Chapter 192
Chapter 192: Farewell, My Old Comrade
Kkaaaang! Kkaaaang!
“Flank them from the right!”
“Aaaarghhhh!”
Lucilis and his subordinates thrust their swords forward.
“Hey, Vice-Captain! Pick up the pace!”
“Why don’t you get your head straight!”
Manton and Beryl also charged forward without pause, engaging Veritarun’s blade head-on.
Dozens of sparks flew every second, and with every breath, life was on the line as lethal blades flashed.
It was, without a doubt, a blood-drenched battle.
Yet, right at the center of it all, the Berserker taking a glorious beating…
“Varlach! Varlaaaaach!”
…was screaming, but somehow… he looked like he was having fun.
It sounded ridiculous, but I could feel it.
That bastard was genuinely enjoying this fight.
‘Because that’s just the kind of guy he was.’
---
“Varlach, fight me!”
“No.”
“Come on, fight!”
“I said no!”
---
He was a lunatic who would shove his sword into someone’s face and swing it at the slightest provocation.
A madman who lived to prove himself through the blade every moment, who thought that was the only reason to live.
And so…
‘We got along pretty quickly.’
Crack. Creak.
I focused all my awareness into my lower abdomen.
Two cores, split to each side.
They were now drawing up all the remaining mana.
Kkaaaang! Kkaaaang!
“Damn it! Where’s all this power coming from?!”
Lucilis, Beryl, and Manton were buying me exactly one minute.
Within this one minute… I had to prepare the technique that would utterly destroy my old comrade from the distant past.
‘Never thought I’d have to use this so soon.’
Connecting the mana circuits to the two cores.
It was an attempt to increase mana transmission and enhance overall abilities.
But… that wasn’t all.
‘I actually came up with a perfect technique tailored for this form.’
A new technique born after months of intense contemplation.
Due to the nature of how it was activated, it came with significant risk…
But there would be no better moment than now to unleash it.
‘Let’s do this.’
Crackle! Crack-crackle!
When the power of the cores was pushed to its very limit—
Rather than releasing that power outward, I had the two cores meet in the middle.
As the two streams of energy collided, an overwhelming agony surged through me.
As if a fire had ignited inside my body.
A normal person wouldn’t even dare attempt such a reckless act.
But there was one truth I believed in.
‘To reach the domain of a madman… you’ve got to do mad things.’
Szzzt! Szzzzzt!
I forced the two repelling energies into a single point.
Just a little more… just a little further.
As the heat in my abdomen flared like it would combust, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Sssssssssssssss!
Smoke began to rise from my body, and my hair fluttered as it started to take on a faint blue glow.
And in the meantime—
Kkaaaang! Kkaaaang!
“Damn it! What is this guy?!”
“Are you not ready yet, Young Master Hardin?!”
My current comrades, clashing swords with my old comrade from the past, called out to me in desperation.
Well, of course they would.
That bastard was once known as one of the Five Swords of the Empire.
There was even a time when he was offered the position of Captain of the Imperial Knights, and every one of the Seven Great Houses—except Daphne—scrambled to recruit him.
How could anyone possibly handle a man who had achieved all of that with just a sword?
But even so—
‘You have to die here.’
For the sake of all the others who perished by your hand.
To offer at least a sliver of comfort to those cursed lives.
And…
‘So that I won’t have to keep feeling like this anymore.’
Sshhkk!
I stretched my sword far behind me.
My right arm, laced with mana circuits running from the cores all the way to my fingertips.
Vmmmmmm!
It released a soft blue glow, forming the path of mana.
Huff, huff, huff.
I took deep breaths and stared straight ahead.
“Varlach! Varlaaaach!”
Calling out the name—no, the name that used to be mine—as I stared directly into the wild eyes of my deranged old comrade.
“Stop calling it. I’m leaving now.”
I pulled my lips into a sharp grin and shouted.
“Move, all of youuuuuuu!”
