Chapter 99: Blessing in Disguise (12)

I looked ahead again.

After loosening up, the knight lowered his stance slightly and pulled his fist back again. The transparent energy around him seemed to concentrate on his blue gauntlet.

Is that what they call qi?

I focused, trying to feel the moving air flow. Since I had already been captured, I decided to devote myself to sensing his power. I thought of the man who had withdrawn from the tournament and how he had spoken about the level of qi used.

If I observe closely, this might help somehow.

I recalled our first encounter. Back then, I saw nothing and was torn apart, dying in the process. However, after a few encounters and observing the blue knight repeatedly—perhaps because of that—I felt something clearly. The blue knight was surrounded by a flow with rules, order, and rhythm that danced in harmony. Yet, it remained incomprehensible.

I can sense it... but I don't understand it at all.

The knight once again drew the formless power into his fist.

Swoosh!

The wall above us grew noisy.

A gasping voice shouted down, "Marquis, Your Excellency!"

The knight stopped his fist. He looked up.

I also followed his gaze to the top of the wall. Two men stood side by side on the battlements, looking down. Groups of soldiers with swords and spears surrounded them.

Is that—?

I recognized one of the two men in front of us. I had burned him to death right before my eyes, so it was impossible not to recognize him. He had a sturdy build, clad in iron armor and a cape, and his face was twisted into a sadistic and fierce expression.

The captain of Yublam's guards?

That man looked flustered. His terrified expression clashed with his usual demeanor.

The other man was a stranger. Draped in a fox pelt that extended to his head, he wore lavish clothing.

He shouted in quick succession, "Marquis, Your Excellency! This is... a misunderstanding!"

Marquis... Your Excellency?

Rena's words surfaced in my mind.

From the description, it must be Marquis Leandro von Batyenne. He's the youngest master from the Blue Lion Knights, and he's one of the Empire's Four Swordmasters...

Surely, there couldn't be two marquises matching such a description. Rena's guess was confirmed. Many thoughts raced through my mind.

So, someone extraordinary brought me down.

The knight in blue armor, one of the Empire's Four Swordmasters, glanced briefly at the men on the wall. He said nothing and stepped back. The wind around him was sucked toward his feet.

The stout man shouted desperately, "We truly don't know how the emperor's seal got here!"

The marquis gave no response. His backward step caused the ground to crack beneath him, scattering debris.

Boom! Crash!

A deafening roar erupted, drowning out the screams of those on the wall.

I looked at the gate. The spot that the marquis hit with his foot was already in tatters, a gaping hole large enough to see through to the other side. Thick iron bars came into view, and behind them lay another layer of gates.

However, the thickest, outermost gate had been destroyed. A few punches were enough to breach the fortress.

The men on the wall panicked.

"Marquis, Your Excellency! This fool acted on his own! It's him!"

"What? My lord! What are you doing?"

The bald captain of the guard was flustered, and the men near the lord drew their swords. In response, those near the captain hesitantly drew theirs as well.

The lord shouted, "He enslaved travelers and sold them! He's a pawn of the Necron Shrine Society! He's the one who took the seal. Please allow me to punish him!"

Marquis Leandro tilted his head and stepped back.

Tap.

Leaving the torn gate alone momentarily, he looked at the two men under the setting sun. He crossed his arms and silently observed them. The lord's face brightened. To him, the marquis' silent gaze seemed like a lifeline from heaven.

Clinging to it, the lord fervently accused the other man. "He operated a dungeon near the castle! He raised spiders and fed them humans!"

The guard captain's bald head turned red with anger.

Unwilling to back down, the guard captain retorted, "You bastard, are you sane? That was all your doing! You cultivated drugs inside the castle! Marquis, it was this man who addicted all the residents to drugs!"

It was a bizarre sight.

Weren't they partners?

Their fragile partnership crumbled quickly in the face of crisis. Or perhaps the marquis was an overwhelming threat since they treated him like a natural disaster.

