Chapter 170

Chapter 171. Can You Feel the Difference in Power? (10)

Thinking he had defeated Norman, Pasian began searching the pockets of his dead subordinates.

“Damn monster brat. I’ll burn you down along with the building.”

Among his subordinates, there was one who carried matches because of his smoking habit.

Since Norman had separated the heads and bodies of the subordinates, it took a while to find the one with the matches.

“Found it…?”

Pasian’s body stiffened as he held the matches in his hand. He suddenly sensed a presence behind him.

Holding his sword, Pasian turned around and thrust rapidly toward the presence.

Shoop! Thud!

“What, what is it? A rat?”

A rat, pierced by the sword, trembled pitifully.

Just as Pasian was about to relax, his sharp senses detected numerous presences.

Not just one. Dozens of presences suddenly appeared. And the identity of those presences was clearly visible.

Squirm, squirm.

The transparent slime that had been torn apart throughout the building began to swell and take shape.

Splat!

Pasian didn’t just stand there watching. Thinking it was regenerating, he swung his sword madly, slashing again and again. But he couldn’t keep up. The speed at which the monster regenerated and transformed.

Soon, the monster took on a perfect form—a human form.

From a boy to an old man.

Various nationalities.

An Adeusian with sun-tanned skin.

A pale-skinned Baen Kingdom citizen.

A naked woman with a sensual figure…

Among the many people, a man named Dopema spoke.

“Originally, I planned to slowly blend into human society with this guy. His appearance and talent were so ordinary that his background seemed plausible.”

Pasian gulped. His grip on the sword tightened so much that blood dripped from his hand.

‘I’ll buy time with the Extreme Light Gale Sword and escape.’

It’s a monster that can’t be killed. Only a Grandmaster, no, a Lord, could handle such a monster. So I must survive and inform others of its existence.

For Pasian, survival was more important than the humiliation of fleeing. So he pretended to listen to Norman’s words.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. First of all, what are you?”

Pasian spoke to Dopema, but it was the naked woman who answered.

“I have no name. I am Dopema, Philip, and now Norman. But there’s a name your humans call me. Transparent Slime. That’s my name.”

“Slime? Don’t make me laugh!”

A translucent jelly-like texture with a green sphere. It looks like it would crawl like a snail, but it’s elastic and bounces around like a rabbit.

Their method of attack is to engulf their prey and dissolve it with their highly acidic bodies.

They seem to have no weak points, but a transparent core exists. Destroying that core kills the slime.

This was the slime known to the world and to Pasian.

“You monster pretending to be a slime. What do you want?”

Pasian was scared. His body trembled.

But he hadn’t lost his rationality. That’s why he thought Norman hadn’t spared him for no reason.

“What I want, of course, is you.”

This time, Norman stepped forward. Pasian pointed his sword at Norman.

“Do you want human subordinates?”

“Haha, if I wanted human subordinates to exploit, I already have them. The Aleron Merchant Group is entirely mine.”

“…!”

Pasian pretended to be shocked, buying as much time as possible.

Then, with the determination of squeezing water from dry corn, he gathered all the remaining aura in his body and poured it into his sword.

“The reason I kept you alive is that I can gain more by absorbing you. The more I know about you, the better the absorption rate. Especially, I find your Muryeong quite useful.”

“You want Muryeong? Then I’ll use Muryeong for you.”

“Don’t play games. You plan to use Muryeong to escape? Even I would find it hard to catch.”

Click.

Norman took another step forward.

Pasian’s eyes narrowed.

‘Now!’

Norman entered the range of the Extreme Light Gale Sword. Pasian revealed the aura he had been hiding and shouted.

“Tear him to death!”

A condensed slash of swirling sword aura rushed toward Norman.

Previously, Norman had been unable to block this Extreme Light Gale Sword and was shattered.

Even if it didn’t kill him, it would buy time. Pasian planned to escape in that gap—but Norman smiled as if he had been waiting.

“Yeah, I thought I’d have to see this twice.”

Dopema and Philip stood on either side of Norman. Aura Swords rose from their hands, and they each displayed their swordsmanship.

“Torrent Wave.”

“Falling Flower Single Point.”

“Decisive Slash Iron Path.”

Pasian suddenly felt time slow down. In that slowed time, he saw many things.

‘Torrent Wave is a secret technique of the Blackwood family. Falling Flower Single Point is one of the swordsmanship techniques of the Browning family, a renowned swordsmanship clan. Decisive Slash Iron Path… I’ve never heard of it before, but it’s impressive. The most ferocious slash I’ve ever seen.’

