ALL NOVEL Chapter 265
Chapter 265. Island of Death (3)
“Train! Be sure to contact me.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you!”
“If there are any more troublemakers later, let me know.”
“Mhmhm. I’ll take care of them.”
Yoon Do-ha patted the head of the dwarf who had helped them in Kallem.
Next to him, Yoo Ji-han and Kruba were saying their goodbyes.
“Good luck.”
“Please take care of Maz.”
Although Kruba didn’t make a strong first impression, he showed quite a decent demeanor after becoming the sole ruler.
For a while, Yoo Ji-han participated in calming the chaos in Maz by staying close to Kruba.
Thanks to that, Kruba seemed to be regretful about him leaving.
“If you can’t return to your hometown, you can always come back to Maz.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Maz isn’t that bad compared to your hometown, right?”
Even if other rulers returned alive.
Kruba had gained his unwavering support thanks to Yoo Ji-han.
He wanted to beg him to stay in Maz forever.
‘Even if I hand over all of Maz, they will leave.’
But he knew they were people who couldn’t be held back, so he gave up.
“Chilla! Your food was amazing!”
“Thank you!”
“I’ll keep this as a family record! Chika!”
Chilla stamped a piece of paper with his hand and handed it to the chef, who had been through the most trouble recently.
The chef looked a bit awkward as he accepted it.
“It was really delicious.”
“Ah, yes….”
And as Lee Mi-a continued to praise him, the chef’s face turned slightly red.
He had feelings for her since she never left even a single piece of food he made.
“Shall we depart?”
“I’ll help.”
Yoo Ji-han, along with his party ready, set off for Kabuum, where Kim Si-hu was waiting.
Thanks to Yoon Do-ha’s skill in manipulating the earth, they reached Kabuum without any issues after a full day of traveling in the cart.
“Brother Ji-han!”
“……!”
Kim Si-hu greeted them in Area 7 of Kabuum, where the King’s Residence was.
However, as he waved at Yoo Ji-han, his face was gaunt and haggard.
Looking at his slightly sunken cheeks, Chilla exclaimed.
“Chik! The mage has turned into a skeleton!”
“I haven’t been sleeping much lately….”
“Master! Meat! Our mage needs meat! Chik!”
“Stop saying what you want to eat.”
“Chik? Did I get found out?”
Min Yu-ri poked Chilla’s side with her finger, causing a commotion.
The reunited party of Yoo Ji-han then entered the palace, where the King of Kabuum was waiting.
The King of Kabuum sat in his usual imposing manner on the grand golden throne.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
As Yoo Ji-han lightly bowed his head, the King waved his hands side to side.
“There’s no need for formalities on a day like today.”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready?”
“Of course.”
The King of Kabuum smiled at Yoo Ji-han’s confident response.
It was on the condition that he would help the Kallem Expeditionary Force return to their hometown.
Before they left, the King had promised to spar with Yoo Ji-han.
Yoon Do-ha, who entered the King’s Residence with them, said,
“Can’t I do it?”
“You seem like an incredible fighter as well… but what I wanted was the warrior named Yoo Ji-han.”
“Tsk, that’s a shame.”
The King of Kabuum had the strongest aura among the people they met in Kallem.
Yoon Do-ha looked quite disappointed facing him.
*
“Let’s start.”
In the sparring arena where Yoo Ji-han and the King of Kabuum entered.
The King of Kabuum, barely finishing his words, slammed the giant hammer he held into the ground.
Kwahhhhh—!!
With just one blow, the ground shattered like glass.
His bulging muscles proved the sheer force shaking the entire palace, including the sparring arena.
Yoo Ji-han, leaping up to avoid the impact, exclaimed in disbelief.
“Is it okay to destroy everything like this?”
“That’s what the place is for!”
“You’re quite the fiery one.”
“Indeed! I am fiery!”
Kudududuk!!
The King of Kabuum infused magic into his legs and arms.
His already impressive muscles swelled even further with the added magic.
“Urooo—!!”
Whoosh!
He launched the hammer he was holding high into the sky.
The hammer flew up so high it seemed to vanish from sight.
