Chapter 13 - Misalignment (4)

Drugger Hakan, whose real name is Hakante Kanariel.

She is an alchemist, not one of those who stir a ladle in front of a jar in a secluded room of the healing school, but an alchemist of the Sanguine School.

Sanguine School.

A school of alchemy that uses blood as a medium.

Some say, "They have something more dangerous than a blade flowing in their veins." When Hakan once heard this, she laughed out loud and replied:

That's an accurate assessment.

Sssht.

Hakan scattered her own blood.

The moment it touched the ground, it vaporized. The blood turned into mist, enveloping the alley like fog. It was a kind of doping agent she had concocted.

A doping agent that enhances physical abilities, including strength and reaction speed, to their limits, inducing a state of excitement.

The drug previously injected into the addicts reacted with the doping component. Once they inhaled the mist filled with doping agents, their eyes reddened with blood vessels.

Graaaagh!

They screamed and charged at Najin, much faster than before.

'I was saving this for later.'

Hakan warmed up while breathing in the mist.

The doping agent had no side effects on her, but for others, it was a double-edged poison. The moment they inhaled it, it brought dramatic enhancement and euphoria, but...

Hakan narrowed her eyes, watching the addicts.

Their bodies started making loud cracking noises. The sound of their bodies beginning to fall apart. That was the side effect of this doping agent. Enhancements came at the cost of physical deterioration. Soon, they would be immobile.

In simple terms, it was meant for a short-term decisive battle.

Originally saved for Ivan, but since the boy showed that light, she had to bury him here. One couldn't be sure what variables the boy might introduce. And, in hindsight, her decision was right.

Bang.

Najin, who had leaped off the alley walls, swung his sword. The blade, carrying a white glow, sliced through three bodies in one stroke. Despite their enhanced physical abilities from the doping, the addicts couldn't react to Najin's sword.

They sped up with the help of the drug, just as Najin accelerated with the help of mana.

Though still somewhat awkward with his accelerated movements, Najin ruthlessly slaughtered the addicts, advancing forward. His movements, zigzagging between the walls, appeared acrobatic.

Crash.

With each swing of his sword, severed arms and heads fell to the ground. As the headless figures were about to explode, Najin threw and kicked their bodies. All his movements were astonishingly fast.

When Najin stomped the ground, it no longer made a 'thump' sound. Rather, it broke the ground as he rushed forward.

Groooar!

The addicts, regardless of how many were sliced, relentlessly threw themselves at Najin.

Watching the group jumping towards him, Najin leaped backward for the first time.

But it was not a retreat.

Najin leaped back significantly and landed, burying his feet deep into the ground. He slowly exhaled, his sword hanging behind.

"Phew..."

The space created by Najin's retreat was for a running start. As the addicts took a step towards him...

Boom!

Najin stomped the ground.

An acceleration so fast it was hard to follow with the eyes. The white sword aura, trailing like a meteor, crossed the alley. And as he reached his target, Najin swung his sword, twisting his waist.

An improbable horizontal slash in the narrow alley.

However, Najin’s blade didn’t bounce off the wall but smoothly sliced through it. Without any obstruction, the blade emerged from the wall. The sword aura's cutting power freed Najin from being confined by the terrain.

Slash!

The long swing of the sword cut through all the addicts blocking his path. As their bodies, sliced in half, started to tremble, Najin stomped the ground again and surged forward.

Boom!

The explosion behind him propelled him even further towards Hakan. Targeting the commander, Hakan, was Najin's best choice.

The best choice, but one thing Najin overlooked.

He didn't understand alchemy.

He didn't know what the Sanguine School was.

Najin didn't know how Hakan fought.

A conclusion drawn from minimal information.

It was the best choice, but not necessarily the right one. The moment Najin swung his sword at Hakan, he saw it. Hakan smiled at him. It wasn't the smile of someone cornered.

Rather the opposite. The smile of a hunter who has cornered its prey.

...Sanguine School.

