How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 57 - Plague (4)

Even though it was early, the sleeping village was so silent that the sound of mice could be heard.

Carlyn walked cautiously in the silence.

They weren’t easy opponents. They could sense something amiss, so there was no need to rush.

Safely approaching from behind the devil worshipers was the task at hand.

Having dealt with one, it was now 4 versus 4. There was no change in the plan, just the battlefield had shifted outside the village.

Carlyn actually didn’t mind, as it would minimize unnecessary commotion.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt this excited.’

It had been over half a year since he met a proper strong opponent.

Although he had sparred with Toun Zaha in practical sessions, sparring could never replace real combat.

However, Carlyn never thought they would lose. The opponents might be strong, but they hadn’t been undefeated either.

They were all specialized agents.

Whether in the field or in the mind, the title “specialized” wasn’t given lightly.

‘One must earn recognition within the intelligence agency.’

It was not that one surpassed another and earned the title. It was that one stood out distinctly.

The Duke genuinely cared about Carlyn’s life.

Even though Vasco and Toby seemed inexperienced, their skills were certain.

Toun was no different. The concern for Carlyn was how to capture without killing.

Before he knew it, the devil worshipers had left the village entrance. Bending their upper bodies, they moved swiftly under the moonlight.

But soon, they straightened up.

It was because Toun Zaha was staring at them with a corpse at his feet.

Upon seeing this, the bald man among the devil worshipers muttered something low.

“Damn it.”

The atmosphere among the devil worshipers grew ominous. As their gazes locked, the distance between the two groups shortened.

The man at the front of the group, who seemed to be their leader, furrowed his brow.

“They’re not ordinary guys.”

Toun Zaha glared at the man without saying a word. It was because Carlyn’s signal hadn’t come yet.

He had no intention of engaging in a conversation from the beginning. The muscular bald man couldn’t contain his anger and took a step forward.

“What the hell are you guys doing?”

“Hollin, you idiot. Will they tell us?”

Watching the devil worshipers muttering in this situation, Toun Zaha narrowed his eyes.

Was it confidence or arrogance?

He wasn’t some kind of agent. An agent could never act like that.

“Stop.”

At the words of the leader, the two shut their mouths and returned to formation. Silence fell.

In contrast, their glares were fierce.

Both sides needed to prevent anyone from leaving here, so they were exploring escape routes.

Suddenly, the winds started blowing.

Toun Zaha, who knew that Carlyn had created these winds, considered them to be a natural occurrence, they were that sophisticated.

People’s hair lightly fluttered.

‘Now.’

Carlyn distanced himself slightly from the devil worshipers. It would take some time to narrow it down.

He pounded the ground with his expanded thigh.

Simultaneously, the winds brushing against people started to move differently.

The devil worshipers were restrained and assisted the Haisen agents’ movements.

“What the…!”

When muscular bald Hollin was astonished, Toun, Toby, and Vasco had already sprinted forward within three meters.

The essence of the battle between powerhouses was more precious than anything in an instant.

The devil worshipers belatedly released the winds through their magic power.

Mystics weren’t all-powerful. Carlyn’s winds could withstand magic power of a certain level or higher.

If they were to elevate it further, they could become stronger, but for now, this was their limit.

However, buying time was sufficient for the moment.

“Behind! They’re coming!”

The leader of the devil worshipers shouted, deflecting Toun Zaha’s sword.

Carlyn felt a twinge of regret.

He had wanted to send at least one back, but the leader was unexpectedly not someone to trifle with. Yet, Carlyn believed causing confusion was enough.

However, no one paid any attention to their rear.

“Hollin!”

Only Hollin turned toward Carlyn at the leader’s words. More systematic than expected.

Carlyn brushed aside distractions.

This man had been taunting them since earlier. A muscular bald man. He seemed like the type to play dumb as he looked.

It was a way to say he was so physically strong that his mind couldn’t keep up.

‘Annoyingly wicked.’

Carlyn needed to provoke the opponent’s excitement to create an opening. He made a decision. Moonlight Technique’s magic power accelerated.

A crescent moon rose in his inner world.

Coincidentally, Hollin’s weapon was shaped like a crescent moon. Carlyn’s lips curved upwards.

Carlyn’s left hand reached inside his coat and drew two short swords.

Six meters. With a slight delay, the flying short swords aimed for Hollin’s right shoulder and then his left thigh.

Seeing the first short sword, Hollin, with his half-raised crescent, gritted his teeth.

“What the…!”

The timing of the flying short swords was truly exquisite.

Hollin countered, suppressing the momentum of his raised crescent with sheer strength and then bringing it down again.

His front left side was open.

As Carlyn lunged forward, he struck diagonally. The moonlit blade drew a crescent.

Hollin withdrew one foot and delayed his timing, then blocked the strike from Carlyn’s chest with his crescent.

Clang! The clashed blades vibrated.

‘Is he crazy?’

Carlyn was genuinely surprised. Dodging was the conventional move.

In an ordinary situation, his blade would’ve pressed down the opponent’s strength and sliced through his chest.

The difference in speed and power that was already attached to his body was clear.

That meant he had overcome it all purely through momentum. His fingertips tingled.

In hindsight, frontal combat should be avoided. Carlyn pushed the sword away and quickly distanced himself.

Given the recent shift in position due to the previous strike, there were devil worshipers behind him now.

‘Not what I intended.’

Metallic sounds resounded from all directions. Carlyn threw a short sword from his embrace, sending it flying toward the devil worshipers.

During combat, the devil worshipers’ stances wavered.

“This bastard!”

Seeing that sight, Hollin felt ignored. He gritted his teeth, his eyes rolling madly, and charged.

