Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Iron Mine (2)

Entering the office in a hurry, Mitchell checked on the chief clerk and the supervisor.

Both of them had already drawn their last breath. Just then, an office staff member who had arrived earlier spotted Grant and his eyes widened in surprise.

Grant immediately questioned the employee about the situation.

“What on earth happened here?”

“I heard a scream just a moment ago and rushed over, only to find…”

While Grant was listening to the staff member's explanation, Mitchell carefully examined the surroundings.

At first glance, it appeared as though they had taken each other's lives with their own weapons.

“The way they are collapsed looks unnatural…”

[You noticed. If it were an attack powerful enough to sever their breath in a single blow like this, they should have collapsed on top of each other, not fallen backward like that.]

Just as Calian pointed out, the corpses had fallen in an outward direction.

[From the looks of it, this was done by someone with considerable skill, but it seems they made a mistake because they were moving in a hurry.]

“Which means…”

It meant that someone had realized their presence and carried out the deed.

As Mitchell quickly stood up, Grant finished his conversation and came over to stand by his side.

“I told him to thoroughly guard the documents here and to contact the family immediately.”

“Good job. Let’s head to the iron mine right away. Since it’s certain that there are people plotting something, their next target will definitely be the iron mine.”

“I’ll guide you. I’ve been there before, so I know the way.”

Grant and Mitchell immediately mounted Knox and set off.

Thanks to Knox sprinting at full speed after passing the inhabited areas, they managed to arrive at the iron mine in the blink of an eye.

When they halted in front of the entrance, a martial artist guarding the iron mine came out to greet them.

Receiving a casual greeting, Mitchell threw out a question.

“Has there been any ambush?”

“No… but what brings you here?”

“The chief clerk and the supervisor in the village are dead. Bring the person in charge, as we have something to discuss regarding this matter.”

The martial artist, who had hurried off somewhere, soon returned accompanied by two familiar faces.

Upon seeing them, Grant’s eyes widened as he opened his mouth.

“Mister Twins, you were here?”

“Yes, we arrived last month under the orders of the Family Head. And we just heard the news. Did you say the chief clerk and the supervisor are dead?”

At Rydrick’s words, Mitchell nodded his head.

“It seems that whoever was monitoring the office spotted us and killed them. We came in a hurry because we thought they might ambush the iron mine next.”

“Sigh… of all people, those two.”

Judging by their reaction, the twin brothers Rydrick and Vendrick seemed to know something to some extent as well.

Mitchell looked around the surroundings. The martial artists of Luney were watching them, wondering what was going on.

“This doesn’t seem like the place to talk, so let’s move inside first.”

Following Mitchell’s words, they entered a temporary lodging near the entrance.

Once everyone was seated on chairs, Rydrick was the first to speak.

“In fact, we have been digging into the backgrounds of the supervisor and the chief clerk for some time now.”

“The supervisor was rumored to be meeting a woman; is that what you are referring to?”

“How did you know that…?”

As expected, they possessed the same information.

When Mitchell recounted what he had heard at the inn a short while ago, Rydrick frowned deeply and continued speaking.

“That person has a loose tongue. I clearly warned him not to talk about it anywhere.”

“Well, once we laid down some money, he spilled everything quite smoothly.”

At Grant’s remark, Rydrick let out a deep sigh.

“It seems that information has leaked out as well. That explains the reason why they were killed.”

In addition to the investigation by the twin brothers, they must have felt pressured by the sudden appearance of the Luney family's children.

To put it conversely, it meant those two had been colluding with the plundering bandits all this time.

“For now, we must prepare thoroughly. Since their method of easily taking the iron ore has vanished, they might move in a much more full-scale manner now.”

“That would certainly be the case. There is no way they would attack the village where many civilians live, so we will guard the perimeter of the iron mine more heavily. But…”

Rydrick, who was speaking, suddenly shut his mouth.

Mitchell and Grant stared at him quietly, wondering what was wrong, but Vendrick was a bit different.

His expression was turning visibly anxious.

“Don't tell me you have a bad feeling again?”

“Yeah.”

Vendrick turned his head toward Mitchell.

