Chapter 267

Chapter 267 - Secret Banquet (3)

"Libertine! Do not be arrogant just because you killed some thugs!"

The heavily armed pagan knight blocked his path. His top priority was protecting the mage he served. Was he not the benefactor who gifted him power by engraving the tattoos of hell and one of his few brothers in faith?

'He's qualitatively different from the guy I faced in the Bonyard forest.'

That mage had to do everything alone in a harsh environment, from the sacrificial ritual to the knight's blessing.

In contrast, the knight before his eyes was born with the support of the pagan army. He exuded thick mystery from his entire body.

"Why did you stop? Are you scared now that you face a true Knight of God?"

"Where's your conscience, spouting off while holding a longsword and a shield against a guy holding a single dagger?"

The mystery flowing from the pagan knight's arm circulated into his sword as smoothly as flowing water. An enemy like this had to be treated with more caution than an average medium-sized monster.

"Then I shall come from this side. Let us compete to see who the true Knight of God is!"

The pagan knight shouted fiercely and charged. The reason he was so hostile towards Eugene wasn't solely to avenge his brothers and sisters.

Seeing the blessing of the Goddess wrapping around Eugene was also a major factor. As a knight serving a god, his competitive spirit flared up, and he couldn't just let it slide.

"It is God's arrangement that my enemy has come to this place holding a single dagger! I will offer your corpse as a sacrifice to repay that grace!"

"I don't lose when it comes to God's arrangements either. I've been diligently donating to various places and doing missionary work for hundreds of people."

Eugene laughed while scanning his surroundings. As a place meant for business presentations, chairs were scattered everywhere.

True to a drug cartel, they were luxury items catering to noble tastes. In this era devoid of the aesthetics of lightweight design, being luxurious meant being heavy. Covered with thick solid wood and lavish cushions, they easily weighed 60kg.

Eugene lifted a chair with one hand and threw it. The chair, flying with a ferocious whistling sound, harbored destructive power comparable to a ballista.

"You monster-like bastard!"

Not daring to block it with his shield, the pagan knight dodged. Then, Eugene grabbed a chair in each hand and threw them off-beat.

Swoosh!

Vwoooosh!

Because he threw them by grabbing the armrests, the chairs had a terrifying spin on them. The pagan knight was reminded of a siege he had participated in in the past. Specifically, the memory of boulders fired by catapults flying towards the city walls where he stood. He threw his body repeatedly to dodge.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Crash!

The missed chairs bounced on the floor several times before crashing into the wall and shattering. The invited guests, who had taken cover in the corners wanting to avoid getting involved, screamed and scattered.

The pagan knight, frantically preparing for the next throw, saw Eugene charging at tremendous speed holding a chair leg.

'Damn it! I can't dodge!'

Bang!

He blocked the swung chair with his shield, but an immense shock traveled up his arm.

Immediately, Eugene's protruding gauntlet grabbed the pagan knight's right hand. The knight tried to strike Eugene with the shield in his left hand, but his arm merely trembled with a tingling sensation and refused to move.

"Keuaaak!"

Under Eugene's grip strength, the pagan knight's right wrist was crushed. It was a severe injury where the broken wrist bones pierced through the skin and protruded.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

In that opening, Eugene slashed the pagan knight wildly with the bloodletting dagger and then kicked him in the abdomen.

Flying with a pop! sound and rolling over and over, surprisingly, he stood back up, albeit with difficulty.

"He endured that even though his internal organs must have been violently shaken?"

"...I do not die."

To the astonished Eugene, the pagan knight raised his broken right hand. Then, the tattoos wriggled as if alive.

Crack.

Crunch.

Every time the tattoos moved, the wrist returned to its original state as if a doctor's hands were setting the bones. Even the wound where the bone had pierced through was bound and covered by the living tattoos, stopping the bleeding.

At this level, it was a highly advanced power even among the blessings of immortality commanded by the evil faction. Most stopped at erasing pain and delaying death.

"Behold! The greatness of Him! I will never... as long as God's blessing is with me..."

The pagan knight, who had been shouting triumphantly, was appalled at his rapidly cooling body.

Blood was leaking profusely from the areas that had been slashed to ribbons. The blessing of immortality tried to hold the wounds togAAether, but failed. Unlike his wrist, the wounds wouldn't close.

"That dagger..."

The pagan knight backed away from Eugene, who was approaching while waving the bloodletting dagger.

However, shock was already occurring in his body's organs due to massive blood loss. Turning pale blue, his strength failed him, and he collapsed.

"...Taste victory for now. You monster. But God will take revenge on our behalf. No matter where you hide, definitely..."

"If He can chase my castle, that is."

A huge shadow cast over the pagan knight's head. It was the chair Eugene had lifted. The resigned knight closed his eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cassandra was chasing the mage who had fled to the corridor outside the auditorium.

"Cain! Protect me! If you break our promise, the curse of gold will torment you for the rest of your life!"

"You don't need to threaten us like that."

Three men drew their swords and blocked the mage's escape route. Their gaits were balanced, wearing leather armor that prioritized mobility. Cassandra narrowed her eyes.

"Are you from the Gladiator Guild?"

"You have a good eye. It's been seven years since we graduated."

Gladiators are different from mercenaries who take all sorts of miscellaneous requests. They are specialists in anti-personnel combat who make a living through VIP escorting, participating in martial arts tournaments, and dueling requests.

"You seem ignorant, but that mage is a pagan worshiper. Do you want to end up on the pyre too?"

"Pretty lady. If you're going to lie, tell one that's a bit more believable. We've never seen such an excellent employer in our lives."

Cain considered Cassandra to be playing tricks. They were receiving an excellent payout for an escort request. Moreover, apart from the money, they feared they might get cursed if they broke their contract with a mage.

"Strike!"

As the gladiators rushed in, Cassandra quickly retreated.

"Don't kill her if possible! We need to take her hostage!"

Cain shouted. He vividly remembered the sight of Eugene overwhelmingly crushing the mansion guards.

"I don't run away."

Retreating and bringing her hand behind her waist, Cassandra swung something. However, the gladiators were too accustomed to this kind of surprise attack.

'Throwing daggers?'

The leading gladiator was fully prepared to deflect or dodge the projectiles. However, what was discharged from Cassandra's hand were four fluttering blades.

"Hup?!"

The gladiator deflected one blade, but the remaining three bent flutteringly and wrapped around his body.

"Kuaaaak!"

The 3m long blades sliced off his ears, face, back of his hand, and buttocks before slipping away. A multi-blade sword that had been disguised as part of Cassandra's skirt hem. The Urumi.

It wasn't a fatal wound, but it was a terrible pain incomparable to any other weapon. Forgetting that he was in the middle of a battle, the gladiator covered his face with his hands.

"Get a grip! Step back!"

"Heuaaah... Keugh!"

Four blades of the Urumi wrapped around the neck of the screaming gladiator.

"No!"

Swish.

Like a top released from its string, the gladiator spun round and round. He sprayed bloody water in all directions from his sliced neck before collapsing.

"You vicious bitch!"

"We will absolutely not let you die peacefully!"

The gruesome death of a friend they had shared their joys and sorrows with for a long time. Hostage or not, the gladiators' eyes turned upside down.

"Sven! That weapon is slow to retrieve! We strike simultaneously from the left and right!"

True to those experienced in anti-personnel combat, the two gladiators, having grasped the Urumi's weakness, split to both sides.

However, Cassandra was also a warrior who had experienced such situations both in training and actual combat. She charged towards Sven while swinging the Urumi.

'I can dodge it... No, she withdrew her sword?'

Sven saw the four blades that had spread wide to engulf him suddenly bunch up into a single strand and retract.

Cassandra's aim was immediately apparent. The Urumi, which absorbs more blood than any other sword upon impact, shook off the blood like a spray bottle.

"M-My eyes!"

With both eyes blinded by bloody water, Sven panicked and swung his sword wildly, while Cassandra moved behind him. She did this to secure Sven's back while simultaneously using him as a human shield against Cain, who was pouncing from the opposite side.

"Sven! Watch your back! Come this way!"

Closing his eyes, Sven ran towards the direction of his comrade's voice without questioning it.

Chwaaak!

However, the Urumi wrapped around his left leg.

"Keuaak!"

As the blades dug in and passed through, blood flowed profusely from his leg. Due to the weapon's nature, it is extremely effective at destroying areas the armor fails to cover.

Unfortunately, it seemed the femoral artery on the inner thigh had been hit, as the bleeding was unusual. Cain blocked the front of his comrade, who was desperately clinging to hopeless hemostasis, and shouted.

"You can survive! Don't give up and press on it! The guards will soon arrive as reinfOrcements, and we can get treatment..."

"No, he can't survive."

Flicking the blood-soaked Urumi blades with her fingernails, Cassandra smiled.

"I felt the sensation at my fingertips. It was definitely the taste of an artery being cut. That man is 100% dead."

"Shut up!"

Cain, swept up by her provocation, lost his focus. In that opening, a hand axe flew with a tremendous whistling sound and lodged itself in his temple.

Splat!

Blood drops splattered onto Cassandra's brightly smiling face. Cain rolled his eyes back, dropped to his knees, and slowly fell sideways.

"Sorry I'm late."

"No. It was perfect timing. Lord."

"S-Save..."

Swish!

Cassandra didn't even look at Sven, who was begging for his life on the floor, and finished him off.

"I'm sorry. We lost the mage bastard."

"It's fine. We've already completed the encirclement outside. We could completely destroy them just with the drug issue, but if we shake them thoroughly, a lot of things seem like they'll come out."

The only problem was the low probability that nothing would turn up. If they were confident that anything would come out like now, the situation was practically over.

Eugene took out a sphere larger than an egg from his bosom. It was an object with holes pierced in it like a whistling arrow. Assuming a pitcher's pose, Eugene threw it with all his might toward the sky.

"What is that? That peculiar posture?"

"It's a fun sport. I'll teach you later."

* * *

Peeeyoooooo!

"Captain!"

"His Excellency sent the signal!"

At the noise, which was much louder than other whistling arrows, Eugene's subordinates ambushed outside the mansion all dashed forward at once.

"T-This is private property..."

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing. Hehehe."

The entrance guard and the civil official, who had acted coercively towards Eugene, hastily stepped aside. They didn't have the guts to show off in front of the bloodthirsty knights and the Dwarf heavy infantry.

"It's a raid!"

"Tell them to hold out for now until we clear the workshop!"

At the instructions of Giovanni's action captains, the guards blocked the front. It was due to the shallow belief that they would receive a slightly better punishment if they destroyed the criminal evidence even if they were caught.

"Damn it! It's only been two days since I got here!"

"You think they'll understand that over there? Shut up and gather quickly!"

It is an era where guilt by association is applied inflexibly. Mercenaries with little connection to Giovanni's gang were also fOrced to join the defense with tears in their eyes.

If they densely defended the pathways within the mansion, it would take time to break through, no matter how elite the troops were. However, the ones charging in right now were the Hammer Brothers.

Polehammers, sledgehammers, war picks, and even battering rams used to pick locked doors were mobilized to beat up the defending fOrces. Smashed shields poured onto the ground in an instant.

"Bring anything that can block, whAAether it's planks or furniture!"

While the defenseless front line was being beaten and collapsing, even luxurious furniture was mobilized to block the way.

"Look at the guts on these bastards."

Facing a sturdier defense than expected, Rampage gestured behind him. Then, the Hammer Brothers split wide to the left and right, opening a path.

"These crazy Dwarf bastards!"

Twenty Dwarves holding a wooden battering ram, which would be used when breaking city gates, were charging toward the guards.

Crackle!

"Kuaaaak!"

No matter how solid a shield formation is, the fOrce it withstands in a collision is that of one infantryman. It was impossible to block the log pushed by twenty Dwarves. The defensive line was crushed in an instant, and the sounds of bones breaking and groans of people being crushed to death erupted.

"Good job. We'll take it from here."

As the battering ram retreated, Hind, who had been on standby, stepped forward. In a chaotic melee, heavily armed knights are practically killer chariots.

The mercenaries couldn't withstand three exchanges and were unilaterally swept away.