The marquis stepped forward, seemingly tired of the situation. Then, he inserted a single gauntleted finger into the small hole in the gate.

Creak, screech!

A chilling sound echoed through the air. The gate began to tear sideways.

The lord shouted to the guards around him. "Capture him! Everyone, attack! Arrest the traitor who violated imperial law!"

The lord seemed to have lost his wits in fear before a man who could destroy a fortress with his fists.

The marquis halted as the guards on the wall split into factions and engaged in a bloody skirmish.

The lord's faction had greater numbers. However, the guard captain proved formidable, mercilessly plunging his sword into the chests of former subordinates and smashing the lord's face with a hidden hammer. Afterward, he forcibly slipped the emperor's seal onto the lord's finger and threw the corpse below.

"Don't follow me! I know nothing! Truly—!"

His voice sounded pitiful, unbefitting a man who had just killed ten others on the wall in an instant.

The lord's corpse fell.

Splat!

The knight didn't respond. He severed the corpse's finger, retrieved the seal, and returned to the gate with a businesslike demeanor. He inserted his hand into the hole again and gripped the torn edges, pulling them apart.

Creak!

The gate ripped open, creating a hole large enough for a person to pass through.

"

Eek, eek!

"

The guard captain's face turned pale as he looked down at the chaos that ensued. The man who had been standing bolted inside the wall, seemingly fleeing.

Neigh!

The sound of a horse's cry came from inside, followed by the clatter of hooves.

He ran away.

Dangling from the saddle, I thought to myself how I had thrown gold bars and the seal into Yublam. I ensured that the guard captain received them. He was the culprit who had raised me from the grave and killed Rubia. Even though I burned him alive twice, I still felt that it was lacking. I hadn't fully investigated the incident nor uprooted its source.

The lord must have been involved too.

This time, I didn't have the means to deal with him because I was on the run. I had only scattered bait. It was a gamble, hoping the mysterious hunter would take care of them. Honestly, I hadn't expected much.

This is going too well.

But now, the hunter seemed to have taken a great interest in them.

The lord's face was smashed, and he fell from the wall while the guard captain fled on horseback.

Hmm....

They suddenly seemed so unbearably pathetic that it was disappointing. Perhaps it was because I was watching from behind the marquis. Yublam was a city addicted to drugs. For a lord of Yublam, I had thought of him as a colossal evil driven by greed and conspiracy.

Yet, he turned out to be such a petty villain. A swirl of emotions crossed my mind. At first, it felt satisfying, but soon it turned hollow and slightly bitter. If the regressions continued, I would have to keep killing them. Nevertheless, I had seen through their true colors and limits already.

Even if I torture or kill them, I won't be satisfied.

I looked at the marquis. His methodical tearing of the gate warned me not to speak of dissatisfaction in front of him.

He stepped through the gate.

Clang...

The iron gate rose at the perfect moment. The thick double-layered bars lifted one after another. Even the damaged outer gate creaked open with great effort. The inner gate opened wide to both sides after breaking through the outer gate and stepping inside. I could see the vassals of the territory kneeling and murmuring something.

The marquis looked around and whistled. The horse that was carrying me arrogantly passed through the gates.

This time... I'm not entering in great condition.

It was my second time in Yublam. I looked around. The vassals who had opened the gate knelt on either side. In the distance, I could see the guard captain fleeing. The marquis leaped onto his horse and grabbed the long spear that had been holding me.

Clop, clop!

The horse galloped down the road. The area just in front of the gate was wide, but it narrowed further as we advanced. We passed a large well and encountered a narrow road that was just wide enough for two horses to pass.

We rode north. The road split into four paths, but we knew which way to go. In the distance, the fleeing guard captain passed through the north gate. The gap between us, once only a few dots, rapidly shrank.

A fierce wind whipped past my skull.

Whoosh!

Catching up took no time.

