Chapter 289
(Kyle Calendar Year 513: Age 20)
A Life-Risking Secret Plan
Translator : PolterGlast
In the underground
labyrinth where the Clan of Darkness lurked, Kyrias, who received an
unexpected attack and suffered a fatal wound, poured every last ounce of his
remaining strength into his left hand while
blowing blood bubbles from his mouth.
『Just a little more, just a little! My life... please hold
out.』 While shouting such words in
his heart that were already a voiceless prayer...
Then, the moment a
flash of light and a roar echoed in the room, Kyrias
grasped his sword with his right hand, kicked the floor intending to exhaust
his life, and charged straight ahead.
A moment of silence
visited after that...
On the left side of
the place where Kyrias stood, the charred corpse of a man who must have
taken a direct hit from the lightning strike lay, and in front, two men, both
pierced through the chest, stood like statues and stopped moving. One was still
pierced through the chest by a spear, and the other man wearing a deep hood was
deeply pierced through the chest by the blade Kyrias thrust...
Then, slowly, the
two collapsed to the floor as if crossing each other. With the momentum of
falling, the liquid inside the large water skin hanging at Kyrias's
waist slowly flowed out. Along with the massive amount of blood they shed.
『Not yet... I will never close my eyes... not yet...』 Amidst the fading flame of life and
consciousness sinking into darkness, Kyrias kept his eyes wide open
while gritting his teeth.
And then... he
stopped moving.
"Tch,
struggling pointlessly at the very end! Master? Are you safe?"
"Heh heh heh, Azel,
there is no need to panic."
Saying so, the old
man appeared from the darkness to the left rear of the man who fell pierced
through the chest.
"I feel sorry for having this
fellow serve as a substitute, though."
Seeing that, Azel
knelt with a relieved expression. And then, he was astonished once again.
"No, Master's safety takes precedence above all else."
"Wh-, Lugner!
Even you are alive? Then this corpse is..."
Surprised by the
voice of the comrade he
thought had died, he couldn't understand the situation for a moment. Where was
this man?
"I did a sorry
thing to Serpens..."
Seeing the face of Lugner
who muttered so, he finally understood the situation. To begin with,
'preparations for drinks and snacks are complete' announced by the messenger
who died pierced through the chest was their code word indicating the disposal
of traitors and useless persons.
And in the darkness
before Kyrias was invited in, the two cautious and deeply suspicious men
had each taken actions that could be called selfish to protect themselves.
The old man invited
the man who announced Kyrias's visit into the dark room, swapped
positions with him, and spoke while lurking in the darkness behind him.
To attack Kyrias
from behind, Lugner swapped positions with Serpens, who was on
the entrance side. Both Azel and Serpens himself had consented to
that.
But actually, even
that was a disguise; after moving near the entrance, hiding his face, and
inviting Kyrias in, he used the darkness to put on yet another act.
He disguised the man
who followed behind Kyrias with his dark magic and swapped his standing
position. And Lugner, while hiding his figure in the darkness, lurked
even further behind Serpens, to the left rear from Kyrias's
perspective. Kyrias was merely misled into misidentifying him, faintly
visible, as Lugner by the voice emitted from Serpens's direction.
Then, seeing the
time was right, he delivered a spear strike to him. Without dirtying his own
hands, lurking in a safe position.
"Master, the
fact that Kyrias resorted to such a reckless act means there is a high
possibility this place is already exposed. Though it is regrettable, now that
things have come to this, there is no longer any time to delay. We will move to
protect you, Master, so
I believe we need to urgently relocate. I humbly request that you prepare for
departure immediately... "
"Wait! Lugner,
before that, there is something I want to question! Why did you use Serpens..."
Azel could
not forgive Lugner for using a comrade as a decoy to protect himself.
"Azel,
it is fine. When it comes to a fight, it is a self-evident truth to target the
most formidable one, Lugner,
first. The cautious and deeply scheming survive, and those lacking caution lose
their lives. That is our custom. It is fine for now. Unless you want to end up
like this too."
Saying so, as if
mocking, the old man walked up to the two lying crossed and pierced through the
chest, and cast a cold gaze from above.
Then, when he took
the final step, he frowned for a moment. He couldn't tell in the darkness, but
a pool of blood of an amount unimaginable to be just from the two was spreading
on the floor, wetting his feet with an unpleasant sound.
"What is this?
Blood... gugaaaaah!"
After muttering a
word, along with a sudden roar, the old man convulsed violently while
screaming.
Because Kyrias's
left hand, which was thought to have already died, moved slightly and unleashed a final lightning strike into the blood pool his hand
was submerged in.
"What!"
"Master!"
The two screamed,
but stiffened by the sudden situation, they couldn't make a single move. And
the area was enveloped in a burning smell.
"Kuh, his head!
Cut his head off quickly!" "Master! Master! Please... pull yourself
together."
Simultaneously with
the two screaming again, the man who thrust the spear earlier drew his sword
and was about to swing it down with both hands.
『To rely on the Demon Territory Count's wisdom until
the very end... no matter how I struggle... I could never match him. The
rest... is... Ai...
yar... I leave... it... to... you...』
The moment the flame
of his life vanished, Kyrias
muttered in his heart and floated a faint smile as if self-deprecating. But his
eyes remained wide open and were never to be closed...
"Impossible... Master..."
Azel was
speechless and fell to his knees beside the third man rolling in that blood
pool.
"What is this?
This guy, preparing a large amount of salt water in a water skin... why on
earth?"
There, for the first
time, the unnecessarily large water skin tied to Kyrias's waist caught
his eye. Moreover, whether intentionally not closed, the water inside was set
to flow out on its own when lying down.
"Hmph, he
probably planned to salt our heads anyway. What a foolish man.
Now his own head will be salted. Azel, there is no time to be stunned.
We depart urgently from here."
Even though we
lost our one and only leader, why can he stay calm?
The moment he
thought so, Azel couldn't help but feel suspicion and anger welling up
from the bottom of his heart.
"L-Lugner! You!"
"Calm down!
Even if you lament, Master will not return. We have an obligation to inherit
Master's will and fulfill his great ambition. It's not like you don't
understand that. We are leaving this place immediately." (Didn't Master
himself just say 'those lacking caution lose their lives'? At this
point, we can only gratefully accept his final teaching).
"Where on earth
to?"
"To the new
vessel Master mentioned. That is the mission imposed on us, who bear the next
generation."
Does this mean
this guy too, taking after his father (Hiyorimi), is painting a
disproportionate dream? Pitiful guy. You guys were never considered
successors by Master
from the beginning! But... it can't be helped now... shall I inherit Master's will and use this
guy up next?
After anger and some
calculation, Azel also resolved himself.
"We will depart
immediately with all the wealth we can carry and the heads we keep alive,
but... we also need to finish cleaning up first..."
Saying so, Lugner
turned to the man who pierced Kyrias with a spear.
"How many
soldiers does he have?"
"80 outside, 4
here."
"So he fell
that far. How unsightly.
Even though he once participated in the front lines accompanied by an army of
1,400."
Saying so, Lugner
laughed mockingly looking at Kyrias's corpse. But he himself was in no
position to talk about others.
Because he too
unsightlily lost the Fearalt Principality rebel army of 30,000 and the
Kingdom rebel army of 8,000...
Knowing that, Azel
stared at Lugner with cold eyes, but Lugner continued talking
without seemingly caring about such things at all.
"Take only the subordinates who
'swore loyalty' to you and return to the surface, and tell them he accomplished
his goal. Then, watch for an opening and attack the common soldiers on
the surface! While they are shaken, my subordinates will surround and
annihilate them, securing the safety of our escape route."
"Understood.
Then this guy's
head..."
Answering so, the
man casually picked up Kyrias's rolling head, wrapped it in a cloth, and
left the room.
"Those not
participating in the battle above, split up and start working immediately!
Prioritize carrying out the highest value large gold coins. Gold coins that
cannot be used now or inconvenient gold bars can wait! Above all, cleaning up
outside is the priority."
Conveying so to
those waiting outside, Lugner issued instructions one after another and arranged
the escape. On the other hand, Azel, kneeling beside the old man in the
dark room, stared at Lugner's back with a resentful expression.
After a while, the
sounds of angry roars and crossing swords echoed in the underground labyrinth,
and it soon became quiet.
And so, the second act of the battle against the darkness rises.
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