Chapter 32: The Clumsy Devil
As the man arced the dagger toward his neck, Kage’s eyes widened in terror. He staggered backward, his frantic movement saving him by a hair’s breadth—the Head Firekeeper’s blade missing by millimeters yet still drawing crimson line from Kage’s throat.
The Head Firekeeper stared at his dagger’s tip with disgust.
"What? Have I grown so rusty I can’t kill a child in one swing?"
He advanced again, twirling the blade and raising it high. But suddenly the windows exploded inward as two figures crashed through in a vicious roll, forcing him into a defensive stance.
Kage’s eyes sharpened as the figure landed before him. From beneath his robes, he swiftly drew a familiar kitchen knife and plunged it into the young man’s lower back.
The newcomer was about to move to strike the Head Firekeeper when something tore into him from behind, disrupting his momentum. He whipped his head around to see the young lord he was supposed to protect watching him with ice-cold eyes.
Confusion flooded his features.
The Head Firekeeper unleashed a brutal flurry of strikes, but his partner spun between them, blocking the assault with acrobatic precision as he roared.
"Kuro! Focus! The young lord will die!"
But Kuro remained frozen, staring back in disbelief.
’The same young lord just stabbed me hell!’
Another vicious cut severed his Achilles tendon, dropping him to one knee instantly.
His partner glanced back in alarm as he saw him drop down from his peripheral vision—exactly what the Head Firekeeper had been waiting for.
As the man’s attention wavered, the Firekeeper struck with an open palm, sending the black-clad figure tumbling across the floor.
Without hesitation, he spun his dagger and dove toward the fallen man.
Despite his wounded leg and the blood streaming from it, Kuro couldn’t watch his partner die.
The young lord situation confused him greatly but he abandoned all thoughts and lunged forward, intercepting the killing blow.
The Firekeeper staggered but revealed a second dagger from his sleeve, driving it through Kuro’s chest in one fluid motion.
"Kuro!"
His partner leaped up as the Firekeeper charged—but it was a feint.
The Firekeeper sidestepped and reached Kuro, yanking out his blade and striking twice more with surgical precision. He buried the other dagger in the man’s collarbone, then withdrew it for a final thrust into his jaw before leaping clear as the partner approached.
The surviving guard caught his falling, bleeding friend. Kuro choked on his own blood, struggling to speak.
"Y-young... y-young..."
The Head Firekeeper’s eyes narrowed, his mind racing.
’Damn it all... this isn’t how I planned it. Secret guards? This bastard—is he trying to destroy me? He’s supposed to be nothing! Why does he have protectors?’
In that moment, Kage rose with steel in his gaze.
"I will prove my loyalty to you, Head Firekeeper!"
The black-clad man stared at his young master in bewilderment.
"What?"
The Head Firekeeper was equally stunned.
But Kage rushed forward, bringing the kitchen knife down in a clumsy strike.
The man caught Kage’s wrist, staring at him with trembling disbelief.
His voice came muffled through the cloth mask covering his face.
"Young lord! What are you—"
The Head Firekeeper’s dagger swept down, but the guard spun and parried instantly. His focus on the blade cost him—he lost sight of Kage’s knife, though he still gripped the boy’s wrist.
Kage released the blade, caught it with his free hand, and drove it into the man’s side.
The guard’s eyes widened in shock as he tried to look back. The Firekeeper seized the opening, headbutting the man and sending him reeling.
But the Firekeeper’s reflexes were lightning-quick. He dove low, slashing the man’s leg three times in rapid succession before spinning his dagger and burying it in his thigh.
Terror filled the man’s eyes. He slammed his sword’s pommel down on the Firekeeper’s head, sending him stumbling as his vision blurred.
The Firekeeper’s court hat tumbled off, his long hair spilling free as he clutched his ringing skull.
In that moment—faster than the guard could anticipate—a spinning blur cut through the air in a perfect 360-degree arc, burying the kitchen knife deep in his neck before landing gracefully.
The man gripped the blade with terrified eyes as blood sprayed from his throat. He trembled, crumbling to the ground while staring at Kage with absolute horror.
[You have slain a low rank human]
[The Heart Demon influence has increased by 0.0002%]
Kage watched the guard die with indifference. Then he turned toward the Head Firekeeper, who was recovering from his brutal headache.
His eyes blazed with fierce light.
"Is this enough?!"
He fixed the Head Firekeeper with unwavering resolve.
The man had to reassess Kage entirely.
’The seventeenth young lord of the Ironstorm clan... the Patriarch’s bastard, condemned as talentless. He’s just a child—his movements clumsy—yet he killed his own guards without flinching. For a fifteen-year-old, that’s remarkable. No doubt this boy has been preparing for this day, training despite his supposed lack of talent.’
The Head Firekeeper raised his chin and glared down at Kage with contempt.
"You fool! If you wanted to help me, you should have stayed away! Because of you, this catastrophe happened!"
Kage met his gaze unflinchingly.
"Honestly, Fengxhi, you caused this disaster. I approached you seeking alliance—who could have predicted you’d try to murder me instead? It’s because you attacked me that they intervened. Now we’re both doomed."
His gaze swept across the two corpses sprawled on the chamber floor. The library shelves carved into the walls—containing the sacred Judgment Codex—remained undamaged.
"These guards were personally assigned by the High Patriarch. They were never meant to interfere. I came in good faith, yet you tried to slaughter me. This is our reward. We’ve both climbed the loft mount—now we must dodge the falling stones. It’s only a matter of time before the High Patriarch notices his carefully chosen guards have vanished."
The Head Firekeeper stared downward, wrestling with Kage’s words. They came from a fifteen-year-old, yet they rang devastatingly true. This disaster had spiraled beyond control.
He had to act swiftly.
Kage studied him intently.
"Shen Fengxhi! Snap out of it! The ancestors of your unjustly destroyed clan are counting on you. This cannot end here—we must act now!"
Shen Fengxhi wasn’t surprised that Kage knew about his obliterated clan, but the urgency in the boy’s voice cut through his paralysis like a blade.
He exhaled sharply.
"I must move quickly. Before the High Patriarch discovers this, I need to free the prisoner Hwi-Geon and escape this cursed place."
Kage’s face lit up with a razor-sharp smile, his eyes dancing with dangerous light.