Chapter 81 : Chapter 81

Chapter 081. Endless Learning (4)

I drew Toxeed.

Holding both daggers in a reverse grip, I spread my arms slightly to shoulder width.

‘It doesn’t matter how my stance looks.’

I wasn’t about to unleash dual swordsmanship.

Not that I’d ever learned it anyway.

As I tucked my chin, Kana twitched one eye.

“That’s… Zahara Toxeed?”

“You’re not blind, I see.”

“Why is that in your hands?”

“The head of the Homer family personally entrusted it to me. To bring back the Archduke’s head with it.”

Kana, who had been staring blankly, suddenly burst into raucous laughter.

“Hahahahahaha! Is that so? Oh, that’s hilarious.”

“Funny, is it?”

“Of course it is. Wasn’t that meant to be a joke? A hereditary knight barely clinging to nobility thanks to his ancestors, and what? He tells you to cut off his lord’s head? And hands over a family heirloom to an Empire’s blade while he’s at it.”

Kana’s mocking lips gradually hardened.

Her eyes gleamed with blatant contempt.

“If he’d just stayed quiet, he might’ve at least kept his life. I don’t get why some people overstep their place and hasten their own doom. An incompetent, shameless fool like that makes me want to puke and you, you’ve got some guts, treating a guy like that as a proper head of a family with all that respect.”

Anderson was a man who fought with his life on the line for his family and their honor.

To face a life-or-death duel with a sword he’d barely ever held takes courage most couldn’t muster, no matter what hidden motives he might’ve had.

In my past life, I saw plenty of truly incompetent and shameless people.

“Anderson Homer, the knight of Haspeld, isn’t someone who deserves to hear such words from the likes of you.”

“…What?”

I gathered Zahara and Toxeed near my solar plexus and added,“You’re different. You rootless, lowly thing.”

That’s when it happened.

I sensed multiple presences.

From behind.

Had I let my guard down while focused on Kana, causing my extended senses to falter?

“Theodore’s banner!”

One of the soldiers surrounding me shouted.

At that distance, even someone with decent eyesight could make it out.

From the direction of Ludglen, which I had my back to, an army was approaching.

Roughly a hundred strong, by my estimate.

“Damn it, why are they showing up now…!”

Kana didn’t bother hiding her panic.

She seemed so startled that she forgot the insults I’d just thrown at her.

The little mage riding a broom was no different, suddenly flitting about like a frantic fly.

“Waaah! What do we do?! This ruins the plan!”

“What were you even doing up there, missing that?”

“I was busy cheering for Bihen Benkou! Kana! What now?! Should I just burn them all down?!”

“Are you insane? You want to get chewed out by the lord again?”

“No way, I don’t want that!”

Kana ground her teeth.

Her eyes flashed for a moment.

“All hands, battle stations! Form ranks!”

The soldiers scrambled to follow Kana’s orders.

Cavalry lined up in front, with infantry filling in behind.

They were closing in.

Next to Bonnie and Clyde, who were waving wildly at me, two unfamiliar young men and women stood side by side at the forefront.

“Straight into battle the moment we arrive. Still, I’m glad we weren’t too late.”

His demeanor exuded the distinct composure of nobility.

A delicate balance between confidence and arrogance.

If Ness Servai vowed to reform and was reborn, he might look something like this.

There was an odd sense of self-awareness, but it wasn’t entirely off-putting.

“Raise the banner high.”

The man spoke to the standard-bearer.

A purple cloth embroidered with a raptor spreading its wings over two crossed swords fluttered grandly.

“I am Declan Theodore, eldest son of Lord Theodore! In my father’s stead, I stand here to declare that the Theodore family recognizes Lady Adeline as the rightful heir of Conwell and will consider those who deny this as enemies of our alliance. Oh, and this is…”

“Me, I’ll introduce myself later…!”

The young woman beside him, her face flushed, waved her hands dismissively.

It was right after our eyes met.

Declan muttered with a disgruntled expression.

“What’s with you? Trying to embarrass the family all by yourself… ahem. Anyway, she’s also of Theodore blood. That should suffice as a declaration of war.”

