Chapter 6
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Let's Make It Mine
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Suddenly, at Johann's outrageous demand, Philip—who had been watching from behind—shouted in indignation.
"You crazy bastard! You seem to be in cahoots with those thief scum over there. If you don't want to die, you better kowtow and beg for mercy! Do you know who this is? Swift Sword Bater—even crying kids..."
"......Shut it."
"What? Bater, what did you just..."
"I said shut up!"
Hiccup!
Startled by Bater's sudden yell, Philip clapped a hand over his mouth. But he was so shocked that he started hiccuping as he stared at Bater.
Only then did Philip catch on. The cold sweat dripping from Bater's face. The extreme tension...
"Swift Sword Bater? What? You're famous?"
But Johann showed no fear at Bater's name. He kept up his sly mocking, and Bater couldn't muster a single word in response.
"Bater, why..."
"Shut up and listen carefully. If you want to live, forget the cargo and run for your lives with everything you've got. My men and I can probably buy you about a minute."
"What in the world do you mean..."
Philip was baffled. He simply couldn't understand why Bater was suddenly acting this way.
At that moment.
Crackle!
Philip saw sparks discharging from Johann's body.
'Huh? What was that just now? Sparks? No way... How can electricity come from a human body... Wait. I've seen something like that before. Where was it...?'
As Philip's brain burned through his mental index, it finally pulled up the match. His eyes flew open wide enough to tear.
"N-No way! Lightning Mana?! Impossible!"
A merchant of broad experience, Philip recognized it at once. But his mind grasped it while his heart rebelled.
It simply couldn't be. Or at least, not here... Not as his enemy.
"Hurry! Time is..."
Crackle.
"Got time to look away?"
"......!"
It pierced through space. No other words fit. Johann's figure vanished from view only to reappear right before Bater's eyes.
Bater's eyes bulged as he desperately swung his sword. It was the swiftest reaction the man dubbed Swift Sword Bater could muster.
The swordplay he'd shown Henderson had been mere warm-up. At full throttle, more than twenty afterimages wove a dense net around Johann.
A flawless swift sword. No gap to flee, no way to block.
But...
"Weird. Didn't they call you Swift Sword Bater?"
Crackle!
In that instant, sparks erupted from Johann's body. His form blinked out of sight. What had seemed airtight was nothing but an open gate to him.
As the afterimages rent empty air, Johann closed in effortlessly and drove his fist into Bater's gut.
Boom!
"Gaaah!!"
Bater doubled over like a shrimp, spewing blood. The breastplate he wore was hideously crumpled.
Bater's subordinates watching this couldn't accept the reality before them.
They'd never even imagined their invincible captain could fall so pathetically.
But they shoved down their fear with raw courage and bellowed.
"Protect the captain!"
"One-point focus! Hold the formation!"
"Injured fall back! Fighters, grit your teeth! He's a monster! Fight for your lives!"
Bater's men swiftly arrayed themselves, pressing Johann.
'A formation of many weaklings to overwhelm one strong foe? Not bad. Looks like he trained them personally...'
However.
"What can you do when the opponent's me? Sorry about that."
The moment Johann vanished, eye-searing blue lightning crackled around them.
All at once, all anyone could see was the rhythmic thump of fists on leather hides and soldiers crumbling into chaos.
"Wh-what the hell..."
"Are we dreaming right now?"
"B-brother!"
Henderson made no reply to Jang's cry. He couldn't comprehend what was happening any more than the rest.
Only one man here—Philip—grasped the scene and reeled in horror.
'Among the ultra-rare mana users, elemental mana is the rarest manifestation. Fire, wind, water, earth—different flavors, but all wield immense power. Far beyond plain mana. But...'
Philip bit his lip bloody as he watched the soldiers swept away like autumn leaves. He didn't even notice the trickle.
'Of them all, Lightning Mana— dubbed the God's Element— is leagues beyond the rest! Across the continent's history, those who awakened it could be counted on one hand. And every one was a world-shaking monster.'
"The problem is why such an absurd monster is standing in front of me right now!"
Crackle!
As Philip shrieked like a madman, Johann materialized amid thunder with a mocking grin.
"Who knows. Does lightning ever announce itself before it strikes?"
Snap.
"Guhk..."
Thud...
Johann flicked Philip's forehead. The merchant's eyes rolled back as he crumpled.
"That about wrap it up?"
With the rest of the merchants and soldiers dealt with, Johann approached the fallen Henderson. He squatted and checked the man's condition.
"Let's see. Looks worse than it is. Tougher than I thought. You."
