CHAPTER 274: AN EYE FOR AN EYE (2)

Whoosh-!

Using Wind Cloud, Ethan had already arrived at the southeast of Whiskers territory.

Crackle-!

Using the Eye of Horus to track the assassins’ movements, Ethan instantly cut them down with the power of heavenly thunder.

The assassins were startled by Ethan’s sudden appearance.

“How did you get here?”

Their confusion didn’t last long, as Ethan used Ethan Swordsmanship with all his might.

“Gah…!”

Although they were Nightwalkers carefully trained by the marquis family, not a single one was a match for Ethan’s individual combat prowess.

Moreover, because of Extinction, he had focused on defensive abilities in his growth until now, so all of the assassins’ attacks were ones Ethan could easily counter.

Swoosh-!

“The poison doesn’t work…?”

“I already have resistance.”

Ethan had built up immunity to all the poisons commonly used by assassins.

Even if they tried to conceal their presence and launch surprise attacks, the Eye of Horus saw through all their movements, so there was no way it would work.

“Urk.”

Ethan easily dealt with the assassins and immediately used Wind Cloud again. There was no time to waste.

‘Everything must be happening simultaneously.’

The timing of each intrusion was slightly different, but the gaps weren’t that big.

It seemed they intended to finish everything in one night.

-You use Wind Cloud!

-You can feel the power of the wind even more keenly.

Ethan moved like the wind, riding Wind Cloud.

Upon arriving at each registered territory, he quickly entered buildings using the power of heavenly thunder. Then, after cutting down the assassins, he used Wind Cloud again.

‘Not a single one can be allowed to die.’

If even one person from Whiskers died, this battle would be the marquis’s victory.

‘If I can take care of all the assassins without missing any…’

Suddenly, an excellent idea occurred to Ethan.

It was possible because Marquis Dren had taken such an enormous risk.

***

When clouds obscured the moon.

Taking advantage of that brief moment, an intruder entered Whiskers’ castle.

The intruder, moving swiftly, immediately plunged a dagger into the assassination target upon entering.

But the target wasn’t there.

“Welcome. I am Ethan Whiskers.”

Hearing a voice from the opposite side, the Crescent Moon assassin frowned.

“You, Schudlen Mark.”

“You know me? Ah, no. I’m Ethan Whiskers.”

“Retreat. We’ve been discovered.”

The Crescent Moon assassins immediately scattered and hid in the darkness.

But they couldn’t get out.

“…Oh no.”

There was no exit leading outside.

“Your acting is really bad.”

Yerica, who had been waiting, had completely isolated the space.

“…Kill and escape! The target must be nearby.”

“You seem to be underestimating us quite a bit?”

Yerica’s hands, blocking the assassins’ path, bore magic circles.

“We won’t let a single one of you leave.”

“Eliminate them!”

However, the assassins seemed to find Yerica’s warning laughable, as they each drew their weapons and charged at the two.

They were well-informed about Schudlen and Yerica.

They knew Schudlen’s background and had assessed his skill level. The same was true for Yerica.

“She’s the granddaughter of that madman Hecate. She can’t use proper magic due to restrictions, so overwhelm and kill her quickly!”

At those words, Yerica smiled. It was a dry smile without a trace of humor.

As she spread her hands wide, the magic circle concentrated in one hand split into two, following both hands.

“This is a magic my grandfather often used.”

Flare-.

A flame close to yellow flickered in both hands.

“Fireworks.”

The flames spreading from her hands began to rain down inside the room like a shower. The assassins easily evaded these flames with light movements.

Indeed, the Crescent Moon assassins’ movements were clearly different.

They moved with the skill born from experience in dealing with numerous powerful individuals.

But there was one thing these assassins had overlooked, namely the level of Schudlen and Yerica.

While they had a good grasp of Ethan Whiskers’ level, who had shown quite a lot of public activity, they hadn’t properly assessed the level of his two guards.

Boom-! Boom-!

The falling flames exploded all around.

The scene resembled actual fireworks.

Meanwhile, the assassins who had attacked Schudlen were also frowning.

Seven assassins had surrounded him from all directions and attacked simultaneously.

They had aimed for vital points and struck decisively. Yet Schudlen perfectly deflected all seven attacks and instantly took down two assassins.

“!”

Sif, the leader of Crescent Moon who had been watching this scene, clicked his tongue.

