"Hey, you blind fool! What are you doing!"
The remaining four members of the Blacklist on the rooftop showed evident signs of panic.
They had agreed to just watch, but then, out of nowhere, the blind swordsman kicked off his spot and charged at the monster.
"The Gorgon sisters are not something for us fools to handle!"
"We've already received the advance payment, all we have to do is hide and bide our time!"
"Why suddenly act like a hero of justice? Have you really lost all sense of direction because you're blind?!"
"Shut your traps, you damned fools."
The blind swordsman spat on the ground, lowered his stance, and placed his hand on the handle of his long sword.
"Though I've lived a bottom-feeder's life, feeding on dust all my life. Though I've lived a wretched life without a thing worth seeing... shit. I know what honor I should keep as a human."
The blind swordsman gestured towards the temple.
"The pregnant woman and the child, and..."
...And also towards the hotel in Crossroad, not far from the temple.
"Casinos are off-limits."
The heroes of the Blacklist had incredulous expressions. The blind swordsman again showed his yellow teeth and sneered.
"It's an unspoken rule, you monster bastard. Didn't your mother teach you?"
Kiiiiing!
Instead of responding, Stheno activated her Petrifying Evil Eye.
Taatt!
A man with metal plates embedded all over his body quickly rushed towards the blind swordsman, grabbed him by the neck, and rolled on the ground.
The Petrifying Evil Eye narrowly missed and petrified the entire alley.
"Are you really trying to die, you bastard?!"
The other heroes of the Blacklist scolded the blind swordsman as they prepared for battle.
"Your slashing strike takes 10 minutes to recharge after each use, it's a crappy skill! Plus, you can't even aim properly!"
"Don't expect too much from a blind man."
"Then you shouldn't have stepped in, you damn blind fool!"
"As if your faces are any better..."
"You've never seen them, have you?!"
The metal-plated man gritted his teeth and stepped forward, spreading his arms wide. Magical runes appeared on the metal plates embedded in his body, forming a magical barrier in front.
The Petrifying Evil Eyes that Stheno rapidly fired were all nullified by the barrier. The metal-plated man trembled at the lips as he laughed.
"But, yeah. That's right. Pregnant women and children, and casinos are off-limits...!"
The others helped Torkel to his feet. The metal-plated man shouted at the bewildered Torkel.
"Let's fight and slowly lead this bastard elsewhere!"
"You guys..."
"We're all someone's children too. We're not bad enough to abandon a pregnant mother and run away."
The metal-plated man gave a sly smile.
And the next moment.
Kwajijijik!
Stheno viciously rushed forward, tearing apart the barrier created by the metal-plated man.
The metal-plated man blinked stupidly, turned his head, and looked straight ahead.
"Huh?"
"Kyaaaaaak!"
In a delayed burst of rage for losing her wrist, Stheno, who had rushed in, grabbed the metal-plated man with her remaining hand and with her widely torn mouth-
Kwadeuk!
Woodeuk! Kkadeudeuk!
She swallowed the metal-plated man's head whole and crushed it.
Blood splattered in all directions. The sturdy body of the metal-plated man lost its strength and slumped.
The remaining Blacklist heroes, and even Torkel inside his helmet, turned pale at the brutal scene.
"...Hmm."
The blind swordsman murmured with a slightly trembling voice.
"Did we overdo it, us?"
"Kyaaaaaaaa-!"
Throwing the decapitated body of the metal-plated man aside, Stheno let out a terrifying roar towards the surviving heroes.
***
After successfully luring each of the Gorgon sisters separately.
In this situation, who among the three sisters is the easiest to kill?
Stheno is out of the question from the start. To speak frankly, the heroes positioned here lack the ability to kill Stheno.
The same goes for Medusa.
Lucas, one of the strongest in Crossroad, struggled to take down Medusa, the most powerful of the three sisters, alone.
Lucas was positioned alone to withstand Medusa.
Therefore, the last one.
Euryale, the most agile among the three sisters with high magical defense, but the weakest in physical strength and physical defense.
Theoretically, it's easiest to defeat Euryale, and therefore-
"Sigh."
Evangeline, positioned on the spire's rooftop, clenched her mouth as she looked down at Euryale, who was lured in front of her.
'She must be shot down in one go.'
Heroes tasked with luring the flying Euryale, turned to stone one by one, screaming in agony, but Evangeline gritted her teeth and endured.
Their sacrifice couldn't be in vain.
She had to strike at the perfect timing.
"Snow White, deploy."
Churuk!
Scales sprouted from the bracelets and anklets on Evangeline's wrists and ankles, and armor surged up, enveloping her entire body.
Click! Clang, click!
A silvery-white armor suited to Evangeline's physique was instantly completed, and a white cape fluttered like feathers behind her.
The front of the helmet was a visor made of magical panels, through which Evangeline's face was clearly visible.
Snow White, hailed as a powerful armor even in the ancient magical kingdom of the Lake Kingdom, was equipped with corresponding special functions.
It visualized and displayed the user's abilities on the helmet's magical panel.
And Evangeline possessed a unique trait, [Crossroad], which helped her identify the optimal paths on the battlefield.
This transcendent intuition, honed over time, had developed almost to a sixth sense level, and combined with Snow White's functions-
Kiiing!
She reached the realm of foresight.
The next move of Euryale was predicted and displayed on the helmet's magical panel, along with the path Evangeline should take.
Evangeline, with her emerald eyes opened with resolve, leaped down from the spire.
"Evangeline Cross. Deploying-!"
Taatt-!
Evangeline free-fell, dropping right above Euryale.
The timing was perfect, but there was a slight deviation in the trajectory.
However, Evangeline didn't panic and skillfully manipulated Snow White as she willed.
