Chapter 249 : Chapter 249
Chapter 249
Obro Denoebang was a drunkard.
He craved alcohol even when he went out onto the battlefield.
So, with nothing to hide, he took out a small liquor bottle and kkolkkak kkolkkak, and drank it down cheerfully.
His Adam's apple bobbed, transferring the strong liquor to his stomach.
Even though the intoxication rose up quickly, laughter did not come.
He scratched his gray beard, which was growing back again, and quieted his eyes.
“The Debius three generations….”
No matter how Obro Denoebang he was, he couldn't help but be nervous.
Anyone who used a sword could not possibly not know the Debius family.
The continent's greatest martial family, boasting a thousand-year history alongside the Empire.
To think he was facing the three generations of that family alone; it was something unimaginable if it weren't Obro Denoebang.
It could not be expressed with just the word 'difficult'.
However, to Obro Denoebang, life was always a difficult thing.
And the hardship he had run up against again was not unfamiliar.
So, gaining courage from a sip of liquor, he dashed forward.
With the rising intoxication, he laughed lowly, Ehehehe.
“It is an honor to cross swords like this.”
He leaped up with a heart of scattering ashes.
He swung his sword as if to cover and annihilate all the dark places he did not want to look at.
The one sword he gripped, ‘Grayish-white Nobility’.
That thing, which looked like a tree branch and not even a sword, was definitely a sword.
He swung the sword.
Marina blocked it.
She was holding a thick iron rod, calling it a spear.
She groaned under the weight of ‘Grayish-white Nobility’.
“…What is this sword…!?”
Marina Debius was crushed.
She was only blocking a single sword, yet a sense of weight, as if shouldering a mountain range, assaulted her.
Even though she was the possessor of monstrous strength who had collapsed the Bellos Grand Bridge with her bare hands, it was overwhelming to block Obro Denoebang's one strike.
She was certain she would not be able to block the second sword.
Obro Denoebang paid no mind to Marina's groan.
Instead of retrieving the sword, he slid it down the spear shaft.
Without killing its momentum, he swung it in a short arc, aiming for Marina's left hand.
As she only had two fingers, she would not be able to block it.
“Eum!!!”
Secundus Debius rushed in at that moment.
He didn't grip any particular weapon.
Instead, he wore gloves made of woven chains on his huge hands.
It was a precious treasure obtained in Horm.
Secundus unhesitatingly grabbed the blade aiming for his mother.
If it was simple brute strength, Secundus was the first among the three generations.
He was the youngest and the largest.
Thanks to the gloves on both hands, he was not injured even grasping the blade.
He held onto the edge of ‘Grayish-white Nobility’ and engaged in a power struggle with Obro Denoebang.
“-Eu-eum-!!!”
Obro Denoebang had no intention of indulging him in a power struggle.
Because he was one, and his opponents were three.
Out of annoyance, he flicked his wrist and shook the sword.
Even though it was a small flick, the blade trembled violently and began to dig into Secundus's gloves.
Even though it was a treasure of Horm, it was no different from a piece of paper before the sharpness of ‘Grayish-white Nobility’.
As it was obvious his hand would be cut off if this continued, Secundus had no choice but to let go of the hand gripping the sword.
Secundus released the blade.
Obro Denoebang dug into that gap.
It was a very brief moment, but for the man called the White Lord, it was exceedingly long.
The blade clawed at his exposed chest.
A long cut wound was left on Secundus's chest.
“Look at this one!”
Marina shrieked.
“My cute son, where is there a place to cut!”
She glared daggers and thrust her spear.
Secundus muttered to himself without realizing.
There are plenty of places to cut, Mother….
Marina paid him no mind and began to thrust her spear with her entire heart.
Just as you think she stabs, it is already after she has stabbed,
The Debius Forged Horn.
It was the Forged Horn, famous for being impossible to avoid, but that story did not apply to Obro Denoebang.
Obro had already finished preparing to avoid it before Marina employed the Forged Horn.
He avoided the Forged Horn with ease, and Marina bit her lip and twisted her spear again.
Nine horns, stabbing consecutively,
The Debius Nine-Forged Horns.
“…The Debius Forged Horn I had only heard of by word….”
Before the nine horns, Obro muttered.
He moved his wrist lightly.
“Experiencing it directly, it’s nothing special.”
Clang, clang, clang, the sound came three times.
With three slashes, he deflected all nine horns.
Marina felt like she was about to faint.
No matter how old she had gotten, she too was formerly one of the Ten Great Generals.
But she couldn't even fathom just where Obro was standing.
Obro Denoebang had no intention of being considerate of her astonishment.
“Is this how you do it?”
He briefly turned his sword backward.
It looked as if he was now about to be cut down.
But it was already after he had cut.
“Marina!”
Deballo intervened.
He blocked the Forged Horn imitated by the drunkard with an axe.
The axe's size was enormous.
It was to the point one wondered how on earth he was swinging it.
“To let the Debius Forged Horn be mocked. You should have practiced more!”
“…I did practice hard, Dad?”
“Hard isn't good enough. I'm telling you to be good at it.”
Deballo chuckled and struck down with his axe.
Just as you think it strikes down, it is already after it has struck,
Deballo Debius, the Thirty-Two-Forged Horns.
“!!!”
Obro Denoebang's eyes widened.
As expected, it was Deballo Debius.
The power and speed of each Forged Horn could not be compared to Marina's.
Thirty-two such Forged Horns at once.
Even if he was Obro Denoebang, he could not block them all.
“…Deballo Debius, you’re on a different level.”
