Chapter 53
Creak! Creak!
The ferry made a chilling sound.
Zeke, Simon, and his twelve subordinates approached the port of Favela area while holding their breath.
Organization members were patrolling throughout the city with weapons, possibly in preparation for an all-out war with the Mekein Cartel.
Zeke surveyed the surroundings through the darkness with his dragon eyes.
He brought up a map and docked the boat where there were no patrol personnel.
‘This way.’
Following Zeke’s hand signal, Simon and his subordinates scattered and hid their bodies in the darkness.
Soon, a Favela organization member patrolling the coast approached, slouching.
He lowered his crossbow, pulled down his pants, and began to urinate.
“Ahh… this feels good!”
At that moment, Zeke approached from behind and quickly slit the member’s throat with a dagger.
When the dead member’s body was thrown under the breakwater, Simon’s subordinates caught it, put stones inside his clothes, and carefully threw him into the sea without making a sound.
It was natural, as if they had been coordinating for a long time.
After checking the surroundings, Zeke sent a hand signal to come up, and Simon and his subordinates also came up to the coastal area.
Hiding behind cargo piled up near the port, Simon asked Zeke.
“How do you plan to approach Favela Cartel’s headquarters? The whole city is covered with troops.”
Then Zeke said while putting on his mask.
“The area occupied by Favela was under the influence of the Holy Empire for a long time during the past empire era. This means that underground waterways, which the Holy Empire considers most important, were constructed.”
“You’re going to find headquarters through the underground waterways? That’s nonsense. How will you find your way through the waterways that are intricately tangled like a maze?”
Zeke grinned.
“There’s a way for everything.”
Using the map’s navigation function made it possible to move through even the most complex paths via the shortest route.
He had no intention of explaining this to him though.
Since Simon didn’t have a method anyway, he didn’t say much.
Zeke found a sewer near the port and guided his party inside.
Favela still uses the sewers built during the Holy Empire era.
The sewer, which was no different from an ancient relic, had a terrible stench with filth piled up everywhere.
However, since Simon and his subordinates were veterans who had been through enough in the border area, no one was having difficulty with this level of nausea.
Zeke headed toward the Favela Cartel headquarters following the map’s guidance.
After walking along the waterway for several hours, they arrived at the sewer connected to the headquarters.
‘They’ve spread personnel all over the front.’
Since he realized that Red Knights and above weren’t displayed on the map during his battle with Cain, he needed to be more vigilant about his surroundings.
Zeke gave hand signals instructing Simon’s party to plant explosives throughout the Favela Cartel headquarters.
Zeke decided to separate from Simon’s group to assassinate key Favela Cartel personnel and deliver the warning on behalf of the Mekein Cartel.
He came up from the sewer and escaped to the garbage disposal area.
‘This reminds me of the old days.’
An assassin had to infiltrate through places others most wanted to avoid.
As a result, sewers and garbage dumps were among Zeke’s most frequently used infiltration points.
He threw away the thin infiltration suit he was wearing and took out a purification scroll to remove the stench.
Drawing his dagger, Zeke slowly entered the mansion.
His target was Mateo, the second-in-command of the Favela Cartel.
Bastian, the boss of the Favela Cartel, was currently staying on an island in the South Sea.
Rather than catching him, capturing Mateo and giving a warning would surely enrage Bastian to wage an all-out war with the Mekein Cartel.
‘Don Juan probably thought this mission would fail though.’
Don Juan probably considered Zeke’s raid as a suicide squad and thought that the raid itself would be a warning to the Favela Cartel.
However, Zeke really intended to infiltrate the headquarters, assassinate the second-in-command, and plant bombs to destroy the headquarters.
That would surely lead to a situation that even Don Juan couldn’t control.
Zeke aimed to exploit that gap.
Whoosh!
Zeke headed upstairs toward where Mateo was while quietly killing organization members patrolling the corridors with his dagger.
