[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 50
Woooong!
A clear sword cry resonated from the sword held by the Hound.
It meant he was at least a Yellow Knight.
In fact, in a head-on confrontation, a Southern Hitman could never defeat a knight from the Central Continent.
There was a difference in the way they trained from the very beginning.
However, Zeke was no ordinary Southern Hitman.
He imbued his dagger with the power of wind and threw it at the Hound in the front.
Clang!
The Hound deflected Zeke's dagger with his Aura-infused sword and shouted to the others,
"He has an artifact! His dagger is imbued with magical power, be careful!"
It seemed they mistook elemental power for magic.
Zeke pulled out more daggers and held them in both hands.
Then, he swiftly dashed forward.
Whoosh!
Like a Southern Hitman, Zeke moved nimbly, aiming for the knight’s vital points and openings.
Thud!
However, the Hounds were wearing hard armor under their clothes.
Zeke realized that cheap daggers were not enough to deal with them.
"Hmm. In this case, I'll just have to kill them all."
Zeke quickly made up his mind, discarded the daggers, and drew Bahamut from his back.
Woooong!
A powerful sword cry resonated from Bahamut.
The Hounds were caught off guard by the unexpected situation.
"That guy is not a Southerner. He's a knight."
Zeke changed his target, aiming for the one who had been communicating with the other Hounds.
He infused his sword with the power of wind.
Whoosh!
The Hound trusted the strength of his armor.
It was armor that could deflect ordinary sword strikes.
However, that was a grave mistake.
Slash!
Zeke's sword cut not only through the armor but also through the Hound's waist.
Thud!
Seeing their comrade's bisected body, the other Hounds tensed up and became wary.
Some of them tried to retreat, but they soon sensed something strange.
Crack!
An invisible barrier blocked the passage.
When he drew Bahamut, Zeke had already torn a scroll to create a magical barrier.
Zeke grinned at the Hounds.
"I guess I can test the results of my training."
Woooong!
Bahamut's vibration intensified, and an Aura Blade surged forth.
The Hounds were stunned to see Zeke's Aura Blade.
"B-Blue Knight!"
Zeke held his sword and assumed the starting stance of the Dragon Slayer technique.
Dragon Slaying Art, True Dragon Sword Art
Chapter 1, Verse 1
Sky Cleave
The sword form itself was a basic Dragon Slayer technique, but it contained the profound principles of the True Dragon Sword Art.
Zeke's sword moved in a large arc.
Crash!
The energy of the Aura Blade Zeke created extended in all directions.
The Hounds who came into contact with the energy tried to resist with their swords, but it was futile.
"Aagh!"
The Aura Blade cut through their swords, armor, and bodies.
Thud!
In an instant, a dozen knights were reduced to pieces, scattered everywhere.
Those outside the range of the Aura Blade collapsed on the ground, barely alive, gasping for breath.
Zeke checked each of them with Bahamut and finished them off.
Finally, he approached the last one alive and asked,
"Why did the Imperial Hounds come here?"
The Hound remained silent.
Zeke clicked his tongue and spoke again.
"You must have come here to find ancient artifacts on the Emperor's orders."
Seeing the Hound's surprised expression, there was no need to ask further.
Zeke swung Bahamut and sent the last one's head flying.
He then summoned the power of fire towards the scattered corpses.
Fwoosh!
The pure power of fire incinerated the Hounds' remains.
"This should leave traces suggesting an attack by a Blue Knight and a mage."
Hoping that the Favela Cartel would see the traces and launch a stronger counterattack against the McCain Cartel, Zeke left evidence to make it seem like a large number of knights and mages were involved.
After cleaning up the scene, Zeke examined the inside of the tunnel.
'I didn't know in my previous life that the Imperial Hounds were with the Favela Cartel.'
Zeke was sixteen years old when he arrived at this camp, whereas in his previous life, he was over eighteen, resulting in a time difference of about three years.
Therefore, it was possible that the Hounds had already found what they were looking for and withdrawn by the time he arrived here in his past life.
