Chapter 283
Chapter 283
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Amid the Fireworks (2)
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The mansion's lights went out.
In the pitch-black darkness, only the knights' gleaming eyes and faint silhouettes filled the banquet hall.
The Black Knights, accustomed to the shadows, glared murderously at their prey.
They didn't even draw their swords for the arrests.
Every part of their bodies was a weapon to them.
"Anyone who believes themselves innocent, get down and stay put."
Lydia spoke in a cold voice from her solitary leather chair.
She sat with her legs elegantly crossed, chin resting on the back of her hand.
Her red eyes flashed in the darkness, like the leader of a pack of panthers.
"All the rest—arrest them immediately."
With her words, the banquet hall fell silent once more.
But soon, the sharp sound of daggers being drawn echoed from somewhere.
Blades glinted faintly in the slivers of moonlight.
At that moment.
――――――!!
The Black Knights charged at the Black Sun operatives who had pulled their daggers.
In the darkness, they moved with the precision of daylight, targeting them flawlessly.
When the enemies flailed in threat, they dodged instinctively and struck back immediately.
As swords swung and aimed again, they seized wrists and twisted.
"Argh...!!"
The screams of the Samad operatives began.
Even in that brutal chaos, Lydia kept her legs crossed, staring straight ahead.
"They're fleeing toward the windows!!"
At the shout from what seemed to be their leader, the operatives bolted for the windows.
Those heading toward Lydia were swiftly subdued one by one by Batsu and Lin guarding her flanks.
"Ughaa!!"
"Where the hell are they attacking from!!"
Terror seized the operatives; they swung daggers at each other constantly.
"Back to back!! No rear exposure—focus forward!!"
As expected of royal knights, they quickly reformed their ranks.
But nothing changed.
Screams of comrades and the heavy thuds of bodies hitting the floor echoed everywhere.
The sounds were vivid enough to feel on the skin.
"Damn...!!"
I stood rigidly beside Lydia, watching the entangled knights in the dark.
But one figure stood out most.
While most Black Sun operatives thrashed desperately.
Only one knelt alone.
Amid the bustling mana flows in the darkness, a golden aura gleamed.
The middle-aged man waited silently on the floor, as if resigned.
"Impressive aura control."
Indeed, the Black Knights left him be, as he waited obediently.
Because...
He alone breathed deeply, slowly concealing his presence.
Hiding one's mana and power was a realm only the Emperor and I could achieve fully.
However, Swordmasters could mask their power slightly by attuning their aura like meditation.
And that level was reserved for the most seasoned among Sword Saints.
"He's moving."
The middle-aged man had gradually suppressed his presence to that of a low-tier Sword Expert.
He began rising very slowly.
I could have rushed to stop him right then.
But if he was a truly seasoned Swordmaster, fighting in this darkness risked harming allies.
So I decided to watch for now.
It would be easier to face him once he escaped.
The middle-aged man slipped toward the least guarded corner window.
At that instant.
Chaaeng―――!!
The suspicious man shattered the glass and leaped from the mansion in a flash.
Startled by the noise, the Black Knights relit the chandelier.
Most Samad knights lay sprawled and staggering across the mansion.
But their leader was gone.
"One has escaped!!"
Lydia shot up from her chair, scanning the surroundings.
Then she realized the man who had been guarding her side was also missing.
"Vail...!"
――――――
"Definitely hiding his power."
The Rubintsk mansion was built on high ground.
The view overlooked the entire city beautifully.
Under the night sky, countless building lights formed a glittering cityscape.
A man plunged into it.
I wrapped Grand Aura around my legs and chased the rapidly receding figure.
Leaping from the cliff just like him, I landed on a rooftop.
The desert knight with flowing black hair fled expertly across roofs, swiftly exiting the city.
But.
I was no slouch at running either.
Recalling the time I carried Irina on my back and ran for my life to get her to safety.
I caught up to him in an instant.
"Impressive physical enhancement..."
Finally cornered at the tip of my nose, he halted on a rooftop.
Below, the festival raged; falling would mean crashing into the crowd.
"You're quite fast yourself."
Unlike the bustling ground lit by colorful fireworks, the rooftops were dark and quiet.
No one knew we stood above the citizens.
They simply enjoyed peace in the Empire with family, friends, or lovers.
"If you're chasing me this relentlessly, you plan to capture me no matter what."
"Why ask the obvious?"
My hand rested on Irina's treasured sword at my waist.
He drew a massive scimitar hidden at his own waist.
Thicker and longer than any Imperial longsword.
A menacing form even an ordinary man would struggle to wield two-handed.
"No choice. I hadn't planned to draw my blade in foreign lands."
A Samad native, he didn't recognize me.
Unlike Doctor Pavan, the Empire's liaison, he didn't know my face.
"You'll understand if I lop off a limb."
From this, I could infer.
He was too vital in the kingdom to escape Samad.
"You're part of the royal family."
"Something like that. I once commanded all the kingdom's knights."
Royal Knight Commander.
This man was Samad's top knight.
"You're forthcoming."
"No matter."
He leveled his massive crescent scimitar at me.
In the moonlight, his pitch-black eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"I've never lost to a foreign knight."
A name was engraved on the scimitar by master craftsmanship.
"Harun Omar."
"Why spread Dillma in the friendly Empire?"
"Checking foreign powers is only natural, isn't it?"
He answered my question firmly.
Yet I still couldn't comprehend.
"No matter the check, Samad can't challenge the Empire."
