Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: I Have a Plan
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Thud.
As I took another step forward,
Clang!
Ashley hastily drew his sword and met Uksala’s gaze.
Shing!
Uksala gave a short nod, then drew his heavy greatsword and shouted.
“Red Warriors—!”
A thunderous roar echoed, and a moment later,
Crash! Shatter!
The doors and windows of the houses near the lord’s castle burst open, and warriors clad in red leather armor stormed out.
Clank, clank, clank!
Their armor, reinforced with iron plates over vital points, clattered noisily as they ran.
I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“I thought you said only three participants were allowed?”
You really can’t trust a word these lawless city folk say.
Perhaps feeling a bit more secure with the arrival of the Red Warriors, Ashley started running his mouth again.
“Lansen! Don’t you see we’ll just destroy each other at this rate! It’s not too late! Stop this reckless bravado and—!”
Slice!
An aura attack flew across the twenty-pace distance,
and a noisy head rolled to the ground.
“What the—!”
“Just now??”
“……!!”
Uksala, Susjan, Kalserik.
The three with the greatest martial prowess among the enemy all stared wide-eyed in shock.
That’s right.
You couldn’t react either, could you?
You don’t understand how it happened, do you?
Thump.
Ashley’s corpse collapsed lifelessly.
I slowly lowered my drawn sword and spoke.
“You must be wondering two things. Why none of you could react to my sword. And how I pierced the Aura Shield of a peak Expert with mere Aura Shooting.”
All eyes were fixed on me.
They must be curious.
It would be incomprehensible by their standards.
But for me, who had returned after mastering ancient swordsmanship, it was an all-too-natural outcome.
‘It was a strike from Geomtak, lashing out with no preparatory motion. Of course they couldn’t react.’
I knew it well because I’d been on the receiving end of it. I’m already faster than them, so how could they possibly block it if they can’t even see the attack coming?
‘Aura Shooting is a high-level Expert technique, but when you mix in ancient Sword Ki, it's more than enough to shatter your Aura Shields.’
It was exhilarating.
Four peak Experts would be a tough fight even for a Sword Master… but right now, their necks looked so fragile. As if they’d snap right off if I just reached out.
Thump! Thump! Clank!
In that time, the forty members of the Red Warriors had formed a defensive square.
Whoooosh—
The aura overflowing from the forty men intertwined and tangled, blanketing the sky.
‘Not bad at all.’
Countless strands of aura wove together, hardening like steel.
The finishing touch was the great warrior, Uksala.
The moment he raised his aura and took his place at the head of the formation, it was as if an iron shell descended upon the tightly woven aura.
Kuuuung!
The barrier of aura pressed down heavily on the world.
Even an Aura Blade would have a hard time piercing that.
‘An ordinary Sword Master would really have to risk their life for this.’
Uksala aimed his massive greatsword at me and spoke with a heavy voice.
“Great Warrior Lansen. Must we really see this to the end?”
A single drop of cold sweat trickled down his brow.
I let out a smirk.
Because I’m no ordinary Sword Master.
“Uksala, mister. Pick one. Just one. If you’re going to yield, then yield. If you’re going to fight, then fight.”
I knew.
I knew why he was acting like this.
It’s not like I’ve only known him for a day or two.
“You saw my sword earlier, and now you’ve lost your confidence, haven’t you? But you’ve enjoyed your power for too long to just give it all up and kneel, is that it?”
Uksala stared at me in silence, offering no reply.
Right. He couldn’t give it up.
He was an outstanding warrior, but his greed and lust were beyond measure.
I could spend all day reciting the names of the families whose fortunes he stole and the couples who wept tears of blood.
The corps commander, Susjan, who had been watching from behind, raised his voice.
“How arrogant. Do you think you can survive in this city, no, in this Roverland, after killing everyone who displeases you? And what makes you so clean?”
“No, it’s not about being clean or anything….”
What flashed through my mind were the consequences that followed.
The children from broken homes. The bastards that bastard Uksala sired.
In this city,
orphans were constantly being made in such ways.
But what was the point of telling him all this?
I scratched my head once and said,
“Just die.”
Craaash!
I shot forward, kicking off the ground.
Before me was a formidable chain of aura, flowing between the warriors.
Even a Sword Master would struggle to break something like that.
The me of a few days ago, the me before learning from Grand Duke Laitena, would have had a tough time, but,
Slice!
“What?!”
Crack!
“No way!”
With each slash of my sword, another head fell.
