Chapter 225
Chapter 225
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.50 – The Knight Broods Over Defeat (3)
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Rumble rumble boom!
A sound echoed from behind as the castle wall crumbled down, but Lee Han didn't even pay attention to it.
Whether the castle wall collapsed or a mountain fell, the only thing that mattered right now was clashing head-on with the superhuman right in front of him with everything he had.
He had no spare moment to look elsewhere, so Lee Han lightly loosened up his body.
Thud, thud thud.
His body bounced repeatedly as if stepping in rhythm, and not a single injury could be seen on it.
Even after being slammed so hard into the castle wall...
If there was any part that hurt,
"Damn, that stings like hell."
it was just the spot where he'd taken that flick to the forehead.
Was the flick hurting more than crashing into the castle wall?
"You monster."
"That's not something you should say. And I'm not a monster—I'm a superhuman."
"...Yeah, a superhuman even worse than a monster."
"Enough grumbling. You just gonna whine?"
"As if."
Thud...
As he finished loosening up, Lee Han glared at Baltar.
Like a beast eyeing its prey.
But no matter how much he observed,
'No openings at all, as expected.'
His opponent had zero gaps.
Even if there were any, they'd just be traps he'd set on purpose.
So.
'Here I go.'
No more pointless thoughts about waiting for an opening.
What he needed to do was
Bam!
pounce. Force an opening on that monster, even if he had to.
Lee Han's legs expanded in an instant, unleashing tremendous power as he charged.
With acceleration rivaling a cheetah's zero-to-hundred, his charge boasted breakthrough force like a tank—practically a missile.
The sheer destructive power would devastate the surroundings just from impact alone. It was a technique no human should ever use on another...
Thwack.
"You've definitely gotten stronger. Heh heh."
"...!"
"Put more power into it. Can't have a young buck this feeble."
...His opponent wasn't human.
Lee Han's charge was effortlessly dismantled.
Kaboom!!
Only the shockwave from his charge swept through the area, sending knights tumbling to the ground. That was it.
Baltar, who had casually blocked his body slam with one hand, smirked.
"Reminds me of when you said you were going off to be an instructor, of all things. Back then, you used that Divine Arrow Flight or whatever for a body slam too. Looking back, it's a fond memory..."
"Argh!"
Krunch!
Lee Han strained with all his might to escape Baltar's grip.
But the more he pushed, the heavier his body felt, like being trapped in a spiderweb—he couldn't break free and was simply pinned down.
"Let's recreate that moment."
Thud.
Baltar's other hand touched Lee Han's shoulder.
And so...
"You called this my Internal Weight Technique, didn't you?"
"!!?"
"This'll hurt a bit more than last time."
No sooner had he spoken than Lee Han's body was slammed into the ground.
Not just slammed—it was more than that.
Krunch crunch crunch!
"Gaaah!"
The pressure from Baltar's Internal Weight Technique didn't just crush Lee Han's body—it struck the earth itself, collapsing the ground.
'How the hell is this just "a bit"...!?'
If Lee Han's charge had missile-level power, Baltar had replicated a missile with just one palm.
The intense shockwave from his shoulder upended everything inside Lee Han's body. For a moment, he nearly blacked out.
"Cough!"
"That's all you got?"
Whoosh!
"Disappointing, then."
Thud.
Baltar placed his foot on the fallen Lee Han's back.
It was a light tap, really. But the instant his foot made contact...
Thud—!
...it felt like a ton of weight was pressing down, crushing him like gravel under a press.
"Didn't you mention some Thousand Catty Drop technique two years ago? I interpreted it my own way. Couldn't quite hit 600kg, so I went with exactly 1,000kg. How about it? Feels heavy, right?"
"......"
"Heh heh, passed out already?"
"Y-You bastard, why steal my ideas...!"
"Hm, still fine, huh."
"!!?"
Frustration boiled up inside him.
Fine, my ass!
If he hadn't unleashed Indestructible Training at full power, his back would've burst open by now.
That was how intense the force was.
'Without the fairy tale transformation, I'd be dead, damn it!'
Crunch!
Lee Han felt overwhelming gratitude toward the fairy, but expressing thanks could wait—he'd do it properly later. Right now...!
"Oh ho!"
escaping this old man's grip was priority one.
Whoosh!
Like a mole, Lee Han burrowed into the ground.
Baltar hadn't anticipated this evasion tactic; even he looked surprised and impressed as Lee Han vanished into the earth.
"I knew you'd abandoned the human path long ago, but was becoming a mole your goal?"
His voice came teasingly, provocatively.
In response, Lee Han
"Don't underestimate moles, old man."
Pow! Pow pow! Poom!
decided to teach him the terror of moles.
Holes began popping up all over the ground.
It was enough to trigger trypophobia, and just as questions arose about what trick this was,
Boom!!
"...Huh?"
a fist strike erupted from a hole, grazing Baltar's shoulder.
But as a reincarnator, Lee Han knew once you started, no mercy.
"Let's see you block this too."
Boom boom!
He turned the holes into gun barrels, firing fist strikes relentlessly.
Fist strikes infused with the principles of Hundred-Step Divine Fist and Ridge-Shattering Strike blasted toward Baltar like machine-gun fire.
Boom!
Boom boom!!
"Heh heh! Never seen a madman like this!"
Baltar laughed, claiming it was his first time seeing such a tactic.