"Knights! The knights have arrived!"

"We surrender!"

The mercenaries, realizing it was hopeless, lost their will to fight.

"In the name of House Mayer, I command you! Everyone drop your weapons and get on the ground!"

"Arrests come later! Find our Lord first!"

"Your Excellency the Count! Your Excellency the Count! Where are you?"

But a problem occurred.

-It's a raid! Arm yourselves immediately and get out to the corridor!

-Use the guests' weapons for now too!

As the emergency broke out, they hurriedly armed themselves, so even the weapons confiscated from the guests had been distributed.

"...?!"

"You son of a bitch! Where did you get this?!"

The Hammer Brothers' eyes turned upside down when they saw a certain action captain. Because he was holding the Dwarf-made sword they had offered to Eugene.

"I-I don't know either! I just took what was in the collection box... Keugh!"

It was the moment when a rather moderate suppression operation turned into an extermination war akin to a riot. Fortunately, the Hammer Brothers were mostly armed with blunt weapons.

"Please spare me!"

"My head, please not my head at least!"

Because it stopped at the level where a lot of cripples with broken bones were produced all over the place. Everyone desperately covered their heads and begged for mercy.

"What is this? Why are you all so excited?"

"Your Excellency!!!"

"Yeah. I'm over here."

"I-I'm saved."

The ones who rejoiced more at Eugene's appearance than the Hammer Brothers were Giovanni's subordinates.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giovanni had been moving around busily as the logistics business, which had been suspended due to the siege, resumed. Securing cargo ships, rehiring dismissed workers, and managing cargoes.

Then, he jumped in shock upon hearing the news that the army had raided his mansion. Ignoring city rules, he rode his horse and galloped down the main street.

"What is this? What on earth is going on?!"

In front of the mansion entrance, the guard and the civil official were kneeling with both hands on their heads. The sounds of shouting and weapons clashing could be heard from inside the mansion, as if they were still engaged in combat.

"That man is Giovanni. Take him to His Excellency."

The soldiers surrounding the mansion roughly grabbed Giovanni's arms. Grasping the situation, he didn't resist and was dragged obediently into the mansion.

Eugene was in the hall on the first floor where the banquet had taken place. He was examining a golden crossbow from various angles. Cassandra put a carefully peeled shrimp into his mouth.

"Why are drug dealers so crazy about gold-plated weapons? It certainly looks cool, though."

"T-There seems to be some misunderstanding. Your Excellency."

Giovanni prostrated himself flat. He prayed that his subordinates had successfully destroyed the evidence.

"I heard you were secretly gathering people to start a rebellion after I leave."

"No! Absolutely not! It was to fill the vacuum created when the people who rebelled against Your Excellency disappeared! It was meant to share new business plans..."

"Can you swear to God?"

"I s-swear!"

Giovanni's cry was sincere.

To be honest, it wasn't that he didn't have any thoughts of rebellion at all. However, seeing the elite troops Eugene would leave behind and his solid rule, the odds of winning seemed nonexistent. So, he changed his plan to swallowing all the vacuum left by the vanished city power.

"But why does the list of guys invited to the banquet look like this?"

"Unlike Your Excellency, who receives the loyalty of outstanding talents, I lack good fortune with people! I had to scrape togAAether even bastards who seemed below standard in your eyes!"

Giovanni desperately pleaded, putting himself down and exalting Eugene.

This wasn't a lie either. To stay ahead in the competition with other council members, he couldn't hesitate to do things on the borderline of legal and illegal. So he called them in, intending to use even dangerous elements to the fullest.

"I am loyal to Your Excellency! This banquet was purely to discuss business! Please believe me!"

Giovanni begged profusely, even shedding thick tears.

"The mage is over there! Chase the mage!"

"Don't let him get to where His Excellency is!"

At that moment, the pagan mage being chased by the suppression fOrce revealed himself near the banquet hall. Through his monk's habit torn like rags, bruises and bloodstains were clear, and crossbow bolts were lodged here and there.

"Cursed Count! Judgment will fall upon your actions that block the path of the true God!"

