Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 334: The Song of Wither And Fireblast (2)

Everywhere around the world, powerful factions tended to be wealthy. The land of alchemy, the Fallen Dominion, was no exception. However, one of the most powerful factions, the Fireblastarch’s faction, was surprisingly not that rich.

His abilities revolved around heat and explosions—highly volatile products.

If there were high demand, he could have made a fortune, but unfortunately, explosives weren’t popular in the Fallen Dominion.

They were hard to control, difficult to store, and the fact that such one-time-use weapons lost effectiveness against stronger opponents made the Dholes hesitant to buy them.

Yet, despite the meager pay, many still followed the Fireblastarch.

The reason is simple.

“Hahaha! This is so much fun!”

It was for the pure thrill.

They flew through the sky with thrusters strapped to their backs, soaring freely in the wind and looking down on the crawling creatures below.

They hunted the vermin on the ground and filled their bellies.

Even a lowly creature on the ground could become a ‘Feather’ of the Winged Assault Squad and enjoy this pleasure.

“This freedom! This feeling of liberation! You vermin crawling on the ground will never understand this!”

How blessed are birds, born with freedom in their very being.

Victor, a Feather of the Fourth Wing, thought such things as he drew his blade, looking for his next prey.

He soon spotted a good target: a young woman racing along on a two-wheeled cart with a load of goods.

Her hat had fallen off and her long hair fluttered in the wind as she fled.

Even in the dark, Victor could see her clearly.

He licked his lips and shouted,

“Alright, it won’t hurt to take one girl!”

Angling his wings, he swooped down straight towards her.

“Kyaaa!”

The woman screamed loudly, but it only served to spur Viktor on his hunt.

He landed lightly on her cart and smirked.

“Hehehe. Just stay still.”

“W-who are you people?! I’m heading to the Military State now! Don’t touch me!”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down. Not all of you need to go to the Military State, right? Some of you can stay here.”

“Kyaaa! Stay away! Don’t come near me!”

She swerved the handlebars wildly, but for the Winged Assault Squad, such minor disturbances in balance were exactly what they had trained for, making them as insignificant as the breeze.

Victor easily approached her from behind.

“Feisty, huh? Well, I like that.”

Just grabbing her by the shoulders and taking off into the sky would end it.

Dangling helplessly in the air, she wouldn’t be able to resist.

Victor’s grin stretched wide as he reached for her shoulders.

But then he felt something strange.

She wouldn’t budge.

He tried to lift her, but it felt like he was grabbing a solid rock.

“…Hair? This?”

“‘I’ told you not to come any closer~ That’s why you should listen to ‘me’.”

This is strange— No, it’s creepy. Something’s wrong.

A moment ago, she had long hair and clearly appeared to be a woman.

Even in the darkness, there was no mistaking her.

But now, she was different—or rather, she was changing.

Her cheerful face was shifting to that of something more sinister.

Someone not often seen, but familiar.

Victor, utterly confused, muttered the name of the person before him.

“…That face?”

‘Victor’ grinned as wide as he could and replied.

“Nice to meet you…

“‘Me.’”

Moments later, a corpse rolled to the ground.

Yet, strangely enough, the number of Winged Assault Squad members hadn’t changed.

***

A pitch-black shadow sprinted across the ground, blending with the darkness so well that it was hard to see with the naked eye.

However, the Winged Assault Squad carried lights on their tails, allowing each squad member to see the others.

One of them spotted the shadow and scoffed.

“Hah! You think wearing black and running in the dark will keep you hidden?”

It was as if the shadow had merged with the night, but at a closer look, the form became clear.

A “Feather” folded his wings and dived swiftly toward the shadow.

“You’ve got some brains I’ll give you that, but this is the end!”

He proudly shouted as the blade on his foot extended forward, growing faster with momentum until it finally pierced the black figure’s body.

But there was no sound.

No sound of blood splattering.

No human scream.

No cry of life being snuffed out.

Nothing.

Instead, the shadow grabbed his leg with an iron grip.

Darkness coiled around his talons and spread up his leg.

“Wh-what the…?”

The Winged Assault Squad were all trained in Geon Qi Arts so he channeled his Qi to shake off the darkness and free himself.

But just as he caught his breath, something landed on his back, throwing off his balance.

He tried to increase his thrust, but in such a disoriented state, it was useless.

He crashed onto the ground and slid across the dirt before finally coming to a stop.

By then, more shadows had swarmed around him, writhing about like unspeakable horrors.

He cried out.

“Y-You crazy bastards! You’re throwing your bodies at me?! Are you trying to take me down with you?!”

It made no sense.

