84. It’s Rewarding in Its Own Way
From all sides, assassins dressed in black flew in.
Sirius muttered amidst them.
“This feels strange.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I used to attack others as a member of the Black Order, but now I’m being attacked by the Black Order.”
“Is this really the time to be making jokes?!”
Swoosh!
The sound of a blade flying through the air could be heard.
No, blades of wind were flying through the air.
He recalled the Eastern Oblea Mercenary Corps using similar magic.
“It’s gale magic! Be careful, they’re invisible!”
“I’ll be fine.”
Crack!
Sirius spread his aura and flew up.
He brandished his rugged sword imbued with the power of thunder and intercepted the blades of wind.
Even though they were invisible, it didn’t matter.
He could block them even with his eyes closed.
“Ugh…!”
Sirius’s sword, which had been raised towards the sky, pierced the chest of one of them.
As if waiting for that moment, blades of wind poured down behind Sirius.
But they didn’t affect Sirius.
Sirius moved his left hand before he could even pull his sword out of the man’s chest.
Boom!
Lightning burst from his left hand, sweeping away all the blades of wind.
While they were flinching, Sirius moved his sword again.
The sword, which flew with the sound of thunder, pierced the abdomen of one of them as they tried to escape into the sky.
“Surround him!”
Someone’s desperate voice could be heard.
The assassins rushed towards Sirius, firing blades of wind.
It was a desperate charge, with no regard for their own lives.
It was a move that showed that they believed that even if one of them died, another one of their comrades would kill the target.
“You’ll die a dog’s death.”
Crack!
Lightning flashed from both of Sirius’s hands.
He thrust his Thunder Fist into one of them who was charging from his right.
The moment his fist connected, lightning surged into the man, electrocuting him.
Without even turning his head, he extended his Thunder Palm with his left hand.
He grabbed the wrist of the guy who was trying to stab him with a wind blade and infused his lightning.
He grabbed the screaming guy and landed on the ground.
Wind blades poured down on him, but he blocked them all using the guy as a shield.
He threw away the guy who had become bloody and died, and threw the dagger again.
The dagger containing Cheonrang’s attack pierced the neck of one guy like a bolt of lightning.
He suddenly moved his gaze and saw Hwanwang fighting the enemies by creating dozens of clones nearby.
Thinking that he didn’t have to worry about that side, Sirius flew up again.
The guys tried to dodge after seeing Sirius rising sharply.
But it was no use.
Sirius’s lightness was more advantageous in this situation, although it might not be the case when flying in a straight line over a long distance using yang power.
“Puck…!”
“Ugh!”
The last screams rang out in succession.
It’s difficult to apply it in various ways like Bukmyeong or Baekrang, but Cheonrang is good for quickly launching attacks.
The guys collapsed one after another due to the lightning that exploded like lightning.
“Haap…!”
The last remaining guy rushed in as if he was going to die with honor.
However, Sirius broke the wind blade with the lightning of both hands and poured the lightning straight into the guy.
The guy fell to the ground without even being able to scream as Sirius stabbed him with his lightning feet.
“…”
He moved his gaze and saw Hwanwang looking around with his arms crossed.
Hwanwang had also subdued all the guys who had rushed at him.
“Did you kill them all?”
“I think so.”
He didn’t feel any other magic power even after spreading his energy around.
It seemed that the attackers were finished with this.
“Are these guys Fengwang’s men?”
“Yeah, they’re Fengwang’s assassins. They’re the most agile guys in the alliance.”
They were the guys who had chased after Hwanwang, the 9th circle great demon, with flying magic.
It was said that their ability to handle the wind was excellent.
“Did Fengwang develop the flying magic using yang power?”
“Yeah, I heard the basic concept from Fengwang and applied it to my flying magic.”
Hwanwang sighed.
“Damn, why did that bastard send assassins after us?”
“You betrayed the alliance, so of course he would send assassins.”
“Whose fault is that…”
Hwanwang gritted his teeth while glaring at Sirius.
“And he might have been aiming for you, not me.”
“That’s possible.”
Sirius had destroyed the southern branch after the eastern branch.
It wouldn’t be strange if a full-scale eradication order were issued soon.
“But why are the subordinates of the Wind King coming instead of the subordinates of the Flame Emperor? Didn’t you say that the Southern Branch is the Flame Emperor’s faction?”
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“Well, that’s…”
“Are the Flame Emperor and the Wind King close to each other?”
“No, they aren’t. Rather…”
Hwan Wang became lost in thought for a moment.
“No, they may have gotten close without my knowledge. I’ve been keeping my distance from the Alliance headquarters for a while.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“This brat…”
Sirius moved northward again, leaving Hwan Wang glaring at him.
“Then let’s hurry. It’s better to go quickly.”
“What?”
“If the subordinates of the Wind King are moving to punish the traitor, there will be one more target.”
Sirius increased his internal energy.
If he applied the concept of Yang energy he had heard earlier to improve his lightness skill, he would be able to reach his destination faster.
“Verdian could also be a target. Let’s move.”
