Former General Is Undead Knight

Volume 2, Chapter 27: Earl Mansion’s Raid②

A neverending scream came from the earl’s mansion.

The sound of metal clashing and an explosion-like spell could be heard alternatingly.

Eunos guessed that it might be the sound of the battle between his subordinates from 『Dancing Sword』 and the private army, who were left in the mansion to fight against the invasion of 『Devil’s Piper』.

Eunos clicked his tongue as he got away from the sound of the battle.

‘It has already begun, huh. I should be able to slip out easily if I escape by myself…’

He could still try his luck to aim for the peak of adventurer guilds again.

But such a chance was meaningless if this territory was razed to the ground by the undead.

He did regret the fact that he had to cast away both his subordinates in 『Dancing Sword』, which took a long time to cultivate, and his other achievements until now.

But it didn’t mean that he couldn’t gather such subordinates again.

Rather, with his long years of experience in founding and managing 『Dancing Sword』, he knew that his next attempt would be easier for him.

Though the loss of the top member of 『Dancing Sword』 was regrettable, he judged that they were most likely going to refuse Eunos’ invitation to abandon this territory and start over again in a new territory.

Because Eunos never showed his true, cruel-hearted nature, in front of his subordinates.

Because, in the end, his subordinates were nothing more than pawns for Eunos.

As he walked in the passage with a sober face, other footsteps came quickly toward him.

He wanted to avoid the one who came toward him, but he was unwilling to waste his time just to take a detour. Even with the risk of meeting the other party, it was not significant.

Eunos dropped his gaze on the sword draped at his waist while clicking his tongue.

His gaze fixed back onto the path as he continued walking.

The one who appeared from the end of the passage was Earl Mondo’s private army.

「You’re the guild master of 『Dancing Sword』, Eunos-dono. But… what are you doing here when the mansion is under attack?」

The soldier stopped walking as he raised his vigilance toward Eunos.

Eunos didn’t even bother to stop.

「Aah, I’m leaving this mansion since I got cold feet. Please tell the earl that I’m sorry for leaving without telling him.」

Eunos then passed by the side of the soldier who was standing dumbfounded upon hearing the former’s remark.

「W-What are you talking about! Then, why do you think you were called he—!」

「Sorry, but the mission that I took was dealing with the mad hero. I’m not crazy enough to challenge a revolutionary organization. That’s your job. 」

「Getting cold feet, huh! You, 『Eunos of Dancing Sword』!」

The soldier then shouted at Eunos.

Eunos didn’t even bother to respond.

Instead, he felt relieved since the one he met wasn’t one of his subordinates from 『Dancing Sword』 or the sorcerer of 『Devil’s Piper』.

Since the one he met was the private army of Earl Mondo who couldn’t get along with his subordinates from 『Dancing Sword』, there was no way his subordinates would believe the soldier’s remark in this kind of situation.

If the one he met was the sorcerer from the Devil’s Piper, regardless of his attitude, battle was inevitable.

「So you’re running away from a scary enemy, huh? It seems you really are just a small man who’s got no balls! I’m curious how can you stay for so long as the guild master of 『Dancing Sword』! Don’t you dare show your face again, LOSER!」

Eunos didn’t even bother to hear the abusive remark of the soldier.

He kept walking along the passage.

His current top priority was to get out of this city.

After a few steps, Eunos felt a strange presence, so he stopped walking and turned around.

In the passage where Eunos just passed by the soldier a few moments ago, there was a figure of a man clad in a black robe.

The man’s arms couldn’t be seen since they were hidden by the robe’s long sleeves.

But protruding from those long sleeves was a pair of long swords.

The face of the man hidden beneath the hood had no eyelids. A bit of his eyelids was left, hanging on top of his eyes as if it just cut clumsily with an edged tool.

His eyes were bloodshot since they were always open.

In addition, his nose was gone. The only traces left of his nose were two grotesque holes on his face.

「Y-You’re, Black Demon! So you’re one of 『Devil’s Piper』’s lackeys, huh!」

Black Demon: he was the devilish murderer who appeared just recently in Barreira City.

The eyewitnesses called him Black Demon mainly due to his bizarre appearance.

Even the first-rate adventurer who hunted him ended up as mutilated corpses the next morning. That was why all adventurers were raising their vigilance against him.

The Black Demon chased after the soldier while swinging his twin sword.

The soldier managed to parry three of Black Demon’s attacks, but the latter’s attacks were way too fast for the soldier.

On top of that, since the long sleeves of Black Demon also hid the hilt of his sword, reading the trajectory of his sword was difficult.

As he disarmed the soldier with one of his swords, his other sword stabbed quickly into the abdomen of the soldier.

「GA, HA…」

The soldier fell to his knees.

As if to match the moment of that soldier, the Black Demon withdrew his sword from the soldier’s body.

「Still alive, huh? Worry not, you’ll suffer an agonizing pain for a long time, and die in agony.」

The soldier crawled to grab the sword that was dropped from his hand to commit suicide.

…Only to get his hand crushed relentlessly by the sole of Black Demon’s boots, who then kicked the sword to a faraway place.