“This… doesn’t look good.”

All the plans had gone awry. Even the information they had from the start was off.

Why wasn’t Ethan Whiskers here?

How had these guards predicted the assassination and been waiting here?

“It doesn’t seem like we were set up…”

The marquis wouldn’t have backstabbed them.

They had confirmed with their own eyes how much the Whiskers territory had grown before infiltrating.

They understood that the Marquis Dren family recognized the now greatly expanded Count Whiskers family as a definite threat.

The justification was clear, so they trusted that justification.

Then.

“…Their strength must have been beyond expectations.”

Sif drew his dagger and moved in a straight line towards Schudlen.

His footwork, lightly touching the ground, closed the distance with Schudlen as if by magic.

Clang-!

“I see. You’ve become different in such a short time. How is this possible?”

Sif furrowed his brows.

That strike just now wasn’t a simple attack. It was a technique that could be called Sif’s signature move, the one that had made him the master of Crescent Moon.

Yet it had been blocked. Even if used head-on, it should have easily pierced through a sword.

“Did you leak your power? You weren’t at this level before. I don’t understand what’s happened.”

Sif vigorously scratched his head with the handle of his dagger.

It was an incomprehensible situation, but there was no time to leisurely assess the situation.

Especially that granddaughter of Hecate over there, who possessed magical skills far exceeding expectations.

“I raised them with such difficulty.”

Pop-.

Sif lightly kicked the ground. In an instant, his figure vanished.

Schudlen, who had been facing off against him, slightly raised his upper body. Then, keeping his head fixed in place, he turned his sword sideways.

Clang-!

“!”

As Schudlen accurately blocked Sif’s dagger, Sif’s expression twisted even more.

“Let’s see how long you can keep up that composure!”

Schudlen’s sword began to dance.

Thanks to Ethan, he had received two weeks of intensive training from a teacher hailed as the continent’s best.

Regia was certainly an excellent teacher, but he wasn’t a kind person who would care for all the stress that arose during the training process.

As a result, Schudlen’s heart was full of frustration from the stress of receiving such intense training in a short period.

He had wanted to cry out many times about how hard it was.

In short.

Boom-! Boom-!

This was clearly venting.

“Ugh. Urghh!”

Sif’s waist bent almost halfway backward.

Schudlen actively utilized the height difference, striking down with his sword as if hammering.

Sif, blocking this, was beyond bewildered and felt his spirit crushed.

Is the difference in level this great?

He… can’t win?

“Looks like you’re finally coming to your senses! But it’s too late to realize. You shouldn’t have started in the first place! Even if you beat me, you’d never be able to defeat Lady Yerica.”

Schudlen glanced slightly to the side.

As Sif slowly turned his eyes, he saw Yerica sitting gracefully atop his defeated subordinates, watching the scene.

“Damn… it.”

Schudlen swung his sword.

***

“How?”

“Why are you here?”

“But it’s already too late.”

“Everywhere.”

“In all places where the Whiskers flag flies.”

“Because we’ll be there.”

They all said the same things.

They all thought Ethan had chosen one place to respond to, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Ethan was at every place where the Whiskers flag flew.

Hong Gildong’s Wind Cloud, living up to its name of appearing east and west in a flash, showed its perfect form in Ethan’s hands.

Ethan was traversing the entire Whiskers territory in the blink of an eye, to the extent that if Hong Gildong saw it, he would smile contentedly and applaud such excellent utilization.

‘I’m dying.’

Of course, Ethan himself felt like his head was about to explode.

‘If it weren’t for Sleeping Dragon’s Sight and Eye of Horus, I couldn’t have managed.’

His body was already overloaded, with severe pain in various places. But he was protecting the Whiskers territory just as surely.

He had taken down all those sent by Marquis Dren to finish the job decisively.

“Gah!”

“But it’s already too late…”

“Yes, it’s late. Very late indeed.”

Ethan dealt with the last assassin with a grim smile.

“Whew.”

Marquis Dren probably hadn’t expected this outcome either.

He might have thought there was a possibility of failure.

But would he have dared to imagine suffering such an overwhelming defeat without inflicting any significant damage?

“What in the…”

Count Yurahan looked at the fallen masked figures with bewildered eyes.

“Thank you for your understanding, Count Yurahan.”

