The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 17

For about ten minutes, they silently descended down the dimly lit tunnel passage.

Whoosh.

At the end of the passage, the sound of torches igniting and their faint light flickered.

Upon making eye contact with Raul, Pierce slightly nodded his head and, deploying his stealth techniques, melted into the darkness.

A moment later, as the report of Pierce’s infiltration into enemy territory came in, Raul rose to his feet.

It was time to begin the hunt in earnest.

Beyond the passage lay a vast cavern.

The ceiling looked to be over 10 meters high, and at the forefront, a wooden barricade 3 meters tall stretched across the cavern from left to right.

The distance to the barricade was roughly 30 meters. A distance that could be covered in a blink of an eye if one dashed with intent.

‘Levels 30, 31… Seems no different from the common thieving lot.’

Unaware of their penetration, only a few guards were lazily hanging around atop the barricade.

Raul gestured towards their individual targets. Jake to the left, Philip in the middle, and Raul to the right.

After steadying his breath, Raul signaled the charge and darted forward.

Swoosh!

Cutting through the darkness like a black falcon, Raul leaped forward 3 to 4 meters at a stretch, reaching the barricade in an instant. He then used psychokinesis as a stepping stone to leap into the air.

“Wha…!”

The guard, whose eyes widened as he suddenly made eye contact with the soaring Raul, barely opened his mouth before a thrown dagger buried itself into his forehead.

Thud. Thud.

As two guards fell, Raul, now on the barricade, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and drew back the string.

Twang-thunk!

With each snap of the bowstring, an enemy life was extinguished within the barricade. The same fate awaited the targets of Philip and Jake.

In less than 30 seconds, over twenty enemies lay fallen. But inside the barricade, more than a hundred enemies remained.

“Enemy attack!!”

“The barricade’s been taken!!”

“Kill them!!!”

Armed robbers, dressed in various garbs and moving chaotically distinct from regular soldiers, swarmed out of the tents and huts within the barricade. Yet, their armaments were far too sophisticated for common thieves.

Swoosh-Thud!

Shortly, most robbers had taken up shields to block the arrows, and among them, those in iron armor deflected incoming arrows using their weapons in a display of skilled maneuvers.

Some robbers, equipped with bows and crossbows, retaliated against Raul and his team.

Shriek-Whoosh!

Ten or so arrows and bolts targeted Raul, flying towards him. However, Raul, unflinchingly and mechanically continuing to shoot arrows at the enemies, was barely grazed as the heads of the incoming arrows and bolts wobbled slightly to miss him or were deflected just in front of him by his psychokinesis.

Yet, the barrage of arrows aimed at him did not decrease.

It was because Philip and Jake had descended beneath the barricade to engage with the enemies in close combat, leaving Raul as the sole target for the archers.

Clang-Clash!!

“Die!!”

“Arrgh!!”

Like lions plunging into a flock of sheep, Philip and Jake wrought havoc among the enemies, an onslaught that left a whirlwind of blood in their wake.

The enemies were cut down like straw, unable to parry even a single thrust of their rapiers.

Thud-Thud-Thud. Whiz!

As dozens of fallen arrows surrounded Raul, the enemy numbers climbing over the barricade stairs appeared to be over thirty.

“Take that bastard down!!”

“Quickly secure the barricade! There might be more enemies!!”

A few iron-clad robbers, seemingly commanders, pointed at Raul, shouting out commands.

Upon confirming the approaching enemies, Raul finally put down his bow. And between the fingers of both hands that had slipped into his pocket, the black-painted daggers exhaled an air of menace.

“Die!”

The bandit, who had climbed onto the stockade, brandished his axe and charged towards Raul. But at that very moment—

Whooosh! Crack!

A whirlwind burst out from around Raul, pushing the bandit back, and dozens of arrows and bolts that had fallen to the ground rose into the air, spinning around him.

“What, what is this?”

“Magic??”

The unexpected sight made the bandits flinch, sealing their fate.

As Raul threw the daggers from both hands, the swirling arrows and bolts poured down on the bandits like a rainstorm.

Thwack! Whoosh! Clink!

“Argh!”

“Cough!”

“Grrr…”

Dozens of bandits were swept away in an instant.

Only about five bandits, dressed in iron armor, remained standing, albeit shakily with several arrows and a dagger or two stuck in their exposed areas.

‘Still, the firepower is lacking. To penetrate the iron armor, I need to put more intention into it. For now…’

Raul, with a slightly dissatisfied expression, drew his rapier and Main Gauche from his waist and charged at the remaining bandits.

There was no need to unfold ‘Shooting Star’ against bandits who were already out of their wits.

Raul easily severed the bandits’ lifelines with his rapier and even confirmed the kills before turning his gaze back inside the stockade.

“Run away!!”

“They are monsters!!!”

“Save us…!”

Philip and Jake were sweeping through the bandits.

