by Jason Hale
Nobility carriages all bore the emblems of their respective houses. Thus, they were easily identifiable.
The voice came alongside tranquil steps and caused the trio to shift toward its origin.
It was a silver-eyed, handsome youth whose shoulder-length black hairs were held in curls. Dressed in a lavish brocade robe, he possessed the cultivated air of superiority that swirled around most children of high-nobility and did nothing to conceal it.
"Koloman Slesinger?"
Having met him more than once, Ilaina first recognized him. Instantaneously, her gaze chilled.
Behind the youth was an ordered group of five people who tailed his footsteps with deference.
Konnor activated his Origin Sight and swept the team with his gaze. The results were impressive.
"Forty-six years old, second step Arch Knight, winged serpent race. The rest are all between the ninth step Grand Knight and the first step Arch Knight Ranks."
Konnor excluded; this lineup was enough to crush the Kracht's team with confidence.
However, Koloman's gaze never glanced toward Konnor, remaining locked on Ilaina as if eying a prized possession.
"It's been a while lady Ilaina. Once I heard of your return, I instantly wished to welcome you with warm gifts. However, I had to delay my visit due to my father's insistence on joining this competition. I hope you can understand."
His words would cause bystanders to believe there was a long-standing relationship between them. Or at the very least, a form of friendship. But in Ilaina's eyes, Konnor saw only annoyance and disgust.
As for Daphne, after seeing the group's emblem and making a quick calculation, she knew who they were dealing with.
"Who is he?"
Konnor asked her in a mental message.
"He is the fourth son of the Slesinger Duke. Although his father is a seventh step Semi-Saint with vast lands and armies, he is an honorable man with clear morals. In the past, when uncle was looking for potential matches for Ilaina, he settled on house Slesinger, believing that with the father's level of virtue and integrity, the child couldn't be far behind.
And indeed on the outside, that man maintains an excellent disguise. Inwardly though, he is nothing more than an obnoxious cunt."
"When asked about his opinion regarding marriage with Ilaina, he first refused to comment. Then in front of her and in the middle of a gathering of nobles, he…"
"…proclaimed that thanks to her appearance, he could forget his status and take her as his concubine. However, a human half-breed could never be his wife…"
"But I guess that now that house Kracht's estates are at stake, a -human half-breed- can become his wife. Despicable."
Daphne replied with rising disgust, and her words caused Konnor's eyes to glitter with callousness.
"There is no relationship between us. Thus, there is no need for you to welcome me. Don't cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
Ilaina replied, her tone dry and filled with discomfort. Seeing the Slesinger and Kracht emblems, a crowd had quickly gathered around them. Within was a mixture of Briefadel and Uradel nobles who observed the scene with great interest.
"Hey, Koloman is really thick skinned. I still remember how he shamed the poor lass in the middle of dozens of Uradel nobles for no reason whatsoever. Now today, with his wife close by, he has the nerves to approach her and act as if nothing happened? Impressive."
The one who spoke was a purple haired man with pitch-black eyes that seemed as deep as the night sky. Snuggled against him was a beautiful woman of similar features who observed the scene with disinterest.
"What about you Lars? Aren't you also looking for an opportunity to make a move? I suppose that was I not here, you would already be over there."
"Haha, how could you say that…"
But they both knew she was right.
Undisturbed by Illiana's words and tone, Koloman stepped toward her, completely ignoring the three "Kracht Champions" nearby and the green haired youth by her side whom he assumed was another one of her kinsmen.
"There is, of course, a relationship. And a rather deep one at that. Weren't we almost married? In fact, if it weren't for ill-intentioned people sowing discord, we would now be husband and wife. I'm here to rectify…"
"Enough with the drivel. Your disgraceful presence irritates us all."
Koloman stopped dead in his tracks and fired a furious glare toward the origin of those words.
Beside Konnor, who else could it be?
"You said what?!"
"I don't repeat myself to worms. You have three breaths to get lost."
"The galls! How dare you insult the son of a Duke?! Who the hell are you?"
Konnor sneered and channeled his spiritual energy within his fist.
"The one who will make you fly."
Those words caused Koloman to fly into rage and throw a palm at Konnor's face. But before he could reach it, Konnor sidestepped, letting the palm graze his cheek while sending a full-force punch right into Koloman's face.
*Crack*
His fist crashed into the nobleman's nose, shattered his nasal bones and like a meteor, sent him flying through the air in a mesmerizing arc.
Chapter 52 - Might vs Skills
"Koloman!"
The remaining members of house Slesinger's team yelled as they witnessed Koloman's flight. Before he could crash onto the ground, the two first step Arch Knights among them rushed to catch him mid-air, managing to prevent further damage.
A deathly silence imposed itself on the scene as the gathered nobles fell to stupor.
Although despicable, Koloman ranked among the most outstanding of the Holy Flame Empire's nobility beneath the age of fifty. Even when taking the sovereign prince houses and the imperial family into account, he was still in the top one hundred.
To see such a character sent flying with one punch by a nobody was incomprehensible.
Koloman's body trembled, not from pain, but from humiliation as he pressed his hand against his broken nose and wiped off the blood trickling from it.
"It appears I underestimated you."
His eyes now ignored Ilaina and focused solely on Konnor who stared at him with naked condescendence.
"You are not worthy of estimating me."
Konnor's conceited words caused Koloman's lips to curl into a bone-chilling smile.
"Really? Let's see about that."
He freed himself from his teammates' grasp and slowly stood up. As he did, the wind surrounding him seemed to blow faster, swirling around his body at soaring speed.
He stretched out his palm, summoning a long silver energy spear which he clasped within his two hands and brought into a fighting sense.
"I officially challenge you to a duel. This is your last chance to kneel and beg for mercy. Past this point, regardless of how much you wail, I will cripple you."
The wind seemed to echo his words and coiled around his spear in hissing sounds.
Worry flashed within Ilaina's eyes, while Daphne was mortified.
Although she had seen Konnor crush higher level enemies at more than one occasion, and defeat her father within the same level, she couldn't help but feel some apprehension when the opponent was Koloman whose mastery over spiritual energy and battle skills had long been proven.
As for Daphne, having never seen Konnor fight before, she was overwhelmed by anxiety.
"Relax. There is nothing to worry about."
Konnor reassured, smelling the fear oozing from their bodies.
Light purple orbs burst from his form and swirled around him as he took a leisurely step forward and cracked his knuckles.
"Duel accepted. Don't worry, I'm too kindhearted to let you beg for mercy. I will settle for crippling you."
Koloman said nothing else and shot toward Konnor with his spear raised and thrust toward his glabella. Konnor spun to let the blow pass him by and grabbed the pole with his left hand while throwing a purple light charged fist straight toward Koloman's
cheek.
The wind currents swirling around the spear repelled Konnor's left hand, Koloman crouched to evade the blow and drove the back-end of his spear toward Konnor's lower abdomen.
He tore through Konnor's abdomen, only to realize that what he'd struck was nothing more than an afterimage. The real Konnor had already reappeared behind him with a kick toward his skull.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*
Like that, they exchanged dozens of blows in the split of a second, causing ripples to spread through the air and crackle the ground.
But none could take advantage.
*Bang*
The wind force swirling around Koloman turned into sharp blades, Konnor's double punch met the pole, and the two recoiled from the impact, respectively taking five steps backward.
"What is his body made of?"
Koloman had expected his wind blades to cut through Konnor's fist like a knife through butter. However, from start to now, he had yet to put a dent within that steel like physique.
In fact, he had the uncomfortable sensation that Konnor was only dodging his blows to not reveal the full extent of his resilience. That even if his spear thrusts did connect, he couldn't harm him.
However, from that exchange of blows, he learned something valuable.
"You are a green-horn. I don't know how long you've been cultivating and who taught you your skills, but something is clear."
"As far as controlling power, spiritual energy, and martial skills are concerned, you are nothing more than a toddler still learning how to walk. Like a low-level demonic beast, you move solely on instinct."
Koloman confidently declared, seeking to strike at Konnor's self-confidence.
However, he was disappointed to see Konnor's lips curl into a radiant smile.
"As for you, you are a weakling."
The calm statement caused annoyance to flash within Koloman's eyes. Due to the Transformation Skill, he was unable to accurately judge Konnor's cultivation level; however, he had a hunch it was lower than his by more than one level.
If that was true, he was currently struggling against an inferior. The thought was sickening.
Worse, while he'd summoned his energy weapon from the get-go, Konnor was fighting him barehanded!
The bystanders who failed to see the subtleties of the exchange could only stare dazed. As for those who perfectly followed the confrontation, their thoughts were similar to Koloman's.
"When did house Kracht breed such a talent? How come we've never heard of him before? Could he be a weapon trained by Count Wolfgang?"
The woman within Lars' arms asked him in stupor.
"Possibly. However, if that's all he can offer, he will still get the short end of the stick."
Koloman and Lars had been rivals for decades. Therefore, he knew him better than most.
And indeed, he was about to kick things up a notch.
"Whirlwind!"
The invisible winds swirling around Koloman expanded and morphed into a clear white whirlwind from the base of his feet all the way to his head. Carried by the whirlwind, he floated above the ground, but it didn't just serve as decoration.
*Boom*
Koloman merged with the whirlwind and barreled into Konnor at breakneck. Vast white-purple light erupted from Konnor's form, he turned into a violet beam and once again clashed with Koloman.
This time, he didn't seek to evade, meeting blow with blows, and power with power. All the while, he studied Koloman's movements and fighting skills with his Origin Sight.
Origin Sight's worth wasn't just in analyzing a person's body or spying from a distance. Its true utility was to establish patterns. By observing the behavior of an individual for a prolonged amount of time, the user could determine all their habits, from how they rose from sleep to how they ate when they knew no one was watching.
Of course, that included all their fighting stances and skills.
Unbeknown to Koloman, Konnor was drawing a clear map of his fighting style and using it to perfect his own.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged a hundred blows, but while it seemed like the stalemate perdured. Apprehension was rising within Koloman's heart.
"Playtime's over."
The map was complete.
Konnor soared into the sky and descended onto Koloman's face with a knee blow.
*Bang*
The collision dispersed Koloman's whirlwind. Konnor's knee crashed into his face and further mangled his already broken nose.
Koloman flew into the ground and cratered with blood gushing from his nose and mouth. But before he could return to his feet, Konnor appeared by his side and threw a vicious kick onto his chest!
"Energy armor!"
Koloman didn't want to summon his energy armor when Konnor had yet to bring out his weapon, but right now, he could no longer care about any of that.
A jet-black scale armor covered his body and reduced most of the damage received from Konnor's kick.
With a somersault, he returned onto his feet.
"Oh? Are you that desperate about becoming my punching bag? Alright, I will help you."
Instantly, Konnor vanished from Koloman's sight, causing confusion to spread within his eyes.
"Where…is he? How come I can no longer keep track of him?"
Unlike the space attribute, the light attribute couldn't be used for teleportation. No matter how fast and instantaneous it looked, it was still speed. Therefore, Koloman had full confidence he could follow Konnor's trails.
However, now he couldn't.
"Here."
*Bam*
A punch came from Koloman's left, dislocated his jaw, and sent him rolling onto the ground.
"Here."
A kick struck him from the back of his head and propelled him forward.
"Here."
"Here."
"Here."
Konnor's voice echoed within the air with dozens of afterimages as he beat Koloman black and blue.
Thanks to the energy armor, Koloman avoided severe injuries, but his dignity had been crushed into nothingness.
"AAAAARGH!"
He howled as Konnor's foot stomped his head and nailed him onto the ground in a humiliating position.
"Shut up."
Konnor flipped Koloman onto his back with another kick and smashed his foot into his teeth.
"MHM!"
More than one tooth broke, the disgraced nobleman's blood now covering Konnor's heels.
Silence once again reigned within the crowd.
"How could this be? Why did the table turn so suddenly…and so brutally?"
Lars wondered as he witnessed his long-time rival crushed beneath the newcomer's heel.
*Boom*
Berserk force burst from Koloman's body and pushed Konnor away from him.
"I…will…kill you!"
Koloman's eyes shone with killing intent, a gigantic illusory winged serpent appeared at his back and lifted him onto his feet.
He was about to use his race's innate ability to end Konnor's life. But before, he could make use of it…
"HALT!"
A voice thundered, carrying with it boundless might that suppressed both Konnor and Koloman.
All switched attention toward its origin, which turned out to be a middle-aged man dressed in a spacious yellow cassock, and seeing the white flame emblem embroidered on its chest, the gathered nobles bowed in reverence.
"Greetings your Excellency!"
The man was a bishop of the Holy Flame Church and therefore, a Semi-Saint. Be it in status or in cultivation, he was leagues above any of them.
Chapter 53 - Test
"What is the meaning of this? At the doorstep of the Holy Flame Temple, under the watchful gaze of the Divine Flame Lord, you dare act unruly?!"
The bishop's words carried formless holy force that further oppressed both Koloman and Konnor.
The illusory winged serpent at Koloman's back vanished, and he fell onto his knees. As for Konnor, the level of
strength used was only enough to make him tremble, however, to avoid provoking the Semi-Saint any more, he feigned weakness and knelt.
"Bishop Alto, this…"
"Silence!"
