There was a clear and melodious crash.
The glass on the door was smashed by the figure.
Lilian, dressed in a thin, silk pajamas, lifted the candlestick in surprise as she looked at the figure that fell in from outside. It was a handsome man with short, blonde hair. He was wearing a sky blue color... 'Is he wearing a police uniform?'
'The police...' Lilian looked at the clock. 'The police came at four fifty in the morning by breaking through the window of the third floor of a private residence?'
It would not be fair to call it a private residence. After all, the Laya Club was one of the very best 'clubs' in Red Street Market. It was located between the Red Street Market and popular areas of Linhe Street (a famous business street in the Western District.). Lilian was a famous beauty in the club. Even nobles at the rank of an Earl or a high official of the court would need to pay Lilian twenty gold coins an hour for her to entertain them.
That was why, when the young and promising Captain Kohen Karabeyan crashed the private bedroom in Laya Club from the third floor, Lilian woke up with a fright and came to investigate with a candlestick.
"Young Miss, I apologize for disturbing your sleep."
Kohen got up awkwardly from the ground. He held his saber behind him and bowed to the astonished Lilian. When he wanted to take off his hat to bow, he found that his officer hat had dropped in the battle earlier.
"Shit," Kohen mumbled.
'That queer old man threw away my nightgown. I can't even go out to buy them in the middle of the night.'
Lilian boldly looked at the polite and handsome (this is very important, otherwise Lilian would have already smashed him with the candlestick) police officer. Her big beautiful eyes lowered. She stretched out her hand to tease her beautiful soft hair, her fingers seemed to slide past her proud chest. She then laughed. "Dear police officer, we are not open tonight."
Kohen knew what this place was naturally. On regular days, the Laya Club would be lively during these hours. However, Kohen simply smiled at the beauty and was not moved by Lilian's seductive mien.
"In other words, you have received a prior warning, and hence the shop is closed tonight?"
"Of course. The Blood Bottle Gang had bribed the officers and also promised to make up for the loss of business. Otherwise... do you know our hard-working and stressed bosses would suffer huge losses when Red Street Market has to close for a night. What would happen to the ten million people in Constellation if they were too tired, exhausted, or spiritually spent to contribute to the second largest power in the western part of the continent?"
Lilian blinked and smiled cunningly.
Kohen' brows tightened as he looked at the mature and seductive beauty.
'Looks like the intelligence obtained from the informant was not complete. At first, it was thought that the Black Street Brotherhood is launching a surprise attack on the Blood Bottle Gang's Red Street Market section. Now, it seems like the Blood Bottle Gang has a trap set up in Red Street Market in an earlier countermeasure.
'I came here tonight to probe the main clashing point of the two big gangs. The Brotherhood had moved out. After all, we are talking about the Blood Bottle Gang which is almost a hundred years old.'
"Hey. That blond officer!" A female voice outside the building interrupted the conversation.
"Come down quickly to meet your death! According to the rules, you are not supposed to enter any houses!"
Lilian curiously walked to the broken window. She saw a woman in leather armor, carrying a whip and covered in blood. She looked up the building angrily.
Kohen bowed to Lilian. "Thank you for your notification, beautiful lady, please excuse me. I must go and attend an appointment with another lady."
The blond captain of the police turned around and gently leaped to the street below.
"Dearest Miss Vynis, don't be so impatient."
Kohen's smile then suddenly turned cold and killing intent appeared in his eyes.
"By order of the King, in the name of the Holy Constellation Constitution, as a Class Two police officer, I have the authority to immediately kill suspects that may endanger the interest of the kingdom and the life of the citizens. Do not worry, I will send you to reunite with your brother."
Upstairs, Lilian covered her mouth. She could recognize that this person was one of Blood Bottle Gang's Strongest Twelve. She was the younger sister of the notorious Leighton Siblings, 'Scorpion Whip' Vynis Leighton.
Her brother, 'Venomous Sting' Primo Leighton, came to the Laya Club the previous day. He loved peculiar things and had almost used the oil from the Everlasting Lamp to scald a new girl to death.
Based on the officer's words, he had already killed the Venomous Sting.
"Blue-skinned dog! Even your superior doesn't dare to not give face to the Blood Bottle Gang! You… How dare you!" Vynis shouted indignantly. As one of the Strongest Twelve's more unconventional people, she had shaved her hair on the left side and combed down the hair on the right side. This made her look more hale and hearty.
