Ch.30Marcy (2)

“Wait, just… let me catch my breath…”

For a long while, I couldn’t let go of Isla’s hand as we ran far away.

The difference in stamina was stark. No matter how exceptional a hunter Isla was, being a therianthrope and shapeshifter with high endurance, she was still no match for my level.

I didn’t stop for a moment even as we approached the outskirts of the city, and at the end of that long sprint, Isla was panting heavily, gasping for breath.

Sweat soaked her forehead, and her hair clung to her skin.

She had been dragged along without daring to ask me to stop. When I finally released her wrist, she bent over and panted for quite some time.

Her tail hung limply, and her ears lay flat against her head in exhaustion.

Her panting breath was strangely alluring, but I had no time to dwell on such things.

I pulled the still-unsteady Isla into the shadows and peered outside.

Thankfully, no one was following us. A stroke of luck.

Though I had chosen to flee out of panic, thinking calmly, I shouldn’t have.

Running away would certainly look suspicious, yet I couldn’t simply ignore the visible signs.

So I fled. As a result, we now stood far from the harbor.

There, in the back alley, I waited with Isla as she caught her breath, her chest heaving.

The silence broke while Isla was still regulating her breathing.

“That was a spear.”

Without a doubt, it was. After I nodded in agreement, Isla pounded her modest chest and continued once she caught her breath.

“They threw people upward and impaled them with spears from below.”

It was hard to believe. An execution method that was far from efficient—truly an eccentric display.

But I wasn’t the type of bastard who would dismiss a comrade’s opinion simply because it was difficult to believe.

“…Why would they do that?”

“I… don’t know.”

Isla grabbed my arm while still panting.

She rested her head against my body with a thud and continued to catch her breath for a while.

Only after finally regulating her breathing could she share her theory.

“I think it’s a display. Like marking territory.”

A very hunter-like approach. And hearing her words, I thought she might be right.

Assuming her theory was correct, it was a death that could only be seen as a display.

The broken ship, the information agents and sailors scattered before it.

Thinking about how they died, “display” was the most accurate description.

Going through the trouble of forcing them to kneel, then throwing them into the air.

That alone would be fatal when they fell, yet they deliberately threw spears to impale them. When they landed, people became like skewered pigs.

And then deliberately arranging them for exhibition in the most presentable way possible.

For what purpose?

If not for display, it made no sense. If not for display, I couldn’t understand it.

In Grim Darker, there were no such skills or magic that required such preparation.

It was purely mischief and entertainment. Something done for pleasure.

The more I realized this, the clearer the enemy became in my mind.

In that moment, I clenched my fist tightly with my monstrous body.

A spear that could sink a ship with one blow and the art of throwing humans into the air to impale them—

This wasn’t the kind of prowess that could be described as a skill, profession, or technique.

It was power.

Pure and overwhelming power.

Power several levels above my own Strength of 20.

A monster above monsters.

Just as I was internalizing this instinctively drawn conclusion—

“It’s a shapeshifter.”

Someone’s words naturally blended into my thoughts.

I reflexively turned and drew my longsword.

Isla ducked to avoid interfering with the trajectory of my blade and pulled out her sling from her waist.

Despite the situation, we had allowed ourselves to be ambushed.

Whoever it was, they needed to be eliminated here.

But that thought quickly evaporated.

At the end of my blade stood a man.

A middle-aged man with a pale complexion, clutching his shoulder, flies buzzing around him.

Where one of his arms should have been was roughly torn away, leaving emptiness.

He stood straight despite having weapons pointed at him.

“…Good.”

No, that’s wrong. He had no strength left to dodge such an attack.

That alone suggested what had happened.

“I thought I was about to die, but I can still deliver the message.”

The man’s body collapsed.

Without time to catch him, he slumped against the alley wall and looked up at Isla and me.

His gaze fell blankly on us. He soon confirmed we were the people he was looking for, forcibly holding onto his fading breath.

“The New Continent Intelligence Division has been annihilated. I’ll be dead soon too, so it’s truly total annihilation.”

Blood gushed up, staining the ground. It was coming from his torn shoulder.

The wound was too large to stop the bleeding. Besides, I had no medical knowledge.

He forced a smile as his gaze slowly traveled upward.

“There was a betrayal. We tried to approach secretly by boat after stopping on the open sea, but… the helmsman and captain were killed, and we were captured.”

The Imperial Intelligence Division wouldn’t be a pushover. As an espionage organization of a self-proclaimed empire, they would possess considerable strength.

