Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Inferno Assault
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The Red Shadow Wolf charged across the ground.
Leyzon urgently took in the scene beyond the Shadow Wolf with both eyes.
Rafila and Harban would surely make their own way back.
So he left them behind and raced fiercely toward Sahā Village first.
Currently, Hanok, Haron, and Five were staying in Sahā Village.
Something might have happened to them.
"Syria, Eden, report immediately if you spot anyone judged to be an enemy."
[Yes, got it!]
[Yeah, I'll scan for them.]
Hearing the two undead's responses, Leyzon lifted his head straight.
The Shadow Wolf, which had raced across the ground in an instant, plunged into the flames.
The surrounding streets had become a complete sea of fire.
On the streets, people fleeing the fire to the outside were visible.
Some were trying to put out the flames by hauling water.
But the fire showed no sign of being quenched.
Fortunately, the heat of the flames wasn't enough to pierce the Shadow Wolf.
So the Shadow Wolf continued pressing forward through the fire.
"Syria, head to the Steel Wolf Sahā branch."
Hanok and the others were staying there.
The Shadow Wolf raced straight down the road and arrived in front of the building.
As expected, the building was ablaze.
The Shadow Wolf smashed through the door without hesitation and entered.
Inside the building, several charred corpses were visible.
They had clearly been caught in the fire while trying to escape.
But none were Hanok or the others.
[Leyzon.]
Just then, Eden called out to Leyzon.
[There's traces of magic activation here. It's the same type as the fire outside.]
Hearing that, Leyzon's eyes narrowed sharply.
"...So someone intentionally attacked the Steel Wolf."
Who on earth would do that, and for what purpose?
"Any enemies?"
[Doesn't seem like there are any nearby still.]
Eden mentioned the absence of enemies.
Perhaps they had set the village ablaze and fled.
The Shadow Wolf searched the entire building.
It found a few more corpses, but ultimately no sign of Hanok or the others.
To think something like this would happen while they were away at the major guild regular meeting.
Leyzon pressed his lips together and asked.
A bad premonition was rising.
No way it was another jinx.
Somehow, his luck had been good these past few days.
'Five was with Hanok. They should be safe.'
Leyzon tried to force his thoughts positive.
[Leyzon!]
At that moment, Syria's voice rang out.
She had used the shadows to create bats.
And through them, gathered information across the entire village.
[I found the Sword-Tooth kid!]
"Let's go right now."
Leyzon turned direction without hesitation.
Heading to the spot Syria indicated, moments later, Hanok truly came into view.
Hanok was pulling people out from a burned-down building.
Thanks to Haron, his living armor, Hanok could withstand the fire's intensity.
As such, he plunged into burning buildings without hesitation.
"Hanok!"
When Leyzon called out, Hanok turned toward him.
"Leyzon!"
Hanok, with fur singed here and there, greeted Leyzon with a pitiful expression.
Leyzon stepped out of the Shadow Wolf.
Acrid smoke stung his nose, but assessing the situation came first.
"What's going on? Why is Sahā Village like this?"
Hearing Leyzon's question, Hanok swallowed hard.
"D-During training, a red dragon appeared in the sky."
Hanok spoke in a trembling voice.
A red dragon?
Leyzon's eyes furrowed at the sudden mention of a dragon.
'Could it be a dragonkin?'
But a red dragon, of all things.
Leyzon knew of three dragons.
One was the Bloodless Sovereign, another an extremely ancient dragonkin.
The last was an evil dragon living in the east.
But as far as Leyzon knew, none of them took the form of a red dragon.
'There shouldn't be any other dragonkin left besides those three.'
Where had this red dragon suddenly popped up from?
'Maybe one of the ones that chased Estelle?'
Leyzon's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
He had thought the one pursuing Estelle was an old dragon closely tied to the imperial family.
He hadn't expected another one to show up.
'Or perhaps a newly emerged individual.'
Dragonkin offspring were exceedingly rare.
He couldn't tell whose child it might be.
"Y-Yes, as soon as it appeared, it turned the village into this sea of fire."
"So I focused on rescuing the villagers first."
Hanok still looked like he hadn't fully grasped the situation.
"What about Five?"
"I don't know. Things turned out like this right after he said he was heading back to Steel Wolf."
Hanok's tail drooped limply.
His worry for Five was evident.
'...Could they have been targeting Five?'
Eden had said there were traces of magic activation inside the Steel Wolf building.
But no signs of Five anywhere.
Then who had attacked Five?
'The imperial family.'
Five belonged to the Night Crow Knights.
The Night Crows were the knights who cleaned up the imperial family's dirty work.
As such, they knew a great deal of the imperial family's filthy secrets.
