Chapter 1330 – Grindel

I sensed a strange presence in Nelf’s room, so I rushed over and saw a very unexpected scene.
Not just another guy, but an incorporeal being pierced through the stomach and staggering around?
Because he let his guard down?
No. Even though he appears to be letting his guard down on the outside, he is a guy who always keeps his body in a state of tension.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been assassinating as a magician killer for a long time, whether it’s because I’ve been in the underworld for a long time, or if it’s just my nature.
What’s important now is that I have the right amount of tension to always be able to respond, and that an intangible with much stronger physical specifications than me still allows the enemy to attack.
The enemy is strong.

I breathed lunar into my eyes.
No. That alone is not enough.
Ryunar was converted to divine power.
My talent was highly praised by Kaits, who said it was a special ability that only I could do.
With this, you have to see the ghost’s every move.

Keep your eyes peeled.
The moment you take your eyes off.
Perishing…

Shoo!!

“!”

It wasn’t visible.
However, I sensed the space being distorted.

Sigh!!

As soon as I twisted my body, a pale hand touched the spot where my stomach had been just moments before.
I glanced at it and saw that the fingernails were very long and black, which was truly unhygienic.
The ghost opened its mouth slightly, probably not expecting me to avoid it.

Now this attack is something that goes beyond the concept of speed.
A power that could be called a miracle of God or a joke.
But. I avoided it.

I grinned and kicked the ghost’s chin with my knee. Perfect! The sound of teeth clashing together couldn’t be more pleasant.

As soon as the ghost stumbled from this attack or took a defensive stance, I kept my eyes on this unknown guy in order to swing my sword.

Shoo!! Wow!!

“Wow!”

Instead of the two expected patterns, another teleportation stab appeared.
This time, my fingernail grazed my stomach a little, causing blood to flow.
It’s nice that the blood is flowing, but it feels like the cut is burning.
It’s not poisonous, right?
Thanks to the passive skill Ryunar’s Blessing, he is immune to poison, but it is unclear whether he can also block poison caused by divine power.

As it turns out, it wasn’t poison.

So so so so so.

It’s freezing.
So what?

Wow-!! The sword was swung.

Cutting sword. My signature cut of anything was aimed at the ghost’s neck, and boom! It split the air.
The ghost, who had avoided the sword by leaning back grotesquely, stared at me and stretched out his hand.

[Ah…]

Damn. I thought it was too slow and my body was freezing.
Smirking. As soon as the flames cleared away the cold and my body regained its freedom, I swung my fist.

Whoosh- whoop-!!

I hit the face of the ghost that was reaching out to me from close range with my fist.
Okay! While grinning at the cheerful sound and taste of the hand.

Damn…

The ghost’s stomach split open.

“…!!”

I felt the creepiest I’ve ever felt.
I don’t know what it is, but it’s dangerous.
If that’s the case, I’ll fight back with my best attack.

As I smiled at the feeling that sent goosebumps through my entire body, I used the sword…

Pooh wow!

[Kruk?!]

Suddenly, the ghost vomited blue blood.
The intangible was stabbing a dagger into the place where the heart was located from behind.

“I’ll pay you back. Sister.”

Muhyeong didn’t stop there, but kicked him in the calf, causing him to fall to his knees. Almost at the same time, he pulled out the dagger that had been stuck in his heart and tried to cut off his head.
That was a mistake.

Shuak!!

An intangible dagger cut through the air.
The ghost did not fight back this time.
It just disappeared.

Intangible sensed the surroundings without panicking. So did I.
But… There was no sign of anyone nearby.
What is this…

That damned ghost has completely disappeared from before us.
As if existence itself had been erased from this world.

“…Mr. Ai. It’s embarrassing.”

Intangible. I gritted my teeth and wiped the blood that had leaked from the corner of my mouth.
Fortunately among misfortunes. His very special body was being restored naturally without any special treatment.

Da da da da.

I was tensed for a moment when I heard the sound of running, but the tension quickly eased.
This is because the sound of these footsteps was full of human feeling.
Soon the owners of the footsteps appeared.

“Hey…What’s going on, why are you running like that…!”
“Uh, uh. Tohute oppa. Ah, ah, hello.”

Orute and Orue came.
You followed right behind me, but you were later than I thought?
Even though they are wizards who mainly use their brains, aren’t they too slow on their feet?
But Orute made a noise.

“No. By the way, Dre, where did you go in the middle of the day?”
“?”

Orute says something I can’t understand.
Where have you gone?

“I’ve been here the whole time? Look, Nelf and Intangible have been attacked, so there’s no way I’m just passing by.”
“Huh? Huh… Huh…? There was no one there when we passed by here earlier…”
“…”
“That. “Dre’s brother suddenly disappeared too, so I took a walk around his mansion…”

At the moment, certain doubts hit my mind at the words of the two people. I thought of the first thing I had to do.

That…
Tail!!! Page!!!