Kiing!

Declan drew his sword and raised it high above his head.

“Valiant sons of Theodore! Offer your hearts…”

“Hold on!”

I quickly interrupted.

A charge order out of nowhere? And offer what, exactly?

“We’re still in the middle of a one-on-one duel.”

“A duel?”

At that moment, the young woman urgently turned her horse and whispered something to Declan, who kept tilting his head in confusion.

…What kind of situation is this in the middle of a battlefield?

Declan glanced at me, and by the time the whispering was done, his expression was clear, as if he understood everything.

“I got carried away. My apologies for the discourtesy. I’ll observe with honor.”

He nodded his chin.

It was obvious.

A greenhorn, through and through.

Kana’s voice rang out immediately after.

“Your spirit’s not bad. Won’t change the outcome, though.”

I didn’t exchange greetings with Bonnie and Clyde.

I turned back.

Was it Zahara and Toxeed responding to me?

They radiated a subtle heat, as if reminding me this was a life-or-death duel.

“One favor’s enough.”

“Pfft, what? Favor?”

“It hurt more than I expected.”

I kicked off with my lead foot.

I’d been yielding the initiative so far.

Now it was my turn.

“…!”

Kana’s widened pupils were right in front of me.

I raised Zahara, held in my left hand with the tip downward.

Ka-ang!

Sparks flashed.

Startled, Kana blocked and hurriedly stepped back.

I pressed forward.

Until I found the angle I was confident in.

Ghost Eye burned as if it would burst.

Kang! Chaeng!

I had no intention of ending this fight with dagger techniques.

Though she was an enemy, I didn’t think it was feasible against a swordmaster like Kana.

‘I’m just trying to set up the right angle…’

Kana wasn’t even using Kampringen, too busy blocking Zahara and Toxeed.

Kaang!

A loud clash signaled the end of an exchange.

Kana, who had retreated to a safe distance, was breathing heavily.

Her pupils, rigid with shock, began to simmer with growing anger as she realized I was calm.

“Kana! What are you doing?!”

“…Shut up.”

“Hehe! This is the last one! My turn’s next! Step it up!”

This time, I threw in a remark.

“I get it. It’s about speed, isn’t it? You could handle me when I wielded a bastard sword, but daggers are too fast for you. Well, in a way, that’s a relief.”

“W-What nonsense are you spouting?”

“If the Empire’s sword had been intact, you wouldn’t have even had a chance to face Kampringen properly.”

Tap!

This time, I yielded the initiative.

I realized that trying to control the angle by taking the lead was pointless.

‘Blood Points.’

I understood it wasn’t just about seeing weaknesses.

For an inhuman entity like a Blood Devil, that might work, but human vital points don’t vary much.

‘Let’s apply it differently.’

Through Benkou Vision, I observed the flames in the furnace, each making slight but tangible progress.

Benkou Swordsmanship had evolved from creating afterimages to swapping places with the real body, reaching the realm of transposition.

Quake Earth could now finely adjust the intensity of seismic shifts.

‘Blood Points…’

I decided to flip my approach.

Instead of starting from my sword and aiming for the enemy’s vital points revealed by Ghost Eye, I’d focus on the connection points.

Not the vital points themselves, but the paths leading to them.

In other words, not the result, but the process.

If I could see those trajectories…

Couldn’t I use them as a sort of guidepost to precisely direct my strikes?

Kaang!

As expected, it came from the left.

I predicted it.

In her pressured state, a right-handed fighter like her wouldn’t have the composure to aim for my right with a feint.

Thud.

The moment our blades clashed, I let go of Zahara.

Kana did the same.

But I was a fraction faster, having prepared for it.

Saaaaaa—!

It was a fleeting moment. It appeared clearly.

A red line swiftly wrapped around Kana’s right arm and vanished.

I followed it.

Whirrr!

Like two snakes entwined in combat, two strands of Gold-Catching Hand Technique wove and unraveled repeatedly.

Even I was surprised.

It felt like the bones in my left arm had turned to jelly.

“…!”

Kana’s startled eyes flashed past.

