Chapter 9
Chapter 9
“Looks like one of the ten from earlier.”
The man with slightly drooping eyes and a beard appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, and surprisingly, he was even taller than Morde.
He stood about two meters tall, his entire body packed tightly with muscle.
The Grand Duke pointed at Morde with his finger and said,
“Deal with him.”
“What? You mean this young brat?”
Kesner was taken aback. That was understandable, as he was trusted enough to wield a weapon and assist in training directly under the Grand Duke.
Yet he was being told to spar with a brat he had never even met?
“This one is my bloodline, who came from outside a few days ago. I want to test his skills, so just handle him appropriately.”
“I see. Understood.”
Kesner said to Morde,
“Brat, you may use a weapon. Go ahead and pick one you like.”
“I don’t need one.”
“Hmm?”
Kesner’s eyebrows twitched. Morde’s attitude seemed arrogant to him.
“I’ve never learned how to use weapons. I’ll do it barehanded.”
“Is that so?”
Kesner grinned.
“Then let’s begin. You can go all out.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Kesner threw a punch.
Tuuaaaang!
It looked like a casually extended fist, but when Morde blocked it, a sound like boulders colliding rang out.
“Oh?”
Kesner showed an amused expression.
Even though it was a punch thrown without using impulse, its destructive power was enough to smash rock. Yet Morde had blocked it with ease.
“I guess I can use a bit more force.”
Kesner grinned and drew up his mana.
“This human… he’s a bloodline of Bernas.”
He had been unsure until now, but once Kesner began raising his mana, it became clear.
Morde also responded in kind, drawing up his own mana.
Woooooooong!
Their released mana clashed against each other, causing the air to tremble.
Morde’s eyes gleamed.
“I’ve never gone all out even once since obtaining this body.”
Until now, he had only ever considered controlling his strength to stay weak when fighting. Going all out had been unthinkable.
For someone like Morde, fighting at full power meant causing massive destruction. Unless he was in a controlled environment with an opponent of equal caliber, there had been no opportunity to fight at full strength.
But someone strong enough to be employed directly by Grand Duke Bernas would be a worthy opponent to go all out against.
“Hm?”
Kesner’s expression changed.
The mana emitted by Morde began to push back against his own.
Frowning, he increased his mana further, but…
“Oh?”
The Grand Duke let out an impressed sound.
There was no helping it.
Even though Kesner had raised his mana to a considerable level, Morde’s mana was still standing evenly against it.
Kesner was startled.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
The mana of a fifteen-year-old brat who had only recently awakened his divine blood—how could it be this strong?
Morde himself was inwardly amazed.
“This is impressive. So this is Morde’s power?”
The original Morde was still a fifteen-year-old boy who had not received proper training and had never experienced real combat.
And yet, despite that, he possessed mana strong enough to surprise Kesner, a seasoned warrior with vast combat experience who had awakened his divine blood long ago.
“He probably had this level of potential all along but never knew how to use it.”
The original Morde had grown up hearing he was “a creature born from devouring his mother,” and had been burdened by deep guilt.
That guilt had become a powerful chain binding his soul.
Even though he possessed the power to destroy everything around him, Morde had never once wielded that power.
He had always lived being ignored, mistreated, and abused.
But now, with the soul of Um Tae-seong occupying his body, those chains had been broken.
“I can make use of this potential.”
Morde rushed toward the flustered Kesner.
Whoooosh!
His fist cut through the air.
Kesner easily evaded it, but did not counterattack.
Closing the distance, Morde unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks.
Papapapapapapa!
The sound of tearing air echoed fiercely.
However, none of Morde’s attacks landed on Kesner. Kesner flawlessly dodged and deflected them, and at one point counterattacked.
Slipping outside the arc of Morde’s punch, he struck with his elbow.
Morde quickly raised his arm to block, but the impact hit twice, sending him flying.
Thud!
Morde’s body lifted off the ground and was sent flying several meters.
Kesner pursued and threw another punch.
Pabat!
Morde deflected the punch and counterattacked.
But Kesner flowed like water, evading it and delivering a kick.
Puuuuuung!
A loud explosion rang out as Morde was sent flying backward again.
“Damn it!”
Morde felt a sense of frustration.
The difference in combat skill was too great.
Um Tae-seong, the Earthling, had only spent a few months at a martial arts gym as a hobby. That was the extent of his combat training.
In contrast, his opponent was a combat specialist.
Not only was there a gap in skill, but Kesner also surpassed him in physical ability and mana. There was no clear area where Morde held an advantage.
