Episode
68 Now it’s a pre-emptive strike (5)
A spacious space located in the basement of an entertainment pub.
It was full of crude and bizarre machines.
There was a stench all over the machine, because it was not cleaned properly.
in front of them… Castarion, the head of the Philchester branch of the Black Heaven Demon Church, opened his mouth.
“Is everyone ready?”
There were black angel priests around Castarion, but there was no answer.
It was because the subjects that Castarion spoke to were civilians bound in chains.
They were gagged and trembling as they looked at Castarion with terrified eyes.
“You don’t have to tremble like that. I don’t mean to kill you.”
“… … ?”
Everyone was bewildered.
If it wasn’t to kill them, what was the cause of the terrible machines in front of them?
“You don’t die. All your blood… … .”
Castarion smiled cruelly.
“Because we will live forever as one with the priests of our magic school.”
“… … !”
Castarion raised his hand in front of the people trembling in fear.
Then the priests with swords rushed forward and raised the people.
Soon, the ceremony to prepare the magical elixir ‘Soma’ will begin in earnest.
“Ka, Castarion-sama!”
It was then that the door slammed open and the last priest rushed in.
“You idiot! I would have told you not to disturb me during the ceremony!”
Castarion was furious.
From a long time ago, Castarion had been concentrating on making soma in order to reach a higher level.
That’s why I hated the act of interfering with the production of soma above all else.
“Wow, that’s a big deal. Graduee from outside… Great!”
Before the last priest could finish speaking, he collapsed.
Then a man with silver hair appeared from behind.
“What?!”
Castarion raised his eyes.
To hear a guy like that come all the way here, what the hell were the guys out there doing?
‘What the hell are you doing?’
He looks quite young.
In addition, the sword in his hand had even developed a sword.
The fact that I became a Graduate at that age is of the Lichtenauer Swordsmanship Academy or the headquarters of the Black Devil School… … .
‘Come on, wait!’
Castarion confirmed the man’s appearance once again.
Silver hair and outstanding features… no way.
“Boy, please… Are you Ernas Landsstein?!”
“You’re smart, Castarion.”
“… … !”
I didn’t understand at all.
It had only been a few days since I received the quest to kill Ernas.
But why did Ernas come in here?
This one hasn’t done anything yet, why?
‘What the hell happened?!’
Confused, Castarion hurriedly drew his sword from his waist.
* * *
‘After all, it’s time to just receive a quest from the Lancaster family.’
Looking at Castarion’s reaction, I think my prediction was correct.
If the Lancaster family had not yet moved, it would be a bit difficult.
‘Anyway, I’m glad it’s not too late.’
There were people chained up in the basement.
Looking at the atmosphere, it seemed that the process for making soma had not yet begun.
“Serine.”
I spoke to Serine who was standing next to me.
Schmidt, Chloe, and Viola were outside handling the dwarfs.
“Priority on getting people out first.”
Having said that, I stepped forward.
“I will deal with the demons.”
I moved without waiting for Serine’s reply.
Then Castarion hurriedly raised his voice.
“Kill! That’s Carlyle’s foe, Ernas Landsstein!”
Come to think of it, the setting was that the Carlyle I killed in the second test was a junior of that guy.
I had forgotten about it until now.
“Stop!”
“This child… … !”
Castarion’s men ran towards me with swords.
If my memory is correct, it would be all Graduates.
But, at best, it’s the beginning of the grade, and if you do well, you’re low-level.
I’m not the one to fall for those guys.
“Great… … !”
The last priest who ran first fell down.
Without stopping, I swung my sword and struck the next guy in the neck.
“This guy!”
“die… … !”
The two rushed at the same time from behind.
I twisted my body to dodge the attack, and unfolded the Waldfeld family’s golden sword.
Using Waldfeld’s slashing technique, he broke the swords of both men and inflicted fatal wounds at the same time.
“… … !”
In an instant, four people fell.
Fear began to dwell in the eyes of the lower priests.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t escape from this narrow space.
“Ugh!”
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My blade pierced the heart of the next target.At about the same time, Serine also knocked down a priest who was blocking her way.
Inside the chaotic basement, bodies continued to pile up.
“What are you doing… … !”
Castarion, who had not seen it, stepped forward.
A fairly menacing sword had been developed with a curved blade.
‘Graduate Intermediate level, that is also quite mature.’
A sharp sword rushed towards me.
While dodging the attack, I decapitated the nearby terminal priest.
“Ernas Landsstein! How the hell did you find out here?!”
Castarion pushed me.
“Where did you get the information from? Did you notice that we’re after you? Answer me… … !”
“There are so many questions that it is difficult to answer them.”
