Chapter 121 Journey To The North (7) Dark Mercenaries

*Tch!*

"I guess the thing about him slaying the goblin king is not just a stroke of luck, huh!?" The leader of the dark mercenary troupe thrust his great sword to the ground, and abundant earth mana gathered around him.

*Crack!*

This time, the magic is on a larger scale than before.

"Earth walls... Blocking us from each other, huh..." Julius uttered as he saw the huge earth wall that is at least 20 meters tall that separates him and Lyan.

"All of you focus your attacks on the target!! I will hold off the royal knights' captain together with the other leaders!!"

"""Yes, Boss!!!"""

The amount of voices replying seems to be as many as before.

(Did more of them come as reinforcements?) (Julius)

"Sorry, royal knights captain. Even though we're not affiliated with the mercenary guild, we're still professionals, you see... We take our job seriously and try our best to complete our job. No matter what the price is that is," The leader of the dark mercenary troupe said with a malicious smile. Standing beside him are three men with different kinds of weapons. There are a spear-user, an archer, and an axe-wielder.

*Whoosh!*

The archer loosened his arrow.

Julius immediately responded with his wind magic, but-

(It breaks through the magic? So it's a magic weapon!) (Julius)

Julius barely dodged the arrow because of his late response. If it's not for his [Gale Fortification], he would not have had enough time to dodge and the arrow will hurt him, getting him the poison that had been smeared at the head of the arrow.

"Don't tell me..." Julius focused his eyes and noticed that not only the archer, but there are also a magic stone on the axe user and the spear user.

"All of them are magic weapons? Looks like you got quite the wealth to get a hold on such valuable items..." (Julius)

"Heh! Our employer is a great man, you see... Every operation payment is extremely big, and he doesn't hesitate to equip us with such expensive equipment. You could say that he's a great investor, I guess?" (Leader of the dark mercenary troupe)

"Ah... I haven't introduced myself yet, didn't I? I am the leader of the [League of Felons] dark mercenary troupe, Loris Sadav! I believe you've heard my name at least once, don't you, Julius Tergimand!!" (Loris)

"Loris... Sadav..." Julius widened his eyes. It's a name that he won't forget. The reason is that the man was one of the leading leaders of the army that invaded the nation of the girl he was once in a relationship with.

"You... The budget to get a hand of such valuable magic equipment, the ability to gather such quick and accurate information, and the wicked mind to make such a wicked plan. Your employer is obviously the same man that his highness and I have been fighting against for all these years..." Julius lowered his head.

"Hm? What are you muttering about, Julius Tergimand?" (Loris)

"I should have known... That sudden invasion was all part of his ploys as well... To think that he even has such a powerful dark mercenary troupe under his sleeves..." Julius gripped his sword tightly to the point that his arm trembled.

"What? You lost your will to fight? What a letdown. I guess there is no need to drag this any longer. Burn him," (Loris)

Following Loris's orders, the spear user took a stance for a big motion throw. A bright red light then shone all over his spear, and-

*WHOOSH!!*

He didn't throw his spear, but a huge spear of flame appeared and rushed towards Julius that is standing still with his head lowered.

"To think the end of the famous captain of the royal knights would be so pathetic. I'm disappoint-" (Loris)

"Magic sword art: [Hurricane]," A clear voice appeared beneath the flames, and suddenly-

"Wha- What are these winds?" (Loris)

The huge spear of flame disappeared because of the sudden emergence of the violent winds. But the attacks of the royal knight captain don't stop there.

"Magic sword art: [Wind Step]," (Julius)

!?!?

"Shit!"

Julius suddenly appeared behind the spear user, startling him. The spear user managed to regain his composure and was about to take a defensive stance, but he still won't be able to match the speed of Julius.

"I'm sorry but, I can't let any of you live," (Julius)

!!!!!!!!!!

