EPISODE 14

Those whose main business was assassinations were called assassins—in other words, killers.

While little was known about the past, in the current empire, assassins were generally associated with one notorious group, the Dark Church. This organization was the greatest enemy of the Great Families and the empire's most significant threat.

This cursed group worshiped one of the five gods of disaster—Demon King of the Blood Moon. Its worshippers were generally known as Hadenaihar's followers.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Osel said.

"Stop playing dumb. Then how do you explain this?" I asked.

Osel's expression stiffened as I smiled and revealed a dagger.

It wasn't mine. I'd taken it from the one I'd just hurled at Osel.

I showed him the intricate pattern engraved on its hilt. "You aren't going to say you bought it at a souvenir shop, are you?"

The moment Arjan saw the demon king's symbol, fluctuations rippled across her face.

I was surprised as well. I didn't know about other regions, but I hadn't expected church members to have infiltrated the Badniker family.

In the empire, the Dark Church feared the Badnikers above all.

I had never heard of this happening in my previous life.

The Badnikers had little interaction with other families, so rumors rarely spread. This incident could have gone unnoticed in my past life and been buried, or—though unlikely—it could have never been discovered.

Osel sighed and glared at me.

Soon after, killing intent flashed in his eyes.

Was he going to kill me?

Just as I laughed, Osel launched himself from the ground and charged toward me. I could see the sword in his hand turning black.

Is he a Cursed One?

This power opposed both mana and divine blessings. The Great Families called it the Curse of the Demon King, while the Dark Church referred to it as the Blessing of the Gods of Disaster.

Unlike the blessings, one did not need to be a Great Family's descendant to wield this power.

A power that could be obtained without limits was inherently dangerous.

However, this guy looks fine.

A Cursed One was said to have slight mental instability, but Osel showed no signs of that. Maybe his position was even greater than expected.

Meanwhile, Arjan regained her composure and stood before me. "Come behind me, Young Master Luan!"

At the same time, she kicked a dagger up from the ground and gripped it with both hands, immediately responding to Osel's attack.

"Victor!" Osel shouted while swinging his sword.

The knight I had just sent flying rushed toward me.

I noticed Arjan's shoulders flinch and quickly told her, "I'm fine, Arjan. You should focus on him."

I pulled out the Ring Sword and swung it.

Clang!

It had been a long time since I felt the clash of swords. I had wielded it a few days ago when I killed a troll, but it felt entirely different when facing a human opponent.

Then, the knight's blade glowed with a blue hue.

It was Sword Qi, as Luan called it, though the common term for it in his world was Blade Mana.[1]

"Tsk.

" If it came down to a battle between internal energy and mana, I would have no chance of winning.

Additionally, the Ring Sword was of poor quality. Although it was a magic tool, its durability was lacking.

In the end, I abandoned the idea of fighting head-on and focused on dodging the knight's attacks. I concentrated on defense and observed his movements, gradually becoming familiar with his systematic style.

Is he using imperial swordsmanship?

What was the point of fighting like a knight when his identity had already been exposed?

They were clearly assassins. Their true nature was revealed when they set an ambush rather than engage in a direct melee battle like this one.

But now, in this one-on-one situation, he's pretending to engage casually in battle, waiting for an opening.

It was just like this.

The knight spat at me—not saliva, but a thin needle.

I jerked my head back.

He sneered, probably thinking the attack was successful.

I straightened back up and revealed the truth.

I showed him the thin needle I was biting between my teeth.

The knight's smile froze in astonishment.

After being attacked, it was only natural to retaliate. Thus, I punched the knight, who stood there foolishly, square in the face.

"Cough...!"

Blood poured from his nose and mouth.

He hadn't anticipated that I would strike with the hand holding my sword, so my punch landed harder than expected.

Despite his bleeding nose, the knight swung his fist in resistance, but I would be a fool to let myself be struck by such wild flailing.

Bam!Bam!

