Chapter 190: Theresis
Locke looked at the convoy before him with excitement.
As a rule, bandits like them didn't just slaughter everyone outright. Instead, they would use a mix of intimidation and coercion to force a merchant caravan to pay up to avoid disaster.
You might think that didn't sound very impressive, but a veteran bandit would tell you that it was safe!
If you could get the goods just by posturing, why bother risking your life in a fight?
Normal caravans would usually pay to settle things when encountering bandits like them, provided the demands weren't too outrageous.
That was the very method he used to support the over four hundred men under his command.
But today was different.
He had set his sights on those vehicles.
For route hijackers like them, a good vehicle was absolute hard currency, and the vehicles before them were each better than the last.
Looking at the Sarkaz Mercenaries ahead, Locke narrowed his eyes.
A hundred or so people might seem like a lot, but his sharp eyes had long ago discovered that most of them were rookies.
This gave his confidence a massive boost.
Though the reputation of Sarkaz Mercenaries preceded them, they were just a bunch of rookies. He had about a hundred Sarkaz under his command as well; after all, this place was quite close to the Kazdel region.
A frontal assault was definitely out of the question. Even if these people were rookies, trying to take down a hundred fully armed mercenaries would likely result in ugly casualties. More importantly, he couldn't afford to damage the vehicles they were using as cover.
In a fight where his hands were tied, the casualty count would certainly be high.
But who said they had to fight head-on?
His side had more people, faster cars, and more veterans. They could completely wear these rookies down to death.
To be honest, if they hadn't stepped out of the cars and exposed their status as rookie mercenaries, and had instead just kept speeding along, Locke might not have dared to act. After all, that equipment was far too sophisticated; they clearly weren't to be trifled with.
But since they had exposed their own weakness, he couldn't be blamed for being ruthless. A rookie was a rookie, heh.
"Gather the brothers," he leaned out of the sunroof and shouted orders to his surroundings. "Floor the gas! We're going to give them a charge to scare these rookies!"
Hearing this, the people around him understood his plan. They let out strange yells as they piled into their cars. One by one, grotesque modified vehicles converged, beginning a charge toward the Sarkaz vehicle formation in the distance.
Of course, they wouldn't actually ram them. They were just using the momentum to crush the opponent's courage. Locke was prepared to grind against these Sarkaz Mercenaries for a month or two, until their morale and supplies were completely depleted.
When that time came, the hundred or so Sarkaz Mercenaries would be nothing more than a hundred sheep for the slaughter.
The mercenaries watched nervously as several hundred vehicles on the opposite side accelerated toward them at full power. Those hideous vehicles, adorned with bone ornaments and totemic designs, caused their psychological pressure to spike.
Mudrock's hands touched the ground, ready to summon her friends to fill the gaps in the formation at any moment.
Ascalon stood atop the lead vehicle. For her, the most effective way to fight was to directly assassinate the enemy leader. Once the lead sheep was gone, she would kill one or two others capable of leading, and the rest would naturally scatter like birds and beasts.
She knew these bandits were likely targeting these ten-plus high-quality vehicles. After all, following the way of bandits, if they were willing to talk, they would have sent someone to name a price long ago.
Thus, it was a fight to the death. Any attempt at dialogue now would be a sign of weakness, merely showing the hungry wolves that you were afraid, making them even more excited to tear every piece of flesh from your body.
As for Xia Yu, she blinked as she watched these people considerately huddle together.
How thoughtful.
Little Tarnished put away the Sacred Seal in her hand.
She had originally intended to use the auto-tracking of Elden Stars to pick off those high-speed moving vehicles.
But since you've so thoughtfully gathered in one spot, I'll go straight to the main course.
Giant golden ripples surfaced behind Little Tarnished.
Standing in front, Ascalon stared in shock at the golden light emerging behind her before turning around to look.
She saw a familiar tiny figure reaching out with both hands toward the giant ripples behind her, pulling out... something?!
Was that... a weapon?
One couldn't blame her for being so stunned; even the hilt of that weapon required the tiny figure to stretch her arms wide just to barely embrace it.
Noble Phantasm—[Ig-Alima & Shul-shagana]
Otherwise known as the Mountain-Cutting Sword and the Sea-Burning Sword, the twin swords held by the Sumerian god of war, Zababa.
The former contained the concept of the 'horizon' and could easily cleave a thousand mountains.