He responded coldly and swung his sword.
As the sword and the sword collided, sparks splattered.
“I will tell you one thing, Castarion.”
Aww!
The golden sword of Waldfeld’s spear technique scratched Castarion’s sword.
“Today the Philchester branch will be destroyed.”
“… … !”
Realizing that his sword had begun to break, Castarion hurriedly tried to reconstruct his sword.
But I didn’t give Castarion a chance.
While maintaining the golden sword, he performed the Callesius Spear Swordsmanship.
“Ugh… … !”
Break up!
Sparks sprang out as blue was added to the golden black.
Speed was also added to the weighty Waldfeld slashing technique.
“Hey, this… … !”
Castarion sweated profusely, trying to block my attack.
But to no avail. The more he blocked, the more only Castarion’s sword was shattered.
‘Calecius Spear Swordsmanship, Type 2… … .’
Staring at Castarion’s distorted face, I raised my magic to the limit.
In the meantime, it was to show off the skills he had honed with Yols.
‘Feelless (舞雷).’
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
The irregularly dancing tip of the sword struck Castarion.
He blew away the sword where his sword had disappeared, and even the self-defense that was protecting Castarion’s body was torn to pieces.
“Great… … !”
Immediately after the thunder had subsided, blood gushed out of Castarion’s chest.
But it was not fatal. I had no intention of inflicting fatal wounds in the first place.
I had to make sure I couldn’t resist any longer, so I immediately raised my sword.
“Now, wait a minute, I will surrender. So please stop… … .”
“That’s funny.”
Despite Castarion’s pleas, I swung my sword.
In an instant, both of Castarion’s wrists flew away, and Castarion screamed like a pig’s throat.
“No matter how much people begged, you would never have stopped.”
There was no need to show mercy to this guy.
* * *
The Black Celestial Church’s Philchester branch was suppressed in an instant.
The Priests who belonged to the Grade Eight were killed by me and Serine, and the rest of the dwarfs were sufficiently defeated by Schmidt, Chloe, and Viola.
In fact, the only threat here was Castarion, but it wasn’t a problem because I had already obtained a power that surpassed that of Castarion.
“Serine, clean up with Chloe.”
“Yes, got it.”
There is a lot of work to be done, including dealing with those who have been kidnapped.
After leaving the troublesome work to Serine and Chloe, I decided to interrogate Castarion.
“Raise your head, Castarion.”
“My, my hand, my wrist… … .”
“Looks like you want your neck to fly, not your wrist next time.”
“… … !”
Raising his sword to threaten, Castarion raised his head hurriedly.
“Castarion, you must have been aiming for me.”
“Well, wait, it’s not like that.”
Castarion shook his head hastily.
“It is true that I received such a request. But I had no intention of carrying out the quest. It really is.”
“I think I’ve been yelling at Carlyle before.”
“That, that… … .”
“Acknowledge it. It’s a waste of time.”
“ね… … .”
Looking at Castarion biting his lips, he asked again.
“Then, where the hell did you ask me to kill you?”
“They didn’t reveal their identity… … .”
“I would have said it was a waste of time, Castarion.”
I stared at Castarion.
“You have already seen through the fact that the client is a servant of the Lancaster family.”
“… … !”
Castarion’s eyes fluttered.
“Of course, he probably didn’t reveal himself as a servant of the Lancaster family. But it must have been suspicious from your point of view. If you ask me to kill the heir of the Landsstein family who is attending the Academy, there aren’t many people who would do that.”
“Uh… … .”
“So you made your subordinates follow in the footsteps of the client. And I found out that he was a servant of the Lancaster family.”
This was a mistake on the part of the Lancaster family.
Demon cultists move secretly and are accustomed to following people or gathering information.
Their identities were exposed because of poor handling.
‘Originally, the Lancaster family took care of this on their own.’
The Lancaster family has entrusted the Brosians to the dreadful task of assassination.
However, the last time I sent Raziel Brosian to me as an assassin, it failed, and as a result, the scope of his movements was narrowed.
This time, he was thinking of borrowing external power, so he contacted the Magyo side… Because he did something unfamiliar, he made a big mistake.
“Am I wrong?”
“Uh, how do you know all that?”
“There is a way to know everything.”
Castarion had an expression on his face that he did not understand at all.
There was no need to convince me, so I continued.
“Castarion, there is only one way for you to survive here.”
“Uh, how… … .”
“You have to testify to the Academy that the Lancaster family hired you to kill Ernas Landsstein.”
“… … !”
Castarion’s eyes widened.
“Of course, I won’t blindly believe the words of the Magician. But because there are people at the Academy who have been suspicious of the Lancaster family for a long time… Your argument is highly likely to work.”
“Well, will I be able to survive? Just making that claim?”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about that, as someone who is hostile to House Lancaster will protect you.”
“… … .”
Of course, this is a lie.
Calleon Ignias will use Castarion’s testimony to overthrow House Lancaster, but there is no reason to spare Castarion’s life.
Why do we have to save the evil mage who sacrificed so many civilians?
“Of course, I will also protect you, an important witness.”
“Hey, is that really true?”
“Anyway, in this situation, you have no choice but to follow my advice.”
“… … .”
Castarion had no choice.
finally… He moaned and lowered his head.
“i get it. Let me do what you say… … .”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
I grabbed Castarion’s neck.
After subjugating the demons and securing witnesses… Now is the time to return to the academy.
* * *
The Lancaster family had teamed up with the Magician to kill Ernas Landsstein.
When the news broke, the upper echelons of the academy were shocked.
Last time, there were suspicions that the Lancaster family tried to kill Ernas, but that time eventually passed on to insufficient evidence.
However, this time, there was a testimonial that they had joined hands with the Black Heavenly Demon Bridge.
From the academy’s point of view, it was a bigger problem than trying to kill Ernas.
“How can I believe this? Does it make sense to doubt a prestigious family such as the Lancaster family based solely on the allegations of an evil cultist?”
“But the Lancaster family had their doubts last time. Motivation is enough.”
“What benefit would a high-ranking priest of the Magic Kingdom have to frame the Lancaster family?”
At an emergency meeting held in the main building of the academy, the professors had a heated discussion.
“If you want to assassinate a person, you have to ask the Blood Sword Presbyterian Association, why do you ask the demons? It is unnatural!”
A professor zealously defended the Lancaster family.
When the other professors were trying to convince the other professors, Yoles, who was at the end, opened his mouth.
“If you are going to hire an elder-level assassin of the Blood Sword Presbyterian Church, they say that the client must also provide their own information.”
“Professor Yols, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“If the Lancasters really wanted to kill Ernas, they would want to hide the fact that they commissioned it. Then you can’t ask the Blood Sword Presbytery Association.”
“no… Do we need an elder-level assassin of the Blood Sword Presbyterian Church to kill Ernas?”
“From what I’ve seen so far, Ernas seems to have that kind of ability.”
“… … .”
“If it is difficult to move the Blood Sword Presbytery… I have no choice but to snoop around the magician.”
At Yols’ remark, the atmosphere in the conference room was reversed.
The Lancaster defender opened his mouth again, but suddenly a bang was heard on the desk.
“That’s why you didn’t tell me last time! House Lancaster has crossed the line!”
It was Calleon Ignias who raised his voice.
He had once again criticized the Lancaster family for suspicion.
“After his successor, Lester Lancaster, was expelled from school, the Lancaster family was completely lost! Last time, you sent an assassin to kill all heirs of other families!”
“Kar, Professor Calleon, that was ultimately due to insufficient evidence… … .”
“That sound again!”
Calleon slammed the desk in a fiery rage.
“We have witnesses this time! It is not something that should be overlooked!”
“Ugh… … .”
“Chief Aldbout!”
Calleon’s gaze turned to the white-haired old swordsman who sat at the top of the table.
He was the president of Aldbout, the supreme grader who oversees the entire academy.
“Isn’t this enough to move the academy? This is definitely an act that threatens the order of the Empire!”
“… … .”
“If the academy doesn’t move again this time… … .”
Calleon said in a harsh voice.
“I will bring troops from Ignias’ home in the east.”
“… … !”
The conference room was noisy at Caleon’s remarks.
If Caleon brings the Ignias family’s troops and attacks the Lancaster family, it will be an all-out war between the master swordsmen.
This was an act that greatly shook the stability of the imperial society.
“Caleon, don’t be hasty.”
Then Aldbout slowly opened his mouth.
“Because I need an explanation from the Lancaster family as well.”
“Master!”
“Of course, it can’t be done in writing like last time.”
Aldbout said in a serious voice.
“Caleon, I will represent you. Come visit House Lancaster with the other professors.”
“then… … .”
“After hearing an explanation, if you think it’s not enough… Please take down Henry Lancaster, the head of the Lancaster family, and send him back.”
“… … !”
Including Calleon, he sends several climax grades.
This is more dangerous than sending a large-scale subjugation squad.
The Lancaster family had no choice but to protest strongly.
“and… … .”
In front of the professors holding their breath, Aldbout added in a calm voice.
“Take Ernas Landsstein too. As the party involved, it will be helpful in finding out the truth.”