episode_0034

Alric held his pierced shoulder and analyzed Leos’s power without even having time to feel the pain.

‘He is good at chain swords. If you have that level of skill, you should be able to swing it better at close range than at long distance. Rather than digging in, you should rather attack from as far away as possible.’

In general, it is best to get as close as possible to enemies who attack from a distance. However, with just one attack a moment ago, Alric realized that Leos was much better at handling the sword than he was. If you get close, you will die before you can properly fight it. Therefore, all that could be done in the current situation was to respond with the same long-distance attack.

Alric immediately used his good arm to pull out the dagger from his pocket and threw it while strongly extending it. Three daggers moving through the air at the same time. Although Leos tried to respond as best he could, such as running away on the defending tam or launching a follow-up attack, Alric could only stare blankly at Leos, doubting his own eyes.

This was because Leos deflected all three daggers that came at him in succession with just one quick turn.

‘Fuck… this is ridiculous. The dagger was not thrown all at once, but was thrown at slightly different speeds. But you knocked it all out at once without stuttering?’

Leos, who struck down all the daggers with his chained sword, turned around one more time and used centrifugal force to throw the dagger right in front of Alric’s head.

“Keuuu…!”

Alric barely managed to block Leos’s chain sword with his sword, but it was impossible for him to handle the force of the chain sword flying at him with insane power with one arm due to the weight of the sword, the weight of the chain, and the rotational force all at once.

Alric desperately tried to hold on to his sword, but in the end, the sword flew out of his weakened arm. The moment I immediately reached into my chest and took out another spare dagger. Leos’ chain sword rushes in again.

-Pugh

This time, the attack was aimed squarely at the top of the foot, not the arm. The chain sword flew like a snake’s tongue and cut straight into the top of Alrik’s foot. Alrik quickly grabbed the chain with his hand. As soon as he caught it with his hand, he wrapped it around his wrist several times, taking steps to make it impossible for Leos to retrieve it even if he pulled it, and then Alric smiled wryly.

“Stupid bastard…I finally caught it.”

Alric gave up his foot and deliberately hit Leos’ attack in order to neutralize his chain sword. Now that the main weapon has been sealed, all that’s left is to counterattack.

“Everyone kill that damn bastard!”

As Alric gave orders to his men, the members of the Imperial Executioners began throwing daggers at Leos one by one. Leos threw away the chain sword, took out a small dagger, lowered his body, and began to quickly scan the surroundings.

It’s not about seeing a dagger flying and blocking it. Just before flying. The posture and direction the enemy takes when throwing the dagger, and the trajectory at the moment it leaves the hand.

Leos recognizes the hands and postures of dozens of people in less than a few seconds. And at the same time, he began to dodge and strike away the flying daggers.

-Chaeeenn!

-Chaeeeeng!

Avoid things that can be avoided, but deflect things that are difficult to avoid with the dagger.

As befits the name of the Imperial Execution Group, all of the members’ daggers were aimed at Leos’ vital points. The eyes, heart, neck, arteries, and more than a dozen daggers flying to places where instant death would not be surprising at the moment of stabbing. Even though it was clear that if he failed to evade or defend even once, he would be turned into a cold corpse, Leos’ movements were unstoppable.

After a short period of about 3 seconds, all the members of the Imperial Executive Team looked at Leos with eyes filled with fear. That’s right, it was because Leos evaded and parried all the attacks.

As Leos was trying to block the flying dagger, he threw his dagger, which had lost all its blades, on the ground, and then started running forward with the long sword that was holding the sword of the executioner, whose corpse was now lying on the ground.

Chain swords, daggers, and even long swords.

Leos’ weapons and posture changed every moment, making it impossible for the enemy to react fluidly and confusing them about their position and how to react. On the contrary, Leos never missed the opportunity.

-Suddenly

As the long distance narrowed in an instant, the enemies quickly changed their positions to surround Leos, but because Leos’ speed was faster than expected, the man supporting the center was struck by the sword.

As soon as a corpse started rolling on the ground, Leos immediately grabbed the dagger the corpse was holding and threw it away as if firing.

With a loud sound, one of the executioners falls to the ground again. This time, Leos began to rotate his body as if throwing a long sword, and the enemies who were running stopped approaching for fear that the sword would fly towards him. Then, Leos quickly stopped spinning and instead of throwing his sword, he ran forward again.

With a crunching sound, two men fall to the ground. The circular formation was completely destroyed, and Leos quickly moved towards the clearing where the mana bomb exploded.

An empty space with no bushes, no obstacles, or anything else. It was a battlefield that was absolutely advantageous to the majority, but on the other hand, it was also a deathmatch ring from which there was no escape.

Leos stood still in the empty space, as if provoking him. Afterwards, Leos controlled Spirell and launched it into the air.

“Anyone who runs away will be searched for and killed. If you are confident that you can escape Spirell, run away. Otherwise, the only way for you to survive is to rush in and kill me.”

*

Rakart, the leader of the Imperial Iron Slayer, who was watching Leos’ battle scene from afar, muttered in astonishment.

“This…is astounding. Faron, what do you think? If Leos and I fight, who do you think will win?”

“…”

Faron was silent for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“No matter how blindly I follow Rakarte, I think it will be difficult to beat Leos.”

“Right? If we had met each other as enemies, we would have been in big trouble. Leos, that guy didn’t just fight. From beginning to end, I continued to detect the surroundings with Spirel. As if they were going to check to see if anyone was running away.”

“I was so focused on the battle that I couldn’t check that. Spirel is a high-grade artifact that floats in the air. It’s notorious for being incredibly difficult to operate, but how did it handle that during combat?”

“It means that they didn’t pay that much attention to the battle.”

