Chapter 109: Two Masters

Raion confirmed his aura and tightened his grip on his sword.

‘If I take him lightly, I might be the one to fall.’

At that moment, Parsian’s sharp gaze gleamed as his figure disappeared.

Sasa-sak―!

‘He’s moving while concealed?’

His speed was astonishing.

At the same time, killing intent swept in from Raion’s left.

Cha-cheng!

Raion lightly raised his sword and blocked it.

Parsian, who had revealed himself for a brief instant, vanished again, then reappeared on the opposite side.

“To think you blocked my strike. Impressive.”

“If I couldn’t block something like that when you’re spreading your killing intent around so carelessly, I’d deserve to die, wouldn’t I?”

“Hah, I must be excited. It’s been a while since I’ve met someone skilled.”

Rolling his shoulder once, Parsian took his stance with his twin daggers.

Thus, the battle began anew.

Cha-cheng! Ching! Cha-cha-cheng―!

Parsian’s movements became twice as fast as before.

Even so, Raion calmly blocked both daggers with his sword and counterattacked.

‘So he’s a master from the assassin class.’

Suddenly, Parsian’s movements seemed to slow, and then his form split into multiple shadows spreading around him.

It was a technique assassins often used to confuse their opponent’s vision.

‘As expected of a master. He’s not showing any openings. But still…!’

A stronger aura burst from Raion’s blade.

The blue aura that had clung to his single-edged sword thickened and extended with a sweeping motion.

Swaaah―!

“Dodge it!”

Harold shouted urgently, and Parsian leapt into the air.

At the same time, Harold drew the bastard sword hanging from his waist and thrust it forward.

Chwaaang!

Raion’s unleashed strike sliced past Harold and split the wall of space itself.

Witnessing that, Parsian, who had landed on the ground, muttered in disbelief.

“…An Aura Blade?”

“A mid-level one. We can’t take him lightly. Can you handle this alone?”

“Are you looking down on me?”

“Don’t waste time.”

At Harold’s advice, Parsian frowned.

Then both his daggers began to move rapidly, slashing through the air.

From Parsian’s daggers, blue trails of Aura Blades flew toward Raion.

Chwaaak! Chwaaak!

Raion blocked the attacks and instantly closed the distance between them.

“You’re trying to engage me in close combat?”

Daggers were weapons optimized for close combat.

And this man had reached the rank of master with daggers.

To anyone watching, it looked like suicide.

“That fool made a mistake.”

Harold thought the same.

Then, Parsian’s twin daggers scattered like mist.

“This is your end!”

It was the secret technique that had allowed Parsian to rise to mastery with dagger arts.

His attacks, scattered like mist, turned into a storm of blades that poured toward Raion.

“Huff―!”

With a forceful shout, aura exploded outward from Raion’s entire body.

Pa-pang―!

Startled, Parsian withdrew his attacks, retreating several steps.

Raion didn’t miss that opening.

He dashed forward, aiming directly for Parsian’s front.

Raion’s upward slash grew even stronger.

Kaaang! Chwaaah―!

“Ugh…!”

Parsian groaned as he barely blocked the strike.

He couldn’t stop his body and was pushed back several steps.

“I’ve got a good sense of your skill now. The rest of you might as well join in.”

“You think you’ve won just because you landed one strike?”

“The fact that you couldn’t properly block my attack says enough.”

Raion’s gaze shifted toward Harold.

If they dragged this out, Harold would inevitably join in anyway.

“Shut up!”

“Parsian, he’s right. We underestimated him.”

“What do you mean underestimated! I can handle this myself!”

The atmosphere grew tense.

Then Harold slowly stepped forward, sword in hand.

“I said I’ve got this!”

“Still going to be stubborn?”

“Kh…!”

“Charad, get out of here. Stay and you might get caught up in this.”

Hearing Harold’s words, Charad, who had been standing behind them, turned toward another door instead of the one they had entered through.

Of course, Raion didn’t intend to just let him leave.

Chwaaah!

An Aura Blade slashed toward the back of Charad’s head.

“Eek!”

“Urgh―!”

At that moment, Harold stepped in and split the Aura Blade apart.

Meanwhile, Charad turned pale, realizing the extent of Raion’s swordsmanship he had underestimated.

Harold blocked his path.

“Get lost. Unless you want the back of your head split open.”

“F-Fine!”

As Charad fled, Raion sighed.

He’d have to chase him again once this was over.

“Shall we finish what’s left?”

“I told you, I can handle this alone!”

“You barely blocked it just now. Think you can really manage?”

Harold’s words cut through Parsian’s stubbornness.

Parsian swallowed his frustration and stepped back slightly— to adjust his distance for a joint assault with Harold.

Once both men were ready, they moved at once.

They moved in perfect sync, their motions far from monotonous. In an instant, they split left and right, attacking with Raion between them.

“It’s humiliating, but orders are orders.”

“Let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”

The two spoke as if Raion were an afterthought.

