Chapter 72: Shadow vs. Shadow

Chapter 72: Shadow vs. Shadow

I just smashed the head of a woman who belonged to this group of weird people who dress in black. They must be this world's equivalent of goths.

The others were looking at me in a threatening manner, I quickly told these two to hide.

"Bellange, take Cordelia and hide!"

"Huh? But what about you..."

"I'll be fine, after all"

I activated my ability, Hawkeye and Raijin phase 1 so I could finish them off.

"I'm stronger than them."

Ten of them approached from different sides.

On my lateral sides, two of them approached to block my vision.

Behind them, one of their allies was sneaking up.

I laughed a little as I clearly saw him as I watched where he wanted to go.

I quickly darted towards their direction to show them that I could see their tricks, the two covering him I grabbed their necks and crushed them.

I could hear the sound of their bones shattering like glass.

I tossed the bodies aside and then activated a lightning saber.

A move consisting of electrifying my hand like a sword and I slashed that guy's face.

A large amount of blood fell on my face, without hesitation, I turned around and with the same move I took a big leap to pierce the remaining ones, but something unexpected happened.

"Double Accel."

A magic circle appeared underfoot and the subjects disappeared. No, they simply ran at high speed.

It seems that thing, "Double Accel," must be some kind of skill or technique they developed.

They're like assassins or ninjas in games, trained to run at high speeds and hide their presences.

You think that will stop me?

You're wrong!

I kept up with those two who ran away. They hid behind a pillar, I gave them no time to react and stabbed their stomachs.

More and more of these guys came closer as they stood guard.

I smiled at them and with my hand I provoked them.

"Come on. I'll kick all of your asses."

The big guy kept watching me and didn't move at all.

Besides Razel, the battlefield where Emily was, showed no signs of ending.

"That's all you can do?"

She was running away from the projectiles of magic arrows that were heading in her direction.

One after another she would dodge them by jumping just in time or spinning in mid-air. She even used her shield to redirect the missiles.

Emily could only block or dodge, attacking was impossible.

Bayman knew this and because of that he could attack without stopping.

"Due to the fact that this Lost Treasure runs on mana from the environment, I can attack without stopping."

"The era of magic swords is over! My era as the greatest sword saint! The era of the Bow King has just begun!"

The arrows were flying at high speed, Bayman couldn't get tired that to be doing the same movement non-stop for several minutes.

That's because he was from a hunting family on his mother's side.

A hunter must have a good eye and a steady hand, Bayman managed to become the head of his house because of that treasure, despite being an illegitimate son.

"This is a good opportunity to achieve my goals Crossbell, that you decided to join the Rosenberg's is the greatest act of stupidity you ever committed!"

Emily failed to jump and a hail of arrows hit her from all directions.

Her armor shattered and her body took the blows.

Bruises and cuts on her face appeared, her big breasts as part of her thighs were exposed.

Only her sword and shield were intact.

Bayman stopped at the sight of the damage he inflicted on her.

"We are enemies, but we are also comrades. I am not a barbarian or a scoundrel to kill you, this punishment was enough for you."

"If you feel you have critical damage to your body, I will heal you so you won't die. Come on, answer how you feel."

Emily convulsed on the floor, pools of blood she was spitting out due to her internal bleeding.

She rolled over and tried to say something.

"Ah... ahh..."

But she couldn't pronounce the words properly due to the pain.

Bayman approached after sighing.

"Looks like it was more effective than I expected, I apologize."

"Once this game is over, and Rosenberg Household has lost, I will tell the second prince that you fought bravely and recommend you for some important household you can serve."

He bent down to treat his wounds, but what he received was a punch to his face, his nose dripping blood from the heavy blow he received.

He fell backwards as he cursed Emily.

"You fucking bitch, how dare you hurt me!!?"

Emily still staggering, stood up and with her blood soaked eyes said to Bayman.

"Right now I am a knight of the Rosenberg's, so I will fight until my lady surrenders or wins."

Bayman stood up and with his nose still dripping blood angrily replied to Emily.

"Do you really think the Rosenberg's have the upper hand?"

"Do you think they can win?"

"Their opponent is the imperial palace! It's impossible to win against them! Only an idiot would believe there's even the slightest chance of winning!"

"There is."

*Spittle*

While wiping the blood from her lips, Emily walked to the front.

"On the battlefield months ago I met someone who faced an enemy that was impossible to defeat. I thought it would be the end of me there, but that person defeated all the enemies I couldn't defeat in such a simple way, it made me feel ashamed."

