Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 85

The Hunter and the Cloud (2)

The blade of Flicker vibrated low after blocking the arrow. Kairus gently gripped the sword to stop the vibration.

“What the hell did you eat to draw a bow with that kind of strength?”

It wasn’t just the blade of Flicker that trembled. Kairus’s arm, which had blocked the arrow, was also shaking slightly, still not recovered from the shock.

“This kind of breeze doesn’t mean shit.”

From the darkness, Jangpal sneered at Kairus. His voice was laced with clear mockery.

The previous strike had come in the form of an arrow, but it had managed to overcome the dominant downdraft controlling the area.

Kairus nudged the arrow lying on the ground with his foot.

“Fuck.”

That single arrow weighed at least 3kg.

It was a textbook application of the principle: if the wind is strong, use even greater force to shoot an even heavier arrow.

“Heavy, huh? It’s what we call a six-geun arrow.”

Six geun. An arrow boasting a weight of 3.6kg. Kairus’s guess of over 3kg was actually quite accurate.

Typical spears often don’t even weigh 3kg. In other words, this seemingly ordinary arrow lying on the ground was actually heavier than most spears.

“Brag all you want. But you can’t carry dozens of those freakishly heavy arrows in a quiver, can you?”

Kairus was right. If a single arrow weighed 3.6kg, then carrying dozens in a quiver would make the weight unbearable.

“There’s a way to handle that, so don’t worry and just die already.”

Thoom.

With a thunderous roar, an arrow shot through the air like a flash of light. Once again, Kairus swung Flicker wide.

With the explosion of a shockwave, the arrow dropped to the ground with a thud. Kairus spat on the floor, then lowered his stance and braced his legs.

“With this kind of weak shit?”

The sound that had accompanied the arrow’s flight now burst forth from Kairus’s foot.

With a thunderous roar and a flash of light, Kairus charged forward.

“I’m way too brilliant to die.”

In a split second, Kairus dashed through the darkness, closing in on Jangpal—the very man who had been whistling and mocking him just moments ago.

“Oh, is that so?”

Flicker sliced through the air, missing its mark.

Jangpal leaned back to dodge the attack, then used both legs to draw his bow and fired an arrow aiming for Kairus’s chin.

As Kairus struck down with the hilt to deflect the arrow targeting his chin, another arrow came flying from the darkness, accompanied by the snap of a bowstring.

‘I knew it.’

Even if he managed to engage one of them in close combat, the other two would obviously try to intercept him from a distance.

Fortunately, at that moment, the downdraft that dominated the area grew stronger, altering the trajectory of the incoming arrow.

“Am I just invisible to you or something?”

With that irritated remark, Irena lunged at Jangpal, slashing her sword.

“…? What the—”

Three arrows fired in a flash from Jangpal struck the blade of Stained Glass, twisting its trajectory.

From Irena’s perspective, it was an utterly ridiculous situation. He hadn’t blocked with a bow—he blocked by shooting arrows.

Irena tried to follow up her attack against Jangpal, but arrows flying in from beyond the darkness cut off her offensive.

“How’s that feel? Pretty unbelievable, right?”

“My common sense is getting violated.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena gave a small nod and swung Stained Glass a few times, maintaining the wind of Peerless Wind.

After all, the hunters used bows. Even if they could overcome it, maintaining Swift Blade was crucial.

Under the influence of Peerless Wind, even the hunters had to invest more effort and technique than usual.

“You take this one.”

Irena would handle one of them, and Kairus would take on the remaining two.

“Got it. Let’s kill all three of them right here.”

At Irena’s words, Kairus nodded. She understood the situation clearly.

Aside from Lukas’s Children, the other organizations hadn’t yet secured mercenaries to throw into this job.

In other words, this was the only chance to eliminate one team without worrying about ambushes from the others.

Just a few hours from now, other groups’ hired men would also begin entering the sewer system.

‘We have to take them out here.’

Even if Irena and Kairus hadn’t discussed it, they both instinctively understood this fact.

“Oh wow, the young lady’s gonna fight me? Guess I better take it easy…”

Jangpal smirked as he spoke—then suddenly retreated.

Stained Glass struck the spot where Jangpal had just been standing. The floor shattered, and stone fragments scattered in all directions.

“Take it easy on you? How thoughtful.”

Of course, Irena had no intention of going easy on him.

“Oh dear, with strength like that, how’re you ever gonna get married?”

“Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem.”

There wasn’t a single idiot who would say no if the only daughter of the Kellogg family proposed marriage.

Irena’s body spun rapidly, unleashing an unrelenting barrage of slashes at Jangpal.

It was a flurry of blows—tight and intricate like a woven net.

Even with a sword or spear, defending or dodging it would be nearly impossible. There was no way a bow-wielding hunter could withstand it.

“Do you know what transcendent senses are?”

Even amid the shower of slashes, Jangpal remained unharmed.

Walls, ceilings, and the floor were all marked with countless scars from Stained Glass’s strikes.

But the result Irena wanted wasn’t materializing.

Five seconds had already passed.

The fact that Jangpal was still unscathed meant that he would likely continue to evade Irena’s attacks without injury.

“Transcendent senses are about finding transcendent solutions.”

Such a heightened perception, one that let him see what others couldn’t, allowed him to spot exits that no one else could detect.