“As I mentioned last time, Brother's intuition is almost always right. It looks like an ambush is coming soon.”

Mitchell recalled the time he had previously met the twin brothers.

Back then, he had also mentioned having a bad feeling, and an actual ambush had occurred right after.

[Though rare, there are those who are born with a highly developed Baihui acupoint.]

According to what he had previously heard in passing from Calian, if the Baihui acupoint is developed, one possesses strong mental power and can even hold an intuition close to foresight.

If so, his feeling would turn out to be real.

Mitchell immediately stood up from his seat.

“Let’s reinforce the guards right away. Grant, let’s go out and scout the perimeter too.”

“Got it.”

Just as they were about to step out, a fierce aura registered in Mitchell’s senses.

Whether Grant and the twin brothers felt it as well, they all stared outside the tent.

At the same moment, the shouts of the martial artists rang out.

— It's an ambush!

Swoosh!

The four of them dashed out simultaneously.

In their vision, numerous figures clad in black martial robes were seen rushing forward.

“Evacuate the laborers into the mine!”

The twin brothers began to hold back the attackers while simultaneously barking out commands.

In another area, Knox was helping the family's martial artists by kicking away the attacking enemies with his hind legs.

“We should also…”

“Hold on a moment.”

Mitchell caught hold of Grant, who was about to join the fray immediately, and scanned the battlefield's condition.

Then, he pointed toward a location where relatively weaker martial artists were stationed.

“Grant, you go over there. We need to clear them out as quickly as possible.”

“Understood!”

Replying loudly, Grant dashed forward.

As he kicked off the ground and soared into the air, he began to gather energy into his sword at the same time.

Soon after, as he landed and plunged his sword into the ground, the Heaven-Shattering Formation unfolded.

Because it wasn’t unleashed with Dark Aura, it lacked the effect of inflicting damage to the soul, but it was more than enough to cause the enemies to lose their balance or injure them with fragments bursting forth from the ground.

Especially so for a 5th-grade Aura User who possessed an energy amplified by the inner core of the Green-Scaled Ghost Serpent.

Boom!

Grant swung his sword in the dead center of the chaotic battlefield, and a deep blue Heaven-Shattering Flash struck down several martial artists in an instant.

Watching that sight, Mitchell furrowed his brows.

‘The quality of the enemies is on the higher side.’

Even though Grant had attacked with all his might, they had combined their strength to minimize the damage.

Despite the situation, there was only one reason why Mitchell wasn't jumping in yet.

It was to find the person leading them.

After quickly rolling his eyes to scan the area, he spotted a masked man heading toward a spot where the twin brothers and Grant were absent.

He was someone radiating a powerful aura, clear at a single glance.

Mitchell straightaway rushed over to that location and stood before him.

“Hah, these brats keep getting in the way.”

A man wearing a mask to hide his face.

Holding a massive saber, he lightly swung his arm, causing a powerful gale to rage forth.

Mitchell quickly compressed his energy and coated his sword with the Heaven-Shattering Flash.

Clang!

However, even after doing so, defending was the absolute limit of what he could achieve.

[Be careful, he is no easy opponent.]

The fact that he couldn't easily block the strike even with a body reinforced by the inner core and a massive reserve of energy meant that the opponent's skill was several levels above his own.

Furthermore, despite wielding such a massive saber, his speed was incredibly fast.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

While Mitchell was barely managing to defend himself, the saber bent like a snake and swept down toward his waist.

Just as he hurriedly lowered his sword to block it, the opponent aimed for his upper body this time.

No, that was what he thought.

However, Calian's urgent voice was pointing not toward the upper body, but down below.

[The knee!]

Managing to dodge just in the nick of time thanks to Calian, Mitchell widened the distance between them.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

If he had been even a moment later, his knee would have been severed.

‘I didn't even see how he changed the sword trajectory…’

Mitchell gritted his teeth and raised his sword.

Staring at him, the enemy placed the saber over his shoulder and stood up straight.

“What is your name?”

A middle-aged man's voice echoed from within the mask.

Mitchell unleashed Soul Absorption to start replenishing his stamina. Meanwhile, to drag out even a bit of time, he replied to the question.

“I am Mitchell Luney.”

