12. The Essence of the Sword (Essence) (1)
12. The Essence of the Sword (Essence) (1)
"We are not dogs of Bellek! We are the guardsmen of Akan! We will wipe out all those who defile this city!!"
"These bastards who've been hiding like rats suddenly!!"
Yuma keenly observed the battle situation between those who still considered themselves Akan city guards and those who had already become Bellek's lackeys.
36 versus 40.
There was a numerical difference, but there also seemed to be a gap in combat power itself.
Yuma's brow furrowed slightly.
'...Why are they losing?'
It was a slight gap, but they were clearly being pushed back. And in battle, the result is always decided by such minute differences.
If things continued this way, it was obvious that the Akan guardsmen would ultimately be defeated by Bellek's dogs.
Isn't that usually how it goes? The side of justice, all hyped up and shouting battle cries, drawing their swords with a mighty roar—shouldn't they win? Isn't that the natural order of things?
"We have to help them!"
Cloné, the 3rd Circle mage, seemed to have a vague sense that the Akan guards were being pushed back as well, and moved her slender arm to trace a spell formula.
Hwiriririk!
"Wh-what the!"
Green vine stalks shot up from the ground, binding the limbs of the enemies.
It was the 3rd Circle plant-type binding spell <Verdant Knot>.
The Akan guardsmen finished off the enemies bound by the Verdant Knot.
Yuma also gripped his dagger and stepped forward.
"The end for those of you who have turned your backs on the Empire is already decided."
Princess's agent or whatever. Princess's sword or whatever.
He took a very sloppy stance. So loose, and so terribly vulnerable that they had no choice but to attack.
'Please, just hit me first.'
So I can parry and counter and reduce their numbers.
"No matter how you struggle, this place will only become your grave."
Yuma continued his outwardly and inwardly mismatched provocation.
"Fuck, this is all because of that bastard! That son of a bitch is the Princess's agent? The Princess's sword?"
Maybe Yuma's desperation had gotten through.
Three men, who had miraculously forgotten how one of their comrades had been helplessly defeated moments before, lunged at Yuma one after another.
Jjeojeojeong!
All of them had their breath cut off.
The 34 Akan guardsmen, who had overturned the previously obvious gap in power and won thanks to the intervention of Yuma and Cloné, gasped for air.
Only two casualties on the guard side.
All but 12 of the soldiers who had become Bellek's dogs were killed. The 12 survivors dropped all their weapons, knelt, and surrendered.
"Princess's Sword!"
"We defeated these damn bastards thanks to Yuma-nim! Hahahaha!"
Regardless of gender, the Akan guard members bowed their heads repeatedly to Yuma and Cloné.
Yuma bent his knees to meet the eye level of one of those who had surrendered.
"Do you know where Bellek is right now?"
"...I believe there is a high probability he is in his usual hideout."
"Guide us."
***
Tok, tok─
Bellek tapped the tabletop with his index finger. Very rhythmically.
"Things seem to have gone awry."
The Akan city guard.
No contact had come from the guard. Those who were supposed to send word after succeeding in either persuading or subduing them.
Yet Bellek's mood didn't sour. Nor did he grow impatient.
Because no armed force that could threaten him existed in Akan right now.
Due to the presence of one swordsman who was receiving drugs from him and training in the forest.
'Who would dare defeat the former Empire 2nd Seat, Sword God Kronos?'
Bellek recalled the moment Kronos, the Sword God, had first sought him out.
He was an old man who covered his massive frame entirely with a black robe.
-I want to see the Essence of the Sword. And to do so, I need to broaden my perspectives of other worlds.
That was why he needed drugs. Drugs that could transcend the very limits of his nerves.
Thinking he was just some crazy bastard, Bellek sent five or six of his subordinates, but they were all killed.
In a single battojutsu. With a single stroke.
Having lost his strongest subordinates in an instant, Bellek had no choice but to hand over the drugs with trembling hands.
-It has an effect.
The old man, whom he thought would kill him without hesitation, suddenly said that the drugs seemed to be working and asked him to keep supplying them. The drug the old man had taken was one called Regnaton, which had the highest concentration among narcotics; it wasn't easily obtainable.
When Bellek mentioned that fact, the old man revealed his true identity. He told him to just hand over the drugs, as he would lend him his martial power in return.
That had happened a year ago.
The reason Bellek had been able to become the undisputed Underground King of Akan was largely due to Kronos's strength.
He had swept away all the major fighting forces of the underworld factions opposing him.
And Bellek, standing tall as the ruler of the underworld's commerce, grew greedy.
Not just the king of the underworld—he grew greedy to become the king of this very city.
'And now I've come right to the brink of achieving that ambition.'
Bellek stared at Gelmour, the mayor of Akan, who was tied to a chair before him.
"Have your thoughts come to order, Mayor Gelmour?"
Gelmour was still staring at his younger brother, who was crawling on the dirt floor; a brother completely addicted to drugs, unable to even think properly anymore.
A person came to Gelmour's mind.
The Princess's agent he had seen on the train two days ago, Yuma.
'There's no way that person is still here....'
And even if he were, Gelmour thought there was no way he could know about the situation he was in.
