Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: The 5×5 Battle (7)
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A light flick of the fingers.
In stark contrast, words that were anything but light.
From a mere first-year fledgling to a third-year veteran.
A provocation hurled at Rainter Rider, no less—one that was enough to throw everyone into disarray, regardless of the situation or who they were.
Even Goetz himself.
"O-Owl... boy?"
Goetz, who had spent his life shocking others, was now stuttering in surprise at someone else's actions.
But the target of the provocation, Rainter, simply gazed at Yuri with calm eyes.
Then, abruptly, he withdrew the overwhelming aura of dominance that had been crushing everything around him, and sighs of relief echoed from here and there.
"Huh!"
"Hah, hah."
Yuri tilted his head at Rainter, who had suddenly released his dominance.
"What? Why'd you drop it? I could've kept going no problem."
Rainter offered no reply to the continued provocation.
Instead, someone else reacted to it.
"Don't get cocky, 50th Cohort."
"Hm?"
Michel Ang, his twin axes dangling at his sides, stepped between Yuri and Rainter.
He scowled fiercely, ramping up his own presence.
"Who do you think you are, flapping your mouth in front of Lord Rainter like that?"
Yuri's eyes narrowed at the voice thick with murderous intent.
"Lord Rainter, huh..."
They were the same year, yet his attitude was one of utter deference to a superior.
And seeing Rainter watch from behind as if this were routine, Yuri smirked.
"So that's why he pulled back that annoying aura."
The energy from the Hundred Steps Ceremony, akin to the Sword Lord crushing the world.
Rainter had retracted it for a simple reason.
"He's testing the waters, huh?"
Among those bound were Rainter's own lackeys.
So, he wanted them to step up in his place.
Or...
"A trial."
Yuri scoffed lightly and shrugged at Michel.
"Ah, I get it. Trash like me who doesn't know his place shouldn't open his mouth in front of the noble Lord Rainter Rider."
"If you get it, kneel and beg forgiveness right now."
"Hm, forgiveness..."
Muttering that, Yuri flashed Michel a sly smile.
"But, senior, before that, I've got something to say."
"...?"
The moment their eyes met, laced with Michel's confusion.
Yuri's expression hardened, his voice dripping with venom.
"Quit yapping and butt out, you lackey."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a flash of light erupted.
Boom—.
A bolt of lightning cleaved through the air, striking down right in front of Michel.
Crash!
"Gah!"
Crack—.
A short scream rang out, followed by the sound of something breaking, and Michel flew off like a cannonball.
But the mad thunderbolt didn't stop there.
Crackle—.
The lightning that had blasted Michel veered sharply.
And...
Boom—!
"Guh!"
Another flash exploded, sending Aris Moore flying this time.
"Huh?"
"...?"
"...Wha?"
The onlookers blinked in bewilderment, unable to process how Michel and Aris had been sent flying in the blink of an eye.
They had seen it with their own eyes, yet their brains refused to accept it.
'What just... happened?'
'Like... huh... what?'
'Why'd Michel and Aris go flying?'
Michel, known as Rainter's butler, and Aris, the blood heir of the prestigious Moore family.
Rainter's closest aides, top-tier among the 48th Cohort.
Michel ranked 3rd, Aris 5th.
For two such powerhouses to be knocked out in an instant—who could easily believe it?
Especially Michel's state was gruesome.
His prized twin axes had their heads shattered, leaving only the handles, and his arms dangled limply, apparently broken.
As the stunned crowd stared blankly at Michel and Aris, their gazes shifted to the center of the clearing.
Crackle—.
The figure still enveloped in lightning.
The one who had reduced Michel and Aris to that pitiful state.
Their brains finally kicked in, and they could only gape in shock.
"Huh?"
"That...?"
"...?!"
They saw it.
The brilliant golden aura coiling around Yuri's sword, dazzling beyond compare.
"I-is that... real?"
Someone muttered it, but everyone knew.
It was unmistakably a demon sword.
Whoosh—.
The demon sword spun gracefully in Yuri's hand, tracing an arc before aiming at Rainter.
"You seemed curious about my strength through your lackey, so I gave you a taste. Satisfied?"
Rainter still said nothing.
Yuri gave up on getting a response.
Instead, he took slow steps forward.
"Well, if you're not coming at me first."
The tip of Yuri's sword lowered to the ground.
"This time, I'll graciously make the first move."
Bang—.
With a sound like a small explosive detonating, Yuri's form shot forward once more.
Appearing like a phantom before Rainter, Yuri drew a thought from the crowd.
Reckless.
The kid was getting cocky just from taking down Michel and Aris.
Even with a demon sword, he'd end up like Goetz.
Everyone thought so.
But.
Boom—!
'What?'
The clash of the golden demon sword and the jet-black one.
Yuri and Rainter's forms flickered in and out of sight.
Even their Cradle knight eyes struggled to follow.
As gold and black trails tangled wildly in the air before their very eyes.
Kablooey!
'...?!'
Only then did the crowd realize something was off.
Especially Goetz Loetern, who stared blankly at the golden demon sword holding its own against the black one, murmuring in a trance.
"It's... not... losing?"
Unlike his own demon sword, which had shattered in one blow, Yuri's was matching the black demon sword evenly.
The implication was simple.
"Strong..."
Yuri Holland was strong.
Strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with Rainter Rider, or near enough.
And Goetz wasn't the only one to realize it.
"...Not bluffing after all."
Yulia's eyes softened slightly.
Her mind drifted back.
* * *
Yulia's gaze fixed on occupation zones 5-1 and 5-2.
The very two Yuri had confidently claimed he could take alone.
She shook her head inwardly.
'Impossible.'
