Ch.92The Fishing Hook Made of Gold (4)

“I’ve confirmed they’re boarding the carriage.”

“Move out. Pursue them.”

Around sunset.

The target emerged from the city center and boarded a carriage. The attackers witnessed him boarding, and confirmed the carriage was moving in the direction their intelligence had indicated.

The plan remained unchanged. Attackers scattered throughout the city began to move one by one, their movements exceptionally stealthy.

This wasn’t merely due to their status as Sword Seekers or Experts. The attackers had their own circumstances. They had desperate reasons. They needed to succeed in this operation even at the cost of their own lives. Some to save their lovers, others to rescue their children, and yet others for personal honor.

Their desperation made them thorough.

Fifteen Sword Experts, four Sword Seekers, and one 5th Circle magician. Twenty personnel in total. Gathering all at once would obviously give them away. So they maintained distance as they moved outside the city.

They blended naturally with the crowds, concealing themselves among the procession of carriages. Their movements were so discreet that no one noticed they were moving with a unified purpose and direction.

This was the day of the decisive battle.

The pursuit team following the carriage. The standby team waiting along the carriage’s route. And the assault team, centered around the magician, ready to block the carriage’s path… The hunters, divided into several groups, concealed their sharp daggers and held their breath.

It shouldn’t be difficult.

They had invested so much effort, crafted such an elaborate plan. There could be no variables.

2.

As sunset faded into twilight.

A gentle vibration spread across Ahmeti Road. The carriage had arrived. The rough sound of carriage wheels turning. The sound of horses’ hooves striking the ground. The attackers steadied their breathing as they listened.

They waited in the shadows, in the bushes, in the dense trees, in the uneven terrain.

And the time came. The carriage appeared. Looking closely, one could see the pursuit team following at a distance behind the carriage. When the standby team gave the signal, the assault team blocked the carriage’s path.

The five-ringed magician.

Sirkel Kravelin.

The moment she, leading the assault team, struck her staff on the ground, five rings appeared behind her back. A 5th Circle magician is classified as a siege weapon capable of casting “large-scale annihilation magic.”

And at this moment, Sirkel had already completed her incantation. The spell she had been maintaining in standby was loaded at the tip of her staff along with roughly grinding circles. A spell that could erase a carriage without a trace.

Whoosh!

Blazing flames flashed.

But they didn’t stake everything on one spell. Klaus Aten, the commander of the pursuit team who had been following the carriage at a distance, dug his feet into the ground and instantly increased his speed.

Boom!

When he kicked off the ground, a thunderous sound like a cannonball being fired echoed. Klaus was once a commander who led a cavalry unit, and a powerful warrior with the leg strength to perform a lance charge even without a war horse.

As he swung his arm, his folded weapon extended, completing a 3-meter lance.

Swooooosh!

From behind, a lance cutting through the wind. From the front, a 5th Circle magician’s large-scale annihilation magic. And from the sides, the assault team leaped out, drawing sword energy. There was nowhere to escape.

First, the massive fireball would burn the carriage without a trace, and even if someone escaped the fireball, they would be pierced by the lance pursuing from behind, and torn apart by the swordsmen drawing sword energy from the sides.

They were confident in their victory.

They affirmed there would be no variables in their plan.

The sound of hooves, the vibration created by the carriage wheels, the noise of flames burning at the tip of the magician’s staff, judgment clouded by the certainty that the plan was succeeding perfectly. Various factors combined…

They didn’t notice.

They didn’t notice that there was someone hiding here “before” them, prepared for the ambush. They didn’t notice that she had drawn two daggers from her back and kicked off the ground.

Because they didn’t notice, they couldn’t prepare.

Roseline Askarlo revealed herself from behind the attackers and kicked off the ground. A moment of acceleration. With each step she took, her black hair tied in a single ponytail fluttered in the wind.

…Roseline Askarlo is a mercenary.

She is a mercenary among mercenaries who has experienced countless battlefields, and in this case, she knew better than anyone who to target first. The magician. In every battle situation, the magician was the force that needed to be eliminated first.

“…!”

The first to notice her approach was Jerold, standing beside the magician Sirkel. Gripping his greatsword, he turned his head with wide eyes. He pulled Sirkel by the nape and switched positions with her.

That judgment was correct.

As Jerold swung his sword while switching places, Roseline, who had penetrated to right in front of them, swung her twin daggers. There were five Sword Experts beside them, but none could keep up with the movements of the two.

Claaaaaang!

Jerold’s greatsword clashed with Roseline’s twin daggers. An unusually loud sound rang out. Only after that sound echoed did the Experts notice Roseline who had passed by them, and they widened their eyes.

But by then it was too late. Far too late.

