Chapter 220 Melting Night -3
Chapter 220 Melting Night -3
"What the—?" "What is...?"
Dark blue shadows burst into the party hall. The guests were too bewildered to react immediately.
Jiha moved at once.
"Mayan, protect the civilians. Pairan, handle the right."
He gave the orders and charged toward the Shades on the left.
'Twelve total... I'll take six.'
He had no weapon, but he had Mana.
A blonde beauty in the middle of raising a wine glass to her lips froze at the sight of a Shade landing in front of her.
The Shade smirked and raised its arm—
Shunk!
Jiha's arm stabbed through it from behind.
A human arm abruptly burst through the Shade's torso. The woman dropped her glass and screamed.
"Kyaaaak!!"
Her scream served as accompaniment as Jiha slowly lifted his arm.
Blue blood trickled down from the wound of the Shade impaled on Jiha's limb—then it scattered into granules and vanished with a puff.
"Wh-what the hell!"
"An attack! We're under attack!"
Only then did the guests grasp the situation, and they began to panic.
Almost all were civilians with no combat experience; they had no idea what to do.
"Everyone, this way! You'll be safe behind me!"
Mayan shouted from the rear, and people scrambled toward her.
Jiha thrust both arms at two Shades lunging for the fleeing guests.
Crack! Crack!
He seized both Shades by the face and crushed them with raw force.
A sickening sound rang out. The two creatures tumbled across the floor, then scattered into granules.
'Way too weak.'
Having accumulated Mana and cultivated his Special Abilities, Jiha was now capable of subduing even a Unique.
He had struggled before only because he was ambushed right after a death match. Under normal conditions, he could smash Shades apart without even using his Special Abilities.
In the first place, Shades were creatures specialized in surprise assassinations. Facing Jiha head-on was foolish.
The remaining three seemed to realize it too, hesitating to attack and exchanging glances instead.
Jiha glanced back. Pairan had already taken down three without much trouble.
Mayan had herded people into a corner of the banquet hall and was guarding the front. She must have judged that going outside could be even more dangerous.
"..."
Alex stood on the dais flanked by the two beastmen, gazing down calmly at Jiha, Pairan, and the Shades being driven back.
When a brief standoff settled, Jiha asked him.
"What is this?"
"What do you mean?"
Alex played dumb, and Jiha laughed.
"Still playing dumb? How long do you plan on just standing there trembling?"
"I know nothing about this."
"..."
Right. Of course he'd say that.
Alex was the victim here—throwing a party only to have it suddenly attacked by mysterious assailants.
Objectively, Jiha had no evidence either.
Alex was acting far too composed? He could say he was putting on a brave face in front of his guests, and that would be the end of the argument.
'If anyone dies here, it's all on me.'
Jiha laughed bitterly to himself.
He had brought Blue Seal and Purple Liberation together and created a new governing body called the Fact-finding Committee.
Its founding mission was to discover where the Shades disrupting the Summoning War came from and prevent their recurrence.
So what happens when Shades murder people right in front of Jiha, the head of that committee?
It was like a wanted criminal committing a crime right in front of the police commissioner.
The committee's authority would hit rock bottom in an instant.
A crafty scheme to shake the committee with minimal force.
"You're playing political games."
"I really have no idea what you're talking about..."
"Let's clean this up first. Then we'll talk."
Jiha dusted off his hands and faced the three remaining Shades.
Pairan likewise prepared to finish them off. The Shades exchanged looks—then all at once burst into granules with a soft pop.
"It's not over. Fall back."
Pairan spoke coldly and retreated quickly.
Jiha fell back as well... and the dispersed granules reassembled into a single enormous Shade.
Six bodies had merged into one.
The three-meter-tall Shade with three heads and six arms took slow, heavy steps that sent thuds through the floor.
Its mass had increased too. This was no easy opponent.
"Careful. That's a Shade Knight. An elite warrior formed from merged Shades. Its inherent penetration ability is further enhanced, so don't let it hit you."
"How do you know so much?"
"I'll explain later."
Pairan said that and charged in first.
Jiha was about to attack from the opposite side but instead frowned and watched the situation unfold.
Sure enough, Pairan deployed a gravity field around herself, pressed down on the Shade Knight, and closed into melee range.
Wooong!
But even under the crushing weight, the Shade Knight launched slow attacks at Pairan with all six arms.
With fists the size of human torsos, plus penetration ability, those were not blows you could afford to take lightly.
Pairan, striking at its main body, quickly pulled back with a frown.
"Hey, when you spread that thing out, I'm stuck just watching. Does it even distinguish friend from foe?"
"...It doesn't."
Pairan, who seemed to have only just realized it, looked dismayed.
She was a type that needed a sword to attack effectively.
Her gravity field was a powerful Special Ability, yes, but it had the drawback of catching allies as well.
"Then turn it off. Synchronize with me."
"..."
"If your face is still saying no later, I'll write it on your ass too."
With no other choice, Pairan deactivated the gravity field. Jiha wrapped Mana around both fists and attacked first.
Bam! Bam!
He threw a light one-two and felt the hardness on impact. Its durability had clearly improved.
Against an ordinary Shade, a single Mana-wrapped straight punch from Jiha would mean instant death, but this one looked like it would take around twenty hits to finish.
Whoosh!
Worse, its reaction speed was fast for its size. Three fists flew at him with staggered timing, making them tricky to handle.
An opponent that had to be destroyed through repeated hit-and-run tactics.
On top of that, Alex stood on the dais with his subordinates, hands clasped behind his back, just watching.
'The real fight hasn't even started yet. I'll conserve strength for now.'
As Jiha pulled back, Pairan rushed in to attack the Shade Knight.
The Shade Knight swung at empty air and tried to strike Pairan, but she had already disengaged. Jiha followed up and attacked again.
Wheel-tactic combat—to hit and run in sync, toying with the Shade Knight. Simple in theory, extremely difficult to execute in reality.
The two needed perfectly coordinated timing without a single misstep, and astonishingly, Jiha and Pairan's combined assault meshed like perfectly interlocked gears, without a single gap.
Jiha was surprised, and Pairan looked just as inwardly taken aback.
"We're in sync."
"...That feels gross."
"Let's sync our bodies too. Take a number and wait."
Jiha teased her while wrapping himself in Mana and pounding the Shade Knight with a flurry of blows.
The Shade Knight, taking hit after hit, tried to counterattack, but Jiha didn't withdraw this time. He shifted his footwork and stayed on it.
Pairan read his intent and attacked the Shade Knight from the side.
As both of them launched a fierce simultaneous assault, the Shade Knight spun its massive body and swung its arms wildly in all directions.
A whirlwind—just hoping one blow would land. But Jiha and Pairan had read it and were already out of range.
When you see something plant its heel to spin, why the hell would you stand there and take it?
'Impressive.'
Jiha was more impressed by Pairan than by the Shade Knight.
Quick movements and careful judgment—she had both.
Pairan was also watching Jiha with considerable surprise, then frowned. She was clearly impressed by him too, but she was honest enough to show it pissed her off.
As attack after attack missed, the Shade Knight's body swelled enormously.
"Ooooh!!"
Boooom!
The huge frame of the Shade Knight exploded, scattering into countless dark blue granules.
"What, did it self-destruct?"
Jiha felt something was off, and Pairan spoke urgently.
"It's not over."
At her words, Jiha sharpened his focus.
The granules seemed to settle—then suddenly rushed en masse beneath Jiha's feet and ballooned back upward in an instant.
It had deliberately dispersed its body to try to eliminate Jiha first, then reconstituted itself.
"Watch—"
"You're doing this right in front of my eyes and think it'll work?"
