Master Assassin of the Ronan

Chapter 33. The Test of the Black Dream Forest (2)

A terrain littered with rugged rocks that rose chaotically.

A single misstep would mean falling off a cliff.

However, the remaining participants were already provisional assassins with a certain level of agility.

They leapt between rocks with stable yet swift movements.

Tap. Tap.

“Anyone want to confess who’s next in line this time?”

Hamil shouted with all his might as he moved, his voice echoing back, but no one answered.

It wasn’t the kind of situation where they could leisurely chat.

The participants were distancing themselves, scattering in three directions.

Chasing those participants like prey was the Dream Beast.

‘A mutant orc. So, is it Blane’s turn this time?’

In the ‘Second Selection’ that had taken place before the regression, such monsters hadn’t appeared.

The flow had changed from the past.

That made Blane the first one to raise suspicion.

“Blane! Is it your fear?”

Rubin and Blane happened to be running in the same direction.

The two were moving westward from the starting point.

Behind them, a mutant orc, swinging its twin spears wildly in bloodthirsty frenzy, was pursuing them.

Grooooooaarrrk!

Its upper body was that of an orc, but its lower body wasn’t.

It looked as if a wolf’s lower body had been crudely sewn on.

The orc, its reddish-brown bark-like skin swelling, brandished the twin spears threateningly.

Even so, it was far too slow to catch up with Rubin and Blane.

Even though the mutant orc leapt between rocks on four wolf legs, Rubin and Blane were pulling further ahead.

“I-It’s not me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I swear, it’s not.”

Blane’s pace was gradually slowing down. Her stamina seemed to be reaching its limit.

Rubin glanced back to gauge the distance between them and the mutant orc.

At this rate, Blane would be caught soon.

“Is it Hamil? Or Kun? I can’t be sure.”

“I think it might be one of the participants from the Bondog or Stone families.”

Blane, responding, had her long hair streaming in the wind.

It was a long, brown mane she’d grown out to cover the burn scars trailing down her left shoulder.

Rubin watched her hair whip harshly in the air.

“Ah, I get what you mean.”

He understood what Blane was implying.

That creature, with the wolf’s lower body, was a breed experimented on in the southern port city of Krulty, where they’d tried and failed to refine it.

It was bred for training by famous swordsmanship and martial arts families, but it turned out too brutal and uncontrollable to be suitable for training, eventually ending up with slave traders near Krulty.

Since the Bondog and Stone families were based near Krulty, one of them might have seen a mutant orc in their youth.

“That orc was called a Cruelty Orc.”

“It looks… not much different from the actual Cruelty Orc.”

Blane spoke with a hint of struggle.

Falling behind, Blane had entered the Cruelty Orc’s range.

With its prey so close, the Cruelty Orc let out an excited growl.

Groooooooarkaa!

The Cruelty Orc swung the spear in its right hand.

Did she sense her imminent defeat?

Blane’s eyes widened as she looked at Rubin ahead of her.

The fierce sound of the spear swishing past her ears echoed.

Then.

Rubin slowed down, turned around, and caught Blane with one hand.

The spear, which had been aiming for Blane, sliced through empty air instead.

Whoosh.

Grooooooarkaaa!

Unlike Rubin, who had decelerated steadily, the Cruelty Orc couldn’t control its speed.

Turning its head toward Rubin with a growl, the orc collided headlong with a rock.

“Why… why did you save me?”

Blane panted heavily.

Saving another participant was an incomprehensible decision.

Rubin approached the Cruelty Orc.

“For me, this test is a kind of training.”

“What? Training?”

“A training to make everyone progress to the next level.”

The Cruelty Orc had dropped one of its two spears.

That spear was now in Rubin’s hand.

“Everyone… to progress?”

Rubin didn’t hesitate.

He returned the Cruelty Orc’s spear to its original owner.

Thunk!

The Cruelty Orc, flailing after crashing into the rock, ceased its movements.

The spear had pierced the orc’s neck and embedded itself in the rock.

The orc’s blood trickled down the spear and dripped to the ground.

“Because everyone needs to become stronger.”

Rubin pulled out the spear lodged in the rock.

Then, he picked up the other spear that was still clutched in the dead Cruelty Orc’s hand.

Holding both spears, which were taller than he was, Rubin turned back toward Blane.

“I’ll win in the end, but until then, it’s training for everyone.”

Did he mean he could steer the flow of this test according to his will?

At Rubin’s confident attitude, Blane shuddered slightly.

‘There’s someone this strong, so why am I stuck on something as trivial as these burn scars?’

“Let’s go. We need to eliminate the other two quickly. Only then can we move on to the next stage, right?”

The Cruelty Orc that had appeared at the beginning of the fourth phase was a total of three.

Accordingly, the six surviving participants split into three groups.

Rubin and Blane.

Stone and Bondog.

And Hamil and Kun.

While Rubin handled one Cruelty Orc, Hamil and Kun were keeping some distance from each other as they walked in the same direction.

“You think sticking with me will help you survive longer?”

“No, I’m just looking for a chance to kill you, so don’t let your guard down.”

The two were bickering, but they had already dealt with one of the Cruelty Orcs that had been chasing them.

Kun had intercepted the Cruelty Orc’s spear with his bare hands, and in the opening he created, Hamil had slashed the orc’s neck with a dagger.

“Now there are two left… I’d love for them to appear right in front of me. I’d rip them apart.”

Kun gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“It’s only one left. If it’s Lord Rubin, he’s probably dealt with it by now.”

“Damn it, what are you, some kind of Ronan worshipper?”

“Kun, want to make a bet?”

“Get lost.”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Kun knew as well as anyone that Rubin had probably already handled it by now.

