[No title provided]
Loop Kuhn Auros, who had inherited the name of khan passed down only to the most honorable among the North's warriors, took an immediate dislike to the man named Mars Noctus who had appeared before him.
His precious youngest daughter, born after a long line of sons, was someone he wouldn't flinch at putting his eye out for. When she suddenly sent a letter saying she'd found herself a man, he'd nearly thrown aside all his duties and stormed the Empire single-handedly. It was only thanks to his retainers and direct knights desperately holding him back and persuading him that he calmed down—but even then, he couldn't just leave this Mars fellow alone. Conveniently, he'd gotten word that the academy was preparing a field trip, so he rerouted their destination straight to the North, where he was.
Inviting the academy group wasn't cheap, but to Grand Duke Loop, who valued his daughter far more than any sum of money, it was irrelevant. Anxiously counting the days until she returned, three days later, word came that the academy party had arrived.
Loop ordered them brought to him immediately and spent the time sharpening his personal weapon while imagining his meeting with Mars.
Finally, the encounter took place. A crowd of students poured into the audience chamber, but in the grand duke's eyes, only one person stood out.
That must be the one.
His presence wasn't particularly striking, which instead suggested he was skillfully suppressing his power. Loop had heard through the grapevine that this young man, Mars Noctus, had stepped onto the path to becoming an Aura Lord. If it weren't for his daughter's involvement, he might have even sought advice from him directly. But now, they'd become something like fated enemies.
Tch. Not a bad-looking guy.
Black hair was rare in the Empire, but its contrast with his pale skin gave him a mysteriously alluring air. According to the intel from his subordinates, his mother was a female swordsman from some distant continent—likely the source of that mixed-blood handsome face.
The golden-haired boy beside him was also strikingly good-looking, but to the grand duke, steeped in the North's rugged manly ideals, Polo came off as a frail pretty boy—a definite minus.
Decent muscles, too. No wonder my girl noticed him.
Even as they exchanged greetings, the grand duke eyed Mars up and down. That's when he noticed something: all the beautiful women around Mars were staring at him.
Thinking it a trick of the eye, he double-checked. No mistake—those three stunning beauties were clearly watching Mars's every move.
Polygamy wasn't unusual in the North, where individual strength ruled all. But the idea of his precious daughter becoming some other man's fourth wife? The grand duke nearly lost his mind.
"Follow me. Unless you want to die."
Mars was understandably thrown by the grand duke's curt, heavily abbreviated command, but surprisingly, he didn't flinch or avert his eyes.
Impressive. Most can't even meet my gaze the first time.
The grand duke knew his own appearance wasn't ordinary. People usually trembled in fear at first sight. Most of the academy students had already been avoiding his eyes since entering the chamber—that this kid had the guts to stare him down was something else.
Setting aside his outrage at the thief who'd stolen his daughter's heart, the grand duke found himself intrigued by Mars as a man. In the end, he decided to test him under the pretext of Northern tradition.
Once he'd dragged Mars to the training grounds, though, second thoughts crept in. Am I being too forceful?
As he faced Mars across the arena, packed with onlookers, he considered talking it out first. But then—
"Mars, you got this!~"
"Give it your all!"
"You can win!"
Cheerful voices from the sidelines, rooting for Mars.
And there—
"Yeah. Win this."
—was Prazia, offering her encouragement not to him, but to Mars.
"I'll kill you, Mars Noctus!"
At the starting signal, the grand duke leaped high, massive axe in hand. His strike, powered by legs like steel springs, was no joke.
KABOOM!!!
"Urgh... grrrgh—!"
Hoh? He blocked that?
Mars had taken the blow head-on—a feat even the North's elite knights struggled with. The grand duke inwardly revised his assessment upward.
Clang—
Unable to overpower the axe blade pressing down, Mars slid his sword aside. The sudden release of pressure threw the grand duke's upper body forward, exposing his side. Mars swung—but with the flat of his blade, a sensible choice not to wound the grand duke carelessly.
The problem? The grand duke wasn't exactly the sensible type.
"You... mocking me, boy?"
"No... huh?"
Mars had poured aura into that strike, aiming to hurt. Yet the grand duke showed no damage. A flat-of-the-blade hit should feel like a clubbing, but it hadn't fazed him.
"Hup—!"
"Kuh!"
Mars barely dodged backward as the axe whistled past. He grimaced at the grand duke's muscle-bound frame—clearly no water weight there.
But his eyes soon calmed, scanning for a way to land a solid hit.
Hoh? Regaining composure already?
Most crumbled in despair before an insurmountable wall. The grand duke had seen it countless times—and been there himself. But this young man was clawing for any purchase to climb it.
Got spirit, I'll give him that.
Swallowing words that would horrify Prazia, the grand duke waited for Mars's next move—
...whoosh.
Gone!? No—flank!
Clang!Kak!
Mars vanished in an instant, thrusting at the grand duke's side in a blink—but the axe intercepted.
"Tch!"
Whoosh! Swish! Clang! Scraaaape! Clang!
Mars moved so fast he left afterimages, like some cloning technique. Even the grand duke was impressed by the speed.
"Not bad. Can't win with strength, so speed it is? You've got some legs."
With superhuman dynamic vision, the grand duke could barely track him fully. That massive axe head was a lifesaver—if it were a sword or spear, he'd have eaten a hit for sure.
"But... this is annoying."
Tired of pure defense, the grand duke suddenly lowered his raised arm.
"...?!"
Mars's face was hidden, but he seized the opening, lunging like lightning for another strike.
Shiiiing—!
Thud! Thunk!
"Wha—?!"
"Got you."
He'd let the probing strikes land untouched, taken the sword to the gut, but grabbed Mars's arm in that instant. His dense muscles stopped the blade at the tip—it wouldn't go deeper or pull free.
"Speed alone ain't enough. Get caught, and you're done."
"Wait! Your Grace!"
Mars surged his aura to break free, but a father's grief over his stolen daughter defied all force.
"Die, Mars Noctus!!"
KABOOOOOM!!
With a thunderous roar, Mars soared far, smashing through the arena wall and beyond.
"Kyaa! Mars!!"
"S-Saintess! Heal him, quick—!"
"Y-Yes!"
The crowd rushed to the collapsed wall, frantic to aid Mars.
...Thought he was just hype with no substance.
The grand duke glanced at his belly. Mars's sword had sunk deeper than before.
Judged he couldn't dodge, so kicked the embedded blade to turn it fatal.
Realizing capture meant defeat, Mars chose to inflict a mortal wound at the cost of passing out. Using his free leg, he aura-kicked the sword hilt-first into the grand duke's gut, piercing clean through before his heroic defeat.
He's got potential. No wonder Helios took him as a disciple...
Smiling at memories of his old rival, the Helios Count, his daughter approached.
"Dad..."
"Ah, Prazia~ Didn't get to greet you properly earlier. Come on, your mom's waiting—let's eat—"
"Don't talk to me ever again."
With that, Prazia spun on her heel and joined the academy students helping the fallen Mars.
Rejected by his daughter, the grand duke turned to stone, unmoving even as everyone left the training grounds.