Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Pafnir (2)
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Demian’s declaration was met with silence all around.
“Pfft, pfft.”
“Kh, khh.”
Soon, intermittent laughter erupted among the Purebloods.
“S-Saying he’ll fight with the same weapon. I-It’s been ages since I’ve seen a guy this hilarious.”
“I-I agree. Who knew another masterpiece surpassing that last idiot would show up.”
Perhaps out of deference to the Mercenary King, the Purebloods desperately stifled their laughter. It didn’t do much good.
“Krahaha!”
Even the Mercenary King himself burst into roaring laughter. He sat up in bed and slapped his knee repeatedly with his palm.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a guy as entertaining as you! That’s right—a real man needs that kind of spirit.”
He’d laughed so hard that tears streamed from the Mercenary King’s eyes.
“But spirit in excess turns into mere bravado. From what I see, you’re the one showing off here.”
The Mercenary King wiped away his tears and continued.
“You must know this already, right? Once you reach High Class, you master the weapon you wield.”
High Class was a realm achievable only by grasping the ultimate essence of weapon arts.
Merely Master level wasn’t enough. One had to wield their weapon on a far more profound level.
To face such a High Class with the exact same weapon—one that wasn’t even his main?
“Your pride must be wounded by their attitudes. I’ll apologize for that. So, use a sword.”
The Mercenary King spoke with a kindly expression. Demian replied with an annoyed look.
“If you’re done nagging, let’s get started.”
“Krahaha! If that’s your will, no helping it. Baltin, give him your all.”
“Yes, I’ll face him with everything I’ve got, as if he’s the enemy of a lifetime.”
The Mercenary King burst into laughter again at Baltin’s mocking words.
“Then, Demian Haksen—let’s begin.”
He drew mana from Baltin. Vast mana spread out in all directions.
The moment it touched Demian, he felt a tingling like static electricity.
‘This is why dragon bloodlines are such a pain.’
A dragon’s mana had the property of paralyzing living beings’ bodies and mana. It was the ability known as Dragon Fear.
This trait manifested in those with dragon bloodlines as well. Though it weakened with each generation.
As the Mercenary King’s grandson, Baltin’s Dragon Fear wasn’t particularly strong.
That was why Demian only felt it—no real impact.
‘Not knowing the secret of their bloodline keeps their Fear weak, too.’
Baltin and the other Purebloods didn’t know the secret of their bloodline. The Mercenary King hadn’t told a soul.
“Keep your eyes wide open and watch. Or you’ll drop in one strike!”
In that instant, mana exploded behind Baltin’s back.
His body shot forward at tremendous speed. Matching it, he thrust his spear at Demian.
Mana exploded once more, accelerating the spear. It moved so fast it seemed to vanish.
But Demian had already read Baltin’s movements. Just before the acceleration, he tilted his head aside. The spear tip grazed his cheek.
“You dodged my first strike, which even Grandfather acknowledges? Looks like the rumors aren’t all fake after all!”
Baltin swiftly pulled back his spear. Then he thrust it repeatedly at Demian.
Each thrust exploded with mana, accelerating it.
The intervals between attacks were so short it felt like multiple people stabbing at once.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Each time Baltin thrust, shock appeared on the Purebloods’ faces.
To be precise, it was because of Demian, who was effortlessly blocking every attack.
Demian parried all of Baltin’s barrage of thrusts without a care.
The clash of spear shafts rang out endlessly, like a flock of woodpeckers.
“H-How is he... b-blocking Baltin’s attacks like that?”
“Baltin’s one of the top ten spearmen in the mercenary band...”
As the Purebloods’ shock grew, Baltin’s face hardened.
A spearman failing to overpower a swordsman with his spear? For Baltin, this humiliation was a first.
“Y-You... outsider...!”
A crack formed in his pride as a Pureblood. Veins bulged in Baltin’s neck.
The amount of mana Baltin emitted increased further. His attack speed quickened even more.
‘What a ridiculous amount of mana. Fitting for dragon blood.’
Demian inwardly admired it for a moment.
From the start, Baltin had unleashed attacks without sparing mana or stamina.
A normal High Class would tire by now. But Baltin only intensified his assaults.
It was all thanks to the dragon blood flowing in his veins.
Not only did it grant abundant mana, but also sturdy meridians capable of wielding it freely.
‘Enviable. If I had dragon blood, I’d have reached Master Class long ago.’
The benefits of dragon blood were countless beyond that.
Sturdy bodies, endless stamina, senses sharper than beasts, and more.
No wonder the Purebloods’ pride pierced the heavens. They possessed abilities several times superior to humans.
Of course, that didn’t mean Demian would lose.
“Time to end this!”
Baltin pressed Demian even harder. Thrusts poured in from all directions. It was like being trapped in a forest of spears.
But Demian had already read everything about Baltin.
Just before a thrust, he caught the slight loosening of Baltin’s grip and mana.
Seizing the moment, he struck upward at the spear shaft. The spear slipped from one hand in the surprise attack.
At the same time, the forest of spear blades engulfing Demian vanished in an instant.
“Huh...?”
While Baltin faltered in confusion, Demian slammed his spear into Baltin’s solar plexus with full force.
“Guhk!”
The spear tip dug deep into the solar plexus. Baltin flew backward.
It was a training spear, so he didn’t die. But pain so severe it made breathing impossible crashed over him.
