Chapter 40: Cheap Tricks

Cheap tricks.

Above Kashu City, the Storm King’s flag fluttered.

That was nothing but a cheap trick.

‘There’s no way the Storm King’s army could have gotten here already.’

Physically, such a rapid advance was impossible.

Even if they had somehow managed it, the Berserkers would’ve given some kind of word beforehand.

Which meant, that was just the cheap trick of the vampire Ceseres.

Not a single soldier from the Storm King’s army. Just the flag brought here.

Hoping I would get scared.

Kalserik studied my expression.

“Commander. I understand how you feel, but for now we must retreat. Whatever the circumstances, the Storm King’s flag is hanging there. The moment we strike, it’ll mean war.”

He whispered so only I could hear.

“The men’s morale is already shaken. There isn’t a single warrior here who wants to fight the army of one of the Five Kings.”

War?

Morale?

All because of a single flag like that?

Ridiculous.

No matter what anyone said.

‘Kashu City is mine.’

From the moment I killed Blood Count Delkash and subjugated Kashu to Kushan—

This place had been mine.

And was that all?

If we were to even begin to put Seah’s Three-War Strategy, devised through sleepless nights, into practice, Kashu was absolutely necessary.

That city… and they dared try to swallow it whole without spilling a drop of blood, using nothing more than a scrap of cloth?

“Kalserik.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll take command of the unit. Stand by, and the moment the gates open, march in and seize control.”

“…What?”

“I’ll take Ceseres’s head myself and open the gates.”

“C-Commander!”

Originally, this wasn’t what I had planned.

Since special training had been canceled, I’d intended to properly test out siege tactics this time.

But that fluttering flag only fanned the flames of my fury.

What had Katrina said again?

That a king was one who wove together the dreams of his vassals and led them forward, wasn’t it?

That day, though no one spoke it outright, all of them had laid bare their dream.

The Three-War Strategy.

Toppling the Empire and rebuilding Banroa into an eternal empire.

That was our dream.

And I was determined to lead that dream.

“This won’t take long.”

Step. Step.

I strode alone toward Kashu City’s outer walls.

Kalserik tried to stop me, then pressed a hand to his forehead and gave up.

As they watched my back grow distant, the soldiers’ unrest only grew louder.

“Quiet, all of you! Hold position until orders are given!”

Kalserik’s voice rang out, steadying the troops.

And then—

“Halt! Kashu already belongs to the Storm King! Do you not see the flag flying here? Any further approach will be deemed an act of hostility toward the Storm King!”

From atop the outer walls—

That wall of timber logs—one commander shouted down at me.

Brimming with arrogance.

Because he bore the Storm King’s name, it seemed I looked insignificant to him.

Insolent.

Ku-woong!

I stomped the ground and leapt forward.

With the subtlety of the Stage of Body-Sword, the wind that sought to block my path split naturally to either side, my body grew lighter, and my ankles, kicking off the ground, brimmed with steel-like resilience.

Ku-woong!

A palisade five meters tall—just one step and I was already on top of it.

There were some fine soldiers who hurriedly loosed their arrows, but every single one fell uselessly behind me.

Through the dust cloud I kicked up, I saw enemy soldiers glaring at me with wide eyes.

Slash!

Without even looking away from them, I simply swung my sword to the side and cut down the Storm King’s banner pole.

Then I asked,

“Flag?”

“Th-that’s…”

The commander who had shouted so arrogantly a moment ago crumbled under my gaze and collapsed.

He even wet himself, the urine streaming down as I looked down and growled,

“Wait. I’ll be back with Ceseres’s head.”

Kwaaang!

Once again I stomped the palisade and leapt away.

“Stop him!”

Crossing the wide outer city by stepping only on rooftops, I quickly arrived at the inner walls.

Their response was much sharper than that of the outer walls.

It seemed they had stationed the real warriors here.

“Archers!”

Clatter!

Dozens of bows locked on me.

I cast a glance below.

It was evening, the sun setting in red hues.

The streets were packed with citizens finishing their day’s work, heading home.

And they were going to shoot arrows here?

Typical. Roberland bastards.

“Loose!”

Swishhhhhh!

Arrows poured through the air, raining toward me.

Perhaps because they’d been watching my charge from afar, or maybe because these archers were more elite, their accuracy was far sharper than before.

