by Park Saenal
‘He must be a lot stronger than he was before. I will have to deal with him carefully.’
The empire and the Overgeared Kingdom were building an alliance. It meant they shouldn’t fight one another. However, the Overgeared Kingdom had signed the alliance with Empress Basara, and Dulandal wanted to take the throne from Basara. Even if she fought Dulandal’s minions, there was little concern that it would become an international incident. The moment that Mercedes finished her calculations…
“Stop with that tone which is looking down on me,” Kyle, who had been watching the situation like Mercedes, opened his mouth to say. He had also grasped the situation. “You are still treating me as a child when you have been wasting away for more than 10 years.”
Kyle’s expression was stiff. He let out electric currents as he faced Asmophel with a stern expression and tone.
Asmophel smiled bitterly. “I have never looked down on you or treated you as a child. I’m just admiring you because you’ve really grown up.”
Amelda interrupted, “Hehe, heh. That’s right. Kyle was dwarfed by his peers. Now he is totally grown up. By the way, it doesn’t match. Wasn’t Kyle a model student? You were always polite and respectful to everyone. Then what is with this tone and expression? Huh, huh? Have you become an imposing person?”
“This is treating me as a child. Amelda, you haven’t changed at all. Aren’t you ashamed of using that childish tone when you’re so old? Or did you get a head injury while living as a fugitive?”
“What? I’m still in my 30s, my 30s! I’m not a grandmother!”
“Kuk…! Kukukuk!” Kyle suddenly burst out laughing. He was laughing at himself for being nervous a while ago. Kyle had been remembering the past.
Asmophel who had been the deputy head of the Red Knights led by Piaro and a pillar of the empire, the Fifth Knight Amelda, the Seventh Knight Kentrick, and the Ninth Knight Dante… In the past, they were dazzlingly strong. They would stand beside the emperor while Kyle didn’t dare to even set eyes on them.
However, that was more than 15 years ago. Over the years, Asmophel had been enchanted and drugged while the other three were mentally and physically exhausted as they fled the empire. It wasn’t strange that they had lost their skills from their prime.
No, it wasn’t a problem even if they regained the skills from their prime or developed beyond that. At present, Kyle was overwhelmingly strong. He worked under the former emperor to become a ‘pillar’ beyond the Red Knights, and he was recently chosen by the war god.
Kyle stepped into the realm of transcendence. The way he saw it, Legendary Knight Mercedes was the only one to be wary of among the uninvited guests. Even she had yet to fully mature in the years since she became a legend. There was no need to be nervous against them.
“Asmophel,” Kyle laughed for a long time before saying, “I think your personality is the worst ever. Not only do you call me ‘Electric Eel’, but you also betrayed your friend Piaro out of a sense of inferiority and framed him. Still, I didn’t know you could be so shameless. You are now calling upon your old colleagues who were branded as traitors and lost their family members because of you. I would’ve never dreamed of being reunited with them, even if I were sorry.”
Kyle hated Asmophel in the past. At that time, he hadn’t been familiar with life in the imperial palace. Feeling afraid, Kyle would choke and wave his hands every time he met someone’s eyes, causing him to be called Electric Eel. Kyle still had vivid memories of when the people around him laughed at him. He wanted revenge.
Therefore, at this moment, he mocked the man blocking his way, rather than killing him straight away. Asmophel’s response was different from expected. He wasn’t angry or ashamed. Instead, he just smiled bitterly.
“I reunited with them to take responsibility for my sins. I was obliged to meet them. Additionally, the way I treated you in the old days…” Asmophel couldn’t finish his explanation. Lightning struck the spot where Asmophel stood. Asmophel’s gaze sunk as he jumped to the side to escape.
Kyle spoke from the ground, “It was sour. Now choose. Are you going to leave here or will you die by my hands?”
The answer came straight away. “This is a land King Grid protects. I won’t leave, nor will I die.”
“Okay. Then try living.” Kyle released a surge of electric currents. It was the large-scale magic that paralyzed the elves. Electricity was the unique attribute that Kyle was born with. In his childhood and adolescence, Kyle had been afraid of this attribute but not anymore. He was able to fully control and use his power. It was thanks to Juander, his own effects, and War God Zeratul.
