novelraw Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Chapter 178. Breaking Fingers (2)
"How quiet!"
The commander of the Indomitable Knights, Theo Lenok, shouted loudly enough to make the underground interior of the Six Fingers' stronghold reverberate.
However, in stark contrast to his boisterous voice, his face and armor were smeared with sticky blood.
"Isn't it because Commander Theo has slaughtered all the criminals so far?"
"Is that so? Hahaha!"
Laughing loudly once again at the knight's words, Theo swung his weapon, the mace, in a big circle.
Crash──!
When the mace hit the wall, something made a crushing sound, and a handful of blood flowed down from the brick wall.
"Guh, guh...!"
"Wow, to think we had a rat hiding, even after I thought I got them all!"
Using some concealment magic, a hidden member of the Fingers clutched his chest, coughing up blood, and revealed his presence. Without a pause, Theo swung his mace again.
"Ah, ahhhhhhh!"
Thump──!
The member of the Fingers, whose head was crushed, struggled for a moment before going silent.
"Kehahahah! A rat-like mage! Did you think you could hide and I wouldn't notice!?"
After kicking aside the fallen one, Theo led his knights forward.
Continuing further inward.
The stronghold of the "Six Fingers" was like a maze, and even venturing inside, there was no end in sight.
"You still can't use the magical devices!?"
"Yes, Sir. It seems communication magic doesn't work properly underground."
"What a headache! Why can't those cursed mages do their job right!?"
Contrary to the admiration for his knights, Theo expressed his hatred towards mages blatantly as he clicked his tongue.
"But if we continue patrolling and clearing, we might meet up with other knight orders!"
"... Doesn't that mean there's no plan?"
"The lack of a plan is the plan. It's the motto of our Indomitable Knights, remember that! Kehahah!"
Laughing heartily, Theo continued walking, and in the distance behind him, a man in an awkward stance looking around came into view.
"Hmm? That person is...?"
"Dantes, a noble of the Christo family."
"Why is a noble of the Christo family in a place like this?"
"Perhaps he was kidnapped..."
Hearing his vice-commander's words, Theo sighed deeply.
As he was about to approach Dantes to assure him of his safety, Dantes, upon spotting them, started running away in surprise.
"No, Sir Dantes! Where are you going!? If you fall and get hurt, I'll have to write a report!"
To chase after the fleeing Dantes, Theo started sprinting across the ground.
As Theo played a game of tag with Dantes, a terrified member of the Fingers suddenly appeared and lunged at Theo.
"What's this guy?"
Unperturbed, Theo struck down the charging member with his fist.
Thud!
With a dull sound, the member of the Fingers crashed into the ground, and other members started to reveal themselves behind him.
"Annihilate them all!"
At Theo's command, the "Indomitable Knights" charged at them and began to slaughter.
It was a situation that could be called a one-sided massacre.
Nevertheless, there was no mercy for the knights.
'Criminals are firmly suppressed.'
Such a firm belief was etched into their minds.
"Where is Sir Dantes... Hmm?"
As Theo was about to pursue Dantes again, he noticed something strange about the fallen body.
A rising mana.
Cocking his head at a phenomenon that couldn't come from a 'corpse', he paused.
Ssshhh.
Purple gas began to envelop the surroundings.
"... Poison!?"
The commander of the Indomitable Knights.
True to his name, he could wield 'aura'. And quite proficiently at that.
Moreover, his robust body possessed high resistance to 'poison', so he was hardly affected by the ensuing toxic gas.
However, the other knights were different.
"Hurk, hurk...!"
The knights, lacking the resistance to poison and the robust physique like Theo, were quickly intoxicated.
"Damn it! I told you to develop a habit of consuming poison regularly!"
"That's only possible for you, commander."
The vice-commander, who managed to block his respirator and avoid intoxication, replied.
The problem lay ahead.
Fallen knights began staggering to their feet.
