Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The One Who Was the Strongest
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Silence descended.
Thebeus's head hit the ground, and for a moment, everyone froze as if time itself had stopped.
An utterly unforeseen situation.
Both sides could only fall silent as they stared at Thebeus, whose head had been abruptly severed.
Even Patrick and Crowe, who had instinctively blocked the attack, wore expressions of shock on their faces.
'What a shame.'
Regardless, all I felt was regret.
I had tried to take out Thebeus, Patrick, and Crowe in one surprise strike.
I had unleashed every bit of psionic energy I possessed, sharpening it like the wind and hurling it forth.
But only Thebeus died, while the other two emerged unscathed.
'They say Sword Masters have an insanely heightened sense for mana. Looks like that's not wrong.'
Croft was a monster beyond compare anyway, so setting him aside, it was surprising that those two had blocked an invisible blade.
Their senses had developed to an extreme degree.
I'd heard that those with sharp instincts could even dodge things they couldn't perceive, but trying to take out two Sword Masters at once might have been too greedy.
'If I increase the amount of [Nano Machine], I could probably do it.'
Even if they sensed it instinctively, there were limits.
Besides, when caught off guard by a surprise attack, they couldn't bring their full power to bear.
Instinctive reactions were inherently less efficient.
I concluded that if I ramped up the [Nano Machine] output even more, I could definitely claim a Sword Master's life in a sneak attack.
Moreover, the current amount of Nano Machines under my control was equivalent to just over a 4th-circle mage—enough to circulate around the heart four times.
The bare minimum required to register at a mage tower.
Increasing the quantity without improving quality wouldn't be too hard.
I just had to dominate berserk Nano Machines.
Pat pat.
I brushed off my clothes, strolled leisurely to the carriage, crossed my legs, and sat down.
'I gave it my all. Handle the rest yourselves.'
Rolling around in physical combat wasn't my style.
Besides, that attack had expended every last [Nano Machine] I had.
Recharging unapproved [Nano Machine] energy took time.
I had the stamina, but jumping into the fray with a sword against those monsters would be insane.
"...Mu-yeong-chang?"
Patrick. He asked Crowe.
Seeking confirmation that what he sensed was real.
Crowe nodded.
There were no signs of a third party nearby.
If it had been a pre-set trap, he would have sensed that too.
Magic without incantation.
Who the hell could it be?
'A mage in Spirit state.'
Spirit—a spell only 8th-circle mages could use, a kind of awakened state.
It drastically shortened casting time and allowed free manipulation of mana flow, enabling 8th-circle mages to engage in close combat unlike other mages.
They could layer multiple spells or twist them for delayed activation.
A battle between such a mage and a Sword Master was essentially a war of attrition.
But even those 8th-circle mages still cast incantations as a base.
That's why swordsmen could prepare countermeasures.
'Fired from outside my detection range?'
Another possibility was a long-range snipe.
But that didn't make sense either.
Mana controlled in the heart had a short duration. The limit was firing from a few hundred meters away at best. And at that distance, he surely would have intercepted it.
Mu-yeong-chang.
The most plausible explanation was a grand mage who could use Spirit.
Yet, for some reason, the crown prince lounging in the carriage kept drawing his eye.
In this heavy silence, Crown Prince Reinhardt alone seemed to exist in another world.
That composure, that self-assurance—it grated on him strangely.
"For now, let's retreat..."
"Demons of the Empire!"
Patrick clicked his tongue.
He ignited his aura and swatted away the incoming halberd.
Boom!
The massive halberd embedded itself in the ground.
A special material that wouldn't even be cut by aura.
'Damn it, the Pagans...'
Come to think of it, the Pagans were there too.
That damned Thebeus. Useless even in death.
If he weren't Carlos Grand Duke's son, Patrick would have killed the fool long ago.
Not only Croft, but with an 8th-circle grand mage and Pagans in the mix—this was an insane party.
It didn't make sense to come hunting them with just this few people.
He wanted to retreat, but the Pagans clearly had no intention of letting them go.
"Crowe, you handle the Pagans."
"Got it."
The monster leaped in, tearing knights apart with his bare hands in an instant.
Pagans like him didn't respond to reason or talk.
Each one was overwhelmingly powerful, their strength far surpassing humans, but Patrick and Crowe had already slain dozens of them.
Crowe sprang toward the Pagan.
In the blink of an eye, he plunged his sword into its back.
"I'll slaughter you all! Demons of the Empire!"
But true to form, the Pagan showed no sign of pain.
That steel-thick skin couldn't even be properly severed by aura.
Yet Crowe deftly evaded the Pagan's attacks while accumulating damage.
Ignoring the two rampaging like madmen, Patrick caught his breath and eyed Croft.
'No retreating now.'
Thebeus was dead.
