Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Imperial Palace Guard
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“Ugh.”
Barsabe clutched her side with her right hand and groaned. Everything was sticky and damp from sweat, blood, and the relentless downpour.
She wrung out the blood soaking her upper body. She wanted to use mana for emergency treatment, but she had overused her cloning spell to shake off her pursuers. With no strength left, her body was no different from that of an ordinary person.
Barsabe curled up tightly, enduring the pain.
‘I wonder if that idiot pulled it off. Ah, this really hurts.’
The place she had hidden in was a corner of an abandoned warehouse. Drip-drop, drip-drop—the rain pounding on the roof was especially loud. To Barsabe, it sounded just like the footsteps she had made a few hours ago. That one step she had taken with all her might to survive.
Drip-drop!
She had lured the four suits of armor to the outskirts. If she had been just a bit more capable, she could have sent her clone in the opposite direction to sow confusion over a wider area. But reality was harsh, and Barsabe, her clone, and the armors had maintained a steady distance as the chase continued.
But at some point, something felt off. It didn’t feel like a pursuit meant to kill—it felt like they were herding her, as if wishing she would take another path.
‘I don’t think it was a mistake.’
She didn’t know the state of the imperial palace. Should she flee to protect herself, or take the path those guys dreaded? At the crossroads, Barsabe had chosen. To strike at the enemy’s vital spot, she had to get close. The price was a body too broken to move.
Swish.
She looked down at her left hand, which had no strength left. Her father Petreio’s ring was still on it.
Just a short while ago, she hadn’t understood her father’s resolve to take his own life and leave her behind. But now, she felt like she somewhat did. A life that kept death close for the sake of struggle. That was the life of a knight.
She pressed her lips to the ring and steeled her resolve.
‘Just hold on a little longer. When the sun rises, people will come. If the body is found, the guard family will come too. It’ll be okay.’
Chetur District. A place filled with manual labor factories where goods for distribution to the center were stored. It was lined with major clients like large manufacturing guilds, merchant groups, and forges, but due to the district’s nature, small organizations had also formed a community.
One of them was surely rooted in Haiman.
‘There’s no Haiman Bank here. Yet the people in District 3 didn’t find the black armor suspicious. They must appear here often, and given the district’s nature, they’re probably connected to black armor production.’
It was likely a storage site for materials. If not black armor, even better. It would uncover another variable Haiman was hiding.
Barsabe repeated the best-case scenario in her mind.
The disguised corpse is quickly found, and the palace uses it to investigate the area. They identify the base and seize the stockpile. And finally, her survival is officially confirmed.
“Hey, checked here too?”
“Nope. Not that side yet.”
“You go right first. I’ll take this.”
“This way! Move this way!”
Splash-splash!
At that moment, faint signs of people came from afar. The voices of her pursuers. The body must not have been found yet.
She curled up even tighter and held her breath. The night grew colder. When faint breath escaped her lips, Barsabe simply closed her eyes.
‘Damn it.’
Creak.
Pass by, pass by—she prayed like casting a spell, but it was no use. The warehouse door opened indifferently, letting in light. Lantern light from the pursuers. They glanced around, roughly scattering the stacked goods.
Thud! Thump!
“Careful. If it breaks, it’s a hassle.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Barsabe tensed so much her stomach churned. All her senses were on edge. Probably to remember her final moments. Fortunately, the pursuers seemed ready to turn back with nothing.
“Doesn’t seem to be here.”
“But is it really here?”
“Dunno. The knights said they lost the trail nearby, and over there, Annie hasn’t come back. Can’t help but be suspicious.”
“What a pain, seriously. Come on, let’s check the next warehouse.”
“They say no place with intact limbs, so she must be holed up somewhere.”
Annie. Probably the name of the woman Barsabe had dealt with. The one who attacked her right away when they met in District 3.
She bit her lip hard and listened. The footsteps were heading out. Just as they were about to leave the eaves.
“Wait.”
One man raised his hand. Then he glanced back at his feet. A faint red mixed in. Maybe reflected lantern light? But no.
“Lift your foot.”
“My foot? Why?”
“No wounds?”
“Nope. What’s up suddenly?”
“…….”
Instead of answering, the man drew his sword. He had stepped in the stain left by someone wounded and hiding. His comrades, startled, took attack stances too.
Shing.
The sound she had heard hundreds, thousands of times. The chilling ring of a sword leaving its sheath.
Barsabe instinctively knew she was caught. She bit her lip and opened her eyes. This was truly the end. Before they killed her, it was time to show a knight’s pride one last time. She wouldn’t die cowering. At least, she would decide her own death.
“See, is she here?”
Boom! Clang!
“Nope. Then here?”
The pursuers smashed a large box in one go and swung their swords. They soon slashed through cloth-wrapped items, stabbed, and thoroughly checked every place Barsabe could hide.
Swish.
Whoosh! Splatter!
“Arghhh!”
Barsabe threw her dagger at the back of a man facing away. She aimed for the nape, but her injured body caused it to miss. The dagger sliced off his ear and embedded in the wall.
