I Pull Out Excalibur

18 – The Light That Shouldn’t Be Taken (4)

The movements of the pursuers changed.

Najin vaguely noticed that fact. Those who had been acting independently were now moving in pairs, at least two, and sometimes three or four.

“Killing six in two days seems to have an effect.”

Two days since drawing the sword and starting to escape.

In two days, Najin killed six pursuers acting alone. After catching one or two, he got a sense of how to deal with them, making it not too difficult to take down six.

I attacked and led them to let their guard down.

Hiding my strength, I struck all at once.

The combat tactics I learned from Ivan and Open were effective even against the agents of the organization. Though it didn’t seem to be everything.

Tightly.

Najin silently grasped my hand and repeated the motion of unfolding it. The injury I received from the battle with the weakling Hakan. My arm, which had only been able to move, had now recovered enough to wield a sword.

“It seems like it’s not just the recovery speed that has increased.”

I was overflowing with power and my mind was clear.

When I opened my eyes, I could vividly imagine how the opponent would move, and I could now freely control the flowing movements of my body. Perhaps this is also the influence of Excalibur.

…Is King Arthur not really amazing, but was Excalibur just a scam?

Najin briefly, just for a moment, harbored a disrespectful thought in my mind. Of course, that is Najin’s misconception. The only thing Excalibur gave to Najin is fast recovery. The other elements were things that Najin already possessed from the beginning.

Simply because I crossed the line.

Because I released the restraints I had on myself.

Because of that, the talents that Najin originally possessed began to bloom rapidly. Experience had already been accumulated enough. The growth curve of Najin, which was about to bloom, was steeply shooting up.

“…Phew.”

Najin, who was observing the movements of the pursuers, let out a long sigh. Over the past two days, I had been wandering aimlessly in the underground city. As if I was on a hunt, not an escape.

It seemed like the act was working properly.

Mistaking Najin’s purpose for hunting, the pursuers gathered and began to move··· As a result, there were gaps in their net that they had set in the underground city. Now it would be safe to enter for the original purpose.

Just one last time.

I just have to make sure to put an end to this.

Three pursuers moving together. Only now, after they entered the dark alley, did Najin narrow the distance. The underground city had many narrow alleyways, and naturally, there were many gaps to step on in the walls of the alley. Step by step, Najin approached them.

How to deal with multiple opponents at once.

Remembering the combat experience that had been imprinted on my body from the battle with the weakling Hakan, Najin chuckled.

Of course, comparing mindless addicts to the agents of the organization would be a disrespectful story for them··· Well, whatever.

‘They won’t explode like addicts.’

There’s no need to worry about being exposed to my surroundings by killing them.

With that thought in mind, Najin kicked the wall of the alley and spun around on the ground. The three pursuers who noticed Najin’s falling figure quickly formed a formation.

The one at the front swung his sword towards Najin, creating an opening for the other two to stab. Najin captured all these movements in my sight.

And in capturing them, Najin realized that the information about myself hadn’t been properly conveyed.

“It’s not a counter.”

In the moment when Najin’s falling sword clashed with the pursuer’s swinging sword, it flashed white. The hilt of the sword, which lifted in an instant, wrapped around Najin’s sword.

“I should have avoided it.”

The blade wielded by the novice was clearly coated with the essence of a sword. And Najin knew well how formidable the cutting power of this essence was. He vividly remembered the moment when his own iron sword was severed by Ivan’s essence, and death loomed dangerously close.

Without the essence-coated blade.

One cannot parry a blade coated with the essence.

Thunk!

The moment the blades clashed, the pursuer’s sword shattered. Even after breaking the sword, Najin’s blade, still enveloped in essence, pierced through the pursuer’s feeble defense, cutting through the body and emerging triumphantly.

“One.”

The pattern of their battle was established by Najin deflecting the swords of those who came at him. By shattering the first condition, Najin completely thwarted their plans.

Thud.

Amidst the rising droplets of blood, Najin immediately lowered his stance. Dodging the two blades that thrust into the darkness, Najin, with his essence-coated blade, swept it low, avoiding the attackers.

Those without essence-coated blades couldn’t defend against Najin’s attacks in the narrow alley. Their blades bounced off the walls. But not Najin. With his stance lowered, he swung his blade horizontally, utilizing the essence.

Squeak.

The blade, assisted by the essence, cut through the wall and emerged with a blade between two attackers. One dodged, but the other couldn’t. With a severed ankle, the pursuer tilted. Najin swiftly thrust his blade short into the pursuer’s neck and withdrew it.

“Two.”

Droplets splattered. The collapsing bodies.

Having dealt with the two, Najin turned his head. His gaze met the pursuer who had just lost two comrades in an instant. Hidden behind deeply pressed robes, his expression was obscured, but Najin noticed the trembling eyes.

Thump.

As Najin took a step forward, the pursuer took a step back. Disadvantaged by the imbalance of information, the pursuer, faced with the boy approaching with a drawn essence, suddenly turned and fled.

The roles of hunter and prey reversed.

Najin didn’t pursue the fleeing prey.

Instead, he pulled out a memory from the bracelet tied to his wrist. Things looted and memorized from hunting and plundering pursuers. Holding it in his hand, Najin aimed at the fleeing pursuer.

He had never handled a memory before, but he had seen how they were manipulated and thrown by others. Since he had observed, imitating them wasn’t difficult.

Thud.

