Chapter 91: John Smith's Prowess

CLANG CLANG CLANG

The sound of blade clashing against blade… no, to be more precise, blade against steel wires. You'd think that the steel wires that this man wielded can't possibly produce such a sound when clashing against my blade, let alone withstand my strength, and yet… here we are.

It is a coincidence that I happen to be in the area when he decided to rob this bank. Due to rumors of Necromancer's base being located in Everick, I've made periodic scouting of the area to try find it. No luck so far due to how well hidden his base(s) is/are. I can't even tail the Reaper Squad to find the entrance because they always use teleportation circles that only they can use! And interrogating them is useless because the moment we tried to make them talk, they'll turn themselves into mindless zombies.

Back to John Smith… He's a tricky opponent, much like Alucard. His fighting style unorthodox and thus it is quite challenging to predict his moves. Though he was much more predictable than Alucard was. I can still predict something's coming whenever his finger moves. With Alucard, I had to react to his attacks as they come.

Although… one thing that makes John Smith more difficult to deal with compared to Alucard is how much his weapon dominates the battlefield. With Alucard I only have to worry about what comes out of his body. With John Smith, I have to watch my surroundings as well because they are all over the place and some of these wires are too thin to be seen in the dark when they move so fast and so well hidden. One tiny mistake and I'll be trapped in the web he weaved.

What a terrifying man. Such frightening magic control and skill. Lady Alpha was right to put him on the same level of threat as Don Jon. Makes me wonder why a man like him even worked for Don Jon in the first place.

"Impressive. How about this?" The masked man said as he weaved his web once more and…

"Huh!?"Suddenly I'm already surrounded. I was trying to figure out the limit of his wires' range by using hit and run tactics but with a single weave his wires already surrounded me. Range means nothing to him in this enclosed space! I must attempt to lure him outside!

His wires closed in and tied me up. "Lady Zeta!" One of the girls, 664 if I recall, shouted when she saw me being captured by John Smith.

"Woohoo! As expected of boss!" Shouted one of his goons.

"Don't be distracted!" The new member, 666, exclaimed as she sliced said goon's torso. Their group returned to their rather one sided battle, which heavily favors the girls.

"Is that all? I was expecting more from one of the Seven." John Smith said as he walked leisurely towards me. Yes. Keep getting closer.

"I knew I would be facing fierce resistance from you when I came here." Damn it, he already knew about Shadow Garden's connection to Mitsugoshi from the beginning. Which means Don Jon already knew as well. That's why they sent a man of his caliber for the job and no one else.

"But you would do well not to interfere with my plans. If you want to live." He said with a smirk.

"Why would you let us go? Are you underestimating me!?" I exclaimed, projecting a fake anger in order to feed his ego and get him to talk more.

"Oh no. I rate your skills very highly. Very highly in fact that I have plans for you all."

"What plan? Might you be planning a rebellion against Don Jon?"

"Soon you'll understand." He simply said before tightening his wire's grip on my body. This is when I smirked and decided to act.

"Hm?" He reacted to my body turning to mist and escapes his wires before materializing behind him to go for a slash.

"Hoo… Mist form, huh? A vampire's signature ability." He said calmly while blocking my sword with wires he prepared beforehand.

"Let's just say our vampire hunts bore some fruit!" I said as I poured more magic to my attack, slicing them off and forcing him to dodge.

"Hm… So that's the weakness of your wires. No matter how much magic you poured into it, it is still made of steel in the end." I remarked while smirking. He was unfazed at that remark and merely sent more wires at me.

I tried to cut them off like before but I found out too late that they are harder than the ones I cut. The wires caught my sword and my hand.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"Who says they are only made of steel? Of course some of them are made of mythril as well."

"Clever bastard!" I said as I let my hand escape his binding wires with Mist Form again.

"But at this rate you can't hurt me."

"The same could be said of you." He taunted. Okay, that makes me mad.

"We'll see about that!" I said as I put magic to my legs to enhance them, allowing me to move faster. I appeared on his right side and poured more magic to my sword, letting them go unstable almost like Beta's exploding daggers.

