Chapter 201

(201)

The hand of Ironblood Party leader Marcus quickly slipped down to his waist.

His oddly colored black eyes gleamed wickedly behind his monocle.

I also tried to draw my sword, but the Black Tear was not visible at my waist.

“!”

In hindsight, this was only natural.

It would be foolish to leave a weapon when capturing a Sword Expert, and although Marcus was insane, he wasn’t stupid.

“Without a sword!”

Marcus shouted with a triumphant expression.

“Ugh!”

As I hurriedly stood up, I pushed the table with all my strength.

With a scraping sound, the table moved, snagging the blade of Marcus’s estoc underneath, and as Marcus was trying to get up, he lost his balance and stumbled back.

“You!”

By the time Marcus regained his balance, I was already standing upright, focusing myself, with my fist clenched tight.

“Even without a sword, I am a warrior! I’m different from a Desk Warrior like you!”

After tossing out a provocative line, I lunged across the table, throwing my fist into his face.

It was a clean strike I had repeated millions of times before.

Thud!

The white sleeve traced a picturesque arc, a dull sound echoed inside the tent, and Marcus crumpled down.

The fancy top hat he wore rolled across the floor.

“Cough!”

Normally, I would have climbed on top of him and pounded his face into the ground, but there was a table between us now.

I possessed no sword, and he was armed with an estoc that was likely magical, a mechanical arm inscribed with incantation circuits, and spectacles with various functions.

If I didn’t end this quickly, I would surely be discarded after being beaten.

I leapt over the table, kicking my legs high.

“I wish you had opted for the second method!”

Swoosh—.

At the same time, I drew up my mana, preparing to unleash my true power.

I had spent a lot of energy controlling the explosion in the underground sewer, but after resting for three days, I had almost fully recovered.

The mana wrapped around my muscle fibers like steel cables, supporting me delicately like a silver necklace.

I aimed to stomp down on Marcus’s abdomen with my heel.

If successful, it would be a single strike capable of incapacitating him.

Marcus, who was lying on the ground, rolled to the side in a hurry, his spectacles glinting.

Crash!

A shockwave shook the tent’s pillars, and my heel dug deep into the ground beneath.

“I’ve never seen anyone push a table to throw a punch like that.”

Dust billowed in the tent, and Marcus, lowering his body like a beast, stood up and spoke.

His posture was powerful enough to launch a devastating thrust at any moment.

I arrogantly lifted my chin and replied haughtily.

“You’ll see much more of it from now on.”

Marcus’s oddly colored spectacles gazed down intently.

He gritted his teeth and slightly shook his head.

“No. Today will be your last.”

What happened next felt to me as if it were moving slowly.

Marcus’s hand slid once more down to the sheathe hidden beneath his plain uniform.

Swish!

A needle-like sword was drawn out, and his spectacles glowed red, matching the red glow of the incantation circuits etched onto his sword.

The estoc, inscribed with spells for durability and sharpness, was aimed at me.

He seemed to be saying “Die” as his lips moved.

Crash!

He lunged forward like a pendulum on a grandfather clock.

“Ha.”

I quickly drew up the energy of the incantation.

A solid sensation of dark-red scales enveloped my body, my pupils elongated, and I felt horns growing out of my scalp.

Underneath my uniform, my hands appeared to be clad in scaled gauntlets, and as the estoc came flying toward my shoulder, I thrust my weight against Marcus’s chest.

At the last moment, I could see the look of astonishment rise on his face.

Crash!

Another loud explosion erupted.

In the midst of an encampment, it was unusual for no one to come rushing in.

“Ugh!”

Marcus rolled along the floor of the tent.

Although I didn’t kick him hard enough to send him flying outside, the ground was deeply dented.

I looked down at him and smirked.

“Why? Is it surprising?”

***

The black eyes of the Ironblood Party leader shook like a sailboat before a storm.

“I’ve never heard it said that Valenciaunos is such a strong warrior.”

“It’s probably because you’re comparing him to Lady Trentia and His Majesty the Emperor.”

Laughter flickered in the yellow eyes of Valenciaunos.

He flicked his red lips like a snake and said, “You remind me of my sister.”

“My sister?”

“Lady Sorelazie. A genius mage deeply understanding of nature, she created powerful spells, magic tools, and machines that many covet.”

“That seems to imply there’s more to it.”

“Correct.”

He readily acknowledged it and continued.

“They’re great creators, but they’re not fighters. Knights are the superior version of warriors, but there’s a distance between mages and warriors. You’re no different, Marcus.”

The Ironblood Party leader looked up at the Elder Brother in the Imperial Family.

A giant shadow cast over him, clad in white attire.

“If you have your weapons carried by soldiers and armor made by you donned by them, the best army would be born. No, it will be born, but you’re not that strong of a warrior, are you?”

Even though blood flowed from Valenciaunos’s shoulder, his natural posture suggested that neither his bones nor tendons were harmed.

“I didn’t feel like I was stabbing a person. It felt as if I was wearing armor engraved with incantation circuits. Ah, yes. Since you say you’ve undergone the Dragon Rite, they must be scales.”

“I’m different. I’ve been rolling around in daily duels with the best knights, and I’ve consumed every spirit pill there is. Without a sword, you still can’t defeat me.”

“That level seems manageable.”

“If I take you hostage, I should be able to leave here safely, right?”

Valenciaunos grinned sadistically and extended his scaled hand toward Marcus.

However, the momentary look of despair that had appeared on Marcus’s face had long since faded.

His true nature was closer to Valenciaunos than Lady Trentia, and he viewed fighting against a stronger opponent one-on-one as a burden rather than an honor.

Crack!

