NOVEL NEXT Ch. 81
Chapter 81
“Who are you.”
Beneath the mask, Crimson Wolf's eyes flashed.
The Howling Wyvern was like a hideout to him.
The man before him had broken through his surveillance network, which no Superhuman had ever evaded until now.
‘Polymorph? But there’s no way he could hide his presence with just that…….’
“What are you racking your brain for.”
The man smirked and infused mana into the pendant.
For a moment, violet mana enveloped his body, and the Polymorph magic that had been cast was dispelled.
A trained body and silver hair, revealing his Eurasia lineage, were exposed.
“You are…….”
[Grrr!]
Hazard came to the man's side and puffed up his chest.
“Killian…… Eurasia?”
“To add to that, I'm also this guy's master.”
“…….”
Killian stroked Hazard.
Crimson Wolf, who had been staring at his relaxed demeanor, turned his gaze to Serena.
“So you visited the guild so ostentatiously with the intention of distracting me.”
“I have no obligation to answer.”
“Tsk.”
Crimson Wolf clicked his tongue softly and waved his hand.
With just that, the killing intent that had spread throughout the area dissipated, and the Walkers of Hennessy, including Zhairo, let out the breaths they had been holding.
He sat across from Killian and tilted his head.
“Did you create this ridiculous stage for a reply to the letter?”
“Well. I wonder.”
“You're putting on an obvious act.”
“It's not an act. Right?”
At the signal, Serena approached Killian's side.
“What was the reason we went through the trouble of coming all the way here?”
“It is to persuade the guild master of Hennessy, Crimson Wolf, to join the Annihilation Squad.”
“My vice-commander says so.”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence descended upon the area.
[Slurp.]
Only the sound of Hazard licking up the food scattered on the floor echoed quietly.
Then, at some point, Crimson Wolf suddenly burst into laughter.
“Haha! Eurasia, I heard you elevated to a Kingdom, did you all go mad?”
“It seems Hennessy's intelligence network isn't all that great. This isn't the same weak Eurasia of the past.”
The King was a Superhuman who had stabilized the 8-star level, the Commander of the Royal Knights was a Sword Master who had mastered the 7-star level, and the Royal Head Apothecary was an alchemist who had elevated medicinal preparations to the realm of alchemy.
In addition to that.
“You must have at least heard the rumor that I've become a Superhuman?”
Killian pointed to himself with his index finger and smirked.
Zhairo approached his guild master.
“It seems the rumors were true.”
“…….”
The rumor he spoke of was that Killian Eurasia was Superhuman-level, and that he had already successfully completed a Superhuman hunt.
They had dismissed it as a groundless rumor due to a lack of information.
“Yes, so that's how it is.”
Meeting Killian's eyes, the corners of Crimson Wolf's mouth twitched.
“Yes, right.”
“But so what.”
“Hm?”
Tzzzz.
Red mana rose from Crimson Wolf.
It was a mana darker than ordinary red, tinged with blue and violet.
Crimson.
Could there be a more fitting word to describe the color of his mana.
Shing.
A new dagger was drawn from his waist.
Its double-edged blade was clearly a masterpiece at a glance.
The dagger, having accepted mana, elongated like a beast's claw.
“I'm not interested in men.”
Tap. Tap.
He taunted, tapping his shoulder with the elongated dagger.
“Especially a prince from a newborn nation that could fall at any moment.”
“Crimson Wolf.”
Killian let out a hollow laugh.
“You're as interesting as I've heard.”
An unprecedentedly powerful killing intent emanated from Crimson Wolf.
Soon, the killing intent and mana mixed, and a domain was unfolded.
It was not on the level of merely hiding one's body to assassinate an opponent.
It was the pinnacle of Walkers who see the lines of mana.
A state of seeing 'dots' by splitting the lines countless times, and seeing 'planes,' which are collections of lines.
“Memento.”
At Killian's mutter, the corners of Crimson Wolf's mouth twisted.