"We'll see about that."
Samad's Knight Commander concluded in a lifeless voice.
Then, he wrapped brilliant golden aura around his legs.
"Come. When a knight draws his sword, settle it with skill."
He bent his knees slightly.
The moment he sprang slowly.
Even in the darkness, he left a dazzling afterimage as he charged.
A massive silhouette overshadowed my face, like an eclipsed full moon.
At that instant.
Chaaeng――――――!!
I raised my two-handed sword to meet the scimitar.
Sparks slid viciously, erupting wildly.
Like fireworks.
"Hup...!!"
He pressed with full weight, trying to overwhelm me with power.
The Eastern scimitar, capable of cleaving Western blades, was incredibly thick.
But.
I'd already faced Northern barbarians' axes.
"What...!!"
I slid the downward strike slowly toward my sword's hilt.
The strengthened center of gravity let me deftly deflect his force.
Then, as I spun rapidly.
――――――!!
"Urk...!!"
He took a slash to the arm from my spinning blade's ambush.
Red blood trickled from his torn uniform.
Yet the seasoned Samad Knight Commander paid it no mind.
Instead, he flaunted his wounded arm, flicking his wrist to whirl the scimitar.
"Who are you...?"
He seemed to instinctively sense I was no ordinary foe.
"I've faced countless Western knights before, but this response is new."
"I've fought all sorts myself."
At my cheeky quip, he chuckled softly.
"Good. To survive, I'll have to go all out."
Harun stomped the rooftop hard.
The ground warped as if to shatter under the Royal Commander's immense pressure.
As he leaped.
Veins bulged chillingly at the corners of Samad's premier knight's eyes.
The Sword Saint's scimitar plunged toward my face's center with ferocious might.
He resembled an Eastern monster.
A dragon—swift and majestic.
I activated Grand Aura too, leaving a white afterimage as I evaded.
Kwaaang―――!!
A strike that split the roof.
The building's interior—a family home—lay exposed.
Fortunately, no one was inside.
But citizens sensed the wildly shaking structure and spotted us.
"What's that up there...?!"
"Fight! Get away!!"
As meddlesome civilians scattered, Harun revealed his true colors.
He unleashed the signature golden sword aura only Swordmasters could wield, whipping it rapidly.
Sweeping the scimitar from below upward with such force that sparks flew from the ground.
Kwagwang―――!!
The clock tower behind split in half and collapsed.
Seeing it, I realized.
The Knight Commander was desperately trying to flee from me.
As if hiding something.
"That makes me even more curious."
Finally, I wrapped brilliant white aura around my sword.
With the same serious gaze as when fighting Captain Lin, I leaped.
In midair, our blades clashed.
Kaaang!!
The vicious friction echoed through the empty festival street.
Knight footsteps approached from afar, drawn by the noise.
Harun grew frantic, lashing out more savagely.
He looked like a massive dragon from the East.
――――――!!
A brutal slugfest of overpowering force.
As he lost reason, he clashed blades madly, as if to cleave me with my own sword.
I handled his frenzy, twisting my blade slightly with each clash to deflect his power.
"How long do you plan to just block!!"
Grasping the pattern, he twisted his wrist to my deflection direction and pressed again.
But.
I wasn't the only one reading combat habits.
"Just until now."
The moment our swords parted.
I landed on the railing and targeted his legs.
The nimble Royal Knight Commander retreated swiftly.
In that instant, I flicked my wrist, aiming straight for his chest center.
"Hng...!!"
Normally, such a reckless center strike is avoided.
Even a battle-hardened Commander knew this and moved to guard neck or side.
But instinctively, he recoiled fully from the sudden leg-to-trajectory shift.
Losing balance and falling in the process.
"No you don't...!!"
Harun unleashed superhuman strength, firing his final sword aura even as he toppled.
A massive, crescent, terrifyingly swift strike.
"..."
But I wouldn't take an attack flung from a collapsing stance.
I simply twisted away, deflecting the sword aura deftly.
However, that was a mistake.
The deflected sword aura hurtled toward...
Lydia, Liam, and the Eastern knights who had chased the commotion.
"Vail...!!"
The Empire's Third Imperial Princess arrived gasping, lips parted wide.
She called my name, baring sharp fangs.
"Lydia!!"
The building directly above the princess collapsed from the sword aura.
Massive debris shadows began engulfing her.
Kugugu―――――.
"Eh...?"
Her signature red eyes contracted amid the pouring black silhouettes.
At that moment.
I wrapped myself in Grand Aura and charged madly, tackling her.
I embraced the petite Third Imperial Princess and crashed to the ground.
Then, countless debris buried us atop me.
"Your Highness...!!"
"Lydia!!"
Liam showed unprecedented emotion at his vanished sister.
He bellowed and charged the debris.
"I... to the Imperial Princess..."
Royal Knight Commander Harun froze in shock.
He'd only meant to secure escape.
The thought of assassinating the royal he'd served turned his face ashen.
――――――
"Hah... What in the world just happened..."
In the darkness, Lydia panted shallowly.
She scanned the surrounding debris with half-lidded eyes.
Then, glancing upward.
The princess's face flushed as she spaced out.
"Are you alright, Your Highness...?"
My torn dress shirt brushed her sharp nose, tickling it.
"That's a relief."
"Uh, yeah..."
Atop her, with debris on my back, her red eyes wavered.
Her usual sharp glare softened completely.
It was the first time a man lay so defenselessly over her.