Chapter 9 — Gravedigger Mantis
After completing the registration, the same Guild girl returned with the quest and handed it to Raijin.
He unfolded the paper and looked at it.
The name written on it wasn't unfamiliar.
Gravedigger Mantis.
The moment he read the name, a faint bell rang in his mind.
This was no ordinary monster.
It was mentioned in stories—in whispers and warnings.
The creature wasn't known for simply eating humans.
First, it killed them.
Then it buried their bodies underground.
When the corpses began to decay and become infested with insects, it returned to feed on them.
That was how it earned its name—
Gravedigger Mantis.
"Gravedigger Mantis…"
Raijin repeated the name quietly.
He folded the paper and placed it in the front pocket of his pants.
He didn't feel the need to take anyone with him.
This was his job.
That was all.
Before leaving the city, he checked the grip of his new sword.
He drew it slightly from its sheath and examined the blade.
The edge was clean, the balance was good, and its weight felt exactly the way he wanted it to.
He sheathed it again.
Raijin turned and looked at Eldhavn's towering walls.
Not long ago, he had entered this city as a complete stranger.
Now he had a room, a new sword, and for the first time, a job that could earn him something for himself.
Raijin let out a quiet breath.
"At least I have to make a start."
Without wasting any more time, he headed toward the forest.
---
The location mentioned in the quest wasn't too far from the city.
The farther he traveled, the more deserted the road became.
Eventually, the stone road disappeared behind him, and a dense forest stretched out before him.
Somewhere inside this forest was an old cemetery that had been sealed off many years ago for an unknown reason.
The moment Raijin entered the forest, he noticed a strange smell in the air.
The scent of soil, moisture, and something faintly rotten lingered around him.
There was a silence in the area that didn't bring peace.
Instead, it felt like a weight pressing down on his chest.
The deeper Raijin went into the forest, the more the surrounding sounds slowly disappeared.
At first, he could hear birds.
Then only the rustling of leaves remained.
And after a while—
even that stopped.
Raijin stopped walking.
The trees stood completely still.
The wind was blowing, yet their branches barely moved.
He looked around and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Strange…"
After a few moments, he continued forward.
---
After walking for quite some time—
Clank!
The sound of metal striking metal tore through the silence of the forest and reached his ears.
Raijin immediately became alert.
His steps slowed on their own.
His breathing steadied, and his entire awareness focused on the direction of the sound.
After a few moments of silence, the sound came again.
Clank!
This time, he could also hear the sound of someone's feet dragging across the ground.
"A fight…"
Raijin slowly drew his sword and moved toward the source of the noise.
The path wasn't easy.
Several times, bushes caught on his clothes, while branches left light scratches across his face and hands.
He paid them no attention.
A short while later, an open area appeared between the trees.
Raijin immediately crouched behind a large tree and looked through the bushes.
The next moment, his eyes widened.
Sofia, Ishan, and Kade—
all three were covered in blood.
Standing before them was a girl.
She looked barely sixteen years old.
Her long, dark black hair almost completely covered her ears.
She wore tight leather pants and light armor of the same material.
On her feet were simple sandals made from tree bark.
But completely contrary to her appearance and age—
her movements were extraordinary.
She held strange-shaped daggers in both hands.
Their blades curved inward like beaks.
She continuously attacked Sofia, Ishan, and Kade.
Yet none of her attacks were aimed directly at killing them.
Every strike came dangerously close to death—
but stopped just short of it.
The strangest thing wasn't her speed.
It was her prediction.
Every time an attack came close to her, she moved at exactly the moment the strike was about to connect.
As if she already knew where the attack would land.
Kade swung his hammer from the right, but the girl had already moved to the left.
At the same moment, Ishan changed direction and swung his sword.
The girl had already ducked beneath it.
Sofia attacked from behind.
The girl didn't even turn around.
She simply lowered her head slightly, allowing the attack to pass through her hair.
Raijin narrowed his eyes.
"This isn't just speed…"
Kade saw an opening.
He raised his hammer with all his strength and charged forward.
The girl easily avoided the attack by twisting her body.
In the same motion, she drove one of her daggers into his stomach.
Blood sprayed into the air.
"Kade!"
Sofia's eyes widened.
Kade immediately clutched his stomach.
A sharp wave of pain surged through his entire body, and the scream that escaped him sent the nearby birds flying.
He staggered before collapsing to the ground.
Ishan could barely move properly by now.
But seeing Kade fall caused his anger to explode.
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword at the girl with all his remaining strength.
The girl ducked, and the blade passed over her head.
The next moment, she spun around.
Her dagger tore through Ishan's shoulder.
The sound of flesh splitting was clearly audible.
Ishan staggered backward in pain, but he still refused to let go of his sword.
Sofia attacked from behind at the same moment.
This time, she was certain her strike would connect.
But the girl seemed to know her intention beforehand.
She caught Sofia's wrist and slammed her to the ground with tremendous force.
Blood mixed with the dirt.
All three were badly wounded.
And yet—
the girl hadn't killed any of them.
Raijin immediately understood.
She could kill them.
But she was deliberately choosing not to.
The girl looked at the blood on the edge of her dagger.
She touched it with one finger, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
There was no anger in her expression.
No urgency.
It was as if the people lying before her weren't enemies at all—
but merely pieces in a game she could end whenever she wanted.
