Sword Pilgrim

blonde mane could be seen beneath it.

And he was holding a spear in his hands.

“Come and meet me.
Just because you’re hiding doesn’t mean I don’t know where you are, you know?”

The voice of the hooded man was quite young.

It was a voice that showed considerable spirit, and was full of confidence.

And it was a voice very familiar to Callius.

Bard’s Blessing rekindled his memories as the voice reached him.

When he’d been a monk in the Church.
A friend who’d been close to him, and a companion in his trash behaviour.

Unlike other monks, he was the son of a noble family of the same grade as himself, but he was treated differently because of his extraordinary talent.

At that moment, a gust of wind through the forest took off the man’s hood and swayed his brilliant blonde hair.

“Lutheon…”

Callius, who had been hiding in the grass, slowly got up.
Slowly, he pulled out the Predator Sword hanging from his waist.

“Callius.
Long time no see.”

Lutheon raised his spear, his face an interplay of joy and hatred.

Seeing that spear, Callius gripped the Predator Sword even tighter.

“Lutheon, the renegade.”

The renegade, Lutheon.

Hearing that appellation, Lutheon’s smile twisted even further.

“For some reason, I have to destroy the North.
So I’ll ask you a favour.”

Lutheon spoke as if he was talking to an old friend.

“Please die.”

And immediately, his form disappeared.

Callius was momentarily taken aback, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth.

Kaang!!

Because Lutheon, who suddenly appeared in front of him, had stabbed that spear with a dark red blade at him with explosive speed.

He managed to block it, but he couldn’t help but be pushed back.

However, there was no room to fix his posture.

Because Lutheon stabbed once more, aimed at Callius’ chest.

Ttt.

The moment he tried to block the attack with his sword, a pungent smell alerted him, forcing him to pivot away.

And right at that moment –

Kwaaang!!

An explosion, like a bomb detonating, shook the entire forest.

Boom! Boom! Thud!!

Callius, who escaped the explosion, slid across the ground and broke through a few trees before coming to a halt.

His whole body was trembling at the shock he’d received.

“Shit, damn it.”

Spitting out bloody saliva, Callius stood back up.

Thankfully he didn’t block this time and escaped right away.
Trying to block that spear again would’ve left him seriously injured.

‘It’s the cloak.’

Originally, it would have been no surprise if even his entire back got charred by that explosion, but the Cloak of Twilight had blocked the heat a little.

If he hadn’t smelled that pungent smell similar to gunpowder, he wouldn’t have thought of it.

“The Explosive Spear, Ames.”

A spear that was considered to have the strongest power even among the highest-grade spears.

Ames.

The owner of the Explosive Spear, Ames –

Was Lutheon von Ruydren.

Aka Lutheon the renegade.

“I didn’t know you would show up.”

I knew that Krasion was connected to the Empire, but I never expected Lutheon to come out.

It’s because he originally appeared long after the main quest started.

‘Is this also my influence?’

But now was not the time to think about that.

Right now.

“What are you thinking of, idiot Jervain!”

Kwaang!!

He had to block Lutheon’s spear again.

“Master Callius!!”

Ududuk!

Once again, avoiding Lutheon’s spear, Callius rolled on the ground.

“Don’t interfere! You guys deal with the Orcs! Take the supplies!”

“Do you think I’ll let you do that?!”

A spear that could be said to be among the top three in power.
On top of that, Lutheon’s own ability couldn’t be underestimated either.

A genius with a natural ability in swordsmanship since his days as a monk, he turned to the Empire and acquired a powerful spear and excellent spearmanship.

Lutheon of today was a heavy opponent.

A large part of that was the Explosive Spear, Ames.

Ames, which possessed an incredible unique ability, able to finish off an opponent with just one strike of its blade.

Explosion.

How do you deal with the spear capable of that?

It’s no different than fighting a bomb full of gunpowder!

Callius rolled over the floor once more to avoid the next explosion coming from that spear.

Kwaaang!

“Callius.
You, a noble among nobles, are rolling on the ground.
Have things changed so much?”

“Shut up, Lutheon.
You, who betrayed Carpe and the Order to get that spear, are even worse.”

Things are not going well.

There are too many variables.

Lutheon suddenly appeared.

And with his appearance, Callius’ body has started remembering memories that are not mine.

Memories of bygone days keep making my head throb.

‘Callius.
I envy you.’

Lutheon in my memory.
The image overlaps with him now running fiercely towards me.

‘You just do what you want.’

Those sad eyes under the moonlight.

His eyes today look like those of a completely different person.

“Callius!!”

The red blade of Ames, the Explosive Spear, swept in like crazy, again aiming at Callius’ neck.

‘Dangerous.’

Right now, Callius had no way to deal with Lutheon.

Although their weapons had the same rank in name, one was a half-finished sword and the other was a top-notch spear.

The two weapons were not in the same league.

The Predator Sword – Loas was a long way off from even matching Bernard’s Thunderbolt Sword.

‘One way, yes.’

It was true that the two of them weren’t evenly matched right now.

However, Callius had created a variable that his enemy didn’t know of yet.

That was then –

“Where are you looking, Callius!”

Soon the red light flashed and the explosion was imminent again.

Callius avoided the tip by the span of a finger and caught the haft tightly with his hand, pulling the spear toward him.

“You idiot!”

However, Lutheon’s spear was about to explode again.

At this rate, Callius’ hand would get caught in the explosion and be destroyed.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to explode if I got too close?”

Lutheon’s lips twisted, and the Explosive Spear again flashed red.
The moment when another explosion was about to occur –

Kugung!

A huge vibration made Lutheon’s eyes widen.

“What…!”

The ground on which he was standing began to crumble.

Lutheon was startled, and Callius’ lips curved in dark satisfaction.

“Callius, you!!”

The ground collapsed, and the earth dragons as well as the Orcs were caught up in it.

Lutheon tried to escape, but Callius, who’d been bleeding yet held the spear tightly in his grasp, would never allow it.

“Do you want to die together?!”

Callius answered Lutheon’s cry with bloodstained lips.

“This is my victory, Lutheon.”

Soon, both Callius and Lutheon disappeared into the abyssal depths.

Editor’s Notes:

[1] 모링가 (Moringa), called drumstick tree or horseradish tree, common in the Indian subcontinent.