Chapter 59 (1/2)
Episode 4: The Great Colonizing Age / Chapter 59: Revolution (4)
TL: emptycube
Editor: Obelisk
It was a cruel day.
Although she resolved herself multiple times, the new member was unable to act, and repeatedly apologized to her senior in vain.
“I will do better!”
I will do better. I will do better. She had repeated those words a few times, yet, her hand didn’t move.
A slim beauty, however, she was an outstanding warrior. In the past, these words might have been ridiculous, but it was very foolish to estimate someone’s fighting ability from their looks these days. Weren’t they in a generation where civilians could awaken karma if they simply came over to Dragonic?
Because she possessed outstanding talent, she overcame countless compet.i.tors and had become a clan member. Afterwards, the clan had invested mission points to send her over to Dragonic. Above all, the fact that she was invited to this ‘festival’ clearly showed that she would later become a cadet, a rising star who would lead her clan’s future.
The panic she was feeling now was simply something she had to overcome.
Because he understood this fact, her superior didn’t punish her but gently reasoned with her.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. This is normal for your first time.”
“Yes! Yes! Thank you!”
When she heard her superior’s gentle tone, her heart, which was beating like a drum, calmed slightly. Yet, her hand still didn’t budge.
“Now, now, take a deep breath. That’s it. Breath out.”
Her superior continued to calmly coax her.
“Try closing your eyes.”
She closed her eyes at his suggestion. His tear-stained face, pleading eyes and shaking gagged head all disappeared from her eyes. She no longer saw the ‘sacrifice’.
She only heard her superior’s voice now. He guided her hands in the darkness. Nudge. Her guided hands took aim at a specific area. It was undoubtedly the chest, the beating heart of the ‘sacrifice’.
“Just push the sword through here. Then you just need to place your hand anywhere on the sacrifice’s body and receive his karma. It’s not hard. It’s like eating noodles.”
There wasn’t the slightest hint of cruelty in her superior’s voice. He instructed as if he really was teaching her how to eat noodles.
“I understand!”
Although his calm voice calmed her down even further, unlike her loud reply, she was still unable to stab out with her sword.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Deep breaths.”
Her superior continued to speak softly until he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and shouted.
“Stab!”
Shhhk!
The surprised new recruit reflexively jolted her sword forward. The sword smoothly slid into the ‘sacrifice’s’ flesh and stabbed into his heart.
“Ah… Ah…”
Warm blood splattered onto her hands. The new recruit opened her eyes. The dying ‘sacrifice’ was a man who looked to be in his forties. Looking at his non-ruined suit, he seemed to be an immigrant who had only recently migrated here. She clearly saw the lights in his eyes dying out.
‘It’s hot…’
Was blood ever this hot? The blood that splattered on her hands not only felt hot but heavy as well.
Her shoulders were trembling, and her superior comforted her.
“Shh. Shh. You did well. It’s normal for it to be difficult. You did well. Now, you can smoothly absorb his strength.”
To be honest, this part didn’t require any tech
nique. As long as one possessed the ‘plunderer’ fate, they would absorb their dying foe’s karma once they placed their hand on them. Her body trembled as wisps of karma entered and spread throughout her body. It was incredibly refres.h.i.+ng. Although she felt guilty at the fact she killed an innocent person, a euphoric sensation spread as the refres.h.i.+ng karma entered through her hand.
‘Am… I a monster?’
Her mind became torn and confused.
‘No… Come to your senses!’
She hated her weak self whose determination still swayed after resolving herself constantly. However, it was useless.
As she fell into a state of shame, thinking ‘Do I not belong here? I didn’t know it would be like this,’ her superior calmly guided her.
“There’s no reason to be distressed. Enjoy it with a thankful heart. This is the power of one life. It’s a n.o.ble sensation.”
Her superior looked at her with solemn eyes.
“You know how the first awakenees awakened, right? You probably heard of the <ring of=”” rebirth=””>. From the start, there are no awakenees who haven’t gotten strong by killing others. Don’t concern yourself with what those hypocrites and politicians say. They talk as if our Lao Ban clan is the only one who kills other people, but that’s not true. Even though they may act as if it’s not true, they all kill others to get stronger. If you kill a person or monster, you obtain a set amount of karma. It was this kind of game from the start. The system itself was already like this. In short, even if you aren’t of the Lao Ban clan, as long as you’re a colonizer, you will have no choice but to kill people. If that’s the case, isn’t it better to thoroughly absorb that karma? It’s like that. With our fate known as ‘plunderers’, we aren’t doing anything others aren’t. It’s only a fate that increases the efficiency of what everyone else is doing. When other colonizers gain 1 karma from killing a colonizer, we simply earn 2 or 3. So, is that bad?”
“No, it is not.”
She had, at some point, been drawn into her superior’s words which were filled with his own conviction.
“Yeah. That’s right. We only need to think about getting stronger. Forget about the rest. Killing people. Selling slaves. Don’t waver from their criticism. That’s not all. Because our business is flouris.h.i.+ng, more earthlings are coming over to Dragonic and the speed of colonization has become that much faster… You are aware that our clan’s contribution to Earth is enormous, right?”
“Yes… Yes! That is correct.”
“Yeah. We only need to think about our job – Getting stronger. And honor our homeland, China. We only need to think about becoming stronger and tougher as warriors.”
“Yes, that is right.”
“Yeah. Kill. Then absorb their strength with a thankful heart. That is our job.”
“I understand.”
The new recruit stopped trembling. Her eyes s.h.i.+ned brightly. Her superior grinned and said,
“Good. Then try to properly absorb a ‘sacrifice’ this time. He’s a strong one so the sword won’t go in easily. Still, you’ll eventually pierce him if you just keep on stabbing your opponent until he becomes exhausted, so don’t be too fl.u.s.tered. I’ll lend you my weapon. Try it out.”
Within the thick fog, sacrifices, whose limbs had been cut off, were prepared. The sacrifices were tightly bounded, unable to let out a scream, unable to resist, and died with open chests. Those familiar with this enjoyed the slaughter and would sometimes go and rape slaves or sacrifices, indiscriminate of gender. As these horrible acts were being done, the mood within the fog became trancelike.
New recruits, who had never done this before, overcame their initial shock and gradually began to become familiar with this mood. They started to look at it from whatever perspective they pleased. Beliefs to those with beliefs, pleasure to those who enjoyed it, Lao Ban clan’s festival was drawing to its peak.
It was a cruel day.
“… What a load of bulls.h.i.+t.”
They suddenly heard someone swear within the fog.
“What?”
At the sudden swear, a superior and a new recruit turned around with widened eyes. Although the fog was thick enough that it was difficult to see someone’s face in the distance, they were able to identify a person’s figure. While everyone was becoming engrossed in the festival, a single shadow approached them.
“What the? Who is it?”
The superior asked. The person replied with a sword that suddenly slashed out, slicing through the fog.
Creak!
Worthy of being an elite of the Lao Ban clan, his Endurance was high so the sound of the sword sc.r.a.ping metal sounded out. However, a misty Karma Blade sliced through his tough skin and ribs.
Pshhlt!
“Ack…”
His heart split apart without being able to do anything. Although she got into a battle stance after seeing her collapsing superior, her opponent was much faster than her.
Piick!
Thud.
Her head rolled on the ground in vain.
“As I thought, killing people feels disgusting…”
Lee Jinhee didn’t even look at the corpses as she spat out a complaint and continued. Berserkers started to pour in from different locations within the fog.
Choi Hyuk declared one principle.
“Complete fear.”