Fort Helm

The two people were assassination brothers famous in Rezhen.

The blue-haired man, older brother Kops, strengthened his body.

The dwarf-like man, younger brother Jans, created advantageous formations.

Rumors spread that no one survived from the brothers specialized in person-to-person combat by complementing each other’s abilities.

‘There are more besides those two.’

He felt an unusual presence from below the mountain too.

Somewhat inferior to the two brothers but considerably nimble fellows were rampaging.

‘There are many to extract information from, so I can kill these two right away.’

If he clumsily touched them trying to keep them alive, the possibility was high he’d lose these two instead.

Pernok took his stance.

“We were told to definitely kill targets dyed with blue powder! Don’t let your guard down!”

“Bro, just do well yourself!”

There was no preparation motion.

The moment the Observation Eye examined Kops’ muscles, the sound of blade-sharp wind came from the front.

Scrape!

Pernok jerked his head back.

Beyond his cut front hair, Kops smacked his lips.

“Reaction speed… Enhancement type?”

Then black smoke burst from the sky, covering the two people.

It was Jans’ Smog magic.

Surroundings were covered in thick smoke, making it difficult to distinguish even an inch ahead.

‘They seem sloppy yet try not to give openings.’

As soon as they saw Pernok’s reaction speed, they switched to coordination.

He certainly felt the sharpness that tried to cut off breath.

But they were wrong from the first step.

If they couldn’t properly grasp the opponent’s capability, they shouldn’t have revealed themselves from the start.

The brothers took Pernok lightly and immediately corrected their strategy, but the problem was they’d already shown themselves.

Not being able to prevent a situation you knowingly charged into happens when the opponent is overwhelmingly stronger than you.

Whoosh!

“…!?”

A dagger aimed at the heart but cut through empty air.

Pernok, who turned his body sideways, immediately grabbed the wrist of Kops grazing past his chest.

Crack!

He intended to crush one arm, but it was hard as rock and only flesh tore off.

‘Enhancement type. Moreover, similar to Iron Man.’

Making the body hard and amplifying muscle strength to crush down opponents.

Simple yet strong magic, but he met the wrong opponent.

When Pernok drew up Mana Reinforcement and even combined the mana mass in his lower abdomen, mana rivaling level 4 exploded in an instant.

Craaack! Scrape!

When Pernok tried to completely twist without letting go of the arm, Kops cut his arm without hesitation.

Though he hid his body in smoke again, Pernok’s Observation Eye detected all mana in the vicinity.

He accurately captured Kops’ mana wriggling alone within Jans’ magic.

When Pernok sprinted there, the smoke roiled.

[What is this. Why is that bastard’s mana more than bro’s…]

Jans’ magic covered eyes with smoke without distinguishing friend or foe.

But what made this magic special was the point that thoughts could be transmitted to allies who entered the smoke.

Jans laid smoke on the ground and observed opponents from high ground, transmitting those patterns to Kops.

And he was shocked at Pernok who exploded mana.

He also felt fear at the merciless appearance rummaging through smoke like his own house.

He absolutely didn’t expect this situation.

He’d grasped everything including Pernok’s appearance excavating relics, so how could a person change in an instant?

He couldn’t believe even while seeing him accurately track Kops within smoke.

[That bastard’s not level 3!]

Though Jans urgently transmitted thoughts, Kops had no capacity to care.

From cutting his arm, he’d recognized Pernok’s drastically changed state and hardened his expression throughout.

He tried to execute ambush using smoke, but even that was easily blocked.

Everything seemed to play in Pernok’s palm.

‘Mana surging? Is this even possible?’

Pernok’s hand blade struck in one step faster than the speed Jans’ thoughts transmitted.

Rather, the smoke ended up degrading into an element hindering Kops’ reaction speed.

The brothers’ magic that matched over long time was all stripped naked before the Observation Eye.

Bang!

“Kugh!”

Though he swung daggers to clash, rather Kops was pushed in strength.

The moment he bounced outside the smoke, spiral currents generated beneath Pernok’s feet.

[Vortex Lv.3]

Forcibly gathers and rotates wind.

Magic obtained by killing a VIP’s player at the Fighting Pit.

Currents generated beneath his feet pulled in all smoke and transformed into a pitch-black vortex.

When Pernok stomped his foot as is, the vortex swallowed everything.

“What!”

Kops was shocked.

When Pernok, who he thought was enhancement type, burst nature type, he seemed confused and forgot how to respond.

Thump!

Pernok struck away with the back of his hand a poison needle that rode sound from the vortex’s opposite side.

Jans, who’d positioned himself in the rear avoiding the vortex, hardened his face at the skin’s hardness.

“Don’t tell me, double…?”

When Pernok thrust a punch into the vortex, wind divided into dozens of strands and burst in all directions.

The brothers were desperate to avoid, but Pernok leisurely selected prey to kill first.

“Kugh!”

The most intact yet weakest existence.

Uninjured Jans’ neck was grabbed by Pernok’s hand.

When he blew mana into his grip, Jans’ face reddened as if to burst.

“Jans!”

“Who sent you?”

When Pernok smiled and turned around, Kops ground his teeth.

“Well, I didn’t expect an answer anyway.”

Crack!

As soon as Jans fell to the ground with broken neck, the smoke disappeared as if washed away.

The mountain became quiet, and Kops charged without thinking of stopping blood.

Muscle strength amplifying in an instant transformed Kops into a heavy bullet.

However.

Scrape!

Pernok, who predicted Kops’ motion, lightly jumped up and slashed his nape with a hand blade.

Flesh deeply gouged out and fell, and blood scattered in midair.

Kops discovered beyond that Pernok’s hand blade violating flesh and widened his eyes.

‘How is his hand like a sword…’

Enhancement type magic sharpened like metal.