"I will whip you until all the flesh on your body turns into mash!"
After saying that, her whip flicked in a circle and towards Kohen. The barbs on the whip were like living creatures, flying out and attacking in unison!
"So it was like this!"
Kohen's figure suddenly became indistinguishable. Only a veteran would be able to see him; an ordinary person cannot see the speed of his movements as he rapidly changed positions.
*Ding! Ding ding!*
The unreal image of the saber flashed and cut off the barbs of the whip.
"If your brother was still alive, with his ability to control the whip, the both of you may even cause trouble if you were to work together."
Vynis' whip was agile like a snake. The whip barbs and tip formed an all-out attack leaving no quarters uncovered.
"If I was ten seconds earlier, Primo would not have died." Vynis was full of hatred.
"A blue-skinned dog like you would have been shredded to pieces by us!"
Kohen's expression did not change. With lightning speed, he cut at the five whiplashes trained on him but they have already reached the front of his eyes.
At this moment, Kohen suddenly gave a solemn look. He rushed forward without bothering to look at the lashes approaching him.
"Suicidal idiot!"
*Rip!*
Vynis grinned hideously as she watched Kohen rush towards her. The whip ruthlessly tore his right shoulder. At the same time, another three more barbs lashed out.
'The barbs on my whips are laced with a poison that magnifies pain. There are sharp points in the barbs. Once hit, the pain would… Eh?'
Kohen made a move that was beyond Vynis' expectations. The police figure had rushed forward to meet the three barbs and raised his bare left hand to block the attack. The whip cut deeply into the man's arm and even pierced his palm. However, his expression did not change as though he had simply been bitten by an ant.
Vynis was shocked as she watched Kohen. Many of her enemies' faces distorted from the pain that came with the poison. Their movements would become contorted and they would wail mournfully as they rolled at her feet.
'But why does he not even show any reaction? Does he not have a sense of pain?'
"Let us end the street performance here," Kohen said coldly.
Vynis was shocked at Kohen who charged at her like a thunderbolt and quickly reacted. She hurriedly flicked her whip to create a defense in front of herself.
But an abundant force instantly broke out from Kohen's sword!
Vynis' expression instantly changed.
'This is… No!'
Suddenly, Kohen's saber seemed to sharpen unceasingly, twinkling like starlight, and the whip that was coming at him was cut into innumerable pieces.
In Vynis' eyes, Kohen's callous face and his sword seemed to grow bigger and bigger.
The next moment, the sharp but simple saber pierced through the left side of her chest. Its sharp end exiting from her back.
At this point, she struggled to speak.
"Power of Eradication. You are an Erad…" But she could not finish.
"The enforcement of the law is completed."
Kohen gently pushed the astonished looking Vynis away from his sword as though he was doing something insignificant.
"Let me give you a suggestion. Next time, if you have any trump cards on hand to play, use them all from the start."
He gently took out the barbs from his hand. An abundant force once again filled his hand, forcing out a few drops of blue-green liquid.
"If I was wearing armor, even if it was light armor, you would have already died a thousand times."
"In the eyes of those who have experienced warfare, even the strongest in the ranks of the supra class are childish like street fights. As for you, it is practically a kid's game to us."
Vynis closed her lifeless eyes and laid on the ground forever. Not too far away was her brother, leaning against the wall with a sword stuck in his throat.
Kohen bowed to the astonished Lilian upstairs. He then went deeper into the Red Street Market.
'This man seems polite.' Lilian held her mouth as she thought, 'But he does not show mercy to women.'
.....
At another lane in Red Street Market.
Jala indifferently gripped the Wolf Limb Blade and pulled it out of the abdomen of the last red-scarfed thug. She disgustedly flicked the blade to get rid of the fresh blood.
Thales tried to convince himself not to think of Jala's slaughtering which reminded him of Quide, who died with his eyes wide open.
'They were all aware. When they joined the gang, they all had a clear idea of the consequences.'
Thinking like this, his mood improved.
Thales tightly covered his mouth and nose with the black cloth and watched Jala slaughter a small group of about seven or eight thugs. He then tacitly and skillfully came out from the hiding place and climbed onto Jala's back.
"How did you overcome it?"
"Hm?"
"The nausea and guilt of killing."
Jala sighed.
"I was taught from an early age," she replied as her feet moved lightly as she carried Thales on her back. Her tone was cold. "The ones I killed were not of the same kind as me. It was like stepping on an ant."