With over 70 years as a knight facing all sorts of mysteries, sword arts, and magic, even he had never encountered this.
Burrowing underground and unleashing power indiscriminately like this—!
'And it's not half-assed power either.'
Poom!
Feeling the force in the strikes firsthand made his hand tingle.
The method might seem ridiculous, but anyone facing it directly would feel chills—and worry about losing their head.
"Impressive kid. Performing such 'tricks' for a bored old man."
...But for others, it might mean watching their heads.
Not for Baltar, though. To him, it was just an amusing, endearing performance.
Like a grandchild stumbling toward you, babbling clumsily.
So, for the one who'd moved him,
"Guess I'll get serious too."
Clank.
Baltar drew his iron sword.
A shabby, rust-eaten thing that looked more like decoration than a weapon, untouched by maintenance.
Yet somehow,
the moment it was in Baltar's hand, the rusted iron sword
"Eh, just slice 'em all up."
Slash!
displayed cutting power worthy of a famed blade.
A horizontal slash.
The most basic sword technique—one any swordsman had swung thousands, tens of thousands of times.
But if they saw Baltar's horizontal slash now, every swordsman would doubt their eyes.
Perfection.
If there was an ideal slash no one else could achieve, it would look like that. A movement so beautiful, blinking felt like a waste.
And thus, the tragedy.
All the knights had fled the training grounds, forgoing the fortune of witnessing Baltar's sword swing.
...Though in a way, the emptiness was a blessing.
Because if they'd stayed,
Slice!
they'd have been neatly bisected.
For an instant, Lee Han's airborne fist strikes froze en masse.
Even the wind-like air currents seemed to halt simultaneously. And so,
"Sliced 'em all up nicely."
Pop!
the hundreds of strikes burst like balloons at once.
The barrage aimed at Baltar neutralized. A wondrous sight, but
Thud.
"How long you gonna play mole?"
the moment he lightly stomped,
cracks spread across the ground...
Whoosh!!
Everything flipped over except where he'd stepped.
"......"
"Ah, there you are."
Only after the earth turned did Lee Han emerge, mouth agape as he took a faceful of flying sand, rocks, and dirt clods soaring high.
Sand or pebbles in his mouth? Whatever.
He was floored.
"...What, the ground ain't a carrot or radish—why dice it up like that......"
The field-sized patch of earth had been perfectly diced and flipped. Lee Han let out a hollow laugh.
Whoosh!!
Dirt poured down, and the castle wall cracked further from shockwaves, collapsing in sequence.
The fight had barely passed five minutes, yet the royal castle was on the verge of ruin.
A massive incident on its own, but the two men couldn't care less about such 'trivia.'
Take the punishment later if it came—that was their mindset.
Lee Han and Baltar were that kind of men.
And now.
"Well? Ready to admit defeat?"
Baltar asked, sword still drawn.
Baltar without a sword and with one were like different people.
For Lee Han, already getting thrashed, this was an even greater crisis. Admitting defeat was the logical path.
"Lost your mind in old age?"
"...Ungrateful brat."
Of course, Lee Han wouldn't surrender easily.
Clank.
Imitating Baltar, Lee Han drew his sword.
He rarely used a sword—his first time drawing one.
Blades could kill; controlling his strength with one was nearly impossible.
But.
"You won't die from me drawing a sword. I'll use it today."
"Obviously. Your sword's just a toy compared to mine."
"...True, but it pisses me off."
His opponent was Baltar.
No chance of killing him.
"Truth hurts, doesn't it."
"...Damn it!"
This fact frustrated him, but let Lee Han resolve to pour everything out.
"Huuuu...!"
He pushed his focus and senses to the limit.
Convinced this was his only shot at landing a hit, he
Hum-. Hummm-.
began honing his blade.
Sword Resonance hummed as Lee Han's energy surged into the iron sword. Adding the northern brute's bulk and the black dog's stolen technique—
Fwoosh!
"...You've made something interesting."
"The power won't be 'interesting' at all."
Sword Gang.
Like stars captured in the night sky, but its destructive sword force poured out relentlessly—not beautiful at all.
Hummm!
A terrifying power compressed, unfit for use on humans. Dangerous even for the user.
Lee Han aimed it at Baltar.
"Even you might find this dizzying, old man?"
He taunted, pointing the Sword Gang.
No matter who, they couldn't take this lightly.
But.
"Hm, that all?"
"...?"
"Heh heh, really. You forgot who I am."
"???"
"Guess I'll remind you."
Hummm-!
Suddenly, Baltar's iron sword formed the same... no, fiercer energy vortex, concentrating power.
And it
Fwoosh!
"!"
instantly formed 'Sword Gang.'
Even fiercer than Lee Han's...
"......"
Baltar smiled kindly at the stunned Lee Han, like a gentle teacher.
"Other knights struggle with Sword Resonance or Sword Qi, but for 'us,' it's easier than breathing. Because we are"
Crackle!
"Aura Users."
No sooner had he spoken than changes rippled through Baltar's Sword Gang.
As if kindly showing that Sword Gang was mere basics, with a next stage.
Roil!
An ominous surge emerged from the Sword Gang, like waves. The light fragments it birthed coalesced into beautiful spheres like glass beads.
"...Gang Orb."
Lee Han felt his will to fight drain away.
Sword Gang Compression Orb, or Sword Orb.
Watching orbs of utter destruction emerge one after another, Lee Han could only
"...Ha."
let out a disbelieving chuckle.