Chapter 74
"So that's how it is?"
A few days after Karl met with Owen, Stella, having heard the whole story from him, cracked her neck left and right.
For a moment, Stella's eyes shone chillingly.
"Either help, or disappear from this city. I will cut you down if necessary."
"Still, aren't you saying you'll cut me down too easily, considering we spent several nights together?"
"If I aimed for your neck, would you just stand still?"
"Of course not, right?"
"It's the same."
Stella chuckled, looking at Karl who spoke while looking at her with utterly emotionless eyes.
"I intend to move starting now. When you appear before my eyes again, if your intentions are impure, I will cut you down."
"...."
Ignoring Stella, who wore a bitter smile, Karl turned his back and disappeared.
Stella's eyes, staring for a long while in the direction Karl had disappeared, wavered with unprecedented complexity.
After standing there for a long time, she too left the spot.
***
After Owen, as the de facto ruler of this city, began to fully participate in the festival, Karl followed him from the farthest possible distance.
Observing the surroundings from such a distant and high place, he could identify individuals moving unnaturally.
The bait strategy, while excellent if successful, carried many risks.
As Owen turned right from the central square, the movements of the bastards became noticeably busier.
Karl, having confirmed their movements, also began to run quickly towards where the bastards were.
"...They expected this, is that it."
On the path leading to where the attacked Owen was, traitorous Alcantara Knights, including spiders, had already taken positions.
"Sir Karl, if you value your life, step back."
I didn't know which Knight Captain number he was, but one of Alcantara's Knight Captains showed a fishy sneer.
Simultaneously, the spiders and Alcantara knights threw themselves at Karl.
***
"Heok... Heok...!"
After a fierce battle, Owen and the remaining 5 knights, having cut down all the enemies, leaned against the alley wall, gasping for breath.
"We must not delay. We must move quickly...!"
The remaining knights, having barely caught their breath, also knew well that the situation was urgent.
'The fact that the others haven't been able to arrive yet means....'
Although a knight, various calculations quickly flashed through his mind, now more comfortable with a pen than a sword.
'Was it divide and conquer!'
At first, he thought they would target him all at once.
But perhaps that wasn't the case.
If roughly half of the Alcantara Knights had truly betrayed them, the first thing they would do was one thing.
Eliminate personnel from the remaining half who did not join the betrayal and might become obstacles later.
While capturing Owen, they would also eliminate Owen's limbs, trying to seize control quickly and decisively.
Owen's mind grew cold.
Where should he head? Maximov?
Soon, he hardened his resolve.
"We go to Sir Maximov."
Although he hadn't expected them to aim for divide and conquer, the guard zones Owen had organized and assigned during the festival period were all designed so that the areas of suspected individuals overlapped with those of trusted ones.
Owen, who had begun moving towards the zone assigned to Maximov, encountered another group of enemies before long.
"Randolt...!"
"Sorry about this, Commander. Still, please understand. Didn't you say it, Commander? That you would create a knight order where each could pursue their own desires. My desire now lies in a higher and greater place."
The 5th Knight Captain Randolt was with his members.
Owen looked back at the five knights standing behind him, then gripped his sword tightly.
'They have no intention of capturing me alive.'
In that case, there was no choice but to fight prepared to die.
Owen strongly thrust his sword, watching the rushing knights.
"Commander! I have arrived!"
Just when he had resolved to die, the 4th Knight Captain appeared, leading all the members under his command.
"Exterminate the traitors!"
Owen realized it wasn't over yet and charged towards the enemies.
***
"He's a monster...!"
The 6th Knight Captain, who was ambushing with 30 knights aligned with him, blocking the path, stared with fearful eyes at Karl cutting down members like scarecrows before him.
It wasn't just them; it was a blockade line joined by 20 man-beasts provided by the spider mask.
Even though the 20 had undergone man-beast transformation, they couldn't hold Karl back.
"How...! Just how...!"
A sound close to a lament flowed from the Knight Captain's mouth.
"Stop trembling and come forward."
"This bastard...!"
Although the Knight Captain's face turned red and blue from the provocation, he couldn't easily charge at Karl.
He had witnessed Karl's skill with his own eyes.
Even in the moment he hesitated, the man-beast transformed spider masks threw themselves at Karl.
Seogeok. (Sound of cutting)
Karl lightly dodged the beast's incoming hand and swung his sword.
The entire neck of one man-beast was severed and flew through the air.
To those who stood against him, he was fear itself.
The members of the 6th Knight Unit also froze further as, with each seemingly effortless slash from Karl, necks flew off one by one like those of scarecrows.
Their initial imposing appearance vanished, and they became no different from prey frozen before a tiger.
They knew they would die if they stayed like this, yet they couldn't move their feet.
Each time his sword, lunging like a tiger, flashed, a crescent-shaped golden Aura brightly illuminated the surroundings, followed by blood.