Thales no longer spoke and tightly hugged Jala's neck.
After they passed Sven in Red Street Market, everywhere was covered with the crippled and the dead, and the echoes of clashing swords and blades. The sound of duels heard from a few places even made Jala's scalp feel numb. Although the two were careful, even with Jala's skills in concealment, it was quite challenging in the chaos.
There were corpses everywhere, and the sounds of melee combat filled the air. They tried very hard to conceal themselves but inevitably ran into two groups of thugs—one from the Blood Bottle Gang while the other from the Brotherhood.
Jala mercilessly went all out and left no survivors. She then left quickly.
For some reason, Thales got accustomed to this kind of gruesome scene.
'This is not a good thing,' he reminded himself. Becoming psychologically insensitive would inevitably lead to deviated behavior.
"This is the fifth intersection and we still cannot get through." Jala stopped and frowned. She then felt the air in front.
Thales came down and also felt the wind ahead. It seemed empty but to the outstretched hand, there was an invisible and solid barrier.
"Is this a Psionic skill?" Thales asked in surprise.
So far, Thales had seen some but not a lot of Psionic abilities. For example, in the Brotherhood, Morris who was responsible for human trafficking was one of them. He once just looked at a runaway beggar and the beggar choked to death.
"No. Psionics don't have such powerful abilities. It is powerful enough to simultaneously cover five intersections at this wide street. I suspect the others would be the same. This is something difficult to achieve for a Psionic."
Jala pushed up her goggles and carefully 'examined' the protective barrier.
She recalled the old man and that man. When she thought about it, she could not help but pause for a while, telling herself about those frightening legends.
"As far as I know," the bartender sounded solemn, "this is very likely done by a Mystic."
Thales' eyes grew wide.
'A Mystic.'
In fact, during the four to five years of his career in the streets, he had heard this word more than once from the drinkers of Sunset Pub, the patrons of the brothel at Red Street Market, gamblers of the Black Gold Casino, and the thugs of the Brotherhood.
Thales initially thought that they were similar to the 'magicians' and 'wizards' in the fantasy novels in his flashbacks. However, he later found out that this was not the case.
No one would provide complimentary general knowledge to lowly beggars like Thales. Even if there were, what he could obtain would just be some village gossip, or dumb rumors and horror stories.
However, relying on his previous life's specialized field survey experience, Thales managed to learn some general knowledge through observation, and he had made some related to the Mystics.
1) Those that spoke of the Mystics spoke with negative emotions such as fear, hatred, and curses. At the same time the keywords used were 'formidable', 'terrifying', 'hell', 'illegal', 'condemned', and so on.
2) In this world, the Mystics were rare (The 'rare' here was not as rare as the ones in the YY novels[1] of his past life). Thales had determined that among the countless people that spoke of Mystics in the past five years, only a bar customer and a brothel patron told a probable story. Evidently, they had either direct or indirect contact with information regarding the Mystics.
3) He had never heard of any Mystic organization, powers, or gatherings. Nevertheless, there were rumors on the streets that among the leaders of the Blood Bottle Gang, there were two Mystics.
4) The patrols responsible for the Western City Gate were equipped with 'anti-Mystic equipment'.
5) Mystics were completely different from the ones people took delight in discussing such as 'Psionics', 'Psionic Warriors', 'Swordsmen of Eradication' and 'Knights of Eradication'. The latter could be obtained through innate talent, or through training. However, Thales had never heard of how Mystics obtained their terrifying powers.
6) Other than Mystics, there was also a weapon with the suspicious name, 'Mystic Gun'. This weapon was only allowed to be used in the Royal Army. Anyone caught illegally possessing it would be convicted of a felony.
These were the entirety of Thales' information on the Mystics.
"Mystics?" Thales probed.
Jala glared at Thales and wore her goggles. "There were rumors that the person behind the Blood Bottle Gang was a Mystic; this person had not appeared for years."
"The Blood Bottle Gang?"
'So it is an underworld boss?' Thales frowned slightly. "What does a Mystic actually do?"
Unexpectedly, Jala shook her head coldly. "Don't ask." The female bartender did not hesitate to stop further attempts at questioning. "This is not something you should know."
Looking at Jala's expression, Thales awkwardly scratched his head.
'What is a Mystic? Is it the combat type that can conjure and throw fireballs from afar? Are they particularly powerful people? Do they have a special power like the Psionics?'
