Duke Pendragon

Chapter 54

There were three paths to get to York Town from the border gate where Karuta and Eltuan crossed. Obviously, Karuta chose the fastest route, which was the royal road. He was dying to fight against the mysterious opponent that Vincent spoke of.

In the end, if the triplets of the Shadow Brotherhood chose the fastest path out of the Pendragon Kingdom, then it was their inevitable fate to encounter Karuta on their way. Of course, it was extremely unlucky for them to have run into the orc warrior at this very moment, just as they were executing their plan.

"What? This orc…"

The brother holding Elsia at his side muttered quietly. It wasn't their first time dealing with an orc warrior. Orcs were several times more powerful than humans, possessed reflexes and agilities similar to a beast, and could even exude Orc Fear to intimidate opponents. Such attributes made them tricky to deal with, but all orcs possessed a rather simple, hot-blooded personality. As such, it wasn't extremely difficult to kill them.

However, the monstrous figure standing in their way was different from any other orcs they had faced thus far. The orc's large fangs glistened, and a giant metal rod was slung over his shoulder.

This was the first time. The hairs on their bodies were slowly starting to stand on edge as the triplets faced the giant orc warrior.

"Mister Karuta! Mister Karuta!"

Elsia cried out while hanging from one of the triplet's sides.

"Karuta…?"

"Ogre Slayer…"

"The Grand Monarch of the Islands…?"

The triplets muttered at the same time. However, they weren't given a chance to be in a daze for long.

Fwoosh!

Killian's longsword slashed down at one of the triplets without any prior warning after returning to its master's hands.

"Keugh?"

The assassin had been focused on Karuta and was greatly surprised by Killian's sudden attack. His body disappeared and scattered as black smoke as he performed one of his irregular techniques. Killian sharpened his senses to the maximum, and his eyes darted slightly to the side in an instant. Simultaneously, he drew his sword to the left without any hesitation.

Kwaaaaarrk! Clang!

"Kyaaahk!"

A beastly scream was accompanied by a metallic sound of clashing blades.

"Keugh!"

"Ughh!"

The other two of the siblings immediately groaned and stepped back.

"The radius of their strange movement techniques cannot exceed 5 meters from their original location!"

Killian shouted loudly.

"…..!"

The assassin's wrist had been twisted strangely when he attempted to block Killian's strike. One of his other brothers was currently surrounded by Pendragon's knights, and the other was confronting Karuta while holding Elsia. All three of them became wide-eyed with shock after hearing Killian's shouts.

Naturally, the royal knights of Pendragon and the strongest orc warrior did not miss their chance.

Shuuuak!

The spirit-filled swords of the royal knights simultaneously drew toward their opponent.

"Ugh!"

The assassin once again scattered as black smoke. However,

"Draw!"

The knights quickly drew their blades horizontally at the shout of one of their comrades.

Kwaaaah!

Five lines of spirit quickly spread like a fan.

The original distance between the assassin and the encirclement of royal knights had been about three meters. In addition, the reach of the knights' blades were nearly two meters long. As such, the man could not escape even with the maximum radius of 5 meters on his technique.

Crack!

​ "Kuagh!"

The assassin screamed after being struck by one of the knights.

"Argh!"

"Kuaagh!"

One of the others, the one confronting Killian, once let out a curt scream. However, the remaining sibling's cry contained extreme pain.

An orc warrior's reflexes were at the level of a knight fully utilizing the spirit. However, Karuta was the strongest of all orc warriors. His reflexes were incomparably greater than that of the other orcs.

It was all too easy for Karuta to drive his steel rod into the shoulder of the assassin and to take Elsia away, especially when the enemy had been distracted by his brother's pain.

"Ah!"

"Here we go! Little Pendragon, go and stay with that sister elf over there."

Karuta looked rather clumsy due to his large size, but he was quite meticulous as he gently threw Elsia's small figure towards the elf.

"Stay by my side, Princess Pendragon."

Eltuan took Elsia into her embrace with a rarem, gentle smile.

"Kuaggh! Ugh…"

The sibling with the completely broken shoulder took several steps back. His body began to twist in a strange fashion.

Craaack! Crack!

"Kuhuh?"

Karuta's eyes filled with wonder. It was just as Vincent had said. Karuta had never seen such a thing before. How could they restore their body in an instant? Karuta was certain that the enemy's muscles had been completely ruptured and the bones smashed.

Moreover, the unbelievable phenomenon wasn't limited to the sibling in front of Karuta. One of them had suffered a broken wrist from Killian while the other's waist had been almost split by the collaborative attack from the knights.

"Kehehe! This is a first."

"This hurts. How long has it been since we felt such pain?"

"I'm scared. But this is still fun."

The triplets giggled with grotesque expressions, as if they had never suffered any injuries to begin with.

"You monsters…"

Killian muttered with a stiff expression, and the royal knights appeared repelled and horrified. However, Karuta reacted a little differently.

"Keuu! Heh…!"

His facial muscles twitched as if he was furious.

However, he wasn't actually furious. Rather, it could not have been further from the truth.

"Kuahahahahahaha! This is the best! To think there are scarecrows I could keep beating up again and again!"

Kwaaaaaaaaa!

