Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Fish Takes the Bait

A Certain Leader’s Perspective

Zero, a man that helmed the Axiom Order from its founding.

Below the illumination of the moon, wearing rough clothing and an eyepatch with a face that could cause nightmares to people for days, Zero was sitting on a dead log. He was an ex-C-rank mercenary — one that was at the third-highest level of the Mercenary Guild’s ranking system and received the respect of the many. If it wasn’t for his abrupt decision of quitting at the time, he would have achieved B-rank by now.

““Boss.””

A dozen men, all looking tough and brawny, paid their respect to him. These men were the elites of the Axiom Order that were personally handpicked and trained by him, each of which could best a well-trained soldier unarmed.

Then, one person among them reported, “We have discovered that several other temporary camps and relay points had been burned down, and the men we sent had failed in tracking the culprit down…”

“What?!” Zero’s facial expression darkened, and he hit a nearby boulder hard, leaving a large crack and a fist imprint.

Someone had been attacking their camps since noon, killing dozens of his men. Most importantly, he killed Jackie, one of the original members of his mercenary group — Sword of the Axiom. He knew Jackie was a scum, but still, losing his right-hand man and a lifelong friend to boot made his heart bled in pain.

Who the fuck raided us? To kill Jacky and cause havoc on my turf… What’s this fucker aiming for? Zero ground his teeth and clenched his hands.

However, he soon took a deep breath and calmed down. Being hot-headed right now wasn’t the right time, and this was the risk that he had taken once he took in those local thugs and bandits — the trashes of society. Sooner or later, unforeseen things would happen, like people seeking vengeance or something. But his gut was telling that this was different; one such instance was the wounds his men received from them in the first mine they attacked.

“Follow my order: pull back to the cave mine! We’ll set a defensive line in the mountain path and tighten our defense. Once this is over, we can return to the usual.”

There was only one path going to the mountaintop at the mountain they were occupying, as the other side was a steep slope that led to another mountain, so making a strong defensive line would be a jiff.

““Yes, boss!”” They answered in unison and rushed out.

Shortly after the dozen men before him were out of sight, Zero dragged the greatsword he stuck into the ground with him to a certain location in the forest.

“Shadow… you there?” he called out.

A shadowy figure dressed in all black emerged atop a tree bough and said in a low, indiscernible voice, “Yes, what is it?”

“Find and catch the bastard who’s causing havoc in our territory. No matter what, don’t leave a single stone unturned. I want to skin him alive!” He gripped the greatsword as though ready to chop the perpetrator to countless pieces but then cautioned, “If it’s too hard, kill him.”

Obviously, they couldn’t just sit still and do nothing, so he entrusted the matter to Shadow — the master of assassination. If even he failed in this task, then the Order was in a total predicament.

“I’ll follow your command.”

Quickly, he vanished into thin air.

Now alone, Zero sat down on a dead trunk and spoke quietly to no one in particular, “Once this is all over… I hope it will be enough to redeem them.”

Contrary to his demeanor, Zero wanted to get himself out of this business, but he knew that his hands had been tainted with blood. The darkness that encroached on this world was unending. No matter how hard he resisted, it didn’t matter…

“No cost too great.”

The freezing blue gem embedded in the hilt of his great sword shone momentarily under the night.

***

Vincent’s Perspective

I set an arrow loose with the release of my fingers under the dark sky, flying in a perfect arc deep into the enemy’s ground, and as it hit the ground of the camp some distance away, it exploded. Flames spread all about, turning the tranquil area into chaos while I made a quick escape with the cover of the night without anyone noticing.

Since teaming up with Blizzard, I had been attacking their relay points nonstop, single-handedly causing disturbances here and there. Of course, I avoided places where the kidnapped villagers were kept so as not to endanger them. Nevertheless, if I didn’t strike at their main base, I wouldn’t be able to end this once and for all — mowing their numbers wasn’t my true intention here.

“Okay, that should be enough. Let’s go back to our camp.”

Blizzard growled in agreement and carried me like the wind. Not even half an hour later, we reached a small clearing with a campfire and tent that I’d set up somewhere between the dungeon and their bases. By now, the enemy would become warrier and pull in their members and then send out someone capable to track down my whereabouts. All according to plan.

I went ahead and lit the campfire with magic to cook something. Magic was so convenient!

Sure, I could use my lighter to light up the campfire but using magic would also train my magical power, thus accomplishing two tasks with a single effort.

The fire crackled as I began roasting a chunk of meat of a wild beast hunted just recently, all while leaning on Blizzard’s soft fur. How pleasant…

“Here’s yours. Eat.” I tossed the meat to her while secretly eating a cheeseburger I purchased from the menu prior in the dungeon, only removing a part of my mask.

After we had our fill, we rested some more while stargazing at the clear night sky which was a rarity back on Earth. Leaning on her fluffy fur was so pleasant that my eyelids started to become heavy. Gah! I cannot sleep now.

“Grrr!” Blizzard suddenly growled toward a certain location of the forest and gently stood up.

“I see we have company.” I grinned, readying my weapons and equipment. “The fish has taken the bite.”

Blizzard had a very keen perception, the best among my subordinates, one of the main reasons why I kept her by my side.

“Woof!” Blizzard swiftly turned around and barked.

In an instant, my neck was drenched with cold sweat — it felt like a grim reaper had appeared behind me! Shoot! I can’t avoid this!

When I thought that I was done for, the scenery abruptly changed to the other side of the clearing, a bit away from my initial location. It seemed that in that short time Blizzard had bit my collar and used her ability to escape. Thanks to her evolution from being entitled as a Crowned Monster, she was now able to encase me with her ability and bring me along.

