The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 61: Ambush (1) (Part 2)

‘They’re all homunculi.’

Information popped up confirming that everyone in sight was a homunculus.
In other words, Avarus had homunculized the entire viscountcy.

Calling him a madman would be an understatement.

Right then—

“What’s the next move?”
Kai approached quietly and asked.

Oddly, he hadn’t made a single audible breath.
Not a single bead of sweat on his face.

Honestly, I almost wondered if he was a Lich.

But [Predatory Instincts][S] classified Kai’s species as Mammalia – Homo sapiens.

In other words, a definite human.

In any case, now that I knew the entire viscountcy was full of homunculi—

“We infiltrate the mansion and assassinate Viscount Benneron.”

The quest objective was assassination anyway.
Kai gave a small nod, seemingly without objection.

Together, we began sneaking toward the mansion that towered over the viscountcy.

A mansion built of sturdy timber and stone.
Up close, the estate looked more like a fortress.

Moving through the darkness, face masked and body hidden—

‘This takes me back.’

The memories of my days in the Special Task Force came flooding back.

The unit I belonged to was an elite force under the Allied Forces’ Central Command—directly under the Supreme Commander, Ian.

We moved solely on Ian’s orders, carrying out all kinds of missions that didn’t count as formal warfare: skirmishes, irregular operations, covert missions.

Our specialties ranged from reconnaissance, special intel gathering, assassination and abduction, direct strikes, hostage rescue, sabotage of key facilities, to psychological warfare and disruption tactics—any special operation the Allied Forces required.

Because these missions demanded extreme stealth and expertise, the unit was always kept small and elite.

Naturally, that made our bonds stronger than most units.
Family.
It was a difficult word for me—but if I had to name anyone as such, it was my fellow operatives in the Special Task Force.

And now, under the bright full moon above—

—“Captain! We should come up with a slogan!”

A memory surfaced.

—“A slogan?”
—“We’re the only ones without one! Central Command has one, the Mage Division, the Divine Division, the Engineering Corps, the Supply Division—everyone’s got a slogan.”
—“Those are divisions led by heroes.”
—“So what? Why shouldn’t our task force have one too?”
—“Exactly!”
—“To us, you are a hero, Captain!”

Bunch of sweet talkers.

—“Is a slogan even that important?”
—“It is!”
—“Fine. Let’s hear your ideas.”
—“How about, ‘We are the blade in the darkness’?”
—“Rejected.”
—“Then… ‘The wolves of the unseen brush’? Captain, didn’t you come from a wolf clan?”
—“I didn’t ‘come from wolves.’ I come from a family that used the name Wolf. I’m not a lycanthrope.”
—“Same difference.”
—“Still rejected. I cut ties with that family over ten years ago.”
—“Cold-blooded.”
—“The Special Task Force is supposed to be cold-blooded.”
—“So cruel.”
—“I’m a soldier, not a poet.”
—“Ugh, you’re no fun at all!”
—“And heartless, too!”
—“Shut up.”
—“Violent, even!”

—“Then how about this, Captain! ‘When soundless wings fly in the shadows of a lightless dawn, a radiant day shall rise—’”
—“Also rejected. Enough with the nonsense—focus on your training.”
—“Come on, just pick one already.”
—“…Ian.”
—“Sir!”
—“A slogan isn’t just a phrase. It’s meant to boost morale and unity, and guide soldiers to act quickly and in sync during emergencies.”
—“……”
—“There’s a reason every command division has one.”
—“As expected of the Supreme Commander! You get it!”

In the end, we had no choice but to settle on a slogan under Ian’s pressure.
Plenty of suggestions were thrown around, and the final one we agreed on was—

“We hide in the moonlight and walk beneath the starlight.”

Just like how you can’t fight in the mud without getting dirty, the Special Task Force carried out dishonorable deeds for a noble cause—always aiming for the light, even from the shadows.

Well, that was all in the past now.

“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”

I brushed it off vaguely. Kai gave me a look—something thoughtful and curious.
But only for a moment.

“It looks difficult to infiltrate the mansion.”

Indeed, the place was heavily guarded.
The guiltier the owner, the tighter the security—but this went beyond paranoia.

Every guard on the premises was a battle-type homunculus.
No sleep, no mercy—pure killing machines.
There wasn’t a single viable route to sneak in undetected.

Except one.

“We’ll have to go in through the garderobe.”

The Garderobe was a structural feature used by nobles—essentially a private toilet.
A protrusion built into the outer wall where waste could drop freely to the outside.

The opening was wide enough for a person to crawl through.
I’d used such entryways plenty of times back in the task force.

Still…
It really was a nasty business.

The walls were caked with filth from the falling waste.
The stench, the maggots—it was enough to kill a man with the sheer toxicity before he even made it in.

‘Ugh.’

Looking up, I saw the full moon shining brightly in the sky.
Its light poured down like silver veils across the estate.

According to our old slogan, I should be hiding in that moonlight right now.

…Screw it.

I kicked off the ground and charged straight at the mansion’s front gate.

KWAANG—!

“HEY! AVARUS! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”

The front gate exploded with a thunderous crash.

Kai’s mind blanked for a second.
It took a good while before he could process what had just happened.

“Are you out of your mind!?”

Was he seriously insane?

“I thought we were here to assassinate Viscount Benneron!”
“And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“How is this assassination—?!”
“You didn’t know?”

Adrian raised his clawed fingers, sharpening them with a hiss.

“An assassination is still an assassination… if there are no witnesses.”

…Kai was at a loss for words. Truly speechless.

DING—! DING—! DING—!

Alarm bells rang throughout the mansion.

Soldiers and knights came pouring out in droves, both inside and out.

Of course they did.
It’d be weird if they didn’t.

Standing there frozen, eyes wide in disbelief—

“Oh, and just so you know.”

Before Kai could react, Adrian was already charging toward the incoming soldiers and knights.

“None of them are human.”

And… so what?
What difference did that make?
How did that justify kicking down the front door?

SPLAT—!

Blood splattered across the shadows.

As the last breath of a guard escaped, Adrian’s eyes gleamed. He moved again.

His cloak fluttered like moonlight itself.

Sliding like a shadow, Adrian dodged incoming blows, slipped between gaps in their formation, and slashed with razor claws.

All that remained in his wake was silence—and the scent of blood.

…Whatever. I give up.

Kai slowly drew his sword.
He steadied his breath and coated the blade in Aura.

Sharp as a wolf’s fang.

Wolf Sword Style. Form One.
Dance of Fangs.

Kai’s blue fangs tore through the mansion’s soldiers.

Translatin_Otaku

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