“What is that…?”

“It means that he still had mental space while dealing with the execution team. Enough to operate Spirel simultaneously.”

Faron swallowed dry saliva. Even when I just saw the battle, the man was no different from a monster, but in the meantime, he was able to detect the surroundings by moving Spirel, which was using up his mental power like crazy.

‘If I met an enemy…’

If Faron had not betrayed the empire and come under Rakart, he would have faced Leos as an enemy someday. I imagined Faron. How would you react if you encountered that man as your enemy?

‘The sum of three…no…is it the sum of two…’

No matter how many times you run the simulation, you can’t come up with an outcome where you win. Trying to close the distance from afar, they stab you with a chain sword, and when they get closer, they skillfully use daggers and long swords to target vital points. He can avoid or block most attacks and even has Spirel, which can bombard with mana.

‘At least a few knights will be needed.’

Assuming that the battle site was not an open space, it was judged that if Leos prepared and responded carefully, he would not be able to kill no matter how many knights were deployed.

‘That’s absurd.’

Faron completely revised his assessment. In the past, after hearing that Leos killed all the mutant monsters by himself, Faron thought that the mutant monsters of the past would be a little weaker than the present.

Isn’t it? Nowadays, there are mutant monsters that are enough to kill a single knight, and there is no way one human can deal with them all. Therefore, we inevitably made the assumption that mutant monsters have become stronger in the present than in the past, and that the reason Leos was able to deal with them alone in the past was because he was in a weak mutant state. In fact, even the imperial family considers this to be an established fact.

‘The imperial family was focusing on the wrong things from the beginning.’

The Emperor of the Peren Empire simply said that Leos was needed to seal the Upper Red Gate. But not in Faron’s view. Leos is also needed for the eradication of monsters themselves.

In other words, in the current Redgate incident, the value of one person named Leos is more important than several knights.

‘You can’t believe you kicked out someone like this.’

It is said that Leos was kicked out of the gatekeeper position by the Duke of Belin, a member of the Imperial Secret Service. Faron expressed regret to them. The more it is revealed that Leos’s abilities are so outstanding, the more the Emperor’s anger will grow beyond control.

‘He said he ordered them to be kicked out, but the current emperor is the one who is making a fuss about why he carried out the order without properly investigating it.’

Faron thought so and looked at Leos.

“Shouldn’t we help?”

“Do you think you need help? And what Leos said earlier. Please stay on this road. You said you wouldn’t let another guy pass through here?”

“Why are you here…?”

“Leos’ colleagues, they’re in the bomb shelter back there. They were probably worried that the members of the enforcement team would move. So let’s protect ourselves. Don’t let anyone escape from here. Oh, of course, if Leos gets even the slightest bit hurt, he will immediately rush to his aid.”

For a moment, Faron felt his hands becoming sweaty.

[If the enemy lets me cross this path, I will not let them.]

It may have been just a way of emphasizing the point, but his words that he would not leave it alone were so heavy.

*

Leos looked at the enemies in the empty clearing. There were about 10 enemies left, and among them was Alric, whose legs and arms were no longer functioning properly.

Leos looked at them and spoke.

“I said that the sacrifice of a cow for the greater good is inevitable.”

Alric answered as he limped towards Leos without even trying to stop the flowing blood.

“Yes, it is natural for small and medium-sized people to be sacrificed for the greater good.”

Leos spoke with a grin.

“Justice is a really good word. But why aren’t those who always say things like that counted?”

“…?”

“I have never seen those who sacrifice themselves among those who are asked to sacrifice for the greater good. Most of the time, if you belong to the cow category, you are the type of person who goes crazy for survival.”

“That’s because you have a narrow-minded way of thinking. This is because they are biased towards selfishness and only consider their own safety.”

“Ah…”

Leos sighed and gestured towards Alrik’s men.

“For every time you kill one of your subordinates with your own hands, I will seal one Red Gate.”

“What does that mean…?”

“Literally. Sacrifice for the greater good. Would you behave the same way even if it were your subordinates?”

“It’s not difficult. If you swear that you will keep your promises.”

The subordinates around him trembled and looked at Alric. The look in their eyes as if they were really going to sacrifice themselves. Alrik resolutely raised his sword.

“Swear by the artifact. If you do that, I will kill you right away.”

Leos seemed to have been waiting, and this time he proposed to his subordinates.

“If you kill that leader, I will seal 20 Red Gates. If you kill me, I will use the artifact to make you swear.”

“How can we believe what you say?”

One of the executive members asked a question, and Leos spoke while swinging his chain sword.

“Do you guys have a choice? I could kill you all here right now. Whether what I say is true or false, you are not in a position to judge that.”

For a moment, the subordinates adjusted their swords and looked at Alric, who stepped back and shouted.

“Mr…fuck…what are you doing! Bah…it’s treason! This is treason!”

“Captain. Even if we all die, there will only be 12 Red Gate seals. However, if the leader dies, 20 Red Gates can be sealed. Considering the greater good, it is more right for the leader to die.”

“Damn…don’t be damned!”

Alric shouted, swinging his sword in all directions.

“If you come, I will kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

Leos threw the chain sword on the ground, held the sword in his hand, and walked towards Alric, whispering.

“Look, you struggle like that too. why? They say a cow has to sacrifice itself for the greater good, so shouldn’t that be you? So will your beliefs change?”

As if they had made a promise, all of the subordinates did not stop Leos from walking towards Alric. Leos walked right in front of Alric and spoke while aiming at Alric with a thin memorization.

“I hate narrow-minded people like you. And one more thing. Don’t struggle to be saved.”

“…”

“Until now, I have never left idiots like you alive.”