Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Longing for Freedom (4)
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It was the middle of the day, so the Brightner estate bustled with knights, servants, and many others hurrying about.
Yet not a single one noticed.
Martin strolling leisurely through the estate all by himself.
‘The problem is figuring out where the map is.’
The more complex a mine’s tunnels, the higher the map’s value.
Pratel City was called a mining city for a reason, packed with massive mines.
They had no choice but to treasure the map and store it under strict security.
Tap.
Martin placed his right hand against the estate’s wall.
Golden lines of light rose up, spreading throughout the entire building.
Normally, the glow would be much brighter, but he’d suppressed it to just the level of sunlight.
So no one else would spot it.
‘It’ll take some effort, but...’
He was already bending light to stay hidden.
Adding spatial detection on top meant he’d have to endure the strain on his body.
Still, it was far more efficient than searching rooms one by one.
With that in mind, Martin focused on scanning the estate’s layout.
‘Not the family head’s office or the underground vault, for starters.’
He’d personally checked the third-floor office at the end of the hall and the basement vault, even searched them thoroughly.
He ruled those two out without hesitation.
He also skipped anywhere with heavy foot traffic.
Given the map’s importance, it’d be with high-ranking people.
And there weren’t many such places.
About twenty minutes passed like that.
‘Not the basement, first floor, or second floor.’
That left only the third floor.
Martin heightened his focus and scanned all twelve rooms.
Another ten minutes went by, and he frowned.
He’d found the room where the map likely was.
The one in the middle of the third floor, brimming with enormous mana.
It was definitely protected by barriers.
But that wasn’t the issue.
‘A seventh-circle powerhouse in the Brightner family? Who the hell is that?’
The strongest person here was supposed to be the family head, Jurgen von Brightner, known to be sixth circle.
And he was a mage to boot.
At range, maybe a problem, but up close one-on-one? Easy.
So he hadn’t worried at all.
But now there was a seventh-circle expert right beside him.
In the family head’s office, no less.
Even cloaked and suppressing their presence, fooling someone of the same realm wasn’t easy.
‘Could get caught if I’m not careful.’
Martin pondered briefly, but didn’t dwell.
He’d come this far; no backing down.
Worst case, teleport out.
Decision made, he dropped the spatial scan and headed for the middle room on the third floor.
The door was firmly shut.
But Martin didn’t panic, just waited for the people to clear out.
Hum.
Once the third-floor hallway emptied, he warped space and slipped inside.
But he soon let out a wry smile and shook his head.
“Jeez.”
A massive map lay spread out on the desk by the window.
He couldn’t even get close, though.
Triple barriers of light blocked access and hid the contents.
Magic traps lined the floor, and sensor spells covered the ceiling.
‘Not even spatial manipulation will work here.’
Every spell in the room was set to react the instant foreign mana touched it.
Smashing them head-on might work, but bypassing the magic itself? Impossible.
“Whew.”
This was turning out more annoying than expected.
But retreat wasn’t an option.
He needed this to find the drug farm and choke the Brightners.
Martin sighed softly and pulled a camera from his subspace.
Then he clenched his left fist tight.
“Hah!”
Lotaer martial arts breathing fused with a thrust strike.
Boosted by the power of Distortion of All Things.
Boom!
Golden energy surged out, shattering the barriers and every spell, then crumbling the wall by the window for good measure.
Beep! Beep!
Alarms blared through the room at once.
“Intruder! We’ve got an intruder!”
“Grab them! Don’t let them escape!”
Voices of knights and guards below rang out.
But Martin ignored them and approached the map.
It detailed the complex tunnels in fine lines.
No drug farm marked, but the lake sketch made it navigable.
Click, click.
He snapped photos quickly, then stowed the camera in his subspace.
Teleport out now, and it was done.
But then—
Flash!
Blinding light erupted across the estate.
Dozens, hundreds of light streams shot up, weaving together.
A barrier.
Not some simple one like on the map, either.
Space warped, severing the Brightner estate from the world.
It became a separate realm, like another dimension.
No teleporting out now.
He’d have to smash the barrier head-on and punch a hole, like before.
‘They really underestimated me. Deploying that rotation back then with this in play.’
Before his regression, he’d clashed with the Brightner forces outside Pratel City and beheaded family head Jurgen von Brightner himself.
He’d overlooked this estate barrier entirely, and now it was tripping him up.
Whoosh!
Martin leaped through the breached wall.
“The intruder’s out! Everyone, attack!”
“Don’t let them live!”
Over ten knights and hundreds of guards surrounded him.
‘Break through fast!’
The mystery seventh-circle expert worried him.
If the family head joined, it’d get exhausting.
