Emotionless Swordsmanship Genius

Chapter 16: Temporary Alliance (1)

Karon swung his sword to shake off the blood and then scanned his surroundings with an expressionless face. He then muttered softly.

“Come out.”

It was as if someone were right next to him. However, there was no response.

Only the occasional flutter of bat wings could be heard.

“If you don’t come out by the count of three, I’ll kill you. One, two….”

But Karon continued to murmur.

“Wait!”

To his surprise, with a young man’s voice, the bodies piled beside him stirred, and a man in his early to mid-twenties emerged.

He pushed aside the bloodied corpses and stood up with a good-natured grin.

He wore a tattered, faded cloak and had black hair that hung down to his jaw, with sharp, striking eyes. He had a quite handsome face.

“Haha! You’ve got a keen sense, huh? How did you notice this?”

The man scratched his head awkwardly.

An unusual cloak.

Karon stared at his cloak for a moment before averting his gaze.

When Karon didn’t respond, the man looked at Kungga’s bleeding corpse and clicked his tongue.

“Phew. Looks like he was a bandit. To take off his head in a single blow.”

Then he glanced at Karon and continued.

“You look pretty young, but that’s impressive.”

“Did you cause this mess?”

As the man approached without hesitation, Karon aimed his sword directly at him. The man held up his hands in alarm.

“What? Me? No way, that’s not it at all!”

“Then what is it?”

“Well….”

The man scratched his chin while glancing at Karon, as if trying to gauge him, but Karon pressed the blade closer to his throat.

With the blade’s tip touching his neck, red droplets of blood began to form.

The man gasped and reached out with both hands.

“Whoa! Wait, wait! I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! I just heard rumors that the bandits had the Devil’s Orb, so I secretly snuck in a few days ago! The ones responsible for this mess are different!”

In an instant, Karon’s eyes narrowed.

“You saw them?”

“Y-yes! I saw them with my own two eyes! They were after the Devil’s Orb as well. But the truth is, the Devil’s Orb wasn’t here. It was just a wild rumor. When they realized this, they killed all the bandits present.”

“What did they look like?”

“I’m not sure.”

As the man tilted his head, Karon pressed the sword further into his throat.

When the tip touched the skin, he felt blood trickling down.

The man panicked and shouted.

“Wait! I can’t tell you what they looked like! There were about twenty of them, and it was deep in the night, so I couldn’t see clearly because they were covered in black cloaks!”

The man cried out desperately.

Twenty of them, in the dead of night, in black cloaks.

It was a familiar scene.

Karon’s eyes suddenly ignited like a volcano, only to calm down again, returning to an indifferent expression as he asked coldly.

“Where did they go?”

“Well, I’d need to investigate the tracks to find out.”

Sweat began to trickle down the man’s face as he tried to force a smile.

As Karon continued to look at him impassively, the man swallowed hard and continued.

“I swear! There’s no reason for me to lie.”

Karon stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes and retracting his sword.

He didn’t appear to be acting maliciously or lying.

Yet his curiosity remained.

“But why are you still lingering here?”

“I came this far; I can’t just return empty-handed, can I? Even though they took everything, I managed to grab a few usable items.”

Finally relieved, the man pulled out two large bags he had covered with corpses.

Inside were various weapons and cheap jewels. It looked like he had taken anything that sparkled.

“A thief, huh?”

“Since I steal from bad people, technically, I’m a vigilante.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Karon tilted his head slightly. But the man raised his hand, adamantly shaking his head.

*Hmm! It’s completely different. Totally. I never touch the belongings of good people.*

“That’s quite a bold stance for a thief. Especially doing it alone.”

As Karon teased him, the man gave an awkward smile and deflected.

“I’m better than I look… By the way, are you looking for the Devil’s Orb?”

The man intentionally changed the subject, but Karon responded bluntly, pretending to be uninterested.

“I have no interest in orbs. I just want to find those bastards.”

The man stared at Karon for a moment. No matter how he looked at him, he didn’t seem like someone who would lie.

Most importantly, the overwhelming aura he had sensed when the topic of those bastards arose.

It was clear he harbored a grudge against them.

“Alright! Then it seems like we can reach an agreement.”

“An agreement?”

Karon’s brows furrowed slightly at the sudden declaration of a potential alliance. But the man continued as if offering a favor.

“I’ll guide you to where they are. I have a knack for tracking them down. They took all the slaves that were here just a day or two ago. They won’t be moving fast. We should be able to catch up within a day or two.”

Thinking back, Karon remembered seeing several traces of life on the cave walls, but no corpses of the slaves.

It was a reasonable argument.

But nothing comes without a cost. He had learned that following mercenaries since he was young.

“What’s your motive?”

“To help each other survive. They already have one of the Devil’s Orbs. I saw it with my own eyes while hiding. I only need that one. I don’t want anything else.”

As he boasted confidently, Karon took a moment to gather his thoughts.

Of course, with his excellent senses, he could track them down, but this was the desert.

