Come Here (2)

Kadim and Bris’s hearts pounded wildly.

From the moment Silia and the kids returned alive, their sense of unease had only intensified.

It was nerve-wracking enough that those brats had miraculously survived, but the fact that the evidence of their rule-breaking was now exposed was the real problem.

Of course, they had tried not to leave any evidence to avoid getting caught.

The only evidence left was the warp stone, and the witnesses were Brook and Dorve.

There was also another witness, Rejir, but he was unconscious at the moment.

They had planned to silence him when the chance arose, but it was all for nothing now.

‘That should have been taken care of…!’

With Silia and the kids supposedly wiped out, the warp stone should have disappeared with them, and as for Brook and Dorve, it would have been fine as long as they kept their mouths shut.

But now those brats had returned alive. That meant all the evidence that should have vanished was now back.

With the warp stone in Klein’s possession, it wouldn’t take long to figure out who tampered with it.

“Those two were pointed out by Brook and Dorve.”

Silia pointed at Kadim and Bris.

She stared at Kadim with a flat expression.

‘Damn it…!’

When had she managed to hand the warp stone to Klein?

Did she hand it over the moment she got back alive?

As confusion swirled in his mind, Kelian’s grave voice rang out.

“From now on, all personnel are to return to their posts.”

Kelian gave the order to disperse to the soldiers gathered at the base.

“Everyone except those two.”

All soldiers except the suspects Kadim and Bris left the area.

Before heading back to their posts, the soldiers all sneered at the two.

Even the soldiers from Kadim’s own squad weren’t an exception.

‘Those bastards!!’

Kadim, who had always led them, felt a rush of bitter betrayal.

He had no time to accuse them of ingratitude, though.

“Kadim. And Bris. From this point on, I want you to answer my questions honestly.”

After all the soldiers had left, Kelian’s stern voice resonated.

“Why did you break the rules?”

It was clear from Kelian’s face that he no longer trusted them.

There was no way out.

“Well…”

What excuse should he give in this situation?

His heart hammered; he’d never experienced anything like this since joining the 7th Legion.

Louis could clearly hear their heartbeats. Even if they tried to lie, Louis could see through their falsehoods.

‘What should I do?’

No officer had ever dared confront Kadim recklessly.

He was used to lording over everyone from above, so this situation was unfamiliar.

It was his first time facing a real crisis, and he struggled to think.

“Yes, that’s right. It was us.”

At that moment, Bris, who was beside him, spoke confidently.

“It’s come to this—there’s no point denying it.”

“Hey, you…!”

What nonsense was he spouting?

Was he eager to die? Kadim was about to snap at him when Bris shouted.

“But! Commander, are you sure you won’t regret throwing us away?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know better than anyone who’s responsible for the achievements of Paruzan Fortress!”

Kadim’s eyes shot wide open at those words.

The squad he led, Kadim’s squad, was in charge of the fortress’s achievements.

When a 7th Legion fortress fell short on results, the Imperial Court would treat it as dead weight and cut off all supplies.

Without those supplies, it was impossible to survive here in the demon realm.

Wiping out Kadim’s squad was essentially toppling the entire fortress.

“Without us, this fortress would have fallen! Do you really not care?”

Kadim’s face brightened a bit at Bris’s statement.

Now that he thought about it, he still had a card to play.

Would Kelian really throw away someone as valuable as him?

“So that’s your reason for surviving despite breaking the rules?”

“We did break the rules, but what I said isn’t wrong. Has there ever been a squad that surpassed ours?”

Kadim’s squad had outstanding skills, even among the so-called refuse that rolled in.

Even Bris, as deputy leader, rivaled or surpassed ordinary officers.

“Hahaha… Khahahahaha!!”

Kelian suddenly burst out laughing.

Kadim’s squad was the top unit in Paruzan Fortress, and Kelian acknowledged that.

However…

“Then what if—there is a squad that surpasses you?”

“What?”

Bris’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you saying there’s already a replacement squad for us?”

That sent a chill down their spines.

But realistically, it seemed impossible.

“There aren’t talents like us just lying around among those trash prisoners….”

“Think about it. Why do you think the higher-rank monster that created the fog disappeared?”

Unless someone had hunted it, there was no way for a Gigant Vulture to just vanish.

Bris shivered at that realization.

Meanwhile, Kelian put his hand on Louis’s shoulder.

Louis grinned and slowly approached the two.

What on earth was he trying to do with that kid? Despite their doubts, Kadim and Bris felt instinctively uneasy.

“Since you broke the rules, execution is certain. But I’ll grant you, the fortress’s strongest, a special chance.”

As Louis drew his sword, Kelian declared:

“I’ll let the winner live.”

Was this a joke? Kadim and Bris were dumbfounded.

But at the same time, an ominous feeling told them Kelian wasn’t bluffing.

“This is a fight to decide the true top strength of Paruzan.”

If that brat really could replace them, defeat was certain.

The higher-rank monster that summoned the fog was gone, and the kid returned without a scratch.

It was ridiculous, but they tried to deny it.

“Don’t be absurd!”

Bris, in open defiance, attacked Louis first.

But just before his sword reached Louis, Silia blocked it.

“Ugh… Don’t interfere!”

“….”

Bris fumed as Silia suddenly flicked away his sword.