The wing bones on her back armor opened, creating a small halo and propelling magic power backwards.
Tohak-!
It was a single-use booster function to assist movement on the ground, but Evangeline used it adeptly to adjust her falling trajectory.
The path marked on the visor perfectly matched her actual movement.
"Kirek?"
Euryale, flying towards her next victim, finally sensed Evangeline descending from above and lifted her head, but it was too late.
"Haaaaat!"
Evangeline's huge cavalry lance, charged with enormous magical power and glowing white-hot, struck down,
Puhwaaaak!
The knight's lance charge, propelled from the air, demonstrated tremendous power without reserve.
Evangeline's cavalry lance pierced through Euryale's back and protruded from her chest.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaak!"
Euryale released a chilling scream, spewing blood, and plummeted to the ground.
Bang! Kwajik! Kooandandang!
Euryale crashed to the ground, destroying all sorts of junk and boxes laid in the alley.
Evangeline, with her spear still thrust into the monster's body, casually landed on top of it as if stepping off a yacht.
"Successfully brought it down to the ground..."
Evangeline snorted.
"Now, all that's left is to kill you."
"Kruk, krrrrk!"
Kiiiiing!
Euryale contorted her head at a bizarre angle and used her Petrifying Evil Eye.
But Evangeline skillfully covered her left arm's shield with ice, deflecting the evil eye.
"Kyak...!"
Euryale struggled fiercely, lighting up her eyes.
Then, the surrounding stone buildings vibrated all at once, breaking into pieces and hovering above Evangeline's head.
Evangeline grumbled as she looked up at the rocks.
"A whole assorted set of rocks..."
Kooandandang!
The pile of stones that engulfed Evangeline suddenly stuck to each other. It was Euryale's technique to entrap her opponent in rocks.
However,
"It won't work."
Kooandandang!
Evangeline easily spread her arms and shattered the pile of rocks encasing her.
Trait, [Unstoppable].
Evangeline was resistant to all forms of restraint. This rock entrapment was no exception.
"Now, then..."
Evangeline coldly chanted towards Euryale, who was still shrieking and flailing.
"First, the wings."
***
The Blacklist was on the brink of annihilation by Stheno.
"Rise, my children! Please, stop that crazy monster!"
The woman wearing a candelabra crown was a golemancer.
She summoned every material she had – Blood Golem, Bone Golem, Sand Golem, even Candle Golem, etc. – but all were effortlessly crushed by Stheno's hand.
"This is... my last bullet..."
The man with half his body modified into a magitech machine was a gunmage.
A skilled practitioner of both magic and firearms, his magic bullets and spells failed to inflict fatal wounds on Stheno.
Having his prosthetic leg and arm torn off by Stheno, he loaded the last bullet into his pistol and pressed it against his temple.
"Should I just kill myself? I don't want to be torn apart by that monster."
"If you're going to kill yourself, be a meat shield for us first, damn it!"
The child in a prison uniform, chained all over, was a dark attribute magician.
Using hand signs to cast various evil spells, this child was inflicting some effective damage on Stheno but had become her primary target.
Torkel, limping, carried the child and barely managed to escape.
Eventually, the magician's magic power ran out.
There was no chance of winning.
Everyone knew it from the start.
"Damn it! Seriously, why did we have to meddle and make a mess like this?! We knew we couldn't win! We knew hiding was the best option! Why did we have to die doing something stupid for a worthless sense of justice?! Why!"
"...The child needs to be saved."
The blind swordsman muttered.
Having his leg broken by Stheno's kick, he was slumped in a corner of the alley.
"We need to save the child that's about to be born."
"What's the use of bringing a child into this shitty world, huh?! What good is it when that monster is drooling right in front of us! Do we really need to show this horrible world to the child?!"
"It's for the child to decide."
The blind swordsman inhaled deeply, propped himself up on his sword sheath, and shakily stood up.
"To us, this world is a shitty place. That's for sure."
Stheno, standing at the other end of the alley, readied to charge.
The blind swordsman, leaning on his broken leg, slowly assumed a faltering stance.
"But we don't know what that child's world will be like."
"..."
"The world being beautiful or terrible, it's for that child to decide. The child should come to a conclusion after experiencing all the sweet and bitter flavors of the world."
Hearing these words, Torkel, drenched in sweat and blood, blinked vacantly.
"I've never seen what this world looks like. But I know this."
A shy smile formed on the lips of the blind swordsman.
"This world usually tastes of sand and dust, ashes... but sometimes, just sometimes, it's incredibly soft and sweet, like cotton candy."
"..."
"Having been born into this world, that child has the right to taste it too."
Click-
The blind swordsman cocked his sword for the final slashing attack.
"Alright, I'm ready. Just point me in the right direction."
Thud-!
Stheno began her charge towards them.
Then, the gunmage stepped in front of Stheno, aiming his pistol forward.
"This way."
Taang-!
The pistol-shaped magic gun fired.
Of course, the bullet couldn't stop Stheno.
The last bullet ricocheted off Stheno's metallic forearm in vain, and her charge tore the gunmage to shreds.
But the direction was clearly conveyed to the blind swordsman.
"Huff."
The blind swordsman lowered his stance as much as he could, took a deep breath with all his might,
And, drawing his sword, unleashed a slashing attack.
His attack, which could slice anything if it hit, leaped through space and flew towards-
Chwak-!
...it sliced through a stone wall.
In the final moment, his broken leg failed as a pivot, causing his posture to collapse, and the blade veered off in a wrong direction.
"Ah."
The blind swordsman muttered awkwardly.
"I missed."
"You useless bastard!"
"Uaaaaa!"
Screams echoed as Stheno charged into the remaining Blacklist survivors like a tank.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading