Black Sail
Chapter 50: L. The Beatdown of Justice

Chapter 50: L. The Beatdown of Justice

"How can this be?"

Edmond’s hands trembled, the blocking force didn’t seem at all like something a living creature could possess. The blood-red runes of Life Alchemy coursed rapidly, converging on his already crushingly fractured arms, forcibly sustaining them.

Three peerless, devastating sword strikes were executed in an instant, aiming for Liszt’s head, chest, and abdomen.

Three faceless phantom shadows appeared out of nowhere, nothing but illusions of netherworld mist, brandishing the Junlin Sword.

Clang, clang, clang...

Dissolved.

The phantom shadows vanished as if they had never existed.

This time, one of Edmond’s arms was directly broken and twisted backward, the elbow joint completely shattered. Crack, crack, crack, Life Alchemy forcefully twisted them back into place.

Even Edmond was gasping for air, unable to find an opening, this Curse Artifact was unimaginably powerful.

Liszt finally relaxed. Edmond was not so fierce that he couldn’t be overcome by the Junlin Sword. To have obtained this sword, he owed thanks to an enemy from four years ago, otherwise he might have cooled his heels here today.

Thanks to the enemy’s Junlin Sword, it not only didn’t curse him to death but had instead permanently set the charm.

Edmond was not the most formidable person Liszt had ever slaughtered, but he could be ranked within the top five.

"So, it seems I should go to Aran to become a Constitutional Soldier. At the minimum, I should scrape together the rank of Vice Admiral."

The momentum reversed.

Liszt charged forward, swinging his sword horizontally.

Edmond’s swordsmanship reached a state of transformation, effortlessly blocking it.

But the Junlin Sword in Liszt’s hand wasn’t an illusion; it was the real thing. The curse and resentment on the blade were a type of sharpness that came straight from the Netherworld.

Edmond’s sword was directly cut open by the curse, burning rapidly into black smoke from within, and soon it snapped in two.

Liszt swung his sword again.

Empty air.

Swung his sword.

Empty air.

Edmond’s evasion was incomparably skilled, and even armed only with a broken sword, he dared not attack rashly, merely persistently dodging.

Even then, as Liszt unleashed several more sword strikes, which all cut through nothing, his swordsmanship was enough to mix it up with Silver Level adventurers, but his opponent was, after all, a Major General of Aran.

"The runes on your face, they’re Life Alchemy, right? Their effectiveness will slowly drain away, and you’ll eventually be dragged down."

Shadi took a dagger from Swan, and now they just needed to seal his movements. Once Liszt landed a thrust, it would be game over.

Another massive ice cone blasted towards them.

Edmond swung his arm to block, shattering all of it, but his energy was not as before. When Liszt’s next sword strike came, he nearly didn’t evade in time, and his shoulder guard was nicked slightly, instantly splitting open.

Following that, Shadi and Swan both armed with knives, closed in to surround him.

He understood that he was not facing just one man, but one against four.

He had run out of options.

"Even if you manage to get your man away, there will still be pursuers knocking on your door. The importance of this person is such that even I am kept in the dark, and the higher-ups of Aran place great emphasis on it. You might evade capture temporarily, but what about later? With Aran’s national strength, even if you hide at the ends of the earth, in the Northern Realm’s far north or the Far East’s extremities, it makes no difference. Now it’s just me chasing you, kill me and they’ll just send someone stronger. You have two choices, one is I let you go, or two is..."

Edmond knew well what these desperados were after, and he continued on.

"I don’t know what the people on your side have promised you, Golden Dragons? A privateer certificate? Actual power as a landed noble? If you stop now, it would be a great achievement. I will report to the Constitutional Soldier Commander; no matter what crimes you have on your hands, the Constitutional Guard will shoulder them all, erasing all past offenses. Enter the court, serve the Emperor, receive a noble title and protection for your wives and children, riches and honor, and a meteoric rise. Is it not better than being outlaws at sea, pursued?"

Edmond frenziedly offered both threat and reward, continuing to roar, "Someone stronger will come! Perhaps even the Aran Sword King! Just calm down! Think about it! A completely different life!"

