"Haha, you made a mistake, Herald Clan. Your infamy is quite something, but now you're about to be humiliated here."
The adventurers who approached the clubhouse were convinced they had cornered Azadin, and they boasted arrogantly.
But the truth was, Azadin's employer was right beside him. If he decided to turn on his employers, casualties were inevitable. That was why they cautiously tried to persuade Azadin.
"How about this? If you let our employers go, we'll just let you walk away alive."
"Hm, your intentions are way too obvious."
Azadin smiled as he listened to the adventurers' words.
"Do I look like a fool?"
"..."
"Of course, I'll let them go."
"Huh?"
The employers, the farm owners, were shocked by Azadin's sudden change in attitude. In a situation where they could be taken hostage, he was saying he'd release them?
Everyone was stunned, and then the farm owner, Salco, puffed himself up.
"Haha, this is thanks to one of the adventurers I hired, a blood mage. They say he can manipulate something in the blood to control people's emotions."
"Ah…"
"Is this the effect of magic that manipulates the spirit?"
"Nope."
Azadin shook his head, but the farm owners and adventurers simply assumed Azadin had been ensnared by the magic and laughed it off.
Even though Azadin said he'd let the farm owners go, no one could predict when he might suddenly turn violent. The farm owners slipped out through the window.
"Now, it's dangerous, please step back."
"We'll deal with this Herald Clan man now."
That's what the adventurers said, but the farm owners, having gotten clear, poked their heads back in through the window and shook them.
"We're far enough now, aren't we safe?"
"Haven't had such entertaining spectacle in a while, I'd like to watch."
"Watching people fight is way more fun than dogfights or cockfights, heh heh."
The farm owners were delighted at the prospect of watching the adventurers fight, something they hadn't seen in ages.
The adventurers were disgusted at how their employers treated a life-and-death struggle like mere entertainment, but the hefty sums these men paid quickly smothered their displeasure under greed.
"Then please, stay cautious."
"Even though it's only one man, if even half the rumors are true, he's dangerous."
It was then,
"Hey, look."
A man with hollow eyes, the blood mage hired by Salco, clicked his tongue and spoke.
"That guy isn't under my spell."
"What?"
"If he was, I'd be able to see his heartbeat and blood flow, but I can't."
"What are you saying?"
"Hah, his resistance to magic is enormous."
"?"
Everyone was puzzled by the blood mage's words. If that Herald Clan man wasn't affected by magic, then he had willingly released the farm owners? Who would ever let go of hostages on their own?
At that moment, the voice of the Herald Clan man, Azadin, came.
"Well then, shall we begin?"
And Azadin's figure disappeared from their sight.
—Beauty of Nature, Kazas, Haeseo, dusk light!
Azadin's body blurred, and in an instant he was upon the dwarf wielding a blunderbuss.
The startled dwarf pulled the trigger, but Azadin's dagger struck the blunderbuss's ignition, the matchlock mechanism. The Wendigo dagger exhaled frost, extinguishing the flame in an instant.
"What?!"
But this dwarf was also an A-rank mercenary of the Cell Sword Guild. He immediately drew the hand axe strapped to his belt and swung.
Then—
—Kang!
His axe struck the blunderbuss's powder pan. Azadin had flipped the blunderbuss with his dagger, guiding the dwarf's axe toward the powder pan.
Since the axe was made of flint, striking the pan alone sparked fire, and the blunderbuss discharged.
—Puh-eong!
With a thunderous roar, bullets sprayed into the wall.
And then—
"Uwaagh!"
The farm owners who had barely escaped the clubhouse screamed.
The bullets pierced through the palm-wood walls and rained down on the farm owners, causing severe injuries.
"Ugh!?"
The dwarf mercenary, realizing his blunderbuss had harmed their employers, raged and tried to charge at Azadin, but Azadin's fist brushed lightly against his jaw.
"Uh…"
The dwarf, known to love drink and brawling more than three meals a day, collapsed pathetically, his legs buckling from just that light touch, and passed out. It hadn't even looked like a hard hit.
"You bastard!"
A mercenary with shield and sword rushed forward, but Azadin spun lightly and struck the center of the shield with his fist.
—Tong!
The shield-bearer flew backward, crashing into other mercenaries.
No one could believe what they had just seen.
"Uwaagh!"
"You bastard! Why are you attacking us?!"
"Ah, no… it's not my will… Kraak! M-my arm!"
The shield-bearer's arm was suddenly broken.
"What?"
"Damn! You bastard!"
One mercenary hurled a capture-net.
No matter how strong someone was individually, this man-catching net was separate from martial prowess.
Even bears, once entangled, struggled in agony and died, and in the arenas, the net users had the highest win rates. In one-on-one combat, a man-catching net was the ultimate weapon.
But—
"Are you an idiot?"
Azadin sounded genuinely surprised. Why throw a net when you have numbers on your side?
Using the Herald Clan's movement art, dusk light, Azadin slipped easily from the net's range. The unlucky mercenaries caught each other instead, shrieking.
"You lunatic!"
"Kyah! What are you doing?!"
"Damn! Surround him! We outnumber him, what are you doing?!"
Mercenaries with spears, halberds, and long staves charged in unison. But Azadin slid under the billiard table and then—
"Uwaagh!"
