798 chapter - From Here, the Persuasion Begins (5)
798 chapter - From Here, the Persuasion Begins (5)
Darentz faltered backward step by step, scanning his surroundings.
Daggers, not even held in hand, were floating in midair, exuding aura blades. And there were dozens of them.
It was a technique beyond common sense. He had never imagined such a thing could be possible.
‘Wh-What is this? Magic?’
For Darentz, it was only natural to assume this was magic taught by the dragon.
Whether the nature of the technique was magic or not, the fact remained—it was dangerous.
Because those daggers emitting aura blades had completely encircled him on all sides.
It was as though dozens of superhumans had him surrounded, pressing down on him with unbearable weight.
‘There’s nowhere to escape.’
No matter where he looked, no opening could be seen. Whatever direction he moved, he would be struck by a chain of attacks.
Darentz changed his mind.
Trying to kill Marika now, he judged, was no longer worth it. She had shown a level approaching a superhuman; there was no reason to keep fighting here.
If he focused purely on escape, there was a chance of success. To create that chance, Darentz deliberately spoke.
“What is this technique? Magic the dragon taught you?”
“A technique I created to kill you.”
“You…… created it?”
“Yes. Because I had to kill all of you on my own.”
“……”
Darentz swallowed hard.
To think she had forged such a technique with that kind of resolve. And such an overwhelming technique at that.
Just how exceptional was her talent?
No one had ever realized Marika possessed such ability. Even though they had watched her since she was a child.
That meant either her talent had blossomed upon meeting the dragon…… or she had hidden it herself all along.
Marika’s eyes gleamed chillingly.
When she raised her hand, the daggers radiated even sharper killing intent.
“Darentz, you never knew, but I have my childhood memories.”
“……”
“I only pretended not to, to survive. But every day I fought to never forget.”
“……At that young an age?”
“I did.”
“……That’s even possible?”
“For me, it was.”
At Marika’s words, Darentz’s breath came rough. He could hardly believe it.
All assassins were orphans. To carry out missions properly, they could not be bound by any ties—it was only natural.
But even in a brutal era, stealing away orphans at will was not easy. After all, once grown, they became labor and wealth for a lord.
And assassins weren’t the only ones who targeted orphans.
Thieves’ guilds, information guilds, mercenary companies, slave traders—many groups sought them.
Any group lacking numbers would inevitably decline. So at times, some resorted to filling their ranks by force.
By °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° slaughtering parents and creating young orphans overnight.
Marika had been a child of a slash-and-burn village.
The Crips’ executives had wiped out the villagers in a single night, and taken away only the sleeping children to raise as assassins.
To the children they lied, saying bandits had attacked their village and that the Crips had saved them. At first, they even treated them kindly.
Since they were young, the children quickly lost their true memories. And so they grew up as assassins of the Crips.
Tears welled in Marika’s eyes as she spoke.
“One day I woke up, and it was in your den. But I didn’t want to forget my parents. So I reminded myself every single day.”
“……You were only three years old then.”
“Yes, and so you all thought I had forgotten. But I only stayed silent out of fear.”
“……Unbelievable.”
Neither Darentz nor the Crips executives knew that Marika was a once-in-a-century genius.
With her brilliant mind, she had ceaselessly doubted the Crips assassins. She had focused only on hiding her ability and surviving.
And still, she had fought to keep the memories of her parents alive.
Those only moments of happiness and love in her short life.
Later, when she was older, she learned the truth. She came to know what was done with those orphans.
“You murdered people to make orphans and used them as disposable tools. All so they wouldn’t turn on you if they ever learned the truth.”
“……”
Marika’s words were true. Only select individuals were groomed to master high-level techniques and rise as executives.
They chose only those who had come to the assassins of their own will, or at least whose families the assassins had never touched.
Even in the killings that created orphans, only such people were allowed to participate.
When Marika learned the truth of it all, she resolved to destroy the Crips.
“Trash like you have no place in this world.”
Marika’s fingers moved slightly in the air.
The daggers suspended around her traced arcs of light and all moved as one.
