The Mad Dog of the Empire Has Returned

Chapter 51. Was this a setup?

“What the?”

Bryn looked around, his demeanor turning hostile.

“Pull up your pants and wipe your mouth. What the hell is that disgusting sight? You’re not a dog, are you?”

“You son of a bitch! What the hell! Who is it?”

Bryn shoved Serena aside and struggled to find me.

“Would you even know who I am if I told you?”

He would if he saw my bare face, but I had no intention of showing him.

“You coward. What? Scared to talk to my face? Is that why you’re hiding and chirping like a rat?”

“Can you even handle it if I stand before you?”

“Handle it, my ass. If you’ve got the guts, come out! You dog-like bastard.”

“You’re the dog. Not me.”

I clicked my tongue and revealed myself before Bryn.

“What are you?”

Bryn looked me up and down, a crooked smile spreading across his face as he took in my masked appearance.

A scoff escaped me. It was obvious he was looking down on me because of my smaller build.

“Ha! Seriously, because of a punk like that, I missed such an important opportunity.”

“Is sexual assault an opportunity?”

“What? Hey! This isn't sexual assault…”

Bryn stopped mid-sentence and glared at me. He let out a series of hollow laughs and sauntered over as if he understood something.

“You son of a bitch. Did you plan all this?”

Bryn’s eyes were filled with rage. He turned to Serena, his fists clenched so tight they were drained of color.

“Did you conspire with this bastard to mess with me? Hey! You bitch! I was so good to you, and now you’re screwing me over?”

“No, that’s…”

“Shut up!”

He unleashed his pent-up anger at Serena without restraint. At this rate, he looked like he might hit or stab her.

I moved to block her from Bryn’s line of sight. This way, it would be difficult for him to harm her directly.

“My, my. You’re quite the chatterbox.”

His personality was awful, and his voice was so loud it made my ears ring.

“Ha! What’s your relationship with Serena? What kind of relationship do you have that you’d conspire to pull this shit?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“What?”

“Hmm… looking at your face, you don’t seem to get it. Why do you think Serena called you out in the middle of the night? Did you think she called you to kiss while watching the moon?”

Bryn’s face turned bright red. He gritted his teeth and, without hesitation, drew the sword at his hip.

“W-what do we do?”

Serena, terrified, trembled and grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“Are you scared?”

“He, he’s strong.”

“There’s a limit to how strong he can be.”

When Serena saw my nonchalant reaction, she let out a hot breath, her face on the verge of tears. She looked up at me and shook her head.

“He’s really strong. He’s stronger than the 4th Prince.”

Now that was a slightly interesting story.

Hans’s reputation within the academy was considerable. The rumors said that he had separately learned the royal family’s swordsmanship and that no ordinary student was a match for him. I became curious to see how much stronger this guy was than Hans.

“You crazy bastards. Whispering right in front of me? Hey, you. Take off the mask.”

Bryn aimed his sword at me and spoke in a commanding tone.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You clueless bastard. I’m trying to save your life right now. It’ll be a mess if I kill a student.”

“Ah… so you’re planning to kill me?”

“You bastard. Scared? Then take it off. I’ll let you live.”

Bryn’s eyes, fixed on me, were filled with murderous intent. Whether I took off the mask or not, his desire to kill me was overflowing.

‘Interesting.’

I grew more curious about the basis of his confidence, his absolute certainty of victory without even gauging his opponent’s level. What kind of swordsmanship did he use, and what was its level of mastery?

Since coming to the academy, I hadn’t crossed swords with a proper student. Armand… he wasn’t a proper student, so he didn’t count. In any case, after clashing swords with this guy, Bryn, I felt like I could get a small taste of the academy’s level.

“How many circles?”

“What? Feeling like you’re about to get a hole in your stomach, so you want to take off the mask? Take it off. Then I’ll pierce you without pain, no. Just painfully enough that you won’t die.”

“Just answer the question. Why so much useless chatter? Are you always like this?” Read complete versıon only at novel⸺fire.net

“I’ll make it really fucking painful for you. So much that you’ll beg me to just kill you!”

Bryn, having reached the limit of his patience, kicked off the ground.

“Save me!”

Serena cried out and collapsed to the ground.