[Physical defense isn’t possible.]
[You have suffered 15,900 damage.]
[You are paralyzed for 5 seconds.]
“Ugh…!”
The current had a terrifying effect on those whom Kyle perceived as enemies—Mercedes, Asmophel, Amelda, Kentrick, Dante, Resh, and the elves. Resh was electrocuted despite raising his shield, and he sat down, convulsing. His trembling gaze turned to Mercedes.
Then he saw it. The electric current fired at Mercedes’s group was deflected by sword energy.
Kentrick was furious. “To use such a weak attack against us, he must really see us as obsolete.”
Amelda also inflated her cheeks. “Right, right! How much have we done in order to survive!”
Dante spoke for the first time, “Don’t mock the adversity we have experienced.”
“…!” Resh’s eyes widened with surprise.
The three knights moved quickly and approached Kyle, attacking him. One of them had speed and sharpness and was called ‘a genius who appears once in 100 years’ by the commander of the Sword Knights. Amelda’s two swords stabbed at Kyle, but Kyle’s electric current blocked the attack. Kentrick dashed and aimed at Kyle. Then Kyle kicked at a rock on the ground to block the path of the broadsword. Dante’s mace smashed into Kyle’s chest at the same time.
“Ah…”
Resh and all the Sword Knights lost their souls. The number of blows that Kyle and the single digit knights exchanged in a second was beyond their common sense, so it was hard not to be amazed. The booms continued without a break. Kyle continued to use the currents as a weapon while retreating, and he was pursued by the three knights.
‘It is ignorantly strong.’
‘It is a combat method that relies solely on his innate attributes.’
‘He can’t beat our experience of overcoming life and death struggles for decades.’
The three knights estimated the odds. Kyle used the electric currents to deal with every situation and didn’t use any martial arts or swordsmanship. If the electric currents were like his limbs, then it would be sufficient to cut them. The three knights cut apart the currents like they were a monster with nine heads.
Three sharp sword energies filled the air and tore the currents to shreds. Kyle was exposed, and the three knights didn’t miss this gap. The weapons of different shapes and trajectories pierced Kyle. No, they seemed to pierce him.
“Bah.” Kyle’s upper body receded sharply and soon touched the ground. All of the knights’ attacks reached nothing. Then Kyle’s fist sprung up like a spring and struck Dante’s chest precisely. At this time, the scattered currents once again concentrated on Kyle’s fist.
There was a balloon popping sound. Dante coughed up a handful of blood, lost his momentum, and fell to the ground.
“Fairly good…!” Amelda cried out as she stabbed at Kyle’s thighs. The currents swirled, and his tiny body was blown into the air. Kentrick’s broadsword rushed in through the gap! However, it was caught by Kyle’s hands and stopped.
This wasn’t what the three knights had expected. Kyle hadn’t only trained and strengthened his attribute. He had also acquired an amazing level of physical skill. It was no wonder that he was a follower of the war god.
“Such a monster…”
He was more skilled than the dukes. His ultimate talent was so atrocious it wou
ldn’t be strange if it were given the modifier of ‘strongest on the continent.’
‘Nothing has changed.’
The Sword Knights would slaughter the elves as scheduled…
Resh felt despair.
“Bloom,” Asmophel’s clear voice echoed through the forest right then. A large flower bud rose above Kyle’s body. It was transparent and red, and it consisted of sword energy.
“…!” Kyle’s face turned white. Blood was pouring out from his nose and ears.
“I won’t kill you,” Asmophel declared before moving his sword again. Beautiful flowers blossomed from Kyle’s body as his blood soaked the forest.
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Chapter 1111
‘Did Grid learn his swordsmanship from Asmophel?’
Resh’s misunderstanding was natural. Asmophel’s swordsmanship, which depicted the birth and death of a flower, looked like the final evolution of the Flower sword dance that Grid introduced recently.
