Chapter 370 – Agreement (2)
At a glance, she was no adult.
The girl's appearance and voice were far too young for that.
She looked, at most, fifteen years old.
"Dad! Daaad!"
She cried out for her only protector.
No matter how she tried to shake free from the man's grip, there was no way. The difference in their strength was far too great to bridge.
Watching her desperate struggle, the man let out pure admiration.
"Wow, look at her thrash, where the hell has something like this been hiding?"
"Never thought she'd be living not inside the city but near the gate, what do they call that again, belly darker than the bellybutton?"
"Idiot, it's under the lamp it's darkest."
"Pine! Please, at least not Pine───ugh!"
The father, his body covered in bruises, tried to help his daughter, but his mouth was stomped on, silencing him.
With a blade pressed to his throat, all he could do was tremble.
A powerless father's love was worth less than an ant's struggles.
The brutish men smacked their lips greedily as they dragged the girl into the alley.
Leisurely, very leisurely.
As if savoring another's misery, accompanied by sadistic laughter.
The envoy glared at Verden, who remained silent.
Though his face was still hidden under a plain robe, he didn't look pleased.
Ah! Suddenly, the envoy clapped his hands and hurried forward.
"Hey! Hey! Stop!"
"Huh? What the… huh!"
The soldiers, upon seeing the envoy's face, scrambled to their feet.
They knew him.
An envoy who served as the lord's lackey held fairly high status within the city.
"You worthless bastards!"
"Argh!"
"Gah!"
"Urk!"
Kicking their shins and pointing fingers, the envoy yanked the girl by the back of her neck as though snatching away goods.
At the same time, he slyly stole a dagger from a soldier and hid it in his sleeve.
"Dad… daaad!"
Her pitiful sobs drew closer.
Licking his lips, the envoy clicked his tongue noisily.
"Haha, what was I thinking, that was so unlike me, Lord told us to treat precious-looking Mage guests well."
The envoy shoved the tear-stained girl forward, as if offering alms.
"What do you think?"
At that moment, Verden understood the reality of the Ownerless Land.
He glanced around the street.
Among the wandering citizens, some were bound in chains, crawling.
Others dragged them like slaves, lashing them for fun.
From all corners of the city came cries, groans, and mocking laughter.
A wretched spectacle.
This law of nature had seeped into ordinary life.
This place was more developed than Arein, yet its society was more primitive.
The greatest difference between the two cities lay in the lord. Depending on who ruled, the environment changed this drastically.
Unofficial city, Southern Pit.
The greatest underworld of the Eastern Continent, Roafra.
Though armed forces effectively ruled its streets, it had never been this barbaric.
Strange, yet also familiar.
Gluttony, which had used life force itself as raw material.
Glory of the Dead, which had birthed countless deaths for its own ends.
The internal conflicts of functioning nations.
The big and small bloodbaths happening right before his eyes.
The surface differed, but the overall structure was the same.
The Ownerless Land was merely more raw, more fundamental, more primal.
This, perhaps, had been daily life in the distant past.
"Ah, maybe you prefer them a little older? Well, makes sense, if you want to do it properly, older is better! Folks who hate noise are usually like that. Guess you know a thing or two, haha!"
"Do you find this fun?"
"Pardon? What could be more fun than this? Every Mage I know says so. Practicing magic on people is way more thrilling than staring at books all day. Honestly, even doing the same thing, if you do it with joy, it's more efficient. Don't you think?"
"Yes, that's right!"
...Unexpectedly, even human experimentation was mentioned.
Of course, it was not at the professional level Verden had seen before, but the act's foundation was the same.
The fools, oblivious to the situation, burst out laughing.
The weak deserved to be oppressed.
Surely this was the law Lord Dallehin had established in this city.
An absolute rule, with horrific executions for any who disobeyed.
'Pathetic.'
Naturally, Verden would never follow an order set by others.