Jiha, who had been holding Mana at the ready, wrapped his right arm in a Wind Blade and swung upward without hesitation.
Shhhhhk!
Along the arc Jiha carved, a massive wound split open from the Shade Knight's waist to its shoulder, cleaving its huge frame in two.
The Wind Blade was a truly powerful offensive ability—an attack that ignored defense—but...
The Shade Knight's wound sealed shut almost instantly. It aimed a knife-hand strike at Jiha's throat while sweeping his legs with its own.
Jiha, who had not expected it to regenerate even after being torn apart, tried to react quickly—
Shunk!
Two hands shot out from behind and ripped the body apart from both sides.
Blue blood sprayed in all directions, and the Shade Knight's body swelled explosively, then scattered into granules.
Pairan flipped through the air and landed. Her dark blue hair rose with the motion before slowly settling back down.
The blue mini dress clinging to her body was so undisturbed you would never know she had just been fighting.
The only trace of battle was the blue blood of the slain enemy smeared on the pale beauty's cheek.
Without wiping it off, Pairan spoke coldly.
"A Shade Knight's concept of life is different from ordinary creatures. It keeps reserves stored and replenishes itself in emergencies. To finish it off, you have to rip its body completely apart."
"A real Shade expert, huh. Where'd you get your degree?"
Of course, Purple had dispatched Barjet and Pairan to Waris partly to investigate the Shades.
But even considering that, she knew too much.
Weren't they said to be a species that vanished from Warsland during the Thousand-Year War?
"I just didn't want to talk about it."
"I'll hear it later."
With that, Jiha looked up at Alex.
Alex placed a hand over his chest and gave a slight bow of his head.
"Truly remarkable. Thank you for protecting us."
"Oh yeah?"
Jiha let out a short laugh.
Evidence or no evidence... should he just crush him?
But this man was the younger brother of Gashiel Remaker, the celestial Unique.
Laying hands on him recklessly would effectively be a declaration of war against Purple.
"You're doing this because you think I'll hold back out of respect for your background?"
"Won't the Fact-finding Committee gain even greater public recognition thanks to this heroic act of protecting my guests?"
When Jiha gave a cold laugh, Alex returned a warm smile.
"A mutual benefit, then."
"You'll get yourself killed if you keep putting me on your little balance sheet..."
Jiha stepped toward Alex, but Pairan said urgently.
"Wait, there's still more. It's not over—"
"Look out!"
Jiha turned at the sound of Mayan's voice from behind.
A Shade's arm had surged out of the shadow of the human man Jiha had been chatting with—Teroma—and pierced through someone.
"Ghkk..."
A hole had been punched through Mayan's solar plexus.
Under normal circumstances, Mayan would not have been caught, but she threw herself forward to protect someone else and took the hit.
The instant Jiha moved to step forward, Mayan clenched her teeth and swung her arm.
Crash!!
The Shade's body scattered and vanished into granules.
Mayan staggered, then crumpled to the ground. Jiha stood still, watching without moving.
Alex was behind him. Turn his back and he would be struck.
Mayan stared directly at Jiha, then collapsed forward.
"Pairan, take Mayan to 53rd Street right now. There are troops on standby and a healer. Go."
"What..."
"Don't waste time!"
Jiha shouted, and Pairan moved in a hurry.
She quickly scooped Mayan into her arms and rushed out of the banquet hall. The dazed guests scrambled to follow.
The sound of footsteps faded into the distance. Jiha turned his gaze forward again.
Alex and the two beastmen stood there, utterly composed.
Jiha spoke calmly.
"Looks like things are going exactly the way you wanted."
He was deep in enemy territory. Now Jiha was alone.
A third of his Mana was gone, and he had no weapon.
If this was a trap, he had walked right into it.
"No more watching eyes, either. Shall we speak frankly now?"
But he had no intention of backing down.
Blood must be repaid with blood.
When a subordinate bleeds, the leader cannot afford to just swallow it.