Boom!!!!
The sight of dozens of carriages thundering through the night Triad was truly a spectacle.
It was already a grand sight, but then the tattooed members of the organization poked their faces out from the carriages, further embellishing the Triad night scene.
“Fire Magic!”
“Wind Chain Magic!”
Dozens of fireballs and swirling gusts flew toward us like fireworks.
Feeling the immense magical power, I opened the carriage’s roof, leaned out, and quickly cast a defensive spell.
“Shieldron!”
Hexagonal blue glass shards gathered before my eyes, forming a barrier as Shieldron unfolded.
All the members’ magic collided with my Shieldron, causing explosions.
Boom!
“Eek!!”
There was a slight shock, but the carriage was unharmed.
Wait, who are these guys trying to kill?!
The force behind their magic was strong enough to kill.
I’d be fine, but for anyone else, it could be dangerous.
…Oh!? Maybe they planned it knowing I’d be here with my master?
That would make sense.
But still, it could be risky, so I should probably complain about it and suggest some improvements.
“Fire Magic!”
“Fire Spear Magic!”
“Lightning Magic!”
“Wind Chain Magic!”
While I was lost in thought, the number of spells suddenly began to increase rapidly.
What, did they gather all the wizards in the neighborhood?
There are so many!?
If I just stand here defending, I feel like I’d end up game-over, so I called for help.
“Master! It looks dangerous at this rate! Please stop that carriage safely with Mud Magic!”
“Got it, my apprentice!”
My master soared into the air using levitation magic and unfolded spells across the entire street.
“Mud Magic!”
“Whoa! What! What is this mud!?”
The sage’s magical power resonated, and mounds of mud began accumulating on the ground behind us.
The sudden appearance of the mud caught the carriages off guard, and many started slowing down and getting stuck.
Good, now it’s easier to defend.
“Wow—Jiren, it really feels like magic is flying around!”
“Sora, you too? I feel the same!”
“You both, get your heads down! That’s real magic!!”
Sora and Jiren leaned out of the carriage, almost putting themselves in danger, but at this rate, it seemed we could easily clear the mission.
At that moment, Sora suddenly shouted in alarm.
“Yuren! Watch out!!”
“Huh?”
When I looked ahead, a blue blade was already flying toward me.
How did that get past the defense spell? It was too late for me to act with a sudden ambush!
“Where are you aiming!!!”
Thud!!!
In that brief moment, Sora threw the red steel bag she had, and it narrowly deflected the blue blade.
Whoa… I seriously thought I was going to die.
“Thanks, Sora! I almost bit the dust!”
“For real, I’m so glad! Zweih!”
No matter how important realism was, putting customers’ lives at risk made me honestly a bit furious.
The blue dagger that flew at me returned to its owner.
To the carriage of that boss named Dalos from Karma.
“Yeah, dying so easily would be a shame… Black Shadow.”
A man with blue hair appeared atop the carriage, flaunting his striking appearance.
Is that the final boss?
The magical energy I felt from him seemed to be that of a first-class wizard.
What a coward, attacking with a magical sword!
I promised myself that when I got back, I was definitely giving him a one-star rating.
“Are you okay, my apprentice!?”
“I’m fine, Master, just caught off guard for a moment.”
“Be careful, my apprentice; I sense some anger from him.”
“Seems like he’s been overdue on his payments or something.”
Even so, for him to take it out on customers, what a rotten guy!
I decided I had to teach him some manners.
“Jiren, please cast a defensive spell. And Sora, hang on to that bag carefully.”
“Got it. Big Brother!”
“Yes! Zweih!”
I flew toward the guy’s carriage.
He surprisingly didn’t attack me and waited. When I landed on his spacious carriage, he pointed a blue sword at me and said.
“So, you’re the boss of the Black Shadow?”
“Is that what they say?”
On the shaking carriage, the guy with blue hair spoke with a rotten expression.
From how genuinely sick his face looked, it seemed like he had been overdue more than twice.
“I’ll commend you for challenging me after making a fool of me. As a reward, I’ll let you be split in half.”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding; yelling at me won’t help, you should take that up with your boss.”
“Don’t worry, after slicing you to pieces, I’ll take this opportunity to chop up Sion’s guys into fish food. ”
These people really brought a lunatic with them!?
No matter how overdue he was, how could someone want to slice to pieces another person!?
…No, if I was overdue three months, I’d probably want to slice someone up too.
Anyway, his murderous words seemed sincere, and the blue dagger he held exuded enough malice that it felt like talking wouldn’t do the trick.
“Die!”
Just as I was thinking about how to safely subdue him, he charged in first.
Using acceleration magic, he dashed toward me at a speed surpassing a human, but compared to Prince Lethers, he was still quite slow.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
“Ha! Hah! Whoa! Oof!”
I lightly dodged his attacks while brainstorming how to subdue him.
Honestly, I could end it with a sleep spell right when I dodged, but being on a moving carriage might end up with a casualty, so I refrained.