Five's disappearance would naturally prompt the imperial family to act.
'I anticipated the imperial family would move on Five.'
So he must have prepared accordingly.
But Leyzon hadn't expected them to burn down the entire village.
'So one of the imperial family's members attacked Five, and he's either been captured or is being pursued right now.'
The absence of the red dragon was proof.
"Syria, what's Five's familiar status?"
[It's still connected. He hasn't died yet.]
Fortunately, Five hadn't died immediately.
But that wasn't entirely welcome news for Leyzon either.
It meant the other side could glean information about them through Five.
[Should I make him self-destruct?]
Syria offered chillingly.
But Leyzon shook his head.
"They have a necromancer over there."
Killing Five would just allow them to resurrect him as a corpse.
It would only cause more losses.
'Of all times, they attack when I'm not here.'
Leyzon clicked his tongue.
This was the second time Hanok and Five had been attacked during his absence.
The first involved Rafila, but this time it was an imperial family operative.
'It's fine for now.'
Leyzon's forces were steadily growing.
The Steel Wolf Guild and necromancer group were prime examples.
'There must still be plenty in the empire opposed to it.'
And some who shared Leyzon's views.
It was problematic for them to be attacked unjustly like today.
'Maybe I need to establish a stronghold.'
A place where they could reliably protect each other.
Such a place.
A safe home for someone.
'Nation-building ending.'
One requirement for the nation-building ending was territory to found it on.
Leyzon felt today's events meant he needed to prepare that first.
"Syria."
But before that.
"From now on, we're hunting Five too."
Rescue Five.
A newly appeared dragonkin.
Moreover, one affiliated with the imperial family.
'I need to gather intel on it.'
To reduce variables, information was key.
How dangerous it was.
He needed to confirm that for sure.
'Above all.'
Whether the red dragon had subdued Five or not was still unknown.
But one thing was certain.
'Dare to touch my subordinate?'
Familiar bond or not.
Five was a useful asset to Leyzon.
The moment they touched him.
It was tantamount to throwing down a gauntlet to Leyzon.
Leyzon was the type to fiercely protect his own.
A chilling aura dripped from Leyzon's eyes.
Even Hanok before him flinched and raised his tail.
Leyzon's thick rage was palpable.
'I don't know which one it is.'
But they had crossed the line.
At the outskirts of Sahā Village.
There lay a vast reed field stretching to the horizon.
A renowned scenic spot in the world, creating breathtaking views at sunset.
Atop that reed field.
A man with scars etched across his face ran.
His name was Five.
Originally the fifth sword of the Night Crow Knights.
After being discarded by the imperial family, he became Leyzon's familiar.
His left arm was charred black.
A grave injury at first glance.
Tadak—
Footsteps echoed from somewhere amid the reeds.
Five gripped his sword tightly, swallowing hard.
The moment he activated Wide-Area Sensitivity [S], tensing up.
Tak tak!
Two footsteps rang through his Wide-Area Sensitivity.
Five immediately crouched deep into the reeds.
Sek!
At that instant, a spear blade narrowly grazed over his head.
Severed reeds scattered.
Beyond them, a man entered Five's view.
A man cloaked in a storm-cloud robe.
His appearance was indistinct because of it.
But one thing was clear: a superior fighter to Five.
Whirlik!
The spear shaft spun and thrust down simultaneously.
Five barely parried the spear tip with the sword in his right hand.
Chaeng!
The clashing sword and spear rang out, sparks flying.
Just from sword meeting spear, a gale-force wind erupted.
Reeds unable to withstand it tore apart.
The spear and sword repelled each other and withdrew.
Five gasped for breath.
A numbing sensation climbed his right arm.
Five raised his head.
Meeting the eyes of the storm-cloud robed man.
An unsettling gleam flowed from his pupils.
"Five, you've joined hands with the Vampire Queen and gained power."
At the man's words, Five lowered his sword.
As he said, Five had become Syria's familiar and obtained 'Vampirization.'
Through it, Five could temporarily reach 16 Ascensions.
However, the opponent was already a mature 16 Ascension.
A Bronze Hero-level fighter.
"Net."
The opponent's identity was Net.
One of the Night Crow Knights' swords.
Net looked at Five with contempt.
"Betraying the imperial family. A foolish move."
"Betrayal."
Indeed, as he said, Five had betrayed the imperial family.
More precisely, he had been coerced into betrayal by Syria.
Five had intended to die as the imperial family's sword to the end.
But now, time had passed to the present.
Apart from Syria's familiarization, Five harbored other doubts.
Had the imperial family ever treated him as a sword even once?
Five was the imperial family's crow.
