Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: The Traitor's Flight
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Clang-! Chaeng!!
Sword and spear clash.
The Golden Lion's golden mane flutters like reeds in the wind, and Luteon's spear shoots forward.
But soon enough.
Thud, thud! Crack.
Kwaang-!
“Keuk…!”
The Golden Lion's golden armor is pierced by Luteon's powerful explosion. The full-body armor forged from swordsmanship crumbles, and half his bloodied face emerges from the shattered helmet.
“Hoo, hoo… Hup!”
Chaeng-!
Whoooosh!!
Sword and spear clash once more.
Desert sands explode outward, and what reappears is.
“It's over, brother.”
The fallen Golden Lion, with Luteon's spear aimed at his throat.
“How could you…”
“I already prepared the means to break the family's secret art, the Golden Mane. I knew the power of the Golden Mane that you mastered. But you don't know my power.”
That was all.
Combat begins with knowing your opponent's strength and preparing countermeasures.
The Golden Lion's defeat started the moment he overlooked that and overestimated his own power.
Golden Lion Luen.
He bit his lips hard enough to draw blood.
“You've always envied my talent, brother. That's why you left me alone even after seeing what happened that day.”
“…”
That day.
The incident taboo in the Luidren family erupted.
Kinslaying.
And theft of the enemy commander's weapon.
The honor of the Luidren family, built over long years of battle. In their treasury gathering the Empire's Spears, it stood out as the pinnacle, the spear that had broken countless swords.
Explosive Spear—Ames.
Luteon had taken it.
And used it to harm the kinsman who stood in his way.
“I…”
“I thought you were just shocked because your one and only brother betrayed the family and the nation, so you stayed silent. But thinking back, that wasn't it.”
Luen and Luteon.
Brothers of Luidren.
Their once-close bond soured after the successor issue arose.
Luen had overheard his father talking with the elders and was greatly shocked.
“They were saying among the elders that I could become the successor.”
Luen, who had always taken pride in his younger brother's talent, thought he might lose everything to him.
Genius talent.
His brother, born with martial talent, was perfect in every way.
But Luen had only inherited the level of talent expected from direct lineage blood.
It was natural to grow jealous of his brother.
And when that incident exploded.
Luen felt surprise—and relief.
It was an undeniable fact.
“You were glad I was gone?”
“…”
With his brother gone, he could learn the Golden Mane and become the family's sole heir.
“Yes. I was proud of you.”
The Golden Lion removed his hand from the half-fallen helmet and slowly rose.
“But at the same time, I envied you. I was anxious. It was a foolish emotion. Childish jealousy. Even though I had claimed so much just for being born a little earlier, I feared losing it.”
Yet even after Luteon vanished and he gained so much, he couldn't find satisfaction.
A lingering knot in his chest.
One that wouldn't unravel.
Its name was honor.
“It was dishonorable conduct.”
Therefore.
The Golden Lion struck away Luteon's spear with his sword. Golden mane wraps around him again, filling the half-destroyed full-body armor.
“I will defeat you and reclaim my honor!”
“…!”
Kaang!!
Sparks flew.
“Luteon!!!”
The Golden Mane blazes like flames.
The golden holy power, thought weakened, now shone brilliantly as if nothing had happened.
“What…”
Luteon panicked.
How could the aura of someone who had just been collapsing change so drastically?
But even so.
Luen's swordsmanship had long been analyzed.
The Golden Mane as well.
“It's nothing. What does honor matter when no one acknowledges it? Will you cling to honor even before death? All you'll get in return is emptiness!!”
Just as he thrust his spear again.
Boom! Whoooaaaa!!
A fierce domineering aura enveloped the battlefield. Startled, Luen and Luteon flinched.
The aura of the Mad Dragon, felt before.
But this was even more intense.
Purer.
As if a new Master had been born.
But this was the Great Desert landscape.
No way to confirm.
As they wondered how the situation would unfold.
“The sanctuary…”
Crack.
The desert landscape cracked from the sky like glass, shattering with a chaeng-grang.
Kwa-chang!
The sanctuary was dispelled.
And what appeared was.
Kallias holding the Mad Dragon Sword, standing tall and proud.
The fallen Grand Duke Cloy.
