Ch.138Black Heart Annihilation Operation

The Northern Fortress Guard’s decision to launch a night raid was executed swiftly.

Judging that the gang who had abandoned their advantageous position to retreat hastily wouldn’t attempt another attack tonight, they left minimal security forces behind and rushed to the canyon in the northwest.

The subjugation force numbered 35 people including us. Though inferior in numbers compared to the gang, the guard captain believed we had sufficient chances of victory.

When their base was attacked earlier, they were caught off guard largely because they didn’t know the enemies enhanced their physical abilities with drugs or that they would self-destruct when cornered, and they couldn’t establish proper cover while prioritizing the barrier tower’s defense.

Now, however, they knew all the enemy’s cards and had no critical defense target to protect, so this numerical disadvantage could certainly be overcome.

‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’

“Guhk!”

“Aaargh!”

Remi’s claim about being unfamiliar with combat appeared to be true, as the Blackheart Gang’s defensive posture was utterly pathetic.

There were no observation posts set up on high ground, just guards sporadically positioned between the canyon passages.

Even those had no satisfactory cover and fully exposed themselves with lanterns.

They might as well be begging to be sniped.

“First squad take the left, second squad block the right passage, and third squad circle around to hit their flank. Adventurers approach the hideout through the side path to cut off the escape of key figures.”

“OK, let’s go!”

The 35-member subjugation force that arrived at the canyon entrance split into four teams to press into the Blackheart Gang’s hideout.

Two squads of ten from the fortress guard would occupy the canyon passages and engage gang members who rushed out, while another squad would circle around the east, and our five-member team would attack the gang’s hideout through the western side path.

The top priority of this night raid was to capture or kill the Blackheart Gang’s boss and the masked man supplying the drugs.

In the worst case, as long as we could secure those two and the drug core, we wouldn’t need to worry about the other riffraff.

Late-arriving bounty hunters would thoroughly search the area to catch them, or even if they escaped safely, they would likely die wandering the mountains without a barrier.

‘From Remi’s perspective, I’d like to end this with formal arrests for everyone except those two… but that’s probably an unrealistic wish.’

Unless I could use magic that could nullify the drug’s effects from a distance, it would be impossible to rely on the Fragment of True Will to neutralize gang members one by one when I needed to approach within a few meters of them.

Even if it were possible, they might already be beyond saving like that female outlaw, and given the nature of their crimes, they would likely face execution anyway.

Having decided to provide information, Remi must have prepared herself for the gang’s annihilation. There’s no need to lower our chances of success with needless sympathy, but…

‘The father… huh.’

Only the baby and mother escaped from the Blackheart Gang. That fact had been making me slightly uncomfortable since earlier.

Logically speaking, the husband of a fugitive—a traitor—shouldn’t be alive.

He probably lost his life helping his wife and baby escape, or was executed as an example even after their escape.

“Will, stop. Guard ahead.”

“Wha…!”

Phyllis stopped me as I was momentarily lost in thought and pointed ahead.

About ten meters away, an outlaw with a lantern stood on top of a rock.

He seemed to be guarding the side path, but his attention was drawn to the gunfire erupting from the opposite side, not even glancing in our direction.

“He’s distracted. I’ll take him out.”

“Please do, Seti… wait, hold on.”

The outlaw’s hair illuminated by the lantern light was a brownish orange color, close to ginger.

The exact same ginger hair as the baby in Remi’s arms.

The four women following my gaze also noticed this fact and dropped their attack posture, hiding themselves.

“……”

The five of us just looked at each other’s faces, unable to say anything.

Was this man Remi’s husband, the baby’s father?

We couldn’t be certain based on hair color alone, but the possibility was significant.

If so, why was he alive? What about making an example of a traitor? Why was he guarding the hideout?

As numerous thoughts crossed in our gazes, Jessica and Seti nodded to each other, and Seti immediately dashed toward the rock where the man stood, moving silently.

‘Is she just going to kill him?’

There was no time for hesitation in such a critical operation. If no one could make a decision, following the leader Jessica’s instructions was the right move.

A rational judgment, but one with a somewhat bitter aftertaste.

However, Jessica’s decision seemed a little different from what I had expected.

‘Thud! Whoosh!’

“Huh…”

Seti kicked off the wall, leaped up, and wrapped herself around the man’s neck, then kicked the nearby tree and fell down the rock with him.

The man and Seti dropped about 2-3 meters below, with him not even realizing what had happened.

‘Thump!’

“Ugh…!”