"Then I learned that he defeated a dark knight, and both, you and I know that they are the equivalent of a sword saint."

Emily's confident smile radiated a clear sign of superiority, Bayman was annoyed to see how confident she was despite her state.

"Don't say victory is won when the fight is still going on. Besides, the Rosenberg's have their trump card with them. The dice are still rolling and the winner is undecided."

"Don't talk rubbish, that's impossible!"

"An enemy who triples you is someone who will win no matter what you say!"

"You think so? So... what's that back there?"

Bayman was wary of Emily, but turned his face as strange noises were occurring behind.

Seeing what was going on, his angry expression was replaced with one of unexpected surprise.

"W-W-What the hell is that?"

Regulux and the others were in trouble.

The super battleship was firing at them relentlessly.

"We can't get close like this!"

They wanted to get closer to the flagship, but the enemies were preventing them.

The second super battleship had hundreds of cannons and they were all firing at the Regulux group.

"There is no choice but to jump to the deck and then fight our way through them.

On the deck that's the same average as a soccer stadium, hundreds of pirates gathered, armed to the teeth, to stop the guys from descending to the deck."

Regulux clicked his teeth as they had no choice but to do so.

They all nodded as the sounds of cannons firing exploding magic bullets prevented them from following.

The airbikes crashed to the deck as they were unable to descend quietly.

Regulux materialized a whip of light while Jake pulled out a customized rifle he had on his back.

Oscar activated a magic circle in his hands to launch cutting wind attacks.

Cid unsheathed his sword after standing next to Regulux, Richard was observing the situation, which Lambert was doing as well.

"Your Highness, I'll go ahead."

"I'm counting on you, Lam!"

Lambert was surprised to be called that in this place, but after smiling for a moment, his face showed a cold seriousness.

"For getting in our way you will be eliminated, I will not use my sword as you are not worth it."

Lambert ran at the same time as the pirates approached.

"Die!"

"Thanks for the food!"

"Gyahaha!"

The pirates drew their swords. The one closest to Lambert was knocked down with a blow to the jaw, dropping his sword as he went flying-.

Lambert grabbed that sword and quickly brought it to the neck of one pirate.

"Puah!"

A large amount of blood flowed from the weapon into his jugular, Lambert left the sword there, grabbed the one the pirate dropped and then with the handle punched the one behind him in the stomach.

Now Lambert had two swords, but he didn't stop there.

A huge pirate using two swords approached to cut him down.

"A dwarf like you is no match for me."

Lambert sighed before taking a huge leap and with both swords bringing them together like scissors, the pirate's head flew through the air leaving his allies shocked, even Regulux's own group was shocked.

Only he had a question.

(How did you lose to that guy with those skills?)

Regulux didn't understand how someone talented like Lambert lost against Razel, that didn't matter right now as the pirates were very angry.

Some of them had guns, they shot them mercilessly.

None of them were Lily who could cover them by using a shield, but only Cid could.

"Ice Wall!"

A large wall made of ice was created thanks to a magic circle under their feet.

Jake took advantage of that and after circling the wall, he fired magic bullets from Fitzclarence Household.

"Eat this, you idiots!"

The magic bullets flew like flies without making a sound, upon impacting the body or the ground, a viscous jelly-like liquid rapidly expanded.

"What is this?"

The jelly immobilized them and they couldn't get rid of it.

"Oscar!"

"I know."

Oscar took advantage of what Jake did and sent his wind blades straight at the immobilized.

Similar to slices of Swiss cheese ended the enemies.

This was repeated every so often.

Regulux from a distance used his whip to push the pirates off the board.

Cid could not move.

"Cid, can't you come out and fight?"

"I'm sorry to say that if I move, the wall will be destroyed."

"That just leaves us fewer fighters... if only Bellange and that guy were here."

(Why did he leave anyway?)

Cid, who was sweating from holding the ice wall, was answering Regulux's concern.

"I don't know where Bellange is holed up, but Razel must definitely be busy with something important. That boy wouldn't leave his girls or Rosenberg Household alone if it wasn't for something that's more dangerous than this."

Regulux glared at Cid as he thought.

(I always thought it doesn't matter if I tried to keep you from walking down the path of envy, but now I see why it's impossible now for you to go that way.)

(That guy had to be responsible for your change... wait a minute, both Lily and Elize didn't end up the same as their roles either. That means that guy might have known their fates!)

Regulux's thought was interrupted by an explosion.