Even if it was considered normal here for a girl not yet grown to be defiled before her parent's eyes, he had not the slightest intention of accepting it.
Because he didn't like it.
The right to act on that feeling belonged to the strong.
"I thought I'd start with conversation, but there's no need."
"…? Well, if you're not interested, then we'll just take her back───"
"Shut up."
KWAANG!
Crushing gravity, carrying immense mass, pressed down solely upon the envoy. The sight resembled a beast's carcass crushed under a massive boulder.
"Urk."
Immediately after, a sharp wind lopped off three soldiers' heads.
So sudden was it that their faces wore light expressions, as if they hadn't even registered pain. Then their round eyes each shut.
Rumble.
Having erased all traces, Verden stored his disguise robe into subspace.
His ashen hair, his striking blue eyes—
The noble radiance of [Ainber] shimmered under the sun.
To the dazed girl staring at him, Verden jerked his chin.
"Go inside, don't come out."
"Ah…!"
Finally regaining her senses, she hastily nodded.
Supporting her wounded father, she hurried indoors and bolted the door shut.
Verden turned his gaze toward the lord's castle not far away.
'I only meant to deal with Dallehin quickly and leave.'
More precisely, he had only intended to create enough chaos so that Liam Arein wouldn't be able to focus.
But his mind had changed.
Well, he was going to act in earnest soon anyway…
Advancing the schedule a little would be fine.
Summoning Orient, Verden moved.
***
Dallehin had been born and raised in a wealthy family.
Fed all the finest things ordinary folk couldn't even dream of, his body swelled, and famous warriors were hired to teach him professional martial training.
After such preparation, he poisoned his parents and siblings, claimed all inheritance, and descended into the Ownerless Land.
The plan went smoothly.
With money he recruited soldiers, personally executed the lord, seized his family, and had them all put to death… through sheer force, he took over the entire city.
Innate cruelty and mercilessness.
To soldiers and mercenaries crazed for money, violence, and women—or men—such a man as Dallehin was an excellent employer.
Munch, munch.
From the terrace where the castle gate and interior were in full view, three people sat at a long table, eating.
One at a steady pace, one leisurely, and the last devoured food like a beast.
Crunch, crunch.
Chewing even the bones along with the meat, the bull demi-human, Rigalo, spoke while clutching a bottle of liquor.
"So, when are you planning to start the war?"
Lord Dallehin, who had received the question, twirled his knife idly.
"That is a matter to discuss once your employment terms are settled. The meal isn't even over yet, you're impatient. Just as the rumors say, warlike."
"What I want is slaughter, not wasting time stuffing myself here."
Rigalo snorted heavily.
This burly, muscular demi-human was notorious.
The overwhelming strength that tore limbs as though they were paper.
The two horns that pierced helm or armor in a single blow.
A frenzied violence that revealed the desire to kill men or women, even race did not matter… it was all just to hear the sound of their screams.
Across from Rigalo, Dumal, cutting into raw beef that had never once touched fire, sipped wine gracefully.
"Since the lord already sent an envoy, he should return within a few days. Well, if he plans to squeeze out more money, then the territorial war might be delayed."
"I can't wait."
"You've hardly been here a few days, such impatience. Then just leave."
Rigalo and Dumal locked eyes.
The two mercenaries Dallehin had summoned to strengthen his forces clearly did not get along.
But their differences in nature mattered little.
After all, everything was bound by shared interests, so long as their goals aligned.
"Once my envoy returns, we march on Arein at once. No matter what Liam Arein offers."
"Well, that's good news."
Huff, huff.
Rigalo let out excited breaths and gestured.
Nearby, a man and a woman, dressed in nothing but ragged scraps of cloth, approached cautiously.
Their skin was reddened, battered by the cold wind…
They were citizens of this city, provided by Dallehin.
"Kuhuhuhu. Tender, more tender than the meat I just ate."
