Chapter 18: Flick (6)

“Can we just keep waiting like this?”

“There’s no other choice. If we move now, we’d become targets. It’s only going to end one way or another, so we have to wait.”

“Should we ask the Master? If there’s another way out through the back alley?”

Laysis and Yuria seemed uninterested in the fight happening on this street.

It was a matter in a world different from the one they inhabited anyway.

They must have known well that excessive interest would just stir unnecessary trouble.

‘That’s probably for the best.’

Even in Carl’s view, waiting for the conflict between the organizations to end was the wisest decision.

With such brutal swordplay occurring, it would surely be resolved soon.

But as with everything in life, things rarely go exactly as expected.

Bang!

The tavern door was shattered.

Inside, the once-lively room fell into silence at the sudden turn of events.

“…….”

Everyone looked toward the entrance with expressions of disbelief.

No matter what, would someone dare invade a neutral zone tavern?

Yet the uninvited guest walked in, unaffected by the stares, gripping a sword dripping blood.

“I’m looking for some people. A trio dressed head to toe in robes. I heard one man and two women, but that’s not confirmed.”

“W-wait a moment. This is a neutral zone…”

The tavern’s master hesitated, speaking to the intruder, but the murderously intent gaze shut his mouth.

To violate the neutrality of this tavern would go against Flick’s code.

In this lawless zone known as Black Road, the unspoken rules had to be upheld even more strictly.

Otherwise, they would only self-destruct.

But facing a blade so close, few dared to hold to their convictions.

“…….”

The tavern master bit his lip and motioned toward the table where Carl and his party sat.

Three people, robes, one man and two women.

There was only one party matching those conditions there.

Sensing that things were going wrong, the trio rose the moment the intruder’s gaze fell on them.

Crack!

Laysis, at the front, swung her sword violently, smashing through the tavern wall.

They had scoped out an escape route from the moment they entered.

That’s why they sat in the corner—to break the thin wall and flee if needed.

‘Just as I thought, codes in the shadows mean nothing.’

Yuria glared behind while reinforcing her body with magic.

“…….”

Meanwhile Carl sharply scanned his surroundings.

Fortunately, the intruder seemed to have come alone—no allies visible.

“What should we do? Should we tear him apart?”

“That’s dangerous. If he attacks separately, escaping will be difficult.”

Carl nodded at Laysis’s response.

Though his appearance was unimpressive, his momentum was formidable.

If faced one-on-one, even Laysis or Yuria would find him challenging.

“I think he’ll catch up soon.”

Sure enough.

He quickly closed in from behind.

If they kept moving forward like this, they would be ambushed from the rear.

They had to make a decision.

“Damn it, there’s only one of him—might as well fight.”

“That might not be bad. Carl, I ask for your support.”

“Understood.”

At the end of the alley, they finished removing their outer layers and immediately turned around.

Laysis, taking point, tossed off her robe and unleashed a sharp strike.

Clang!

In the dim alley, neon-yellow sparks flew.

As proof of his skill, the man deflected her sudden strike unflinching.

He pushed Laysis back with overwhelming strength and thrust his sword with fierce resolve.

Clang-clang!

In that critical moment, Carl stepped forward.

Gripping his own sword in reverse grip, he slipped between them, narrowly deflecting the thrust.

When the jarring clang echoed, Laysis, having recovered her stance, exhaled in relief and stepped back.

“Thank you!”

If not for that, she would’ve been skewered.

As she voiced her gratitude, mana swirling in the air flickered and transformed.

“……!”

The ground beneath the man turned into a swamp, stealing his balance.

Even the most skilled warrior can’t fully exert force without solid footing.

‘Magic! The other one must be a mage.’

The man leapt into the air off the wall.

But overhead, Laysis had already anticipated his move.

“Hah!”

A full‑force strike dropped from the sky.

No words needed to clarify who had the upper hand.

Swoosh!

Though he barely blocked the attack, his momentum visibly faltered.

Floating in the air, his movements were restricted, and he couldn’t track Carl’s sudden movement near his side.

Slash!

His side was cut and blood splattered.

With a deep wound, his face contorted in rage as he spat curse words.

“Goddamn it!”

He regripped his sword and blocked Carl’s next strike.

Then, with a quick kick to Carl’s stomach, he flipped in midair.

He intended to leave the swampy patch and land on solid ground.

Thud!

But a transparent barrier formed at his foot, ruining the plan.

With no stable footing, his balance collapsed; he glared upward.

Shwing!

From emptiness rose violet chains.

The “Chains of Binding,” trademark of the Eternal School.

