WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ Black Badger ◈
Chapter 96: Creature Loyalty Liquor (3)
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A dagger was fine, but I preferred a larger sword with a wider blade.
That was why I chose the human-faced bird as my first target.
I wanted a sword bigger than this silver dagger.
I pretended not to notice the heavy presence behind the open door across from the waiting area. Something was definitely inside, but it did not seem ready to come out yet.
After adjusting my grip on the dagger, I turned toward the human-faced bird.
[It looks like Pepper will be the first opponent!]
The enormous human-faced bird flapped on the ground.
Even with one claw impaled on a spike, it was huge, and its wings beat with threatening, pain-filled force.
[Can a rookie with less than six months as a Badger take on Pepper with a dagger!]
Honestly, I was more comfortable with a sword than a gun.
The drugs still lingered in my system, but perhaps because I was tense, my senses were sharp.
I pulled up one corner of my mouth and ran toward the human-faced bird.
[The rookie is stepping on Pepper's thigh and climbing up!]
I’m taking your head!
Squelch.
It went in cleanly.
The sensation was familiar. I knew the human-faced bird would die if I followed the flow and swung.
I rode that flow and swung the blade.
I felt bone and muscle shatter.
[Ah! Pepper’s neck has been cut off!]
Gripping its face with my left hand, I jumped to the ground as the announcer shouted.
The audience’s cheers stung my ears.
[That makes two creatures down! It looks incredibly grotesque, like he’s holding up a human head!]
Boos and cheers echoed through the arena.
I glanced down at the head in my hand. Its unfocused eyes and the blood pouring from the severed neck caught my attention. I looked like I was holding the head of a beheaded general.
Like back then.
With a small laugh, I raised the head.
Then I threw it at fake Taleb walking toward me.
Smack!
Fake Taleb’s head was crushed halfway in.
[Goodness!]
“That’s in poor taste....”
The announcer lamented, and Ricardo calmly pointed it out from behind the bars.
“You hated looking at it that much?”
“It makes me sick.”
I answered without looking back.
I pretended not to hear the faint amusement in my senior’s voice. Watching the creature regenerate, I looked at the silver stream flowing toward me.
It was a fluid body that refused to mix with anything else, like mercury spilled on the ground.
When I dropped the dagger into the silver puddle that had reached my feet, it melted into it in an instant.
[Ah, Huu is making Pepper’s face this time!]
Huu became even more grotesque.
[It has the rookie Badger’s body and Pepper’s face!]
“Ugh.”
I gave my calm assessment and held out my hand.
The sword Ricardo had made for me in the waiting area was growing from the silver puddle again. It was forming more slowly than before, but its shape steadily built itself up.
Even the smooth hilt.
The moment I gripped the completed sword, Huu charged.
Its Captain Hook-like arm was drawn back.
I drew my sword as well.
“Thank you.”
I thanked my senior, feeling his gaze land on me.
“This one is better than the last.”
[Huu raises its arm!]
The creature stopped right in front of me.
I would end this in one blow.
The moment it tried to cut off my head the same way I had cut off Pepper’s, I swung my sword.
Whummm.
The sword strike made an odd sound as it split Huu apart.
The strike flew onward, collided with the opposite wall, and scattered.
Crash!
Ah.
Physical attacks worked too, as long as enough force was behind them.
I could feel a life wink out.
I looked down impassively at the creature as it lost its form and spilled across the floor. Sending out a rough sword strike packed with force had been the right choice. Delicate swordsmanship did not suit this thing.
A refined strike would only get copied....
I remembered facing a creature similar to Ray.
As I was lost in thought for a moment, I realized that the arena had grown strangely quiet.
What?
The moment I looked up, a spotlight shone on me.
[Huu down!]
Cheers burst out like a signal flare.
Frowning at that vulgar sound, I looked at the announcer standing on a hoverboard.
[Did you see that, everyone! Huu died that easily! Wow, our losses are no small matter!]
Were they so triumphant because Badgers could not lay hands on civilians?
Or were they certain that the fourth creature would finish off the Badgers?
I watched the announcer raising his energy to match the excited audience, then lowered my head.
Then I lifted the tip of my sword from the ground.
That heavy presence from the dark passageway.
Since they were in show business, they had probably saved their most useful creature for last.
As I stepped toward the entrance that seemed to suck in the wind, my senior’s voice called from behind me.
“Hilde.”
This time, I glanced back.
“Who taught you to use a sword?”
There was no amusement on Ricardo’s face.
I knew well that there were few people in this world who could send out sword strikes. I also knew Yoon was not the sort of person who taught things like that.
It was only natural to be surprised when someone who had once awkwardly swung a kitchen knife embedded in his arm was now firing off sword strikes like that.
But this was not the time to explain.
Besides, I could not answer his question.
“I don’t remember.”
I gave him the truth and smiled bitterly.
“I’ll tell you when I remember.”
Ricardo looked at me again with that unreadable expression.
Then he gave a short nod.
Oooooooo.
A gloomy wail came from beyond the dark passageway. It sounded like someone crying with their face covered in their hands.
Oooooooo....
The mournful sound grew louder.
I waited for it to emerge into the arena.
The exploding cheers and boos quieted again. The announcer also kept silent. Perhaps they intended to explain after it appeared. Or perhaps the funeral-like noise had intimidated them for a moment.
The wail shifted into a sharp, gloomy sob.
Then I watched it enter the arena.
Two enormous hands.
It dragged itself forward, planting emaciated, dried-up hands on the floor.
[No matter how many times I see it, fear makes my body tremble.]
The announcer’s voice fell from above.
[It’s Arthur, the Hole Man!]
It raised its upper body.
Its upper body was almost human, though nail-shaped bones jutted from its sides, exposing mottled red flesh. Arthur looked like a patient dying of the plague, or a life-form that had just crawled into the world.
