#058

The start was smoother than expected. Cullen placed the two unconscious mercenaries as close to the entrance as possible. This was to ensure they could escape somehow if something happened.

After that, Ulli and he first freed the prisoners. They would be useful as they had strength. Ulli took charge of the women and children. The mercenaries carried the children, and the general populace, including merchants, surrounded the women protectively. Some of them knew each other.

“I wondered where you’d gone, but you weren’t leaving the city.”

One of the caravan’s porters said to Lana. Lana had told Cullen that he was one of the kinder people in the city.

“It’s amazing no one noticed while so many people were disappearing.”

Ulli, walking ahead, scoffed at the remark. The man looked embarrassed and made an excuse.

“Some people found it strange. But as you know, Rodiak is a city of wanderers… even those who found it suspicious eventually left on their journeys and didn’t pay much mind.”

“What a convenient excuse.”

Ulli, not particularly moved, spoke coldly and came to Cullen’s side. They had finally reached the problematic section. Cullen moved the people away from the barracks of the brainwashed mercenaries.

“I’ll draw their attention first. In the meantime, everyone, get out as quickly as possible.”

People nodded with tense faces. Cullen took a deep breath. Then, he called a few mercenaries who weren’t carrying children.

“You, hold off the other mercenaries for a while. You just need to buy time, preferably without killing them.”

“But they’re Gael’s mercenary group. We’re no match for them.”

A young mercenary with a scar across his face retorted unconfidently.

“I’ll handle them all. Just buy time. You can run if you can’t.”

“You?”

The mercenaries looked him over, as if they couldn’t believe it. It was understandable, given their prejudice against someone who looked like a strong mercenary.

“I’m going.”

Leaving behind their disbelieving gazes, Cullen took a deep breath. He walked first down the corridor where torches flickered silently. Before he could even approach the barracks, Gael’s voice was heard.

“Who’s there?”

As expected of Gael. Cullen turned back, signaled the mercenaries to stop for a moment, and then walked slowly forward. Gael was a man whose single, overwhelming strike was threatening. Cullen stopped just outside his range and spoke.

“It’s Cullen.”

“It’s bedtime. Why are you here, Cullen?”

“I discovered something suspicious. The prison in Sector 1 was empty.”

Gael fell silent, referring to the furthest sector. Cullen prayed that Gael was undergoing an internal struggle, like when he briefly regained his senses. Gael, scrutinizing Cullen as if gauging him, ordered three of his subordinates standing beside him.

“Go. Wake up the others on your way.”

“Understood.”

The mercenaries, receiving the order with disciplined movements, moved quickly. As one of the three headed towards the fork where Cullen was, Cullen stopped him.

“I’ve already checked this way.”

The mercenary looked back at Gael, as if waiting for his confirmation. Gael said,

“I’ll check it, so you go.”

“Yes.”

Without delay, the mercenary obeyed Gael’s command. Once the mercenary left, only Gael and Cullen remained.

“Gael-nim.”

Cullen spoke, hoping he had briefly regained his sanity. Gael blinked his dull gray eyes and stared at him.

“You must help me. Please come to your senses.”

Gael flinched. His fingers twisted unnaturally. Cullen seized the moment and signaled the mercenaries.

“You can escape. You can do it, Gael-nim.”

Finally, as if those words struck a chord, Gael spoke in a pained voice.

“It’s impossible, Cullen. I’ve been subjected to Magic many times. Even if my mind clears occasionally, it’s not enough to help you…”

Meanwhile, a sound came from inside.

“What’s going on?”

The Sorcerer seemed to have woken up. Gael shouted with a strained expression.

“I’ll buy as much time as I can, so now, now…!”

His face turned red. The capillaries in his neck showed he was giving his all. Cullen turned back and shouted.

“Move, Ulli!”

“Got it!”

Ulli replied quickly.

“You two go to Gael-nim, and I’ll deal with the Sorcerer.”

Cullen didn’t wait for a reply. After sending the mercenaries to Gael, who might lose consciousness again, Cullen entered. The Sorcerer, lying on his bed, sat up.

Wearing only a cotton shirt without his robe, the Sorcerer looked even thinner than usual. As Ulli had said, dark red, thorn-like patterns ran up his collarbone.

“What is this? Why are you here? Go back!”

The Sorcerer shouted, picking up his staff. Cullen lunged at him without hesitation. As if he had anticipated it, the Sorcerer hastily retreated and cast Magic. At the same time, Cullen swung his sword.

