Chapter 459: 425 I give you a chance
The conversation that took place at the Bessar Rays’ combat arena was naturally unknown to Reiger.
Not fully understanding his own situation, Reiger only knew he had been dragged into an abnormal state of affairs—an anomaly that clearly didn’t occur by chance but was orchestrated by someone.
The evidence was the appearance of several robed figures, all clad in black, their faces completely obscured, unrecognizable and devoid of emotion.
"So, it was you guys pulling the strings, huh?"
As the saying goes, enemies are often glaringly obvious, and Reiger had no fondness for these eerie figures without hearts, only enmity.
Therefore, Reiger almost instantly dismissed the idea of teleporting away, turned around, and faced these bizarre opponents.
The enigmatic figures also watched Reiger, the air around them trembling ever so slightly.
"... Target confirmed."
"... The object is Reiger Brillhaut himself."
"... No mistake."
"... Begin executing the plan."
The next second, the figures moved abruptly, sweeping through the air silently, like silencers on bullets, lunging towards Reiger.
Their ghostly movements were truly terrifying, without any preparatory actions or signs of intention. Even with advance preparation, such a sudden assault could disrupt one’s footing, or one might not even have time to react.
Luckily, Reiger was not among that group.
If it were his past self, perhaps he might indeed have been caught off guard by such a bizarre attack. But ever since he had developed the "Rapid Assault" ability, greatly enhancing his reflexes and reaction speed, Reiger was no longer worried about not being able to keep up with the attacks before him.
So, when those figures silently pounced toward him, Reiger too transformed into a bolt of lightning.
"Thunder Breathing·First Form·Thunderbolt Flash!"
A lightning-fast strike allowed Reiger to slash towards the leading figure.
Previously, in the wilderness, Reiger had also attacked the emotionless creatures with this "Thunderbolt Flash," but it was like cutting tough leather, only managing to knock them back without inflicting any injury.
But this time, it was different.
"Phsch!"
As the sound of flesh rending pierced the air, the slash smoothly opened the chest of one figure, causing a fountain of blood to burst forth.
Unlike the knife he created using "Advanced Item Creation" before, this time Reiger wielded his true sword—the Foolsayer. In the Earth Mistake World, it was among the top-tier special weapons; in the Overlord’s dominion, it was deemed a Divine Artifact; and in the Demon Slayer World, it was hailed as a sacred blade.
The high heat converging along the blade of the Foolsayer could easily cut through steel and melt metal. Although it had little effect against Revin clad in Ancient Secret Treasure, when faced with the creatures’ skin as tough as leather, the Foolsayer finally displayed the sharpness it was supposed to have.
"......!"
This turn of events appeared to catch the figure off-guard, causing his bloodied form to falter before he quickly retreated without hesitation.
But Reiger didn’t intend to let him get away.
"Open Wound!"
Accompanying Reiger’s incantation, the retreating figure’s chest wound suddenly burst open again, spraying an even greater amount of blood than before.
Reiger had cast a spell that exacerbated the injury, causing the figure to suffer additional damage, and he immediately took a heavy blow.
Reiger wanted to continue pursuing, but he was stopped by the other figures.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh———"
In the sound of the air being torn, several figures who had somehow flanked Reiger’s back, side, and beneath him swung their cruel, claw-like weapons, which carried a strange, chilling energy, sending swathes of darkness that seemed like light slashes cutting through the air, striking towards Reiger.
"Advanced Teleportation!"
Reiger had no choice but to give up the pursuit, using teleportation magic to shift his position. His form vanished from the spot, causing the slashes to miss completely.
Then, Reiger appeared near the ceiling, looking down with a bird’s-eye view at the figures below, and spoke coldly.
"Who exactly are you?"
There were clearly no answers to this question.
However, the figures seemed intent on reshaping their strategy and, unlike the previous attackers, did not completely ignore Reiger.
"... Reiger Brillhaut."
One of the figures spoke out.
"The youngest Sword Saint in history, the most famous prodigy of today, you are truly unfortunate."
Upon hearing this, Reiger narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
The figure continued to speak.
"You were supposed to have a bright future. With your potential, in another ten or twenty years, you might have become the strongest Sword Saint on this continent."
No sooner had this person finished speaking, another figure took up the thread of the conversation.
"What a pity you came here, to the lands of Meploros, and stumbled upon matters you should not have touched."
After this line, yet another figure continued.
"You would hinder the grand endeavor we are preparing to forge; hence, you must die here."
The three figures each took their turn to complete the statement, even as the heavily wounded figure staggered to his feet and rejoined their ranks.
The wounds on the figure had not healed, but he seemed completely oblivious to pain, as if undisturbed by the constant bleeding.
Reiger then spoke out with an extreme indifference.
"I don’t know who you are, boasting such big talk, but if you’re so confident, then I’m not unwilling to give you a chance," Reiger said as he held up his knife, pointing it at these heartless ones and speaking thus.
"However, let me be clear, if you can’t stop me, then I am truly ready to hinder your so-called great undertaking," he added.
"At that time, you peculiar fellows who want to stir up trouble from the shadows won’t find it so easy."
"Of course, that includes those standing behind you as well."
Reiger’s words released a palpable killing intent from these heartless ones.
However, as they released their killing intent, they didn’t advance but retreated, moving towards another direction in the trembling cave.
"Running away?"
Reiger frowned, instinctively ready to pursue.
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"
At that moment, a familiar, ear-piercing buzzing sound struck again.
Innumerable beetle monsters flew in from all directions again, ignoring the heartless ones among them, their eyes only on Reiger, swarming towards him densely.
"[Advanced Teleportation]!"
Reiger immediately used teleportation magic, transporting himself out of the swarm of insects in one breath.
"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" ...
Several heartless ones had just burst out of the insect sea, planning to move to the other end of the cave.
They collided with Reiger, who had just teleported, and faced a fierce slash from him.
However, this time, the slash Reiger executed was not of lightning, but of giant blade winds.
"Moon Breathing·Eighth Form·Moon Dragon Wheel Tail!"
Changing the rhythm of his breath smoothly, Reiger no longer used Thunder Breathing, but Moon Breathing, striking with a vast, swift, giant crescent blade wind capable of sweeping everything in front of him, blasting towards the heartless ones flying his way.
"Boom!"
The heartless ones had not anticipated that Reiger would suddenly appear in front of them; they directly collided with the incoming giant blade wind and were collectively blasted away.
"Moon Breathing·Ninth Form: Moonfall Continuous," he followed up relentlessly against those blasted away heartless ones, cutting multiple intercrossing blade winds, blocking their escape route while bombarding them.
"......!"
Finally, the heartless ones reacted, their bodies drifting back and forth, light as feathers, seeming to defy gravity as they freely flew through the air, desperately dodging the incoming blade winds.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" ...
The blade winds Reiger unleashed continuously fell in the trembling cave—some hit the ground, others the walls, and at times even the ceiling, causing a series of roars.
In any ordinary cave, such an attack could have caused it to start fracturing and collapsing explosively by now.
But this was not a cave; it was akin to the interior of a cave-like living organism, which meant that Reiger’s blade winds did not smash the ground or the walls and ceiling, but rather scraped off a layer of skin from a giant ancient creature, rendering the hit areas bloody and mangled.
"Rumble rumble..."
The vibration of the scene became even more frequent and fierce.
The ones to react to this phenomenon weren’t Reiger, but those heartless ones.
"... Not good," one of them said.
"... The sacred beast is wounded," another added.
"... Although it’s just superficial, if the sacred beast becomes furious, I’m afraid we might have to pay with our lives as an apology," the third suggested.
"... We must quickly resolve the target to prevent the sacred beast from getting injured again," concluded the fourth.
The heartless ones, covered in wounds, vibrated the air, communicating in a way that only their kin could understand, rapidly reaching a consensus and springing back into action.
They soared into the air, retracting the claw blades in their hands and pulling out chains instead.
"What’s that...?" Reiger noticed the scene, his mind going on alert.
From those chains, Reiger felt a potent, chilling energy, involuntarily putting him on his guard.
The heartless ones, disregarding Reiger’s caution, tossed their chains directly towards him.
In an instant, those chains began moving on their own, as if alive, morphing into steel dragons that spiraled and wound towards Reiger.
"Moon Breathing· Fourteenth Form· Fierce Transformation· Heavenly Faint Moon!"
Reiger counterattacked on the spot, swinging his Divine Artifact and releasing countless gigantic crescent blade winds, attempting to sweep clean everything before him, slashing towards all directions.
"Boom!"
The blade winds struck the chains, causing loud roars, but failed to halt the chains’ advance.
The chains, one after another, pierced through the blade winds and sped towards Reiger.
Finally, they wound around Reiger’s body.