Despite her serious injuries, her strength as deputy-commander was enough to block Bris.

“Do you have a death wish?”

But a wound was still a wound.

Silia stumbled as blood poured from her leg wound, which had reopened because of her movements.

“Still able to move in that state, huh?”

Bris mocked Silia and charged at her.

“Then I’ll grant your wish and kill you first!”

Just as his aura-imbued slash was about to reach Silia’s neck, the aura instantly vanished from his blade.

“Kyaaaaaaak!!”

At the same moment, Bris screamed unexpectedly and rolled on the ground.

“You’re right, just standing is a struggle for me right now.”

Silia, who had been silent, finally spoke. She glared coldly at Bris, blood dripping from her leg.

“But did you forget?”

She reached out, activating a torture spell.

“Did you forget the difference in our status?”

“No way…!”

Bris finally realized.

No matter his skill, he was just a soldier.

But Silia was an officer—a deputy-commander at that. She could freely command and even execute soldiers with a gesture.

“That bitch!”

Kadim’s eyes widened as he saw Silia torturing his deputy leader.

Just as he swung his sword at her—

Bang!-

Louis’s surprise slash forced Kadim to block reflexively.

The strength Louis showed pushed Kadim backward.

“Hey, where are you looking? You should be playing with me.”

From that clash alone, Kadim instinctively understood why Kelian chose this kid as his replacement force.

Kadim, desperate to survive, shrouded his sword with aura and attacked.

His survival instinct allowed him to set aside his fear and focus on the battle.

He unleashed his full might toward the short boy, swinging with a speed much faster than any flying arrow.

But Louis didn’t get hit.

‘What?!’

No matter how precisely Kadim swung, it was useless against Louis.

Louis dodged every slash with movements reminiscent of gymnastics.

‘To think he’d be this good…!’

Until now, only Silia could respond to his swordsmanship so easily.

For this little brat to replicate that was a shock.

He’d underestimated the kid far too much.

Realizing this, Kadim pulled a dagger with his other hand and threw it at Louis’s thigh.

“…?”

Louis simply stepped back and avoided the dagger.

While it was more surprising that the kid dodged the sneak attack, that didn’t matter.

Kadim smirked and retreated. The moment he did, red aura burst from his body in an explosion.

Boom!-

If he hadn’t stepped back, even Kadim would have been caught in it.

Only those with aura training could survive such an explosion unscathed.

Anyone else caught directly in that blast would be out of commission.

‘Persistent kid.’

Louis was standing unhurt.

He had narrowly dodged and ended up a bit away from the blast center.

But it was still close enough that he should be dazed from the heat.

Thinking Louis must be groggy, Kadim charged right in.

“Die!!”

This was his one chance to kill.

Sensing a glimmer of hope, Kadim’s sword finally touched Louis’s body—slashing down at the boy’s small shoulder.

“Huh?”

For a moment, Kadim was sure he’d won—but then his eyes widened in disbelief.

Louis had grabbed Kadim’s sword with his bare hand.

This was an aura-imbued slash of a Middle Expert rank. Louis merely caught it and smiled.

Slick—

While Kadim stood stunned, a red line appeared on his wrist.

The sword he’d been holding—and his hand—fell to the ground.

“Wh-what?”

Kadim looked dazed at how quickly it happened.

When the pain finally hit, he shrieked.

“Kyaaaak!!”

When had he been cut? He hadn’t seen Louis swing his blade.

Kadim backed away from Louis, trembling.

Having lost a part of his body, the unease he’d felt all along finally became certainty.

“You… really….”

The reason the higher-rank monster behind the fog vanished—was right here in front of him.

If a kid like this really had killed that monster, then the result of this fight was obvious.

Louis looked at the ashen Kadim and said,

“So you really are the strongest, huh?”

Blood dripped from Louis’s hand that had caught the sword.

Even though he wasn’t using his scales like usual and his skin got wounded, the injury healed instantly.

“Then why are you running away?”

Kadim stepped back at Louis’s disappointed question.

He tried to stem the bleeding with his remaining hand.

Desperate to survive, Kadim’s eyes lit up as he remembered a way out.

“Yeah… that’s right.”

It was the trick Silia had just used.

After all, that kid was still just a soldier.

“Die, you bastard!!!”

Kadim reached out with his remaining hand and activated a spell at full power.

A current surged through Louis’s body, strong enough to execute a soldier in one go.

Thinking, ‘This should do it!’, Kadim grinned, but soon noticed something was wrong.

“Thanks for the sponsorship.”

Louis said calmly.

He seemed completely unfazed by the torture, surprising Kadim.

Even as the spell activated, Louis smiled gratefully and kicked Kadim’s leg out from under him.

Crunch!-

A gruesome sound of shattering bone rang out.

Having lost both a hand and a leg, Kadim’s vision blurred from pain and blood loss.

“Sp… spare…”

His instincts took over.

Shaking like a leaf, Kadim bowed his head to the monster before him and pleaded,

“Please… spare me….”

A few tears fell into the pool of blood on the floor.

“Someone put me up with this! I swear—it wasn’t my idea…!”

Doing anything he could to survive, Kadim fumbled in his pocket with his remaining hand and pulled out two letters.

Receiving them, Louis caught a scent similar to Rejir from the notes.

Opening them, Louis let out a hollow laugh.

“So that’s why you were after me?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep