Return of the Apocalypse Knight

Chapter 27: The Village Chief (1)

In a world with mana, there were people who felt mana naturally, even if they weren’t wizards and knights.

A person who naturally felt mana, which made their senses sharper, their physical strength stronger, and their abilities more versatile.

Such a person was what Hoffman called a natural awakener.

Even on the continent, there were natural awakeners before there were knights and wizards, and technically, natural awakeners were the originators of wizards and knights.

The magic of wizards and the techniques of knights were created by watching the Natural Awakeners move their mana.

However, in my previous life, I had never seen a Natural Awakener, let alone a wizard or knight.

So, I thought that humans on Earth couldn’t feel mana.

Then, suddenly, a Natural Awakener appeared but even with my mana senses, I could feel it moving through the man in the tent.

Mage mana radiating from his heart, knight mana coursing through his body from his dagger, and other mana movements.

It was so primitive, but surely he was feeling it, moving it.

I knew it because I’d seen it a few times in the other world. The man in the tent was a Natural Awakener.

Could humans on this side of the world also feel mana?

In my previous life, I hadn’t heard of anything similar to a Natural Awakening.

Even then, the internet would have made it difficult to hide such secrets…….

Then, it wasn’t that I couldn’t feel mana, but that it didn’t exist in this world before?

Mana appeared in this world when the Demon King appeared.

We don’t know how mana appeared in this world, but if there were natural awakeners among the people, it would be a great help in fighting the demon army.

While I was examining the people inside the tents, the people outside the tents surrounded us with weapons.

The weapons were nothing more than spears and knives converted into clubs, but their expressions were that of incredibly disciplined soldiers.

In other words, they were highly motivated.

This allowed us to deal with them without worry.

“What are you guys?”

Maybe because we didn’t save their lives this time, they asked more sharply than with Lee Joon-ho.

“From the Kingdom of Sorvia…….”

The question was sharp, but my party and I answered no differently than we had with Lee Joon-ho.

“……what nonsense.”

“It looks like a cosplay, don’t you think they’re crazy?”

“By the way, aren’t those real ears?”

“Of course not.”

Same answers, but unfortunately, these people didn’t believe us.

It’s hard to believe what you see is what you get…….

Do I need to show my skills?

At this point, it was not going to be easy to talk to them. But we can’t just jump in and beat them up.

Just as I was getting a little confused, Lee Joon-ho, who was guiding us, stepped forward.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. It may be hard to believe, but these people have superpowers like sir. They saved my life. And…….”

He started, but was interrupted by a question from inside the tent.

“Where is Mr. Hyo-sik who went with you?”

People looked at Lee in surprise, and he lowered his head to answer.

“He……didn’t come back, and I was in danger.”

“Oh my…….”

Everyone’s expressions sharpened.

Unfortunately, the reinforcements didn’t seem to help.

It seemed that if he made a mistake, even Lee would lose their trust.

The man’s words increased the tension around them.

Just as Hoffman placed his finger on the trigger of his crossbow, the man in the tent rose to his feet.

He slowly stepped out of the tent and addressed everyone.

“We’ll talk about Mr. Hyo-Sik after we decide what to do with the people who came to visit us.”

Deal with us?

It was a strange word. It was ridiculous.

“How can you say something like that in front of a knight……”

Hoffman looked incredulous.

The village chief’s expression did not change even after hearing Hoffman’s words.

Instead, he stood in front of us with motorcycle gloves on his hands.

“First of all, if you’re not lying about having superpowers, let’s see how good you are. You can go all out if you want.”

A man in his thirties, wearing motorcycle gloves and a leather jumpsuit, stood in front of us, spraying light from his hands.

We stared at him in awe.

We couldn’t believe it, but the sudden awakening had hit him hard.

Suddenly, we were dueling with a natural awakening. It was ridiculous.

I turned my head to look at Hoffman.

When I looked at him, he scratched his head.

“I suppose I could fight, but I don’t think this is the time for me to fight.”

I stared at Hoffman, confused, but he was right.

In terms of skill, Hoffman and the Natural Awakened were evenly matched.

If they fought to the death in an open space with no restrictions, Hoffman would win, but in a confined space like this, where he couldn’t even kill, it would be hard for him to win.

Hoffman may have more combat experience, but the chief mana reserves would be far greater and his ability to draw mana out of his body would be greater.

It would be ridiculous to fight for nothing, and even if you did win, it would be hard for your opponent to recognize it.

