The smile on the informant's face was the spark that ignited an ocean of gasoline.
At that moment, the mob surrounding Kujou Sara finally moved.
The first roar that emerged wasn't from one person, but from dozens of throats at once, a wave of sound full of anger and hatred rolling over the silent dock, as if intent on tearing the night's silence itself.
The air, which had only smelled of salt and rotten wood, was now filled with the pungent scent of cheap alcohol, sweat, and thick killing intent.
They attacked.
A giant, muscular ronin at the forefront swung a rusted war axe toward Sara.
At the same time, two smaller, agile smugglers tried to slip in from both sides, their daggers gleaming dimly under the moonlight, ready to stab her exposed ribs.
Sara didn't panic.
Amid the chaos exploding around her, her mind became so clear and cold like ice. Three from the front, two from the sides. Prioritize the biggest one. Create distance.
Her body moved even before her mind finished formulating the strategy. Instead of retreating, she dashed forward.
With a flick of her wrist, the bow in her hand vanished in a flash of purple lightning, and she now moved unburdened.
She ducked low, sliding over the slippery wooden planks, passing right under the mighty swing of the axe.
The air above her head whistled fiercely, and she could feel the power of the missed attack.
Without stopping, she kicked the giant ronin's ankle, causing him to lose balance momentarily.
That split-second pause was more than enough.
She spun, her body moving with the grace of a raven.
A powerful spinning kick slammed into one smuggler's stomach, sending him flying back and crashing into his companion.
At the same time, she resummoned her bow. An arrow made of pure Electro energy formed on its string.
She released it without aiming; the arrow shot out and embedded into a wooden post right beside the third smuggler's head, exploding in a shower of electricity that made him convulse and collapse unconscious.
Sara kept moving, never staying in one spot for more than a second.
She leaped onto a stack of cargo crates, giving her a higher position.
From there, she rained down a barrage of lightning arrows on the mob below.
Each arrow flew with a sharp whistle, leaving a purple trail in the night air before finally striking its target.
Some fell, their bodies paralyzed by the electric shock. Others managed to deflect them with their swords, creating sparks of fire and the clamor of clanging metal.
But the mob was too numerous.
They began throwing whatever they could find at her: empty sake bottles, throwing knives, even pieces of broken wood from the dock.
Sara was forced to jump down, back into the crowd.
Now, she used her sturdy bow as a blunt weapon, smashing its hard end into the faces and joints of her attackers.
One ronin managed to get close, his katana swinging toward Sara's neck.
But Sara immediately ducked, then swiftly dashed forward, using her Tengu Stormcall ability, her body turning into a black feathered shadow for a moment.
She reappeared right behind the ronin.
Before the man could realize what happened, a lightning arrow had pierced his back.
The once-silent dock had transformed in an instant. Shouts, curses, the clang of steel, explosions of electricity, and the thud of falling bodies mixed into one.
The sharp ozone smell from Sara's Electro power now mingled thickly with the pungent scent of blood and sweat.
As time passed, Sara began to feel the impact.
The adrenaline that had flooded her body was now ebbing, replaced by a deep, burning fatigue. The muscles in her arms and back, constantly drawing the bowstring, now felt like they were on fire.
Her breath became shorter and more ragged, each inhale feeling like breathing in cold, sharp air. Energy… I have to conserve energy, she thought, her once-clear mind now slightly foggy. Every arrow must count. Don't waste unnecessary movements.
At that moment, she began taking some hits. A fist that slipped through her defenses slammed into her ribs, making her gasp in pain and her vision blur slightly.
A dagger slash managed to graze her leg, making her limp a bit.
Cargo crates shattered into pieces, their contents—whether smuggled silk or exotic spices—now scattered and trampled amid puddles of seawater and blood.
The dock was now in ruins!
Dozens of bodies lay unconscious everywhere, some still twitching slightly from residual electricity in their bodies.
Only a handful remained, the strongest and most reckless.
They now surrounded Sara with fiercer gazes, like wolves that had managed to wound their prey and were now just waiting for it to bleed out.
Sara knew she couldn't last much longer in this attrition battle. She had to end it, now.
She stood tall in the center of the circle, letting her attackers close in. She closed her eyes briefly, ignoring the pain and fatigue, and focused all her remaining strength.
The air around her began to crackle violently.
Her indigo hair stood on end, and small purple lightning bolts began dancing all over her body. She took a deep breath, then opened her eyes, which now shone with a bright purple light.
She didn't draw her bowstring. Instead, she raised her hand to the sky.
"In the name of Her Excellency, the Raiden Shogun!"
She slammed her palm onto the dock's wooden planks.
BOOM!
A massive dome of lightning exploded from the point where her hand touched the wood, spreading in all directions at lightning speed.
The remaining ronin had no time to react.
They were all thrown into the air by the blast of pure Electro energy, before finally falling unconscious into the cold seawater below the dock.
At that moment, silence enveloped the dock once more, now only filled with the sound of the whispering wind and the crackle of fading residual electricity.