“Became a Superhuman at a young age.”
“Yes.”
“Hunted a Superhuman of the Empire.”
“I told you.”
“And what does that matter.”
“…….”
Killian looked around.
His voice could be heard, but his presence could not be felt.
It was because he had deliberately hidden his presence.
‘He's something else.’
It seemed that Crimson Wolf had reached the state where he could hunt a Sword Master, in other words, the level of a ‘Night Walker’.
If the effect of Carpe was to dominate the space of an area, the effect of Memento was to break through that dominated space.
“How many Superhumans do you think have died by my hand?”
The dagger suddenly appeared, closing in on Killian's neck.
The double-edged sword, Sabel.
The moment the blade, which had beheaded countless knights, was about to tear through the Sword Membrane.
Killian reinforced the mana of his Sword Membrane and pushed Sabel away.
Thud.
Following that, he plunged Aether, which he had drawn, into the ground.
“More than I thought.”
The mana spreading through Aether as a medium absorbed Crimson Wolf's mana, canceling out the domain.
“It'll be rewarding to make you submit.”
Killian let out his characteristic laugh.
“…….”
[Kkyarung~]
Seeing this, Serena and Hazard flinched.
A harmless laugh.
Because that was the smile Killian Eurasia made before forcing someone into submission.
***
Tzzzzzz.
Ssssss.
The domain of the area was overturned several times.
The situation where Killian would unfold Carpe and Crimson Wolf would instantly break through it repeated.
Due to the explosions of mana that occurred in the process, the space continuously shimmered.
If the knights' Carpe Illusion was a domain manifested externally, the Walkers' Memento could be described as a domain manifested internally.
‘A Walker using Memento experiences a dramatic increase in speed and strength.’
Killian gradually heightened his senses and deflected Crimson Wolf's sword.
Every single strike was filled with Haki.
To the point that he was considered more difficult to deal with than Mainz Kimbel, whom he faced with the Annihilation Squad, or Hegel Cornelia, who had not been in his right mind.
Moreover, as time passed, the speed at which the man identified and cut his mana lines was increasing.
‘Walkers of this caliber were rare even 200 years ago.’
He wasn't giving any time to transform Carpe into Carpe Illusion.
In the fleeting moment the flow of mana shifted, Crimson Wolf was showing the extraordinary feat of mincing the mana lines into dots.
Tzzzz!
Killian dispelled Carpe once again, just before it could be broken.
‘The reflux is the problem.’
If he forced it, he could transform it into Carpe Illusion, but a reflux could similarly occur.
‘Doing that would make it impossible to lead the subsequent negotiations favorably.’
If annihilation had been the goal, he would have brought the entire Annihilation Squad, but their current objective was to make Hennessy submit and form an independent relationship.
To do that, it was necessary to defeat the guild master in a more overwhelming fashion.
Crimson Wolf knew that as well, which was why he was coming at him with full force from the start.
However.
‘I’m not an ordinary 7-star either.’
Clang.
Unlike before, Killian deflected Sabel with his scabbard.
“……!!”
Crimson Wolf's body lost balance for only an instant, but.
Tzzzzzz.
Immediately after, the Sword Membrane generated from the scabbard trapped him.
Swish. Shing. Slash.
The Sword Membrane was easily cut away with just three swings of the sword, but.
“Total Solar Eclipse.”
In a fraction of a second, Aether, resonating with the Mana Heart, successfully created Carpe Illusion.
Beneath the three spheres, Killian aimed Aether and smirked.
“Crimson Wolf.”
“…….”
“I wonder how many mana lines you can see with those eyes.”
“…….”
Crimson Wolf quietly scanned his surroundings.
Countless dots and the two thousand or so lines that those dots formed.
And even the six massive planes that constituted the domain.
‘Such incredible density.’
What was amazing wasn't just the composition of the domain.
The three spheres floating in the air also had a considerable speed at which they absorbed mana and stamina.
Memento is like a Carpe Illusion unfolded inside the caster.