Unlike Seti, who landed gracefully like a hero, the ginger-haired outlaw was slammed to the ground with his mouth covered, the back of his head hitting Seti’s knee hard.

Jessica, who had rushed out the moment Seti jumped, reached the outlaw’s side before he could recover from the impact of the fall.

‘Fwoosh!’

Seti, confirming a colorless magic circle spreading on the ground, mounted the writhing man’s body.

One hand covered his mouth while the other held her spear short, aiming at his neck.

“Are you Remi’s husband?”

“Mmph…!?”

Barely grasping the situation upon hearing the girl’s low voice, the man closed his eyes tightly and tensed his entire body.

He clearly looked ready to self-destruct, so I was about to shout for the two to get away, but Jessica raised her hand to stop me.

After 5, then 10 seconds passed, the man showed no signs of exploding.

“He won’t explode. Jessica is preventing it.”

“Phew… you scared me.”

“Sorry for acting on my own. But if this person is Remi’s husband, I thought we couldn’t just kill him thoughtlessly.”

The man, subdued by Seti and Jessica, gave up resistance after realizing his explosion technique wouldn’t activate.

Seti, still holding her spear blade to his neck, asked again in a low voice.

“I’ll ask one more time. Are you Remi’s husband?”

Nod, nod.

After the man nodded, Seti warned him ‘I’ll kill you if you make a loud noise’ before removing her hand from his mouth.

Even after regaining his freedom to speak, the man showed no signs of shouting or resisting, instead cautiously watching us before asking carefully.

“Are Remi and Chris… safe?”

“For now. Thanks to the mess you all created, we’ve had to work hard to keep her off the gallows.”

“If you were so worried, why didn’t you surrender back at Northern Fortress?”

“I couldn’t. Once injected with Black Wine, if you don’t follow the Gentleman’s orders…”

“Gentleman?”

“The man who supplies drugs to our gang.”

“My, my, instead of guarding the side path, you’re having a friendly chat with intruders? You truly are worthless trash.”

At the sudden voice, we looked up to see a man in a coat wearing a white opera mask, standing on a low cliff above us, aiming a long-barreled pistol at Jessica’s chest.

His aura was distinctly different from the outlaws belonging to the Blackheart Gang. What was shocking was that even Seti hadn’t noticed his appearance.

“Don’t move. Not if you want to avoid a hole in the red-haired lady’s chest.”

“You could have shot without warning, so coming to talk means you want something, right?”

“How perceptive.”

The Gentleman slightly frowned at the sound of approaching gunfire, then continued.

“Since time is short, I’ll be direct. Red-haired sorceress, hand over the formula for the dissolution magic you’re using. If you do, I’ll quietly withdraw from this affair.”

“You’d escape alone in this situation? Your boss would love to hear that.”

“That won’t happen. After receiving the formula, I’ll detonate all the surviving members and escape. Including the boss, of course.”

“What…! That’s not our deal, Gentleman! You said when the city of outlaws was completed, you’d return us to our pre-Black Wine state…”

“It seems that city of outlaws won’t be built now. I have no loyalty to a sinking ship. Besides, I need to prevent the pioneers from getting their hands on the Black Wine samples.”

“You bastard!”

‘BANG!!’

The ginger-haired man tried to grab the derringer pistol from Jessica’s thigh right beside him, but the Gentleman’s elongated pistol fired faster.

Regardless of the gun’s appearance, if it had been an ordinary white magic bullet, Jessica would have successfully seized control the moment it entered the Fragment’s effective range.

But what shot from the man’s gun wasn’t a simple magic bullet but a thick, elongated needle-like projectile, and the Fragment couldn’t intercept this physical attack.

The ginger-haired man, his forehead pierced by the elongated needle, died instantly.

Our small consideration for Remi and her baby ended in vain.

“A real bullet gun…?”

“You’re the first to call it that. Well… the name doesn’t matter. So, what will you do?”

The Gentleman’s long barrel aimed at Jessica’s chest once more, and Jessica glared back at him with anger in her sky-blue eyes.

Options like letting the drug supplier go or handing over the Archmage’s formula were never even considerations.

We had briefly delayed our raid through the side path on the slim hope of finding a way to save Remi’s husband whom we’d encountered by chance.

With that possibility gone, there was no reason to let this “Gentleman” escape alive.

“…I refuse.”

With Jessica’s ultimatum, my right hand moved toward my holster.

The now somewhat familiar sensation of mana draining from my body.

It was time to shower this suspicious masked man with bullets before his finger could pull the trigger.