Chapter 9 – Revenge (1)

Under the glare that looked ready to kill, the hairy thief Sneak spoke as if aggrieved.

“Damn it. Don’t be too upset. I was also captured.”

Sneak, who had witnessed the cultists’ ritual, fled quickly. Because it exuded a dangerous scent at a glance. However, while escaping the underground sewer, he unfortunately encountered another group.

He had run into the assassins sent by Malcolm and Gerst.

Sneak was naturally captured, and had to guide the way back to the place he had just escaped.

‘Damn it. I had a bad feeling for some reason. It seems I’ll lose my life for a single gold coin. No, if I had known it would turn out like this, should I have just not run away?’

Looking at the chopped-up corpses of the cultists and Veloc’s group standing between them, Sneak regretted his past choice, but it was already water under the bridge. He spoke as if pleading to his new captors.

“Lords. I only guided those two to this place. I have no further connection. Please let me go now!”

Hearing those words, the masked man nodded readily.

“Sure.”

As he gestured, another masked man behind him thrust his sword.

“Fuck. You bastards. I knew this would happen!”

But the quick-witted Sneak quickly dodged. And then, he ran straight to Veloc and Adel.

“Huff, puff. Lords, please save me!”

At his shameless shouting, Adel also tried to swing her sword.

“You bat-like bastard!”

“Hieeeek!”

Veloc stopped the enraged squire.

“Stop, Adel. Now is not the time.”

His own life was at stake. If one wanted to live, what wouldn’t they do?

Veloc understood Sneak’s survival instinct. No, he hadn’t trusted him in the first place anyway.

Above all, there was nothing to gain by killing him now.

The two were currently surrounded by dozens of masked men. That encirclement was gradually tightening even now.

Rather, if there was even one more person, they could distract the enemies’ attention.

Veloc told Sneak to survive on his own, and then spoke to Adel.

“Adel. Watch my back.”

“Leave it to me.”

Adel nodded reliably. The basic principle when a few faced many.

If possible, drawing the opponent to a place with narrow room to maneuver, or if that was not feasible, putting one’s back against the wall.

Because they could focus only on the front without thinking about the rear! But now, Veloc had an excellent subordinate.

There would be absolutely no need to worry about a blade from behind.

The two assumed their stances and rather approached the masked men.

Seeing this, the masked men’s eyes shined with surprise.

To think they didn’t even bat an eye despite being surrounded by dozens of assailants.

What on earth was this confidence?

Sanson, the leader of the masked men and Gerst’s squire, thought that this guy and girl were a bit different from their targets so far.

‘But that’s all. How can just the two of them handle dozens of soldiers?’

Here, there were several squires who had learned professional combat arts under knights, as well as trained soldiers. And although it was just to fill the numbers, there were also rough back alley thugs.

No matter how grand a knight he was.

A knight was also human. As long as they were made of blood and flesh, they couldn’t withstand this number.

Leaving aside a shred of anxiety, Sanson, having finished his contemplation, did not waste words.

He simply spoke briefly, just as he had done until now.

“Kill them.”

The masked men rushed forward. Veloc also ran out, leaving Adel behind.

Woosh!

Cold spearpoints flew, drawing trajectories. It was not a random thrust, but a simultaneous extension, showing a skill that had practiced coordination.

Truly an experienced skill.

‘They are soldiers.’

A situation where holes would be pierced instantly if struck on his bare body without armor. But Veloc was clean.

The Swordsmanship skill he possessed did not merely represent an understanding of swords.

Spears and swords were ultimately a type of blade. How the opponent attacked. If they thrust in, how he should deflect it.

If they swung, how he should block. All of this came to mind. Naturally, the opponent’s attacks were visible to his eyes.

Veloc stretched out a bare hand and grabbed one of the opponent’s spear shafts. Subsequently, he deflected the spears thrusting in right away with his sword and moved his foot slightly to evade the rest.

Clang, clang, clang!

The spears that failed to pierce his body crossed uselessly and bound the empty air.

“What?!”

The masked men were flustered by that stunt-like movement, but only for a moment.

Crack!

Veloc tightly applied force to the spear shaft he was holding. The iron-made spear shaft trembled and snapped.

Even without it, Veloc had a grander build than average people. On top of that, adding the help of stats made it like putting wings on a tiger.

A powerful force an ordinary person could never imitate!

Veloc gripped the sword with both hands that had become free. Between the intersecting lines, his sharp longsword poured down ruthlessly.

The masked men had their necks and wrists severed while still holding their spears.

“Aaaaargh.”

In an instant, four died, and two were incapacitated. Truly ghostly movement and sword skill.

“M-Monster!”

The masked men opened their eyes wide through the pieces of cloth covering their faces.

Just as their movements became sluggish and their morale was about to drop,

“Don’t be afraid and surround him! Encircle him!”

Squire Sanson issued a proper command. No matter who it was, it would be hard to block a blade coming from behind.

Under his leadership, the soldiers, who had discipline and order, moved stealthily and formed a defensive formation once again. But Adel did not just stand by.

“Cowardly bastards!”

She quickly joined the battle, rushing at the masked men who had taken up positions behind Veloc.

The masked men let their guard down for an instant. The reason was simple. Because the opponent was a woman smaller in build than them.