At that moment, the alley was full of blood. Blood spilled by dozens of addicts, splattered in all directions by their explosions. Blood was everywhere Najin stepped, and even the sword in his hand was stained red with blood.

Since the addicts had consumed the mist and drugs made from Hakan's blood, their spilled blood was mixed with hers.

Therefore, all of it was...

An impeccable catalyst for Hakan, an alchemist of the Sanguine School.

Snap.

Hakan flicked her fingers.

Instantly, the alley was drenched in crimson. Using the blood scattered around as a catalyst, Hakan's alchemy was simple yet effective.

Explosion.

Boom!

The alley shook with a thunderous explosion, vastly different from the explosion caused by the addicts. The shockwave swept the walls, sending stones tumbling down with heavy thuds.

Dust and hot air billowed.

Hakan swept her hand to clear her vision.

As the dust settled, it revealed the chaotic scene of the alley and the boy, flung outside the alley by the blast.

"Heh."

Hakan chuckled.

Despite being caught in such an explosion, the boy still stood on his feet, supported by his sword.

Standing with his sword's support, Najin remained upright.

In that brief moment, he had pulled his arm in to protect his face, and although one arm hung limply, his face was unscathed. His eyes, tinted with the hues of sunset, still glared at Hakan.

Chilling eyes.

And Hakan recognized them.

They were the same eyes of the Knight from Atanga who had thrown her into this city 17 years ago. Feeling a chill run down her spine, Hakan twisted her lips into a smile.

"Let's see."

Hakan gestured.

"How much longer can you last?"

When you can no longer move, I'll gouge out those two eyes.

Despite consuming a considerable number of addicts, Hakan still had a sizable force left, all thanks to her 17 year long preparation.

Now, not just from behind her, but from all over the city, addicts began to swarm towards Najin.

And Najin...

Just tightened his grip on his sword. The sword aura emanating from Najin's blade remained unflustered.

Hakan, who had been smiling at the thought of finishing off the boy and gouging out his unpleasant eyes, gradually stopped laughing. Her face started to stiffen.

"What the hell?"

She muttered in disbelief.

She had cornered him.

She used her hidden trick, exhausted his stamina, and had him caught in an explosion, breaking one of his arms. At a glance, the boy's body was far from normal. He looked so beaten and battered that it wouldn't be surprising if he collapsed at any moment.

But why has he become faster?

Hakan saw before her eyes.

Najin was now facing addicts swarming from all directions, not just from the front. The worsened battle situation, the tougher fight due to his injury, yet Najin seemed to be moving even faster than before.

The boy who occasionally seemed to be flung around by his sword was nowhere to be seen.

In that short span, as if he had become accustomed to handling mana, Najin was moving faster, cutting through the addicts pouring in from all sides.

"This Ivan, what exactly did he hide?"

This was strange. Too strange.

Was there ever anyone of that age who could move like that, let alone draw sword aura? Even to Hakan, who didn't know much about the history of swordsmen, this seemed abnormal.

A battered body.

Yet, as it deteriorated, the sword aura shone even more brilliantly.

The light embedded in the boy's sword became more intense as time passed, evolving from mere fragments to a complete form of sword aura.

"This is insane."

He's still growing.

His movements are becoming faster, more concise, and efficient. If it continued like this, he would catch up to her. Although she didn't want to admit it, Hakan knew she had to accept the fact.

Slash!

The path cleared following the boy's sword swing.

The sunset-tinted eyes glared menacingly in the dimly lit underground city. Though she should have the upper hand, Hakan felt increasingly anxious.

The tide of battle was turning.

If it continued like this...

Crack.

At that moment, a faint noise made Hakan narrow her eyes. The sound came from the boy's sword. Hakan saw it.

"Ah."

At that moment, Hakan burst into laughter.

She saw it. The slight crack in Najin's sword that was gradually spreading as he swung it.

A sword which was overused.

A sword that bore the full brunt of the explosion

As a result of the shock, small cracks appeared in Najin's sword, throwing off its balance.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but...

Najin was extracting sword aura, raw and unstable.

