Star-Embracing Swordmaster - Chapter 52
Because he promised to return (2)
Every sword has its own purpose.
Just as there are different situations in which large swords and small swords can be used, and a sharp sword is not always better than a dull sword.
Bordan, who was always mistreated by Josef, was also that kind of person.
Although he was an old, fat knight who could not even use a sword properly, Josef chose to keep him by his side.
Because he was a person who could definitely be used.
“Have you made sure to block off the other alleys as well?”
“Of course… I did my best.”
The mayor of Shoara was wiping away sweat with a handkerchief and nodding to the fat knight in front of him.
Although it was only an article, the mayor knew so much about the inner workings of city administration that he just threw up his hands.
I was just wondering where on earth the person had come from.
“So what should I do if I raise it to the point where things end up like this in the first place? So much so that the Count knows.”
“The one-armed Jack is so resourceful… But after today, won’t Shoara’s cancer lump be removed?”
The mayor repeatedly expressed his embarrassment at the sight of the knight who had the count’s authority behind him, but in reality, Bordan just chuckled at the mayor’s words.
‘You’re probably the one with the cancer.’
How to recognize your peers.
How could a one-armed man named Jack control such a huge ecosystem called the back alley?
This must have all happened with the connivance of this person who holds the title of mayor.
“Anyway, when will the driver come to let us inside? “It was said that the Bayezid family had specially sent it…”
The mayor summoned not only the soldiers but also all the knights dispatched to Shoara, but Bordan refused, saying that there was someone else in charge of this matter.
This was not simply a matter of defeating an alley boss named One-Armed Jack.
It was also Vlad’s official debut match prepared by the Bayezid family.
“You’re coming over there at the right time.”
A back alley illuminated only by dim light.
There was a man walking alone along there.
Drops of blood that had not yet dried were falling from the dangling sword.
“Is it one person?”
“……”
The mayor looked puzzled as no matter how much he looked, he could only see one person, but Bordan simply responded with silence.
“Are you here?”
“yes. Mr. Bordan.”
A boy with a strong smell of blood flowing from the cloak he was wearing.
When the mayor saw Vlad for the first time, he was surprised by his appearance and was even more surprised by the atmosphere he gave off.
‘There’s no way they don’t suit each other like this.’
The beautiful face had the expression of an animal.
The blond hair that everyone would admire was shiny and soaked in blood, and the vivid blue eyes had such a strange glow that they were almost blue even when seen at night.
“I’m ready.”
“thank you.”
“Why don’t you just go in with the soldiers now? “If you get seriously hurt, I really won’t have the honor to see you, Joseph.”
Vlad burst into laughter after hearing Bordan’s words.
His consistent attitude of always worrying about his own safety was, in some ways, believable.
“Even if I get hurt, I won’t let Lord Bordan harm me.”
“…That’s not possible.”
After confirming the boy’s determination, Bordan moved with his own hands and took out Vlad’s unique flag.
It was a flag that only had two emblems on it, but being able to hold it was in itself a great honor for an individual.
“Is that Banner?”
“I thought it was a tradition that has now disappeared.”
The soldiers began to mutter little by little next to where Vlad and Bordan were walking.
The scene they were about to see was nothing less than a reenactment of a forgotten scene in the history of the North.
“Put the flag in the ground.”
“yes.”
Vlad planted his flag, which had been handed over to him by Bordan, into the ground.
This land is my territory from now on.
From now on, I will exercise my rights under the honorable names that guarantee me.
Even your lives.
“good.”
Bordan, who confirmed that the boy’s declaration was properly written, took out the parchment from his pocket and unfolded it.
The boy carries an honorable flag.
The fat knight received the earl’s orders.
Each of the two swords had a role to play.
“Jack, the one-armed brat from the back alley, listen up! “You have been ignoring the rules and laws put in place by Bayezid and sucking up the blood of the people!”
Bordan, on behalf of Vlad, who was weak in etiquette and procedures, unfolded the parchment and read the contents inside.
Anyone seeing him for the first time would see Bordan proudly shouting, and it would seem that the knight was raising his hand.
“Therefore, I, Peter Bayezid, the rightful owner of Shoara, cannot watch your wickedness any longer, so I sent my representative, Vlad, and from now on, all the authority he exercises will be the rights attested by me, the rightful owner of Shoara, and the faithful church. am!”
After the command written by Josef, approved by Peter, and declared by Bayezid’s knight, the soldiers began to shout loudly.
“Bayezid! Bayezid!”
“Kill One-Armed Jack!”
“God protect him!”
“One-armed Jack and his men, open the door! Accept the rightful representative!”
However, even after Bordan’s solemn declaration, Rose’s smile remained tightly closed.
It would be an obvious choice.
Regardless of whether they open the door or not, what awaits them is only cruel destruction.
“My work is done.”
“thank you.”
Vlad, who had finished polishing the unadorned sword, quietly caught his breath after listening to Bordan’s words.
