LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 218
Chapter 218
The plains near Wind Valley.
“Knights, take five soldiers each and search the surroundings!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Marquis Daniel’s command, the knights each took five soldiers and began to disperse into their designated areas.
After confirming they had all disappeared, Marquis Daniel turned to look at Yan.
“Well, well, I brought Baron Yan along, but it seems there’s hardly anything for you to do. My apologies.”
Marquis Daniel chuckled, his smile warm and friendly.
“It’s quite alright. Thanks to your knights, I can relax. I should be the one thanking you.”
“Is that so?”
Marquis Daniel smiled slyly at Yan and approached him.
Then, in a subtle voice, he asked, “If there’s nothing to do, how about we go over there and have a little chat?”
Marquis Daniel pointed towards Wind Valley.
Yan nodded obediently.
Just then…
[The preparations are complete. Bring him here.
A voice, belonging to a middle-aged man with white hair, whispered into Marquis Daniel’s ear.]
He quickly turned his head, but there was no one in sight.
[With your skills, you won’t be able to find me. Be careful, or the one next to you might notice.]
Marquis Daniel bit his lip at the voice that followed.
The tone was dismissive, which irritated him.
But he quickly calmed his emotions.
This was all for his benefit.
There was no need to get angry. In the end, he would be the one to gain the most.
With this thought, Marquis Daniel put on his friendly face again and led Yan towards Wind Valley.
* * *
Since the outbreak of war, neither the revolutionary army nor the southern imperial forces had ventured into this natural fortress.
But today was different.
A middle-aged man with white hair and a woman stood at the peak of Wind Valley, glaring in the direction of the forward base.
Behind them, more than thirty people were prostrated.
“Master, all the disciples are on standby.”
“Understood.”
The woman bowed her head and stepped back, just as another voice rang out.
“Is everyone ready?”
“You’re quite late.”
“It took time to gather capable individuals. But since he hasn’t arrived yet, it doesn’t matter, does it?”
“Tsk, the one obsessed with revenge is slow at times like this.”
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue in displeasure, and a man with ashen hair emerged from behind.
Wearing the uniform of the knights and holding a sharp rapier, his face twisted.
A hideous scar running from his forehead to his chin twitched.
“Keep mocking, and I’ll tear that mouth of yours.”
“Think you can manage that, Gilliam Waterford?”
Gilliam Waterford, commander of the 6th Legion of the revolutionary army.
Having lost his lord due to the political machinations of the nobles, he had joined the revolutionary army with his entire knight order, driven by vengeance.
Gilliam twisted his lips at the middle-aged man’s provocation.
“With neither the leader nor the chief of staff here, shall we settle the hierarchy?”
“Fine by me. But right now…”
The middle-aged man stopped speaking, a sly smile forming on his lips.
Gilliam also turned his head to look somewhere.
With their extraordinary vision, they saw figures approaching.
One was Marquis Daniel.
The other…
“Is it time to hunt?”
It was Yan, whom the leader and chief of staff had ordered to be eliminated.
Clang!
Gilliam drew his rapier with a flourish and braced himself.
Crack!
The ground where they stood caved in.
“Shall we test our skills?”
With those words, Gilliam launched himself towards the approaching group.
Seeing Gilliam’s incredible speed, the middle-aged man smirked.
“I can’t let you take the prey.”
As he activated his mana, sparks flew around him.
Swish!
He chased after Gilliam with terrifying speed.
How far did they fly?
The two arrived in front of Yan and Marquis Daniel almost simultaneously.
Boom!
The ground exploded, and dust filled the air.
“Ugh. It’s me, Daniel!”
Marquis Daniel shouted loudly, fearing he wouldn’t be recognized in the dust storm.
At that moment…
Whoosh!
The dust storm that had filled the surroundings vanished in an instant.
Revealing Gilliam with his rapier and the middle-aged man with a slender sword.
“Marquis, you should leave. I’ll handle it from here.”
At the middle-aged man’s words, Marquis Daniel’s eyes widened, and he quickly turned and ran.
Sweat pouring down his face, his running figure was quite comical.
Thus, only three people remained.
And then, something astonishing began to happen.
Squirm, squirm.
The middle-aged man’s face twisted like dough, his ears elongated, and his kind eyes turned sharp.
A familiar face.
It was Electus, who should have been hiding with Aisha by now.
Revealing his true identity without hesitation, he smirked.
“Surprised, kid?”
As Electus revealed himself, Yan, who had been silent until now, spoke.
“How can you be so predictable?”
His words were directed at Electus.
Electus frowned at being called a fool.
“What?”
“You think you tricked me?”
“So you’re saying you didn’t fall for it?”
Using Marquis Daniel, Electus had lured Yan here.
Besides himself, there was Gilliam, an extraordinary being of the same rank.
And subordinates capable of slaughtering ordinary knights.
There was no way for Yan to escape.
Yet he said such things?
Just as Electus was about to sneer…
Rumble!
An ominous aura began to emanate from Yan.
Gilliam and Electus’s eyes widened.
They saw something behind Yan.
A faintly visible sword.
“That, that is?”
