Chapter 106 : Chapter 106
Chapter 106. Beyond Imagination
“Woooah!”
The cheers of the knights and soldiers echoed.
“He beat another one?”
“How many does that make?”
“F-five.”
“Wow, damn. What is he? Didn’t they say he was just a little brat?”
“He is a little brat. A damn strong little brat.”
The soldiers clenched their fists and chattered about Maxim. Unaware that they were standing on the bright yellow line Chris had drawn.
Kaang!
The knight who had dropped his sword rolled on the ground.
Maxim held Dawn upside down and gasped for breath.
White steam obscured his sweat-stained face.
“Hooah! Anymore? What kind of bastards are you? You call yourselves a shield! Can you shout about being a shield and all that when you fight like this?”
The soldiers jeered.
Maxim paid them no mind and shouted, ‘Shut up! If you’re confident, come out and prove it!’
A hot tension flowed between Maxim, the soldiers, and the knights.
Before the duel, it had been a cold tension filled with killing intent, but now, the feeling of longing for victory was strong.
At this, Saint-Sard approached Rodrigo.
“Is this the rumored 5th Prince?”
“What rumors have you heard?”
“What rumors, you ask…”
“Our Highness is a man of many twists and turns. The rumors before he was injured and after he was injured are completely different.”
Saint-Sard scratched his forehead and looked at Maxim.
“I heard he was frail.”
He had heard he was bullied, but he couldn't say that to Rodrigo.
“That's in the past. He's a completely different person now.”
“A different person…”
He certainly seemed so.
Before he went to pick up Maxim, Chris had summoned him separately.
‘When it comes to information about Uresra, the Prince will know the most.’
Saint-Sard had not believed Chris's words.
How could a loner obtain information?
‘You know that search operation everyone is against? I was thinking, how about doing it with the Prince.’
He had thought he was suggesting it deliberately because of the rough atmosphere in the north.
Since he was a timid prince, it was obvious he would be ignored and bullied. So, he thought Chris was telling him to help him gain some recognition by doing a difficult operation together.
That was why he had made the reluctant request to Maxim.
But.
‘Was that not what he meant?’
Maxim had defeated another knight.
Saint-Sard let out a long breath.
Everything unfolding beyond the hazy steam felt like an illusion.
‘If all of this is true.’
The thought that he was supposed to take care of the frail Maxim and help him blend in with the people of the barrier was completely erased. And in its place, the sentence, ‘Succeed in the difficult and dangerous operation no matter what,’ took its place.
Wowawa!
A cheer of a different quality erupted.
“3rd Battalion Commander! Edouard Perignon! I wish to learn a lesson.”
The knights and soldiers chanted Perignon's name, shouting, “Finally!”
The final chapter of the duel everyone had been waiting for had arrived.
Saint-Sard clenched his fist. It was to hide the sweat that had formed in his palm.
“Are you looking forward to it?”
Chris stood next to Saint-Sard.
“Ah, that's… No.”
“Why? It's worth looking forward to. Who do you think will win?”
“Wouldn't it be the Battalion Commander Perignon?”
“Really?”
A strange answer.
Saint-Sard scratched his head as he looked at Chris's unreadable smile.
‘Don't tell me…’
What Maxim had shown so far was certainly impressive. But his opponent was Perignon.
Perignon was one of the top five skilled fighters in the unit. In terms of swordsmanship alone, he was good enough to be debated as the strongest.
Still, with a glimmer of hope, he looked at Maxim.
‘As expected, it will be tough.’
Maxim's face was full of fatigue.
White steam rose from his mouth like smoke.
His chest heaved considerably.
‘Even if he loses here, he won't be ignored.’
The fact that he had fought several times with a boy's body was a great feat in itself.
The soldiers, the knights, everyone who saw Maxim knew this.
That was why the jeers directed at Maxim had disappeared.
“Hoo! Let's do this!”
Maxim puffed out his chest and readjusted his grip on his sword.
A strange sense of anticipation grew in Saint-Sard's chest.
‘Alright, let's see.’
Saint-Sard wanted to see with his own two eyes what Chris's smile meant.
***
My chest felt tight.
It was an earlier 4th Star than I had expected. Perhaps because of that, my body was not adapting.
“Hoo.”
Mana affects the body.
Clear mana positively, turbid mana negatively.
That was why mana was refined.
Clean mana circulated through the body, stimulating the muscles and improving blood flow.
It gathered waste products and expelled them outside.
As the Mana Heart grew, so did the extent of this.
‘This far is quite good. After all, it means I'm getting stronger.’
Usually, one ascends step by step.
The growth time of the Mana Heart is slower than the growth time of the body.
So, the body rarely finds the amount of flowing mana burdensome.
Because there is enough time to adapt.
But.
‘I was fast. Unbelievably so.’
There was no one who had reached the 4th Star in such a short period.
It was natural for the body to find the increased amount of mana burdensome.
Still, I did receive help from the Mana Heart.
‘Fatigue is relieved quickly.’
That was the reason I could fight six times.
“I have seen Your Highness's skills well so far.”
Perignon scanned me up and down, left and right. His way of measuring distance was different from the bastards before.
‘He knows exactly how much his domain is.’
The ones before had also measured distance. As a concept of a line.
Perignon was measuring distance as a concept of space.
Rustle.
“……!”
His eyes were following even the slightest movement of my feet.
His nose twitched with every breath.
Eyes, ears, nose.
He was faithful to the words, ‘Use all your senses to use the sword properly.’
“Oho, a rare young man these days?”
“Young man?”
I told you not to judge people by their appearance.
“You go first.”
He held his sword with one hand, the other hand behind his back.
The shape of the sword was also different from that of Poinus.
The width of the blade was narrower than usual. The tip was pointed like a spear.
