“Fuck. What the hell is that asshole?”
Arno, Sertus' right-hand man and the man who had betrayed him, looked down at Osian with a trembling gaze.
The blue rags unit had mercilessly wiped out the three gang members who'd been ruffling the 45th Ward and even the gang bosses couldn't subdue them easily even though they were wounded.
However, that white knight had killed one of those rags so easily.
‘He only caught one by surprise, no need to be afraid!’
There were still nine of them left and the strength of the rag troops hadn't even been revealed yet.
Look at the arrogance of that white knight, he walked slowly into the center of the enemy camp.
How can you be so stupid as to call for a siege when you should be fighting while retreating?
‘By the way, why am I shivering?’
Could it be the cold that the rag troops are using? There's no way their cold is this powerful.Arno decided to think better of it. After all, he didn't know their true strength.
It was a blow to his pride, but the beans that were falling behind him were so sweet that he deliberately ignored it.
The rag troops surrounding Osian took up positions.
Up until this point, they had fought as simply as crushing bugs, but now they were in full formation, weapons drawn.
The blue tattoos on their skin glowed faintly, and their weapons were imbued with a chill.
Considering that they had frozen their opponents to death with their bare hands, these weapons must be even more intimidating.
However, Osian found the sight even more disturbing.
The power they wielded was his own. It seemed that someone had gained the power of the Moonstone and used it in a similar way to what had happened to the Goldiron family before.
That irritated him.
“How dare you claim the power of the Moonstone just like that?”
His power was stolen and used in an unholy manner by those who were not authorized to do so…and to think that the result of all that was so low.
An uncharacteristic anger surged through him.
He never felt this angry before, not against the powerful and not against the unpleasant.
“I'll show you.”
I hissed.
The coldness of the moonlight swords in his hands intensified.
The rag troopers didn't back down this time. Was it because they were emboldened by the weapon?
No, it wasn't. Even if they wanted to retreat, their bodies were frozen in fear.
“This is the real thing, the power of the Moon.”
Osian crouched down, clutching the two swords.
What was even more surprising was that he had removed all of his armor and nebula silk.
His bare body was exposed and he only had two swords in his hands.
-Hmph.
The rag troops reacted since they knew something was coming.
The horror of death pushed aside their fears and poured hot water over their frozen bodies.
The nine enemies moved in unison, with no sense of who was first.
The cold weapons in each of their hands glowed blue and cold, aimed at Osian's hip.
Osian's stance remained unchanged as the weapons came within inches of him.
To the untrained eye, it would appear that he was too stunned to react. Indeed, that was what Arno was thinking.
'You insolent bastard, stay dead!’
If he'd been wearing his armor, he might have been able to hold on, but not now that he was naked and the chilling weapon was almost upon him, Osian moved.
At first, he didn't even realize he had moved. To Arno, it looked like he flinched slightly.
He swung his sword but it was too fast for the naked eye to see.
The sword slashed through the air, and the blade turned and cut through another space.
Before the blue light along its trajectory was even finished, the paintbrush called Moonlight continued its sprint toward the gap.
Not one, but two.
They don't tangle, but rather fill each other's squares in a strange harmony.
Time passed slowly, only the speed of the paintbrushes kept up with the pace of the painting.
The two hands return to their original position, leaving an afterimage.
The time that had been frozen had passed as the brush strokes brought the painting to a close.
In a world that can only be entered by splitting seconds into dozens or hundreds of times, the finished painting has finally blossomed.
[Moonlight Double Sword]
[Ice Flower Moon Dance]
-Hua Aaah!
The ice lotus that blossomed in full bloom was centered on Osian.
The blossoming lotuses emitted an intense chill and cast a beautiful light around them.
The rag troops that were swept away by the lotus were frozen in a charging stance.
“......What the hell.”
Arno's legs went limp.
In fact, he was already squirming in his seat, as were the traitors from the other organizations.
What was that? What did I just see?
The reality he saw with his eyes was beyond his comprehension. His head turned white with the realization.
-Hah.
Osian let out the breath he'd been holding.
The breath from his mouth mingled with the cold air, forming steam.
The gigantic lotus flower, more than a dozen meters across, disappeared like sand scattered by the wind.
The sight of the ice powder scattered in all directions shining with the moonlight was mesmerizing and the people on the rooftop didn't even notice that Osian had disappeared.
Even if they had squinted their eyes and tried to notice, they would have missed it.
Such was the power of the Moonlight.
“Here.”
Osian's voice rang heavy in the center of the group on the rooftop.
“Only the lightest of mouths will not die.”
Ossian, holding a pair of swords in his hand, solemnly declared with a blue aura flowing from his eyes.
*
Osian dragged Arno and forced him to kneel.
The organization's bosses, including Sertus, swallowed hard at the sight.
That crazy outsider had really ended things.
They knew he was strong, but Osian's true strength was beyond their imagination.
‘What the heck. Was he deliberately lenient when he fought us?’
‘It hurts my pride, but I guess I should be grateful that he looked after me.’
‘Because otherwise, we would have ended up like that.’
The three’s gazes turned to the rag troop.