Only Jerold understood the situation. His eyes widened. The unusually loud noise. And the twin daggers Roseline held in her hands. The moment those daggers began to resonate, Jerold gritted his teeth and took a defensive stance. He hid his body behind his greatsword.

And then, “Echo” rang out.

The echo created by “Echo” spread.

No.21 “Echo.” The mystery imbued within it: resonance. Roseline’s sword energy carried by the echo swept across the battlefield.

Keeeeeeeeeng!

The bodies of the five Experts standing beside her were split into dozens of pieces. Jerold’s greatsword, directly hit by the echo, was violently shaken, and a red barrier rose around the body of the magician Sirkel who was hiding behind Jerold. The echoing resonance clawed at Sirkel’s barrier multiple times.

Forcing her to use the flames gathered at the tip of her staff for defense instead.

In an instant, the front was breached. As if waiting for this moment, the carriage carrying Najin increased its speed, and the back wall of the carriage shattered.

Crash!

What appeared, breaking through the carriage wall, was Najin. With his body firmly tied to the carriage by a rope, he gripped his sword on top of the moving carriage. His eyes were fixed on the knight Klaus charging toward him from behind with a lance.

Najin’s eyes moved quickly.

His bloodshot eyes calculated Klaus’s speed, the distance between them, and derived the optimal moment. The answer came. All that remained was to act. Drawing surging sword energy, Najin kicked off the carriage and leaped.

Tap.

Klaus’s charge was in a straight line, and his attack was directed forward. As is typical with lance charging and cavalry charges, it’s extremely difficult to suddenly change direction mid-charge.

Therefore.

Najin swung his sword down at Klaus’s head, aiming for his crown from above. A situation Klaus hadn’t anticipated. A weakness targeted at the precise moment. However, even in this situation, Klaus reacted.

Because he was a warrior of Sword Seeker caliber.

With almost superhuman reaction speed, he struck the ground. He turned the direction of his forward-facing lance and swung it toward Najin. The 3-meter lance cut through the air, making a tearing sound as it rushed toward Najin.

And Najin.

As if he had anticipated this, he swung his sword with all his might toward the lance. Najin’s sword energy and the aura wrapped around Klaus’s lance collided and repelled each other. Naturally, it was Najin, suspended in the air, who was pushed back.

Najin’s body, pushed back by the repulsion, floated in the air.

And at that moment, twisting his body in the air, Najin pulled on the rope tied around his waist. The rope connected to the carriage pulled taut at the exact moment, yanking Najin’s body.

A movement as if he had planned this entire situation. Najin’s escape was that smooth.

“Huh.”

Klaus, watching this process, let out a hollow laugh. Originally, Klaus’s role was to ram into the carriage from behind and destroy it. But at this moment, that plan had turned to bubbles.

With just one exchange.

The carriage was already far ahead and running away, and even if he kicked off the ground and ran now, it would be too late. The encirclement they had carefully created was breached. Then, what about the assault team that was supposed to destroy and block the carriage along with Klaus?

They had no leisure after being attacked by Roseline Askarlo. The magic they had prepared was used to defend against her attack.

‘And the standby team that was supposed to attack from the sides…’

Since the carriage wasn’t destroyed, and in fact had increased its speed, they would miss the carriage. The carriage dashed through the breached front and continued forward. Then, it left the Ahmeti Road and moved in a different direction.

Only then did Klaus realize.

Not just Klaus.

Everyone present realized.

It was a trap. The opponent knew about this ambush. Looking at the carriage that was already far ahead, Klaus gritted his teeth.

“……”

Warriors of Sword Seeker caliber.

The gazes of the commanders present crossed. Their gazes eventually turned to one place. There stood Roseline Askarlo.

She had cut through the battlefield and breached the front.

As if she had accomplished her primary objective, Roseline was stretching her body with cracking sounds, maintaining her distance. Feeling the gazes directed at her, Roseline smirked.

“What are you looking at?”

She twirled her dagger, gripping it properly.

As if daring them to come at her anytime.

But the attackers were reluctant to make the first move. They knew the reason.

Roseline Askarlo is powerful. Among Sword Seekers, she is undoubtedly powerful. No one here can face Roseline Askarlo alone.

She has climbed one of the three steps toward becoming a Sword Master, and even possesses a Masterpiece. Of course, if many attacked at once, they could win, but that would consume too much time.

‘If it takes too long?’

Klaus’s gaze turned to the carriage moving far away. The carriage had changed direction. It had left the road and was heading somewhere completely different from the destination. They had lost the carriage, and the ambush had failed.

Where was that carriage heading?

What was it aiming for?

Reinforcements? If not, reporting this situation?

Was Roseline the only reinforcement to begin with?

It was impossible to know. Everything was possible.