Zeke decided to investigate what the Hounds were searching for.
Turning on his map to find the location connected to the tunnel, he quickly headed towards it using Phantom Steps. It seemed to be an underground ruin.
After running for a while, a familiar dungeon landscape appeared.
'There was a dungeon in the South too.'
Usually, ordinary people who didn't know much thought that dungeons only existed in the Giant Mountains, but in reality, they were scattered throughout the continent.
Zeke freely scanned the dark dungeon with his Dragon Eye skill, searching for traces of the Hounds.
Although the dungeon paths were intricately intertwined like a maze, it wasn't a problem for Zeke with his map.
Just then, he sensed something ahead.
Zeke concealed his presence and focused on his hearing.
"Did we lose contact with Patrol Unit 3?"
It seemed the ones Zeke had eliminated were Patrol Unit 3.
Starting with that, the other Hounds began to move busily.
They spread out in all directions to search for the missing Unit 3, leaving the camp they had set up in the dungeon empty.
'Good. I'll take this opportunity to find information.'
Concealing his presence, Zeke infiltrated the camp.
It was much larger than the camp he had seen in the Barbarian territory.
Zeke examined the map of the Southern Continent attached to the wall of the situation room.
In addition to the location of the Favela camp, there were codes indicating deployments in various parts of the jungle.
It seemed that this was the headquarters that oversaw the Hounds searching for ancient ruins in the Southern Continent.
Zeke shook his head after confirming that the Empire had extended its reach to the Southern Continent.
'What the hell is that crazy Emperor trying to find by doing all this? He doesn't actually believe in immortality, does he?'
Zeke memorized the locations where the Hounds were deployed.
[Recording the locations on the map.]
To his surprise, the system automatically recorded the locations on his map.
'This is really convenient.'
Having secured the map, Zeke collected important documents from the situation room and stored them in his inventory.
After taking everything he needed, he drew his sword.
"Shall I leave some traces here too?"
Flames erupted from Zeke's sword.
Fwoosh!
The situation room, as well as the entire camp, caught fire and burned fiercely.
As the flames spread rapidly, the remaining Hounds inside were startled and rushed out.
"Fire!"
Zeke immediately dashed out and stabbed the bewildered Hounds with his sword.
To make it seem like there were multiple knights involved, he left different kinds of wounds on each of them.
"Aagh!"
Confused by the flames, the Hounds fell victim to Zeke's sword one after another.
After dealing with all the remaining Hounds, Zeke tried to escape the camp.
But then, he felt a strange presence behind him.
'What's this?'
There was nothing marked on the map.
Yet, he felt an incredibly distinct human presence behind him.
Slowly, he turned his head.
Thud!
A young knight with red hair, wearing the Imperial Grand Magic Armor Hercyon instead of the regular Hound attire, was staring at Zeke.
Zeke immediately raised Bahamut.
'Hercyon? Why is an Imperial Red Knight here?'
A full plate armor that covered the entire body without any gaps.
Not only was it engraved with all sorts of auxiliary magic, but it also had lightweight magic and automatic recovery magic cast on it, making it a treasure among treasures that repaired itself even if damaged.
It was so expensive to make that there were no more than a hundred owners throughout the entire Empire.
Therefore, Zeke was puzzled as he looked at the Imperial Knight approaching him.
'Who is it?'
If it was a knight with Hercyon, he should at least know their appearance and name.
However, the young knight approaching him was completely unknown in his previous life.
Moreover, the Hercyon he was wearing seemed different from the standard Imperial ones.
The Imperial Knight stopped in front of Zeke and spoke.
"I thought several units of mages and knights had come, but it was just one person causing all this commotion."
Judging by his accent, he was indeed an Imperial noble.
Holding Bahamut, Zeke asked, "Who are you?"
The Imperial Knight drew his sword and replied, "You seem young, but a knight as skilled as you deserves to hear my name."
Raising his sword, he declared, "My name is Cain."
In an instant, Cain charged forward with his sword raised.
Crash!
Whoosh!
