Chapter 271: What Kind of Fresh Bullshit Is This? (3)
Chapter 271: What Kind of Fresh Bullshit Is This? (3)
The knights knew the skills of the two men well. That was why they found this sight even more unbelievable.
“Urgh….”
Oliver grit his teeth against the pain, feeling as if the skin between his thumb and forefinger was about to tear.
He was being pushed back even in a contest of pure, raw strength.
At this rate, there was no way to find a path to victory.
“I surrender…. Hey! I said I surrender!”
Oliver hurriedly conceded.
If he let his pride get the better of him here, he might end up seriously injured—or worse, dead. However…
“Hmph!”
Ignoring Oliver’s words, Jason’s sword accelerated even further.
“You crazy bastard!”
Clang!
Oliver swung his sword with everything he had to deflect the blade aimed at splitting his skull.
But a movement made with full power always brings a moment of stiffness immediately after the action.
In that instant, as his body locked up as the price for parrying the strike…
“It’s over!”
Jason’s sword lunged in a straight line toward Oliver’s heart.
In that split second, a chilling sensation washed over Oliver, and he felt the premonition of death. Then…
Boom!
A streak of light intervened between the two, knocking Jason’s sword aside.
The person who saved Oliver from the brink of death was…
“Brother Sanson….”
Oliver breathed a sigh of relief, calling out the name as if he had just returned to the land of the living.
He had owed Sanson his life several times since their days as common soldiers, but he had never felt the reality of death as vividly as he did just now.
“Thanks to you, I’m ali—”
Oliver, who was about to speak with a smirk, suddenly shut his mouth. It was only natural.
‘Killing intent?’
A terrifying killing intent was radiating from Sanson’s body.
This was an incredibly rare occurrence.
Though Sanson looked like a rugged, coarse man on the outside, he was actually a man of a gentle and mild temperament.
He never lost his temper with his subordinates without reason, and he led the knight order with virtue, using requests rather than commands whenever possible.
That same Sanson was now exuding the kind of killing intent one would only see on a battlefield.
And the target of that killing intent was…
“Jason Theorg.”
“Yes, Captain. You called?”
“…Explain how I’m supposed to understand what I just saw. Right now!”
Even in the face of Sanson, who was roaring with exploding killing intent, Jason remained nonchalant.
“Isn’t this a common occurrence? We were just sparring a bit.”
“Sparring? To my eyes, it looked like you were trying to kill Oliver.”
“My apologies. I got a bit excited in the heat of the moment.”
“Is that all?”
“If I must say more….”
Jason looked at Oliver and spoke.
“I didn’t realize he would be this pathetic. That’s why I almost killed him.”
“What did you say, you son of a bitch?!”
Oliver stood up, shouting in a rage.
It wasn’t just Oliver; the other knights listening to Jason’s words were also incensed.
“What the hell did that bastard just blabber?”
“Sigh… he’s crossing the line.”
“…….”
The words Jason had just uttered were so far out of line that even his fellow comrades in the knight order couldn't contain their fury.
Despite being the target of his comrades' collective killing intent, Jason remained composed.
“I’m just calling the weak, weak. What else should I call them? If you’re so upset, why don’t you try becoming stronger than me?”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Yes. I have nothing more to say to losers—”
Bang!
As he was speaking, Jason hurriedly raised his sword to block an attack flying toward him.
An attack far faster and stronger than Oliver’s.
Sanson’s strike sent Jason flying back more than five meters in a single blow. Then…
“Jason, I have a lot to ask you. A lot….”
“…….”
“But before that, I need to fix your discipline.”
The monstrous Fighting Spirit of Sanson, who had pioneered the 7-Star realm, surged.
Facing it, Jason thought as a cold sweat trickled down his cheek.
‘Right. So the 7-Star realm is different.’
But it was fine.
He had obtained a new power.
He had said that from now on, Jason wouldn't lose to anyone. Therefore…
“Try it, if you can.”
“Prepare yourself….”
It was then.
“You’re really starting to piss me off.”
A voice drifted over that made both of them flinch simultaneously.
And where their gazes turned at the same time…
“What kind of fresh bullshit is this?”
There stood Patrick Schneider, looking more displeased than ever before.
The moment Sanson saw Patrick, he intended to ask him to leave this matter to him. However…
“What the hell is going on here?”
He couldn't say those words.
It was because he felt a sense of genuine hostility from Patrick’s expression, something far beyond mere anger or annoyance.
Hostility?
It was an emotion Sanson had never experienced from Patrick, even while being beaten and ground down by him countless times.
That hostility was radiating toward where they stood. To be more precise…
“Say it with your own mouth. Tell me what this situation is.”
It was directed at Jason, who stood beside Sanson. Jason swallowed hard, looking cowed and unable to dare a response.
And before anyone knew it, Patrick appeared in front of Jason and spoke.
“I’ll ask again. What the hell is going on?”
“…What… do you mean… Gah!”
Crack!
It happened in an instant.
Patrick’s kick, moving so fast it was invisible even to the 7-Star Sanson, snapped upward into Jason’s jaw.
Jason was launched into the air, only for Patrick to grab him by the head…
Slam!
And drive him headfirst into the ground.
“Young… Young Master.”
Sanson tried to intervene, flustered.
Surely, he didn't need to kill him? But then…
“Tch!”
Flash!
Surprisingly, Jason had not lost consciousness despite taking Patrick’s attack.
In fact, he even tried to thrust his sword to attack Patrick in the midst of it.
Of course, Patrick caught the blade with his bare hand, easily restraining it. Then, he pushed his energy back through the sword Jason was holding.