"Hey! Why are you so feeble... feeble... what's going on? Is that...?"
Seeing this scene for the first time, one might be frightened by their undead-like behavior.
"Ah!"
Through one report, Theo remembered the identity of this 'poison'.
"The Puppet Poison, it was used by a criminal imprisoned in the exchange hall!"
"... What will you do?"
"Of course."
Leaving the vice-commander clutching his throbbing head, Theo raised his mace high.
Then, he looked at the knights who had until recently followed him.
"I will fulfill my duty as commander!"
***
On the outskirts of the capital, I etched the eerie landscape of a communal cemetery into my memory and stared at the man before me.
Claude Febrance.
Formerly the commander of 'Blind Eyes', now the leader of the 'Six Fingers'.
"I won't be going anywhere. However, given the circumstances, I have no choice but to hurry, don't I?"
When he saw my face, he seemed slightly flustered but soon regained his composure.
"Besides, did you know this location?"
"Yes, well, it's a place I have some 'ties' to, so I'm quite familiar with it."
In truth, there's no such thing.
"Is that so? The same goes for me. I hear the knights I killed are buried around here. It's truly ironic. It seems like a similar thing will happen today."
Claude continued speaking with a chuckle, unconcerned.
"Is that so? I came to pay respects to you, former commander, whom I couldn't honor last time. I'm willing to dig the ground myself."
Perhaps finding my bright smile amiable, Claude's mouth started to twist.
However, before engaging in combat, there was one thing I was curious about.
His actions dared to stand against the royal family.
"Why did you save Annarui?"
"The Six Fingers cherish camaraderie. Unlike the knights."
Unlike the knights.
Claude emphasized that statement with force in his voice.
"You must have a strong dislike for knights."
"How could I like them? When I fought nobility under the loyalty of Febrance..."
Until now, Claude's voice was calm, but upon hearing the term 'knight', it became fervent.
"The ones I once admired now feign ignorance about the downfall of my family!"
His blazing eyes were filled with resentment.
Resentment against knights.
Even if it was under royal orders, they wronged him while believing it was righteous.
The disdainful attitude of the knights made Claude the person he is now.
To uproot them, he was willing to burn himself to the ground.
Though there was much he lacked to directly oppose the royal family.
Influence, power, and fame.
So he started dealing with the things he could handle.
'Is this why this guy is considered the vessel for the Demon Emperor?'
It could be that the 'Demon God' accepted his desire to destroy the empire, thus bestowing upon him the selection of the 'Demon King'.
"Therefore, I tried to save Annarui."
Why?
"Her poison turns targets into 'puppets'. I want to see it with my own eyes, knights killing their comrades under the guise of 'justification'."
"That's malicious of you."
"Malicious? I'd call it a process of cause and effect."
"That's why I said it's malicious."
"... What?"
At my successive counter, Claude's grey hair and brown eyes wavered.
"Are you talking as if you have a grand cause?"
In truth, these are words I don't wish to hear.
Someone else's circumstances are not for me to bear.
I aim to live as selfishly as possible while minimizing harm to others.
'Moral egoism.'
Now that I say it, it seems odd.
Anyway.
"What you are doing now is a crime, nothing more, nothing less. Why bother explaining with flowery words?"
I smirked and continued.
"Isn't it because even you know you are wrong for spouting such nonsense?"
There's no value in listening anymore.
Shing.
Thinking so, I unsheathed the Moonstone Sword.
"That's unfortunate."
Unfortunate, my foot.
"As someone called 'Blind Eyes', having witnessed the shadows of the royal family, I thought you might understand me."
Shing──!
Claude also drew his sword.
On one side was the Moonstone Sword, gently radiating aura, absorbing the moonlight.
The other was a sword made of dark star iron that absorbed aura.
"Hoping for understanding here is..."
===
⇒ The Trait, 〈Remarkable Intuition〉 senses life-threatening intent.
