Record of a Thousand Lives - Chapter 48

Chapter 48
Arkan and the bandits could only laugh at the strange words spoken by the man in front of them.

‘Alcohol?’ Akon thought. If the man had given a plausible reason for the slaughter, he would have felt fear at the least and not anger, but he could not help but grind his teeth upon hearing the man’s words. He asked angrily, “You ambushed us just for booze?!”

Kang Yoon-Soo was silent and did not reply to Akon. Instead, he slowly got up and started to rummage through the bandit corpses. He found rare swords, magic staves, and accessories with special effects among them; it was actually surprising to see such rare items on mountain bandits. He stored the higher-quality items in his dimensional bag.

The fact that Kang Yoon-Soo did not bother to respond and was only rummaging through the corpses as if he were a grave robber pissed Akon off. He ground his teeth and yelled angrily, “You must have a death wish, you punk!” He charged toward Kang Yoon-Soo, swinging his sword toward the man’s back.

Kang Yoon-Soo instantly turned his body around—it was an amazingly fast movement. He instantaneously drew his sword and slashed at Akon’s neck.

“Kuheok!”

Akon was surprised by the sudden wound appearing on his neck and immediately tried to retreat. However, Kang Yoon-Soo showed no hesitation in his subsequent actions. He was not surprised by the sudden ambush from Akon at all; instead, he swung his sword numerous times and cut Akon up.

“Ack!” Akon let out a scream after receiving several critical hits and died on the spot.

Kang Yoon-Soo did not even look at the dead body as he looked toward Arkan. He said once again in a cold, emotionless tone, “Give me alcohol.”

“I’ll give it to you if you want it, but you’ll have to get it over my dead body,” Arkan responded, his voice full of malice.

The leader of the Crossed Swords Bandits pulled out a dazzling sword. Arkan’s sword was a magic item enveloped in a red aura that had a special ability. The other bandits followed suit and readied their weapons as well.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked at them with eyes void of any interest. He could easily take care of the other bandits, but Arkan was a different story. Arkan was not someone he could easily handle at this point in time.

He had met Arkan a few times in the past. Arkan was not only quite high-leveled, but his modest-looking equipment was also actually high-quality equipment. Not to mention the fact that the sword Arkan was using was a magic sword; any sword bearing an enchantment was a precious item with astronomical value.

On the other hand, while Kang Yoon-Soo did his best not to show it, he was in a severely exhausted state, and the wound he had suffered previously had caused him immense pain. To be frank, he was in no state to duel with someone.

Perhaps Arkan was able to gauge Kang Yoon-Soo’s current state, as he looked toward Kang Yoon-Soo before saying, “You might be strong, but you don’t seem to be that high-leveled. I’m certain you’re exhausted after facing three hundred men.”

The boss of the Crossed Swords Bandits started to walk toward Kang Yoon-Soo with eyes filled with anger. He growled, “You’ll pay a heavy price for making a mess out of my organization.”

Kang Yoon-Soo started trying to think of a strategy. Arkan was not a knight, so he could not use the tactic of confusing his opponent by using imperial swordsmanship. He could not use the corpses of the bandits and turn them into undead because the skill ‘Mass Raise Dead’ required 100% of his maximum mana, and the Staff of Lightning had consumed most of his mana.

He only had fifty-two Zombie Black Bears in his summoned dimension, and he considered summoning them to fight against Arkan. ‘Should I summon White?’ he thought to himself.

While Kang Yoon-Soo was deep in thought, Arkan’s sword suddenly appeared in front of his nose. Arkan was about to stab Kang Yoon-Soo in the face with a fierce strike when suddenly…

Clang!

A sword appeared in front of Kang Yoon-Soo and easily parried Arkan’s attack. It was a movement that most swordsmen could not dream of performing unless they were experts.

A man on horseback glared down at Arkan. “It has been a while, Arkan,” he said.

Arkan furrowed his brow when he saw the man and called out, “Lenox!”

