Chapter 55: 27 It's Just High Intracranial Pressure

Chapter 55: 27. Just High Intracranial Pressure

Kane did not grant Dacus a blessing, nor did a divine descent occur. He did not go into a frenzy either; the Tyrannosaurus necklace was still in his luggage. He was simply so angry that his intracranial pressure was rising. The inexplicable portal from the Twilight Tide had already infuriated him enough, and now, out of nowhere, a Kane assassin had appeared.

In another flash of lightning, the left side of Sabios's defense opened wide. Dacus swung the censer, smashing it heavily into Sabios's left knee. Dacus clearly heard the sound of bone cracking. Sabios let out another scream, his left leg buckling as he collapsed to his knees.

Sabios threw a punch dagger, but Dacus, blessed by Loic, knocked it away directly with the censer. Immediately after, Dacus rolled to the right behind Sabios. Sabios gripped a serrated dagger in his right hand, his body twisting as he lunged toward Dacus.

Knocking sounds and a chorus of Duruchi shouts echoed from outside the door.

Dacus blocked the blue-glowing, poisoned serrated dagger with the butt of his gun. The butt hooked into the notch of the dagger's reverse edge. Taking advantage of the momentum, Dacus pressed down and swung the censer again with his left hand, striking Sabios's right elbow. Sabios did not scream this time, but he could no longer hold the serrated dagger. The reverse edge of Dacus's right forearm slashed upward, driving the tip directly into Sabios's spine. Sabios could no longer support his body and collapsed forward, paralyzed.

Dacus grabbed the censer with his right hand and smashed it into Sabios's right shoulder; another sound of bone cracking followed. Dacus's left boot stomped heavily onto Sabios's still-struggling left hand, the tip of the sabaton piercing into Sabios's arm.

Sabios's solo mission had failed. Instead of screaming, he attempted to use his tongue to manipulate his false teeth and swallow the poison hidden within.

Dacus dropped the censer. His right hand, clad in a gauntlet, thrust its index and middle fingers into Sabios's eyes to hook the brow bone, while his other three fingers gripped the skull. This time, Sabios let out a scream.

Rain and the soldiers forced the door open together.

Dacus barked harshly, "Stop fucking wailing!" At the very end, he let out a loud, hysterical shout.

With that, he reached his left hand into Sabios's mouth and hooked the lower jaw. He pulled violently with both hands, shouting even as he did so, "I told you to stop wailing!"

With a sickening *crack*, Sabios's mandible was ripped straight off. Dacus let out a roar, as if all the frustration from the Twilight Tide was being vented in that single moment.

At the very last second, Sabios swallowed the poison and breathed his last. Dacus threw aside the jawbone and stood up.

Rain, having burst through the door, fell straight to the ground. When he scrambled up, he witnessed the scene of the skull-splitting. The impact was too intense; even sacrificing Kane wouldn't have been this brutal.

An elven laugh echoed in Dacus's mind once more; he had once again become a Bringer of Fate's End.

Perhaps Sabios would have taken another contract, accumulated Sovereigns, and then investigated and reclaimed everything that once belonged to him. Perhaps he would have transformed from a Kane assassin into a powerful figure, embarking on his own story of resurgence. And that Knight Lord Gander—perhaps he had already drunk from the Holy Grail and become a Grail Knight by now?

Upon standing, Dacus nearly collapsed. The symptoms of high intracranial pressure manifested: headache, nausea, and blurred vision.

Bayne ran up quickly from behind and supported him with one hand.

Edmund knelt directly on the ground; he was about to take the fall for this mess again.

By this time, Dacus could no longer see clearly. He waved a hand at the group of Duruchi.

"Do what you need to do. Disperse."

Dacus didn't want to sleep in this room. God only knew if there were poisoned blades or needles in the bed, and he no longer had the energy to check. He decided to squeeze in with the Iguanodon. The dinosaur was already asleep on the hay. He went to the other side, leaned against the corner, and lay down; he didn't want to be accidentally crushed in his sleep.

He slept for an entire day. Rain checked on him several times, terrified that something had happened to him. He was woken up the next morning by the Iguanodon nudging him with its snout. Thanks to the healing of black magic, the Iguanodon was fine and was now looking at him with curiosity, as if asking why he was sleeping there. Dacus felt as though his entire body ached, but he still reached out to scratch the Iguanodon's chin.

Bayne stood guard outside the feeding room, holding a Messer in one hand. Seeing that Dacus was awake, he sheathed the blade and walked over. Sithuan etiquette held no sway over him. He performed a thorough inspection, and after confirming Dacus was unharmed, he nodded and said, "You've improved quite quickly, actually managing to kill a Kane assassin in close-quarters combat."

Dacus intended to rub his aching head, but stopped immediately upon seeing the secretions on his glove. Looking up at the purple-blue glowing crystal above his head, he said with a bitter smile, "I have the blessings of Edrezer, Loic, and Morayge Heg to thank for that."

Bayne shook his head. "I saw the scene of the battle. You handled it well. A warrior must wander and be tempered on the boundary between life and death to truly grow! Training continues tomorrow!" Having said that, he helped Dacus up.

After soothing the Iguanodon and checking on the Big Guy in the Cold Lizard feeding room, Dacus walked out onto the plaza.

The plaza had been cleared, and the carcasses of the Triceratops and the four Cold Lizards were piled to the side.

Seeing Dacus, Edmund ran over quickly and prostrated himself on the ground to beg for forgiveness.

Dacus waved him off again. "It's not your fault. He must have slipped in during the chaos of the Twilight Tide. Just bury the dinosaur carcasses directly; don't skin them. We'll hold a ceremony to bury them tonight."

Dacus could guess who had hired the Kane assassin. It was nothing more than a noble with designs on Crackalond, or more likely, one of the nobles he would encounter upon returning from the Hakshiye Voyage. The vengeful Leech Gorad, who had even given up the Kotek Ring. Or perhaps that reckless heavyweight who somehow managed to live to sixteen. Or maybe it was Hagar Greve's "Cladinn's Gale of the Hook," trying to use Dacus's own gold to assassinate him so he wouldn't have to fulfill his promise?

In a different room, Dacus's combat gear had been disinfected, cleaned, and laid out on the table. He picked up the censer and looked at it for a moment, then shook his head; the censer was ruined and had no collector's value left. After loading ammunition into the repeating crossbow and the flintlock musket, he stripped off his armor.

Dacus decided to sleep once more.

(End of Chapter)