===
In an instant, goosebumps erupted on my skin as Claude, who had drawn his sword, appeared before me.
'He's fast!'
Incredible speed.
Someone inexperienced might have recoiled to defend, but I raised the sword's scabbard to block Claude's attack.
Crack──!
Fortunately, thanks to Angelica being wrapped around it, the scabbard didn't break under Claude's attack.
The problem was Claude's subsequent action.
I took a closer look at Claude's sword made of 'Dark Star Iron'.
'As I thought, it's not an ordinary sword but fragments of dark star iron made to resemble a sword.'
His unique aura was fragment cohesion.
Literally, it referred to the ability to gather fragments of minerals and turn into a sword.
At first glance, it appeared to be in the form of a sword, but upon closer examination, the sharpness typical of sword blades wasn't there.
Seeing it was like looking at unrefined iron ore.
The problem was that fragments gathered with this ability could be launched at any time.
'It's coming.'
Boom!
Sensing life-threatening intent again, I wrapped Angelica around me as black fragments flew from Claude's sword.
As the shards from the sword aimed at me, I released the scabbard from my hand and leapt into the air.
Thud.
Then, adding the momentum of the descent, I brought down the Moonstone Sword in my right hand toward Claude's head.
Clang──!
'Tsk.'
Unfortunately, Claude managed to block my strike with his sword.
===
⇒ The target also possesses the Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉.
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
===
What the hell is this!?
A sudden text appearing.
Discouraging combat? What nonsense is that, you bastard!
Momentarily startled by the unusual phenomenon, as I closed the system window, Claude's sword lunged at me, seemingly ready to pierce through the UI.
'Damn...!'
I expected this level of impact would prevent Claude from countering effectively.
'Yulian's' instincts took over my weak mind as a knee emerged from below, knocking the handle off Claude's grip.
"... Your reflexes are monstrous!"
I think so too.
'Yulian' instinctively moved on its own.
"Hup!"
Admiration was brief.
As Claude steadied himself to swing his sword again, I wrapped Angelica around my left hand and struck him in the solar plexus.
Thud──!
"... Kuh!"
With a dull sound, a sharp sensation ran through my fingertips.
'It definitely hit.'
Claude groaned in pain, clutching his chest as he staggered back one step.
'I've gained the upper hand.'
It should end here.
Perhaps reading my thoughts, Claude tried to regain his stance, swinging his sword to scatter black iron fragments at me for time to recover.
Even though the area was cluttered with shards.
'Pathetic.'
If it's like this, I can endure it with my body.
Thinking so, I wrapped Angelica around the areas that seemed likely to suffer fatal wounds and charged at Claude instead.
Finish it while you have the upper hand!
Splatter──!
Even with Angelica wrapped around, several fragments of black iron buried themselves into parts of my body.
'Urggh...!'
Damn, it hurts!
But I can bear it!
===
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
===
Get lost!
With the UI that obstructed my view gone, I pressed forward, enduring the pain, step by step.
"You must be insane to dive into this like this!"
Just like me, Claude, grabbing his chest and groaning in pain, refocused his grip on the black iron sword with a grimace.
'His sword is slightly longer than mine.'
So at this distance, I should take a gamble.
A thrust?
A vertical slash?
A horizontal slash?
Whichever attack it is, I need to dodge it immediately.
'Focus on the shoulder muscles.'
I concentrated all my nerves on Claude's right muscles.
If I can dodge just once, I can cut down Claude's neck.
Swish.
Claude's body moved broadly.
The movement of his muscles was crystal clear──.
===
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
⇒ The Trait 〈Vessel of the Demon King〉 discourages combat with the target.
===
Suddenly, the system window obstructed my entire view.
I couldn't even see his muscles or his form.
'You son of a....'
As swear words welled up to my throat, Claude's black sword pierced through the 'system window' and lunged at me.
Clacky's Corner:
Damn that notif window.