Episode 184
A web of organizations, each nested within another, like an endless chain of dots. The meticulous task of tracing this intricate network had begun.
In the back alleys of the Imperial Free City of Harlem, there was a tavern.
Outwardly, it was just a tavern, but no one ever came there for drinks or lodging. It was merely a front to comply with city laws.
In reality, it was a subsidiary of one of Harlem’s ruling crime guilds, specifically the infamous Shadow Court, known as the continent’s top assassin guild.
The tavern floor was littered with the bodies of assassins, unable to resist the barrage of hidden weapons.
Those who survived were prostrate on the ground, heads bowed in submission.
“Alright, let’s begin the magic show where fingers disappear.”
Crack!
“Aaaah!”
A scream echoed through the room.
The man who claimed to be the tavern’s manager cried out in agony. Who was this man before him, daring to lay hands on someone who considered himself a judge of the Shadow Court?
The so-called Small Court under Smith’s control was just a nameless criminal organization. But those above them were different.
This place was the true Small Court of the Shadow Court.
Yet even they were not the true leaders.
That was the terrifying aspect of the Shadow Court. What you thought was the head wasn’t the head, and what you thought was the body wasn’t the body. No one could fully grasp their true nature.
And that was the biggest problem.
Even those who could be called the true leaders of the Shadow Court couldn’t fully understand their own organization.
“Heh, even when the head is here, it can’t recognize itself. What use is this so-called Grand Court?”
“P-please, have mercy…!”
“So, you claim to be the head of the Shadow Court ruling this city?”
“Yes!”
“Yes?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
“Then do you also control the Free City Alliance?”
“N-no! We are merely the Small Court! The ones ruling this city are the High Court above us!”
“High Court, you say?”
Master Baro tilted his head in curiosity.
“Huh, did we have something like that in our court?”
The Shadow Court’s structure was simple: Small Court and Grand Court. No matter the size or strength of the organizations claiming to be Small Courts, or even if their assassins were mere criminals rather than divine executioners.
“Now, shall we hear about this High Court?”
“Do you think I would just spill our organization’s secrets…!”
“Hmm, do you hear something?”
Master Baro leaned in, pretending to listen.
“S-something?”
“The sound of your fingers begging to speak.”
With a sickening twist, the bones in the man’s fingers contorted grotesquely.
“Aaaah! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Just spare me!”
“Heh, I like a man with no principles.”
The manager began to spill his secrets, and just then—
“What, are you some kind of ragtag court?”
A hooded man sitting in the corner finally spoke up, watching Master Baro’s handiwork.
“Hey, don’t be too harsh. It’s not like I founded this organization. I’m just the errand boy.”
Master Baro replied, and the ‘Shadow Lord’ responded.
“I’ve heard about the courts under the Grand Court’s judges. But this is the first I’ve heard of their presence in the Free City Alliance.”
“The Small Court beneath the Small Court, and even further below—that’s our Shadow Court.”
The continent’s top assassin organization was no empty boast. But with such a sprawling network, in a world without advanced communication, uncontrollable offshoots were inevitable.
Thus, the Shadow Lord’s first goal was to prune and organize these offshoots.
“High Court, huh? Sounds reasonable enough.”
Dale nodded, rising to his feet.
“Where are you going?”
“To the High Court, of course.”
Just then—
“Ah, it seems we won’t need to go looking for them.”
A familiar wind blew through the room.
As the wind settled, silhouettes appeared. Men in bird-beak masks and coats.
“So, you’re the ones foolish enough to meddle with our ‘Shadow Court’?”
One of the masked men spoke.
Their presence was incomparable to the small fry that had been here before. They were true assassins of the Shadow Court.
“Well, judging by your looks, you’re not just any old bones.”
Master Baro spoke with interest.
“I have no intention of shedding unnecessary blood.”
Dale spoke simultaneously.
“As a representative of the Grand Court, I command you. Lead us to your High Court.”
“Did you say Grand Court?”
One of the bird-beak masked assassins spoke.
“Yes, I’m saying I’m your top blade.”
Master Baro chuckled. But then—
“Haha!”
The manager, whose fingers were mangled, burst into laughter at the sight of them.
“So, the real assassins of the Shadow Court have finally moved! You’re all as good as dead now!”
As if Dale and Baro were already corpses.
“So, these here are all fakes?”
“At least those are the real assassins of the court you mentioned.”
Dale replied calmly, turning his head.
“I have no intention of shedding unnecessary blood. But to prove a point, it seems I have no choice.”
