A New Challenger Appears

[You're getting more and more likable Hans.]

"..." 

Hans ignored Plundy and waited for the right timing. He'll strike when the knights were closer to the radius of the explosion. 

With this, infiltrating can be done at ease. 

...... 

Baru Empire. 

7:17 pm. 

Two knights stationed at the southern border of the empire took a quick cigarette break. 

Karo took two cigarette sticks from his space bag and handed the other one to his pal. As they both lit it, Karo began a conversation. 

"Have you heard of the news?" 

"Oh, about the camp?" 

Karo shook his head, "No, not that. The news is about Princess Ada."

As soon as Karo mentioned the name, Wano puffed the smoke with a raised eyebrow. His eyes twinkled in interest. 

"Really!? What is it?" 

Karo swept his gaze towards his surroundings and after determining no one was around, a faint smirk formed on his lips. He leaned closer and whispered. 

"I'm not certain if this is true but I heard the Emperor is holding a competition."

Wano tilted his head, "What does this have to do with Princess Ada?"

"The reward for the champion will be the Princess' husband!" 

Seeing Wano's confused eyes, Karo concluded that his friend must have been truly shocked by the news. He patted his friend's shoulder and muttered. 

"Don't worry, only 2nd Class Knights below 30 years old can participate so we still have a chance!"

At his excited expression, Karo couldn't help but clenched his fists. Marrying the Princess means almost endless wealth and he would instantly become part of the royal family. 

Thinking about it, Karo's face brightened even further. 

On the other hand, Wano stared at Karo; utterly speechless. They have been friends for about 15 years now and this is the first time he found out that Karo has 'that' fetish. 

"Karo, do you know what you're saying?" Wano asked. 

"What?" Karo looked at his friend only to see a sight of his disgusted gaze. 

"She's 5, for God's sake!" Wano said in disbelief, "...and you're like fucking 29."

"What am I supposed to do th—?" 

At that moment. 

BOOM—

The ground quivered. Karo and Wano eyed each other and looked at the northern part of the borders with solemn gazes. 

They threw the cigarette on the ground and immediately dashed near the Empire walls. However, as they stepped on the cold ground, it clicked. 

Click—

Their eyes widened. 

"A bomb!!" 

BOOOM—

...…. 

Hans the consecutive explosions as he sat on a tree branch. The red flames enveloped the whole Empire, illuminating the night skies. 

The ground constantly vibrated at the force of the explosions until eventually, the Empire walls finally collapsed. 

"ENEMY ATTACK!!!" 

The Commander of the Knight arrived at the main entrance and ordered the soldiers to prepare. 

Hans watched the increasing commotion but remained unmoved. He only exploded the southern part and the northern part of the Empire's borders. The bombs on the east and western place haven't exploded yet. 

Even then, the Empire's interior could already be seen. Bodies of soldiers sprawled lifelessly on the ground. As they were humans, Hans did not get an increase in level. 

However, their skills cannot escape his grasp. 

Hans opened his screen tab and browsed the hundreds of skills waiting to be plundered. 

'As I thought…' 

The skills could be said to be weak. If he's still weak, he might have been overjoyed by this amount of skills. 

But now, these are not enough. 

A bunch of C-rank skills was presented towards his screen. There were some B-rank and Hans turned his eyes to them. 

In the end, after a brief period of selecting, Hans only picked 3. Even then, he might not use these skills too often. 

[Dispel Curse (B)] 

[Knight's Roar (B)] 

[Rebound (B)] 

These three skills brought his race to 29% percent. Due to this, Hans picked another skill in hopes to awaken another racial trait. 

However, he stopped after seeing a warning. 

'I won't be able to use my red form for a day?' 

The system warned him that the transformation process this time would last for a day. Meaning, his [Red Form], [Hand Of Asura], and [Primeval Eyes] won't be available for usage. 

These three are important factors in invading this empire. Hans looked at the soldiers gathering inside the Empire. 

Then, with a wave of his hand the screen in front of him vanished. He wouldn't risk getting weakened at this moment. Fortunately, he could still plunder skills, however, it won't increase his hidden race percentage. 

'It's time.' 

Hans stood up. 

[Mirror Clone] 

A carbon copy of himself appeared out of nowhere. He'll use this as a decoy in an attempt to see if there are hidden traps stationed around the empire. 

"You know what to do right?" 

"Got you."

The Clone Hans smiled and leaped into the air. At the sudden appearance of a man, it attracted the Empire's attention. 

"Over there!!!" 

At that moment, numerous skills were aimed towards Clone Hans. Although Clone Hans only has a part of the original's true strength, he still cannot be underestimated. 

Meanwhile, Hans also moved. 

[Emperor's Strides]

In an instant, He vanished from his position and arrived in front of the collapsing walls. 

While the Clone Hans skillfully became a decoy, the enemy had no idea that the true enemy was already moving inside the Empire. 

Hans didn't look back and instead sprinted straight towards the Royal Palace. While the pawns accept his gambit, he would go for the King's head. 

Swish—

The wind did not resist as he passed through the narrow alleys. Occasionally, he would see civilians running towards the center of the empire where they believed it was safer. 

Swish—

From a distance, the entrance wall to the large grand palace could be seen. Just from a distance, Hans saw the Elite Knight's calmly organized as if the attack didn't bother them. 

However, they were not his target. 

Hans' eyes darted at the walls. 

The wall's thickness already exceeded his expectations. But even so, Hans never thought that he would not be able to cut a hole in it. 

After all, Light said… 

'That a true swordsman could cut anything.'

Hans rested his hand on the blades' hilt and slowly unsheathed it. 

Grip—

Hans grasped the swords with all his might. A tremendous amount of mana was poured into his blades. 

The sharpness of a blade could be determined if the edges are finely done. Thus, Hans manipulated his mana to become thinnest as possible while also maintaining its input and power. 

With this, his swords' power had doubled. 

"This should be enough." 

Swish—

Slash—, slash—, slash—

Hans brandished his swords as he approached the palace walls. 

The sword met a hard resistance before eventually cutting through it like soft butter. 

Crash—

The slashed wall fell to the ground and a square passage can be seen. It was cut cleanly without bent edges. Then, without hesitation, Hans sneaked inside. 

......….. 

'There are two SS-Class generals inside the castle.'

These people might be the strongest Knights of this empire. Hans could somewhat sense another faint signature, but he doesn't want to alert them into thinking that the intruder is already under their noses. 

Hans still didn't receive the clone's memories which means that it's still alive. 

'Assassinate the Emperor first.'

For now, this was his top priority. To lower the soldiers' morale, he had to hit them hard. 

But the presence of those two SS-Class Knight's made him hesitant. He might be able to fight one but two at the same time would be hard. 

An SS-Class could destroy a small country. Hans still can't do that. Meaning, he might be just as strong as a Level 250 S-class or maybe Level 260 SS-Class. 

In other words, he's not there yet. 

'But with my red form… I could do it.'

The only problem is that he would be exposed. Knights would march here instead. Hans wanted to invade the Empire with an as little casualty as possible so as not to completely weaken it. 

Then… 

"I'll cast [Trickster] around the empire."

It wouldn't work on an SS-Class so killing them is a must. 

'Well, looks like I have no choice.'

With a determined face, Hans closed his eyes and slightly leaked a portion of his evil propertied mana. 

......… 

Baru Empire's two generals shuffled back and forth as they guard the Emperor. 

Not only that, the Prince and Princesses were also here together with the concubines and the queen. 

General Kleto stayed on guard but his mind was watching the battle happening outside the Empire walls. 

'I can't sense the source of that guy.' 

The man fighting those Knights on the frontline emits no source. Meaning, he's either best at hiding it or maybe… 

'An illusion?' 

General Kleto shook his head. 

'That's impossible.'

The damage done by the lone man is real. His eyes wouldn't lie to him. 

Meanwhile, General Franc also thought the same as his fellow General. However, he has another hunch. 

'This might not be the main force.'

Perhaps that man is just testing the waters. Even though they could kill that man with a single stroke of their weapons, they didn't dare to move. 

The Emperor is just a normal human. If not for his alliance with the 1st Class Empires, his throne would already have been usurped by others. 

Even though he's a terrible Emperor, his orders are still absolute. Thus, the two generals had no choice but to stay here and guard them. 

"Are your Knights unable to even take care of a single man?" At that moment, two robed people appeared on the side of the Emperor. 

General Kleto and General Franc turned their heads and looked at the two people. 

This is the reason why no one wanted to usurp the throne. These people were sent here by the alliance to 'guard' the Empire in case the Harisan Empire attacked. 