Pernok’s hand blade transformed like a real sword and dug into openings of Kops, injured by the vortex.

Unable to understand various magics bursting momentarily, Kops had his throat cut.

“Smog and Amplification…”

Pernok, who absorbed the brothers’ mana and spiritual power, looked down at relics broken while swept in combat.

Just enabling calculation of Banteras’ capital Fort Helm’s location ended the relic’s value.

But he was interested in someone else targeting these relics.

How much about Banteras did they know?

He could only hope as many answers as possible were below.

* * *

Kelt was confined in a carriage with hands and feet bound in an instant.

Not many hours after Pernok climbed the mountain, the mountain suddenly shook.

Smoke rose into the sky, then unfamiliar people burst out and seized Kelt.

‘Bandits? No, mountain bandits?’

The thieves were thoroughly searching Kelt’s relic excavation tools and maps.

It was the moment cold sweat flowed down like beads from Kelt’s head.

Whoosh-!

Black smoke flowed into the carriage.

“What? Jans?”

“What are you suddenly doing…”

Eventually the thieves’ sounds disappeared.

Kelt opened the curtain with his toe tips and examined outside.

“Mmph!”

Pernok was spewing black smoke around his body and devouring the thieves.

Kelt wanted to shout to hurry and flee, but sounds blocked by the gag only leaked moans like screams.

When he knocked somewhere like the carriage bars with his forehead, Pernok turned his head and lightly waved his hand.

Scrape!

A sharp sound split the bars and cut the rope binding Kelt.

He couldn’t even grasp what had happened.

Kelt urgently shouted.

“R-run! They’re a bandit gang!”

“He’s on the list!”

The attackers’ voices cut off Kelt’s words.

As if familiar with smoke, the attackers instantly shook off magic and charged at Pernok.

An enhancement type mage led the front, and a nature type mage executed support fire from the rear.

Colorful fire and ice burst atop the mage charging in hard as a lump of metal.

Toward the dense encirclement pouring down like a shower, Pernok ran to meet them.

He simultaneously activated the jailer captain’s Acceleration magic and Kops’ Amplification.

Mana Reinforcement burst with a roar and shook the attackers like an angry bull.

BOOM!

Kelt collapsed.

The ground shook as if an earthquake occurred, and the front was enveloped in hazy dust.

“H-hey…!”

The moment Kelt, who hurriedly collected himself, stood up, a headless corpse burst from within the dust.

Eventually when the dust cleared, Pernok searching the corpses’ belongings was visible.

“Thorough bastards.”

When Pernok found nothing on the corpses, he walked to Kelt.

When Kelt looked with a dazed face, Pernok met him with an indifferent expression.

“What are you so surprised about? Didn’t I say I was a mage?”

“T-that’s true, but I didn’t think it’d be to this extent…”

“Get a grip and talk about the attackers. Who are these bastards?”

“I-I don’t know. I can’t even grasp what this situation is…”

“Think carefully. They tried to kill me and kidnap you. They’re definitely bastards who know about Banteras. By any chance, any bastards you can guess?”

“I really don’t know! In the first place, I researched while spending my own money! I had no contact with anyone!”

“Then these bastards secretly tailed us…”

“Rather, why didn’t you keep them alive?”

“The assassin trying to kill me up there didn’t open his mouth either. These bastards are more vicious than that. They have nothing in possessions to prove identity, and even if we keep them alive to torture them, it’s hard to reveal the mastermind.”

“Rather notify the castle! That’s better!”

Pernok shook his head.

“When we don’t even know the attackers’ identity, reporting to the castle won’t get us any answer. Rather, let’s use this situation.”

“How?”

“There’s a third party who knows Banteras. Perhaps he was searching for Banteras before you. Aren’t you curious how much information that mastermind has?”

“But we don’t know who.”

“In the end, we’re only two people. Very easy prey to target. If you were them, would you leave alone minority researchers with needed information?”

“That would… drive me crazy.”

“Right. They’ll keep sending people. Stronger bastards than now might come, or they might contest with quantity. What’s important is that as long as there’s what they want on this side, they’ll keep targeting us.”

Every time he faced such strong opponents, Pernok’s growth would also gain momentum.

“If we keep killing those bastards, the tail will eventually be caught. The anxious mastermind’s identity will be revealed. We then snatch the mastermind’s information and make it ours.”

“…!”

“We’re desperate for one piece of information now. Even if we don’t know who the attacker is, if they know Banteras, won’t it help us find the holy land?”

Kelt alternately looked at the sprawled corpses and Pernok and gulped.

“Will someone like me, burdensome at mountain climbing, be okay?”

“I’m enough to look after one person.”

“You’re not level 2, are you?”

Pernok silently smiled and gathered relic excavation equipment.

It didn’t take long to figure out where that confidence’s source came from.

* * *

A week passed.

Like Pernok said, new attackers ambushed riding the night.

“Kraaak!”

Pernok’s both hands drew elegant curves like dancing, and attackers fell vomiting screams.

They were double the previous time, and even a level 4 mage was mixed in, but no one stopped Pernok’s step.

Rather, Pernok showed overwhelming divine might as if gaining vitality each time he killed mages.

To the dazed Kelt, Pernok showed something taken from a level 4 mage’s robe pocket.

“Which noble house’s emblem is this?”

Kelt examined the emblem carved with a sea whale and shook his head.

“This isn’t nobility. It’s from Rammus Trading Company.”

“Rammus?”

“A trading company that grew greatly through trade.”

“They’d have insight in sailing. Then plenty of rough people too?”

“They’d have considerably many mercenaries under command compared to other companies.”

Pernok glanced at the dead mages’ corpses and grinned.

“Really?”

Perhaps the attackers’ mastermind might present more gifts than expected.