Gelmour parted his dry lips.
"...Fine. As you say. I will follow your orders. And I will borrow your strength for all benevolent public events, making it known externally that your influence in this city is profound. And as you said... I will make a recommendation to the Imperial higher-ups that you be nominated as the next mayor, one year from now."
Becoming the true king of the city.
That was Bellek's ambition.
Honor.
He had been born the son of a brothel. Enduring the beatings from his drunkard mother who hit him relentlessly. It was something he, having crawled up from the very bottom, had to possess.
Bellek looked at Mayor Gelmour, who had turned obedient, and raised the corners of his mouth high.
"Good, good. Now let's prepare properly at night and make the announcement. Gelmour. Our alliance."
"...Very well."
Everything was smooth.
Bellek rose to his feet and spoke to his loyal retainer guarding the door.
"Reinforce the security. The Akan guard bastards might storm this place. They must be stopped at all costs. You may use those things we've set up. Kill them without hesitation. I possess the power to dismiss their deaths as nothing."
"Understood, Bellek-nim."
A mad ambition bloomed in Bellek's eyes.
"Soon."
This city will be mine.
Bellek believed that without a shadow of a doubt.
***
Yuma, Cloné, and the 34 Akan guardsmen set foot in a district stained with darkness.
An undeveloped zone full of abandoned buildings.
"Is this the place?"
Bellek's Dog No. 1, who had a sword wound on his shoulder wrapped tightly in bandages, nodded his head repeatedly.
He was a creature coerced into guiding them to where Bellek was.
"Y-yes, it is. The 8th District development zone itself is Bellek's territory. We must be careful from here on. There are paths only they use. I've heard in passing that the other paths are lined with magic traps and the like that activate if you step on them...."
Kkwok!
As he said that, Dog No. 1 took a step forward.
"Huh?"
Seeing the brick he stepped on suddenly sink in artificially, Dog No. 1 halted abruptly.
"Fuck... I think I just pressed that down hard, you know?"
Kkwaaaaaaang!
A detonation sound reminiscent of thunder and a faint tremor shook the ground. Suddenly, brilliant light erupted from the tops of the abandoned buildings.
"Die, you dull and obsolete dogs of Gelmour!! Kuhahahahahaha!!"
White-light meteors poured down from the tops of the buildings.
One from each building.
A total of four meteors began to fall rapidly.
Kkwaaaaaaa!
And as those meteors fell, they split in two.
Falling in a curving, acrobatic trajectory, the so-called Magic Electromagnetic Cannon.
Bellek, who had been observing from the rear of the buildings, stared at the eight rising meteor showers.
"It's begun."
Whatever remained of Gelmour's forces. Whoever it was, they would all be killed by that. That Magic Electromagnetic Cannon possessed destructive power and speed personally acknowledged by Sword God Kronos, after all.
He had to pay those damn magic engineers an astronomical sum, but it carried that much value.
Because it was an object with enough power to sweep away even a unit composed of intermediate Sword Expert-level knights.
At the overwhelming sight of them flying through the thick, overcast clouds, despair colored the faces of the Akan guardsmen.
"Fuck... Bellek has already finished preparing to rule this city!"
"We die. We die. We die. We die."
That overwhelming destructive force shattered their will.
They only felt regret. For failing to read the changing flow of the times.
Yuma stepped forward.
That was when he saw it. Amidst the fleeting faces of 34 despairing people, he saw Cloné's face, her eyes shining round and bright, staring only at him.
Jeobeok
Yuma stepped further forward.
Because he had to bring those eight projectiles completely within his parrying range.
Yuma's thoughts accelerated.
The thoughts of the man who had been obsessed with the element of 'parrying' in every game he had ever played.
The falling white-light meteors.
The position where those meteors would intersect and meet all at once.
The shadows of the pouring eight meteors told him that.
<Bullet Time>
Kkii─────gi......gi─gik-
The world began to blur slowly.
This was the second Bullet Time.
Bullet Time's duration was 30 seconds.
Having adapted to this skill during the first Bullet Time, Yuma moved his body with relative ease.
But only the range of his movement was comfortable.
Parrying was always a tightrope walk.
A split second.
A tightrope walk utilizing only the smallest fraction of an instant.
He touched the blade of the short sword <Black Dragon Bernak's Fang> to the white blaze spewing white flames. He twisted.
Kaang!
He deflected.
Kiiing Kaang!
He refracted four meteors.
And then, just before Bullet Time drew to a close, he refracted one more meteor.
When the world began to flow at its normal speed again, Yuma's right arm moved nimbly, tracing the trajectory he had already calculated.
All eight meteors were deflected.
<Absolute Counter>
And they returned.
Towards the four buildings that had sent them out into the world.
Kkwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!!!
Kwagwagwagwagwagwang─!
The four buildings collapsed simultaneously.
A cloud of dust thickly covered the world.
Jeobeok
A man walked aloofly.
"The agent of the 1st Princess Brigitte, the Princess's Sword. I am Yuma."
It was a low voice.
But that voice pierced through the space, as if piercing the world itself.
"Criminal Bellek, come out and kneel."