In the blink of an eye, the terrain could change, and any trace could be swept away by the sandstorms. It was clear he needed a bit more expertise.

Noticing Karon’s intent gaze, the man quickly continued.

“I’m after the orb, and you’re after the black-cloaked bastards. How about it? We may want different things, but we both need to find them. Why not join forces for a while?”

“Are you sure you can track them?”

When Karon asked bluntly, the man looked taken aback and rolled up his sleeves.

“What do you take me for? Seeing is believing, right?”

“Fine. Lead the way.”

Karon nodded slightly.

He had nothing to lose. If he didn’t like the partnership, he could simply part ways.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

With Karon’s permission, the man clapped his hands and energetically gestured toward the cave entrance. However, his feet didn’t move.

When Karon, who was leading the way, looked back in confusion, the man awkwardly smiled, adjusting the bags filled with loot that hung from the horse he had ridden.

“This horse… Can I ride it? Mine died in the chaos, you know. Hahaha!”

“…….”

* * *

The northern part of the Taber Desert had a suitable mix of sand and gravel, making it easier to ride.

Perhaps for this reason, the bandits preferred to ride as long as they weren’t heading south.

“This way.”

The man, introducing himself as Ropreshon (but told Karon to just call him Shong), pointed northwest upon discovering the droppings of a horse and remnants of a campfire.

His expression was unnecessarily serious.

He certainly was a peculiar person.

As Karon prepared to move again, Shong hurriedly stopped him.

“Wait! How about we stop the chase for today? At night, there are wild beasts all over the desert. If we’re unlucky, we could encounter a monster.”

“It won’t be any different if we stay here.”

Karon replied bluntly, and Shong clapped his hands in agreement.

“Of course, it wouldn’t. But I know a small rocky hill nearby. It’s a good place to set up camp, as it’s easy to keep watch, and it provides shelter from the wind.”

After a moment of contemplation, Karon responded with a slight nod. Shong climbed back onto his horse and began to lead the way.

True to his word, it wasn’t long before they arrived at a small rocky hill.

He was indeed good at navigating the desert.

Entering a narrow space surrounded by rocks, Karon noticed signs of a fire that someone had used before.

As the sun set, Shong skillfully gathered dry grass and twigs to start a fire.

For dinner, they simply munched on the dried meat they had brought.

Sitting across from the campfire, Shong relaxed his body, using his bag as a pillow, pulling his cloak over himself, and looking over at Karon.

Karon remained seated, staring blankly at the sky with an empty gaze.

Having spent just half a day together, Shong felt he had learned a lot about Karon.

He noticed Karon’s lack of words and the persistent expressionlessness he maintained.

And as long as he wasn’t being bothered, Karon didn’t meddle in whatever Shong did.

Despite seeming younger, there was an unusual weight to Karon’s presence.

Perhaps it was a vague realization that he had crossed many lines at a young age.

Shong glanced at Karon cautiously and asked tentatively, “Can I ask you something?”

Karon’s gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon.

Even though he had clearly ignored him, Shong continued to speak, having already adjusted to Karon’s demeanor.

“If you meet them, do you plan to fight?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Karon shot back with a cold look. Perhaps it was the night that made the air feel increasingly chilly.

Shong shrugged and replied, “Well, that’s true. But one of them was really strong. He seemed to have abilities that surpassed those of an ordinary human.”

His words were not an exaggeration. Just looking at the corpses littered around the bandit hideout confirmed the truth of his statement.

Yet Karon remained silent.

Feeling defeated, Shong sprawled out and continued, “Yeah, you’ll handle it somehow. Still, if that situation arises, I won’t help you. I just need to steal the orb.”

“I never expected you to.”

“Right. I figured as much. Just checking. Well, good night.”

Karon responded curtly. Shong turned away with an expression that seemed to say *as expected*.

In truth, Shong was curious about Karon’s abilities.

Despite looking young, he had effortlessly taken off a bandit’s head and examined the bandit corpses without hesitation, which left him feeling quite uneasy.

What has he been through…?

But that thought was fleeting. Perhaps having only dozed off for a few days, exhaustion quickly overcame him.

Gradually, Shong’s eyes began to droop.

* * *

Creak—

“Huh?”

Awakened abruptly by the sharp noise, Shong quickly surveyed his surroundings.

The campfire had already gone out, and it was still the dead of night.

The two moons cast a gentle glow over the landscape, and Karon stood resolutely at the narrow entrance of the cave, his sword lowered.

Opposite him, two yellow eyes were narrowing the distance, glowing ominously.

The shape gradually became clearer.

In an instant, Shong’s eyes widened.

The Svekks?!

The creature with the yellow eyes was a beast he had heard many stories about.

Though its appearance was familiar, it was a massive snake that stood out.

With sharp fangs, it could bite, exhale poison, or constrict its victims with its body.

It was a creature to avoid at all costs in the desert.

“Ah!”

At that moment, startled, Shong hurriedly stood and looked at Karon.

Karon was walking step by step toward the Svekks.

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