That carelessness soon returned as death. Although not as much as Veloc, her sword was precise and swift. Ordinary soldiers couldn’t put up a fight.

“Ugh. Die!”

A masked man who discovered an opening thrust his sword at Adel, but Veloc blocked that sword.

Clang!

And then, he split the masked man’s head in one go. The reverse was also true. Even if an opening appeared on Veloc, Adel filled that gap.

Swords clashed with swords, shields clashed with spears.

Within the dark sewer, sparks flew here and there along with metallic sounds.

Screams echoed everywhere. Once the two synchronized, the soldiers Sanson brought were slaughtered in droves. The soldiers who dedicated their valor for injustice and corruption soon became a handful of flesh.

“Fuck. There was no mention of this! They expect us to face monsters like that?!”

“If we stay like this, it’s a dog’s death!”

The situation reversed in an instant.

With the soldiers all dead, automatically only the thugs hired by money remained. Their armament was merely a few crude daggers.

Loyalty was not something that could be expected from such guys.

“You mangy bastards! Think about what you’ve received all this time!”

As the guys tried to withdraw soon, the squires including Sanson grew enraged and brandished their swords at the thugs.

The thugs didn’t stay still either. To survive and to take revenge on the clients who dragged them to the jaws of death, they stabbed their daggers.

Stab, stab, stab!

Hot blood was scattered over the cold corpses of the cultists.

A fishy smell of blood was added to the musty smell of the sewer.

Before long, except for Sanson and another squire, everyone had either fled or was dead.

“Huff, huff. This… this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.”

Sanson panted and shook his head.

Their plan was not this.

By now, they should have killed these wanderers and enjoyed themselves merrily with the reward.

Going to a tavern, ordering liquor, calling whores, fondling their breasts, and enjoying sloppily.

‘But…’

Why did things turn out like this?

Veloc mocked the squires who were dazed.

“If you resolved to kill others, you must have resolved to die yourself, right?”

He spun his sword playfully.

“Ugh. Don’t make me laugh! How dare a mere wanderer!”

At Veloc’s relaxed appearance, one of the squires shouted desperately and rushed in.

His balanced footsteps and stance for swinging the sword had quite a sense of stability. But to Veloc’s eyes, he looked full of openings.

The guy’s sword thrust downward.

‘Downstrike.’

A simple but precise and destructive technique. Dozens of techniques to deflect that sword

came to mind.

Soon, he selected an appropriate one among them.

Veloc rather took a big step forward and thrust his sword.

The sword advanced even faster, by the distance and length he had gained.

Squelch!

The squire opened his eyes wide. His hand burned. Looking ahead, his fingers were flying in the air. Surely he had swung first, so why?

Along with the question, the sword that lost its master rolled on the floor.

Clatter!

“Aaargh.”

The squire screamed while clutching his hand. Veloc struck the throat of the suffering squire in one go.

There was no need to target vital spots. There were many places to cut besides that.

In short, he just had to incapacitate him.

“Jon!”

Sanson spat out a shocked cry. Even his last remaining colleague died with a single stroke. A squire who had learned combat skills professionally, not a member of a ragtag crowd.

‘To think there is such a difference in level?! Even Sir Gerst or Sir Malcolm cannot do this. Escape…’

“Keugh.”

Sanson’s thoughts were cut off by sudden pain. As he turned his gaze, Adel was looking down at him with a crooked smile. Her black eyes burned.

“As for you?”

“It’s a familiar voice.”

She cracked her hands. And then she kicked Sanson’s face.

“Krrrgh.”

What Adel wore were combat boots embedded with studs. Sanson’s neck snapped back, and his teeth rained down.

“St… Stop…”

Even though Sanson flailed his arms, Adel did not stop.

Thud, thud, thud!

She repeatedly swung her fists and feet, beating Sanson. He huddled like a bug and took the beating. Adel growled, her eyes shining fiercely.

“Call me a whore again. You son of a bitch.”

Adel had not forgotten the incident at the banquet hall back then for a single moment.

The voices and every detail of those arrogant bastards who dared insult her in front of her master.

She was about to beat him to a pulp. For a while, the sound like beating a drum echoed in the cavern.

“Huff, huff.”

A moment later, Adel hoisted the blood-covered Sanson up. And then she threw him to Sneak, who was trembling in a corner.

“Gasp. Why?”

“Carry the guy. And gather all the heads too.”

“I… I understand!”

Though he suddenly became a porter from a thief, Sneak moved quickly.

His phobia of blood was of no concern right now.

The shudder-inducing martial power and cruelty of the two before him enveloped him.

“How about taking the guy to the lord’s castle as a witness?”

When she asked while pointing at Sanson, Veloc, who was looking inside his inner self after leveling up, nodded readily.

The two despicable knights must be eagerly waiting to bring Veloc and Adel’s heads right about now. But what if they returned safely? What if they learned that all the subordinates they sent had died?

What kind of reaction would they show? Would they beg for forgiveness? Or would they deny it until the end?

Was this how spectators waiting for a play felt? A cold smile hovered around Veloc’s mouth.

“I am curious to see their faces.”

Leaving behind the headless piles of corpses, the three left the cavern.

Veloc was busy investing stats, Adel was busy beating Sanson, and Sneak was paralyzed with fear.

The three, for their respective reasons, failed to see the magic circle on the cavern floor flashing once again.