Chapter 98: Blind Swordmasters

A group of mercenaries led by a duo of Quinton and Goldy (they are unable to decide who among them would be the group leader so they settled with leading the group together) walked the dark streets on their way to raid one of Don Jon's Soup Kitchens in the slum.

"Our mission is to raid Don Jon's soup kitchen in the slums, which is also a place where he hired many thugs for his army. What are your thoughts?" Quinton remarked.

"It's too bad that we have to shut that place down. I actually enjoyed the soup they provided. But if such a place becomes a den of criminals, it must be exterminated!" Exclaimed Goldy. His charisma apparently inspired the simple minded men under his command.

"I agree. Though, are you sure you're fit enough for this job, Goldy? Ain't your teaching job exhausting enough for you?" Quinton said.

"No actually. I am in high spirits and ready to make more money—I mean dispense justice!"

"You're just doing this because your salary as teacher ain't enough for you, is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Goldy denied his companion's claims even though it's true that as a junior teacher his salary is not as big as he had hoped.

"Well… whatever. I just hope you won't collapse in the middle of our missi-"

"Hee hee hee…" Quinton's words are cut by a sinister chuckle. They looked up and saw a white haired pale man wearing a dirty white robe, which looked like it used to be a military uniform, sitting on a roof of a building. His appearance just screams white, though the only thing he wears that isn't white is the metal collar on his neck. He carried a dual bladed spear.

"You fools are not allowed to proceed any further. Opposing Don Jon is the height of foolishness. I suggest you retreat before you end up like me or worse, dead." The man in white threatened with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Heh! There ain't no way we're going to back down from a job! Whoever you are, we'll run you through!" Quinton declared. Goldy and their men shared the sentiment.

"Ha ha ha! To think that there are people more foolish than I was. To not know the difference between your strength and the power that you're opposing." The man in white stood up and carried his spear in his right hand, which has visible scar on its biceps and the skin color starting from that scar downwards looks like a different shade than the rest of his skin color, though it is still pale as well.

"What the hell is with that arm?" Asked Goldy with a disgusted frown.

"This arm was cut off when I was foolish enough to challenge the vampires in the Lawless City, which sealed my fate. With Don Jon's help however, I was able to obtain a new right arm even though it's been a long time since I lost it. And now I shall enjoy spilling the blood of fools like you! Something I wasn't able to do during the Red Moon!" Remarked the maniacal man in white as he showed off the scar on his right arm.

"Who the heck are you!?" Goldy asked as he started to get nervous, his instincts warning him of the danger in front of him.

"I was once known as the White Demon. But now I am just a guard dog."

"What!? The White Demon!? That serial killer with a bounty on his head!?" Exclaimed Quinton in surprise. His words caused his men to lose morale.

"Indeed! Now come, you foolish idiots! Come and let me cut you down!" Shouted the White Demon as he jumped from the roof with his spear in hand.

Annerose was tasked with arresting Garter rather than attacking Don Jon's bases of operation as instructed by Princess Iris on Claude's suggestion. On her way to Garter's hideout, she and her men saw explosions and collapsed buildings in the distance, no doubt the work of powerful Spellswords fighting.

Annerose looked into the direction of the explosions and collapsed buildings with concern for the innocent people within range of the battle. The men she leads, which is mostly composed of mercenaries rather than knights like the ones led by Iris and Beatrix, are also concerned.

"Lady Annerose. Those explosions occur in the direction that Princess Iris is going. Should we go aid them?" Asked one of the mercenaries under her command.

"No. Lady Beatrix is closer. She will aid the princess. We should focus on our task to arrest Garter before he noticed us and escaped." Annerose said as she continued on her way, her men following closely behind.

When she arrived in a hotel building, which so happens to be owned by Garter, she encountered Garter's private mercenaries led by a blind beastkin swordsman wearing red. They stood protectively over the entrance of the building.

"I am Gettan, the Sword Demon and you shall not pass." The beastkin swordsman, now identified as Gettan, unsheathes his katana threateningly. She and her men recognized the name. Her men are slightly concerned but she remained undeterred.

"I am Annerose Nichtsehen. Stand back or face justice!" Annerose responded while unsheathing her own blade, a greatsword she received from Mitsugoshi years ago.

"Annerose, huh. I see. But even you won't be able to stop me."

"Are you willing to go so far just for money?" Annerose asked him.

"Hmph. This isn't about money." Gettan replied vaguely.

"What do you mean?"

"It's none of your concern. If you're unwilling to retreat, then you shall suffer the consequences!" Gettan said as he pointed his blade at their direction, a motion that ordered his men to begin their attack. Annerose ordered her men to charge in response. The blades of Annerose's men and Gettan's clashed.