Thales had envisaged countless encounters with the Mystics. It was unfortunate that, from the information he received, none of the encounters would be optimistic.
One example would be the current situation.
Thales pushed the black cloth into his pocket and once again leaned down on Jala's back.
"From now on, we must be even more careful and try to avoid all the fighting so that we would not be exposed."
The bartender raised her head anxiously.
"I hope our luck isn't so bad that we would meet with the Mystic."
.....
A few minutes ago.
At Red Street Market, in an underground warehouse of a chess room.
A handsome man dressed in blue with dark-brown, long, curly hair, sat quietly on the side of an ancient war-game table. On top of it was a map used for the game. There were some game pieces on it, divided into black and red teams; these were the knights, swordsmen, guards, shield-warriors, catapults, prime ministers, and Kings.
This came from the Kingdom of Ayranvia. It involved historical references and the general knowledge of war. Nowadays, it was the most popular board game amongst the nobles—'The Rise and Fall of the Empire'. It simulates Kings of an ancient Empire and their two armies at war. To those living in comfort and have respected positions, this was the most effective way to show off their masculinity to attract women and also a pastime that was not risky.
Naturally, there were also a few great nobles who were peculiar. It is said that they used real people as chess pieces.
Under the light of the Everlasting Lamp, if one were to look closely at the map in the middle of the war-game board, it was a map of the streets of Red Street Market.
The handsome man deftly moved the chess pieces with his right hand, removing the black pieces or the red pieces from the map. There were more scattered black pieces than the gathered red pieces.
The two black prime minister pieces were in the middle, around them were a lot of black guards and swordsmen, a few red knights were pinning them down. At the periphery were many black knights and shield-warriors. They were overwhelmed in numbers by the two red Prime Ministers leading their swordsmen and guards.
In the middle of the map stood a red King, with a red guard by his side.
The handsome blue clothed man cheerfully played his game. Looking closely, there was a light-blue energy sphere in his free left hand. It seemed to breathe, as though it was alive, and seemed to hold, inside it, a violent storm.
The man opened his mouth from time to time and seemed to say something. From his mouth, the waves of vibrations in the air could be seen. It turned into a ripple and vanished.
Strangely, no sound was emitted.
In the dark and lonely silence, the scene looked very abnormal.
At that moment, the man's brows suddenly furrowed. Without batting an eyelid, he removed a red catapult from the edge of the map.
However, a few minutes later, the man's brows tightened again. He slowly stretched his hand and removed the only remaining red swordsman from that position. The blue energy sphere in the man's left hand flashed for a moment. The storm inside seemed to dance.
He took a deep breath and spoke for the first time, "Who is in charge of guarding and intercepting in the Lower City District?" He seemed to ask the empty space.
A queer and firm reply then came from the frightening darkness, "Deformer Dorno and Undying Sven."
The man closed his eyes and shook his head. He then moved two other red swordsmen from elsewhere to where the two pieces were taken down. He moved one of them deeper as if to catch whatever defeated Dorno and Sven.
His mouth sent ripples into the air again, moving his lips silently for a while. Then, he gradually spoke to the voice from the void, "We have swallowed up Brother Talon and Moria an hour ago… So, is it reinforcements?" he muttered.
He hesitated for a moment. He then moved one of the two red prime ministers over, "This time, it will be fine."
However, at the next moment, the man seemed to sense something and his expression changed again. He moved his right hand to the edge of the other side of the map and removed two red swordsmen simultaneously.
The man's expression did not look good.
"Who is the one tasked in guarding the Western District?"
"It is the Leighton Siblings, Venomous Sting and Scorpion Whip." This time, the voice in the dark sounded cautious.
The blue-clad man did not speak. He perused the map back and forth several times with doubts and dissatisfaction, "Is it a piece from outside? What a headache. Wasn't there an agreement with the police that it is time for curfew?"
Finally, the man sighed helplessly. 'Did my level drop because I had not played these human games for a long time? Sigh.'
The man gently looked up with a complicated expression. "Groudon. Did you know? The significance of traps and mazes is to block the gateway and keep the stranded rats in. However, if the trap's entrance and exit have been opened up, it won't catch anything."
The man's expression turned cold. He resolutely took the guard that was next to the red King in the center of the map and moved it to where the two red swordsmen were.
The wind blew in the dark and there were no more voices.
The storm inside the blue energy sphere in the man's hand gradually stabilized.
Translation Notes:
1. YY novels are fantasy stories; about things that are not possible in reality.
There was a clear and melodious crash.