Though I was a novice at Gold-Catching Hand Technique and she was a master of Kampringen, in a life-or-death duel, victory could hinge on the smallest variable in a split second.

Ever since that day when Clyde grabbed me and I fell and rolled countless times, I’d been thinking about it.

Even when doing chores in the stables, I’d sneakily tug on a foal’s tail when the master wasn’t looking.

I’d rehearsed this exact scenario in my mind over and over.

Snap!

The sensation of my grip tightening was vivid. I’d caught it firmly.

Slide.

Without any special technique, Kana’s body toppled backward.

This must be what they call the mystery of combat.

Her trembling pupils grazed my chest as I caught a glimpse of them.

Thud—!

I drove Toxeed deep into Kana’s neck.

Only then did time, which had been racing, seem to find its place and stop.

“Watch closely.”

I held the limp Kana upright, facing forward, for her lackeys to see.

It was time to issue a warning.

I slashed her throat once more.

Shwaaaack!

* * *

Blood sprayed in a long arc.

It struck everyone watching with overwhelming shock.

“Oh, ugh… ahem.”

Declan coughed unnecessarily.

He’d witnessed a moment where life and death hung in the balance.

His shoulders instinctively shrank, and a chill crept up his legs.

‘Is this what real combat is like?’

It was now fully morning.

Sunlight poured over the vast plain, strikingly clear.

The tense air between the opposing forces, the charged breaths of soldiers carried by the dusty wind…

Every scene weighed heavily on him.

Declan felt overwhelmed just by being present.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard.

At the center of it all was Bihen Benkou.

‘…’

Declan took in Bihen Benkou’s back.

He seemed to stand beyond some untouchable boundary.

“Kampringen…?”

A mutter from beside him snapped him out of his thoughts.

It was his younger sister, Linda, her face completely dazed.

As if suddenly remembering, Declan spoke.

“Now that you mention it, isn’t that your specialty? Kamp… whatever it’s called.”

“Shh, quiet…! Please, just shut up, brother.”

He didn’t know why this girl had been making a fuss since earlier.

He was about to retort when—

“Bihen Benkou has won!”

“Woooo—!”

At Bonnie’s shout, Theodore’s soldiers erupted in cheers as if on cue.

Declan was dumbfounded.

Most of them were meeting Bihen Benkou for the first time, yet everyone was cheering for him fervently.

‘This is the bond forged on the battlefield…!’

Then it happened.

Swish—!

A chilling breeze suddenly swept overhead.

Declan and the Theodore soldiers instinctively looked up.

A small girl riding a broom hovered in the air.

“Fun, huh?”

Her large eyes gleamed, but her smile didn’t feel like a smile.

Bihen ignored her and said,

“Surrender. Don’t waste your lives.”

“Surrender? No way! We’ll fight to the end, right, guys?”

The Callence soldiers, however, were busy exchanging wary glances.

Sword Master Kana.

In debates about who was Conwell’s strongest after Eugene, her name was always mentioned.

In a one-on-one fight without magic, no one was said to stand a chance against her.

Yet that Kana had fallen to the Sword Fiend’s blade.

Silence hung in the air.

The soldiers were bewildered by the situation.

“What, what’s this? Are you all seriously thinking of betraying our lord? Huh? Is that it?!”

“This is your only warning. Drop your weapons, and I’ll consider it surrender.”

As Bihen spoke, the sound of a blade hitting the ground rang out.

It was one of the infantrymen behind the cavalry.

In that instant, Iroen’s eyes blazed with fury.

“You ungrateful…!”

Pyut—!

A beam of light shot from Iroen’s fingertip, piercing the soldier’s forehead.

The surrounding soldiers recoiled in horror.

Iroen looked down at the scene impassively, blowing on the lingering embers at her fingertips.

Her eyes curved playfully.

“Don’t mess around.”

She raised one arm.

In an instant, a bluish glow began swirling above her palm.

Crackling streams of light were drawn to the center, condensing until the glowing mass grew massive.

“Bihen Benkou, I know your weakness.”

Beneath the precarious, explosive light, Iroen’s lips slowly curled upward.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.