Ch.6666. Cleaning

“It’s the kid I saw at the orphanage earlier today. I didn’t know you enjoyed gambling. If I’d known, I would have come back with you.”

Caspar murmured as he descended the stairs with a relaxed expression. His voice was friendly, as if addressing an old companion.

“It seems my subordinate made a mistake. I apologize.”

Rex narrowed his eyes and looked Caspar up and down. He knew instinctively. Though his words suggested he meant no harm, all of his actions were mere pretense. Caspar was the man who ruled Lindvale’s underworld. If Rex showed even the slightest sign of intimidation, he would immediately reveal his true colors.

“A mistake? They were blatantly trying to cheat me, and you think such light words will suffice?”

“Not at all. I’ll compensate you properly. Double the amount you should have won.”

Despite Rex’s openly hostile attitude, Caspar continued to answer without losing his smile. Rather, the man glaring beside Rex tilted his head in confusion.

“Boss. Are you really letting this guy go? We finally got a sucker—”

“Haha, Hans. What an amusing thing to say. Come here.”

Caspar gestured with his hand, chuckling as if he’d heard a funny joke. The man approached with a puzzled expression. Smack! In the blink of an eye, Caspar’s swinging arm struck the man’s cheek.

“You fool. Talking out of turn like that.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

The man bowed his head with a terrified expression. However, the question in his eyes remained, and the other subordinates around them were equally confused about the situation.

“Only a madman would mess with a Merit Knight’s disciple. I’m not crazy. You damned fools, do you want us to be completely ruined? Huh?”

“You know who I am?”

When Rex asked with an indifferent face, Caspar nodded with a bitter smile.

“Of course. Though today is the first time I’ve seen you in person, I’ve heard rumors often. Haven’t you realized it yourself? You’re already a celebrity in Lindvale. A boy who achieved Sacred Flame at fifteen and became the disciple of the renowned Merit Knight Berger. Someone in my position couldn’t help but know.”

Caspar pointed at Rex’s zweihander.

“Honestly, when I saw you at the orphanage, I wasn’t sure. Blonde hair and blue eyes are rare but not unheard of. But seeing that greatsword just now, I’m certain. Now I’m angry at my subordinates again. What gambling den in the world lets someone enter with a weapon? They probably underestimated you because you look young. Damn them.”

Rex showed no reaction and stood up. As he approached Caspar with slow steps, the men surrounding them nervously blocked his path.

“Leave him be.”

At Caspar’s single command, the men immediately stepped back. Caspar shrugged with a composed face.

“They may be fools, but I can’t cast them aside. We’ve been through all sorts of hardships together for a long time. Coming to Lindvale from a distant city and settling here was quite difficult. We paid gold to build connections, pushed out the existing groups—it was a very tough time. These guys are like family to me now.”

“You have a talent for making pointless, long-winded speeches.”

“It might not be interesting to you. Still, our Underhand Clan is doing quite well around here. We even have connections with noble lords. Even uneducated people like us could achieve this much success through hard work.”

Though his tone was self-deprecating about himself and his subordinates, Rex caught the hidden meaning in his words. He was subtly warning Rex that he didn’t care if Rex was that fearsome knight’s disciple—he was letting him off easy this time, so he should stop causing trouble and leave.

Naturally, Rex had absolutely no intention of complying with that intention.

“Amusing.”

“What?”

“I find it amusing that you claim to have worked hard. How can you proudly boast while exploiting the suffering of others? You’re just vermin. No, that’s too generous for vermin. You’re worse than beasts. You’re trash. That’s more accurate.”

Rex looked around with a sneer. The men around him, their expressions hardened by his scathing assessment, were glaring at him murderously.

“What? Does that bother you? If you’re upset, draw your blades. Let’s have at it. Don’t tell me you’re scared of a mere youngster like me? You should be. After all, I’m a genius who achieved Sacred Flame at fifteen—something you’ll never accomplish in your entire lives.”

The already cold atmosphere now turned completely frigid. The excited men twisted their faces in anger, but Rex sneered and mocked them.

