I Obtained Sword God Level Talent

65 – 065. The Ismael Subjugation War (3)

The building where the light seeped out.

I hesitated for a long time before approaching it. I couldn’t tell if what was inside was a survivor within the barrier or a minion wielded by a demon.

‘This sound-blocking magic is too clumsy.’

No sound emanated from the building where the light leaked out. I guessed that sound was blocked by other means, not by magic.

“S-sir…”

“Shhh! Quiet!”

It was then. From deep inside the building, a child’s voice and a woman’s voice were heard.

‘Survivors. Is it because they’re within the sound-blocking range that I can hear them?’

Sure of it, I cautiously opened the door. Maybe the building had been used as an inn, because the first floor had a structure similar to a restaurant.

Creak.

‘Just as I thought.’

As soon as I entered the building, a familiar energy was caught by my senses.

Divine power. The survivor inside this building was a priestess who wielded divine power. She was probably using her power to the utmost to suppress any leaking sounds.

Slowly, I moved my steps toward the stairs leading to the basement. I made sure to let off as much of an aura as possible so that those hiding in the basement wouldn’t get startled.

“Is anyone in there?”

“Hup!”

Did they not expect to hear a human voice? A sharp scream came straight from the basement.

“Come out. This place is dangerous. It means the demon’s minions will soon be here.”

“H-how can we believe that?”

A thin voice, responding to mine, was heard through the basement door.

The owner of the voice was a young woman. I let out a soft sigh and continued to speak.

“See for yourself. Whether I’m a demon or a human.”

“……!”

My answer, filled with conviction, must have been convincing enough.

The survivors in the basement, who had been silent for a moment, cautiously opened the door and appeared.

“O-oh… you’re really not a demon.”

“…….”

The first thing I saw was a priestess with red hair. Her white priest’s robes were stained with dirt.

“Who are those children?”

Behind her, a dozen or so children were trembling with fear. They all had pale faces, probably from having had an unimaginably terrible experience here.

“They’re the village children. They all lost their parents to the vile creatures.”

The priestess with a sad face spoke in a small voice so that the children wouldn’t hear. I nodded silently, and glanced around the basement.

The basement was dark. It seemed the priestess had lit a fire to chase away the cold, because a single torch in the center was flickering precariously.

“But…”

The priestess looked at me, tilting her head.

“Strangely… I sense a tremendous aura emanating from you.”

The youthful priest shifted his gaze from my head to my feet, as if he found me fascinating.

A tremendous aura, huh. I wasn’t sure if he meant mana, or the power of some innate trait.

“Enough with the chitchat. Come out with the children, quickly. We need to get to the city.”

“Huh? The city?”

“We plan to head to Hezenberg, the largest city on the western border.”

“……Ah!”

The priest exclaimed, as if something had just clicked into place.

“That’s right! I was planning to take the children to the church!”

Oh, is that so.

“Get ready first. We have to leave this village right away.”

“……Alright. Children, the person who’s going to help us is here. Hurry and get ready to leave.”

With a stiff expression, the priest turned around and gathered the children. When we went up to the surface, along with a group of about ten, both Geomma and Geum Harin shot astonished glances in my direction.

“Hehe! There were children who survived.”

“Are these all the survivors in this village?”

“Looks like it.”

I briefly answered Geum Harin’s question, while organizing my thoughts. Now, if I move in the 11 o’clock direction from this village, there should be another village.

My plan was to gather survivors there as well and head towards the city.

But that’s when it happened.

Cawww───!!!

A piercing screech echoed from the sky. I quickly looked up and saw a crow, an omen of ill-fortune, gliding above the village.

Wooong-!

At the same time, the black sun vibrated slightly. As if announcing it had found its prey. Instantly, a dark and gloomy energy descended upon the entire village.

“……Th-that, that’s!”

The priest’s pupils trembled violently, as he cautiously led the children out of the building.

“Uwaaang!”

“T-teacher…!”

The children were just as afraid, their bodies trembling. I, who was relatively okay, scanned the area with a cold gaze.

‘Soon, the familiars will come.’

It was pointless to dig in at this ruined village. Instead, it seemed more logical to move towards our destination, while intercepting the enemies.

“Let’s move. Quickly!”

“Ah, okay! Kids! This, this knight will protect us! Everyone, don’t worry and follow the knight!”

“……Heh. A martyr priest.”

The swordsman muttered bitterly at the priest’s impassioned speech. Whether he was originally someone who looked after children, just seeing the kids call the priest ‘teacher’ showed how deep their bond was.

*Pat-pat!*

And so, with the group of survivors joining us, we hurriedly set off for the next village.

The silver lining was that the distance to the next village and the final destination city was not far. Even if a normal person walked, it would only take three or four hours.

“Hey, hey, kids! Don’t cry and follow the teacher closely. If any of you kids have sore legs, tell the teacher anytime! The teacher will carry you even if I have to…!”