A green light spread out. Cullen’s vision turned white for a moment, preventing him from cutting down the Sorcerer instantly. However, the Sorcerer didn’t completely escape the sword strike, as Cullen felt something at his fingertips. The fiercely swung blade cut through the Sorcerer’s chest, and the smell of blood followed.

“Aargh! Damn it, how…!”

As he screamed, screams were heard from behind as well. Cullen whipped his head around. Gael, having lost consciousness again, was easily subduing the mercenaries. As his sword was about to decapitate a mercenary, Cullen quickly threw a dagger towards him.

Gael deflected the dagger, which flew in a straight line, with his sword. Turning his body, his attention was drawn to Cullen. Seizing the opportunity, the mercenary quickly escaped.

“Get out, get out!”

With his shout, people poured into the Sorcerer’s room. A narrow stone staircase was the only passage for people to escape. The Sorcerer, rolling on his bed, saw the scene and gripped his staff.

“You all want to die, don’t you? Fine, I’ll kill you. I’m sick and tired of Rodiak’s vermin.”

The Sorcerer gripped his staff with a sinister voice. Cullen hastily grabbed the end of the staff. He intended to stab the Sorcerer with it, but things didn’t go easily as usual. Gael suddenly appeared and swung his sword down towards Cullen’s back.

The diagonally swung sword cut into his back. A burning pain spread, and he felt his skin split.

The Sorcerer, who had been cursing, chose another method. He shouted.

“Volgmek, come protect your master!”

The Sorcerer’s eyes glowed green. Cullen ignored the injury and firmly grasped his staff. Then, his body began to tremble. It was different from when he held a sword, but his body reacted in a different way.

As if… like when he was affected by Rodiak.

Heat spread within his body like embers. At the unexpected sensation, Cullen paused, and Gael moved again. Just then, Ulli intervened.

“Snap out of it! What are you doing!”

Ulli, who was evacuating people, blocked Gael with her greatsword. Whether strength was separate from wielding the greatsword freely, she was slowly being pushed back by Gael’s grip.

Cullen hastily raised his head. In the meantime, the Sorcerer had lowered his body and was slipping past them. As he crawled towards the room’s entrance, he shouted at Gael.

“Kill them all now! Kill them!”

His brainwashing didn’t seem to be undone by having his staff taken, as Gael faithfully followed his words. He swung his sword with the force to shatter the greatsword. Ulli narrowly dodged the sword and watched the backs of the fleeing people.

Just then, the ground began to vibrate. A rumbling vibration spread, and dust fell from the cave ceiling.

“Damn it, Volgmek must be coming!”

That wasn’t all. The mercenaries, who had been sent far away, began to appear. The Sorcerer, hiding behind the approaching Gael’s mercenary squad, gasped for breath. One of the mercenaries tore his clothes to staunch the bleeding.

“Everyone out, Lana, hurry and get out!”

“What about Ulli?”

Fortunately, the people listened well. Except for Lana and a few others, everyone seemed to have escaped down the stairs.

Now, they had to create enough time for them to escape as far as possible. Ignoring the heat that was spreading wildly, Cullen gripped his sword. Blocking Gael’s sword, which was aimed at Ulli, Cullen shouted to Lana.

“I’ll get Ulli out too. Go, Lana!”

“I’ll be fine.”

Ulli reassured Lana. Lana looked worried but soon gritted her teeth and nodded. Lana turned and ran forward.

As the mercenaries who had been dealing with Gael were about to leave, they hesitated and looked at Cullen.

“Don’t you need to come with us?”

Their tone was now considerably more polite.

“It’s useless to leave if you don’t deal with the Demonic Beasts. I’ll handle this place, so go!”

As if not giving them time to talk, Gael charged ferociously. Seeing Ulli blocking the charging mercenaries, they shook their heads.

“We’ll stay too.”

“There’s no need to…”

“We have no family. If we stayed like this, we’d just become food for him. We’ll go with you.”

Cullen was flustered by the unexpected reinforcements. He couldn’t answer as he blocked Gael, who was trying to break through their defenses. The mercenaries, not expecting an answer, began to help Ulli block the mercenary squad.

Only the sound of clashing swords echoed loudly. Cullen took a deep breath. The longer he fought Gael, the more disadvantageous it became for him.

Suppressing the heat that was greedily digging into him, Cullen focused. Gael was relatively slow compared to him. Cullen admitted that it would be difficult to subdue Gael without injury under the circumstances.

“I’ll treat your wounds, so I apologize in advance.”

As his eyes met Gael’s, Cullen lunged in at an angle. The long, greatsword descended as if to sever his neck, but Cullen blocked it with his own sword, deflecting the blow. While Gael was momentarily pushed back by the recoil, Cullen twisted his body and thrust his sword into his side. The blade sliced halfway through flesh.

