V2 Chapter 18

War—Cian knows that there is indeed a terrible war going on at this very moment. And Cian thought that the moment he would arrive at the Northern Border, he would be then subjected to warfare. He had expected for the worst. In fact, although Cian knows that with her sister, Oriel, he wouldn’t be thrown immediately in the war zone with an only sword in his hand. He might undergo vicious training, close-combat, swords and magic arts, and also hands-on war planning as he had seen in movies.

Staring at a small model of the landscape, moving flags and small figurines, scheming and discussing with several generals in the room, arguing and debating as to what course and path they would follow—Cian was actually quite excited and full of expectations. After all, he was an assassin, not a warrior or a soldier that had fought in a chaotic war—this is a new experience even for someone like him who possess two lives.

He had seen movies of war in the previous world and had prepared to shock them once or twice with his cunning warfare tactics and plans. He had already thought of slowly changing his reputation for the better by being seen as a war genius while pretending that it wasn’t his intention.

…or that should have been the case…

But… Cian’s expectations fell on the ground like Icarus who wanted to reach the sun.

Although there was indeed a war going on, it’s not like what Cian had expected. It was not as worse than he had thought and in fact, it could be said to be actually quite peaceful in this place. Other than the irritating cold, in which Cian find a hard time adapting, there was nothing worthy of attention. Well, he should have expected it, after all, this is the reason why Oriel had brought him here in the first place—away from the troubles and scheming of the Imperial Capital.

Now, Cian felt he was being exiled to this region—

Of course, there was still some problem for him. Such as Oriel forcing him to learn how to fight and use magic. Such tedious things cause him to feel bored and tortured. Magic training aside, acting like an incompetent sword fighter, with only a level of an elite soldier (which was Aanuel’s level due to being lazy despite having talents for the sword) was harder than he thought. Despite being a great martial artist, his sword arts was actually quite mediocre according to the Earth’s standard as it was only compulsory for his training, he was not specializing on it due to firearms and dagger mastery he focused in.

Who would use a sword to assassinate in a modern world…?

Isn’t that only looking for a complicated answer for a very simple solution? With a bullet, a sword would then be meaningless. Of course, that would be different if you are capable of moving at the speed of light, dodge bullets, cutting bullets in two and still many superhuman feats—then go, you can use a sword as your main weapon for the style. Although, some of his world’s myth and legend actually existed in that world but they are barely only 5% in total.

Most are only ordinary humans, a bullet or two is enough for the job. Daggers and throwing weapons was also his secondary weapon.

If not for his martial arts training where he tackled weapons such as a sword, he wouldn’t be able to fight using them. However, due to his superhuman senses which was originally honed to perfectness, reflex, and superhuman physical ability as well as the martial arts that was compiled and sharpened till the peak through the course of Earth's history—even if he was only mediocre at most, he was still far above than any normal people in this world.

If he really fought normal combat without magic involve, Cian was confident defeating several run-of-the-mills elite swordsmen in this world in pure martial arts!

That was how confident he was in Earth’s combat martial arts—his techniques and skills are far better in this world where all actions and skills heavily influenced by magic and thus, slowly deteriorated in sharpness!

However, to pretend like he cannot react or see the opponent’s action and take the blow with a perfection that cannot be doubted even with a keen eye, even famous actors would surely be sweating heavily. Furthermore, to see a mocking and looking down momentum of these bastards, if he could, he would have beaten them black and blue!

Cian swore in his heart, in the future where he does not need to hide like this, he would surely repay this humiliation by a hundred-fold!

Day by day training, Cian was almost exhausted. Thus, on the fourth day…he escapes!

… …

Cian stood on a roof of a tall building and overlooked the scenery below him. This would be the first time he would stroll in this City after his arrival.

It was an enormous city that had part of its vitality restored even with this kind of harsh environment.

As they left the castle, Cian saw the entirety of the City for the first time.

With the snow as a backdrop, the first impression that leaped into his mind was order—all the two-story houses stood in clean rows and had exactly the same appearance, with matching white silhouettes and red tile roofs. The black roads were all straight as an arrow, splitting the town into equal square sections.

Looking into the distance, the scenery seemed to be continuous layers of houses, winter trees, and streets and so on. Such orderliness is really unexpected for a City ruled by Demons who were always known as nothing but Barbarians in many stories. This is more like a City of humans rather than beast-like demons. Have this world advanced to this state already…?

The sky was still a dull gray, and the lighting within many large buildings was lit. Carriages and Beast mounts would occasionally move through somewhat renovated roads. At the edge of the city, there was a large area of brightly lit buildings that was quite luxurious compared to other buildings, and sounds of laughter’s and banging could be heard from within them.

As Cian walked into City, he could see all of the buildings were constructed out of dark gray stone. All of these stones seemed primitive; they hadn’t undergone much polishing or cutting. They retained their edges and corners, giving off a powerful, primal feel.

