Chapter 9. Raid (2)

“Get the injured out first!”

“Someone get a splint over here!”

Since I helped, taking care of the remaining Masked People in the garden was a piece of cake.

“Hah…”

After the security guards apprehended the remaining Masked People with surprising speed, I took a moment to catch my breath.

*Damn*, I'm out of breath.

I feel like my strength, along with blood, is oozing out of the wound on my chest.

“I’ll get you treated…”

As I was catching my breath alone, one of the guards approached me and asked.

I wondered why he asked, then noticed the wound had split further, and the cloth I’d tied around it was becoming increasingly soaked with blood.

“It’s fine.”

With the mansion on fire like this, where am I supposed to get treatment?

The annex is probably in chaos right now too.

“Then you should at least rest a little…”

“Don’t worry.”

More importantly…

I could feel the gazes of the surrounding guards turning distinctly favorable.

Originally, they had a slightly wary air about them when we trained together at the training grounds, but now they seemed to recognize me as an ally.

“Rather than that, I'll go into the mansion first.”

“Huh? With that wound?”

“The faster this situation is resolved, the faster I can get treatment.”

Let's see…

The inside of the mansion is still a bit of a mess.

They blocked off the garden by the entrance, where my doghouse is.

But do these intruders think they're *guests*? Did they only come in through the front?

They'd have come over from the sides, and happily hopped the wall from the back too.

The two Bodyguard Knights are with the Young Lady, and Lowell is still fighting someone on the roof over there.

Even if the Knight in charge of the mansion's security is blocking one area, two others are wide open.

“Then I’ll hurry.”

So, I accepted some relatively undamaged clothes, tied them around my wound more tightly, and entered the smoke-filled mansion.

And…

“Wow.”

Seeing the chaotic interior of the mansion, and the intruders still in the midst of breaking in, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Including the Masked People I dealt with earlier, why are there so many stragglers?

Something feels off.

Aren't they supposed to be a specialized guerrilla terror group from a ruined Kingdom?

Just hearing their name, I thought they’d be a small, elite force.

So why are they swarming like cockroaches?

“Seems like the front team ran into some trouble.”

“Let’s take care of this.”

Looking at the Masked People muttering amongst themselves as they looked at me, I drew the sword I’d borrowed from the guard.

“Packed like sardines, huh?”

“I’ll take care of them all at once!”

Honestly.

To be completely honest, I'm hanging by a thread.

*Whoosh-*

I dodged the sword swung by the Masked Person at the front.

Sharp. Is he more skilled than the others?

Still, he isn't as strong as the ones I fought earlier.

He’s not even an Aura User.

*Slice-*

“Gah.”

Using the momentum from dodging, I grazed his neck with my blade, then pulled back.

*Whoosh-*

A sword swings immediately into the space I just vacated.

See? So many of them.

“The opponent is injured!”

“Press him quickly!”

Are all of these stragglers?

Or did they hire more?

Just what kind of group would take on a request like this?

Well, I need to focus on the fight for now.

*Thud-*

I kicked off the ground and charged.

“He’s coming!”

“Stab him!”

Frankly, there are too many of them.

If I fight them head-on, I'll be the first to collapse from blood loss.

So then…

I need to bring these bastards to their senses.

First things first.

I grabbed the head of one of the Masked People, using my Aura-enhanced physical strength.

And then…

*Crack-*

I twisted his neck like I was popping off a bottle cap.

“What?”

“Uh…”

At that surreal sight…

The two at the front hesitated.

However…

“Don’t stop!”

“Stab him!”

The ones behind them, instead of hesitating, pushed past the frozen ones and swung their knives at me.

*Thud-* *Thud, thud!*

I used the corpse of the recently deceased Masked Person to block their attacks.

Instead of retreating, I pushed forward.

Deeper, deeper into the throng.

Tangled together…

Close enough that they could stab their allies while swinging at me.

“Uh…”

“Urk!”

With us this close…

Their blind swings started to hit their own allies.

This makes them hesitate even more when swinging at me.

The more they hesitate, the closer I get.

Occasionally, someone from a blind spot would try to stab me with a dagger.

*Tingle-*

But when that happened, my sharp senses would sound the alarm.

*Hook-*

I’d dodge the blade and grab their hand.

*Crack!*

“Aaagh!”

I’d crush their hand with my grip and snatch the dagger from their weakened grasp.

Taking an enemy's weapon is a Gladiator's basic skill.

In group battles, your blade gets damaged countless times.

And now that I have a dagger in my hand…

This melee gives me an even bigger advantage.

“Just attack him!”

“Push him down!”

Now they’re trying to push through with their bodies.

I stab their throats with my dagger, bite their noses if they get too close.

Sometimes, I lower my body drastically to make them collide with each other.

