Chapter 157
Chapter 157
The Honor of the Lily (3)
Ethan absolutely couldn’t tolerate anything that would diminish his own dignity or that of his family.
On top of that, from Ethan Vasella’s perspective, Kairus was nothing more than one of countless criminals wandering the city. People said what he accomplished was impressive, but in essence, it was still a crime.
‘How dare he, to me.’
Compared to that, what kind of man was Ethan? He was a recognized powerhouse anywhere he went, the head of the Vasella family, famed for their spear techniques. His frugal lifestyle was part of his training, forging a strong spirit and a solid body.
“Are you scared?”
And now Kairus was picking a fight with someone like Ethan. For Ethan, it was enough to make him go crazy.
“Fine, sure. I’ll set the time and place. But I’ll say this now—don’t hold a grudge, even if you die.”
Kairus didn’t respond. In truth, he was just as nervous. He had to go up against the head of the Vasella family.
If he had been truly confident, he wouldn’t have stalled like this. With Kairus’s personality, he would’ve kicked in the door, drawn his sword, and said, ‘You punk, let’s settle this,’ before breaking into a blade dance right then and there.
It was a move he didn’t want to make if he could avoid it—so he put it off. Of all the people Kairus had ever fought properly, he was convinced Ethan Vasella would be the strongest.
“I’ll feed you before we fight, so you’d better prepare yourself.”
Even if Ethan Vasella didn’t kill Kairus, he fully intended to beat him into a bloody pulp.
Naturally, there was no way they’d share a table in a situation like this.
“If I win, the gates to the Vasella family’s storage will open for me.”
“Ha!”
Ethan let out a loud laugh before replying.
“If you’re right and you’re not qualified, then you have no right to even possess it. If I lose to someone like you, then it means those things were never meant to be in the Vasella family’s hands.”
Kairus gave a slight bow in silent gratitude. After Ethan stormed out, Irena immediately turned to Kairus.
“You might end up regretting this. Ethan Vasella is a powerhouse.”
Though he didn’t serve in the military due to his duties as family head, if he ever expressed interest in joining any knight order, he could claim the lieutenant’s seat on the spot. In fact, the Vasella family had produced a fair number of Medal Knights.
“You’d know better than I would. The Vasella spear techniques, Orentia. Can you tell me their characteristics?”
In response to Kairus’s question, Irena answered without hesitation.
“The defense is smooth, but the offense is solid.”
When defending against an opponent’s attack, it uses the long spear shaft and wrist to redirect force. In the hands of a skilled user, it’s said the enemy’s weapon and the spear shaft never part once they’ve made contact.
As soon as a gap opened up while blocking the opponent’s attack, a ferocious thrust of immense power would shoot forward.
“No follow-up attacks?”
“Vasella spear techniques are all about that one strike.”
Just like lightning, the thrust was followed by an equally lightning-fast spear recovery, returning immediately to a defensive stance, waiting for the next opening.
“A long spear, then.”
“A pike. Orentia spear techniques show their full strength when using a pike.”
It was a spear boasting a length of over five meters. While they were talking, their meal was served.
“You’ve done your best to make sure no one can say you couldn’t fight because you were hungry.”
It was a hearty meal. Seems they still intended to offer proper hospitality.
“The dueling ground is in the backyard training yard.”
As dessert was served, a servant informed them of the location.
‘I’ll keep my promise. Even if the Veil of Plumed Mist is there.’
It wouldn’t be stored somewhere visible. It must be hidden. That’s why Ethan agreed to this bet in the first place. The items in the storage might be significant, but likely not something on the level of the Veil of Plumed Mist.
Of course, all of this was based on the assumption that Ethan actually had the Veil of Plumed Mist.
“Ah, that hit the spot.”
Kairus stood up and headed straight for the backyard training yard. Ethan was already standing there, fully armored in what looked like a silver-white plate mail Add-On, gripping a pike of monstrous length.
“Bring all your equipment with you. I have no intention of treating this like an ordinary spar with someone who insulted me and my family.”
His opponent was serious. The spear appeared to be the kind used in real combat, and the full-body armor was formidable.
Kairus responded by tapping Evergreen wrapped around his hand and checked the flask at his waist.
“By the time it’s over, only one of us will be walking out of here.”
Instead of replying, Ethan answered with a thud—the sound of the pike’s butt slamming into the training ground echoed through the air.
“Until I hear the word ‘surrender’, I’ll take it as a sign that you’re still willing to fight.”
At Ethan’s words, Kairus nodded and drew his sword. A servant stood to the side holding a coin.
The duel would begin the moment that coin hit the ground.
‘A spear and a sword, huh.’
Before he could even finish the thought—boom! With a thunderous crash, the tip of the spear was already in front of Kairus’s nose.
“!”
His body moved before his mind could react, instinctively trying to knock the spear aside. As the sword clashed with the spear, the shaft moved along with the motion of the blade, cunningly twisting its path.
The sword moved, and the hand holding it moved with it.
“You—!”
Just as he tried to use strength to block it, the spear shaft shifted again, as if it had been waiting for that moment.
Unlike before, this time, it combined with the force Kairus was using to push back.
Kairus blocked the pike’s thrust, which flew at him like a viper, using Evergreen.
“This is disappointing.”
Tutuk—several wood splinters fell from the back of Evergreen’s hand, where a crack had formed.
“Yeah? Think what you like.”
With a sharp inhale, Kairus drew in air deep into his lungs and accelerated. The shaft of the spear followed his swinging sword like a shadow.
