Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.40 – The Knights' Spring (4)
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Have you ever watched baseball?
Lee Han had once known nothing about the game, but during his time as a soldier, he was forced to watch it because of a sergeant major senior who had taken a liking to him.
That guy was a baseball fanatic, and in the army's ecosystem, matching a higher-ranking senior's hobby was as natural as the cycle of life.
"What the hell does all that mean...?"
At first, everything was confusing.
He couldn't quite grasp the rules or how scoring worked.
Batting average, on-base percentage...
It was all incomprehensible at first, but gradually (forced) he developed an eye for baseball. At some point, he had a team he rooted for. If that team won, he'd feel great that day; if they lost, he'd be down in the dumps...
Repeating this process, when he found himself watching the postseason...
"Baseball is seriously something else!"
He'd shower the opposing team with the highest praise, and every time his team lost, he'd feel a surge of frustration.
His blood pressure spiking in real time—that's what it felt like.
And from some day onward, instead of playing foot volleyball with the guys during PT time, he started practicing alone: throwing a baseball, swinging a bat.
He figured he'd experience firsthand what the players went through before cursing them out.
...And then.
"Whoa, this is insanely tough."
He realized to his bones that it was no easy sport.
Throwing the ball was incredibly hard.
Hitting it was just as tricky.
Especially surprising when handling a baseball: it was harder and heavier than expected. Throwing it at full power made his elbow and shoulder feel like they were grinding away.
And then the breaking balls.
He tried practicing after watching videos, and it felt several times harder. His wrist started grinding too, on top of the rest.
That's when he understood why pitchers get surgery so often and talk about "replacing their elbows."
After that, he stopped cursing pitchers and stopped watching baseball altogether.
He didn't want to curse, but he also didn't want the frustration.
Instead, he picked up catch ball as a hobby, and occasionally practiced breaking balls.
It was the first hobby in his pitch-black military life, and he thought he'd join an adult baseball league after discharge, having practiced that much.
But who would've thought.
"Who knew it'd come in handy like this?"
Sure enough, everything you learn in life gets used somehow. Nodding to himself, Lee Han thoroughly warmed up his body.
"So, you're saying I just need to go in the direction you pointed and scrape it? Cutter or slider..."
"...What are a cutter and a slider?"
"You'll get the gist."
"Fine, I'll do that."
"...Why are you suddenly listening so obediently?"
"Because I'm not the one executing it anyway."
"Hey..."
Has there ever been a more irresponsible guy?
'He tells me to do it and then...'
However.
"If you're scared, you can just back out now."
"...Thanks for the provocation."
It was the perfect taunt that made it impossible to admit fear even if he felt it. Lee Han chuckled.
Anyway...
"Even without you, I was dead set on breaking through."
Yeah, he had no intention of letting those spellcasters off easy.
That's why.
Kwaaadruk!
"Direct the path properly."
"I won't miss."
"...You obnoxious bastard."
Lee Han spun his body.
The guy had said it.
To intercept that massive adult form, he needed power, precision, and speed.
He'd first thought of the Piercing Sun Spear...
'But this might fall a bit short.'
The Piercing Sun Spear was powerful, but hard to control.
So.
Kwaaadruk!
'I'll do it myself!'
Lee Han activated Air Walk.
But it wasn't the usual Air Walk; his trajectory kept shifting, as if floating buoyantly.
Wuuuung!
A gradually gathering flow of power.
Air trembled from the immense force concentrating on him, and in an instant, Lee Han became a small typhoon.
Yes, this was the pinnacle technique derived from the legendary arts of the Daoist immortals' homeland, Kunlun, infused with Lee Han's unique interpretation.
This feat, barely completed in the clash with Tristan, turned his body into a spinning typhoon—a living projectile piercing the foe.
- Cloud Dragon Great Eight Forms.
Nothing under the heavens can block the movements of a dragon frolicking in the clouds...!
Kwaaaang!
Lee Han's body shot forward.
Aiming precisely at the enemy, his speed rivaled a launched capsule.
And right then.
Paat!
A single spear flew ahead faster than the projectile-like Lee Han, as if guiding the way.
"──."
Without a moment's hesitation, Lee Han adjusted his path toward where the spear headed.
That direction was,
'The gap.'
Lee Han curled his body into a ball.
What he needed was spin, velocity, and relentless breaking to mercilessly scrape this massive castle—or rather, this giant bat at the moment!
Kadrrrrruk!!
His typhoon-like body became a single ball, relentlessly rotating and properly shredding the magic tower's barrier.
Like a razor blade—no, a saw blade.
Kugugung!
...The magic tower shook.
"A-Am I dreaming...?"
Patrick gaped in disbelief at the scene before him.
A person flying through the air was one thing, but turning into a small typhoon and mercilessly scraping the magic tower...
...If he told anyone, they'd accuse him of doing drugs.
But Patrick could only speak what he saw, utterly dumbfounded.
However,
"-Still a bit short."
"Knight?"
"Step back."
"!!"
A chill ran down his spine!
The knight's cold demeanor unleashed a murderous aura so intense that Patrick's legs gave out, nearly making him wet himself.
The energy he exuded was on another level entirely.
Gooooh!
A red-tinged haze began enveloping the knight's body.
Kwajik...!
It was the tangible manifestation of the terrifying innate killing intent this one man possessed. Just the killing intent alone scored the ground and threatened to shatter nearby buildings.
The man born under a baleful star channeled his killing intent into the spear.
Charyeok!
A mere spear bought haphazardly in the Empire, yet infused with killing intent, it brimmed with the power to pierce anything.
The knight's unique power, named [Crimson Battle Spirit] by his lord, Duke Blake, concentrated into the spear, and it—
Paaaht!
Shot forth in a red trajectory.
Not the speed of a human throw, but like a harpoon cannon, the spear struck the unstable magic tower.
Kuuuung!
"Done."
It wasn't just tossed.
The only man who could see the magic tower's gap had thrown it perfectly to shatter the already unstable mana barrier.
"...It lasted a thousand years, did it? Pathetic."
Even the sturdiest walls need maintenance after a millennium.
By then, the blueprints would be long lost.
Yet those fools had the gall to...
"Make themselves such a perfect target. Unbelievable."
Fools to the end.
Not even trying to dodge, in that state, pierced by two rusty spears from some backwater smithy and...
"Crumbled by a single rogue."
The knight sneered coldly and charged.
If he dawdled even a little.
──The cub would devour all the tasty bits.
The knight ran.
"......In the south, are knights like that the average?"
The slumped boy stared in bewilderment.
How could such monsters exist?
A small misunderstanding about the south took root in the boy.
Kwajijijik!
The magic tower's mana barrier shattered.
A barrier that had endured a thousand years, broken in one go.
But shattering the mana barrier didn't just mean the magic tower's defense was breached.
"Kuhhheok!"
"Wheeeek!"
"S-Save...!"
Maintaining the mana barrier drew on the mana of the magic tower's affiliated mages.
Its collapse meant massive backlash for them.
Give and take.
Everything has risks, and the mages—convinced it could never break—suffered excruciating pain from the rupture.
The horrific sensation of their mana tangling throughout their bodies!
Internal injuries requiring two weeks of rest, at least.
But now wasn't the time to worry about wounds.
Whoooosh!
The magic tower plummeted.
The mages' sacred floating fortress...
With the mana barrier gone, the force levitating it vanished.
And that meant.
"C-Cast spells now!"
"The magic tower's colliding with the ground!!"
"N-No!!"
Inside were all the mages' research, experiments, artifacts—lifework irreplaceable.
The tower collapsing meant...
Kwaaaang!!!
...All of it destroyed.
Before the mages could act, the tower slammed into the ground, shaking the earth. Fortunately, crashing into empty tundra spared the civilians.
Kwajijik!
Kugugung...!
But the massive quake from structure meeting earth was unavoidable.
Shwaaa!
The tundra's snow churned entirely from the impact.
Nearby colonies must be panicking from the sudden quake; travelers halting in terror.
Realistically, no castle, however sturdy, survives such a fall.
Plummeting from the sky—how could any building endure? It should crumble by common sense.
"Th-The magic tower!"
"My research data...!!"
"...G-Good, it didn't collapse."
...The floating fortress had only minor cracks, largely intact.
Of course—would it crumble from just that?
Records said its bricks were mana-coated specials, every material unique.
Even tumbling from the sky, it had durability to withstand somewhat.
A miracle tru—
"—Let's see if this holds too."
Whook!
But mocking the mages' relief, the knight levitated, hefting a boulder.
Where from?
Yanked straight from the ground. Hoisting it midair, Lee Han assumed a pitching stance like throwing a baseball.
Yes, even playing baseball...
'A straight fastball sinking in felt the best!'
Whook!
Call a pitcher throwing over 160 km/h a fireballer.
But then.
Hwaaaak!
What do you call hurling a bull-sized rock at 300 km/h?
......Meteorballer?
Whatever the name.
Kwajijijik!
It didn't change the misfortune for the magic tower.
The ivory tower built by mages exploiting slaves.
A cursed spire steeped in the blood and tears from atrocities against non-mages, now...
"R-Run...!"
...Crashing down to drench itself in the mages' blood and tears.