“Kuhk! Krhuk!”
Baltin clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground. Fluids poured from every orifice on his face.
A pathetic sight unworthy of the grand title “Pureblood.”
“......”
“......”
“......”
Yet no one could look at Baltin and think him pathetic.
Everyone knew Baltin’s skill.
The Mercenary King’s children were all geniuses. The Purebloods were the even more exceptional ones among them.
And Baltin stood out even among those Purebloods.
For such a figure to fight at full power and still lose.
Without landing a single effective blow, ending in miserable defeat.
“I had high hopes since they say all Purebloods are monstrous geniuses.”
Demian looked down at Baltin and added,
“But meh, nothing special?”
At those words, bewilderment vanished from the Purebloods’ faces, replaced by rising fury.
The Purebloods lived with fierce pride in inheriting the Mercenary King’s bloodline.
An outsider was mocking that. They couldn’t let it slide.
“Krahaha!”
Then, a booming laugh erupted. The Mercenary King’s mouth gaped wide enough to show his uvula.
“Splendid! Splendid! I never dreamed you’d take down a Pureblood!”
The Mercenary King stopped laughing and stared at Demian.
His mouth smiled, but his eyes didn’t. Demian met his gaze and smirked with one corner of his mouth.
‘He’s shocked deep down.’
The Mercenary King had brought Demian to provoke the Purebloods.
More bluntly, he was a toy. A toy for the Purebloods to confirm how superior their talents were.
A toy that should’ve been beaten by the Purebloods and chased off had instead crushed one. With an overwhelming gap in talent, no less.
Guessing the Mercenary King’s emotions wasn’t hard.
“Now that you’ve seen this, you want more proof, right? Anyone else?”
“Grandfather, let me go.”
One of the Purebloods stepped into the clearing. This time, a woman.
“Kuesi! It’s Kuesi of the Heavy Rain!”
“With Kuesi, we can count on it!”
Her appearance as Kuesi drew an even more fervent reaction than Baltin’s.
“Very well. I permit it.”
Even the Mercenary King sent her out with a trustworthy expression.
As Kuesi stepped into the clearing, she tossed something to Demian.
“You said you’d use the same weapon, right? I don’t have a training version of mine, so use that.”
What Kuesi threw was a belt loaded with throwing knives, designed to wear on the body.
“You use throwing knives, huh?”
“Yes, so I’m lending you mine.”
Kuesi crossed her arms and said,
“You’re not going to say you can’t, are you?”
Demian scoffed at her provocation and kicked the belt with his foot.
“No need.”
“Hah, you said you’d fight with the same weapon, but now you’re backing out...”
“I mean, no need to lend it.”
Demian picked up a pebble from the ground.
“This’ll do.”
Kuesi’s eyes locked onto the pebble. Soon, bloodshot veins filled them.
“......Do as you like. Just don’t regret it later!”
Kuesi drew a throwing knife and hurled it at Demian.
Two knives flew toward Demian’s head and torso.
Demian twisted his body to dodge both. He then raised two fingers in front of his brow.
The third knife, aiming to pierce his brow, was caught between his fingers.
Kuesi clicked her tongue in disappointment.
“Not fooled, huh? That much won’t work?”
“Who falls for such childish tricks? Try doing it properly.”
Demian tossed the knife to the ground as he spoke. At his attitude, tension filled Kuesi’s eyes.
“If that’s what you want, I’ll oblige!”
No sooner had she spoken than Kuesi vanished.
She darted around Demian, her movements so fast only afterimages remained.
At the same time, she threw knives at him. They came flying from all directions.
Demian twisted to dodge. The missed knives embedded in the ground.
In that moment, explosions erupted from the ground. Like boulders had crashed down.
‘Not bad at infusing mana into throwing knives.’
Naturally, imbuing objects with mana for throwing was an extremely advanced technique.
Mana usually dissipated instantly once separated from the body.
Only around Middle Class could one barely emit aura to attack foes.
‘Thanks to the dragon bloodline again.’
Dragons were the strongest beings on land and the greatest mages. Their mana excelled in both quantity and quality.
The Purebloods inherited that trait fully.
‘It’s not just fast throws—she’s aiming for blind spots.’
Demian tilted his head. A knife from an unseen angle whizzed past his nose and into the ground.
‘Impressive, but nothing special.’
Demian read Kuesi’s movements and swung his arm toward her.
“You think I can’t dodge a single pebble...”
Just before throwing, Demian clenched his hand. The pebble crumbled into fragments.
The moment it left his hand, it split into dozens. Like shotgun pellets, they engulfed Kuesi.
“Huh?”
The range was too wide to evade. The stone shards pelted her body.
Each tiny piece was soaked in Demian’s mana.
“Kuhk?”
The shards burrowed deep into Kuesi’s body. With a shock like her bones shattering, her body flew backward.
“K-Kuesi!”
“Uwaaah!”
The Purebloods hurriedly caught her. Kuesi was already unconscious.
“K-Kuesi!”
“Kuesi went down this easily?”
“N-No way...”
The second defeat brought a heavy silence.
Two who prided themselves as Purebloods had fallen already. No one could hide their shock.
“......”
Even the Mercenary King stared at Demian, speechless.
“Do you require more proof?”
At Demian’s question, the Mercenary King gritted his teeth.
“......No, that’s enough.”