I seized the knight by his collar and punched his face repeatedly before kicking him, sending him tumbling across the ground.

He tried to get up quickly, but I wasn't the type to waste an opportunity, so I stomped on his chest.

He groaned in pain.

His limbs were free, but the pressure on his ribs threatened to crush them. The pain fueled his struggles, each movement becoming more frantic as he fought to break free.

This wasn't enough, so I drove my sword into his right hand, pinning him to the ground as though it were nailed there.

Even an assassin couldn't endure the agony of flesh being pierced, and he screamed in pain.

In the meantime, I snatched his sword and drove it into his left hand.

Once again, his screams echoed through the forest.

I pulled the thin needle from my mouth and said, "Shut up before I stab this in your tongue."

"Y-you—"

"You bastard, speak clearly!" I barked.

The knight stiffened and stammered, "What the hell... Who are you...? Where is Luan Badniker?"

"You don't look stupid, but your question is," I spat.

When he saw my frown, his eyes trembled as if an earthquake had shaken them. He was probably considering a hundred different things. After all, the more insidious someone was, the more they thought.

"I'm not an impostor or someone wearing human skin. I am Luan Badniker, your target—the idiot young master you are eager to kill," I said.

He didn't believe my honest answer. There was no reason to convince him, though.

I continued, "So what the hell are you doing? What makes you think you can impersonate the Fang Knights? Who sent you to kill me?"

He remained silent.

"No. I don't think it is an impersonation. The Badnikers' operatives aren't that clumsy. A knight, who once served the family, probably betrayed us after making contact with the church. Doesn't that seem more likely?"

This fellow was just a small fry. I knew it the moment I saw his bewildered expression. If it were Osel, he wouldn't have flinched at my words. Regardless, there was no point in waiting for this fellow to speak.

Bam!

I punched him in the face once again, and he fainted. It wouldn't matter if I killed him. There was a chance to retrieve information from him later, so I would leave him be for now.

"Now then..." I removed the Ring Sword from his hand and scanned the battlefield.

Arjan was still locked in a fierce battle with Osel, and it didn't look like she would win easily.

It is even... No, Osel has a slight advantage.

Their skills seemed to be on par. The difference was likely Arjan's condition—she was in bad shape.

This is difficult.

Even if I joined in, I didn't think I could help much. My body aside, my internal energy was too low. But that didn't mean I was entirely useless.

I watched for a while, then pulled the knight's sword and threw it at just the right moment.

Osel, focused on the battle, was startled and twisted his body.

In an instant, a massive opening appeared on his upper body, and Arjan seized the opportunity, slicing from his thighs to his collarbone with her sharp dagger.

It didn't take his life, but it was a fatal wound.

Still, Osel didn't even flinch. Instead, he showed remarkable tenacity and kicked Arjan in the side.

Arjan rolled on the ground a few times and coughed as if she was choking.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes," Arjan responded gruffly, and then she turned to look at Osel. "Drop your weapon, Osel."

Osel glared at us as blood dripped from his mouth.

"You should know better than anyone that you can't win with that wound," Arjan said.

Osel remained silent.

"Why did Hadenaihar's assassins hide in the Badniker family? Depending on the answer, the lives of those around you might be spared," Arjan pressed.

"Kukuk." The corners of Osel's mouth twitched. "Do you think you've overpowered me with this wound?"

"I advise you not to talk any longer. You don't want to die from excessive bleeding," Arjan stated.

"Excessive bleeding? A wound like this? Keok...!"

As Osel let out a grim laugh, I hurled the Ring Sword.

Arjan glanced at me, startled.

Osel grasped his neck in disbelief, tracing the sword that had pierced his throat with unmistakable precision. A strange noise escaped him as blood filled his airway. His body slowly collapsed.

"Y-young Master Luan?"

"Arjan, I don't want to listen to someone like him until the end. It's clear he's hiding something," I explained.

