Chapter 173: Just Right (1)
Chapter 173: Just Right (1)
The ground beneath his feet was squelchy.
It was a mire created by the blood soaking into the earth.
The stench of iron assaulted his nose with every breath.
The corpses of his enemies were piled high, layer upon layer.
And before him stood the survivors, staring at him, paralyzed by terror.
It was all so familiar.
Ptui.
Patrick spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and addressed his foes.
"What are you waiting for?"
A cruel smile played on his lips as he looked at their pale faces.
"Come and get some."
As if those words were a signal, the enemies surrounding him charged all at once, their screams tearing through their throats.
"Aaaaah!"
"Die!"
"Attack! Give him everything we’ve got!"
The soldiers rushed forward in a frenzy.
Arrows, javelins, and iron nets filled the sky, while the mages began their incantations once more.
"Do not retreat! Stay tight and hold the line!"
The knights, heavily armored in full plate mail, pressed in on Patrick in a dense formation.
Taking in the sight, Patrick muttered to himself.
"Yeah. This is it."
This was a true battlefield.
He had almost forgotten it while playing student at the Academy, born as the son of a noble house...
But this is where I truly belong.
A memory he had suppressed for a long time resurfaced.
The Radiant Dragon Hero, Jincheon.
He was a man who had lived his life on the battlefield.
Coming from a third-rate sect, how many battlefields had he waded through to be hailed as a hero of the Orthodox Faction?
How many times had he crossed the line between life and death?
He lacked the virtue of his master and the glittering reputation of the high-born lords of the prestigious sects.
The only thing a man like him could do for the world was swing his sword at those even worse than himself. Therefore...
"Yeah. I... I prefer it this way."
And then, he threw himself toward the enemy.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
* * *
"What kind of monster is he?"
Count Zigler stared at Patrick, his face pale with shock.
In his eyes, Patrick didn't look even slightly intimidated, despite being surrounded by thousands of troops. He fought with terrifying bravery.
No, it went beyond bravery.
He looks... experienced. A mere brat like him?
Patrick swung his sword, which was coated in only the bare minimum of Aura.
Yet, with every stroke, an enemy's head inevitably fell. Whenever they tried to encircle him, he moved instantly, slipping through the gaps in their formation.
And in his wake, screams and sprays of blood erupted once more.
"Aaaaah!"
Anyone could see it.
That was a combat style designed to achieve maximum results with minimum movement against multiple opponents.
It made no sense.
The Double Dragon.
The winner of the Arcana.
The youngest 7-Star swordsman.
He had many grand titles, but at his core, wasn't he just an Academy student with no real combat experience to speak of?
How could he execute such ruthless and efficient combat in the middle of this gruesome slaughter?
Judging by his fighting style alone, one would believe he was a veteran of a hundred battles, tempered by years of war.
"Aaaaah!"
"Die! Just die already!"
"Patrick Schneideeeeer!"
The soldiers of the Caesar Kingdom were fighting bravely.
Or was "brave" even the right word?
If what resided in the spear tips they thrust was courage and fighting spirit...
Then why were their faces twisted in terror?
Why did their voices sound so desperate?
This wasn't courage.
It was the frantic struggle of a cornered rat snapping at a cat.
Count Zigler spoke as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.
"All this... against just one man..."
When he first received the order to capture Patrick and saw the mobilized forces, he thought it was absurd.
Ten thousand regular soldiers.
Six knight orders.
Twelve mages.
And most importantly, four 7-Star knights.
Even if the goal was capture rather than execution, the force was excessively large.
Honestly, he thought it was overkill.
This was enough power to invade one of the four Eastern Kingdoms.
Still, he figured it was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared and joined the operation. But...
Look at the situation now.
"Ma... Marquis. I think we need to bring in more troops."
"What?"
"We should mobilize the troops stationed on the outskirts of the forest. At this rate..."
"Does that even make sense?!"
"But..."
The knight reporting to Marquis Luid trailed off, looking miserable under the Marquis's roar.
We cannot handle that monster at this rate.
How could he dare say those words?