Killian's Carpe Illusion was clearly impacting his own Memento.
‘This isn't a place to linger.’
Barely 20 seconds had passed since he entered the domain.
He saw through that the three spheres floating above his head were the key to breaking the domain.
‘At this level, he could even take on Mainz Kimbel alone…….’
He also knew of Mainz Kimbel, who had used Hennessy before.
His level as a knight was mid-tier 7-star.
He couldn't face him head-on, but if he attempted an assassination, it wasn't impossible—a level that could be called comparable to his own.
He had thought that if they had hunted such a guy, the Annihilation Squad must have paid a fitting price.
‘I was wrong.’
Facing Killian Eurasia directly changed his mind.
The man before him was clearly a cut above him.
A level where he might have even mastered the 7-star.
Kwaaaa.
Crimson Wolf focused all his mana into Sabel.
“I want to ask one thing. What do you plan to do after making Hennessy submit?”
“I'm going to bring down Brussels.”
“And after that?”
“I have to bring down the Empire.”
“…….”
“I'm serious.”
At Killian's indifferent way of speaking, Crimson Wolf chuckled lowly.
“I've faced a good number of Superhumans in my life, but…….”
He met Killian's eyes and continued.
“I've never seen a madman like you before.”
“I feel the same, Mr. Wolf.”
Crimson Wolf's presence began to strengthen.
As Memento reached its peak, his expanded senses absorbed all the information from his surroundings.
In response, Carpe Illusion transformed into a new form.
‘He still…… had this much skill left?’
A smile appeared on Crimson Wolf's lips at the momentum of the now fiercer domain.
“Take this.”
Shhhk.
In that moment, Crimson Wolf's figure vanished.
He sensed that one knight had reacted to it.
The Night Walker, who for the first time in a long while considered the possibility of defeat, threw himself forward to cut the three spheres.
***
It was around the time Killian left Hennessy's territory and entered Eurasia's.
“Is it alright to return like this?”
Serena, riding alongside him, asked indifferently.
“Why?”
“You should have received an oath of pledge.”
Without waiting for her commander's reply, Serena continued.
“Crimson Wolf is not one to bow his head easily just because he was suppressed once.”
The reason why Simon, who had mastered the 7-star level early on, didn't make him submit, and why Escardo didn't personally step forward to appease him, was because it was difficult to trust a Walker who was outside their domain.
“So I should have gotten an oath. Is that what you mean?”
“That is correct.”
“Serena.”
Killian gazed at her blankly.
“A Walker is not a knight.”
“…….”
Knights value honor and oaths, but Walkers prioritize only survival and profit.
“So if we're making a deal, it's right to use survival and profit as bait.”
“If what happened today reaches Brussels' ears…….”
“He won't make such a regrettable move. He's not a man of small caliber either.”
“…….”
Serena stared quietly at his confident tone.
A man who was only twenty-three understood the nature of not only knights but Walkers as well.
For her, it was an incomprehensible attitude.
‘Sometimes he’s like a child……’
And at other times, he seems older than the Commander of the Knights.
A word that could describe Killian Eurasia came to mind.
“Old man.”
Serena was startled by the word that she had uttered unknowingly.
“Hm? What was that?”
“It was nothing.”
Serena adjusted the reins and her feet to speed up.
“…….”
Killian, holding Hazard, stared at the green hair of Serena, who was already far ahead.
“Who's calling who an old man.”
Killian chuckled and took out a Recovery Potion from his waist and drank it.
Recalling the battle with Crimson Wolf, who had broken through nearly sixty percent of his Carpe Illusion, a chill went down his spine.
‘The ability to see mana lines…… If only the ‘Authority of Observation’ remained, I could have used it easily.‘
Since he was gradually reaching a complete 7-star body, he could probably try to awaken an Authority.
[Grrr~]
Far away, Hazard poked his head out and called for his master.
“Giddy-up.”
Killian chased after the retreating figure of Serena.