A Rosenberg fleet ship was shot down very close to the super battleship, with this less than 50 fleets left on their side.

(Damn! At this rate we will certainly lose. Isn't there something we can do to get out of this situation?)

(In the stories of other worlds, the main character always had many cheat skills to avoid going through this!)

(Where is my cheating skill?)

"Damn!"

Regulux cursed his situation, but this was not the time for it.

The pirates were still approaching without stopping.

(Strange.)

Lambert ended up in the middle of the deck where he was fighting almost all of the pirates.

"You fucking brat."

"I'll kill you!"

"Shoot him in the legs!"

He leapt into the air to escape the gunfire, as he landed on the ground, he grabbed a pirate who had a rifle and used him as a human shield as he approached the other pirates who were using rifles.

(What is this feeling of irritation I feel?)

(As if a bug had bitten me, and the itch in my body wouldn't go away.)

The pirates were shooting at their ally while Lambert covered himself with his body.

After a while, the shooting stopped and as he threw the body, he went straight to cut their necks.

(Despite the fact that I am stronger than them, I feel that I am very weak for some reason.)

"Lambert-dono, look up!"

Richard called Lambert from a distance, he noticed in time that a small man in a straw hat was in the air, he threw some invisible objects.

Lambert clicked his teeth as he used two pirates as shields.

"Gyah, it burns!"

"It burns me so much!"

The pirates screamed in intense pain as smoking purple spots manifested on their bodies.

Lambert didn't understand what happened, but Richard saw everything and screamed as he approached cutting pirates.

"Lambert-dono, that's deadly poison! Those are poisoned needles, be careful with them!"

"Poisoned needles..."

Footsteps were approaching at great speed.

The same short man approached Lambert, he moved his hand to pierce his face, as he dodged, another hand came straight for his eye.

Lambert used his sword to propel himself backwards.

After falling to the ground, he watched as a hand approached his ear, a bit of his hair was cut off.

After pulling away as he used an electrical impulse, he understood his enemy.

"Three of them!"

The same enemy had multiplied to have two clones, no. The more appropriate thing to say would be...

"No, they are not residual images. It's really three, three identical guys."

Lambert's face showed unexpected surprise at this enemy.

"Poisoned needles... three short guys... that straw hat... it can't be!"

He quickly grabbed two fresh swords as the three individuals approached Lambert.

"They're the Faubrey triplets, the most wanted criminals in the capital a decade ago. They were supposedly sent to the Babel Tower to pay for their crimes."

In mid-air, Desmond dodged the cannonballs, jumping over them or using them to be sent elsewhere without falling into the abyss.

"Gijiji, this is fun, so much fun, give me more fun!"

The rain of cannonballs wouldn't stop, Desmond was enjoying this so much that his demonic grin vanished and now a child's face of amusement showed.

He used his foot to return the cannonball to a light cruiser which exploded.

Now the enemy forces were 85% wiped out in total.

The Rosenberg fleet was returning on Eli's orders.

"Hey, that guy over there isn't the horn weirdo who lives in the mansion."

Celia said while using binoculars given to her by the captain.

Everyone was in awe as Desmond began destroying the enemy fleet.

Eli, who was crying a few minutes ago, was in better spirits.

"Good, the 'Bring our secret weapon while you cry' plan worked."

Celia gave her a look of not being able to believe what she was saying, though Lily and Evelyn believed it.

"Was that crying really an act?"

"I-Unbelievable Eli-chan! Desmond-san came to help us since you called him for when something like that happens!"

Eli averted her eyes in all directions while sweating and babbling.

"Err, yeah... it was all a plan... nothing weird really."

(If you were going to help us from the beginning you should have gotten here earlier you idiot!)

(You're lucky you're Razel's training master, otherwise I would have kicked you out of the mansion a long time ago for being a deadbeat.)

Eli pointed in a direction after speaking to the captain.

"Captain. Set a course ahead."

"To the front... but my lady, there to the front in the distance is the last battleship."

"Never mind. The dice that were against us smiled on us, so now we'll use this opportunity and finish off the last defense before destroying the flagship."

"We'll show those idiots that the Rosenberg Household is not to be underestimated! Everybody say Ooh with me!"

"O-Ooh!"

With that dispirited response, the Rosenblat marched straight to the front in the face of the enemy's final defense.

(According to this manual, the Rosenblat in addition to cannons, has a secret weapon. Duke Fitzclarence, I thank you for this gift, even if I don't want to see your face because it is so extravagant.)