‘There are fewer internal personnel than I expected.’
Given that he knew the Favela Cartel and the Empire were joining forces, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that knights were deployed.
However, there were no cartel hitmen or imperial knights to be seen, only armed patrol forces walking around.
Zeke sensed something strange.
‘Something’s not right.’
He turned on the map and looked inside.
No marked personnel were visible.
He cautiously passed through the gallery and opened the door to enter the mansion.
A large banquet hall and long stairs leading upward were placed in the center.
That’s when it happened.
Flash!
Suddenly the lights turned on and hidden personnel rushed out.
‘How?’
Zeke observed the personnel surrounding him.
There were cartel hitmen as well as imperial knights and Mages mixed in.
‘Did they use stealth?’
When stealth magic is used, one’s presence disappears.
However, I didn’t know that even if magic erases one’s presence, it wouldn’t show up on the map.
At that moment, one of the Imperial knights stepped forward and ordered the others.
“Capture alive, don’t kill.”
With those words, the Imperial knights charged at Zeke.
Zeke grabbed the knight charging at the front and stabbed his neck with a dagger.
“Kuhek!”
Then he stole the sword the knight was holding.
Zeke stepped back and slashed the Cartel members who were guarding the rear with the sword.
Slash!
“Shoot! Shoot!”
The Cartel members shot arrows frantically at Zeke.
But Zeke’s movements were much faster, and the arrows only hit the walls and floor.
Zeke took out his dagger and threw it at the hitmen positioned around.
The dagger, empowered with wind force using the Elemental Sword’s power, struck the hitmen’s vital points at tremendous speed.
“Argh!”
The Cartel members, struck with fear, shot their crossbows wildly, and the randomly flying bolts accidentally hit others.
An Imperial knight shouted.
“mages! Quickly bind his feet!”
Only then did the Mages hurriedly cast their spells.
Suddenly, the banquet hall’s floor rippled and transformed into something like a swamp.
‘This level won’t be enough to catch me.’
Zeke threw his daggers onto the swamp-like floor, stepped on them, and ran towards the Imperial knights.
It was a technique that applied Wind Step.
Seeing Zeke charging at them, the startled knights hastily took defensive positions.
But it was already too late.
Thud!
As Zeke flipped backward and pushed the knights, they lost balance and fell into the swamp-like floor.
“Ughhhh!”
Seeing the knights struggling in the swamp, the mages hurriedly canceled their magic.
Zeke clicked his tongue at the Imperial knights and Mages with their amateur breathing techniques.
‘They sent rookies first and then tried to earn favor with the Cartel.’
That’s when the Imperial knight who had been giving orders stepped forward.
Woong!
At least one of them seemed competent, as he created a faint Aura Blade.
Zeke charged at the Imperial knight with his sword.
Bang!
Zeke’s sword, imbued with Aura, struck the Imperial knight’s sword with immense weight.
“Kugh!”
Even with an Aura Blade, it was useless if one couldn’t wield it properly.
Zeke repeatedly struck the knight’s sword with his Aura-imbued blade.
Before long, the knight was pushed back, his sword-holding hand trembling.
“Huff! Huff!”
Without stopping, Zeke cut off the knight’s leg along with his armor.
Slash!
“Arghhhh!”
The knight with his thigh severed screamed and rolled on the floor.
Zeke then raised his sword and cut off the knight’s head.
Seeing the Blue Knight die so easily, the hitmen and Imperial knights surrounding him stepped back hesitantly.
Zeke used Dragon’s Dignity to instill even greater fear in them.
Among the weak-willed knights and members, some even wet themselves under Zeke’s pressure.
“Those who want to die, come forward. Those who want to live, get out now!”
At Zeke’s declaration, about half of them dropped their weapons and fled.
The remaining members still approached Zeke with their weapons, though cautiously.
It was almost pitiful to see them approaching while completely stiff, forcing themselves forward.
