Chapter 142: Stepping into the Light - 14
Chapter 142: Stepping into the Light - 14
The escort guards packed into the stairwell exchanged glances.
The ogre at the very front made as if to relax his fist and raise his foot.
"I'll just—"
Just then, Jiha stepped forward and kicked the ogre square in the chest without warning.
The ogre had been right in the middle of lifting his knee to climb the stairs, and Jiha exploited the exquisite timing to strike.
Caught off balance, the ogre took the hit and flew backward.
"Guhk?!"
"Graaah!"
The ogre's massive frame dragged others with him as he tumbled down the stairs in a heap.
Half of them were gone in an instant.
"You bastard..."
"You really think you're walking out of here alive?"
The remaining six gritted their teeth and drew their weapons.
Jiha put on an exaggerated look of surprise and sneered.
"Hold on, is that an actual sword? Wow, looks sharp. Does it draw blood? I'm terrified."
"..."
The men's faces twisted with rage at being mocked even after baring steel.
They carried the pride of being handpicked elites serving a Dirga. Civilians usually steered clear of them. Suffering this kind of humiliation was unthinkable.
Wary of another kick, they exchanged signals, then began advancing cautiously two by two, shoulders aligned.
Jiha looked down at them coolly and asked,
"What happens after you kill me, though? How do you clean that up? This is, what, murdering a civilian?"
"Go to hell."
"We're Dirga escort guards. Burying someone like you won't cause any— Gyaaah!"
A Shadow Hand shot up from the sneering orc's shadow and smashed his jaw with an uppercut.
The blow lifted the man's body into the air. He slammed against the stairwell ceiling before crashing back down, tangling up several of his comrades.
"Madness! What is that thing?!"
"What do you mean 'what'? It's just fundamentals."
Jiha descended the stairs, throwing a punch.
Flustered by the sudden appearance of the Shadow Hand, a wolf beastman thrust his longsword forward.
His swordsmanship was fairly sharp, and the white aura enveloping the blade meant it could cut even a body reinforced with Mana.
'Not bad, this one.'
Even as his allies kept falling and the Shadow Hand threw him off, the wolf beastman responded precisely.
Jiha tilted his head back to evade and fired back a punch. The wolf beastman flipped backward to escape.
Despite fighting on a staircase, he landed on the step below without a tremor—exceptional balance.
"..."
Half the squad had been wiped out by the ogre, and the ones knocked aside by the Shadow Hand had taken out another half on the way down.
Gritting his teeth, the wolf beastman gave orders to the men still behind him.
"Go down and report this. Now."
"Got it!"
Numbers meant nothing in a narrow stairwell.
They only got in allies' way and dragged them into the chaos.
The wolf beastman had decided to face Jiha alone.
"Hm..."
When Jiha nodded and descended a step, the beastman retreated a step as well.
He had grasped that Jiha hadn't shown his true strength at all and that this wasn't an opponent he could charge recklessly.
"Looks like you know your place."
Jiha descended another step. The beastman retreated again.
"Stalling for time, are you? Well, answer my questions properly and I might let you go."
"..."
Even with Jiha speaking openly, the wolf beastman didn't relax his guard.
"Who are you under?"
"Lady Dirga Narsha..."
"Not that. Which faction?"
The wolf beastman's face flickered with surprise before he spoke slowly.
"Lord Lungtao."
"The tiger beastman, then."
One of the two factions among the Dirga's guards. With things playing out according to plan, Jiha nodded.
"How many of you came to this inn?"
"Twenty. But more will keep swarming in. You won't—"
"Right. So, are you going to keep blocking me?"
The wolf beastman hesitated briefly, then clenched his jaw.
"That's not mine to decide."
"Fine. Understood."
Jiha squared his shoulders naturally and descended the stairs.
The wolf beastman, who had been retreating, steeled his expression and drew a dagger with his left hand.
"Hap!"
He hurled the dagger and lunged with his sword in the same motion.
But the moment the dagger left his hand, Jiha had already read the movement.
Jiha evaded with a spinning kick, launching a counterattack in the same breath.
"What..."
An excessively large motion. Had he known all along he would lunge? The wolf beastman's eyes went wide with shock as the spinning kick exploded against his head.
Crash!
"Gyaaah!"
The wolf beastman's body sailed over the landing and slammed down to the first floor.
"He was a reasonable guy..."
No one was watching, but Jiha had deliberately put on a flashy display to burn it into the opponent's memory.
That wolf beastman had a decent eye for gauging strength, and the way he commanded others showed he had standing within his group. Jiha wanted him to come to his senses and run his mouth about what happened.
"Alright, then..."
As Jiha continued down the stairs, the scene on the first floor came into view.
Fifteen escort guards of various species stood around the wolf beastman who had just fallen, now unconscious.
Among them, a man built noticeably larger, clad head-to-toe in flawless armor, knelt down to check his condition.
He was huge.
Even kneeling, his presence was considerable.
'He might even surpass Kamain.'
Strength aside, Kamain had lacked the leadership to command a group. His foul temperament made keeping subordinates impossible.
But this opponent had men gathered around him.
"Is he alive?"
At Jiha's words, the man with his back turned slowly looked around.
A beastman with a tiger's head.
"You the one who caused this disturbance?"
"Sounds more like your side's story."
Jiha lightly kicked a fragment of a table rolling on the floor.