"Hieee!!!" The spear-user shrieks as the sudden appearance of a terrifying pressure made him lose his strength. Julius's floating red hair and his green eyes that are gleaming with a dangerous light, the terrifying bloodlust made the spear user sure about his death.

"Die," Julius mercilessly swings his sword at a terrifying speed, but-

*Clank!*

He felt a great rebound force as his sword collided with Loris's greatsword.

"Retreat!" Loris stomped his foot to the ground, and a big earth stake appeared from the ground, aiming at Julius, forcing him to retreat.

"Tch!" Julius clicked his tongue as he realized that he failed to kill the spear user.

Julius and the Loris's faction stare at each other for a while as they observe each other, waiting for someone to move. But at that moment, Loris and the other three dark mercenaries realized something strange.

"Boss, there is no sound coming from the other side of the wall!" (Archer)

"You're right... It's strange. But to check on the situation, we first must defeat this guy first-" (Loris)

*Boom!*

A loud sound of something big crashing with a large force sounded, disturbing Loris's words.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!!!!*

"Wha-"

The five people including Julius widened their eyes as they saw the large wall crumble, revealing a tall man holding a huge glaive with a fearless smile on his face.

"Impossible..." The spear-user uttered as he saw the scene before him. It's not because of how the wall crumbled, but because of the horrible scene beneath the crumbled wall.

"He killed... More than a hundred people... Without getting a single scratch!?" The archer let out a shout that was similar to a shriek.

"Yo, sir captain of the royal knights. I've taken care of the small fries on this side. Do you need some help? It seems that the ones you're facing are quite the troublesome lots, after all," Asked Lyan as he rest his glaive on his shoulder.

"As expected of the goblin king's slayer. Your strength is very impressive. I guess I need to try harder to make sure I don't embarrass my country," Julius takes a single stance. He slightly crouched down, and his green eyes are shining with a dangerous glint as he make a fearless smile similar to Lyan's.

"Breakthrough," Julius suddenly moved to the middle of the four dark mercenaries with his [Wind Step].

"Magic sword art: [Crescent Moon]!" (Julius)

A wave of slash imbued with compressed wind mana. At the time the sword swings, the compressed wind mana left the sword, forming into a wide-area attack wind blade while retaining the original strike's speed while bringing several folds of the original power.

"Argh!"

"Gah!!"

"S-Shi-"

The dark mercenaries other than Loris the leader failed to guard themselves on time and got their torso completely sliced and separated from the upper body.

​ "Well, well... Looks like I'm in a bad situation right now... Now what should I do-" (Loris)

"Lyan!" A familiar female voice sounded from behind him.

"Ah... You guys here," (Lyan)

"What is happen-" Surena stopped her words when her gaze met Julius's. She widened her eyes for a second before she shifted her gaze towards Loris, then to the corpses lying on the ground.

"Are you getting targeted, Lyan?" Asked Alice as she unsheathes her sword.

"Yeah. Looks like getting too famous has quite lots of demerits as well," Lyan shrugged, but when he glanced at Surena, he noticed her eyes narrowing.

'Why didn't you summon any of your summoning creatures? It's too dangerous to fight so recklessly!'

"There's nothing to worry, the ones I fought were all small fries, after all," (Lyan)

"I see. I have lots of things I want to say, but I guess we need to question that guy first," Surena narrowed her eyes as she warmed up her mana. But then, the voice that entered her ears forced her and the valkyries to widen their eyes.

"Rena, Alice, and Emilia, huh? This is getting troublesome... Facing the royal knight captain alone is troublesome enough, and that goblin king slayer is a monster, having to face the three of you as well will leave me no chance of survival..." (Loris)

"D-Don't tell me..." Emilia's hand trembled as she grips her sword tightly.

"You... You are..." Surena's face turned into a face filled with hatred.

"Yes. It's been a long time, is it not?" Loris opened his mask, revealing his face.

"You fucking traitorous bastard, Loran Lavrayn!!!!!" (Alice)

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,798,710,950 Elnes / 3798 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army