A crow that picked at dirty corpses.
A crow that ate corpses would eventually fall ill.
Thus, a sick crow had to be culled eventually.
Five had ultimately been ordered disposed of by the imperial family.
A mission to capture the Gray Mage Tower Master, beyond what Five could handle.
Accepting that mission was as good as receiving a death sentence.
"Ridiculous. It feels like I was never truly valued by the imperial family to begin with."
Just raised as one of many crows.
A corpse-eating crow had never even seen His Majesty's exalted face.
"I died as the imperial family's sword to the last."
After being familiarized by Syria.
The past Five as the imperial family's sword had surely died.
And the current Five was reborn.
Spreading wings as a crow no longer bound to the imperial family.
After breaking free from the imperial family and pledging loyalty to Leyzon.
Five briefly reflected on his life.
He had taught Hanok, whom he considered a disciple of sorts.
He had built the Steel Wolf Guild with Rafila.
Leyzon hadn't interfered much with Five.
「Five, you're capable. As long as you do your job well, you can spend the rest of your time freely.」
Thanks to that, Five had seen more than in his previous life.
At first, he didn't know what to do with his free time.
But gradually, he tried various things.
Sometimes lying comfortably in his room and sleeping his fill.
Eating famous local delicacies or watching performances in the village.
It was the most peaceful time he'd ever felt in his life.
Unlike the life of desperate daily training to avoid abandonment by the imperial family.
Above all.
「Good work, Five. Things went well thanks to you.」
Words of praise he'd never heard as a Night Crow.
Words the emperor would never say, but Leyzon always did.
Even setting aside Syria's familiarization, Five personally loved his current life.
He could say these short times had been truly rewarding.
"The me who died then is no longer here. What stands here now is, as you say, the Vampire Queen's familiar."
Five bared his hostility, defying death.
Even if his life ended here, he would live true to himself.
"Blabbering nonsense."
At that moment, a voice reached Five's ears.
Above the reed field skies.
A boy with long red hair in braids appeared from the sky.
Seeing him, Five felt pain from his charred left arm.
He was the one who burned the village and left Five's arm like this.
"I went out of my way to help, and you still can't catch him? Why's it taking so damn long?"
"My apologies."
Net apologized to the boy who looked far younger than him.
The boy spun in circles in the sky, looking down at Five.
His lizard-like bright yellow eyes gleamed.
Five could have at least competed with Net on his own.
Thanks to Syria, he had Vampirization.
It wouldn't have been an impossible fight.
But with that boy present.
The battle dynamic simply wouldn't form.
The boy was a higher existence than Five.
Five vaguely knew of the boy's existence.
A child raised by an ancient dragon.
Dragonkin, Ner Macardia.
Known around as the young dragon.
Five subtly pushed back with his hind legs.
Fighting here offered no chance of victory.
Ner Macardia scoffed incredulously.
"What, still trying to run while sprawled out here?"
Hwarrrrr!
Five belatedly noticed the wall of fire surrounding the reed field.
The flame wall reached to the heavens.
The scorching heat emanating from it felt like it would cook flesh just approaching.
Five's face hardened.
He'd thought Net was just persistently chasing him.
To think he was already trapped.
Tadadak!
Along with that, he sensed presences encircling him.
They were the lower Night Crow Knights that Net had brought.
"Finish it before the other knight commanders arrive."
"Yes."
Ner Macardia gestured dismissively, as if tired of intervening.
Net and the Night Crow Knights closed in on Five.
Five swallowed a groan with cold sweat.
Just how far could he fight?
He didn't know.
'In that case.'
He had no choice but to fight to his limit.
The moment Five prepared to kick off the ground before they tightened further.
Five's skill, Wide-Area Foresight, twitched.
Five's head snapped toward the sky.
Just then, Ner Macardia in the sky met Five's eyes.
As Ner Macardia showed doubt.
He realized Five wasn't looking at him.
"What..."
Ner Macardia raised his head.
Soon, above him in the sky.
He confronted a towering man.
The moment he sensed the aura emanating from the man.
Ner Macardia's eyes slowly widened.
Dragon Scales.
He wielded Dragon Scales.
The man's face was unrecognizable behind a black mask.
He stared silently at Ner Macardia before speaking.
"You've made quite the spectacle. Thanks to that, I found you quick."
The man smiled faintly.
Crack!
A sound echoed behind Ner Macardia.
The moment he hurriedly turned toward it.
He saw the cracked wall of fire.
"Huh?"
As Ner Macardia showed bewilderment.
Red shadows exploded uniformly from between the flame wall.
Kwagagagagagak!
The shadow wave that shattered the flame wall swept everything away.