The priestess encouraged the children with earnest sincerity. Even the kids who had lost their families must have felt the unusual atmosphere, as they didn’t stop walking even while shedding tears.

‘Soon, we will arrive at the next village.’

How much time had passed like that?

The feared attack didn’t occur. It was a surprisingly peaceful journey, even I thought it was odd.

“The village is visible.”

Geum Harin, walking next to me, murmured in a low voice.

Indeed, as she said, a village of decent size was visible up ahead.

However.

‘……Is it already too late?’

The village that was our intermediate destination was already a wasteland. The previous village where we had rescued the priest and the children seemed adorable compared to this.

“It’s better to just search quickly and pass through.”

The swordsman voiced his honest opinion as well. It seemed that he thought searching for survivors in that place was a waste of time.

However.

“No. It’s better to look around the village before moving.”

I shook my head and said. Even in the previous village, we almost missed seeing the priest and children. There was no guarantee that we wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.

And so, we entered the ruined village.

The streets of the small village were lined with corpses that had their insides hollowed out. It seemed that the evil hand of Ishmael had already swept through the entire village and passed by.

However.

“Wai, wait a minute!”

“……!”

An unexpected voice came from among the debris of a building. Hurriedly turning my head, a similar scene to the previous village appeared.

“A-are you people from the outside?!”

The voice belonged to a priest, dressed similarly to the earlier priestess. Behind the middle-aged priest were about twenty more survivors, all of them wearing expressions of fear.

‘What is this?’

It was hard to hide my bewilderment.

How the hell were these priests pulling off such wide-area stealth? It was the same damn scene as the previous village.

“S-Senior!”

“…Senior?”

Even more baffling was what the priestess leading the children shouted.

Senior? So, these two were from the same order.

“That’s right. We’re priests of ‘War’. All priests of War have mastered divine magic that allows them to evade dangerous situations. It’s all thanks to that that we avoided the demon’s eyes.”

As if she’d caught the meaning in my gaze, the middle-aged priest spoke, his face still etched with fear.

‘…War, huh.’

Well, then. This was fate, if anything.

The bracelet on my arm was a relic of Aldehain, the god of that very War.

‘So that was it?’

The previous priestess had said she felt a great power radiating from me. Maybe it was because of Aldehain’s relic.

*Swish*

I turned my eyes to gaze at the pale-faced survivors.

Twenty adult men and women, ten children, and now two priests of War.

It had grown into a considerably large group. Just as the Black Demon had warned, if the followers of Ishmael attacked, the battle was going to be significantly more difficult.

But.

“Let’s go!”

I simply raised my voice and urged everyone forward.

I knew it would be a struggle to protect everyone. But, that didn’t mean I could abandon them, could I?

Cawwwwww───!!

Once again, a crow in the sky let out an ominous cry.

I tried to ignore their screams and kept moving forward.

“Wait.”

How long had we been leading the survivors? The Black Demon, walking ahead, stopped in his tracks.

“They’re coming.”

His face stern, the Black Demon turned to look behind him. No further explanation was needed. It was something I’d anticipated; that the followers of Ishmael would attack us sooner or later.

*Srrrng!*

The sword at my waist revealed itself with a clear sound.

And then, I spoke to Geum Ha-rin.

“Geum Ha-rin. Protect the people. That’s your highest priority.”

“……Understood.”

*Kugugugung—!!*

Indeed, before long, I felt the movement of a massive ‘horde’ with my senses.

A vibration that shook the ground. A din that pierced the ears. Simultaneously, I felt a vast, ominous malice.

“……!”

At the same time, the enemies revealed themselves from afar.

They lacked uniformity.

Some were beasts that resembled horses, but with insect wings on their backs.

Some were in the form of gigantic centipedes.

Some were in the form of monkeys with numerous red arms.

Besides those, there were hordes of horrifying fiends that defied description. They were rushing towards us, blackening all corners of the earth.

Naturally, the screams of the unarmed survivors echoed loudly through the scene.

“aaah! We’re going to die! We’re all going to die!”

“Save me…save meeeeee—!!”

“Waaah! Mommy!!!”

Looking at them with a cold gaze, I turned my body.

I need to focus on the battle. The presence of these creatures is weak. While it is a disaster for civilians, for me, the Sword Demon, and Geum Ha-rin, they are just weak enemies with numbers.

“After reaching the 7th Stage, this is my first proper battle.”

*Sssuuu…*

Taking a steady breath, I focused my mind on the sword in my hand.

I have been reborn with the help of the Plum Blossom Divine Order.

Naturally, evidence of enlightenment, different from before, began to manifest.

*Jiiiiiing—!!!*

Ebony mana surged, filling the sword to its brim. The darkness that welled up was not Sword Energy.

Something between Sword Energy 劍氣 and Sword Aura 劍罡. That something unleashed a sharp sword cry.

“T-That… is that Superlative?!”

The mouth of Geum Ha-rin beside me hung open, but I didn’t lose focus, stepping forward towards the horde of demonic beasts.