The turbulent energy gnawed at the sword, rapidly depleting its lifespan. Although Najin was swiftly growing since crossing that line, his growth was limited to himself.

Najin could evolve.

But the sword in his hand could not keep up.

Crack!

Eventually, Najin's sword snapped. The moment it broke, the white radiance clinging to the blade scattered. With the sword's demise, the radiant boy lost his light.

“Kill him,” commanded Hakan.

The addicts swarmed towards the now-dimmed boy, obscuring his sunset-colored eyes from view.

***

The sword was broken.

Without it, victory was impossible.

Najin clenched his teeth and rolled, evading the onslaught of addicts and starting to run. But there was nowhere to escape. Hakan had spread addicts throughout Ivan’s territory; wherever Najin went, they emerged.

He had to fight.

But how?

He needed a weapon. One that could withstand his sword aura, unbreakable and solid. The first realistic option that came to mind was visiting Old Hogen’s forge.

‘If only the sword was finished.’

Even if it wasn't, carrying dozens of swords and breaking them in combat might allow him to hold out.

‘But that’s impossible.’

The journey was too long; he couldn’t break through the hoard of addicts without a weapon. Though he was currently moving without feeling pain, Najin sensed this wouldn’t last long. His body was gradually starting to ache.

Defeat meant death.

He couldn’t die here, not when he had just begun to transcend his limits. Desperately seeking a solution, a thought struck Najin.

‘Draw the sword.’

A voice echoed in his ears, the same one that had tormented him for thirteen days. Always resigned, Najin clung to a longing that echoed in his ears.

Yes, there was a weapon.

A sword that would never break, one that could endure his sword aura. The legendary sword.

‘But that’s...’

It was something a bottom-dweller of the underground city like him should never touch. Touching it meant death. It was untouchable. And he wasn’t even sure he could draw it.

You shouldn’t bet on uncertainties.

But Najin realized he was already running towards the square. The soldiers guarding the sword were nowhere to be seen, and the cloth covering the Excalibur was gone. The sword lay exposed.

The platinum Excalibur.

The Sword of the Stars with thirteen stars etched on its blade.

Confronted with Excalibur, Najin's eyes turned platinum. Starlight. Faced with the light he had longed for, Najin smiled genuinely, not in mockery or derision, but in pure joy.

The star he had yearned for.

In the dark underground city, the boy’s mind filled with pure desire at the sight of the bright star. Worries, agonies, and the taboo of breaking rules evaporated, leaving only pure longing.

“If I’m going to die anyway.”

Death was inevitable either way.

If he didn’t act, he’d be caught and killed by the addicts.

If death was certain, if he had to crawl at the bottom and die there...

“Might as well try.”

Najin leaped.

The boy, who had started to cross boundaries, thought no longer of the consequences.

Focusing only on the present, he ran towards the holy sword.

There was no certainty he could draw it, but...

‘I can draw it.’

No.

He was certain.

He could draw the sword. His intuition, which had never betrayed him, was shouting. He could draw it. Trusting his intuition as always, Najin reached for the sword embedded in the rock.

Hakan, arriving at the square, also witnessed this. She laughed at the sight of the boy reaching for Excalibur, thinking he had gone mad.

Could he, despite his talent, really believe he could draw that sword? The sword that had remained undrawn for centuries?

But then...

The moment Najin’s hand touched Excalibur.

Hakan could no longer laugh. Her smirk dropped, her eyes widening in shock.

Gwoong, Gwooung...

A majestic bell tolled, echoing around them. As the reverberation spread, addicts were knocked off their feet, and even Hakan stumbled and fell.

On the ground, Hakan saw it.

Excalibur, beginning to shine the moment it was touched by the boy. The legendary sword, ringing with a mighty sword's hum, was being drawn into reality by a single boy.

Creak!

The sword was being pulled from the stone.

Excalibur, thought to be merely a legend due to its unyielding nature for centuries, was now being summoned by the boy.

Crack!

The sword emerged from the rock.

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