Ch.274274. Suddenly, at That Moment! (4)

With unprecedented speed, the lion-faced beast tore apart and crushed the body of Elder Seo, who had been these ninjas’ leader.

Quite naturally, these ninjas lost much of their will to fight after witnessing their only hope being mercilessly ripped apart before their eyes.

The large-scale magic (ninja technique) cast by over thirty people was simply chewed up by the beast’s physical body, and Elder Seo, who had seemed capable of landing effective hits in close combat, was pathetically devoured.

What proved especially fatal to these ninjas’ morale was, of course, the fact that Elder Seo had died so meaninglessly.

Armed with the magical Japanese sword “Moonlight,” crafted by a master artisan of the Yamato Kingdom, he had been the most powerful among them in terms of pure combat ability in a direct confrontation.

With a level of skill that hovered precariously between intermediate and advanced, and swordsmanship based on this foundation. Elder Seo’s combat prowess was innate—while he couldn’t fully reproduce the principles with his body, he could at least imitate them.

The principle behind Elder Seo’s swordsmanship was none other than “Battōjutsu” (the art of drawing the sword).

Normally, it would be more powerful to simply swing a sword in the air rather than quickly drawing and swinging it, but Elder Seo’s sword had long transcended such physical laws.

He took the very act of “drawing the sword from its scabbard and swinging it” as a constraint and penalty, then applied the law of equivalent exchange inherent in mysticism to increase power or speed of the slash.

As a result, unlike conventional battōjutsu techniques specialized in quickly drawing the sword, with his own swordsmanship characteristics added, Elder Seo could deliver an attack powerful enough to be effective even against higher-ranked opponents—but limited only to his first strike.

However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the lion-faced beast’s speed.

Moving its head swiftly, the beast caught Elder Seo as he leaped into the air and crushed him. Seeing their leader brutally killed—moreover, realizing that their only ally capable of landing effective hits had been slain—was enough to throw them into panic.

Especially in the current situation, where they had no energy left to use any special magical powers.

These 26 intermediate-level ninjas were, for better or worse, exactly average veteran intermediate level. While they might have sufficient firepower against humans, they couldn’t inflict any real damage on the lion-faced beast’s body, which seemed wrapped in dozens of layers of steel wire.

So they retreated step by step while inwardly raising their weapons above their heads, preparing to attack.

Of course, the lion-faced beast showed no intention of waiting for them.

As a heat like blazing flames rose from the beast’s body, its lion wings flapped, spreading this heat in the form of a hot wind.

-Sizzle….

The hot wind was a threatening attack that made flesh sizzle and cook upon contact, and the physical force manifested as wind was not something that could be simply ignored.

They might be able to counteract this heat by releasing aura and magical power from their bodies, but that would only buy time at best.

These ninjas, in this desperate situation, had no choice but to fight without being able to escape.

Of course, this wasn’t due to any loyalty or sense of glory toward their organization, but simply because the equipment that maintained their current physical state and regulated their souls existed in this warehouse.

Needless to say, even if souls are processed and preserved, this preservation doesn’t last forever.

This soul preservation process is essentially coating the soul’s surface—which would otherwise deteriorate if left unattended—with someone else’s soul to deteriorate in its place.

As overwhelming and powerful as the returns are, the risks involved cannot be ignored.

Especially since, no matter how much the existing records have been erased from these “vessels,” they are definitely different from the original bodies.

As time passes, the separation between soul and body gradually becomes apparent, and without maintenance at the facility, the vessel’s lifespan would be rapidly consumed.

Therefore, they were about to charge at the giant lion-faced beast to prevent their own deaths when….

At that very moment.

-Peeeyooooong!!

With a sound too mechanical and simplistic to have come from a living creature’s body, heat beams shot from the lion-faced beast’s eyes, consuming two ninjas in succession and incinerating them.

In this unprecedented situation where intermediate-level aura users were reduced to ashes in a single blow, the others tensed up while still defending against the hot winds that continued to blow—

[—■■■■■■!!!]

-Whoosh!

Suddenly, with a roar, the violent current of energy transformed from hot wind to flames, spewing its distinctive fire in all directions and heating up the warehouse interior even more.

While it couldn’t deliver the concentrated firepower damage to specific points like the previous flame storm, the worst part was that these flames were nearly impossible to avoid.

Of course, protecting one’s body by emitting aura might not be too threatening, but the problem was that the lion-faced beast kept moving during all this.

-Crack!

A sharp, red-hot forepaw swung and completely severed a ninja’s head, while another wingbeat sent out another torrent of flames, its crimson tongue licking out to engulf two more ninjas.

And what followed was nothing short of a one-sided massacre.

Against the overwhelming physical prowess of a high-ranked magical beast (divine beast) and its power to control and emit flames, the ninjas, with no effective countermeasures, could do virtually nothing.

Therefore… in this scene where dozens of intermediate-level ninjas fumbled about, neither fleeing nor fighting properly, not a single ninja survived to the end.

It was the victory of the Sphinx—a giant lion divine beast with a human head and wings.

※ ※ ※

The air, heated to scorching temperatures, warmed the interior of what was essentially a logistics warehouse on the verge of collapse from the battle’s aftermath.

In the center of this grand scene that looked as if some enormous beast had swept through, I was throwing off the Sphinx shell I had been wearing and returning to my original form.

‘Hot….’

It feels different from the robust divine beast body with overwhelming heat resistance based on leather that can ignore heat.

No matter how high-ranked, it can’t be completely free from external stimuli, so this level of heat would definitely feel hot.

‘Robo, let me borrow your power for a moment.’

[Sure! Anytime!]

-Hisssss….

So I borrowed Robo’s ability to handle cold to lower the ambient temperature a bit, and only then could I comfortably observe the warehouse interior.

Having finally gained the ability to transform into a high-ranked magical beast, I transformed into a Sphinx as a practical test of this ability and dealt with all the intermediate-level ninjas in this warehouse.

The Sphinx’s overwhelming physical prowess and elemental resistance were beyond what intermediate-level nobodies could possibly imagine, so it didn’t take much effort to sweep them away.

Oh, and if you’re concerned about causing trouble by rampaging in a warehouse in the middle of the city, we were able to use force in Hanyang in the first place because we had government permission.

This matter had long since crossed the line of what could be overlooked due to its gravity, so we obtained authorization through several proposals to the court ministers and the king.

To be frank, an attempted assassination within the country is somewhat difficult to simply brush aside.

Naturally, if we propose to bury this matter in exchange for immunity, they can hardly refuse.

Anyway, to deal with those who dared to participate in the assassination attempt… and incidentally to resolve the unpleasant energy felt here, I deliberately spread heat and rampaged.

Since I knew that if Sophie thought a fire might break out, she would immediately summon rain to extinguish it, I felt comfortable spreading flames while rampaging in the middle of the city.

And now, as everything was coming to a conclusion, I drew my sword to punish the true final enemy.

The mastermind behind this incident, the shadow manipulator. The historic idiot and fool who had kidnapped several administrative staff of the ninja organization and placed the order to assassinate Sophie and me.

Prince Jinseong of the Kingdom of Korea, the second prince whose royal title had been demoted from Grand Prince to Prince.