"Ho…" John Smith only smirked as he called his wires and weaved a net shield out of them to protect him from the inevitable explosion.

"Take this!" I said as I slashed at him, unleashing the magic contained within the sword and letting it explode, throwing him against a window where he crashed through it. I jumped out of the window to chase after him.

"Now you're mine!" I said as I tried to deliver another strike, which is once again blocked by his wires. Tch. Even in such an open space his wires still worked fine, huh.

But now that we're on open air, I can use my newest technique… courtesy of the Blood Queen!

I gathered magic and blood around me and performs another feat that until now only wielded by vampires, blood magic.

"Hmm?" He eyed me curiously when he sensed the magic I gathered.

"Let's see how you handle this!" I turned the blood I gathered into arrowheads and shoots them at him.

"Heh. The Blood Queen's technique, huh." Surprisingly, he knows. Did he watch the battle at the Crimson Tower during the night of the Red Moon?

He responded by weaving a shield dome out of his wires, which perfectly protected him from hundreds of arrowheads I shoot at him. Tch. All my moves thwarted so easily. He's merely toying with me. This is getting annoying. The only time this happens was during the battle against Alucard… and during spar against Lord Shadow.

Come to think of it… why is it that his confident smirk looks so… familiar? Not to mention… his reaction time and mastery of space and range that allows him to strike whilst not allowing my strikes to land… his absolute control of magic… Also the lack of killing intent…

He emerged unharmed by the hail of arrowheads. The ground around him was damaged. The damage was in the shape of a perfect circle, which is formed by the dome he used earlier.

"Is that all?" he taunted.

"You talk big when we are in a stalemate, John Smith."

"A stalemate? Is that what you think this is? Heh heh heh." He chuckled ominously. I have a bad feeling about this.

"Then… Playtime is over." T-Those words…! Impossible! Why would-

He moved his wires to once again capture me, prompting me to use Mist Form once again in order to avoid the wires… but once I assumed Mist Form, I found out that I'm still trapped. He has placed a lot of his wires in the air. Its range encompasses the entire district that the bank is located in! The moment I materialized within his range, I will be eviscerated in seconds… and flying out of his range would allow him to rob the vault!

Tch. It's checkmate for me I suppose. You won this round, John Smith. Now I have to retreat. I hope the other girls are fine. Well... they should be if my suspicions are correct.

Zeta seemed to have retreated. Now nothing stands in the way of my objective! The Mitsugoshi bank vault! Well… nothing except three bewildered girls who stood before me as I entered the hallways once again through the window I crashed out of. My men seemed to have been defeated.

"L-Lady Zeta has retreated! Impossible!" Exclaimed the blue haired elf in disbelief.

The familiar looking blonde haired girl brandished her sword whilst slightly trembling, trying to summon all her courage. The other two followed suit. How impressive.

"I'll say it again. Do not interfere if you value your life."

"Not an option!" Shouted the blue haired elf.

"Is that so. Then…" I moved the wires to capture the three of them and with a pull, I had the wires throw them away from the building through the window. Then, I weaved several traps out of the wires to prevent them from interrupting me as I went to the vault.

With my wires I cut through the thick vault door and beheld all the gold that this bank has in store. Usually I would be excited when I see this much money but this one ain't mine. It belongs to the girls. I'm just… borrowing them for a bit. Using my wires I also made sure to count how much Zeni I'm borrowing.

After I'm done, I recalled the wires I used to encompass the entire district and weaved a net to store all the gold and left the city through a secretly prepared train which is scheduled to go to the Lawless City after a few transits which is meant to throw them off my trails. I could've reached the Lawless City faster on foot even while carrying a huge sack of gold but since they've prepared a transport for me, I'll take it.

When I entered the train, I met the miniboss herself who is seated on the VIP car accompanied by her two beastkin attendants.

"My. To think you could force one of the Seven Shades to retreat. You are indeed very formidable, Mr. John." Yukime remarked.

