Chapter 324

“They must be spies. Kill him!”
The man who appeared to be the leader shouted. At the same time, the masked men threw something in unison. Kagagak! Dozens of shuriken flew across the wind, pounding against Asel’s shields.
“Hmmmm!”
Asel let out a scream. Of course, not a single shuriken could pierce his shield. Bewilderment burst from the mouths of the masked men.
“Damn, I can’t even get my ranged attacks to work after my sword.”
“I don’t think he’s a normal one. Even if he’s a magician, he must have a weakness—.”
“Could it be that he’s not from a hostile sect, but from the Fist of Fate?”
They began to babble in unintelligible words. Witchcraft, the Moon Sect, the Bokmajeon. All unheard of in the Empire. The impatient Asel mustered up the courage to speak.
“I mean, I’m not going to fight with you, what the hell are you doing?!”
I couldn’t understand the language. He’d been in the New World for nearly a month and had never encountered anything like this before. Asel was out for a night walk when he was attacked by those masked men.
It was a good thing the camp at the top of the caravel was so far away. Then the masked boss, who had heard Asel’s words, snorted and shouted.
“That’s ridiculous, you have no intention of fighting? I saw with my own eyes the black bird you raise bite the stone statue that sealed Nachal and run away!”
“That, the black bird?”
“Yes, the four-winged, flapping monster. You can’t say you don’t know!”
“That, that—.”
Asel’s face went white. Every feature of the black bird matched Sita’s. The events of the previous day flashed through his mind.
“We’re in trouble.
I was in the middle of a tour of the village with Marja. Suddenly, Sita comes back with a statue with an amulet in her mouth, which she proudly shows me. Apparently, that’s what the sealing stone is.
Besides, being new to the New World, Sita had wandered everywhere, collecting her favorite things. Asel swallowed hard as he caught up to the situation.
“What’s that–nachal?”
“A monster created by the minds of wicked men like you. You know what you’re doing, and you’re playing dumb!”
“No, that, I really don’t know—.”
“Shut up! You would never do such a wicked thing if you weren’t a Fist of Fate, and I’ll kill you on the honor of the Guardians of the Yingyue Forest!”
The masked man was furious. Asellos was furious, but this was no time for pleading. They closed the distance once more and drew their swords.
“Up, danger!”
Sensing danger, Asel shouted urgently. With a bang, a giant tree flew in a parabolic arc and fell on the heads of the masked men. Panic erupted from the spot where the tree had fallen.
“Ambush!”
“What, what!?”
Fortunately, there were no casualties. The masked people moved in unison and scattered. Naturally, they turned their heads in the direction the tree had come from. One of the masked men spotted something and shouted in alarm.
“Hey, look at that!”
“You can’t be—!”
Fear crossed the masked men’s faces, for in the distance, in the valley they had traveled through, something unnatural was rapidly approaching. The pounding footsteps were getting closer. A guttural screech, reminiscent of a beast’s terminal, rang out.
“Keeeeeeeeeeee!”
At the same time, a figure shrouded in darkness emerged. It was a humanoid monster, nearly five meters tall. Someone shouted.
“It’s me, Nachal!”
The creature called Nachal was a terrible thing, the kind of thing you fear to dream about. Its obsidian body was densely covered in gold-melted inscriptions. Its razor-sharp fingernails glinted in the moonlight.
“Hey, that’s—!”
Asel’s face went white. In all his years of adventuring with Ronan, he’d encountered all sorts of terrible, terrifying things, but nothing like that.
It looked different, and felt different than any monster he had ever seen before. In a panic, the masked men stopped their pursuit of Asel and ran around in circles.
“It’s all over now—.”
“I’ll buy you time, everyone run!”
“Brother Zhang, what can I do!”
Each of their faces was hardened as if their lives depended on it. It seemed that the Nachal were powerful beings, perhaps on par with dragons. What should we do? What should we do? Asel stared at Nachal in disbelief.
“—Huh?”
Asel shook his head in disbelief. The mana he sensed from Nachal was weaker than he expected. Despite its fearsome appearance, the power it contained was only slightly stronger than an ogre.
Asel’s rapid breathing slowly calmed. Surprisingly, he realized, this might be worth a try. Gathering his courage once more, Asel opened his mouth.
“Well, if we can just get that fixed—.”
“What?”
“If I kill that monster, will you stop chasing me?”
The masked men frowned. What kind of bullshit is this, I thought. The man playing the captain snorted.
“Ha! Funny, do you think that’s possible, that a wench like you would defeat the Nachal that the exiled masters had barely sealed?”
His men cursed behind him. It was impossible, even with the best magic. Asel was about to correct the men when he heard the word “wench.” A booming voice rang out behind him.
“Asel-! What are you doing there?”
“Ma, Marja?!”
Asel’s shoulders slumped, and he slowly turned his head. Marja, her greatsword slung over one shoulder, was stalking toward him.
“I’ve been looking for it for a while. What are you doing?”
Her lush blond hair was tousled by the night breeze. A red silk robe was draped over her sleepy-looking body. It had been bought at great expense to distance her from the natives of the New World.
“Hey, they kept following me—I was going to drop it because I didn’t want to harm the top.”
“You’re a bunch of bandits, and I’m going to blow you away, but you’re too good to be true.”
