Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 11 Yara's Knife (Part 2)

Twelve years ago, during those years of chaos and bloodshed in the kingdom, there was a terrifying swordsman who carved out a territory in the underworld with his unprincipled and emotionless blade.

From that day on, the nascent Black Street Brotherhood and the ancient Blood Bottle Gang of the Royal Capital became like two mortal dragons, waging a life-or-death struggle for underground dominance in Eternal Star City and even the Star Kingdom.

As time went on, the Black Street Brotherhood gradually grew from a fledgling dragon into a giant with sharp fangs and fierce claws, beginning to rival and contend with the Blood Bottle Gang, which had previously held a dominant position.

In the decade-long struggle, amidst countless deaths and bloodshed, the two major gangs also gathered a group of outlaws outside the official purview, stirring up a bloody storm in the dark world.

Among them, the dozen or so strong members of the Black Street Brotherhood and the dozen or so experts of the Blood Bottle Gang represent the most promising young people and the most promising newcomers of the two gangs, and are at the forefront of the struggle between the two gangs.

Compared to their predecessors—the Brotherhood's three mysterious legendary assassins, the six rarely seen leaders, the Blood Bottle Gang's two terrifying behind-the-scenes masters, and the eight mysterious superhuman warriors—these young powerhouses have much more resounding names, familiar even to beggars.

Bald Spence is the most mysterious of the Blood Bottle Gang's young masters, who are known by some as the "Twelve Strongest"—because there are only twelve left—and are currently the most powerful of them all.

He was in charge of collecting the Blood Bottle Gang's shady debts and rarely showed his face in large-scale battles, so no one talked about how high his martial arts skills and combat power were. However, he stood firm for five whole years in the bloody gang struggles that were like waves washing away the sand.

Meanwhile, many of the once-renowned Brotherhood warriors who had fought against him had long since become tombstones or even fertilizer for plants.

Yara didn't say anything, she just flexed her wrist.

“Dorno was an idiot, and his idea of ​​burying corpses was disgusting,” Spin casually kicked his companion’s body at his feet with a look of disgust. “But we should still thank him for his death, otherwise I would have had a hard time discovering that we had a silent, uninvited guest.”

Spencer gave an awkward laugh, took his enormous five-sided mace off his shoulder, and spun it around with both hands as if it were effortless.

Yara moved swiftly and vanished from her spot!
Bald Spencer smiled nonchalantly, then turned and swung fiercely!
"Ding! Dang!"

The five-sided mace, twice the thickness of a normal person's arm, collided head-on with two wolf-leg knives!

Yara, who launched the surprise attack, was swept off her balance and flew backward!
Thales' heart skipped a beat!
Fortunately, Yara regained her balance in mid-air, executed a beautiful backflip, and landed steadily.

Bald Spence gritted his teeth and swung his weapon as if he were swinging a baseball bat from Thales' past life.

That's a terrifying amount of power.

But Thales was puzzled. If it was just about immense strength, then why was Spin portrayed as so mysterious?
"That's quite impressive speed and surprise attack."

"But if we knew of your existence and foresaw your attack, then relying on our combat instincts, stopping you wouldn't be so difficult."

Spencer's grotesque nose twitched with his smile, which was quite frightening.

Yara didn't speak, but simply disappeared again.

The next moment, the female bartender appeared in front of Spence's left leg.

He crouched low and rolled to the side, the blade flashing out.

But Spence simply took a step, turned his body to the side, and then used the momentum of his body to bring the hammer down again!
"boom!"

The hammer struck the stone ground, sending up a spray of gravel!
Yara narrowly escaped the fatal blow by rolling to the side.

"It's amazing that there's such a crooked knife. It's a rare weapon and craftsmanship. It's a pity, little girl. No matter if you're an assassin or a killer, your prized sneak attacks won't work against a wary enemy."

Yara squatted on the ground, seemingly thinking of a solution.

"But, want to get into Red Town Street? Hehe, you have no other choice."

Spencer kept harassing Yara with words:

What would you do?

Thales, watching from the sidelines, grew increasingly nervous.

He knew that, for the time being, Yara was his only hope of crossing Red Street and escaping the Brotherhood.

But what he was more worried about at that moment was Yara's own safety.

And Spencer's mysterious reputation.

Yara's expression remained hidden behind her goggles.

