Chapter 98

I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 98: Circus

Circus
Chapter 98. Gokma
— Tower Master Erica.
— Regent Valdrova.
— Are your internal injuries severe?
Ferda didn’t look at her.
It was to preserve her dignity as a Tower Master.
Erica opened her eyes sharply and corrected her posture.
— Not enough to hold me back.
— Understood.
Ferda nodded briefly and assessed the opponent’s combat strength.
He saw a large man flapping wyvern wings and a relatively smaller man.
The small man stared at Ferda and spoke.
— You are Ferda Rosnova. Nice to meet you.
At the man’s words, Ferda corrected him.
— Valdrova.
— You grew up in the Rosnova Family and still find it hard to escape your origin? Pathetic.
The man sneered.
However, Ferda was not a novice to be swayed by such provocation.
— Wolf monsters erupting in Hestia Village and wyvern monsters here… Seeing as you execute commands on monsters at will, must the culprits behind the Halim incident be you bastards?
— That’s right. Aren’t you grateful?
— Why should I be grateful to you?
— Didn’t you achieve great merit in Halim and even obtain a branch of the World Tree struck by Reverse Lightning?
The man nonchalantly recited facts that no one else knew.
Ferda provoked without being fazed.
— The sound of a defeated dog masturbating.
— Haha! If you say so, it must be true. It’s a fact that I underestimated you and your surroundings too much. I fought with the intention of killing only Chancellor Bernard, and I couldn’t even do that.
— Do you plan to target him again?
— Unfortunately, there is no need. What I wanted to destroy seems to have already fallen into your hands. So don’t worry.
— Why would I believe your words?
— Why? Because I am already above your head, so there is no need for lies. For example…
The man swung his mana-infused fingers along the ground.
Then a gust kicked up and the fallen leaves covering the ground were swept into the sky.
— Even such a shallow trick, you know it and still pretend not to know.
The ground cleared and what lay underneath was revealed.
From beneath Ferda’s feet, connected shadows were chanting an incantation.
— A truly pitiful trick.
Snap!
The man snapped his fingers.
Simultaneously, an explosion erupted where the shadow hand had been.
Boom!
The shadow hand shattered and dispersed.
— Ugh!
On the outside, the power did not seem fatal, but the reality was different.
If it were a real hand, it was destructive enough to tear mana protection or armor like paper.
— Wow.
The man showed an expression of interest.
— I heard that the Shadow Arts of Barbatos can be wielded like limbs, but since they borrow the sensation of those limbs intact, the pain is the same as that of one’s own limbs… And yet, you do not react as if your hand was severed, but as if pulling away from a burn.
The man analyzed Ferda.
Ferda neither answered nor reacted to those words.
Instead, just as the man had done, Ferda tried to analyze the magic.
‘What magic did he just use?’
Ferda recalled what happened moments ago.
The explosion that occurred when he snapped his fingers.
No, that was not a simple explosion.
At first glance it looked like an explosion, which is why it is not an explosion.
‘It is…’
Ferda concentrated on that scene.
Slowing down time, tearing it frame by frame, vividly recalling his movement.
‘Magic that distorts a point, not an explosion.’
Space distorted as if sucked into a single point in the air for a fraction of a second, and was then released.
‘Magic that shatters objects by distorting a point.’
Once clearly explained, Ferda was also able to identify his identity.
Only one person could wield that magic.
A name erased in a line of history.
— You are Gokma.
Gokma.
Upon mentioning that name, the man exclaimed in admiration.
— Wow. You saw through my identity in just that exchange?
Even Erica, his ally, was equally surprised.
Of course she knew he was a Noble class demon, but she hadn’t identified him.
That was natural, because Gokma shouldn’t exist.
— If so, he should have been the first Noble class killed by the Hero’s hand, right?
The man admitted it willingly.
— Correct. Back then, demons had no caution toward humans. So they died in vain before the Hero.
— Then, how are you alive?
— Simple. Back then, there were only you and Erdes, simply a Hero brimming with passion.
It meant that the caution and delicacy possessed by mages were absent.
Leaving room for resurrection.
— Who would have thought… that demons would await a future like this.
— Indeed. I didn’t particularly want to reveal myself either. But I had no choice.
Gokma’s eyes turned toward Ferda.
— Because there is something that bothers me.
Bothersome.
Those words meant it must be something that puts one in a bad mood.
However, Gokma’s mouth was twisted upward.
— Do emotions twist when you become a demon? You don’t seem to know when to smile.
— Demons also feel joy. It is only different from you humans who cling to trivial things.
— Is returning everything to nothingness greatness?
To Erica’s question, he nodded as if it were obvious.
— It is His great will, so it is my great joy.
— Then hurry up and disappear to greet those who left before.
Spark!
A flash of light flew toward Gokma.
Yet it bounced off, unable to penetrate his mana protection.
It was Lightning coming from Ferda’s grip.
— Do you think you can kill me with that?
— No. I knew it wouldn’t work the moment the Tower Master’s magic didn’t work.
At those words, Erica realized something and turned her head toward Ferda.
— …Were you watching me?
An expression mixed with resentment asking why he didn’t come to help sooner.
However, Ferda had his reasons.
— You were trying to blow up the entire area, so how could I not evaluate the situation?
— T-That is true, but…
— Were you in your right mind thinking of blowing up part of the Archduchy’s territory?
At Ruri’s complaint, Erica shut her mouth.
With her severe internal injuries, her emotions were overflowing.
— You look lively after having understood our strength. However…
With a subtle smile, he said this:
— I don’t want to fight you. How about we part ways amicably?