A long wound was left on Obro's forearm.
Also, he was struck in the chest by the flat of the axe.
His skin was quickly stained a purplish-red.
“…Ugh. Did my… collarbone… break…?”
His breathing was ragged.
It was agonizing every time he breathed.
It throbbed, tightening his chest.
Having one's breath blocked was agonizing beyond compare.
And yet, it was familiar.
So, he ended up cackling.
“…Ah, right, that’s right….”
Obro Denoebang laughed.
While gripping ‘Grayish-white Nobility’, he began to laugh in front of the Debius three generations, shaking his head back and forth.
This feeling of his breath being blocked was so very welcome.
“…This, this was the agony.”
Laughing made it hurt even more.
It was even more agonizing.
Dozens of iron hooks seemed to catch between his ribs, trying to drag him deep into the earth, perhaps even to that Underworld.
Oh, this feeling of sinking.
Ooh, this absolute despair.
An agony such that, if there was even a slight possibility of experiencing this pain, one would absolutely not want to live anymore.
But Obro Denoebang knew.
This agony was merely a fragment.
Compared to the deep darkness he had passed through, it was less than a speck of dust.
“…That’s right. I was crushed by this agony for a long, long time. Even though I was trapped for so long, I had forgotten it so quickly….”
He recited.
The smell of nightmares dripped from every single word.
Both Marina and Secundus felt an inexplicable sense of being overwhelmed.
Obro Denoebang stroked his regrowing beard again, and gripped ‘Grayish-white Nobility’, which he had obtained through long hardship.
Laughter burst out.
From deep in his throat, along with the sound of phlegm boiling, a Keulkeul sound came out.
“…Ah, God! I have discovered your mercy yet again.”
Obro Denoebang looked at the sky.
He had come to realize.
Just how filthy and vermin-like the bastard called the White Lord, who was praised among humans, was.
The fact that the life he had lived until now was nothing but a terrible arrogance.
And yet, that he was still alive and living a shining day.
Therefore, he….
“This vermin-like bastard will thank you yet again.”
Amidst the agony, Obro Dsnoebang was more Obro Denoebang than ever.
Green demonic energy flickered amidst the gray strands of hair.
His eye sockets melted with a fishy sorrow, and only then was Grayish-white Nobility more steadfastly grayish-white than ever.
Obro Denoebang, having remembered what an impermanent being he was, revealed his very bottom without hesitation.
Therefore, even for the Debius three generations, there was no way not to be flustered.
Obro Denoebang, showing his demonic energy, did not seem human at all.
“……”
“…What, is this….”
“…How surprising.”
Obro chuckled.
“I am the crippled drunkard, Obro Denoebang.”
Marina and Secundus couldn't bring themselves to open their mouths.
They had not lived light lives, but before Obro's demonic energy, they felt like dust.
“I will die here with the three Debiuses.”
“…How can there be such a man!”
Deballo Debius jumped like a child.
The old general, over eighty, was so excited he felt like charging in right this instant.
“I am so happy! I’m going mad with joy! I want to die with you, Obro Denoebang!”
Deballo's eyes filled with regret.
“…However, I suppose I cannot. Hasn't an uninvited guest arrived.”
Another swordsman had appeared.
His eyes were jade-colored.
* * *
“…My, it's been a while.”
Marina Debius greeted him.
“It’s been 7 years for us, right?”
“Greetings, Your Highness Marina.”
“Goodness. What ‘Your Highness’ after betraying Cordis. You, you’re Amethus, right?”
“Yes.”
Amethus bowed his head deeply.
He was already gripping his cherished double-edged sword.
Marina recognized the double-edged sword he gripped as the same one from 7 years ago.
Amethus murmured quietly.
“Amethus Aretion.”
“…Aretion.”
Marina touched her lips.
Deballo also made a Keung, sound.
Were those jade-colored eyes the color of Hobel Bay.
“…I see. So that’s why you left Cordis.”
“……”
Amethus did not answer.
Instead, he stood beside Obro, gripping his sword.
The White Lord did not stop him.
He just looked as if his excitement had cooled a bit.
Marina whispered in Deballo's ear.
“Dad, this jade-eyed one is no pushover either.”
“Hmm. Less than Obro Denoebang, but equally inhuman.”
“If we face the White Lord and the jade-eyed one at the same time, it really seems like all three of us will have to die.”
“It seems so.”
“Should we let them go?”
“It seems we'll have to.”
Deballo glanced sideways.
“What is Grand General Secundus's opinion?”
“Hmm. If the three of us die, the Empire's seventy-thousand soldiers will become a ragtag army. We cannot let that happen.”
“That means you want to let them go.”
Secundus shrugged.
From the beginning, he only had the desire to avoid a fierce battle.
Rather than daring to fight with his life on the line, he hoped that more lives would lead longer lives.
If he could let Amethus and Obro Denoebang go just like this, he could not ask for more.
Deballo Debius crossed his arms.
“We’ve broken the stone wall… and achieved a grand first victory, so it should be fine to let them flee.”
Deballo said that in all sincerity.
He had not shown his true abilities at all yet.
He hadn't even brought out his Ars.
He had the desire to fight more, but there was nothing particular to be gained.
The old general gestured with his chin.
“Go, you two swordsmen.”
Obro and Amethus quieted their eyes.
“Tell your master that this time, he has been defeated.”
Deballo had already seen through it.
Who was behind them?
For me, it was the thing I wanted to avoid the most.
“And you’ll also have to tell him to get used to defeat.”
The old general chuckled.
“Because from now on, it will be a whole lot of failure.”