Episode 184
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The work of steadily retracing the endless spider web, dot by dot, under the organization under the organization, has begun.
A back alley in the Imperial Free City of Harlem, in a tavern.
Although it was advertised as a tavern to the public, in reality, no one came to drink or stay at the tavern. It was merely a pretense to comply with city law.
Its true identity is that of a criminal guild that rules Harlem, and is a subordinate organization of the Shadow Court, which is notorious as the continent’s greatest assassin’s guild.
The corpses of the assassins are strewn across the floor of the tavern, unable to even properly resist the baptism of assassination spirits that are being scattered around.
The survivors all lay face down on the floor with their heads buried in the ground.
“Okay, now I’ll show you a magic trick where your fingers disappear.”
Kwajik!
“Ahhhhh!”
And from there a scream rang out.
The man who officially claimed to be the manager of Mokro Tavern screamed. What on earth is the identity of this man in front of me? How dare he touch me, who claims to be a judge in a small court?
The small court ruled by Smith was in fact nothing more than a nameless criminal organization. But they were not above it.
An organization above an organization, this was the real small court of the shadow court.
But even they are not ‘real heads’.
That’s the scary thing about the Shadow Court. What you think is a head isn’t a head, and what you think is a body isn’t a body. No one can fully grasp their true identity.
And that was the biggest problem.
Even those who could be called the ‘real leaders’ of the shadow court were unable to fully grasp the true nature of their own organization.
“Haha, even if you come to my head, you won’t recognize my head. So what use is this grand court?”
“Please, forgive me… …!”
“Yes, you said that you were the head of the Shadow Court that ruled this city.”
“right!”
“right?”
“Oh, that’s right!”
“Then you are the one who rules the Free Cities Alliance?”
“Oh, no! We are a small court! The one who rules this city is the high court above us!”
“High Court?”
At those words, Master Baro quietly tilted his head.
“Oh, shit. We had something like that in our court?”
There are only two organizational systems in the shadow court: the small court and the grand court. Even if the subordinate organizations that call themselves the small court have different sizes and powers, and even if the assassins in the small court are not the executors of the divine order, but merely an organization of criminals.
“Okay, then let’s start talking about the High Court.”
“Do you really think I would just reveal the organization’s information… …?”
“Hmm, where does the sound come from?”
Master Baro listened to those words and asked back.
“Cow, sound?”
“The sound of your fingers begging you to please speak.”
Crunch. At the same time, my finger bones were twisted so horribly that they almost stuck to the back of my hand.
“Ahhhh! I’ll tell you! Ahhhhh! I’ll tell you! I’ll burn everything, so please forgive me!”
“Haha, I really like how this guy has no integrity.”
The store manager was talking very fluently, and it was at that moment.
“No, are you guys some kind of bean powder court?”
Leaving Master Baro’s activities behind, the hooded man sitting in the corner of the tavern finally opened his mouth.
“Oh, don’t be so mean. Did I start this organization or something? I’m a f*cking idiot.”
The ‘Shadow Lord’ answered Master Baro’s words.
“I have heard of the courts that the Justices of the Supreme Court have under their jurisdiction. But this is the first time I have heard of the Free Cities Alliance having its own court.”
“Our shadow court extends below the small court, and even below that.”
It is by no means a vain claim that they are the continent’s greatest assassination organization. However, an organization that has grown to this size is bound to have uncontrollable branches in a world where information and communication are not developed.
That is why the Shadow Lord’s first goal was to cut down and tidy up those branches.
“High Court, that sounds like a very reasonable name anyway.”
Dale nodded and sat up.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Well, we should go to the higher court.”
It was just then.
“Oh, I don’t think we need to go there ourselves.”
The wind blew. It was a very familiar wind.
As the wind blew, silhouettes appeared there. They were men wearing bird-beak masks and coats.
“Are you the ones who dare to touch our ‘shadow court’ without fear?”
A man in a bird beak mask opened his mouth.
Each and every one of them was a force that could not be compared to the rascals here. It was literally the assassination of the shadow court itself.
“Hoo, looking at the appearance, it doesn’t look like a dog bone that rolled around anywhere.”
Master Baro opened his mouth as if he was interested in them.
“I have no intention of shedding blood needlessly.”
At the same time, Dale said,
“As a member of the Shadow Grand Court, I command you to lead us to the High Court.”
“Did you say it was the Supreme Court?”
One of the assassins in the new beak mask opened his mouth.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying, I’m the best swordsman among them.”
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Master Baro chuckled. But then.
“ha ha ha!”
The store manager, whose fingers were a mess, burst into laughter at the sight of them.
“The ‘real killers’ of the Shadow Court have finally made their move! Now you are all dead!”
As if the two people were no different from dead people.
“So everything here is fake?”
“At least they are the real court assassins you speak of.”
Dale turned his head and answered blandly.
“I have no intention of shedding blood needlessly. But I guess I have to prove something.”
In a voice devoid of even a shred of emotion, Dale spoke to the Shadow Court assassins.
Taat!
At the same time, the assassins in the new beak masks scattered, kicking the ground. At the same time, a baptism of blades was scattered in a fan shape, and Master Baro was about to move at that action.
Dale stopped him without saying a word, extending his arm at the same time.
To test his new strength.
The five circles accelerated, and the ‘cold of the end’ that was embedded in his body flowed out through the blue magic.
Just as the magical power scattered by the young Lize took in the sharp coldness of the area and shone like crystal.
Dale, strictly speaking, was not using magic. He simply fused the ‘cold air of the end’ within his body in the process of releasing magical power in the form of gas, and then indiscriminately dispersed that cold air.
But it was not as beautiful, pretty, or shiny as my younger sister’s.
It was just the coldness of death with a brutal cruelty that was almost brutal.
“… … !”
As if an invisible poison gas was eating them away, the cold air of the end was scattered and it was scary to touch the flesh of the killer…
It did not provide pain in the form of an easy-to-understand ice.
The meaning of cosmic winter, absolute zero, is by no means an easy verb to understand. It refers to the annihilation of existence itself, where the entropy of matter becomes extremely high, and the core particles of the material structure collapse.
The collapse of order, that was ultimately what the cold of the apocalypse and the winter of the universe meant.
As the cold of the apocalypse engulfed them, their flesh and blood disintegrated into particles, leaving no trace of their form.
But even this is only a part of the abilities of ‘Cold Air of the End’.
‘How far can this power ultimately be utilized?’
Because I understand the meaning of chaos, and because I am a shadow lord with knowledge of the other world, I can feel it even more deeply. This is by no means a power that can stop at killing a single person.
Ability to reach the realm of matter manipulation.
‘It’s not something to think about right now.’
One of the assassins in the new beak mask had the elements that symbolized his existence scattered and disappeared at the particle level.
Not even a speck of ashes remains.
“… … !”
The movements of the assassins stopped. They are not fools either. That is why they must have sensed it as soon as they saw Dale.
That they are of different classes.
“Hehehe, guys. Are you starting to get the idea of where to put your head?”
Before Master Baro could finish speaking, the assassins moved. Their movements were truly miraculous. However, they were by no means intended to cut off the enemy’s neck.
““I dare not meet a great knight!””
The Shadow Court assassins all struck their heads in unison right in front of Dale.
“Haha, I like how consistent these guys are. They’re just like knives.”
Master Baro smiled happily at the sight. After smiling, he turned his head.
“Okay, then where… … .”
“Hee, heek!”
Along with the appearance of the shadow assassins, towards the store manager who had been mocking Dale and Baro as ‘dead lives’ until just before.
“Shall I show you a magic trick where your balls disappear?”
* * *
At that moment, an underground hideout in Harlem that calls itself the High Court.
There have been some disturbing incidents in the city recently, and the assassins have been sent out accordingly, and they have returned shortly after. Trusting that they have done their duty, Judge McGee of the High Court stands up.
“Yeah, did you return safely after completing your mission?”
“I came back after finishing very well.”
And from inside the new beak mask, he heard a voice so strange and unfamiliar that he didn’t recognize it.
“… … !”
Taking off his mask, the Shadow Lord finally revealed his true form.
“how!”
At the same time, the Shadow Court assassins who were supposed to be loyal to McGee all knelt before the Shadow Lord.
“You bastards, how dare you betray the court… …!”
Nevertheless, Salsu and McGee, who claimed to be the heads of the High Court, were not embarrassed. Rather, they were so dumbfounded that they almost laughed.
The judge of the shadow court, at least he was on a different level from the idiots we’ve seen so far.
Before he knew it, he had re-established his grip on the dark weapon, and a blood-red aura blade began to follow the dark weapon. It was the unmistakable symbol of a high-ranking assassin.
There’s no way you wouldn’t know what it means.
But then it was.
“Hey, you little shit.”
Likewise, a man wearing a bird beak mask opened his mouth, and the voice sounded very familiar.
“Seeing you acting like a king here just because you’ve grown a little bit, I’m speechless at how touched this older brother is.”
The man also took off his mask. And how could he not recognize the face there?
In order to become a high-ranking assassin of the Shadow Court, the ‘Blood Aura Blade’ is required. And the only one who can pass on that bloody aura is the strongest of the Shadow Court and the Great Court’s assassination sword, and only one.
“Oh, right, hyung… … ?”
McGee swallowed his breath in bewilderment, and Master Baro opened his mouth.
“You little McGee, this guy won’t talk for long because he thinks of old times.”
“Speak, brother!”
“Get your head in there.”
As Master Baro spoke, the High Court Judge and High Assassin McGee willingly slammed his head into the ground. High Assassin McGee and all the Assassins present were no exception.
For an organization that claimed to be the ruling power in Harlem, the Alliance of Free Cities, it was a truly disappointing ending.