Chapter 933 - To the West
Jaxen quietly melted into his surroundings.
'Assimilation.'
A technique to dissolve one's presence into the environment. It was a specialty of Fairies, but for those who made assassination their trade, it was a skill they had to master. At the knight level, one could erase their presence entirely by moving their Will, but even before that, it was a technique anyone could learn through training. In other words, the basis of stealth. An essential skill for an assassin.
'Assimilation and Killing Thrust.'
These were Jaxen's specialties.
He knew that the correct answer was to polish the basics and surpass limits.
In fact, he had been confident that no one in the Knight Order, including Enkrid, would be able to block it.
'It doesn't work anymore on him.'
The moment he confirmed Enkrid's skill, dozens of methods flashed through Jaxen's mind.
He targeted Enkrid countless times in his imagination.
Taking his back, approaching to slit his throat, stabbing from afar with a longsword, strangling him with a cord, even grazing him with poison-coated nails.
'Blocked.'
Nothing worked.
Starting with that realization, Jaxen naturally began to dissect what he possessed, piece by piece.
The spar with that bastard Rem was a desperate struggle to face his limits and break free.
A frantic effort to move forward.
Enkrid had always been the one doing it, but this time, it was his turn.
'Assassination consists of five methods.'
Perception, Psychology, Deception, Calculation, Realization.
Perception is knowing the target.
Psychology is reading the opponent's mind at the desired moment.
Deception is exploiting gaps in that opponent's mind.
Calculation is putting all factors up to execution into the prediction range and killing the opponent countless times in one's head.
Realization is utilizing everything prepared so far to carry out the mission.
Because he used these five methods best, Jaxen was the Master of Dawn Dew.
The best among the Geogr's Dagger.
Even though he had advanced beyond the level of an Assassination Guild Master through deepening and training, he wasn't satisfied with the present.
'Assimilation and Killing.'
Then, adding sensory arts that perceive everything around with extrasensory perception by coating the five senses with Will.
Jaxen ruminated on his specialties.
A voice cut through his thoughts.
"There?"
On a path climbing a mountain range.
Through giant trees that would crush a house if they fell, a gray eye was visible.
The bastard who found his exact location threw an axe.
There was no sound.
Before the sound, a hand axe looking like a disk flew in and embedded itself in the tree where Jaxen was hiding.
Boom!
The air tore, and the tree exploded.
The side of the tree burst, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Jaxen had already left his original spot, but he knew he wouldn't die prettily if hit by that head-on.
'I'm being pushed back.'
My Assimilation was exposed, and my attempt at a kill was lost.
He had tried to take Rem's back and attempt a lethal thrust several times, but that gray eye chased him, drawing a long trail in the air.
That Rem bastard was blocking his thrusts with instantaneous reaction speed.
Jaxen had experienced it over and over.
'Unless he's resolved to kill...'
It wasn't easy to land a hit.
That bastard had also sharpened his senses like never before after clashing with Enkrid.
You could say he was in his element.
The owner of the gray eye hid his aura subtly, like a beast, and sniffed out the hidden Jaxen with ease.
He was a man who moved into the wind out of habit—a fighting style that revealed his nature as a hunter.
Jaxen didn't stay in one spot for long.
If he lingered, Rem's axe would come flying.
Even while moving constantly, his mind raced.
He repeated his calculations, aiming for a single moment of carelessness.
But his predictions were deviating from the norm.
Jaxen glimpsed a future where, if things continued like this, the outcome would change.
"Uh, aren't you just a washed-up alley cat?"
That Rem bastard spoke with the certainty that he stood above him.
It was visible in his attitude.
Nose high, eyes looking down.
The corners of his eyes crinkled with laughter—eyes that made Jaxen want to gouge them out, even if he had to mortgage his soul to a demon for three days.
"Ah, right. You. What was your name again?"
Ragna ignored him.
As if the human being named Jaxen didn't exist in the first place.
"Youngest Brother, don't be too hurt. Being the youngest isn't a problem, is it? The youngest is just the youngest. In some ways, being the youngest might be nice."
He spoke once, but used the word 'youngest' five times.
Audin would cleverly turn his insides upside down like that countless times.
'Ah.'
He felt it.
That Rem bastard had realized something and was approaching a new realm after hanging out with him for a few days.
The future painted by his anxiety stimulated Jaxen.
Jaxen's realization came in that instant.
If he was pushed back by these crazy bastards now, he had no future.
Nothing would be more painful than that.
'Clumsy Will is useless.'
Following the inspiration that suddenly surfaced, Jaxen erased the "color" from the Will inside him.
He removed its form and finally emptied it completely.
"What the...?"
