Chapter 266 Scheme to Divide -14
Chapter 266 Scheme to Divide -14
How strong was Lowchen?
His Special Ability, the gravity field, was useful in close combat. He commanded Shades, and it was said that killing him only caused more Shades to appear.
Ouroboros had spent centuries amassing power to overturn the world, and even Alex, one of its highest-ranking officers, admitted he was no match for Lowchen. Pairan even claimed he was three times stronger than her.
Was that really true?
Setting everything else aside, Pairan's assessment didn't seem particularly objective.
How many people could be objective about their own blood relative?
He'd find out by facing him directly.
Pairan drew her sword to face her brother, then grimaced.
"Ghk!"
Blue Mana formed a gravity field around Pairan, pressing down on her.
The pressure threatened to buckle her back. Pairan reflexively started to manifest her own gravity field, then hesitated.
Jiha was beside her. If she used her gravity field, he'd be caught in it too.
Lowchen had anticipated that and deployed his gravity field to trap only Pairan.
Having effortlessly turned it into a one-on-one fight, Lowchen immediately rushed in and swung his blade.
Chang!
Jiha read Lowchen's intentions and deliberately retreated toward the doorway to engage him.
With Pairan nearby, Lowchen's movements became more cautious.
A reckless attack might end up catching her in it.
"Hahp!!"
As Jiha pulled back and Lowchen advanced, Pairan quickly deployed her gravity field.
A gravity field was a Special Ability that could increase gravity within its area of effect through sheer will. Pairan's field overrode Lowchen's, and her body regained its freedom.
When Pairan swung her sword beside him, Lowchen threw a gravity field in front of Jiha to block him.
Jiha halted when blue Mana spread before him. Even if he tried to fly over it using his Wings, the field reached the ceiling, leaving no gap.
Lowchen engaged Pairan in the meantime.
Even when Pairan advanced with her gravity field, Lowchen neutralized it through the influence of his own.
Pairan slashed repeatedly with her longsword and finished with a thrust, but Lowchen deflected it easily, parried, then drove his elbow down onto her shoulder.
"Kugh!"
"Your attacks won't work on me."
As Lowchen said, the difference was determined in a single exchange.
Pairan's attacks were sharp and fast, but Lowchen saw them coming clearly. He wasn't reacting to what he saw; he already knew.
They'd fought each other before.
"You might not know this one, big brother!"
Pairan switched her longsword to her left hand and drew the greatsword strapped to her back with her right.
Blue flames wrapped around the greatsword with a whoosh, blazing violently.
It was the same Special Ability Kamain had displayed, but the intensity consuming the entire greatsword was incomparably fiercer.
As the flames grew bright enough to chase the darkness from the room, Lowchen scowled and stepped back.
Pairan swung the greatsword horizontally while aiming the longsword in her left hand at Lowchen's head.
Facing the flame-wreathed greatsword head-on was suicide. Dodging was the only answer. Lowchen blocked the longsword, but his stance was unstable from dodging— Kwaang!
Jiha burst back into the room, smashing through the wall.
With a gravity field blocking the doorway, he'd used Wind Blade to demolish the wall and charge in.
Caught between enemies front and back, Lowchen was in a crisis. Jiha thrust his sword at Lowchen's back without hesitation, but a Shade erupted from Lowchen's shadow and took the hit.
Puuk!
The shish-kebabbed Shade grinned nastily and clamped both hands around the blade lodged in its chest.
It was desperately preventing Jiha from pulling his sword free.
In that moment, Lowchen aimed a spinning slash at Jiha's neck. He meant to cut him in half along with his own subordinate.
If Jiha didn't abandon his weapon, he'd be cut.
As Jiha faced that danger, Pairan rushed to strike Lowchen's back with her left-handed longsword, but Jiha shouted.
"You idiot!"
"......."
Lowchen's aim from the start had been to make Pairan reckless.
Predicting that in the confusion she'd swing her more familiar longsword, he spun one more rotation on the spot and drove his elbow into her temple.
Bbeok!!
"Guurggh."
Hit in a vital spot by a Mana-infused elbow, Pairan staggered backward.
She barely managed to hold onto her weapons, but she needed time to recover.
Meanwhile, Jiha kicked the Shade away and retrieved his gladius. Lowchen threw another gravity field at him.
Blue Mana encroached on his vision, and his body turned impossibly heavy. Even pouring Mana into his muscles, he could only move at about seventy percent of normal.
Lowchen, unaffected by his own gravity field, moved normally.
"It's over."
Lowchen spoke coldly as he extended his sword toward Jiha's forehead.
"Not quite."
"......!"
Lowchen hastily pulled back from his thrust. Space seemed to open beneath his chin, and a blade thrust upward.
Shadow Hand attacked Lowchen repeatedly as he retreated.
Lowchen quickly swung his sword to fend off Shadow Hand, then glared at Jiha.
Though trapped inside a gravity field, Jiha looked unruffled.
"That was close."
"What was that?"
Lowchen's expression turned guarded.
Jiha had definitely been standing still, yet a gladius flew up from beneath his chin. If he'd dodged a moment slower, it would have pierced from his jaw to his brain and killed him instantly.
It was the Special Ability Jiha had acquired by sucking Barjet's blood: Blink.
It allowed him to move a hand, foot, or other body part to any location within his line of sight.
He could also apply it like he just had, moving only his hand beneath an enemy's chin to attack.
'The catch is... concentration.'
At first glance, it seemed like a tremendous ability, but he couldn't use it freely.
Whether because the ability hadn't settled into his body yet or for some other reason, Jiha had to remain still and concentrate for three seconds to use it.
It was a flaw that made it impossible to use during fierce combat, but by deceiving the enemy, it could serve as a stepping stone to turning the tables.
Just like now.
