Chapter 134. Who’re You?
The battlefield where the Third Sword stood was nothing short of chaos and destruction. The once-lush trees had been shattered into miserable fragments, and the relentless bursts of magical light illuminated the dark of night.
With every flash came an unceasing roar.
Bang, bang!
Bwoooosh!
Craaaang—!
From the sky, spears of ice rained down like a storm, while dazzling lightning struck the ground below.
“This is… what in the world…”
Zeke paused, taking in the scene before him to make sense of it.
First of all…
‘…That’s definitely the young lord.’
But the formation was strange.
Though the two mages fought most brilliantly, the young lord’s battle was nothing to scoff at either.
Clang! Clash-clash-clash-clash-clang!
In a single breath, dozens of sword lights flashed, and ether scattered like sparks in every direction.
They weren’t even hesitating to trade fists.
Screeech—!
One moment they were locking blades in a contest of strength, the next they both let go at once to slam their fists into each other’s faces.
Thud!
Clang!
They staggered back simultaneously, looking almost like mirror images. And then, just for a moment, they both wobbled…
“Ha-ha! Weak, so weak!”
“…Agh.”
The first to regain balance was the knight clad in pitch-black armor, naturally so.
Though the young lord’s reach was longer, the knight was armored from head to toe. The young lord’s fists couldn’t do much against metal plating, at least not easily. At their level, even the difference in equipment couldn’t be ignored.
Just as the young lord dove toward his discarded sword, the black knight lunged like a battering ram.
Baaam!
The young lord went flying, slamming into the ground with a loud crash.
“Aah, ugh….”
He groaned in pain.
Even for him, taking a full-force tackle from a knight in full plate was not something he could shrug off.
Fumbling, crawling!
The young lord gritted his teeth and reached toward his fallen sword, but before his fingers could grasp it, the black knight pounced again like a leopard.
“Where do you think you’re going! Let’s finish this!”
“…Ack!”
The knight kicked the young lord over and climbed on top of him, raising a clenched fist high.
‘…!’
Zeke, who had been watching in silence, suddenly twitched, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword.
‘How dare he—!’
But just then…
Claaang!
A sharp metallic sound rang through the forest, followed by the knight’s sudden scream.
“…Gaaah!”
“Huh?”
Zeke, ready to draw his blade, let out a dumbfounded breath.
And no wonder…The young lord, pinned to the ground, had smashed a fist-sized rock straight into the knight’s helmet!
But he didn’t stop there.
“Y-You coward!”
“Ha! Coward? And you, dressed head-to-toe in armor, call that fair?”
“It is fair! This armor is part of my very body!”
“Then this rock is part of mine. Isn’t it? Not just this rock, look.”
The young lord sneered, grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground—
And of course, the next moment…
Shaaah!
He threw it straight into the knight’s face!
And not just once.
“Ahh! My eyes! My eyes—!”
Shaah, sha, sha!
As if afraid it might not get in properly, he made sure to throw it two, three more times.
Zeke watched, mouth hanging open in disbelief.
‘…Y-Young Lord?’
It was cowardly.
Pathetic, even.
This wasn’t a duel between warriors, it was a back-alley brawl between thugs.
But the heir of House Lorutel himself, stooping to such cheap tricks?
It was unbelievable!
And yet, that wasn’t even the most shocking thing.
‘Why does he look… like he’s enjoying himself?’
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Gah! Bone! You hit my bone!”
“Bone? Then I must’ve hit you right.”
Before anyone noticed, the young lord had slipped free, grabbed a cheap iron sword, and began smacking the knight relentlessly.
He could’ve aimed for the neck. But he didn’t. Instead, he kept whacking him with the flat of the blade.
Of course, if he’d infused ether, it wouldn’t have mattered which side he used, the damage would be lethal either way. But he didn’t use ether at all.
He just…
“How’s that, another bone? Or is this one a bone too?”
“S-Stop… khk!”
Sweat poured down his face, but he grinned like a man having the time of his life as he continued to beat his foe senseless.
Zeke shook his head at the bewildering scene.
‘What is this…?’
A moment ago they’d been trying to kill each other. Now they were just… slugging it out.
Even the black knight was the same.
Wham!
“Aagh…!”
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s called a joint-kick, you fool!”
A low kick to the shin, then a punch to the face.
Smack!
Before the young lord even hit the ground, two, three more punches followed.
And once again, it could’ve been lethal. Just a bit of ether, or even raw strength, would’ve shattered a skull.
“Die! Die!”
Thud, thud!
Despite the vicious atmosphere, neither of them was actually trying to kill the other. It was like watching two kids in the neighborhood fight over who gets to be king of the playground.
Realizing that made the whole situation even stranger. Not just the young lord and the black knight, the two mages as well.
Look at them.
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
Boom! Craaash!
They hurled spine-chilling spells at each other, yet not a shred of killing intent could be felt.