The guard captain galloped ahead and shouted, "I don't know anything! I really don't know anything!"

Clop, clop!

Six horses galloped across the yellow plains. The four chasing the guard captain seemed to be his close subordinates, unwilling to stay behind in the castle where too much had happened.

Perhaps realizing he would be caught at this rate, the guard captain shouted loudly, "Scatter!"

Two of the men behind him veered left and right.

The marquis grabbed the long spear that had been holding me. At first, I thought it was more of a strange rod than a spear because the blade wasn't visible. The marquis pressed something onto the spear and twisted it to the left.

Creak, creak.

The metal shaft of the spear suddenly extended. It grew much longer than the imperial guards' lances. Although the rod had been less than two meters at first, it stretched to nearly six meters in an instant.

Swish!

The marquis swung his long spear with force at the man furthest behind. Despite the enormous length of the spear, there was no recoil as he swung it from horseback. The marquis controlled the spear effortlessly, relying solely on his core strength.

Thud!

The spear struck the two men who had just veered off, spraying blood as they tumbled off their horses. On the desolate plains, they writhed like insects before their limbs went limp.

I observed the marquis closely as he wielded the spear.

Clop, clop!

"

Hiyah

!"

Seemingly resigned, one of the three men ahead turned and began swinging his sword at the marquis. His eyes were glazed over as if heavily drugged.

Slash!

The not-yet-fully-extended blade of the spear cut his neck cleanly in half. The corpse, spraying blood skyward, rode the horse for a moment before falling. The sky, already red with the setting sun, needed no more colors. The horse soon threw off its lifeless rider, staining the yellow plains crimson.

Creak, creak.

The spear's blade had fully extended. Strangely, the tip split into five thin points.

Is it moving on its own?'

The marquis didn't seem to manipulate anything, yet the blade appeared to rise autonomously.

"Stop whining."

The marquis thrust the spear into the man's heart beside the guard captain. At that moment, the five points of the blade spread out in all directions.

Crunch, crack!

The man was pierced through the back and writhed on his horse like an insect. Without even screaming, he convulsed in unbearable agony. Moments later, long spear blades burst out from his eyes, chest, and lower body, killing him.

How is something like that even possible?

Clink, clink!

The blood-stained spear blades retracted back into the shaft, and we quickly passed the corpse. I recognized the face—it was the man who had been beaten senseless by the guard captain and forced to pull a cart.

"You untied his gag and let him kill himself? This bastard really is unbelievable the more I think about it."

So it was him.

Consumed by overwhelming terror, the guard captain didn't even look back. He screamed bizarrely as he galloped ahead.

"

Aah! Aah! Aaaaaah!

"

Clop, clop!

For a moment, the marquis rode alongside him, which lasted about twenty seconds. The captain, spurring on his horse too hard, caused it to foam at the mouth.

The marquis lightly struck the back of the captain's bald head.

Thud.

The unconscious man was slung onto the back of the horse. Though the marquis carried him gently without causing any injuries, I briefly wondered at the odd care before pitying the man's inevitable fate.

***

The marquis returned to the castle, where the residents had left the gate wide open. Standing in two neat rows, they bowed their heads low on either side of the path. They trembled, occasionally stealing glances. The marquis wasn't radiating his usual killing intent, which made this possible. If he had been radiating that aura, the weaker hearts among the elderly might have given out on the spot.

"..."

The marquis scanned the residents.

Without hesitation, he pointed to an old man with a white beard. "You."

"Yes, my lord."

"I am Leandro von Batyenne, Marquis and Imperial Chief Overseer. Lead me to the office."

I didn't know he could say such long sentences.

He surprised me twice. The first was his unexpectedly normal behavior. The second was because the man he pointed to was someone I knew. He was the old man who had given me the Fire of Grassmere.

The old man led the way, guiding the marquis to the lord's castle.

When the surroundings grew quieter, the marquis said in a low voice, "You're the only one who isn't addicted to opium. Explain."