Barsabe seized the gap to rush out of the warehouse. Or rather, she wanted to run. Her limp made it more like walking.
“Ha!”
The pursuers started to chase in surprise, then laughed mockingly at her state. In that condition, she was worse than a rat in a trap.
“Blood! Blood!”
“Kid, you’re not dying. Just staunch it.”
“Hey! Shorty! Might as well roll. That’d be faster.”
They scraped the ground with their swords as they slowly followed Barsabe. Amid the rain, only the sound of wet earth being stepped on, laughter, and her ragged groans could be heard.
It was a futile escape, but Barsabe kept walking. She judged that resisting outside might let someone see her. It was late, and the foul weather hid everyone, though.
Splash! Splash!
“Huff, huff…….”
“Too fast. Slow down a bit!”
Faint figures shimmered in the distance. People. They were all holding umbrellas and smoking. Barsabe’s eyes widened with hope for a moment. Until she saw the black armor standing tall among them.
Slash!
The pursuit team slashed at her from behind like toying with her. Barsabe toppled forward. She clenched her fist against the pain, grasping mud.
“Leave the face. Head gets one gold coin. Gotta confirm identity.”
“You. Fucking. Bastards…….”
“What? Can’t hear. What’d you say?”
Clang! Clang!
A pursuer’s sword aimed at Barsabe’s nape, dropping at a right angle. She rolled aside to barely parry, and at the same time, the earless man charged and kicked wildly.
“This, you dare!”
“…….”
“My ear!”
Thud! Thump!
Barsabe gritted her teeth, stifling groans. She would never show pain taking hits from scum like this. Berik, you bastard. Without molars, biting down was hard.
“Die! Die!”
One final strike. Take just one more with her. As Barsabe vowed that and gripped her sword hilt tightly.
Swoosh.
Suddenly, all the lantern lights went out.
The night sky was hidden by thick clouds, the moon gone. The world seemed to plunge into darkness in an instant.
The pursuers paused, peering into their lanterns. The glass covers were secure—why had they gone out?
“Anyone got fire?”
“Why’d this…….”
Boom!
Then, a roar erupted, and one man was brutally crushed. Like struck by a meteor from the sky.
Barsabe narrowed her eyes. Her vision blurred; she couldn’t see clearly.
“W-what!”
“Hey! Help here!”
And once more.
Boom!
A wet cloak billowed endlessly. Barsabe unwittingly flattened herself and sighed in relief. Tears fell with the sigh, but she’d blame the rain.
“Barsabe.”
“Ah…….”
“You okay?”
Her comrades. They unleashed mana fully, bending even the raindrops’ paths. The earless one died in one blow. So gruesome that even the torrential rain couldn’t wash away his blood at once.
“Ugh, ack! Hey!”
Leap! Leap!
One by one, Imperial Palace Guard members pierced the rain from somewhere. Their faces weren’t visible in the dark, but they were relieved at Barsabe’s survival. One comrade removed his robe and tossed it to her.
“Barsabe. We’ve been looking for you.”
“Ah, everyone. Really…….”
“We’ll die together on the battlefield. You too.”
Barsabe clutched the red cloth and collapsed again. She no longer had strength even to lift her waist. At the sudden enemy appearance, the pursuers shouted loudly.
“Here!”
Calling the black armor. But it became his last gasp, limbs torn like his comrades, collapsing to the ground.
Swoosh.
Splash.
The Imperial Palace Guard stood before Barsabe, facing the black armor. She could see some grasping the situation and scattering to call for reinforcements. It seemed a major battle would erupt in Chetur District tonight.
Whirr. Whirr.
The mana armor that had defeated Riama. The core force that even Barsabe and Berik together couldn’t beat.
The Imperial Palace Guard unleashed endless mana, taking attack stances. The light they emitted glowed hazily through the rain.
“We are Imperial Palace Guard members. Are you a knight of House Haiman? And did you do this to our Barsabe?”
Someone shouted, but the armor gave no reply. Instead, it swung a massive fist and charged.
Boom! Splash!
His fist slammed into the ground, sending water spraying. One guard grabbed Barsabe’s arm and dodged; the others leaped into the air simultaneously, swinging swords.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Five Imperial Palace Guard struck the armor at once. Front, back, sides, crown. Despite the simultaneous force, the armor merely staggered instead of falling. The guards, speechless, fell back.
“What the—”
How was it made…….
Cracks formed on the armor, but it seemed the knight inside took no damage. As they steadied for another assault, black armors thudded into view from afar.
Three in total. The ones that had chased Barsabe.
“All together!!”
Flash—!
Rumble!
Lightning and thunder crashed. Simultaneously, Jairut’s booming command fell from the sky. He stood on the abandoned warehouse roof, sword tip aimed at the armor.
“Captain!”
“Changing the operation’s objective now.”
Whirr. Whirr.
The power Jairut unleashed only against monsters. A chilling dark aura swirled around him.
“Extermination. We’ll wipe out the enemy without mercy.”