She slowly stood up, and simultaneously flipped the wolf leg knives in both hands, so that she was holding them upright.

It seems they've made up their minds.

Thales swallowed nervously.

He had witnessed Yara's agility, elusiveness, and incredible speed, but would her wolf leg knife still be effective against the bald Spin, who was clearly known for his strength?

After all these years—Yara sighed inwardly—does she still have to resort to this slash?
Yara did not launch another attack.

The next moment, she took a step forward and launched a frontal attack on Spence!
Telston was immediately startled.

The two swords were positioned one in front of the other: the front sword was aimed at Spencer's throat, while the rear sword was pointed towards the mace.

"Frontline?" Spin roared excitedly, swinging his hammer at Yara!
"court death!"

"Whoosh!" The mace whistled through the air as it struck Yara in the waist as she rushed forward!

Later, I need to properly prepare this girl with a pretty good figure—hmm?

Spencer was surprised to see...

This time, Yara neither defended nor retreated.

Just before the hammer struck her, her body displayed incredible flexibility, stretching out at an unbelievable angle!
The wind howled.

Facing the spiked hammer ahead, Yara performed a jaw-dropping front flip, barely dodging the incoming hammer.

Even Spence was taken aback.

How did she manage to do that?
The offensive is not over.

The bartender lightly tapped the nail head hammer with her back knife, and with Spencer's immense strength, she leaped onto the bald man's left shoulder!

She leaped backwards into the air, then slashed down with her sword!
The modified blade curvature allowed the wolf leg knife to strike Spence's left neck faster, more powerfully, and more lethally than a regular blade.

"Ahhh!"

Spencer roared and retreated, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow at the crucial moment.

But a spurt of blood still gushed from his left shoulder.

Spencer clutched his shoulder and stepped back, shocked: This little girl had completely abandoned defense, risking evasion to create an opportunity to attack.

Didn't she know that one wrong move could mean certain death?
But Yara didn't stop after landing. With a light touch of her foot, she pressed on relentlessly, continuing her attack!

Ignoring his wounds, Spence swung the mace again!
However, Yara performed another side spin, narrowly avoiding Spin's hammer tip.

The two wolf-leg knives spun with their master, slashing towards Spence.

Another flash of blood.

The bald expert cried out in pain!
This time, Yara slashed Spin's right rib.

But it wasn't over yet; her next strike followed like a shadow!
The female bartender, charging head-on, perfectly demonstrated her agility and flexibility, dodging and leaping away at the last second before Spence's terrifying attacks.

Several times, Thales watched as the tip of her nose narrowly missed the rusty nails on the hammerhead.

At the same time, Yara's attack rhythm and angles remained unchanged, even more lethal than when she launched a surprise attack.

On the contrary, Spin, under her relentless and thrilling attacks, although the man roared repeatedly with astonishing force, even Thales could see that he was already struggling to cope with the constant injuries and bleeding.

This can't go on any longer—Spence thought in alarm.

How come she never makes a mistake when dodging with such fine margins?
"clang!"

Spence made a desperate attempt, desperately blocking an attack with an awkward side roll—in Thales' eyes, a bear-like giant was being forced to tumble awkwardly on the ground by a slender girl who was only two-thirds his height—avoiding this round of attacks and quickly widening the gap.

"This, this is the Swift Kill Blade!"

These words were like a pebble breaking the surface of water, halting Yara's relentless offensive.

The latter trembled slightly and stopped in his tracks.

"And the technique you used to kill Dorno was probably from the same source!"

Spence gasped for breath, his face filled with terror: "The Swift Kill Blade, I've only ever seen it in the hands of 'Crimson Lament' Lordan Sarridon before! You—you're from the 'Flower of Assassins' Sarridon family!"

Yara knelt on one knee, saying nothing—this seemed to be her preferred posture for exerting force—and simply stared coldly at the big man.

"This is impossible!"

Spence looked as if he had been struck by something; his face was pale and his lips trembled. "The Surreyton family all fled abroad after Kessel V ascended the throne!"

"What mission did you take to come here?" he asked incredulously.

"But wanted posters and bounty notices are plastered all over the Western Continent! Bearing the blood debt of murdering members of the royal family, you still dare to come to Yongxing City! Aren't you afraid of being surrounded and wiped out!"