“…Manifestation of intent?”
A privilege only those who had reached the third rank or higher could use.
Gilliam and Electus had not yet reached that level.
Which meant…
“Damn it! They said he was fourth rank!”
“Has he been deceiving us all this time?!”
Yan’s level was higher than theirs.
Seeing the two in shock, Yan drew Ascalon from his waist.
Shing.
“Now you understand? You didn’t trick me; I tricked you.”
By not immediately dealing with Electus, he had lured another commander here.
Electus had played his role as bait perfectly.
As Yan fully drew Ascalon, a heavy wave of energy pressed down on the two.
Electus gritted his teeth as if to break them.
At that moment, Gilliam’s voice pierced his ear.
[We must retreat and inform the leader of this.]
Electus’s nails dug into his palm.
Frustrating and annoying, but… Gilliam was right.
The gap between a third-rank and a fourth-rank transcendent was greater than that between a fifth-rank knight and a civilian.
The difference between being able to manifest intent and not was that significant.
Having calculated this, Electus whistled.
Whistle!
His disciples, who had been hiding, exploded with white sword energy and charged at Yan.
They had been hidden for such an eventuality.
At Electus’s signal, they poured all their life force into their attack.
The white sword energy shone even brighter, almost blindingly so.
‘With all their latent power unleashed, they should be able to distract him for a moment.’
Seeing his disciples rush at Yan, Electus and Gilliam turned and fled with all their might.
Just as they were about to escape…
Slash!
A chilling sensation ran down their spines.
Gilliam and Electus hurriedly ducked.
Thud, thud.
In front of them, blood and flesh fell.
Despite sacrificing all their life force, the disciples couldn’t withstand Yan’s single strike and died.
Frozen in place, they heard Yan’s voice.
“Thanks for playing into my plan. Thanks to you, we now have the upper hand in the war against the revolutionary army.”
His words were mocking.
The two bit their lips hard.
“That damned brat…”
Electus gritted his teeth and stood up.
Gilliam, watching him, clenched his fist and stood beside Electus.
“Are we doing this?”
“We have to. There’s no other choice.”
Electus fixed his gaze on the slowly approaching Yan and continued.
“You create a distraction with your initial attack. I’ll use all my strength to take that brat’s head off.”
Gilliam nodded heavily at Electus’s words.
Given the situation, Electus’s all-out attack had a better chance of breaking through than his own basic and combo techniques.
The two exchanged glances.
Leap!
And simultaneously launched themselves.
* * *
Yan clicked his tongue as he watched Gilliam charge towards him.
“Isn’t your intention a bit too obvious?”
Gilliam’s plan to obscure Yan’s vision with combat while Electus prepared a powerful attack was too blatant.
“Haah!”
Gilliam shouted, enveloping his rapier in a powerful aura. He unleashed his strongest and most confident technique from the start.
White Lion Swordsmanship, Final Form: Phantom Thousand Strikes
The ultimate technique of the now-defunct White Lion Knights. The thrusting rapier split into two, then rapidly multiplied, filling Yan’s vision with countless rapiers, each glowing with a sharp aura. It was an attack befitting someone who had stepped into the realm of the transcendent.
‘Illusions.’
Thanks to his vast experience, Yan instinctively knew that most of the rapiers aiming at him were illusions. He closed his eyes. Knowing they were illusions, he no longer needed to rely on sight.
He focused on the sensation of the wind brushing his face, the sound of the air splitting, and his honed instincts, which had developed into a sixth sense. Concentrating solely on these three senses…
Grip.
He tightened his hold on Ascalon. At that moment, the sword of his mental image overlaid itself onto Ascalon. His mana heart resonated with the image, and mana began to flow into Ascalon of its own accord.
Crackle!
A mirage-like aura began to emanate from Ascalon. Compared to the countless auras Gilliam was unleashing, it seemed insignificant, but…
‘Perfect.’
Yan opened his eyes, satisfied. The barrage of sword auras was now right in front of him. At this critical moment, Yan moved.
Swish!
He stepped back, using the momentum to swing Ascalon horizontally. It was a basic horizontal slash, like those seen in training knights, but executed with unparalleled precision.
Ascalon swung towards the Phantom Thousand Strikes.
Founding Festival Sword Technique, First Form: Dragon’s Fang
The dragon’s fang met the barrage of a thousand sword auras.
Slash!
With the countless sword auras, Gilliam’s head rolled on the ground. It was a pitiful death for a commander of the revolutionary army who had threatened the empire.
Confirming Gilliam’s death, Yan turned his gaze to where Electus had been standing. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“Crazy bastard.”
Contrary to Yan’s expectation that Electus would prepare a finishing move in the gap created by Gilliam’s sacrifice…
“Running away?”
Electus had chosen to flee. He had used Gilliam as bait from the start.
Watching Electus disappear into the distance, Yan showed no sign of regret.
“I had a feeling, but this works out well.”
The direction Electus was heading… Yan had already set a trap there.
As soon as he finished that thought…
Fwoosh!
A pillar of fire erupted in the distance. It meant that Merriott, the Knight of Flames, had encountered Electus.