Chapter 70
None of them died cleanly. They died in horrific ways, reflecting the atrocities they had committed. The eyes of the already dead were filled with fear, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
Those who faced the Crazy Mage Squad usually died with such looks in their eyes.
It wasn’t a matter of skill, but of mindset. Even the demons feared us, so there was no reason these guys would be any different. Blood, at least, had the cleanest death.
I don’t know the true nature of Yale.
All I knew was that they were bastards who made a living out of torture, assassination, and murder. Blood called them pitiful, but I disagree.
Whether it was by choice or not, it didn’t matter. My conclusion was that these guys enjoyed torture and assassination.
Blood was no different. He tried to make his own way in a shitty environment, but that was it.
People who become complacent are usually like this. In the end, the one who was destined to die, died.
Despite all this, only silence filled the courtyard.
The Crazy Mage Squad members, covered in blood, stood dazed in various places, and Kazen closed his eyes to heal his internal injuries.
The surviving Bayern members, about half of them, had retreated and were cautiously observing the situation, as quiet as mice.
I approached Cyan, who was gasping for breath in a corner.
Kwack
I grabbed his head and met his eyes, but perhaps because he was out of it, there was no resistance.
As I dragged Cyan to the center of the courtyard, the Crazy Mage Squad members slowly gathered around me.
I made Cyan kneel and lit a fire around him. The sinner’s face was clearly revealed in the darkness.
Seeing his pale face and vacant eyes, I doubted he would understand anything I said.
But I asked the sinner.
“Do you admit your guilt?”
“…”
“If there’s no answer, I’ll assume you admit it and smash your head in.”
I thought of the commander of some nameless small country and looked around.
Everyone was just watching their lord die, like foreign forces waiting for an execution. No one stepped forward. Even Snake desperately avoided my eyes.
At that moment, with a hiss, the fires that had been lit in various places went out simultaneously.
There was no wind, and they didn’t go out naturally.
As the courtyard was once again engulfed in darkness, I suddenly turned my head and looked at the right wall.
Just then, the sky flashed white, and several men appeared at the end of the iron wall.
“…”
I had never seen them before, but I instinctively knew who they were.
Along with the sound of thunder, a chill swept in and engulfed the courtyard.
Then, I heard a tearing sound, and something sharp flew in precisely between me and the sinner.
Ting
As soon as Makan swung his spear blade and deflected the ice spike, a solemn voice echoed from the darkness.
“Lord Cyan.”
The one presumed to be the leader of Urgon’s group climbed over the wall.
The man, dressed in blue from head to toe, scanned the scene with sharp eyes and walked straight towards Cyan.
Tuk Tutuk
Meanwhile, raindrops began to fall one by one.
The man, who had approached us, seemed to pay no attention to us. He asked Cyan, who was kneeling.
“Is this their doing?”
Snake, who had been watching from behind, quickly shouted.
“It’s Samael! Samael broke the agreement and attacked Bayern.”
The man once again carefully examined the surroundings.
He frowned as he saw the gruesomely scattered corpses, the chaotic courtyard, the scattered pieces of rotten flesh, and the iron skewers.
“…Cliff?”
Meanwhile, Cyan’s complexion returned to normal. After recognizing the man in front of him, Cyan realized that he had nothing to worry about.
Even though the plan had gone awry, nothing would change. The Samael bastards had failed to keep their promise anyway. Now that Urgon was here, the situation would be resolved.
Cyan quickly composed himself, stood up, and said.
“Cliff. As I reported to Urgon… Samael failed to repay the loan within the deadline. They didn’t repay the money, and they didn’t fulfill the agreement. When we tried to enforce the collection, they attacked our Bayern instead.”
Cyan continued, gauging Cliff’s reaction.
“I apologize. We should have stopped them, but their plan was more thorough than we expected. We didn’t anticipate them involving other gangs from Khaoto and Leon. It seems they had been preparing for a long time. They were determined.”
“…”
Only then did the man called Cliff turn his gaze towards me.
“Samael. Is what Lord Cyan says true?”
It was an unexpected question.
I had been observing Cliff, and I sensed that he didn’t have a particularly favorable impression of Bayern.
Moreover, asking me again about the truth was a strange question for the Urgon guys who were targeting Samael.
I suddenly remembered what Kant had said. Not many people knew the backstory of Urgon targeting Samael.
I wiped the raindrops from my eyes and met Cliff’s gaze.
“Bayern insulted Samael. It’s a separate issue from the loan. They seized Samael’s businesses and destroyed the family’s heirlooms. Not only that, they threatened Samael’s family and even declared war with the intent to annihilate them. I believe that’s sufficient justification.”
Cyan interrupted.
“Shut up! Are you trying to distort the fact that you couldn’t repay the debt?!”
I stopped the Crazy Mage Squad members from stepping forward and replied.
“It seems Lord Cyan is suddenly getting excited.”
“…”
“Speaking of which, let me ask you. Who spread the rumor that we couldn’t repay the debt? Did we ever borrow money from you? It seems like the distortion is coming from you, Cyan.”
Cyan scoffed and retorted.
“Now you’re spouting nonsense!”
“Bring it.”
The Crazy Mage Squad members approached the main gate and brought a box that had been hidden to one side.
“Open it.”
Cyan, who had a look of disbelief on his face, fell silent as soon as the box was opened.