The streets were wide enough for several carriages to pass through shoulder to shoulder. At this time, there were numerous heroic looking warriors that look more like Vikings of old, walking along the road, laughing and chatting. There were even extremely rare experts that even Cian can’t help but feel threatened with just their atmosphere here. Although there weren’t too many, they weren’t an uncommon sight.

“Master, will this really be okay? Her Highness Oriel would surely be angry…” At Cian’s side was Ruka who wore a long fur coat, with a servant’s uniform underneath. She was walking behind Cian respectfully; all while paying attention to their surroundings.

“It doesn’t matter—in fact, it would be even stranger if I didn’t do this once or twice and obediently train. That is not listed in my settings,” Cian responded indifferently. “Besides, she shouldn’t recognize us as we are now.” Cian’s current face was already altered by a mask. His hair covered with a wig personally woven by him and changing the color of his left eye to dye with the same color as his right. This was actually quite easy by controlling [ Night's Eye ], almost similar to casting an illusion. In addition, his height and appearance were enough to fool anyone, including Sybilla.

As a side note, Cian also did Ruka’s makeup and attire. Wearing a fake face mask, although she was wearing a servant uniform, who wouldn’t have one in this City when there were countless nobles as well? With his get up and movements alone, even without do anything he exudes nobility that commoners and peasants wouldn’t have.

“…But even still, this city is too peaceful contrary to what I expected huh,”

The flurries of snow in the sky lowered the temperature similar to that of a chilly winter. The civilians should be staying home, gathered around the stoves or cocooned in quilts. That was normal. Few people could be seen in the streets even in the medieval era in the winter season. Since the cold accelerated the burning of their energy, people had to eat more to keep warm. There was also the danger of catching a cold outside their door. Hence, most people would reduce their outside activities for subsistence purposes.

But that was not the case in this world, in this City in particular. Or was it because they are all not humans and instead demons…? Their skin was tough as a hide of a beast. The cold City was bustling with people and activities. Some were pushing carts and some were carrying big bags. Some were strolling in the center of the road, in their warriors’ attire. It seemed that all of them were in a hurry and engaged in all kinds of work.

But, his praise didn’t last for too long. He suddenly heard a scream coming out from an alley in the street, and a spurt of blood shot into the air. A demon with a broken hand came crazily careening out of the alley. Four other demons jumped out afterward in hot pursuit!

The demon’s hands were wielding different weapons, and they sent sword and halberd energies sizzling through the air, all of them aimed at the vital points of the fleeing man. Obviously, they were planning on killing him.

...Really peaceful... Cian's brows twitched.

This scene immediately reminded Cian that this is the Demon World where only strength matters. Here, the massive amount of people almost uniformly walked the killing road. Those demons that walked this path could accumulate their formidable aura from killing others, and even use this to help raise the progress of their abilities. That is the Demon Race! Thus, it wasn’t too strange for these types of people to wantonly kill others.

In this land, everyone was a possible enemy.

“Mm?” As Cian and Ruka silently stroll around the night market, where despite the cold, has still many kinds of stalls opened for business. Weapons, Accessories, Winter Clothing’s, Foods, Slaves and all kinds of merchandise. Because of his appearance which look extremely like that of a human, if not for the one small curved horn at the left side of his head, he would surely be taken right now and captured, mistaking him for a human. And so, just by walking alone, he had already attracted much attention by himself—though, since he looks like a noble demon with a servant, no one dared to approach him.

Human Slaves… Beast slaves, there were even Therianthrope Slaves… Truthfully, what Cian wanted to find were slaves, and at least procure some as he had some plans involving them. Although he can have them just with a single word but Cian was still reluctant about letting any people, including Oriel, knowing his plans.

Cian browses on the several Slave Traders and although he wasn’t a good person, he still can’t help but feel apprehensive after seeing the people behind bars and within cages. Although most men, but there was still a large group of women and children of various races mixed in. They are surely not obtained with legal means. However, although he feels terrible, he has no options but to endure and steeled his heart.

Pitying them is fine but doing anything like acting some sort of hero of justice and save them is out of the question…!

This is common in the Demon World…and he has currently no power, nor in the position to change it.

As Cian and Ruka were strolling around the Night Market, looking around for something that can catch their eyes, suddenly, Cian found that just in front of him was an Imp with a curved dagger looking at him. His eyes shined as if he thought Cian was an easy prey due to his appearance and fragile physique. Beside him were also several other Imps and robust men.

The Imp with the curved dagger giggled and smiled. “Oh, a noble and he’s also a halfling. My favorites are the halflings. … keke, he’s only 20 some years old. He must be quite tasty.”

As the Imp with the curved dagger spoke, the other Imps surrounding him laughed and whistled at Cian. As for Cian, his brows furrowed and when he looks around, he finally realized why there are idiots blocking his way. They actually walked towards a dark alley with only several people walking here and there. He was checking every Slave Traders and just walked through it without care.

