Nighttime reconnaissance proceeded smoothly. Ivan smirked, sensing the constant flickering of line-of-fire detection at the corner of his senses.
It’s a technique of aiming the muzzle as if peering through the space, making it difficult to determine the distance and direction. It’s a trap for facing superhumans, and for ensnaring them.
For a Tylessian agent, he sure utilizes quite advanced technology. Unexpectedly.
Ivan pretended to move on as if he felt nothing, ostensibly searching diligently for traces of the dragon.
The more competent the enemy, the more his excitement rose. Competent agents tend to possess more information than less competent ones.
Then, quietly approaching beside him, Eugene whispered,
“Big Brother, right now…”
“I know.”
Is the detection range on the status screen about 1 km? Not bad. This should be usable even with short-range radar. Ivan nodded his head and spoke.
“Don’t look over there, 700m at 9 o’clock direction. Got it?”
“Yes, brother.”
“Pretend not to know until you’re within 500m.”
“Yes, brother.”
Ivan placed his hand on the axe handle and walked confidently. Leading the way, like a leader.
-Zap.
The warning of line-of-fire detection became even more overt. Still not coming? Still not avoiding? Whispering as if in that manner.
A superhuman could never resist this temptation. Using a gun at all implied weakness. And superhumans are the ones who rush towards the gunshots the moment the barrels are aimed at them.
That’s the doctrine of the superhumans. It’s because superhuman battles greatly enhance the survival of ordinary people. In other words, even to protect ordinary people without line-of-fire detection, superhumans are accustomed to throwing themselves in front of the barrel.
Using techniques that exploit that doctrine in reverse, huh? That’s so outdated, even if Tylesse would consider it quite modern, Krasilov sees it as antiquated.
So, how to handle superhumans. Even when dealing with ‘trained agents’ within the superhuman’s domain, let me teach you.
Ivan walked slowly, then suddenly stopped.
“500m, right.”
“Yes, brother.”
“You seem impatient. Follow slowly.”
Ivan nodded with a dry face. The next moment, he disappeared.
“?!”
With the sound of footsteps blaming, Eugene quickly turned his head and chased after Ivan’s figure. Between two footsteps, Ivan had already rushed through the bushes.
-Bang!!
Gunshots rang out urgently.
“What, what’s happening suddenly?!”
“Who is that man fighting with again?!”
Eugene grumbled in disbelief as the group, who had set out for a normal dragon hunt, panicked unexpectedly.
“The level difference is too much.”
***
Hitting the tree. Directly, forcefully.
Two diagonal lines of fire coming at once in that moment. The response isn’t bad.
Ivan twisted his waist in the air, adjusting the angle. With a margin of error of one inch, bullets fired separately grazed his hair.
Ping, the sharp sound of the thread being cut rang satisfyingly. He kicked the ground again, twisting his body onto the tree.
-Crash!
The next moment, he deflected the flying bullet with the axe blade and threw himself. There were no more gunshots. Between aiming and firing, within that momentary gap.
Already, Ivan had seated himself in front of the two men.
“What—!”
-Swish!
The man who was opening his mouth in astonishment collapsed. His cleanly severed torso twisted as it rolled on the ground. Blood, lost and disoriented, spread in a fan shape, covering the man beside him.
The frightened man raised his gun, aiming it at Ivan.
-Snap—
The gunshot hit the axe and ‘was deflected’. A well-made military pistol of steel, a military product from the Tylesse arsenal. A brand new item, not even stripped of its oil. Ivan watched the falling bullet with a glance as he spun in the air.
His gaze descended.
The forest, asleep in darkness, the moonlight scattered on dry autumn branches. In this small clearing, devoid of torches, the blood-soaked man trembled as he stepped back.
In front of him, Ivan stepped forward, casting a long shadow. A pair of azure eyes glimmered quietly amidst the shadow.
“You’re… probably not one of Etarique’s people… are you…?”
“Shh.”
Ivan spun the axe around, gripping the handle firmly. He took a moment to catch his breath, listening to the sound of the wind.
