The sea stirred with powerful waves. Arua Raven was flying overhead, screaming at the top of her lungs for the first time in a long time. «Mr. Urikfried! You've done it! We're almost on land».
He looked down from the sky; Abman was in the water being dragged back and forth, leaning on a single board board. Every time the waves splashed across the board Raven's heart narrowed, but she couldn't do anything else.
I have to take care of at least Mr. Abman...
The moment the ship capsized, everyone dispersed and disappeared, and the only one he found while searching the area was Abman. She continued to follow him so as not to lose her location.
«Hey?»
Abman apparently lost grip on the board, because his body disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Raven hurried down the height, but Abman was nowhere to be found.
«Mr. Urikfried! Mr. Urikfried!», he shouted as he searched the area for a while, but got no response. Raven's body trembled as if she had chills. «...No, it will be fine».
Forcing the tremor, Raven settled her thoughts and headed toward the shore.
«I found you!» Walking along the coast, he finally found the person he was looking for. Abman had been swept away by the waves and was passed out in the sand. «Ugh».
He was breathing correctly and his body temperature had not dropped that much. Raven quickly used flame-based auxiliary magic to dry Abman's wet clothes and body, and then waited for him to wake up.
That's when a man emerged from the forest.
«Not the one I was looking for... But this isn't so bad either».
***
The blood rose to my head. Why did this guy have Raven's ring? No matter how much I tried to think positively, I couldn't get a positive circumstance.
«Hey, why do you have Raven's subspace ring?». I asked the question, not letting my last hope slip away. «Explain yourself». Hoping there was a misunderstanding that I didn't know about, I exercised superhuman patience. But the response I received was different than I expected.
«I'll ask the questions first».
Don't you want to give me an advantage in the conversation? So you chose the wrong moment.
«¿In series?»
«Let me ask again. What have you done to...?»
«Well die».
I kicked the ground and moved forward, judging that it wasn't too late to ask questions after the hierarchy was in order. When I used Jump to jump high and instantly inflated myself with Gigantization, he stepped back to widen the distance.
[Its total weight is over 1,100 pounds. The special Reverse terrain effect is additionally applied to the damage range].
So much distance won't save you from this.
¡Shocks!
The ground gurgled outward from the landing point.
«Ah...!» The slender man bounced like a spring. I didn't miss that gap and immediately jumped in, then I quickly stretched out my barbaric hand. That was the moment.
[Nebarce Greenhop has launched Emergency Escape.]
The man disappeared right under my nose like a mirage. There was no reason to be baffled. As if moving the camera in a 3D game, I scanned the surroundings and spotted it about twenty meters away. Yeah, so he was a Blink guy. However, it didn't go far.
Dash.
I fixed my posture in the air. Since this guy was a high-level archer, an arrow was already flying.
¡Latigo!
The white light surrounding the arrowhead looked like an arrow with a skill on top. This was not a problem.
[You have launched Transcendence. The skill used next will be strengthened.]
The Bayon skill I acquired as a real reward was not an essence obtained just to bind with Gigantization, after all.
[You have launched Jump. By the authority of the transcendental body, the ability inherent in the ability is released].
Transcendental Leap, for short. The effect was simple. It became available for use in the air, and castable in the air, increasing utility greatly.
[Travel time is greatly reduced.]
You also turned quickly. Really fast.
¡Flash!
By the time my foot kicked in the air, it was already in his face as he carried all the effects of Jump on my body.
¡Crash!
His body rose into the air again, unable to overcome the recoil. I quickly reached out and grabbed his neck.
«Urgh!» The man groaned in pain. There was no room for compassion. After all, controlling the distance was a matter of life and death for a long-range fighter. Since he couldn't do it, he had to die.
«Dies». I grabbed his neck tighter. I wasn't too worried about him running away. Not only was the cooldown of a Blink considerably long, but even if he escaped using another ability, he just had to catch it again.
«Ugh...!» His movements intensified. If he added a little more strength here, his neck would probably break right then and there.
That's when I came to. «Hey.» Breaking his neck here was not a good decision. I should at least listen to it. If it wasn't the story he was waiting for, just breaking his neck wouldn't be enough.
Coup seco.
When I loosened the grip on his neck, the guy fell to the ground. I stomped on his stomach to make sure he wasn't funny and lowered my torso. I grabbed his wrist.
¡Chasquido!
I twisted her wrist instead of her neck, the wrist with the hand wearing Raven's ring. The guy couldn't even moan from the great pain and his eyes bulged. It wasn't something that worried me. He had been very patient until now.