Just as Yoo Ji-han was about to question this,
[GIANT HAMMER]
The skill used by the King made the hammer swell to colossal sizes, completely overshadowing the sparring arena’s sky.
Then, it came crashing down towards Yoo Ji-han.
—Huff!
Under the shadow created by the giant hammer, the Sylph gasped in shock.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han dashed toward the King of Kabuum, having dodged the hammer.
He was out of range of the attack, after all.
“Are you planning to go head-on?!”
The King of Kabuum welcomed Yoo Ji-han with sheer delight.
Clang!
Yoo Ji-han swung his sword, and the King of Kabuum blocked it with his bare fist.
Still, his fist remained perfectly fine.
The sound made seemed improbable for a human fist meeting a sword.
‘Truly an impressive physique.’
Anyone watching could tell.
The King of Kabuum had an incredibly strong body.
‘Well, he is a barbarian.’
A barbarian blessed by the gods with a powerful physique.
The Kabuum people considered themselves human, but their physical strength was on another level.
Especially if they were at the top of the hierarchy.
Kwahhhhh——!!
The hammer that finally fell to the ground created an enormous shock, shattering the entire sparring arena.
With magical force and might exceeding even the previous blow.
Naturally, the aftermath extended to the palace of the King.
Crack! Crick!
A massive crack formed in the palace walls.
And after a moment, it stretched up to the ceiling.
“The… palace is collapsing!”
“Uaggh! Your Majesty!!”
The servants of the mansion, waiting for the spar to end, were freaked out and began to back away.
At this rate, the palace was going to come crashing down!
Nevertheless, the two continued their sparring unimpeded.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yoo Ji-han swung his sword infused with aura as he pressed against the King of Kabuum.
The King of Kabuum, though he was being pushed back bit by bit, still bore a joyous expression.
Whoosh!
The aura ignited from the King’s fist erupted outward.
An aura transfer that transferred the aura ignited in one place throughout the user’s body.
‘He’s a real monster.’
Yoo Ji-han clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched.
The King of Kabuum was maintaining that aura transfer effortlessly for over three minutes, which was something he could barely manage for a minute.
However, Yoo Ji-han continued his assault relentlessly.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Every time Qudi scraped against the King’s fist or body, small sparks flew.
Before a single spark could disappear, another spark erupted from Yoo Ji-han’s successive strikes.
With time passing, more and more tiny wounds appeared on the King’s skin.
‘This guy….’
The King of Kabuum, who had been taking punches and holding his ground, could not take his eyes off Yoo Ji-han.
‘It feels like I’m facing the wind, not a person.’
The King of Kabuum thought of the wind while facing Yoo Ji-han.
He could feel his overwhelming presence on his skin, yet it was the kind of airy being that could not be grasped!
Yoo Ji-han’s moves were so fluid and unpredictable that even the King of Kabuum found it difficult to track.
‘How is he able to move like this?’
His fist, capable of knocking out a savage beast in one blow, was blocked by sharp swords.
And even his kicks, which could not be resisted by ten warriors of Kabuum, only struck empty air.
He thought he had found an opening, but it was always the King of Kabuum who left openings.
Even though he was close enough to grab Yoo Ji-han the moment he extended his arm.
“Ha!”
The King of Kabuum thrust his fist against the descending blade, pouring tremendous strength into it.
Vibrations traveled up from his fist.
“……!”
From the blade to his hand, from his hand to his arm. And then the sensation traveled throughout his body.
Yoo Ji-han hesitated momentarily due to the vibrations surging through him.
He had thought he could easily deflect it, but the force embedded in the King’s fist exceeded his expectations.
The punch landed so powerfully that it left a wound even on the King’s once-strong fingers.
Taking advantage of the opening, the King of Kabuum stretched his hand toward Yoo Ji-han.
<—How to Evade That Attack>
At that moment, Yoo Ji-han who had used sampling saw a hazy afterimage appear in his view.
Two afterimages escaping from the King of Kabuum, each displaying a different movement!
‘This is it!’
One afterimage dived sideways, while the other leaped high upwards.
Yoo Ji-han chose the afterimage that leaped above the King’s head.
[WIND BOMB]
Bang!
Yoo Ji-han’s body shot up high over his head.
