Black Badger - Chapter 323



Only Noblemtl

323. Once Upon a Time (1)

It’s so annoying!

Igor slammed on the brakes.

Rose quickly grabbed the back of the front seat to keep herself from falling over. You, who was sitting in the passenger seat, banged her head on the glove box.

It was detected at the same time.

The woman slowly straightened her upper body and muttered.

“You bounced this time too, right?”

“okay.”

Igor stepped on the full accelerator.

Boooooooooo!

This time, You’s thin upper body fell backwards.

thud!

He banged his head loudly against the passenger seat headrest, but no one paid any attention.

Igor grabbed the steering wheel.

“Dogs’ feet.”

“Not yet.”

Youga muttered darkly.

“There hasn’t been enough time to completely remove it. If you absorb it, you can recover. Hilde is a child of the World Tree.”

“i know.”

Rose answered without emotion.

The veins on Igor’s forearms were prominent. It was admirable that he didn’t crumple the steering wheel.

Rose muttered, looking out the windshield expressionlessly.

“Did you explain it to Saint Delte?”

“no.”

“You must be shaking with anxiety.”

The three of them were passing through a dense forest where no human presence was felt. After passing a few streets that were judged to be the enemy’s range of activity, the traces of people decreased rapidly. A space where only the clear cries of birds and the sounds of animals running through the grass could be heard.

They kept running towards where the GPS was flashing.

I was relieved that the signal didn’t get cut off.

A small twinkle of hope.

“It’s something you can just take alive and leave.”

Igor muttered darkly.

“It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve waited.”

You and Rose expressed their understanding in gloomy silence.

On the last day of the First War, Hildebert disappeared.

It happened on the day Ray died. That day when Kyle’s presence faded away, very faintly. Hilde would never know what happened that day. He could only guess at some of the things that happened, who fainted and who was broken.

Those who went to see Hilde after she returned never mentioned what happened that day.

You only grinded your teeth to that extent.

The others kept quiet, knowing full well that Hilde would feel guilty if she found out.

Many were devastated, thinking that Hilde was dead.

Yvonne, a knight under Hilde, was one of them. Yvonne, who had been in a coma throughout the war, briefly regained consciousness after the war ended.

And then I realized that I couldn’t feel any sign of Hilde.

Kyle’s presence was faintly felt from afar.

‘Did you lose?’

‘We won the battle.’

‘But the captain.’

It was a conversation that Yvonne and Deltay had.

Igor, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, remembered the deep despair in the senior knight’s eyes.

‘The captain is no longer here.’

‘I don’t know yet. I searched everywhere, but I didn’t find the body.’

‘He must have turned to ash and collapsed.’

Yvonne was a knight who followed Hilde around to play.

I don’t know how I came to follow Hilde. Neither Hilde nor Yvonne were of the type to talk about it.

But Yvonne was always more realistic than Noll.

I guess I couldn’t hold on to the seemingly vain hope.

‘It’s nice to see you soon.’

‘no.’

Deltey cried and begged.

‘Stay on Earth with him and wait for him to return.’

Yvonne couldn’t stay awake for long.

Should I take comfort in the fact that the moment I closed my eyes and said I was going to meet Hilde, I was smiling?

Igor and Deltey never intended to tell Hilde about Yvonne’s death.

I won’t say anything even if a knife is put to my throat.

The fact that not only Yvonne but many others fell apart.

During the half century he did not return, he was treated as mentally ill due to the belief in his survival.

Those who have forgotten Hilde’s name… .

Among them, only a few continued to hold out hope.

Like crazy people, we held on to a possibility that was fading away as time went by.

Hilde’s presence was cut off in a different way than Ray’s. When Ray’s presence was cut off, everyone knew that the youngest sword master in the empire had fulfilled his order.

However, Hilde’s presence did not cease; she simply disappeared.

So for a while they speculated that Hilde had been kidnapped by Kyle’s side and was living with her presence erased by magic.

But I quickly found out that wasn’t the case.

A period of waiting that lasted 50 years.

“A saint can believe and wait for this much.”

Igor muttered darkly.

“I’m going to kill all those motherfuckers.”

An old car picked up on the street raced along, squealing in agony.

***

The sword of the Black-Haired Knight Commander is destructive.

All the monsters that Kairos had taken control of were torn to pieces by the claw-like sword strikes. Sand, flesh, and blood shot up into the sky.

Kairos let out a hollow laugh as he watched the debris of death popping like firecrackers.

There’s a reason he was called ‘The Sharp Claw of the Empire’.

His sword strikes were like the claws of a giant dragon.

It spread out in all directions, leaving deep scars on the earth. Everything in its path was sharply torn apart.

Kairos’ left eye was no exception.

Still, I managed to avoid it three or four times.

Phew!

Blood spurted out, accompanied by a sharp pain.

I made a mistake.

Kairos closed his left eye and smiled bitterly.

I was distracted for a moment.

The moment I felt Hilde’s presence sharply, I reflexively turned my head away, which was a mistake. Kyle was a tough opponent to deal with, even if I had to be on my toes every moment, so this was an inevitable result of me taking my eyes off him.

Kyle laughed sharply.

“Your disgustingly sensitive intuition has been misled.”

The knight swung his sword, shaking off the blood from it.

Kairos looked at Kyle, feeling the milk whimpering in the distance and the angel flapping its wings behind him.

Golden eyes sparkling with anger.

The man who was an object of fear to those who were not imperial citizens straightened his posture.

“Don’t worry. Your presence will soon cease.”

