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Chapter 106

The sword energy made the blood on his blade evaporate and made it clean again, as if denying the carnage it had just inflicted.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said quietly, turning to the leader and meeting his eyes.

Leonard disappeared in an instant, and the leader felt the shadow of death looming over him.

“Blink!” The masks’ leader reflexively cast Blink and reappeared dozens of meters away. One of the most common spatial spells, Blink was classified as Class 5, and when used properly in battle, it was strong enough that it should be considered Class 6.

When Leonard saw the spell, a bit of interest slipped into his eyes. He pulled back his sword, which he had moved forward to cut off his opponent’s neck. He kept his eyes on the mask and said, “If you can Blink just by reciting the incantation, you must be at least Class 6. And you also look well-built. Are you a Magic Swordsman?”

His opponent only growled. Blood seeped from the puncture wound on his neck, dripping all the way to his collarbone. If he had cast the spell even a second later, his head would have been cut off.

“...You’re a monster! The power I sense from you barely meets the Fourth Degree External Force Tier, but you move like someone in the Tenth Degree.”

He had no desire to keep on talking, now that he’d said everything he wanted to say. The tension pulled taut. Both of them could kill at any moment.

Leonard lowered his two swords and smirked. “I suppose you’re a little different from the other guy. All he had was natural talent. But you seem to rely primarily on magic, not martial arts. It’s such a shame that you’re wasting your skills on licking Pablo’s boots.”

“Shut up!” his opponent shrieked. He could likely handle insults to himself, but he couldn’t tolerate Pablo being slandered.

Other masks began to trickle forward. Even though one group was already dead, their number was still high. In fact, based on the power Leonard sensed, this was likely the main fighting force.

Leonard’s eyes narrowed. Unlike the first group, these masks had a dull look in their eyes, and he barely noticed any hint of a shift in their emotions.

These masks were moved not by courage but by madness.

“My brothers! Lay down your lives and capture the boy!” their leader cried. As soon as his order came down, they rushed in without another moment’s hesitation.

It was a crude group attack, but if their limbs became tangled, they would simply cut them off. Regardless of the difference in skill, they would take attack at any opening they saw.

Leonard positioned his two swords and performed an opening display.

Five Elements Style, Two Swords Style

Vermillion Bird Seventeenth Form: Scorching Inferno

He was ready to annihilate most of the group in one go.

The sword energy thrumming on his blade suddenly became crimson and gave off a scorching head, roaring like a volcano. He crossed his swords into an X shape, releasing a storm of fire and burning all the masks running toward him. The sword energy was hotter than molten iron pouring from a blast furnace, instantly charring the masks’ bodies as it cut through them. The corpses fell to the ground, reduced to ashes.

“Tsk.” Leonard took a step back. Though he’d killed close to ten masks with one attack, their comrades used their bodies as shields, and a second wave was closing in. Their bloodshot eyes were full of obvious bloodlust and lunacy.

They were the eyes of religious fanatics with deep-set hatred.

Leonard met them with a cold gaze and held out his two swords.

Five Elements Style, Two Swords Style

Even if his opponents didn’t fear death, if their brains were damaged, they could do nothing. When his sword energy became blue, two thunderbolts shot out. Fast and sharp. They could stab and kill dozens of targets in the span of one breath.

Azure Dragon Eighteenth Form: Thunderclap Return

The thunderbolts moved so fast that the sound of them penetrating through flesh came after a delay. As projectiles buried themselves into the masks’ foreheads, the masks stopped in their tracks and fell over, becoming obstacles on the battlefield.

Rrrrrrr.

But as the corpses strewn across the ground began to glow and swell, Leonard realized what was about to happen and wrinkled his eyebrows.

“They’re self-destructing? And just as I thought you couldn’t fight any dirtier,” he muttered.

He couldn’t get out of range either. The rest of the masks were swarming him without any concern for their lives, intent on capturing him no matter what it took.

Well, if they were going all out, he couldn’t condemn them. There’s no need to. They’re worthless anyway.

They were like little insects. Leonard glanced at them darkly and closed his eyes. The human bombs exploded.

Booooom—!

Each mask was a formidable fighter and a veteran explorer, but they’d thrown away their lives to power the blast. The destructive power was equivalent to casting tens of Class 6 offensive spells, and it shook the entire ground. Concentrated in one area, it would have been enough to bring down an entire fortress!

It wasn’t an attack that should be used on just a single External Force Tier opponent. Even though Pablo himself had instructed them to capture the boy alive if possible, the masked leader didn’t even consider it once he sensed how dangerous Leonard was.

I’m still not confident that he’s dead even after everything...!

Instinctively, he knew the boy was alive. The masked leader made his move.

Somehow, the over one hundred masks he’d brought had been reduced to less than thirty. He placed his palm on one of them and spoke a command. “Blink.”

His target disappeared once the leader cast the short-distance spatial spell. More precisely, the leader had transported the mask to the area of the blast, where thick clouds of dust were still billowing.

Almost instantaneously, red sprayed through the debris, and something round flew into the air. The masked leader didn’t have to take a closer look to know what it was. And he realized that he had to turn to his last resort.

“Men. Let him kill you.”

“For the sake of the Chosen One.”

With that strange command, the religious fanatics flew into the cloud of debris without a moment’s hesitation. Blood sprayed and heads flew out without end, making it obvious who was winning.

The masked leader watched cautiously. If his winning condition was “fulfilling the mission objective,” it wasn’t over yet.