What good is being tough?
What’s the point if you can’t block the attack?
Of course, the Experts had their Aura Shields… but mixing in a little Sword Ki made cutting through them like slicing a cucumber.
Forty members of the Red Warriors?
Honestly, it was laughable.
Jjeojeojeok!
Geomtak.
The warriors couldn’t even react to the attacks, led by the sword itself with no preparatory motion, and simply offered up their necks.
‘If you don’t know, you get hit.’
That’s just how battle works.
When a new tactic emerges, those using outdated ones get knocked down without a fight.
You die if you fight with only a sword against an armored foe, you die if you only use melee weapons and encounter a bow for the first time, and you’re busy running for your life if you only have infantry and meet cavalry.
To the warriors of this era, ancient swordsmanship was exactly that.
The Red Warriors died without even knowing why.
“What are you all doing! Attack! That bastard Lansen plans to kill us all! If we don’t join forces, we’re all dead!”
Sensing the crisis, Uksala shouted.
His words weren’t for the Red Warriors, but for the other organizations gathered in the plaza.
At his words, the onlookers flinched.
I turned to them and gave them a push.
“He’s right. I’m going to kill you all. So come at me, all of you.”
Uksala’s brow furrowed violently at my words, which seemed to be helping his cause.
“What are you trying to…!”
“What do you mean? It’s exactly as I said. I’m going to kill you all.”
I didn’t just say it.
I spread a chilling killing intent in all directions.
“U-Uwaaaaaah!”
Did they finally realize that they would be next if they just stood there?
Excluding those Sea had marked in blue, the ones on the kill list in red and black let out scream-like war cries and charged at me all at once.
“Excellent.”
The Red Warriors’ formation was already half-broken. The newcomers were nothing but a disorderly mob by my standards. I didn’t even need an Aura Blade.
Swish-swish-swish—
Aura Threads, unraveling like spools of string, and Aura Shots flying through the air tore the area apart.
Whoosh—
Heads flew through the air like autumn leaves.
They rained down like hail.
A head here.
A head there.
“You bastard!!!”
To turn the tide, the great warrior Uksala raised his greatsword and charged, so,
Slice.
I took his life.
A single slash.
A chilling silence fell over the chaotic battlefield.
“I-Insane…. No way. A-A Grand Master…?”
Did he finally realize the gap between us?
The corps commander, Susjan, who had been looking for an opening next to Uksala, turned and fled.
Can’t let a big fish like that get away.
“Keck!”
I chased after him as he tried to hide behind the Red Warriors and took his head.
And then, more Aura Threads.
The Red Warriors were torn to shreds.
Now then, who’s next?
I shifted my gaze and saw a large, middle-aged warrior with a hardened expression.
‘Ah, I almost forgot.’
The Kalserik Brotherhood.
The last of the peak Experts left among my enemies.
I flicked the tip of my sword and approached him.
Thump.
Their leader, Kalserik, suddenly dropped to his knees.
“Please spare us.”
He pleaded, his head bowed low.
Huh.
I have a bit of a soft spot for this sort of thing.
Maybe because I’ve done my fair share of kneeling in my day….
‘…They’re not bad people.’
They didn’t betray their employers, nor did they extort people—one of the few honorable men in this Roverland.
Fine. I’ll let it slide.
“Stay on your knees with your hands up.”
At the gesture of my sword, Kalserik and his men quickly raised their hands.
I walked past them.
I stood before the enemies who were standing around like a disorganized mob, watching my every move.
‘About seventy of them left now?’
Time to end this.
As I approached, unleashing my Aura Threads, the seventy men shuffled backward.
“M-Monster.”
How cliché.
I’ve been hearing that since I was twenty.
Fwoosh!
I closed the distance in an instant and charged.
The Aura Threads coiled around five, ten men at a time, slicing them to pieces.
Blood splattered in all directions.
But it never touched my body.
The storm created by my aura and the sharp Sword Ki radiating outwards shredded it into a fine mist.
“Uwaaaah!”
“We can’t… we can’t beat that.”
The enemy began to crumble.
They scattered and fled in all directions.
Even the infamous Red Warriors were no exception.
But from the moment they had set foot in this place, there was nowhere left for them to run.
Thwiiip!
Thwack!
Arrows, flying from an unknown source, embedded themselves in the heads of the fleeing enemies.
“Try and run! I’ll turn you all into skewers! Archers!!!”
Rivera Pietro, leaping to his feet, roared his command, and the archers who had been lying in ambush on the rooftops of the houses also rose.