That actually worked out better.

Sssk-kkk!

A single extended swing of my sword.

From its tip, countless threads of aura unfurled.

Each one traced a precise trajectory, cutting only the arrowheads.

Fwhaak!

With the following gust, the severed arrowheads and shafts spun, scattering in all directions.

“Wh-what the…!”

To their eyes, it would look like magic.

Aura Threads were certainly a powerful weapon, but they had probably never seen anyone control dozens of strands so precisely.

Even I, once hailed a genius, hadn’t found it this easy before.

But once I learned the ancient swordsmanship, aura obeyed me like a sword.

The synergy between ancient Sword Energy techniques and modern Aura Swordsmanship was, frankly, absurd.

“Bloc—!”

Thud!

I dropped right in front of the commander.

Atop the inner wall, built up with solid stone over ten meters high.

Just as half a dozen elite warriors drew their weapons and charged to block me—

Fwoooosh!

A crimson spray burst skyward.

Nothing special.

I had only used the same technique I’d just applied to arrows—this time on people.

Half a dozen corpses, their heads severed from their torsos, were swept back by the delayed gust of sword wind.

The blood that scattered in all directions didn’t touch me at all, instead sprinkling gently over the inner walls.

“Monster…!”

I’d heard that one even back when I was twenty.

Boom!!

This time I kicked off the inner wall and leapt.

My destination was the Lord’s Keep.

My charge would outpace even a mounted messenger.

Ceseres wouldn’t even hear that I was coming before I arrived at his throat.

“Block him!”

“You idiot! You think you can break through here alone?!”

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

“This is your grave!”

What now?

As I ran across the rooftops of the bustling district inside the inner walls, Experts sprang out from every side.

Shaaak!

Arrows flew at me, each one shimmering with aura of varying hues.

Sniper fire from warriors who had reached the rank of Expert.

And then—

“It’s a Joint Assault! The enemy is a Swordmaster! All you need is to land a single perfect strike—victory will be ours!”

Joint Assault.

A tactic Experts mainly used when charging a powerhouse of Swordmaster level.

It assumed both sides clashing head-on, and so each Expert had only one chance to strike.

To pour every ounce of strength into that one blow, and for those strikes to flow like an unbroken river with not a single gap—those were the two essences of the Joint Assault.

It was a common belief that even a Swordmaster would be reduced to scraps if caught in the full onslaught of over a hundred Experts executing it properly.

But—

I wasn’t a mere ordinary Swordmaster.

“I’ll put this to good use.”

Tang!

I stepped on the tip of an incoming arrow and vaulted higher.

Upward, faster, accelerating another level.

The Stage of Body-Sword lightened my body and let me shift my center of gravity at will—allowing stunts like this.

Thanks to that, the charging Experts passed helplessly beneath my feet.

Toward their ranks, I fired Aura Shooting.

“Ughhiiiik!”

But they didn’t just take it. In a rush they spun back toward me, swinging their aura swords in defense.

The clashing auras in midair erupted into a violent storm.

“I’ll use this too.”

Paaaanng!

Riding that storm on my back, I accelerated once again.

Beneath me, the Experts who failed to block all of the aura attacks fell in swarms, like insects with their wings torn off.

“Ins—insane…”

The rest of the Experts couldn’t match my speed after I accelerated twice.

All they could do was stare blankly upward at my figure receding into the distance.

Thud!

In one bound, I arrived before the Lord’s Keep.

The tightly shut iron gates I cleaved apart with an Aura Blade filled with Sword Energy, and I climbed the stairs, cutting down every warrior who tried to block my path with each step.

‘Such a familiar place.’

I knew it well.

I knew exactly where the Lord’s office was inside this keep.

Because I had climbed these very stairs when I killed Blood Count Delkash.

“You again?”

I let out a dry laugh at the warriors blocking the stairway.

“Grrr—!”

Their eyes glowed red, their mouths foamed white,

and they looked more like beasts than men—

Berserkers.

Most of the Berserkers from Berserk Cape lived independently, but not all of them.

Some—called defectors or cowards—succumbed to the strength of the city, or became drunk on its pleasures, and settled into the arms of its rulers.

Back during Blood Count Delkash’s reign, they had been the hardest wall to break through.