Being close to the Blue Army's starting camp, 5-1 and 5-2 were surely already secured by the Blues.
Reclaiming them would be several times harder than holding a pre-seized zone defensively.
'This... can't be done.'
Yulia had seen Yuri's skills and knew.
'The level Yuri Holland showed back then didn't seem that high... but he received the holy sword.'
With that ability confirmed then.
That bizarre power of his that exceeded his level.
Perhaps he could reclaim even one zone solo.
The issue was time.
From the White Army starting camp, through 5-2 to 5-1.
Plus the time to reclaim both.
All within 30 minutes.
Even calculating generously, it was utterly impossible.
Everyone thought the same.
"Even for that guy... this seems like too much."
"Yeah."
Even the 50th and 49th Cohorts, who knew Yuri somewhat.
"Arrogant."
"Overestimating himself."
And the 48th Cohort too.
All reacted with disbelief.
Only those who had originally been in Yuri's group nodded faintly.
Amid the flood of negativity, Yuri looked around and spoke.
"You all think we're gonna lose this quest anyway, right? No chance of winning, yeah?"
"..."
"So just follow my lead. It's not like there's a better plan."
"..."
"If we lose and it ends in White Army defeat, blame me then. Say it's not your incompetence, just my trash strategy. I'll take all the heat."
The crowd fell silent at his slightly mocking tone.
Yuri grinned at them.
"Of course, I don't plan on losing."
Confidence surged into that smile.
"We're winning for sure."
* * *
We're winning for sure.
At first, she'd dismissed it as Yuri's bluster.
Foolhardy bravado born of ignorance, having never faced Rainter Rider.
But.
Boom!
Watching Yuri clash with Rainter Rider.
Exchanging blows without yielding an inch, Yulia realized.
Those words weren't bluff—they were confidence, not bravado but a calculated declaration of victory.
Kablooey—!
A massive explosion rang out, and the fierce clash paused briefly.
In the taut tension, Yuri and Rainter eyed each other.
Yulia clenched her fist without thinking.
Then Yuri tilted his chin up slightly, looking at Rainter as he spoke.
"Boring."
Indifferent gaze.
Stiff tone.
Everyone knew he was mimicking Rainter from moments ago.
Pretending nonchalance.
Or feigning playfulness, Yuri desperately suppressed the sadistic urges bubbling up.
His opponent was Rainter Rider.
The third-year strongest, master of the Black Dragon Flag.
And... the Sword Lord's son.
The thought made Yuri itch to draw his holy sword and blast Rainter away for all to see.
Crush him in one go, let the Sword Lord know.
That the one who was once fifteen steps from you had grown this much.
That even your blood heir couldn't touch him—flaunt it!
But Yuri reined in those emotions with all his might.
'Can't waste this chance like that, right?'
His opponent was the Sword Lord's son, inheritor of his demon body arts.
So he needed to observe, hear, experience, feel as much as possible from Rainter.
Dissect every detail, absorb it all.
The demon body arts that had elevated the Sword Lord to the world's pinnacle!
'So show me more... give me everything you've got, Rainter Rider!'
Yuri's golden eyes gleamed.
Boom—!
The clash resumed.
* * *
Yuri's entrance and provocation.
Even when he'd blasted his lackeys away, Rainter had tried to dismiss him.
But the moment he blocked the golden demon sword and gauged his strength, Rainter realized he could no longer ignore him.
'Strong.'
Yuri Holland was stronger than any knight in the Cradle.
Strong enough to truly rival him.
Yuri must have realized it too, the instant their swords met.
Boom—!
In that fleeting clash.
Locking eyes with those golden pupils, Rainter recalled Yuri Holland from months ago in the Hundred Steps Ceremony.
Falling again and again, yet stubbornly rising to press forward.
To him, it had looked like a tenacious bug with raw vitality...
'But Father... acknowledged him.'
Even as he surpassed his brothers and sisters' records.
Even as everyone praised his brilliant talent endlessly.
Father had never once complimented him.
'And yet Father...'
The eternal absolute, his idol, had awarded that nobody.
That undeniable fact tormented Rainter.
When Father praised no one, it was natural, just who he was—he could rationalize it.
But for that man to award someone else meant he himself fell short of the mark.
And that Yuri Holland, who received it, was superior.
Rainter had tried to erase that fact from his mind.
To uproot the jealousy and inferiority sprouting relentlessly.
'Feeling jealous over trash like that... shameful.'
So he'd ignored Yuri Holland deliberately.
But news of Yuri kept coming, rendering his efforts futile.
Yuri shattering his quest records, setting unbreakable ones.
His own point income dropping as a result.
A mere first-year pulling stunts in 49th Cohort quests, etc.
As if provoking him, Yuri's exploits kept reaching Rainter despite his efforts to ignore.
And finally, clashing with Yuri Holland, Rainter realized.
'...I was wrong. Shouldn't have ignored him.'
He wasn't "just some bug."
Nor could he have been left unchecked.
'I should have acknowledged him. That Yuri Holland was worthy of Father's attention... accepted it.'
And crushed him before he could grow.
Failing that, ignoring him had allowed this pest to grow bold enough to point a sword at his throat.
Now, Rainter resolved to correct that mistake.
Boom—!
The jet-black demon sword pushed hard, sending Yuri skidding back.
As Yuri prepared to charge again, Rainter aimed his sword and declared.
"Today, I'll crush you here."
No sooner had he spoken than Rainter's demon sword writhed grotesquely.
Black energy rippled like a living thing, and an terrifying presence emanated from him.
A hair-trigger moment pregnant with impending catastrophe.
In that tension, Yuri...
Lick—.
Licked his red lips slightly, as if eyeing a delicious meal.