Chapter 34
Chapter 034. Ah, geez (2)
The dining table flew in, perfectly blocking Anagin’s line of sight.
Right after, Daria drew a sword in midair.
She pulled out the blade that the butler had hidden with magic.
Swoosh!
Daria swung the sword, aiming for Anagin along with the table.
“I never liked you from the start!”
But—what the hell.
The bold strike didn’t even graze Anagin.
The moment Daria kicked the table at him, Anagin ducked and twisted his body along a diagonal angle, slipping past the blade.
He had suffered this level of trick 325 times from his master, so he could tell at a glance…. And for the record, 325 was no exaggeration whatsoever. That damn, miserable master.
Anyway, after evading the attack, Anagin lightly threw a punch into Daria’s side before she even realized her ambush had failed.
“……!”
The pain felt like her guts were being crushed. Daria let out a silent scream and curled up.
Flowing smoothly like water, Anagin kicked behind her knee to force her down, then grabbed her by the hair and chin.
Ready to snap her neck at any moment.
“Everyone, stop.”
Holding Daria’s neck, Anagin spoke in a low, settled voice.
At that calm yet weighty tone, the Dolos Family and the guards froze all at once.
The overheated atmosphere cooled instantly, and a setting for conversation returned.
“Let me propose again. If you just let us go, we’ll leave quietly. How about it?”
“You think those who serve Ares, the God of Pioneering, would accept such a proposal?”
Was it because the intentions were now fully revealed? Razonia skipped the honorifics.
“I currently have your granddaughter in my hands.”
“…….”
Razonia chose silence instead of replying. His son and grandsons hesitated, yet did not lower their weapons.
That alone showed what choice Razonia had made.
Ah, geez……. So much for taking the easy route.
Anagin looked at the robed woman.
“Hey, run on your own.”
The moment he finished speaking, Anagin hurled Daria.
Thrown by Anagin’s rough hands, Daria crashed into the soldiers blocking the dining hall entrance, opening a path.
[Wind, become my shoes.]
The robed woman seized that moment, casting magic. With wind wrapped around both feet, she bolted.
The wind boosted her speed tremendously.
“Catch her.”
[O stone. Move and build a wall— nghk!]
At Razonia’s command, the butler began chanting.
Anagin kicked a plate off the ground and sent it flying into the butler’s mouth.
With his teeth broken, the butler fainted, and the robed woman was able to escape outside safely.
“She’s running! Catch her!”
“She’s too fas—!”
The guards outside tried to grab her, but ended up losing her.
The robed woman exited the mansion in an instant, leaving only Anagin behind.
“You crazy bastard……!”
One of the guards glared at Anagin from behind.
He thrust his spear with all his strength, but Anagin dodged lightly and smashed the man’s face with his elbow.
He controlled his strength enough not to crush the man’s head, but he still fainted.
Anagin grabbed the collapsing guard and held him up toward Spanich’s Cousins 1 and 2, who were charging him head-on.
The idea was to use him as a shield. When you have subordinates, their actions—
“-Die!!”
Ah, correction.
Anagin abandoned the idea of using the fainted guard as a shield and simply tossed him onto the floor.
He thought they would at least hesitate if he put their subordinate in front of them, but they still tried to attack anyway.
Whether he died or not, they didn’t care.
‘I expected as much, but still…….’
Anagin slapped aside the two cousins’ blades with his hands, altering their trajectories, then threw short punches that struck both of their jaws at the same time.
Pabat-!
Hit clean and square on the jaw, Spanich’s Cousins 1 and 2 went down, losing consciousness ridiculously easily.
‘So this is the level of a practitioner family?’
Anagin moved to finish them when their father, Spanich’s Uncle, stepped in.
“You vagrant bastard—!”
Gathering Energy in one arm, he hurled a punch at Anagin with all his might.
The fist, condensed with Energy, struck Anagin with the pressure of a massive boulder, blasting him away with a thunderous boom and a cloud of dirt.
Anagin not only slammed into the wall but punched through it and flew outside.
Conveniently, the outside of the dining hall was a training yard.
Rolling across the training ground, Anagin surveyed his surroundings.
“You dare throw me?!!”
Daria, hurled by Anagin, regained her senses and charged again.
Being thrown so unceremoniously had clearly humiliated her, leaving her furious. A rather poor choice on her part.
Running in anger—there’s nothing easier to counter than an enraged attack.
Crack-!
See that? When Anagin grabbed the shattered stone from the air and threw it, she couldn’t even react and got hit squarely in one eye.
Her vision narrowed, her reactions dulled from rage.
The added momentum of her charge crushed the struck area, and blood flowed.
“Kyaaaah…!”
Daria screamed, trying to stop the blood. It seemed she was shocked from injuring her face, a woman’s precious feature.
But so what?
Anagin pushed off the ground and closed the distance, then planted his foot into her abdomen with all his strength, sending her flying straight at Spanich’s Uncle, who was charging forward.
Could he ignore his daughter like his subordinates?
“Ugh…!”
Spanich’s Uncle couldn’t bring himself to abandon his daughter, catching her with his body midair.
[Knee Strike]
Not missing a beat, Anagin ran and jumped toward Daria, striking her abdomen with his knee.
The powerful impact hit Daria through a single point, piercing even Spanich’s Uncle beyond her.
Two birds, one stone?
“Now you know why I don’t spar, right?”