The glass on the door was smashed by the figure.
Lilian, dressed in a thin, silk pajamas, lifted the candlestick in surprise as she looked at the figure that fell in from outside. It was a handsome man with short, blonde hair. He was wearing a sky blue color... 'Is he wearing a police uniform?'
'The police...' Lilian looked at the clock. 'The police came at four fifty in the morning by breaking through the window of the third floor of a private residence?'
It would not be fair to call it a private residence. After all, the Laya Club was one of the very best 'clubs' in Red Street Market. It was located between the Red Street Market and popular areas of Linhe Street (a famous business street in the Western District.). Lilian was a famous beauty in the club. Even nobles at the rank of an Earl or a high official of the court would need to pay Lilian twenty gold coins an hour for her to entertain them.
That was why, when the young and promising Captain Kohen Karabeyan crashed the private bedroom in Laya Club from the third floor, Lilian woke up with a fright and came to investigate with a candlestick.
"Young Miss, I apologize for disturbing your sleep."
Kohen got up awkwardly from the ground. He held his saber behind him and bowed to the astonished Lilian. When he wanted to take off his hat to bow, he found that his officer hat had dropped in the battle earlier.
"Shit," Kohen mumbled.
'That queer old man threw away my nightgown. I can't even go out to buy them in the middle of the night.'
Lilian boldly looked at the polite and handsome (this is very important, otherwise Lilian would have already smashed him with the candlestick) police officer. Her big beautiful eyes lowered. She stretched out her hand to tease her beautiful soft hair, her fingers seemed to slide past her proud chest. She then laughed. "Dear police officer, we are not open tonight."
Kohen knew what this place was naturally. On regular days, the Laya Club would be lively during these hours. However, Kohen simply smiled at the beauty and was not moved by Lilian's seductive mien.
"In other words, you have received a prior warning, and hence the shop is closed tonight?"
"Of course. The Blood Bottle Gang had bribed the officers and also promised to make up for the loss of business. Otherwise... do you know our hard-working and stressed bosses would suffer huge losses when Red Street Market has to close for a night. What would happen to the ten million people in Constellation if they were too tired, exhausted, or spiritually spent to contribute to the second largest power in the western part of the continent?"
Lilian blinked and smiled cunningly.
Kohen' brows tightened as he looked at the mature and seductive beauty.
'Looks like the intelligence obtained from the informant was not complete. At first, it was thought that the Black Street Brotherhood is launching a surprise attack on the Blood Bottle Gang's Red Street Market section. Now, it seems like the Blood Bottle Gang has a trap set up in Red Street Market in an earlier countermeasure.
'I came here tonight to probe the main clashing point of the two big gangs. The Brotherhood had moved out. After all, we are talking about the Blood Bottle Gang which is almost a hundred years old.'
"Hey. That blond officer!" A female voice outside the building interrupted the conversation.
"Come down quickly to meet your death! According to the rules, you are not supposed to enter any houses!"
Lilian curiously walked to the broken window. She saw a woman in leather armor, carrying a whip and covered in blood. She looked up the building angrily.
Kohen bowed to Lilian. "Thank you for your notification, beautiful lady, please excuse me. I must go and attend an appointment with another lady."
The blond captain of the police turned around and gently leaped to the street below.
"Dearest Miss Vynis, don't be so impatient."
Kohen's smile then suddenly turned cold and killing intent appeared in his eyes.
"By order of the King, in the name of the Holy Constellation Constitution, as a Class Two police officer, I have the authority to immediately kill suspects that may endanger the interest of the kingdom and the life of the citizens. Do not worry, I will send you to reunite with your brother."
Upstairs, Lilian covered her mouth. She could recognize that this person was one of Blood Bottle Gang's Strongest Twelve. She was the younger sister of the notorious Leighton Siblings, 'Scorpion Whip' Vynis Leighton.
Her brother, 'Venomous Sting' Primo Leighton, came to the Laya Club the previous day. He loved peculiar things and had almost used the oil from the Everlasting Lamp to scald a new girl to death.
Based on the officer's words, he had already killed the Venomous Sting.
"Blue-skinned dog! Even your superior doesn't dare to not give face to the Blood Bottle Gang! You… How dare you!" Vynis shouted indignantly. As one of the Strongest Twelve's more unconventional people, she had shaved her hair on the left side and combed down the hair on the right side. This made her look more hale and hearty.
