Chapter 36
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Berserker
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"You're saying I have some kind of latent ability?"
"That's what I said."
"Hmm..."
I looked at Klyde with a confident expression. As I maintained my assured demeanor, it seemed Klyde was starting to believe me a little.
"Arin, Klyde."
"Yes."
"You two, have a sparring match."
Arin's expression didn't change, while Klyde and Hans stared at me as if I were being absurd.
"Right now? But we have to fight monsters soon, don't we?"
"That's right. Hans, bring me two training swords."
"Huh? Ah, yes..."
While Hans went to get the training swords, I moved next to Arin.
"Arin."
"Yes."
"Analyze and understand Klyde's sword path as much as you can. And when you think you've got it, end it in one go."
"Understood."
Perhaps because she trusted me, Arin hadn't reacted much to my words from the start. She gave off the impression that she would accomplish whatever I asked of her.
After Hans returned with the training swords, Arin and Klyde's sparring match began.
"To be honest, I did want to face you at least once... Well then, here I come."
"I am at your service."
Klyde charged at Arin first. Contrary to his initial reluctance, he seemed to be in high spirits now that the match had started.
Whoosh!
Clang!
Arin deflected Klydes powerful horizontal slash by slightly angling her sword.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The match continued with Klyde attacking and Arin evading and defending. But as it progressed, the sound of their swords clashing grew less and less frequent.
Five minutes into the match, Klyde's sword couldn't even graze Arin.
"Clear Mirror Still Water..."
Seeing Arin's skill, which had leveled up since I last saw it, gave me goosebumps. In just five minutes, she had completely grasped Klyde's sword path.
Arin's primary weapon is speed, Klyde's is power. Even in a straight fight, Arin had the advantage in terms of compatibility, but with Clear Mirror Still Water, it had become a fight between a child and an adult.
Swoosh!
"Kuh!"
After ten minutes, as if she had been waiting for the right moment, Arin subdued Klyde in an instant.
"I've lost."
"You fought well."
Unlike the exhausted Klyde, Arin's breathing was perfectly steady.
"Ugh, you're truly strong."
"Not at all."
Klyde's shoulders slumped.
"Hah... Look at this. I couldn't even properly graze her. What kind of latent ability could I possibly have?"
"I told you. It's latent. You think it would come out that easily?"
I offered him some light comfort.
For the next three days, during which no monsters appeared, I had Arin and Klyde spar every day.
While Arin seemed to be testing various things on Klyde, he was helplessly defeated time and again, gradually losing his confidence.
"Hoo..."
I was circulating my internal energy when I felt someone rushing to my room, so I opened my eyes.
"Grand Prince!"
It was Hans's voice.
"What is it?"
"The monsters have begun to appear."
After gearing up, I immediately went outside.
"Are... are we really not getting any reinforcements?"
"Nope, none are coming. Don't get your hopes up. Let's just do our best with who we have."
I ran quickly and climbed onto the castle wall. Looking down, I could see pointed things sticking out of the seawater. They were the dorsal fins of Volaks and other monsters.
"Hmm, there aren't as many as I thought."
"No, sir. This is just the beginning. They'll keep swarming in for days. You must not let your guard down."
"Good. That's a relief."
"Pardon?"
I scanned the surroundings and found today's main character. He was leaning against the wall, listlessly staring down below.
"Klyde."
"Yes, Grand Prince."
"Get ready."
"Can I do it? I've done nothing but lose to Lady Arin."
With each sparring session, Klyde fell deeper into despair, unable to even touch the hem of Arin's clothes.
"Trust me. You have a special ability."
"Understood."
"Go down below. When smoke appears in front of you, don't resist it. Just let your body go."
"Smoke?"
"Yes. Trust my words and don't resist the smoke. Just let yourself sink into it."
"Yes."
Without hesitation, Klyde went out through the castle gate and stood before the monsters.
"Should we fire arrows?"
"No."
"But..."
"Wait."
Hans and the soldiers watched Klyde with worried eyes, but he didn't need their concern.
"Kieeeek!"
"Kaaak!"
"Grrrrr!"