— This is the territory of the Archduchy. You run amok and then try to run away?
— Hmm, if so…
He waved his fingers in the air.
— Try blocking this once.
Another space tore open and vomited its contents.
It was a familiar scene for Ferda.
However, the quantity differed from that of Halim.
A total of 5 rifts occurred here and there, vomiting their contents.
Some turned toward Ferda’s group, others turned their bodies toward Hestia Village.
Simultaneously, Gokma and the large man tried to throw themselves into the rifts.
Right now, when even taking a step forward was difficult, there was no way to stop their escape.
No, if Ruri moves, perhaps it is possible.
She is the daughter of a Silver Dragon who boasts the greatest speed.
However, if Ruri moves, those many monsters will head to Hestia Village.
It is doubtful whether the people of the village can deal with all those monsters.
— Ferda-nim.
Ruri looked toward Ferda.
Those eyes, as if she had clumsily put on a mask, were a face with nowhere to go.
— Go. Protect what your master wants to protect.
— What about Ferda-nim’s safety?
— Don’t worry, I am here.
Although severely injured inside, the Water Ring wrapped around Erica’s body did not waver.
— Understood.
Ruri gripped her axe and spread her wings.
Boom!
A fierce gust flew without hindrance, covering the monsters heading to Hestia Village.
Silver flashes moved through the forest, leaving only brutally slaughtered corpses where the light passed.
— How long do I need to hold them back?
— I alone am enough.
— Then I will cover your back.
The opponents are monsters filled only with instinct, having lost reason.
Every strike is threatening. Yet their attacks are monotonous.
The more monotonous, the easier it is to see through them, and Erica’s water droplets easily caught and pierced vital points.
‘Is this Iorga’s magic?’
Tame beyond all comparison on the outside, yet once it left her hand, harder and more lethal than any metal.
Not simply piercing.
The rotational force it carried twisted and burst the innards of the body every time it passed through a vital point.
Despite facing many, not a shred of waste, everything ended with a single strike.
‘Even a monster like this gives Gokma a hard time…’
Thinking coldly,
It was not that they had let them go, but identical to having freed themselves.
Thus, the last one charging was also completely cleared away.
Erica felt the surrounding life once more and confirmed safety.
— Huu…
And she sat down right there.
Without peace of mind.
— Are you all right?
— No threat to life, but I will have to concentrate on mana recovery for a few days.
— Can you stand up?
Ferda extended his hand to her.
— Thank you.
Erica took that hand.
A calloused hand unbefitting a mage.
Erica had already touched this man’s hand before.
It was then.
Simultaneously, something flowed into Erica’s hand.
Erica knew what it was.
The mana that had humiliated her.
— Hyap!
Erica gave a violent shudder.
She released Ferda’s hand and sat back down on the ground.
— …Why are you acting like that?
Her face flushed bright red.
What do you mean by what! The moment you grabbed my hand you tried to leak mana again! Pervert! Trying to do something lewd to me again!!
She wanted to scream but didn’t dare.
Ferda had a face that genuinely said he knew nothing.
She would definitely be the only fool.
— Cough, ahem! It is nothing. It is better to do mana cultivation like this. Please keep watch on the surroundings.
— Understood.
Erica crossed her legs in a lotus position and closed her eyes.
The circuits of her body rotated, accumulating mana with the beats of her heart.
In the darkness left behind a single eyelid, her battle from just tens of minutes ago emerged.
‘That guy, to think he is Gokma, one of the Seven Scars of the Demon King.’
Seven Scars.
Among the Noble class directly below Emperor class, the highest-ranking who became Corps Commanders.
Even after exchanging several moves and sensing his mana, she hadn’t imagined it at all.
She only knew he was Noble class.
It could not be helped.
She was on the defensive; she had to focus entirely on combat.
Without enough leeway even to identify him.
Yet even with such excuses, she found no comfort.
She was once a mage called the Wisdom of the 12 Heroes.
She had already fought against the other six Scars and found breakthroughs against them.
‘Moreover, Regent Ferda realized in a single exchange.’
While receiving a single attack, he identified him.
This was not a fact that disappeared by denying it.
‘I also lost in mana.’
Although she was unprepared, victory or defeat was difficult to dispute.
If Ferda and Ruri hadn’t appeared and she had faced that man alone, would she have won?
‘Damn it.’
She chewed over that frustration internally.
Although she didn’t see the end and therefore couldn’t know, Erica could not overlook the helplessness she felt.
And…
‘So embarrassed I could die.’
The fact that she had made a scene alone and screamed was more painful than the twisting pain in her viscera.
She bit her lip and hit her thigh hard with her fist.
‘Ugh, idiot. Idiot! Why don’t you just die!’
Ferda looked at her swallowing her anguish and thought this:
‘Her internal injuries must really be severe.’
Shortly after, someone flew over here.
Ruri, who had left with her fearsome axe, returned.
— All those heading toward Hestia Village have been eliminated. They say the Hestia Village side is also concluding without the need for help.
— Good work.
— It’s not over yet. The corpses of the monsters must be cleaned up.
— Vernel will like that.
The forest was filled with monster corpses.
The green blood and purple flesh gave a dreadful and ominous feeling in nature.
— I will clean up this area.
The one who spoke was Erica in the lotus position.
— Although there is no need for you to do so.
— There are many, and if they are not cleaned meticulously, the places become contaminated, right? That needs magical assistance. A little more cultivation and I will have enough mana to clean.
— Understood. Then I leave it to you, Erica-nim.
Just when things seemed to be concluding, it was not so.
Kwoong—!
A loud echoing sound.
Its epicenter was none other than Hestia Village.