Only two hours.
It had only been two hours since they surrounded Patrick and the battle began in earnest.
Yet, they had already lost over a thousand men.
Of course, if you pitted a thousand regular soldiers against a knight who had reached the Supreme Realm, the soldiers could eventually win.
They should win.
But the story changed when the knight was fighting while surrounded by five thousand soldiers, under constant pressure from knight orders and magical bombardments.
Could any other 7-Star knight do what Patrick was doing right now?
Count Zigler, watching from the side, also took on a grim expression.
I couldn't do it. At the very least... not me.
He had to admit it.
Patrick Schneider’s level was not 7-Star.
It was at least 8-Star, or perhaps even higher...
"No. No, that's impossible. Look at the brat's age."
Count Zigler violently rejected the ominous thought that crossed his mind.
He shook off his distractions and turned to Marquis Luid.
"I don't think there's any point in throwing more regular soldiers at him."
"...And?"
"We need to step in ourselves."
"You mean 'we'."
"..."
"Not just you."
At Marquis Luid’s words, Count Zigler’s face flushed red.
What he had just suggested was for the three of them to gang up on Patrick.
Three superhumans who had reached the Supreme Realm against a single Academy student who was significantly younger than them.
Regardless of the outcome, if this fact became known, their honor would be dragged through the mud for the rest of their lives.
However, Count Zigler wasn't making this suggestion because he was unaware of that.
"This is a real battle. This is war."
"Urgh..."
Marquis Luid’s face contorted as if he had been punched in the gut.
"You know it too, Marquis. This is already a battle where no 'fairness' can be found..."
"..."
He couldn't say a word.
It was beyond cruel; it was pathetic.
Patrick had been fighting fiercely for over two hours.
In the process, he had exhausted his stamina and sustained several wounds, both large and small.
In particular, he had been hit directly by magic twice—attacks with enough firepower to leave nothing but ash of an ordinary person.
Even after taking such hits, Patrick was still fighting.
In fact, if they didn't strike now, they might not be able to guarantee victory even with the three of them attacking together.
"Capturing him is impossible."
Count Helios Gilsian, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.
He continued, his eyes fixed on Patrick with a look of wonder.
"Let's ignore the royal command. Since capture is impossible, we must end his life here."
"..."
"And if we are to take the life of such a magnificent genius, it should be done by those of equal standing. We cannot let him die by the blind spear of a common soldier. That... that would be..."
He trailed off for a moment before squeezing out the rest.
"The bare minimum of etiquette."
At those words, the expressions of Count Zigler and Marquis Luid shifted subtly.
Count Gilsian was right.
They couldn't let Patrick be torn apart by jackals.
Marquis Luid closed his eyes tight and let out a long sigh. When he opened them again...
"Stooooop!"
Marquis Luid’s shout rang out like thunder.
At once, the movements of the Caesar Kingdom’s army attacking Patrick came to a halt.
Marquis Luid stepped forward and spoke.
"Soldiers, fall back! Expand the perimeter to its limit!"
Marquis Luid parted the soldiers in front of him and walked toward Patrick.
He spoke solemnly to Patrick, who was catching his breath with an exhausted expression.
"From this moment on, we shall be your opponents."
Hearing this, Patrick let out a short laugh.
"Heh..."
That small, mocking laugh caused the faces of the Caesar Kingdom’s knights to contort with rage.
Was there anyone who didn't know what that laugh meant?
Patrick wiped the blood trickling from his mouth and spoke.
"I was wondering when you'd finally step up..."
"..."
"I guess you think you have a chance now?"
Marquis Luid closed his eyes for a moment at Patrick's words and said, "You were magnificent."
Ahem!
"..."
Cough, cough...
In this situation? Really?
Marquis Luid tried his best to suppress his emotions.
It was neither the time nor the place to point out the flippancy of Patrick's behavior.
And more importantly, he didn't want to.
Though they met as enemies, as fellow travelers on the path of the sword, the first thing he wanted to offer that great talent was...
"You are magnificent, Patrick Schneider."
It was pure respect.