"How boring this has become..."

Desmond had just eliminated 98% of enemy fleets.

The remnants were being bombarded by the Allied fleet.

He was hitting the hull of a ship, which broke in half and whatever was on top of it, fell into the void.

As he watched pirates fall down crying, he thought this was boring.

"Taking these bitches down is easy, I want a worthwhile toy."

He swung like he was on a swing as his nails clung to the steel.

Suddenly he stopped.

"This smell is...?"

Using his hands, he climbed up to the deck which was fractured, the pirates trying to hold on as he watched with his once again demonic grin.

"There it is, the smell that caught my attention."

It was super battleship #2, on which Regulux and the others were still on.

"I want new toys!"

With a great leap, the ship was destroyed as it flew straight into the super battleship.

It crashed into the deck, destroying several floors in the process, likewise it rose to the surface and fell gently to the deck.

There stood the six of them watching it.

Jake was the first to speak, followed by Oscar and Richard.

"Hey, that guy fell out of the sky. It fell out of the sky a man!"

"So I see, but his appearance is the weirdest of all. Why does he have horns?"

"..."

Cid, Regulux and Lambert, trembled at the sight of Desmond. Lambert mentioned what he saw as his legs trembled.

"What the hell is that aura?"

Behind Desmond stood a sinister figure, it was a bony body covered by a black cloak, insects were coming out of its body and its empty sockets were emanating a red light which burned as if it was hell itself.

A black aura permeated the entire deck.

The pirates for some reason fell unconscious to the floor, but not before urinating on themselves.

They say that when an animal is in the presence of a predator and recognizes that it is going to die, fear makes its stomach twist, releasing excretion as a sign of pity before an inferior being.

That was what they felt, what Lambert felt was that his time had come.

While Cid was only wondering...

(What is he doing here?)

(That guy should be sleeping in the mansion... did he come here because he got bored?)

But Regulux thought differently as he stepped back.

(... I don't get it.)

(That's the demon king Desmond. What's he doing here?)

(He shouldn't show up for a few more years.)

(Why is he here right in front of us? Did he come from the demon continent to get here?)

(W-We must run away. This guy is really strong, we won't be able to defeat him without Lily just like I did in the game.)

"Guys, we must"

"Too late!"

Desmond shouted and approached Regulux and the others at high speed.

A loud sound rang out accompanied by a loud scream was heard.

"That's all you got?"

It's been about fifteen minutes since the battle against these guys started.

"You're super weak~ guys~."

I dodged the poisoned daggers of these idiots as they chased me at high speed.

I took out a few of them, I have no idea how many there were.

The poisoned daggers were approaching my body, I easily dodged them by making strange movements in the air.

I was doing it to taunt them, if I activated the Blut it would be easy for them to hit me and nothing would happen.

But these idiots had kidnapped Cordelia, so I had to teach their bodies that they shouldn't mess with someone from Rosenberg Household.

I crushed the chest of one guy, which I could feel his bones breaking.

I threw his corpse away, and at that moment, he finally moved.

"This is unacceptable."

He walked slowly as he told me crap I didn't want to hear.

"We are the shadows that guard the empire, without us, the empire would not have kept its peace."

"You are definitely a threat to the empire."

I stuck my finger up my nose to answer him.

"And what the fuck does that matter to me. I don't care about your background or your personal desire or anything, I just came to get our head maid back."

"You know, I should run to my girlfriends to help them. I'm sure they must be crying for me, I'll arrive in heroic fashion to kick all of their asses, that will make Lily and Eli hug me so much that their big boobs will rub them unintentionally."

"Let's hurry up and finish this."

I couldn't see his face, but from the way he was looking at me from my perception, he looked annoyed.

"Do you think you'll get out of here alive?"

I replied with my best smile.

"Of course I will, but you guys won't."

"I see..."

The guy disappeared.

"The leader used Triple Accel!"

(So there are more acceleration phases, huh?)

Too bad. my hawk eye is faster than him.

He stood over me and pulled out two large curved daggers to slash my head.

I gave the impression that he hit me, but he didn't.

I grabbed his neck and delivered a nice combo of blows.

"Lightning Blast!"

My electrified fists slammed into his body at high speed.

His suit-shaped armor was destroyed and his blood splattered on my body.

After a brief moment of giving him the beating of his life, I broke his mask with a strong punch which sent him flying into a pillar.

"Leader!"

Shouted the henchmen as they saw their dead boss on the pillar.

"Let's get this over with, I'm really bored already~."