It’s a basic type of magic, but cast with speed and immense strength as long as the caster’s mana allowed.

In an instant, the man’s limbs were bound.

Clang!

He tried to break the chains by surging mana through his body, but Laysis’s sword, charging from the ground, was a beat faster.

Thud!

Blood burst as the gleaming white blade pierced through his back.

The man trembled briefly before collapsing limply.

With a short sigh, Laysis pulled out her sword and flicked off the blood.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“……I’m fine.”

Carl, who had been thrown to the ground by a kick to the stomach, rose to his feet with a grimace.

Yuria, perhaps feeling guilty because all this stemmed from her, immediately approached and cast a healing spell on him.

Of course, even this was all part of Carl’s meticulous plan.

“The commotion’s bigger than expected, so it’d be best to leave right away.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best. ……How are you? Can you move?”

“No problem.”

Nodding, Carl exited the alley with the two women.

He didn’t forget to glance back and check the man’s corpse.

……And a short while later.

The supposedly dead man’s eyes snapped open.

“Guh, kuh, cough.”

Grimacing in pain, he clutched his chest and vomited blood.

“……Damn near died.”

If he hadn’t twisted his body at the last second to divert the blade’s trajectory from his heart, he would’ve died instantly.

Even now, the wound was severe, but not fatal.

Having stemmed the bleeding by pressing on his chest, the man glared at the alley’s end, his eyes burning with rage.

“I remember their faces perfectly.”

The ones who killed his brother.

Judging by their sudden appearance, they were clearly outsiders to Flick.

Before they escaped this underground city, he needed to mobilize people to capture them.

Just as he tried to stand to rejoin his organization, a foreign presence atop the alley wall startled him.

“…….”

A masked figure in black was perched there, looking down at him.

How long had he been there?

“……You’re Mitchell, Lounge’s action leader, right?”

The amused tone in the voice bore the relaxed confidence of a strong person.

“Did you come from above?”

Mitchell lowered his head respectfully.

“It’s nothing serious. There was just some trouble with outsiders…”

“Yeah. And that trouble is why you’re going to die.”

“……What?”

A chilling energy pierced deep into his chest as Mitchell raised his head.

But before he could react, a sharp dagger slit through the back of his neck.

Thud. Roll.

The severed head tumbled across the ground and stopped at the base of the wall.

Avoiding the spurting blood from the collapsing body, Nine stepped back slightly and looked at Queen atop the wall.

“What should we do with the corpse?”

“Hack it up and toss it somewhere visible. Make it look like Comte or Lazi did it.”

“……Are you planning to intervene in this city?”

“Lounge always had backing. Comte, who betrayed Lazi and took their side, is probably the same.”

Lounge had either surrendered or found a new patron and now revealed its ambitions.

The one cornered was none other than “Comte.”

And NOX’s opening lay in that direction.

“The stalemate probably happened because the Empire’s been tearing apart the underground to root out the terrorists. The organization behind Lounge is lying low for now. Which makes this the perfect time for us to move.”

As an Extra Number, Queen had the authority to act independently on behalf of the organization.

As long as it served NOX’s interests, she could make her own calls—and on the surface, her logic made sense.

‘She’s angry.’

But Nine knew full well that Queen wasn’t going this far just to take over this city.

It was about punishing those who harmed her Master, Carl.

She wouldn’t hesitate to use her authority as an Extra Number to exact that revenge.

“I’ll tell the others to prepare.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you, Nine. I’ll go after Master.”

Queen’s presence vanished in an instant.

Watching for a moment, Nine gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

“Terrifying.”

He could only hope that he would never have to become Queen’s enemy over their Master.

Carl and his group successfully passed through the exit and escaped Flick.

“……Phew.”

“We’re finally out.”

As they emerged from the damp, foul-smelling underground, the fresh air of the capital greeted them.

They were still in the alley leading to Flick’s entrance, but it was nothing compared to what lay below.

“……We should be fine just walking out like this, right? We didn’t leave anything behind.”

“We’ll be fine, as long as we never go back. Even if I had to go to Flick again, I’d never go back to that place.”

“Yeah. From now on, if we need something, we’ll send someone else.”

They both shook their heads, expressing clear distaste toward Flick.

They now understood why, in a world so vast, people would still build a city hidden underground.

‘So there are dozens of places like this.’

Carl narrowed his eyes at the exit they had come from.

To dominate the shadows of the Imperial capital, Polfoardel, they needed to seize all of Flick too.

‘This should be fun.’

A challenge that set his heart ablaze.

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