His bloodshot eyes glared at Eugene through his disheveled hair.

"Is that all you have to leave behind?"

"I am ready to accept my death. But even if I go, I will clearly show you what kind of God you have turned into an enemy!"

At that moment, the pagan mage's eyes turned black. His limbs twisted, and horns sprouted from his head. Like the corrupted madman he had faced at the Lyra Monastery, the mage's body mutated.

Only, the degree of mutation in this person was much more intense. As his skin changed like a dark reptile's, the lodged bolts were pushed out and fell off. His eyes sank deeply, his lips turned pitch black, and wings encased in membranes sprouted. The horns grew as long as his face and soared majestically.

"A demon! It's a demon!"

"Oh, God..."

Everyone around was astonished by the appearance, which was the very definition of a demon no matter who looked at it. The shock received by Giovanni's subordinates, who had treated him as a guest and accompanied him, was especially great.

"Hey, Giovanni. What kind of business were you planning to do by holding hands with a pagan?"

"I-I am... I am innocent!"

"Calm down and speak."

"They said a skilled mage had come, so I accepted him, but..."

Giovanni wore an expression like he was going to die of unfairness.

In the midst of the competition over the vacuum of the vanished city power. At a time when martial fOrce was needed more than ever, a skilled knight and a mage had rolled in out of nowhere, and he had been delighted.

'But to think they were pagans?'

At this rate, he would end up taking the blame for crimes he didn't even commit and ascend the pyre.

"Count! I challenge you to a duel! If you are confident in anything, be it faith or skill, step forward before me!"

"Fine. I'll take you on."

"Lord. You don't necessarily have to face him."

Cassandra tried to stop Eugene, who stepped forward willingly. However, Eugene hadn't accepted the challenge blindly either.

"It's fine. Just looking at his gait or movements, he's not a warrior who has trained in martial arts. He's someone who has only dug into magic."

Even if he accepted demonic power, without technique, he was just a half-baked enemy. If he personally defeated the pagan, he could solidify the justification for search and seizure.

"You bastard! Are you truly a knight acting like that?"

"I accepted a 1-on-1 duel like a knight, so what are you talking about?"

"If you're a knight, use a weapon befitting a knight!"

The pagan mage spat out curses while watching Eugene charge with an iron shield in his left hand and a battering ram in his right hand.

It was demonic skin that could deflect most blades, but facing such a brutally heavy blunt weapon, there was no answer.

The first strike came from the pagan mage. He swung demonic claws that rivaled a bear's, aiming for Eugene. Eugene didn't dodge but countered by thrusting the battering ram.

Claws capable of tearing through decent armor were helpless in front of a solid lump of iron made for the purpose of smashing doors.

Crack.

As shattered claw fragments poured out, the pagan mage screamed. Eugene blocked counterattacks by putting his shield forward and repeatedly battered him with the battering ram.

True to a mage unaccustomed to weaponry or martial arts, he blindly tried to block by crossing both arms, but it was useless. The battering ram, which broke through his guard with overwhelming destructive power, smashed both of the pagan mage's shoulders.

"A battering ram isn't a tool meant to be used like that."

"As expected of someone who intended to lead the Hammer Brothers, he has to be at least that much."

Some of the Dwarves watched the spectacle with astonishment, others with respect.

"Keureureuk."

The pagan mage, whose limbs were also smashed, sprawled out in a spread-eagle shape. With both magical power and blessing draining away, his mutation was being undone.

"Interrogate him. Thoroughly interrogate him to find out if there are more pagan remnants."

"Will you leave it to me?"

Cassandra quickly stepped forward.

"As you please. When it comes to interrogations, no one can match you."

"There is that, but it's also a field I've been researching for a long time."

"Hmm?"

Cassandra's purple eyes swept over the incapacitated pagan mage. Skin hardened like a reptile's after receiving otherworldly power, membranous wings, demonic claws. The gaze looking at those things was full of academic curiosity.

"Move straight, you bastards!"

"Captain. Should we burn this? Or bury it?"

Eugene, looking at Giovanni's subordinates being hauled away in a line and the pieces of evidence, intuitively realized that the business in the city had been completely wrapped up.