Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Cliffside Slaughter
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You insolent bastards! Aren't you going to untie us?”
There were two women slumped down, bound to a thick rope at the edge of the northern cliff.
Empress Elena and Saintess Chloe.
“When His Majesty arrives, you'll all be executed. Do you really think you can lay hands on the Empire's Empress and get away with it?”
Even bound by the rope, Elena didn't lose her dignity.
Her dress was caked in dirt, her hair disheveled,
but she held her head high and glared at the Ashes Knights.
“Um, knights? Please... I'm begging you.”
Saintess Chloe was a bit different, though.
“I can give you all my money,
so please, just leave my necklace alone. Please!”
“Shut up. Silence them.”
Gauss barked the order in an irritated voice.
The failed beast operation had already annoyed him,
and their incessant chatter grated on his ears.
“Empress, do we still look like your subordinates to you?”
One of the subordinate knights approached Elena with a menacing expression
and raised his hand to slap her.
Boom!
A thunderous roar like the sky collapsing split the forest.
At the same time, a massive cloud of dust erupted at the cliff entrance like an explosion.
“W-What is that?!”
The Ashes Knights buzzed in confusion, gripping their weapons tighter.
From within the thick dust cloud,
an unidentified silhouette slowly revealed itself.
Accompanied by heavy footsteps.
Crunch.
“Ouch. What did I step on? It's all squishy.”
As the dust cleared, everyone gasped at the sight.
A man in black hunting garb stood with his foot planted on the back of an Ashes Knight.
His entire body was drenched in blood.
Through his tousled hair, his eyes gleamed more ferociously
than those of any berserk beast.
The Empire's Emperor, Darcor.
“Having fun without me? Mind if I join?”
Darcor muttered, tilting his head crookedly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Skill: Tyrant's Intimidation has been activated.] [Surrounding enemies' morale has sharply decreased.] “Ugh...”
The Ashes Knights instinctively staggered back in primal fear.
Even these veteran knights who had roamed battlefields for decades.
A terror they'd never felt before.
“You're finally here, Tyrant.”
Gauss stepped forward, seeing his hesitating men.
He slammed his greatsword into the ground.
Boom.
A grotesque, chilling smile spread across Gauss's face.
His long-awaited prey had walked right into his trap.
“Hmph...”
But Darcor's gaze didn't linger on Gauss.
He simply slowly scanned the bound Elena and Chloe.
Elena's disheveled hair and Chloe's terrified expression.
And the red mark swelling on Elena's cheek.
“Who gave you permission to touch my property? Without the owner's consent.”
Darcor's eyes turned ice-cold.
“Property? Treating the Empress like mere property? Fitting for a tyrant.
Everyone, attack! Take his head!”
Gauss shook his head with a sneer.
At his command, dozens of knights
charged at Darcor in unison.
“Die!”
Swords and spears rained down from all sides.
A flawless encirclement.
No place to run.
Whoosh.
A blade grazed past Darcor's nose.
Swish.
A spear tip aimed for his throat,
but only sliced empty air.
As if part of a choreographed dance,
every attack narrowly missed.
“Too slow.”
The corner of Darcor's mouth curled into a sinister grin.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ [Dawn Step has been activated.] Flash.
Darcor's form blurred like mist,
leaving only an afterimage behind as he vanished.
While the knights panicked and looked around,
“W-What?”
Darcor had already plunged into their midst.
He seized the sword of the lead knight.
Clang.
Twisting the wrist, the blade bent and snapped like taffy.
“That's all you've got?”
Thud!
Darcor's fist slammed into the knight's solar plexus,
sending him flying silently into his following comrades.
Boom!
An unbelievable scene of civilian slaughter—no, knight slaughter.
Darcor danced through the enemy ranks, sending one knight skyward with each punch.
Dozens of veteran knights couldn't even land a hand on him.
Unable even to graze his clothes.
“M-Monster...”
The last remaining knight dropped his sword in terror and crawled on the ground.
“Monsters are what you lot unleashed.”
Thud!
Darcor chuckled and strode over,
smashing his fist into the man's jaw and hurling him off the cliff.
Now, only one remained.
Ashes Knights Captain, Gauss.
Gauss ground his teeth at the unbelievable sight.
Grind.
His elite unit wiped out by this so-called tyrant.
Now he realized.