When enhancing his hearing, he could even hear the footsteps of creatures passing nearby.
When enhancing his sense of smell, he could smell the scent of all the animals on the mountain carried by the wind along the mountainside.
So, the ‘trap for superhumans’ prepared at this distance was not actually suitable for superhumans. Although these agents were all clumsily stepping into the superhuman’s territory, this level was insufficient.
On the battlefield, there were many superhumans at this level, enough to be crushed underfoot. And those who had survived crossing that battlefield were the current party of heroes.
He was trying to kill a dragon slayer with just this level of skill?
With a slight sense of displeasure and a hint of disgust, Ivan tightened his grip on the axe handle.
“I, I am…!”
“Shh.”
Once again, his tongue clicked, and Ivan’s hand shook. The axe disappeared beyond the bushes on the other side without leaving a trace.
Splash! Along with the sound of water pouring, screams echoed from beyond the bushes. Ivan didn’t even glance in that direction before speaking.
“One mouth to answer is sufficient.”
“This… monster…!”
“Monster?”
Expressionless, Ivan took out a dagger and a potion. Walking steadily, he placed his foot on the man’s chest and asked.
“How did those who simply call me a monster plan to kill Jilber?”
“T-that, what are you talking about! We just…”
“Enough.”
Ivan pressed his foot on the man’s chest a bit harder. With a crackling sound, a groan of suffocation was heard beneath his foot.
“When I speak, you listen.”
“Cough…!”
“When I ask, you answer.”
“Gasp…!”
“Answer carefully. There’s much to ask, and much that’s the same. I’ll be asking plenty. If your answer is wrong, or if I don’t like it, you won’t die.”
At Ivan’s words, the man burst into sporadic laughter. He looked Ivan straight in the eyes and spoke.
“Krasilov…! You’re a ghost from the past!”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
-Swish!
The dagger blurred, and blood sprayed from the man’s shoulder. He groaned and whimpered, then soon bit down on his pain.
“The border guards have finally sold the country to foreigners! His highness’s words were not wrong. This country is rotting…”
-Snap!
“It won’t go as you wish, foolish northerner!!”
The man turned resolute, channeling his magic. He must have been a wizard. Ivan clicked his tongue and lifted his foot. It seemed to be a kind of self-inflicted prohibition, not an offensive spell.
As the magic penetrated the man’s body, he trembled, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. With a crackle, foam poured from his mouth.
He forcibly stopped his heart. He cut off the blood flow and forced him to commit suicide.
Ivan’s hand moved like lightning, digging into the man’s chest. His fingers, firmly planted, penetrated the chest area, and his magic flowed roughly into the man’s heart, squeezing it tightly.
He hadn’t experimented on someone else’s body before. However, the general shape of the heart tends to be similar. Ivan’s magic wrapped around the man’s ventricular muscle, and thump, thump, his heartbeat began.
The pale face of the man regained color. With sounds of gasping and choking, the man slowly trembled.
“H-How… how did…?”
“I said you couldn’t die.”
Without removing his hand from the man’s chest, Ivan turned his head slightly.
“Eugene.”
“Yes, brother.”
“Send the children to Jill Ber. It should be the safest place in these mountains. And you stay.”
“Yes? Oh, yes. Why…?”
“You need to learn too.”
A hero party shouldn’t have to deal with such harsh and ‘unpleasant’ things. It’s too dirty and ‘not fun’ for heroes to do.
But someone has to do it. And in all those situations, it’s a role Ivan can’t replace. When he’s not around, one of the members of the hero party has to handle such matters.
If you want to be picky, there’s Lucía, but… well. At least in this respect, Eugene, with the ‘status window’, is more useful than Lucía. Lucía’s skills are similar to Enrique’s. Assassination and infiltration.
Stealth and interrogation were Ivan’s roles. That’s how it was back then. So in this era, the hero party of the time needed someone to fill Ivan’s role.
Eugene looked into Ivan’s eyes, swallowed once, and quietly nodded.
*
“Brother… this is…
”
Eugene’s face paled. He had already surpassed the threshold that could be healed with the priest’s healing and healing potions.
