Borderline Village (2)
“Leave not a single bone behind, my minions!”
The eerie voice echoed through the sewers, but Dalen didn’t flinch. Instead, he glanced back.
“Why?”
They were surrounded by thousands of monstrous rats, yet Sienna’s face showed not a hint of fear.
It wasn’t mere bravado. It was confidence.
A confidence born from surviving the back alleys, honed by a firm belief in her own abilities.
‘Yes, this is the Feathered Witch I know.’
Sienna Eclacia.
Renowned as the most powerful of all generations, even surpassing the first Feathered Witch.
Even with the legions of hell before her, she remained calm, as if it were nothing.
“It’s nothing.”
Dalen chuckled, turning away. Sienna raised an eyebrow.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just keep these creatures tied up for a bit. I’ll be right back.”
“That’s easy enough. But where are you going?”
“To catch the rat hiding in the shadows.”
With a grin that bared his fangs, Dalen drew his holy sword from his waist. In the pitch-black darkness, its faint blue glow shimmered on the water’s surface.
“Be quick.”
Sienna spread her arms wide, beginning her incantation.
In an instant, the massive figure in the darkness blurred like a shadow.
A rat the size of a wolf was split cleanly in two, its upper and lower jaws severed. Even as its innards spilled out, its red eyes gleamed with gluttony until the very end.
Grotesque as it was, Dalen paid it no mind.
Years of training had dulled his senses to such horrors.
With a swift swing of his sword, the whirlwind at its tip shredded through hide, muscle, and entrails.
As he thrust his sword into the newly created space, a storm erupted, obliterating a dozen more rats in its wake.
A wave of filthy water, mixed with the blood and fluids of the slain creatures, crashed over the remaining horde.
Though it caused no harm, it was a scene that would terrify any human opponent.
Squeak! Screech!
Yet, even drenched in the blood of their kin, the monstrous rats charged on, driven mad by the scent of blood.
‘Bingo.’
This was exactly what Dalen had anticipated.
He released his left hand from the sword, extending it forward. Lightning crackled between his fingers.
[Lightning Strike (D)]
‘Lenia Basak.’ A spell from the legendary sky fortress of Varshabak, known as the mobile tower of lightning mages. It miniaturizes the concept of lightning, forming the basis of electric magic.
Mastery: 100%
Recalling the foundational spell, Dalen twisted the swirling magical energy, envisioning the scene he wanted to create.
‘Lightning Strike is a D-rank spell, one of the basics.’
Electric magic is fast and powerful, but Lightning Strike is the most basic of its kind.
With its limitations, it was a spell barely useful in one-on-one situations.
But what if he twisted this basic spell with the power of his imagination?
In this cramped, moisture-laden space, it was the perfect place to test it.
Sparks flew as the range of the electric tendrils expanded rapidly.
The key wasn’t the spell’s rank, but the size and direction of the imagination that wove it anew.
And the ambition to reach higher, coupled with the vessel of talent that encompassed it all.
The net of electricity, surpassing his grasp, took the form of a giant reptilian claw.
It reminded him of the black flame claw he once wielded against the true dragon, Cheonglin.
Recalling that strike, Dalen unleashed the lightning that illuminated the sewers.
“Thunderclap”
The blue tendrils of electricity branched out like tree limbs.
Splitting and dividing from the thick main body, they filled the narrow sewer with a brilliant hue.
The wet fur of the monstrous rats burst upon contact with the tendrils.
In an instant, a hundred rats were charred to blackened husks, and twice as many lay limp from electrocution.
“Damn. That stings a bit.”
Dalen shook his hand, easing the tension in his shoulders from the electricity. Despite wearing armor resistant to lightning, the accumulated fatigue was significant.
The risk of self-electrocution was a critical flaw of electric magic.
Yet, the dragon’s blood coursing through him restored any damage with a single deep breath.
He stepped onto the sewage water, as if walking on dry land.
No rats dared enter the passage swept by the blue lightning storm.
Driven by gluttony, they weren’t scared. They simply chose other routes due to the residual current in the damp space.
“Nox! Obex!”
And those that poked their heads through other passages would meet their end by Sienna’s spells.
‘With Sienna holding the rats, I don’t need to worry about retrieving the bodies.’
Now, only one task remained.
Finding the silent mastermind and having a proper Q&A session about this whole mess.
Finding the hidden rat didn’t take long. Illusions and tricks rarely worked on Dalen.
His unique skill, ‘Phantom Eye,’ born from his night vision, could pierce most mysteries and illusions.
Even if he couldn’t fully see through them, a hint was enough to use the Shadow Assassin’s dagger he retrieved from the swamp.
Thud.
“Ugh!”
He knocked out the rat-headed humanoid with the axe handle, then quickly rejoined Sienna to finish off the remaining rats.
Using brute force in the sewers could lead to a collapse, so he wisely utilized his newly crafted skill, ‘Thunderclap.’
“Old Bjorn suspected you might be a high-ranking mage. Seems he was right. A third-tier… no, fourth-tier mage. What kind of monster are you?”
“It’s strange to be called a monster by a witch.”
“What are you talking about?”
Sienna shook her head, and Dalen chuckled.