Kallias gazing at him calmly.
And the half-ruined royal castle.
Most of the Empire's forces had met their end, while the remaining Spear Knights and Masters continued their desperate struggle.
Amid them, Kallias's presence, majestic like a dragon, was unrivaled.
‘Another failure.’
Luteon's face twisted.
Again.
Kallias had ruined his plans once more.
Luteon's killing intent thickened.
The target etched in his blue eyes was none other than Kallias.
Kallias von Jervan.
“A gap.”
“?!”
Sasasak!
Chaeng-chaeng-chaeng-chaeng-chaeng-chaeng!!!
No sound.
But sensing the chilling killing intent, Luteon hurriedly swings his spear to block the lethal strike.
A mysterious man unleashes ten連 strikes in an instant.
His identity was clear from the scar on his nose bridge.
‘Gradas… Jenos…!’
Cat-step Jenos.
He unleashes tremendous sword strikes with a sword drawn from his hand's subspace.
Speed superior to his own.
Soundless, making it extremely hard to pinpoint position.
Hundreds of Jenos's afterimages appear around Luteon simultaneously.
“Tch!”
Luteon slams his spear into the ground.
Clank!
Kwaaaaaang!!
Murky smoke erupts as Luteon leaps away from his spot.
As his presence recedes, the Golden Lion rages.
“Luteon!! Fleeing?!”
“See you next time, brother.”
Jenos approached the ground-stomping, furious Luen and soothed him.
“Fulfill your duty as a knight, Golden Lion. This is not the time to pursue grudges.”
“…Understood.”
The Golden Lion, about to ask why not chase, saw Jenos's condition and fell silent. Covered in wounds, he was clearly battle-worn.
Luen wasn't foolish enough not to realize that after facing strong foes, seeing him bloodied like this.
Moreover, his emotions had run too high because of Luteon.
“The situation isn't great. Thanks to Kallias blocking the Grand Duke, the Queen is safe. The Empire's forces are mostly dead, and the rebellion will be quelled soon. The real issue is the Masters.”
A crisis.
But the situation had shifted.
A chance, perhaps.
“If we can take down even one more Empire Master, this invasion won't be so bad for us.”
“One more?”
Meaning they had already felled one of the Empire's Spears!
“The Pope fought valiantly. It came at great cost.”
“!!”
“Gerald doesn't seem to be in a good spot, though.”
Still, victory tilted their way.
The royal castle half-ruined, but the Queen safe, and their Masters alive.
The Empire failed to topple Karpe again.
They even lost a Master.
That was enough for now.
One concern lingered, though.
“We can only hope the Count doesn't go mad.”
Jenos agreed.
They rose and began watching Kallias, along with the bewildered Helena and Esther, and the surrounding knights.
* * *
「Mad Dragon Sword—Baramut」
Indwelling Spirit: Mad Dragon Baramut.
Grade: Illusion
Unique Ability: Mad Dragon Dance
—A sword forged from the flesh and soul of the legendary Mad Dragon.
[Mad Dragon Dance]
—Wields the power of the legendary dragon as a sword.
[Dragon's Claw]
—Manifests part of the Mad Dragon's claws.
[Dragon's Roar]
—Manifests part of the Mad Dragon's roar.
[Dragon's Breath]
—Manifests part of the Mad Dragon's breath.
[The Mad Dragon Baramut attempts to seize your body.]
[Resisted.]
[The Mad Dragon Baramut is astonished.]
[Tries again.]
[Resisted!]
[The Mad Dragon Baramut partially acknowledges you.]
“Hoo…”
『Dragon Power』
—The power of dragons. Dragon power originates from the heart. They store nature's qi in their hearts, accumulate strength, and unleash it.
[Dragon Power manifests.]
[All physical abilities awaken.]
[Using Dragon Power as a human. Extreme pain follows use.]
[Warning]
[The greater the Dragon Power, the more the dragons' wrath you incur.]
Boiling power surges through his body.
Immense power.
His original physical strength permanently increased slightly, and with Dragon Power awakening, it doubles.
Power close to a Master's.