Meanwhile Gettan and Annerose stood in front of each other, studying each other's postures and equipment in order to get a glimpse at each other's strength before they begin their own fight, though Gettan, who does not rely on his eyes, has the advantage of studying Annerose's aura more than Annerose can do, and he judged that he can defeat her despite her reputation.

Gettan launched himself towards her and she responded by doing the same, their blades clashed against each other. Annerose noticed his blade chipping her own in a single clash and decided to immediately jump back while also dodging his next strike.

"It seems that you noticed my blade's specialty. Neither your blade nor your Velgaltan armor will save you from Yoru." Gettan said as he once again pointed his blade at her threateningly.

"Hmph. I will not retreat just from this." Annerose stood undeterred and adopted her stance, ready for another clash.

"Is that so? I will show you how foolish you are." Gettan remarked and charged forward and unleashed several slashes. Annerose was forced to be on the defensive as she continuously blocked and dodged his strikes, receiving several dents on her sword and armor.

But, not intending to be on the defensive forever, Annerose took an opening that Gettan presented after his attack and moved for a slash. Gettan's instinct warned him however and he dodged the attack easily.

Annerose started her own offensive and went for a deceptively weak slash, which is parried by Gettan. But, due to the force of her slash being actually weak, her blade did not bounce back, allowing her to position herself for another slash which Gettan was unable to react to in time, giving him a slash wound on his chest.

"Tch! Dammit… It seems I underestimated you, Annerose Nichtsehen. But that is as far as you go!" Gettan said as he increased his speed and began his offensive. Annerose is now on the defensive once again, constantly blocking and dodging his attacks, though occasionally she would make use of any opening she detected and strike him, though this time he dodged them all with his superior speed.

Their weapons' clashes echo throughout the night.

In another side of the town, two blades are also locked in combat, though much faster and much fiercer, a testament to how much both combatants surpasses Annerose and Gettan.

Beatrix and Don Jon's blades clashed at high speed, occasionally creating shockwaves and slicing through buildings like they are made of butter. Their battles not limited to the ground but they also occasionally jumped in the air and fought in rooftops of various buildings.

"You have such interesting fighting style. It's not part of any school I know of." Beatrix remarked.

"Why, thank you, milady. You are not bad yourself. Though your magic could use some work." Don Jon replied as he unleashed a strong overhead slash that sent Beatrix to the ground whereupon he would jump down in order to deliver a vicious stab from above.

Beatrix immediately recovered and dodged the stab as it lands. The force of the stab destroyed the ground around Don Jon, though Beatrix is out of the range as she predicted correctly how much force he exerted on that stab.

"You're good. But I have to kill you in order to pay my debts towards this kingdom."

"Then are you prepared for what comes after?"

"What do you mean?" Beatrix asked him to elaborate on his ominous words. Don Jon didn't reply and merely grinned.

The knights accompanying Beatrix watched the prowess of both combatants in awe, helpless as they are unable to do anything.

"Hey! While Don Jon is distracted by Lady Beatrix, let's go past him and finish our mission!" Suggested one of the knights to his comrades, who nodded in agreement. But as they are about to move away, Don Jon sent a long ranged slash that sliced the very same knight who made the suggestion in two, making all of them froze in place.

"I believe I told you already that you will not be getting past me." Remarked Don Jon towards the knights with a grin. They stopped moving afterwards out of fear of being sliced to pieces from a distance by Don Jon.

Don Jon turned his attention back to Beatrix and sent the very same magical slash towards her, which she dodged while moving to approach him from the side.

She delivers a slash from Don Jon's left side but is blocked by his cane, which is the sheath of his hidden blade that he still carried in his left hand. With her sword locked with his sheath, he sent a slash with his sword in his right arm at high speed, which Beatrix was barely able to dodge in time, earning her a slash wound on the left side of her torso.

Don Jon continued with another slash from his left that Beatrix dodged in time but with the momentum of his slash, he brought his sheath to hit Beatrix's stomach from his left, disorienting her enough to make her barely able to dodge his next slash which came from his right, though she did not suffer a slash wound this time.

Don Jon raised his blade for another slash but instead of slashing, he went for a kick, which Beatrix blocked with her wrists. She jumped back to dodge his next strike with his sword but he was fast enough to catch up with her to go for another slash. She parried the slash in time but she fell for his headbutt, earning her a nosebleed.

"Tch… You're quick and tricky. Almost like someone I know." Beatrix remarked, and she noted that her words made Don Jon's eyebrows twitch slightly though she did not know why.

