Mino wondered.
For a long time, her surroundings had always been unfortunate.
Thinking back on it, she realized that it had started with the Nightmare Tower.
In fact, her nickname "Witch of Slaughter" did not originally come from when she was in《Chaos》.
A Nightmare Tower appeared in Mino"s homeworld, and people began attacking the tower to try and clear it. The first party that Mino joined was attacked and wiped out in three days.
She herself had only barely made it back alive. People kept encouraging her that "her luck was good".
At that time, Mino felt something strange.
Those deaths were like an indicator.
But after her second and third parties were slaughtered, she became convinced. She was also the only one that came back alive. People began to look at her with strange eyes.
When the same thing happened dozens of time, those who began to doubt and despise her appeared.
一Is that the famous "Witch of Slaughter"?
A witch who drew monsters to herself. A cursed woman who unintentionally killed her own party members. A 16 year old girl who was jeered at and denied entry to every party. That was Mino. Mino later found out that all of the misfortune surrounding her was the result of a pa.s.sive skill.
Advanced skill,「Attract」
A unique, hidden skill available to her since she cleared the《Nightmare Tower》.
Mino thought about it even now. At that time, if it weren"t for Claire and her colleagues, then what would have happened to her, that and...
When everyone else pushed her away, when she was forced to try and clear the tower on her own, and when her life was in crisis, they had helped her……
It was because of that that Mino could put her faith in people.
No matter what kind of catastrophe hits the world, and even if the world were to be made up of wicked people, there would always be good people in the world. There were people who possessed no strength and no talent, yet they were willing to die for others.
Mino had survived because of them.
She survived and worked hard to get stronger. She thought to herself that if the misfortunes surrounding her made the people around her suffer and made herself suffer, then she just needed to become stronger than her misfortunes. So she joined the Black Forest Sect, learned powerful a.s.sa.s.sination skills, and built up her spirit power. And now the results were in front of her.
[Girl, you"ve made it this far, don"t hesitate.]
As though she had been hit in the face a few times, Claire was biting her b.l.o.o.d.y lips.
[Just because you"re weak doesn"t mean you can choose to die.]
Mino began to tremble.
[Please hold on a bit miss. I"ll save you.]
Claire made a wry smile on her face. Despite what Mino said, both she and Claire knew that it was impossible.
But she couldn"t give up.
Mino quickly took a look at her surroundings.
The situation was worse than she had expected.
With one glance, she could see that there were more than ten 3rd Order Adapters. In particular, there was a man in the middle of the group who had a skill that Mino could not gauge properly. It was highly likely that he was a high order Adapter.
These guys were dimensions away from the Red Fox.
There weren"t many people who could secretly operate a power this strong in Gorgon Fortress. They could only be one of Chaos" ten sects or an equivalent power.
Only two of the ten sects were currently operating in Gorgon Fortress.
They were the Fire Monarch Sect led by the Mystic Fire Monarch and the Limitless Sect led by Firmament Sword.
However, they didn"t seem to belong to either the Fire Monarch Sect or the Limitless Sect. Neither were magnanimous enough to accept members of such ill repute, and both were arrogant enough to not plan such a plot.
In addition, amongst the enemies was a villain that she had been a.s.signed to a.s.sa.s.sinate.
‘Desert Serpent?’
Desert Serpent was a 3rd Order Adapter that habitually hunted beginners in the eastern desert located in Chaos. Although he had covered his face with a mask, he couldn"t hide the cross shaped injury around his eyes or the indentations around his nose.
At the time, no matter what she tried, she couldn"t find him.
‘Wait, these a.s.sholes……"
Taking a closer look, she realized they were all highly wanted criminals.
Mino realized who they were.
There was only one group in all of《Chaos》capable of rallying such powerful criminals and lead them in such a big group.
Forbidden Heavens.
Although it had first started as a gang consisting of all sorts of people, in recent years they successfully grabbed the bottom most seat of the Ten Sect, pus.h.i.+ng out Full Moon and grabbing their seat. It was an infamous place that happily accepted all manner of evil people that even other groups wouldn"t dare to cover.
Someone from Forbidden Heavens took a step forward.
“Looks like you"ve gone crazy, Witch of Slaughter.”
Mino felt gooseb.u.mps cover her back.
"...4th Order Adapter!’