The knights who had been fending him off instantly stepped aside as if they had been waiting for that signal.
“Varlach! Varlaaaach!”
Veritarun charged at me, drooling from his mouth.
Whether he was happy or angry—I couldn’t tell.
And at that moment—
Crackkkle!
I released the force that had been holding the two cores’ energy in check.
“Stop calling it, you bastard.”
I thrust my right arm forward.
Manjo First Style – Sea Ray.
The signature thrusting technique of Wave Swordsmanship exploded forward.
Crack-crack-crackkkle!
The energy condensed within the cores burst out like lightning.
It followed the mana circuits etched into my arm with zero loss, pushing forward, landing on the blade at the exact moment needed.
“Varlaaaach!”
In that instant, Veritarun swung his massive greatsword.
Kkaaaaaaang!
My sword shattered his greatsword completely—
“Wh–… kuheuk!”
—and crashed right into his body as I pressed forward.
Kwaaaaaaaah!
A blue light surged in waves, continuously driving ahead.
Forming a massive wave of light, it surged forward in the blink of an eye… a flash of light like a tidal wave.
It swallowed Veritarun whole, blasting his body backward.
And just as that strike reached its end—
KWAANG!
A pillar of blue light shot up into the sky from that very spot, forming a massive updraft like a dragon ascending to the heavens.
“Haaah… haah… haaaah. Ptoo!”
I spat out a mouthful of dark red blood.
“Haaah…”
My comrades watching from behind turned pale with shock.
‘What the hell kind of attack was that just now?’
‘You’re telling me a mere knight can pull that off?’
That single strike I unleashed moments ago—
It had looked even more powerful, more devastating, than the Meteor spell cast in unison by five Imperial mages to break down a fortress gate.
And on top of that—
“Young Master, a-are you alright?”
“Your arm…”
Szzzzzzzzz!
The arm I had used to launch the attack… had turned pitch black like charcoal.
The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air, and there were spots where the skin had peeled away, exposing raw muscle underneath.
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
I forced a smile while suppressing the pain.
Of course, in truth…
‘Yeah… I definitely can’t use this often.’
It honestly felt like I had stepped right up to death’s door and peeked inside.
If I had lost control of the core’s energy for even a second, or if the mana circuits embedded in my arm had been even slightly defective, I would’ve lost the entire arm to that reckless attack.
But so what?
‘I’m Hardin, after all.’
In the world of the sword… no one’s crazier than me.
Just then, Lucilis shouted,
“Young Master Hardin! Please, we need to treat your wound—!”
“Ah, not yet.”
I waved him off as if I were fine, then walked forward.
Toward the end of the battlefield I had created, where smoke still rose.
Following the path scorched by the flash, I finally reached the end—and from the thick cloud of smoke ahead, I heard a groan.
“Ghhrrrrrr…”
Whoosh!
I swung my sword, scattering the smoke, and in the center stood a charred lump.
It had horns protruding from its forehead, and wolf-like eyes—
A charcoal figure that looked exactly like a muscular man I once knew.
“Varlach… Varlach…”
The lump spoke.
With pitiful eyes.
I answered him.
“Veritarun…”
CRACKKLE!
My sword drove deep into the center of that charred chest.
“Rest well.”
CRUNCH! CRACK!
I twisted it, shredding him from within.
“Varlach… Var… lach…”
The last flicker in Veritarun’s eyes faded.
Only once he finally fell into complete silence—
“Haaaaah…”
Thud!
—I collapsed where I stood, then sprawled out flat.
“I… need to rest for a bit.”
This time, I really pushed myself way too damn hard.
“Y-Young Master!”
“Young Master Hardin!”
I heard their voices from beyond the edge of consciousness.
With great effort, I pulled my lips into a weak grin and muttered to myself.
“I’ll leave the cleanup to you…”
And then my vision… faded into deep, heavy darkness.
---
---
In the abyssal world filled with nothing but darkness—
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”
“Kyahhhh! Let go of me!”