Ethan had suddenly visited the sleeping Count Yurahan and asked for his cooperation without much explanation.

That’s why Count Yurahan couldn’t grasp what exactly was going on.

“This is Marquis Dren’s doing.”

Ethan quickly explained the current situation.

Count Yurahan listened with a frown.

“Huh.”

Count Yurahan knew very well how much power the Marquis Dren family possessed and how they wielded it.

When the Whiskers territory was small, Count Yurahan’s domain was the largest among the nearby territories.

Because of this, the count’s family had been checked in various ways by the Marquis Dren family.

Unfair treatment was commonplace, and they had to endure unreasonable levels of concession.

Of course, they couldn’t voice any objections. If they made unnecessary noise, the consequences would quietly follow.

As Count Yurahan, once the leader of this region, he couldn’t help but react sensitively to the marquis family’s claws being openly displayed.

“I heard the marquis had visited. But to retaliate so quickly like this. This… isn’t just happening here. If the marquis is directly involved, others must already…”

“I’ve taken care of everything.”

“Right, we should leave immediately… What? You’ve taken care of everything?”

“It seems they were trying to finish everything tonight. Don’t worry, I’ve handled it all. This is the last place.”

“…?”

Count Yurahan’s domain was the last place Ethan had arrived at.

Among the territories incorporated into the current Whiskers territory, Count Yurahan’s was the most solid and thorough, so it was given the lowest priority.

Count Yurahan momentarily had a blank expression, as if wondering if he was dreaming.

“This isn’t a dream, Count.”

Ethan said.

“I’ll see you again once everything is settled.”

Watching Ethan leave, Count Yurahan slumped back onto his bed.

“He’s completely changed. Much more than when he proposed the alliance.”

Back then, he had a strong challenger’s vibe, but now he felt like a powerful ruler who had seized the throne.

“Accepting that alliance back then will turn out to be my best decision.”

Count Yurahan smiled wryly.

***

After handling everything, Ethan returned to his territory.

The two guards who had also dealt with all the Crescent Moon assassins were waiting for Ethan.

“How did it go?”

“As expected.”

“Good heavens.”

Yerica shook her head.

“But when you say ‘as expected’…”

“They sent assassins throughout the entire territory. Trying to assassinate the key talents leading our territory.”

“…Don’t tell me you stopped all of that? They must have struck simultaneously.”

Ethan just smiled.

“You only have one body… Was Whiskers actually made up of many whiskers?”

“Now that the restrictions are lifted, you’re making interesting jokes, Yerica.”

“…That wasn’t a joke.”

Ethan, who had thoroughly blocked the bold move of Marquis Dren, seemed even more impressive.

“Whew, that damn bastard. We can’t leave things like this.”

“You’re right, young master. If we leave it like this, they’ll keep doing the same thing.”

“Who said anything about leaving it? We’ve secured the justification with this. I’ve captured the key figures among the assassins I dealt with, and those over there.”

Ethan then explained his plan.

At first, Yerica listened with interest, but her expression gradually hardened.

By the end, she had turned completely pale.

“Is this really the right thing to do?”

“Where did that person burning with revenge go?”

“No, that’s true, but isn’t this going too far?”

Yerica said.

“You’re saying you’ll directly infiltrate the marquis’s place and assassinate Marquis Dren!”

“We have the justification now, so even if we pay them back equally, they can’t do anything about it from their position. Even other Twelve Families can’t cover for them. If we had declared war, they would have used every means to block it. But paying them back tonight for what happened tonight, even they can’t do anything about it.”

“But if we do that, couldn’t we be suspected of doing it? Wouldn’t we be taking the same risk as Marquis Dren?”

It was a valid question. But Ethan shook his head.

“Yerica. You’re too trapped in the logic of the weak.”

“…Pardon?”

“Think about it. If Marquis Dren had killed me, don’t you think he would have faced the same suspicion?”

“He would have. Strongly.”

“The marquis knew that and still did it. He thought that if he killed me first, no matter who backed me up afterward, be it Her Highness the Princess or His Holiness the Pope, there would be nothing they could do. He thought he could crush any suspicion.”

“How could they…”

“Because that’s how they’ve lived. For him, being weak is a sin.”

“…”

“And I told you, didn’t I?”

Ethan said.

“Revenge should be done like a madman.”

Saying this with a smile, Ethan truly looked like a madman.

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