And it wasn"t just one. Even the two people though just barely, were also 4th Order Adapters.
If the three of them were to work together, then they could even take care of a Five-Horned Gaksu, the garnak.
On top of that, Mino also knew their names. Anyone who reached the level of high order adapters starting at the 4th order would have their names spread throughout《Chaos》.
"The three Savage Night brothers……"
Infamous evil-doers who operated near the forest in the surrounding area. High Order Adapters, who despite being strong, were not welcome in any larger organizations. But it seemed like they had managed to join an organization now.
“Why didn"t you bring him? We definitely came to an agreement.”
"Have you ever seen the witch keep a promise?”
Hearing that, the gaze of Savage Night stiffened.
"That Neglected Soul Stone was originally supposed to be ours.”
“That"s some convincing words.”
“The Nokmyeongga were in the midst of a transaction with us. We don"t know why, but he intercepted it.”
"So what?”
Mino"s eyes thinned.
"Since you guys are so strong and imposing, why don"t you forcibly take it away from him or send a complaint to the fort, why involve me in the plot?”
“That……"
Savage Night didn"t reply.
Mino laughed, knowing this would happen.
Savage Night spoke with a much lower tone.
"It"s still not too late. Bring him here.”
“If I say no?”
“You will die.”
Mino had nothing to say.
A murderous spirit filled up Savage Night"s eyes.
As though he had been waiting, the second brother of the trio stepped forward.
“The skin of the girls in the Black Forest Sect is wonderful. I"ve always wanted to have a taste at least once.”
Hearing that, Mino"s face fell.
"So, you knew I was part of the Black Forest Sect?”
“Heu heu, how could I not know?”
“So you still want to mess with me?”
Mino"s hair stood on end because of the murderous spirit. Despite that, Mino attempted to maintain her composure. It was a situation where she couldn"t fight.
"You guys have gotten really c.o.c.ky since you pushed out Full Moon, you"re going to regret what you’ll do today. The name of Black Forest isn"t to be taken as lightly as Full Moon"s.”
In fact, a message had already been relayed to the nearest branch of the Black Forest Sect. However, it would take at least an hour for them to arrive if they were to run at their top speeds. The problem was whether or not she could stall until they arrived. But as Mino finished her sentence, a strange smile sprouted on the third brother"s face.
"Do you think that we"re stupid?”
"……"
"We already know that there isn"t a branch of the Black Forest Sect in Gorgon Fortress. By the time they arrive, you have been already stripped naked."
"……you"ll be chased by the Black Forest Sect.”
"Our boss will take care of the aftermath.”
With a gesture from Savage Night, the rest of the people from the Forbidden Heavens surrounded Mino.
“Our chat ends here. If this drags on for much longer, then things will go according to how you want them to.”
Mino silently cursed the man.
‘d.a.m.n it……"
The specialty of the Savage Night brothers was a joint skill called「Mystic Shadows」. Supposedly, it was a leaked skill created by the Heukyoungga of the five great families in the《Great Lands》, but the reality of the situation was that the skill was not as strong as the actual skills used by the Heukyoungga. Despite that, the skill still boasted a considerable amount of strength.
[TN: So we"ve been introduced to a new great family. The Hanja for heukyoungga is 黑影家, which can be translated as Shadow Family, or something similar. 黑影 means Shadow/Darkness/Twilight and 家 means home/family. More information can be found here
Many adapters had fallen to that technique in the past.
However, Mino didn"t shrink back in the face of such a skill.
The handles of seven daggers appeared behind Mino.
Upper Rank Skill,「Akaram"s Seven Daggers」
「Akaram"s Seven Daggers」was a skill that she had received directly from the sect leader of the Black Forest Sect. It was a skill that had been directly pa.s.sed on by a Nightmare, and because of that, it was a very strong skill.
"Hahahat"! The witch is better than expected!”
The three brothers moved like shadows, leaving behind afterimages of themselves. Their blades, hidden in the shadows, flew towards her position. Mino"s robe quickly turned to rags. Her white skin was exposed as the clothing near her waist was torn, and a long wound appeared on her right arm.
“Slowly exposing and eating is pretty fun too!”
Although she had successfully mowed down a couple of 3rd Order Adapters, there were still many enemies left. Most of all, the three brothers" attacks were difficult to handle. If she blocks her right side, her left side is left open; if she blocks the left side, her back is left open. If she tried to escape, someone would block her front.