“Master…” Ruka frowned but she didn’t step forward. She knows how powerful Cian was. Against these idiots, Cian would just need to wave his hand and these morons would be on their way to the underworld.

“Hei, this woman is really juicy. It has been a long time since I have seen such excellent stuff.”

“He-he, indeed, this little girl is really not bad. That small face is really likable…”

“Ohei, you have such a body yet you like little girls like this. The young lady from the last time died because of you. How unlucky.”

A lewd ear-piercing laughter was suddenly transmitted over as Cian’s eyes swept over the group standing before him. Those lewd gazes repeatedly swept over the Ruka. The surrounding queuing people involuntarily emitted laughs riddled with deeper meaning when they heard the lewd laughs of this group. Being able to see such beautiful women, who were pleasant to the eyes, having their liberties taken during this harsh wait would be considered a good way to pass their time.

“Hoo, a beauty… this girl will be mine!” A vulgar laugh echoed in the dark and gloomy alley. Then, they started arguing as to who will ‘taste’ Ruka first, which disgusted Ruka greatly. Her expression turned heavy and a killing intent exploded from within her.

Sensing Ruka’s power, the groups’ expression slightly turned serious but they didn’t withdraw. They didn't believe that they could fail to deal with a noble that didn't even seemed to be experienced in fighting and a lone female servant with slightly a bit of skill. They also thought that Ruka having a combat ability is normal since she was a servant of a noble and was even strolling the market alone.

They are confident in their power—making them look like idiots.

Enrage, Ruka was about to attack when Cian stepped forward. He glanced at the Imp with the curved dagger. This Imp was particularly short. Most Imps were around six feet tall, but this one was five and a half. His face was full of black, dry folds that were covered with long hairs. It caused anyone who saw him feel disgusted. Behind him were several beast-like demons with characteristics of a tiger and wolves. Sensing their power level, one could say they are elites—but why is this shorty seems to have the one with the words here…?

Cian didn’t know, nor was he interested. His gaze looks down, causing the imp to feel somewhat apprehensive. “Wh, what do you want?! I tell you now, we are members of the Bloodhole Gang. My father is the second leader of the gang—even if you are noble, do you think you can do anything?! Hmm?! If you want to live, leave your money behind and that girl… I want that gir—”

Before he could say anything, Cian’s figure blurred and his hand eagle clawed the imp's face, startling the group.

“Young master!! You bastard! You dare?!”

“Put him down right now!!”

The group started threatening Cian but Cian was unfazed. He looks around and saw several people walking past them but no one dared to look at them directly as if saying, they didn’t see anything. What a wonderful world. Cian snorted.

Say no evil, see no evil, hear no evil—this is really what it means by that saying, is it not?

Grinning evilly, the imp who was still cursing and threatening suddenly shivered. “Hey, who did you say will be yours? Hm?” Cian asked. The imp was stumped, not knowing what to say. “Ruka, kill them all,” he muttered with icy cold voice.

“Yes, young master!” Ruka’s eyes twinkled. She knows that Cian was boiling at this moment and it was because of her—! Her face turned hot and she can feel something mist running down her legs but she didn’t hesitate and immediately plunged towards the group of gangsters. This caused a sudden surprised but would Ruka actually be defeated by mere gangsters and mercenaries?

For someone like her who was chosen as a personal servant for a prince, she had undergone many kinds of training for guardianship. She wasn’t just a mere servant! Although not as strong as elite warriors but as long as they are not those similar to elites from the Royal Guards, she could easily stand her ground with measly a group of ordinary gangsters!

The Imp finally realized that they had kick an iron plate this time and regretted. But was there even a cure for regret in this world? Even in a fantasy world, curing regret is harder than ascending to heaven. He tried to apologize but Cian would never care about him. Those who taint and mock the people he acknowledges, such as Ruka in front of his face, was like slapping his face—only one end would occur—Death!

“Wh, wh, what?! Just, just who are you?!”

“That should be my question! How dare you lust upon my possession! You’re seeking death!”

“No, no wait! I know that it’s my bad…my bad okay! We can talk this out! What do you want?! I can give you anything—so please spare my life!”

Baaang! The head of the Imp exploded into bloodied pieces. And then, Cian’s body stepped forward, someone attacked him from behind, he side-stepped and sharp claws passed in front of his face. Cian turned his wrist and tap! touched the attacker’s chest and Booom! something exploded, sending the man away. But if one looks closely, one would surely notice that the man’s chest had caved in unnaturally. It was as if a large hammer had struck him flying.

With Cian and Ruka working, the group of people was easily killed in an instant. Many people watched the scene in fear and trepidation but no one dared to approach. The alley was instantly cleared with people… tap! tap! tap! Cian can hear some footsteps running towards their direction. The Guards of the City—it would be trouble for them if they catch him.

“Let’s go,” grasping Ruka’s hands, they disappeared into the darkness.

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