“You can’t make a move, can you? You’re the type to grovel before those stronger than you, and attack in packs when facing someone weaker. That’s exactly your level. It would be wasted on you to tell you to reflect on your actions. The most beneficial thing you could do for this world is to die quickly and become fertilizer.”

“As I said at the orphanage, you…”

Caspar’s brow furrowed. He asked with a face that showed complete incomprehension:

“Aren’t you afraid of death? Even if you’re a knight’s disciple, there’s no one here to protect you. If you thought we would be intimidated by your master, you’re mistaken.”

“Is this all of your subordinates?”

Caspar made a strange expression at the sudden question. Though his eyes revealed no emotion, Rex instinctively sensed that everyone gathered here was indeed all of them. This was fortunate. The reason he had caused such a commotion was precisely to gather all members of the Underhand Clan.

Rex quietly drew upon his sacred power. His senses, spreading like a spider’s web, swept through the building’s interior. Thirty-five people in total harbored hostility toward him. All except Caspar were at the level of Revelation’s Awakener.

“I know why you came here. You’re concerned about what happened at the orphanage. Isn’t it too impulsive to fight us for such a trivial reason? No matter how talented you are, it’s impossible for you to defeat us.”

A distinct fiery light settled in Rex’s pupils. Seeing this, Caspar hastily continued:

“How about this instead? I’ll reduce the orphanage’s debt by half. We’ll release the girls we brought. Isn’t that better than fighting and both sides suffering losses?”

“Why should I?”

“…What?”

“I could just kill all of you. Why should I bother with such troublesome negotiations?”

By now, not a trace of composure remained in Caspar’s expression. With a hardened face, he shouted:

“Are you really determined to take this to the end!”

Rex unfastened the bracelet on his wrist. —Boom! Suddenly, a rough wind blew outward from Rex. Like something that had been shackled for years and finally released, a refreshing sense of liberation seeped in.

This wasn’t the end. One more inhibitor remained. Rex removed it without hesitation.

The reward from Gears had arrived.

A thrill ran across his skin. His body trembled with unbearable ecstasy. The pattern that had been crouched within him heated up intensely. His body felt… incredibly light. Rex slowly clenched and unclenched his fist, then raised his head.

“Enough talk. Let’s begin.”

“…Kill him!”

Before Caspar could finish speaking—Whoosh. A faint sound came from behind. Rex knew someone had been waiting there. One from the rear, three from the sides. But a detected ambush is meaningless. Rex kicked off the ground and leaped into the air. The pulse cut through empty space too late. No one could track his movement. To the men’s eyes, Rex’s form had vanished like a phantom.

“Huh?”

The bewildered murmur was drowned out by a thunderous sound. Boom! Blazing flames swept through the space. Sacred Flame. For the past three months, Rex had been training in sacred arts while wearing the Sealed Armor. Now he wasn’t wearing it. The condensed sacred power erupted.

Six people. With just one swing, six heads fell from their necks. Gushing blood soaked the floor. Rex’s expression remained calm. He had intended to kill them from the start, and they had committed deeds worthy of death. He didn’t hesitate.

Tang! Rex’s body shot forward like an arrow. That was just one breath. Only then did the enemies take out their weapons in panic. The clan had thirty members, but they couldn’t all attack simultaneously. Space was limited. To take advantage of this, the correct approach would be to back against a wall and face them one by one.

But was that necessary?

Rex asked himself. Were these men truly threatening? There was no need for lengthy consideration. No. They weren’t threatening at all. The incoming blades were infinitely slow. The trajectories of the attacks were readable. Their next moves were predictable.

He tilted his head back. A long spear pierced the empty space right beside him. This wasn’t a narrow escape—it was intentional. Rotating his body, he brought his elbow down. Crunch. The man’s face caved in. Instant death. Without even confirming this, Rex thrust his zweihander backward.

“Fuck, shit!”

Despite four men rushing at him at once, Rex’s greatsword didn’t waver. The curse became the man’s last words. The deflected blade cut across its owner’s body. The force returned was several times stronger than what was initially received.