Taking a step forward, Najin threw the memory. With a sharp sound, it flew and deeply embedded itself in the pursuer’s leg.

“Argh!”

The pursuer fell along with a short cry. Throwing another memory towards him, Najin concluded.

“Three.”

Having looted the necessary items from the corpses, Najin disappeared into the depths of the alley. This should be enough. Now, Najin ran towards his real destination.

The place revealed by Open.

Towards the only exit from this underground city.

2.

Najin walked through the alleyway and, after a while, two pursuers turned onto the alleyway and their expressions visibly darkened upon seeing the bodies of their comrades. They had been outnumbered, although they were a group of three. How could this happen to them? Against a boy who was born and raised in a place like this underground city?

“Nine were killed in the past two days.”

In addition to the nine, there were three more.

A total of twelve had died. They didn’t have any pride as assassins, but they had at least some sense of self-respect.

Nevertheless, the mission had to be completed. They suppressed their anger and examined the traces left behind by Najin. During their investigation, they furrowed their brows as they discovered something strange.

“The sword is completely shattered.”

The sword their comrade had been using was completely shattered.

There were even marks on the wall, as if it had been split open. It was a mark that couldn’t have been made by an ordinary sword. It was the trace of a sword energy.

The target was only 18 years old.

An 18-year-old boy using sword energy?

Could it be Excalibur? If so, a brilliant light would have radiated from it. They were struggling to easily accept this situation.

Thunk. Someone entered the alleyway.

They quickly turned their heads towards the source of the sound. Unfortunately or fortunately, it wasn’t the boy they were targeting. It was a mercenary who had volunteered to cooperate in this matter, standing there.

“What’s going on?”

Was there something to report?

Offen nodded in response to the question thrown by Am-boo.

“Yes, there is something urgent that needs to be reported…”

Using convincing words, Offen stepped closer to them, step by step. When the others furrowed their brows at Offen’s words without context, Offen was already five steps closer to them.

Five steps.

Offen’s self-drawn distance.

Taking one more step forward, Offen drew his sword. Simultaneously, the sword emitted sword energy. Seeing Offen’s sudden change in stance, the Am-boo members moved belatedly, but it was already too late.

The swords clashed several times.

Blood splattered multiple times.

Having created two corpses, Offen let out a short breath and left the scene. Before leaving, he smiled as he confirmed the trace of sword energy that seemed to have been left by Najin. It seemed that Najin was doing better than he had expected after all.

Najin had killed six of the pursuers in the past two days.

However, the pursuers only knew about nine.

The remaining three were Offen’s own doing.

Pretending to cooperate, he had read their movements and struck from behind when they were isolated, just as Najin had done.

This should be enough. If the smoke has reached this extent, Na-jin’s true purpose must be perfectly hidden.

All that’s left is to prepare for the worst.

Mentally preparing for the worst-case scenario, Offen moved toward Na-jin’s final destination. What Offen was wary of wasn’t these underground passages.

Knights, Vero.

They were also in pursuit of Na-jin.

It seemed they hadn’t yet figured out Na-jin’s real destination, but ignoring even one possibility was not an option. If he was going to do it, Offen was ready for the end.

“…I don’t know what this trouble is.”

But he didn’t feel too bad.

Since falling into this city, Offen had lived day by day, drowning in alcohol as if he were already dead. In the midst of that wasted time, there was undoubtedly something shining.

A light that didn’t suit this underground city.

A light he could never possess.

Perhaps Offen was projecting his past onto that light. The starlight he reached for but could never grasp. That’s why Offen hoped.

May that light not be trampled upon.

3.

Following the path Offen showed him, Na-jin ran.

Na-jin realized the destination was near. The sound of water dropping began to echo. In his mind, Na-jin recalled the map.

A waterfall marked on the map.

To reach that waterfall, he had to pass through the tunnel.

An old, unused tunnel. Since the end of the tunnel led to the waterfall, turning into the tunnel meant either a successful escape or failure. As Na-jin ran toward the entrance of the tunnel, his heart pounded.

It was almost there.

Soon, he could leave this city.

Even though he hadn’t crossed the waterfall yet, he couldn’t help but feel excited. The possibility of going outside began to appear. With each step, someone’s voice echoed in Na-jin’s ears.

“Just a piece of junk.”

“Why were you born in a place like this?”

It was the mockery the boy had heard all his life.

“You’ll rot here for the rest of your life.”

“You can never go outside. You’ll die mingling with garbage like us for the rest of your life…”

The ridicule the boy had endured all his life.

“You can’t ascend.”

“You will rot here for the rest of your life.

The talent you possess only serves to make you miserable.

All those stories you ignored, sometimes cutting them off, turning away. But not anymore. Shout as much as you want. Laugh as much as you want. I will leave this place and go outside.

A smile formed on Najin’s lips.

With each step forward.

As Najin approached the entrance of the passage, the voices echoing in his ears were gradually fading away, one by one.

Running and running, Najin arrived at the entrance of the passage. All voices disappeared, leaving only one in his ears. Until the very last moment, the voice of someone Najin could not shake off echoed in his ears.

“Do not cross the line, Najin.”

“If you cross the line, I’ll have to kill you.”

Najin stopped walking.

Although the entrance of the passage was in front of him, he could no longer take another step. There was someone guarding that place.

“You came.”

The presence that drew the line for Najin.

The owner of the still ringing voice.

“I’ve been waiting.”

Ivan on the other side.

The final line Najin had to cross, a massive wall stood there.