Chapter 79

Chapter Fifty-Two Cleansing

The night was dark.

The moonlight was trapped in the thick clouds, casting a gloomy shadow over the dim streets.

It was already deep into the night, and the residents of the cold winter city had long retired to their beds. Doors and windows of houses and small buildings were tightly shut; rarely could one see a flame lit inside. The entire city was silent.

Occasionally, the barking of dogs could be heard, more frequent than usual, as if hinting at the unrest of the night and the events that were about to unfold.

Or perhaps, had already unfolded.

In the deep alleyways in the north of the city, three hunters clad in strange weapons and leather armor emerged from the shadows of a narrow alley.

The hunters looked hurried, their footsteps swift. Under the cover of darkness, they raced through several major streets before stopping in front of a low-rise building.

The hunter standing in the middle spoke.

“46 Michael Street… Is this the right place?”

“Yeah, the address is correct.”

“Then let’s start. Quick and clean… Knock on the door.”

The hunter next to him nodded and raised his hand to knock forcefully on the door.

Bang bang bang.

Bang bang bang!

“…Coming, coming,” a woman’s voice came from inside the door, her footsteps approaching, and she muttered under her breath, “Who is it? In the middle of the night…”

After a moment, the door creaked open. A drowsy middle-aged maid held a lantern and stood at the door, rubbing her eyes.

When she saw that the visitors were three men armed with sharp weapons, she froze for a moment.

She was then pressed against the neck by a bizarrely shaped long knife.

Clang.

The lantern fell to the ground, and the maid, terrified, stared at the expressionless hunters before her.

“You…”

“Hush—”

The lead hunter made a gesture for silence.

“Do not make a sound, or I will kill you. Understand?”

The maid swallowed hard, her legs trembling with fear. She nodded reluctantly and moved aside.

“Good, we’ll go in.”

Creak, creak—

The sound of boots on wooden floors echoed, grating on the ears. The room was dimly lit, and it was clear that the owner of the low-rise building had gone to sleep. The hunters looked around.

“Where is he?”

Startled by the sudden question, the maid immediately shrank back, her head bowed, and trembled as she pointed upstairs.

The lead hunter looked up, seeing a tightly closed door. He pulled down his round hat and gestured to the others.

The three of them tightened their grips on their weapons and quickly ascended the stairs, arriving at the door and kicking it open.

Bam—

The door shattered and fell to the ground with a loud thud. The figure lying on the bed was startled awake.

“Who!”

The hunters continued forward silently.

Click click click.

The long knife extended abruptly with an eerie grinding sound. The lead hunter raised his right arm and swung it horizontally at the man who was clearly still confused.

A flash of cold light, and the head rolled off. Blood spurted from the neck, splattering the hunter’s face.

“Aaaaah!!”

The woman lying beside the figure let out a piercing scream. In the next moment, the dripping blade was pointed at her neck.

“Shut up. Tell me the name of the dead man.”

Her teeth chattered.

“…Who are you… Do you know… you killed someone from the Suntel army…”

“Tell me. What is his name? Speak another word and you die too.”

“Felix…”

The hunter nodded to his companion.

“Yeah, that’s him.” Then he lifted the hem of his windbreaker and casually wiped his weapon, “Let’s go, next one.”

He paid no heed to the blood dripping down his face and turned to leave.

Creak, creak…

That sound seemed like the footsteps of Death wandering in the darkness.

At the same time, in another small building across the street, a similar scene played out.

Clang!

A hunter broke through the window, holding his blade level against the half-naked man’s chest.

“Gunter?”

“…Hunters? This is outrageous! Which team are you from? I want to speak to your captain…”

“It seems you’re the one.”

Swish!

A flash of cold light, and the man’s throat gushed blood.

“Next.”

…

Central Workshop.

The bright glow from the top of the towering bellows was no different from usual.

The disheveled furnace workers had reached their shift change time. They yawned and trudged toward their dormitories.

