[Trantor - Night]


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    Chapter 20


    No matter how extraordinary one’s strength and aura may be, experience makes all the difference!


    Thinking this, he was convinced of his victory.


    ng! ng! ng!


    But then—


    “What… What kind of nonsense is this…?”


    A mystical defense protecting the body with aura—the hallmark of a Sword Master—blocked his sword.


    Though it consumed energy rapidly, the moment his attack was stopped, the damage to him was immense.


    “A… Sword Master?!”


    “You’re mistaken.”


    sh!


    Leon’s sword left a deep gash in his opponent’s abdomen.


    In that brief moment when his enemy staggered from the sudden blow, Leon elerated as though moving instantaneously, leaving countless wounds all over his body.


    “You should’ve been prepared if you were up against a Sword Master.”


    Of course, it was impossible that the Sword Master loyal only to the royal family of the Bata Kingdom would lend his strength to him.


    “Guh… Ugh…”


    Tyvel, barely standing by using his sword as a cane, tried to widen the distance, but his body no longer obeyed hismands.


    “If you had been less greedy, things would’ve ended better for both of us. I’d like to take you alive, but I’ve decided the damage you’d cause alive outweighs any benefit.”


    “Do you really think trash like you can protect the Count’s territory? Weaklings like you and the former Count will never be able to defend thisnd! You know nothing abo—”


    Wooooooong…


    Startled by the immense aura suddenly weighing down the surroundings, Tyvel fell silent.


    Leon gripped his sword with both hands and began to unleash his full power.


    The amount of aura he gathered was iparable to what he’d used moments before.


    “Uncle, I’m not the kind of person who listens to someone’sst words. If you wanted to leave a will, you should’ve prepared awyer and paid the fee.”


    “You… You insane bastard…”


    With those words, Leon infused his sword with overwhelming aura.


    Boom!


    He struck the ground with his sword like a massive hammer.


    The moment the tip of the ck Night de No. 1 struck the ground—


    KA-BOOOOOM!!!


    The unleashed aura exploded, utterly obliterating everything in the area.


    The force wasparable to that of advanced magic, possessing near-catastrophic destructive power.


    “If only you weren’t here, our family wouldn’t have suffered so much.”


    It had been six months since his father passed away.


    The grudge he bore toward the one he believed to be the root cause of their suffering ran deeper than he realized.


    * * *


    Tyvel’s mansion was reduced toplete ruins.


    One side of the building was blown away by the shockwave from the aura explosion, and the garden behind it was utterly demolished as well.


    The destruction only ceased after it had obliterated everything in its path.


    Tyvel and Bivel’s bodies, caught in the attack, were nowhere to be found.


    Cough, cough, gag…


    Leon spat out a mouthful of blood—most of it dark and clotted.


    It was a process of expelling the waste that had umted in his body, a sign that his body was improving despite the strain.


    [Massive aura discharge detected. This attack method is deemed highly inefficient.]


    “Sometimes you need to release it all at once to promote rapid growth.”


    [Please confirm if this is akin to training muscles.]


    “Something like that. Think of it as purging stagnant aura to strengthen the energy pathways.”


    The precise mechanics were moreplicated, but he didn’t care to exin further.


    Aura was an energy that naturally replenished itself over time, so expelling it wasn’t particrly troublesome.


    To be honest, the remaining enemies were weaker than he had expected.


    The strongest ones left in the mansion were Tyvel Cascadia and a single knight.


    The rest were either aura users of a lower rank orpletely powerless.


    Compared to the massacre in the alleyway, this was child’s y.


    Most of their forces had probably been sent elsewhere.


    Regardless, he trudged forward, his body heavy with fatigue.


    Though Tyvel’s death had restored peace to the Count’s household, there was still a ticking time bomb hidden in this mansion.


    If what he’d heard about its existence underground was true—


    [Hidden underground space detected.]


    “There it is.”


    He forcibly opened the hidden passage, revealing a concealed staircase.


    Descending slowly, he was met with a horrifying stench as the scene came into view.


    It was a cage.


    But it didn’t only hold animals.


    “…This is insane. The scale of this…”


    He stared nkly at the beings trapped inside.


    If it had only been humans, it would’ve been less shocking.


    There were young dwarves, elves whose origins were unknown, and even monsters that should never have left the demon realm.


    [Monster detected. Likely a y Wolf.]


    [y Wolf: A malleable beast with high sticity. It hunts by suffocating prey or hardening its body to sh prey with sharp ws or teeth. Hunting difficulty: low.]


    “You useless piece of junk. Would’ve been nice if you’d exined your own identity that thoroughly.”


    [My identity is that of an Librarian.]


    “Sure, whatever. Next useless thing.”


    [I am not useless.]


    The majority of the stench came from the yellowish y-like wolf.


    The ves, unconscious and frail, contrasted with the monster’s hostility, which seemed ready to snap the bars and kill everyone.


    Judging by the scattered straw bundles nearby, they had nned to burn this ce down entirely.


    But their ns had been disrupted when they were wiped out.


    Whatever Tyvel Cascadia had nned with all this was irrelevant now.


    If news of this reached the Dwarf Kingdom or the World Tree, it would spark a war that would engulf the Bata Kingdom.


    The scale of it all left Leon stunned.


    Rustle… ng!


    * * *


    "Well, this is unexpected."


    The moment I hastily drew my sword to cut through the iron bars, the mithril-infused de snapped in two.


    ck Night Sword No. 1, deceased!


    “Oh… I won’t forget your sacrifice.”


    Even though it was a mithril-infused de, its durability left much to be desired.