“Spit-particles aaaaa-!!!!”

My shout swept through Grindel Manor.

My yelling at night was enough to wake up all of Grindel’s servants.

When I saw the regular wizards rushing in and the immediate staff with irritated expressions on their faces, I explained the whole story and asked for an explanation from them as well.

“An intruder from Grindel, one of the greatest wizarding families! How can this be possible?”

What I said was enough to make you think you sent assassins on us.
Of course, I said that in the hope that it would sound like that.
Gaiji, who seemed to be the guard captain, lost his temper at my words.

“You are doubting us now!”
“Then you will trust us without suspecting anything!! As I said before, we are here to investigate you!! There is nothing strange about attacking us!”

I deliberately raised my voice loudly and looked at the faces of my immediate superiors.
No one seemed particularly agitated.
I think that the ghost from earlier is definitely related to Grindel.
That’s because that ghost-like thing used divine power.
Grindel also created a magic tool imbued with divine power.

Also, what is swirling in my mind right now is the story I heard from Orute when I first arrived here and the text message Kaitz sent me.
God is a character that is said to be powerful as a parasite in folk tales.

It was that moment.

Whoops!

Giiiiing. The surroundings become quiet with noise.
Grindel’s head, who hit his staff on the floor, opened his mouth with a solemn expression.

“Stop.”

He looked at me and bowed.

“Teacher Dre. I sincerely apologize. This was Grindel’s negligence. I promise to give you the compensation you deserve. I will also look for that ghost right now. Gaiji.”

The man whose name was called bowed his head in approval and the head of the family ordered a search.

The matriarch politely apologized to Nelf, who was soon terrified.

That night passed like that.

Even the next day, Muhyeong was still gnashing his teeth with his arrogant face.
It seemed like he was bothered by what happened to the ghost yesterday.

If he were a normal guy, he would have just smiled and said that it was possible for him to have been caught off guard by an enemy, but it seems that the place called Grindel is making him impatient.
I feel very embarrassed and humiliated to have shown even the slightest injury to my immediate superiors yesterday.
Now he’s lying on the bed and complaining in a barely audible voice.

“But fuck, Balom. Why are you complaining in my room?”
“That’s because if I’m alone, that damn woman will come find me.”
“Damn woman? Ah… A temperamental woman?”
“Not him.”

She called me a naughty girl, and judging by what I heard, I guess she deep down thought that this woman named Neiru had a dirty temper.

“Then who?”
“The woman who biologically gave birth to me.”
“Just call me Mom.”
“She doesn’t like it. And don’t call her mommy.”

The guy looks slightly embarrassed and turns around.
I stared at his back for a moment and then asked.

“What is your father doing now?”
“If it’s that old man, he’s probably stuck in his office or lab.”
“Okay?”

I continued to stare at him, and the intangible soon lost its temper.

“There’s going to be a hole in my back. What is it? Do you have anything to say?”

There is, though. I don’t do it because I feel like I’ll get angry if I do it.

“Please show me around the house. It’s really a mess to treat guests.”
“There needs to be someone to guide me to this dingy house.”

Muhyeong looked like he was going to grumble, but then he straightened up.

I followed him aimlessly as he walked, but as I walked around, I realized that most places in Grindel were strictly prohibited to outsiders.

But. How can we know what else these noblemen, who created secret labs and had no hesitation in conducting human experiments, might have hidden in such remote places?
There must be a lot of things that are difficult to show us.
I can force myself to see through it, but the ghost and the divine power I felt in the warehouse bother me.
It was difficult to respond even if we were face to face right in front of our noses, but if we were unexpectedly attacked, there would be no response, so be as careful as possible.

“I never thought I would get hurt in a place like this.”

The intangible grumbled again and I shrugged my shoulders.

“He deserved to get hurt. He was a pretty strong enemy.”

Enemies I’ve dealt with on a regular basis. For example, beings like the devil have power. If the energy itself was large and strong, it felt like the ghost was completely ignoring the power gap and imposing its own laws.

Why? You know.
Even in games, there are boss battles that cannot be beaten without a special strategy. A similar feeling.

I comforted him in some way, but the intangible feeling did not get better.
The guy grunted and spoke to me in a clear voice.

“That ghost. Next time I see it, I will kill it.”
“Sure.”

We walked around having trivial conversations.
And my impressions…

“There’s not much to see.”
“I told you so.”

No. Isn’t there a common walking trail?
Even though it was a snowy field, everything in Grindel was focused on magic, to the point where this large space was a waste.

The large fields and orchards I heard about before coming to Grindel at least have a human-like smell.

“…Should I go see that?”

Muhyeong muttered that and then took the lead again.
This time the atmosphere seemed quite serious.

The place we arrived was the first place we visited after visiting Grindel yesterday. It was the so-called Cave of Ordeals.
Intangible saw holes here and there like anthills.

“At the end of this hole, there is a warp gate connected to each dangerous area. The gate uses taunt and charm magic.”