Berserkers showed superhuman physical power even when they weren’t elite warriors.

And even with their arms or legs severed, they crawled to bite with their teeth or grapple with maddening persistence.

My brothers, my uncle, and I had spent enormous strength just to cut our way through them then.

And now, once again, Berserkers blocked my way—

clustered on the stairway like storm clouds.

“Fine. Let’s fight.”

“Raaaargh!”

As if my words had been the signal, the Berserkers poured down the stairs.

Poured down was the only way to describe it.

Countless bodies, trampling one another, rushed at me like beasts.

That was the terror of Berserkers.

They knew no fear.

They knew no pain.

And when they surged down like this, it became impossible to cut them down with precision.

Even if I swung wide and felled many, among the rolling corpses there’d be another Berserker—swinging an axe, biting with fangs, or grappling with outstretched arms—turning it all into a maddening melee.

In the past, I had forced my way through that hell with difficulty.

‘This time, it’ll be different.’

I didn’t see the Berserkers as a single mass. I looked at each one of them, sharply, precisely.

I sought the shortest line that connected their vital points.

Whooom—whooom—

The sword whispered the information to me. The path it wished to take.

And as I listened, subtle openings that I’d never noticed before revealed themselves brightly.

Into those spaces, I slipped my body.

Becoming a single stream of wind,

drawing threads,

kneading clay.

I let the sword dance as freely as it pleased.

Puk! Puk!

Slash! Slice!

Like a fish fighting upstream against a waterfall, my blade rampaged without pause.

Short, long, pulling, pushing—every motion a sword could perform, I used to slash, stab, and sweep the Berserkers aside.

Thunk! Thud!

Thunk! Splat…

Crash, crash, crash!

The Berserkers fell like broken dolls, their heads slamming against the walls and stairs as they tumbled down.

And I stood there among them.

Controlling the torrent of Berserkers pouring down like a waterfall, I climbed step by step, never once stopping.

Squelch, squelch.

Every footprint splashed in blood.

But not a single drop touched me.

That was how much strength I still had left.

Enough to avoid every falling spray of blood, enough to flick aura in between to scatter the droplets.

How many had I killed like that?

Blink—

Blink—

At some point, the Berserkers stopped charging.

Their once-bloodshot eyes now looked at me meekly.

‘Well, this is new.’

Sure, Berserkers who had reached higher realms could freely switch their frenzy on and off—but even I hadn’t expected this development.

Step.

Rumble—

With each step I took, the horde of Berserkers recoiled backward.

Sweat beading cold on their brows.

They had realized it too.

That they stood no chance.

The sight of me, not even drenched in their blood after slaughtering so many—terrified even Berserkers, who were supposed to be mad with battle.

Step, step, step.

I let my sword hang low and simply walked upward.

Rumble!

Those who had backed away crowded into each other, then pressed themselves flat against the stairway walls, opening a path.

I passed right through the trembling Berserkers without another glance.

And what was left was nothing much.

A handful of Peak and High-grade Experts blocking the very last stretch.

To each, I fed the blade into their hearts, throats, and mouths.

Splurt!

At last, I arrived at the office.

I threw the doors wide open.

‘There you are.’

Ceseres sat in the center sofa, sipping tea.

‘Tea?’

I must’ve been too fast for him to even think of fleeing.

So he was just pretending at composure.

“Ah, you’re here?”

He greeted me with a friendly smile.

“Honestly, I’m quite surprised. Were you always this reckless? I recall you being more cautious before.”

Truth was, I still was.

Only now, I was far stronger than then.

And I had a dream worth risking my life to achieve.

So no longer would I be ensnared by your cheap tricks.

“Well, anyway, sit down. Have some tea.”

Ceseres stretched out a hand, gesturing to a seat. Calm, as though nothing had changed.

“Even if you’re leaving after, surely one cup of tea won’t hurt?”

To that vampire’s charming smile—

Sshhk—

I gifted him Banroa’s white blade.

Thud—roll…

His head rolled, and his body burst into flames.

“Sorry. I’m the type who kills first when someone starts scheming.”

I kicked the teacups and table aside.

Instead, I grabbed the water jug from a corner of the room and drank greedily.

Ssshhhhh—

The coolness spread through my whole body.

That shiver through my flesh.

At last, refreshing.

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