I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 28: The Forest of Beasts (5)

I stepped forward.

I brought my sword down in a vertical slash.

The blade stopped dead in its tracks.

A Fourth-Rank Swordsman.

I expected him to be formidable, but he was even more of a fortress than I had imagined.

The sword in Lainer’s hands burned with a crimson aura.

“I’ll show you exactly what kind of existence stands before you.”

I knew it instinctively.

This man was the most dangerous opponent I had ever faced.

Lainer kicked off the ground, swinging his sword with both hands.

Clang!

I twisted my foot to the right, angling my blade to intercept his strike.

“I was once a knight of the honorable House Valtan. I am leagues above a rootless mongrel like you.”

A knight?

I had to ask.

“Then why are you here like this? Did you throw away your honor as a knight?”

Of course, I made sure to get under his skin while I was at it.

“Or did your so-called noble house abandon you?”

It must have hit him harder than I expected.

“Y-You insolent wretch dares...!”

Lainer’s face twisted into a mask of fury as he charged again, his sword wreathed in an even thicker crimson storm of aura.

I had provoked him to break his composure.

And I had succeeded.

But I had also enraged him far more than intended.

“Take this! This is the sword of the great House Valtan!”

Great or not, it was definitely dangerous.

Dragon Slayer Sword.

I put my trust in the techniques that Sword of Light had taught me.

The swordsmanship manual stated that true mastery of the style required the use of sword aura.

And now, I finally had it.

A diagonal crimson arc came surging toward me.

Dodging never crossed my mind.

I would cut through it.

Sching!

A horizontal slash—Thursahogg.

The red tempest was instantly bisected.

Through the severed aura, I caught a glimpse of Lainer’s face, twisted in disbelief.

He quickly retracted his outstretched arms and adjusted his stance.

His right shoulder lifted as he pulled his sword far back.

A thrusting posture.

Crimson currents spiraled, converging onto Lainer’s sword, flashing with a deadly radiance.

Rumble...!

The swirling, blood-red mist churned the air like a raging storm.

A chill ran down my spine.

But the emotion welling up in me was not fear.

I mirrored his stance.

Drawing forth a pure-white sword aura, I infused it into my Greatsword Carnavalt.

My arm muscles tensed like a drawn bowstring.

Thud.

I stepped forward.

My right shoulder screamed in protest.

A split second later, four scarlet streaks flooded my vision.

Lainer had lunged forward—

As expected, an ultra-fast multi-thrust attack.

His sword aura shot toward me like a barrage of spears.

Four red lances tore through the air, streaking straight for me.

The battle would be decided in an instant.

From my blade, a pure-white radiance erupted.

Dragon Slayer Sword – Fourth Form.

Five Consecutive Thrusts.

Quinque Acies.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The four crimson thrusts collided with the white flashes—

And obliterated each other.

Fragments of shattered sword aura scattered like shards of light.

But one streak of white remained.

It pierced straight into Lainer’s abdomen.

His attack had been four thrusts.

Mine had been five.

One final strike remained—

And it found its mark.

“Guhk...!”

A mouthful of blood burst from Lainer’s lips.

Yet, there was no trace of shock or confusion on his face.

Because we both had seen it.

We had witnessed every moment of each other’s strikes.

There was no such thing as coincidence in a battle where both fighters put their lives on the line.

I stepped in to finish him off.

But in that instant, Lainer suddenly slammed his sword into the ground.

A blinding flash—

A crimson wave exploded toward me.

Every fiber of my body screamed a single truth.

If that hit me, I would die.

Crunch!

A sickening crack rang out.

My right arm.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight

The shockwave devoured it, twisting it into an unnatural shape.

Blood vessels in my eyes burst.

It felt as if countless blades were stabbing into my nerves.

The pain was overwhelming.

I barely clung to consciousness.

[Skill 'Pain Suppression' has leveled up. Lv.6]

[Skill 'Warrior’s Movement' has leveled up. Lv.5]

My thoughts accelerated.

I had to leap above the rising crimson wave—

And slash Lainer’s throat.

I expelled white aura from both feet.

Dragon Slayer Sword – Footwork.

I focused on a single gap—

The one opening where the shockwave hadn’t fully engulfed the air.

Lumen Errans.

I stepped.

Schwing!

I slipped through the vertical surge of crimson.

Swoosh!

With my bloodied left hand, I sliced across Lainer’s neck.

The blade cut clean through his carotid artery.

Like a marionette with its strings severed, Lainer crumpled to the ground.

Blood gushed from his throat in heavy bursts.

From the moment I had pierced his abdomen—

To the instant my arm was ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ swallowed by his shockwave—

And now, as he lay dying on the ground—

It had all happened in mere moments.

[Level Up!]

[Lv.20 → Lv.21]

Killing a Fourth-Rank Swordsman must have been the reason.

I had barely reached Level 20 after slaughtering countless monsters and humans alike—

And now, I had shot up another level in an instant.

Crack!

And, as expected, my right arm regenerated.

I stared down at Lainer’s corpse, his eyes wide open in death.

I had nearly died. You bastard.

His arms were grotesquely disfigured.

His veins bulged, twisted beyond recognition.

That crimson shockwave.

To unleash it, he must have pushed his body past its limits.

A suicidal, last-ditch attempt to take me down with him.

I had survived by a paper-thin margin.

But there was no time to dwell on the battle with Lainer.

The fight was not over.

Kaetor lunged at me with his spear.

I swung my greatsword in a horizontal arc.

Crack!

The spear shaft snapped in two, flying skyward.

Blood spattered in a clean line.

Kaetor was dead.

That left two.

The remaining two had been too afraid to intervene in my battle with Lainer.

