Chapter 257: 257 May I ask for your guidance?
Outside Fransel’s estate, on the main road.
Liz had jogged here, and soon she saw the carriage that came to pick her up every day.
When she spotted the carriage, Liz slowed her steps, clutching her sword as she climbed into the carriage compartment, letting it gradually begin to move.
At the same time, the swaying dark shadow appeared again behind Liz.
"How did it go? Did he agree?"
Rom asked about this matter as soon as he arrived.
Clearly, the intelligence that Reiger had brought Liz into the mansion for a talk, had already reached his ears.
Reiger didn’t hide it; taking Liz into the Fransel family home in front of so many people meant that those well-informed must have already learned of it through various channels.
And Reiger specifically taking Liz home for a talk seemed to Rom to be for nothing else but the contract.
Thus, Rom asked this question directly, causing Liz to shrink her shoulders slightly.
But Liz still honestly made a reply.
"He asked me to go back and wait for news."
Liz informed Rom of the situation.
"Wait for news?" Rom mused, talking to himself, "It seems he has begun to consider it."
Although he didn’t directly agree, this was undoubtedly a very good signal.
"Your Highness..."
Rom then planned to encourage Liz to push harder, to finalize the matter.
However, he had only spoken halfway when Rom suddenly stopped, and the dark shadow swaying behind Liz also emitted a chilling aura.
"What, what happened?"
Liz was startled by this sudden chilling aura.
"...It’s nothing." Rom fell silent for a while and then withdrew the chilling aura, saying, "Since he has asked Your Highness to go back and wait for news, let’s just wait."
After speaking, the swaying shadow behind Liz disappeared.
Liz was left alone in the carriage compartment, her face still reflecting her lingering doubts.
......
Meanwhile, Rom, having departed from the carriage, didn’t head back to the palace but rather swept towards the outskirts of the royal capital.
Despite it still being broad daylight, Rom’s figure blended into the darkness of the night, leaving only a very vague shadow that silently swept toward the suburbs of the royal capital, crossing over the city walls, and moving far away from this city called Yerulf.
Long after, Rom finally stopped in a wilderness.
"Come out."
Rom spoke in a cold voice.
"I know you’ve been following me. No need to hide anymore."
The chilly voice spread through the wilderness, sounding especially clear.
Not until several seconds later did a faint voice finally respond.
"I have completely sealed my fighting spirit and breath, yet you found me. I guess I’m not very skilled at this kind of hiding."
Accompanying these words, a figure like a flash of lightning suddenly appeared behind Rom.
Who could it be, if not Reiger?
"...You hid very well, completely sealing your fighting spirit and breath, reducing your presence to the lowest, almost making yourself transparent. If it were another Sword Saint today, they might really not have noticed your presence."
Rom paused briefly, then spoke expressionlessly.
"Unfortunately, in terms of hiding, I am confident I yield to no one in this world, not even the Kingdom’s strongest old Sword Saint can compare with me in this aspect."
In a nutshell, Reiger’s actions amounted to bringing an owl to Athens in front of a true authority and expert in this field.
Being noticed was inevitable.
Reiger responded with a faint smile.
"As expected of the leader of the royal family’s secretive assassination squad ’Shadow’, the renowned Shadow Sword Saint, truly formidable."
Reiger straightforwardly revealed Rom’s identity.
Rom then turned around to face Reiger.
"I am a bit curious," said Rom in a grave voice, "It seems like you knew of my presence from the start. How did you discover me?"
Rom believed, with his ability to hide, no one within the kingdom could match him.
He was also confident that even Sword Saints of his level would find it extremely difficult to see through his concealment.
Until now, Rom had never been noticed by a Sword Saint-level presence before he made a move.
In the entire Ginas Kingdom, only one Sword Saint might detect his presence before he acted.
Now, however, Reiger had seen through his concealment, which Rom couldn’t help but find puzzling and surprising.
In response, Reiger simply lifted his eyelids.
"The world I see, is different from the world others see."
Reiger’s eyes shimmered with a rich, transparent luminosity.
Seeing those suddenly transparent pupils, Rom realized that this excessively young junior possessed a very special ability to see through all facades.
This ability, for Rom, who mainly uses assassination as his combat style, was almost like facing a natural enemy.
"So, you had already noticed me when I first met his majesty during the royal gathering?"
Rom asked in a low voice.
"Pretty much," Reiger answered with a half-smile, looking at Rom. "At least, when you revealed a murderous intent towards me after I unilaterally rejected the olive branch offered by the king, I saw it very clearly."
Rom fell silent and only after a while did he speak somberly.
"So you secretly followed behind Princess Liz, and after I discovered your presence, you purposely led me here; was it to seek revenge for my murderous intent that day?"
Upon hearing this, Reiger smirked.
"Revenge is not quite the word."
Reiger clenched his fist, and a knife immediately appeared in his hand.
"However, I am indeed curious to experience the skills of the Shadow Sword Saint; may I have the honor?"
Suddenly, lightning and thunder appeared around Reiger.
An aura had completely locked onto Rom, signaling that Reiger did not intend to let him leave.
This caused Rom’s gaze to turn colder.
"You don’t think just because no one has been able to withstand a single strike from you in the arena these past few days, you are without an opponent?" Rom sneered coldly. "Young man, it’s best not to show off too much. In the circle of Sword Saints, you are but a newcomer."
Indeed, Reiger was a newly minted Sword Saint; dominating ordinary swordsman or even real swordsmen was no issue, but in the realm of Sword Saints, no one felt they were not a match for Reiger.
"A flash of lightning signifies defeat; such a big name can intimidate others but don’t try that in front of veteran Sword Saints. Be careful not to tarnish the reputation you’ve managed to build," Rom said.
His words were not necessarily filled with malice, but they were definitely harsh.
Clearly, Rom was also provoked by Reiger’s attitude.
Reiger still maintained an indifferent expression as he glanced at Rom.
"Boom!"
The next second, lightning burst forth suddenly, slashing through the air towards Rom at a breathtaking speed, friction heating the atmosphere.
"......!"
Rom’s eyes narrowed, and in the instant the lightning surged, he spontaneously transformed into a shadowy wisp of dark water, moving to the side.
"Ping!"
The lightning scraped past the dark shadow, leaving a thunderous sword strike in the air, slicing through nothing but air with a crisp sword chant.
Rom had dodged the "Lightning Flash" strike.
Since Reiger had returned to the continent of Akasha, this was the first time someone had managed to evade his "Lightning Flash."
"You think that move really works on me?"
Rom’s chilly voice reached Reiger’s ears.
"It’s been so many days; I’ve seen you use that move a thousand times, it’s no longer effective against me," he said.
If it was difficult for Rom to withstand the "Lightning Flash" the first time he saw it, by now he could handle it with ease.
Even the Lees brothers, after seeing "Lightning Flash" twice, had seen through its flaws and formulated a strategy against it—let alone a Sword Saint like Rom.
In the meantime, Reiger had faced so many opponents in the arena and used "Lightning Flash" countless times; Rom had completely seen through it.
"Whenever you use this move, there’s a thunderous roar beforehand."
"Also, once you initiate this move, you can’t change direction or modify it."
"So, just by dodging out of the trajectory the moment the thunder sounds, your strike won’t reach me no matter what."
Saying this, Rom drew his sword.
In his hand appeared a sword seemingly formed from the same elusive shadows, its entire body shimmering with an ethereal blackness, flickering like unstable dark water.
"Let me show you that even though you have become a Sword Saint, you are just a newcomer and simply no match for an experienced Sword Saint."
As soon as he finished speaking, Rom vanished.
Only the shadow sword remained, seemingly suspended in the air, violently springing into action as if manipulated by an invisible force, cutting through the skies towards Reiger.
"Boom!"
Thunder sounded around Reiger once again as he turned into a bolt of lightning and dashed towards the distance.
However, the shadow sword seemed to appear and disappear like a phantom, vanishing suddenly and then just as quickly reappearing, this time right in front of Reiger.
"Black Sword·Shadow Slash!"
Rom’s icy voice announced.
In an instant, dark light seeped from the pitch-black shadow sword, and it swooped down from the air towards Reiger.
"Boom!"
The roar sounded a third time.
Yet, this time the clamor was not that of thunder but the sound of the wilderness being cleaved apart.
A stroke of black light, like a sword beam, slashed across the ground and the wilds, leaving a deeply gashed ravine on the surface.
Rocks and debris flew up, a sandstorm whirled into motion, and the shockwave, like an explosion, blasted in all directions, blowing away rocks, stone plates, and everything in the vicinity.
With a single strike, it was nearly earth-shattering.