I nudged her with my scabbard and said, ‘Go to where Armand is when the fight starts.’

“Die!”

Bryn’s sword aimed for my shoulder, boasting incredible speed.

‘Not bad.’

It was a textbook thrust. An amateur would have been overcome by his emotions and aimed for a vital spot with a large motion, but he didn’t make that mistake. Though the words ‘Die!’ were completely out of place.

Clang!

I twisted my body and lightly deflected his attack. Then, I used my sword to strike his upwards.

To regain his balance, Bryn quickly withdrew his sword and stepped back.

His judgment wasn’t bad. A man who had neglected his swordsmanship training would have tried to do something from a compromised position.

“Huh?”

Bryn’s brow furrowed menacingly. It seemed he had been confident in his thrust.

“You, who the hell are you?”

He asked, tilting his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“What are you going to do with that information?”

“Ha! You think you’re all that just because you blocked it once? You’re just itching to die, aren’t you?”

“No, who exactly is going to kill whom here?”

“This bastard, really!”

Bryn gripped his sword with both hands. He took a deep breath, his eyes hardening. The flow of air around him changed abruptly.

I readjusted my grip on my sword and stimulated my mana heart. The mana heart, larger than before, spread the mana it held throughout my body. My senses sharpened. The flow of mana floating in the air became clearly visible. The mana around Bryn spiraled and entered his heart.

‘With that amount, he seems to have filled the 1st Circle, but not yet the 2nd Circle.’

If nothing else, the amount of mana he breathed was greater than Hans’s, whom I had met before. Serena’s words that Bryn was stronger than Hans might be true. Even so, he was still just 1st Circle.

“Sonic Slash!”

What? He even named his technique? But why shout it out? So tacky.

Fweee!

The form that cut through the air wasn’t bad. Seeing the sky-blue mana floating around the sword, it seemed the god he contracted with was Benetuo, the master of wind.

I raised my sword and blocked Bryn’s attack, which came straight at me.

Ting.

The unpleasant sound of a piece of the blade chipping off rang out. It was something that would never have happened with Dawn, but because I was using a cheap sword Armand brought to hide my identity, it got chipped after just two attacks.

“You blocked this?”

Bryn frowned, looking annoyed. No, I think that was just his normal face. He looked annoyed when he smiled, annoyed when he cried, so I couldn’t tell what was what. Other than the fact that he was ugly.

“From now on, I will show no mercy.”

As if he’d seen it somewhere, he lowered his voice and spoke threateningly. But did he know? That such lines were usually spoken by villains.

“Do everything you can.”

“You bastard!”

Bryn drew a line in the air. Sky-blue mana gathered there.

Paang!

A sharp wind rushed towards me as if a sword wave had been unleashed.

Kwang! Kwakwang!

With a loud roar, dust scattered everywhere.

“Huh? Uh… huh?”

I heard Serena’s bewildered voice. I told her to get far away, but it seemed she was hiding and watching the fight instead.

“I-is he dead? N-no way…”

This time, I heard Armand’s voice. Was the reason they didn’t flee because they were sizing up me and Bryn? Tsk, tsk.

“Who are you? Are you with that bastard… Aren’t you Armand?”

“N-no!”

“The voice and build match. You son of a bitch. What the hell are you? Did you plan all this?

To get me out of the way and take that position?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do it!”

“Serena! You tell me! You conspired with that bastard, right? Did he say he’d give you money if you made me look like an idiot? Huh? Tell me!”

Through the thinning dust, I could see Bryn shouting at Armand and Serena.

Armand and Serena, seemingly crushed by Bryn’s fury, just swallowed hard and watched him warily.

“You sons of bitches! Fucking speak! If you don’t, I’ll rip both your mouths open!”

Bryn swore as naturally as he breathed and walked towards Armand and Serena.

A sigh escaped me on its own.

“You’ve got the wrong question.”

Bryn stopped walking. Then he looked at me with a surprised face.

***

‘Who the hell is that bastard?’

Bryn stared, wide-eyed, at the masked man, Maxim, standing perfectly fine. It was an unbelievable sight.

‘I’m sure I hit him.’