If they try to pin me down, I move almost as if I'm kissing the floor, twisting their feet.

Like ants being sucked into an antlion pit.

The moment they touch me, their lives are forfeit.

“Sh, shit….”

“...Go first!”

The more they do,

From front to back, fear gradually spreads.

The fear that paralyzed them with the power of numbers,

Gradually the anesthesia wears off, and the thought of death sinks deep into their minds.

Like that.

When the number of masked people attacking me was halved,

“Uh, uhh….”

“Fucking monster…”

Now fear goes beyond their minds.

It wraps around their entire bodies, especially their most important feet.

I'm covered in blood, precariously close to death after taking a few unavoidable knife wounds.

But preparing paralyzed prey is,

A very easy task.

***

“Young Lady! We must move quickly!”

“Uh, uhm…!”

The third floor of the burning mansion.

Daren, a Bodyguard Knight of the Void Family, hurriedly escorted the Young Lady downstairs.

“Kaiden! Any enemies?”

“Haven’t seen any yet.”

Oddly enough,

The momentum of the invaders, who had been swarming like mad just moments ago, had completely stopped.

Therefore, after a brief discussion with Kaiden, another Bodyguard Knight, they decided to escort the Young Lady and escape the mansion first.

Until now, they had endured the burning mansion thanks to the Young Lady’s magic.

But her magic was reaching its limits, so they planned to escape outside if possible.

They were in the Capital, so if they escaped the mansion and went to the Security Squad or another Family, they could get the Young Lady out of danger.

“Excuse me, but.”

“Young Lady?”

“Where’s Dog?”

However,

While they were moving, the Young Lady uttered strange words.

“Young Lady…!”

What was this talk about Dog in the middle of all this? Why was she looking for him in such a critical situation?

"Now's not the time to be looking for…."

But, looking at the Young Lady's eerily glowing red eyes, he couldn't say anything.

“Where is he?”

“...He was probably in the Courtyard, so I’m sure he'll look after himself.”

This is crazy.

What’s so good about that guy....

The Young Lady had her eccentricities sometimes, but this one with him was the biggest yet.

The Young Lady, who had never shown any interest in such battles, had for some reason insisted on going to see the Gladiator matches that day.

And the events that followed were unbelievable.

A brief, shameful memory of being momentarily overwhelmed by that guy who didn't even know the basics of being an Aura User flashed through his mind, but he quickly erased it.

“Let’s go down quickly.”

Still, that guy being a former Champion, his skills were undeniable.

Right now, he wished he could even borrow the help of a cat, no, that Dog.

It was a shameful thought for a Knight,

but he hoped that the guy the Young Lady had brought in as a guard dog for the House was outside, biting the other guys well.

The Young Lady had a good eye for these things.

There must have been a reason she brought him in.

The Family recognized the Young Lady's special qualities, which was why they had provided her with a mansion in the Capital and arranged for her to receive Lessons from a special Tutor.

Anyway.

“Kaiden! We’re going down this way!”

They descended through the back stairs of the mansion.

It was a path used only by the Servants, but there were a few Masked People coming up.

*Swish-*

“Ugh!”

One or two,

were easily dealt with as they descended.

“Their numbers have suddenly decreased.”

“Indeed.”

The number of Masked People had literally decreased in an instant.

Considering how much trouble they had just moments ago dealing with the endless stream of them in the hallways and stairs, the situation was strange.

Did reinforcements arrive?

Thinking about the strong individuals who had mixed in with the Masked People, piercing through with sharp attacks, he honestly thought the mansion’s Security would be no match for them.

In any case,

they had no intention of wasting the opportunity they’d been given, so they quickly escorted the Young Lady down the stairs to the Lobby.

“It’s quiet.”

“You’re right.”

For now, prioritizing the Young Lady’s safety as much as possible,

Daren guarded her back, and Kaiden guarded the front as they reached the Lobby.

“Kaiden?”

Just before reaching the Lobby,

Kaiden stopped.

“Daren, cover the Young Lady’s eyes.”

“...Young Lady, just a moment.”

What could it be that required her eyes to be covered?

He very carefully covered the Young Lady’s eyes with a cloth and checked ahead.

And then,

“...What the?”

Daren instinctively let out a bewildered sound.

Because he saw the first-floor Lobby, with red blood flowing everywhere.

Black Masked People lay scattered all over.

The scene was so gruesome that the marble floor looked as if it had been dyed red.

And in that place,

A man,

“Huu….”

Soaked to the bone, he stood as if he were covered in blood.

“It’s over.”

And.

Seeing the bewildered expressions of Daren and Kaiden, who had arrived safely with the Young Lady,

*Thud.*

Of all the people in the Lobby,

He was the last to collapse onto the floor.