Kreeeak!
The eerie sound of bowstrings being drawn echoed through the air.
“Don’t let a single one get away!”
Rivera Pietro.
The commander of Kushan City’s finest archers had faithfully carried out the request I made yesterday.
A rain of arrows painted the vision of those fleeing for their lives with despair.
“Aaargh!”
“Wasn’t there a three-person limit? Uwaaaaargh!”
Sorry.
I’m a lawless city guy too, after all.
“Kill them!”
“Don’t let them escape!!”
The organizations on the blue list, with whom we had a prior understanding, also joined in.
They chased down the scattered enemies, crushing them one by one.
With me blocking the front, Rivera’s archers at the back, and the blue-listed organizations rampaging in between…
‘That settles things.’
The fight ended anticlimactically.
“Hoo….”
Standing amidst the scattered corpses, I took a moment to cool the heat of battle.
Tap.
I heard the sound of small footsteps.
A short girl was carefully making her way toward me, avoiding the bodies and pools of blood.
Sea, her indigo hair braided to one side, glanced around the battlefield with a blank expression before letting out a small sigh and speaking to me.
“You killed them all.”
“Yeah. I’ve cleaned up everyone on the red list and above.”
“…Why did you do it?”
It was neither a reprimand nor a curious question.
Sea simply looked at me with her transparent eyes.
I answered her honestly.
“Because I thought of Seon.”
Seon, the youngest of our family at six years old. I said I killed them all because he came to mind.
“Seon?”
“Yeah. There’s a reason he became an orphan.”
“Ah…”
Sea’s lips parted slightly.
Seon’s father had become addicted to drugs, squandered his fortune, and died. His widowed mother was then violated by the Red Warriors until she, too, died.
I hate that.
“I hate seeing more and more orphans being made like that. The city we rule… I want it to be a place where kids like Seon can live with a smile.”
“Ah…”
Sea nodded as if she understood.
“I understand your reasoning. But they were a necessary evil. They’re vermin, but without them, far more people would die.”
Her deep, dark blue eyes stared at me.
“No matter how strong you are, brother, you can’t subjugate all the demonic beasts in this vast region by yourself. And if the beasts aren’t subjugated, this city will die.”
She fell into deep thought, her expression impassive.
“…I can’t think of a way. We need to gather enough military power to protect the city… but in the short term, it’s just not possible….”
I ruffled the hair of the girl lost in thought.
“Hmph!”
Sea quickly pulled her head away from my hand and glared up at me.
Tsk. You used to like it.
“Sea. Have a little more faith in me.”
“Huh?”
“I have a plan.”
“…What is it?”
“How about excavating some ruins? There’s nothing better for making money and attracting people, right?”
“Excavating ruins…? Don’t tell me…?”
“Yep. There’s a place I visited recently.”
The sun had set, and stars began to appear in the sky.
I found a single star among them, one that was particularly bright and didn’t move at all.
‘Mivavar, the Goddess of Wisdom.’
One of the thirteen primordial gods of the ancient era, now forgotten.
I reached out my hand and aimed for her. I tried to match the angle my body remembered.
A Sword Master’s keen senses do not allow for even the slightest error.
‘A little farther north than here, was it?’
It was still so clear.
The place where that star rises at a slightly higher angle than it does here.
Right beneath it lies that place.
The place where a young girl would look up at the sky every day, aiming for the thirteen primordial gods.
The place my senior, Iodine Serom, wanted to protect even at the cost of her life.
The city of knights, Glowingsteel.
It wasn’t far from here.
‘Did she… ultimately protect that place and inherit Master’s sword?’
It was strange.
To think that the person who was chattering right next to me until yesterday had died and vanished over ten thousand years ago.
What was her life like?
Was she satisfied?
Could we… meet again?
“Certainly.”
Sea broke through my reverie.
“Ancient ruins have potential. But it depends on the type and scale. How big is it?”
Scale…
“It’s a city with a population of about 200,000. The streets were filled with blacksmithies. It was called the city of knights because so many skilled knights flocked there.”
“Really…?”
Sea, who was always expressionless, raised an eyebrow in surprise.
I gave her a confident nod.
“Of course. It’ll be crawling with rare and precious ancient weapons.”
Of course. Did you think I went on a rampage without a plan? I killed them because I already had something in mind.
Once news of Glowingsteel’s excavation got out,
every warrior in Roverland would be itching for a piece of the action.