REAPER SCANS
Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Chapter 70 - White-Armored Dragon Cavalry (4)
‘How is this possible?’
Theo became lost in thought. He didn’t know what to make of this situation, but a few thoughts did run through his head.
The hostage situation that had gotten out of hand.
The annihilation of the previous rescue squad.
The disappearance of Balmung.
The weaker-than-expected forces of Black Skull.
Ed Troivan’s constant scheming…
…
…
‘What would the Sky Dragon have done differently this time around to use this incident to his favor?’
One theory came to mind.
This incident was caused by a terrorist organization attacking the caravan smuggling Balmung.
Naturally, he’d want to move out and retrieve the sword, but the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry ended up being assigned to the rescue mission. The unit led by one of his political opponents, as well as being the unit the killer of his nephew is a part of…
Ed, a born schemer, would have come to the following conclusion:
Indirect murder. He would utilize an ‘unrelated party’ to cut down his enemies.
‘He must have already retrieved Balmung. The Black Skull is merely a bait to draw out the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry and cause maximum casualties…!’
This was a trap, set up by Ed to doom the entirety of Dragoon Platoon 5.
A chill ran down Theo’s spine.
“Selford! Erin!” Theo shouted.
“Whoa! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“Where’s Evelyn—I mean, Platoon Captain Evelyn and the rest of the troops? We need to find them now!”
“They should still be taking out the terrorists. Why—?”
“We need to escape from here immediately!” Theo shouted in panic, “This castle is about to be attacked!”
“......!”
“......!”
* * *
A forest near Fort Blanqui.
“Pant, pant, pant…!”
Kiran, an agent of Black Skull, was sprinting while holding something wrapped in black cloth.
“You have to protect this, Kiran! It’s a treasure to avenge the villagers murdered by those damned Ragnars…!” Kiran’s boss entrusted him with the item before leaving the fort.
They would buy time against the Ragnars so Kiran could flee as far away from their wicked clutches.
Kiran had no idea what this item was. It had been wrapped with this suspicious-looking cloth since they robbed it from the Serest Merchant Guild. His best guess was that it must be a ‘sword’, judging by the long thin shape. He assumed he’d likely learn what it was once he arrived at his destination.
‘Huh? Why is the world…?’
However, Kiran’s thoughts were cut short.
In the midst of running, his vision started spinning.
It was the last thought he ever had in the mortal plane.
Thud!
Kiran’s headless corpse collapsed onto the ground.
Shwip, shwip!
Twenty figures in black hooded robes quietly dropped around the dead body. One of the hooded figures grabbed and unveiled the item under the corpse.
It was a fine sword with a golden hilt, sheathed in a navy scabbard.
Shing—
After partially unsheathing the sword to check on the condition of its blade, the figure resheathed it before looking back.
“It is indeed Balmung. We have successfully retrieved it, sir.”
“Good work.”
“Thank you for your kind words,” the figure bowed to his boss and took a step back.
“So much work over a mere sword. Well, at least with this we’ll be able to knock that damned White-Armored Dragon Cavalry down a peg,” the boss said while pulling back his hood.
The man greatly resembled Ed but had crimson eyes, a trait of the Ragnar Clan. It was Sidra Evoile, a Class 1 agent of the Central Intelligence Bureau and one of Ed Troivan’s closest aides.
“Get in position,” Sidra ordered, and each of the hooded figures scattered.
The men quickly started assembling parts that they had brought with them. They were putting together the magic blast artillery. It was a war artifact that was dozens of times more destructive than ordinary artillery thanks to being imbued with explosion magic.
It was also known as the reaper of the battlefield.
A total of ten barrels were aimed towards Fort Blanqui far off in the distance.
“It’s almost time to blow up the explosives we’ve hidden in the fort.”
Tick-tock, tick-tock—
The boss silently looked down as the hands-on his watch ticked.
“Fire,” he ordered calmly.
However, the results of his words were anything but.
Boom! Boom! Ka-boom!
The artillery roared with fire, as if mimicking the cries of a dragon.
* * *
Freeze!
The former Lady of the Camelia Palace suddenly paused while she was wiping the leaves of her precious flower. She then put on a scowl.
Shatter!
She smashed all of the pots that were on her shelf. Despite the valuable plants and vases imported at a premium from the east being ruined, the maids and butlers on standby looked unfazed. They had become used to this daily routine.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Bang, bang, bang!
