[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
Chapter 272: It Was a Trap from the Start
Siena was holding off a joint assault from two masters with a defense as solid as a fortress.
One of them was a heavy sword expert, relying on his body reinforcent technique as he swung his massive blade.
The other was an assassin, filling the gaps in the heavy attacks with sharp and precise strikes.
"They complent each other so well, there are no openings."
Just like the combination of wind techniques and poison arts earlier, this pair was also remarkably well-coordinated.
It was enough to make one suspect soone had deliberately arranged this team.
"So these so-called Heavenly Kings are actually infamous for their 2-on-1 tactics," Siena muttered.
The burly man, Danten, chuckled.
"Hah! Are you trying to call us cowards?"
"Cowardice has no place on the battlefield."
"You've got spirit for a young girl. But how long can you last?"
Siena didn’t respond to the taunt.
Instead, she adjusted her footwork, dodging the heavy sword and deflecting the assassin’s strikes, responding calmly to their pressure.
"Widen the battlefield and make use of my mobility."
Her approach was spot on.
The assassin was quick but lacked power, and the northern warrior was strong but too slow to pin her down.
"...Exploit their weaknesses and force an unfavorable fight on them."
Siena was reminded once again why real combat experience mattered.
"As long as you can adapt appropriately, it’s possible to hold out even against coordinated attacks from strong opponents."
This level of response was sothing the Siena from just a few months ago could never have pulled off.
It was sothing she gained from observing the battles of Allenvert and Karzan.
"How long do you plan to run like a damn rat, Young Lady!"
Hearing Danten’s roar, Siena suddenly shifted direction, launched herself between buildings several tis, and soared high into the air with explosive propulsion.
"!"
"What’s she doing?"
Everyone got their answer soon enough.
"Black Hawk Heaven Flash."
She unleashed dozens of slashes shaped like black hawks.
Ssshhhing—!
The hawk-shaped strikes dove like predators, pounding hard on Danten’s body reinforcent technique.
"Kgh!"
Despite his peak-level defense, Danten barely withstood Siena’s technique.
"Ugh, goddamn it!"
Pasque, the assassin, couldn’t deflect all of them with his thin blade.
He had to twist and dance, barely dodging and parrying the falling strikes one by one.
"Wait a minute... could this be?"
Just as Pasque began to suspect this was ant to bind him in place, he saw sothing unbelievable.
"Wings?"
Siena, now with wings spread behind her, dove at Danten with frightening speed.
BOOOOM!
Unable to withstand the impact, Danten’s wrist bones dislocated, and his heavy blade quivered as if it would snap.
"Crazy bitch."
How could such overwhelming power co from such a small fra?
Crackkkk!
As he quickly tried to reset his dislocated wrist, Siena’s sword carved through his body.
Splurt!
The blood loss was staggering.
"Danten!"
As Pasque scread and tried to run to him, fending off a final slash—
"Whoa there. In a hurry, are we?"
From beyond the edge of perception, Ghir appeared, barely grazing Pasque’s neck as he passed.
Splurt!
Blood gushed like a fountain from Pasque’s throat as he fell mid-run.
"Sorry. I was going to stay out of it, but your guard was so wide open."
Ghir chuckled.
"You cowardly bastard! A sneak attack?!"
Forgetting he had been the one doing the double-team, Danten exploded in rage and blasted Siena away with his energy wave.
"I'll kill you both! Offer up your damn necks!"
Without holding back, Danten activated a powerful technique, coating his blade in terrifying mana.
"Whoa, he's pissed."
Just as Danten brought down his terrifyingly enhanced sword on Siena and Ghir—
"Defense? ...No. Aim for the opening."
Siena abandoned her plan to deploy the Black Dragon Scale Lock Armor and instead redirected her gathered mana into a different technique.
BOOOOOOM!
She dodged the incoming blow and closed in, unleashing a sharp, pinpoint thrust like a hawk’s talon.
"Black Crown Pierce."
Thud!
Danten’s stomach was punctured clean through by the third movent of the Black Hawk Soul-Binding Sword Technique.
"Ugh..."
Losing his intestines, Danten looked at Siena with shaking eyes.
"I... I can't believe it. My life’s work, my body technique..."
That was his last breath.
"Young Lady, not bad. If that final technique had hit , my guts would be gone too."
To Ghir’s complint, Siena responded,
"...I made so modifications. I got so inspiration from Young Master Allenvert’s techniques."
"Well, damn. You’re just as ridiculous as the rest of them."
Ghir shook his head.
"Anyway, if things are wrapped up here, let’s go join the others. Things are getting dicey over there."
"Hm?"
Looking where Ghir pointed, Siena saw Allenvert staring seriously into the air.
"...Who is he talking to?"
The abyss was rippling.
***
“Co out now. Let see that ugly face of yours.”
A figure in black erged from the shifting darkness.
'It's not martial arts. Magic, maybe?'
It looked like an extrely high-level artifact.
Possibly similar to the invisibility magic Kreutzel had used.