Fire Sword Asmophel…
The skills of a person hailed as the pillar of the empire along with the current legend Piaro were as great as claimed by the rumors Resh had heard. The bud that blossomed in Kyle exploded. The destructive power that didn’t allow any screams stirred the forest.
In the midst of the explosion, the ragged Kyle popped out. He didn’t lose any momentum despite his body being covered with blood.
The eyes of Amelda, Kentrick, and Dante shook.
“W-What? Why is he fine?”
“Well… he seems to have pushed the exploding force away with his own power.”
“…”
The three knights knew. In the past, Asmophel had remained as number two because of the limitations of his swordsmanship. Asmophel’s swordsmanship produced a powerful explosive force using sword energy and had a strong wide-area destructive power, but it was relatively weak against single targets and consumed a lot of health.
It was why Asmophel lost every time he faced Piaro. Yes, Asmophel had never won against Piaro. However, with the exception of Piaro, he didn’t lose to anyone. Why? Piaro had the unique ability to disperse the explosive force of Asmophel’s swordsmanship.
That’s right. In the memories of the three knights, Asmophel was the ‘man who couldn’t cross Piaro but who put the world at his feet.’ Now, Kyle was a monster if he could deal directly with the sword energy of a great swordsman.
‘Piaro-grade…’
The former emperor, Juander—the incompetent and foolish man who sent all of them away had actually chosen Kyle with an accurate perspective…? The three knights were engulfed in displeasure and bit their lips.
Meanwhile, Kyle was tangled up with Asmophel. He used his superior form that overwhelmed the single digit knights. Swinging his entire body, he did not show Asmophel any gaps. A diagonal elbow struck Asmophel in the shoulder. Asmophel’s sword stabbed at Kyle’s abdomen while he aimed his fist to the other side of the sword. Kyle raised his knee to block Asmophel’s sword as he concentrated the electric currents in the elbow that was crushing Asmophel’s shoulder. Asmophel’s body was briefly electrocuted.
With an appearance that was obviously from a noble lineage, Asmophel’s fine face was punched and crushed while his blue cloak was covered with dirt. Kyle caught up with Asmophel and pulled the fluttering blue cloak. Then Asmophel’s body was trapped on the ground, and he was slammed, slammed, slammed against it! Kyle’s fists started to fall in succession.
“Hahat! Hahahahat!” Kyle was in a frenzy, and he recalled the moment when he received the divine message of the war god. The great god had presented Kyle, who had been shabby in comparison to the other pillars, with the ultimate martial arts after he lost one arm to a monster and completely lost his confidence.
Kyle had learned seven secret techniques as he wandered around the ruins in the past few months and experienced the miracle of a god. Not only did he recover his lost arm, but he was also able to further strengthen the currents flowing through his body and control them freely.
This was the power of a great god. In the long run, Kyle would jump over the grandmaster and no longer feel afraid of the monster who took away his arm. The moment he received the ultimate martial arts, he would go to the heavens…
Kyle believed this and became convinced of it at this moment. He was certain that he could realize his faith. The fact that he alone was overpowering the single digit knights, who had led the empire’s golden age, caused him to feel ecstasy.
“Hat…?” Kyle, who had been swinging his fists excitedly, stopped laughing. He suddenly felt a sense of alienation. It was because Asmophel’s condition was relatively fine. Asmophel continued to be hit by Kyle’s fists, but his nose wasn’t even sunken in, let alone his skull.
‘The skin of transcendence?’
Had Asmophel risen to the point of transcendence with pure talent? No, it was impossible. He wasn’t that great. Kyle’s sharp gaze turned to the blue cloak that covered part of Asmophel’s face.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
Was that cloak absorbing his attack power? This mere piece of cloth? Despite his denials, Kyle grabbed Asmophel’s cloak and stripped it off. A blade rose through the gap in the swirling cloak.
“Don’t touch it. It is a treasure that my king gave me,” Asmophel’s voice only continued after Kyle’s chest was pierced with the sword.
Asmophel rose as he pushed at Kyle’s shaky upper body, drawing a half moon with his sword and throwing his sheath. The moment Kyle was cut, he released an electric current that blocked the sword energy released. The sheath that was thrown two meters into the air never fell back to the ground.
