Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 337

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 107.
Ninety-Eight Souls (20)
Everything happened at once.
When the Tall Man emerged slowly from beyond the grass, Joshua didn’t see him. His face had turned ashen as he glared at Caesar. Maximian was the first to sense the situation and gripped his club tightly with no choice. Riche looked up at the ship, then quickly gave up and looked ahead.
The Tall Man wore a wide-brimmed sombrero pulled low, obscuring his face. He stopped at a distance and, as was his habit, spoke first.
“I said I would wait, yet here I am waiting for you instead.”
He grasped the brim with his fingertips and lifted it slightly, his gaze rising to the ship’s rail before descending again.
“A meadow and a ship. The river is still much farther ahead. Are the four of you planning to carry it all at once from here?”
It wasn’t a joke, wasn’t meant to be funny, and he didn’t laugh while saying it—yet it was clear he was enjoying himself. Maximian calculated whether he should respond. The moment he decided a response would be futile, the Tall Man suddenly rushed forward.
Maximian and Riche swung what they held in nearly identical stances at almost the same moment, but nothing connected. Nor were they attacked. The Tall Man stopped just two paces away from them. Yet something seemed strange about him. He appeared blocked by something, yet no one was blocking him.
The Tall Man muttered as if whispering.
“What is this.”
Then a stranger spoke.
「I was asked to protect the young Arnim.」
“Huh!”
Riche nearly dropped the wooden sword she was holding. Not just her—everyone heard it. A voice coming from empty air with no form.
The Tall Man didn’t remain surprised for long. His voice changed to anger.
“If it’s some invisibility nonsense, drop it.”
The Tall Man tried to push through. But what stood against him was no mere human using invisibility magic. Had it been so, he might have relied on speed and instinct to strike vital points. But what blocked him was not a person—it was a kind of wall. Smooth, certainly, but invisible.
“….”
Unable to advance, the Tall Man glared at Joshua. At first, it seemed Joshua was looking at him too. But the focus of his gaze was different.
Joshua spoke.
“What do you want from me? I have nothing to give you. What you seek, I don’t possess. Nothing at all.”
「Of course you have nothing for us. How unfortunate.」
“I won’t grant your wishes.”
「You lack the power to grant them anyway. Young Arnim, little Demonic.」
Their conversation was heard by everyone standing there. Riche trembled violently, forgetting it was broad daylight. Caesar stood rigid, eyes wide open. Only Maximian grimaced in bewilderment and shouted.
“Hey, how many of them are there exactly?”
But now Joshua seemed unable to hear the words of the living. His gaze shifting from empty air to empty air was unmistakably that of a madman.
“Who asked me to help?”
「A friend we trust and follow. Our Priest.」
Then the man in the sombrero withdrew a small pouch from inside his wrist and inverted it, scattering silvery-gray powder. At the same moment, the form of the wall blocking him became visible. The ‘Hinden Powder,’ which detected objects imbued with magic, was an expensive magical tool, but in times like this it proved its worth.
The moment the outline of the wall surrounding him became clear, the man turned swiftly and advanced, drawing a thin blade from his waist and thrusting it toward the nearest Caesar. But he had underestimated Caesar in his farmer’s garb far too much. Caesar quickly twisted his body, deflecting the incoming blade to the side and reflexively lowering his stance.
But the next moment, his luck was not so favorable. The man swung his right foot low as if it were a weapon in his hand, sweeping away the drooping hand while simultaneously using the flat of the blade to lift the tilted sword upward. Caesar, nearly losing his grip due to the completely unexpected and bizarre attack, lost his footing. It was an attack that could only be executed with extraordinary lower body strength and flexibility.
Just as the man was about to press his blade against Caesar with ease, Riche’s wooden sword came rushing in from the side. She aimed for the hand holding the blade. A wooden sword, having no edge, was best used to disarm the opponent’s weapon.
But unfortunately, the direction was wrong. As the wooden sword made contact, a large right hand casually grasped it and snapped it clean in two. Though the forcefully swung wooden sword had struck him, the man showed no sign of pain. Instead, he smiled faintly and spoke to Riche.
“Your form was good.”
As the man’s eyes turned toward Maximian, Maximian dropped the club he was holding to the ground. The man tilted his head and spoke.
“Are you simply giving up?”
“Completely different.”
Maximian stood with his arms crossed, empty-handed, and surveyed the spirits around him as though they were visible to his eyes.
“You said you received a request from your Priest? I am genuinely grateful for your cooperation, and I would like you to send the one threatening Arnim Duke to a distant place.”
But an unexpected answer came.
「That is entirely a matter for young Arnim to decide.」
“What do you mean?”