“I’ll say it again, there’s no need to go this far. There are 50 people inside. So…”
“I said I would do this.”
“…I understand.”
Looking at the boy’s determined blue eyes, Bordan nodded and took a step back.
Since he has his own world, he must be very stubborn.
Originally, only those who were confident in their own path could handle Aurors.
Bordan, who had come down to assist the boy on behalf of Josef and Zayar, who were unable to move, was now done.
He successfully intimidated the mayor and mobilized Shoara’s administrative power to block One-Armed Jack.
Now all that remained was the execution of the rightful representative.
“…….”
Vlad quietly raised his unadorned sword and closed his eyes.
The soldiers around him were nodding their heads as Vlad looked as if he was praying.
Everyone thought it was an appearance worthy of a legitimate representative, but as always, the reality was something completely different.
[He’s probably already preparing.]
‘I know.’
[You need to broaden your horizons. It will be a completely different battle than before.]
‘I’m prepared.’
Vlad succeeded in creating his own world.
The boy no longer spoke to voices out loud.
Because there was a horizon connecting the world and its border.
[Start off brightly. The basis of all battles is to suppress the momentum.]
After hearing the voice’s final advice, Vlad closed his left eye.
A halo of light slowly began to seep into the unadorned sword.
“It’s an auror!”
“At that age?”
Noisy soldiers.
And Jack’s subordinates, who were watching the movement at the window, were startled and were closing the curtains.
The trick of a one-hit kill is its unexpectedness.
And the boy whose aura was shining right now was nothing short of unexpected.
“…I am Vlad of Shoara.”
Inside his world, Vlad thought.
Wouldn’t Jorge have survived if he hadn’t called Godin that day?
If One-Armed Jack hadn’t threatened Jorge, would he have called Godin?
“Before I am a legitimate agent, I am also a legitimate avenger.”
There were countless what-ifs floating around in the boy’s mind, but in the end, there was only one conclusion.
You must kill One-Armed Jack.
“We came here to end our struggle.”
His world is eating away at his own world.
As Josef said, you can only move forward by cutting off messy ties.
“I’m back. One-armed Jack!”
With a single cry, the boy rushed towards the broken rose’s smile.
I’m back.
To top it all off.
Quaaaaang-!
The boy’s tightly held world split apart Jack’s world.
The smile of the rose that had been taken away by the boy’s strong pounding finally opened its arms.
※※※※
Kwaaaa!
What kind of power!
The men blocking the door fell backwards and rolled miserably on the floor.
The men, who were only members of an organization, were insufficient in many ways to stop the sword of the boy who created his own world.
“Don’t let them in!”
“Knock it down!”
Among the flying tree fragments.
The boy’s blonde hair was flowing.
With someone’s blood.
As soon as I see the rose’s smile, someone’s blades flash everywhere.
He pointed a sharp blade at the boy who was breaking down the door and running towards him.
Tung-! Empty!
The boy’s flashing counterattack created a path in the rain of evil young blades.
Your strike is very weak compared to the knight who was like a castle wall.
“Kwaaaak!”
“You crazy!”
Vlad was no longer someone who used half-baked counterattacks.
If you create a gap, you need to dig into it.
In order to dig in, you have to extend your sword.
Zayar said so.
Godin cut down all of Jorge’s daggers with one sword, but Vlad could not go that far.
However, it would be possible with just a few people surrounding him.
“Huh!”
The boy’s sword suddenly glowed.
Jack’s men, who lost their balance in an instant, simply gave up their fragile bodies without any room for harm.
From the tip of the boy’s sword, rose flowers bloomed as splendidly as that day.
“Throw the net! “Iron net!”
Jack’s men were taken aback by the boy’s powerful forward movements like a bison.
The boy who was now shining before their eyes was not the Vlad they knew.
“hurry!”
Jack’s subordinates, who had finally clearly grasped the situation, struggled, but Vlad did not do as they wanted.
Sigh-!
A huge lobby and corridors on the upper floors that squarely surround the lobby.
There were iron nets thrown from there.
The nets fell tightly to the spot where the boy was, but Vlad had already spread his field of vision wide following the advice of the voice.
“…!”
Sensing malice, Vlad quickly rolled along the familiar hallway that he could walk through even with his eyes closed.
It was the entrance where he always pushed.
“too fast!”
“It can’t be reached from our side!”
Vlad, who quickly removed the nets and cleverly hid behind a pillar and moved in the men’s blind spot, continued to swing his sword at those who stood helpless.
“Ugh!”
“That kid is too fast!”
Jack’s subordinates could not handle Vlad’s movements, despite his naturally agile temperament and advanced training.
The boy was a possibility that Bayezid, a prestigious figure in the north, was paying attention to.
“Just block the stairs! “There’s one staircase here!”
“Secure them tightly and then make them attack!”
When the numbers they had prepared were blocked, Jack’s men quickly flocked to the stairs in the center.
It was one of the basic common senses of strategy that it was advantageous to occupy high and narrow places first.
