The Protagonists Of The Novel Escaped – Chapter 6

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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It was a very natural result for hatred to be directed at the Hero’s Party, which had swept through the continent like smallpox, sweeping away the evil groups.

The disappearance of the Hero’s Party.

As a result, the suppressed evils were revived.

Undoubtedly, the arrows of hatred would be directed at the Hero’s Party or those related to them. It could be inferred through the consecutively occurring terror attacks.

‘The Mercenary King and the Sword Saint. And the next target was indeed the Hero.’

It would be absurd for Maximilian, who had slaughtered numerous enemies to protect Saintess Beatrice, not to be selected as the target of the vengeful ghosts.

Numerous enemies would be targeting him. As if to prove that, unidentified assailants invaded the castle of the Hohenberc County.

There was no sign.

In other words, it meant that the unidentified assailants had infiltrated the interior without being detected by the county’s defenses.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Only then did the bell start ringing.

It was the alarm bell alerting of a crisis.

The bell located at the top of the castle rang incessantly.

The family soldiers had belatedly detected that secretive assassins had attacked the castle.

The dark place that relied only on faint lamps suddenly became as bright as day.

When the unexpected attack was noticed, someone from the Hohenberc family had raised the switch connected to all the mana lamps.

“Urgh!”

“Damn it, the lights…!”

The assassins, hiding like rats, began to reveal themselves one by one.

They were clearly taken aback by the swift response of the Hohenberc family.

It was clumsy.

Their behavior was highly inexperienced.

The prowess of the intruders hiding was equivalent to that of elite soldiers.

However, it seemed like this was their first experience as assassins, as they showed signs of confusion. Seeing their appearance, I let out a momentary sigh of relief.

‘No matter how remote the Hohenberc Castle is… How did they infiltrate without being detected by the sentries? Their skills are definitely not up to that level. They must have used some sort of trick. Did the black magicians who opposed the Hero’s Party help them?’

There was a possibility that the black magicians had secretly infiltrated the assassins.

I grasped the gun grip.

It was to prepare for a situation where I might also have to fight against the people behind the scenes.

The Hero’s Party had as many enemies targeting them as the excellent reputation they had built up. Hence, various variables had to be considered.

If the forces lurking in the abyss launched an all-out offensive, the Hohenberc family would face a crisis like a candle in the wind.

“Edanant!”

“He’s Maximilian’s brother! Kill him!!”

The assassins who revealed themselves spotted their fallen comrade on the floor and let out a sharp shout.

And drawing their mana-infused blades, they charged straight at me.

Bang! Bang!

I raised the gun barrel and fired.

However, the bullets fired with bravado were cut apart by the mana blades. Red sparks flickered briefly, and bullet fragments poured out.

‘What a miserable night this is turning out to be.’

I drew a new pistol that I had holstered in my chest.

A silver-plated handgun.

I aimed at the assassin’s blade, raised high as if to cut me in half.

*Bang!*

I fired accurately and deflected the blade.

At the same time, I targeted the assassin whose center of gravity had been disrupted while still holding the sword hilt.

“Aargh!!”

A fountain of blood spurted out as the assassin fell. Ignoring his scream, I aimed the gun at the assassin rushing from behind.

Reloading was unnecessary.

It was a weapon that compensated for the limitations of firearms that required significant delay.

The pistols in both hands greedily absorbed the user’s mana and created new bullets. It was thanks to such a cheat-like reloading method that rapid fire and close combat were possible.

‘Still, it’s tough… Engaging in close combat against swordsmen who can draw mana blades….’

Engaging in close combat against knights, known as the epitome of close combat, was essentially no different from a suicidal act.

Moreover, I was armed with firearms. I had no other blades.

If the bullets missed, I would die.

Also, if I allowed the blades to reach me, I would die.

Continuing close combat while bearing such penalties was like a precarious acrobatic stunt.

“Using such inferior weapons…!”

“The mana blade will cut you down in a single slash!”

Although they had fallen to become members of a criminal organization, the assassins were knights who had served noble families.

Therefore, they expressed intense hostility towards firearms that dared to replace the forces on the battlefield.

Gunpowder was considered a weapon that worked on commoners who could not wield mana.

Did they want to prove that?

As if to show their pride as knights, the assassins drew out their mana blades.

“Attack all at once!”

“A mere gun…! I’ll cut off your arms!”

Assassins wearing masks rushed in at the sound of consecutive gunshots echoing through the corridor.

They surrounded me from the front and back.

The raised blade tips exceeded ten.

I waited for the enemies to charge, lowering the pistols in both hands. As I firmly grasped the gun grips, the assassins shouted and launched their offensive.

─!!

Footsteps kicking off the ground.

Boiling killing intent towards the blood relative of the enemy.

Sharp mana blades that could cut through any metal.

And countless bullet barrages that would overwhelmingly cover them unfolded.

“Gu-Guh!”

“Dodge! The bullets are raining down!!”

Shower of Gunpowder and Bullets,

What else could describe the situation where bullets were pouring down relentlessly?