Lightning sparkled in his left hand, and his skin turned blackened.

“Indeed. That’s certainly possible.”

The high-grade magical prosthetic arm revealed itself as Marcus thrust forward.

Valenciaunos laughed as if he were certain of victory and retaliated with a scaled fist.

The combined precision built by experience on one side and technique on the other was tremendous, and the punches of nobility and high nobility met precisely at one point.

Crack!

Fizzle!

A current of devastating power rushed between Valenciaunos’s scales, but the eyes of the Bandit Duke remained fierce.

Meanwhile, the joints of the mechanical arm creaked and howled, and the sounds of gears and chains rattled could be heard.

What Marcus needed was that fleeting moment.

“Ha, hahahaha!”

He hurled the estoc into the tent ceiling.

Valenciaunos realized that was the signal and braced for impact the next moment.

Whoosh!

The canvases around the tent were immediately raised, revealing four hulking mechanical knights.

Whirring, whoosh, clank.

Gears turned, steam gushed between the plates, and chains revolved.

With a helm inscribed with vision-enhancing magic and targeting spells, he appeared less human and more like a high-grade steel golem.

“Have you been watching from the beginning?”

“Did you think I would be truly alone with a monster like you, Duke?”

Valenciaunos smiled bitterly, and Marcus quickly dusted off the top hat that had fallen to the floor and put it back on.

He drooped the estoc to one side and smiled too brightly for the situation.

“Duke is right. I am neither a warrior nor a knight. If anything, I am a scholar, and undeniably a noble.”

The way he shrugged off the identity of his own being looked overly sophisticated.

“Nonetheless, my useless pride ignited a fire, and I attempted to dance the sword dance, but it’s not so simple.”

Valenciaunos stretched out his middle finger.

“If I had provoked you with magic engineering, you’d feel just as I do now. How dare you.”

“Indeed. How dare I.”

Marcus continued.

“Nobles are not the ones to run; they are those who command and seek talent. So I will leave this to the experts.”

His real eyes sparkled, mercilessly glinting.

“I’ll half-kill him and toss him into the capital. No, it’s possible he might hide somewhere after enduring this. Hmm, then there’s nothing to be done. Kill him. And just throw the corpse to the citizens, they’ll crush it on their own.”

The giant knights looked down at Valenciaunos.

The Bandit Duke murmured filthy curses that were sacrilegious to even remember as he drew up the flames of incantation.

Crash!

At the same time, the four mechanical knights charged, stomping the ground.

***

‘It feels like fighting against four Lady Trentias.’

Valenciaunos tried not to reveal his feelings of impending death.

The four knights skillfully wielded their swordsmanship and the magic inscribed in their armor, harrying Valenciaunos.

‘A gap.’

Valenciaunos leapt off the ground, charging towards Marcus, who stood behind the first knight.

Swish!

The second knight spun, swinging their sword.

Zing!

The lightning-clad blade narrowly grazed over his head.

Gathering the energy of incantation, he drove the blade into the chest of the first knight.

Crash!

Violent flames surged, and the tent caught halfway aflame, but the first mechanical knight barely stepped back.

“Ah.”

Valenciaunos looked up at the knight with an out-of-place, sullen expression.

For a moment, disappointment crossed his handsome face.

The granting magic using incantation circuits and magical circuits was activated, and the mages withdrew from the battlefield.

Magic was still magic, but the knights’ armor had become magical armor.

If Valenciaunos had a sword, he could have gathered that flame into one point and struck it with his sword energy, but now he was empty-handed.

Swish!

The first knight swung down their sword, releasing steam.

Simultaneously, the second knight stomped and activated the spell inscribed on their leg armor, “Quagmire.”

Squelch!

In an instant, Valenciaunos’s feet became binded, and he cursed as he crossed his hands.

“The world!”

A dagger of charged electricity descended mercilessly.

Crash!

Valenciaunos, receiving the heavy blade, was buried up to his knees in the ground.

Yet, his arms and gaze did not waver, instead concentrating the flames and attempting to drive them into the gaps of the mechanical knight’s armor.

Marcus clapped as he watched this unfold.

“You’ve got the looks of a refined young master, but your fighting method is bold like a rough mercenary, Duke.”

“One day you will be devoured alive and die!”

“Yet why go to such lengths? Duke. I am now genuinely curious. Is it so difficult to grant me the initiative?”

“…….”

Valenciaunos’s gaze shook, and Marcus raised his hand, causing the mechanical knights to halt temporarily.

“I thought you would understand. Don’t you know? This world will collapse as it is. More and more magical realms are opening up. It’s uncertain when alien beings and remnants of the past might crawl out into the capital.”

As he spoke, the heat in Marcus’s voice grew.

“We must step up and lead those foolish citizens ourselves. With advanced technology, excellent knights, and wise mages. So why should I care what happens outside the Empire? It’s not like I’m going to inflate my pockets with that money, you know?”

Valenciaunos tightly shut his eyes, shaking his head.

“Families who have lost fathers, husbands, and sons to war will gladly throw themselves into the arms of the remnants. They’re thinking of making more Infiltrators.”

“That’s disappointing.”

“Just as you said. Leading them is our job. Their continued ignorance is a confession of our own shortcomings.”

“!”

Marcus bit his lip, and Valenciaunos sensed a commotion outside the encampment.

‘It’s about to begin.’

The distant roar and confusion became his allies.

As Marcus tried to turn his head, Valenciaunos ignited the flames again, drawing his attention back.

“It’s amusing to hear a bastard discuss nobility.”

Struck by the verbal flames, Marcus’s face twisted in rage.

“!”

“Let’s see this through to the end. Of course, your end.”