Chapter 13: Power Really Is Something
It made sense why the master of Crux took such a keen interest in nurturing someone who had awakened Divine Power.
And now, I also understood why he abandoned me.
‘So it wasn’t just because of Arcane’s meddling.’
One-star.
After pouring so much time and effort into me, all the master got in return was a measly one-star rank.
There’s a rare gem known as mana fruit, worth tens of thousands of gold, known to accelerate mana cultivation significantly. Yet even after eating three of those precious fruits, this body barely managed to awaken to the first-star level—a pathetic achievement.
Although I was better than the other assassins thanks to the elite training and material support I received, the return on investment was abysmal.
The cost of three mana fruits would’ve been enough to train a three-star assassin capable of killing a full-fledged knight.
“The worst mana sensitivity.”
At first, the master must have been thrilled by the prospect of nurturing someone with Divine Power. But eventually, he must have concluded that the investment was a failure.
The potential of Divine Power grows hand in hand with one’s mana capacity, meaning this body’s terrible sensitivity to mana was no different from a curse.
How long would it take to reach the second star? How many more mana fruits would I need to consume?
To the master, it must have felt like pouring water into a bottomless barrel.
A half-baked Divine Power user.
“A terribly mismatched combination, huh?”
In other words, this body possessed Divine Power, but with clear and frustrating limitations.
An awkward card to play—neither worth cultivating nor easily discarded.
In the end, the arrival of Arcane must have sealed my fate, driving the master to throw me away.
But now?
‘This ability is pure gold.’
The power to infuse weapons with attributes.
Depending on what attribute I used, this ability could become someone’s worst nightmare.
In this world, there was a concept known as attribute counters.
Fire was weak to water, water to wood, and wood back to fire. Beyond these basic rock-paper-scissors mechanics, there were countless other elements that interacted with each other in various ways.
So what if my mana sensitivity was the worst?
That didn’t matter at all.
I never had any intention of growing stronger through endless training anyway.
Who has time to waste honing their body, gathering mana, and waiting for enlightenment?
This world was the setting of [When Villains Grow Stronger], where powerful villains wreaked havoc, pushing the world into chaos. The moment you crossed paths with these calamities, you were as good as dead—crushed without mercy.
On the flip side, though, this world was filled with opportunities for fortuitous encounters—the kind of encounters that made villains powerful.
Mana fruit?
In the future, those things will become so worthless that no one would bother picking them up off the ground.
‘I’ll take everything. Scrape it all clean.’
Villains, heroes—whoever it belonged to, I’d steal everything the moment I saw an opportunity.
Arthur Clayton.
Like it or not, I now had a name and was part of this world.
And in this world, the first one to grab something gets to keep it.
***
“From now on, your name is ‘Al.’”
“Al?”
The next day, just before dawn, a group of men stood in a row outside the underground prison.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes as one of them handed me a bronze mercenary tag.
It was a C-rank mercenary badge, engraved with the name “Al” and some basic personal information.
Blinking slowly, I looked at the man in front of me.
He had deep scars across his face, and his rough demeanor made him seem like a high-level mercenary. But when the knight who had been acting as my errand boy bowed respectfully to him, I realized my initial assumption was wrong.
If even a trainee knight bowed to him, there was only one possibility—
He was a full-fledged knight.
I clenched my teeth.
‘Kamel, you son of a bitch. You’ve really crossed the line.’
Resentment toward the Mad Butcher surged within me.
A proper knight, assigned to guard a lowly new assassin like me? This wasn’t part of my plan, but now I had a ridiculously strong babysitter.
And it wasn’t just him. The knight wasn’t traveling alone—he had brought along four mercenaries. Judging by their rough, disciplined auras, they were all battle-hardened veterans.
‘Did they bring this many people just to stop me from running?’
If so, they were probably experts in tracking and pursuit.
Surely, they didn’t have even more reinforcements waiting somewhere, right?
The fact that Kamel assigned this much manpower to guard me was telling. It showed just how much he feared him—the person I was supposed to meet.
A full-fledged knight and four veteran mercenaries.
The pressure from these watchdogs was overwhelming.
It felt like the difficulty level of survival had jumped from Normal to Hell in an instant.
“Let’s move.”
“Hold on.”
The knight, who had introduced himself as Ben, glared at me when I stopped in my tracks.
He looked terrifying. Damn.
But I couldn’t back down here. If I wanted to push through my plans, I had to establish my position right away.
The first meeting is where you set the tone. The moment you show weakness, you’ll be dragged around for the rest of the journey.
“You’ve got something to give me, don’t you?”
“…What?”
“You didn’t come empty-handed, did you?”
I held out my hand in front of him.
Kamel must have sent me something, but it seemed Ben had decided to keep it for himself.
Ben stepped closer, radiating menace.
“It’ll be safer if I hold onto it.”
“Is that an order from our lord? Should I ask him directly?”
“……”
What nonsense. Did he think a little intimidation would scare me?
After glaring at me for a moment, Ben finally pulled a small pouch from his coat and handed it over.
When I opened it, I found colorful gemstones the size of fingernails, shimmering brilliantly. Even though I knew little about jewels, it was obvious they were worth a fortune.