「Kallias von Jervan」
「Occupation」 – Pilgrim - Heretic Inquisitor Captain
「Holy Power」 – Grade 3
「Divine Power」 – 3832/16934
「Talents」 – 【Blessing of the Bard】 【Instinctive Intuition】
「Traits」 - [Gratitude] [Noble Duty] [Count Family Wastrel] [Death-Time Insight] [Church's Black Sheep] [Big Eater] [Three-Colored Eyes] [Pheromones] [Dragons' Wrath] [Dragon Power]
「Constitution」 - 『Bone Fusion』
「Stats」
Strength – 87 (30) ▶ 102 (30)
Agility – 60 (30) ▶ 86 (30)
Technique – 17 ▶ 19
Vitality – 61 (30) ▶ 89 (30)
Faith – 95
‘Incredible power.’
As expected of the Mad Dragon's might.
A peculiar sword used with it lodged in the heart.
It wrought astonishing changes, like rebirth of the flesh.
Even now, this state yields tremendous power, but to use it properly, he must not grip the sword absurdly.
“Kruk, krukruk!”
Using the Dragon's Roar, Kallias stowed the Mad Dragon Sword back in his heart and drew the Thunderclap Sword from thin air, gazing at the still-enduring Grand Duke Cloy.
“Mad Dragon Dance.”
Pajijijijik!
Power decreases if he draws the sword from his heart to use.
But if he keeps it in his heart and uses another sword?
That power doubles.
True Dragon Power.
Unleashed through the Thunderclap Sword.
Kwajijijijijik!!
Kwaaaaaang!!
It was a calamity.
No different from a disaster.
“Kraaaak!!”
Grand Duke Cloy is swallowed by blue lightning. He thrashes amid the dazzling bolts, but without the Mad Dragon Sword, he can't endure.
“Kraa…”
The Grand Duke rolls back his eyes and collapses.
A normal human would be charcoal by now, but not him.
‘He's alive.’
Even without the sword, remnants of the Mad Dragon kept him breathing.
Charred black, Grand Duke Cloy breathed faintly.
【Main Quest】
「Prince Captured by Madness」
Status – Completed.
As the quest completion window appeared, Kallias scanned his surroundings.
“…”
“…”
Helena, Esther, and the other knights stared at him.
Their eyes held suspicion and fear, mingled with a resolve.
Kallias's gray pupils, slit vertically like a dragon's, made them all tense as he met their gazes.
“As expected.”
One of the royal guards said.
Expected what?
“No choice.”
“We have to stop him.”
“Protect the Queen.”
They were misunderstanding.
Ignoring their desperate approach, Kallias advanced toward the most dangerous foe.
“Gasp!”
“Fast.”
Pat.
The landscape shifts in an instant.
Permanently boosted stats, combined with Dragon Power awakening, fill him with an omnipotence he's never felt.
In a flash.
A single step, near-instantaneous leap, brings Kallias before the enemy, his sword striking away the spear.
Whooooung!!
Chaeng!
“Kuk…!”
Paseton of the Monster Spear staggers, retrieving his spear from the sudden sword strike.
Beside him, Gerald breathed raggedly, collapsed.
“You bastard!”
Paseton glares.
He senses Dragon Power.
Possessing its aura means he holds the Mad Dragon Sword.
Cloy the Dragon Child's rampage failed.
Paseton intuited it.
But that's not the point.
A new Mad Dragon exudes an ominous aura, blocking his path.
‘No. This…!’
Vertical slit pupils.
Oppressive pressure like facing a dragon.
Paseton erased the thought of finishing his rival from his mind.
The one before him was the Empire's enemy.
A dangerous foe who could strike his throat. He judged instantly.
True to the Empire's Spear's duty, he forgot the fatigue and pain from battling Gerald and drew full power.
The Monster Spear assumes stance.
Confirming it, Kallias glanced at Gerald breathing hard behind.
‘Normally, this would be best.’
Normally, a man who should be dead.
He saved him.
The opponent is already battered.
Even just glaring would make him retreat from his wounds.
Rash action could kill them instead.
Normally, he'd be satisfied.
But the surging power.
The Mad Dragon's power bred greed.
Kallias thrust his sword straight.
“Dragon's Breath.”
Kallias's sword cleaved the Monster Spear.
Puhwak!
“No way!!”
Just today.
The Empire lost two Masters.