Swaaaaaaash!
Blinding streams of light whirled around Darentz in a great circle.
It was a suffocating sight, as though dozens of meteors fell at once.
Kaaang! Kaaang! Kaaang!
Darentz, with superhuman reflexes, deflected dagger after dagger. But for every one he blocked, another came surging in from a different angle.
The beams of light struck him from all directions.
From above, below, from left and right. Even from beneath his feet.
He had no time to breathe.
Kagagagagagang!
Sparks flew with each metallic clash.
As time passed, wounds carved themselves across Darentz’s body.
Though he tried to back away, looking for a chance to flee, the daggers only pressed closer and closer.
‘There’s no escape.’
The daggers were not merely attacking.
Their luminous arcs crossed and wove together into a perfect circular prison.
And the moment one was caught inside, there was no way out.
“Ah……”
Darentz’s vision was soon filled with razor-sharp brilliance that flashed like an aurora.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-BOOM!
The daggers surged like a storm.
One twisted aside, another slipped through.
They rained down from above, slashed from the sides, stabbed from below.
The torrents of aura blades split his flesh and severed his bones.
Blood and light sprayed together into the air.
Darentz’s resistance slowed, his body staggering with every strike.
And when his struggling became meaningless——
Tok.
The daggers halted.
Covered in blood, Darentz swayed and looked at Marika.
“You…… you, how did you……”
In his eyes swirled terror and despair, disbelief and shock, regret and rage.
Marika slowly stretched out her hand and spoke.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this day.”
“Ghhhhh……”
“I couldn’t even cry. I was afraid even my tears would give me away to you.”
“Kuuhhh……”
“You’ll never understand those hellish days.”
“W-Wait…… just wait…….”
“Today…… all of you will disappear.”
“S-Spare me…… please spare me……”
“Go to hell, you bastard.”
As soon as she clenched her fist in the air,
KWAANG!
Light exploded like a blast, and dozens of daggers crossed at once, piercing Darentz’s body.
His figure froze where he stood. His face was filled only with fear.
And a moment later.
Thududuk.
Darentz’s body split into dozens of pieces and collapsed helplessly.
Marika looked down at his corpse and let out a long sigh.
With that one breath, it felt as if something that had weighed on her chest for so long finally lifted.
“……Thank goodness.”
It had been a hard life. She had lived every day in fear of being exposed, terrified that someone might realize she still remembered her parents.
Even so, she had never stopped honing her skills.
Her enemies had been far too great to overcome, but she had never given up. She had even tried to use the Pope’s command to destroy them.
That plan had failed, but……
Marika smiled.
Because of that failure, she had gained something even better.
“……Truly, thank goodness.”
She repeated those words over and over again.
She was grateful she had joined the Julien Mercenary Corps. Without them, she would never have been able to take her revenge with her own hands.
She had been truly fortunate. She gave thanks for that miraculous encounter.
With a lighter expression, Marika raised her daggers.
At once, the daggers shot outward in all directions, striking the hidden Crips assassins.
Today, the Crips would be erased from this world.
Skaak! Skaak! Skaak!
Marika moved swiftly, hunting down the Crips assassins. At the same time, she slew the Imperial knights who got in her way.
With another superhuman joining the fight, the Imperial Army collapsed even faster. And with an unseen assassin raging across the battlefield, the chaos only deepened.
Moving through different parts of the battlefield, Marika soon passed by where Ghislain stood.
As she brushed past him, she spoke softly.
“……Thank you.”
Marika was truly grateful. Without him, she would never have completed her revenge by her own strength.
Ghislain rested his spear on his shoulder and gave a wry smile.
“Think nothing of it.”
He knew. Even without him, Marika would have done it. All he had done was shorten the time it took.
Though Marika herself didn’t seem to realize that.
Ghislain glanced around. At some point, more Imperial soldiers had formed up defensively.
No one had ordered them to. They did it instinctively, driven by the will to survive.
No matter how much their commanders shouted from behind, the soldiers no longer pushed forward aggressively.
“Shall we end this?”