***

Kang Yoon-Soo looked alternately between the bandit, Arkan, and the knight, Lenox. He had been aware that the two were acquainted based on memories from his past life, and that bought him time to think of a strategy.

Lenox withdrew his sword as he glared at Arkan and said, “I heard the rumors that you escaped from prison after raping Lady Kirnell when we were apprentice knights. I never imagined we would be meeting again in a place like this, Arkan.”

“That’s for me to say,” Arkan growled.

The sound of numerous hooves closed in on them as the knights who followed Lenox showed up as well. Lenox and his knights had found their way to the bandit base after hearing the numerous screams coming from it.

Meanwhile, a violent ripple started to form in the lake closed off by the dike.

“What on earth…?!”

“What happened here?”

The knights could not hide their shock as they looked at the corpses littering the area, and the newbie Eric threw up at the sight of the dead bodies strewn across the ground.

Lenox looked at the blood-covered Kang Yoon-Soo and asked, “Did you kill these bandits?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“It is not for me to say this, but I am impressed,” Lenox said.

“They’re all violent criminals. My notoriety didn’t increase,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered.

Lenox let out a sigh in response before turning to Arkan and said, “I have something to ask this man; I suggest you turn back.”

“Your haughty, authoritative attitude hasn’t changed one bit. Do you remember me as someone who followed every single one of your orders?” Arkan growled.

The knight and the bandit started to exude an immense amount of killing intent toward each other.

Knight and Bandit were polar opposite classes; they were usually considered to be each other’s mortal nemesis. Knights received a penalty for dishonorable actions that went against their oaths to their masters; they placed importance on honor not just because of their conscience, but because it directly affected their combat ability. Meanwhile, Bandits received more buffs the more they lied, stole, and killed. However, they could not live stable lives like Knights, and had to live under the radar of investigators. It was obvious that there would be an intense animosity between the two classes due to their differences.

Lenox pointed his sword toward Arkan and said, “I don’t want to shed meaningless blood and waste my time. What do you think of settling this in a duel?”

The bandits started laughing at the noble yet ignorant suggestion made by the knight, and Arkan could not help but laugh at Lenox’s words. If there was anyone who would suggest an honorable duel with a bandit, that person would definitely be Lenox.

However, Arkan nodded in agreement and said, “Alright. It’s been quite a while since I last saw your swordsmanship anyway. No one could win against you when we were training back then.”

Lenox dismounted and slowly walked toward Arkan, and Arkan drew his sword and did the same. The bandits and the knights encircled the two as if making a makeshift arena. Kang Yoon-Soo was the only one who did not seem to be interested in their duel. Instead, he was staring at the dike that was holding back the lake water.

There was no judge to decide the victor and no referee to signal the start of the duel, but Lenox and Arkan looked at each other before instinctively charging at each other simultaneously. Sparks flew all over as their swords clashed.

Clang!

It was just the first blow they had exchanged, but they both felt intense recoil from their attacks. They both jumped back the moment they felt the recoil in their hands. One exchange was enough to show them how they had grown over the years.

The two activated their skills at the same time.

“Wind, Bless My Sword.”

“Bloodlust Sword!”

They both charged at one another with their skills the second time, and Lenox’s dazzling swordsmanship clashed against Arkan’s violent swordsmanship while Arkan’s magic sword continuously spewed out explosions.

The sound of their swords clashing began to resemble a requiem foreshadowing one of their deaths, and their battle started to escalate to another level that most of the spectators found difficult to follow with their eyes. The bandits were especially not used to such a level of combat, and they only stood there stupefied at what was unfolding before their eyes.

However, the situation seemed to be in Lenox’s favor. The knight was not equipped with luxurious or outstanding equipment, but he was one-sidedly dominating the bandit. Arkan fell backward after one final strike. Lenox put his sword on the bandit’s neck and said, “You seem to have grown lazy, Arkan. Your sword and your body are slow.”