“Aaaaaagh!”
An internal energy attack that injected Qi through the opponent’s weapon.
Jason screamed in agony as if his insides were being incinerated by a method of attack that didn't exist in this world.
“Young Master, please stop.”
“He’s going to die at this rate.”
Seeing Jason scream like a madman, Sanson and the other knights tried to stop him.
But Patrick checked them with a sharp glint in his eyes and said:
“Shut up and stay back.”
He continued to push his energy in, churning through Jason’s internals at will.
Patrick’s Qi rummaged through Jason’s Eight Extraordinary Meridians as it pleased.
From the victim's perspective, this was a horrific pain no different from torture.
However, Patrick continued to pour energy into Jason’s body with a serious gaze. Then…
“Found it.”
At the Shanzhong point, a sensitive acupoint located near the human heart, Patrick found what he was looking for.
Snap, snap, snap!
He immediately moved his other hand to strike and seal the surrounding acupoints.
Then, he placed his hand directly over the heart and began to pull and extract the energy within using the Absorption Technique. Then…
“Uh…?”
“Is that… Magi?”
“How can this be….”
The knights saw it.
The black Demonic Energy being sucked from Jason’s heart into Patrick’s hand.
As the Demonic Energy, vivid enough to be seen by the naked eye, was pulled out of Jason, his hair began to turn from brown to white.
Seeing this, Patrick let out a sigh and spoke.
“Sanson.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Take him to an empty room and let him rest. And make sure no one approaches him.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Sanson replied with a grave expression.
Demonic Energy had been detected in a member of the knight order.
This was no ordinary matter.
* * *
“Ugh…. Where am I?”
“That’s a pretty cliché line.”
“…Young Master?”
The first thing Jason saw upon regaining consciousness was Patrick, sitting backward on a chair next to his bed.
“How are you here, Young Master?”
“Why? Don’t you remember?”
“Remember?”
“Think carefully. Reeeeally carefully.”
At Patrick’s words, Jason recalled what he had done. Then…
‘Oh?’
Everything from the spar with Oliver to his defiance against Sanson and his eventual suppression by Patrick came back vividly.
And he reached a conclusion.
‘Am I going to die?’
If he had to die, he wanted it to be as painless as possible.
As Jason was thinking that, Patrick spoke.
“Do you remember now?”
“…Yes. I do.”
“Good. First, let me ask you.”
“…….”
“Why did you do it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I asked why you did it.”
When Patrick asked with a sharp, flashing gaze, Jason squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
“It is all my fault. I couldn't overcome my own impatience, and my heart grew weak.”
“……."
“A Dark Mage disguised as a priest approached me. He said he would heal my knee and make me stronger than before. He actually did heal my knee and gave me great power. So, I just….”
“Haaa, you stupid bastard.”
Patrick let out a long sigh.
Then he said to Jason:
“I don’t know what he did to your knee, but the power you wielded was originally yours.”
“What? That can’t be. My power at the time was….”
“It’s called Primordial Energy. You consumed the power that is the very source of your life.”
“…Then, what happens to me?”
“I told you. It’s your life force.”
“…Am I going to die?”
“Yeah. Fortunately, I stopped it quickly, so you’ll be okay, but you should consider your lifespan significantly shortened.”
Jason let out a deep sigh.
He hadn't known when he was intoxicated by the power.
But he never dreamed that such a price would be attached to it.
“How much has my lifespan been shortened?”
“I’m not a doctor, how should I know? However….”
Patrick looked at Jason’s hair, which had turned white, and said:
“You’ll probably find it hard to live past your 40s.”
“I see.”
Jason hung his head.
Who could he blame?
It was his own heart that had grown weak, and it was his own foolish choice.
Naturally, he had to be the one to pay the price. To him, Patrick said:
“If things stay as they are, that is.”
“…Is there a way?”
As a small glimmer of hope appeared, Jason spoke hurriedly.
Patrick replied:
“Reach the 7-Star realm.”
“…Huh?”
“Reach 7-Star and open your Middle Dantian. Then your Primordial Energy will be replenished.”
“…….”
How can you say that so easily?
7-Star. The Supreme Realm.
To Jason, who was currently in the mid-4-Star realm, it was a distant, far-off stage that felt impossible to even reach, let alone achieve.
‘How is that any different from just telling me to die?’
Thwack!
“Gah! …Why did you hit me?”
“Where do you get the nerve to look at me with eyes that say, ‘How is that any different from just telling me to die?’ you little shit?”
What was this? Some kind of demonic technique?
How did he know?
“You want me to really let you have it?”
“You already did.”
As Jason sighed with a weak voice, Patrick lowered his fist and spoke.
“The flowers that bloom in spring aren't the only flowers.”
“…Pardon?”
“A flower that overcomes the harsh cold and blooms in the winter snow is just as much a flower.”
“…….”
“Don’t give up. If you don’t give up, I’ll take responsibility and see this through.”
“Young Master….”
Patrick had just made a promise.
He was saying he would personally ensure Jason became a 7-Star swordsman.
In that moment, the traces of the Heart Demon remaining in Jason’s mind vanished completely.
Inferiority, impatience, jealousy.
The poison that had been eating away at him as a martial artist disappeared, and in its place, faith in Patrick Schneider took root. And…
Hummmmm.
‘My Aura Hall….’
Jason’s Aura Hall grew by one stage.
He had surpassed the mid-4-Star realm and risen to the level of 5-Star.
The path to his goal would still be long and arduous, but just a little…
Just a little bit, the goal had drawn closer.