* * *
“Forty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine… Fifty thousand!”
Velid’s voice echoed across the pier.
He had finally completed fifty thousand repetitions of the Three Calamities Swordsmanship training.
“You have great perseverance, Lord Velid.”
“hahahaha, it’s nothing.”
Velid beamed at Verdian’s words, who was sitting nearby.
But soon, his legs gave out and he collapsed.
“Oops…?”
“You pushed yourself too hard today. It would have been better to reach fifty thousand tomorrow.”
“Damn… Am I still lacking in stamina?”
In fact, Velid’s physical abilities were growing very rapidly.
He swung the heavy iron sword hundreds of times, but his physical balance was hardly disturbed.
Considering that it had only been a few months since he had started training in earnest, it was quite remarkable progress.
However, Velid couldn’t be satisfied with his current state.
This was because he was no match for Sirius, let alone Aleyon.
He had recently asked for a duel and ended up with bruises all over his body.
Of course, it was much better than when he had fallen off his horse from Aleyon’s surprise attack.
“I guess I’ll ask Sir Sirius to make it a hundred thousand now.”
Verdian said in a joking voice, but Velid chuckled.
“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I used to doubt it, but… there’s a sense of accomplishment in it.”
As much as he had done fifty thousand slashes.
As many times as he slashed vertically.
As many times as he stabbed.
Velid had grown more than when he was an ignorant conscript.
When he had completed one hundred thousand horizontal slashes, one hundred thousand vertical slashes, and one hundred thousand stabs, he would have grown even more than he was now.
Velid hoped that day would come quickly.
“I’m glad you seem to be having a fruitful time.”
Verdian said with a trembling voice.
“I’m having a very meaningless time.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem that way to me.”
“What do you mean?”
Since being taken prisoner, I’ve been dragged here and there and forced to help with work.
What could be more meaningless than that?
“Weren’t you worried about how you were going to live your life? That doesn’t seem like a meaningless time to me.”
“……!”
Velid’s casual words startled Verdian.
“I thought you were still thinking about whether to return to the Alliance, help Sirius for the time being, or take a completely different path.”
“That’s my choice to make……”
The reason Verdian hadn’t escaped until now was because he didn’t want to be captured by the Alliance’s Southern Branch.
Since the Southern Branch was a heretical faction, they could use Verdian as a card to drive out the Poison King.
But now the Southern Branch had been destroyed.
Even if Verdian escaped on his own, he wouldn’t be caught by anyone from the Southern Branch.
But why was he still here?
Was it because Sirius had threatened to track him down and capture him again if he escaped on his own?
“…….”
Did he want to return to the Alliance, or did he not want to?
Verdian couldn’t understand his own feelings.
“Verdian, you’re here.”
“Lady Justitia.”
At that moment, Justitia appeared with a group of people.
“Do you have a moment?”
“What for?”
“I need you to appraise some medicinal herbs that Sirius has requested. I’ve already looked at them in the Cheonrangpyo Kingdom, but I think it would be best if you appraised them in person.”
“Medicinal herbs……?”
“Oh, it seems you haven’t heard yet.”
Justitia said in a calm voice.
“Sirius wrote down a list of about ten medicinal herbs and asked me to find them. He said he wanted to combine them to create a new medicine.”
“A new medicine?”
“He said he would experiment with them while we’re on our way to the East and discuss them with you.”
Verdian was a little taken aback.
He hadn’t known that Sirius was planning something like that.
“Sirius mentioned before that he wanted to create the ‘Elixir of Life,’ which only exists in ancient records, and he desperately needs your help.”
“Elixir of Life…?”
“To be honest, I would like to invite you to Cheonrangpyo Kingdom and hire you as an expert appraiser… but unfortunately, I don’t think Sirius will ever let you go.”
“……”
As Berdian tried to say something, feeling confused,
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.
“……!”
Berdian had lost his fighting power, but his senses for detecting danger were still sharp.
He quickly turned his head and saw a man standing still among the bustling crowd at the pier.
He was a man with an unremarkable face.
However, Berdian, who grew up in the Alliance, could tell.
That man was an assassin, a Storm Mage under the direct command of the Wind King.
He was barehanded.
However, if he was an assassin under the direct command of the Wind King, he could accurately strike with a blade of wind even at this distance.
Unseen by anyone.
Berdian urgently needed to dodge.
However, if Berdian dodged now, Justitia would be hit head-on by the blade of wind.
Justitia was not a mage. She was petite and fragile.
Knowing that, Berdian couldn’t move.
He couldn’t dodge for fear that the wife of the man who had taken him prisoner would die.
And the assassin moved his hand towards Berdian, unleashing a blade of wind…
“……!”
BOOM!
There was a sound of bones being crushed.
The assassin rolled on the ground, groaning, and the blade of wind scattered in the air without being properly launched.
“Trying to cast a Storm Magic in secret at a place like this? What kind of guy are you?”
An elite who had studied magic at the academy and trained in the Samjae Swordsmanship a thousand times under the direct instruction of Sirius.
Velid’s blow silenced the Wind King’s assassin.