The Volaks were coming ashore. At the same time, I released the poison I had prepared.
Fwoosh!
A thin smoke enveloped the area from the seashore where the Volaks were emerging to the front of the castle wall.
"Wh-what is this!"
"Grand Prince?"
"Klyde! Surrender your body to the smoke!"
Ignoring the bewildered people, I shouted at Klyde.
"Kuaargh! Aaaargh!"
About thirty seconds after being enveloped in the smoke, red flames began to blaze from Klyde's shoulders down to his back.
"It's finally activated."
Now that it has been activated once, Klyde will be able to freely use his berserker state from now on. Stopping it is another story, however.
"KRAAAAAAAH!"
A beast-like roar erupted from Klyde's throat. The monsters climbing onto the land halted their movements at the sound of that monstrous cry.
Fwoosh!
A pillar of fire erupted from Klyde's Greatsword of the Fire Spirit, which had previously only sparked with small flames because he had not yet earned the sword's recognition.
BOOM!
Klyde immediately charged at the monsters in front of him. His sword strike caused four Volaks to simply explode.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A single horizontal slash from left to right swept away the Volaks surrounding Klyde like a wave. It was an unbelievable display of destructive power.
"Grand Prince. Th-this smoke, what on earth is it?"
The smoke covering the entire shoreline was the Salhonyeon I had spread.
Salhonyeon doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, so I hadn't used it before since it's difficult to deploy with even a few allies around. But I figured this expedition was the perfect opportunity to raise my proficiency with it.
"KRAAAAAH!"
"And why has that knight changed so much?"
Klyde had felt despair from the skill gap with his fellow training knight, Arin, and he felt terror upon accepting the Salhonyeon. These two negative emotions shattered the seal on the berserker power that lay hidden deep within him.
I felt sorry for Klyde, but my method was an awakening that consumed less mental energy. In the novel, Klyde awakens after experiencing a terribly tragic event.
BOOOOM!
"Khahahaha!"
Klyde was decimating not only the monsters but the very ground itself. His destructive power seemed to have increased dozens of times over.
"Arin."
"Yes."
"Can you beat him?"
"I don't know what you did, Grand Prince, but his sword path is the same. I can win."
Arin spoke in a calm tone after watching Klyde for a moment.
"When he enters that state, he tries to destroy everything in sight. See those flames burning on his shoulders?"
"Yes."
"As long as those are burning, he wields a power close to invincibility. He never tires and only seeks to destroy everything. But there's a weakness."
Klyde's berserker state is powerful, but it has a single vital point, a weakness.
If you strike him 10cm above where the shoulder and neck intersect, he'll be knocked out. You can just think of it as the back of his neck.
I relayed Klyde's weakness to Arin telepathically so no one else could hear.
"While Klyde is wiping out the monsters, think about how you're going to subdue him."
"Understood."
I had brought only Arin and Klyde here for three reasons.
First, to awaken Klyde's berserker state. Second, to have Arin subdue Klyde, thereby leveling up her Clear Mirror Still Water. And finally, to increase my own proficiency with Salhonyeon.
I was aiming to kill three birds with one stone here.
"KRAAAAAH!"
The effect of the Salhonyeon was significant, but thanks to Klyde's destructive power, the monsters were annihilated in just twenty minutes.
"Khahahaha!"
Having wiped out all the monsters, Klyde, consumed by madness, was now approaching the castle gate.
"Arin."
After clearing away the last remnants of the Salhonyeon, I called to Arin.
"Yes."
Shing!
Arin drew her sword and leaped from the castle wall. But her body descended gently, swaying like a falling leaf.
"What! Already?"
I was certain. She had already made the Rapier of the Wind Spirit her own.
BOOOOM!
The moment Arin landed, Klyde attacked, unleashing a sword strike. The ground where his sword hit was gouged out as if a bomb had exploded.
Clang!
However, Arin dodged the strike with minimal movement and then struck upward at the gap between Klyde's helmet and armor.
"Grrrrl!"
Clang!
Arin's sword, without a hint of error, knocked off only Klyde's helmet.
Fwoosh!
Whoosh!