"Ah...!"
And before long, that light did not miss the 6th Knight Captain's neck and dug in.
***
At the time when everyone was fighting desperate battles in every corner of the city, Maximov was engaged in a fiercer battle than anyone else.
Maximov had treated all 100 of his subordinates like nephews, but even among them, about thirty traitors emerged.
In a situation where approximately 2 Knight Units, plus spider masks, had appeared, Maximov had to fend them off with 70 men.
"These bastards...!"
Maximov was enraged watching his subordinates fall one by one beside him, but even for him, there was no sharp solution other than encouraging his men and wielding his spear.
The moment his spear seemed to multiply instantaneously, a single colossal spear strike split the center of the charging enemies.
Several enemies, unaware that holes had been pierced through their torsos, tried to charge forward, only to spurt blood and collapse on the spot.
As the surrounding enemies piled up, threatening to encircle them completely, Maximov, who had somewhat forcefully unleashed the spear strike, found his breathing disrupted.
And they were not ones to miss such an opportunity.
The enemies, numbering about two Knight Units, pushed against Maximov like a pack of jackals as he tried to catch his breath.
"Captain, please escape! You are the only one who can live to avenge us!"
The Vice-Captain of the 1st Knight Unit shouted.
"Silence! What old master hides behind his disciple! I have already taught you the essence of my spearmanship, so you should be the one to leave!"
Shouting thus, he took another step forward, holding his ragged breath.
The surroundings were still filled with enemies, and Maximov's spear ceaselessly pierced them.
"Well, impressive for an old body, indeed."
Kuung! (Sound of heavy footsteps/impact)
Amidst the ongoing battle, intense enough to exhaust even a knight, heavy footsteps echoed among those fighting.
And the owner of the footsteps, who appeared two heads taller than the others, slowly walked into the midst of those engaged in battle.
"Ugh...!"
Maximov unknowingly let out a groan at the aura of black Aura emanating from the opponent.
'Strong!'
"Sir Maximov, that's enough. Don't waste your strength and die quietly."
"Your nonsense goes too far. Who are you to spout such reckless drivel in our Alcantara's territory?"
"Alcantara's territory, what nonsense."
At his attitude, speaking mockingly with a sneering laugh, Maximov gripped the spear in his hand even tighter.
"Decades have passed since our Alcantara established itself here in Humming City. How could you, hiding behind masks unable to even show your faces proudly, possibly know the many things we have built and accumulated over those long years?"
Maximov's voice was firmer and more powerful than anyone else's.
"The old man has quite the sharp tongue. Let's see if his spearmanship is as impressive as that tongue."
The moment the Four-Legged Mask, smiling widely enough to reveal his teeth, seemed to kick off the ground, his body had already reached Maximov's front.
The instant the distance between him and Maximov closed, the Four-Legged Mask's hands transformed into something resembling those of a lion and spewed forth streams of black Aura.
Kwaaaang!
The blue Aura imbued in Maximov's spear and the black Aura dwelling in the lion's paws clashed, sending Ki waves exploding in all directions.
Several knights of lower levels were caught in the Ki waves and sent flying, while others barely managed to stop after staggering back several steps.
"Keuk!"
It was Maximov who suffered a loss in the exchange of blows.
Despite it being just one clash, he felt his internal organs shake.
'I cannot hold out for long.'
Maximov momentarily glanced back.
His disciple, the Vice-Captain, along with numerous knights, were still engaged in fierce combat with the enemies.
If there was a way, he wanted to save at least them.
"Where are you looking away!"
Just then, the lion's paws flew towards Maximov once again.
Maximov, who blocked the attack by swinging his spear widely, scanned the surroundings.
'Yes, one is born once and dies once anyway.'
Maximov made his decision and gathered his energy.
"This place is my grave."
"Hmm...."
The Four-Legged Mask swallowed hard for the first time.
He knew well that there was no opponent trickier than one resolved to die.
This was even more true when that opponent was a Master.
"Let us engage to our heart's content. It seems you will be my final opponent."
A tremor like the roar of a legendary dragon emanated from Maximov's spear.
"This old man!"
The Four-Legged Mask, clad entirely in blazing black Aura, met Maximov's spear strike with his fist.
Kwaaang!
The shockwave from the collision spread in all directions.
The strange thing was that only the Four-Legged Mask's subordinates were caught in that storm of Ki.
"Damn it!"
It was Maximov whose strength was depleted from fighting continuously since before, and even at full strength, the Four-Legged Mask held a slight advantage in skill.
However, he was a Master-level spearman, burning even the last flame of his life with the intention of dying here.
Although there was a slight advantage, the gap was not large enough to simply trample over that resolve.
Thus, the battles unfolding throughout Humming City were racing towards their end.