"No matter how powerful the Sarredon family or the Black Street Brotherhood are, can they withstand the wrath of the 'Iron-Fisted King' and the entire Star Kingdom?"

Thales was suddenly startled.

what?
What... a serious crime?
Yara's expression remained hidden in the darkness, unmoved.

She simply raised the blade slowly!
But the next moment, bald Spencer's anger instantly deflated and softened:

"Fine, you can let me go," he pleaded desperately. "I don't care about the Blood Bottle Gang anymore. Just go ahead. As long as you let me go, I promise I'll leave Star City tomorrow—no, tonight!"

"I won't reveal your secret! I know what you're capable of!"

"I don't want to mess with Surreyton!"

In the alley, Yara remained silent, as indifferent as ever.

Like a heartless stone sculpture.

As he listened to Spencer's words, countless questions flooded Thales' mind.

"If I die here, your identity will be exposed! The Kingdom's secret service will receive intelligence tomorrow morning that the king-slaying family has returned to the stars!"

Seeing that his opponent was not reacting, the bald man panicked even more:
"Kathel V will not let you get away with this! He will wipe out every descendant and bloodline of the Surreyton family—"

But before he could finish speaking, Yara charged forward again!

"Ding—hiss!"

This time, Spence blocked the first blow, but the knife seemed to have a life of its own, changing direction with bizarre speed. After hitting his hammer head, it bypassed it without any resistance!
Yara's upper body twisted and changed direction like a soft ribbon, avoiding the mace in front of her.

It was almost like human drifting—Thales thought to himself.

What's going on? Spence thought in shock. How could the trajectory of this slash be—unstoppable?

The bartender's knife in her right hand did not stop; after changing direction, it returned to its original trajectory and lunged forward even more deadly!
Until it pierced his throat.

Yara landed lightly.

Drizzling, blood flowed everywhere.

Spencer's eyes widened.

He watched in astonishment as she calmly wiped the blood from the blade onto her clothes and then sheathed her weapon.

Bald Spencer's mace came crashing down.

"What is this—sword technique—?"

Spence struggled, trying to ask a question before collapsing. But he never finished his question.

In that instant, Thales seemed to be transported back four years, to the garbage dump behind Sunset Bar, to a nonchalant woman waving a knife at him as he stared in disbelief:
"A killing blade, wasted on slaughtering a dog—hey kid, do you want some meat? Call me 'sister,' and you'll get some!"

A series of deadly blows.

Thales knew this was a deadly weapon.

The last person to enjoy this knife skill was a large wolfhound with whom Thales had a minor conflict ("We were just debating whether humans should be on the wolfhound's menu, and of course, I appreciate your support, sister—so, meat?"—Tyles tried to appear confident).

Yara's skills surprised him once again.

But what shocked Thales even more was the truth about the "Assassin's Flower" Sarridon family that the bald Spencer told him.

Murder of a member of the royal family?
The Flower of Assassins?

Killing—a family that murdered the emperor?
"So much nonsense."

Yara looked at Spin's corpse and said coldly.

"The so-called 'Twelve Strongest' are nothing more than this."

Having said that, she summoned Thales, who was hiding in the shadows.

"Let's go, kid."

Thales walked past the body of bald Spencer, looking into his unseeing eyes.

But he still didn't understand. If it was just about being strong and big, but also missing a nose...

Why is bald Spin the most mysterious of the twelve strongest?
Is Yara too strong?

He shook his head and walked towards Yara, no longer thinking about it.

After glancing at the bartender's profile, Thales wisely refrained from asking her anything about the Surreyton family.

"Anyway, I have secrets too," the boy thought.

And it's even bigger than your secret.

The two, one big and one small, continued towards the battlefield between the Blood Bottle Gang and the Brotherhood.

------------------

The inner altar of the Sunset Temple.

The middle-aged nobleman with gray hair appeared calm, but in reality, he sat nervously on the stone chair below the inner altar.

His gaze never left the altar.

Or rather, they never left that small, ever-burning sacrificial lamp.

It seemed as if they were afraid the flame in the lamp would suddenly go out.

Beside him sat an elderly priest, quietly and devoutly praying.

This reminded the middle-aged nobleman of Yodl.

That equally quiet, even more terrifying man.

Although His Majesty had great confidence in Yodl, believing that he "would not hesitate to act when the time was right."