Guards, personal combat abilities—none would be lacking.

But according to what I felt since playing Grim Darker, the Empire couldn’t defeat the Three Clans.

It was the same now.

“There was a shapeshifter. One who could transform into a bear.”

Shapeshifter. Normally I would think of someone who was originally a therianthrope descended from the Three Clans, but this was an exception.

It was the Three Clans.

It had been that way since the first installment of Grim Darker.

The assassination of the five grand dukes was essentially the work of the Three Clans, and judging from the information revealed, the Empire’s civil war was also instigated by them.

All the evil deeds that came to light in the third installment were also the Three Clans. Then I recalled what Melody had said.

‘In reality, they’re divided into factions engaged in fierce political struggles.’

That’s why Imperial Guardian Lucilla couldn’t come to the New Continent. The New Continent was abandoned.

‘Some of those factions are influenced by the Three Clans.’

Everything that had happened could be simply explained if the Three Clans and parts of the Empire were in collusion.

As long as information was flowing to the Three Clans, all reinforcements coming to the New Continent would die, and whatever was being planned would always be one step behind.

Just like now.

I stared at the man whose breath was growing fainter. Kneeling on one knee to meet his eyes, the nameless agent smiled faintly.

It was a smile that wouldn’t last long. His face stiffened. He and I both froze at the sudden presence approaching.

It was an intense presence. Though invisible, the mere fact that it was approaching and watching was enough to make its existence vividly felt.

It was obvious who it was. I met the agent’s eyes.

He smiled slightly and closed his eyes.

The meaning was clear. He had made his resolve. It was his will to decide how to use his already dying life.

All that remained was to accept it. But my hand stiffened, refusing to move.

Yet the fact that it had to be done urged me on. As the approaching footsteps grew louder,

I gritted my teeth and raised my hand.

Crack!

Nausea welled up. I was disgusted with myself.

“Found… huh?”

The headless corpse collapsed, and I stood up to face the approaching figure.

It was a man who looked unmistakably like a bear.

Brown hair, brown beard, with golden eyes—the typical appearance of a warrior.

He looked at me and the shattered-headed corpse with a bewildered expression.

“…Who are you?”

I quickly assessed him by his expression, attitude, and presence. I stared at the man who was taller than me.

The shapeshifter who sank the ship and created countless displays impaled in the harbor.

Presumably a bear shapeshifter subordinate to the Three Clans.

Perhaps a monster with strength greater than my own. I carefully concealed my tension.

What attitude should I take here?

This agent had given his life as a card for me to play. Not using it would mean his death was in vain.

In that sense, it was best to utilize this death.

“That’s my line.”

The shapeshifter scratched his chin. His golden eyes, seemingly glowing in the darkness, scanned me and Isla in turn.

Only then did I see it.

Sorry to the agent, but he was bait.

Bait released by the shapeshifter to hunt the Empire’s intelligence “collaborators.”

He had realized this and chosen death. To create an alibi with his already dying life.

It was essentially leaving it to my capabilities, but in his dying moments, he had no choice. What he could do was limited.

And I had just taken that bait.

If I didn’t want to fight here, I needed to defuse the situation as much as possible.

“I was about to extract information when he suddenly bit his tongue and killed himself. Was that your doing?”

The shapeshifter looked even more confused by my deliberately arrogant tone.

He alternated his blank gaze between the headless agent’s corpse and me.

Though he might hesitate due to lack of knowledge, I didn’t waver.

I had enough material to judge and deceive him.

The ring I had once picked up that was later destroyed. Wasn’t it written on the ring destroyed by the Blood Knight?

That research wasn’t recognized and was transferred to another department.

And if departments and clans were divided, political friction was inevitable. It would be strange if they didn’t think like humans in that regard.

That was the flow I intended.

To make him think that I was a subordinate sent from another department of the Three Clans.

“No, that… who sent you?”

Fortunately, it unfolded as I intended. I deliberately slowly withdrew the blood aura I had wrapped around my body.

The bear shapeshifter’s eyes widened. I spread my arms to show him.

“I am Ruwellin, servant sent by Blood Knight Lorian.”

At the sight of the crimson armor symbolizing the Blood Knights and my dignified attitude, the shapeshifter quickly knelt.

“This humble beast greets the young blood of the clan!”

And fortunately, his rank seemed to be lower than that of a Blood Knight’s servant.

I felt relieved that the nameless agent’s death wasn’t in vain as I spoke.

“This is perfect timing. Whatever mission you were performing here, cease it immediately and follow my orders.”