The soldier then fell into his own pool of blood with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The Black Demon showed a satisfied smile upon seeing that, and then rushed toward Eunos without even asking a question.

「I suspect there’s only sorcerer in『Devil’s Piper』, but… I see, a cursed swordsman, huh.」

「Indeed!」

A cursed swordsman was a swordsman whose physical ability was elevated by a curse.

But since a sudden increase in physical ability also increased the recoil they received, so they never lived for too long.

It was the complexity of both the sorcery and the spell.

And then since it was regarded as a dangerous research subject, it was taboo to use living test subjects. The number of cursed swordsmen approved by the kingdom could be counted on one hand, so the research itself didn’t show any noticeable development.

「This body that moves at my will was given by Manzi-sama’s sorcery! We’ve transcended mere humans!」

Black Demon spoke excitedly as he swung his sword at Eunos.

Eunos was forced to draw his sword to block the Black Demon’s onslaught.

He drew a circle with his sword’s long blade, repelling Black Demon’s sword.

Although Black Demon’s attack came simultaneously from the left and the right, Eunos parried all of the former’s attacks with ease.

Confirming the exact moment when Black Demon strengthened the grip on his sword, he realized that the physical reinforcement on Black Demon’s body was far from perfect. He would be able to crush it at the perfect moment.

「Huh, not your average Joe! Interesting!」

Eunos’ sword shone, and a magic circle formed in the air in front of him.

「Wind, Carry Me!」

The wind blew violently around Eunos’ body, encapsulating him and making him float in midair.

「Magic sword, huh. Just a paltry tri—」

Black Demon suddenly took some distance from Eunos.

With his body in midair, Eunos moved erratically. He suddenly came to Black Demon’s side while dodging the latter’s attack with dancer-like movement.

The sound of metal clashing resounded as their weapons made contact.

「TCH…」

A frown formed on the Black Demon’s disfigured face.

He failed to perfectly defend himself when their weapons clashed, resulting in a deep gash left by Eunos’ sword on his arm.

It was an unpredictable swordcraft that moved so fast, only strengthened with sorcery.

That swordcraft was the origin of Eunos’ alias and also the origin of the name of his guild, 『Dancing Sword』.

But Black Demon’s sense of pain had already been weakened by Manzi when the latter turned the former into a cursed swordsman.

He could fight as long as he was still alive, just like a berserker.

The Black Demon fixed his stance despite his bleeding arm, glaring at Eunos.

Against that, Eunos swung his sword while doing somersaults in the air.

「O’ Wind, Cut.」

His feet touched the ground as he lowered his sword.

The light on the tip of his sword drew a magic circle, firing wind blades toward the Black Demon.

「Hah!」

By nature, a swordsman who could use sorcery was a rarity itself. The reason for this was because it took a great deal of focus to activate a spell during battle.

One needed discipline, training, and talent both in sword and sorcery.

The Black Demon parried all the wind blades with his sword as he retreated.

「How dare you, using such paltry tricks…」

The Black Demon fixed his stance and prepared to make a rush; however, Eunos had already readied his sword, lowering his waist as he pointed it at his enemy.

Flustered, Black Demon tried to get away from Eunos’ reach, but he was too late.

Eunos had already swung his sword to the side.

He sliced Black Demon’s abdomen, scattering his guts.

The trajectory of Eunos’ sword changed again. It pierced through Black Demon’s eyeball until the back of his head. Quickly, he pulled out his sword.

The Black Demon was annihilated.

「I-If you have such power, why… did you escape…?」

The soldier fell in his own pool of blood.

「It’s a vain struggle if I’m the only one who can fight.」

Eunos spoke with a flat tone as he left that place.

He walked toward the balcony on the second floor of the mansion.

With his wind magic, Eunos could go down from the second floor uninjured.

Thus, he decided to use the balcony.

He couldn’t hide his surprise when he looked down at the city again from above the wall.

「Geez, what bad luck. The few years I spent in this city was wasted.」

「I agree, you’re unlucky indeed.」

He turned around to face the owner of that voice.

Eunos retreated while swinging his sword.

Eunos’ sword smashed the arrows that came to reap his life.

「To think that I ended up meeting you in this place when I just wanted to survey the condition of the city. Though killing you without cornering you won’t satisfy my revenge… Aren’t you already quite cornered right now?」

The one who attacked Eunos was a man in bright green, noble-like clothes and bitter orange, curly hair.

It was the battle god, Robin Hood.

「…You’ve come to take revenge on Earl Mondo in the middle of this riot, huh. You might be able to do that, but I suggest you stop. If you keep insisti—」

「I had a hard time catching up to you, Eunos of Dancing Sword. You have long since been aware of that, right? The reason why I ambushed your subordinates and ambushed you right in this place. Or what, are you going to try to dodge the truth again?」

Robin Hood nocked his arrows, aiming at Eunos.

Eunos’ expressionless face finally collapsed, forming what looked like an excited face.

And then, he smiled lightly as if trying to provoke Robin Hood.

「If that were the case, your anger is only on that level, huh. You guys went to subjugate the monster that should’ve been left alone. Shouldn’t you guys have been prepared for that much?」