“What’s happening tonight? Any alcohol?”

“Forget it, drinking? Last night, I got scolded by my wife because I was drunk. If I drink again tonight, I might not even get in the door.”

“Not really

“Why are you so lacking in ambition? Are you scared of women?”

“Let’s not talk about it. You know my wife’s temper…”

“Haha! That’s true!”

“Hey, I’m saying… Don’t you guys feel something’s off tonight?”

“What’s off?”

“I’m not sure, it feels like something’s missing…”

“You didn’t mention it, I hadn’t noticed either. We’ve been walking for so long, has anyone seen any patrolling hunters?”

“…Seems like no one.”

“That’s odd. Usually, they’re everywhere. How come there’s none to be seen tonight? Could it be that all the hunters have gone on vacation?”

“That’s impossible.”

“But taking a break once in a while wouldn’t matter, right? No one would dare cause trouble here anyway.”

“Hahaha! The hunters work hard too—”

The group continued chatting and walked away.

No one saw the black figure crouching on top of the large warehouse wall, sneaking behind the guard and stabbing him in the chest.

…

In a corner of the southwestern city wall, two groups of hunters were facing each other with weapons drawn. A tall man holding a snake-like long sword pointed it directly at a slender woman.

“Bella, what do you mean?!”

“Kill you.”

A silver-haired woman wearing a triangular hat stood against the wind, her face calm as she clenched her double-headed long sword tightly.

The cold wind blew gently, lifting the hem of her clothes.

“Kill me? You want to kill me?! Do you know what that means?”

The man’s eyes widened with anger, but his words lacked the confidence they appeared to have.

“You can’t kill me…凭什么杀我! I am the vice captain of the Shanter army’s second company! You have no right to do this!”

“Too many words.”

Bella shook her head slightly and took a step forward.

Clang—

Her double-headed long sword split into two narrow blades at the hilt, each as long as an arm. She held one in each hand, swung her arms, and without looking back, said to the hunters behind her, “Don’t interfere.”

Her pace quickened.

“…Attack, kill her.”

The man waved to a few hunters beside him and began to slowly retreat.

“Hmph.”

Bella sneered. She lightly touched the ground with her feet and rushed towards the opposite hunter.

Moon Step.

Whoosh—

She spun around, raised her sword, and slashed down, knocking two hunters to the ground instantly. After stopping, she immediately bent her waist, dodging a thrust from the side, and slashed the throat of her opponent.

Dodge, slash. Dodge, slash. The entire fight lasted less than half a minute; only the vice captain was left standing.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.

Bella looked at him, her narrow blade swinging downward.

Boom!

The blade ignited with fierce flames.

“Are you not fighting?”

“…”

The man let out a hoarse cry, his snake-like sword stabbing at Bella, clearly ready to fight to the death.

Clang—, clang—

Only two clashes of metal rang out before Bella thrust her blade into his chest on the third strike.

The scorching flames sizzled as they roasted the flesh.

“…”

The man fell to the ground, twitching twice before he went silent.

…

In the study of Shanter Castle, the flickering candlelight cast shadows. Duke Skaliger sat at the desk, engrossed in reading a book.

The door suddenly opened. The duke looked up and saw his well-dressed wife enter.

He chuckled.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“You’re still laughing… With such big matters, how can I sleep?”

“Where’s Peppe?”

“She’s sleeping soundly.”

“Then go to sleep yourself.”

His wife shook her head.

“Are you hungry? I’ll make you some soup.”

“I’m not hungry. Don’t worry about me, go to bed. There are plenty of people in the kitchen; you don’t need to do everything yourself. You’ve been worrying unnecessarily all day.”

“…Worrying unnecessarily? This kind of thing… you just did it without consulting anyone, and I’ve been nervous all day…”

“Don’t think too much, everything will be fine with me.”

Before she could say more, there was a knock on the door.