"Wh-who are you? Why'd you save us?"
"Did you want to die or something? Should've spoken up."
Crackle, snap!
Johann raised a hand blade. Blue lightning coiled around it.
"B-brother!"
Jang cried out in alarm, but Henderson frantically shook his head, sweat pouring.
"Just wondering why you spared our lives! We never begged to die!"
"Oh? Sounded like you were grilling me on it. Can't haul all this alone before dawn. Plenty of you can still move. Let's hustle."
Johann gestured at the wagons and stood. Henderson swallowed hard, summoning courage for a plea.
"W-wait! You've saved our lives, so this is shameless, but... one request!"
"Shoot."
"Everything in those wagons is blood money for our families' lives. To some, daily bread for starving kids. To others, medicine for dying wives. Viscount Domos wrung it from the people to buy this useless junk. That's why we risked everything to raid it."
Henderson's words twisted the bandits' faces in rage—not just at Viscount Domos, but at their own impotence.
It was a tale to stir pity. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears with Johann.
"So? What, donate stolen loot from one thief to another?"
Johann pointed at the bandits, then himself, then the wagons. Henderson knelt heavily, planted both hands on the ground, bowed his head, and wept.
"Please! Sell it, and we can feed our starving families back at base, buy medicine for the sick. Someone like you could earn far more, far easier!"
He was half blackmailing now, but desperation left no room for pride.
However...
"What does my earning power have to do with handing this over? Earplugs in. Once it's in my hands, I don't yield a single bean. Shit or gold, I keep mine."
"But...!"
"Want it bad? Take it by force. You put up a good front earlier. Faster than begging, no?"
Henderson clenched his fists white-knuckled.
If he could have, he would have ages ago. But he was spent, badly wounded—combat was out of the question.
His foe had toyed with Bater then dropped him cold with one punch. A monster among monsters.
The wagon raid had been a slim shot worth taking. This? Pure suicide, zero chance.
'This guy's got a cute side despite the build.'
Johann stifled a chuckle at Henderson forcing calm amid impotent fury.
'Enough teasing.'
"If you need my treasure that badly, there might just be a way..."
"What... No—if there's a way, I'll do anything!"
"I just told you."
"When...?"
Henderson racked his brain over their talk but drew a blank. Beside him, Jang tentatively raised a hand.
"Um... Does it tie to what you said—keeping whatever's in your hands, no matter what?"
"Sharp. What's your name?"
"Jang..."
"Right, Jang. Spot on. I want you all. Become mine, and this loot's no big deal to hand over. Hell, call it an investment."
Henderson shook his head gravely at Johann's reply.
"Sorry, but that's impossible. We're..."
"I know. Not just you lot. What I want is your whole outfit... the fate of the entire Resistance lurking in the shadows of Viscount Domos's domain."
"......!"
In that instant, every bandit—no, every Resistance fighter—gaped at Johann.
He was the first outsider to call them the Resistance, not thieves.
A dark room. Only lantern light illuminated the wrinkled man's face. Every crease seemed etched with tales of hardship and pain. It was the face representing this place: the Resistance.
"So, you hauled the loot where he told you and came back?"
"Yes, boss. Checked later—vanished clean. He must've moved it."
The man crossed his arms, lost in thought at Henderson's report.
"Sorry, brother. If I'd been stronger..."
"Wouldn't have mattered. Word is he wields Lightning Mana? Miracle you all got back alive. Smart move complying without a fight."
"Couldn't say for sure it's Lightning Mana. But lightning sparking from a human body? Wild. And monstrously strong. So what's this Lightning Mana?"
The man answered Henderson's question.
"Legends and myths across the continent all differ, but the mightiest gods invariably wield lightning—nature's fiercest weapon—like it's nothing. That's why they call Lightning Mana the God's Mana. And those who command it? People dub them 'Avatars,' proxies of the divine."
"God's Mana? Avatar? Dunno the details, but sounds insanely strong."
The man smirked and nodded at Henderson's blunt reply.
"So he wants to meet me?"
"Yes. Said he'd hand over the loot if we join him. Even set the place and time."
The other Resistance officers chimed in, voices laced with concern.
"What'll you do, boss?"
"I'm going."
"Boss!"
"I know. Could be insanely dangerous. But this chance might never come again. We all know best we can't touch Viscount Domos like this. Keep going, and we'll wither on the vine without a fight."
"Even so..."
As the officers' faces grew heavier, the man guessed their fears and nodded, rising from his seat.
"I get what worries you. I'll hash it out with him, that included. If someone of that caliber wants something from the likes of us, there's room to bargain."