They couldn’t know the opponent’s objective. If they let the carriage go like this, they couldn’t predict how the situation would unfold. Now that the ambush had been exposed, the option to “withdraw” no longer existed.

‘What should we do.’

Thoroughly manipulated information. Limited situation. Time constraints. Various limitations descended upon them. The limited and manipulated information made them feel anxious. The moment they thought they had been completely played in the enemy’s hands, Klaus gritted his teeth with a crunch.

They had to choose.

A quick decision was needed.

“Klaus.”

And someone spoke up.

“Pursue with Jerold. We’ll handle this.”

The one who spoke was a man wielding twin swords.

Basaus Malek. A Sword Seeker who had been active as a soldier on the battlefield for many years. He stepped toward Roseline. As he stepped forward, he said:

“We’ll kill this woman and join you. If we’re late, you join us.”

Klaus nodded.

Jerold and Klaus, exchanging glances, kicked off the ground and ran. Since they were the two with the best mobility here, no one objected to Basaus’s judgment.

Roseline shrugged her shoulders, letting the two who were trying to pursue the carriage go. Then, looking at the soldier blocking her way, she smirked.

“You’re going to kill me?”

“Nothing’s impossible.”

Basaus Malek gripped his twin swords properly. Rough sword energy was drawn from above the twin swords. Roseline Askarlo whistled as she twirled her Masterpiece, Echo. Sword energy resembling the fangs of a beast surged.

Basaus Malek with his twin swords.

Tyler Berkaniman with his great bow.

Sirkel Kravelin with her floating circles.

Three warriors of Sword Seeker caliber bared their fangs at Roseline. Even in front of these gazes, Roseline merely composed her breathing leisurely.

“What brings the famous mercenary captain to a place like this?”

At Basaus’s sarcasm, Roseline smiled.

“Are you asking because you don’t know? A mercenary moves for one thing only. Money.”

Freedom over honor.

Gold over freedom.

Pleasure over gold.

That’s the value Roseline Askarlo believes in. Roseline still owed a debt to Dieta, and Dieta had requested her services for a large sum. An opportunity to erase her debt while earning money. There was no reason to refuse.

Additionally, she had become curious.

About this situation itself, and about the situation that boy Ivan was in. Above all, this was similar to a situation she had experienced in the past. Roseline’s eyes narrowed as she recalled her past of being chased by those damn heresy inquisitors.

“What are you waiting for, you little pricks?”

She curled up the corner of her mouth.

“Not coming at me?”

Ominous red eyes.

Unlike other red eyes, her turbulently swirling red eyes gleamed like those of a beast.

3.

Najin saw those pursuing the carriage.

The demon hunter with a greatsword, Jerold Oton.

The knight wielding a 3-meter lance, Klaus Aten.

And seven Experts following them.

Roseline had taken on two Sword Seekers as promised. Najin was grateful for that. Although he still had to face multiple Sword Seekers… it wasn’t a fight without a chance of victory.

Above all, this was a wall he had to overcome.

The carriage had now entered the forest. A place predetermined. A stage advantageous to Najin. The carriage advanced through the forest where darkness was beginning to fall as the sun set. The distance with the pursuers was narrowing moment by moment.

In the rattling carriage.

Najin composed his breath.

Then he slowly rose. The wall of the carriage he had broken through earlier. On the railing thus created, Najin firmly placed his foot. Then he cut the rope connecting him to the carriage with his knife.

The distance from Roseline had widened sufficiently.

Now, it was time for him to risk his life as well.

Najin jumped off the carriage. The carriage continued far ahead, abandoning Najin. The pursuers frowned at the sight of Najin suddenly jumping off the carriage. Were there people ambushing here? The pursuers momentarily stopped and surveyed their surroundings.

And Najin lowered his sword.

In the darkening forest, pure white sword energy extended from Najin’s sword. After a moment, the attackers realized there was no one ambushing here. Only Najin was here.

As if saying he would face them alone, Najin pointed his sword, from which sword energy surged, toward them.

The attackers laughed incredulously at this sight. Making such a choice here? Without having reached the realm of Sword Seeker, daring to face two Sword Seekers and seven Experts alone?

It was madness.

Najin wasn’t unaware of this fact.

However, Najin chose this method. Najin removed his gloves and threw them on the ground. As if challenging them to a duel. The eyes of the knights mixed among the attackers narrowed.

“Najin.”

Najin pronounced his name.

“Servant of Ivan, Knight of Atanga.”

He declared his only affiliation so far.

The minimum conditions for a duel were established. Najin gripped his sword properly. A duel was meaningless in this situation, but this was a constraint and oath Najin imposed on himself.

A knight does not flee from a duel.

I will defeat all of you here.

An oath to himself. From the moment he uttered Ivan’s name, this became something that “must” be kept for Najin.