The shard whizzed right past the tiger beastman's head, making the other guards turn hostile.
"You dare—!"
"..."
The tiger beastman glanced at them. The guard who had stepped forward immediately bowed his head and withdrew.
'This one has charisma.'
From that single exchange, Jiha sized up his opponent. Combat strength aside, this was someone who knew how to keep his underlings in check.
The tiger beastman faced Jiha and gave a silent laugh.
"What do you want?"
"Not keen on repeating the same explanation. Lungtao, was it?"
Jiha grabbed the back of his neck and yawned. Even at the deliberate rudeness, the tiger beastman showed no sign of agitation.
'Composed. This one's fairly decent...'
Jiha studied the tiger beastman with the appraising eye of someone examining goods.
A broad scimitar hung at his hip, his seamless armor and red cloak giving him the air of a general commanding the battlefield.
Above all, the tiger head itself radiated a unique charisma.
"You know me?"
"I don't bother memorizing every idiot's name, but you're a little special. So I remember."
The other guards bristled. Lungtao's face remained unchanged.
"Music to my ears."
"Hm..."
Ordinary provocations weren't going to anger him, then.
Jiha straightened his tone and asked lightly.
"Are we fighting?"
"I've only just arrived in Waris. I'd rather not cause a commotion. I'd prefer to settle this quietly."
"How?"
"One arm will suffice."
Meaning he'd let Jiha leave if he gave up an arm. Courteous on the surface, but still the leader of a violent pack. Jiha gave a cold laugh.
"I'll let you keep your life."
"Good. Then whoever wins, this can still end quietly."
Negotiations had broken down, and Lungtao accepted it calmly—though his words carried the full confidence that he would be the victor.
Lungtao glanced around and commanded,
"Do not intervene."
A single word sent the other guards retreating.
'So they're Dirga's escort guards, but the real commander is this Lungtao character. Bran's supposed to be the other leader, but he feels a bit lacking in weight.'
Individual combat prowess and leadership didn't always go hand in hand. Galak had been pathetic at both. Kamain commanded considerable individual strength but absolutely no leadership. This Lungtao clearly had it.
'Now then, let's see his strength...'
Just as Jiha was about to step forward, a voice rang from above.
"Stop! Lungtao! Don't cause any more trouble! He's a Common from Blue Seal!"
Bran was shouting from the landing.
Mayan, standing beside Bran, lowered her head when she caught Jiha's gaze.
'She didn't stop him because he was handling the small fry.'
The whole situation had sprung from a literal reading of Jiha's orders.
Lungtao looked up at Bran and shook his head.
"You say that, but do you mean we should pretend nothing happened?"
"It's true that our side was discourteous first."
"The cause is secondary. Fists are repaid with fists, blood with blood. Words won't make me back down."
When Lungtao cut him off flatly, Bran's face twisted with anger. He jumped straight down from the landing.
Thud!
Landing in the lounge in a single leap, Bran snapped in a furious tone.
"A tiger who knows nothing but fighting sure talks big while ignoring others' burdens. If you want a fight so badly, I could be your opponent."
"I have a prior engagement. It'll have to wait."
"An engagement? Mine with him was scheduled long before—"
"Yaaawn."
Jiha's yawn cut between their bickering.
When both turned to look at him, Jiha blinked drowsily and spoke.
"This is boring. I'm heading back up, so call me when you two have finished your little agreement, alright?"
"Don't spout nonsense, Common. Who do you think I'm going through all this trouble for—"
"Who asked you to?"
"..."
Cut off, Bran closed his mouth, dumbfounded. From his perspective, he was desperately trying to keep the situation from escalating and ensure Jiha got back safely, yet the man himself was kicking it all away.
"Don't butt in while men are fighting, woman."
"...What?"
Bran's face went from stunned to glaring in an instant.
Jiha snapped at him.
"When a situation needs a fight to settle it, trying to talk your way through is why they call you small-minded. Don't you hear them calling you a petty tyrant behind your back?"
"..."
Hit squarely on a sore point, Bran's face hardened.
Jiha jerked his chin at Lungtao.
"The floor's cleared up. Come at me."
"Hm. A Common, was it?"
Lungtao regarded Jiha with a somewhat surprised expression.
"You seem to possess Mana. So you're that Mana-bearing Common? I'd been wanting to meet you. This worked out nicely."
"Right. It'll work out even better when you're recuperating in a hospital bed."
"Won't you come under me?"
Lungtao offered smoothly.
"The Dirga must personally approve anyone who becomes an escort guard, but I can recommend you. Receive her recognition and get your hands on Dirga weapons and armor, and you could become twice as strong as you are now. An attractive offer, isn't it?"
"It's a decent offer. Except for one thing."
Jiha spoke coldly.
"You come under me. If you do it now, I might give you something around the fifth rank."
"That would be a refusal, then."
"The longer you stall, the lower the rank. Just dropped to seventh."
Lungtao bared his teeth in a grin.
"Then watch yourself, my friend. I'd rather not kill you."
"Yeah, I'll be careful. Wouldn't want to accidentally kill you by using too much force."
The human and the tiger glared at each other, vicious smiles on both faces.
Two men who had always stood above others, they sensed instinctively they were birds of a feather. Neither was the type to serve under anyone, which left only one path: breaking the other.
Jiha took a step forward.
It was time to fight the one who reigned over 2,300 brawlers.