Soon, Pasian realized why time had slowed.

‘It’s my life flashing before my eyes.’

In the slowed time, he clearly saw his Extreme Light Gale Sword being overwhelmed by the three swordsmanship techniques.

If time hadn’t slowed, it would have been a brief moment—2 seconds, no, less than 1 second. But thanks to the slowed time, Pasian was given 10 seconds before his death.

But even if he had 100 seconds, the emotions he was feeling now couldn’t be defined in a word or two.

“Damn it.”

With a single curse, Pasian’s head fell.

* * *

Pasian looked at his body.

“Ah, ah. Ah!”

He steadied his voice and created an Aura Sword, swinging it.

He displayed the battlefield swordsmanship he had honed as a mercenary, and finally, his secret technique, the Extreme Light Gale Sword, without aura.

“Good, the assimilation rate isn’t bad. I’ve gained a lot of Muryeong.”

Drip, drip.

Pasian’s face crumbled, and soon, he transformed into Norman.

Norman, dressed in the clothes of the knight he had killed, adjusted his attire.

There was no need to clean up the bodies. He had eaten them all. All that remained in the building was blood and ownerless clothes.

Step, step.

Norman left the abandoned building and headed for the bustling streets. He strolled through the city as if nothing had happened. Eventually, he stopped in front of a certain hotel.

In front of the Tremond Hotel, where Sephira’s party was staying, Norman licked his lips.

“Keter. Seeing you made other humans’ lives seem dull. Your bold and free demeanor was irresistibly attractive.”

“I’d like to absorb you right now, but you’re a guy who seems endless no matter how much I learn about you.”

“You seem to have many techniques you haven’t shown yet. So, I’ll hold off until this tournament is over.”

The ‘absorption’ of the transparent slime that inhabits the Demon Realm replicates even the memories of the target, but there are limitations.

The absorption rate varies depending on how much information one has about the target. The higher the absorption rate, the more perfectly the target can be replicated. Not just the appearance, but also the techniques and memories.

Originally, Norman’s target wasn’t Keter. As Dopema, an ordinary knight from a rural village, he planned to become the Southern Sword, blend naturally into human society, and ultimately target the queen of this country.

But realizing that power, politics, and wealth were crucial in human society, Norman took Aleron as a subordinate, nurtured the merchant group, and amassed wealth.

Then, out of nowhere, he made a bet against Ultima and Keter, wagering the merchant group. He bet ten million gold that ‘none of the strong contenders would win.’

Originally, Aleron’s plan was the same.

Dopema, who wasn’t among the top contenders, would become the Southern Sword and take all the gold from the gamblers without giving them a penny.

Unable to watch the Aleron Merchant Group, which he had painstakingly built, fall entirely into Ultima’s hands, Norman changed his plan.

He transformed into Norman, the lowest-ranked contender, to become the Southern Sword.

This way, he could prevent the merchant group from falling into Ultima’s hands.

But then, an unexpected variable appeared. Keter participated in the tournament as an independent. Until then, Norman thought nothing of it, but…

‘The divine authority you showed in the Battle Royale was beyond my imagination.’

Norman’s body trembled.

The Keter he saw in the casino seemed like a boastful, ignorant brat, but he was wrong.

From the moment he opened his eyes in the human world until now, Norman had seen and devoured countless humans, but none were as bold and free as Keter.

The confidence to pierce the heavens.

The body and techniques that backed that confidence.

‘I want it all. Your personality. Your beliefs. Your techniques.’

Thus, Norman coveted Keter and followed him to catch his attention.

But what happened?

Keter paid no attention to Norman.

‘You’re even more intriguing, Keter.’

Norman looked up at the top floor of the hotel where Keter was presumed to be staying and licked his lips.

“See you in the finals, Keter. I’ll reveal everything about you then.”

He didn’t assume he would lose to Keter. After all, he wasn’t an ordinary slime.

Though he had a core like a slime, it was smaller than a fingernail and could move freely. As long as it wasn’t precisely targeted and destroyed in one go, he could regenerate quickly.

Above all, Norman was confident.

Even though he hadn’t fought, he believed he had the power to kill even a Grandmaster.

* * *

Knock, knock.

“Huh?”

Didos, the captain of the 5th Lunar Knight Division, who had been on guard, frowned at the sound of knocking.

“I didn’t hear any footsteps…”

If it were another knight, he might have dismissed it as a mistake, but Didos was different.

He trusted his senses. If he didn’t hear it, the person knocking was definitely not ordinary.