Nobody knew their names even Emperor Baru himself. Nobody even knew their appearance as they were both covered by black robes every time. 

"Our Knights are still in their infancy. The veterans on the other hand… already retired." General Kleto's response earned a disdainful tone from one of the robed persons. 

"Tch, I don't even get why we would build an alliance with the likes of you."

The other robed person also voiced out his opinion, "A weak and garbage Empire; what do you expect?" 

As the two robed people belittled the Empire, the two generals bit their lips and clenched their fists. Hearing their words, it felt like a needle pierced their hearts. 

'You bastards…' 

General Kleto suppressed his urge to fight back and turned his head away. Their Empire has become a slave and he can't do anything about it. 

At that moment. 

Kleto's felt the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The same goes for Franc. 

"The enemy is here!!!" The two yelled in unison. 

Swish—

The strong gust of wind arrived. It might be due to their battle experience that they managed to unsheathe their sword and block the attack before it could even hit their necks.

Clang—

Kleto and France blocked the strike with all their might. Their eyes observed the intruder. 

However, the two heard the man speak in a confused manner. 

.......... 

"Eh? You two…" Hans looked at the two men who blocked his sneak attack, "...are weak?" 

That's right. The two people who he thought were leaking the presence of an SS-Class are too weak. 

'Their strengths are S-class but still, they are not there yet.'

Hans pulled back and said, "You two are not the one I'm looking for. Make way."

Then, Hans' eyes shot towards the people who were cowering behind these two general's backs. After a brief pause, his eyes shifted to the fat guy sitting calmly on the throne. 

Precious jewelry. 

Elegant clothes. 

A crown filled with expensive stones.

No doubt, this man is the Emperor. 

Sniff—, sniff—

'What is this familiar scent?' 

Hans sniffed the strange air permeating in the vicinity. He stared back at the two generals but after determining the scent wasn't theirs, his eyes lost interest. 

"Who are you! Don't make another move or we'll be forced to hurt you, young man!" 

Kleto declared as he raised his weapon. 

Hans tilted his head as if he heard something ridiculous, "Hurt me?" A mischievous grin formed on his lips, "Trust me, General, you're not that guy."

Fortunately, these two generals still have a brain. If they somehow attacked him, Hans would be forced to kill these two. 

[Why don't you just kill them? It's not like their lives matter right?] 

'I'm waiting for the two to show up.' 

Hans muttered in his heart. He could not tell the exact position but it should be somewhere around this large room. 

"Why do you do this!? Did the Harisan Empire send you here!? 

"No?... Hang on… why would I tell you?" 

"You bastard provoked our land for an unknown reason and your shameless face still had the guts to joke around!!"

"The hell are you talking about?" 

[Oh God please, kill them, Hans. They are clearly stalling!!] 

'Should I just knock them out?'

[...]

'...'

[Ok.]

'...'

Anyways, this is not the time to be talking. Kleto and Franc are already prepared to kill him, it seems. 

"If you take a step fur—!" 

Suddenly, Hans appeared in front of the two generals at a blinding speed. 

"What would happen if I take a step further?" 

"!!!!" 

At that moment, Hans brandished his sword and hit the two generals in the neck using its blunt hilt. 

Clag—

Their bodies suddenly lose strength and they fall powerlessly on the floor. 

Thud—

Kleto and Franc only saw Hans walking further towards the throne before their consciousness was engulfed by the darkness. 

....... 

After he knocked down the two generals, Hans stared at the Emperor before shifting to the dark area behind him. 

"You don't have to hide. I know you're there." 

Step—, step—

Hans smiled as he saw two people step out of the shadows. Their bodies were covered in black robes so it's hard to identify their appearance. 

However, with his nose's special ability to discern species, these two also couldn't escape. 

"I commend you for your bravery but you should know which to provoke and not, young man."

"Why still talk to him, brother? Let's kill this guy!" 

After hearing their words, Hans subconsciously chuckled.

"You two…"

Instantly, Hans appeared under their nose and slashed one of the robed persons' cheeks. 

"!!!!" 

"...loves sucking blood, right?" 

Blood streaks trickled down the edge of the blade. Hans scooped it with his fingers and licked it. 

[You have consumed the blood of a 'Vampire Lord'.]

"What a coincidence… me too." A grin formed on Hans' lips.