“The lord thought carrying gold coins would be too bulky, so he prepared gems instead. Their value is exactly 20,000 gold.”
‘…That bastard.’
Twenty thousand gold—just as promised for my survival.
But this idiot just revealed the amount out loud in front of everyone. It was clear he wanted to screw me over.
I could feel the mercenaries’ eyes gleaming as they stared at the pouch.
This wasn’t a good sign.
Knights were supposed to embody loyalty and justice, but in this world, expecting that was foolish.
A knight who served a villain like Kamel? Asking him for justice would be like asking a stray dog not to eat garbage.
If I hadn’t insisted just now, Ben would have pocketed the gems without a second thought. He was greedier than he looked.
This was the perfect opportunity to teach him not to mess with me.
“As of now, my name is Al,” I said. “I am also a vassal who has sworn loyalty to our lord.”
“Where do you get off calling yourself a vassal—”
“Two days ago, I dined with the lord. He made me many promises in exchange for my loyalty—this 20,000 gold is just one of them. Do you find that amount insignificant?”
“……”
Twenty thousand gold was a fortune, more than most knights could hope to earn in a lifetime.
Regardless of the reason, Kamel had officially given that amount to me. And that fact alone carried weight.
There was no way Ben knew exactly what Kamel and I had discussed. If he did, he wouldn’t have dared show up here.
That gave me room to bluff.
“Be careful how you act. If you understand the importance of this mission, that is.”
“……”
“If you continue to annoy me, who knows what excuse might reach our lord’s ears if the mission fails? You said your name was Ben, right? Do you think I’ll go down alone?”
“You little—”
“If you call me ‘little bastard’ one more time, I’ll write a letter to our lord. I’ll leave the contents to your imagination.”
Ben’s face twisted in frustration, but he gritted his teeth and took a step back.
The mercenaries exchanged glances, avoiding my gaze. It seemed my bluff had worked, at least for now.
Since the 20,000 gold had already been revealed, I figured it was better to emphasize how important I was to Kamel.
Before following Ben and the others, I handed the map I had taken from the captain’s belongings to the trainee knight.
“Deliver this to our lord. He’ll know what it means.”
The knight nodded and accepted the map.
It marked the location where Kamel was supposed to meet “him.”
Why had I chosen that particular place?
Because it was perfect.
I fixed the trainee knight with a serious expression.
“Tell our lord that I will carry out this mission with my life on the line.”
“Understood.”
“Also, I’d like to bid the lord farewell before we depart.”
Before leaving the prison, I bowed deeply in the direction of Kamel’s office, wearing a look of solemn determination. The trainee knight, seeing my sincere demeanor, nodded approvingly.
‘Kamel, you bastard. Let’s never meet again.’
Of course, my true thoughts were the exact opposite of my actions.
After changing into mercenary attire, I left the underground prison. The world outside was still shrouded in darkness, as it was the hour just before dawn.
Including me, our group consisted of six people.
Once we exited the inner city, we moved under Ben’s lead. The security within the city was tight due to the recent civil unrest, but Ben easily led us through without any trouble, even in our mercenary outfits.
‘Power really is something.’
With just a few words from Kamel, I had gone from being the assassin who killed the First Young Master to C-rank mercenary Al.
And Kamel wasn’t even the lord of some grand kingdom—just a mid-level lord. Yet his power was enough to change someone’s fate with a few casual words.
If that madman ever became the ruler of a region…
The entire continent would be bathed in blood.
And, well—
That’s exactly what happened.
This time, though, things would be different.
Because now I was involved.
As we passed through the bridge at the city’s edge, a carriage awaited us. We boarded the carriage quietly and began crossing the bridge.
On the road through the outer city square, I caught sight of a grisly scene.
The execution platform stood illuminated at the square’s center, its torches burning brightly.
“...Damn.”
A groan escaped my lips at the horrific sight.
There were six naked, rotting corpses, along with one more hanging by the neck.
Their bodies, mutilated beyond recognition, had been pelted with stones until they were unidentifiable.
A wooden sign hung around the hanged man’s neck:
[These vile criminals were executed for assassinating Lord William.]
They were the assassins I had worked with just a few days ago—now reduced to this pitiful state.
I stared at the hanged corpse, weighed down by a heavy sense of guilt.
He was a stand-in, executed in my place to divert attention from me.
I wondered who Kamel had chosen as my double.
For Kamel, such decisions came as easily as breathing.
A wave of disgust washed over me.
Clatter—!
The carriage sped through the square and soon reached the city gates. The enormous gates, which had been tightly shut, slowly creaked open.
The carriage passed through the gates and into the gradually brightening world beyond.
Just as I had planned, I had used Kamel to escape the watchful eyes of Crux.
Of course, I still had to free myself from Kamel’s grasp, but I reassured myself that I would handle that soon enough.
And after that?
I turned my head silently.
The Blyer Territory disappeared behind us, swallowed by the darkness. As I recalled the execution platform, a fierce desire burned within me for the first time.
‘I’ll become strong.’
Strong enough that no one—not Kamel or anyone else—would dare mess with me.
Our carriage rolled toward the Beneta Territory, which bordered the Nelitori Gorge, the site of my next move.