Soul-Returning Heavenly Reflection is a technique that uses the opponent’s strength to counterattack. The growth accelerated by Gears wasn’t limited to sacred power. He had understood the mental imagery contained in the Kaiserion style. Though this was his first time using it in actual combat, its destructive power was sufficient.

Crash! A thunderous explosion tore through eardrums. A flash of lightning blinded the vision. Living up to its name of cutting through spirits like lightning severing ghosts, Thunder Deity Soul Severance cut the men’s waists in half with a single stroke.

“Insane! Are you a monster?”

Caspar gritted his teeth and moved his legs. Unlike his subordinates, he wasn’t paralyzed with fear. Standing still would only mean death. How have I survived until now? After seeing all sorts of filth and crawling through sewers to survive, he couldn’t die like a dog in a place like this.

He had to escape. Although Rex was supposedly at the same Sacred Flame level as himself, that didn’t mean he had a chance of winning. Clearly, Rex’s martial prowess surpassed his own. Caspar wasn’t foolish enough to bet his life on uncertain possibilities.

Half of his men were already dead. While Rex was busy cutting down his subordinates, he needed to create distance quickly.

The exit was—blocked. As soon as the outsiders had left, Rex had thrown a table to block the door. Should he break through? No. Better to go upstairs. As Caspar placed his foot on the stairs, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation on the nape of his neck and rolled across the floor.

Bang!

Simultaneously, a battle axe that had flown from behind embedded itself in the wall. The axe didn’t stop there but continued through the wall into the room beyond. It was a familiar weapon—one of his subordinate’s, which meant… Squelch. The sound of footsteps in a pool of blood reached his ears. This is… over. Caspar slowly turned around.

“You murderous bastard. Does it satisfy you to kill everyone?”

The subordinates, more than thirty of them, were all rolling on the floor with severed limbs. Most had long since stopped breathing, and those still alive were writhing and groaning, clearly not long for this world.

“You can kill so many people without even blinking.”

“Kill people?”

Though Caspar glared with venom-filled eyes, Rex sneered with a cold voice.

“When did I? I was just taking out the trash.”

“…What?”

“Why, does it twist your guts to receive the same treatment you’ve always given others? Did you think you could live your whole life comfortably by exploiting others? You should have lived decently. You committed sins, so you’re being punished by someone like me.”

“You’re insane.”

Caspar drew his longsword with a pale face. His chances were… slim. But he couldn’t simply offer his neck. He tried to think optimistically.

In the end, they were at the same level. With a bit of luck, he might win. Whoosh! A blood-red Sacred Flame rose along the longsword. Its brightness and size were incomparably smaller than Rex’s. However, he had a secret weapon that Rex didn’t know about.

The blessing received from the God of Deception. Those two techniques had elevated Caspar to his current position. While there were ways to counter them, they had the effect of certain hit and certain kill against opponents encountering them for the first time.

‘I didn’t want to use this if possible. Damn it.’

There was no choice. In a life-threatening situation like this, he couldn’t afford to hold back. Caspar took a deep breath, stepped forward boldly, and swung his longsword.

The trajectory of the longsword, which had been moving in a straight line, suddenly bent. The blade, curved like a snake, rushed forward. Caspar pulled up the corners of his mouth. Flowing Blade changes the form of the blade. Like flowing water. Like sticky mud. It’s an attack impossible to block by conventional means.

No matter how brilliant a genius Rex might be, he couldn’t counter the Flowing Blade. Caspar believed in his blessing. His gaze was fixed on Rex’s neck. Since the first strike was the most powerful, he intended to behead him immediately.

Then suddenly,

their eyes met.

“Huh?”

Rex was smiling. A premonition that something was wrong flashed through his mind, but it was already too late.

Clang!

The zweihander’s blade parried the longsword. Pushed back, Caspar looked at Rex with an astonished face.

“…How did you do that?”

Rex cracked his neck side to side and bluntly replied:

“I’ve been hit by that before.”