Sara was still kneeling on one knee in the small charred crater on the dock, her body trembling violently from exhaustion.
She slowly stood up, leaning on her bow for support. Small purple lightning bolts still danced over her body.
She raised her head, her heavy breath forming white puffs in the cold night air. Her golden eyes stared sharply at the other end of the dock.
There, the informant still stood in the same spot, completely untouched by the chaos. His ordinary face now adorned with the same smile. He didn't even look surprised.
The cold sea wind blew, lifting a few strands of Sara's hair that had come loose from her tie and making the informant's robe billow gently.
They just stood there, staring at each other in silence from the two ends of the now-ruined dock.
At that moment, the arrow made of pure Electro energy crackled and shone brightly on Kujou Sara's bow, its purple light dancing on the informant's still-calm smiling face.
The salty sea wind once again blew Sara's loose indigo hair, but she didn't budge.
Her entire being was now focused on one point: the heart of the man before her.
She would end this charade.
However, as she was about to release that arrow, something strange happened.
The smile on the informant's ordinary face widened slightly, and his eyes… his eyes changed. His once-dull and unremarkable brown irises now began to glow from within, turning into a horrifying blood-red color.
The air around the man seemed to vibrate and tear.
Before Sara could process what was happening, his figure vanished from sight, leaving a momentary shadow that then dissolved into the night air.
Sara flinched in surprise.
Her warrior instincts, honed over years, screamed danger. She immediately moved, trying to jump back to create distance.
But it was too late.
With a sound of air tearing, the man suddenly reappeared right in front of her, so close that Sara could smell his strange breath, like ozone and scorched earth.
She had no time to raise her bow, no time to dodge.
A palm struck her chest.
It wasn't an ordinary strike.
It was an impact that felt like being hit by a meteor!
Sara felt a brutal shockwave propagate through her entire body, the sound of her own ribs cracking so clear in her ears, as if coming from inside her head.
Air was forcibly wrenched from her lungs in one painful gasp.
The world around her flipped as her body was thrown far back like a rag doll, flying through the air briefly before finally crashing into the wooden wall of an old warehouse with a nauseating thud.
She collapsed onto the dirty wooden planks, her vision blurred, the world spinning endlessly.
A sharp, burning pain exploded in her chest.
She coughed violently, and a spurt of thick, dark red blood sprayed from her mouth, soaking her robe and the floor below.
The pungent taste of warm blood filled her mouth and nose.
Instantly, she felt the man's presence before her again, his towering shadow blocking the moonlight.
At that moment, for the first time in her life, Kujou Sara felt pure fear.
Not fear of failure or shame from defeat.
This was primal fear of death, a paralyzing cold terror that made every muscle in her body tremble uncontrollably.
She, the Tengu General, who had faced hundreds of battles without flinching, was now no more than helpless prey before her predator.
But amid that wave of fear, the remnants of her pride as a warrior rebelled.
She tried to fight the fear, forcing her dizzy head to look up, only to stare directly into that pair of glowing red eyes.
At that moment, the man now crouched before her, his horrifying smile filling his ordinary face.
He moved his hand slowly toward Sara's head. Sara's pupils trembled violently, her body trying to retreat, but she had no strength left.
The man's hand gripped her hair roughly, then with one brutal motion, he slammed Sara's head onto the wooden dock floor.
THUD!
Blinding pain exploded in her head. The world turned white for a moment. He slammed it again.
THUD!
Again, and again. The dull thudding sounds echoed in the silent dock. Sara's vision grew darker, her consciousness fading.
"Eh, don't tell me it's over already?" the man hissed, his voice filled with disappointment.
He sighed.
But his hand didn't release its grip. Instead, he yanked Sara's hair harder, pulling her head up.
Sara grimaced in pain, the sharp pain in her scalp managing to pull her back from the brink of unconsciousness.
With her hair yanked, the man began dragging her, Sara's limp body could only submit, dragged across the rough and dirty wooden planks.
He kicked open the door of an empty warehouse until it shattered into pieces, then roughly threw Sara inside.
Sara fell sprawled on the dusty floor full of wood chips.
She stared at the man with her blurred vision, her eyes obstructed by blood flowing from her temple.
The man stood at the doorway, his figure a terrifying dark silhouette.
"You know," he said in a light tone that was horrifying. "Even though I'm an observer who enjoys every development, I'm also a human..."
He began removing his ronin robe, revealing his ordinary body. Then he approached, his slow footsteps echoing in the silent warehouse.
Sara, now no more than a normal terrified girl, tried to inch back, her trembling body refusing to obey her commands.
She was no longer a general.
She was no longer a warrior.
She was just prey.
Soon, the man managed to pin her weak hands, pressing her body to the cold floor.
Sara stared at him in horror, struggling fiercely. But no matter what she did, none of her methods succeeded in breaking free from that hand's grip.
She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the worst to happen.
But at that moment, a deafening explosion suddenly tore through the silence.
BANG!
Sara opened her eyes in shock, only to see the man's face above her.
