Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Warehouse Assault
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Eirana slipped into the alleyway and naturally erased her presence.
She moved so quietly and swiftly that no one could sense her unless they saw her with their own eyes, then came to a stop.
Eirana narrowed her eyes and concealed herself.
A short while later, grumbling voices drifted in.
"Damn. The nobles have it easy."
"After our shift ends and we head back, we might score something tasty to eat."
They were mercenaries hired as guards by the Golden Sky Merchant Group.
Eirana, suppressing her presence, slipped past the mercenaries without catching their eyes and moved through the alley.
Dealing with them would be simple, but cleanup was a hassle.
There was no need to take out the sentries and alert the enemy.
Eirana evaded the sentries' eyes and approached the warehouse's back door, then watched the situation from the rooftop of the building opposite.
The number and strictness of the guards here far surpassed anything in the alleys she'd passed.
'Sneaking in might be impossible.'
After observing for a moment, Eirana pulled a leather pouch from her bosom.
Inside was a pebble the size of a thumbnail.
She hurled it toward the sentries guarding the back door.
The pebble flew at tremendous speed, striking the guards' heads. They instantly foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
As numerous guards dropped from the mysterious flying pebbles, chaos erupted at the back door for a moment.
Seizing the opening, Eirana charged right into the center.
The panicked guards reacted sharply to the sudden suspicious intruder.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Me?"
Eirana pointed at herself in response to their question, feigning utter surprise, then irritably swung her fist.
"Can't you tell? I'm the enemy!"
Thwack!
"Gahk!"
The man gripping a spear at the front took Eirana's punch straight to his solar plexus and floated into the air.
His chest caved in an instant as he foamed at the mouth and passed out.
"You bastard!"
"How dare you invade this place!"
The surrounding guards rushed in all at once.
"What else? It's a trash heap."
Eirana ducked a sword swinging at her head and drove her fist into the attacker's solar plexus.
Thwack!
"Gahk!"
Just like the first guard to charge her, he crumpled to the ground.
The inner power packed into Eirana's fist held enough force to instantly kill a person.
Though two comrades had fallen to Eirana in a flash, the remaining guards showed no panic.
Instead, they calmly moved to subdue her and call for reinforcements elsewhere.
'They're no ragtag bunch. These are properly trained elites.'
They were thoroughly drilled soldiers.
Having mastered their individual roles, they executed them without flinching even in sudden crises.
But that very trait became their poison.
As Eirana counterattacked those swinging weapons at her, she flung pre-prepared pebbles at those trying to blow their signal horns.
The six guards wielding weapons against her collapsed in an instant.
Along with them, the five about to sound their horns dropped from the pebbles' impacts.
Watching this, the other guards fell into momentary panic.
An attacker who neutralized those engaging while simultaneously checking those calling for help was utterly unforeseen.
Being well-trained meant following a fixed protocol.
Break that protocol, and they became more useless than a mob.
From Eirana's intrusion, most of the back door guards were now rolling on the ground.
Only four remained.
As Eirana cracked her knuckles lightly while eyeing the paralyzed guards in panic...
"Stand down!"
A commanding voice boomed out.
Eirana furrowed her brow and turned toward the voice.
Its owner was a tall man.
He wore light plate armor, with a bastard sword sheathed at his left waist.
At a glance, he was no ordinary fighter.
Eirana tilted her head at the sight of him.
"You look like a knight no matter how I see it. Am I wrong?"
"You're not wrong. I am a knight. Do you know what this place is and still commit such rudeness? Don't you value your life?"
Eirana smirked at the knight's stern reprimand, then jerked her chin toward the warehouse.
"It's a slave market. The ones inside are traitors who broke this kingdom's laws."
The knight's expression flickered briefly at her words.
But he quickly composed himself and scoffed.
"Hmph. Spinning lies out of thin air."
Eirana sneered at him.
"Then let me in. I'll show you if it's a lie or not."
"Nonsense. Attacking this place alone warrants execution for blasphemy!"
With that, the knight drew his sword.
A sky-blue sword aura cloaked the blade.
An aura only an advanced knight could wield.
Proof he was a true expert, not some amateur.
"I won't go easy just because you're a woman! You seem like a swordswoman too—draw your blade!"
The knight aimed his sword at her in clear threat.
Normally, one couldn't face sword aura barehanded.
Not even dragons could.
Eirana curled her lips.
"Sorry, but I can't draw my sword. These babies are far too precious."