That meant he intended to do both cutting and stabbing…
Ah! I remembered.
‘Espine.’
They were the ones whose navy was particularly strong.
Although their army was completely useless.
Still, the swords they used boasted considerable speed. The variations were also immense.
The overall impression was that it was elegant.
“You'll regret it.”
“I am different.”
He would be different.
But I am also different from the other bastards.
Because I know very well what kind of sword Perignon uses.
But it wouldn't be fun to tell him this from the start, so I'll go with the Poinus sword.
Kaang!
Perignon's face contorted as he received Dawn.
A predictable sword, so it was obvious where it would come from.
But its depth and weight were different, so it was a difficult sword to block even if you knew.
That was the subtlety of the Poinus sword.
“You are quite skilled.”
As expected, Perignon knew this.
Kagak!
He smoothly deflected the following line.
A strange smile appeared on Perignon's face.
“Why? Is it different from what you've seen?”
“It is beyond what I've seen. You have learned properly.”
Rather than learning properly, I had exchanged swords with someone who did it properly.
Then, shall I check if that fellow uses the Espine sword properly?
Vooong!
Perignon lightly dodged the gaze of Dawn aimed at his chest.
Perignon's sword struck for my neck.
As befitting a skilled fighter, he did not miss a small opening.
Teong.
Perignon's sword grazed my neck and flew up into the air.
‘He'll come in after a spin.’
Seung!
As expected.
The silver line drew a small circle and changed direction.
His next target was my chest!
Kaang!
Perignon's eyes widened.
He probably didn't think I would block it with the hilt of Dawn.
It was time to let him know that there was more he hadn't thought of.
“Have you ever seen a swordsmanship from the Espine sword that is performed with a two-handed sword?”
This time, Perignon's brow furrowed.
“Don't be surprised, and watch carefully.”
***
Pit.
The leather covering Perignon's chest was split.
“Heh.”
If he had been a little later, it wouldn't have been his leather clothes but his skin that was cut.
Perignon slowly exhaled to calm his pounding heart.
“I told you to watch carefully without being surprised. You're too surprised.”
Maxim clicked his tongue.
“Yes, I was quite surprised.”
“You shouldn't be that surprised.”
Maxim's huge sword swayed like a flag flapping in the wind.
Perignon's hands tightened.
He opened all his five senses to try to follow Maxim's movements.
Kang!
He barely managed to block the sword that rushed to bite his side.
‘How is that big sword moving like that?’
A sword the size of a man danced brilliantly.
It was the very Espine swordsmanship he had coveted.
‘Was there really a greatsword version?’
He had never seen it.
It was a sword he had learned by following his master to Espine.
No one there had performed swordsmanship with a two-handed greatsword.
Kkang!
Kaang!
Kang!
Perignon's hands trembled.
It was because he had forcibly blocked Maxim's sword, which was coming at him in unbelievable lines.
“Wow!”
“Could a person move like that?”
“Battalion Commander! Don't get pushed back!”
“Perignon!”
The soldiers sang of the defeat of the small, unexpected guest.
It was because they didn't want to see the struggles of someone they trusted, followed, and sometimes respected.
Perignon put strength into his entire body to hold back the trembling of his muscles.
And he looked straight at Maxim.
“You're popular.”
A clear compliment.
But underneath it was full of coldness.
Maxim's left foot came forward.
A deeply bent upper body, a sharp gaze fixed on him.
His sword was flying towards him, grazing the ground.
‘Dangerous!’
There was no killing intent.
But the momentum the sword was exuding was no different from killing intent.
“Huh?”
Saint-Sard's mouth dropped open when he saw Perignon's reaction.
Chris let out a chuckle.
“Is that against the rules?”
As soon as Bethel's words came out, Maxim's sword and Perignon's sword clashed.
An explosive sound of impact.
For a moment, everyone's ears went deaf.
A tremendous wind pressure rushed in as if there had been a real explosion.
The people watching the duel up close screamed, “Ugh!” and crouched down.
“Wh-what happened?”
The thick dust that had risen, like a curtain covering the stage, hid Maxim and Perignon.
The people who had recovered from the shock asked, “What was that?”, “Who won?”,
“Captain?” trying to confirm the result.
As if to show the answer, a small wind blew.
The dust that had obscured their vision slowly cleared.
A huge sword stuck in the ground, the silhouette of a small giant leaning against it.
Then, the silhouette of an adult standing tall with a sword in hand.
“Battalion Commander Perignon is standing, right?”
“That's right! The captain won!”
“Battalion Commander Perignon won!”
The soldiers and knights shouted in joy.
Saint-Sard shook his head.
The group cheering for Maxim let out long, long sighs.
And Chris did not lose his smile.
“No!”
Perignon's voice.
Those who had been jumping up and down in place froze.
“I lost.”
The dust cleared completely, revealing Perignon's figure.
He was bowing his head and panting heavily.
“I lost because I used mana. The victory belongs to the 5th Prince.”
The knights and soldiers, as if unable to believe it, looked back and forth between Maxim and Perignon.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
At the sound of applause, everyone's gazes moved. There, Chris was smiling with a satisfied expression.
“Beyond imagination.”
At Chris's words, Maxim straightened his back and let out a groan, “Ego-gogo.”
He slowly looked around at the faces directed at him.
Silence.
Goosebumps rose on everyone's arms.
“Welcome to the North!”
Saint-Sard stepped forward and knelt before Maxim.
At that, all the soldiers and knights knelt and shouted, “Welcome to the North!”
Maxim nodded as he watched them.
“About time.”
His sarcasm had not changed from the beginning to now.
What had changed was everyone's gaze towards Maxim.
From the discomfort and ridicule towards an unwelcome guest to the awe and respect of seeing an unbelievably skilled person.