Klyde swung his sword relentlessly with beast-like movements, but Arin dodged by a paper-thin margin, looking for an opening.
"KRAAAK!"
As the enraged Klyde raised his sword to use a skill, Arin was already behind him.
Thwack!
"Kuh!"
When Arin struck the back of Klyde's neck with the pommel of her sword, he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"What the."
I had even prepared a poison for Klyde in case Arin was in danger, but it ended so anticlimactically.
"Why is she so strong?"
Arin was much stronger than I had thought.
"Anyway, Hans."
"Gasp! Yes!"
Hans, who had been staring down below with his mouth agape, snapped back to his senses.
"This is different from what you said. You said they'd come endlessly. Why was that it?"
He had said that once they started, thousands of monsters would keep pushing forward, but only about a hundred had appeared, and there was no sign of more coming from the sea.
Hans shook his head, looking just as puzzled.
"Usually, once the monsters appear, they press on without giving us time to even eat. This is strange. This is a first."
Klyde slept for two days due to the backlash of unlocking his berserker state, and during that time, the monsters seemed to have vanished completely.
For me, who needed to build a record of achievements, it was a rather frustrating situation.
"Butler."
"Yes."
I spoke to the Marquis's butler, Pilo, who had been following me without a single word.
"How are our achievements evaluated?"
"I believe they will be assessed based on how many monsters were slain, how powerful the defeated monsters were, whether the castle walls were perfectly defended, and whether allied casualties were minimized."
"I see. Then, except for the monsters, everything is perfect."
"Are you not anxious that the monsters haven't appeared?"
"Well, it's frustrating, but it's not over yet. And the heir isn't decided by this one expedition."
"To be so calm in a situation like this... you truly have changed a great deal."
Pilo gave a faint smile.
"Grand Prince! They've appeared!"
Just as I finished my conversation with Pilo and was about to head up to the wall, I heard a soldier's voice.
"They're finally here?"
When I got to the wall, just as the soldier had said, many fins were floating on the sea. They were the fins of the Volaks we had seen a few days ago.
"But... what are those."
However, that wasn't all. Behind the grotesque fins of the Volaks, something else was visible.
The smooth, curved triangular fins I had seen so often in moviesshark fins.
"Hah!"
"It can't be!"
"Aargh! No way!"
Pilo was horrified at the sight of those fins. Hans stumbled and fell right onto his backside.
"Gr-Grand Prince! You must give the order to retreat immediately!"
"He's right. With our current numbers, we can't stop them. This is no time to be thinking about achievements!"
"Ah! Quickly! We're all going to die!"
Hans was so terrified that he grabbed my clothes and started shaking me.
Activating Creator's Eye.
Sharkrai
A marine monster over 2m tall, with the head of a shark and powerfully built arms and legs. They carry various weapons, but typically wield heavy arms like greatswords, axes, or hammers. Attempting to engage them in close combat because of their large weapons is a mistake, as one must be wary of being devoured whole by their sharp teeth. All abilities are enhanced by 1.5 times in water.
Skills: Rage (Physical), Steel Teeth (Physical), Skin Hardening (Support), Acceleration (Support)
"Ah, so it's them."
"This isn't an 'ah, so it's them' situation! We're all going to die if we stay here! At a glance, there are over forty Sharkrai. I've never seen anything like this! Quickly, the retreat order..."
"It's fine. I'll handle it."
I gave a faint smile to the people staring at me with pale faces and looked down from the castle wall.
"Kieeeeek!"
"Kaaak!"
The Volaks were coming out of the sea, but they weren't here to invade. They were fleeing from the Sharkrai.
"Hup!"
I designated the entire area in front of the castle gate as the range for Salhonyeon and transformed Agnes into a black, circular disc with razor-sharp edges like a saw blade.
It was a new hidden weapon: the Mukbong.
"Wh-what is that?"
Bzzzzzzzz!
As I spun the Mukbong with my finger, the sound of thousands of swarming hornets echoed through the sky.
Enjoying the sound, I called out to the dumbfounded Pilo.
"Butler. This will be over in an instant, so count carefully."