“Never heard of it. More importantly, the martial art you use is quite sinister. It seems to be a type of dark swordsmanship… if it's the Luney family, it must be the 'Sword of Death'.”

While the middle-aged man was pondering, Mitchell subtly scanned his surroundings.

The area where the twin brothers and Knox were located was no longer being pushed back and was maintaining its formation.

On the other hand, due to Grant’s active performance, the enemy’s formation had been disrupted, and thanks to that, the battle was rapidly turning advantageous for them.

The middle-aged man in front of him must have seen that and was trying to break through this specific spot.

As long as he could drag out time, defending this place wouldn't be an issue.

“You've certainly looked into our family a lot. It's rare for someone to even know the name 'Sword of Death'. By the way, since I've introduced myself, shouldn't there be something in return?”

“I would think it's rude to ask for a name from an opponent wearing a mask.”

“Then let me ask something else. It's not like you can seize the iron mine just by ambushing it like this, so why are you overexerting yourselves to attack?”

The middle-aged man chuckled at those words.

Then, he surveyed the surroundings.

From all directions, the sound of clashing weapons and shouts mixed with fierce bellows could be heard.

“I feel like you are dragging out time far too obviously. Unfortunately, I am out of time, so go solve your curiosity in the afterlife.”

Finishing his words, the middle-aged man rushed forward with his saber raised.

It was an incredibly fast speed just like before, but perhaps because he had seen it once, it was a bit more familiar to his eyes now.

Thanks to that, Mitchell, having grasped the middle-aged man's sword trajectory, avoided the attack and immediately unleashed the Incarnation Art.

Groan—

A monster made of human forms manifested and covered Mitchell’s body.

Startled by that appearance, the middle-aged man gripped his weapon anew with both hands and swung it down.

Clang!

However, because the Heaven-Shattering Flash was already generated on Mitchell’s sword, there was no problem in blocking it.

Mitchell continuously poured his energy into the Heaven-Shattering Flash created alongside the Incarnation.

An ominous ash-colored sword-qi surged violently.

Yet, even in the midst of that, the middle-aged man's blade fiercely assaulted Mitchell.

[Right foot!]

He evaded most of it, but for the occasional attacks he missed, he received Calian's assistance.

Judging that the energy of the Heaven-Shattering Flash had gathered sufficiently, Mitchell unleashed it straight ahead.

“You bastard!”

The Heaven-Shattering Flash contained a massive amount of energy.

Whether he hadn't expected him to just blast it away like that, the surprised middle-aged man hurriedly kicked off the ground to retreat.

But at that moment.

‘Damn it!’

Seeing Mitchell’s smiling face, the man realized that he wasn't the one being targeted.

As he hurriedly turned his head, what greeted his eyes was a picturesque scene of hell.

“Aaaaargh!”

Severed limbs and internal injuries ran rampant.

Furthermore, the severed body parts were rapidly rotting away.

Just like that, over a dozen of his subordinates were rendered incapable of combat in an instant.

However, that wasn't all.

Ignoring the middle-aged man who had moved further away, Mitchell charged straight toward the other subordinates.

Slash—

While it had no effect against a powerhouse like the middle-aged man, to those of lower realms, Mitchell’s Incarnation was nothing short of the Grim Reaper itself.

Before the middle-aged man could arrive, Mitchell rapidly plunged his sword into the ground, unfolding the Heaven-Shattering Formation.

Shriek—

Unlike Grant’s Heaven-Shattering Formation, the wailing of ghosts echoed out.

And along with it, the movements of the enemies slowed down visibly.

Mitchell moved while executing the Ghost Soul Steps, and in the eyes of the enemies, it appeared as though a monster that had grown even more powerful was approaching them.

“S-Spare me…!”

Slash—

Treading the Ghost Soul Steps, Mitchell rapidly dug into the gap between the enemies and swung his sword.

“You brat! Stop right there!”

Ignoring the middle-aged man's voice echoing from behind, Mitchell once again gathered the Heaven-Shattering Flash and sent it flying.

Although it didn't pack a compressed, massive energy like before, it was more than enough to finish off the already neutralized enemies.

Just like that, another group of enemies collapsed in droves.