Chapter 40: Illusionary Army (5)
Mercenaries were known as drifters, moved only by the pull of gold.
A unique subset of these were the ''human hunters'', specialized mercenaries who hunted humans. Among these groups, Yukon, the head of Red Hat, stood out. His group was ranked among the top three, and now he was surveying a nearby vige.
''That''s our target this time.''
More precisely, their aim was Prince Zion in the vige, but the distinction mattered little.
Today, the vige would be wiped out.
''Were we supposed to make it look like a ghostly theft hit?''
Nothing survived a ghostly theft. To sell the illusion, they had to level the vige.
''This might be easier for Prince Zion.''
Death would find him only after the ghostly theft.
"Boss, Dmitry and his crew aren''t back?"
A lean man of Mongolian descent voiced his concern to Yukon.
"I only sent them to scout. Are they messing around?"
"Can we afford that? Boss, let''s move! We can''t wait forever!"
The rest of the men backed him up, badgering Yukon.
As darknesspletely fell, Yukon finally broke his silence.
"Alright, let''s end them."
His eyes mirrored the blood-red moon as he gave the order.
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Raei Trantions
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"No… No!"
Fear gripped Ferna as she darted through the forest.
''I need to warn them, now!''
Earlier, she''d run into strangers who radiated a weird aura. Covertly tracking them, she stumbled upon a horrifying scene.
A strange group had visited Liam''s home under mysterious circumstances and were ambushed by an unknown party. The resulting sh was too intense for amoner like Ferna to understand, let alone observe.
All she could make out was a pale man engulfed by shadows, and a red-eyed woman casting bloody lines from her fingers.
By the time she''d grasped their moves, the fight was over.
The strangers had won.
They''d defeated a more significant force, clearly seasoned warriors. It was a sight to behold.
However, the words of a short-haired woman who appearedter cleared everything else from Ferna''s mind.
''We have a main force, they''re close and will attack this vige soon.''
Hearing this, Ferna sprinted towards the vige, uncaring if they saw her. But she hadn''t made it yet.
The path from Liam''s house to the vige seemed especially long today.
"Please, please..."
Ferna was haunted by the vige''s nightmarish past, which yed out again in her mind.
She dreaded the prospect of living through that horror again.
''Soon... what do they mean by soon?!''
How much time did they have?
Could the vigers, without any transport, manage to flee if warned?
The vige soon came into sight.
''I have to warn them...!''
Just then.
Thud!
Ferna''s sprint came to a stop.
"No..."
Despair washed over her.
The vige was already...
"Ha! Lop off all their heads!"
"Please, save me! Save... Ah!"
"I have money, I''ll give you all I have... please, spare Peter..."
"Huh? We don''t need your paltry change!"
Swish!
"Ahhh!"
The nightmare was ying out again.
"No..."
Ferna stood, frozen, staring at the unfolding horror.
Her eyes met with an old man''s, held captive by one of the human hunters.
''Grandpa Gibson!''
The man who''d treated her like his own granddaughter after she was orphaned.
Run, get away.
The old man silently mouthed, too terrified to make a sound, for fear of alerting the hunters.
She resented it.
The vige was always the victim, defenseless.
But its people never stopped smiling.
That''s why she''d nned to leave, to grow stronger.
But the truth was...
-Ferna,e to our house for dinner tonight.
She didn''t want to go.
-Sis, let''s go pick fruits! My mom will make a yummy pie with them!
She just wanted to protect them.
-Oh, dear, do you only have those clothes? Wear these. I didn''t buy them for you, they just don''t fit me anymore.
These people, naive and unreasonably kind.
She wanted to protect them, that''s why she sought strength.
-Haha, Ferna. We''ve got too much firewood. Come and take some.
No more.
She wanted to be strong, so she wouldn''t lose anyone else.
"Let go of him! You mongrel!"
With an axe she''d picked up, Ferna charged the hunter holding Gibson''s head.
But.
"Huh? What''s this?"
Thud!
A teenager like Ferna stood no chance against a seasoned human hunter.
The hunter, mouth full of piercings, let go of the old man and seized Ferna by the throat.
"Kuh, kuh!"
Ferna fought back, grasping the hunter''s hand with all her might.
Ferna''s breath was gradually choked off by the hunter''s stranglehold.
However, her eyes zed with furious resolve as she red at him.
"Huh, look at those eyes. You nning to kill someone? Amusing," the hunter smirked, raising his other hand. "I''ll start by gouging out those pretty eyes."
He reached for Ferna''s eyes, his cruelty tant.
Ferna''s vision blurred due to oxygen deprivation as she watched his hand draw closer.
''So, in the end...''
It might have been inevitable.
They were prey; they were predators.
The prey''s struggles merely expedited their demise.
Atst, the hunter''s hand neared Ferna''s eyes.
Despair clouded her vision.
Kwaaang!
Was it a lightning bolt, striking beside her?
With a noise like a bomb detonation, the hunter''s arm gripping Ferna''s throat vanished.
"......What?"
Bewildered, the hunter stared at his obliterated arm.
Then.
"Bow your head."