"I will whip you until all the flesh on your body turns into mash!"
After saying that, her whip flicked in a circle and towards Kohen. The barbs on the whip were like living creatures, flying out and attacking in unison!
"So it was like this!"
Kohen's figure suddenly became indistinguishable. Only a veteran would be able to see him; an ordinary person cannot see the speed of his movements as he rapidly changed positions.
*Ding! Ding ding!*
The unreal image of the saber flashed and cut off the barbs of the whip.
"If your brother was still alive, with his ability to control the whip, the both of you may even cause trouble if you were to work together."
Vynis' whip was agile like a snake. The whip barbs and tip formed an all-out attack leaving no quarters uncovered.
"If I was ten seconds earlier, Primo would not have died." Vynis was full of hatred.
"A blue-skinned dog like you would have been shredded to pieces by us!"
Kohen's expression did not change. With lightning speed, he cut at the five whiplashes trained on him but they have already reached the front of his eyes.
At this moment, Kohen suddenly gave a solemn look. He rushed forward without bothering to look at the lashes approaching him.
"Suicidal idiot!"
*Rip!*
Vynis grinned hideously as she watched Kohen rush towards her. The whip ruthlessly tore his right shoulder. At the same time, another three more barbs lashed out.
'The barbs on my whips are laced with a poison that magnifies pain. There are sharp points in the barbs. Once hit, the pain would… Eh?'
Kohen made a move that was beyond Vynis' expectations. The police figure had rushed forward to meet the three barbs and raised his bare left hand to block the attack. The whip cut deeply into the man's arm and even pierced his palm. However, his expression did not change as though he had simply been bitten by an ant.
Vynis was shocked as she watched Kohen. Many of her enemies' faces distorted from the pain that came with the poison. Their movements would become contorted and they would wail mournfully as they rolled at her feet.
'But why does he not even show any reaction? Does he not have a sense of pain?'
"Let us end the street performance here," Kohen said coldly.
Vynis was shocked at Kohen who charged at her like a thunderbolt and quickly reacted. She hurriedly flicked her whip to create a defense in front of herself.
But an abundant force instantly broke out from Kohen's sword!
Vynis' expression instantly changed.
'This is… No!'
Suddenly, Kohen's saber seemed to sharpen unceasingly, twinkling like starlight, and the whip that was coming at him was cut into innumerable pieces.
In Vynis' eyes, Kohen's callous face and his sword seemed to grow bigger and bigger.
The next moment, the sharp but simple saber pierced through the left side of her chest. Its sharp end exiting from her back.
At this point, she struggled to speak.
"Power of Eradication. You are an Erad…" But she could not finish.
"The enforcement of the law is completed."
Kohen gently pushed the astonished looking Vynis away from his sword as though he was doing something insignificant.
"Let me give you a suggestion. Next time, if you have any trump cards on hand to play, use them all from the start."
He gently took out the barbs from his hand. An abundant force once again filled his hand, forcing out a few drops of blue-green liquid.
"If I was wearing armor, even if it was light armor, you would have already died a thousand times."
"In the eyes of those who have experienced warfare, even the strongest in the ranks of the supra class are childish like street fights. As for you, it is practically a kid's game to us."
Vynis closed her lifeless eyes and laid on the ground forever. Not too far away was her brother, leaning against the wall with a sword stuck in his throat.
Kohen bowed to the astonished Lilian upstairs. He then went deeper into the Red Street Market.
'This man seems polite.' Lilian held her mouth as she thought, 'But he does not show mercy to women.'
.....
At another lane in Red Street Market.
Jala indifferently gripped the Wolf Limb Blade and pulled it out of the abdomen of the last red-scarfed thug. She disgustedly flicked the blade to get rid of the fresh blood.
Thales tried to convince himself not to think of Jala's slaughtering which reminded him of Quide, who died with his eyes wide open.
'They were all aware. When they joined the gang, they all had a clear idea of the consequences.'
Thinking like this, his mood improved.
Thales tightly covered his mouth and nose with the black cloth and watched Jala slaughter a small group of about seven or eight thugs. He then tacitly and skillfully came out from the hiding place and climbed onto Jala's back.
"How did you overcome it?"
"Hm?"
"The nausea and guilt of killing."
Jala sighed.
"I was taught from an early age," she replied as her feet moved lightly as she carried Thales on her back. Her tone was cold. "The ones I killed were not of the same kind as me. It was like stepping on an ant."