Darcor wasn't just some brutish tyrant.
“Not bad, Tyrant.”
Gauss's face twisted hideously.
Because his elite unit had been swept away like trash.
But nothing changed.
'Either way, you're dying here.'
Gauss's muscles bulged as if about to burst,
and he drew his massive greatsword.
“I'll end this in one blow.”
Vrrrrm!
Gray aura swirled around Gauss's greatsword like a storm.
A murderous pressure that could tear space apart.
The ground cracked, and the air ripped with sound.
If it hit dead-on, even a castle wall would split in two.
Clearly one of the Empire's top powerhouses.
The moment Gauss's greatsword swung down at Darcor.
Thud.
“W-What the...”
Gauss's eyes bulged like they might pop out.
His full-power strike had halted in mid-air.
“Is that all your power? Disappointing.”
Right in front of Darcor's nose.
The Emperor had caught the aura-clad greatsword barehanded—with just two fingers.
“I-Impossible!”
Gauss pushed and pulled with all his might, but
the sword didn't budge, like it was lodged in rock.
“My turn now?”
Darcor yawned boredly
and snatched the greatsword from Gauss's hand.
But not with the blade.
With the flat side.
“Have you! Gone senile! In your old age?!”
Thud. Thud thud. Thwack!
“Gah...”
Darcor swung the flat of the blade at Gauss's face,
sending teeth flying out like popcorn kernels as his head snapped back.
“Who gave you! The nerve! To kidnap?!”
Clang. Clang clang. Claaang!
Darcor pummeled Gauss like a sandbag.
Buttocks, back, thighs—nothing spared.
“Argh! A knight's honor... please strike me down... kill me properly!”
“Shut it. You need a beating. All talk and no bite.”
Knight's honor meant nothing to him.
Gauss screamed and flailed,
but Darcor's thrashing didn't stop.
The mighty Ashes Knights Captain collapsed pathetically, his ass beaten raw.
Gauss's pride shattered alongside his body.
Finally, he foamed at the mouth and passed out.
Darcor kicked the unconscious Gauss aside lightly.
“Whew... what a pain.”
Then, shaking blood from his hands, he approached the two women.
“You hurt anywhere? Anything broken or scratched?”
Darcor's gaze meticulously scanned their bodies.
If Elena or Chloe died,
the worldview could shift unpredictably.
“Your face is a mess.”
Darcor's rough hand brushed Elena's cheek.
Simply wiping the dirt from it.
But in that moment, Elena's eyes welled up.
The Darcor reflected in her gaze was a blood-soaked hero.
A man who had fought through hordes of enemies alone to save her.
“Your Majesty...”
Elena's lake-like eyes turned red.
“Sob... to come to such a dangerous place because of me!”
“H-Hey? Wait a sec.”
Elena threw herself into Darcor's arms.
“I won't ever let go again!”
“No, get off me!”
Darcor panicked and pushed, but
Elena clung tight.
Her romance filter had already shattered its limits.
“Haa... I'm saved.”
Chloe beside them touched her neck,
confirmed her necklace was intact, and sighed in relief.
“Your Majesty, my necklace is safe too. Not a single scratch!”
Chloe teared up, moved.
Darcor, who had protected her necklace more precious than life, shone like pure light.
“Yeah, yeah... you're both fine, so that's good.”
Darcor shook his head between the two women and let out a deep sigh.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Y-Your Majesty. What in the world...”
Edel, arriving late, saw the carnage and was speechless.
Dozens of knights lay scattered, the ground a sea of blood.
And at the center was Emperor Darcor.
“Oh, you’re here? Perfect timing.”
Edel rushed over pale-faced, but
Darcor waved casually.
“Are you alright? These bastards actually...”
“I'm fine, it was fun. More importantly, look at this.”
Darcor nudged the lump at his feet.
“W-What is that?”
“Oh, this? Trash.”
It was Gauss, drooling unconscious.
His ass swollen beyond recognition.
A far cry from the Empire's mightiest swordsman.
“Edel, package this trash nicely and follow me.”
“P-Pardon? Where to, Your Majesty?”
“Where else? Gotta return it to the owner.”
Now it was time for the hunting tournament's true highlight.
What face would the Empress Dowager make?
“Trash has to be cleaned up by its owner.”
The corner of Darcor's mouth curled sinisterly.