Chapter 284: Episode 284

That night, at the foot of the Haldun Mountains, the rhythmic clopping of hooves echoed along a narrow path. A line of five carriages was on the move, flanked by men on horseback and others perched atop the roofs, all of them armed. A red flag fluttered from one of the carriages, bearing the emblem of a dagger piercing a shield—the sigil of the Sentinel Gang, a name said to silence even a crying child.

Inside the most luxurious carriage, spacious enough for five, a young girl with an emotionless face stared out the window. She was Sasha, the child sought by both Efnel and Kizen.

“Hahaha! So in the end, that woman!”

“Ah, you’re making me lose my appetite!”

Boisterous, lewd jokes and profanity filled the air. The girl couldn’t understand what they were saying. Who were these men? What was going to happen to her? Where were they taking her? They told her nothing.

“Hey, kid,” the gangster sitting to her right grunted in a domineering tone. “Look forward. Don’t even think about running.”

Sasha ducked her head. With two men on either side, two more in the front seat, and a convoy of armed men behind them, the thought of escape didn’t even cross her mind.

“But, Captain,” one of the gangsters said, leaning forward. “Aren’t we overdoing it a bit? All this for one kid.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied the middle-aged man in the front seat, his hair slicked back. Deep wrinkles creased his forehead, giving him a stubborn look. “We have to watch out for the monsters swarming these mountains. More importantly, the client warned us there might be an attack.”

The gangster sneered.

“Who’d be stupid enough to attack us? Everyone around here knows the Sentinels’ reputation.”

“I’m not at ease even with this many men,” the captain retorted, glancing back at Sasha. “And clean that up.”

“What a pain.”

Leaves and twigs were now scattered around where Sasha sat.

“Damn kid, stop dropping this stuff,” a gangster grumbled, picking up the leaves and tossing them out the window. “There’s no end to it.”

Sasha possessed a special power, an innate ability that only a select few on the continent were said to have. It was an unconventional force—not black magic, divine magic, or pure magic.

“This is creepy.” A twig was now sticking out from her forehead. The gangster irritably grabbed it and snapped it with a sharp crack.

Sasha cried out, “Ah!” and covered her forehead with her small hands.

“What’s with this girl?”

“Heh, no wonder the people in her village looked at her like she was some kind of freak. They were thrilled when we took her.”

“I can see why.”

Hearing their cruel words, tears welled up in Sasha’s eyes.

“H-huh?”

“What the—!”

Twigs began to sprout rapidly from her body, extending so far they shattered the carriage window. Buds bloomed on the branches, turning into leaves that rained down inside the carriage.

“Ugh! What’s with this all of a sudden…!”

“Don’t provoke her!” the captain roared. He moved to the back seat where Sasha was. “You lot just shut your mouths. You’re not helping.” He pulled a syringe-like object from a pocket on his waist and injected its contents into her. It was a sedative the client had provided for her capture. As the drug took effect, the rampant growth of the twigs and the shower of leaves finally stopped.

“Whoa! She’s a real monster.”

The captain smacked the gangster who’d spoken on the head with a resounding ’thwack!’

“I’m telling you for the second time, shut your mouth. Just clean up this mess.”

“Let me switch with someone! This seat is killing me!” the gangsters on either side of the girl grumbled, continuing to toss leaves out the window.

The captain returned to the front seat and leaned back. ’The slope is getting steeper. We must be almost there.’ If this job succeeded, he’d be sitting on a pile of gold—enough to live a life of leisure. However, in his experience, a simple job with such a high payout always had a catch. He couldn’t let his guard down until he met the client and had the money in hand.

’NEEEEEIGH!’

Suddenly, a horse’s panicked neigh cut through the night. The carriage jolted and began to slow.

“What’s going on?” the captain demanded, a sense of foreboding washing over him as he leaped out of the carriage. The horses pulling the lead carriage were bucking in terror. The fear spread like a contagion, and soon all the horses were stomping and snorting in a frenzy.

“C-Captain! Over there…!” a gangster stammered, pointing ahead.

From the inky darkness of the forest, something pure white was slowly approaching. The gangsters’ faces went pale.

“I-it’s an undead!”

“All hands, prepare for battle!”

’CLACK-CLACK!’

’CLACK!’

The sight of armed skeletons emerging from the shadowed forest was terrifying enough to stop a man’s heart.

“Wh-why are there undead here?”

The captain’s expression hardened. Those were no naturally occurring undead.

“Be careful! It’s necromancers!”

“What?”

At that moment, a small figure soared into the night sky. The girl’s light purple hair fluttered around her, her eyes glowing a fierce red that seemed to stain the full moon behind her. She swept her hands down violently.

’Full Bloom’

Like a pouncing beast, the girl descended upon the carriage. As her arms swung down, a crimson wave of blood over six meters high erupted, shattering the carriage into splinters and surging outward in all directions.

The gangsters inside were swept away by the bloody tide. Sasha, caught in the middle of it, widened her eyes in surprise. She was completely unharmed; the wave had been unleashed with her at its very center.

Kamibarez landed softly on the ground and rushed to Sasha, pulling her into a tight hug.

“You were scared all alone, weren’t you?”

“Hmm…”

“It’s okay now.”

Though this was another stranger, Sasha felt an incredible warmth in her voice.

“Get to the carriage!” the gangsters yelled, drawing their swords and charging. “They’re after the kid!”

