Chapter 104: The Commission (4)
Clang—
Woooooo—!
Tap tap.
The Guild Leader of Dark Tree charged with an Aura Sword.
His eyes were chilling.
Not just fierce or sharp—but filled with an alien dissonance, as soone thought to be an ally revealed themselves as sothing else entirely, sending shivers through Shakin.
But.
I can’t back down!
Woooo—!
“Hraaaah!”
Boom!
Their swords clashed with a trendous sound. The completed Aura Swords scraped against each other, kakakang, entering a contest of strength.
Neither side yielded.
And that shocked Shakin.
He’d thought none of the seven in the room were inferior to the one before him.
At least eight fighters with my level of skill? How did they gather such forces?
Imagining the unknown assassin group, Shakin’s expression hardened. It was a staggering force. Yet, they hadn’t confronted Kalbaron head-on, instead eroding it from within—a chilling fact. What kind of training produced such restraint despite such power?
Wait! What about the others?
Shakin rembered the six remaining assassins.
No matter how strong his brother Jindel was, he was only half a step ahead of Shakin—two would be too much. That ant Harang had to be holding off five, but was that even possible?
Damn it, this is the end.
He gritted his teeth.
There was no choice.
Deep down, he felt it was inevitable. Those living in Kalbaron often died by the sword, sooner or later. Still, he thought this was a better end than being poisoned in a gambling den or stabbed by a thug’s stray blade.
Surely, as a true shadow of Kalbaron, he’d take down at least eight Graduates!
…Even with such thoughts, giving up life wasn’t easy.
That’s why, despite his fierce battle with the Dark Tree Guild Leader, he glanced aside.
And that’s how he saw it: Jindel overpowering one assassin, and…
…He’s fighting five alone?
Harang, a young man barely past twenty, was dancing a sword dance with five Graduates.
Swish!
Boom!
“Urgh!”
Barely blocking an attack, Shakin groaned. It was a crisis. A sharp thrust had slipped through while he was distracted, nearly bisecting him.
But even so, he couldn’t stop glancing at Harang’s battle with the five assassins.
It held what he aspired to.
A realm where swordsmanship beca art.
Indeed, even the assassin clashing with him was stealing glances that way, their eyes not anticipating an easy victory.
Whoosh.
Swish, whoooosh—!
The five assassins’ strikes poured down.
Not randomly, but in sync, targeting angles Harang would struggle to defend, striking simultaneously. It seed impossible to evade, and Jindel and Shakin’s eyes widened in alarm.
Twirl.
But the feared outco didn’t occur.
Like catching a petal fluttering in the wind, Harang moved fluidly, dodging every strike with graceful motions.
It was an application of wood movent. Those with shallow understanding of wood attributes might think only of rigid bamboo, but not Harang.
With movents lighter and softer than the wind, he even seized fleeting gaps between the five swords to shift to offense.
Slash—!
“Ugh!”
The assassin posing as Shadow Sword’s Vice-Guild Leader groaned. Blood flowed from a long red gash on their side.
And that wasn’t all.
Swish.
Swish swish.
Swish swish swish—!
Sohow, Harang found gaps in the assassins’ calculated, gear-like coordinated attacks, striking back.
When no gap appeared, he swung powerfully, forcibly disrupting their stances. This was possible because the density of aura enveloping Harang’s sword vastly outmatched the assassins’.
Boom! Kang!
A diagonal slash neutralized two strikes.
Boom boom boom!
A vertical slash disrupted three stances. Two of them even had their swords chipped, hastily drawing secondary weapons—a disgrace. Unbelievable that aura-protected swords beca defective after a few clashes…!
Bang!
Thud—!
“…!”
Finally, the five assassins faltered first. One, trading blows with Harang, exposed a gap and was struck in the abdon by a swift kick, sent flying.
It wasn’t fatal.
But their contorted expression and blood-stained teeth told the story.
If this continued, the majority, not the minority, would lose.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The five assassins exchanged glances instantly.
Quickly widening the distance from Harang, each assud their most confident stance.
One prepared for a sheathed draw technique.
Another took a mid-stance.
Another poised for an imdiate thrust.
In that state, a powerful resonance spread from them, vibrating the room.
“This, this is!”
“Danger! Be care…!”