“You, too… come here…”
From somewhere far off, I heard the screams of the dead, and saw arms swaying faintly in the darkness.
A space so chilling, even just seeing it sent a shiver down the spine.
And right in the middle of it stood Hardin… no—Varlach Daphne.
And across from him—
“It’s been a long time, Varlach.”
A man stood there—one who had lived a life like a wolf, no—who was a wolf in every sense.
The moment I saw that awkward smile on his face, I furrowed my brows and snapped back with a scowl.
“The hell are you babbling about, you crazy bastard? That’s what you’ve got to say to me?”
Maybe because I’d put him on the spot, the wolf-man scratched his head awkwardly and answered in a low, cautious voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For everything. For… all of it.”
When the wolf-man couldn’t even lift his head, I let out a deep sigh and asked again.
“Just tell me one thing. Why the hell did you do all that crazy shit?”
“…I wanted to beat you. I wanted to win against you.”
“You wanted to beat me? That’s the goddamn reason you pulled all that crap?”
When I responded with utter disbelief, the wolf closed his eyes tightly and opened them again as he replied.
“The sword was the reason I lived.”
“…Idiot. What a load of dogshit.”
As I spoke, my voice full of irritation, a bitter expression appeared on Veritarun’s face.
“I agree.”
“Piss off. And drop straight into hell while you’re at it, you bastard.”
“Yeah… I guess I should.”
The moment Veritarun said those words—
“Come here…”
“You’re coming with us…”
Black hands of the dead stretched out from behind him, reaching to drag him in.
His body was soon swallowed by the darkness.
I watched quietly.
With a face that looked… somehow both sad and bitter.
Veritarun’s gaze wavered, and he, too, gave off an air of sorrow.
Just before his body was completely consumed by the shadows—
“Varlach.”
“What.”
“I’m sorry. And… thank you.”
“Haaaaah… You’re just full of it, all the way to the end…”
I answered, resting my hand against my forehead.
A complicated, delicate expression.
And with that… Veritarun was fully engulfed by the darkness and vanished without a trace.
---
---
“Young Master! Young Master!”
“Ughhh…”
Someone shook my shoulder and shouted.
Were they… calling for me?
Hardin slowly opened his eyes.
A pounding pain like his skull was about to split.
As he shook his head and looked around, he saw Beryl and Manton staring at him, their faces full of worry.
“What’s the situation? What about Veritarun? The monsters?”
“Veritarun is…”
Manton tried to explain, but someone else spoke first.
“You defeated him, Young Master. As for the remaining monsters, the rest of the unit took care of them.”
When I turned my head, I saw Lucilis standing there, looking down at me with a pitiful expression.
“Whew… Thank goodness.”
So that technique of mine… it must’ve landed well.
As I let out a breath of relief and released the tension in my body, Lucilis asked again.
“Is your injury… are you alright?”
“Injury?”
“Your arm. You suffered a serious wound. We used potions and had the mages perform emergency healing, but… they said there’s no guarantee.”
“Ah.”
I turned my gaze to my right arm.
The skin on the surface had turned black, and at a glance, it was clear the condition wasn’t good.
Poke, poke.
‘Feels a little numb, but I can still move my fingers fine… and the mana circuits seem intact too.’
I smiled faintly and said,
“Yeah, I think I’m alright. If I eat well and get some rest, this kind of injury’ll heal up in no time.”
“That’s a relief to hear. Then let’s head out through the portal. You can receive proper treatment once we return.”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
I stood up from where I’d been lying and let out a long sigh before asking,
“Oh, one more thing I’m curious about.”
“Yes?”
“Veritarun’s corpse… what happened to it?”
“It completely disintegrated. Not even a speck of dust remained.”
“I see.”
A bitter look came across my face.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Let’s just get out of here.”
“As you wish.”
And just like that… the final period was placed at the end of the Veritarun Subjugation.