Amanding bass voice reached Ferna, as she copsed to the ground.
As she instinctively ducked from the authority in the voice.
Twaaaang!
A thunderous st like an exploding shell skimmed over Ferna''s head, demolishing the hunter''s body.
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Raei Trantions
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"I hear Prince Zion has chosen the Phantom gue as his test for session."
On a hill near Kurd vige.
A demon with gill-like ears spoke, standing behind Cainliss, who was surveying the vige.
"That reckless prince? Overconfident much? He really thinks he can handle it?"
Cainliss scoffed.
Familiar with the imperial circles, he had a fair idea about Zion Agnes.
"Phantom gue, he might even struggle with the simpler catastrophes."
"Maybe he never nned to solve it. I heard he left the Imperial City with only one follower."
"That could be. In hindsight, he could im ignorance about the Phantom gue''s location."
"Even if we tell him we''re initiating the Phantom gue here, he won''t show, will he?"
While the others mocked Zion, the gilled demon, who''d been quietly listening, spoke again.
"I think we should be wary of Prince Zion. Are you aware of the current orders regarding Zion Agnes?"
"What order?"
"The order was to put Zion Agnes on surveince as soon as he returned to the Imperial City."
"What?"
Curiosity sparked in the eyes of a blue-skinned demoness.
Those on the ''watchlist'' were individuals of great influence within the Empire, weren''t they?
"Why?"
"The higher-ups suspect that the recent demon disappearances within the Imperial City may be tied to Zion Agnes."
"You mean... Zion Agnes is hunting demons?"
The gilled demon didn''t respond, but silence was answer enough.
"If that''s true, then Prince Zion is fully aware of our existence..."
It was a staggering revtion.
They knew how deeply the demons within the Imperial City concealed their true forms.
However, the notion that he could urately identify and hunt these demons was utterly beyond the capabilities of the Zion Agnes they knew.
But if by some chance it was true...
"Our entire perception of Zion Agnes So far has been false..."
That''s when it happened.
"I have a question."
A voice suddenly interrupted Cainliss''s thoughts.
The quiet voice reverberated in their ears, yet it was foreign to them.
"……!"
The demons swiveled towards the source of the voice, their expressions rigid with shock.
Bang!
"Gah, Gah!"
They caught sight of a fellow demon, his heart inexplicably pierced, spouting blue blood.
The demon, notprehending why his heart was impaled, choked out screams in a blend of confusion and suffocation.
Then, next to that demon.
Swoosh-
A silhouette of Zion, grinning ominously, materialized from an inky darkness.
"I tried my best to show that I was here, yet you failed to catch on?"
Zion nonchntly discarded the demon''s body, its heart, core, and teleportation core all shattered in one blow, and asked as though truly intrigued.
"Who are you…?"
"That''s Zion Agnes. That''s definitely Zion Agnes."
The gilled demon forcefully interjected, interrupting the blue-skinned woman, who stared at Zion in shock.
Alongside him, the other demons began to look unnerved.
''How did he find us? Does he know who we are? Does he even understand our ns? And what is that power…''
Cainliss''s mind was flooded with multiple questions.
However, he dismissed them for the moment.
There was no way to discern the truth at present.
''There''s only one certainty.''
The Zion Agnes before them had effectively concealed his true nature.
Despite it being a surprise attack, he had imed the life of a demon on par with Cainliss in a single strike.
Such a feat was beyond the capabilities of the ''disgrace of the royal family'' they had been led to believe.
And the surrounding darkness.
It felt more alien and ominous than anything Cainliss had witnessed So far.
"We must kill him."
He must be eliminated here and now, regardless of the cost.
As Cainliss murmured those words, an ominously potent magical power began to radiate from his entire form.
An adversary demanding his utmost effort from the outset.
Such was the conclusion Cainliss''s intuition guided him towards.
Vroom!
As though validating his instincts, the blue-skinned woman and the gilled demon also began to emanate a fearsome magical energy, causing the atmosphere around them to tremble.
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Raei Trantions
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''He is distinctively different.''
Zion''s gaze chilled as he observed the demons.
The quality and volume of their magic power hinted at a prowess different from the demons he had encountered before.
Had it not been for his surprise attack, the initial demon he took down would not have fallen so effortlessly.
''At my current level, I can handle at most two.''
So, what was his strategy?
Despite the seemingly disadvantageous situation, a smirk lingered on Zion''s lips.
Zion.
The higher the wall obstructing his path.
The deeper the chasm he must traverse.
The greater the anticipation swelling within him.
He never experienced such a crisis when he was the emperor of his original world.
The thrill of surmounting the crisis, advancing beyond!
Then.
Boom!
The trio of demons, who vanished with a swift leap, materialized in front of Zion.
A sonic boom trailed them, the atmosphere rending btedly in their wake.
"Perish."
Following that, the demons, whose attacks could easily shatter a hill, simultaneously targeted Zion''s important areas.
"I had hoped to conserve this, if possible."
A soft utterance slipped from Zion''s lips.
Apanying that.
-----------!
The darkness radiating from Zion''s right hand, gripping thin air, began to morph into the shape of a sword.
***
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