    Moreover, the shockwave from unleashing a massive amount of aura to draw blood earlierpletely shattered the sword.@@novelbin@@


    To begin with, while it had mithril in it, the de was forged in haste.


    I couldn’t expect much in terms of durability.


    Verus would likely faint if he saw this, but since he had given me the green light to break as many as I wanted, I’d just gather the materials and ask him to make me a new one.


    With no key and the sword broken, I had no choice but to use my hands.


    I forced the remaining aura into both hands, forcibly enhancing my physical capabilities.


    Then I gripped the rusted iron bars with both hands and crushed them.


    Grk-grk-grrk!


    “…”


    The elf, unconscious inside the cage, didn’t so much as flinch, no matter how much noise I made breaking open the bars.


    “Hm… still alive, at least.”


    I wasn’t knowledgeable in medicine, so I couldn’t tell exactly what condition they were in, but at the very least, I could tell they were still breathing.


    [Trantor - Night]


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    Afterward, I crushed all the other cages one by one and moved their upants outside.


    “Did I get them all?”


    I had sessfully rescued everyone who had been locked up in the cages.


    As for the magical creatures like y Wolves, I decided to leave them and burn them to ashes instead.


    But then, the Librarian’s next words caught me off guard.


    [Biological response detected. One entity confirmed.]


    “Where?”


    [Further inside.]


    Following the Librarian’s words, I walked down an empty passage.


    Even though it sometimes acted like a useless tool, the Librarian was exceptionally reliable in moments like this.


    After walking for a while, I came across an empty room.


    “Where exactly?”


    [The wall, precisely 15 degrees to your left.]


    I walked in the direction it indicated and felt a faint breeze seeping through the wooden wall.


    In other words, there was a hidden space inside.


    Without hesitation, I channeled what was left of my aura into my fist and struck the wall.


    BANG!!!


    With a heavy crash, the wooden wall shattered into pieces.


    Whaty behind the broken wall was revealed.


    “What the… is this supposed to be a living thing?”


    [It is confirmed to be a living organism.]


    Behind the wall was a box emitting a faint blue light.


    However, I couldn’t see what was inside, and the box had no hinges or handles to open it.


    “Hey.”


    [Librarian, here.]


    “Yeah… Librarian. How is this a living thing? Is there something alive inside this box?”


    [Unable to identify the species, but a biological response is definitely detected.]


    “So Tyvel really had no clue what this was when he brought it here. Let’s just take it with us for now.”


    The box was about 30 centimeters wide and tall.


    It was surprisingly lightweight.


    Whatever was inside, it was clear it wasn’t a typical creature like a human or an elf.


    Tyvel Cascadia must have mistaken this for some kind of treasure.


    Considering the hidden room was filled with objects that looked extremely valuable—jewels and artifacts—it wasn’t a stretch to think so.


    There was even a small space-expansion bag, enough to pack everything in.


    This one’s a sapphire, that one’s a diamond.


    Wow, look at the size of these.


    If we sell all this, we’ll make a fortune.


    Where Tyvel Cascadia had acquired all these riches was irrelevant.


    The only thing that mattered was that we were rich now.


    “Is that everything?”


    [Scanplete. No additional biological responses detected.]


    The only survivors of the ruined mansion were the ves locked in the basement.


    The unrted staff had already fled the mansion, and those who were hostile toward me had all been killed.


    “They should be here soon…”


    [Please confirm your intent.]


    I had gathered the unconscious elves, beastfolk, dwarves, and humans in one ce,ying them down.


    While I waited, the Librarian asked for rification.


    “It’s simple. I can’t transport all these people by myself.”


    [Understood. That is indeed correct.]


    “So, I’ll call Melissa to handle it.”


    In truth, when I blew up Tyvel earlier, part of the reason I intentionally caused the aura explosion was to signal Melissa.


    She would realize I’d initiated a fight if there was such a big explosion.


    Now, all I had to do was wait for her to arrive.


    [Understood. This seems to be a highly efficient method.]


    If not Melissa, someone else woulde.


    Just as the Librarian finished speaking, I saw knights on horseback approaching quickly from a distance.


    They were knights who had sworn allegiance to Melissa.


    “Young master!? What on earth…”


    When they saw the ruined mansion and me, they couldn’t hide their shock.


    “Wee. Gather all these people and take them back.”


    “These people are…?”


    “They’re the ves Tyvel Cascadia kept locked up. Take them back, treat them, and remove the ve marks engraved on their bodies.”


    If they didn’t, it would lead to war with the World Tree, the Dwarven Kingdom, or the Beastfolk Nation.


    The Kingdom of Bata was far too weak to stand against any of those three.


    If that happened, the Bata Royal Family would undoubtedly abandon the Frontier Count.


    Human trafficking alone was a serious crime, let alone trafficking elves or dwarves.


    There was nothing more to be said.


    “Good grief, elf ves…”


    “Tyvel Cascadia, that insane bastard.”


    The knights, realizing the gravity of the situation, turned pale.


    “Where’s Melissa?”


    “Thedy is currently exterminating some discovered magical beasts. They’re not particrly strong, so she should finish shortly…”


    The moment I nodded in satisfaction at the knight’s report, it happened.


    Bzzzt!


    [The Red Moon begins its encroachment.]


    That unexpected deration was followed by a rapid change in the sky.


    The heavens turned an ominous red at a terrifying pace.


    It wasn’t the reddish hue of a sunset but a deep, blood-like crimson.


    And where the sun had been moments ago, a massive eye-like moon appeared.


    “The Red Moon…”


    So, this is what the Red Moon truly means.


    [Trantor - Night]


    [Proofreader - Gun]