'The enemy doesn't know I can't just spam it. If I make them think I can use it anytime, I can maneuver things to my advantage.'
Showing them that he could pull this off narrowed their options.
As Lowchen grew cautious, Jiha made a show of it, calmly walking out of the gravity field's range on his own two feet.
Lowchen then retracted his gravity field and looked at Jiha.
"I can't set more than one."
Lowchen's gravity field was a placed effect. It was a good ability, but he couldn't litter the area with them.
Conversely, Jiha could attack from within a gravity field by moving only his hand with Blink.
Both had revealed their hands, and Jiha held the advantage. Pairan steadied her breathing and raised her blades again.
Sandwiched between Jiha and his unknown ability in front, and his formidable younger sister behind, Lowchen asked calmly,
"And you claim you lack the ability to take down Alex in this state?"
"I'm a bit frail, you see."
"I see."
Lowchen answered curtly, summoning three Shades and sending them at Jiha.
As the shadows suddenly surged up, Jiha shouted while quickly swinging his blade.
"Block them!"
It wasn't just the Shades; a gravity field flew at him again.
The Shades were no match for Jiha, but dealing with them inside a gravity field would take time.
But Lowchen's fierce assault wasn't aimed at ending the fight.
When Lowchen made for the window, Pairan quickly blocked his path and swung her longsword. Reflecting on their earlier exchange, she threw a feint this time.
The longsword, which her brother knew well, was just to draw his attention. Her real aim was to land the decisive blow with the greatsword.
But instead of parrying, Lowchen closed in and seized her arm.
Suddenly, they were in extreme close quarters, where swordplay was meaningless... but Pairan deployed the gravity field she'd prepared in advance!
Since Lowchen's gravity field was locking down Jiha, he couldn't neutralize Pairan's.
Just as he'd grabbed her arm, Lowchen was crushed down, his movements visibly slowing.
Pairan had an overwhelming advantage. She should have subdued him with hand-to-hand combat immediately, but her gaze met Lowchen's eyes.
A sibling silence. In the moment she hesitated, Lowchen grabbed Pairan's arm and threw her.
Even under the weight of the gravity field, he could still exert Mana, making it possible.
Pwehk!
Lowchen glanced at Pairan as she flew into the wall, then jumped straight out the window.
Screams erupted from the night street.
"Uwaaah?!"
"Wh-what the!!"
"Kyaaah!"
After finishing off the Shades, Jiha rushed to the window. The night street had turned into a scene of pandemonium.
Lowchen was sprinting away in the distance. Behind him, dozens of pedestrians lay collapsed, blood pooling.
From those corpses, dark blue shadows rose and pounced on other pedestrians, spilling more blood.
He was indiscriminately slaughtering passersby who had nothing to do with this.
For no other reason than to buy time!
"......."
Jiha watched Lowchen flee into the distance, then jumped out the window without hesitation.
Kuuung!!
The fleeing pedestrians, already screaming, became even more frightened when another figure descended.
Some madman had suddenly started cutting people down, and then Shades sprang from the bodies and butchered more. Of course they were terrified.
Another one appeared, and they despaired—until they saw this newcomer was different.
Shuuk!!
When Jiha cut down the Shades, the fleeing pedestrians froze in surprise.
Someone recognized him and cried out.
"A-ah, it's Lord Jiha!"
"Lord Jiha!"
There was no one in Waris who didn't know Jiha, the Chairman of the Investigation Committee, the one who stood against the unknown terrorists and their Shades.
Jiha used Shadow Hand to block the Shades rushing at the pedestrians, then easily cut each one down.
They were small fry anyway. For Jiha, who'd been steadily growing stronger, they were one-hit kills.
"Kiyaaah!!"
With every swing of his blade, the resisting Shades helplessly scattered into motes.
Once Jiha had cleaned up all the Shades, Lowchen was completely gone.
"He sure knows how to run...."
Seeing the tide turn against him, Lowchen had chosen to flee without hesitation.
But Jiha hadn't intended to kill him here anyway.
'Let Lowchen run. Waris is my city. If he moves, he'll be caught. I need to set him against Alex.'
Now that Lowchen knew Alex was targeting Pairan, he'd become hostile.
Corner a rat and it'll fight desperately. They might join forces and attack together.
Rather than that, it was more profitable to let him go just enough to make those rats fight each other, then clean up.
"Ah...."
"Is... is it over?"
The citizens, flustered by the sudden horror, hesitated and asked Jiha.
A mix of relief and trust in Jiha. When he silently nodded, cheers broke out.
"Oh, thank goodness the Chairman was here."
"Thank you for saving us."
"Thank you so much!"
Every survivor bowed their head, one after another.
By tomorrow morning, most of Waris' citizens would know about tonight's incident.
'Now I have justification to declare a state of emergency.'
Citizens had fallen victim to the Shades' rampage. Jiha intended to use that as grounds to officially take control of Waris.
Emergency martial law. This would soon lead to independence.
Standing among the cheering citizens, Jiha looked up.
Pairan was looking down at the victims with a complicated expression. When her eyes met Jiha's, she froze, then whirled around and disappeared back inside.
'As she is, I can't use her.'
For Jiha, tonight's battle had several purposes.
Giving Lowchen information to make him an enemy of Alex.
Showing the citizens him confronting Lowchen to establish grounds for martial law... and the final objective was testing whether Pairan could truly be merciless against her own blood.
He hadn't intended to kill Lowchen tonight, but Pairan had clearly shown a weakness.
Even if she didn't betray him, the possibility was high that she'd fumble again at a critical moment.
'Lowchen's weakness is Pairan, but Pairan's weakness is also Lowchen. In that case...'
Jiha calmly resolved himself.
With a woman who hesitates, you simply have to erase that hesitation.
Using the way a man can with a woman.