༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (18) ༻
Several agile figures positioned themselves atop the narrow corridor.
At each end of the straight passageway, my enemies and I were positioned. There were about five or six of them, but predicting who might emerge from the doors lining the hallway was impossible.
The staircase was at the far end of the corridor.
Glancing to the side, I noticed a layout map. The words ‘Club President’s Office’ on the second floor’s layout grabbed my attention. In other words, I had to ascend those stairs to take down the Press Club.
Of course, since I was inside the headquarters of an intelligence agency, the map couldn’t be entirely trusted. I could only assume that the general layout would be similar.
After all, desperation was something they should feel at this moment, not me.
Once the true nature of the Press Club was exposed, it was clear who would be in more trouble. The Press Club had a compelling motive to subdue me.
Then all that remained was to meet the confrontation. A smirk curled on my lips.
“….Bring it on.”
As my taunting words rang out again, the shadows scattered.
I took a step forward, and it was at that moment.
The initial charge came from the member who had received my hatchet’s blow on his shoulder. Clearly unsatisfied, he had followed me from the main entrance, drawing another dagger from his bosom.
Of course, my movements were quicker.
With a thwack, my hatchet descended on the man’s remaining shoulder, sending a chilling sensation through my hand as it crushed his cartilage.
Accompanied by spurting blood, the man’s scream erupted.
“Arghhhhh!”
Leaving the collapsing man in my wake, I took another step forward as two more people rushed towards me.
The piercing sound of their approach was formidable.
With a swoosh, two daggers spiralled through the air, twisting at bizarre angles. It was a beautifully executed throwing technique, akin to a painting, yet the intention behind it was unmistakable.
Their plan was likely to stab me while I deflected the daggers.
But I had no intention of playing into their hands. Fortunately, my arm was already raised high from retracting my hatchet.
As I clenched my teeth, the muscles in my arm tensed. In the next moment, my hatchet tore through the air, emitting a sharp cutting sound.
It was a speed more aptly described as a flash of light.
The hatchet, propelled to the limit with my mana-enhanced physical strength, unleashed a fearsome onslaught. Instantly, a stark white trajectory etched itself in a straight line.
With a clang, one of the incoming daggers was deflected. Another dagger remained, but it hardly mattered.
I kicked off the ground and launched into a sprint.
Time, seemingly sluggish until then, abruptly accelerated.
Crack, the sound of my hatchet half-shattering a forearm bone echoed. Not anticipating that I would discard my weapon in this situation, the Press Club member’s eyes widened in shock.
But this was only the beginning.
As I twisted my body to evade the second dagger, my hatchet’s trajectory changed on its own. The hatchet, as if it had been flung again, descended upon another Press Club member.
He had just been preparing to leap.
His body, barely lifted off the ground, couldn’t endure the momentum of the hatchet. His upper body slumped and collapsed.
The accompanying sound of flesh and muscle being crushed was just a bonus.
By then, I had already closed in on the leading member. He was just blankly staring at his arm, where the hatchet had embedded itself just moments before.
Naturally, he had no opportunity to react.
My body slammed into his.
Our bodies collided with a solid thud.
“Guh!”
A muffled groan escaped his lips as my shoulders rammed into him.
Just like that, another went down, and I yanked the hatchet out of the shoulder of the one who had fallen through the air.
Then, to the fallen individual, I drove the hatchet into his opposite shoulder.
Crack, once again, the sound of bone breaking resonated in my ears.
“Arghhhhh!”
Now two were down; my eyes shifted across over the remaining enemies like a predator.
Two were leaping towards the wall, and the last one seemed to be muttering an incantation. As always, mages were a tricky bunch.
The blades of the two women propelling themselves off the wall hurtled toward me.
Another pair of daggers, this time with a glistening tip. It was clear they were coated with poison.
My hand sliced through the air.
The daggers of the two women, bent on weird trajectories, whisked past me.
A narrow escape. Any delay, and I wouldn’t have emerged unscathed.
With another step, my hatchet ruthlessly shattered the shoulders of the two women one after another with its merciless speed.
“Aaaarrggh!”
“Keugh….
One of them, seemingly more trained, bit her lip to stifle a scream. However, she too ended up sprawled on the ground just like her companion.
By then, the mage’s chanting was reaching its end. I didn’t have many options.
Once again, I hurled my hatchet.
It cleaved through the air with formidable speed, and upon striking down like lightning, a scream involuntarily escaped the mage’s lips.
It was then, as I launched off the ground again, that someone ambushed me from the side.
A cracking sound echoed, and I turned and saw a door being shattered. A silhouette emerged, brandishing a gleaming white blade.
I couldn’t block this surprise attack.