“Stop them!”

’KABOOM—!’

The gangsters running toward them stopped dead in their tracks. A massive wall of ice had shot up from the ground, blocking their path.

“What’s this now!”

’KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAK! RUMBLE!’

More ice walls erupted from the earth, slicing through the ranks of the gangsters like a knife through a pie.

“W-we can’t get through!”

“Hey! Are you okay over there?”

At the same time, the waiting skeletons charged toward the gangsters trapped between the icy barriers.

“Damn it! The undead are coming!”

“Block them from this side!”

’CLANG!’

Sparks flew as the weapons of the dead and the living clashed. A fierce, chaotic melee unfolded, devoid of tactics or strategy, driven by the singular purpose of eliminating the enemy in front of them.

’Damn it!’ The slicked-back-haired captain, now at the front of the convoy, spat on the ground. ’Judging by the number of skeletons, there’s more than just one or two of these necromancers.’

“Captain!” a gangster shouted, pointing ahead. “Th-there…!”

At the head of the carriages, a boy with his hood pulled low strode down the dark path, his robes fluttering. He was alone.

“There’s a necromancer here too!” the gangsters yelled, raising their swords warily.

The captain’s eyes narrowed. Why would one of the necromancers, who had been commanding their undead from the rear, suddenly appear at the front?

“If we take him down, we can stop a large number of the skeletons! Go get him!”

The moment the order was given, the gangsters charged, kicking up dust. From within the pitch-black hood, the boy’s eyes glinted.

“Hoo-up!” The first gangster to reach him raised his sword high. “Die—!”

It was a blur. In an instant, the gangster’s nose was crushed with a sickening crunch, and a spray of blood erupted from his face. The boy strode forward, grabbed the man’s hair, and threw him forcefully.

He crashed into the gangster running right behind him. As the two men lay in a heap, the boy leaped into the air and kicked them both squarely in the stomach.

As the two men tumbled away, choking, the boy landed gracefully.

“This bastard!” A new gangster, circling around from the side, swung his axe with a roar.

The heavy blow cut through empty air. The boy, having sidestepped with ease, lightly kicked the man’s ankle.

As the gangster lost his balance and staggered, the boy leaped up like a hawk and kneed him in the face, sending him sprawling backward.

Another gangster jumped in from the side, aiming for the boy’s back. But as if he had eyes there too, the boy dodged effortlessly by bending at the waist.

“This son of a bitch!!” the gangster screamed, swinging his sword in a frenzy.

’WHOOSH!’ A vertical slash. ’WHOOSH!’ A horizontal slash. ’WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!’

The blue sword strikes repeatedly aimed for the boy, but he evaded them with minimal movements—a simple step, a slight rotation of his body. From the gangster’s perspective, it felt as if he were bewitched, his sword missing its mark again and again.

“Why won’t this hit—!”

The top of the boy’s foot slammed into the gangster’s face. He let out a choked gasp and collapsed, blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

“This one knows how to fight!”

“Surround him and get him!”

The gangsters formed a circle, keeping their distance. Seeing this, the boy bent his knees deeply, then kicked off the ground with explosive force.

’BOOOOOOOM!’

He reappeared near an ice wall, where a bow-wielding gangster from the rear was now embedded in the half-shattered barrier. The boy moved fluidly toward his next target, his fist wreathed in a dark-blue Jet-Black.

It was an overwhelming display. Like a wolf among sheep, wherever the boy went, the sounds of shattering and bursting followed as gangsters were sent flying through the air.

For the first time, the boy flinched and stepped back. A deadly black sword strike had grazed his neck. He touched the slight cut, then raised his head and stared at his opponent with a look of surprise.

“It’s a mistake to think you necromancers are the only ones who can use Jet-Black,” the slicked-back-haired captain declared, his own sword now stained with the dark energy. At the same time, his left hand moved, and a handful of pitch-black objects flew toward Simon with a whir.

’CLANG! CLANG!’

The boy deployed a Jet-Black shield to block them. Black shurikens fell to the ground, embedding themselves in the dirt.

“Men who live by the sword aren’t fools,” the captain said, lowering his stance. “We save up our money to get our Cores opened now. That’s the era we live in. That power is no longer your exclusive property, necromancer!”

In response, the necromancer threw back his hood. Bluish hair fluttered in the air, revealing a boy with the distinct air of a young nobleman.

“Oh?” The captain’s eyes widened in surprise at how young his opponent was.

“We’re discussing Jet-Black, correct?” As he spoke, the boy’s figure vanished with a pop. The captain spun around in alarm to see the boy charging at him from behind. He quickly raised his shield to guard himself, and the boy’s fist met the metal.

’Hongfeng Original—Heavenly Menace’

The shockwave from the boy’s fist passed through the shield and slammed into the captain’s abdomen. A strangled gasp escaped him as saliva burst from between his teeth. ’I blocked it, so how…!’

Tossing aside the useless shield, the captain grabbed his sword with both hands and swung it wildly. The boy dodged as if retreating, then clenched his right fist and swung it over his head.

“When it comes to Jet-Black, it’s not about who uses it.”

’Hongfeng Original—Blade Formation’

Blood suddenly erupted from the captain’s shoulder. He rolled his eyes in confusion as the boy smiled, letting his Jet-Black-infused arm hang loosely at his side.

“Isn’t it more important who you learned it from?”

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