A heavy charge attack, combining the weight of the full plate armor and the power of Aura, struck Zeke.
Bang!
Pushed back by the force, Zeke retreated.
Seeing that it was much stronger than he expected, it seemed that the armor not only amplified his strength but also enhanced his Aura.
Cain looked surprised as Zeke blocked his attack.
"You blocked my attack. Truly amazing."
He had an expression as if he had found an interesting toy.
Seeing that, Zeke straightened his posture.
Then, he raised Bahamut and unleashed his Aura.
A clear Aura Blade surged forth.
Cain smiled as he looked at Zeke.
"To encounter a true knight like you in this remote place! I couldn't be more delighted."
Without a word, Zeke dashed towards Cain, utilizing the Phantom Step.
Swish!
Zeke's sword powerfully thrust towards Cain's vital points.
However, blocked by the Hercyon, the sword was deflected.
Cain grinned at Zeke.
"The Hercyon I possess is special. It even blocks Aura Blades."
Looking at the confident Cain, Zeke gripped his sword again.
Then, regulating his breathing, he used the skill Mana Reflection.
Crackle!
The Mana Reflection skill unfolded around Zeke's body.
Fizzle!
Fortunately, Cain's Hercyon was also affected by Mana Reflection, as small sparks flew from its surface.
His expression changed.
"You... What have you done?"
Zeke's skills didn't end there.
He used the Discord skill stored in his quick slot.
Screech!
An irritating, strange sound resonated.
Cain frowned.
"Now I see you're just a guy who relies on cheap tricks!"
Instead of replying, Zeke charged towards Cain and used the Flashbang skill.
Flash!
An intense light exploded right in front of Cain.
"Ugh!"
Cain couldn't open his eyes properly due to the flashbang.
Zeke swung his sword at him.
Bang!
Even in that situation, Cain swung his sword and blocked Zeke's attack.
Then, with his eyes still closed, he swung his sword at Zeke again.
Bang!
Surprisingly, Zeke deflected Cain's sword with his bare hands.
He had strengthened his body with the Dragon Scale Armor, a Draconian skill.
Zeke immediately closed in on Cain.
Then, using the Pankration technique he learned during his time in the Cradle, he tried to grab Cain's leg.
At that moment, a dark, ominous energy erupted from Cain's body.
A blade-like force shot out, spreading in all directions like a porcupine's quills.
Paching!
Zeke instinctively rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding it, and created some distance from Cain.
Cain, with his eyes sunken and cold, stared at Zeke before speaking.
"You've got quite a few interesting tricks up your sleeve."
Zeke, his gaze now even more serious, adjusted his sword and aimed it at Cain.
'A warrior of this caliber has no alias?'
That could only mean one thing.
'A secret weapon of the Empire.'
One of the reasons the Rom Empire hadn’t gone to full-scale war with Draker was due to the difference in the number of Black Knights they each possessed.
Draker, as a single Clan, had five Black Knights.
If you included allied families or nations, they could potentially summon up to ten Black Knights.
However, officially, the Rom Empire only had three Black Knights.
Even though Draker’s numbers were overwhelmingly larger, if the Black Knights, often referred to as one-man legions, were deployed, even the largest number of regular knights would be useless.
If a young knight from the Empire had this kind of skill but no known alias, it was highly likely he was being secretly trained as a Black Knight, a weapon hidden away by the Empire.
Zeke decided to test Cain.
"The Rom Empire is ridiculous. They treat a secret weapon like you as a Hound and send you off to dig up ancient relics."
At Zeke’s words, Cain smiled and shook his head.
"You’re good at provoking, I’ll give you that."
Taking a step toward Zeke, Cain spoke again.
The sparks crackling around Hercyon had subsided, indicating that the effect of Mana Reflection had ended.
Slowly opening his eyes, he said, "A knight like you is fully qualified to know my name."
Holding his sword with a formal stance, Cain declared, "My name is Cain. Cain Siemens Constantine."
Zeke was astonished.
'What?'
An unexpected name had emerged.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]