Karuta's Orc Fear soared like an erupting volcano. It was thick with killing intent and ecstasy.

Kukwakwakwakwakwa!

His metal rod started to dance maniacally. As if responding to his dance, the sibling confronting Karuta continuously disappeared and reappeared in various places as black smoke.

Crack!

A dagger stabbed into Karuta's shoulder.

It was a part of the assassin's prosthetic arm he installed seven years ago.

Crack!

Red, hot blood poured out along with a good chunk of flesh.

"Huh?"

The assassin smiled victoriously at first, but quickly realized that something was wrong.

"Kukakaka!"

For Karuta, blood was only a fuel for his fighting spirit. It only served to hasten his transformation into the Berserker of the Earth God, a monster of instinct and reason.

Kukwakwakwakwakwa!

Karuta launched a fearsome attack while scattering orc fear like branches of flame. He no longer felt pain or fear. He continued to lunge at the assassin as he disappeared and reappeared with smoke, and his extreme reflexes and unparalleled strength elevated the pace of the battle.

"Uah! Ah!"

The other two siblings became pale. The fear of the brother confronting Karuta was fully conveyed to them. Unfortunately, the ability of the Shadow Brotherhood's Number 1 was a curse just as much as it was a blessing.

It provided a great opportunity for Killian and the royal knights to deal with the other two siblings.

"Do not hold back!"

"Sir!"

The knights' determined voices ran high in the sky, and the leaders of the world's most powerful assassination organization and the warriors of Pendragon collided.

"Die! Die! Why won't you die!"

Thuck! Pupuck!

He had already stabbed seven times with his dagger. In addition, two of the strikes would have left fatal injuries and crippled any ordinary person. However, the overwhelmingly large orc warrior didn't seem to even notice the attacks. Rather, the orc's killing intent only thickened as he suffered more injuries and saw more blood.

Moreover, the orc's attacks only increased in speed and power with the passage of time, and they became more precise. Even though he was Number 1, the head of the Shadow Brotherhood, he was still human.

Any creature beside the dragons, even ogres, would be forced to shrink back momentarily in the face of Karuta's mighty fear. As such, there was bound to be a limit for Number 1 to continue fighting while resisting Karuta's fear.

Moreover, there was a fatal weakness in the movement technique of the brothers, which was known as 'Mist Walking, even though they could basically teleport to any point within a 5-meter radius of themselves.

And although Karuta was a berserker filled with madness, he was a born warrior. He noticed the critical flaw in the enemy's technique with his heightened combat instincts.

"Kukakakakakaka! This is fun! You little centaur shit scarecrow bastard!"

Fwoooosh! Thuuuck!

"Kuaggggh!"

The assassin was sent flying after receiving a direct blow to the side.

"Kugh!"

"Agh!"

The other two were also temporarily stunned by the blow. Killian and the royal knights weren't about to miss the opportunity.

Shuack! Pupupuk!

"Kyaahk!"

The two were forced to their knees while vomiting blood.

"H, how did you… Kuagh!"

The assassin looked up at Karuta with fear and shock while vomiting up crimson blood mixed with bits of his organ.

"Kukaka! That's simple. Apparently, your little tricks don't let you go back to the same place you moved before, right?"

"H, how…!?"

Number 1's eyes quivered with shock. The relaxed, arrogant expression from before was completely gone. The twins were even more shocked that the only weakness in their technique was discovered by the ignorant-looking orc, rather than the fact that it was discovered.

It was just as Karuta said.

Mist Walking was an innate, unique ability of the brothers. They had possessed it ever since they were born. The mysterious ability allowed them to basically teleport to wherever they wanted, but they could not use it on the same location twice. This was why the siblings had chosen to become assassins instead of knights or warriors, and also why they did not have a base.

The battlefield was quite limited, and there was a chance that they would be forced to fight more than once in the same location. However, assassinations and kidnappings were different.

It would be highly unlikely for them to carry out their plan in the same place more than once. As such, they were able to carry out any and all requests.

Whether they used a dagger or poison, all they needed to do was remove the target before leisurely escaping like the mist.

However, their weakness was revealed for the first time today.

"You can't go any further in this direction. Kuhuhu!"

"Ugh!"

Number 1 clenched his teeth and started twisting his body.

"Die, you little dumber-than-a-goblin, stupid scarecrow bastard!"

Karuta's steel rod struck down like thunder.

Boom!

"…..!"

Number 1 wasn't even given a chance to scream before his head disappeared between his shoulders. He was killed instantly.

"Kuaaagh!"

"Argh! Kuagh!"

The other two brothers started convulsing after experiencing their brother's death.

"Keeeuggh! Kagh!"

They looked miserable. Only the whites of their eyes could be seen, and their mouths were foaming with white. However, despite their appearance, Killian showed no mercy as he swung the longsword bestowed upon him by his lord.

Slice!

Red blood soared like a waterfall as a ray of light passed, and a head fell on the floor.

"Uaaagh! Kuaggah!"

The last of the siblings lost his mind and instantly fainted as two of his brothers were killed one after the other. Number 1, the head of the Shadow Brotherhood – they were notorious assassins known throughout the empire. Just as when they were born into the world, two of the brothers left the world at the same place, same time.