“It’d be great to run into those Bondog or Stone guys. I’d knock them both out immediately and move on to the next round.”

“Hey, look. You got your wish.”

“What?”

“Don’t you see those two running up ahead?”

When they entered the Dream State, the space transformed into a sphere with a 4-kilometer perimeter.

No matter which direction they ran, they would eventually end up back at their starting point.

After heading straight for some time, Kun and Hamil saw the participants from Stone and Bondog running away from the Cruelty Orc ahead of them.

“Those bastards still haven’t dealt with the orc.”

Kun pressed himself against a rock to hide.

“I’m going to eliminate those guys, Hamil. If they come near me, I’ll attack you too, so stay far back.”

In response to Kun’s declaration, Hamil raised both hands.

“Suit yourself. I’ll watch from a distance.”

“Heh, you’re scared as always.”

Hamil didn’t take Kun’s taunt seriously, instead moving a good distance away from him.

In the meantime, Kun drew a dagger—the legendary Kergeti Dagger, coated with poison, which he had received as a reward in the ‘First Selection.’

If he struck Bondog and Stone with this dagger, they would suffer from the poison until they were eliminated from the Dream State, experiencing the same agony as in reality.

Imagining the two participants writhing in pain, Kun smirked.

Stone and Bondog, unaware of what awaited them, continued running, widening the gap between them and the Cruelty Orc chasing them.

“So you come to me willingly!”

“…!”

Kun appeared right in front of the two participants.

Kun, who had leaped forward in an instant, swung his dagger, his attack speed amplified by the Dark Ripple.

It was too much for either Stone or Bondog to handle.

“Ugh!”

Stone and Bondog had been humiliated by Kun during the First Test and had been waiting for a chance to exact revenge.

But Kun was too powerful for them to do so. Bondog, caught off guard by Kun’s surprise attack, had his throat slit instantly, without a chance to feel pain.

Bondog was eliminated, while Stone sustained a wound on his forearm.

“Don’t worry, bastard. Your friend isn’t dead for real. You can meet him outside the forest as fellow losers.”

The poison from the Kergeti Dagger quickly spread through Stone’s body.

Paralyzed, Stone clenched his eyes shut. Once again, he had fallen to Kun!

“That troublesome Cruelty Orc must be your fear, huh? If I kill you, we’ll move on to the next round.”

Kun then swung his dagger, eliminating the helpless Stone.

As Kun confirmed Stone’s elimination and sheathed his dagger—

An aggressive movement entered the range of Kun’s Dark Ripple.

“Hamil, you sly wench! Are you trying to trick me again?”

Kun immediately twisted his body, narrowly dodging Hamil’s dagger as it came up from the ground, grazing his collar.

“Damn it!”

Hamil cursed in frustration after her failed attack.

The truth was, the fear of the Cruelty Orc belonged to Hamil.

After the First Test ended, Hamil, enraged by her own weakness, had requested that the Head of her family procure a Cruelty Orc for training, just like other famous swordsmanship and martial arts families did.

But one day, she’d nearly lost her life, attacked by dozens of uncontrollable Cruelty Orcs.

If it weren’t for the Head’s intervention, she would’ve died then.

‘Who knew that fear had left such a mark on me?’

But that wasn’t the issue now.

Her plan to eliminate Kun had failed, so now all that remained was a face-off against that monstrous Kun.

“So, you were up this round? Ha….”

Kun pulled out the dagger he had just sheathed.

“I wish this weren’t a Dream State. I’d love to kill you for real.”

“Same here, you arrogant mutt.”

“Let me pull out that smug tongue of yours!”

Kun’s attack began.

Hamil took up a defensive stance.

Meanwhile.

Rubin and Blane, walking along, spotted the last remaining Cruelty Orc.

The orc, holding twin spears, was just about to attack someone.

“Those two are…”

“Kun and Hamil. Looks like Bondog and Stone have been eliminated.”

“Then the Cruelty Orc must be the fear of one of those two.”

The last Cruelty Orc brandished its spear.

The fight became a three-way battle among Kun, Hamil, and the orc.

If it were a one-on-one fight, they could’ve easily dealt with the orc, but Kun and Hamil were attacking and defending against each other.

“Are you just going to watch?”

“No. First, I’ll have to break up the fight.”

Rubin split the spear he was holding into his right and left hands, then extended a long Dark Ripple toward Kun and Hamil.

“Blane.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know what’s got you so anxious and withdrawn, but listen carefully.”

Rubin stretched both arms holding the spears back over his shoulders. He was ready to throw them.

“If you shape the Dark Ripple long, it enhances your aim. Someone once taught me that. She was the best at long-range assassinations. She took out her targets from places where no one could see her, with just one strike.”

Just before throwing the spears, Rubin looked at Blane.

At that moment, she blinked, unable to understand the meaning behind Rubin’s talk about the greatest long-range assassin he remembered.

“You could become someone like that.”

With those words, Rubin swung his shoulders forward with all his strength.

The two spears, leaving Rubin’s hands, flew toward Kun and Hamil at an incredible speed.

The fight between Kun and Hamil was tilting in Kun’s favor.

Though the orc had intruded unexpectedly, Kun deliberately didn’t kill it. If he killed the orc first, he wouldn’t be able to eliminate Hamil.

“Now, get lost already!”

Kun was about to deliver the final blow to eliminate Hamil.

All he needed to do was plunge the dagger down.

Whooosh.

Two spears cut through the air.

Grooooaarkk!

One spear pierced the body of the Cruelty Orc tangled between the two combatants. And the other—

“Damn it!”

—landed right in front of Kun, just as he was about to stab Hamil with his dagger.

The spear blocked Kun’s attack.

Whoosh.

With the death of the last Cruelty Orc, the fourth round came to an end.