It was the best attack he could muster. It mimicked a sword wave, but it was destructive enough to cause an explosion. It was also as fast as sound.

‘He couldn’t have dodged it!’

He saw it with his own two eyes—the decisive blow carried by mana striking Maxim. So Maxim should have been on the ground. He should have been critically injured and begging for his life. Yet, Maxim stood there nonchalantly, without a single scratch on him.

A bead of sweat formed on Bryn’s forehead. He tightened his grip on his sword. It was a tension he had never felt before.

“Hoo.”

Bryn took a deep breath to hide any signs of nervousness. He tensed his entire body to suppress even the slightest tremor. Then, he gripped his sword with both hands and aimed it at Maxim.

Seeing this, Maxim shook his head as if fed up.

“How stupid do you have to be to keep repeating that foolish question? Why is it so important who planned this?”

And then, step by step, he walked towards Bryn.

Bryn swallowed dryly. Where Maxim had been standing, the mark of the sword strike carried by the wind was clear.

“You seem to think you’re something special. You’re just a count’s son, right? Not even the official heir.”

Maxim said.

“Shut up!”

“All you know how to do is shout. Do you think you’re something because you’re next to Hans? Because you’re dumber than Hans but can wield a sword a little? Is that why your shoulders are all puffed up?”

“Hey, you bastard! Watch your mouth.”

Maxim, letting out a chuckle, stopped walking. Then he stared at Bryn with a gaze that held a chilling coldness.

Bryn quickly drew in a short breath. He calculated the distance between himself and his opponent with his eyes.

‘It’s tricky.’

It was a distance where a thrust wouldn’t quite reach. But it was a distance from which he could close in on his opponent in a single breath.

‘I just need to find an opening and cut him down in one go.’

Bryn judged that dragging out the time would be to his disadvantage. So he decided to finish it in one go, to end it with a single blow even if the opponent died.

‘Where’s the opening? The opening!’

Not the side.

Not the chest.

Definitely not the neck.

Shoulder, leg, arm… he couldn’t see an opening.

‘Why? He’s just standing there.’

Bryn, who had been full of confidence in his swordsmanship, felt a wall for the first time in his life. He hadn’t even gotten a proper look at his opponent’s sword. He had only seen two small movements.

“Done with your calculations?”

Maxim said with a smile.

Bryn couldn’t see Maxim’s smile. It was hidden by the mask. But he could read Maxim’s eyes. And he had a gut feeling. That a great danger was about to befall him.

“Let me give you one piece of advice before we start. Don’t trust anything you haven’t obtained with your own hands. If you act cocky believing in it, you’ll get your neck sliced off before you know it.”

“……”

Bryn couldn’t even open his mouth against the sheer presence of Maxim, who approached as he spoke.

‘It’s… enormous.’

In Bryn’s eyes, Maxim, with his gleaming gaze, looked like a giant tiger.

“I’ll start the same way as you. Left shoulder.”

Pak!

With Maxim’s words, his form blurred.

Stab!

Bryn’s pupils dilated to more than twice their size. His body staggered back violently. A stream of crimson blood spurted from his shoulder.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Bryn screamed in agony.

“Hey, you should have dodged that. What’s the point if you can’t dodge even when I tell you?”

“Krrgh.”

“Stop making dog noises and get into position.”

Maxim flicked the blood off his sword and waited for Bryn to get up.

Bryn breathed raggedly and looked around. His eyes landed on Armand standing next to Serena.

“A-Armand. Help me. If you help me, I’ll…”

“Are you a real idiot? He came here with me. Can’t you see we’re wearing the same thing?”

Maxim let out a hollow breath as if in disbelief.

“Who, who the hell are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

“Haa. You’re really hopeless. Didn’t I tell you earlier that you’ve got the wrong question?”

“……”

“If you don’t remember, you’ll just have to get hit. You’ll remember eventually if you get hit enough.”

Maxim sheathed his sword and approached Bryn, who was trembling like a frightened dog.

‘Don’t ask me to save you, I’m not going to kill you. I will beat you until you wish you were dead, but it’s fine. You won’t die,’ he said.

And Armand and Serena, who were watching this, had faces filled with terror as if they had come face to face with a demon.

The moon was exceptionally bright that night.