Liszt took a deep breath in shock. It was fortunate he hadn’t brought Claude in on this; otherwise, Claude would definitely have turned on them on the spot.

Seeing the three hesitate.

The mysterious Black Robed Man trembled uncertainly, distancing himself from the seemingly dangerous trio.

"Don’t believe his lies, we do indeed need to calm down," said Goria, coughing violently, fearing that Liszt and the others would make a foolish decision. "Those pursuers don’t even know the identity of their target, all those in the know have been completely annihilated. You must be aware of the true face of the Empire’s hounds."

"Buddy, it’s not that I don’t want to, you might not be aware, but the things I’ve done cannot be erased. In your files, I seem to be, one of the masterminds behind the Northern Prison riot ten years ago," Liszt said calmly. In a sense, he, too, was an old gun of the Western Continent’s underworld.

Swan was utterly shocked, his jaw nearly dropped. That riot had a profound impact, marking the beginning of the chaos in the Western Continent today. The Black Sail Captain had such a fearsome background?

Shadi, however, was not surprised; he had known all along.

"Damn it..."

Edmond laughed wildly twice, realizing that if that were the case, he simply had to fight with all his might.

What no one expected was that Edmond had another trick up his sleeve, his strength had not yet fully shown. Shedding all the burden he carried, his armor split and fell away, runes of Life Alchemy spread across his body, his muscles exploding like those of a wild beast.

Speed, strength, both were unnaturally amplified to even more terrifying levels.

Even holding only a broken sword, he no longer fixated on killing Liszt. He aimed to slaughter everyone else in the mine first, then engage in a life-and-death battle with Liszt.

In an instant, Edmond’s speed was unmatched, preparing to go after the insubordinate Shadi first.

"This is really going to be the death of me..."

Liszt couldn’t help but admire the depth of the Aran Constitutional Soldiers’ rank and file; this level of ability could only earn the rank of a Major General, while in Beima, it would qualify for the Imperial Guard.

Shadi was also known for his speed; previously, he had only failed to penetrate the defenses. Engaging Edmond at close quarters, Edmond’s madness made the broken sword gleam with dark light.

The mere sword wind had already sliced off a corner of Shadi’s straw raincoat.

Then came.

Lightning flashed violently, and a Thunder Gun shot forth, aiming directly at Edmond.

At this moment, Edmond’s reflexes were like those of a wild animal. He quickly climbed a chain to dodge the Thunder Gun.

The lightning explosion left the wall scorched black.

Caroso and Claude, both covered in blood, had managed to kill fifty or sixty people, plus an Officer.

Now it wasn’t one against four, but one against six.

Edmond had never imagined that his place of demise would be such a desolate mine, a lifetime of conquest resulting in this fate.

Unrivaled in swordsmanship.

Edmond spun in the air, his broken sword fiercely pivoting down as he aimed for Swan’s head. Liszt stepped forward to block, a ghostly figure reflecting the strike.

Edmond seemed to have lost his sense of pain, his arm broke again without so much as a furrow in his brow, which he then shook off and restored instantly, immediately charging at the mysterious Black Robed Man.

The speed was so fast it was like a fleeting shadow; even in death, he wanted to take someone who could change the course of the world with him, not to have labored in vain.

Frost and cold air spilled forth like a burst dam from the Magic Technique Array Seal at the fingertips of the mysterious Black Robed Man, causing Edmond’s movements to slow and stiffen. Shadi and Swan, with their short knives, simultaneously intercepted. Caroso’s Thunder Gun and Claude’s sword energy followed closely.

They completely immobilized him.

The Junlin Sword stabbed directly into Edmond’s back.

With this sword.

It pierced through Edmond’s chest from the left side, his heart torn apart, the peerless Curse power spreading within him.

In just a moment.

He turned to ashes and vanished on the wind.

The Junlin Sword returned to Liszt’s left arm in an inexplicable manner, imperceptible to the naked eye.

"It’s finally fucking over."

Liszt let out a long sigh of relief. He stared at the mysterious Black Robed Man, contemplating... should he check?