Chapter 73

Three enemies had survived.

One of them was the one who had created the magic barrier.

As long as he was there, I would be detected immediately the moment that I appeared from the shadows.

As for our side, there were five left including me.

That meant only four had survived out of a group of twelve.

Though, I wasn’t including those who were swallowed up by the black mist.

I didn’t know if they were alive or not, but they couldn’t be relied on to help us in this fight. Besides, the mist seemed to be getting thicker.

The enemy showed no signs of running. They meant to kill us all.

And so I engaged with the one closest to me.

When I approached, I saw a face from underneath the ash-colored hood.

He was quite old. Even older than my father.

I did not want an experienced magician to attack me from the back.

And so I pushed forward with successive attacks.

Father had trained me mercilessly, and so I was confident in my physical strength.

I attacked so quickly that he wouldn’t have time to breathe. Well, that was what was supposed to happen.

“He’s very skilled.”

Unexpectedly so.

He dodged with the minimum amount of movement.

In fact, he was strong enough to target me while I transitioned from one move to the next.

This was the kind of opponent that would be immune to Shadow Blade.

Even though we were meeting for the first time, he understood how to deal with my attacks.

I used minor techniques and martial arts while attacking, but he handled it all perfectly.

Was this a matter of experience?

If this got drawn out, it was me who would start to lose the advantage, as my skill was inferior to his.

I would likely make a mistake before he ran out of stamina.

In the first place, my fighting style involved surprising the enemy so that I could deal a lethal blow in a single attack.

I never liked fighting head-on and having to respond with skill.

“Damn it. I have no choice but to use my trump card.”

I didn’t want to show it, but I had a feeling this man would be able to easily handle anything else that I could do.

And so I took a few steps back and caught my breath.

The enemy didn’t pursue me.

Either he feared a trap, or he also wanted to catch his breath.

Regardless, there was a good distance between us now.

The enemy lowered his stance and held his sword in front of him as if he thought I was going to start throwing knives.

Well, it was a good distance for projectiles, but that wasn’t what I was going to do.

“Go!”

I unleashed the magic I had learned recently, Shadow Claw.

The darkness exploded right between us.

And then a single claw shot out towards the enemy while tearing up the ground.

“!?”

It looked like a whip as it slashed through the wide-eyed enemy, cutting him in half, and shooting past him.

Yes, I was well aware. This was too much power to use against a human.

As it was a shadow, you could not block it with swords or shields. And it was faster than the speed of a throwing knife.

You didn’t have enough time to see and understand what it was, and react.

“In spite of being the one who just used it, I think this magic is just brutal.”

Though, it hadn’t even worked on the Moon Beasts.

I looked down at the decapitated corpse. The area was now quiet.

All our enemies were dead, and so the fighting had finished.

“You did well.”

Christan said when he arrived a short while later. He and the other Right Feet had not participated in the fight.

I had checked the area as well and saw no signs of any of the enemy escaping.

And it didn’t seem like we were being monitored by anyone either.

Aside from Christan, there were three other Right Feet, but they were still scattered in the area.

“You killed so many.”

“We took them by surprise. Besides, they really weren’t that strong.”

The last one had been highly skilled, but the others, I could easily deal with if it was one on one.

When I said this, Christan looked at me strangely.

“The last one you fought was ‘Black Mist,’ the 7th Step.”

“Aren’t the Thirteen Steps considered to be Makoku’s elite magicians?”

“To be precise, they are experts who protect the Makoku king against human enemies. They protect him with their unique magic. That one lying over there is Ice Jet. Unless someone succeeded him, he should be the 8th Step.”

“So the 7th and 8th were here. …Uh, so I guess this was pretty dangerous?”

“Had information not been leaked, we’d all be dead. That’s for sure.”

“The others were pretty weak, though.”

“Black Mist alone would have done a lot of damage. It is said that once that mist takes you, it is impossible to escape. The more you move and struggle, the stickier it becomes. Then it starts to harden. Besides, it becomes difficult to remain calm and make decisions when you cannot see at all.”

That was true. So struggling in it was like wringing your own neck.

“But what happens if you don’t move?”

“There are spiders that lurk in the mist. If you do not move, they will kill you. To be honest, I felt a strong chill when I saw you get swallowed up by it.”

“I was able to get out by diving into the shadows.”

“I saw you do it. Your magic is very unconventional.”

I guess.

But it wasn’t that my Shadow Crossing was amazing. It was that the mist only affected the area above the surface.

“Regardless, we need to make a report of the results.”

“Report? To who?”

“Her Majesty, of course. I’ve secured a Dragon Master for contact purposes.”

What a luxury.

Well, we had been attacked, so I suppose it was the obvious thing to do.

“So, you’re going to tell her that we defeated them?”

“No, I’m going to tell her that ‘Stone Eyes’ wasn’t here.”

“Stone Eyes…?”

I tilted my head.