If they let Croft and even Reinhardt slip away right in front of them, Carlos Grand Duke wouldn't stand for it.
Above all, Croft showed no intention of letting them go either.
"Sir Croft. Allow me to offer my respects to you, once the strongest swordsman on the continent."
Patrick opened his mouth, steering toward a 1v1 matchup.
If the grand mage joined in, this fight wouldn't be easy.
The mu-yeong-chang magic worried him too.
But 1v1? He had a solid chance.
Sure, he was once the strongest, but that was in the past.
The words of a swordsman well past his prime rang hollow.
'Croft's last real battle was at least twenty years ago. His skills, stuck in the palace ever since? Plain as day.'
His last proper fight against a true powerhouse was twenty years back.
Since then, holed up in the palace, he'd only trained knights and enjoyed a cushy retirement.
A swordsman who'd lost both tension and physical prime.
Once the strongest, but it was time to yield to the next generation.
Patrick, meanwhile, had braved countless battlefields where life and death hung in the balance.
Thanks to the circle training methods and swordsmanship passed down in Carlos Grand Duke's house, he'd risen to become one of the continent's top swordsmen.
"...The strongest swordsman I was."
Croft nodded.
The continent was at peace, yet it kept producing formidable swordsmen.
Patrick was one of them.
One of those hailed as comparable to Croft in his prime.
He had the right to say it.
Croft felt long-dead cells stirring back to life.
It was his fighting spirit.
'Your Highness Reinhardt has made his choice.'
And Croft knew who had unleashed that mu-yeong-chang magic.
Crown Prince Reinhardt had killed Thebeus.
In one decisive blow, without hesitation, declaring his choice.
He wouldn't avoid all-out war with Carlos Grand Duke.
Then, boarding the carriage and leisurely observing the battlefield, waiting for Croft's decision.
'Follow... or not? Is that the choice you're demanding now?'
War with Carlos Grand Duke was something the Emperor didn't want.
Emperor Deus feared Carlos Grand Duke.
To prop up such a Deus, Croft had stayed in the palace, erasing himself to remain a shadow.
But staying passive would hand the Empire to Carlos Grand Duke.
Now, Reinhardt was asking Croft.
Sink quietly, or fight gloriously?
Emperor... or self?
No matter how much Reinhardt had changed, this was a wholly different matter.
"...I can't let you leave alive."
"Teach me a lesson, Sir Croft."
Patrick smiled.
Kill the once-strongest and become the true strongest.
News of it would spread across the continent.
People would go wild for the rise of a new powerhouse. A new hero born—they'd unite in cheers, shouting his name until their throats gave out.
Just imagining it set his blood ablaze.
Aura surged from Patrick's sword.
At the same time—
Sssrrrrk!
Croft's entire body began to swell.
His muscles were regenerating.
And that wasn't all.
Aura billowed from his whole form.
The white aura, rising like a haze, shone like the sun, enveloping Croft.
'...What the hell is that?'
Patrick's hands trembled faintly.
It was instinct.
The survival instinct any frail human would show facing a massive beast.
This couldn't be real.
Croft had been called the strongest twenty years ago, but now he was just a geezer long past his prime.
Mana accumulated in the body over time naturally corroded and faded.
So what was that quantity? That absurd amount of aura—what the hell?
'Like the sun itself...'
Patrick had never seen aura so blindingly brilliant.
One word came to mind.
'Monster.'
Who had dared call him a has-been?
Even after twenty years, Croft was still in his prime.
No—even stronger than when they'd called him prime.
Those muscles couldn't belong to an old man. The aura's volume had transcended human limits.
A monster nothing else could describe.
Gulp!
Patrick swallowed hard.
***
It was violence.
You could call it one-sided bullying by the strong.
Croft's true power—even I was seeing it for the first time.
'If he'd stayed in the palace, Malfiel couldn't have breached it so easily.'
With him there, he might have severed even Malfiel's wrist.
Yet Croft had never revealed his full strength.
Not even when Emperor Deus died.
He simply left the palace quietly right after I ascended the throne.
After that, no word of where he went or what he did.
But Emperor Deus had a habit before his death.
—Keeping Croft as my shadow was one of my greatest mistakes.
Deus had confined Croft to be his personal shadow.
Depriving him of any choice.
When Deus died, Croft left the palace in regret for failing to do his duty.
Despising his own inability to make a proper choice.
But now, Croft had chosen.
A choice a shadow couldn't make.
The sight of him now was far more shocking than the legends I'd only heard.
Through long wars conquering the continent.
I'd faced countless powerhouses, but never felt such overwhelming intensity.
Each move was like an ocean wave.
A natural disaster crashing relentlessly.
A transcendent realm far beyond human limits!
I even doubted if they were both Sword Masters.
'Zero. Record all of this.'
[Yes, Master. Beginning recording.]
The End of The One Who Was the Strongest