Marja clicked her tongue. The masked captain bellowed at the mention of bandits.
“Bandits! How dare you do that to me!”
“What? No?”
“Of course! We are the guardians of the great Yue Yue Forest, and these unheard-of, unseen, untested ships—”
“New Year’s Eve?!”
He was about to say something when the car pulled up. Marja suddenly clapped her hands, her eyes widening in admiration. With a bang, she rushed forward and stopped in front of the captain.
“Handsome Daehyup. Did you just say Young Wolim?”
“Cow, your speed is—.”
The captain was stunned. In his eyes, Marja’s form seemed to disappear and reappear in an instant. Puffing out one cheek, Marja poked him in the side and asked, “What?
“He asked me if I was from Youngwool Forest.”
“Well, so what, you’re in cahoots with that wench, since you’re practicing sorcery too!”
“Wow, I’ve been looking for you and never expected to run into you here. I’m Marja Caravelle, deputy leader of the Caravelle High, and I was wondering if you had a moment—”
“Queueue!”
Marja, who had quickly switched to sales mode, was speaking rapidly. Nachal, screaming once more, began to run, his limbs twisting grotesquely. The masked men’s faces went white.
“Heh, heh, heh, heh, get out of my way!”
“Oh man. Annoying.”
Marja narrowed her eyes. She turned, suddenly aware of Nachal’s presence. I don’t know what that was, but I didn’t like the interruption to our business conversation.
“Well, why don’t you put that away and finish your story.”
The masked man didn’t have time to say anything. With that, Marja suddenly kicked the ground and ran. With a bang, the ground cracked under her feet and the flagstone bounced up.
“Curious?”
Nachal’s eyes widened. In just three leaps, Marja had closed the distance and was now at his feet. Sensing danger, Nachal threw his arms up in the air.
“Ha!”
Fixing the greatsword with both hands, Marja twisted sideways and swung it. With a crunching sound, one of Nachal’s legs was severed.
The off-balance behemoth tumbled forward. Marja stopped dead in her tracks and brought her greatsword upward. The greatsword sliced through Nachal’s head in half in a sweeping arc.
“Kuehueh—!”
“What!”
The masked men’s eyes widened to the point of bulging. They couldn’t believe the power coming from such a small body. With a thud, Nachal’s legs and head were severed, and he collapsed with a loud crash. Marja smiled as she finished the job in a flash.
“Is that it?”
“Well, what the hell is that sozer—.”
Several of the masked men dropped the swords they were holding. Then, a bizarre roar echoed through the mountains.
“Kaaaaaah!”
“Kererererec!”
It wasn’t just one bird. Tens of thousands of birds soared over the moonlit forest. The sound of cracking wood, the sound of something huge pounding the ground, was rapidly approaching.
“What is this?”
Marja frowned. Suddenly, several giant shadows fell over the road. The hooded figures looked up and froze. A dozen or so Nachal peered down at them from the cliffs on either side.
“Grrrr.”
“No way!”
It was a sight that froze the blood in my veins. Each ugly nachal was a small hill, each one different. Their eyes, glued to every inch of their bodies, scanned the crowd.
“—We’re all dead now.”
“One bird is not the end of the world.”
Despair clouded the faces of the masked men. There was no time to question what had happened. No matter how skilled the blond swordsman was, he was no match for such numbers.
But Marja’s face remained calm, unmoved. She looked up at the nachals and smiled.
“You are so unlucky.”
“Huh?”
“You’d have had a better chance if you’d come when I was alone, not when my little cutie was with you.”
Marja shook her head. Her genuine sympathy was evident in her tone, and the masked men were taken aback. Who is she referring to, the cutie?
Suddenly, the red-haired girl from earlier was nowhere to be seen. One of the Nachal had jumped off the cliff and was raising his leg to crush Marja. Boom! An invisible fist slammed into the Nachal’s chest.
“Gwok.”
A hulk, much larger than the ogre, flew by as if it were a pebble. Nachal, clinging to the opposite cliff, shook his head. His steel breastplate was gouged like a crater.
“This, this—!”
The masked men stiffened. They looked as if they had been struck by a meteorite. Lowering her greatsword, Marja spoke without turning her head.
“Asel. Please.”
No answer came back. The others were about to move. A muffled voice echoed over their heads.
“Knock Up Frost.”
His tone was casual, as if he were speaking to them. As soon as the covenant was sealed, an enormous magic circle was drawn at the feet of the Seven Nachal, before they could react. The magic circle glowed, and a pillar of blizzarding light erupted.
“Heh heh heh!”
The Masked Ones were horrified. The seven ice storms tore through the moonlight and quickly rose into the night sky. Soon, the storms subsided, and the Nachals, no longer able to move, emerged.
“Done.”
Marja laughed. Nachal had become seven ice statues. It was time for Asel to break the spell. With a sound like rock splitting, the Nachal’s bodies crumbled.
“Phew—.”
Asel breathed a sigh of relief, having ended the situation once and for all. The Nachal were weaker than he expected, and he was able to finish them off for very little mana.
Slowly, he landed on the ground and made his way to Marja’s car. In an instant, the masked men surrounding him cried out in unison.
“Sojourner, please help us!”
“Well, I’m a man.”