Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 204

Talent Difference (1)Blood ran down the cheek where the blade had grazed me. The wound on the Guardian of the Nation’s cheek had not healed.

As Denver stepped slightly back, a creaking sound rang out, and part of the remaining ceiling of the Imperial Palace collapsed.

After confirming that much, Kairus reached his conclusion and soared upward.

“I’ve confirmed what I needed to confirm, so I’ll see you later.”

Leaving those words behind, Kairus exited the Imperial Palace. Denver did not pursue him. He might have been able to grab his ankle for a moment, but the instant Kairus decided to retreat, that decision became an inevitable reality.

Dragging things out any longer held no meaning for Denver Hudson either.

“Yeah, go.”

In the empty Jade Palace where no one remained, Denver muttered that to himself and then headed back to the place he had to protect.

After flying for some time, Kairus returned to the campsite.

“Oppa!”

“Oh, hi.”

In the meantime, it seemed that even Nora had joined them after finishing what she had to do. Simid, who had been waiting for Kairus’s return, spoke to him.

“How was it.”

“There was no one except the Guardian of the Nation.”

Kairus gave Simid Kellogg an account of his fight with the Guardian of the Nation. At the same time, he took the opportunity to organize his own thoughts about the battle.

After explaining the outcome of the confrontation, Kairus made a suggestion to Simid.

“Old man, I think it’d be better to pull the troops back. Let’s go with the original plan.”

Leave the Imperial Capital as it is and deal with the rest first. That was the conclusion Kairus had reached.

“Why. Didn’t you say he was bleeding?”

It was strange for an immortal to bleed. I answered coldly.

“Then what, just because I’m holding Veil of Plumed Mist, do I have to keep flying around nonstop?”

The abilities of battle gear were not maintained at all times. They could be used when necessary, or not used at all.

“For such a trivial reason?”

From Simid’s perspective, it was absurd. In the empty Imperial Capital where even the Security Corps had disappeared, only the Guardian of the Nation remained alone.

“We can’t pull back in this situation. Look behind you.”

Kairus turned his gaze and looked over his shoulder. The troops who had gathered in support of Simid Kellogg’s will, along with the mercenaries who had joined in accordance with the flow of money.

All of them were stationed at the campsite, waiting.

“Neither the Order of Knights nor the Imperial Army is moving. You saw that yourself.”

“Yeah, it’s almost like they’re begging us to come to the Imperial Capital.”

It was suspicious to an extreme degree. There was no way Simid Kellogg did not feel it as well.

“Suspicious? I may not know much about commanding troops, but there’s also something called bluffing.”

There was a reason the old tale existed about driving off enemies by opening the gates of an empty fortress wide and playing the violin.

“So you’re saying this is just bravado?”

“One man cannot face this many people.”

“The opponent is the Guardian of the Nation.”

“And you are Featherwing, aren’t you.”

Simid Kellogg looked at Kairus with a frustrated expression. As he said, their enemy was the Guardian of the Nation. No matter how many numbers charged at him, he was a formidable foe for whom that would mean nothing.

But they had Kairus. And Kairus had even succeeded in wounding the Guardian of the Nation’s body.

“What is it that’s bothering you so much!”

At last, Simid Kellogg shouted, unable to contain his frustration.

“First of all, it felt like he let himself get hit on purpose. And second, the look in his eyes while we were fighting.”

Kairus pointed to his own eyes with his index and middle fingers as he spoke. He had clearly seen the Guardian of the Nation’s eyes when he inflicted the wound.

“He liked it.”

It wasn’t that he simply liked it.

“So what. Maybe he was thrilled to see someone strong enough to leave a wound on him!”

At Simid’s words, Kairus let out a snort.

“I’ve seen that a lot. That kind of thing.”

If you ate a lot of spicy food, you could tell just by looking at a dish, ah, this is going to be spicy. Denver was not like that.

Nor was he some kind of masochist who begged to be hit because he liked pain.

“His mind was elsewhere. He had an extremely, ecstatic expression. The entire time we fought.”

In his fight with Kairus, Denver Hudson had moved almost purely on instinct. His mind had been focused somewhere else.

Kairus had no better way to describe it.

“Didn’t you kill two other knight captains. I can’t say the Guardian of the Nation’s skill is the same as theirs, but….”

“Even if it takes longer and the Empire suffers some damage, endure it. I oppose marching on the Imperial Capital.”

At Kairus’s words, Simid Kellogg took a deep breath and pointed at the thousands gathered there.

“Are you telling me to persuade them? To say that something feels strange and suspicious, like there’s some hidden scheme, so we should withdraw from the Imperial Capital?”

Kairus silently looked up at the sky. He knew all too well how important morale was on the battlefield.

He also knew exactly what happened when you abruptly changed an operation for reasons that felt uncertain.

“Was the Capital Security Corps deliberately pulled out?”

A rebel army that turned back from an empty Imperial Capital and instead focused on pruning the branches.

Kairus knew very well how that would look to others. If the Capital Security Corps had at least remained, they could have used the excuse of retreating to reorganize and ensure thorough preparation.

‘We can’t keep it a secret either.’

It wasn’t that Kairus had been the first to observe that the Imperial Capital was empty—he had only reconfirmed it.

That meant they already knew. The fact that the Imperial Capital was empty had spread everywhere. He fully understood why Simid said they could not withdraw.

“It’s about as meaningful as shouting at bank robbers standing in front of a wide-open vault to run away.”

Bank robbers who had risked their lives and everything they had to pull off one big score.

And in front of them, they saw an empty bank with no guards, and a vault door left wide open.

In a situation like that, would any bank robber run away just because someone said it seemed suspicious?

“If we withdraw, do you think our momentum will remain the same?”

Idiots who turned back in front of an empty Imperial Capital. Maybe mercenaries who had joined for money would not care, but those who had gathered sharing Simid’s conviction and ideals would not stay silent.

“There will be those who try to undermine you, old man.”

“We’ve seized the advantage. We enter the empty Imperial Capital with you, mobilize our forces to exhaust the Guardian of the Nation as much as possible… and then you deal with him once he’s weakened. Everyone knows that’s the plan.”

Simid stamped his foot once and let out a lament.

“We’ve already laid out the plan—to keep him from sleeping for days and nights, to deny him even a proper sip of water, to repeat hit-and-run attacks. Even the Guardian of the Nation has to sleep and eat, doesn’t he!”

Wave tactics.

There would inevitably be some loss of troops in the process.

But this was also the fastest strategy to ensure the rebellion’s success.

“Even if you tell me not to. I can’t do that.”

Kairus understood. A suffocating silence lingered between him and Simid.

“What if I pull out?”

At Kairus’s question, Simid Kellogg answered.

“Nothing changes. It was because you were here that we’ve been able to proceed like this until now.”

They had taken the heads of knight captains and conducted reconnaissance of the surroundings, checking for any discrepancies in the gathered intelligence.

“Didn’t I tell you? Originally, we planned to take more time.”

If Kairus withdrew now, the rebel army would collapse. But as long as Kairus stayed with them, they would march on the Imperial Capital, however uneasy it felt.

“I’ve gotten myself properly screwed.”

Kairus clicked his tongue in irritation and kicked a stone. With a sharp crack through the air, fragments of rock shot far into the distance.

“Pull Irena and Nora back. The two of them will stand by in Bennett City.”

It felt uneasy beyond words. Someone might call it ridiculous, but at least in matters like this, Kairus trusted his instincts.

“But when facing the Guardian of the Nation, it would be better if Irena were with you.”

“It’s fine without her.”

It would just take longer. The knight captains Kairus had dealt with before had been manageable on his own. It was only that thanks to Irena, he had been able to conserve more of his strength.

‘If things go wrong and I try to take care of Irena and Nora afterward, it’ll be too late. And…’

Kairus organized another thought in his mind.

The Guardian of the Nation had pointed out that Kairus had not properly mastered Cloud Seizing Art. It was truly laughable.

‘Why would I?’

Kairus was an enemy of the Empire. There was no fool who would prattle on about how an enemy should train. In other words—

The Emperor wanted Kairus to fully master Cloud Seizing Art.

‘I won’t learn it. I’ll stop training in Cloud Seizing Art here until I slit the Emperor’s throat.’

And Kairus had not the slightest intention of dancing to the Emperor’s tune. He would train only enough to maintain his current level.

He would focus on Swift Blade and Moonwalk. Whatever the purpose, if Kairus mastering Cloud Seizing Art would benefit the Emperor even by the tip of a nose hair, then Kairus had no intention of playing along with that scheme.

“…Very well. I’ll pass it on. Though I don’t know whether my daughter will take those words at face value.”

“If she’s got complaints, tell her to come.”

Leaving those words behind, Kairus headed toward his tent.

And how many minutes had passed?

“Such a temper.”

With a sharp flap, the tent entrance was thrown open, and Irena stood there.

“You said if I had complaints, I should come find you, right? Well, here I am—the one with complaints.”

Kairus clicked his tongue and stepped out of the tent. Irena obediently moved aside.

“Should I draw my sword?”

“Oh. How did you know. Good job.”

As Kairus spoke in admiration, Irena immediately shot back.

“If you had intended to persuade me, you wouldn’t have relayed it through Father.”

Kairus nodded and slowly drew Flicker.

“Flicker? Are you trying to joke arou—”

Irena cut herself off and swiftly raised her newly acquired battle gear. Flicker and Irena’s sword collided.

“You have talent.”

“I know that! That’s why I can help! You saw it too!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Kairus’s sword moved swiftly. Irena predicted his movements and responded just as fast.

“You’ve also grown at an unbelievable speed.”

It was remarkable growth. Her skills improved day by day. Irena herself had regained her confidence.

“Kairus, I’ve watched you for a really long time. When it comes to predicting—”

At that moment, Kairus unleashed a storm of thrusts toward Irena.

Like a sudden downpour. Irena stopped mid-sentence and hurried to block and evade Kairus’s attacks.

She had been confident that she could predict Kairus’s movements without missing a single one—but in this moment, her predictions gradually began to blur.

“…?!”

Then a follow-up kick knocked her sword aside.

“Go on, continue what you were saying, genius.”

Kairus stood there with one leg raised, looking at Irena. With light tapping sounds, he repeatedly switched his lifted foot, feinting several times before suddenly kicking up toward Irena’s chin.

The moment Irena retreated, countless light yet rapid thrusts poured down on her once more like rain.

Unlike the swordsmanship of Featherwing, the movements Kairus displayed now did not contain any true realization. At best, he was merely imitating the form.

But even that alone left Irena speechless.

“If you were truly strong, you wouldn’t fall for something like this.”

If it had been the knight captains, they would have scoffed. At Kairus’s words, Irena fell silent.

She merely hardened her gaze and glared at Kairus.

Words that had to be said someday—Kairus decided to say them to Irena now.