It wasn’t just Cyan.
The Urgon members and the other Bayern members who were watching also widened their eyes.
“…W-where did this come from?”
The gold bars that filled the box emitted a golden light.
“We have more than enough money. Now let me ask you, where’s the proof that we have to repay the debt? Do you have a notarized agreement or something?”
Cyan’s eyes twitched.
“If you bring the notarized agreement, we’ll pay you anytime.”
“…”
“Where is it, the notarized agreement? You need evidence, don’t you?”
As Cyan’s silence lengthened, Cliff looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Bring the agreement first.”
“…That’s…”
I smiled and said to Cyan.
“Don’t tell me you threatened us without even having an agreement?”
Cyan, trying to maintain his composure, growled.
“I definitely showed you the notarized agreement back then. Don’t pretend you don’t know!”
“Then it shouldn’t be difficult to show it again.”
“…”
Of course, there was no way it existed.
They were the ones who borrowed money from “Vanilla Sky” using the notarized agreement as collateral.
They used that money to hire the Yale bastards. They probably planned to repay it with the money they collected from Khaoto once the situation was settled, but they didn’t expect things to turn out this way.
“Why are you silent? Did you perhaps sell it off?”
Suddenly, Cyan, sensing something, glared at me with burning eyes.
“You, you bastard, don’t tell me…”
Cliff interrupted, glaring at Cyan.
“Look here, Lord Cyan! Don’t ask where the agreement is. Bring it immediately.”
“…”
Cyan couldn’t answer.
* * *
The rain was getting heavier.
Cliff, who had been looking at Cyan with a contemptuous expression for a while, sighed and looked at me.
“I am Cliff, the captain of Urgon’s Azure Dragon Magic Division Squad. It seems we need some confirmation. We’ll take care of things here, so Samael should return to your family and wait.”
[TL/N: Thing is I am not sure what his exact rank is because from what we know Azure Dragon Magic Division has 3 subdivisions? So maybe the group he brought here is one of the said groups or they could be just a random squad under the magic division. So for now until confirmed otherwise I will address him as Squad Captain and consider his squad a part of the azure dragon magic division (not one of the 3 subdivisions)]
I shook my head.
“That’s not possible. Confirmation or not, that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that these guys insulted Samael. This isn’t a place for you to interfere.”
Cliff naturally dismissed me.
“We’ll assess the situation and contact you separately. Go and wait.”
“There’s no need to assess the situation. They’re all going to die by my hand anyway.”
The Azure Dragon Magic Division members, who had been quietly waiting, flared up and interrupted.
“What an insolent fellow. How dare he talk back to the Captain…”
Cliff waved his hand.
Cliff, who had been looking at me with an incredulous expression, let out a hollow laugh and then gave the order to organize the situation.
“I said, Urgon will take care of it. You need to learn how to control your temper. Squad Members, clean up the bodies first and gather Cyan and the executives. I’ll interrogate them myself.”
The waiting Squad members started rummaging through the corpses, and one of them naturally approached me.
“Move aside.”
The moment the Squad member tried to push me aside, I grabbed his wrist and wrapped it with ‘Wind’.
While the Squad member raised his eyebrows, I shot a fire spear at his chest.
Fwoosh
The Squad member, who had been pushed back, immediately regained his posture and glared at me.
“…What a crazy bastard. How dare you attack Urgon? You must be itching to die.”
Other Azure Dragon Magic Division members quickly surrounded me. At some point, Cliff had approached and was glaring at me.
“I thought I explained it clearly enough.”
“Don’t interfere. This is a war between clans. See these iron skewers? These bastards even hired assassins from Yale to try to kill us. Does Urgon just let those who threaten annihilation go?”
Cliff replied in a tone that seemed to be admonishing me.
“You’re right. But it’s also presumptuous. What you’re saying only applies to powerful families.”
“…”
“You should consider yourself lucky that I came. If another Captain had come, your head would have already been gone. I’ll give you one last chance, so step aside. I don’t want to harm the weak unnecessarily. If what you say turns out to be true, we’ll back off. I promise on my honor as the Azure Dragon Magic Squad Captain.”
I looked at Cliff and replied in a similarly admonishing tone.
“That’s what I wanted to say. If someone else had come, I wouldn’t have bothered explaining with words. That’s why the leader is important. But you’re also an inevitably foolish leader. You can’t even judge the situation properly.”
Cliff, looking dumbfounded, raised his hand.
“He won’t listen to reason. Azure Dragon Squad.”
“Yes!”
As they began to form a square formation and surround me, the idiots behind me simultaneously took a step forward.
“Crazy Mage Squad, don’t interfere.”
I turned around and looked at the Crazy Mage Squad. They had pushed their bodies to the limit in a short period of time. Every one of them was covered in blood.
I made eye contact with each of the idiots, then looked at Kazen, who was struggling to breathe in the distance.
“I’ll handle these guys. You go and take care of the Lord. He’s not in good shape.”
Blood continued to flow from Kazen’s mouth.
He must have been in excruciating pain, having forcibly activated his disrupted Mana Circle twice.
Despite that, Kazen was trying his best to keep his eyes open and look at me.
As the rain intensified, I briefly met Kazen’s eyes.
I don’t know how Kazen felt, but I conveyed my message.
Watch.
Don’t back down from here.
Swoosh
Kazen answered with his eyes.
———