“Kch!”

Gael staggered back with a groan. As he began to exert his strength, the heat within his body accelerated. Giving him no time to rest, Cullen pulled back slightly before aiming for his legs. The sword narrowly grazed Gael’s calf. It wasn’t as deep as before, but he had succeeded in making contact.

“This won’t do, Cullen!”

Ulli’s cry rang out then. Biting his lip, Cullen pressed forward against Gael. The moment Gael, who had barely regained his balance, swung his greatsword, Cullen, instead of dodging, kicked off the ground and charged forward.

He narrowly leaped over the greatsword and then shoved Gael. Now was the time. Putting all his strength into the hilt of his longsword, he brought it down mercilessly on the fallen Gael.

Crack!

With a loud sound, the hilt struck Gael’s temple. The strong impact to his head made him cry out, his chin jerking upwards. The blow had been delivered with enough force to make his skull ring; it would take him time to recover his senses.

It was at that moment, as he thought this and tried to rise, that he heard it.

Grrrrrr―.

Cullen spotted a colossal form engulfing the mercenary group like a wave. Multiple heads, with eyes glowing red and sharp teeth, glared at him.

“They’ve come.”

At Ulli’s words, the Sorcerer shouted.

“Volgmek, kill them all! Kill all these useless fools! Kill Dadin’s vermin who can’t even do simple tasks.”

As the Sorcerer spoke, the Demonic Beast began to move. It writhed its long body and swung its short arms, grabbing two of the mercenaries guarding the Sorcerer. Caught off guard, the mercenaries looked back in surprise.

And then, they were torn apart by the Demonic Beast’s hands.

“Die, die!”

The Demonic Beast reacted to the Sorcerer’s cries. The mercenaries, who stood by the Sorcerer’s side with blank expressions even as their comrades were being killed, looked grotesque. He had to prevent further casualties.

‘Kiyen.’

Cullen called out to Kiyen. However, the lizard that represented him did not appear. Was it due to the Sorcerer’s power? The power the caster wielded was from Dark Island, and Dark Island was said to be the power of a god named Akesis, so it was ultimately the same power that had cursed Cullen.

“Cullen.”

Ulli called out to him then. Cullen turned to her, his face pale and bleeding. Ulli wore a calm expression.

“Somehow, lure the mercenaries out. Take Lord Gael with you. I’ll handle this place.”

“What are you saying? You couldn’t even defeat me.”

Ulli grumbled.

“Honestly, I told you that wasn’t my main weapon.”

Having said that, Ulli smiled quietly.

“This is my weapon.”

Ulli slowly raised her greatsword. Her palm was covered in blood. A red pattern began to bloom on the plain, metallic greatsword. As unreadable characters appeared, red light also seeped from Ulli’s wrist.

“But there’s one problem. If I use this… I won’t be able to maintain my senses. So, if I manage to kill that horrible thing and am still in that state…”

Their eyes met. Ulli maintained her smiling expression.

“Then you kill me.”

There was no time to refuse. The moment her words ended, Ulli’s eyes began to turn red. With red eyes that had lost their teal hue, she twisted her body. Then, with a war cry that was unbelievable for her small frame, she slammed her greatsword into the ground.

BOOM!

Cracks that split the earth were drawn haphazardly, separating the mercenaries. The ground shook, drawing the Demonic Beast’s eyes towards Ulli. Instead of retreating, she wore a faint smile on her small, pretty face. The Sorcerer, watching her, scowled.

“Wait, no way, you too…?”

Ignoring him, Ulli kicked off the ground with a speed incomparable to before. Watching Ulli shoot forward with disbelief, Cullen looked down at the unconscious Gael.

He didn’t know what had happened… but since Ulli had made her decision, Cullen had to act.

Since he couldn’t reach Kiyen immediately, it was best to follow Ulli’s words for now. Gael and his mercenaries were the only ones he could trust from Dadin. He couldn’t let them be sacrificed meaninglessly like this. He would lure them all out first, then return to save Ulli.

Cullen took a deep breath and stabbed his sword into the ground. He felt dizzy and hot.

To somehow focus his scattered mind, Cullen bit his tongue. Then, he slung Gael over his back. The mercenaries, who had paused due to the appearance of the Demonic Beast, all turned their gazes towards Cullen. The Sorcerer seemed preoccupied with Ulli’s power.

This was the moment.

“If you want to live, you’d best come kill me.”

With those words, Cullen turned and began to sprint down the stairs.