Chapter 123
Chapter 123
The cold blade pressed against my neck, and the sword of Paladin Aion blocking it. At the murderous whisper that followed, the Saintess seemed to finally realize her predicament and flinched, retreating a step.
Paaaat-!
From the tips of her fingers as she brushed the wound on her neck, a pure white light flared. The flowing blood and the split flesh vanished as if they had never existed.
Of course, that sort of thing did not distract me. As I turned a smile toward the Saintess, Aion—who had been crossing swords with me right in front of her—ground his teeth and shouted.
“Third Prince Leios! What is the meaning of this! How dare you attempt to harm the Saintess!”
He spewed nothing but nonsense about how this was a grave error on my part and could provide a fatal pretext for diplomacy between our two nations.
“If the dog you raised misbehaves, you question the owner. Then who do you question for the owner’s fault?”
I tilted my head crookedly and looked at him with cold eyes. Aion shouted, asking what I was talking about and telling me to sheath my sword at once, but I had no intention of stopping here.
“Since I cannot admonish the owner, shall I question the dog instead?”
“…If you have no intention of stopping, then I will no longer stand by and watch!”
Perhaps feeling humiliated at being treated like a dog, Aion’s eyes turned icy. I gave a slight smile and lifted my foot to kick his body.
Koom-!
I put my full strength into it, and Aion’s body slid backward. Even so, he looked as though he had taken no real damage and stood firmly upright once more.
“I, Paladin Aion, challenge the Empire’s Third Prince, Leios von Ribera, to a duel for his insolence. If you lose, you will apologize to the Saintess and to me.”
It was absurd how he maintained his courtesy even at this point, but I found it convenient and nodded readily.
“If I lose, I will kneel, prostrate myself, beg—whatever you like. But if I win, I will take your head.”
“…How dare you!”
Koom-!
As he took a single step forward, the floor split into several cracks. It seemed he thought protecting the Saintess was of the utmost importance.
“But whether you even have the skill for that remains to be seen.”
Tadadak-!
Without any leisure to spare, I kicked off the ground and charged at him.
After causing such a commotion, the Holy Knights guarding the Holy Palace would soon swarm in. Until then, I intended to spare no strength in dealing with Aion.
Paaaat-!
A blazing Aura Blade bloomed from the tip of my sword. Aion, too, gathered dazzling holy power into his blade to protect himself, but from the outset the gap between us was far too great.
Jeojeojeok-.
He cried out in shock as cracks spread through his Aura Blade in an instant. That emotional disturbance created an opening, and I was not careless enough to miss it.
Hwirik.
My sword writhed, coiling around his blade like a snake. The collision of Aura Blade against Aura Blade produced a recoil, and it knocked the sword from Aion’s hand.
Mine, on the other hand, remained firmly in my grasp, though perhaps because I had twisted it too forcefully, a large crack ran through the upper portion.
Cheolkeong.
Since I had no intention of using a sword to defeat him anyway, I tossed it to the floor. Then I threw a punch at Aion, who was staring blankly at his own hand.
Sswaeaeik-!
A fist laden with aura surged toward his face. Aion, perhaps never expecting me to resort to bare-knuckle fighting, exhaled sharply and raised both arms.
Peok-!
‘As expected of a Paladin—so he had mastered hand-to-hand combat as well.’
He deflected my punch without much difficulty. He then rushed in, seemingly intending to take mount control and immobilize me, but unfortunately for him, he had chosen the wrong opponent.
Teok.
I caught the hand that reached for my waist and poured strength into it, intending to crush it.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Aion responded as if he had no intention of yielding easily. But as time passed, it was his expression that grew increasingly distorted.
In terms of sheer physical strength alone, there was little difference between us. But when accounting for the gap in rank, the total amount of mana, and momentum combined, Aion was no match for me.
Jijijijik.
The aura enveloping Aion’s hand was shredded to pieces by mine. At the same time, starting from his hand up to his elbow, the skin burst open as if sliced by a sharp blade.
“Uaaaaaagh!”
His arm became a rag in an instant.
If that had been all, he would not have screamed so desperately, but I sent mana flowing inside, twisting his muscles and bones.
A technique known as grinding bones and tearing tendons. Aion desperately raised his resistance to fight back, but as I had said time and again, the total amount of power was overwhelmingly in my favor.
At the same time, his body was left completely defenseless. I did not miss that opening and raised my left hand, driving a punch into his face.
“……!”
His nasal bone snapped as he collapsed, bright red blood dripping down.
Aion stroked his face with a look of utter confusion, like someone who had never experienced anything like this before. But I had no intention of indulging such childishness.
Peokpeok-!
Several more punches slammed into his face. As befitted a Paladin, his durability was monstrous—he staggered but did not fall. Ah, was it to protect the Saintess behind him?
“Stop, please stop!”
The Saintess screamed, tears scattering as she looked at us. I tilted my head slightly and answered her.
“Why should I?”
At that, the Saintess stood speechless, her mouth hanging open.
Until now, there had likely been no one who had ever directly denied or defied her words. Everyone must have either revered her or lavished her with praise.
But I had no intention of doing that, and I intended to use this opportunity to tear down and rebuild her personality from the ground up.
“…….”
