The Pinne Estate was perfectly average in size for an estate belonging to a viscount. There was the capital city surrounding Pinne’s castle and the castle walls surrounding the capital city; beyond it was the city where the estate residents dwelled and the castle walls surrounded that city. Compared to the Steelwall’s wall that belonged to a Count protecting the kingdom’s frontier, the Pinne Estate’s walls looked incredibly shabby and small. Although it was a bit of an exaggeration, it just looked like a slightly tall wall. There was no way such a structure could block the detachment which was composed of only elite fighters among the Steelwall forces.
Thud!
Zich went up the castle wall with just one jump and looked at the city from there. The moonlight and starlight shining from the night sky revealed the city.
‘There are no guards.’ There weren’t just a few—they were completely absent. It was inconceivable that a city, no matter how small, could have no guards at a late hour like this. In every sense of the word, the city seemed to have given up on defending itself altogether. Yet, right now, such an incredible thing was happening before their eyes.
‘As expected, they took them all away.’ Zich smirked. ‘How would he have even concerned himself about the matter of protecting the Pinne Estate after I hinted that I could’ve used the same great power as him?’
Zich was sure that Glen’s conviction that he could just turn everything back as if it never happened by regressing again even if the Pinne Estate’s identity was revealed also played a big factor in Glen’s decision. Glen did not know that he no longer had such power.
Still, Zich couldn’t let his guard down. ‘I’m sure this place was chosen to be the new northern base. There could be hidden defense troops here.’
However, it was evident that this force would be significantly fewer in numbers than usual. Zich sent a signal to those behind him and jumped over the castle walls. Normally, he would’ve had to open the castle doors and call the others, but the detachment members’ skills made that all meaningless to do.
Fling! Fling! Fling!
Dark shadows continued to jump over the walls. Without a single guard in sight, the detachment infiltrated the Pinne Estate without much trouble; it took a remarkably short time for all of them to reach the inside of the castle walls. Zich pointed his finger at the Pinne Estate’s capital city and jumped again. Everyone also followed and jumped. Since the estate wasn’t that large, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at their destination.
‘As expected, there are still some guards in this area.’ Zich saw some guards surveilling the capital city while holding torches. Of course, considering that this was a castle belonging to a noble with an estate, they were very few in number. Rather than defenses against an enemy, it appeared as if the guards existed to block residents from stealing the castle’s goods.
Zich glanced behind him. Among the detachment mostly made up of Steelwall knights and elves, only one person wore an especially eye-catching armor: Belri Weig. As a Karuwiman holy knight, Weig looked quite nervous. If Zich were right, this place would be the Bellid’s new northern base, which meant that it was no different from a pit of hell. Thus, Weig’s hands wavered around the sword on his waist to crush the demons that could burst out of this hell pit in the disguise of a normal nobleman’s castle.
‘Should I try to be as discreet?’ Zich wondered. Seeing the number of guards there were, they clearly would be able to gain victory easily even if they rushed head-on, but there was no need for them to raise their enemy’s alarm right now. Furthermore, the capital city’s castle walls were much higher than the ones surrounding the outer city—it seemed like they couldn’t make a proper wall surrounding the master’s castle. Yet, it didn’t pose an obstacle to the detachment. The guards surveying the area didn’t even notice them, much less block them.
‘We will wipe away all the guys inside the castle walls first,’ Zich thought.
Unfortunately for the soldiers belonging to Viscount Pinne, this was a very easy matter to do.
“Kuh!”
“Urgh!”
Without letting out even a single proper scream, the soldiers lost their lives. Like that, the capital city’s walls fell under the detachment’s hands. Yet, even though the forces inside the castle had greatly decreased, they still couldn’t allow the castle to fall without any commotion.
Clang!
An attack was blocked for the first time. The Steelwall knight who had swung his sword was taken aback. He didn’t think there was an enemy skilled enough still remaining inside the castle to block his swift attack. The enemy died in the end as another knight intervened and attacked, but they couldn’t stop the enemy from sending a signal.
Beeeeeep!
A sharp alarm rang and got cut off. The second knight severed the enemy’s life and cut the signal short, but the sharp, shrill noise had already rung throughout the area by then.
‘This puts an end to our secrecy.’ Zich wasn’t that disappointed though. He already thought it was about time for them to get caught and he knew that even if there weren’t troops left, the administrators and servants managing this place would still be here. They had got caught too soon if only such people remained in the castle, but if Zich considered another group besides them, the situation was understandable.
‘Those Bellid bastards.’
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
The bell noisily rang and people asleep inside the castle began to wake up. The light sources inside the castle started to increase one by one.
“What are you going to do now?” Leona asked with her arrow on her bow.
