During the first attack against the yangban called Dat Byeol, he was stabbed in a vital spot and the wound didn’t heal with just potions. He had to stop the bleeding with bandages for a while before it would proceed to recover.
“Too bad...”
He was lacking. His stamina and skills consumption was too great because he couldn’t avoid Dat Byeol’s counterattack. His original goal was to a.s.sa.s.sinate the three yangbans except for Yeum, but he had to be satisfied with two. He had squeezed out his last remaining strength to cut the neck of the second yangban.
‘I even took advantage of the sandstorm...’
One chance a month. No, he unfortunately missed the chance that he wouldn’t be able to get again in the future.
‘Is this the price of ignoring Muller’s secret techniques?’
Kraugel had already obtained several volumes of Muller’s secret techniques, but he didn’t learn them. Others might scold him as being foolish, but he had a solid goal. The goal was to make the world aware that the Sword Saint was him, Kraugel, not Muller’s successor. Didn’t everyone who played the game want to achieve the best feat at least once?
The best feat that the current Kraugel could aim for was to be at least equal to Muller. Only then... then he would be able to stand side by side with Grid.
"...Well, I am still improving steadily.’
Kraugel had even found Muller’s secret technique that was hidden somewhere in Kaya. He achieved his purpose in coming to Kaya. Nevertheless, the reason he remained in Kaya and fought with the yangbans was to become stronger.
He noticed it when he first fought Yeum. Every time he fought with the yangbans, his super sensitivity stat went up very quickly. It was more than twice as fast as fighting named bosses or named NPCs. They were tough opponents, but...
Kraugel judged that training super sensitivity was necessary. Transcendence—think, judge, and move in 0.1 seconds. Muller said that this way, the consumption of physical and mental strength reached the highest level. The road to control was to polish his super sensitivity.
Control.
Perfect control. Satisfy’s strongest combat cla.s.s, the Sword Saint was the only cla.s.s that had a perfect control of transcendence. Transcendents who acc.u.mulated their transcendent status and achieved the ‘world’ of transcendence couldn’t withstand the recoil from using it, while the Sword Saint could endure it.
Muller’s words that he glimpsed from his cla.s.s quest were unquestionable information.
“......”
Finally, his wounds were healed. It happened when Kraugel stopped his meditation skill and got up from his seat...
-Do you like hunting yangbans?How many times are you going to send the world message that you killed a half-G.o.d?
He received a whisper. It was a voice that was nice to hear anytime.
-I just did what was needed.
-Amazing.Truly amazing.Where are you now?
It was Grid.
Kraugel answered without hesitation, -I’m staying in Kaya.
-Eh?I’m also coming to Kaya because I have something to see.
-......
Kraugel fell silent. The moment Grid said the words ‘something to see,’ he recalled how Grid freed some of the Four G.o.ds of the East Continent and had an ominous feeling. The Blue Dragon Dao sealed in Kaya—the weapon of one of the Four G.o.ds flashed through Kraugel’s mind.
-It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.I’ll contact you when I get to Kaya.
-...Yes, let’s meet when there is time.I am busy today.
-Wait, I will arrive soon...Huh?
Grid was confused. It was due to the notification window that stated ‘the whisper target doesn’t exist.’ Kraugel hadn’t been lying to Yeum. He really logged out because of his mother. He couldn’t forget his mother’s words last night that she wanted to eat rice cake soup after so long. It was morning in the United States. For the sake of his mother, who would wake up soon, and for the sake of protecting his taste buds, Kraugel planned to make the rice cake soup himself.
‘Mir... Grid will challenge it even if I tell him how monstrous Mir is.’
He would definitely challenge even if he knew he was going to fail. Just like Kraugel, Grid was a person used to fighting opponents stronger than himself. He resembled Kraugel, who couldn’t be afraid of failure. Then should Kraugel help even if it meant dying? Of course.
‘I have to help.’
Kraugel laughed and carefully cooked the rice cake soup.
***
‘Was his connection access time finished?’ Surely he wasn’t intentionally avoiding Grid because he didn’t want to play with Grid, right?
Grid was slightly suspicious of Kraugel, who logged out during their conversation. There had been the argument a few months ago. Grid had wanted to meet Kraugel in the National Compet.i.tion for a rematch while Kraugel said that he would lose anyway. It was just a waste of time to partic.i.p.ate in the National Compet.i.tion.
Grid didn’t agree with Kraugel’s statement of defeat. However, he sympathized with the a.s.sertion that partic.i.p.ating in the National Compet.i.tion was a waste of time. The rewards of the National Compet.i.tion hadn’t changed from the past. The highest reward was a legendary rated item or a breath as a production material. It was compensation that didn’t feel necessary from Kraugel’s point of view, unlike Grid who could use the breaths to make myth rated items. Partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion itself could earn additional income through corporate sponsors.h.i.+p, but simple wealth had no significance for a ranker like Kraugel. He was already one of the best in the world.
‘It would be nice to increase the rewards of the National Compet.i.tion.’
It was unlikely that it would be increased. It was only when the National Compet.i.tion rewards were maintained at this level that top rankers like Kraugel would turn away from the National Compet.i.tion, allowing mid-level rankers to play an active part. If the S.A Group was willing to increase the rewards to recruit top rankers then a monopoly problem would arise.
‘...I have to give up the National Compet.i.tion.’
A National Compet.i.tion without Kraugel was meaningless for Grid. The breaths would be gained by the Overgeared members anyway. Grid sent a refusal to the mail asking if he would partic.i.p.ate in the National Compet.i.tion and quickened his pace. He would soon be in Kaya.
‘First... until Kraugel comes back, let’s try to figure out the atmosphere.’
Over the past two months, he had focused on hunting and gathering Mir’s information. The conclusion was that Mir was one of the strongest opponents he had met so far. Honestly, it was a bit daunting alone. Mir was such a dangerous opponent that he didn’t want to summon his knights and risk them.
Grid, who visited the East Continent to unseal the blue dragon and gain more power, dreamed of being in a party with Kraugel. It was just questionable if it would succeed.