At the intersection filled with charred and shredded bodies, Dalen retrieved the unconscious rat-man before waking him.
[You have retrieved the body of a beggar devoured by the Shadow Rats. Inheriting abilities.]
[Inheritance Reward: Dexterity +3, Combined Combat Technique (Unique)]
“Hmm.”
It was the second unique skill he’d gained from a corpse. A relic from his days of thinking he could defeat all foes with flashy moves while wearing rags.
He was in the process of building a training ground beneath his silver district home, so he’d soon have time to properly study it.
“What do we do with this one? Wake him now?”
“Yes.”
Dalen nodded. Sienna pressed her index finger against the rat-man’s elongated forehead.
“Ugh!”
The rat-man awoke with a start, looking around frantically before spotting Dalen and shrieking.
“How did you find me so quickly… Aaargh!”
“Quiet.”
Snap!
Three fingers were torn off at once, and the rat-man swallowed his scream.
With twelve fingers in total, he could afford to lose a few more for a lengthy conversation.
First order of business was introductions. Dalen crouched before the trembling rat-man.
“Velvelator Skymass, a low-ranking officer of the Shadow Moon Clan.”
“How… how do you know me? The information broker at the Crow’s Nest said nothing about you…”
“I’m well-versed in this field, but I know a bit of everything. And one more thing. Only I ask the questions.”
Snap! Crack!
This time, two fingers, one at a time.
The rat-man, now with only a thumb left on his left hand, screamed so loudly it echoed through the sewers.
Of course, it was only for a moment. He didn’t want to lose his remaining thumb.
“Ask… ask anything. I’ll answer whatever you want.”
“Loose lips, huh? Not very fitting for a member of the Shadow Moon Guild. Are the senior officers still not awake?”
“How do you know that… Ah, no! I was wrong. The senior officers haven’t awakened yet, but soon the dark veil will… Aaargh!”
With that, his left hand was reduced to just a palm. Dalen stood up and took a step back. He had gotten the information he wanted, and now it was Sienna’s turn to continue the interrogation.
Naturally, he tapped the axe at his waist, a subtle reminder to the new interrogator to maintain a cooperative attitude.
“Thanks, Dalen.”
Sienna took over, standing with a slight tilt in front of the Ratman. She pulled a small letter from her pocket and held it up to his face.
“Alright, Mr. Rat. Care to confess who wrote this threatening letter?”
The Ratman wasn’t the one who sent the threatening letter. He was merely a mercenary hired by the mastermind behind the scheme.
When asked who was behind it, he couldn’t answer. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he genuinely didn’t know.
“I swear, I really don’t know. They wore a plain mask and used spells to hide their identity.”
“Surely there were some features, like their build or tattoos. At the very least, their clothing?”
“Well, they were small… at least a head shorter than you. Always wore a thick, drab-colored robe.”
“A small build with a thick robe,” Dalen muttered. Sienna, walking beside him, turned her head.
“That’s too vague. All we have so far are drugs, dark wizards, demons, and what the rat said.”
Sienna fiddled with her lips in frustration. For someone like her, who dealt in information, to say that meant they were truly at a dead end.
Of course, having a mental library of cheat sheets allowed for a different perspective.
Dalen stroked his chin, organizing his thoughts.
Considering the fate of the drug-addicted vagrants, it wasn’t hard to deduce which dark god the wizards worshipped.
“The Plague God, Raphilem.”
A being that pursued endless change, mimicry, and distortion, Raphilem was one of the most visually repulsive among the dark gods.
And when Raphilem began to act in earnest, there were always a few boss monsters that blocked the player’s path.
A small build and a nondescript robe. With these two characteristics, the answer narrowed down to one.
”…But doesn’t she only appear much later in the game?”
No matter how fast the progression, this seemed a bit too much.
“Do you have a hunch?”
“Maybe.”
“You sure keep a lot of secrets. Even from a friend like me? I don’t have any secrets.”
“Even friends should respect each other’s privacy. And lying to a friend brings divine punishment.”
“You’re good with words for a godless barbarian.”
Sienna grumbled loudly enough for him to hear, raising her eyebrows in a way that might seem endearing to someone who didn’t know her well.
“Information brokers say they must hone their appearance as a weapon. She’s a sly one, alright.”
Recalling a line she once said from behind a monitor, Dalen shook his head slowly.
Time would tell if his guess was correct.
First, they needed to follow the trail to the place where the informants had died.
Their destination was the border town between the southern and western districts, a low street.
“We’re almost there. Just around that corner is the cavern. Remember when you went to the sewer cavern looking for the old wizard’s apprentice? The cavern with the border town is ten times bigger.”
Sienna’s voice was tinged with excitement. Dalen nodded absently and turned the corner ahead.
Splash.
”…”
He stopped in his tracks as he entered the cavern.
“Huh? Why did you stop… oh?”
Sienna’s startled voice followed.
The cavern was enormous, just as she had said. It was large enough to fit an entire small town.
And indeed, the border town looked just like that.
Dozens of buildings, some three or four stories high. A townscape of a scale rarely seen in the low streets.
“What is this…?”
But the town that greeted them was fundamentally wrong. Sienna was speechless, and Dalen frowned.
…This was unexpected.