The bandits, realizing they were no match, were fleeing, but Philip and Jake chased after them at twice their speed, continuing the slaughter.

Puff!

Jake’s rapier split one of the bandits in half.

Raul, who happened to witness the scene, frowned and rubbed his forehead.

‘Jake, that guy. Always complaining about using a rapier.’

The rapier was a weapon designed for thrusting, aiming to incapacitate the enemy by targeting their vital points.

To split a body with a weapon whose blade was only as thick as a finger was not only inefficient but also consumed a great deal of mana.

There was another reason for insisting on the rapier.

They did not want to leave any trace of the Ashton family’s swordsmanship on the bodies, and in case anyone survived, they wanted to obscure their identity.

Knowing this, Jake had mostly dispatched his enemies with thrusts, but occasionally, out of frustration, he would split them.

Shaking his head, Raul picked up his bow again.

Chasing the fleeing remnants with a bow was far more efficient than with a sword.

In response, an arrow shot by Pierce was piercing through the bandits on the opposite side.

It did not seem to take long to clear out the enemies.

* * *

“I apologize, young master. I’ve searched the entire prison but was unable to find Miss Niki.”

After the clearing was done, Pierce apologized with his head bowed as they regrouped.

Raul patted Pierce’s shoulder and said,

“It’s okay. I have a rough idea of where she might be. Did you explain to the prisoners we’ve rescued?”

“Yes. I told them to gather in one place and wait since the battle is not over yet.”

About 30 villagers who had been missing were locked up in the prison.

They were released and given clothes and food, but they couldn’t be taken to the city just yet. There were still things to be done here.

“But young master, do you really think there are still enemies hiding? They seemed to be just bandits, albeit a bit more skilled.”

Jake asked, tilting his head in confusion. Raul crossed his arms and asked with a sparkle in his eyes, “Isn’t that a bit strange though?”

“What is?”

“First, we can’t find a trace of Niki who was supposedly kidnapped here. Second, despite there being over 150 thieves, there’s not a single notable fighter among them. And finally, the existence of the magic circle at the entrance. Has anyone seen a wizard around here?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“So, doesn’t that mean that the leadership and the important hostages might be somewhere else?”

Jake scratched his head and nodded, “That seems likely. But if we can’t find where that is, isn’t it all for nothing? Right, Pierce?”

“I did have a few suspicious places in mind, but it’s hard to be sure with my skills. It seems there might be some high-level magic circles or mechanisms in place.”

At Pierce’s words, Raul slapped him on the shoulder and smiled. “For being here less than a month, that’s impressive. If you keep at it, soon nothing will be able to escape Lord Pierce’s eyes. Follow me. I have a hunch about a place.”

Raul had wandered into countless dens of the empire in his previous life.

Few knew their habits as well as Raul did.

He headed toward a shabby shack located in a corner of the hideout.

There were about a half-dozen shacks all clustered together haphazardly.

Entering one of the shacks, Raul quickly scanned the area near the bed before stepping back outside.

After doing this a couple of times, on his fourth entry, Raul’s eyes gleamed as he said, “Get ready. The real deal might just pop out.”

Swish. Click.

As everyone drew their weapons, Raul kicked the bed aside and drove his rapier into the floor.

Boom.

A dull sound, unlike that of piercing wood, vibrated through the floor as it split apart with a crackling noise.

Whooosh.

A staircase, about two meters wide leading into a dark underground, appeared as cold air flowed out from the cracked floor.

Raul quickly retreated and shouted, “Here they come!”

And just as he finished speaking, something with red glowing eyes leaped out from the ground.

Growl! Clang!

“What the—?” Jake took a half step back as he parried the sudden attack with his rapier, shouting in anger.

When he did, the floor near the passage shattered, and blood-red monstrous masses jumped out all at once.

“Don’t back down! If we scatter, they’ll be harder to deal with!” Philip quickly realized the nature of their adversaries and lunged forward with his sword.

One of the creatures lunged at Raul.

He deflected its gruesomely long nails with his main gauche and thrust his rapier toward its waist.

Psshk! Squeal!!!

A large creature, twice the size of a normal man, with irregularly bulging muscles and blue veins pumping under a blood-red skin mottled with scale-like textures, screamed as it convulsed on the ground.

Its face, melted as if by acid, had its features distorted, while sharp, orc-like fangs and shark-like double teeth clicked incessantly.

“It’s an imperial demon beast! Their vital points are different from humans! Go for the neck, always slice the neck!”

Philip chopped off the head of his adversary while shouting.

“Damn it! Why the hell are imperial bastards setting up shop here!”

Jake cursed as he drew a 20cm mana blade from his rapier and swung it.

Pierce, with a main gauche in each hand, gleamed as he aimed for a demon beast’s neck.

Raul, satisfied with the knights’ swift action, nodded and stared down the imperial war beasts with his golden eyes.

(To be continued)