Chapter 111: Chapter 111 - Infiltration(Part 1)

Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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"There it is, the capital city, Dianus," I remarked with a grimace, as it came into sight in the distance, surrounding by tall walls.

It’s the 15th of December-...well, technically the 16th...-just a little bit past midnight. And finally, for the first time, I have the capital in my sights. I’ll save my father and brother from the clutches of the Nobles, and I’ll kill anyone and everyone who gets in my way.

"My father or one of his Demon Generals is likely sealed somewhere in this place, I can faintly sense the presence of a Demon," Replied Izzy, as we headed that way.

"I see, do you want to free whoever it is?" I asked her.

"If possible, yes. But pinpointing the exact location isn’t going to be easy, so we might have to search blind for the most part," She responded with a frown.

"Well, it’s the same case with my father and brother, so it’s not a problem. Just so long as the Demon we end up freeing doesn’t try to kill me, of course," I replied wryly.

"If they try, I won’t let them kill you," She stated firmly.

"Thanks, I appreciate that," I smiled as I reached over and patted her head.

I then took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled to mentally prepare myself, clenching my fists as we got closer and closer to the outer wall surrounding the capital. We were approaching the north gate, and I can sense people standing guard outside.

I can now use the full range of five kilometers that my Radar Skill affords me, the time I spent in the Labyrinth and eating Monsters has made a huge difference. That’s the whole reason I’m here, after all...because I finally feel like I’m strong enough to be here.

"It won’t be long before the guards notice us. Before they do, kill them before they make any noise," I instructed her, before quietly chanting to manifest my Soul Weapon.

"Okay, got it," She nodded, before spreading out her wings and shooting forward rapidly, a powerful gust of wind bursting out as she flapped her wings.

"What the-...!?" One of the guards began to exclaim in alarm, before she closed in on him and tore his head off with a rapid swipe of her hand across her neck.

She then turned her head towards the other guard and fired out a scorching, intense blast of flames at him, turning him to ash before he could even cry out in pain.

"Nice work, now to get in. There are guards on the other side of this gate too, but a bit further in...I’m guessing there must be a corridor or something inside the gate," I surmised, as I walked towards the door, glancing back at Izzy and adding, "I’ll use Intangibility to go through this, you can fly over the wall."

"Alright, I’ll see you on the other side then," She nodded, before flying up towards the top of the wall.

I tightened my grip on my blades as I stepped towards the door, chanting quietly to activate Intangibility, before phasing my head through the thick wooden gates. I see the guards...one is reading a book and the other looks half asleep, and they’re both facing away.

I then stepped through the gate and quietly snuck forward, moving behind the guard with the book. As he flipped the page, I swiftly grabbed the top of his hair and pulled his head back, before slitting his throat with one of my blades, a choked gasp escaping his lips as blood gushed out of his neck.

"Who the hell are-...!?" The other guard began to snap as he sprang onto his feet, before I swiftly interrupted him by flinging my other blade at him, which struck the middle of his head and sliced through his skull, cutting into his brain and killing him instantly.

I walked over and pulled the blade back out, swinging it across to get the blood and brain chunks off of it, right as Izzy landed beside me.

"Wouldn’t it have been better if you kept one alive to interrogate?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I doubt simple guards would know anything important, they’re probably just low level, Unranked Knights, the foot soldiers," I shook my head in response.

I don’t sense any people at all within a radius of seven hundred meters or so, though there are quite a lot beyond that point. Most towns and villages are pretty inactive after midnight, but it looks look nights in the capital go on for longer.

"Should we just go on a rampage to try and draw out people who will have the information you’re looking for?" Suggested Izzy, before adding, "Doing this covertly will mean that I’ll have to transform to appear human, which will severely restrict my power."

Hm, she’s got a good point...but I don’t want to be too reckless either. Being too cautious will mean things go far too slowly, so yeah. Maybe a compromise of those two extremes would work...