‘At least if this place was outside the fort……"
She could have used「Entice」to attract surrounding monsters and pit them against the enemies in front of her. Unfortunately, she was currently inside the fortress. Consuming a considerable amount of spirit power, Mino blew up a portion of the roof with her daggers.
Although the sound couldn"t be considered deafening, it could still be called an explosion. It was certain that many people in the surrounding would have heard it.
Savage Night spoke up.
"The witch is using her head.”
"......"
“There"s no use. We"ve already set up a sound barrier.”
Even her last ditch measure was in vain. Of course, for the fight to have progressed to this point without anyone taking notice, it made sense that a sound barrier had been erected in advance. They may have even hired sentries and placed them outside as well. Afterall, they were the Forbidden Heavens organization, it wouldn"t be strange if they had hired sentries.
"They called you Slaughter in the hunting grounds, but what about here?”
The second brother"s sword flew out from the shadows and swung towards one of Mino"s thigh. None of their attacks had ever left shallow wounds.
“I think it would be fine to call her Naked now, right hyung-nim?"
The third brother laughed while looking at Mino"s clothes that were ripped all the way to her shoulders.
This couldn"t be considered a contest in the first place.
Some of the other members of Forbidden Heavens had already started laying hands on some of the other female waiters in the pub. They knew that they didn"t need to involve themselves in the fight.
Ahhh, so soft.
She would have put in a message at the nearest Black Forest sect branch if she knew things were going to turn out this way.
The criminals from Forbidden Heavens were caressing the unconscious Claire"s hair.
“It"s not too late, why don"t you call him over? That is, before the older b.i.t.c.h dies.”
Seeing Claire"s unconscious body being manipulated like a broken doll, Mino"s patience began to reach its limit.
「Akaram"s Seven Daggers Secret Arts」.
Bitter Cold Double-Edged Sword.
Being filled to the brim with energy, the seven daggers clanged against each other and gave off a cold light. The blades created a vortex of pure white, and swept towards the three brothers like a raging blizzard. Once the storm pa.s.sed through, it was revealed that the brothers had been slightly pushed back with only minor injuries.
It was Savage Night that blocked the skill head on.
"I"m going to rip your hands off before I kill you.”
Having been drained of her spirit power, Mino fell down onto her knees. She had somehow managed to grasp onto the doorframe of the entrance, preventing herself from completely collapsing onto the ground. She watched as Savage Night approached her.
Her vision began to shake.
With only a shaky view in front of her, Mino couldn"t help but think.
Was there such a thing as salvation in this world?
A world where dog like b.a.s.t.a.r.ds ran rampant. No matter how many good people there were, this world would continue to be a h.e.l.l as long as those dog-like b.a.s.t.a.r.ds reigned above. Both humans defined by Mino and Jae Hwan would be trampled underfoot by these evildoers.
Seeing the approaching blade, Mino closed her eyes.
Time around her slowed down as she calmly awaited death.
It was the first time since her birth that Mino desired to go back to the past.
What if at that time when they came to the fork, what if she had followed him. She may have even been able to see the fall of the world. Who knows, maybe after witnessing the fall of the world, she may have told people about it. It was something so incredible……
Mino"s imagination made her slightly envious.
But in fact, she already knew. Such a future was no longer available to her.
She would never be able to meet Jae Hwan ever again.
Her ears were suddenly filled with the sounds of rough breathing.
Ssaek- Ssaek-
A little later, she felt that something strange had happened. No matter how much time pa.s.sed, she didn"t feel the blade. The surrounding air had a strange contracting feeling to it.
She remembered this feeling.
Opening her eyes, Mino saw the three brothers looking in her direction with strange expressions on their faces. Mino had seen others with expressions similar to them before.
She wanted to say that it was to be expected.
She wanted to say that she knew it was going to turn out like this.
She wanted to say that she hated how things had turned out like this, but at the same time, she lost all strength in her legs.
Someone caught her. Rough, but warm hands. Like a stone, but st.u.r.dy. Mino lifted her head and saw his face.
"……what about the fall of the world and whatever, why did you come here?”
Listening to her, Jae Hwan lifted the parcel in his left hand. It was the parcel containing the clothes that Mino had bought for him.
"The clothes you bought me don"t fit.”