Chapter 56: Retribution (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: Retribution (3)
Losing your calm in an emergency meant death.
It was a truth Damian Aslan had learned on countless battlefields, and it was the only reason he hadn’t completely lost his mind.
“Say that again. What did you just say?”
“The guard forces at the outer castle have been completely breached.”
“…”
Instead of folding the reporting soldier in half, Damian took a deep breath. Rage boiled in his head, tempting him to do just that, but what little composure he had left reminded him it would be pointless.
Fortunately, he still had one card to play.
“…Contact the Standing Knights.”
The Aslan Grand Duchy was one of the Empire’s premier martial houses, which meant they possessed their own knightly order, separate from the Imperial Military. These were superhumans, on a completely different level from ordinary soldiers. They should be able to handle even an abnormal situation like this.
Yet, as if to mock his attempt at composure, an incident occurred an instant later that poured fuel on the fire of his rage.
One side of the inner castle hallway he was standing in exploded outward. It looked as though a bomb had detonated, but standing in the smoke beyond the ruined wall was a single figure, fist outstretched.
Before he could even process his astonishment—that a single person had done the work of a battering ram—a hollow laugh escaped his lips.
The face beyond the smoke was one he recognized.
“…Lionheart?”
He uttered her name, his voice filled with disbelief.
Before he could even wonder what on earth she was doing here, the men around him collapsed in unison.
The Qi radiating from Lionheart had condensed into small spheres that shot through the air, striking the space between the brows of every nearby guard with terrifying precision. He watched, dumbfounded, as the men collapsed without a sound.
“…What in the world is the meaning of this—!”
“I have a few things to ask you as well, Son of the Grand Duke.”
The moment he heard her voice, the realization that something was terribly wrong slammed into Damian’s mind.
The Lionheart he knew always wore a mask-like, expressionless face and spoke in a businesslike tone. But the woman standing before him now…
“The disaster of the Aslan Grand Duchy—the Night of the Hunt—is right around the corner, yet there are no signs of preparation for the demonic beast outbreak anywhere in this territory.”
…her expression was practically demonic. She was incandescent with fury.
“Civilians will die. The casualties will be endless. How are you preparing for that?”
“…”
“From what I confirmed on my way here, there was absolutely nothing.”
“…That’s a bold question to ask after such an outrageous entrance, Lionheart,” Damian growled, dismissing her rebuke.
Of course, if they were to argue the finer points, he would be at a disadvantage, but anyone could see she had crossed a far greater line.
“Our family’s internal affairs are for us to handle. It’s not a matter for outsiders to recklessly interfere in.”
“…Is that your final answer?” Noel’s voice was laced with disbelief. “On the verge of sending countless people to their deaths, you’re telling me not to interfere in family affairs?”
“Yes. That’s enough.”
The man beside Noel, who had been listening in silence, let out a deep sigh.
“There’s no need to hear any more. Any guilt I felt is completely gone.”
Before Damian could even demand who this upstart was, the sighing man stepped forward with steady strides. Instead of flying into a rage, Damian’s eyes darted around, looking for his men.
The man was walking toward him, clearly intending to do something, but he didn’t seem worth Damian’s attention. His focus was entirely on Lionheart, who had entered with him.
It didn’t matter who this man was. The problem was that he had arrived with Lionheart and was acting familiar with her.
If he harmed this man, he might face retaliation from Lionheart—
“I can see exactly what you’re thinking, but…”
Noel’s voice cut through his thoughts, delivering an answer completely contrary to his expectations.
“I won’t do anything, Son of the Grand Duke.”
“…?”
Damian stared blankly at Noel. She crossed her arms as if to prove her words, a gesture so unexpected it left him speechless.
“Listen closely. I won’t do anything.”
She repeated herself, as if desperate to emphasize the point.
“What are you—”
“It means you can’t expect her to help you just because you’re acquainted.”
The response came from the man who had stepped forward. He tilted his neck from side to side, looking as though he were doing warm-up exercises.
“Because from now on, I’m going to beat some sense into you.”
“…”
Another vein, far thicker than the last, bulged on Damian’s forehead.
He might pale in comparison to a warrior like Lionheart, but Damian was still the eldest son of the prestigious Aslan Grand Ducal House. He was skilled enough to strip the flesh from an ordinary supernatural ability user’s bones while mentally planning his monthly schedule.
“…Fine.”
Grinding his teeth, he drew his sword. It was ridiculous to waste any more words on an opponent who had forced his way into his home. He didn’t know who this man was or what power he was hiding, but his intent to harm him was clear.
As spheres of light began to rise around the man’s body, Damian’s eyes narrowed. It was a type of supernatural ability with an exceptionally high degree of control difficulty, yet the man had created three of them in an instant.
The Dharmic Power of the Tribal Alliance. The man looked unimpressive, but everyone had a hidden dagger up their sleeve.
He won’t be an easy opponent.
With that judgment, Damian tensed his grip on his sword. The muscles throughout his body tightened, and the combat techniques engraved into his very being were honed to a razor’s edge.
Of course, he never entertained the thought of losing. No matter how his opponent wielded Dharmic Power, Damian was a formidable warrior in his own right.
It was sure to be a fierce battle—
“Hold on. Please wait just a moment.”
“…”
…Or maybe not.
The man spoke casually, his gaze shifting back and forth between Damian and the spheres of light he had manifested. He was clearly waiting for something.
“There’s still a bit left.”
“…What?”
“It feels like it’ll be ready soon, so if you could just wait a moment, just one moment—”
When Damian questioned him with utter disbelief, Aiden simply stood still and looked at him. His eyes were unfocused, hazy, and held not a trace of tension. It felt as though he saw Damian not as an enemy to be fought, but as some sort of ‘target’ to be beaten down.