Even that Rem bastard stopped, eyes widening in a glare.
Jaxen moved, having emptied everything.
In that moment, he was detached from the world.
'Absence from everything.'
Forget the world.
Forget myself.
Forget the weapon in my hand.
Jaxen moved for a single goal, forgetting even where he was.
'Stab.'
Intent rose, but it was buried and hidden within a colorless Will.
Puk-
Jaxen punched a hole exactly where he wanted.
***
"That damn bastard did something weird."
At Rem's words, Enkrid examined the wound carefully.
There was a hole in Rem's left thigh.
It wasn't deep, but he had definitely been hit properly.
Since Anne had applied medicine and wrapped it in bandages, the angle of entry couldn't be determined.
He could ask Rem about that later.
That wasn't what was important.
"He stabbed you from outside your perception range?"
"Not that. I only knew I was stabbed after it happened. Shit, how do I say it? It felt really dirty. A lot. Very much so. Be careful of that insidious bastard."
Rem slandered Jaxen as usual.
Enkrid nodded.
Not because he agreed with the slander, but because he understood that Jaxen had achieved something significant.
'Rem would have already been prepared for a standard Void Kill.'
This was something new again.
Every time he heard stories like this, his heart raced.
He wanted to spar.
He wanted to experience it.
"Not yet. Control is difficult, so I might kill you by mistake."
Jaxen, who had arrived unnoticed, threw out the words while standing in his usual arms-crossed posture.
He spoke based solely on the eagerness Enkrid was leaking.
Listening to those words, the tip of Rem's eyebrow shot up.
"Kill by mistake? Did you think I was fighting to kill, you bastard? Could you even kill me in the first place?"
"If you want to die, just say the word you barbarian fuck. For you, I'll do it pro bono."
"Hey, do you think I'm just playing around here?"
Rem gripped his axe tighter.
Veins popped out on the back of his hand.
Before anyone realized it, Jaxen was holding a dagger in his crossed arms.
A ferocious aura, sharper than ever before, passed between them.
A few soldiers watching swallowed hard.
They had fought often before, but this time was different.
A razor-sharp tension pressed down on the air.
If the soldiers had been weak-willed, their legs would have buckled.
Fortunately, this was the training ground of the Madmen Knights.
Even a common soldier couldn't enter here without considerable backbone.
Once you stepped inside, you had to endure training intensities that made you wonder if this was actually hell.
"What a shame."
Enkrid revealed his emotions amidst the exchange of murderous intent.
He was sincere, as always.
He had defeated every knight in the order, but he wasn't satisfied with that.
He wanted to go further, and he wanted them to follow.
He was truly a consistent human being.
Saying it was a shame now was a genuine expression of regret that he couldn't test himself against Jaxen's new technique.
"Wait."
Jaxen's killing intent died out.
Instead, fervor rose in its place.
The Captain's words were like magic that touched people's hearts.
"Yeah, I need to polish my skills a bit too, so wait."
Rem chimed in, scratching his neck with his axe for no reason.
Considering that ferocious axe blade could cut through steel, the casual way he scratched his neck seemed to demonstrate just how tough his skin—and his nerves—really were.
"You said something about a letter?"
Only then did Rem pay attention to the letter.
He occasionally exchanged letters with Ayul through a merchant guild.
He opened it expecting nothing of great importance.
"Hmm?"
A low groan escaped Rem's mouth.
It was the reaction one gives when hearing unexpected news.
Rem's eyes darted left and right, following the content of the letter.
Finishing it in one breath, he spoke.
"I need to go to the West for a bit."
Enkrid didn't have much to do remaining in the Border Guard anyway.
The city was taken care of by Krais.
Enkrid was the decision-maker, but he mostly just nodded at whatever Krais suggested.
Also, it was a quieter time than ever—a short peace obtained after the war with the South.
However, in some places, fierce fights were still breaking out, and the content of the letter detailed one such conflict.
News that a faction of the Giant Clan that had escaped from Lihin-Stetten had surged into the West.
Of course, if that were all, Rem wouldn't have bothered to move personally.
But he read the part about "nightmares" in the letter again and again, then declared he would go.
"Let's go together."
Enkrid said.
His body was itching to use his new realizations in something other than a spar.
Besides, Ayul was Rem's partner, and didn't Enkrid have many connections in the West as well?
"Well, let's do that. Seems we can just clean up quickly and return."
"With that leg?"
Dunbakel asked.
When it wasn't training time, rolling on the floor like a lazy cat was her daily routine.
Even now, she was half-lying on a heated blanket on the floor.
"Is that your bed now?"
At Rem's snide remark, Dunbakel tilted her head.