Humans, in desperation, may resort to mutual death tactics, but that requires intense emotions strong enough to override every living being’s instinct of self-preservation.

Most people just try to fight to survive until the very end.

But for dozens of figures to hurl themselves at him just to bring him down?

That was not human behavior.

It was…

Inhuman.

Suddenly, he realized something.

“Wait… are you not human?!”

The ones surrounding him, the ones pinning him down, even the ones impaled at his feet, all of them wore pitch-black armor and had ghostly, terrifying forms.

They weren’t wearing black.

They were creatures of the darkness itself, barely visible in the dark at night.

“Darkness… Vampires?! But, there’s no way. How could there be this many familiars…?!”

He had heard rumors before.

Beyond the Mistveil Range, there existed a land in which sunlight never shone, the land of the vampires.

They raised humans like livestock for their blood and defied the Sky God himself.

They rarely crossed the mountains, but it’s said they sometimes appeared in the perpetually clouded lands of Claudia.

While he was consumed by fear, a figure approached this one with color.

“Hmph. Finally caught one. I will admit these flies are quick.”

In the moonlight, the figure’s pale skin, her crimson eyes glowing like embers in the dark, and her chilling beauty were unmistakable.

A vampire.

One of the blood-drinking races who ruled over humans beyond the Mistveil Range.

“I will ask you one thing.”

The vampire forced the man to his knees and asked.

“Who shot this at me?”

As his head was forcibly raised, he saw what the vampire was holding.

A long cylindrical object with a burnt fuse—clearly one of the Fireblastarch’s rockets, though a little dented from the direct hit on the vampire, no doubt.

As he shivered in fear, the vampire, unhurried, urged him on with a calm voice.

The voice of a ruler appraising the cattle she’d like for tonight’s banquet.

“It would be in your best interest to answer quickly. If you do not… I will have to ask someone else.”

Behind the vampire, dozens of fiery trails descended like meteors towards the veiled ground.

***

See? I knew this would happen.

I didn’t even have to step in.

All over the place, the Winged Assault Squad was brilliantly falling from the sky.

No one had ordered them to, but each side was actively engaging in battle.

Hilde and Tyr were hunting in their own ways, but no one could compare to the Regressor in these kinds of fights.

The Regressor was now standing on a cloud, gripping her sword, Chun-aeng, while striking a pose.

Skyblade Art. Sundered Sky.

- Whoosh.

The wind vanished.

Even Chun-aeng couldn’t cut through all this space.

Even if there was nothing but air, the bigger the space, the heavier the blade became.

So the Regressor didn’t ‘cut’ with her blade.

She changed the very nature of the wind itself.

The wind stopped and the air hardened.

In this constricted space, fire couldn’t ignite and smells couldn’t spread.

As the Winged Assault Squad unknowingly passed through the severed space, all their thrusters died at once.

“What’s going on?! The thrusters!”

“Light them up again!”

Those who managed to glide with their wings and reignite their thrusters survived.

Those who failed crashed to the ground.

While their wings saved them from immediate death, it was only a temporary reprieve.

Birds were born with freedom in their very form.

But without their freedom, they were nothing

Some Dholes, seeing the helpless Winged Assault Squad, lost their minds with rage.

Hooks, blades, spears, and even modified front wheels ripped them to shreds.

The Winged Assault Squad, once high and mighty in the sky, slaughtering enemies with their speed and altitude advantage, now fell prey to the Dholes.

Seems like I won’t need to intervene after all.

The Winged Assault Squad is dropping like flies. I’m glad to have such strong allies on my side.

As I leisurely rode the cart, someone running nearby caught sight of the scene and shouted in panic.

“What the hell is that? What’s going on?!”

It seemed like he was talking to himself, but I decided to answer him for once.

Running alongside him, I kindly explained.

“Just a passing peace envoy.”

He looked at me in shock.

“And who the hell are you?! How are you keeping up with me?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s a dog sled. This dog is really fast, you know.”

“Woof woof!”

Azzy barked affirmatively, seeming to take it as praise.

But the explanation didn’t seem to satisfy him as he suddenly exploded in anger.

“Stop talking nonsense! How is a mere dog beastkin keeping up with me?! This is ridiculous!”

“Stop talking nonsense, yourself. How could a few rocket thrusters outrun Azzy? Get some common sense, Fireblastarch.”

Azzy is the Dog King, after all.

There’s no way a sled pulled by the Dog King could be slower than those toys.

Make it make sense.

As I gave him some serious advice, his face suddenly flushed red, like he was about to explode. He screamed at the top of his lungs,

“Don’t call me the Fireblastarch!!”