"Hmph. I merely outsmarted her."

"Don't be so modest. I'm sure if it comes down to it, you could even kill her. Couldn't you, Mr. John?"

"We shall see when the time comes."

"When the time comes indeed." She said with a smile.

"Though… it is curious that Shadow Garden decided to interfere here. Do you know anything, Mr. John?"

"I have no idea. I was as surprised as you are to find them there." I lied through my teeth. I may have worked against the girls but I wouldn't sell them out.

"Well… it matters not for now. At least you've demonstrated your ability to adapt to unexpected situations."

Hmm… This fox lady seems o have a high opinion of me. Time to see if I can use this to my advantage.

"Say, Lady Yukime. I've heard of this Ponzer Plan. Would you like to hear my thoughts about it?"

"Oh, Mr. John. Please do."

"So, the heist is a great success despite one of the Seven Shades interfering." I remarked while reading the reports about John Smith's successful bank heist on the morning newspaper and listening to Yukime's verbal report at the same time. I am seated in my usual sofa as Don Jon as Yukime stood in front of me.

"Yes. He is a very valuable asset. He is not only strong but also reliable. He even gave an input to your Ponzer Plan." Said Yukime enthusiastically. It seems that John Smith has successfully seduced her, so much so that she's showering him with praise.

"He still didn't kill her though." I said while frowning.

"If my observations are correct, he cannot kill her as long as she used the Mist Form ability, which is why he covered the entire area with his wires, turning it into a death trap, resulting in her retreat. After all, his objective is not to defeat the Seven Shades but to rob the Mitsugoshi Bank as you instructed." She said in his defence. She's sort of correct though. Shadow Garden's interference is outside our expectations but he still performed beautifully.

"Hmph. Did he found out why Shadow Garden decided to interfere?"

"He said he has no idea why they decided to appear, though I believe it might be due to your influence in the area." Hmm… Then probably Shadow Garden is investigating rumors of the Necromancer's base being located in Everick and John Smith just so happens to encounter them by chance when he robbed the Mitsugoshi Bank. Funny coincidence indeed.

Still… John Smith… His talents exceeded my expectations. He's brutal but efficient. He made use of the cannon fodders I lent him very nicely too. You'd think I'd be happy having such a reliable subordinate but it's because I rate him pretty highly for a villain that I cannot trust him. Especially since I know next to nothing about the man. What he holds dear in his heart… besides money… what makes him tick, etc. Well… if push comes to shove, I'll just enslave both his corpse and soul so he will become truly loyal whilst remaining useful.

"You mentioned that he shared his thoughts about the Ponzer Plan."

"Indeed. His insights are marvellous!"

"Yukime. I told you not to trust him."

"But Lord Don Jon! Please hear me out! He has a plan to expand the Ponzer Plan!"

"I'm listening."

Author's Note:

Zeta action again! I need to give more screen time to the Seven Shades so Zeta got more. I should get more for Eta soon too. Also Delta. She hasn't had much screen time in my fic but I have a plan.

Also, John Smith is stronger than in canon because he had time to train more.

Bolvar57: Ese muchacho me llena de orgullo.

Nagash entiende que el amor para un villano es una debilidad letal, debería matar su humanidad como hizo Arthas.

Answer: Soon he may walk the same path as Arthas.

A-Yellow-Liz: Congratulations on the 200k word mark! And good chapter as always :D

Answer: Thanks! Hooray for 200k words! Also happens on the 90th chapter! Soon it'll be 100!

HundredMasks: Magnificent chapter, I didn't see the update so sorry for the late review, but damn do you never disappoint, Claude's Upcoming betrayal is teasing and I'm already aching for the catharsis of the betrayal, the same goes for Shadow 'Betrating' shadow garden, and I'm excited for how the body possession will happen, because from what I'm hearing it's gonna be good

Answer: No problem. I hope you'll enjoy it when I reveal Claude's betrayal. Shadow's own betrayal is in progress. You shall see how the body possession thing goes in future arcs.