Even so, tension ran through them—there was strength behind their blades.

“Seems I can’t drag this out any longer.”

“You speak as if you’ve already won.”

“Arrogant bastard. Do we look that easy to you?”

Hearing their retorts, Raion drew out even more of his aura.

As his energy surged, the two men’s expressions hardened.

“H-how can that be…?”

“Since you’ve seen my strength, it’s only fair I see yours.”

At that moment, a pure white aura burst from Raion’s sword— not like a blazing flame, but like lightning itself.

“That’s…!”

“Try surviving this.”

Raion swung, and the aura in his hand exploded outward.

It spread in every direction, stirring the very air of the space around them.

Kwaaang! Kwa-kwang―!

At the Adventurer’s Guild, Raion’s companions were startled awake by the sudden sound.

They all rose from their seats and went down to the lobby, but Raion was nowhere to be found.

“Where did the Master go?”

“What was that noise just now?”

“What’s happening?”

“No idea. Howard! Did you find out anything?”

“They say the ground beneath the tavern district collapsed. Because of that, one of the tavern buildings caved in, causing chaos.”

At Howard’s explanation, everyone hurried outside.

Though it was a dark night, clouds of dust rose thick into the sky.

Noticing that, they started walking toward it.

The loud commotion had woken many, and a crowd had gathered to watch the scene.

“What on earth happened…?”

As they all murmured in confusion, Dejir—who hadn’t been there earlier—appeared.

Seeing him, Cayman was startled and asked,

“Where have you been?”

“Actually, I followed the Master when he went out earlier tonight.”

“The Master went out? Where to?”

At Cayman’s question, Dejir’s gaze turned toward the dust cloud.

The meaning behind that look wasn’t lost on anyone.

“He went… over there?”

“The last place I saw him was the tavern called Blue Sunset. The atmosphere there was strange, so I didn’t go in and left.”

The Blue Sunset tavern, a front for the Eye of the Moon Chelon Branch, had been preparing an ambush for Raion.

Because of that, they weren’t letting anyone but insiders in.

Of course, Dejir hadn’t known that—he’d only left because of the unsettling mood.

“Don’t tell me something happened to the tavern the Master went into?”

The dust made it difficult to approach.

Cayman and the others could only stomp anxiously in place.

“People from the Lord’s Castle will come out soon. We should wait and see.”

There were too many eyes around.

Even though they wanted to rush in and confirm things right away, they couldn’t.

Dust rose thick around the rubble of the collapsed building.

Then, part of the wreckage shifted, and Raion suddenly stood up.

“Whew―! That was close.”

Together with the fleeing Charad, Raion had destroyed the Eye of the Moon Chelon Branch by collapsing the entire building.

The plan had worked, though the escape hadn’t gone as smoothly as he wanted.

If he hadn’t used the 3rd-circle spell Energy Wall, he might’ve been crushed to death like the others.

“Did they die too? They wouldn’t go down that easily.”

He meant Parsian and Harold.

Looking around, he saw that the ground had sunk quite deep.

“With all this commotion, there’s no way the territory will stay quiet about it.”

Muttering to himself, Raion was about to sheath his sword—then stopped.

The floor nearby began to stir, and two figures stood up.

It was the ones he’d thought he’d finished off—Parsian and Harold.

As expected, they’d protected themselves with aura, emerging unscathed.

“Gah!”

“Urgh…!”

But maintaining full-body aura defense consumed an enormous amount of energy.

Because of that, both of them groaned, staggering slightly.

“So you’re still alive.”

“I’ll kill you!”

“Impossible. Retreat is the top priority now.”

At Harold’s cold assessment, Parsian clenched his fists.

Of course, Raion had no intention of letting them leave.

“I can’t let you walk away.”

At Raion’s murmur, Harold pulled something from his chest.

A rod, no longer than the length of a hand.

When he pressed it, light flared from its surface.

“An artifact?”

Raion tried to interrupt, but it was too late—the artifact had already activated.

The light from the rod enveloped the two men, and in an instant, their figures vanished.

“An artifact imbued with teleportation magic?”

Teleportation was a high-tier, 5th-circle spell.

Naturally, an artifact containing such a spell wasn’t something easily found anywhere.

Beyond its exorbitant cost, only a royal court-level mage could possibly craft one.

“At least Charad and the rest seem to be dead.”

Using his sensory ability, Detection, Raion confirmed the situation around him.

Outside the collapsed building, he sensed a crowd gathering.

“They’ve arrived too. I’d better get out of here for now.”

Raion sheathed his sword and began to move.

Sasaak―!

Meanwhile, soldiers from the Lord’s Castle surrounded the tavern district.

Cayman and the others watched nervously.

“The Master’s not… hurt, right?”

“There’s no way something happened to him.”

Unlike his worried tone, Howard sounded calm.

Beside him, Allen and Aizel both nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Who could harm the Master? Unless it’s a dragon.”

After all, they had witnessed Raion’s power—it was beyond imagination.

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