"How about this? We’ll attack and devastate a crowded area, and then hide and wait for the Knights to show up. We won’t kill everyone, we’ll need to leave a few alive to contact the Knights...I’m sure if they report you, a Monster, we’ll have at least a few high ranking Knights show up," I surmised, after mulling it over.

"I wonder if they will actually be a real challenge...I have yet to face an opponent who can actually put up a fight against me, sparring with you is the closest I’ve gotten to a real fight," She sighed wistfully.

"Yeah? That’s pretty encouraging for me...oh, let’s just keep this one rule, no killing any children," I remarked, as I led the way to the nearest crowded area.

"Uh...define children?" She responded sheepishly.

"Huh? Well, I mean...anyone under twelve years old, maybe?" I replied uncertainly.

"Okay...how am I supposed to know whether they’re under or over that age?" She frowned with a confused tilt of her head.

"Then how about this, don’t kill anyone shorter than you. I doubt there are many adults who are at or less than your height," I suggested, as I glanced at her.

She’s about five feet and maybe one or two inches at most, so yeah.

"Hm, alright, but I feel a bit insulted," She muttered sourly.

"Not my intention, in fact I think your height is pretty cute," I grinned as I ruffled her hair.

"Well, I suppose I don’t dislike that..."

"Glad to hear it. Okay, it’s just a little bit further, I can sense a lot of people just around the next corner," I informed her.

We’d been walking along a path leading here from the gate, and it connected to a road just up ahead. As we reached the bend, I peered around it...ah, looks like this area is some sort of night life district, there are what look like bars and clubs in sight.

The people walking along the street almost all looked pretty drunk...oh, right, come to think of it, today’s a weekend. This is great...there aren’t likely to be any kids in an area like this, so there’s no need to worry.

"Can we attack yet?" Izzy shook my shoulder impatiently.

"In a minute...one more thing, try not to kill anyone who looks like they’re a staff member at any of these establishments," I instructed her.

The staff are most likely Commoners, except for maybe the more higher ranking employees like managers and what not.

"How am I supposed to tell which ones those are?" She responded in bemusement.

"Okay, you know, what? You just focus on killing the ones outside of the buildings. I’ll attack some of the people inside in the meantime. Oh, and when I shoot a lightning bolt up into the air, that’ll be the signal to withdraw and hide. That will give us the opportunity to ambush the Knights who show up in response," I surmised after quickly mulling it over.

"Wasn’t this supposed to be a rampage? All these rules are kind of ruining it," Frowned Izzy after a brief pause.

"Let me simplify it...kill everyone outside the buildings until you see me shoot a lightning bolt into the air, then follow me," I summarized her role.

"Okay, got it. Can I attack now?" She inquired with an impatient look on her face.

"Yeah...go for it."

She nodded and then flew up, flying out into the open before cries and exclaims of alarm began ringing out. I peered around the corner, just in time to see her blasting out a massive wave of flames from her mouth, screams echoing out as her flames struck and engulfed several people, turning them to ash.

I then used Intangibility to slip into the wall next to me, going into the building I was beside, before being met with a revolting sight.

"What the-...!? Who the hell are you!? Get out of here or I’ll kill you!" Snapped a man, who was completely naked.

This looks like some kind of brothel...and there was a young girl on a bed, her clothes torn and tears in her eyes. And I do mean young, she looks no older than ten or eleven years old.

"What a repulsive, fat pig you are," I remarked icily, as I took a step towards the man.

"I’ll kill y-...!" He began to snap, before I shot forward too fast for him to react and slashed his throat with one of my blades.

He let out a choked gasp and stumbled back, clutching at his neck which was gushing blood, trying to stop the bleeding with his hands, before going limp as he suffocated to death.

"Sorry you had to see that, but don’t worry...you’re safe from that man now," I said to the young girl with a friendly smile, who had shrunk back into the corner.

Now, then...let’s go find all the other Nobles that might be in this building, shall we?

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