Anagin spoke to the unconscious Daria and then used his elbow to strike Spanich’s Uncle’s face.
Crack-!
With a breaking sound, even Spanich’s Uncle crumpled.
“Phew….”
Having taken down four Gigants in an instant, Anagin rolled his shoulders and exhaled wearily.
He had wanted to leave quietly…
Yet, unaware of Anagin’s intentions, everyone inside the mansion froze at the spectacle before their eyes.
“So the rumors were true.”
Amid the terrified crowd, only three stepped forward toward Anagin.
It was Razonia, head of the Dolos Family, his son, and his grandson Spanich.
"Honestly, I thought the rumors might have been exaggerated. It seems you didn't just get lucky against Bender and Deodia."
“Need luck against such idiots? They’re just pathetic. Beat them, that’s all.”
Anagin dismissed his defeated foes without hesitation.
They were well-known figures locally, but to Anagin, they were nothing but fools.
One had been a merchant who extorted others; another even allied with monsters.
"Your confidence is exceptional. Why, then, is a man like you doing this?"
Razonia planted his spear into the ground and asked.
“Why let the monster escape?”
“Usually, you ask before attacking, don’t you?”
Anagin responded without honorifics, judging it appropriate after their exchange of attacks.
“Were you seduced by the monster’s beauty?”
“If that were the case, don’t worry. I’m picky when it comes to women.”
“Then why interfere with us?”
“Just felt like it.”
“Sir Anagin!!”
Spanich, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up.
Unlike his calm grandfather and father, Spanich was confused by the situation—and a little angry.
It made sense; the robed woman was a monster he had protected, knowing her nature. He felt betrayed. He had thought Anagin a capable practitioner…
Yet letting the monster escape just because he felt like it? Unforgivable.
Spanich asked Anagin:
“Please answer seriously… why did you let the monster escape?”
Anagin looked at Spanich intently before answering.
Three seconds later, he spoke:
"When an innocent person is about to be killed, it's a bit... you know? It's embarrassing to just stand by. At least not in front of me."
Spanich gawked. Was he speaking sincerely?
Razonia intervened for his grandson:
“Strange. Yesterday, you clearly said you’d kill all monsters, didn’t you?”
Anagin chuckled.
“Ah, memory fails with age, huh? Listen. Did I say monster? I said beasts that ruin fields.”
“So, the one you protected isn’t a monster?”
“Yeah.”
Anagin answered without hesitation.
Beasts that harm humans emit a distinct aura. The robed woman had none. She had never hurt anyone.
So Anagin helped her escape. Otherwise, he would have killed her himself.
"You expect us to believe such a claim? A one-sided assertion without any basis?"
"I don't need any basis beyond my own instincts. Besides, I didn't ask you to believe me. Why should I need your belief?"
“What if that monster hurts people?”
“Then I’ll kill it then.”
"That is irresponsible and arrogant. Monsters are creatures that harm people. And a monster smart enough to disguise itself as a human is even more dangerous. You release such a creature for such a trivial reason?"
"What's your point?"
“…Makes me doubt whether you’re a proper practitioner.”
Anagin laughed.
“Sure, I’m not the practitioner you mean.”
He turned from Razonia to Spanich and asked bluntly:
“What do you think? Does it look like one that hurts people?”
Did the robed woman look like a monster who would eat and harm people?
Was it due to the sudden question? Or was it due to Anagin's uniquely cheeky way of speaking? Spanich couldn't answer immediately.
Spanich was wavering.
Because the robed woman that Spanich had seen didn't seem like such a monster. He was following his grandfather's concern that she was dangerous, but his personal assessment was similar to Anagin's.
Understanding his grandson’s thoughts, Razonia patted him reassuringly.
“Grandson. Get a hold of yourself. Monsters, whatever they are, are threats to humans. And that man released a monster based solely on his own careless judgment.”
Razonia's words were fundamentally not wrong.
Monsters were twisted beings born through the process of beasts preying on humans.
Of course, some were born as monsters from the start, but they were extremely rare. And most of them harmed humans as well; monsters that didn’t harm humans were an even rarer minority.
So Razonia’s words were, in most ways, logically sound.
(Most) monsters harmed humans. Therefore, they had to be killed.
Especially for practitioner families like theirs.
Anagin scratched his ear as if it itched. Razonia continued.
“Don’t be swayed by that fool’s clumsy words. And remember who we are! We are practitioners! Under the name of the god, we exist to protect humans! Those who stand against this are all enemies…!! Have you anything more to say!?”
Razonia leveled his spear at Anagin and asked.
Anagin shook his head.
“Something to say… yeah. One thing.”
“…….”
“Do you really want to exterminate monsters that ruin fields? Or do you just want their meat and hides?”
Anagin saw right through Razonia.
What Razonia truly wanted wasn’t to eliminate monsters; he wanted to offer them to the temple to receive more blessings. Anagin had noticed it from their first conversation.
“But fine, I’ll say it the way you want. Let’s just pretend I released the monster because I felt like it. You can call me a villain if you want. I don’t care.”
Anagin gave the Dolos Family exactly what they wanted: a contribution they could offer for blessings.
Catching a monster or catching the villain who released one—neither would be much different in the divine ledger.
This much was worth giving back, considering they fed him. However…
“What are you hesitating for? I admitted it, didn’t I? That I’m the villain. So come on. Catch me and beg for your blessing.”
Anagin crooked a finger at them and grinned.
“Not that you'll be able to, anyway.”