‘……!’
And that common sense was something the boy also knew well.
Vlad’s eyes lit up as he saw Jack’s men flocking to the stairs.
The trick to killing with a single blow comes from controlling the battlefield.
Destroys the enemy with unexpectedness, controls the battlefield, and traps the opponent within his own world.
If that is possible, you can deliver a fatal blow to your opponent.
“What is that!”
Vlad quickly ran to the window near the entrance and cut off the strings of the large curtain hanging by the window.
Then, I grabbed the rope that naturally went up and jumped towards the second floor.
It was a curtain that had been pulled for a short red-haired girl.
“crazy! “You flew in!”
“Get your weapons! “Ride at me!”
Jack’s men, trapped by the boy’s intentions, tried to build a wall to block Vlad from running, but it was already too late.
“This is all I can do! “You bastards!”
Vlad shouted fiercely and cut down the men.
The blades the men were pointing at were incredibly sharp, but the direction they were coming from was blunt.
Rather, the sparring with Zayar was much more threatening.
“Ugh!”
“bow! “Bring the bow!”
They appeared much earlier than expected, but several people who knew how to shoot bows came down from the third floor and attacked Vlad.
“…!”
The first floor is the lobby and the second floor is the window.
“Shoot!”
The boy quickly opened the door to the room and protected himself from the arrow.
It was the door to the room where Anna, who had been unfairly beaten for a short period of time, was in.
Tadadadang!
The arrows, which could not be avoided because it was a narrow hallway, were blocked by the door to the prostitutes’ room.
Marcela’s specially ordered visit has now been ruined by Jack’s men, but she will forgive him.
“Ahh!”
Vlad violently threw Jack’s men who had not yet left their positions into the open doors.
The men who were suddenly trapped in a small space began to struggle.
“die!”
“Aaaah!”
Instead of the prostitutes, the men who had been thrown onto the bed were being pierced by sharp swords.
One prostitute per room.
Vlad, the youngest child, faithfully followed the rules of the rose smile.
Tadadadang!
Open the door and block the arrows.
Grab someone and stab them.
Vlad was moving forward, repeating simple tasks.
Toward One-Armed Jack on the 4th floor.
A short 20 silver candle only gave me a short time to vent my lust, but now no one can complain.
The men Vlad pushed into the room will lie on the damp bed forever.
“Go up! “Go up!”
“That crazy bastard!”
“Is that Vlad?”
Jack’s men, unable to stop the boy on either the first or second floor, were running up to the third floor.
The formation that had been planned in the beginning had already collapsed a long time ago.
[…I think he cut more than twenty people.]
The voice was at a loss for words as it saw the boy showing much better movements than he had expected.
The talent you have, your fierce effort, and your strong will to do it.
The boy was more gifted than anyone else when it came to killing people.
“Block the stairs!”
“are you okay! “No curtains this time!”
Jack’s men, who had once again blocked the stairs, were looking at the boy with their weapons raised, as if they thought this was their last chance.
“Come in! It’s a dog! ”
“…Whew.”
Vlad, who had been constantly swinging his sword, took a moment to catch his breath and assess the situation.
No matter how much you had your own world, throwing yourself into such a narrow gap was something you had to refuse.
‘Was it like this?’
Vlad looked up and slowly walked down the second floor hallway lined with corpses.
There were traces to look for.
‘It’s here!’
His gunner and senior, Burray, was a man of great tact but lazy by nature.
Maybe that’s why Burley was also a person who had a natural talent for guessing everything.
That opened the way for the boy.
It was perhaps a last trace of consideration for his junior.
Kwasik-!
“……what?”
“Why is that hole?”
Just by touching the tip of the sword, the second floor ceiling was breached.
This was the place where Burleigh had repaired it.
Vlad smiled at Jack’s men who were foolishly holding their weapons.
“I’m going in. “You guys.”
“Stop that guy!”
“It’s coming up. “That crazy guy is coming up!”
Leaving behind the men’s hysterical cries, Vlad sheathed his sword and quickly ran down the hallway.
“Stop it–!”
Using the momentum he gained from there, he jumped up and skillfully placed his hands on the hole in the floor.
Vlad climbed up the hole with both free hands and succeeded in quickly drawing his sword again.
“Haa……”
A just avenger.
A born killer.
Vlad, who succeeded in climbing to the third floor, looked relaxed as if he had just returned home and took out the water jug that had been left in the prostitutes’ room.
“……”
Seeing Vlad like that, Jack’s men were overwhelmed.
What on earth does a person have to go through to change like that?
“Shall we rest for a moment? “I could go on, though.”
“Fuck…what the fuck!”
A boy laughing while drinking from the mouth of a water jug.
Jack’s men fell into panic as they saw his smile getting brighter the more he killed them.
“You should get paid for renting the house. You bastards.”
Jack’s men may have thought this was their territory, but they were mistaken.
This is the smile of a rose.
It was a boy’s nest.