But Yodl, that guy who always hides behind the Amethyst mask, was someone I had worked with once when I was young—and it wasn't a pleasant memory.

Given his efficiency, he should have found his target long ago.

That guy is someone with his own beliefs.

After all, he was serving His Majesty's will.

And Yodl Gatu, that unfathomable man, serves His Majesty's interests.

The difference is like heaven and earth, like clouds and mud.

Does Yodl truly know or understand when His Majesty wants him to act?
------------------

Hongfang Street, a narrow alley.

Not long after.

The bald Spencer's body suddenly moved.

A second later, the wound on his neck began to heal rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Until the man struggled to his feet.

"hateful!"

Spence cursed as he shakily reached for his mace.

The Saridon family appeared in Everstar City.

The city hall will give him ten gold coins just for this message.

but.

Spence touched the newly healed wound on his neck, breathing heavily in pain.

My life is more important.

Fortunately, the woman was in a hurry and didn't look back.

Spence is one of the twelve strongest members of the Blood Bottle Gang, and his combat instincts and skills need no further explanation.

But more importantly, it is his unknown self-healing ability that allows him to often turn the tide of battle when his enemies are off guard.

“As long as your head—to be precise, your brain—is not destroyed, you can return from death,” these were the words of the Blood Mage, the true leader of the Blood Vial Cult, to Spin:

"Congratulations, Spencer the Immortal."

And that boy.

The immortal Spencer thought to himself that while he was in a state of suspended animation, he saw a thin boy appear on the street corner and follow the women from the Surreyton family.

This is also a point of suspicion; a woman who can follow the Surreyton family must not be an ordinary child.

Is it some genius? Possessing some ability that can turn the tide of battle?

A biological weapon? Capable of causing widespread destruction?
Or is he some kind of non-human, immortal being? That boy looks young, but he might already be hundreds or thousands of years old?

Spence picked up the mace and frowned.

After reporting the news to the Qi Mage, I will—

But his thoughts were interrupted.

A person suddenly appeared in front of Spence.
Yes, it appeared.

It's as if someone drew a person out of thin air, and the person in the drawing suddenly came to life and appeared abruptly.

Spencer was so frightened that he shuddered.

The strange man, wearing a strange mask, silently stared at Spencer.

"You saw that boy."

"That's what the masked person said."

His voice was hoarse and unrecognizable; he spoke not in question, but in statement.

Who is this?

I didn't even realize it.

Stealthy and inconspicuous, could they also be from the Surreyton family?

The strange mask appeared to be made of a dark purple, hard metal material with sharp edges. Only the eye slots had two round holes drilled out, covered by round, crystal lenses. Behind the lenses, there seemed to be a bronze-yellow mechanical device.

The reason Spencer could still think so much was because he had nothing else to do but think.

The person wearing a dark purple mask held a short sword with a crossed hilt in his right hand.

The moment it appeared, the short sword once again slashed open Spencer's recently healed neck wound.

Spence didn't even have time to think about "getting away" before his throat was slit again.

"Clang!"

Spence fell down along with his mace.

"What bad luck," Spence thought to himself, bracing himself for the next death and rebirth.

But Spence was surprised to discover in his post-death experience that the masked person had not left.

The strange man frowned almost imperceptibly behind his mask.

He slowly squatted down and stared intently at Spencer's wound.

A moment later, the masked man nodded as if he had just realized something.

In Spencer's perception, he despairingly discovered that the masked man was gently twirling the short sword in his right hand, performing a beautiful sword flourish.

No.

Do not!
In his heart, Spencer roared in utter terror!

No, no!
Then, Spencer watched helplessly as this strange man deftly and fatally brought the dagger along his temple...

It pierced his head.

The sword was drawn.

The smooth blade wasn't stained with a single drop of blood.

"As long as your head—more precisely, your brain—is not damaged, you can return from death."

In a daze, Spin seemed to hear the words of the Blood Mage once again.

From then on, one of the twelve strongest members of the Blood Bottle Gang, bald Spin, also known within the Blood Bottle Gang as "the immortal Spin," never awoke again.

The masked man crouched down, his right hand brushing across a knife mark on the ground.

Those were the marks left by the wolf-leg knife that had been thrown and embedded in the ground.

He stood up.

Then disappeared.

Just like...

A ghost.

(End of this chapter)