Chapter 273 : Moonflower Blizzard

Lyle stared blankly at the man who had appeared in the darkness.

It was so dark that he couldn't see his face.

He could only barely make out his silhouette.

The moonlight of the night did not reach the dark alley on the outskirts of the city.

At a glance, only those ominous, blood-red eyes seemed to be floating in the darkness.

Lyle looked around once, then tilted his head at the man's red gaze.

"Pervert? Are you talking to me?"

"Of course. Is there any other pervert who would follow a woman's tail?"

"I am not a pervert."

"Bullshit. Says the stalker who followed a woman walking alone. What was with that bizarre flapping of your wings when you were chasing her? You were a mad pervert. I couldn't help but be shocked."

"Ah, there was a misunderstanding there."

"Misunderstanding?"

"I was personifying myself. A butterfly flying to a flower."

And with that, Lyle flapped his two arms again.

He flapped his two arms and wandered around the alley, then jumped onto a box piled up in the alley and stopped.

"How about it? This is a butterfly gracefully landing on a flower."

"...You're really something else."

The red-eyed man let out a deep sigh.

He swung his sword without thinking.

A red sword aura flew and broke the box he was sitting on.

BOOM!

Lyle, who had jumped up and dodged the sword aura before the box was smashed, landed on the ground with another grotesque flapping of his wings.

"This is a landing butterfly."

"..."

The red-eyed man said in a cold tone.

"That's enough. I'm not very patient."

"Ah, is that so?"

Lyle dusted off his clothes and stood up.

"What a boring fellow. You must not be popular with women."

The man was provoked.

"Shut up. What do you know."

"I know better than you, who has never had a proper relationship."

At the sudden attack, the opponent couldn't find anything to say.

"Hmm, let's see."

Lyle, who had looked him up and down, said.

"An arrogant and delinquent posture. A menacing gaze. You're severely twisted. Women will run away just by looking at your eyes."

"What?"

"Women like gentle men. Of course, you have to be rough when it matters."

The red-eyed man looked at the pervertedly chuckling Lyle with a pathetic expression.

"Is that all for your last words?"

"Ah, wait a minute. It's not over yet. Looking closely at your eyes... there's a strange sadness in them. There's pain. When was it? It seems like a long time ago..."

Flinch!

"Yes, yes. It was when you were a child who didn't know anything. It was a pure love. But, it ended badly. That's what made you twisted."

Flinch!

"Hmm... the more I look, the more your gaze strangely resembles a guy I know. Hey, have we met somewhere before?"

"No, you son of a bitch!"

"Hey, why are you suddenly cursing."

The red-eyed man took a deep breath and then said in a calm tone.

"Hey, pervert."

"Everyone is someone's pervert."

"I'm saying it because you're exceptional among them."

"I can't just let that slide. I am not an exceptional pervert."

"Then what are you?"

Lyle began to dance slowly, swaying like a dancer.

"Following the wind, following the stars, the wandering knight James who roams this vain world..."

"Shut up. Lyle."

His swaying movements came to a halt.

Then, he wiped his face and sighed.

"...Who is it?"

"What?"

"Whose commission did you receive?"

The red-eyed man was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth.

"To be precise, it's not a commission, but a request."

"It's the same thing."

"No. It's a request."

"Even your personality of obsessing over strange things. It's certain that you don't have a lover."

"..."

"Alright, fine. Whose request did you receive?"

He said in a reverent tone.

"This is not the request of an individual."

"Then?"

"It's a holy and sacred request that has gathered the earnest wishes of all the women of Maia."

"And the content is?"

"It's a request to burst your filthy balls."

"Mmm. That's a problem."

Lyle, who had been stroking his chin for a moment, asked.

"Is it Miss Justina of the Saluki Merchant Guild?"

"What?"

"It's not. Then Miss Selina of the Shadow Troupe? Miss Charlotte of the Verdon family?"

A list of candidates came out of his mouth.

