One Wave After Another

Trouble.

The word blazed in Ard’s mind, stark and red. It was the same feeling he’d had when he’d dashed from the shadows to snatch the Reality Crystal. The moment he was seen, his situation became perilous.

Taylor’s repeating crossbow fired five bolts in a blur, streaking toward Ard with the speed of lightning.

Reiss, realizing his blunder, shouted the activation phrase for the blue crystal to Ard. In the same motion, he grabbed Ard and hurled him into the dense woods toward Pekoin City, using his own back to shield him from the incoming arrows. A spray of blood erupted from his back as the bolts struck home.

“Go! Run!”

Ard hit the ground hard, his consciousness blurring. He struggled to his feet and, without looking back, plunged into the depths of the forest.

Taylor and Hicks moved to pursue, but the wounded Reiss and Seleu blocked their path.

Reiss used his Ki to expel the five arrows from his back, letting out a sharp hiss of pain. A grimace twisted his face, but he managed a cold smile as he faced Hicks and Taylor. “Now that you’ve shown your faces, don’t think you can get away so easily. There’s only one way for you to pass, and that’s to kill us. Of course,” he added, his voice laced with defiance, “I wouldn’t mind if we killed you instead.”

Taylor saw a faint, earthy barrier of Ki form around Reiss, while Seleu’s chain-sword began to glow with a holy light. His eyes narrowed. “The Aegis of Earth and the Swordsworn’s Blessing? The Grand Holy Church sent the two of you to stand guard here? Heh, I’m flattered.”

Reiss lit a cigarette, exhaling a plume of smoke. “Well, if the Sanctum had known your kind’d be sending at least two Cardinals, then a Templar Knight probably would have been standing here instead of me. It seems they still underestimate what this place means to you.”

“Hicks, no holding back. Finish them, quickly.”

“Understood.”

The two Cardinals no longer held any trace of contempt. The pair before them were once renowned masters in the Grand Holy Church, their strength second only to the Templar Knights. They had vanished years ago, and the world had assumed they had retired or met their end. Who would have thought they’d be here, secretly monitoring this place from a remote church?

Just as Reiss had said, now that they had revealed themselves, the only way to get past these two was to kill them.

Ard paid no mind to the clash of titans behind him. He clutched the blue crystal to his chest, his mind racing in turmoil.

Reiss had told him how to use the crystal, but the method required him to channel his Ki into it along a specific path. And Ard couldn’t externalize his Ki. It was a cruel, impossible irony.

His only option was to run toward Pekoin City and hope to find help. He had no other path. Reiss had thrown him in this direction; turning back meant facing Hicks and Taylor.

Just then, several crossbow bolts whistled through the air toward him. His danger sense, honed in a past life, saved him. He threw himself into a roll, and the bolts thudded into the ground where he had been standing.

Though he had dodged the attack, Ard felt no relief. Several black-robed cultists emerged from the darkness of the forest, their weapons glinting. They stared at him with cold, dead eyes. In the distance, more crossbows were aimed at him. His situation could only be described as hopeless.

“Tch. Is this the end?”

Ard’s face was a mask of bitter unwillingness. His actions had started to shift the course of history, but he didn’t want it to end here. He wanted to witness the changed future he had set in motion; he even wanted to be one of the ones shaping it.

His current strength was not high. He had always been self-taught, picking up skills here and there. Isaac had taught him some things, but those were just enough for general adventuring and self-preservation. The cultists here were a different breed entirely.

Ard drew the blade from his waist. He treasured this second chance at life with a fierce intensity. Some opportunities only came once, and he would not give up until the very last spark of life was extinguished!

“Come on!” Ard roared, bolstering his own courage.

And then, a strange thing happened. As his shout faded, the cultists around him began to fall, one by one, collapsing to the forest floor without a sound.

Ard stared blankly at the scene. What’s going on? Has my transmigrator cheat finally awakened? Is this some kind of super-powered version of Naruto’s ‘Talk no Jutsu’?

But his fantasy was quickly and ruthlessly shattered. Yexi, her face an icy mask, emerged from the darkness like a goddess of the night. Her exquisite features, like a priceless work of art, and her silver hair, which seemed to glow even in the deep shadows, were a breathtaking sight.

But Ard had no time to admire her beauty. Is this what they call ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’? Can someone else please come save me?

Besides the disappointment of his cheat not awakening, Ard was now filled with the terror of imminent death.

