Assault (3)

Assault (3)

Given the considerable size of the abandoned mine.

I thought it would take at least a few hours to bring back the contract.

Contrary to my expectations, in less than an hour, I could see him running towards me with the contract in hand.

“He-here it is!”

Whether he was the type to care deeply for his colleagues despite appearances, or if he just didn’t want to die, I wasn’t sure.

Thinking it was quite good that he handled things quickly, I received the contract.

He clutched his tattered arm and collapsed on the ground, starting to pant heavily.

‘Seems he ran for his life.’

Thinking it wasn’t bad either way, I skimmed through the contract.

“……”

However, I could tell that this was not the contract I was looking for, but someone else’s.

Seeing this, I silently burned it and slowly turned my gaze.

‘I thought something was strange. It was clearly the work of those Heaven God Cult bastards. But the cult members who should have been there were nowhere to be found, and instead there were only some weird bandit-like guys.’

Initially, realizing this itself was a trap, I briefly suspected Espin.

But I shook my head, concluding that couldn’t be the case.

‘Then where could the contract be?’

It doesn’t seem like I’ll get a different answer even if I ask these guys trembling in front of me.

For now, I need to obtain related information.

‘And while I’m at it, I might as well do some kidnapping.’

Thinking it would be good to respond in kind if they’re going to act like that, I spoke to the guy still trembling in front of me.

“Where did you last meet the Heaven God Cult guys?”

“Th-that would be the nearby Moonlit Alley… but since the meeting place changes every time, I’m not sure if they’ll be there.”

Nodding at those words, I pulled out a contract from my pocket.

“As promised, I’ll let you live. But there’s a condition.”

Not knowing if I would really spare him, he asked me back with a slightly brightened face.

“A condition, you say?”

To that, I started writing down what I wanted on the contract with mana while speaking.

“I’ll spare your life. From now on, report everything related to the Heaven God Cult to me.”

“Y-yes, yes!”

To be honest, the chances of these disposable pawns bringing in significant information were slim to none.

Yet, the reason for sparing their lives and asking them to bring information was simple.

‘To somehow get entangled with the Heaven God Cult.’

Thanks to ‘Rumi’, we were able to continue clashing with the Heaven God Cult.

In reality, it was difficult to even discover them, let alone get involved.

‘After all, they’re optimized for operating in secret.’

Unlike other groups, they don’t flaunt themselves and operate in the shadows.

Besides the tattoos on their bodies, there are no other means to identify them.

We need to keep entangling with them like this to catch even the slightest evidence.

‘So, for now, let’s just throw out the bait.’

It would be best to leave it be, whether it works or not.

I turned my head away from those hurriedly signing the contract I had thrown,

And decided to follow them after hiding myself with an invisibility spell.

*

There’s only one reason why I went as far as using an invisibility spell to follow those guys.

‘Considering the behavior of the Heaven God Cult, they’re likely to dispose of all failed external operatives.’

Whether it’s to leave no evidence or to prevent variables, I’m not sure.

In the story, there were repeated scenes of them killing all the ‘externally hired personnel’ who failed to assassinate Rumi.

So, thinking they might do something similar this time, I was following them.

‘As expected, it’s the same.’

This time was no different.

I could see the Heaven God Cult members surrounding those who failed the operation, weapons in hand, ready to dispose of them.

I slowly observed the scene and then quietly descended, drawing out my mace.

‘Due to the nature of the Heaven God Cult, all those with a certain level of information are under contract, preventing them from speaking about it.’

Thinking that I should use a method to find out information without asking for it, I relaxed my shoulders.

‘So what’s that method?’

It’s simple.

Since living beings have always had the instinct to flee to the place they consider safest when they feel a threat to their lives.

By using this, I could probably find out their hideout by killing those who seem useless and beating a few to near death.

[And I’m here too!]

Incidentally, I also had Luna’s ability to detect seeds of negativity.

I glanced around as I tucked Luna, who was peeking out from my arms, back in.

‘About 10 people, I guess.’

If I use magic, it would be over in an instant.

But that would have less impact, so I decided to use the method of pounding the enemies with a mace as much as possible as I ran forward.

“Heretic!”

As I ran forward, one of the Heaven God Cult members nearby shouted “heretic.”

Hearing this, I realized that the Heaven God Cult had now officially labeled me a ‘heretic’.

I brought my mace down on the head of the guy in front of me.

The sound of bones and flesh being crushed.

Feeling that sensation which had become excessively familiar to me recently, I smiled at the Heaven God Cult members who were still running towards me.

*

“You, you monster…”

“Monster, you say. Aren’t you the real monsters?”

I smashed the head of the Heaven God Cult follower who was calling me a monster and turned my gaze.

If the person underneath me had been human, I might have felt a bit sorry.

But the blue blood that splattered when I swung the mace proved they weren’t human, so I didn’t feel much guilt.

‘Moreover, they’ve been doing a lot of trashy things while claiming it’s for the Heaven God.’

It would be right to say that this situation is them paying for their crimes.

Anyway, I looked at the few remaining believers and said.

“So, what’s next?”

At my words, the remaining believers flinched and started looking at each other nervously.

They were probably hesitating because they knew what would happen if they rushed at me.

I sneered at them, then quickly approached and smashed the head of the weakest-looking one first.

‘First, get rid of the trash. Then keep the useful ones.’

Anyway, the important thing now was to build fear, so while I was dealing with the enemies as cruelly as possible.

One of the believers, unable to bear the situation any longer, screamed and started running away somewhere.

“Aaaaargh!”

At this point, the believers who were gathered together stopped looking at each other.

As if they all decided to run away together, they all started backing away without exception and then scattered in different directions.

‘I don’t know if it was intentional or if they were trained beforehand.’

Just as I was about to move, thinking that it wouldn’t be difficult to chase them with space compression magic.

[I’ve left mana traces behind them, so you can just follow that!]

Luna grinned and made a proud expression.

As I was surprised by Luna’s unexpected contribution, Luna rubbed her face against my chest and said to me.

[So hurry up and praise me, Master!]

It seems I may have increased her loyalty too much when modifying her magic.

I absentmindedly patted Luna’s head while considering whether I should reduce it a bit later.

[Hiyang]

Thinking that was a very strange way for a cat to laugh, I quickly chased after them and began searching for their hideout.

*

‘Found it.’

The one who ran away first seemed to have been truly terrified.

Without even thinking of detouring elsewhere, they headed straight to their hideout and hid.

I smirked at the building disguised as a civilian house and scattered mana around.

‘As much as I’d like to kill them all with a point explosion right now.’

But if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to capture them, so rather than using a point explosion, it would be better to go in and beat them up directly.

As I entered the civilian house, thinking about gathering everyone inside in one place.

I saw quite a number of cult members waiting for me with weapons in hand.

‘More than 30 people, perhaps.’

A large number of followers means there’s a high probability that something important is hidden here.

I was slowly drawing up mana, hoping that important thing would be a key figure from the Heaven God Cult, when.

In one corner, I could see someone covered in blood shaking wooden bars.

“Please, sa-save… save us! At least the child…”

A voice that sounded like it was being squeezed out.

Glancing to the side at that voice, I saw a man holding a blood-covered child, screaming in desperation.

I saw this and let out a hollow laugh, deciding to do exactly what they were doing.