«Where did you get this ring?» I asked him the same question. A tragedy had happened before in which we both only asked what we wanted to ask, but this time it was different.
«What the hell are you still talking about?!». Although it was not an adequate answer, it was an answer.
«Just answer the question».
«¡Gah...!»
«This ring, where did you get it?» Asking that, I scanned his paper-thin body. His wrist was already crushed, but there were still many parts that could break.
Did you realize this too? «Kerman's magic workshop in District 7!» he shouted urgently. «Kerman's magic workshop, that's where I got it!»
It was an answer I didn't expect at all. «...What?» He expected her to say that he had caught her by accident or stolen her, but that he had not killed her. I planned to carry out the next phase of the interrogation as soon as I spit out those ambiguous words, but instead I was paralyzed. «Did you buy it...? Didn't you steal it from Raven?»
«I don't even know who Raven is!».
He sounded genuinely offended. It didn't seem like he was lying... but you never knew. He could be so clever that a lie occurred to him in the meantime.
«¡A-agh!»
I grabbed her hanging hand and took off the ring. Then I opened the sub-space and searched inside. It was filled with equipment, consumables, and items that appeared to be personal. Checking some of the objects, I let out a deep sigh.
What, he really wasn't from Raven?
It wasn't Raven's ring. As proof, there were no magic reagents like there should be. There was also no way for this guy to steal the ring and throw all the expensive magic reagents on the ground.
Oh, come to think of it, Raven also said she bought it at a magic shop... Yes, I believed in you. Mhm, she's not just any woman. There's no way she would fall so easily.
«Is the misunderstanding clarified?»
Oh, uh...
«So it turns out this is your ring.» Like a barbarian whose honesty was his greatest strength, I coldly admitted that I was wrong and took off the foot of the guy writhing with his wrists bent.
«But why do you put it in your pocket...?».
Mm, why was that that and this is this? This ring is mine now. The people of Noark were originally treasure goblins, right?
«Do you have complaints?»
His silence portrayed his disgust at my actions. Simply put, the transfer process was over. Now that I had permission, I stripped him of his weapons and equipment, thus completing preparations for a non-violent conversation.
«Who are you?»
Starting with his name, I questioned the guy about his personal information and the events on this island. I figured he didn't want to die yet, since the words came out easily. Her name was Nebarce Greenhop.
«Your face looks familiar to me for some reason...»
«Should. Because we already met once».
«That? You and me? When?»
«When the royal capital Karnon caught fire.»
As soon as I heard that, I remembered. When I met the Fallen Scholar then, there was a dink following behind him.
And to think it was him.
Anyway, that wasn't important. It also didn't seem like this guy knew anything that Fallen Scholar and Baekho talked about after leaving.
«Now, tell me. Everything that happened today».
After that I was able to hear the story of the incident that I could not hear from the priestess. First of all, he really was the blonde those guys were chasing.
«That man was originally from Noark. But he betrayed the lord of the castle and fled with the treasure».
«E-espera. ¿El Sr. Drous es de Noark...?»
«That's a fake name in the first place. It was very difficult to find him because he changed his face and hid».
Apparently having trouble believing the past, the priestess stared into space completely stunned. Well, I'd be the same if I heard from someone that Missha was an evil spirit or something.
«So what happened to him?»
«Died».
«Are you sure?»
«It was right there. You can see where Lady Rainwales disposed of the body».
The spot he pointed to actually had traces of melted liquid. Geez, how brutal.
«So what were you doing until then that you showed up now? And where are your companions?»
«Me and another left the group to track down those who fled. That's when I separated in the middle of the other person».
Hmm, sure. So you were chasing them when you came back empty-handed and ended up here. Wait, so who triggered the event?
Suddenly it occurred to me to ask who broke the island offering, but I didn't get the answer I expected.
«How did the sea get like this...? I don't know either. The ground suddenly began to shake during the chase and then the surroundings darkened».
Huh, he doesn't know either? This makes it doubtful again...
As I stood still, organizing my thoughts, the archer asked cautiously: «So what happened to Lady Rainwales? Wasn't anyone here when you arrived?».
That was the question he asked when we met. Hmm, was that why he answered all my questions so seriously? Why was I curious? She couldn't be sure, but just as she was about to respond, two figures appeared from the bushes.
Dash.
«Erwen! There! It's Bjorn!»
«Lord! You were here!»