After swinging her fist down repeatedly on the shelf, she finally calmed down after kicking away the one remaining pot. She then turned around to one of her butlers with madness in her eyes.
“Pant…! Pant…! By now…” she huffed.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Theo Ragnar and his lackeys. They should all be buried in rubble, right?”
Luring Platoon 5 of the White-Armored Dragon Cavalry into a trap was the work of Aimil. It was a plan she hand-crafted to present the killer of her son with a painful death.
Though there was a risk that Balmung could be ruined amidst the chaos, she showed little care. She no longer saw a point in the grand scheme without her son.
‘To so quickly take advantage of a simple bandit incident like this… I guess Lady Aimil is still a Troivan at heart,’ the butler thought to himself.
He then nodded his head in response to Aimil’s question, “Indeed, milady.”
“They’re probably all dead, right?”
“It’s being carried out by the Central Intelligence Bureau. The believers of the Sky Dragon are capable men.”
“You’re right. They’re not only graced by my elder brother but blessed by the Troivan Clan. There is no way they will make any mistakes.”
“However…”
“What is it? What’s troubling you?”
“I-it’s nothing, milady.”
The butler bit his tongue, despite wanting to ask, ‘How should we report that you mobilized the Central Intelligence Bureau without permission by falsely using Sir Ed’s name?’
Asking such a question was a surefire way to get executed.
Seemingly free of frustration, Aimil put on a light smile and said, “Now… Let us wait for him to come back as a lifeless corpse. Ohohoho!”
The butler tensed. Whenever she smiled like that, chaos always followed.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Mr.Ghost]
[Proofreader – Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Before Selford and Erin could even ask Theo anything, they heard the blasts of artillery.
“What the—?”
Selford and Erin quickly looked out the window. They could see a projectile arcing down towards them from the sky.
Boom! Boom! Ka-boom!
The artillery shells started bombarding the castle. The whole place started shaking.
Rumble—
Walls collapsed and clouds of smoke filled the air.
“Damn it! I’ll be going ahead!”
“Theo!”
Before either of them could stop him, Theo quickly launched himself forward.
Wind enveloped him.
He activated «Zephyr», using the «God of Tempest».
Whoosh—
‘I have to at least save Evelyn!’
Theo didn’t want to lose her, his first sword who had allowed him to arrive at this point.
Additionally, he didn’t want to be defeated by Ed like this.
‘I don’t have much mana left. What do I do?’
The problem was that he had exhausted most of his magic power while facing Slo.
Moving across the fort while simultaneously detecting the location Evelyn and the rest of the platoon as well as any potential explosives weighed his body down like a pile of bricks.
As Theo grit his teeth and tried his best to persevere…
Fwooo!
Suddenly, his body became reinvigorated by a mysterious energy.
‘…The Demon Shadow Toxin…?!’
Theo quickly realized that it was the energy that had dispersed across his body through his magic circuit, the very same energy that caused his body to transform.
Shwoo, shwoo—!
The energy quickly melted into his magic circuit and circled through him. This in turn enhanced the wind that was enveloping him.
«God of Tempest - Gale»
Theo awakened to the second stage.
Whoosh—
Thanks to that, Theo managed to quickly get to Evelyn.
“Captain!”
“Theo? What are you doing here…?!”
“We’re being ambushed! This was a trap! We need to escape quickly!”
Evelyn gave zero pushback. She quickly understood the situation from Theo’s words.
“Everyone, retreat—!” Evelyn tried to shout.
However, Evelyn’s orders went unheard as an artillery shell fell on the roof and muffled the noise.
On top of that…
Rumble rumble!
The ground they were standing on trembled for some reason.
It wasn’t caused by the artillery blasts. The tremors were coming from an explosion deep underground.
Flames started surging upwards from the ground.
“They even rigged the fort with explosives?” Evelyn looked visibly shaken.
It was difficult to escape with the fort exploding from the inside and the outside being bombarded with artillery.
That was when Theo placed his hand on one of the dead Black Skull’s swords. Evelyn wondered what he was up to, but she couldn’t dare ask. He looked far too serious.
[Activating 'Skill: Hatchling Synchro' to read the memories of the item.]
Theo read the memories of the Black Skull bandit and compared them with what he had seen from Slo.
‘Slo had a good understanding of the fort’s layout. That likely means the Black Skull has been using this place for a while.’
And in a hideout, there was always a hidden spot.
‘I found it. The safe room!’
Theo quickly got back on his feet.