“Because it seems you’re not quite powerless enough yet.”
“…”
As Damian stood frozen, wondering what on earth the man was talking about, he heard the frantic sound of someone running toward them. It was a squire from the Duchy’s knightly order, his every movement radiating urgency.
Seeing him, a thick vein bulged on Damian’s forehead. He’d called for them ages ago. They were far too late.
“Where in the hell are the stationed knights—!”
“Y-Young Lord…!”
Despite Damian’s ferocious glare, the poor squire seemed to realize he had to deliver his message. Trembling violently, he blurted out the words.
“The order of knights has been wiped out…!”
“…”
“While engaging just one of the intruders, every single one of them…!”
The vein on Damian’s forehead smoothed away. At this point, he was too bewildered to even feel anger.
To summarize: his territory was currently being torn apart by a mere three people. And the order of knights, the territory’s last bastion of defense, had just been annihilated by only one of them.
Meanwhile, upon hearing those words, the man before him finally began to nod.
“No mobile forces left, weaker than me…”
Listening to the man tallying conditions one by one, a chill of foreboding surged up Damian’s spine. It was the moment his threat-detection ability, honed over years on the battlefield, screamed at him.
In that same instant, another supernatural ability flared to life within the man’s body alongside the Dharmic Power he had already drawn.
The Pure White Qi that Lionheart wielded, and a high-heat Divine Power. He manifested both simultaneously.
Damian’s eyes widened.
He just used Dharmic Power, so how can he use another supernatural ability—
But before he could properly process the thought—
“…Then all that’s left is to beat you up.”
A fist wreathed in those powers rushed straight for his face.
—That was undeniably his last memory before losing consciousness.
* * *
“…Mhm.”
Aiden, who had pulverized his opponent’s face with a single blow, looked back and forth between his fist and Damian’s unconscious form. A fresh sense of astonishment swelled in his chest.
“Why are you looking surprised when you’re the one who crushed him in a single strike…?” Noel interjected, watching the scene unfold.
Her comment didn’t change Aiden’s thoughts.
…Haven’t I gotten pretty strong?
He had simply wrapped his body in a mix of Pure White Qi and First Vow. Without even using Mayer’s techniques, let alone any other skills, he had knocked out his opponent in one hit through sheer physical power.
It hadn’t been long since he’d felt thoroughly intimidated watching the battle between the Lord Protector and Noel. Even now, he couldn’t touch a single hair on Mayer in his dreams, and he was certain his head would be shattered in an instant if he fought Noel or Katya for real.
He hadn’t expected a man of this caliber to be crushed so easily, without even putting up a fight.
“Isn’t that only natural?”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know what you think of yourself, Mr. Aiden, but if your standard of comparison is me or Her Royal Highness, who on earth could ever feel confident in their strength?”
“…”
“The only people I can think of who could say so with certainty are His Majesty the Emperor in his prime, or Her Holiness the current Pope.”
“…Aha.”
As Aiden nodded, Noel calmly continued.
“Mr. Aiden, your baseline capabilities alone are now enough to quickly overwhelm an average knight. While you might not be among the top-tier powerhouses yet, you are clearly beyond the realm of an average supernatural ability user.”
Come to think of it, after devouring so many unique skills, it would be stranger if he were weak.
…Besides, he was currently in the process of adding yet another weapon to his arsenal.
“Hmm—”
Aiden narrowed his eyes at the sphere of light shimmering in front of him.
“Since I’ve bullied a powerless person, all that’s left now is for it to become corrupted…”
“…A powerless person?”
“It seems the Goddess of Ascension has a multi-faceted interpretation of ‘powerless person’.”
Words were truly fascinating things. For an opponent to be ‘strong’ didn’t just mean physical strength; it also seemed to encompass the power they could wield and the number of people they could mobilize.
“That’s why I had to strip away everything around this guy.”
“…”
“It seems she only considers someone undeniably weaker than me once they’re reduced to having nothing left besides their own body.”
“…So,” Noel spoke, her voice tinged with sheer disbelief. “Are you saying that just to corrupt a single piece of Dharmic Power by making your opponent ‘weak,’ you had the Duchy’s entire standing army and order of knights annihilated?”
“That’s pretty much it.”
“…”
He was starting to get used to the sight of Noel clutching her aching head. At least she didn’t raise any major objections, seemingly understanding that he only committed such acts because he fully intended to clean up the aftermath.
In any case…
“…I suppose it wasn’t all for nothing. It certainly looks like it’s been corrupted,” Noel muttered, looking at Aiden’s Dharmic Power core, which was shimmering with dark smudges.
Just like the time the consecration had gone wrong, it was twisted into a shape that screamed something had gone terribly awry.
— System Message
▶ A violation of the Restriction has been detected. Urgan grows enraged.
▶ Operation of Dharmic Power is canceled. As a backlash, the Dharmic Power has become corrupted, leading to physical destruction.
Indeed, system windows like these proved it beyond doubt.
This meant the ‘preparation’ was complete.
Aiden took a deep breath and infused a separate supernatural ability into each of the floating spheres of light.
Pure White Qi and achromatic flames fused with each of the darkened light spheres.
The effect was immediate.
— System Message
▶ Through the effect of ‘Unique Trait: Omnipotence’, combining each supernatural ability develops a new effect!
▶ By synthesizing ‘Pure White Heart’ and ‘Savior’s Oath’, you have developed ‘Radiant Brilliance’!
— System Message
▶ Through the effect of ‘Unique Trait: Omnipotence’, combining each supernatural ability develops a new effect!
▶ By synthesizing ‘Pure White Heart’ and ‘First Vow’, you have developed ‘Purifier’!
…Oh.
A single glance was enough to tell him he had created something incredible.