There were some fellows whose presence changed after they heard the Duke’s decree. They were not Imperial Guards. Their dispositions were different. Perhaps…

[Uuuooooohhhhh! You Imperial Guard had the gall to say something like “Please look upon our strengths behind our backs” even though you all were nothing special! They had just fought against the Imperial Guards so they must be quite tired! Everyone, attack!]

They’re hired mercenaries. Just like surging waves, they rushed toward us. Based on what I’ve heard and they’re actions, it seems that all of our enemies were unable to completely cooperate with each other. They’ve just been thinking of outdoing each other.

[We’re really quite thankful about you guys…]

Filled with morale, some of the mercenaries began breaking past through Eve.

[Not only can we earn money from killing people, we could even gain some fame sometimes! Good grief… Being a mercenary really is the best!]

Eve prioritizes the elimination of those who were trying to escape just as I ordered her before. It’s inevitable that some of them managed to break through.

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[<Berserk>]

I invoked Berserk to one of the mercenaries in front.

[Guuggaaaahhhh—-]

Slaaaassssshhhh!!!

The berserked mercenary was quickly killed by a mercenary next to him.

[Let’s kill anyone who looks like they’ve suddenly turned mad! Based on what I see, the cause of their lunacy is all because of that robed man! However, it seems that he couldn’t make everyone go mad at the same time! Then first, we will kill that robed man!]

It seems that there’s someone sharp sighted among them… He analyzed it quite well in just a short time. The mercenary forces began drawing near. I glanced at the Ashinto writhing around on the ground and the first team who couldn’t move from paralysis. They should have begun dying one after another around this time…

[Status Open.]

I displayed the information about my skills. I checked the displayed information and saw that the <Paralyze>’s “limit” have disappeared. I pushed out my hand

[<Paralyze>] [Aggghhhh…!]

I also invoked poison towards them right after.

[You bastards, don’t falter! Look! As I thought, there’s a limit to the number of people he could use that power! That is to say, if all of us were to work together, we should be able to deal with him! Go! If we were to fulfill this without fail, there would be a future for us where we could do whatever we want under Duke Zuan’s name! Charrrrggggeeee!!!]

The mercenaries didn’t falter even when the people next to the were incapacitated. Rather than that, there were even some of them who thought that it’s more convenient for them because there are fewer competitors. It seems that the mercenaries this time were just carelessly gathered.

I continuously disturbed the enemies’ movements by invoking paralysis, poison, and berserk towards anyone in sight.

While I’m fighting against them, the horses who had lost their riders became confused and began to rampage.

Hidden behind the shadow of the horses, two people suddenly jumped out.

[Alright! We got you now!] [The gold, status and prestige will be ours now! Hyahahahaha!]

I stuck out both of my hands. At this distance, I could knock them out with my <Sleep>—

Stab! Spuurrttt!

[Gah!?] [Guuooohhh!?]

Arrows pierced through the heads of the two mercenaries who swooped down on me. Those arrows flew from inside the forest. I took a glance at that direction.

—Seras.

It seems that she’s backing us up from inside the forest. Did she use one of the bow and arrows she retrieved from the Ashinto? Elves had that kind of image that they were really proficient in using the bow and arrows. Is Seras just as good as the image I had on elves? Anyway, I’m thankful for her backup.

With Seras’ support, I brought those people who broke through Eve to their end.

I started walking forward. One of the Imperial Guards falls down on his horse. I invoked <Poison> at the fallen man.

[Guh… W- What the heck is that guy!? F*ck it all! If that were-leopard were just f*cking die, that special seat I’ve always been seeing would have been mine!]

I noticed an Imperial Guard trying to escape into the forest.

[<Dark>] […Eh? Aaahhhh!? My eyes!!!?]

The Imperial Guard falls off the horse he’s riding on. The Imperial Guard still attempted to crawl on the ground and run away.

[Hiiiiiii!]

Stab!

The Duke pierced the fleeing Imperial Guard with a spear from atop his horse.

[Guueehhh!?] [You bastard, I will never allow anyone escaping! And yet, to think you’re a member of the honorable Imperial Guard of my Dukedom! You dumbass! Unforgivable! I will never forgive ingrates that escape away from me, whether it’s that were-leopard or an Imperial Guard! I won’t forgive you all!!!]

The Duke has been really swallowed by hatred. In a frenzy, he has thoroughly lost his sanity. Many Imperial Guards hesitated to flee for fear of the Duke. The current scene will also be a main factor why they would hesitate to escape. As I thought, letting him go free for some time is the right decision.

[What are you doing, you f*cking deadbeats!? Kill that man in that uncanny black robe! I don’t know what the f*ck he did, but that man could only be the f*cking culprit with this ridiculous situation…! Kill him! I will never forgive anyone who dares make a fool out of this Duke Zuan! I’m the Duke! The f*cking Duke, understand!? Everything will be going according to my plans! And everything will go according to what I desire!]

Even if I didn’t invoke <Berserk> on him, it seems that the Duke had already gone crazy.

[Touka.]

With her back facing towards me, Eve called out.

[What is it?] [I just want to say my thanks.] [What’s with you all of a sudden?] [Since I became a Blood Champion, all of the fights I’m involved with had turned into just a show for the others. Even though I’m a warrior, I’ve begun to feel frustrated at the thought of fighting itself. I’ve even started to think… That I want to stop fighting anymore.] […So, did you change your mind now?] [Yeah. I don’t really know why but—]

With her toes, Eve skillfully picked up a sword that has fallen beside her and flung it into the air.

After catching the sword by the hilt, she threw it towards one of the Imperial Guards.

Swoosshhhh!

[Guuuaaahhh!] [I feel glad that I could fight like this right now.]

Immediately after, Eve roared out while hidden in the darkness of the night.

It’s as if her roar is that of a violent predator.

Her roar kind of sounds like it was filled with delight.

At that moment, the remaining Imperial Guards became frightened and their bodies stiffened.

Eve then started assaulting all of the stiffened Imperial Guard.

Her speed in approaching them is like a gale crashing on its path.

Leaping into them head first, Eve’s claws flew around and killed the enemies on her path.

Slaaaassshhh! Slaaaasssshhhh!

Their screams began echoing out towards the night sky.

[…Shucks….]

Eve’s appearance while fighting. I’ve never seen her in a duel before. Eve hasn’t fought while we’re facing against the first team or the Ashinto.

So, this contact with the third team will be the first battle I’ve ever seen Eve fight on.

Now that I look at it again, I could see that she has quite a tremendous fighting ability.

As expected, she’s still inferior compared to Civit. However, that can’t be helped. That guy was special. However, she might have been a good match against the other Five Dragon Warriors. It would have been a fight that would be so eye-catching. And, now that I’ve noticed it—

[Guuuhhh! F*ck! Damn it all, you f*cking beast!!! This is all your f*cking fault!!!]

All that’s left was the Duke. The Duke is quivering so much, you could see his veins popping out of his face. It seems that he finally started to see his own surroundings. With the exception of the Duke, everyone has been annihilated. I’ve also started going around one corpse after another. Even those who were barely breathing started dying in succession from the effect of my poison. The Duke began to wriggle around his horse.

[Guuugggaahhhhh… Guugggyyyyyiiiii! Gigigigigigigiiiiiiiiiiii! Why is this happening!?Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh—-!]

He looks like a child who finally saw the reality doesn’t go exactly as he wants.

Curling around the neck of his horse, he started hurling his resentments towards us.

[R- Remember this!!! I’m going to retreat this time! However, I’ll never forgive you bastards…! In the near future, I will make sure that your deaths would be really grue—]

[<Paralyze>]

The paralysis’ limit had already been thinned out enough.

[Guuoooohh…?]

I paralyzed both the Duke and his horse.

[Are you an idiot?]

I was actually quite amazed.

[You’re saying “You’ll remember this.” or “Damn you” huh… Yeah, yeah. Putting that aside, have you really thought we would let you leave this place alive?]

How did he even thought that he could escape from here?

I started pondering some guesses.

Perhaps, the Duke can’t really see it at all.

Or perhaps, he really is just under the impression that everything will be going according to how he imagined it.

On the other hand though, he can’t bear the thought that everything doesn’t go according to his wishes.

He must have been covering up everything that he deems inconvenient…

—Through the use of violence and authority.

In other words…

[If you had looked at reality a bit sooner, it would have been possible for you to survived.]