Ghislain raised his spear once more.
The Julien Mercenary Corps was exhausted as well. There was nothing to gain from dragging the battle out any longer.
Dudududududu!
His horse thundered forward again. Ghislain bellowed toward the Imperial soldiers.
“Out of the way!”
At his shout, the Imperial soldiers shrank back, opening a path.
It was like prey cowering before the roar of a predator.
Ghislain’s target was the commanders, mages, and priests who had stayed safe in the rear.
The commanders in the back shrieked in terror.
“St-Stop him! Hurry, stop him!”
But no one moved. They were too busy just dodging the weapons flying through the air.
Dudududududu!
Knights guarding the far rear stepped forward with grim expressions. They did not flee, for they were knights who knew honor.
Ghislain twisted his lips into a crooked smile and murmured.
“A good stance.”
Mana gathered into the tip of his spear, a long blue light stretching out.
“But not a wise choice.”
KWAANG!
When Ghislain swung his spear, the first knight who rushed him lost his head.
As the spray of blood traced red arcs in the sky, his spear was already piercing through the chest of the second knight. The third knight’s head was smashed apart inside his helmet.
KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!
Ghislain’s movements were like lightning whipping through a storm.
With every sweep of his spear, the knights fell without being able to resist.
Only the short sound of breath, the heavy sound of armor breaking, and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground filled the air.
In an instant, a gaping hole was torn into the knights’ formation.
The Imperial commanders, mages, and priests in the rear now stood exposed, without any barrier.
The mages, panicked, poured all their mana into protective wards. The priests did the same.
And then, a new kind of hell unfolded across the battlefield.
KWA-AAAAANG!
Naktura’s 8th-Circle magic erupted across the field. Ereneth’s spirits rampaged once more, tearing through the Imperial Army.
Mages and spirit summoners who faced no interference on the battlefield were terror itself.
Even the mercenaries fighting alongside them paused in awe at the destructive power.
“Uaaaagh!”
“What are the mages doing!”
“Stop their magic, now!”
Cries of fear and anger rose from the Imperial soldiers on all sides.
But the Imperial mages and priests made no response. No—they could not.
For to them, the figure of Ghislain standing before their eyes was far more terrifying than anything else.
A few knights once again charged him, but they were pierced through and killed before they could even swing their weapons.
Ghislain slowly stretched his spear out and spoke.
“Which of the remaining commanders is the highest in rank?”
All eyes turned to a single spot.
Soon, a middle-aged man raised his hand with a frightened face.
“V-Viscount Horento.”
“There are still thousands of soldiers left. Will you continue to fight?”
“……”
“I’ll give you three seconds. Choose. One, two……”
“We surrender!”
At Viscount Horento’s words, Ghislain lowered his spear and spoke.
“Mages, cast amplification spells. So the surrender can be proclaimed.”
The mages obeyed without hesitation. Soon, the cries of Viscount Horento and the other commanders rang out over the battlefield.
“Surrender! The Imperial Army surrenders!”
“We have been defeated!”
“Further fighting is meaningless! Surrender at once!”
At the same time, the Julien Mercenary Corps halted their advance.
The remaining Imperial knights and soldiers immediately threw down their weapons and fell prone.
Of course, Naktura pretended not to hear and tried to cast one more spell, but it was blocked by Ereneth’s spirits.
Ghislain looked down at the prostrate Imperial soldiers with a satisfied expression.
“I like this.”
Not because they had surrendered.
But because even after losing all their superhumans and with defeat inevitable, they had not yielded until the order was given.
Some had cowered and flinched before him, but none had completely fled the field or thrown down their weapons beforehand.
They were, as expected, an army trained to fight the Demonic Realm.
Ghislain dismounted and gestured to Viscount Horento.
“Come closer. I have questions.”
Viscount Horento also dismounted, then hesitantly approached Ghislain.
Suddenly, Ghislain drew a luxurious hand axe from behind his waist and spoke.
“From here on, you had better understand my feelings very well. Got it?”
Viscount Horento, not knowing what he meant, quickly nodded all the same.