Don Jon did not reply and merely moved faster than he had been before. Beatrix tried to slash him as he gets close but even though her blade should've made contact with him, it passed through him like striking at air.

"It's only an afterimage." Don Jon said as he appeared behind her. Beatrix was quick to react and blocked the strike which came from behind. Don Jon tried to hit her with his cane but she pushed his sword away in response, making that attack fail. She then moved to hit his cheek with the pommel of her sword.

"Not bad. How about this?" Don Jon looked like he was about to go for a slash but instead charged forward, intending to hit her with a shoulder bash. She predicted the move and dodged it in time and sent a slash in response, said slash sliced Don Jon's cheek slightly, finally drawing some blood.

Don Jon then unleashed a series of strikes, alternating between his sword and his cane to attack. Beatrix no longer struggled against the combination of two weapons and blocked them all even as he feints some attacks.

"You're getting better I see." Don Jon remarked.

"I'm used to your moves by now." Beatrix replied.

"Congratulations. Your skill continues to improve. But can your magic keep up?" Don Jon said as he coated his blade and his entire body with an aura of magic inspired by Alpha's dragon armor. The aura coating his body serves as an armor that made Beatrix's blade bounce harmlessly against it.

"What!?" Exclaimed Beatrix in surprise as she couldn't react to Don Jon's next move which is a hit to the head, causing her to fall unconscious immediately as she fell to the ground.

"What… Lady Beatrix is… defeated!?"

"Impossible!"

"She's the Goddess of War! How could this…!?"

Her men murmur in fear as they saw the strongest warrior they've ever seen being defeated so easily.

"Now… What are you guys going to do?" Don Jon said as he addressed the knights. The knights did not respond and merely ran away. They didn't even take Beatrix with them.

"Hmph. What cowards. As for you, Beatrix. I would so very much like to take you in but that would make Arrinoth mad so I shall let you go for now. But not before taking a blood sample of course!" Don Jon grinned as he retrieved a syringe from his pocket dimension.

"Impossible…! How come your sword is so durable!?" Shouted Gettan as despite his best efforts, Annerose's blade hasn't broken yet. Both of them sport various slash wounds on various parts of their bodies.

"Don't underestimate Mitsugoshi craftsmanship!" Annerose said as she charged forward. Gettan, in his panic, took a vial of red pills from his pocket. Annerose instinctively went to slash at whatever item he took out of his pocket, destroying his vial of red pills.

"No!" Shouted Gettan as he saw shards of the vial and his red pills falling to the ground.

Annerose saw the red pills on the ground and made her conclusion. "I see. So that's why you're forced to work for an evil man such as Garter. You're a drug addict, aren't you?" Annerose said while looking at him in pity.

"Huh?"

"I understand that it can be hard to escape from addiction but you need to make some effort to do so in order to heal yourself physically and mentally."

"Don't you dare mock meee!" Gettan shouted angrily and brought his sword, Yoru, for an overhead slash. Annerose was forced to block the strike but this time her sword finally broke. Gettan smiled and moved for another slash, not giving her a chance to retreat. But instead of retreating, Annerose charged forward and deliver a slash of her own while ducking her head, dodging his slash. The remnants of her blade sliced through Gettan's stomach.

"Uaarghh…!" Shouted Gettan as he jumped back and clutched his bleeding stomach. With his vial of red pills destroyed and him suffering a great injury, his instinct warned him that he no longer has a chance to defeat her, forcing him to retreat.

"Annerose… This is not over yet! I will get stronger… and once I do… I will kill you!" Gettan declared as he retreated. Seeing him retreating caused his men to follow suit, abandoning the hotel they're supposed to guard.

Annerose's men cheered in victory but Annerose raised her hand to shut them up.

"It's not over yet! We should finish our mission by arresting Garter!" Annerose exclaimed and led her men towards the hotel whereupon they found and arrested Garter without much resistance.

Author's Note:

Isn't it funny that this chapter has two blind warriors fighting? Well, Annerose isn't actually blind but her surname, Fucianas/Nichtsehen, essentially means blind/not seeing and this translates to her being blind to the truth, giving an opportunity for funny misunderstandings, like the Mundane Mann twin brothers misunderstanding during the Bushin Festival arc.

HundredMasks: Some Arrinoth And Adra Content! and Iris character development too, and a Beatrix vs Don Jon battle too, I'm excited for the mess he'll make in his fall, and his escape plan for his eventual "fall" and I'm here for it, good cooking Author-san

Answer: There is a hint of it already in this chapter. *wink wink*

TheVirtualPug: Upon becoming King, does Claude plan to kill or mind control Iris?

Answer: Not decided but for now he's content with manipulating her. Less burden for him.