"Miss Michelle of the Teinhart family? Miss Murphy of the Seligman family?"

Lyle snapped his fingers.

"Ah, I got it. It's the second princess. She's certainly worthy of representing all the women of Maia."

The red-eyed man opened his mouth, as if in disbelief.

"You crazy bastard. You even touched the princess?"

"Huh. It's not the princess either?"

"The more I hear, the more reasons I have to burst your balls."

The red-eyed man aimed his sword.

"Draw your sword. I'll remove your hideous bag of desires."

Lyle observed the man's sword.

It was a sword that did not reflect light.

It wasn't that dark, so it must have been a sword with a completely black blade or a specially treated blade.

"If you really want to."

Lyle drew his sword.

Screech—

With a cool metallic sound, a reflection flashed.

"Come at me. I'll defeat you and take the lady."

"Lady?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. The lady who is as nimble as a black cat and as aloof as a black rose. The mysterious woman who disappeared like a midsummer night's dream in front of me."

"What, were you still chasing her in your heart? By now, anyone who's not a fool would have realized that they've fallen into a trap."

"A trap? Will you say it was a fateful event where I first met the woman of my destiny?"

"...Fate is truly strange. Someone's comedy is another's tragedy."

Lyle aimed his sword.

"The lady must be watching this situation from somewhere. I have to show her a cool side."

The man, who had been lamenting at the sky for a moment, lowered his gaze and looked at Lyle.

"What a rare, persistent pervert. I'll name you 'Per-sistent'."

Lyle's face brightened.

"Oh, I do like thongs."

"You son of a bitch. Do I really have to castrate you? You're so lewd."

"If I kill you, the lady will be sad. I won't kill you."

The red-eyed man snorted.

"You pervert. The moment you aimed your sword at me, the possibility was already gone."

"You never know. Isn't this a world where you can even fall in love with the daughter of your enemy?"

"What kind of madman falls in love with the daughter of his enemy?"

"I did."

"You madman."

"She must feel the same way about me."

"No."

"She must have run away, blushing, because she was shy."

"Who jumps over a 5-meter wall because they're shy?"

"She must have been very shy."

The red-eyed man shook his head from side to side.

"You're a guy who doesn't listen. Come at me. I'll hit that head full of lewd thoughts and make you realize the cold reality."

"Lewd? This is a slander. Where do I look lewd?"

"The reason you crawled into this dark alley is obvious."

"Uh. Hmm."

Lyle, as if he had been hit where it hurts, was speechless for a moment, then he rushed forward with a shout.

"The wandering knight Lyle is coming!"

Unlike his rather strange shout, his rush was nimble and powerful.

The red-eyed man muttered softly and ran to meet him.

"It must be the debauched knight."

Soon, the two's swords clashed in the center.

* * *

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

In the darkness, several clashes took place in an instant.

Only Lyle's sword flashed in the darkness, scattering a cool reflection in the dark alley.

There were those who were watching the scene.

On the roof of a building, three figures were looking down at the alley where the sound of clashing metal was scattering.

"Hmm."

"What do you think?"

"In words, they exchanged one blow each."

"And with swords?"

"I wonder. They seem to be evenly matched so far."

Dofang and Hartz were talking to each other, watching the two's battle.

"Who do you think will win?"

Dofang asked casually.

Hartz looked down at the two's fight and answered.

"...I'm betting on Ashuban."

"Oh. Why is that?"

"You wouldn't not know if you had crossed swords with him."

Dofang fiddled with his butterfly knife and shrugged.

"I wonder. I'm not a swordsman, but an assassin."

Hartz watched the two's fight without a word for a moment.

He was deflecting Lyle's heavy and flashy sword one by one.

Then, he clashed swords.

He slid down Lyle's blade like a snake and aimed for his wrist.

Hartz, who saw the startled Lyle retreat, muttered.

"...He came back as a monster."

Hartz the Beast Sword.

He had not forgotten the moment he had clashed swords with Ashuban beyond the wall of Tundra.