Even if he was a lunatic, he was a poor actor at best.
Unnecessary killing is a no-go.
“Is this… is he toying with me!?”
“What are you talking about? I’m just dodging!”
“Then… how about this!!”
Once again, he lunged at me.
No matter how wide it was, he maneuvered well on the moving carriage.
He accelerated, but swinging the blue dagger slower than Prince Lethers, while I was dodging, a hidden blue dagger from his left hand flew toward me.
It was an ambush so subtle that no one could catch it.
Unlike the enhanced magic and acceleration magic felt from the right-hand dagger, the left-hand dagger was shrouded in perfect magical concealment; I couldn’t feel anything.
Though he claimed to be a first-class wizard, I had found it odd that he wasn’t using magic until now.
Now, I understood.
He wasn’t not using magic; he was using magic to keep it from feeling like he was using magic.
“(How’s that! This is my magical sword, Lapis Lazuli’s linking attack!)”
In that moment, Blue was certain of his victory.
This was his ultimate move; one that had killed numerous foes, including the Black Shadow he had first encountered, and he was sure it would lead him to victory again.
But…
Clang!
“What!?”
Right in front of Blue’s eyes, Yuren caught the second blade with his mouth!
Is this the true power of the Black Shadow!?
Blue couldn’t hide his shock at the absurdity of the scene.
“Phew, I thought I was a goner.”
That was genuinely dangerous.
If it weren’t for the training from Malek, who said I should be prepared for assassination techniques just in case, I’d have been in deep trouble.
Thanks, Malek.
I cursed a lot during that training, but here it was being put to use.
Resolving to greet him when I returned, I gripped the blue dagger clenched between my teeth.
“Now, that’s what legends are made of! Let’s see if one of us can fight until death!”
He gripped the blue dagger, igniting his competitive spirit.
It looked like he hoped this would turn into a dagger duel.
Am I crazy? I’m not going to duel for my life with a lunatic!
“Are you too focused on me to notice your feet?”
“What?”
I pointed at his legs, and only then did he notice the thin root I had created—the whip of Yudra.
“This… this is!?”
“It’s time for a rocket wrap, you crazy bastard!”
“Whoa-aaaah!!!!”
I poured my magic into Yudra’s whip for rapid growth.
A root as thick and solid as a rope quickly wrapped around him. In less than a second, he couldn’t move at all except his nose.
“Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!”
“Stay quiet; you’ll be released from the mental hospital soon.”
Carrying the bound lunatic, I wrecked the wheels of Karma’s carriage with Mud Magic and hopped over to our carriage.
Just narrowly making it to Sion’s territory, the doors to Sion’s area locked shut, and we crossed the finish line.
“Zweih! Great job!!”
“Phew… yeah, Shasha, you did well too.”
“But what… is that voice we hear?”
“Oh, this… the final boss.”
“The final boss?”
As we finally caught our breath, Sion’s boss dashed over on his carriage.
“Hah- did you bring the goods?”
“Here it is.”
Sora handed over the red steel bag to Sion.
And the underling who received it opened the bag, touched something magical, checked it, and said.
“It’s correct, boss.”
“Impressive, truly impressive! I never thought you’d actually pull it off!! I’ll throw in some extra bonuses!”
Sion displayed a reaction as great as Shasha’s.
It felt almost like we were the real problem-solvers.
I had a lot to say, but for now, I decided to play along and relay what happened with the lunatic to Sion.
“No need for bonuses; just take care of that person over there.”
“Th-this guy!?”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!”
I tossed the blue lunatic, still bound in wooden vines, in front of them.
Seeing the slightly protruding face and hair, Sion seemed to recognize who it was.
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but it looks like there’s a lot built up; please resolve it peacefully.”
“Hah- I understand perfectly. We’ll handle this peacefully with him.”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!!!”
With that, handing over the lunatic concluded our mission.
After a good rest at the inn, the next day, we returned home, escorted by Shasha and Sion’s organization.
We wrapped up the final touches, throwing in comments like how they could pay us later and figured it out on their end, and quickly headed home.
Inside our returning carriage, we reverted back to our original selves after a long time.
Finally back to Sora, Jiren, Yuren, and Irene, we couldn’t help but chuckle at each other’s true faces.
“This trip was really fun, Yuren!”
“Me too, Big Brother.”
“I never thought it could be this thrilling!”
“I had fun too, my apprentices!”
Inside the carriage, we joyfully reminisced about our Triad memories.
It genuinely felt like we could create the best crime city open-world game once we got back.
*
That day, the “Black Shadow” became a legend.
They shocked even the underworld, ambushing a transaction site without a single casualty and overpowering every Karma member in pursuit, even defeating the new boss of Karma.
After solving all their troubles, they disappeared back into the shadows, expecting nothing in return.
From then on, they were revered as “Guardians of Darkness” and became a symbol of fear for those in the underworld, warning that if they crossed the line, the Black Shadow would find them.