“You think I’m a fool!?”
He wasn’t going to fall for the same trick twice. Kairus kicked toward the spear shaft.
Thunk. The shaft that had been moving along with the sword was struck by the kick and jolted upward.
Using the momentum of his charge, Kairus dropped into a slide to quickly close the distance.
“I’ll give you credit for trying.”
At that moment, what caught Kairus’s eyes was Ethan’s armor, lit up with glowing red runes.
“Wha… ghk!?”
With a sound like a drumbeat, a shockwave rippled outward in concentric circles, slamming into Kairus’s body and forcing him to halt his slide.
“By the light.”
As Kairus tried to recover from the sudden blow, a blinding flash ignited from the tip of Ethan’s spear, aiming right for him.
His vision went white, then black. Just like staring directly into the sun—he was momentarily blinded.
“…!”
At this rate, he’d be finished without even putting up a proper fight.
The moment to decide came and went in a flash. Kairus raised his output and slammed his sword into the ground with all his strength.
Centered around him, a gale with the power to blow away a car surged outward. Even Ethan couldn’t dare approach in the face of that force.
A brief moment carved out in a dire situation.
‘He’s the kind of opponent I need to go all out against.’
Kairus had known that from the start—but he hadn’t expected Ethan to go full force from the very beginning.
He reached his conclusion. As his vision cleared and the wind that had shielded him died down—
“…?”
Ethan caught the faint tremor buzzing at the edge of his hearing. Kairus’s sword was vibrating, and the hip flask hanging at his waist began to emit mist.
“Let’s see you try sticking to the spear shaft again.”
“Sure, why not.”
As Kairus advanced, the spear moved to block him.
If he moved his sword to bat the spear away, Ethan would make the shaft and sword meet, then subtly twist the direction of the force.
“What the hell is this?”
Kagagagak! The shaft, touched by the blade, began to tremble faintly. The terrifyingly fast-vibrating blade transmitted a constant hum, gradually gnawing at the shaft.
Like a woodpecker boring into a tree. The blade, though only barely, began to damage the spear shaft.
“With this thing…”
But the pace of the damage was excruciatingly slow. It left Ethan with more than enough time to disrupt Kairus’s movement and drive the spear through any opening.
“Don’t you dare disgrace the name of Vasella!”
The shaft moved, and Kairus’s balance broke.
Kairus barely managed to block the spear thrust aimed at his chest, then advanced again.
The spear blocked his path, and whenever he tried to bat it away with his sword, the shaft would cling to the blade instantly.
If this process repeated endlessly, the accumulated impact and damage would weigh down on Kairus, and he’d never manage to close the distance between them.
“…You crazy bastard.”
It was a duel that should’ve ended just like that. But Ethan noticed something suspicious during their last clash.
The part of the spear shaft Kairus’s vibrating blade had touched was exactly where he’d managed to grind it down earlier.
“You better hope your battle gear is tougher than mine.”
If it wasn’t, then eventually, the gradually eroded shaft would snap with a crack. The cutting power of a vibration blade powered by Nimbus was that potent.
‘It’s actually chipped a bit.’
Just slightly—but thanks to two passes, a small groove had formed. From now on, Kairus’s blade would make contact with the shaft even more precisely.
Think.
What remained were the blinding flash from the spear and the shockwave that burst out when approaching. Kairus had to overcome both if he wanted to land a meaningful blow on Ethan.
“Clever trick, but nothing changes!”
The flash exploded.
“Why wouldn’t anything change? I knew this was coming!”
At that moment, dense mist gushed from the hip flask. While Kairus’s vision was blinded, Ethan’s was now obscured by fog.
If neither of them could see, then the playing field was level.
‘You idiot.’
But Ethan wasn’t worried. Their weapons were in contact. Through the movements transmitted along the spear tip, he could sense Kairus’s position and control his motion.
“Nothing’s changed!”
While Kairus’s sight was still returning, Ethan swept his spear wide, clearing the fog. In that fleeting moment, he confirmed the damage to the shaft.
‘It’ll hold for about an hour.’
Even chipped, this wasn’t an ordinary spear. It would take over an hour of fighting before it would actually break. With sustained, accumulated blows in mind, Kairus wouldn’t last that long.
If they kept repeating this, Ethan would win for sure.
With that conclusion, Ethan made no adjustments to his tactics. Sword and spear locked, both their visions impaired.
And so, the fight repeated several more times.
“This is all you’ve got? Did the Treasury Chief misjudge you?!”
Thud! Kairus’s body was knocked back once again by another powerful thrust.
“Or are you just some thug good at nothing but crime?! You little—!”
Again.
A flash blinded Kairus, fog veiled Ethan’s sight. He sensed Kairus’s movement through the spear’s vibrations, then broke his opponent’s stance and swept away the fog with his spear.
“A trump card…”
As the mist cleared, Ethan found himself blankly staring at his weapon. His spear had turned into a black-and-white mosaic instead of its original form.
“…This is how it’s supposed to be used.”
With a flicker, both Ethan’s spear and the mosaic disappeared. In the same moment, with Rear Node, Kairus shot toward Ethan like an arrow.
The shockwave from the armor required output from his battle gear. Now that his spear was gone, Ethan’s armor could no longer generate the shockwave.
“Kh… ghaah!”
Kairus’s fist crashed into Ethan’s chest. The front of his armor crumpled inward, and blood trickled from Ethan’s mouth.
Fifteen seconds.
Kairus made the most of the time he had. He invested every second—without waste—into beating Ethan senseless.