Chapter 413
Episode 413 – Reruze (2)
“Quite the security.”
At Reruze’s city gates, inspections were underway. Unlike other places, the entrances here were crowded, and the surveillance was extremely strict.
Among the soldiers guarding the checkpoint, Arthur spotted men wearing thickly fur-padded armor.
Controlled aura… black cloaks…?
Even with that little information, it was enough for him to identify them — the Dark Storm, the Sword Demon’s special operations unit.
They seemed to be in charge of the inspection, their single hand gestures making the soldiers move with precision.
Arthur alternated his gaze between the city walls and the gates.
Originally, the plan had been to secretly slip over the walls, but he changed his mind.
I might as well test the method Reto told me about.
After watching the gate for a moment, Arthur emerged from the shadows.
With his hooded robe drawn tight, he revealed himself at the end of the inspection line.
The checkpoint queue moved quickly.
Standing before it, Arthur quietly rubbed his chest.
“Reto.”
[You plan to start from here?]
“If I’m discovered here, I can still avoid the worst-case scenario.”
[If that’s your decision, then let’s begin.]
In that instant—
Thump—
“Hm.”
His racing heartbeat began to slow, its rhythm weakening as if entering hibernation.
Arthur didn’t like the artificial change, but he remembered the benefit it would bring.
[There’s a way to erase your presence.]
Reto had said this while they were discussing how to infiltrate Reruze.
“Like a sort of hibernation?”
Once their Synchronization Rate hit 90%, Arthur experienced becoming one with Reto in every way. Being one meant each had a strong influence over the other.
While worrying about how to avoid the Sword Demon’s senses inside Reruze, Reto had suggested an unexpected method — lowering the heart’s output to its minimum.
Thump—
The beats slowed further, almost imperceptible now.
When his heart’s function dropped to its absolute limit, Arthur felt the strength leave his clenched fist. His power came from Reto’s heart, and now that it had entered hibernation, his aura rapidly weakened.
His energy dimmed, his presence blurred. Lochter had once said even he could mistake Arthur for an ordinary man in this state — so Arthur believed it would work in Reruze too.
With his presence erased, he stepped up to the checkpoint.
“Where are you from?”
“Demtor.”
“Demtor?”
The soldier eyed him closely.
Arthur’s face and name weren’t widely known in Prime Root, so none of the soldiers recognized him.
What caught the soldier’s attention was that the visitor before him was from Demtor.
Lately, many from Demtor had drifted into Prime Root due to the Mage Tower’s intensifying internal conflict.
Among them were a fair number of mages, so the soldier raised his hand in signal.
Moments later, a large man in a dark cloak strode over.
He was clearly one of the Dark Storm.
With his hand resting on his sword hilt, his silent stare alone was enough to make most people piss themselves.
Arthur lowered his head slightly, and after a short click of the tongue, the Dark Storm man gestured.
No aura detected — just an ordinary person.
At that signal, the soldiers bowed slightly, then held out a hand for the toll.
“Ten gold.”
A killing price.
Without it, you had to work off the debt in the labor camps — where most ended up anyway.
Outrageous as it was, this was Reruze.
Arthur silently paid, and the soldier, looking mildly surprised, let him through.
Phew—
Past the checkpoint, Arthur sighed lightly and touched his chest.
“Looks like I cleared the first one.”
[You’ll have to be more cautious before the Sword Demon himself. The best option is never getting close to him.]
“I’ll just have to keep my distance.”
Adjusting his pack, Arthur moved toward a busy alley.
Between the main roads, the view of Reruze opened before him.
His first impression — barren.
The dry cold was palpable everywhere, and the buildings were coated in white ice.
On the way toward the central plaza, Arthur quickly learned — without even trying — why the city’s defenses had been lax.
It was simply something his ears picked up:
“Do you think Rengua can hold onto his Black Star seat?”
“I heard he’s lost all his strength and is just waiting to die.”
“No way. He’s still a Black Star — he won’t go down easy.”
“We’ll find out tomorrow.”
Arthur hadn’t expected to hear Rengua’s name in random street chatter.
Everyone passing by seemed to be talking about the same thing.
Naturally, his pace slowed as he listened all the way to the plaza.
Before long, he picked up on the well-known rumor circulating through Prime Root.
Rengua has been challenged by the Star Shadows…
The “Star Shadows” — candidates for Black Star — could challenge a Black Star at any time.
It was part of the Sword Demon’s strict survival-of-the-fittest rule, and he had already approved the challenge.
“The match is tomorrow morning, right?”
Arthur reached the central plaza where it would be held.
At that moment, for the first time, he forgot about Reruze’s bleakness.
Buzz—
A massive circular arena had been prepared, with crowds already gathered to claim good spots for tomorrow’s fight.
The noise of hundreds, maybe thousands, packed into one place made it feel like a different world entirely.
For Arthur, it was also a valuable chance to gather information.