She raised her left hand.
"To waste on vermin like you."
With those words, pitch-black energy writhed up from her hand.
Demonic energy surged from Eirana's hand.
The knight shuddered at the sight.
'Aura?'
Eirana advanced on the knight, who gripped his sword with both hands.
Timing it, the knight lunged reflexively as she entered his range.
Seeing the sword descending on her crown, Eirana gripped it with her left hand.
Clang!
She clenched her fist around the blade.
Crack!
"No... This can't be!"
The knight's face twisted in horror as cracks spiderwebbed through his sword, shattering it in an instant.
He flinched back, but Eirana's right thrust was faster.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art
Giant Demon Force Palm
Thwack—Boom!
"Gaaahk!"
Eirana's right hand pierced the knight's armor.
Struck by the palm infused with massive inner power, the knight died instantly.
Eirana tossed the knight aside like trash and eyed the rest.
The guards, witnessing her crush a sword-aura knight like an insect, had long lost the will to fight.
Before they could scream and sow chaos, Eirana swiftly dispatched the survivors.
From the bell tower, Calvin watched through vision-enhancing enchanted glasses. He clicked his tongue at Eirana clearing the most heavily guarded warehouse rear in seconds.
Awe struck him at her casually smashing a sword-aura knight.
"What kind of terrifying woman is she?"
Her skill was impressive, but her utter lack of hesitation in killing shocked him more.
Calvin shook his head at Eirana's far beyond expected ferocity.
Chaos had already erupted in the warehouse district alleys from Windsor’s men.
Mages' silence spells blanketed the area, thoroughly muting the noise.
The operation proceeded smoothly.
Calvin, monitoring, suddenly frowned.
He'd spotted a group of about ten approaching from the main warehouse road.
Each wore deep hoods, looking highly suspicious.
'Who are they?'
A clear wildcard.
As Calvin's face grew grave...
"Excuse me."
He whipped around and slashed without hesitation at the voice behind him.
But the target effortlessly evaded.
'A woman?'
The hooded robed woman carried a bow and quiver on her back.
Calvin tensed at the sight.
He hadn't sensed her presence at all. A top-tier expert.
"What is it?"
"Are you perhaps connected to the Adea nobility?"
"..."
Calvin hesitated at her question, then nodded.
"What of it?"
"I see. In that case..."
She sighed shortly in apparent regret and drew a dagger from her bosom.
"You're the enemy."
'What the hell is going on?'
Calvin grumbled inwardly and gripped his sword with both hands.
Eirana entered the warehouse through the back door.
A few guards remained inside but fell to her hands in the blink of an eye.
She brushed off her hands and stepped deeper. Her eyes twitched suddenly.
The building was filled with countless iron cages.
Inside them, starting with young women, were boys and girls packed in.
Some forty in total, imprisoned like beasts.
As slaves for nobles, their appearances were exceptionally striking.
Eirana tsked softly.
'Looks like I've reached the main prize.'
Every face bore utter despair. Then something unusual caught her eye.
A massive cage draped in white cloth.
Gripping a sword from a guard she'd subdued en route, Eirana approached and lifted the cloth's edge.
The metal beneath differed starkly from the others.
Beautiful silvery metal at a glance.
And strange runes etched upon it.
Mithril. Anti-magic runes imbued with power.
No one caged here could use magic.
Eirana pulled the cloth fully away.
She discovered the prisoner and let out a deep sigh.
The girl in mithril handcuffs matching the cage had pale platinum hair.
Beauty with sharper features than ordinary humans.
Unconscious with eyes closed, yet anyone would call her stunning.
Decisively, her ears—longer and pointed than a human's.
Unmistakably an elf.
"Hahaha! Jackpot! Best business day ever!"
Then a crude laugh echoed as someone entered the warehouse.
"Hey! Bring out the next item!"
The man in the center shouted cheerfully.
Eirana ignored him, readjusted her grip on the sword, and flung it like a dart.
Thunk!
"Gurk!"
Thud!
The flying sword impaled his throat, eliciting a death rattle.
He collapsed instantly.
Blood pooled on the floor. Screams burst from the cages, but Eirana didn't blink.
"Hey."
She called to the elf in the mithril cage.
No response.
Silently observing, Eirana drew Silver Fang and prodded the elf with its scabbard tip.
Still nothing.
Finally impatient, Eirana irritably hurled Silver Fang at the elf's head.