Chapter 160: This Can’t Be Helped (1)
Chapter 160: This Can’t Be Helped (1)
‘What a top-tier bluff.’
Patrick couldn't help but smirk.
The aura was honed so sharply it made onlookers break into a cold sweat. The killing intent was so thick it seemed to silence the very air.
It certainly looked the part.
The problem was, it was all a facade.
“You’ve certainly mastered the art of putting on a show.”
If his opponent were of a lower caliber, they would have fallen for that bluff. In fact, the spectators watching this duel were clenching their fists, unable to take their eyes off Marquis Lobsky. They were utterly overwhelmed by the blatant pressure he was radiating.
‘Well then, shall we begin?’
With a faint smile playing on his lips, Patrick stepped forward.
One step, then another.
In stark contrast to Marquis Lobsky’s murderous intensity—looking as if he might lunge with his spear at any second—there wasn't a hint of tension in Patrick’s stride. He looked as calm and natural as a man out for a stroll.
And the moment the distance between them closed to within two meters…
‘Now.’
“Hah!”
Marquis Lobsky squinted one eye and thrust his spear with a powerful shout. The tip of his spear sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.
‘It’s best to start here.’
Now, Patrick would retreat or extend his sword to match the rhythm. From there, Lobsky would seize the initiative by unleashing a flashy series of consecutive attacks. They would trade blows for about a hundred exchanges, and then, once the atmosphere was right, they would both stand down.
However…
‘Huh?’
The world in front of Marquis Lobsky suddenly went dark. Just as he realized something was obstructing his vision…
CRACK!
“Gah!”
Patrick’s knee slammed squarely into his face.
The stinging pain brought tears to his eyes, and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. It was a sensation he had once been familiar with, but one that had grown foreign over the years. Marquis Lobsky stumbled backward.
“Wa—Wait…”
“Wait, my ass.”
Before he knew it, Patrick had ducked inside his guard and slammed the pommel of his sword into the Marquis’s solar plexus.
“Guh…!”
The breath-stealing impact caused Marquis Lobsky’s body to fold forward like a hinge. Then, Patrick’s instep swung upward, catching the Marquis’s lowered head.
THWACK!
“Aaaagh!”
Marquis Lobsky screamed as his neck snapped back violently.
“Urgh…”
Just before he toppled over, he desperately steadied his stance. Gritting his teeth, he glared forward and shouted.
“What do you think you’re—huh?”
But there was no one in front of him. Instead, a cold voice drifted from behind.
“Over here.”
Simultaneously, a sharp sword strike descended toward the crown of his head. Marquis Lobsky hurriedly spun around and raised his spear shaft to block the attack.
CLANG!
He succeeded in parrying Patrick’s blade with a timely defense. However…
“Ngh…”
“Here’s another one.”
Patrick’s weapons were twin swords.
Before the first blade could even pull away, the second sword came crashing down right on top of it.
BOOOOOM!
“Ugh…!”
This strike was far more powerful than the last. It was heavy enough to shatter the ground beneath Marquis Lobsky’s feet.
“Ggggh…!”
Marquis Lobsky groaned, feeling as if every bone in his body was about to break. Forced down onto one knee, he had no choice but to look up at Patrick.
‘Damn it…’
The thought of this humiliating scene being broadcast to the public made Marquis Lobsky grind his teeth. Retaining a shred of his sanity, he growled in a low voice.
“What… what do you think you’re doing?”
“Dueling. Do I really need to explain that?”
“You promised—! Hrk!”
Marquis Lobsky’s face went pale. The pressure from Patrick’s twin swords, which were still pressing down on him, suddenly intensified.
“Can’t read the room?”
“You, truly…”
“Do you really think you can scheme your way out of this? Don’t you know what you’re actually supposed to be doing right now?”
“Ghhhhhh…!”
“Tsk, tsk. Not only are you short, but you’re also slow on the uptake. Life must be a struggle for you.”
“……”
In an instant, the look in Marquis Lobsky’s eyes changed.
“…Don’t… you…”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Don’t you dare look down on me, you brat!”
With a thunderous roar, Marquis Lobsky unleashed an explosion of power, momentarily repelling Patrick’s pressure.
CLANG!
Patrick’s twin swords were knocked upward, and Marquis Lobsky’s spear regained its freedom. In that heartbeat, his spear erupted into rays of light.
STAB-STAB-STAB!
With the sound of air bursting, the tip of Marquis Lobsky’s spear sought to turn Patrick’s body into a pincushion.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Aaaagh!”
Several spectators covered their mouths and screamed as they saw Patrick’s body riddled with holes. However…
“See? You can do it when you try.”
What Marquis Lobsky’s spear had pierced was merely an afterimage.