And more than that…
‘What’s with… that one?’
Zeke’s gaze fell on Aster.
“Too slow! Too weak! How do you expect to hit me like that?”
Taunting nonstop, darting up and down the slope with acrobatic movements utterly unbefitting a mage, Zeke couldn’t help but be impressed.
But soon that admiration turned to exasperation.
“You vile brat! Get away from there!”
Before anyone noticed, Aster had maneuvered closer to where the young lord and the black knight fought, subtly getting in the way.
At first, Zeke thought it was coincidence. But after several times, he was sure.
‘…He’s trolling.’
Yes, trolling.
Why though?
To help the young lord? No, not even that.
The masked mage with the gray hair didn’t discriminate, whenever one side gained the upper hand, he’d sabotage that side without fail.
And the funniest part…The young lord was doing the exact same thing.
Swoooosh!
“Ah, damn! That was an accident!”
“Likewise.”
He’d blatantly thrown a rock and then charged in, pretending nothing had happened.
‘What the hell…’
Who was the ally here? Who is the enemy?
There was no telling.
Or rather, no one was truly allies with anyone.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Four pairs of sharp eyes moved warily, brimming with mutual distrust. It was as if every one of them was ready to stab the others in the back at any moment.
Zeke could tell right away who was responsible for this madness.
The culprit, was the gray-haired mage.
“…What a devil.”
This wasn’t about skill or power.
It was about temperament. Even the most powerful couldn’t create such chaotic tension unless they were born with a truly twisted personality.
Only someone with that kind of malicious creativity could turn a battlefield into this circus.
Honestly, Zeke wanted to keep watching.
‘They’re hiding their identities… but they don’t seem evil.’
And besides, it had been so long since he’d seen the young lord like this.
A little rough, no, very rough, but their hostility hadn’t crossed the line.
It felt almost like an emotional spat between old friends.
But then…
“…Huh?”
Aster, who had been darting across the slopes, stopped abruptly.
Boom…!
A massive ice spear struck him dead-on, but Aster burned it to vapor with a surge of flame.
“Giving up on running like a rat, are you?”
“No, wait a sec, look over there. Someone’s—”
Before he could finish, a barrage of lightning bolts came crashing down on his head.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
It seemed Parun had finally decided to end it, unleashing dozens of lightning strikes so bright they turned the night into day. The tremendous force centered around Aster and spread outward…
“…Hey, now!”
Bwoooom—!
A formless wave erupted outward in concentric circles, and the air around them shifted violently.
Zeke frowned.
The presence radiating from Aster was far stronger than he had expected. And with that, the chaotic battlefield suddenly fell silent, like cold water poured over a fire.
“…?”
“What’s this?”
As Parun frowned in confusion, Shine, who had been wrestling with Sion, spoke up.
Aster narrowed his eyes toward the trees where Zeke hid and said, “No, seriously, someone’s over there.”
“Someone?”
“If this is a bluff to escape, it’s not a bad one. Your acting’s not terrible.”
Aster groaned in frustration as the two failed to believe him.
“No, seriously…fine, call the glutton stupid, but none of you can feel that? It’s so obvious!”
At that, Zeke, hidden among the bushes, stiffened.
‘…He sensed me?’
He wasn’t exactly trained in stealth, but he was certainly no amateur, and no low-level opponent should have been able to detect him.
Yet he had been found.
A chill crept up his spine. That meant the masked mage’s level was far beyond what Zeke had assumed. And just as he realized that…
“Who’re you? Who’s the rat spying from there?”
The masked mage turned his gaze directly toward him.
Zeke found it oddly refreshing. Someone, here, on Lorutel soil, had just called him, the Third Sword, a rat.
But surprise aside…He stepped out from the thicket. Whatever the case, since these people were involved with the young lord, he had to understand the situation.
As he emerged from the brush…
“…Hmm.”
“Huh.”
Parun and Shine both let out soft exclamations.
Parun looked tense at the appearance of an unknown powerhouse, while Shine seemed simply astonished.
Only Aster remained nonchalant. But the most shocked of them all was Sion, bloodied and battered.
“……”
Zeke glanced briefly at him, then turned his eyes back to Aster.
Shhhhhh—
A suffocating pressure filled the area in an instant.
“Who are you?”
With that, Zeke seized control of the entire battlefield, his proud gaze sweeping over the three.
And when his voice finally rang out, the trio’s eyes went wide in horror.
For good reason.
“I am one of Lorutel’s Ten Swords, Third Sword, Zeke.”
The one who had been watching them all along, was none other than the Third Sword of Lorutel.
And with that, Zeke asked in return, “Then who are you? Who are you to bring such commotion into Lorutel’s domain?”
A crushing aura spread through the forest, as though the mountain itself screamed.
And at the end of that question, Aster thought, ‘Oh, hell…’
Yeah. They were so screwed. Even a first meeting couldn’t possibly go worse than this.