Suddenly, Zeke jumped into the air with his sword.
Whoosh!
He climbed onto the second-floor railing and first cut down the mages who were there.
“Arghhhh!”
If left alone, they might cast magic at an opportune moment that could catch even Zeke off guard.
If someone like Cain appeared again, it could be dangerous for him too.
After slaughtering the Magess first, the knights naturally came up to the second floor.
‘What fools.’
Zeke was grateful they came to the narrow terrain that was disadvantageous to them.
One by one, as they came, he stabbed their hearts with his sword like skewering meat on a stick.
“Ughhhh!”
Zeke pushed the groaning knight who was stabbed with the sword off the second-floor railing.
Before long, the banquet hall was filled with dozens of corpses of knights, mages, and hitmen.
Zeke shook the blood off his sword and sheathed it.
“What are these Imperial bastards doing in the South? I can’t figure it out at all.”
That’s when it happened.
On the balcony opposite to Zeke stood someone wearing a black robe.
‘Who is it?’
They couldn’t be detected on the map, nor even by his senses.
The suspicious figure in the robe who had covered their face spoke to Zeke.
“A single loach is interfering with the great work.”
Zeke pointed his sword at the suspicious Mages and remained vigilant.
“Who are you?”
Then the black figure extended forward a black jeweled ring on their finger.
Suddenly, black smoke erupted from that ring.
Swoosh!
Black smoke dispersed into the bodies of the dead who filled the banquet hall.
Simultaneously, those who had died rose again.
‘A dark Mage?’
Zeke quickly examined the opponent’s robe.
However, there were no Scorpion Clan emblems or rings visible.
Meanwhile, dozens of knights, hitmen, and Mages screamed in horror.
‘Not the Scorpion Clan? Even among the Scorpion Clan, there are only a few who could create this many zombies at once.’
While not all necromancers belonged to the Scorpion Clan, most high-ranking dark Magess were affiliated with them.
As Zeke questioned the identity of his opponent, the dark figure who had raised the dead shouted at the zombies.
“Seize them. I shall personally extract the soul of the one who interfered with our great work and make them speak the truth.” [TL/N: His gender is most likely not known as he is wearing a mask]
The way they casually spoke in a manner fitting only classical theater showed they weren’t right in the head.
“Kraaagh!”
The zombified knights charged at Zeke with their swords.
“Get lost! You zombie bastards!”
Zeke swung Bahamut.
Thwack!
The zombies’ heads exploded when struck by the sword.
[You have slain a magic-corrupted zombie knight.]
[You gain 10 Karma Points.]
‘Oh?’
He unexpectedly gained Karma Points.
Zeke’s eyes lit up as he looked around.
All the zombies screaming at him now appeared as points to be gained.
“Perfect!”
He excitedly jumped down from the second floor and swung his sword.
Zombies hit by the Aura Blade were torn to pieces, scattering everywhere.
“Kraaagh!”
But soon black smoke enveloped the fallen zombie knights, different limbs joined together, and the zombies rose again to attack.
Zeke joyfully destroyed the zombies again and again.
Even though they died and revived, Zeke immediately turned them to pieces, until eventually there were no corpses left to resurrect.
The dark figure just watched Zeke from the railing.
After destroying all the zombies, Zeke shouted at the suspicious robe.
“Is that all? Got any more?”
They looked at Zeke as they had been doing, then slowly backed away.
The Mage said nothing more and dispersed into black mist, disappearing.
Zeke flinched but could do nothing about it.
He regretted not being able to catch the suspicious Mage.
‘When I see you again, I’ll catch you and turn you into points.’
Zeke quickly shook off his disappointment, sheathed his sword, and went up the central staircase.
He then arrived at Mateo’s office.
At that moment, a dagger emerged swiftly from the darkness, aimed at Zeke’s throat.
Zeke spoke calmly while looking to the side, as if he had expected this.
“Simon.”
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