The real Patrick was already standing several paces away, watching the Marquis with a relaxed smile. He spoke to the panting man.
“Well then, shall we keep going?”
Grit.
Marquis Lobsky clenched his teeth.
The deal was off. That damn brat had the audacity to take the money and break his word. And now, Lobsky had been humiliated—beaten one-sidedly and forced to his knees in front of a massive crowd.
There was no turning back from this. Not unless he lopped off that brat’s head right here and now.
He leveled his spear at Patrick and spoke.
“I will make you regret this.”
“Do you actually have the skill for that?”
“This isn’t the end. Even after this duel is over, I will make sure you pay the price. I’ll make you regret this moment for the rest of your—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it. I heard you, so just shut up and…”
Patrick beckoned with one hand, gesturing for him to come forward.
“Bring it.”
“I’ll kill you!”
His eyes bloodshot, Marquis Lobsky lunged forward. His spear began to weave a dazzling web of light.
The real duel had begun.
BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!
Marquis Lobsky’s spear technique was nothing short of lightning-fast. Only the faint afterimages of light revealed the trajectory of the spear shrouded in Aura Blade. The process of him thrusting and retracting the weapon was completely invisible to the untrained eye.
He used agile footwork to dart in and out, actively utilizing the spear’s reach. On top of that, he unleashed a flurry of thrusts so fast they were practically invisible.
“So this is… a 7-star knight.”
“How can a human move like that? I can’t even see him.”
“He’s a monster. A total monster.”
The spectators could only watch the duel in a daze.
BOOM! BANG! CRACK!
The sound of the spear piercing and breaking the air echoed continuously. It was a spear technique that demonstrated the very limit of speed. However…
“Kh…”
Impatience began to creep onto Marquis Lobsky’s face.
One hit. If he could land just one hit, he could blow a hole through his opponent’s body. And yet…
“Why won’t I hit you?!”
The problem was that he couldn't land a single blow.
To his frustrated cry, Patrick replied mockingly.
“Did you really think you’d hit me? You shameless bastard.”
In an instant, Patrick’s sword caught Marquis Lobsky’s spear, sliding along it at an angle.
SCREEEEECH!
The screech of metal grinding against the steel spear shaft rang out as Patrick closed the distance, riding the length of the weapon.
“Ngh!”
Marquis Lobsky panicked. To have the distance closed while his weapon was suppressed? This was the worst-case scenario for a spearman facing a swordsman.
In his flustered state, Marquis Lobsky tried to retreat, but he couldn't possibly be faster than Patrick.
Having closed the gap, Patrick pulled back the sword in his other hand.
“Off with your head!”
As he spoke, a terrifying strike flew forth. Utilizing the advantage of twin swords, the blade in his other hand slashed sharply toward the Marquis’s neck.
‘I’m… I’m going to die.’
In that moment of absolute crisis, Marquis Lobsky did something a 7-star knight would normally never do. He let go of his weapon and threw himself to the side.
SWISH!
Patrick’s strike whistled past, shearing off a few strands of the Marquis’s hair. As the Marquis scrambled away, barely escaping with his life, Patrick let out a short laugh.
“Wow. You dropped your weapon? Really?”
His familiar spear lay rolling at Patrick’s feet. Upon seeing it, Marquis Lobsky’s face turned bright red.
“Damn it…”
He could hear the spectators buzzing. Everyone knew how humiliating it was for a knight to lose their weapon. Yet, a 7-star knight had actually thrown away his weapon just to save his skin. For the audience, it was a rare and pathetic sight.
Meanwhile, Patrick shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, we have to keep going, don’t we?”
“……”
“Here, take it.”
Patrick kicked the spear Marquis Lobsky had dropped, sending it flying back to him. Despite his flushed face, the Marquis couldn't afford to refuse it. He grabbed the spear and took a stance, but his expression was filled with humiliation.
‘To be treated like a complete laughingstock…’
At this point, he had to admit it. His opponent was stronger than him.
‘To think there was someone I would lose to in terms of speed.’
His specialties were speed and reach. By utilizing the characteristics of the spear, he would maintain a distance advantage and end his enemies with attacks faster than anyone else’s. But in terms of that very speed, his opponent was outclassing him.
Being inferior in his most confident area meant his chances of winning this duel were slim.
‘How? To such a young brat…’
Ever since he heard that Patrick had defeated Marquis Raines, he knew the boy was extraordinary. He had even considered that, as the rumors suggested, the boy might one day become the strongest on the continent. But he hadn't imagined the boy would be stronger than him now.
‘For there to be such a gap.’
If he lost like this, the reputation he had built up over the years would surely crumble. How… how could he protect it? His honor, his wealth, his power—the treasures he had built up one by one, starting from nothing. They were his everything. What did he have to do to keep them?
