LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 230: Execution (1)
Ray realized it was time as he heard the commotion outside.
There was no better moment than now to put the plan into action.
They couldn’t afford to give them any more time to think.
“I need to attach Heukyeong to Iriel. It’s too risky otherwise.”
As he turned his back on those discussing, a young man at the front caught his eye.
“…Alright. Let’s try opposing Sanha.”
Perhaps because of the thought that someone might die tomorrow, the young man with black hair responded with resolute eyes.
Then, glancing back, he saw what the halted conversation group was looking at.
“Then from now on, gather more people. It’s better to have as many as possible.”
Dawn was about to break.
It was time to move toward Sanha.
Stepping out of the wooden house, Ray added one more thing.
“As soon as it’s morning, head straight to Sanha. If there are this many people wanting to go outside, Sanha won’t be able to act rashly.”
“…That promise to take responsibility… Please keep it.”
The man nodded in response to his words and darted away.
Soyeong, who was roaming around trying to fulfill the Saint’s orders, couldn’t speak due to the intense killing intent she felt at her side.
As she hastily twisted her body, a sword thrust forward, cutting through the air.
The thrust sword then changed its course, grazing her shoulder.
‘Who is this?’
She had to block the sword without a moment to scrutinize her opponent’s face.
As she deflected the sword strike with a small dagger drawn from her thigh, a familiar voice spoke.
“Ho, not bad. Your quick thinking is quite useful.”
Seeing his face, she recognized a middle-aged man with patches of beard.
Holding the sword threateningly in one hand, his appearance was fearsome.
The aura he exuded was like facing a mighty mountain, and his swordsmanship wasn’t honed in just a day or two.
Every sense in her body screamed at her to run.
She bit her lip, searching for a way to retreat, but like a ghost, the middle-aged man’s sword descended upon her head once again.
As she attempted to deflect it with her dagger, the sword’s afterimage suddenly split into several.
‘An illusion?’
She countered the first strike with all her mana.
Although she had successfully deflected it, the remaining two afterimages slithered like snakes, targeting her abdomen.
With wide eyes, she rolled on the ground, narrowly evading his attack.
“A grown woman rolling in the dirt isn’t a good look.”
His sword swooped down once more.
In mere moments, Soyeong sensed the lethal threat from the sweeping sword strikes.
If this onslaught persisted, her death was certain.
The man’s sword traced a mysterious path as it drew nearer.
Blood began to seep from Soyeong’s arm, which she had attempted to lower.
“Ugh!”
The wound wasn’t severe, but it was far from minor.
She gritted her teeth, acutely aware of their disparity in skill.
The reason she was being overpowered was
because she was an assassin herself.
Her swordsmanship, honed for assassinations, sought a one-hit kill.
With the intention of killing with a single blow, she hadn’t considered her follow-up strategy.
That was the essence of an assassin’s sword.
A solitary sword, striking from the shadows, could make even a master swordsman tremble, but an assassin in head-on combat was hardly a threat.
The elder flicked the blood from his sword with a swift swing.
“Tch… I came to gauge your strength, but it seems I’ve lost my appetite. My enthusiasm has diminished.”
Despite his ferocious attack, he expressed only disappointment, eliciting a frown from her.
But his next words propelled her to leap away once more.
“However, you must atone for the crime of causing a disturbance in front of Sanha.”
Kwaang!
A wave of aura burst forth from his vertically swung sword.
The aura, initially intended to slice through anything, morphed into a force of destruction.
“I’ve never heard of such an aura.”
She tried to dive into the bushes to hide, but the aura reached her before she could, allowing for no escape.
She leapt up into a tree, drawing her own aura.
The middle-aged man marveled at the clear and clean color of her aura.
“The aura is the mirror of the soul! Truly, you have a pure aura!”
He thrust his sword with a satisfied smile, yet it moved incredibly slowly.
Strangely, she found she couldn’t easily dodge it.
No matter where she moved, the sword seemed to follow her.
Feeling uneasy, she took a step back, and he stepped forward.
‘I’m caught.’
It was a sword she couldn’t evade.
As a last resort, she filled her dagger with aura and hurled it toward the middle-aged man’s face.
Fwing!
With the sharp sound cutting through the air, the tip of the middle-aged man’s sword slightly wavered.
Could there be a chance?
She braced herself to leap away quickly, but was taken aback.
The mana he released seemed to form a protective shield around his sword.
Her all-out strike dissipated into nothingness, failing to make an impact.
With her final move thwarted, there was no avenue for escape.
What’s more, having lost her dagger, she was at an even greater disadvantage.
As she watched the approaching sword, swords suddenly sprang out from the side.
Kaang!
“Kugh!”
With a grunt, two young men addressed her.
“Are you alright?”