The latter contained the concept of the 'sea level' and could burn away even ten thousand seas.
Of course, these were the original Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon. Although Xia Yu could use them, she couldn't liberate their True Names, just like Gilgamesh.
She could only use the countless Noble Phantasms as bullets.
Oh, these would at least be missiles.
The moment that golden light flared, Locke in the distance knew things were bad.
One look at that display and he knew the opposition had at least one high-level Caster.
They couldn't charge head-on!
He hurriedly ordered the surrounding vehicles to scatter. Facing a powerful Caster, huddling together was just making themselves sitting ducks.
But clearly, someone was faster than them.
Xia Yu controlled Little Tarnished's body to pull the massive Mountain-Cutting Sword from the Gate of Babylon, swinging it in a wide arc before hurling it forward.
In that moment, the immense strength of a 'Quality Build' was fully revealed.
Looking at the Greatsword flying toward them like a small mountain, the eyes of Locke and the surrounding bandits nearly split.
Wait, how could a high-level master of this caliber be mixed in with a group of rookies? Throwing a small mountain... he had never even heard of such power!
Watching the small mountain flying toward him, despair appeared on his face.
As the leader, he was naturally positioned in the center of the vehicle flow to oversee the situation. The result was that even if he wanted to run, he had nowhere to go.
There were cars in every direction; the moment he turned the steering wheel, he would crash.
But soon, the small mountain fell.
The bandits, who had been waiting for death, were surprised to find that the master of masters had actually missed!
Boom!
The Mountain-Cutting Sword smashed directly into the right side of the convoy, crushing only the unlucky few on the far right who were actually in a position to turn.
We survived!
The bandits let out a collective sigh of relief in their hearts.
She missed?
Ascalon narrowed her eyes. No, that Greatsword was clearly...
The golden light flared behind her again.
Shul-shagana was also pulled out by Little Tarnished.
Boom!
Another small mountain hit the ground, this time on the left, crushing another dozen or so unlucky souls.
Missed twice?
Locke didn't have the same sense of relief as his subordinates. He only felt his skin crawl.
He looked back and closed his eyes in pain.
As expected.
Those two mountain-like swords crossed behind them, directly forming a dead end, completely trapping the bandit gang in the center.
He looked to both sides; those blades were dozens of meters high. If they wanted to escape... the only way was forward.
Forward, toward that vehicle formation.
Where there was a super expert who could throw small mountains.
They were dead.
He slumped back into his seat in despair.
On Xia Yu's side, seeing that the two Greatswords had already surrounded these people, she controlled Little Tarnished to take out a strangely shaped Greatsword.
Sacred Relic Sword.
It was a sword born from the remains of a god that was meant to be eternal and undying. People saw different meanings in it—mortal sin, destruction, the end of an age, or perhaps a beginning.
A golden, wave-shaped blade, with hollowed-out holes in the middle, made of a strange pale gold material that looked more like bone than steel.
Well, it was normal, since this was a sword literally made from Radagon's body.
The name Sacred Relic Sword was meant quite literally.
This was a grand treasure from Elden Ring, the official credit card of the Mohgwyn Palace bank, and the weapon countless Tarnished relied on most!
Setting everything else aside, if Xia Yu hadn't had the Sacred Relic Sword, who knows how long it would have taken her to grind her way to a max-stat 'Quality Build'. With impressive damage and a massive AOE, it was great for almost any scenario except fighting bosses.
Little Tarnished stepped off her toes and landed in front of Ascalon, raising the sword high.
Wave of Gold!
In that instant, it was as if golden flames ignited on the sword. Then, as she dropped her right hand—a swing!
The golden flames transformed into a wall of light, surging forward with a thundering roar.
Seeing this, the bandits tried to flee in panic, but with both sides blocked by the Greatswords, they had no way to heaven and no door to the earth.
Swoosh...
The golden wall of light reached the lead vehicles. Everywhere the light swept, everything melted.
First, the bone decorations on the vehicle shells began to burn fiercely under the light. Then, the steel shells beneath turned red-hot in the blink of an eye under the terrifying temperature, beginning to drip and melt. Next was the Originium powering the vehicles—how could Originium, which was itself a polymerization of energy, withstand such stimulation?