“Yexi! What a coincidence!” Ard blurted out, the words tumbling over each other in his haste. “I’m here to save the Marquis and the others! See this blue crystal? Father Reiss gave it to me! I even know the activation phrase! Father Reiss and the others are held up by powerful enemies!” He said it all in one breath, without pausing, terrified that he would end up like the cultists on the ground.

Why was Yexi, who was supposed to be with the Lady, suddenly here? It had started after she had dealt with Hicks. After driving him off, she had dutifully returned to the Lady’s side to continue her bodyguard duties. But the Marchioness, having realized from the commotion and Yexi’s reaction that the situation was more serious than she’d been led to believe, began to cause a scene, insisting on returning to fight alongside the Marquis.

The others tried desperately to dissuade her, but in the end, it was Yexi who stepped forward. “My Lady, let me go check on the Lord. If the situation is truly dire, I will return for help. At my full speed, the round trip will take less than an hour. I won’t delay things. Rushing out now might only hinder the Lord.”

Her roundabout proposal was accepted by the Lady. And so, Yexi, having just driven off one top-tier assassin, immediately had to set off for Pekoin. To save time, she took the wild, untrodden paths, dealing with beasts and enemy scouts along the way. Even for an assassin of her caliber, the journey was exhausting.

Slightly out of breath, she had finally neared Pekoin, only to witness a scene that would have been considered a world-class miracle in her original world: the man she had killed was still alive.

Yexi stared at Ard with incomprehensible eyes. She clearly remembered killing him. As an assassin, she would not mistake the feeling of a fatal blow. The poisoned blade had pierced his heart, and he had died on the spot. She had even taken the time to verify his death.

If this were her old world, her years of accumulated reputation and prestige would have been destroyed in an instant. This was a great shame, a blatant provocation! You’re alive, fine. But how dare you prance around like this! And to prance around right in front of me!

Yexi was already considering how to correct this grave error when Ard’s desperate, rapid-fire bargaining chips gave her pause. If what he said was true, killing him now would be tantamount to destroying Pekoin City. In her original world or here, Yexi never believed a single assassin could change the course of a war. The Order was powerful; she had seen that from the assassin she’d just fought. She couldn’t hope to turn the tide of this battle on her own.

She didn’t know what the Grand Holy Church’s blue crystal did, but it was clearly the key to resolving this crisis. Well, I’m not working as an assassin anymore. I can put aside my professional pride for now. Besides, with this boy’s strength, she had a hundred ways to make him ‘accidentally pass away’ later. Whether she dissolved him with corpse-melting powder or chopped him into mince, she would make sure he was well and truly dead this time.

With that thought, Yexi looked at Ard with a kind smile. “I see. And Mr. Ard, when do you plan on using this blue crystal?”

Under Yexi’s ‘caring’ gaze, Ard shivered. This was definitely not the kind of ‘I see’ he wanted!

Hearing her question, Ard said awkwardly, “Actually, I was about to use it, but because of my… constitution, I can’t channel my Ki…”

“…”

Yexi stared at Ard, speechless. “Give it to me. And tell me how it works.”

Ard didn’t hesitate. He tossed the blue crystal to her, but at the same time, he added, “Spare my life for now. Your deal with that goddess has changed. We can talk about the details after this is over. In any case, with my skills, you could kill me whenever you want. Also… like you, I am not a native of this world.”

Yexi’s pupils contracted. She had never told anyone about her meeting with that goddess. Which meant Ard had gotten the information from somewhere else. If that was the case, then his resurrection might just make sense.

“Understood.” Yexi caught the blue crystal and leaned her ear toward him.

Looking at her earlobe, as smooth and perfect as jade, and inhaling the faint, lotus-like fragrance from her hair, Ard felt a wave of dizziness. He asked dumbly, “What are you doing?”

Yexi saw the blush creeping up his face and knew exactly what he was thinking. She glared at him. “Is your brain located in your trousers? Pervert. Trash. Garbage! Did you think Reiss shouted the activation phrase for everyone to hear?” 

Her sharp tongue instantly cleared Ard’s head, and he banished all inappropriate thoughts. He whispered the activation phrase to her. Yexi listened intently, not missing a single word, even making him repeat the parts that were unclear.

Once it was done, Yexi didn’t hesitate. She began to channel her Ki into the blue crystal.