With a voice devoid of emotion, Dale addressed the assassins of the Shadow Court.
In an instant, the bird-beak masked assassins scattered, their blades fanning out in a deadly arc. Just as Master Baro was about to move—
Dale stopped him silently, extending his arm.
To test his newfound power.
Five circles accelerated, and the ‘Frost of the End’ within him flowed out through blue mana.
Just as young Lize’s scattered mana had shimmered with icy brilliance.
Dale wasn’t exactly using magic. He was merely releasing mana in a gaseous form, merging it with the ‘Frost of the End’ within him, and scattering it indiscriminately.
But unlike his sister’s, it wasn’t beautiful or radiant.
It was a deathly chill, brutally cold.
”…!”
Like an invisible poison gas, the Frost of the End spread, touching the assassins’ bodies…
It didn’t offer the simple pain of freezing.
The winter of the universe, the absolute zero, isn’t an easy concept. It’s the collapse of core particles in matter due to extreme entropy, the dissolution of existence itself.
The collapse of order, that’s what the Frost of the End and the winter of the universe ultimately signify.
As the Frost of the End engulfed them, flesh and bone disintegrated at the particle level, leaving no trace.
Yet even this was only a fraction of the ‘Frost of the End’s’ power.
‘How far can I ultimately wield this power?’
Understanding the meaning of entropy, the Shadow Lord, with his otherworldly knowledge, felt it keenly. This power wasn’t just for killing a person.
It was a power at the level of Matter Manipulation.
‘Not something to ponder right now.’
One of the bird-beak masked assassins, the elements symbolizing his existence, disintegrated at the particle level, leaving not even ashes.
”…!”
The assassins froze in place. They weren’t fools. They must have realized upon seeing Dale.
The difference in their levels.
“Heh, you guys should be getting a sense of where to bow your heads now, right?”
Before Master Baro could finish his sentence, the assassins moved. Their movements were almost divine. But it wasn’t to cut down their enemies.
““We failed to recognize the great hero!””
The assassins of the Shadow Court bowed their heads before Dale and Baro.
“Heh, I like these guys. They’re consistent. Like clockwork.”
Master Baro chuckled, satisfied. Then he turned his head.
“Now, shall we…?”
“Eek!”
With the arrival of the Shadow assassins, the manager, who had mocked Dale and Baro as dead men, was now the target.
“Shall I show you the magic trick where your head disappears?”
Meanwhile, in the underground hideout of Harlem’s self-proclaimed High Court.
Recently, the city had been in turmoil, and after sending out assassins, they returned shortly. Confident they had completed their mission, High Court Judge ‘Mackie’ rose from his seat.
“So, you’ve returned safely from your mission.”
“Yes, we completed it splendidly.”
But from within the bird-beak mask, an unfamiliar voice spoke.
”…!”
Removing the mask, the Shadow Lord revealed himself.
“How is this possible!”
In unison, the assassins of the Shadow Court, who were sworn to serve Maekgi, knelt before the Shadow Lord.
“You traitors, how dare you betray the court…!”
Despite the accusation, Maekgi, who claimed leadership of the High Court, remained unfazed. In fact, he found the situation so absurd that he almost laughed.
The judge of the Shadow Court was no ordinary figure; he was a cut above the rest of the riffraff.
Before long, Maekgi reversed his grip on his dagger, and a blood-red aura began to envelop the blade—a clear mark of a high-ranking assassin.
There was no mistaking its significance.
But then, a voice interrupted.
“Hey, you bastard.”
Another man, also wearing a bird-beak mask, spoke up. The voice was all too familiar.
“Seeing you play king here just because you’ve grown a bit, I’m at a loss for words, truly moved by your audacity.”
The man removed his mask, revealing a face that was impossible not to recognize.
To become a high-ranking assassin of the Shadow Court, one needed the ‘Blood Aura Blade.’ And there was only one who could bestow that blood-red aura—the strongest of the Shadow Court, the Executioner of the High Court.
“Ba-Baro, is that really you…?”
Maekgi swallowed hard, caught between shock and disbelief, as Master Baro began to speak.
“Maekgi, you little punk, out of old times’ sake, I’ll keep this short.”
“Please, speak, Master!”
“Bow your head.”
Master Baro commanded, and Maekgi, the judge of the High Court and a high-ranking assassin, willingly pressed his forehead to the ground. None of the assassins present, including Maekgi, were exceptions.
For an organization claiming to be the ruling power of Harlem, the Free City Alliance’s first seat, it was a rather anticlimactic end.