"No, my bed is inside the quarters. This is just the floor."
Dunbakel's tone was dead serious.
"Doesn't it seem like she's not doing that to tease me?"
Rem turned his head and asked Enkrid.
Enkrid spoke the truth.
"She looks sincere."
Rather than an intent to tease, it was a genuine comment from a colleague who simply said stupid things out of honesty.
"That makes me even angrier."
Rem muttered.
Dunbakel closed her mouth.
She had learned the hard way that attacking Rem when he was in a mood like this didn't end well.
Rem let it slide with a rough look and tried to prepare to leave immediately, looking ready to walk all the way there on his limping leg.
"As Dunbakel said, walking on that leg is unreasonable."
Enkrid intervened.
***
Just as he was about to secure horses, Krais arranged for them to join the Rockfreed Merchant Guild, which happened to be leaving for the West.
"Something happened in the West? Tsk. I heard strange things kept running out in all directions from the South. I'll tell them to pack up and go as fast as possible."
To Krais, the West was a treasure trove of resources.
The obsidian they mined there had already become a specialty product.
Two days later, Rem's leg had healed enough to walk, and the two joined the caravan heading West.
It was a caravan commanded by Leona Rockfreed herself.
"It is an honor, sir."
Leona welcomed Enkrid with a smile.
"If Shinar saw that, she'd yell at you to lower the corners of your mouth immediately. That smile is dangerously bright."
Rem critiqued her smile dryly.
"If she gets angry at my smile, she probably would have buried Sir Aurelia in a mountain somewhere by now."
Leona was the owner of a merchant guild; she knew the importance of information well.
Aurelia was a new addition to the Madmen Knights—the core military force protecting this city.
It was impossible for Leona not to be interested.
It meant she already knew how outstanding Aurelia's beauty was and exactly who her grandfather was.
"Cut the trivial talk. Why are you moving personally? Is the Guild Master that free?"
While Enkrid spoke, Leona moved toward a carriage.
After the two boarded, Dunbakel climbed onto the roof, complaining that the inside was stuffy, and Rem took the passenger seat next to the driver.
The guard sitting there looked at Rem nervously.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Nothing."
Rem wasn't fully relieved of his grumpiness yet.
He had taken a knife to the leg because of that Jaxen bastard, and the discomfort he felt whenever he tried to run annoyed him to no end.
'That bastard's sword strike was really strange.'
He hadn't felt the blade's presence before the stab—he only felt it after it was already buried in his flesh.
Rem closed his eyes in the passenger seat.
Recovery came first.
Sufficient rest would heal his body quickly.
Judging by Ayul's letter, the situation itself might not be a huge problem, but the mention of "nightmares"—aside from giants or whatever—filled him with an ominous feeling.
Feeling the swaying of the carriage, Rem drifted off to sleep.
"These aren't Border Guard soldiers. Are they troops raised by the merchant guild?"
Enkrid asked, scanning the surroundings.
He was assessing the state of the soldiers flanking the caravan.
Only Enkrid and Leona were inside the carriage.
Since Leona was the Master of the Rockfreed Merchant Guild, she usually had guards sticking to her like glue, morning and night.
But the person sitting across from her now was the Commander of the Madmen Knights.
If Enkrid decided to harm Leona, no guard could stop him.
Conversely, if someone tried to harm her by piercing through the calamity known as Enkrid, regular guards would be meaningless anyway.
For that reason, they were alone in the carriage.
It was a personnel choice that gave a glimpse into Leona's mindset.
She valued efficiency.
If taking a risk was necessary for the ultimate goal, she took it.
If it led to a greater profit later, that was efficiency.
Anyone could see she was a woman of great capacity.
For example, even though she had become the owner of Rockfreed City and had the backing of the Border Guard's troops, she didn't spare any investment in raising her own warriors to guard the guild and the city.
On the surface, it looked like a waste of gold, but looking deeper, it was a decision full of valid reasoning.
"That sounds like you're asking why I don't just borrow the Border Guard's power. A merchant guild that cannot stand on its own will eventually fall to ruin."
Leona said, clicking her fingers.
***
If you enjoy the series and want to get more chapters early, head over to https://payhip.com/Samowek
Next 100 chapters - 25e [Be sure to message me on discord for any information]
[SHOP BEST BUY] - 50e - Every chapter translated - Latest WN-1080 + daily chapters from monday to friday for a month.
-KNIGHT - Cost 20e - Chapters 1005-1080 + daily chapters from Monday to Friday for a month
I welcome you to join our discord https://discord.gg/RY7BbJpeAZ
**ANY INFO ONLY APPLIES TO THE LATEST CHAPTER HERE ON WEBNOVEL**