Thick gunpowder smoke.

And bullets firing like rain.

Indiscriminate shooting. A banquet of gunpowder and metal unfolded.

It was like watching the exquisite performance of a skilled acrobat.

The assassins who had been charging in like an indiscriminate barrage, as well as the porcelain and artworks decorating the corridor, were all shredded.

The surroundings rapidly collapsed like the scenery viewed from a high-speed carriage.

“He… He was said to be a powerless commoner…!”

“That’s right. Compared to those monsters.”

An assassin who had been vomiting blood while clutching his abdomen cried out as if squeezing the words.

Answering the gruesome question, I pressed the gun barrel against the forehead of the last survivor.

I stared him down and waited. I waited to see him despair and then pulled the trigger.

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The intruders who had invaded the Hohenberc County were a militant group crushed by the Hero’s Party.

The Wolves of the Blade.

A band of thieves formed by wandering knights and mercenaries.

They had gained notoriety for their absolute power by destroying numerous farmhouses and engaging in plunder.

However, in the story, they could not demonstrate any influence and experienced the humiliation of being treated as a power-measuring tool by the early Hero’s Party.

An armed criminal organization was merely an extra to the Hero’s Party, which consisted only of superhuman individuals.

“Capture them all!”

“Be careful! They use mana blades!”

As soon as the alarm bell rang, the knights of the Hohenberc family were deployed.

The assassins who had raided the castle fought back by swinging their swords, but they were captured individually.

As expected of the eastern region forces, the Hohenberc family overwhelmed the intruders with their dominating prowess.

“Damn it! These mere country bumpkins…!”

To take revenge on the hero Maximilian, who had mercilessly slaughtered their brothers, they raided the Hohenberc County where his blood relatives resided.

But the result was hopeless.

Most of them were killed or captured.

At this rate, even their leader would be captured.

Copper Wolf Zebes.

The leader who had gathered the remnants crushed by the Hero’s Party’s attack and planned for revenge gritted his teeth and tried to find a way out somehow. And he burned with hatred, vowing to definitely revive and take revenge on the hero.

‘Damn it, I thought it would be easy because they were just a country bumpkin family in the East…!’

The foolish complacency of thinking that they could smoothly crush the Hohenberc family by simply annihilating the garrison of the territory was the cause of their failure.

And it was fatal that the second son of the Hohenberc family, known only as a commoner, turned out to be a skilled fighter.

The gunshots ceased.

They were definitely chasing after him.

Although he had barely shaken them off earlier, he didn’t know when he would be caught.

Feeling a chilling fear, Zebes ran through the corridor without stopping.

‘All the escape routes are blocked! Even if I escape through the window, there will be soldiers outside! In this situation, I have no choice but to take a hostage and hold out…!’

It was indeed a cowardly and petty method.

He had already been defeated.

In a situation where he had been powerlessly defeated, he was planning to take a hostage.

However, unlike the wandering knights who were his subordinates, Zebes was a former mercenary. Therefore, he prioritized survival without discriminating against the means and methods.

“Is it this way!?”

While running through the corridor, Zebes discovered the office at the center of the main building. Thinking it was the office used by the head of the Hohenberc family, he immediately kicked the door open.

*Thud!*

He roughly barged in with his sword drawn.

However, in the office illuminated by faint candlelight, the head of the Hohenberc family was absent. Only a girl with green hair was lying on the desk, breathing softly in her sleep.

Even when metallic sounds and shouts rang out, seeing the girl’s leisurely appearance, completely asleep, Zebes let out a hollow laugh as if it were absurd.

Zebes, who had been expressing a sense of futility, slowly moved his steps to take the girl left alone in the office as a hostage.

“Wake up, little girl! Wake up right now!! Damn it, can’t you hear me?!”

Judging by her pretty appearance, she seemed to be of quite a noble status.

It was a pretty fortunate turn of events. If he captured someone of a precious status, he could gain the upper hand in the hostage situation.

It was one of the pieces of knowledge he had gained through his long life of crime.

He reached out his hand. His plan was to knock out the pretty little one and then capture her.

“Guhaah!”

Zebes, who had been sneaking around while planning a petty hostage situation, was suddenly grabbed by the back of his neck by a figure who had approached from behind.

At the same time, he found a heated piece of metal shoved into his mouth.

*Sizzle!*

Along with the sound of flesh being cooked, he felt a terrible pain.

But he couldn’t struggle. He couldn’t even scream.

He tried to break free somehow, but the gun barrel threatening his life and the grip holding his back were too unyielding.

“Ssshhh…We don’t want to wake the girl up now, do we?”

The man, covered in blood, warned through clenched teeth.

Don’t make a sound. His brain would be splattered across the room if he made even the slightest sound.

If the trigger was pulled, the gun barrel shoved into his mouth would spew fire.

The power of the bullets that had turned the assassins who had attacked the castle into pulp, went without saying, was absolutely devastating.

Without any exception, their skulls had been shattered, and their brains had spilled out.

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