The Path of Ruin

Chapter 82: Ambush for Ambush

The place where the nobles were to be sold was not far from Uhron County, but not far either.

It was a journey that would take almost three weeks if they traveled by carriage. And they would travel in two carriages.

Six bodyguards from the Red Feathers would accompany four members of Dazul's gang.

And Dazul had taken himself, his Bearer friend who could communicate with crows and rats, plus two of the most trusted men in his gang.

He had decided to go himself, yes, because even though he trusted his own men, he felt that two of their Bearers would be the best choice for a human trafficking job where nobles would be sold.

And he was glad he did!

When he examined the plan for the journey, he noticed some flaws. Many flaws, actually, some of them too obvious.

So much so... that the thought even crossed his mind that he was being tested. And if that was true... he was certainly happy with his decision to accompany the journey.

He quickly reported to Feria the flaws he had seen and any suggestions he could think of to remedy them.

And... Feria smiled and said that she would be able to carry out his suggestions.

And in this way... he confirmed that this woman still did not trust him, that she would continue to test him.

'She's not taking any chances, huh...'

He could have taken it for granted that there would not be... literally 'ten of them' going on this mission.

But that didn't matter.

'I will continue to prove myself.'

All he had to do was succeed, become more and more valuable in her eyes, and rise up.

And he could do that.

No, he would. Discover exclusive tales on M V L

And so... finally, this group of ten started the journey.

The nobles were kept in a carriage, bound hand and foot. From time to time, they kept bumping their bodies against something because of the rough road, and there was nowhere for them to sit steadily.

They were all silent. As if they had accepted their fate. Their eyes were calm, dull, even.

But... there was a reason for that.

Because one of them was actually very different from them.

'They tied it tight, huh...'

Kael, with his back against the inner wall of the carriage, was trying to untie the binding on his wrist.

Fortunately... none of the nobles were Bearers or Followers, so no extra precautions were taken. So he could use a little eon to increase his strength many times over.

And so, he managed to break the chain binding his wrists, even though it was tied quite tightly.

He was very quiet, not even making a sound as he tore and tore at the chain.

Once his hands were free, it was time for his feet. He managed to break them silently after about five minutes of struggle.

Finally... he was completely free.

'Now, now...'

They only had ten people to deal with. Then... they could escape with the nobles and report the situation to the Empire.

He turned to the nobles who were in the carriage with him. He smiled slightly, then gave them a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, we'll finish quickly."

The eyes of the four in front of him were... still dull. He did not know how long they had been in that dungeon, but it had certainly not been quality time for them.

Yet he could also see the hope in their eyes.

And that was enough.

He took his eyes off them, stretched slightly. Then, he poured most of the eon in his body into his follower ability.

First, he used it to disrupt the eon sense of everyone within twenty meters of him. Then... to hide himself from everyone's eyes.

There were a few more senses that he would specifically ruin in this way. So he moved quickly, knowing that his time was not excessive.

He got out of the carriage as if he were not a captive. Meanwhile, the trio following the carriage from behind did not notice him, nor did they notice that the carriage door had opened.

Even though he was standing right in front of them, they continued talking among themselves as if nothing had happened.

Kael quietly jumped out of the carriage and approached the trio. From the sense of touch of one of them, he destroyed the presence of the sword hanging on his waist. Then he unsheathed the sword.

He had not ruined their sense of sound. That's why the trio paused at the sound of the unsheathed sword.

But... it was already too late.

Kael decapitated all three with a single swing of his sword. All three were normal people, three people who had no idea what was happening right in front of them.

It was that simple to kill them.

Kael narrowed his eyes, tossed the sword aside, grabbed the two daggers hanging from the waist of one of the trio, and began to sprint forward.

The moment he passed the carriage carrying the nobles, he used almost half of his eon reserves in an instant, erasing the presence of one more sense from the senses of everyone around him.

And... at that very moment, three blue swords appeared on the carriages still moving forward.

The lips of one of the foremost guards curled upwards, grasped one of the blue swords that had appeared, and stabbed the other two into the two guards standing behind him.

A total of five people... thus dead.

Kael pounced on another with his daggers, and Matthew decapitated another with his sword.

Immediately afterwards... Kael deactivated his ability, both because his eon reserves were near the bottom and because he thought that would be enough.

"H- huh?"

One of the trio sitting in the front car, specifically the nameless Bearer, who had dark blond hair and green eyes, widened his eyes and quickly turned around.

All the while shouting.

"Dazul! There is an ambush!"

Dazul and the Bearer who could control crows and rats, moved quickly. The guard who drove the carriage did not let go of the reins, ready to rev up the horses at any moment.

But then... the Bearer and Dazul stiffened where they were.

"What?"

Why... why was the carriage carrying the nobles so far behind?

They were a group of ten men...

Where were the other seven?

And that's when they saw the duo looking at them.

One was wearing the uniform of his own guards. He had thrown aside his helmet, so that his dark blue hair and shimmering azure blue eyes were exposed. In his hand, he held a sword that shone with a blue glow.

The other was... a black-haired young man with silvery eyes, wearing a piece of cloth that the captive nobles wore.

It was Matthew and Kael, of course.

"A- ah, these are the brats the empire sent to Ghran!"

And they were quickly recognized by the Bearer, who had watched their every move for three days while they were still in Ghran.

Dazul's expression suddenly darkened at what he heard.

He had to accept it. If the two had deceived themselves from the very beginning and had even managed to sneak between them without being caught... he had been overconfident and overconfident.

He had underestimated these two... even if they were brats.

'We are two Bearers, and there are two Bearers in front of us. We are older than them, more experienced. Even though we underestimated them at first... now we can crush them with our sheer power!'

And with this thought he curled his lips upwards, activating his blessing.

Dazul's blessing was a simple one.

Simply... every time he roared after using his blessing, he grew stronger, healed a little, and became more resilient.

All he had to do was to roar every chance he got after using his blessing.

'The blue one's blessing must be to create the sword in his hand, the other one's... illusion or playing with our senses?'

He knew enough about them.

But they didn't!

He stretched, prepared to roar, and spread his hands wide.

This was... going to be a piece of cake!

But then...

"H- Ugh-?!"

He paused, realizing that he could make no sound from his throat.

His eyes widened, and with his eyes fixed on the sky, he slowly tried to lower his neck... but that's when he felt the cold of the dagger slicing through his vocal cords and his blood soaking his clothes.

'W- when did he... come... to me...?!'

"Don't you... underestimate us too much?"

When Kael's cold words entered her ear, she paused for no reason.

His body suddenly stiffened.

A strange, cold sensation enveloped his whole body.

His surroundings seemed to change. Inside the ruins, in the dust that covered the whole area, his lungs slowed down as if he had difficulty breathing. A helplessness and fear permeated him that he could not make sense of.

"There's a reason the Empire sent us after all... right?"

The next second... the whole world turned upside down.

Dazul couldn't comprehend what had happened. But then he saw his friend's head detached from his body, spinning in the air and falling backwards.

'Ah...'

And... in the last seconds before he died, he realized.

His head too was separated from his body.

*******

Kael and Matthew took care of business after Dazul and the other Bearer.

Kael quickly pursued the driver of the fleeing carriage and caught up with him a kilometer or so later, killing him too. Matthew, meanwhile, returned and explained the situation to the nobles, reassuring them.

"Now... I know this place from the maps, there should be a town to the west. Let's go there first, ask the townspeople for clothes and help. Then... let's go straight back to the capital."

Neither Kael nor the nobles objected to Matthew's suggestion. Kael had no knowledge of maps anyway. And all the nobles wanted... was to return home to their families.

But...

~clap!

~clap...!

~clap...

With the sound of applause coming from behind a tree on the side of the road, they inevitably paused, their guard up.

"Bravo..."

When the voice of an old man entered their ears... Kael and Matthew's eyes widened.

"You're very talented... very, very talented."

Because... in the next second, all the trees around them moved.

And from behind them all came guards dressed in Red Feathers' clothes.

"It's a pity... you didn't realize that we don't trust the people we give this mission to either..."

The old man stopped clapping. He brushed his graying hair aside with his hand, squinted his black eyes.

"Now... you will die."

And with his words... all the surrounding guards reached for their weapons.

There was only one thing running through Kael's mind, all the while...

"Shit!"