But it had no face.
More precisely, it had a human-like head, but there was a round hole where its face should have been.
Its lower body was tangled together like several organs knotted into one.
How had the mafia captured something like this?
I bent forward and prepared to swing my sword.
Then it threw back its head and screamed through the hole.
Aah, aah, aah, aah, aah!
A shockwave.
It swept across the arena toward me. My sharpened senses caught the incoming wave exactly. Adrenaline surged through my body, and the world slowed around me. The wave smashed through the arena tiles as it came. It was as sharp and deadly as a sword strike.
Its range was not very wide.
If I rolled to the side, I could avoid it.
And if no one had been behind me, I would have gladly done so. I did not want to meet that head-on.
If I had a choice.
[Hildebert Taleb swings his sword!]
If I did not cancel it out, my seniors would die.
I swung my right arm, and the moment the sword strike flew out, I knew it lacked power.
Thud!
The sword strike collided with the wave and dissipated.
My skills had grown rusty, and the sword was too light.
[Cancellation failed!]
To block what I had failed to cancel, I raised the flat of my sword.
[Arthur’s scream is coming!]
The wave struck my body.
Crash!
Cough.
I spat out a mouthful of blood.
Staggering, I leaned on my sword like a cane.
Clang.
The moment the tip of my sword dug into the floor, the slowed world returned to normal speed. A heavy pain spread around my chest. My hearing cleared, and all the noises my concentration had shut out came flooding in.
[My god! He took Arthur’s scream head-on!]
The announcer shouted loudly.
[He’s the first idiot to take that head-on, and the first person to survive it!]
Of course.
Anyone with a decent amount of skill would have dodged it first. It was not an attack that could not be avoided. Deflecting it to the side or dodging was the proper method, rather than taking it head-on.
But sometimes you could not do that.
After forcing down a few blood-tinged breaths, I gave a small smile.
Arthur raised one of its bones like a saw blade.
“Is that your sword?”
It looked more like something it would swing like a saw or a spear than a sword.
“Nice to meet you. It’s been a while since I faced an enemy with a weapon.”
Not that this was an opponent I could afford to take lightly.
Bang!
The nail-shaped sword embedded itself in the ground.
My reaction was a little slow because of the pain in my chest, and my left arm was slashed open.
[Arthur swings its bone sword!]
Thud! Thud! Boom!
Ignoring the stabbing pain, I dodged the bone as it smashed through the floor, the arena walls, and the sprawled creature corpses.
It was a solid attack in both strength and speed. Tiles crumbled, pieces of wall fell, and the corpses of Nemalda and Pepper burst apart, soaking the already filthy floor.
I rolled across that dirty floor, looking for a chance to strike back.
Its speed was insane.
It was hard to imagine that huge body moving so quickly. Despite having no legs and crawling with only its hands, it was more agile than most four-legged creatures. Not long ago, I would have been helplessly cut down by that sword.
But after sparring with Ye-hyeon, I had trained with a focus on speed.
Thanks to that, I found an opening to counterattack without taking further damage.
The moment I got behind Arthur, I held my sword straight.
Thoom!
I had not forgotten this swordsmanship either.
A sword strike traveled through the sword embedded deep in the arena floor. The impact ran along the ground and struck Arthur.
Arthur screamed and fell forward.
The audience erupted with a Waaah!
Ricardo let out a stunned murmur from behind the bars.
“What the....”
But I had no time to react to any of it.
It was not dead yet.
After pulling out my sword, I stepped onto Arthur’s lower body and climbed up.
[Goodness! How rude!]
I needed to finish it.
[It seems he intends to cut off Arthur’s neck like he did Pepper’s!]
I braced myself on the creature’s shoulders as it raised its upper body with both arms.
Then I raised my sword high again. Its neck would be tougher than Pepper’s. Driving the blade in with a single blow from above would be more effective than cutting through it.
Arthur turned its head and looked up at me as I climbed onto its shoulder.
The moment I faced that hollow where its face should have been, I drove my sword down.
Aah, aah, aah, aah, aah....
The sword lodged in the hole.
I hurriedly let go of the silver sword I had been gripping tightly. Something dark red was climbing up the blade.
It looked like some kind of poison.
Was it a final death rattle? The strength left Arthur’s arms. Standing on its upper body as it collapsed, I watched the sword turn dark crimson with contamination.
I did not think I should grab it again....
Thud!
The moment Arthur fell heavily, I turned toward Ricardo.
My green-eyed senior stood with his arms crossed, staring at me in disbelief.
Damn....
“Senior.”
Feeling guilty, I spoke politely.
“I contaminated your weapon. I’m truly sorry.”
It had to be expensive.
My apology, delivered as respectfully as possible, did not seem to help.
The moment Ricardo heard me, he uncrossed his arms and looked even more dumbfounded.
“Is that what you have to say right now?”
“Huh? Uh.... I thought it was....”
If that was the wrong answer, what was the right one?
I could feel my eyes shaking wildly.
I looked at my senior, thoroughly terrified.
Then, trying to ignore the pain washing over me as the adrenaline faded, I spoke in a faint voice.
“S-should I file it as damaged equipment and get a new one...?”
“When we get back, put your head on the floor, you.”
[Match over!]
The announcer’s shout covered my senior’s terrifying voice.
[Unbelievably! The rookie Badger has achieved an overwhelming victory!]
Boom!
Fireworks burst in the air. Brightly, right over my head, without caring at all that I was terrified.
Cheers and boos poured down.
The announcer shouted excitedly. Colorful confetti rained over my white hair.
My senior was extremely angry, and I watched him carefully.
The announcer’s ringing voice shook the arena.
[Hildebert Taleb is the winner!]
That was how I won the match.
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