Ch.370Side Story 1 – Journey to the Southern Continent (25)

The battlefield came to a halt.

The space once filled with the stench of blood and clashing metal was now enveloped in stillness.

In a silence so profound that even breathing seemed audible, everyone stared at him.

Selden Alphonse.

He stood in the middle of the battlefield.

*Shing.*

Members of the Crimson Moon Clan, the Blood Wolf Clan, the Shadow Beast Clan, and the assassins of the Shadowless Clan.

All eyes were fixed on him.

His silver eyes gleamed subtly, resembling those of a predator before its prey.

Then, among the three leaders, Alkan was the first to move.

“How dare a bastard from the Eastern Continent!”

Alkan quickly lowered his body, then pushed off with his legs, springing forward like a coiled spring.

*Swoosh—!*

Alkan’s body wavered like a shadow.

Ordinary eyes couldn’t follow his movements.

The leader of the Shadow Beast Clan.

His specialty was his incredible speed, flowing like darkness itself.

When he moved, it was only natural for his opponent’s head to fly off before they could even react, and this time should have been no different.

*Swish—*

The target was Selden Alphonse’s neck.

A sharp dagger flew like a streak of black lightning.

It was only a matter of time before the neck would be severed.

—But.

*Crack—*

Alkan’s eyes shook violently.

“…!?”

A sharp metallic sound rang out as Alkan’s blade aimed precisely at Selden Alphonse’s neck.

He was certain.

This was death.

It was a lethal strike that no one could evade.

However.

‘Huh?’

Alkan felt his blade slice through empty air.

At the same time, he realized his field of vision was spinning.

Not his body.

His head.

Under the blood-red moon hanging over the battlefield.

A single head flew through the air.

It was Alkan’s head.

His face still bore an expression of disbelief.

*Thud—!*

With the sound of the severed head hitting the ground, fresh blood stained the battlefield.

And a moment later.

*Thump—*

The headless corpse fell to its knees before collapsing forward.

No one made a sound.

No one moved.

Everyone on the battlefield.

They just watched the scene in shock.

—A single strike.

A strike that didn’t even allow a moment’s counterattack.

Just one sword strike.

The head of Alkan, renowned for his unmatched speed in the Southern Continent, flew off, and his dagger fell to the ground, still gleaming.

*Swish.*

Selden Alphonse casually flicked his sword.

Drops of red blood slid off the blade and fell to the ground.

He sighed deeply and said:

“You startled me, barging in like that.”

Everyone froze.

No one dared laugh at his playful jest.

They realized he was not someone to be trifled with.

-Wait, did you say Selden Alphonse?

At that moment, on the blood-soaked battlefield, a soldier called out.

His voice rang clear even through the blood-drenched air.

-Could it be… the hero who first stopped the Monster Wave?

In that instant, whispers spread like dominoes among the soldiers on the battlefield.

-What…?

-Monster Wave!?

-Could it be the hero of the Western Continent’s war…?

The battlefield buzzed with murmurs.

Confusion and fear were etched on their faces.

Both enemies and members of the Crimson Moon Clan stared at the man with one mind.

However, Selden Alphonse himself spoke nonchalantly, as if hearing these rumors for the first time.

“…Me, a hero?”

He laughed briefly, mockingly, and his silver eyes narrowed coldly.

“It seems this is a world where a butcher can become a hero.”

As those brief mutterings dispersed into the air, just one person—

Kirdo, the leader of the Blood Wolf Clan, silently observed him.

‘…Selden Alphonse.’

Kirdo had definitely heard that name before.

A man who fought countless monsters in the Eastern Continent’s territories.

And the madman who changed the course of the Western Continent’s war.

However.

As far as he knew, Selden Alphonse was from the Eastern Continent.

Why had he appeared on the battlefield of the Southern Continent?

A faint wrinkle formed on Kirdo’s forehead.

“…Let me ask you one thing. Why is Selden Alphonse of the Eastern Continent—”

Before Kirdo could finish, the air trembled.

An eerie presence.

Someone was attempting to ambush Selden Alphonse.

*Whoosh—*

Kirdo’s eyes widened momentarily.

He saw Wilter’s body seeping in like darkness.

Moving silently, sticking to the shadows on the ground.

It was the perfect assassin’s movement, not even betraying a breath.