“Captain, we have to hurry on downwards.”
“What? Go down?” As Evelyn was about to inquire more, a nearby dragoon shouted.
“What are you talking about, newbie? Do you want all of us to die together?”
The other members of the platoon nodded in agreement. Theo’s suggestion made no logical sense. However, Theo had to try and persuade them without mentioning his system skill.
“It’s more dangerous outside! Why else haven’t we heard from Black Snow, who should have been on the lookout for us?!” Theo reasoned.
“…But we can fly out on our wyverns!” Evelyn retorted.
“They surely have countermeasures prepared against that! Captain, please!” Theo pleaded.
“Captain, this is far too reckless! Are you really going to believe this fledgling?”
Theo and all the dragoons present stared intensely at Evelyn. They were goading her to quickly make a decision.
Boom! Boom!
All the while, artillery continued to rain down.
Crunch!
With the noises of the blast, ominous sounds of the structure giving could be heard.
“We will follow Theo Ragnar’s suggestion.”
“Captain, that’s dangerous—!
“That’s an order.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
The opposing dragoon quickly gave in. In a moment of crisis, following the orders of the hierarchy was an unbreakable rule.
“Theo, the lives of thirty-three people now rest on your shoulders,” Evelyn told Theo.
Theo immediately recognized from the way she was looking at him that she was providing a test for him. This was an opportunity for him to prove his skills to the platoon, as well as prove that he has what it takes to sit on the throne.
Achieving an exceptional feat here would greatly assist him in achieving his goals.
‘She has unwavering faith in me,’ Theo understood.
Evelyn wanted him to use her, his first sword, to his heart's content to win over the hearts of his platoon.
‘…I can’t show weakness then, can I?’
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!
Theo’s heart drummed.
“Please follow me,” Theo led the way.
Evelyn positioned herself directly behind Theo, and the rest of the platoon immediately fell into a triangle formation.
Whoosh—
Theo and Evelyn’s group quickly ran across the fort.
“Huh? Captain, where are you all headed?!” Selford shouted in confusion, having finally caught up with Theo.
“Just follow us! There’s no time to explain!”
“What the heck? Fine!”
Selford and Erin joined the group.
Meanwhile…
“Agh!”
“Why is the fort exploding…?!”
“We need to get out of here!”
“Quick! To the safe room!”
The remaining Black Skulls were all in chaos. To avoid wasting precious time, the platoon moved forward while only taking down the guys that were in their way.
Simultaneously, Theo quickly found and regrouped with the platoon members who were scattered throughout the fort.
Boom! Ka-boom! Boom!
Rumble rumble—
The barrage of artillery did not ease up even for a moment. The ceiling, walls, and pillars became riddled with cracks as debris started to rain down.
The fort was starting to collapse.
“Theoooooo!”
“We’re almost there! It’s just a little further ahead!”
Theo’s head was overloaded and hotter than ever.
‘Left, right… Wait, should I go at a diagonal? No. That’s in the trajectory of an artillery shell, and next to it is a hidden explosive… I need to change directions. But which way should I go?’
Theo was assessing the surrounding area with the sharpened senses from the Dragon Heart while using the map of the fort he created with Hatchling Synchro to navigate. But even with his former training with the Black Snow, making snap judgments amidst the chaos was no easy feat.
Thankfully, his thinking became even faster after going through the Body Cleansing Purification. But even a small mistake here could result in massive casualties.
‘Which way do I go…?!’
Having finally arrived at a near-impossible crossroad, Theo’s mental faculties reached their limit.
Snap!
Then within a part of his brain, something broke.
Fssss—
The Demon Shadow Toxin climbed up his spine, past the cervical vertebrae, and into his brain.
Bang!
With the sound of an explosion, his skull rang. With it, his mind went white from the excessive heat.
It was «White Fervor».
Ding!
[With the large increase in the mastery of 'Skill: Hatchling Synchro', the skill rank has been updated.
Skill Rank: C+
[You have attained «White Fervor».]
[Your thinking speed has accelerated.]
[Calculations have become easier.]
[Your judgment-making skills have improved.]
Theo had no time to properly access the new changes to his body. The only thing he could tell was that the faster thinking speed allowed him to better assess all of the information he was taking in.
“This way!” Theo announced.
Boom!
Thanks to that, he managed to reach the basement safe room just in time.
As the final person entered and they closed the door…
Rumble rumble—
The fort completely collapsed.
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