Patrick looked indifferent, but Marquis Luid continued.
"If you had grown up safely, you might have surpassed the Empire’s Sword Saint and left your name in history as the true strongest on the continent."
Then, Count Gilsian stepped out from behind Marquis Luid and stood beside him.
"I hope you won't call us cowards."
"What?"
"This is war, and this is reality. I ask for your understanding."
Patrick made an annoyed face and snapped back.
"You've got a lot of nerve... If the roles were reversed, would you hear that and say, 'Oh, I see. Then it can't be helped'?"
"..."
"Cough... Man, this really pisses me off... Do kids these days have no sense? No shame?"
"Ahem..."
As expected, they couldn't win with words.
Count Gilsian cleared his throat and drew his weapon.
The weapon he used was a large sword, even bigger than a standard bastard sword.
It wasn't quite as freakishly large as the two-handed sword used by Sierion of the Yuzef Kingdom.
However, it was still a massive blade that an ordinary person would struggle even to lift, let alone swing.
As he held the sword upright in front of him, a vivid Aura Blade formed.
Clang!
The Aura Blade he emitted, combined with the size of the weapon itself, created a blade of light much taller than his own height.
As if waiting for this, Count Zigler, standing beside him, also drew his weapons.
With a round shield in one hand and a mace in the other...
"O Yupinel, look down upon your servant."
Though he wasn't a Holy Knight, he made the sign of the cross and offered a prayer to God, and then both his mace and round shield were enveloped in Aura.
Vroooom.
Perhaps because the weapons were different, the nature of the Aura was also quite distinct.
The Aura Blade on the mace took the form of a massive, glowing blue hammer, and the small round shield transformed into a shield of light more than three times its original size.
Finally, Marquis Luid took his stance, emitting Aura from his longsword and kite shield.
Cough, cough...
Patrick coughed repeatedly as he glared at them.
My body is a mess.
He still had strength left.
But that was only on the outside; his internals were in shambles.
Because he had used his Aura to tank magical attacks, internal injuries were unavoidable.
In this state...
"Three 7-Star knights, huh..."
The corners of Patrick's mouth curled up.
"Just right."
The faces of the three men collapsed in fury at Patrick's words.
Just how much more did this arrogant brat intend to trample on their dignity?
"There's a limit to—Gah!"
Count Zigler, who was about to roar in anger, let out a gasp of shock.
The moment he hurriedly raised his shield...
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion rang out.
Only after the sound echoed did the others see it.
Patrick had already reached Count Zigler and delivered a strike.
Patrick bared his teeth and spoke.
"You said this is war?"
"Grrrgh..."
"You said this is reality, right?"
"Ugh... Urgh..."
Patrick pressed down with a single sword, and Count Zigler struggled to hold his ground.
He was using every ounce of his strength to resist, but he was slowly being pushed down.
Or rather, he was being crushed.
Patrick calmly looked back at the other two while maintaining the pressure.
"With this level of skill?"
"Uuuugh..."
"Don't make me laugh."
He was simply pressing down with one hand, but Count Zigler felt as if he were being crushed by a massive boulder.
He wanted to counterattack with the mace in his other hand, but he couldn't.
He was certain that the moment he relaxed his strength to make another move, his body would be split in half.
Normally, the fight would have ended here, but the situation was different now.
"Haaaaah!"
He had allies.
Count Gilsian’s bastard sword fell from the sky.
It was a strike powerful enough to shatter boulders.
In fact, an attack with enough force to grind stone into dust descended toward Patrick.
The moment his attack reached just above Patrick's head...
Got him.
Count Gilsian was certain of his success.
But...
Swish!
The sword in Patrick's other hand vanished at an invisible speed. And then...
CLANG!
He struck Count Gilsian’s descending sword with terrifying speed.
The point of impact wasn't the edge, but the side of the blade.
He had swatted away the opponent's sword as it fell toward his head.
As a result, Count Gilsian’s sword missed Patrick and slammed deep into the ground beside him.
BOOOOOOM!
Count Gilsian, who had left a long, deep gouge in the earth, grit his teeth.