No, he couldn't forget.

Because it was that shocking.

Most swordsmen were one of two.

Either their aura was strong but their swordsmanship was lacking.

Or their aura was weak but their swordsmanship was excellent.

Both had to be excellent to be able to join the royal knights or to have the skill to become a Platinum-rank.

How many people could reach that level?

Even if you only counted in Maia, it wouldn't exceed ten.

Those who were commonly called geniuses.

Ashuban had clearly reached that level.

But Ashuban was unique among them.

Geniuses tended to show their talent early on.

But Ashuban was a complete dunce who couldn't even feel mana.

And that idiot had fallen off a cliff.

He thought he was dead.

It was a miracle that he had come back alive, but he had suddenly come back as a monster.

His swordsmanship was so unorthodox that you couldn't dare to predict the next move, and it was so exquisite that it could deflect his own sword strikes, which were as fierce as a beast's.

In particular, the swordsmanship of switching to a reverse grip in the middle was not easy to deal with.

Excellent assassins or those who used daggers would sometimes hold them in a reverse grip, but to hold a longsword in a reverse grip?

It was a swordsmanship he had never heard of, and he couldn't even dare to imitate it.

Ah, just then, Lyle, who was flustered by the reverse grip sword, came into his view.

'I know that feeling.'

Hartz smiled bitterly and looked at Lyle, who had given up the initiative.

It was a sword style that was as unpredictable as his personality.

And the aura, well, it would only hurt his mouth to talk about it.

To be able to change his aura at will?

He had never even heard of a case where someone could use multiple colors of aura.

It wasn't just that the colors were different.

Every time the color changed, the characteristics of that aura also changed.

Excellent swordsmanship and a fraudulent aura.

And on top of that, a strange black magic.

He had already surpassed him.

In less than a year.

But there was no jealousy or sense of unfairness in that.

Because he knew how hard he had worked, swinging his sword day and night.

He just thought that his time, which had been buried in darkness, had finally seen the light, and he smiled happily.

"And you?"

"Hmm?"

"Who do you think will win?"

Dofang scratched his nose and answered.

"Me, well... of course, it's our mad little brother."

Dofang looked at Shushuruta, who was quietly watching the two's battle.

"And the lady who is as nimble as a black cat and as aloof as a black rose?"

Shushuruta glanced at Dofang, then lowered her gaze and answered.

"Ashuban."

It was a firm tone without any hesitation.

Dofang laughed.

"Well, I guess a bet won't be made."

Dofang looked at the proud captain of Sherwood and his well-matched little brother.

He was growing even at this moment.

'Maybe even Guston...'

He shook his head.

'No, that's not it. He's not yet comparable to that monster.'

Just then, a cool voice echoed in the alley.

"Moonflower Sword, Second Form. Moonflower Blizzard."

It began to snow in the dark alley.

"What?"

"What is this..."

Dofang doubted his eyes.

It looked like flower petals, and it also looked like snow.

The large snowflakes that were falling softly filled the alley.

It was as if they had fallen from the moon, and they had a faint moonlight.

"..."

The three stared at the sight blankly with their mouths open.

The alley was engulfed in silence for a moment, as if it had absorbed even the sound.

Soon, after the quiet blizzard had stopped.

In the dark alley were Lyle, whose clothes were torn to shreds, collapsed wretchedly, and Ashuban, who had sheathed his sword and was chuckling.

Ashuban looked up and said.

"Anyone want to beat up a pervert?"

The three looked at each other, then grinned and jumped down.

For a while, the sound of something being beaten and screams echoed in the alley.

"Hahaha, nice to meet you, you worthless bastard. Nice to meet you, worthless."

"Some of us were rolling around with magical beasts in the white hell. And this bastard was rolling around with women?"

"You despicable bastard. Die. Die."

"Die. Die."

"Kick his balls!"

"Ah, no! Not there!"

Thwack!

"Kuaaaak!"

(End of Chapter)