Phew. I breathed out a sigh of relief, quickly calming my racing heart that had been triggered by adrenaline. Being panicked here would be unbefitting of the figure I was trying to impersonate.

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“Who goes there?” I stated, quietly grabbing the gun from the pocket hidden under my tailcoat.

No one answered me, but I didn’t need him to answer since I already knew who was attacking me — the last executive of the Axiom Order, Shadow.

“To. Left. Under. Big. Tree.”

The phantom’s whisper that was like the voice of the dead appeared near my left ear; it was from one of the phantoms that I had placed around to search for any sign of the enemy.

Seizing the initiative, I fired the gun right below the tree similar to an ash tree, but only dark shadowy gas burst out from where the bullet had passed. Shit! He was impervious to physical attack! But then, why did Leon’s desperate attack hurt him?

“So you’re the odd one who killed that idiot Jackie. What a strange weapon. Is that a new model of flintlock pistol?”

Unexpectedly, a voice that I couldn’t discern whether it was from a man or woman came from the spot that I had shot. But it was raucous enough that I could determine that it was definitely a man. Hm. So he’s finally willing to talk.

“Shadow, right?” I didn’t answer and returned with a question.

“You know me?” he asked, now his voice’s direction was no longer discernible.

While the phantoms could tell his whereabouts, they weren’t able to provide immediate information. Nonetheless, I just had the perfect ace in the hole to know his location: [Developer Interface]. This vocation would be able to provide me with his position.

Name: Shadow — Blake (No. 512)
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 32 years old
Height: 182 cm
Occupation: Executive of the Axiom Order, elite assassin, Shadow Magic wielder, member of…
Vocation: [Chisel of Death]

Stats:

• STR: C (68)
• AGI: C (75)
• VIT: C- (63)
• MAG: C (70)
• SPR: C- (63)

Accumulation Points: 133 [C-]

Unsurprisingly enough, it worked as a blue screen popped up about five meters to my right. As far as I knew, Shadow wasn’t his real name, but it was a moniker — the same with “Lord Argentum” that I made up — and it was proven here… But what was up with that code name?

Moreover, it seemed that he had a lot of occupations that the status screen couldn’t load all of them in a single line, but I didn’t bother to check it for now. There would be a lot more chances for that.

The status screen was slowly circling me; it appeared he was waiting for me to answer. Thus, I decided to drop the bomb and see for myself his reaction.

“Of course! Certainly after Leon’s assassination.”

Although there was no fluctuation in his movements, I felt he was getting much more serious. “Good… More reason to eliminate a figure like you.”

Suddenly, the same dread of having a scythe around my neck resurfaced again, sending a chill down my spine.

But this time I was prepared!

I raised my unsheathed sword and met his invisible blade that had been pinpointed thanks to the floating status screen, causing sparks to fly into the air. The sound of metal clashing against metal reverberated as our blades clashed. Ugh! I can’t win in strength despite being supported by my new set.

“Ho… You can block my attack, yet you are so weak. Huh, a cracked sword?”

“Grr!” Blizzard rapidly swung his claws at an empty space in front of me, but it seemed to have missed him by the slightest margin.

“Such an interesting mount. Still just a mere creature in the end.”

Shadow continued with his hit-and-run tactic, attacking whenever, wherever I was most vulnerable before disappearing into the darkness, each time getting harder and harder for me to block. He was growing whether in speed or strength, seemingly only playing around so far. The only explanation I was able to block was because I set the status screen to follow his blade and Blizzard’s support when I missed, but it seemed that his tactic was about to change…

“This is the end! {Shadow Turbulence}!” Shadow’s indistinct body turned into a large mass of dark shadowy gas that encompassed our surroundings, encircling us from every direction. What was more intriguing and scarier, it sucked any light around it like a black hole; I couldn’t see anything but darkness.

As the gas shrouded me, subsequently, an intense sense of lostness and silence enveloped my senses. Not even the beat of my heart could be heard, not even a ray of light could be seen, not even the touch of my fingers made me feel anything; it felt like I had fallen into nothingness.

I screamed and screamed, but it was as if nothing came out of my lungs…!

But then, an intense radiant light enveloped me, giving back my rationality. When my mind became clearer, I finally realized what had happened to me — I had fallen under the effect of his magic. Shadow’s queer abilities were no joke; if it wasn’t for Blizzard’s radiant light, I would have lost my mind and died.

I checked the status screen to find where he was right now, only to find that it couldn’t pinpoint his exact location, looking like he was everywhere around me.

“Let’s go! Blizzard, go!” I quickly hopped on Blizzard’s back and urged her to run forward, which she adhered to.

To test the water, I fired my gun multiple times at the gas blocking our way, but the projectiles were swallowed without leaving any impact whatsoever.

“Hmph! Like that toy can even injure me.”

Of course, it won’t… I only put in “weak bullets” inside, after all. My whole reason for keeping this futile struggle with him was to find out his abilities while also keeping my cards hidden, and I’d had gotten enough.

“Die!”

From the surrounding gas, countless pitch-black daggers were unleashed at us, but the radiant light shining from Blizzard formed an invisible shield and blocked all the attacks, dimming a little.

I cast {Flame Arrow} three times consecutively, unleashing three flame arrows in rapid succession that burned open a path to the outside just large enough for us to pass through. While physical attacks weren’t effective, magical attacks worked just fine. Then, the plan would succeed!

“Now!”

In total sync, Blizzard used her ability and turned into a ray of light, bringing me along with her, and soon the scenery around me turned back into the dark forest.

The real chase had just begun!

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