Where did the Catastrophes of Terra come from? It was simply that original geological and meteorological disasters, after adding Originium as a variable and catalyst, grew larger in scale due to the latter's explosive energy. This turned disasters that could be barely endured on Earth into something even more terrifying, capable of destroying a city at the drop of a hat.
Super-specialized technologies like Mobile Cities were forced into existence by the sheer pressure of Catastrophes.
And right now, the Originium serving as the vehicles' power source met the already explosive golden wall of light. What good could come of that?
Earth-shattering explosions accompanied every inch of ground the wall of light swept across.
In less than a minute, over two hundred vehicles and more than four hundred veteran bandits were completely wiped out.
Looking at the clean earth before her, Xia Yu nodded in satisfaction and then snapped her fingers.
The mountain-like Mountain-Cutting Sword and Sea-Burning Sword began to dissipate.
"Alright, problem solved." Little Tarnished also returned to Xia Yu. She ordered the convoy: "Continue moving forward!"
Meanwhile, in Kazdel.
Within a suspended settlement hidden inside the Great Hollow deep beneath Kazdel.
An old mercenary suddenly opened his eyes.
His name was Scarface, the controller of this Scar Market.
As a Cyclops, he had originally seen his own end and wanted to change it with unwilling determination.
Only... only...
Why?
Why has the future changed?!
On the outskirts of the market, a mercenary gazed at this suspended settlement hidden in the Great Hollow beneath Kazdel.
In his ears, besides the moans of slaves, he could faintly hear the constant popping of Originium dust and the sound of rolling lava beneath the market.
Looking at the treacherous road, he recalled the journey of risking his life to go deep from the surface to the bazaar, and he couldn't help but feel a chill.
"Just how many... people are piled in the deep trench down there?"
The slave merchant shrugged upon hearing this. "Enough that you wouldn't die if you jumped. Welcome to the Scar Market, Rookie. You'll love it here."
Hearing this, the wounded mercenary turned to look in another direction, his eyes full of curiosity. "...What about over there? Why are there so many people?"
"Must be another big shot arriving."
The slave merchant curled his lip. "Don't you want to make big money? Go on, then. I don't care to mind other people's business."
The mercenary caught a glimpse of a white figure flashing through the cluttered, dim streets.
White clothes? That wasn't common in the Kazdel region.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from his side. "You're injured."
The wounded mercenary replied without looking back, "It's none of your business."
But he didn't see the slave merchant's expression beside him gradually turning to terror. "Ugh! Cough cough! You..."
Hearing this, the wounded mercenary looked up in confusion.
"The last time I came here, the person in charge of trading was someone else."
"Uh, yes!" Hearing this, the slave merchant bowed excitedly and said, "That was my grandfather. Until the day he died, he boasted to us about having fought you. To think you still remember him... it's good, shows the old man wasn't talking nonsense. That was sixty years ago..."
"Respected General Theresis!"
Theresis surveyed the surroundings. "Is that so? Unfortunately, nothing has changed here."
"I presume Her Highness has arrived as well. Surely a fight won't break out again this time?"
The slave merchant spoke up boldly, "But even if you come and go, we still exist, General. As long as the turmoil in Kazdel doesn't stop for a single day, I imagine our business will continue forever. Don't you think?"
"I still remember the words my grandfather mentioned he said to you when he was boasting—it is this vast land of Kazdel that needs us."
Theresis looked at the slaves in the cages with their heads bowed. He drew his sword.
"War and turmoil—these are what gave birth to this 'market' that has existed for centuries."
"If you can still make it back to the surface alive to look at Kazdel again, soon, many things you are familiar with will change. All Sarkaz will be involved."
Hearing this, the smile on the slave merchant's face gradually froze.
Because these words... didn't seem to be addressed to him.
He looked down at the surrounding slaves.
"...All of them?" The slave merchant's voice was bitter; being sharp, he had sensed something. "Then what about us?"
"I am not good at reasoning with people like you. But I will stand here for a while longer, waiting for her to return."
Theresis looked into the depths of the market. "Until then, I welcome all of you mercenaries to challenge me, just like sixty years ago."
"I will bring you all to Kazdel, regardless of your personal will."
His voice wasn't heavy, but every Sarkaz present strove to remember every word that came out of his mouth.
A mixed-blood Sarkaz stood there alone, without attendants, without an army, with only an unremarkable longsword held casually in his hand.
His cold gaze crossed the dark street, looking calmly in the direction of the only person he cared about.