As a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, Patrick spoke.
“I see you still have the mental capacity to scheme.”
“……”
“Listen, kid. For those of us who live by the sword, there’s only one choice in a situation like this.”
“……”
“You fight and you win.”
You goddamn bastard. Who doesn't know that?
Of course he knew. To wash away the humiliation he had suffered so far, the best option was to defeat Patrick Schneider. If he did that, everything would return to normal—no, he would be elevated to an even higher position. The Divine Spear of Decatur, the man who defeated the Double Dragon who had bested Marquis Raines.
The mere thought was intoxicating. However…
‘Dammit, dammit all…!’
He simply couldn't see a way to win. Having traded this many blows, Marquis Lobsky was no amateur; he could clearly see the difference in their skill. He would rather…
“What? You want to give up?”
“……”
At Patrick’s words, Marquis Lobsky’s body flinched. Patrick had hit the nail right on the head.
Patrick looked at Marquis Lobsky with eyes full of contempt.
“You’re going to give up and fall to the status of a loser? Well, that’s not bad.”
“……”
“If you don’t have the skill, you should at least be quick to realize your place. Right?”
Marquis Lobsky’s body began to tremble violently. This humiliation and disgrace coiling around his body were not unfamiliar. In fact, they were sensations he knew all too well—sensations he loathed.
[You have talent, but your physical condition is terrible. It will be difficult for you to achieve greatness as a swordsman.]
‘Shut up! Who are you to judge me?’
[How dare a low-born brat like you embarrass me in the exam?]
[Just stay quiet and eat the scraps we give you. Don't get cocky just because you have a bit of skill.]
[I could burn your entire house to the ground.]
‘Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!’
How long do you think I’ll crawl beneath your feet? One day, I’ll pay you back a hundred, a thousand times over.
A poor, insignificant family. A physical build that was far below average. In his youth, no one believed Dustin Lobsky would ever achieve greatness.
What had he done back then? What had he said to the world that screamed at him to give up and stay down?
“Eat shit.”
“Huh?”
“Phew…”
Lobsky suddenly took a long, steadying breath and readjusted his stance. He moved his feet, which had been darting nimbly back and forth, to slightly wider than shoulder-width and planted them firmly on the ground.
His grip on the spear moved slightly behind the center of the shaft. He relaxed his shoulders, widened his field of vision, and emptied his mind.
‘Right. I… I used to be…’
He felt his past self overlapping with his current self. Stray thoughts vanished, and the boundary between the spear and his hands grew blurred.
Having fully settled into his stance, Marquis Lobsky spoke.
“Come.”
A smile spread across Patrick’s face.
“Ho-oh.”
He had changed. The useless clutter had vanished, and the man himself had transformed into a single spear.
This was likely his original self. Before he was intoxicated by success, before he was corrupted by the poisons of vanity and arrogance, Marquis Lobsky must have been this kind of man.
‘Right. If you’re a 7-star, you should at least be able to do this much.’
Patrick didn't hold the 7-star realm itself in particularly high regard. However, he did acknowledge the effort and tenacity of those who reached the 7-star realm through their own strength on this Pangemonia Continent, where the understanding of martial arts was meager.
Furthermore, seeing as Marquis Lobsky, with his clearly disadvantaged physical condition, had reached the 7-star realm using a spear—a weapon that wasn't even common in this world…
In his youth, he must have been a completely different person.
Patrick gripped his swords and took a stance. For the first time since the duel began, he spoke in a serious tone.
“Patrick Schneider of the Atronia Kingdom.”
“……”
“Here I come.”
The moment he finished speaking, Patrick’s entire body became a streak of light as he lunged forward.
‘Come!’
Marquis Lobsky’s body reacted faster than his thoughts.
A strike with his entire soul. It was different from the flashy consecutive attacks he had been using while darting back and forth. This was an attack meant for the desperate moment that decided life and death. This was the spear of the man once called the Divine Spear of Decatur.
Plain and simple, yet an utterly lethal strike.
‘I’ve got him.’
Marquis Lobsky was certain of his success. The timing was absolutely perfect. His spear was a split second away from piercing Patrick’s heart. However…
‘What?!’
In the heartbeat before the attack landed, Patrick grew even faster. From his already accelerated state, he boosted his speed once more.
He had accelerated twice mid-attack.
Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles.
3rd Style.
Flash Dragon Strike.
In that fleeting moment, Marquis Lobsky found himself entranced by his opponent. Even though it was the very moment an attack that could take his life was about to land, he was absurdly captivated by the strike.
To turn the tide of defeat into victory at the very last second.
‘This… this is the true limit of speed…’
BOOOOOOM!