Creeeeak.
This crazy bastard.
Power, timing, and speed.
If even one of the three had been lacking, he would have died.
Was this something a human could do?
Did he have spare lives or something?
He grit his teeth and tried to pull his sword out of the ground. But then...
Tap!
Patrick lightly stepped onto the bastard sword and leaped up. And in the next moment...
CRACK!
Not even a scream came out.
A kick so powerful it felt like it would take his head off slammed into his jaw.
The dawn sky, faintly brightening, spun dizzily before his eyes.
"Count Gilsian!"
"Snap out of it!"
Startled by his allies' shouts, Count Gilsian forced himself to hold onto his fading consciousness.
Patrick spoke to him, his voice a mix of mockery and admiration.
"You've got a tough chin."
"You bastard!"
"Die!"
Marquis Luid and Count Zigler launched a pincer attack from Patrick's left and right.
Faced with the attacks of two 7-Star knights, Patrick lightly retreated to create distance.
Immediately after escaping the encirclement...
Zip!
The moment his feet touched the ground, Patrick's body blurred and vanished.
He reappeared directly in front of his opponents.
"Kh..."
"Ugh..."
Marquis Luid and Count Zigler were momentarily flustered and tried to back away to regain distance.
But before they could, Patrick's two swords began to move in a dazzling and bizarre fashion.
Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles
First Form
Black and White Twin Dragon Dance
The first form, said to contain the true essence of the Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles.
It was a sword technique that showed at a glance why the Twin Dragon Sect pursued dual swordsmanship, a style considered niche even in the Martial World.
The left-hand sword moved fluidly and gracefully, like flowing water.
The right-hand sword pressed forward with destructive speed along the shortest path.
Two completely opposite styles of swordsmanship were executed simultaneously from Patrick's hands.
"Kh... Argh..."
"What in the world..."
The two men, frantically parrying Patrick's blades, were horrified.
They were masters who had reached the 7-Star realm.
They knew exactly how impossible what Patrick was showing them truly was.
This defied common sense.
It was a madness that completely transcended the logic of swordsmanship they knew.
They had never even imagined such a thing was possible in their dreams, so to actually face it was maddening.
It was as if two different types of swordsmen, using entirely different styles, were attacking in perfect harmony.
They had heard he used two swords, but they never imagined anything like this.
"Kh... Uuuugh..."
"Dammit..."
The two were busy just blocking Patrick's swords as they were pushed back continuously.
The only reason they were holding on was because there were two of them; if either had faced this alone, their head would have been gone long ago.
Just then, Count Gilsian, who had been staggered by the earlier blow, charged in with a great roar.
"Do not ignore meeeee!"
Patrick smirked as he saw him charging back in, emitting a fierce and relentless Aura Blade.
"Oh, really?"
He shifted his sword path toward him and said, "Then I won't."
Patrick's body rotated horizontally to the ground, and the two separate sword energies merged into one.
Like a black dragon and a white dragon intertwining.
Black and White Twin Dragon Dance, Adaptive Form
Twin Dragons’ Mad Dance
Patrick's attack, surging forward with the momentum of a rising dragon, collided head-on with Count Gilsian’s Aura Blade, which was swinging down with all its might.
A clash of pure power against power.
CRASH!
"Gah-haak...!"
The result was clear.
Count Gilsian’s massive Aura Blade shattered into a thousand pieces.
Count Gilsian himself vomited a large amount of blood and was blown backward, staring at Patrick with an expression of utter disbelief.
I was overpowered? Me? In a contest of strength?
If nothing else, he was more confident in the destructive power of his Aura Blade than anyone.
He had spent his life honing only that. How could this happen?
Then, Patrick's voice reached his ears.
"Tsk, tsk. You think just blasting power around randomly makes it strong?"
Patrick rested his dual swords on his shoulders and gave a bloody grin.
"A line is better than a surface, and a point is better than a line. Don't you even know the basic principle of concentrating force?"
"..."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Kids these days have no fundamentals. None at all..."
Count Gilsian’s face was dyed with the ultimate humiliation.