“Do you really think so?” Arkan retorted with a smirk.

One of the bandits standing in the encirclement suddenly threw a dagger toward Lenox, and Lenox swung his sword to block it. Arkan did not miss the opportunity, as he dashed forward and stabbed Lenox in the abdomen. Lenox managed to twist his body at the last second, however, which saved him from receiving a fatal blow.

“Captain!” the knights called out.

Lenox staggered back as his face turned pale. Arkan licked the blood off his sword as he cackled and exclaimed, “The coward always wins in the end!”

“You’re right.”

The one who spoke was none other than Kang Yoon-Soo. He slowly stood up, having come up with a plan to kill the bandits. He stretched out his right hand and said, “Summon White.”

“Grrrrruo!” A werewolf with snow-white fur appeared. The onlookers were surprised by the beast’s sudden appearance, but Kang Yoon-Soo did not pay any heed to them as he climbed on top of White.

White bolted forward at an incredible speed with Kang Yoon-Soo riding atop him; they almost rammed into Arkan, but narrowly avoided him and instead climbed up the mountain. They moved at a frighteningly fast speed that neither the bandits nor the knights could react to. Of course, there was no way even a horse could catch up to a werewolf even if they tried.

“Stop,” Kang Yoon-Soo ordered, and White came to a sudden halt.

A bandit suddenly shouted, his eyes wide open in shock, “That’s… That’s the dike keeping the lake water in!”

Kang Yoon-Soo was standing in front of the dike on top of the mountain that held back the lake water. It was the trump card the bandits had prepared against enemies who climbed up the mountain. The dike was held together by sturdy ropes; Kang Yoon-Soo swung his longsword, cutting those ropes apart.

Pukeok!

The dike started to fall apart, and a stream of water began to flow out of it. Not only the bandits, but also the knights, watched in horror at the sight of the water slowly flowing through the dike.

Arkan screamed, his face red with anger, “What are you doing?! A massive landslide will be triggered if that dike breaks!”

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as he swung his longsword once again. It was only a swing of his sword, but the dike started to tremble even more, and even more water started to push its way out of the dike.

The people below Kang Yoon-Soo finally realized the gravity of the situation as they started to shout and scramble.

“Damn it! What happened to the ones guarding the dike?!”

“They all died to that guy!”

“Run! Run if you want to live!”

“Escort the captain! We will leave this place at once!”

The knights quickly mounted their horses and quickly rode away. However, the bandits did not have any horses to escape on. The bandits ran with all their might, but it was nowhere near enough to escape from the torrent of water about to come crashing down the mountain.

“Grrrruuuo!” White roared.

Kang Yoon-Soo slashed at the last rope keeping the dike together. The dike shattered and a torrent of water roared out from the lake like a waterfall. The water swept away everything in its path, and the bandits were no exception.

“Ack! He… l… p… m…”

The bandits could not even properly let out screams as the water swept them up. Even Arkan, who had managed to flee the farthest among the bandits, was swept up by the torrent of water.

Arkan glared at Kang Yoon-Soo while he was being swept up. Suddenly, he noticed that the expensive wine on his waist was no longer there. However, he was already buried beneath the water and mud by the time he realized that.

The dike had been designed to let the water sweep away only the area beneath the bandit base, but since Kang Yoon-Soo had abruptly destroyed it, the water swallowed everything in its path—including the bandit base.

Kang Yoon-Soo calmly watched the sight while sitting on top of White, and a message popped up on his wrist device.

[You have triggered a massive landslide in the Hatar Mountains.]

[The only victims were violent criminals; therefore, your notoriety will not increase.]

[Today’s event, where a huge amount of criminals were swept away by a landslide, will be recorded in history.]

The area beneath Kang Yoon-Soo had suddenly turned into a vast lake. The landslide had managed to fully annihilate the bandits and prevent any more pursuit from the knights.

Kang Yoon-Soo opened the expensive wine bottle and drank while enjoying the scene of destruction beneath him.