No, they were the rag troops. Frozen by the chill of Osian, they were now scattered like dust, their bodies lying in a pile on the ground like snow.
Who would have believed them when they said it was human snow?
Even they wouldn’t believe it, after all the shit they'd seen in the 45th District.
Sertus' gaze fell on Arno.
He should have torn him to shreds for betraying him, but Arno's face was not in one piece.
‘He didn't really kill him.’
Arno's body was battered to a pulp by Osian's blows.
Even that was a mercy. He would have had his arms cut off.
“Tell me everything you know.”
“Yes, yes.”
Arno blew blood from his mouth and told them everything he knew.
The faces of the chiefs changed as they listened.
Surprise, disbelief, anger, and then acceptance.
“What kind of bastards did this insane thing behind our backs?”
Eriot muttered.
The unidentified organization secretly contacted executives from Emerald, Topaz, and Amethyst and offered them favorable terms.
It was something that even the leaders would find shocking.
It's not just the simple conditions that are good. Look at those guys in blue rags that showed up today. They have the skills.
That's why executives were tempted by the conditions and leaked the organization's drug manufacturing method to outsiders.
And in District 45, they gradually and secretly grew their power.
So the question is, who did it?
“I don't know. I don't. I really, really don't know.”
Arno admitted.
Then you might wonder why he joined hands with a stranger, but doesn't human desire make people make contracts even with the devil?
If the opponent was not a demon but a very superior human or organization, there was nothing they couldn't catch.
“Well, shit. I heard this wasn't normal, but did you bring something like this?”
Camilla, listening beside them, sighed in frustration but this wasn't Osian and Diolan's fault.
This would have happened even if they hadn't come, and thanks to Osian, they were able to detect the guys who were acting secretly in advance.
“Hmm. But Diolan is still there.”
Even when it seemed like everything was in order, Diolan didn't even turn up his nose.
Osian wondered if he was playing a trick on her somewhere, but it was Camilla who denied it.
“That can't be,” she said, ”I mean, he's not like this, even if he's usually absent-minded.”
“I thought you had a bad relationship, but you're surprisingly trusting.”
“Even if we don't get along, I have to admit he's competent, otherwise we wouldn't be working together.”
Instead, Camilla gave Osian a puzzled look.
“Are you sure you're in the same office as him? You don't seem to know anything about him.”
“I've only been there a short time.”
“What, you're new. No, you're new, and you're that good? I thought you were a veteran already.”
Camilla took out a vape and popped it into her mouth.
She huffed and blew out a puff of green smoke.
“Then I guess you don't know that he's related to a witch.”
“Witch?”
Osian thought of Diolan. He was always so playful and cheerful, it was hard to imagine him being associated with a witch.
“I don't know the details. I only know that he's been looking for a certain witch.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Mother Goose.”
Mother Goose?
Osian had never heard that name before. But the other bosses in District 45 were different, and they all reacted furiously.
“Holy shit, Mother Goose?”
“I guess I’ll turn back.”
If the bosses were so scared, then that witch is no ordinary person.
Camilla spat out another puff of smoke and added a footnote.
“The witch, Mother Goose, appeared a hundred years ago, which is young considering some witches live for over a thousand years, but she has gained more notoriety than any other witch.”
“What has she done to deserve such notoriety?”
“Because of her abilities. Mother Goose's witchcraft is to manipulate minions. Of course, there are plenty of witches who work with minions, and in a way, minions are indispensable to witches.”
Just look at the two organizations that exist in Tirna right now.
Even the well-known witches in that place commonly practiced witchcraft, primarily handling familiars.
Alice Riddle from [Tea Party].
Dorothy Gale from [Walpurgis Night].
Aside from these two iconic witches, there were many more but few had the overall impact on the continent that Mother Goose did.
“Some call her an apostle of the gods, others a scourge of the devil. She belongs to no one, roams the continent, and her ways are chaos. The last we heard, she was last seen in Tirna.”
“Tirna.”
“Anyway, Diolan, he's got a deep connection to Mother Goose. Beyond that, it's too private to say.”
“We've talked about this enough already.”
“Let's just say it's a complaint about him. He deserves to get his ass kicked once in a while. Anyway, just know that he's not as much of an asshole as you think he is.”
“I hear you.”
Sertus said, still watching.
“So what are we going to do now?”
“You ask the obvious.”
Osian's work was far from done.
Beyond uprooting those responsible for the power runaway, he had to make sure they were punished enough for daring to utilize the power of the Knights in such a way.
“You can deal with him on your own.”
Arno's expression turned somber at that.
“Come on! You said you’d save me! I told you everything!”
“That's why I didn't kill you.”
Before Arno could say anything else, Eriot's right hand clamped over his mouth.
“Whoa, whoa. You're going to have a long, long interview with us, along with all the other guys.”
Arno's eyes fluttered wildly.
Turning away from Arno, Sertus spoke to Osian.
“I owe you more than you deserve, and I will repay you.”
“I expect it.”
Osian left the bosses behind and disappeared into the alleyway.
He had only one purpose now, to get his power back.