The shockwave and magnetism generated by the two men caused the sheath to continue dancing in the air. Several flowers bloomed during the dozens of collisions. Asmophel’s biting sword energy was quickly drained.
On the other hand, Kyle was currently emitting a turbulent electric current, and he didn’t lose momentum. For Kyle, the electric current was a constantly circulating force. It wasn’t consumed. It was an infinite power. Asmophel’s sword energy bloomed, obstructing Kyle’s vision and sweeping at Kyle’s collarbone. It was deflected and Asmophel hurriedly moved back. Kyle’s Force Palm was persistent and struck Asmophel’s chest. The sheath that danced in the air finally fell.
“Cough!” The shaking Asmophel swallowed his screams, but he was bloody. He felt the pain of his intestine being torn and realized something. This wasn’t the young man who used to be daunted. Kyle was stronger than Juander had hoped he would be.
There wasn’t the number two person who kept following the back of the number one person. Asmophel was no longer number two. He wasted a lot of time regretting everything and became stagnant.
‘If only I had met King Grid a bit earlier…’
No, if only he had awakened before King Grid came to him. No, if he hadn’t fallen for Marie’s tricks. No, if he hadn’t been jealous of Piaro in the first place…
It was a life marked only with regrets. The shameful past went by him like a kaleidoscope. At this moment…
“…” Asmophel’s eyes lost their light.
Resh turned pale when he saw Asmophel fall, and he urged Mercedes and the three knights, “You should help him!”
“…”
“You’re his colleague!”
There was no imperial knight who didn’t know Asmophel—the corrupted hero and the jealous traitor who sold his friends and colleagues. Asmophel’s reputation had been turned upside down after the new empress, Basara, revealed the entire truth. He was no longer hailed as a hero.
Still, the knights in this place had started to admire Asmophel again. Being with the colleagues he betrayed meant he had been forgiven for most of his past sins. Resh and the Sword Knights were vaguely aware of how much courage he needed to seek forgiveness and how much sacrifice and pain he had suffered. The knights felt that Asmophel was truly great and cheered for him to wash away the mistakes he made through the hard-earne
d opportunity.
However, Asmophel was going to die.
“Haven’t you already forgiven him?”
“…”
“Then why…?! Why are you turning away without helping?” Resh shouted as he denounced them.
He had no affinity with Asmophel, so he shouldn’t have felt great emotion when Asmophel was struck. Nevertheless, there was a reason why he felt resentment toward Mercedes and the former single digit knights who were just watching the battle.
Resh’s gaze was aimed at Mercedes as he shouted, “No matter how much you hate him…! A knight shouldn’t abandon their colleagues!”
Mercedes was the only knight that had been trusted by the emperor who distrusted knights, and she has been sent to the Overgeared Kingdom after becoming a legendary knight. Resh admired Mercedes, which meant he couldn’t tolerate her cowardly behavior even more.
Mercedes, who had been staring silently, finally opened her mouth, “You…”
There was a dazzling smile on her face. “You don’t know.”
The three knights continued the conversation like they had been waiting to do so.
“Do you think the deputy chief would be beaten so easily?”
“He is the most insidious person I have ever known. That’s why he betrayed us.”
“Killing the deputy chief… It will be us.”
“…?!” Resh was bewildered by the hard to understand words when his eyes widened. Asmophel, who allowed Kyle’s attacks in succession, rolled a few laps on the dirt floor and lost his sword. For a knight to lose his sword—it meant death.
“This is the end!”
Convinced of his victory, Kyle continued to release the current. He collected it at the end of his hands and shot it at Asmophel. No, he groaned before he shot it. It was because Asmophel threw the sheath at Kyle’s eyes.
“Kuack! Y-You cowardly bastard!”
Asmophel acted like a dog begging for life just to reclaim the sheath that he had thrown away earlier…? He lost his sword just to lower Kyle’s vigilance and to grab the sheath…? The reason he constantly exposed his belt during the battle was for this moment…? He was a terrible guy.