And a more powerful enchantment magic than the warp gate unfolds in the center.
The structure is such that monsters attracted by magic constantly flock to the center through the warp gate.
The warp gate will not be closed until the direct line passes the test or gives up.

“If you give up, the next test will be five years later.”

After saying that, Muhyeong added softly.

“I… Couldn’t bear it.”
“…”
“I always felt like I was being treated or looked down upon, so that’s how I lived. The funny thing is, the only person who prompted me to say that I couldn’t live like this anymore and that I would rather die than this was the only man who was nice to me.”

At the end of the sentence, the incorporeal person looked at me and his face distorted.

“Ah. I want to beat you up.”
“Why the fuck?”
“When I look at him again, he looks exactly like my uncle.”

Wow. Intangible clicked his tongue.

“…Uncle was the only one in this shitty house who had expectations for me.”

In order to live up to expectations, the head of the family was put through a difficult ordeal.
Intangible was strong even when he was young, but this ordeal required only the use of magic.
The man feared by Mana was beaten by monsters without resistance until the magic was revealed.
Meanwhile, my family, no. All I could do was look down coldly from above, covered in blood.

“No. Now that I think about it, I didn’t just watch. Yeongtaeng kept shouting for me to prove my worth. You must be pissed.”
“…”
“I continued to persevere, not only because of my uncle’s expectations, but also because I felt antipathy toward Yeongtaengi, but eventually I reached my limit.”

The intangible was eaten by a monster and almost died.
The monsters burned down all at once, including the warp gate.

Hachii.
A man called the intangible uncle saved the intangible.

“The uncle who saved me looked deeply disappointed in me.”

I flinched at those words.
What came to mind was the look in my father’s fierce eyes at me right before he died.

Immediately after being rescued by Hachii, Muhyeong fainted, so I don’t know the details, but there was an argument between Hachii and another immediate family member.

Hachii decided to leave Grindel, and the intangible that woke up late chased after him.
And… A very large and dangerous monster that was not supposed to be here appeared… And Hachii is said to have disappeared somewhere along with the monster.

“It’s not that they died together. They just disappeared.”

So, he was not declared dead, but listed as missing.

“After that, whatever happened, I ended up leaving this shitty place. There are so many areas where access is restricted unless you are a member of the immediate family who passed the ordeal, so as a defective product, I don’t know where the crime lab you’re curious about is. If you look for it, I’m sure you’ll find something. Will appear, but…”
“Intangible.”
“Yes?”

I said just one thing to the guy staring at me.

“You worked hard.”
“…”

Muhyeong silently put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the pit below.

Past. Does he remind me of him when he was young?
I glanced at it and saw that its intangible face had turned red and was trembling.
…What the fuck?

“No, you bastard!!”

Muhyeong turned his head towards me and got really angry.

“What’s so cringe-worthy! Do something that fits the theme!”
“Come on. I’ll beat you.”

When I clenched my fist and took a fighting stance, Muhyeong smiled and took a fighting stance facing me.

OK. I will kill you today.
That moment when we peek into each other’s gaps and search for patterns. Ta-tat. Something jumped out in front of us.

In fact, I was not surprised because I had already sensed the presence.

That something. No, Dofute, the intangible younger brother, was staring at us.
Those eyes look intelligent.

Looking at him, I thought of Orute and Orue, who came to visit me last night.
Did this child come here with the intention of asking them to take him outside like they did?

“What is it? Little one.”

Seeing the kid who was just glaring at him in silence, Muhyeong spoke first, and at that moment, Dohute pointed his finger and shouted with a grin.

“I heard it all!! You didn’t pass the test as expected! You inferior student!! That’s why you didn’t even receive the True Dragon Noble Phantasm! Haha! Defective product!!!!!”
“…”

Quick. Blood vessels sprouted from the intangible blood vessels.
I lowered my fist and stopped the guy.

“Sleep, you idiot. Calm down…”
“You must be a worthless bastard who hangs out with such an inferior student! You rotten eyes!!”

Wahahahahaha!! We looked at each other when we saw him laughing excitedly.
And then he grabbed his legs and arms and twisted them as if he were squeezing a clothesline.

“Aaaaahhh! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!”

As I was looking at the screaming damn kid with satisfied eyes, a question suddenly occurred to me.

“Hey. What is the True Dragon Noble Phantasm?”

Just like me, the guy with a happy face as he was squeezing the child like a load of laundry spoke in a bright voice.

“Grindel’s Noble Phantasm given to the direct lineage who passed the test with excellent grades. If you think of it as a teenage family, it’s like an artifact. I heard it was made in collaboration with the dwarves. If you think about it, I don’t know how that strict old man can collaborate with those stubborn people… “
“Hmm.”

Okay. Right.
Now that I think about it. Until now, something just kept happening to me…?

“Hey.”
“?”
“Shall I steal it? That.”