“What else but continue according to our plan? We never thought we wouldn’t get caught anyways,” Zich said while staring inside the castle. “We will take over this place.”
“I understand.” Leona shot her arrow at the soldiers running nearest to her. As Zich saw her moving farther away, he fixed his grip on his sword. Since his swords kept changing recently, the touch of this sword felt especially unfamiliar to him. Zich looked down at his sword and smacked his lips.
‘I’m starting to miss Windur.’ Despite its coy nature, it was definitely the best sword he had ever used. However, nothing could be done about the fact that he didn’t have Windur right now.
Zich looked at Weig who was standing next to him and said, “Sir, are you ready?”
“Of course. If I really find traces of the Bellids or their followers, I will immediately join forces with you.” He thumped his chest as if he was telling Zich to trust him.
“It won’t take long.” Zich rushed out, and Weig stayed close to his side. The castle, which had looked like it was deep asleep in the comfort of darkness a few moments ago, was now struggling like a wild beast in the face of a sudden ambush. They heard shouts and screams all over the place. However, as time passed by, the sound of a full-fledged battle gradually replaced the screams.
“…That’s strange.” Weig murmured, “If that many reinforcements were sent out, there shouldn’t be a force to hold out like this.”
“Yes, it’d be very strange… if what I told you wasn’t true.” Zich cut down a couple of soldiers and kicked the door of the castle.
Baaammm! The gate burst open and the inside was exposed. The candles on the wall lit up the castle walls, and there were two figures waiting for them behind the door. They were neither a knight nor a soldier, and they didn’t wear armor. Of course, they could have been knights who didn’t have enough time to properly put on armor due to the enemy’s surprise attack, but the aura they let out was completely different from that of a knight or a soldier. The people behind the door attacked before the debris from the falling door fell to the ground. However, Zich turned his body as if he had expected their attacks.
Swoosh! A sword whizzed past the previous location of Zich’s heart. It was a horrifyingly precise attack, but what mattered to Zich was that they missed. Then Zich retaliated.
Baaam! Zich’s sword collided with his opponent’s sword. Fragments of the door, which had not yet fallen to the ground, were caught in the collision and flew farther away.
Swish! There wasn’t only one opponent. While one person attacked Zich, another person aimed for Zich’s neck. However, Zich paid no attention to the second attack because there was a person who would soon become a reliable ally next to him.
Baaaam! As Zich expected, the second attack was blocked by a sword from his side. Zich slightly frowned from the loud shockwave of the collision and glanced sideways. A sword surrounded by a burning, bright light was pressing back against another sword.
“This energy…” Weig shouted, “You bastard, you’re a Bellid!”
The kind smile and energetic laugh that he always showed toward Lubella as a doting grandpa was nowhere to be found, and the only person left was the Bellid Slaughterer, Tasnia’s Killing Machine, and Karuna’s Sword.
“B-belri Weig?” Their opponents also recognized Weig and exclaimed in shock.
Zich clicked his tongue inside his mind at their shocked expressions. ‘I’d also be surprised if someone like Belri Weig suddenly popped out of nowhere.’
This was even more true for his enemies.
Weig’s eyes scanned his opponent’s sword. There was no need for him to think any further. The damp, dirty, and awful energy that he sensed from them was the most familiar energy to him right after Karuna’s sacred holy energy. Weig shouted, “How dare you trash plot such a filthy scheme!”
Baaaam! His holy energy spiraled out. Zich moved back and watched Weig fight his opponents. With a burning white sword, Weig pushed back two Bellids.
Bam! One of the Bellids was brutally smashed by Weig’s sword. The white holy energy that Weig let out and the red blood of the Bellids strangely contrasted each other.
Swoosh! After defeating one of the Bellids, Weig’s sword pointed toward the second person. The second Bellid tried hard to stop Weig’s attack. However, his efforts were nowhere enough to block Weig’s ferocious attack. The Bellid follower clenched his teeth and began shouting loudly, “Belri Weig is here! We must not lose sight of our intruders! Don’t leave a single one of them aliv…!”
Slice! Weig’s sword cut his throat. Even though the Bellid fell, his mouth continued to murmur something. However, no sound could be heard from his lips.
Thud! The Bellid’s body fell and Weig’s movement also stopped. It seemed as if the Bellid had successfully conveyed his message—they could feel different presences from the inside of the castle moving toward them.
However, Zich paid no attention to this and approached Weig. “Do you believe me now?”
“Yes, I’ve made sure.” Weig looked up at the castle. “That this damn place is a dirty roach’s den.”
“Then will you help us from now on?”
“Don’t worry.” Weig stepped into the castle. “Cleaning out roaches is my area of expertise.”