Chapter 37 : Vanessa Walker (1) Part 2

Ashley Cooper walked toward the woman.

Something gleamed in his white-gloved hand.

A double-edged surgical knife.

A Liston knife.

From Ashley Cooper’s grip, a dark, ominous aura seeped out.

‘A host!’

I realized—he was the host spreading the Blossom Poison in East End.

Just as Ashley Cooper was about to reach the woman—

Whoosh!

Something shot toward him at a terrifying speed.

A gust of wind lifted red hair into the air.

Golden eyes gleamed in the darkness.

A phantom of death.

The unidentified figure whom history recorded as Jack the Ripper.

Vanessa.

Her movements were silent yet swift.

As if she was moving through the shadows themselves.

The knight, upon seeing her, swung his sword at her.

Clang!

But his sword did not reach Vanessa.

It was blocked by a pair of twin swords.

“Kyaaah!”

The prostitute, witnessing the clash of swords, screamed and ran away.

Before I knew it, Vanessa was also engaged in combat with Ashley Cooper.

Swish, swish.

“Ugh!”

In the darkness, ominous blades slashed at him, and red roses bloomed across Ashley Cooper’s body.

“Step aside.”

The knight spoke to me.

Despite Ashley Cooper being torn apart, his voice remained composed.

As if he could kill me anytime he wanted.

Because he was an S-rank Awakened, a pride of Britain.

Swoosh…

Golden energy gathered around the knight’s sword, solidifying into a distinct form.

The ultimate state a swordsman could achieve.

A manifestation of one’s own world, a symbol of a Sword Master.

It was sword energy.

Whoosh!

The knight swung his sword, aiming to cut me down entirely.

Against it, my twin swords held no visible aura.

And yet—

Clang!

The sword energy was deflected upon impact with my blade.

A flicker of surprise crossed the knight’s eyes.

At that moment, a voice echoed in my mind, as if it were a memory—

“Conceal your energy.”

“Revealing your aura is a foolish habit of the Ming people who love to show off.”

It was the voice of Anwi, a great general of Joseon.

“In our Joseon, we use inner energy, not external energy.”

“Alexander Cunningham.”

The knight’s voice overlapped with Anwi’s.

At some point, the knight—Alexander—had abandoned his previous ease and now assumed a battle stance against me.

I glanced behind me.

Vanessa was pressing Ashley Cooper hard.

I had to keep this knight occupied until she could finish him.

But holding him off for long wasn’t realistic.

Even with Jeanne by my side, her divine power was limited—she was weaker than in her prime.

Whoosh!

Alexander lunged at me.

His speed was monstrous, as if his body had stretched forward in an instant.

There wasn’t even time to consider pulling out Napoleon’s gun.

Clang!

I barely managed to block his sword, stumbling backward.

My grip on the twin swords felt like it was tearing apart, my wrist screaming in pain.

But the pain disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Flutter, flutter!

Jeanne swung her banner, and the radiant light of divine power filled me with strength.

Boom!

Golden sword energy erupted from the knight’s blade, dazzlingly bright.

If I blocked that head-on, even with divine power, my wrist would shatter.

Instinctively, I reached into my subspace backpack and threw something.

Clang!

The knight’s sword energy failed to pierce through it.

Thud, clatter.

Rolling on the ground was the helmet of Yi Sun-sin.

While the knight’s sword was momentarily halted by the helmet, I activated the twin swords’ ability.

‘With this three-foot blade, I swear to the heavens—

Let the mountains and rivers tremble.’

A pure white sword aura, belonging to Yi Sun-sin, bloomed upon the Twin Dragons Sword.

And over that, Jeanne’s divine power layered once more.

Divine power and sword aura, double amplification.

I charged at the startled knight and swung the Twin Dragons Sword down.

“…!”

The knight, panicking, hurriedly raised his sword to block.

BOOM—!

The golden sword aura was pushed back, and the knight was sent flying.

Though it seemed he wasn’t gravely injured, as he quickly got back to his feet and approached.

But that was enough.

By the time the knight prepared for another attack, the surroundings had already become noisy.

“There! Over there!”

“Jack the Ripper!”

“Ohh!”

Journalists holding cameras rushed into the alley.

“Take pictures!”

Leading them was none other than Conan.

“This is bad.”

The knight, seeing the swarming reporters, glanced at Ashley Cooper.

As if realizing there was no other choice, he abandoned him and fled alone.

And in the next moment—

“GRAAAAHHH!”

“Ugh!”

“A-a monster?!”

Ashley Cooper’s bloodied body grotesquely swelled.

The journalists, instead of running, frantically clicked their camera shutters.

Under the flashing lights of cameras, the grotesquely bloated Ashley Cooper burst apart like a punctured balloon.

BOOM!

Dust surged, debris scattered, and a violent gale swept through the alley.

The explosion’s shockwave threatened to engulf the reporters, but Jeanne’s divine power shielded them.

—Quest Complete: Jack the Ripper’s Hunt.

A message popped up before my eyes, confirming the quest’s success.

Jack the Ripper’s hunt—was Ashley Cooper, the host.

As the dust settled in the alley—

“A-a scoop!”

“This is huge!”

The journalists eagerly snapped photos of Ashley Cooper’s corpse.

Beyond them, in the dark alley, a pair of golden eyes gleamed.

Vanessa.

A bitter feeling arose in my chest.

Even now, with Ashley Cooper dead, Vanessa had to remain in the shadows.

Because she was Jack the Ripper.

The eternally uncaught suspect.

The phantom of death.

If Vanessa stepped out of the shadows, the British government would pin all crimes on her.

The royal family would never allow their dirty secrets to be exposed.

Thus, Jack the Ripper had to remain an eternal “unsolved mystery.”

The death of Ashley Cooper, a Royal Society member, would be recorded as unrelated to Jack the Ripper.

Just as history had written it.

And then…

Jack the Ripper,

The phantom of death,

Chose to abandon being an “unsolved mystery.”

From the deep darkness into the bright sunlight,

The phantom walked forward without hesitation.

“Who is that?”

“A suspect! Take pictures!”

Camera shutters flashed.

Vanessa smiled brightly at me, as I stood frozen in shock.

“Is this enough now?”

[WARNING]

[A distortion in the flow of history has occurred.]

A warning message appeared.

Now that she had stepped out of the “unsolved mystery,” she could no longer be Jack the Ripper.

The eternally uncaught suspect—X
The phantom of death—X

She was simply Vanessa Walker.

A woman who loved children,

A woman who enjoyed eating toast,

A woman full of laughter.

[The distorted being is being expelled from the world.]

The world darkened.