"Ugh…"
His massive horns tapped against the man's chest, while his calloused hand lightly gripped the woman's face.
It was terror.
If Rigalo moved just slightly harder, the woman's head would be crushed, and the man's chest pierced through.
The feeling of holding fragile lives in his hands was, to Rigalo, pleasure itself.
"Hooh."
Lord Dallehin watched the scene with interest.
His sadism had been stirred.
"..."
Dumal regarded the two with the same look he'd give trash, but said nothing.
He simply continued to eat the bleeding meat.
Yet the mood did not last long.
Thud… thud… thud…
A vibration shook from somewhere.
At first it seemed like an earthquake… but listening closely, it was not.
The ground itself was not trembling, rather the epicenter of something unknown was drawing nearer.
Dallehin, frowning, gripped the railing and stared at the thick, massive steel gates ahead.
"…What is this?"
And then it came.
KWAANG!
The castle gate burst apart.
***
Sharp, massive shards of metal flew at an angle.
They were fragments of the gate.
Dallehin's eyes widened as he instinctively thrust his fist upward.
BANG!
"Kh…!"
Barely deflected, the piece crashed into one side of the castle.
Yet, the edge had grazed him, blood dripping down from his head.
'What the hell, an attack?'
There was no way it was an accident. This was clearly artificial.
He immediately grabbed the treasured sword and shield placed nearby, raising his focus.
From beneath the half-destroyed gate, a stranger walked in.
Verden, and Dallehin, recognized one another.
"You must be Dallehin?"
"A Mage…? Who the hell are you, who sent you to dare───"
"I hear that in the Ownerless Land, territories can be seized by force. So I've come to take this city."
What? To Dallehin, it was absurd.
From the looks of it, there were no other intruders… to seize a city alone?
Even here, only a handful could withstand the violence of sheer numbers.
With no intention of chatting, Verden unleashed a fierce strike of lightning.
"?!"
Dallehin reflexively raised his shield.
But in that moment, a shadow suddenly appeared, taking the lightning head-on before landing on the ground.
"Kuhuhuhu, quite the spark."
Headlong Charge, Rigalo.
The demi-human's chest, scorched black, steamed as his breath billowed white.
His vicious gaze locked onto Verden.
"I don't know the details, but Dallehin, looks like he came to assassinate you. So I can do as I please, right? Hm? Judging by the look of him, I'll have plenty of fun before I kill him."
Thud!
Muttering to himself, Rigalo charged, horns thrust forward. His heavy steps left deep marks in the hardened ground.
Verden leveled Orient.
With overwhelming resistance, Rigalo crushed through the earth magic head-on.
Even as stone shards filled with lightning pierced his body, instead of slowing, his speed only increased.
'Takes quite a beating, huh.'
KWAANG!
As Verden narrowly slipped aside, Rigalo shot past and punched through the castle wall.
Through the rising dust, he emerged, a corpse dangling impaled on one horn.
Unlucky, it seemed one of Dallehin's soldiers had been on the other side.
Shaking the body loose, Rigalo grinned.
"Oh, not using
Once again, he hurled himself forward with immense weight behind him.
Ordinary Mages would keep distance, dispatching him from afar.
It was safer that way.
But Verden neither intended to lay waste to the surroundings nor to waste time.
Manipulating the earth as he moved swiftly, Verden swung his staff.
Rigalo's knee was smashed, sending him sprawling roughly.
"Khaha, tickles."
Rigalo's body could not be pierced by ordinary blades or spells.
That monstrous resilience was his greatest weapon.
'For a Mage, the strength in that staff was impressive, but that's all.'
No meaningful damage.
As Rigalo sneered and began to rise, he lifted his head—
Orient crashed down from above.
BOOOOM!
A tremendous wave rippled out in every direction.
The ground cracked open.
At the center, Rigalo's skull was struck, his eyes snapping wide.
"Kh."
Crack.
From within his head came a sinister sound.
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