Jindel and Shakin’s faces filled with shock.
And understandably so. They realized the five were drawing 100%, no, 120% of their aura, even at the cost of never recovering their forr strength, sacrificing their bodies for a devastating strike.
This won’t do.
This… can’t be blocked. We have to help!
Thinking the sa, Jindel and Shakin moved to step forward.
But it was futile. The assassins blocking them smirked vilely. The one facing Jindel was in poor shape, barely standing, but their grim resolve to hold out was palpable.
Woooo!
Wooooo—!
Woo, woooo!
Woooooo—!
The five Graduates’ auras surged powerfully. Their radiant energy declared they were betting everything on this attack.
Oddly, there had been many openings leading to this mont, but Harang hadn’t exploited them. Instead, he watched silently, expressionless, as if observing their antics.
“Hoo.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
The ti had co.
Jindel and Shakin failed to break through the two assassins quickly, and the five surrounding Harang exchanged relieved smiles. To Jindel and Shakin, it felt like a death sentence, cold sweat streaming down their backs.
But there was nothing they could do.
Nothing to hope for.
All they were granted was a front-row seat to the execution show about to unfold.
As joy crossed so faces and anguish others…
Swish.
Drop.
“?”
“…”
“What?”
“What just…”
“…”
The five assassins showed puzzled reactions.
And understandably so. Harang, silent until now, had suddenly flicked his sword. Blood that had been flowing along his Aura Sword splattered everywhere. The assassins’ confusion deepened.
Aura Swords didn’t easily stain with blood. Their intense energy, accompanied by heat, vaporized liquids. The burning sll in the room was proof of that.
Yet, so much blood splattered on the ground?
Why?
For that to happen, he’d have had to slaughter four or five bodies single-handedly…
“…”
Their thoughts stopped there.
In the next instant, shock and terror followed.
With that, red lines appeared on the five assassins’ bodies.
The first, from waist to below the chest.
The second, from below the chest to above.
The gentle diagonal lines soon gushed thick, red liquid, and monts later…
Spurt!
Gush—!
Spurt! Spurt! Spuuurt—!
Like a waterfall, blood sprayed, and body fragnts rolled across the floor.
“Hm, nice.”
I smiled with satisfaction.
And understandably so. Until now, my swords couldn’t handle my aura, forcing to hold back. I always had to regulate my aura’s output, manifesting a completed aura only at the mont of impact.
But not anymore.
Woooooo—!
Drawing maximum power…
Swiiiish—!
I swung with all my might. An aura projectile shot from the sword, seeking another victim at terrifying speed. The assassin facing Shakin couldn’t react, their head exploding as they died.
“Truly, this sword is the best.”
Nodding with another satisfied smile, I looked at Jindel and Shakin, who were pale with shock. The last remaining assassin’s eyes radiated unmistakable fear.
In the end…
Slash—
Thud! Roll…
Their only choice was swift suicide.
Watching the assassin who’d cut their own throat beco a ghost, I muttered,
“I didn’t stop them. Torturing these types rarely yields answers. Interrogating assassins of this caliber is usually a waste of ti.”
“…”
“…”
“Oh, or maybe not? Was I speaking too much from my experience? If so, I’m sorry. Does Red Cloud have ways to extract aningful information from skilled assassins?”
“…”
“…”
“Hello? Jindel? Shakin?”
I asked again, and only then did the two snap out of it, looking at with startled expressions. Their eyes were still dominated by disbelief at the situation.
The silver lining was that Shakin’s tongue loosened relatively quickly.
He said, “No… no. We don’t have such thods. Hm… maybe a Black Magician could. If they used horrific magic to directly stimulate the human brain…”
“I see. Are there no Black Magicians in Kalbaron?”
“None. They mostly gather in the eastern continent, not the south. Even if so co here, we deal with them.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because the Holy Kingdom is terrifying.”
“…”
“…”
Jindel’s voice cut in late, interrupting their exchange. Their gazes quickly shifted to him, and both showed surprised reactions.
…He’s changed.
Drastically.
I wore a bitter expression.
The once-confident Red Cloud Guild Leader Jindel, who looked ten years younger than his age, was gone.
His vibrant energy was nowhere to be found.
As if aged decades in monts, he spoke with effort, slumped.
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