I glanced at Zahina instead of Hoffman and sighed.

I couldn’t use an elf with half her abilities here, so I’d have to step up.

I shook my head and stepped forward.

“What kind of knight of a kingdom fights alone, draw your sword.”

I sighed again at his words and drew my sword from its scabbard at my waist.

I could have done without it, but since he wanted it so badly, I might as well give in.

“Well, let’s make sure you’re not cosplaying.”

The man stomped the ground.

The village chief came rushing right in front of my nose in one step as his shining fist flew towards my head.

Sure enough, the flying fist contained mana.

Not only was the mana inside the fist, but the surface of the fist was also energized, so if it hit, not only zombies would fall, but skeletons as well.

I was a little surprised to see the flying fist, but it moved well and utilized mana well.

With that much mana, he could probably fight a knight if he trained hard enough.

“In about ten years…….if you train properly.”

I ducked my head to avoid a flying punch and slid my leg out.

-Bam.

As if on cue, my outstretched foot caught the man’s leg and he rolled across the floor.

He rolled around the floor about three times, then scrambled to his feet.

It was a move worthy of applause, a move to make such a big mistake not look like a mistake.

I must have underestimated my opponent.

“What the hell!”

He made up for his mistake with a flashy move, but the man’s face had turned red.

That would definitely get him caught.

With that thought, I took a step forward.

The distance shrinks in an instant, just like when the opponent runs.

In a single step, he was within my range but his eyes weren’t looking straight at me yet.

He doesn’t seem to know how to accelerate his eyes or mind with mana yet.

I sighed.

It’s not like I’m playing with a child.

I felt like a clown for nothing.

Still, if I’m not going to waste time, I have to try.

I swung my sword with all my might.

-Pow!

With a bang, the man in front of me disappeared.

-Kwaang!

A loud crash followed.

I turned my head to look at the source of the sound and saw him slumped against the wall.

Luckily, there was no blood.

I hit him with the hilt of my sword, but it hadn’t hurt him, even though I’d hit him with all my power.

As expected, he’d wrapped his entire body in mana to deflect the impact.

The wall took the brunt of the impact instead. The wall he hit was finely cracked.

“Surely the evacuation layer……is extra thick?”

“That would be correct…….”

“Then why is the wall like that?”

As the wall-bound fellow stood motionless, the frozen men began to whisper softly.

They looked at him in amazement, then at me and the rest of the party in horror.

I turned to the pinned captain and asked.

“Have our skills been confirmed?”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t answer.

He had fainted the moment he was pinned to the wall.

I hadn’t meant to knock him out, but I had misjudged the force.

“You didn’t have to swing so hard just because you were angry.”

Even Hoffman, who was on my side, misunderstood, so no one seemed to think I had misjudged the force.

It was quite a while before we were not able to talk properly, thanks to my opponent being stunned.

It was a waste of time, but fortunately the mood was not bad.

When we did speak again, they were as polite as we were.

“I’ve heard of other people with superpowers, but I never thought there was anyone stronger than me.”

When the village chief came to his senses, it seemed like his illness had disappeared.

He listened to our story with a much kinder face.

I told him about us as I had told the soldier at the military base.

“So you’re from another world, and the people who made the zombies are from your world.”

Upon hearing our story, they seemed angry for a moment, but as we looked around, they quickly calmed down.

They were nice people.

“It’s a hard story to believe, but I have to believe it. The armor you’re wearing is different, and the woman is different…….”

We showed them our skills, and they believed us just as much as Lee did.

“Well, actually, there’s nothing we can do about it, even if we’ve heard about it, because we can’t even survive right now.”

So we told them where we came from.

There’s no internet, and it’s not like they can broadcast.

The rumors about us would never leave the neighborhood.

“As it turns out, three people with powerful psychic powers visited our wing…….”

After muttering in a low voice, the captain looked at me and asked.

“What are you going to do about it?”

I knew immediately what he meant.

He was asking if we were just passing through or if we wanted to stay.

Unlike the others who were watching us from the sidelines, his face was set in stone.

Clearly, the others wanted us to stay, but he did not.

Was it because his power was at stake?

In truth, it didn’t matter what he thought.

As long as we, or I, made the decision, that was all that mattered.

Now that I had found a solid base, it was time to make a decision.

Do I keep moving to my former home, or do we stay here and wait for the gate to open.

I answered his question.