He lingered around the seating area for some time, picking up bits of local news.
Eventually, he approached the arena itself and noticed something — transparent threads densely surrounding it like a barrier.
Arthur recognized them instantly.
“Azolett’s work.”
The Spider Queen’s webs were unique. Clearly, they’d been installed to protect the surroundings from the fighters’ strength.
From the crowd, he learned Azolett was currently in seclusion in the Sword Demon’s castle.
Since returning from Aintrier, she had made no moves and seemed to be quietly preparing something.
It bothered Arthur — that kind of silence usually meant trouble.
He looked toward the towering Sword Demon’s castle in the distance.
Can I even get a closer look?
He wanted more information about her, but with the Sword Demon nearby, he saw no way to approach.
“Maybe I should just wait until tomorrow.”
The so-called Black Star Contest — tomorrow Rengua would have to face all challengers from the Star Shadows.
Since he couldn’t refuse, people suspected there would be quite a few contenders.
By afternoon, the crowd in the plaza had grown even larger.
It was proof of just how much Reruze cared about the Black Stars.
With nothing else to gain, Arthur quietly left the plaza.
He didn’t forget his objective and started heading north.
The farther he got from the plaza, the emptier it became.
Outside the checkpoints, security in the city’s outskirts was even laxer than expected — the absence of Star Shadows was clearly felt.
“Perfect timing.”
Star Shadows were Reruze’s main force for maintaining order. If most were preparing to fight for the Black Star seat tomorrow, then security here was bound to be a mess.
He had come to Reruze at the ideal time to stir things up.
Soon, Arthur reached the northern end.
A massive wall came into view — but unlike other sides, the northern wall had no gate.
Reruze had only three gates — east, west, and south. The north had none.
The reason was tied to the Frozen Lake.
Arthur looked up at the northern wall and leaned against a nearby building, waiting until sunset.
Soon darkness fell, and torches flared along the wall.
Fwoosh—
As the flames faintly lit the wall, Arthur began to move.
***
Night in Reruze.
Arthur approached the northern wall quietly.
The ice wall had many cracks. Climbing it was no challenge for him.
Whoooosh—!
In the biting wind, he avoided the sentries’ gaze and quickly scaled the wall.
Watchtowers were positioned along it — but they only monitored the outside. No one inside the city was watching for someone moving stealthily on the wall.
Arthur climbed with ease and settled behind the top, shrouded in darkness.
Looking back, the city center glittered with light.
The plaza — tonight it might as well be a festival ground.
Turning the other way, Arthur gazed outward.
The moonlight was faint, but the Reruze moon shone bright in a cloudless sky.
Under its glow, the Frozen Lake stretched out before him, the northern wall directly connected to it. It was a single formation — massive wall and vast lake together.
It was the kind of scenery only possible in frigid Reruze.
A barren sheet of ice with no cover whatsoever.
At first glance, it looked like the easiest route into the city — but anyone who knew Reruze avoided it completely.
Because it’s said Rengua manages it personally.
The lake was surrounded by grim rumors — stepping onto it meant being dragged into hell, never to return; the cries of the dead echoed there; thousands upon thousands of corpses lay beneath the ice.
“Probably mostly true.”
If Rengua had been researching puppets here, the number of sacrifices would be unimaginable.
Arthur didn’t believe Rengua would lose tomorrow.
The missing janitor’s corpse, and Special Captain Richard’s four swords…
Knowing Rengua’s puppet-crafting skill, Arthur was certain something dangerous would soon appear.
“Guess I’ll get started.”
He quietly pulled about twenty bombs from his pack.
If detonated all at once, they could heavily damage not just the wall but the underside of the lake as well.
Beneath the ice lay a massive amount of water.
Under the cover of darkness, Arthur moved along the wall, searching for deep, wide cracks and discreetly planting the bombs.
Phew.
By the time he was done, it was late into the night.
Lowering my heart rate makes this harder than I thought.
Moving in stealth all night, planting twenty bombs along the wall, took more concentration and effort than expected — and more time.
Leaving the wall, Arthur slipped into the shadows of a nearby building and rested against it.
After a moment, he pulled the detonator from his coat and looked toward another section of the wall.
Samuel should be done planting his by now.
The sky was at its darkest, just before dawn.
This would be the right time to signal the explosions and withdraw — but Arthur wanted to see tomorrow’s match with his own eyes.
It’s my chance to see Rengua’s full strength.
If all the Star Shadows died, that was fine. If Rengua lost, even better.
And if he could catch even a glimpse of Azolett or the Sword Demon, it would be a huge gain.
“Samuel’s going to throw a fit…”
But if he set off the bombs, he wouldn’t get to watch the match.
Clicking his tongue, Arthur slipped the detonator back into his coat.
With such a massive crowd in the plaza tomorrow, the risk of being discovered would be low.
He would wait until after the match.
Ending the day with his own finale sounded like a pretty good plan.