「He must choose to accept us.」
“What do you mean by accepting?”
The moment he asked, Joshua’s voice was heard.
“You mean spirit possession, don’t you? I think I understand what you mean. Very well. Come into me. All of you!”
The unstable gleam in his eyes—like those of a madman—transformed. No, the appearance of madness remained the same. Yet these were not the eyes of a patient trembling with anxiety, but rather the pupils of someone who understood perfectly that he was mad, gleaming like what Maximian sometimes called a “human with a mad spirit.”
“Joshua, you mustn’t do such a thing!”
But the moment Joshua’s words fell, the decision was made. A sudden violent wind erupted, then ceased abruptly. Joshua felt a powerful gust strike his body, and then consciousness overwhelmed him. Yet the initial shock lasted only a moment before his consciousness was buried beneath a flood of countless other consciousnesses.
The first change was instantaneous. Those around Joshua saw his hand glow faintly. Soon an intense, blinding white light engulfed their vision. An intangible force centered on Joshua surged outward, violently hurling everyone nearby. Maximian, thrown against the ship’s hull and knocked to the ground, forgot his pain and scrambled to his feet, crying out.
“Joshua!”
Then the light surged again. When he opened his eyes after closing them involuntarily, all objects seemed erased, as though floating within that radiance. From within that light, something… emerges. What is it? Hundreds of masses rising from all directions…
Rocks!
“What in the world is happening…”
Caesar, Riche, even that man—none of them were visible. Amidst the chaos, one thing was certain: there had never been so many rocks in the Meadow. Not until the earth itself was overturned and the bedrock beneath was torn up and wrenched free.
Who on earth was doing such a thing? Could it truly be Joshua?
The rocks of various shapes, rising slowly through the air, halted in the void. Maximian’s hair began to flutter in the air. Wind. Not terribly strong at first… but soon it began to blow with terrible force. The rocks were hurled all at once beyond the Meadow!
Crash! Crash! Bang!
Then, Joshua’s outline became faintly visible within the light. He made no movement whatsoever. His head even hung at an angle, as though he had lost consciousness. Yet all the power converged upon him at its center. The light, the wind. And… Joshua’s hair seemed to turn pure white in an instant. It was not the light. Only then did Maximian wonder if perhaps Joshua’s hair, which had originally been black, had turned gray for the same reason—because he had met Kelsniti at the Castle.
Successive roars shook the Meadow beyond. The sharp cries of horses and screams, the sounds of falling, shattering, and breaking continued. Maximian could bear it no longer and tried to rush toward Joshua. At that moment, someone’s hand grasped his ankle. He flinched and tried to wrench free when a voice came.
“Don’t go… You mustn’t.”
Looking down, it was Riche. She lay on the ground, gripping Maximian’s ankle.
“Let go. We can’t leave him like this.”
“What can you… how will you stop it? Don’t do that, just wait a moment…”
“Wait for what! For that bastard to go completely mad and never return to his senses!”
Riche struggled to her feet, then wrapped both arms around Maximian’s legs in a tight embrace. And this time she spoke clearly.
“If I tell you to wait, then wait. Do you think you’re the only one with sense?”
Maximian was utterly bewildered.
“What are you talking about…”
It was then that a thudding sound came from behind. The floor was vibrating. The reason was the tremor of what lay upon it. Everything around hummed.
The ship was trying to move!
“Is it done?”
Maximian spun around and looked up at the ship’s rail. Five streaks of blue radiance flashed from the bow. Simultaneously, a familiar voice roared out.
“What are you doing! Everyone get up here at once!”
Riche sprang to her feet as though she had never been lying down, and Maximian looked up and shouted back. The noise was too great to do anything but yell.
“We need to take him with us!”
Riche also shouted from beside him.
“But how do we climb up? There’s no ladder?”
“A ladder is….”
The voice trailed off for a moment before a rope—not a ladder—came sliding down with a sharp whistle.
“We’re supposed to climb up using this?”
It was the opposite. Juspian had descended by sliding down the rope himself. Whether due to his light frame or simply decent skill for a mage, he managed it well enough. But the moment his feet touched ground, he shouted at both of them.
“Are you trying to get yourselves killed by dawdling? Don’t you see the chaos out there? Legions of spirits have gathered! If those creatures combine their strength, everything within a thousand paces will be obliterated! Move! We have to leave immediately!”
Maximian glanced at the rope.
“You go first.”
He spoke the words to Riche, then immediately turned his body toward Joshua. Riche tried to grab him, but it was futile. Juspian leaped forward.
“Stop right there! You can’t lay a hand on him!”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Published by: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, you must obtain written consent from both parties.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————