Thales no longer spoke and tightly hugged Jala's neck.
After they passed Sven in Red Street Market, everywhere was covered with the crippled and the dead, and the echoes of clashing swords and blades. The sound of duels heard from a few places even made Jala's scalp feel numb. Although the two were careful, even with Jala's skills in concealment, it was quite challenging in the chaos.
There were corpses everywhere, and the sounds of melee combat filled the air. They tried very hard to conceal themselves but inevitably ran into two groups of thugs—one from the Blood Bottle Gang while the other from the Brotherhood.
Jala mercilessly went all out and left no survivors. She then left quickly.
For some reason, Thales got accustomed to this kind of gruesome scene.
'This is not a good thing,' he reminded himself. Becoming psychologically insensitive would inevitably lead to deviated behavior.
"This is the fifth intersection and we still cannot get through." Jala stopped and frowned. She then felt the air in front.
Thales came down and also felt the wind ahead. It seemed empty but to the outstretched hand, there was an invisible and solid barrier.
"Is this a Psionic skill?" Thales asked in surprise.
So far, Thales had seen some but not a lot of Psionic abilities. For example, in the Brotherhood, Morris who was responsible for human trafficking was one of them. He once just looked at a runaway beggar and the beggar choked to death.
"No. Psionics don't have such powerful abilities. It is powerful enough to simultaneously cover five intersections at this wide street. I suspect the others would be the same. This is something difficult to achieve for a Psionic."
Jala pushed up her goggles and carefully 'examined' the protective barrier.
She recalled the old man and that man. When she thought about it, she could not help but pause for a while, telling herself about those frightening legends.
"As far as I know," the bartender sounded solemn, "this is very likely done by a Mystic."
Thales' eyes grew wide.
'A Mystic.'
In fact, during the four to five years of his career in the streets, he had heard this word more than once from the drinkers of Sunset Pub, the patrons of the brothel at Red Street Market, gamblers of the Black Gold Casino, and the thugs of the Brotherhood.
Thales initially thought that they were similar to the 'magicians' and 'wizards' in the fantasy novels in his flashbacks. However, he later found out that this was not the case.
No one would provide complimentary general knowledge to lowly beggars like Thales. Even if there were, what he could obtain would just be some village gossip, or dumb rumors and horror stories.
However, relying on his previous life's specialized field survey experience, Thales managed to learn some general knowledge through observation, and he had made some related to the Mystics.
1) Those that spoke of the Mystics spoke with negative emotions such as fear, hatred, and curses. At the same time the keywords used were 'formidable', 'terrifying', 'hell', 'illegal', 'condemned', and so on.
2) In this world, the Mystics were rare (The 'rare' here was not as rare as the ones in the YY novels[1] of his past life). Thales had determined that among the countless people that spoke of Mystics in the past five years, only a bar customer and a brothel patron told a probable story. Evidently, they had either direct or indirect contact with information regarding the Mystics.
3) He had never heard of any Mystic organization, powers, or gatherings. Nevertheless, there were rumors on the streets that among the leaders of the Blood Bottle Gang, there were two Mystics.
4) The patrols responsible for the Western City Gate were equipped with 'anti-Mystic equipment'.
5) Mystics were completely different from the ones people took delight in discussing such as 'Psionics', 'Psionic Warriors', 'Swordsmen of Eradication' and 'Knights of Eradication'. The latter could be obtained through innate talent, or through training. However, Thales had never heard of how Mystics obtained their terrifying powers.
6) Other than Mystics, there was also a weapon with the suspicious name, 'Mystic Gun'. This weapon was only allowed to be used in the Royal Army. Anyone caught illegally possessing it would be convicted of a felony.
These were the entirety of Thales' information on the Mystics.
"Mystics?" Thales probed.
Jala glared at Thales and wore her goggles. "There were rumors that the person behind the Blood Bottle Gang was a Mystic; this person had not appeared for years."
"The Blood Bottle Gang?"
'So it is an underworld boss?' Thales frowned slightly. "What does a Mystic actually do?"
Unexpectedly, Jala shook her head coldly. "Don't ask." The female bartender did not hesitate to stop further attempts at questioning. "This is not something you should know."
Looking at Jala's expression, Thales awkwardly scratched his head.
'What is a Mystic? Is it the combat type that can conjure and throw fireballs from afar? Are they particularly powerful people? Do they have a special power like the Psionics?'
