With Gaeru steadily working his way up to the main gates, the System was already calculating and readjusting the probability of the frog swordsman’s success rate.
The initial plan was to let Gaeru get captured by the Salamanders since Jin wanted the Salamanders to lower their guard. By fighting the only enemy, he hoped that the Salamanders could concentrate their attention on that one odd ball event rather than doing an all scale assault which could spit the enemies up.
He thought that Gaeru would make much of a ruckus to attract as much attention as possible to the Salamanders, giving Jin time to employ the next phase of Operation Gatecrasher.
After all, Jin’s goal was the annihilation of the Salamander’s family so they could peacefully search and rescue the other village tribes and hopefully prevent a slaughter like what the Salamanders had done to the frogs.
Little did he know that Kraft’s little modification drug made Gaeru into an astonishing killing machine, veering the plan to another planned scenario by the System. (Jin initially thought Gaeru would never make it happen, but the System begged to differ and demanded its user to prepare such a possibility.)
Now that the System predicted what Gaeru had done, the frog swordsman would not only be the centre of attention but attract the irk of the King Salamander. While that would definitely bring a better crowd pull to Gaeru, the System was concerned if it needed to switch the next phase of the operation soon.
One of its concerns was mainly the properties of Gaeru’s broken blade. It had changed attributes the moment the frog managed to kill the Salamander guards.
Though its name was revealed as the Masamune and categorised as a living weapon (which was considered as a unique item in the Giant World), it might potentially increase the threat level of the Salamanders should they managed to get hold of it.
However, it is not uncommon to see a living weapon throughout the universe. There were other worlds which had an abundance of Living Weapons and had similar attributes to the Masamune. But due to the nature of the Salamander King, grabbing whatever powers it could grab on to, the System find that it becomes increasingly dangerous to let Gaeru be caught.
“From the System’s deduction, the Masamune is a living weapon that absorbs the blood of its fallen enemies. The System could not deduce what other powers it might contain, whether it is a temporary buff or a permanent increase in attack power.” The System warned Jin about the attributes of Masamune and the consequences it had if it ever fall to the Salamanders.
“I understand the change of situation. Instead of executing Phase 2, call forth Sandy first and tell her to start preparing for Phase 3. The rest can wait for a while.” Jin gave his instructions to the System which instantaneously portalled Sandy, the Sand Witch at the most bottom of the Grand Castle.
It was in the deepest basement based on Pepper’s initial scan, and there should not be any guards in the area according to Edwardio’s guard rotation timetable.
Yet, she still wore a black hooded cape and a full mask which was capable of night vision, hiding herself in one of the dark, damp corners in case guards were to appear. Sandy knew what she needed to do, and her priority was not to engage against the Salamanders until given the signal. Till then, she was ordered to prepare a few spells for the upcoming phase.
As for Gaeru, he had managed to slaughter another three more Salamanders, prompting a senior guard on duty to engage against this unknown menace.
It managed to parry the frog swordsman’s one stroke strike, giving the rest of the Salamander guards who were shocked by the amphibian intruder a split second to sound for the alarm. Gaeru however did not take this too favourably as he took a step back and pointed Masamune right in front of the guard.
The broken blade howled in anger as a bloody looking phantom of a Salamander emerged from the edge of Masamune. Even as the Senior Salamander Guard raised his shield to protect himself from the unknown, the ghostly bloodied Salamander swoop towards him.
As the phantom came into contact with the shield, it splattered hard against the thick rusted metal, causing the visceral, bloody apparition to spill its content all around.
Just when the Senior Salamander Guard thought that he was safe from the attack, he realised that something was gnawing him hard accompanied by an intense burning sensation. He could not believe his eyes when he saw that that sensation began to spread through his entire body. The Senior Guard then realised that whatever the bloody phantom came into contact with, it gradually corroded like acid, even the ground.
Its iron shield was being melted into half, and his body parts which were exposed to the reddish liquid was already eating into his muscles and into the bone.
The affected armour plates became scorching hot, to the point he felt the metal liquefied and came in contact with his skin, painfully fusing the both as one.
Masamune’s attack immediately rendered the Senior Salamander Guard paralysed by the immense pain coursing throughout his body, and it gave the frog swordsman an opportunity for a daring counter attack before more guards emerged.
Unforunately, the Gaeru knew that the effects of the bloody phantom could burn him too, even though he supposedly should have the protection of the living weapon. Thus, in order to end the Senior Guard’s life, he threw Masamune towards him without hesitation, causing it to fly and stab cleanly through the forehead.
After which, Gaeru used his tongue to forcefully bring his sword back to his two hands. At that point, the Salamanders who on perimeter guard duty had begun to steady themselves and attempted to shoot their arrows towards the frog the moment he threw his sword away.
Oh, they were sorely mistaken if they think he was defenceless for even just a second.