Aion finally went limp in my grasp. He had tried to stand firm to the very end, keeping both feet planted on the ground, but no matter how much of a Paladin he was, he seemed to have his limits. Covered in blood, he lost consciousness.
At that moment, I sensed multiple presences approaching from outside. Soon, the tightly shut door cautiously opened, and a single Holy Knight clad in pure white armor carefully peeked his face inside.
“My apologies, Saintess. You ordered us to vacate the area until summoned, but it became too noisy, so…?”
Inside the wrecked hall,
the Saintess standing to one side, sobbing softly, and Paladin Aion in my hand, soaked in blood.
Taking in all of it at once, the Holy Knight’s eyes widened like lanterns. Then he flung the door open roughly, as if to smash it.
“W-what in the world happened!”
“Sir Aion, Sir Aion has…!”
Holy Knights who looked to be in their twenties poured inside in a rush. In response, I kicked Aion’s body out of my hand, sending it flying toward the table where the banquet had been laid out.
Udangtangtang-!
With a loud crash, he smashed through the table and rolled around among the scattered food.
Judging by the faint groans and twitching, he was not dead.
Well, a guy who was a Paladin had vitality comparable to a cockroach. There was no need to worry about aftereffects.
“To dare cause such havoc in the sacred Holy Palace! Knights, draw your swords! Protect the Saintess!”
At the command of what seemed to be their commander, they placed their hands on their sword hilts. In response, I unleashed a pressure that covered the entire space and crushed down upon them.
“It doesn’t matter who it is.”
In the sudden silence that fell, only my low voice echoed.
“Anyone with courage, draw your sword. I’ll kill you first.”
As I exuded thick killing intent, the Holy Knights’ faces turned pale. Each of them chanted holy prayers under their breath to resist my pressure, but they seemed unable to shake off the fear.
“Eek!”
Among them, one Holy Knight with the strongest presence defied it and began to draw his sword. As I looked on with an approving expression and picked up the sword that had fallen to the floor, the Saintess behind me screamed as if in a fit.
“Everyone, stop! Don’t draw your swords—absolutely don’t!”
At those words, the Holy Knights hesitated. I shrugged in apparent regret and spoke to them.
“So this is all the valor the Holy Knights of a place that calls itself a Holy Kingdom possess.”
Their faces twisted at the insult. But before the absolute gap in power, all they could do was bark.
Koom.
Right after that, perhaps because news of the disturbance had spread far and wide, I finally sensed the presence I had been waiting for.
At the same time, countless knights began to appear anew. From those guarding the Holy Palace to the Ten Holy Knights, said to be the true strength of the Holy Kingdom.
And among those many powerful figures, the Holy King—who represented the Holy Kingdom itself—once again revealed himself.
“Third Prince of the Empire, sheathe your sword.”
The Archbishop standing beside him issued a solemn warning to me. Despite those words, when I remained motionless, dozens—no, hundreds—of Holy Knights raised their pressure and bore down on me.
“Even for me, fighting this many and winning would be difficult.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I threw the sword I was holding onto the floor. As the Holy King’s gaze deepened and the Archbishop ordered them to bind me, I opened my mouth with a bitter smile.
“You should listen to someone until the end.”
Winning would be difficult, but mutual destruction was possible.
“Come, Excalibur.”
A dazzling light burst forth in my hand. The moment Excalibur was summoned, it released a powerful aura that completely erased the pressure pressing down on me.
‘Thanks, River.’
[This is quite an interesting situation.]
As if she had just awakened at my call, there was a hazy tone to her voice. I stroked the blade and spoke with an apologetic expression.
‘You just woke up, and I’m sorry for forcing you.’
[Well, what choice is there. My consciousness was asleep, but I’ve been watching everything that happened. Those idiots have always been stupid, after all.]
“Third Prince of the Empire….”
As the Archbishop tried to issue another solemn warning, I quietly uttered a single phrase.
“Last Stardust.”
[SYSTEM: Would you like to activate Excalibur’s exclusive extra skill ‘Last Stardust’?]
A brilliant light surged through my entire body and engulfed the surroundings. Alarmed by the ominous momentum, the Holy Knights and priests prepared defensive magic, but the situation tilted toward me in an instant.
“Huh….”
The Holy King let out a low sigh.
At his level, he must have grasped what I was trying to do without much difficulty.
And why I had caused this disturbance in the first place.
If we were to charge at each other like this, the result would truly be mutual destruction.
Once Last Stardust, Excalibur’s exclusive skill, activated, two-thirds of those present would be swept away by my attack. But I would be exhausted, my strength spent, and unable to withstand the attacks of the survivors.
The Holy Kingdom had to prepare for war with the Demonic Realm.
But if it were to lose more than half of its elite forces before the battle even began, defeat would be inevitable.
This was the negotiation table I had set.
If you don’t want both sides to perish, then obediently follow my words. At that, the Holy King let out a quiet sigh, stepped forward, and spoke to me.
“You are taking this joke too far, Prince Leios. Why don’t you sheathe your sword and have a brief conversation with us.”
At that, I slowly withdrew my pressure and smiled faintly.
“I was waiting for you to say that, Holy King.”
As a rule, a parent must take responsibility for a child’s wrongdoing.
Then what was Paladin Aion?
Sorry, but I had no idea.