Their faces were covered with white masks, comical yet reassuring.
“Why are you helping me…?”
Bewildered and questioning, the young men chuckled in reply.
“All masked are allies.”
“If it’s like this, even the elder won’t recognize who I am, right? If we’re going to rebel, now’s the time.”
Their responses were different, but their eyes displayed determination.
The two young men, contrary to their appearance, were wielding swords that emitted blades of aura.
Could they be of heroic lineage?
It seemed that everyone they encountered was a sword master, and no one they spoke to lacked magical abilities.
She couldn’t help but be astonished.
The elder laughed heartily and raised his sword.
“You’re playing too much. I’ll catch you and remove those masks.”
“It won’t be easy, elder!”
Kaang! Kaang!
Swords clashed, sending remnants of aura flying.
These remnants carried considerable destructive power, quickly turning the surroundings into a wasteland.
Every time they crossed swords with the middle-aged man, the young men were knocked back, their auras weakening progressively.
Aura is proportional to the user’s mana.
If the mana depletes and diminishes, the aura weakens as well.
Regardless of how heroic their lineage was, there is a limit to the mana a human can accumulate, and the middle-aged man was overwhelmingly superior.
He had reached this realm through killing many.
She attempted a sword formation attack, but with just a few swings, he easily thwarted her.
“Hahaha. It seems this is as far as you go.”
“Run away now, while you still can.”
Their swords had worn out, rendered useless.
The elder slowly approached them, his sword ready.
His blade swung without a hint of hesitation, seemingly intent on killing.
No, his eyes flickered with greed, betraying a desire to grow stronger.
Soyeong, about to close her eyes, glimpsed someone landing on the ground.
Kwaang!
A youthful voice cut through the smoke.
“To think you’d go so far as to kill your own kin, you’re truly despicable.”
Ray confronted the elder with a bitter smile.
After instructing Heukyeong to escort Iriel, Ray set off again.
To sway their minds, he needed to create another organization. Not like the leaders of Sanha, but one capable of uniting and acting independently.
If he could divide the opinions of these people between two forces, he could then soothe and persuade the remainder to join him.
While running through the forest, he heard a noise and stopped.
The distant clang of weapons clashing reached his ears.
‘Strange. I didn’t expect them to fight so soon.’
Caught by the unexpected situation, he quickly changed direction.
Passing through the woods, he spotted Soyeong with injuries and two young men gasping for breath in a clearing.
A middle-aged man, apparently sent by Sanha, stood before them exuding a formidable presence.
The political tensions had escalated rapidly.
‘If those two sustain even minor injuries, the discord between the new organization and Sanha is bound to intensify. It’s inevitable that the factions will split.’
With this thought in mind, he intended to observe from a distance, but the enraged middle-aged man suddenly launched an attack with his lethal sword!
A single blow from that sword, charged with a destructive aura, could prove deadly even to him.
Soyeong might manage to survive, but witnessing the middle-aged man’s attempt to slay his own kin sent shivers through Ray.
He landed on the ground and nonchalantly deflected the middle-aged man’s sword.
The sword, weighed down by its wielder’s expertise, plunged into the earth like a saturated sponge.
Upon contact with the ground, the aura blade triggered a thunderous explosion.
Kwaang!
As the middle-aged man staggered back to regain his balance, Ray picked up a branch.
“Does Sanha now greet visitors in such a manner?”
“You possess considerable skill. Do you share our lineage?”
Lineage is irrelevant.
His path of mana was distinct from theirs.
He absorbed all the mana in the sky, as though claiming it for himself, rendering the divine blessing futile.
The elder brushed his sword clean, shaking his head.
His hands trembled, realizing the vast gap in their abilities after just one exchange.
“How many lives have you taken to achieve such prowess?”
“None. I do not seek to enhance my strength through the death of others.”
“None? Impossible! Even with a divine blessing, a human’s potential is finite. Sacrifices are necessary to surpass those limits!”
“If you believe strength can only be gained through the sacrifice of others, then that is the extent of your own capability.”
He summoned forth all of his mana.
The atmosphere quivered as the once familiar mana turned hostile against him.
Dominating the ambient mana was lethal not just for mages.
As proof, the middle-aged man’s expression grew taut.
“Unbelievable. How can the traitor’s child who left have such power…”
“I’ve always been on the stronger side.”
As he spoke, he swung not a sword, but a branch, slicing through the air.
With his majestic mana, everything around him was cleaved apart.
Trees, rocks, and even the towering cliffs were cut as easily as paper.
The middle-aged man’s eyes widened at the sight.
The unenhanced branch turned to dust, unable to withstand the power.
Only his piercing blue eyes
remained coldly fixated on the man.
“Don’t touch my companions. This is your last warning.”