"But—"

"Interrogation doesn't work on Cursed Ones. It might be effective on a small fry, but not on them. We're wasting time trying to probe him here," I interrupted her.

The Cursed Ones were individuals whose brains had been invaded by Dark Qi, leaving them numb to pain like drug addicts. Even specialists in torture couldn't extract information from them. As far as I knew, only the other churches' heresy inquisitors could manage to interrogate them.

"I expected this, so I kept one alive for this reason. As such, let's get rid of this guy—"

Just then, I heard something tear through the air from the darkness. I sensed the attack, but responding was another matter entirely.

"Young Master Luan!"

Suddenly, I felt a dagger sink into my flesh.

***

"Kukukuk..." Osel laughed as he stood up, a creepy crunching sound echoing from his body as if muscles and joints were blending together.

There was no pain, only an overwhelming sensation of pleasure he had never experienced before.

"Young Master Luan, treat the wound quickly—"

"It's okay, so stay still."

Even amid this catharsis, Osel couldn't resist saying, "It is okay...?"

In the meantime, his body's transformation was complete. He didn't need a mirror to know he was no longer human, but it didn't feel so bad.

Luan glanced at him and said, "You look like a walking toad, but you are as big as a troll."

"It looks like you still have the strength to talk."

This, too, would fade soon enough.

Osel said nothing more, but Arjan's expression stiffened.

The dagger had struck Luan's shoulder. It wasn't a vital point, and the wound wasn't huge. Nevertheless, Osel treated Luan like a caught fish.

"Did you put something on the dagger?" Arjan asked.

"Yes. You think like us," Osel said with a smile. "It is the deadliest poison in the world. Consider it an honor. Originally, it was meant for a battle against a Jewel Beast."

"A Jewel Beast?" Arjan exclaimed.

"We were going to fight the Sapphire Snake, a Jewel Beast with Nether Lunar Mana. Most people freeze before they can get close," he replied.

Feeling confident of his victory, Osel casually divulged top-secret information. It was the side effect of the Dark Qi encroaching on his brain, but it didn't matter. They were all going to die here anyway.

"In order to pierce the scales of the Sapphire Snake, we had to find spiritual grass with Infernal Solar Mana. We finally obtained it, and what's on the dagger is its extract," Osel revealed.

"Spiritual grass...? If so, it is medicine—"

Osel scoffed. "You're talking nonsense. There's little difference between poison and medicine in the first place."

Arjan finally understood. "Give me the antidote."

Osel looked at Arjan, pleased she had finally stopped talking politely. "Are you stupid? There is no antidote to this poison!"

The moment he spoke, a thick tongue shot from his mouth. It lashed through the forest like a whip, snapping a giant tree in half like a rotten branch.

Arjan dodged quickly. Unlike their previous confrontation, she didn't dare to fight back.

"I've tested this poison several times before using it in practice. Even a salamander, known for its resistance to fire, screamed like a pig for ten minutes before turning to ash!" he gloated.

Silence ensued.

"I am becoming intrigued. Luan Badniker, how long can you hold on?" Osel asked.

He expected to see fear and despair on Luan's face, but he was wrong.

Luan's face remained expressionless.

Perhaps this idiot still can't believe he is about to die.

"Five minutes," Luan uttered in a dazed voice. "I think it will take five minutes."

Osel thought there was something subtle in Luan's tone.

No, more than that, how could he still speak?

1. It was Sword Qi, as Luan called it, though the common term for it in his world was Blade Mana.

Luan often uses the terms Qi and mana interchangeably. When speaking with others from his world, he typically adopts the standard mana terminology for clarity. ☜

1. Luan often uses the terms Qi and mana interchangeably. When speaking with others from his world, he typically adopts the standard mana terminology for clarity. ☜

1. Luan often uses the terms Qi and mana interchangeably. When speaking with others from his world, he typically adopts the standard mana terminology for clarity. ☜