What an idiot.

This was definitely not a feint. He got excited more easily than Carlyn expected. Carlyn chuckled inwardly.

He moved his Winds and kicked up the dirt. Dust and grains of sand flew toward Hollin.

Two short swords left.

Carlyn kicked the ground and simultaneously threw both short swords, then pulled his upper body back and slid.

Swoosh! Sliding in the sand, they swung the sword as if it were a streak of light.

“Keukk!”

Hollin’s Achilles tendon behind both ankles was deeply cut. The Winds pushed his upper body forward.

Unable to withstand the separation between his running momentum and his Achilles tendon tearing, Hollin stumbled forward.

Carlyn quickly got up, thrusting a dagger into the wrist that held the sword and striking the back of Hollin’s neck hard.

‘Why’s he so tough?’

Despite shaking his head vigorously, probably due to his muscular build, he didn’t lose consciousness from a single blow.

Carlyn struck the back of his neck again with a downward motion, then pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket and shoved it into Hollin’s mouth.

Although it ended more quickly than expected, Carlyn didn’t get complacent. That’s why composure was so important.

If the guy had been smarter, the fight might have been tougher. No matter how strong you were, if you didn’t know how to handle “Combat,” this was what happened.

When Carlyn turned his gaze, the other devil worshipers had already assessed the situation.

Unlike before, there was no hint of laughter in their expressions. They had now witnessed the skills of the Haisen agents.

“Hollin, you stupid bastard!”

The young wife of the village chief, who had been urging Hollin on, screamed as if in despair. Carlyn moved forward again.

One down, now only the rest remained. He planned to take down the weakest ones first.

“Gather!”

At the leader’s command, the devil worshipers, willing to endure wounds, surged toward his side.

It formed a triangular defensive formation, their backs against each other.

Carlyn thought it was a decent judgment. Though they were trapped themselves, this was better than getting surrounded individually.

Due to the limited space, they couldn’t attack comfortably from this side either.

‘Huh?’

It was that moment. In an instant, the leader swung his sword and cut the throats of his comrades beside him.

Carlyn hurriedly tried to block with his Winds, but he was a step too late. Toun, Toby, and Vasco rushed in.

“Father of the darkest place…”

After muttering ominously, the leader inserted the sword into his own throat. The longsword protruded from the back of his neck.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

As the Haisen agents stood there stunned, Carlyn quickly turned around. They had to keep at least one alive.

* * *

“Are they really crazy bastards?”

After roughly examining the bodies, these were Toby’s words. I also deeply agreed.

To choose suicide as soon as the situation worsened.

Didn’t people usually think of escaping first? If three of them had managed to escape, there would be a possibility.

Well, no. The leader made a good judgment.

He would have sensed my Winds from the start. He probably deduced that even if they tried to escape, they would be caught.

He didn’t trust his subordinates, so he took care of it himself.

It was regrettable for us, but for the leader, it was probably the best choice.

Vasco gave Toby a jab.

“Why say the obvious? Believing in devils already makes them crazy bastards. But still, where’s the one we caught?”

“Him? You think he knows something? That guy looks damn stupid.”

Vasco closed his mouth. There wasn’t really a counterargument. Even I could see that.

How much did he know about this situation?

We confirmed that those corpses were devil worshipers. They had tattoos on their bodies. Their last words also indicated that.

However, we couldn’t find any documents or anything related to this incident.

We’d have to go back to the village and search the hideout, but there probably wouldn’t be anything left.

Those guys wouldn’t leave behind such traces.

“Carlyn.”

Toun came over to me.

“How did you figure it out? And what’s this about a healing potion? It seemed effective when I saw it from a distance.”

“Half of it was intuition. No matter how you look at it, the situation seemed strange.”

Since I had thought up my excuses while still in the village, I answered casually.

“As soon as I saw the locals fleeing the plague-infested village, I used Winds to survey the area. I saw people outside at that time and judged that there was something behind it.”

Toun nodded. He probably thought that far too. They had talked about someone being outside right from the beginning.

“And then, I saw someone with a strange reaction while talking and was certain that there was someone inside too.”

“And the one inside confirmed it with your Winds.”

I nodded.

“What about the healing potion?”

“That was partly a gamble.”

“What?”

“If there were enemies inside, naturally there should be healing potions too.”

Toun’s expression soured. I quickly continued as if trying to cover my tracks.

“Actually, there was a hint of belief…”

“Tell me.”

“If there’s something behind this, then the locals didn’t spread it, right? It means they overcame the plague and found a difference between us and them. They drink a tea made from platinum herbs every day…”

I glanced at Toun’s reaction. I frowned, but there was no suspicious vibe.

“Amazing. Truly amazing. But…”

Toun let out an uncomfortable sigh.

“Don’t do that next time. It’s dangerous. You promised the Duke, you said your life is the top priority.”

“Yes.”

It was better to show inadequacy than perfection, to avoid arousing suspicion. That was my intention, so I slightly lowered my head.

Still, it ended more easily than I thought.

If this were after the main story had started, it would have been harder. Because the devil’s power had begun to spread across the continent.

Dealing with rampaging devil worshipers was not an easy task.

“Well, things went well for now, but how are you going to handle the rest?”

Worry was evident in Toun’s eyes. He was concerned about the villagers and the locals.

Plague, the disciple who supposedly cured it, the sudden deaths of villagers, devil worshipers…

Just the plague alone would have led to rumors spreading, and on top of that, there was the added complexity.

Whether it was devil worshipers or the kingdom this village belonged to, it was obvious they would come here.

“Don’t worry.”

But it’s alright. I had a plan in mind.