The King of Kabuum reached out to grab his legs, but—
He couldn’t reach him, barely a finger’s amount of space between them.
‘I missed again!’
This time, he truly believed he would catch him!
Yoo Ji-han barely escaped once more, and it was infuriating to the King.
But instead of being upset over his missed attack, he wore a joyful smile as he retrieved his embedded hammer.
[GIANT HAMMER]
And once more, a gigantic hammer loomed in the sky!
‘Is he really going to destroy the palace entirely?’
Didn’t he even care about this palace?
Yoo Ji-han frowned, descending diagonally towards the King from above.
“Sylph!”
—I’ve been waiting!
The Sylph’s body floated up, absorbed into Qudi.
Wham!
The sword surrounded by green aura was infused with the presence of the spirit.
The compressed wind, thin as paper, enveloped the entire sword.
The white dots embedded tightly into the Drimium emitted a mysterious light, similar yet distinctly different from the aura.
‘… Am I seeing things?’
The King of Kabuum briefly saw a vision of raging storms sweeping in from the sky.
However, there shouldn’t be any clouds in the clear sky.
“Come!”
Feeling like this could be their final clash.
The King of Kabuum wrapped his entire body in thickened aura.
Following that, the clash between the two and the descending [GIANT HAMMER] resulted in—
Kwahhhhhhh——!!
The already unstable sparring arena shattered into pieces.
*
With all the luggage loaded onto the ship and ready to set sail, the Kallem Expeditionary Force stared at the land.
The King of Kabuum, with white bandages wrapped around his arms and hands, watched them leave.
“Safe travels.”
“…… What about the palace?”
“We can call someone to repair it.”
“I feel like it needs to be rebuilt, not just repaired.”
“Khem!”
“Seriously, can you tone it down a bit?”
Yoo Ji-han sighed briefly.
It was due to the sparring arena that had vanished and the palace that had been partially destroyed as a result.
——My defeat.
Thanks to that, the spar ended without a clear winner, but the King of Kabuum declared his defeat.
For the first time, he had sustained a significant wound.
“Bwahahaha! That was a thrilling fight. Watching it got my blood pumping!”
“I wanted to fight you as well.”
“If the opportunity arises, anytime.”
Watanabe winked at the King of Kabuum.
During their time in Kabuum, Watanabe had hit it off surprisingly well with the King.
“Yes, I hope to see you again someday.”
“If dimensional research progresses further… it might be possible.”
“Our mages plan to continue researching pathways. Until the day when Kallem and Earth can exchange freely…”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
After finishing his farewells with the King, Yoo Ji-han turned to Kabuum’s warrior, Tuta.
“Thanks to you, everything went smoothly.”
“Did I do well?”
“You did great. Very well.”
“Mmhm!”
The Kabuum warrior, who had first met Yoo Ji-han in Kabuum.
If he hadn’t believed in the heroes shortly after meeting them, things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as they did now.
Yoo Ji-han had asked the King to reward Tuta generously, so he would likely become one of the finest warriors among Kabuum’s ranks.
“We’re leaving!”
“Take care, everyone!”
“Chik! Thanks for the food!”
“If you can’t return to your hometown, come back here again!”
Flap!
The ship raised its sails and headed toward the blue sea.
The Sylph was pushing the sails from the center with the wind.
—Ji-han! Is this speed okay?
“Yeah.”
Due to circumstances, they couldn’t bring a navigator.
But they had perfectly located the destination island.
As long as they operated the ship as planned, they should reach the island.
However, just 30 minutes into their journey on the ship, it happened.
Kagagagak!!
The ship, which had been racing without issues, suddenly came to a halt, startling everyone on board.
Mumu, guided by Yoon Do-ha’s instructions, immediately dove below the deck to assess the situation.
“The ship’s stuck in seaweed.”
“Seaweed? You mean the weeds in the ocean?”
“Mhm? I’m not sure.”
It turned out they were caught up with tough seaweed that looked like seaweed, hindering their navigation.
—Should I cut it?
The Sylph, who was unimpeded by underwater constraints, easily chopped it off.
Seeing the ship finally begin to move again, Yoo Ji-han thought to himself.
‘They call it the Island of Death…’
This first felt ominous.