“There’s no way we can win in this condition.”

Kairos muttered, not even bothering to wipe the blood pouring from his eyes.

It was not what I expected. It was arrogant to face the Black Knight Commander with such mediocre monsters. Kyle is someone who has no chance of victory even if he fights alongside the Fire Dragon.

“I guess I should run away.”

And then the spirit is drawn.

“Try it.”

Kyle tilted the corner of his mouth as if he had heard something funny.

“The sight of you running away? It must be quite a sight.”

The thief snowflake is actually a very dangerous monster.

He was a coward, but he could fire a cannon that was as powerful as a volley once every ten years.

Before the negotiations, Hilde heard of Kairos’ strategy and reluctantly commented, “That should be enough to escape from Kyle and the spirits.” Hilde was never one to give unrealistic hopes. His assessment of the situation was mostly correct.

He also knows better than anyone how to deal with Kyle, his lifelong rival.

“colon!”

Someone shouted sharply.

“Beware of the thief snowflakes!”

“army.”

Kairos whispered into the radio next to his ear.

[huh.]

“Milk….”

I couldn’t finish speaking.

Kwakwakwakwaaang!

Destructive noise.

One of the empire’s greatest disasters was unleashed.

The moment Kairos and Kyle turned their heads, a beam of ruination engulfed the surroundings.

***

It’s not as painful as I thought.

I blinked.

It was strange though.

It wasn’t as hopeless as I’d heard.

It could be because the endless stream of resentment has stopped.

Whatever the reason, I was glad that it was bearable. Of course, this vast absence of sensation was unfamiliar, so I struggled with my body that had been hanging down. I wondered if something would change if I changed my position.

Nothing has changed.

Clyde continued working calmly.

A pain that feels distant.

As I was buried inside and not moving, at some point the wizards spoke.

“Finish this quickly, Executioner. We have to extract the memories from that traitor’s brain.”

“Against a sword master and a child of the World Tree. You must have been warned in advance how dangerous this task is. If you don’t remove the leaf veins and drain the energy, Hildebert will surely break the spell and escape. Your heads will be rolling around on the cave floor.”

The tone of explanation was monotonous.

“However, if you complete the leaf vein removal procedure properly, you will be able to extract memories with confidence.”

A sharp pain ran down the back of my neck.

“Because a body that has had its vital organs taken away takes a long time to recover.”

I heard Clyde put the surgical instruments down on the tray.

This is true. It keeps bringing back bad memories that I had pushed aside in a corner.

I frowned. And I tried not to be consumed by the memories of the past that were about to come up. I had to pull myself together and escape from here with Jin. I also had to pick up on whether the wizards were leaking any information.

It would be much more comfortable if I didn’t keep feeling awkward.

The silence didn’t help me come to my senses.

But there’s no need for a seizure here, Hildebert.

The recklessness is even worse.

Because I don’t know when the seniors will come… .

***

Squeak!

Two cars stopped with a loud noise.

Old cars that stopped just before a collision.

If either side had braked just a second later, it would have resulted in a major crash. But no one was surprised or angry.

People rushed out of the car, which left loud skid marks.

“Here it is.”

“What is this?”

Youga muttered darkly, and Ruta Ayer looked forward and furrowed her brow.

Those who look at the same thing gloomily.

A beautiful landscape appeared before my eyes. The feeling of the wind changed, and the dazzling sunlight broke out from all directions. The smell of grass rose from the open fields.

Clearer recording.

Those who poured out of the car looked ahead with glaring eyes.

“It’s a crude maze created by wizards.”

The bookworm commented.

“They say that Hilde is somewhere that has passed through this.”

“Is this some kind of hallucination?”

Yoon said in a dry voice.

You let out a deep sigh.

“It’s similar. It’s a rough form, but it’s a good defensive line. It has some similarities to the voice of the demon’s dream. Humans call it the ‘ash-colored cloak’.”

“Mental attack type?”

As you can see, Fisker frowned and muttered.

“Is there a separate body that needs to be killed?”

When the silver-haired Badger asked again, the black-haired scribe gave a brief explanation.

There were two ways to destroy magic.

Method one. Find the wizard and kill him.

Second method. Kill the obstacles this magic puts in front of you.

As you pass the simple daisy flowers blooming in the grass, your enemies will appear. The obstacles that appear in front of you will be different for each person. It could be the enemy you most want to face, the thing you fear the most, or the person you love the most.

“If you have something like a phobia, it might be easier to predict what might pop up.”

Youga said calmly.

“Those with severe phobias usually can’t get past that barrier.”

“What happens if I don’t get over it?”

“Either you pass out or you come back here again.”

“Will the hallucinations go away if I harm myself or distract myself?”

“I’ve tried everything. Almost none of them work. The fastest and easiest way is to just kill the obstacle that pops up in front of you.”

After finishing speaking, You walked briskly towards the daisies.

Igor and Rose also followed closely behind the scribe.

Of the three walking towards the magic defense, only Igor turned his head to look at the humans.

“Follow me. There’s nothing I can do about this.”

As the tall man stepped next to the daisy, the front part of his foot disappeared from sight.

The most affectionate of the Titans who came out of the core to rescue Hilde.

Yoon nodded and followed them.

What can we do? They had to pass through here no matter what, and this is the only known method of destruction.

What happened next was a matter for the badgers who followed to deal with.

Yoon said nonchalantly.

“Follow me.”

There was no objection or question.

The badgers ran towards the flowers that did not sway even in the cool breeze.