Steel resolve set, Martin poured mana full throttle and charged into the foes.
* * *
Bang! Bang!
Guards fired mana rifles in unison, bullets swarming Martin.
He didn’t flinch, just flicked his left index finger.
Whooosh!
Fierce winds whipped up, scattering every shot.
‘Can’t use spatial manipulation.’
Spatial abilities weren’t exclusive to the Adalbert family.
It was just that all the spatial powerhouses belonged to them.
Masked up, relying only on martial arts to hide his identity.
No way was he risking exposure just to punch through this.
Thud!
Wind-wrapped Martin finally landed.
A knight charged him.
“Die!”
Indigo aura cloaked his blade, flashing viciously.
But before it connected, Martin’s right fist slammed the knight’s solar plexus.
“Gahk!”
The knight screeched once and collapsed.
Ribs shattered, nerves and mana circuits wrecked inside.
That single cry was his last; he never rose again.
Martin hoisted the corpse as a shield.
Then rushed the enemy.
“Don’t spare the ammo!”
“Knights, keep distance and launch auras!”
Bullets and auras pelted relentlessly.
The corpse shredded to worse than rags in seconds.
Not a single hit landed on Martin, though.
He leaped high, sweeping wide with open hands.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Ten mini-tornadoes devoured the regular soldiers.
“Arrrgh!”
“Aaaagh!”
Over thirty limbs tore apart in an instant.
Martin spared them no glance, eyes on the approaching knights.
Unlike basic swordsmen, the front-runners wielded unique abilities.
‘Squad leaders, huh.’
Boom!
As he thought that, stone spikes erupted underfoot.
Unexpected, but he didn’t panic.
Lotaer martial arts and Distortion of All Things crushed down through his sole.
Just that, and the spikes exploded, shards flying everywhere.
But the attack wasn’t pointless.
While Martin blocked, another squad-leader knight closed in, swinging.
Blue aura laced with ice power.
Martin wrapped his arms in wind and whipped his left like a lash.
Crack!
“Wh-what?!”
His foe’s sword shattered easily; shock crossed the squad leader’s face.
Martin sneered at the rattled knight and stepped forward.
His right palm struck the chest.
“Arrrgh!”
The floor cratered where Martin stood, the knight flung back.
Like the first, he didn’t get up.
“All dropping in one hit? Impossible!”
“What the hell is that monster?!”
Knights clung to reason; guards reeled in shock.
No one imagined squad leaders crumpling to a single blow.
‘Good.’
Enemy morale cracked, gaps in the encirclement.
Late arrivals hadn’t formed a second ring yet; break these, and the exit was close.
Wind cloaking him again, Martin accelerated.
But he barely advanced a few steps.
Swoosh!
Shadows of knights and guards surged like snakes toward him.
In that instant, Martin realized it wasn’t all.
Every shadow tendril carried an aura blade.
‘Can’t dodge this.’
A league above prior attacks.
Only counter: meet it head-on.
He’d lose escape chances, but no choice.
“Hah!”
Shouting, Martin ignited his aura blade, gold cloaking from hand to forearm.
Existing wind swirled around it.
Slash!
Sweeping his right arm cleaved every shadow tendril.
Defense succeeded, but no time to celebrate.
Step, step.
A middle-aged man in a red robe approached.
Beside him, a man in pitch-black clothes and a golden mask covering half his face.
“I knew the rebels had rats scurrying well, but didn’t expect this level of skill. Bringing in an aura blade user as backup, no less.”
“Shouldn’t you call it a win, Jurgen? Your insight paid off.”
“That so?”
“Yeah. He’s seventh circle. Right?”
The masked man’s gaze turned to Martin.
“Sigh.”
Martin sighed softly.
First time seeing him, but he knew instantly.
Pitch-black clothes, golden mask.
Shadow-based unique ability.
How could he not recognize?
‘Didn’t expect this guy involved.’
Drugs, prostitution, gambling, loansharking, human trafficking—where there’s money, there’s crime.
Nations hunted them relentlessly, yet they never vanished, growing like malignant tumors.
Thus, the Krasian continent teemed with underworld organizations, the term “back alleys” commonplace.
They rarely harmed civilians openly, though.
Every territory had lords and knights; clashing meant risking the whole group.
Adventurer guilds were another hurdle, prioritizing civilian safety and hostile to overt crime.
Still, underworld groups were dangerous.
And this guy was among the worst.
Targeted by nations and lords alike.
Master of the Assassin Guild, overseeing all assassin groups including the Blood Sword Order he’d crushed himself.
A monster who never missed a mark, even killing those beyond his realm.
Invincible in darkness, they called him.
“Shadow King.”
Things just got complicated.