* * *

Leonard made a diagonal cut through his opponent, and the mask wavered before finally toppling over as his breath stopped. The boy stepped on the mask’s neck just to be sure and looked around. The cloud of debris still hadn’t settled, and there was only one more enemy left within it.

He had killed close to a hundred powerful fighters in the upper ranks of Rank B in the span of just a few minutes.

I was wondering if any of them had taken a drug like Conrad had... but it seems that Pablo is more careful than I expected. If they left behind the body of a man who had turned into a monster, it could become evidence to use against the councilor.

Leonard clicked his tongue and turned, still sensing the presence of the masks’ leader. If his opponent had run away while the rest of them were fighting, Leonard would not have been able to catch him. He assumed that the leader had some kind of pride or stubbornness that kept him on the battlefield.

“Yup, I didn’t think you’d run,” he muttered.

His opponent had taken control of his subordinates’ minds, forced them to fight, and—once he made them throw their lives away—used their bodies as bombs.

It was a logical conclusion to think the leader had more tricks left up his sleeve.

What should I do? Leonard wondered.

Should he kill him?

Or play around with him a little?

While the boy was pondering, another mask, who’d been observing from outside the dust cloud, made the first move.

This one used Blink too.

Hm. Leonard felt a presence suddenly appear behind him and coolly raised his sword in its direction. Teleportation spells were generally dangerous, but the caster wasn’t skilled enough this time. Only someone at least as strong as a Master could properly attack Leonard’s opening.

Based on what he’d seen of his other opponents, the mask would barely be able to block or dodge, after which Leonard would land his blow.

But instead of doing either, the mask let his head fly right off, body crumpling to the ground.

Leonard hadn’t sensed his opponent’s suicidal intentions, and he was shocked for a moment. He could have read his intent, and if he had seen through his trick at the beginning, he would have stopped his sword in midair.

What?

An answer came a moment later.

“...Heh.”

It was the masked leader’s voice. The same one who should have had his head cut off.

“Heh, hahahahaha! I got you now, boy! All that’s left is for us to hunt you! You fought with so much faith in yourself, but you’ve dug your own grave! How does it feel?!”

“......”

Something occurred to Leonard. He removed the mask from the face of the head he’d just cut off.

This one had been a decoy.

“...You’re worse than an animal,” Leonard whispered.

Beneath the mask was the face of a young man twisted with horror and pain.

It was none other than Lucciano Patterson.

The scoundrel was known all throughout the Atlantis Maritime Alliance as Pablo’s bastard son. They’d fought as soon as Leonard stepped foot into Atlantis City, and he’d cut off Lucciano’s arm. The memory was still as clear as day.

As soon as Leonard saw Lucciano’s face, he understood what was going on and let out a short breath.

Was I their target instead of Aquamarine? No. Frances would never turn a blind eye to a comrade. I see. They were trying to use me to provoke a conflict between Aquamarine and Moby Dick. Because Moby Dick has the upper hand in terms of pure strength.

They were in trouble.

Not even Leonard could have guessed that Pablo would use his own child as a pawn when he was already in such an advantageous position. Was Aquamarine that big of a problem for the Rift Preservation Faction?

He didn’t have much information, so there wasn’t much he could surmise.

“Well, I should make a move for now,” he muttered to himself.

Leonard turned to look at the masked leader, who had a triumphant expression on his face. When the masked leader saw the clear killing intent in the boy’s eyes, he stiffened.

Five Elements Sword Qi

Flying Thunder Swords

A single bolt of lightning shot out from Leonard’s right hand. Other than the brief moment when he used an energy shield to protect himself from the explosions, this was the first time he was revealing the true power he’d been holding back to pass as someone in the Fourth Degree External Force Tier.

The masked leader let out a panicked shriek when he saw the speed and sharpness of the lightning. “Blink!”

It wasn’t very easy to kill a Class 6 combat-type mage. Even aside from their ability to teleport short distances, they usually had backup tools on their person that could ensure their survival or help them escape.

The masked leader was planning to create some distance before launching into a full-scale attack, but when he reappeared after using Blink, something sharp cut through his neck. He was sure he’d dodged the attack, but it had come flying back to land a fatal blow.

Leonard had thrown the sword he was holding with his left hand.

Even as the masked leader’s head flew into the air, he blurted out a question.

“How?”

“Right before Blink is cast, there’s a faint resonance of mana between the point it’s cast and the target location. If one can see it, well, I don’t need to explain the rest.”

There was nothing easier than attacking the opening of someone who was sure they were safe. All Leonard needed to do was attack as soon as the masked leader appeared after using Blink. It was that simple.

Even so, if this were a normal battle, the masked leader would not have died immediately. He had a protective artifact just in case, and it could protect him from surprise attacks. But he’d rendered it useless with the scroll that he himself activated.

“You’re... a beast...” the masked leader realized. The light went out of his eyes. It was a pitiful death for a Class 6 Magic Swordsman.

Once Leonard was sure his opponent was dead, he retrieved his swords, sheathed both of them, and looked around his surroundings, which had become a sea of blood.

And then he had a deep sense that something was wrong.

The bodies?!

The corpses of the masks had disappeared. Or rather, they were in the process of disappearing. Some of them wriggled before melting; others became ashes as if they were cremated and scattered into the wind. Not a single trace would be left.

The only one that remained was Lucciano, who had died by Leonard’s sword.

“Ha. So you won’t even let me claim self-defense.”

He was sure that his enemies were watching from somewhere in the city. But the only evidence left of the fight was the bitter taste in Leonard’s mouth, and there was nothing he could present. Pablo was dirty but thorough.

Then, Leonard realized what he was planning and began to sprint.

Now, it was a race against time.