That was what disturbed Raijin the most.
---
Suddenly, the girl stopped.
She looked at the three wounded people for a few moments.
Then her gaze slowly shifted toward the forest.
Raijin's eyebrows tightened.
Did she sense me?
But the girl said nothing.
After staring in that direction for a few moments, she turned her attention back to Sofia.
"Tell me. What is your relationship with Raijin?"
Her voice was calm.
"And why did you save him? Why did you help him?"
Sofia looked at her while coughing up blood.
"We… have no relationship with him."
She struggled to breathe.
"He saved our lives. That's why we helped him."
Raijin, hidden behind the bushes, froze for a moment.
He closed his eyes.
A strange uneasiness rose inside him.
He wanted Sofia to stay away from him.
He knew that being around him wasn't safe.
The Aegis Covenant was already following him, and now someone else was gathering information about him.
Yet Sofia hadn't revealed his name out of fear.
She had simply told the truth.
Raijin slowly exhaled.
"You shouldn't have had to go through this because of me…"
The girl's eyes narrowed.
"Do you really think I'll believe that?"
She slowly stepped forward.
"None of you have told me the truth yet."
She drew one of her daggers and held its tip near Sofia's neck.
"This is the last time I'm asking."
Her voice remained calm.
"Tell me. What is your relationship with him?"
Sofia's voice trembled.
The fear in her expression was obvious, but there was no lie in her eyes.
"I… told you the truth."
The girl stared at her for a few moments.
Then, without hesitation, she pulled the dagger away from Sofia's neck and suddenly swung it toward Ishan.
Clank!
A sharp sound echoed across the entire clearing.
The girl's dagger had been driven into the ground.
And standing before her
was Raijin.
And standing before her
was Raijin.
His footsteps had kicked up dry soil as he emerged from the bushes, sending leaves scattering through the air around him.
"Enough."
His voice was calm.
But there was such suppressed pressure behind it that the entire atmosphere changed.
The girl slowly pulled her dagger free.
A delighted smile appeared on her face.
As if this was the moment she had been waiting for.
---
Raijin took a few steps forward and stopped.
His sword was lowered, but his grip was firm.
His expression was calm.
His eyes were steady.
He was angry.
But his anger wasn't screaming.
It was buried deep inside him.
And perhaps because of that—
it felt even more dangerous.
Raijin's eyes met the girl's.
That same cold shiver ran through his body.
The exact sensation he had felt when he first entered Eldhavn.
The same sensation he had experienced in his room.
But now he understood.
This wasn't the effect of borrowing power from the Mortal Realm.
The girl was watching him.
No—
she had been watching him for a long time.
In the streets of Eldhavn.
Inside his room.
And now—
here.
Every time, he had felt as though someone was watching him from somewhere far away.
He had assumed it was because of his newly acquired power.
But now there was a face standing before him.
A living person.
And that same cold sensation was present in her eyes.
Raijin's eyes slowly began to turn red.
"So it was you…"
For the first time, he was certain that the gaze he had been feeling wasn't merely his imagination.
---
Raijin glanced once at his wounds.
His body hadn't fully recovered yet.
There was still a faint pain in his ribs, along with a slight strain in his shoulder.
The Mortal Realm had made him stronger than before.
But that didn't mean his body had become limitless.
He could stay back.
Perhaps he should.
But Sofia was lying on the ground before him.
Ishan could barely stand.
And Kade was lying in a pool of blood, struggling to breathe.
Raijin closed his eyes.
For a moment, he asked himself—
Why do I always get involved in other people's fights?
There was no answer.
He raised his sword slightly.
Then his eyes moved toward Sofia, Ishan, and Kade.
"You three, leave."
His voice was cold.
Sofia looked at him.
For a few moments, she couldn't believe that it was really him.
"Raijin…"
Her voice was barely audible.
For the first time, relief appeared in her eyes despite the fear.
But Raijin didn't look at her.
"I'm telling you, leave."
Sofia wanted to say something.
Perhaps thank him.
Perhaps try to stop him.
But something in Raijin's eyes stopped her words before they could leave her mouth.
She understood.
This time, Raijin hadn't come merely to save someone.
He had come to fight.
---
The girl slowly raised both daggers.
The same smile remained on her face.
"So you finally came out."
Raijin narrowed his eyes.
"You know me?"
"Know you?"
The girl gave a quiet laugh.
"Perhaps a little more than that."
Raijin took a firmer grip on his sword.
"I've never met you before."
"Met?" The girl tilted her head slightly.
"You don't have to meet someone to know them."
Raijin said nothing.
But his guard rose even higher.
The girl spun one of her daggers between her fingers.
"I just wanted to see if you were really the way I had heard."
Raijin's expression hardened.
"And now?"
The girl's smile widened slightly.
"Now I want to see how good you really are."
For several moments, the two simply stared at each other.
The wind passed between them.
Dry leaves slowly fell to the ground.
Other than the breathing of Sofia, Ishan, and Kade, there was no sound in the forest.
Raijin straightened his sword.
The girl tightened both daggers in her hands.
There was excitement in her eyes.
In Raijin's eyes—
there was only one question.
What do you actually want?
But he didn't ask.
Because the next moment—
the girl disappeared.
Raijin's eyes narrowed.
Clang!
Their first clash echoed throughout the forest.