“S-Stop!”

Kirdo shouted belatedly, but it was already too late.

Wilter had lunged toward Selden Alphonse with ferocious speed.

The tip of his blade rushed toward Selden’s heart.

It was a perfect ambush.

*Flash!*

Light sparked.

A metallic sound rang out instantly, accompanied by a chilling sound of something being split.

*Rip—*

“…”

Once again, the battlefield fell silent, and people’s eyes widened in shock.

*Thud.*

Wilter’s upper body fell to the ground.

His lower half followed, collapsing heavily with a ‘thump.’

A single strike.

That was all it took.

“…”

No one moved.

No one made a sound.

On the battlefield consumed by silence and stained with blood,

Selden Alphonse casually flicked his sword again.

“I said to speak before approaching.”

The blood slowly spread across the ground.

Kirdo surveyed the blood-soaked battlefield slowly.

In an instant, two leaders had fallen.

Alkan and Wilter.

The leaders of the Shadow Beast Clan and the Shadowless Clan.

Their followers also realized this fact, and with it, fear consumed the battlefield.

-…This can’t be true? Both of them with a single strike…?

Some covered their mouths, while others gripped their swords tightly.

Yet, no one dared to charge at Selden Alphonse.

They merely feared his silver eyes.

Meanwhile, Kirdo slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.

His mind was already racing rapidly.

The situation unfolding before him seemed undoubtedly desperate.

However.

This was an opportunity.

A single chance that must not be missed.

The Shadow Beast Clan and the Shadowless Clan.

The leaders of both organizations had been killed by a single man.

Alkan’s head had been severed, and Wilter’s body had been split in half.

Now their organizations would be leaderless and directionless.

The members would tremble in fear, seeking someone to follow.

And who would take that position?

—It would be Kirdo himself.

Kirdo subtly curled the corners of his lips.

‘This way, both organizations will eventually become mine.’

He quietly raised his hand to stroke his chin.

While maintaining a slightly stiff expression, simulations continued to run through his mind.

What if he fought recklessly here and died too?

Then the Blood Wolf Clan would be finished as well.

Conversely, if he retreated now?

It wouldn’t be a simple retreat, but a choice to grasp new power.

‘It’s a shame about the women of the Crimson Moon Clan…’

Initially, what Kirdo had wanted from this battle were the women of the Crimson Moon Clan, but in the current situation, that was secondary.

If they fought recklessly with their large numbers, they might win, but his own survival wasn’t guaranteed.

Rather than that, it was better to retreat, build strength, and return.

Taking the women of the Crimson Moon Clan was something he could do later.

‘Hmmph.’

Kirdo took a deep breath and looked at Selden Alphonse.

“…Two leaders have fallen. We’ve lost, so we’ll withdraw.”

Kirdo’s voice was unwavering, like a leader who proudly acknowledged defeat.

However, the man before him showed no sign of letting them retreat.

*Gulp—*

Kirdo unconsciously swallowed.

He thought everything had been settled.

He, as the leader, had directly admitted, “We’ve lost,” and declared a retreat.

In a normal flow, the battle should have ended here, and both sides should have turned away for their own benefit.

“You’ll withdraw?”

At Selden Alphonse’s words, Kirdo felt a chill.

He couldn’t read any emotion in this man’s eyes, and that was the most frightening thing.

He calmly spread his palms and said:

“No matter how strong you are…”

Kirdo slowly looked around.

The remaining members of the Blood Wolf Clan, the Shadow Beast Clan, and the Shadowless Clan.

Although two leaders had died, there were still hundreds of troops left here.

“Surely, you don’t intend to face all of us?”

Kirdo added with a forced relaxed smile.

*Swish.*

Selden Alphonse also slowly turned his head.

“…”

Selden Alphonse’s gaze was directed at the corpses of the fallen Crimson Moon Clan members and the blood-stained battlefield.

He looked at it silently for a moment and then gave a bitter smile.

“…”

Selden Alphonse’s expression was neither filled with anger nor did his eyes burn with vengeance.

It was just calm.

The face of someone quietly accepting reality.

*Swish.*

Selden Alphonse turned his gaze toward Kirdo.

“I told you earlier.”

“…What?”

Selden Alphonse muttered indifferently as he tightly gripped his sword.

“This battlefield… will only end when all of you are dead.”