Didos, with an arrow nocked on his bowstring, aimed at the door and quietly shouted to his subordinates.

“Go on alert.”

At his command, the Lunar Knights immediately spread out, nocking arrows and aiming at the door.

Mile, who was passing by, witnessed this and approached.

“Captain Didos, what’s going on?”

“There’s a suspicious person at the door. They knocked without any presence in the middle of the night.”

At Didos’s words, Mile made an awkward face.

“Ah, my apologies. I just asked for some wine to be brought. I told them to come quietly, but I didn’t think it would cause trouble.”

“Still, just in case, please stay behind me. I’ll open the door.”

“No, I’ll open it. Captain Didos, cover me.”

Mile thought nothing would happen. The hotel had knight-level guards, and even if it were a real enemy, they wouldn’t knock so politely.

Creak.

As he opened the door, a man in a blue uniform stood there holding a basket of fruit.

“Hello—”

Bang!

Mile closed the door again.

Then he shouted toward the living room.

“Anis, Taragon! Did you order fruit?”

“No.”

“Not us.”

Anis and Taragon answered from the living room.

Didos whispered with a serious expression.

“Should we shoot his legs to subdue him?”

“He doesn’t seem hostile. But just in case, don’t aim openly, aim from the blind spots.”

“Yes.”

Click, click.

Didos gestured for his subordinates to hide.

As the Lunar Knights hid, Mile opened the door again.

“—do?”

The handsome man in the blue uniform finished his interrupted greeting.

Seeing this, Mile was sure this man wasn’t an enemy, but at the very least, he was a lunatic.

“Who are you, coming here in the middle of the night?”

Mile asked with a face full of hostility. The handsome man clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t Keter tell you about me? That’s a bit disappointing.”

The man crossed his legs, placed his left hand on his stomach, and bowed deeply, introducing himself.

“My name is Ayrus. The Singer.”

“…Mile El Sephira. Second son of the Sephira family.”

“I know about you. By the way, may I come in?”

“……”

Mile stared intently at the handsome man who introduced himself as Ayrus.

‘This man… isn’t human.’

Mile, a sorcerer, used a spell to see the good and evil in humans, ‘Black and White Eyes,’ and almost had his heart stop.

‘Darkness within darkness…’

Ayrus’s inner self was like an abyss.

An endless darkness.

“My, you’re peeking into my inner self without permission. That place is only allowed for Keter.”

Tap.

Ayrus pushed the fruit basket into Mile’s arms and entered the room without permission.

“Don’t move!”

Didos, who had been waiting, aimed an arrow and shouted—

Snap!

Ayrus flicked his finger, and Didos’s shadow moved on its own, turning into tentacles that bound Didos’s entire body.

“What?!”

As Didos was subdued, the other Lunar Knights shot aura-filled arrows at Ayrus without hesitation.

“Quick response.”

Ayrus smiled and made no move to defend himself. He didn’t need to. A shadow barrier rose from his shadow and easily ‘ate’ the aura-filled arrows.

Overwhelming power.

But the Lunar Knights weren’t the type to feel fear. Just as they were about to create an Aura Arrow, Mile shouted.

“Stop!”

The Lunar Knights stopped their attack at Mile’s command, but they still aimed their arrows at Ayrus, not letting their guard down.

“What’s going on?”

“Brother. Why are we stopping…?”

Anis and Taragon, who had come hearing the commotion, were startled.

Didos, bound by shadows.

The Lunar Knights, nocking Aura Arrows, on guard.

To anyone, Ayrus looked like an enemy.

Zwoom!

Understanding the situation, Anis and Taragon also created Aura Bows and Arrows, aiming at Ayrus.

“You bastard! If you dare touch our brother, I’ll blow a hole right in the middle of your forehead!”

Taragon, who had learned rough language from mercenaries, shouted at Ayrus with killing intent.

Ayrus burst into laughter.

“Haha, you don’t understand. If I had intended to harm you—”

Creak, creak.

Ayrus’s face distorted as if melting. The sunstone that dispelled darkness suddenly went out, and the lamp’s light turned off. The bright room was instantly engulfed in darkness.

In that darkness, Ayrus became a demon, baring his fangs at everyone’s throats.

“You were already corpses.”

The demon’s whisper pierced everyone’s ears.

On the brink of madness from overwhelming fear and helplessness—

Ping!

A mana arrow flew through the darkness and pierced Ayrus’s forehead.

“Stop messing around and come here.”

At Keter’s words, the thick darkness receded.