I activated Raijin phase 1 again and then lightning saber.

I proceeded to cut the necks and pierce the stomachs of all these guys.

In less than a minute, I was done with them.

I sighed in joy as I wiped my hand full of blood from my final victim.

"Guuh, gross."

Bellange and Cordelia approached, Bellange looked like a kid on an exalted roller coaster.

"T-That was awesome Bartlet!"

"That fight earned you my respects! Even I wouldn't have stood a chance against them!"

"..."

Cordelia looked worried, I reassured her.

"It's all over now, don't worry."

"It's just... I remember my dad once told me that name."

"Huh?"

"The one with the dark shadows. It's a fantasy story that haunted the palace. The story goes that a secret lab experimented with a strange object they found and by shaping it into a child, they created an invincible monster, which serves the palace."

"It's a very fantastic horror story, are you worried that guy is the one in the story?"

"I don't know. It was so fast his defeat that I feel it's fiction what happened. If it was really that easy to defeat them, they wouldn't have sent everyone."

"Well, I'm very strong. Maybe if they were the best, but I killed them and that's what matters. Let's go home"

"The hundred members were defeated."

I couldn't finish my sentence as a voice behind us interrupted me.

I quickly turned around and looked at the guy from before, the one who should be dead on the pillar, standing there watching his dead comrades.

"You did well, now that the requirement is fulfilled, I can release it."

After turning around, the strange black sphere emanated a dark mist which enveloped his body.

A strange sound I heard as it spoke within that mist.

"I am the greatest of all evils in this country, I was raised and trained in a secret base, both I and my brothers and sisters are victims of darkness."

"All for what? To keep the light, normal citizens out of harm's way."

"I killed so many, I don't know if they were truly a danger to us."

The sound grew louder and his voice distorted to a grimmer, huskier tone.

"You children of light, I envy you greatly. You may rejoice in the happiness that surrounds you, but we do not."

"We live only for you, but we too want that light. We want to taste that joy that you feel."

"But now that you killed my companions, and defeated me! That implies that the requirement that this sphere that was introduced inside me told me, will come true!"

The mist started to become oval and then as if it was an explosion, the whole place was filled with the mist momentarily.

I tried to see what happened, but I couldn't see anything.

What I could see was that something quickly hit me in the stomach, it looked as if a knife had pierced me.

I flew straight into a pillar and destroyed it.

Then, I heard inhuman footsteps of something approaching.

As I stood up, I saw it.

The same guy I "killed", had turned into something that is even ridiculous to this world, but Cordelia explained it for me.

"A lycanthrope! They should just be a legend!"

That's right, a real fucking werewolf.

His hair was greenish black and a black-green aura surrounded him.

His face was that of a very angry dog and his gray eyes gave the feeling that if I threw him a bone, he would go for my leg.

I stood up and said to him an uneasy.

"Hey, that strange aura I feel coming from you... just in case it's one of the deadly sins?"

"That's right..."

"A long time ago when I was implanted with this, a strange shadow came out of the sphere that told me it was the representation of envy, and it would give me powers if I fulfilled a requirement I didn't want."

"But thanks to you defeating us, that requirement was fulfilled."

"And now I, Zoro, will take my revenge on the empire for what it did to us!"

"I will kill you and those two later and proceed to destroy the palace!"

"My vengeance, my fallen brothers' and sisters' desire for freedom will not be in vain!"

"I will show the empire that their doom was always to have someone clean up their!"

My foot went to his face and I sent it straight into the sky.

A big crack was made and debris from the surface fell into the cave.

The guy came down the same way he went up and looked confused.

"My speed should be superior now, but you managed to hit me, how did you do it?"

Before telling him, I got into a fighting stance pointing my hands at him.

"If your speed increased, it means you now possess Quadruple Accel, right?"

"In that case, I possess something worthy to rival a big ugly dog like you."

A blue aura began to surround me.

As if a coat of magical power covered my body.

"Raijin, phase 2.5"

I smiled to indicate to him that I will now cheat as well.

"Sabertooth!"

Thanks to the Blut, my phase two evolved into a stronger one.

Above me the face of a large tiger covered my body.

"This is a battle I can't lose."

It would be bad if I used my phase three against this guy, but that thing is still very unstable, let's beat it with the upgraded phase two.

"Come, I'll show you that a cat always beats mangy dogs!"

"Your head will be the snack before the emperor's!"

And so, we begin this ultimate battle between a guardian among the shadows against an assassin who lies in the shadows.