His red eyes now bulged wide, not from surprise and pure pain.
A spurt of warm blood sprayed from the back of his head, soaking Sara's entire face. The next second, the man's body went limp, collapsing to her side with a heavy thud.
With ragged breaths, Sara turned toward the shattered warehouse door.
There, at the doorway, a silhouette stood.
She couldn't see his face, but she could clearly see what was in his hand. A long, elegant black metal object, its tip still emitting thin smoke.
A revolver.
And on his face, a kitsune mask in pale white reflected the moonlight with a cold, emotionless gleam.
The large full moon, shining brightly, was right behind his back.
(POV Charles)
The sudden silence that descended in the stuffy warehouse felt more deafening than the gunshot that had just torn the air.
The only remaining sound was the whisper of the night wind slipping in through the shattered door, carrying the sharp scent of gunpowder, sea salt, and the pungent smell of blood now beginning to pool on the dirty wooden floor.
Charles stood motionless at the doorway, his tall figure a terrifying dark silhouette against the pale full moon.
The revolver in his hand still emitted thin smoke, its hot tip gleaming dimly in the dim light.
He stood there for a long time, unmoving, as if becoming part of the shadows themselves.
Across the room, Sara, lying amid wood chips and dust, slowly regained her senses from the shock.
The sharp pain from her wounds returned. But it was nothing compared to the cold chill now creeping up her spine as she stared at the figure at the doorway.
Soon, Charles stepped into the warehouse. The sound of his heavy boots on the creaking wooden planks was so loud and deliberate, each step echoing in the silence, as if a death knell approaching.
With a stifled groan of pain, she inched back, dragging her injured body away from the man. Her trembling hand groped the dirty floor, searching for her weapon, her bow, anything to defend herself.
But there was nothing there!
Her golden eyes, usually radiating the calm and authority of a general, now widened in fear and vigilance, never leaving the masked man's every movement.
Every muscle in her body tensed, ready to fight or flee, though she knew both were impossible in her current condition.
Who is he? What is his purpose? she thought, her concussed brain racing.
At that moment, something flashed in her mind as she realized the man before her was wearing a fox mask.
He killed the informant… but his gaze… he's just as dangerous. Don't show weakness. Never show weakness.
But Charles completely ignored her vigilant gaze.
He walked past her as if Sara were just part of the broken furniture in the warehouse. His focus was entirely on the figure now lying lifeless on the floor, his red eyes now dimmed into a horrifying empty stare.
Charles stopped beside the corpse. He stared at it briefly with an unreadable cold gaze behind his fox mask.
Then, with a sudden and contemptuous motion, he kicked the body until it flipped over. The corpse rolled limply, its ordinary face now staring blankly at the spiderweb-filled warehouse ceiling.
Now, Charles looked at Sara, then back at the corpse.
His gaze was equally cold for both.
Without warning, he raised his revolver again, pointing it straight at the informant's corpse's face.
Sara flinched.
BANG!
The first gunshot was deafening in the enclosed room.
BANG!
The second made the corpse's body shake violently.
BANG!
The third destroyed what was left. Blood and bone fragments sprayed everywhere, some splattering Charles's white porcelain mask, staining it with dark red spots that looked like tears of blood.
After that, there was no sound at all, only the ringing left in Sara's ears.
Instantly, a blue system notification screen suddenly appeared before Charles.
It was a notification indicating that the quest had been completed!
Sara stared at the scene in horror, unable to say anything. Her mouth slightly open, her breath caught in her throat. Her war-trained brain, versed in logic and strategy, couldn't comprehend the action before her at all.
Of course, she didn't see the system notification.
She was just shocked by the sight before her!
To her, it wasn't an execution. It was desecration!
It was a brutal and unnecessary act of violence against someone already dead.
What kind of human… would shoot a corpse?
After shooting the corpse, Charles casually spun his revolver with his index finger. Then, he tossed it into the air.
Mid-spin, the revolver suddenly shattered into thousands of blue light particles, which then vanished into the air, returning to his invisible inventory.
He turned, his back now facing Sara, and began walking toward the exit.
Seeing him about to leave, a strange despair suddenly enveloped Sara. She didn't know who this man was, she didn't know his purpose, but she knew he was the only person who might have answers.
With her remaining strength, she forced herself to speak.
"Wait!" she cried, her voice hoarse and broken. "What… what are you going to do in Inazuma?!"
Charles stopped at the doorway, not turning around. He just stood there, his tall figure a dark silhouette under the moonlight. After a brief silence, he answered with one word, his voice cold.
"Secret."
And with that, he stepped out, vanishing into the night darkness, leaving Kujou Sara alone in the cold, blood-scented warehouse, with more questions than answers.
…
A/N: I have nothing to say... but I hope there are still those who continue to comment so I can know that there are still people reading this story.
Btw, I'm still expecting comments!
If you want to read the 7 advanced chapters with a faster update frequency than the webnovel, you can read it on my patreon whose link is below:
https://www.pâtreon.com/Junxt
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