To the eyes of a hunter, Irena’s tightly woven barrage of slashes looked more like a ragged net full of holes to escape through.

“True strength isn’t about uprooting mountains or running a hundred steps in a flash.”

Real strength came from perceiving what others couldn’t feel.

At those words, Irena laughed. One great knight came to mind—someone who could have perfectly refuted what that hunter just said.

If it were her, she would’ve responded like this:

“Nice bullshit. If you’re still barking that same rhythm after getting your head bashed in, then I’ll give you some credit!”

In the end, everything was proven by whoever stood victorious after the fight. All that talk of perception and senses needed to be backed by winning.

“Young lady, it’s clear as day that you haven’t perfected Swift Blade yet. And yet you run your mouth like you’ve got it all figured out.”

“Ahh, yeah! I’m still practicing Swift Blade! Got a problem with that?!”

She was learning from Kairus. But Irena was also a squire of the Scarlet Leaf Order.

If she knew nothing beyond Swift Blade, there was no way she could have joined the Order.

Once again, Irena unleashed a flurry of slashes. The movement was exactly the same as before.

From her perspective, the flurry was dense enough to leave no room to dodge, gradually filling the space.

“You’ve learned nothing, I see.”

Of course, Jangpal had no reason to fear her attack, having already dodged all of it once without a hitch.

No matter how much she struck, she couldn’t even graze the hem of Jangpal’s clothes.

And that overconfidence became Jangpal’s fatal mistake.

‘In an instant.’

Battle gear output could be converted into raw force. And an object filled with great force moved at a corresponding speed.

Nearly all of the output that Stained Glass could stably maintain in a single burst was now channeled into Irena’s sword arm.

It wasn’t the usual method of distributing battle gear output across the entire body.

“Die.”

The relentless barrage of slashes vanished entirely. Even the downdraft that had been swirling through the sewer was completely gone.

All that remained was the flash of Stained Glass descending at a speed Jangpal could not evade.

It split his bow, skull, and torso in a clean vertical cut.

Stained Glass, having exited through his groin, slammed into the ground with only its hilt sticking out.

Irena’s strike finally came to a halt.

“…That’s some fine battle gear. Thanks. You saved my life.”

The split halves of Jangpal’s corpse collapsed in opposite directions, hitting the ground with a thud.

If the bow Jangpal had been using hadn’t been such a sturdy piece of equipment, Stained Glass wouldn’t have stopped after embedding itself in the ground.

That previous strike would have taken at least one of Irena’s legs with it and with a bit of bad luck, it might’ve taken her life too.

“Damn… I nearly committed suicide.”

Cold sweat ran down Irena’s face. That strike just now was the same technique that had earned her a place in the Scarlet Leaf Order.

She would hide an overwhelming finishing blow until the end and then take out the enemy in a single strike.

“Captain called it a cheap trick.”

Dana Watson had assessed Irena’s strike as a cheap trick—one that stopped working once the opponent reached a certain level.

It was useful for now, but eventually, it would have to be discarded.

‘I’m learning Swift Blade now, so it’s fine.’

That’s exactly why Irena was learning Swift Blade.

The method she currently trusted the most had already been handed a death sentence—it was only a matter of time before it would no longer serve her.

“Still… I think I can get some more mileage out of it.”

It had worked on a ten-year veteran hunter from the Daeyeon Kingdom.

Irena tilted her head in slight confusion.

Just what did Dana Watson mean by “a certain level”?

‘Could Kairus dodge it? I’d like to try it on him sometime.’

Probably impossible. The move wasn’t even under her full control—she’d nearly killed herself just now using it.

If that strike landed on Kairus, he’d die. And Irena would no longer be able to use her battle gear.

“Damn it. That’s not even the issue right now…!”

She had succeeded in killing one of the hunters. There was no longer any need for Kairus to handle the remaining two alone.

Holding Stained Glass in hand, Irena moved toward where Kairus was facing off against the other two hunters.

“What? You won? How?”

Kairus, swinging Flicker amid a storm of arrows unleashed by the two hunters, wore a look of surprise.

He had thought it was possible for Irena to win but he hadn’t expected her to win this quickly.

“I’ve got a trump card or two, you know!”

“Oh yeah? And that shoulder injury—just a side effect?”

Irena went quiet at Kairus’s words. That strike just now hadn’t strained her arm directly.

It had been enhanced through output.

But the fact that she had funneled all the output into her arm meant the rest of her body wasn’t protected during the swing.

As a result, her right shoulder was now under considerable fatigue and strain.

“If you slip up, it’ll dislocate. And if you mess up again, it’ll just keep popping out. I get the sentiment, but go to Tanya and get it treated.”

“…”

As Irena hesitated, Kairus spoke calmly.

“Get the treatment you need and wait. You’ve got something to do back there anyway.”

Kairus wasn’t sending her to the rear just to rest. To carry out his newly devised plan, Irena had to be on standby in the back.

“…Fine.”

Sensing Kairus’s intention, if only vaguely, Irena followed his instruction and fell back.

As soon as she started retreating, Kairus turned to the two hunters he had been grinning at.

“You heard that, right? Your sworn brother’s dead.”

Kairus chuckled and continued.

“Good thing we’re underground. No need for coffins or burials just to show respect to a dead bastard.”

Cheonghong and Mandeok, who had just lost their comrade right in front of them, were in no mood to brush off Kairus’s provocation.