Thales had envisaged countless encounters with the Mystics. It was unfortunate that, from the information he received, none of the encounters would be optimistic.
One example would be the current situation.
Thales pushed the black cloth into his pocket and once again leaned down on Jala's back.
"From now on, we must be even more careful and try to avoid all the fighting so that we would not be exposed."
The bartender raised her head anxiously.
"I hope our luck isn't so bad that we would meet with the Mystic."
.....
A few minutes ago.
At Red Street Market, in an underground warehouse of a chess room.
A handsome man dressed in blue with dark-brown, long, curly hair, sat quietly on the side of an ancient war-game table. On top of it was a map used for the game. There were some game pieces on it, divided into black and red teams; these were the knights, swordsmen, guards, shield-warriors, catapults, prime ministers, and Kings.
This came from the Kingdom of Ayranvia. It involved historical references and the general knowledge of war. Nowadays, it was the most popular board game amongst the nobles—'The Rise and Fall of the Empire'. It simulates Kings of an ancient Empire and their two armies at war. To those living in comfort and have respected positions, this was the most effective way to show off their masculinity to attract women and also a pastime that was not risky.
Naturally, there were also a few great nobles who were peculiar. It is said that they used real people as chess pieces.
Under the light of the Everlasting Lamp, if one were to look closely at the map in the middle of the war-game board, it was a map of the streets of Red Street Market.
The handsome man deftly moved the chess pieces with his right hand, removing the black pieces or the red pieces from the map. There were more scattered black pieces than the gathered red pieces.
The two black prime minister pieces were in the middle, around them were a lot of black guards and swordsmen, a few red knights were pinning them down. At the periphery were many black knights and shield-warriors. They were overwhelmed in numbers by the two red Prime Ministers leading their swordsmen and guards.
In the middle of the map stood a red King, with a red guard by his side.
The handsome blue clothed man cheerfully played his game. Looking closely, there was a light-blue energy sphere in his free left hand. It seemed to breathe, as though it was alive, and seemed to hold, inside it, a violent storm.
The man opened his mouth from time to time and seemed to say something. From his mouth, the waves of vibrations in the air could be seen. It turned into a ripple and vanished.
Strangely, no sound was emitted.
In the dark and lonely silence, the scene looked very abnormal.
At that moment, the man's brows suddenly furrowed. Without batting an eyelid, he removed a red catapult from the edge of the map.
However, a few minutes later, the man's brows tightened again. He slowly stretched his hand and removed the only remaining red swordsman from that position. The blue energy sphere in the man's left hand flashed for a moment. The storm inside seemed to dance.
He took a deep breath and spoke for the first time, "Who is in charge of guarding and intercepting in the Lower City District?" He seemed to ask the empty space.
A queer and firm reply then came from the frightening darkness, "Deformer Dorno and Undying Sven."
The man closed his eyes and shook his head. He then moved two other red swordsmen from elsewhere to where the two pieces were taken down. He moved one of them deeper as if to catch whatever defeated Dorno and Sven.
His mouth sent ripples into the air again, moving his lips silently for a while. Then, he gradually spoke to the voice from the void, "We have swallowed up Brother Talon and Moria an hour ago… So, is it reinforcements?" he muttered.
He hesitated for a moment. He then moved one of the two red prime ministers over, "This time, it will be fine."
However, at the next moment, the man seemed to sense something and his expression changed again. He moved his right hand to the edge of the other side of the map and removed two red swordsmen simultaneously.
The man's expression did not look good.
"Who is the one tasked in guarding the Western District?"
"It is the Leighton Siblings, Venomous Sting and Scorpion Whip." This time, the voice in the dark sounded cautious.
The blue-clad man did not speak. He perused the map back and forth several times with doubts and dissatisfaction, "Is it a piece from outside? What a headache. Wasn't there an agreement with the police that it is time for curfew?"
Finally, the man sighed helplessly. 'Did my level drop because I had not played these human games for a long time? Sigh.'
The man gently looked up with a complicated expression. "Groudon. Did you know? The significance of traps and mazes is to block the gateway and keep the stranded rats in. However, if the trap's entrance and exit have been opened up, it won't catch anything."
The man's expression turned cold. He resolutely took the guard that was next to the red King in the center of the map and moved it to where the two red swordsmen were.
The wind blew in the dark and there were no more voices.
The storm inside the blue energy sphere in the man's hand gradually stabilized.
Translation Notes:
1. YY novels are fantasy stories; about things that are not possible in reality.