Yet they also hadn’t fled.

I ended them.

“......”

Even after the level-up, an overwhelming fatigue weighed on me.

Physically and mentally.

I approached the chained Myo Tribe captives.

I freed them from their shackles.

“A-Are you okay...?”

“Thank the gods you’re alive...”

“The elders will be here soon...”

The Myo Tribe beastfolk huddled together.

All of them eyed me with caution.

Except for Mique.

I had no intention of easing their wariness.

Leaning against a massive tree, I observed them.

Total number of Myo Tribe members secured: 8.

[8/8]

The quest conditions had been fulfilled.

I had secured the required number of Myo Tribe members.

Now, all that was left was to hand them over to the rescue team and complete the quest.

But where the hell was the rescue team?

If they were here to save the Myo Tribe, chances were high that they were Myo Tribe members themselves.

Just then, one of the recently rescued Myo Tribe children spoke up, voice trembling.

[NPC – Myo Tribe Beastfolk, Shamo]

“Y-Yutel and Merba are missing...”

Missing?

Right. The quest had only specified a minimum number to rescue.

It never said eight was the total.

Shamo’s pale face twisted with distress as he continued.

“That man really was the battle captain of the slaver caravan, so we got dragged all over the place... but they were nowhere to be found. We thought they’d be here... But if they’re not here, then...”

His mind was already crumbling.

Technically, this wasn’t my problem.

I could just walk away.

The quest conditions were already met.

But the Myo Tribe children began debating amongst themselves.

“We have to go find them!”

“No! We can’t split up again! It’s too dangerous! There are slavers and monsters out there!”

Right.

It was too dangerous.

But looking at these kids...

There was no way in hell I could just think of them as NPCs from some game I played back in my days of browsing the gallery.

Now, I understood why the veterans in Transcendent Gallery were so emotionally invested in the Lucerna Mercenary Corps, in Delisa, in everything.

This didn’t feel like fiction.

It felt like reality.

I pulled out my device and snapped a photo of the huddled Myo Tribe children.

Then, I opened Transcendent Gallery.

I wrote a post.

Attached the picture.

Title: Found the required number of Myo Tribe kids, but...

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Attachment: 823884390.jpg

(A photo of eight Myo Tribe children huddled in a circle.)

ㄴ Myo Tribe kids are cute.

ㄴ Ice Queen: Frozen! Frozen! So cute!

ㄴ Dragon King: Beltui—haven’t seen Myo Tribe in ages.

ㄴ You only need to find the number the quest asked for.

ㄴ You’re getting immersed.

ㄴ This idiot cleared the 100th floor and still doesn’t know how the tower works lol. You get bonus points if you rescue more than required.

ㄴ And sometimes you just die doing it, so how does that make me the idiot?

ㄴ Sword of Light: I think there was a furball who would know about this.

ㄴ Elf Guy: ? Me?

ㄴ Sword of Light: Not you. The hairy one.

ㄴ Pioneer: That guy got banned ages ago.

ㄴ Beast King: HEY!!!!!!!!!!! ADMIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!

ㄴ Pioneer: Oh, you’re back? Long time no see.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

ㄴ LOL dude got unbanned and is already looking to get banned again.

ㄴ Beast King: If Myo Tribe appears on a floor, I should be unbanned IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!

ㄴ Admin: ?

ㄴ Beast King: I deeply apologize. I got a little excited, haha.

ㄴ Beast King: I’ve just been lurking for so long, I really wanted to participate...

ㄴ ‘?’

ㄴ A question mark from a higher power is terrifying.

ㄴ Instant mental reprogramming, damn.

ㄴ Admin: I’m giving you a special pardon since this is your area of expertise. Watch your mouth from now on.

ㄴ Beast King: Haha, yes!!

ㄴ If Beast King is actually cursing him out under his breath, like this comment.

ㄴ Not under his breath, he’s probably screaming it out loud.

ㅇㅇ) Are you Myo Tribe?*

ㄴ Beast King: Hey!!! Good to see you, gallery host!!!

ㄴ Beast King: First off, thanks for saving the Myo Tribe kids. Even if they’re NPCs, they feel real, don’t they?

ㅇㅇ) Two are missing. Got any ideas?*

ㄴ Beast King: The kids must be too shaken up to remember, but!

ㄴ Myo Tribe has a unique Resonance Sound that only their kind can hear!

ㄴ Beast King: If it’s the Forest of Beasts, then based on Myo Tribe instincts, the safest place to hide would be a cave. The missing two are probably holed up in one.

ㄴ Beast King: Resonance Sound works even through enclosed spaces, so they should be able to locate them quickly.

ㅇㅇ) Thanks.*

ㄴ Beast King: Please find them!

That should do it.

I closed the gallery.

Then—

“Mique.”

Mique immediately perked up and looked at me.

“Yes?”

“Myo Tribe can communicate with each other using Resonance Sound, right?”

“Ah...!”

Her green eyes widened.

The other Myo Tribe kids also looked shocked.

“How could we forget that?!”

The Myo Tribe children opened their mouths and let out a sound I couldn’t hear.

Then—

As if realizing something, they all turned their heads in the same direction.

“I’ll take the lead. Stick close and move slowly.”

“We should listen to Yuseong.”

Mique took charge of the others behind me.

Step, step...

After about 20 minutes,

Two figures emerged from the mist near a cave.

“Yutel!”

“Merba!”

The Myo Tribe children embraced each other in relief.

“That everyone?”

Mique stood on her tiptoes, smiling up at me brightly.

“Yes, Yuseong.”

The rescue was complete.

Now, all that was left was meeting up with the rescue team.