Puk, a dagger plunged into my arm, causing my body to stumble to the other side. Fortunately, I managed to raise my arm to block it at the last moment.
The man showed no intention of retracting the dagger. Instead, he promptly withdrew his hand to retrieve something else from his pocket.
Suspecting another concealed weapon, I didn’t wait for him to finish.
I grabbed the man’s arm with my remaining arm. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
If he had researched me enough, he would have had a fair guess as to what would come next.
With all my might, I yanked his arm over my shoulder, slamming his body into the corridor like a bolt of lightning.
The impact reverberated, sending shockwaves through the wooden floor.
“Guh, urgh…”
The man struggled to handle the impact, and a pitiful groan slipped out. It was inevitable.
Due to the narrowness of the corridor, his lower body was forcefully bent into a right angle against the wall. The grisly crack indicated potential damage to his spine.
That must hurt, I mused, glancing indifferently at the man’s convulsing body.
With a raise of my hand, the hatchet returned to my palm. My eyes casually surveyed the area.
With a creaking noise, the doors along the corridor began to open.
Two rooms remained before the stairs, and two people emerged from them.
I let out a smirk and asked,
“Are you the last ones?”
Of course, there was no reply.
The woman nearest to me charged. In each hand, she wielded a dagger.
A tricky opponent. I stepped forward, bringing my hatchet down in a swift motion.
Clang, my hatchet wedged between her crossed daggers. Her arms trembled, but my hatchet, designed for one-handed use, gave me an advantage over her two daggers.
When the woman gritted her teeth and deflected my hatchet, it left me exposed. She immediately lunged towards me.
However, she momentarily forgot that since a hatchet was wielded with one hand, my other arm was still free.
As planned, my hand, fumbling at my waist until then, shot out with a flash.
Without a sound…
I drew my sword and struck her side. She blocked with her arm, but the surprise attack made her stagger.
That was her mistake.
My hatchet severed her arm, leaving another body sprawled on the floor.
Concerned that she might rise again, I stomped down on the wrist of her remaining hand, crushing it.
“Kuh, urghhh…”
A bone-chilling grinding sound accompanied her stifled groan. That was enough.
My eyes then zeroed in on the last opponent.
As if he had been lying in wait, he hurled the weapon he’d been holding.
It was a wire.
With a weight attached to the end, likely intended for restraint or as a striking weapon if necessary.
An odd weapon that was worthy of the Imperial Intelligence Agency.
The weight on the wire twisted in its trajectory like a live snake. I started sprinting immediately.
Just as I was on the verge of colliding with the weight.
My upper body leaned back, gliding across the floor. I extended my arm and grabbed the wire.
A crackling sound signalled the onset of an electric current. Somehow, I had anticipated this.
Swiftly, I twisted my body and pulled on the chain, as if reeling in a fishing net.
I felt the sensation of something getting dragged on my fingertips. Simultaneously, a current coursed through my arm, making my muscles convulse.
Electrocution… My muscles involuntarily contracted, and the current surged to my brain emitting blue sparks.
But it wasn’t all bad.
The forced contraction of my muscles actually amplified the strength of my pull on the wire. Like a fish caught on a fishing line, the man’s body soared through the air.
He hit the floor with a thud, bounced once, and finally the current cut off.
As I drew the wire again, his body slid towards me, and as he drew closer, terror filled his eyes.
Because, by then, my hatchet was already in my grip.
The moment he reached me would be his last.
With a smack, blood splattered in the air.
“Uh, kuh… Aaaargh!”
As if it was the most natural thing, another scream erupted, and I had to cover my ears with my free hand. Though it did little to block out the wailing that drilled into my other ear.
I said with a tone of disdain.
“Stop screaming, will you? Aren’t you an intelligence agent? Can’t you endure a bit of pain?”
“Keuk, keukeuk… Y-You crazy fucker…”
Despite my taunt, the man just chuckled.
With a ferocious smile, he warned me.
“You dare mess with Imperial Intelligence? And you think you’ll get away unscathed?”
I paused momentarily, my eyes briefly shifting to the side before refocusing on him.
A sly smile crept onto my lips.
“Why did you mess with me, then?”
Before he could even begin to retort, my hatchet descended on his shoulder once again.
His body writhed in pain, and another scream erupted from his mouth.
It was still too loud. Unable to bear it any longer, I forcefully kicked his head.
With a thwack, his screams stopped.
He had passed out.
And with that, it was over.
The entire Press Club had been wiped out. Except one person.
My eyes swept beyond the staircase. Though blurry, a subtle heat radiated from there. It was clear someone was there.
As if I had been invited, I found myself irresistibly walking forward.
The ‘Queen of the Ball’ was waiting.