“You should’ve just attacked together. What was the point of stalling like a sluggish worm?”
The man in black removed his hood, his thin lips moving faintly.
“Pleasure to et you, Allenvert. I’m Gelberich, an Enforcer of the Black Society.”
I lazily raised my hand.
“Oh, hey. Welco.”
“You're more arrogant than I expected.”
Gelberich smirked coldly and pointed at .
“Your subordinates, Karzan and Lady Siena, dared to interfere with our operations. I'm here to make you pay for that.”
“You an the Ebony Oath?”
I shrugged.
“You tried to steal sothing from soone else’s house and failed, yet you're acting all righteous. You bastards really are thick-skinned.”
“Silence. You crawled into Dragon's Lake Blood Cavern on your own—without fear. I’ll return your severed heads to your parents.”
“Oh wow. You sound real confident. You must’ve co prepared this ti?”
“Of course.”
Gelberich’s relaxed deanor made ask,
“Did you expect to enter the castle like this?”
“Hardly. I'm no god. How could I know that?”
Gelberich chuckled heartily.
“I simply accounted for a few possibilities—and one of them happened.”
He pointed at .
“Allenvert, well done. Though still within the palm of my hand.”
“You've been acting like a smug asshole for a while now.”
Guys like him always crack when things don't go their way.
“Then die.”
The black-robed figure pointed downward and chanted:
“Blood Forest Abyss Art.”
Fwoooosh!
A red mist billowed around Gelberich.
“…Blood Qi?”
The thick, bloody mist spread out, drawing blood from the wounded and growing even denser.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Please, spare !”
It was a horrifying sight.
“Ahahahaha!”
As Gelberich waved his hand, blood was pulled from even farther-off soldiers.
Even corpses were being drained, shriveling into mummified husks.
“My blood!”
“My life is draining out!”
The battlefield turned into utter chaos in an instant.
The absorbed blood spread as mist, then gathered around Gelberich, forming spider legs, giant worms, wings, and pillars of blood.
It was obviously one of those horrific ancient demonic arts.
“You sick bastard.”
It was a particularly cruel and inhuman type of magic that fed off battlefield bloodshed.
'Wait… could it be?'
They might've used this entire war as a setup.
'Waiting for massive casualties—just to use all that spilled blood.'
“You monsters… you’ve strayed far from the path of humanity.”
I could feel my blood turn cold.
Even when I worked under the Dark King, I’d rarely encountered soone this vile.
‘Which is why… he’s an Enforcer of the Dark King.’
The one who mastered the darkest of arts to obliterate the King’s enemies.
‘…If I never t an Enforcer in my past life, that ans…’
It ans I was never considered dangerous enough to warrant one.
“…Ha.”
These bastards were really getting on my nerves.
‘If this mist spreads further, Kailan Webern’s main force and the nearby civilians will suffer huge losses.’
Dragging this out only benefits them.
‘And to make matters worse…’
Within the thick mist, Black Society assassins were lunging out and attacking my allies.
“Grah!”
Screams rang out among the White rcenary Corps.
“You're not sparing anyone, even allies?”
“Allies? What allies?”
Gelberich’s eyes glowed red as he sneered.
“You’re enemies. And they? They're rely fodder for my magic.”
I tried to absorb the mist using Dark Mana.
'Useless.'
I could only clear a small area around .
“Guards! Gather and form a defense formation!”
Jeffrey imdiately responded.
“Yes, sir!”
“Oh, we can’t have that.”
At Gelberich’s finger snap, pillars of blood grew and shot at the guards like lances.
“Screw off.”
I raised my power to the 7th tier and unleashed a massive crescent-shaped slash.
Swaaash!
The blood pillars burst like waterfalls under the strike.
“Impressive, Allenvert. To block the Blood Forest Abyss Art so easily.”
However, the severed blood pillars vaporized into mist and again enveloped my allies.
“My senses are dulled…”
“My mana's not gathering properly…”
“What the hell is this shit?!”
Panic spread among the guards as more Black Society mbers pressed the attack.
“These guys… they’re all elites!”
“Wow. They set this trap perfectly.”
I let out a bitter chuckle.
“Goddamn it…”
Which ant these enemies were the Enforcer’s direct unit.
In other words, an Execution Unit.
“Allenvert, do you finally get it? No one walks away from this place alive.”
I replied,
“You people have lost your minds. To kill off the entire forces of a marquis, a count, and two ducal clans just to get us?”
Gelberich responded.
“That’s a worthy enough spark for a great war, wouldn’t you say?”
I thought of Siena and Ghir fighting sowhere in the mist, and of Kailan’s flailing army.
Then Rudgarda’s Special Operations Division… and Regeron’s shadow agents.
‘No need to panic. Our side still has strength.’
…but fighting an Enforcer of the Dark King is never easy.
“Let the spark of war be lit—not with us, but with your and the marquis’s heads.”
More importantly,
‘That monstrous blood magic must be erased from this world.’
[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
Reviews
All reviews (0)