Covered in blood, Ivan slowly got up.
The smell of iron permeated the air. Under the shade of the forest, he closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Now he could be sure. The scattered pieces of information were coming together like a puzzle, forming the shape. The picture of Tylesse’s downfall.
“Eugene.”
“Yes, brother.”
“Every country in this world has a switch for destruction.”
“Yes…?”
“Listen.”
With his eyes closed, Ivan spoke.
“The previous hero party was too competent. Not only did they prevent the collapse of the alliance, but they also nearly eradicated the threat of demons. Yet, new hero parties have emerged in this world.”
“…Yes.”
“That’s because there are still threats that warrant their existence. Even if the Demon King were to return, the current ‘Alliance Kingdom’ would likely prevail. The previous hero party is still active, and the demons suffered greater losses than the Alliance Kingdom.”
“Yes, brother.”
“So, how will threats arise to the extent that heroes are needed? It’s a simple matter to think about. We’ve already experienced it.”
Ivan opened his eyes. He looked at Eugene and continued.
“Every country in this world has its own reasons for having a switch for destruction, like Krasilov’s. In the form of civil wars. In the form of demons. That’s probably why new hero parties, and even possessed individuals, were needed. If the ‘main entity’ exists, that’s what it means.”
Eugene shook his head in disbelief.
“Brother, this isn’t the time to say such things. We should warn the Duke of Etarique right away…”
“It’s too late.”
-Whiiing! Boom!-
A flare exploded beyond the forest. It was the signal flare they had decided to set off when they spotted the dragon.
The dark night sky turned red. Almost simultaneously with the flare, a column of fire shot up. It was the breath of the dragon. Melting walls and steel.
Had they been careless? It couldn’t be. They had made all the preparations they could. They even had confidence. If there was one thing lacking, it was only information. Only that.
But in the end, it’s all just excuses. They ultimately failed to stop the war.
“From now on, there’s no time left for explanations. As soon as you return to Jill Ber, you must immediately manage the team and return to Saint Mathilde.”
“Brother…”
“The capital defense forces here are only half of their full strength. There’s still about that much strength left in the capital. Hold out there with the team. Don’t forget my words, and remember them.”
-Whiiing! Boom!-
-Whiiing! Boom!-
-Whiiing! Boom!-
Like fireworks at a festival. Like a fireworks display, signal flares exploded in various places in the night sky.
Signal flares indicating the discovery of the dragon, from all directions. All the signal flares each member carried exploded like dominoes in all directions.
The Bernini Mountains were ablaze with spectacular fireworks.
The sky seemed to be on fire. Like in broad daylight, but illuminated brightly by the ominous red light of the flares.
Shadows were suppressed and dwindled. In the numerous lights of the sky, the shadows of the mountains bowed low.
Ivan sighed and closed his eyes.
“Save Jill Ber… if you can.”
The dragon was not just one.
Its arrival was not a mere decoy. It was a trap in itself, as well as the main force of the Counts and the demons.
Tylesse would lose the northeast. The eastern front would now be isolated without supplies to face the demon army alone.
The Counts would only have to deal with the remaining half of the capital legion. If the capital falls, if the royal family collapses, Tylesse is finished.
In Ivan’s mind, the military map of Tylesse was vividly clear. If the predictions were correct, Tylesse’s remaining lifespan would not be more than two weeks.
Every map, at this moment, was tinged with red like the night sky over Bernini, where the signal flares exploded.
[Quest Status Update!]
[Objective: Stop the 3 Counts of Tylesse from starting a civil war (Failed)]
[Available Objectives]
[Objective: Victory in the defense of Saint Mathilde. (New)]
[Objective: Maintain the number of destroyed territories to 15 or less. (2/15)]
[Objective: Ensure the survival of Duke Jill Ber de Etarique.]
[Objective: Encounter with Maximilien de Etualle.]
[Objective: Preservation of the Tylesse royal family.]
[Reward: Extension of the existence of the Alliance Kingdom by 10 years.]