One mercenary near the table vanished beneath it as though sucked down like an ant into an antlion pit.
"Kkeuak!"
And the man who had just been dragged under was hurled at the polearm-wielding mercenaries. Startled, they pulled back their weapons, only for a net to come flying at them.
"Huh?"
"Damn!"
The net snapped taut, entangling their weapons. And then… Azadin, who had seized the net, leapt onto the billiard table and hurled a cudgel.
"Go!"
A short but heavy cudgel, glowing red, flew through the air, striking across the mercenaries' faces with sharp cracks as it passed.
Though it was thrown with terrifying force, strangely, it delivered only just enough impact to knock them out, then spun gracefully in the air before being pulled back smoothly into Azadin's hand.
"You bastard!"
One of the men tearing open the roof fired an arrow down, but with so many people crowded together, what were the odds it would strike properly?
And Azadin simply dodged the arrow lightly, then stretched out his hand instead.
'What?! Is that even possible?'
The archer who fired was horrified. Azadin had nudged the arrow so it skewed and pierced into his own ally beside him.
"What the hell are you doing to our team?!"
"No, that bastard bent the arrow!"
"Stop making ridiculous excuses!"
"I'm telling you, it's true."
"Why the hell would you shoot arrows in such a cramped place?"
"I have the skill to shoot here!"
"You failed, didn't you?! You hit the wrong person! That just means you don't have the skill!"
"That bastard… ugh, forget it, I won't even argue."
While the adventurers of the Cell Sword Guild bickered with each other, Azadin stepped onto the billiard table and leapt upward.
—Puh-eong!
As Azadin kicked the rafters and roof beams, calamity struck those above. With a single kick, the roof shattered apart like a storm had ripped it away, and everyone perched on it tumbled down into the clubhouse.
"Uwaagh!"
In an instant, the clubhouse became a scene of pandemonium.
"Damn! Fighting in here is endless!"
"Retreat!"
"Let's get outside and surround him!"
The adventurers panicked and bolted out of the clubhouse.
"Good! Damn, fighting in such a tight space was foolish!"
"Surround him in the open!"
"But where the hell is that bastard?"
The adventurers realized suddenly that the clubhouse was empty.
"Right?"
Amid them, Azadin himself was casually looking around inside the clubhouse, as if inspecting it.
His act was so natural that the adventurers instinctively assumed he was on their side, never expecting he would be right there mocking them.
"Grr, you bastard!"
"How far are you going to keep mocking us…!"
The furious adventurers swung their weapons, but—
—Seureung!
A blue sword-flash swept across their weapons. Azadin had drawn the Azure Steel greatsword from his back and swung it.
The ordinary weapons, struck by that blue light, were sliced cleanly apart. So cleanly, in fact, that even the wielders themselves were stunned at the light sensation in their hands.
"Huh?"
"N-no way!"
"Azure Steel?!"
Everyone recoiled in shock.
"You seem upset that I've been taking you lightly, should I now get serious?"
As Azadin aimed the gleaming blue greatsword at them, they all swallowed hard. Their mouths went dry on their own. Only after seeing him swing the blade did they finally realize—
'This bastard, until now, he's only been disarming us barehanded.'
'And… he never stabbed to kill, only struck us!'
'Could it be… he was holding back this whole time? Impossible!'
'But… that's an Azure Steel greatsword! If he starts swinging that around…'
Even without a weapon, he was a monster. But if such a monster unleashed a blade that sliced through steel as if cutting grass?
The place would become a sea of blood in an instant.
"As expected, you're Cell Swords who live by the blade, so it wouldn't be proper manners to belittle you too much, should I face you in earnest?"
"N-no, forgive me, but please, continue to belittle us."
An elven woman swallowed her pride and made the request to Azadin.
"Alright."
To everyone's astonishment, Azadin actually sheathed the Azure Steel greatsword. Watching that, the adventurers finally realized.
'He really was just toying with us?'
The color drained from their faces all at once.
The anger they had felt moments ago cooled into nothing, and instead, fear began to seep into them like morning mist heavy with dew, soaking their bodies. Even though Azadin had put the blade away, none of them dared to make a move.
"What the hell are you doing, you fools!"
From the farm owners' perspective, it was maddening. They had paid enormous sums to hire these adventurers, and yet they couldn't handle a single man.
And now, their morale was broken, their eyes darting for a chance to flee. These same braggarts who boasted endlessly of their sword skills in Bel Hoda!
These men who had lorded over the farms and towns, wrecking public order, now cowered like chicks under the eaves at the sight of a hawk.
"Now that we're in open space, surround him! No matter how strong he is, alone he can't do anything!"
The farm owner's roar finally snapped the adventurers back to their senses.
But—
"Apologies for being late!"
A booming voice suddenly rang out behind them.
Startled, the adventurers spun around—only to see masked figures appear at their rear.
They wore the same bird-shaped masks as the Herald Clan. Around six of them, not that many.
But after struggling so hard against just one Azadin, to now face six masked Herald Clan members…
'No way all Herald Clan are this strong. This one was called the Second Herald, wasn't he? He's probably one of their best.'
'So what? You want to test their strength yourself? Not me.'
'Not me either…'
The adventurers, already beaten harshly by Azadin, had no desire to test their luck against six more Herald Clan warriors.
And that wasn't the only reinforcement arriving.