“He’s not even using impulse…”
Kesner refrained from using body impulse as well, matching Morde’s level.
That meant he was holding back to play at Morde’s level.
“Is he someone I still can’t beat?”
In truth, Morde had a hidden trump card he had yet to reveal.
The power of his divine blood.
He had roughly grasped how to draw it out during his fight with Paion, and had even successfully tested it in his room the day before.
If he used it now, he might be able to turn this disadvantage around.
“No, let’s not.”
There was no need to reveal everything here.
Moreover, Kesner was also of Bernas bloodline. If Morde used the divine blood, Kesner would likely be able to do the same.
“But I can’t just keep getting beaten either. I should at least show one move.”
After giving Morde a brief moment to catch his breath, Kesner charged again.
Dodging the first and second attacks, he shifted fluidly and launched a third.
It was the same repeated pattern.
During the exchange, Morde would inevitably be forced into a defensive position, and at that moment Kesner would break through his guard with a double strike that produced two impacts from a single blow.
Thud!
But this time, that pattern was broken.
“Nullified?”
Kesner muttered in disbelief.
Morde had countered Kesner’s double strike with an identical double strike.
But that wasn’t all.
“You’re mistaken.”
While blocking Kesner’s punch, Morde raised the corner of his lips.
Tuang!
A delayed third impact triggered, knocking Kesner’s arm away.
Bang!
And then, as Kesner’s posture collapsed, Morde slammed into his chest with a body charge.
“Ugh!”
Kesner groaned as he was sent flying.
However, after flying about five meters, he quickly stabilized himself and landed.
“Incredible.”
He was genuinely astonished.
“You learned my double strike after being hit a few times?”
“Yes.”
Morde nodded.
The first time he was hit by the double strike, he had only been confused.
But the second time, he felt the flow of mana.
By the third time, he had completely deciphered the flow in his mind.
And by the fourth, he had added a slight variation to it and caught Kesner off guard.
“You’re quite something. This is getting interesting.”
Kesner smiled and shifted his stance.
“Stop.”
At that moment, the Grand Duke halted him.
“That’s enough. Step back.”
“Yes.”
Though slightly disappointed, Kesner obeyed.
The Grand Duke smiled and said,
“Impressive. To reach that level so soon after awakening your divine blood—you truly are my bloodline. However, there is one more thing I would like to confirm.”
“Yes?”
As Morde tilted his head in confusion, the Grand Duke extended his hand toward him.
Crackle…
A small sphere of light, about the size of a baseball, formed at his fingertips. The orb, crackling with blue sparks, flew toward Morde.
“That’s an impulse ball!”
Recognizing it, Morde was shocked.
It was a technique that condensed impulse and projected it at range.
Far more advanced than applying impulse to the body or a weapon, the orb created by the Grand Duke possessed terrifying density.
Pajijijik!
Morde raised both hands to catch it, and violent sparks shook the space.
“Ugh…!”
His arm muscles swelled as if they would burst.
Even while pushing his body strengthening to its limits, the sparks of impulse leaked out, striking his body.
“What kind of power is this?”
It felt as though his hands would be blown away at any moment.
No, worse than that.
If his body strengthening weakened even slightly, his hands would be destroyed.
“This won’t work!”
He could not hold it down. At this rate, the impulse ball would explode.
“Damn it! Do I have no choice but to use divine blood?”
Just as Morde was about to make a decision under extreme tension…
“Huh?”
A realization flashed through his mind.
“Wait a second… this…”
His expression changed subtly.
“I think I can do it.”
At the same time, blue sparks began to wrap around both of Morde’s arms.
“What the hell!”
Todd muttered in shock while watching.
Just moments ago, Morde had seemed to be in a desperate situation. If the Grand Duke’s impulse ball had exploded, severe injury would have been unavoidable.
But then, in an instant, Morde’s expression shifted, and body impulse manifested over his body strengthening.
Pajijijijik!
The sparks generated by Morde began to absorb and expand, swallowing the energy of the orb in his hands.
Facing it with only body strengthening had been overwhelmingly disadvantageous.
Even with ten times the power of the impulse ball, he could not suppress its resistance.
But when he opposed it with the same impulse power, it was suppressed with surprising ease.
“Body strengthening is fundamentally meant to reinforce the body and enhance performance, not to generate destructive force on its own.”
Thus, using body strengthening to oppose impulse was inherently inefficient.
“This Morde… could it be…”
Based on what he had seen in the fight with Paion, he had already sensed something. He felt that if he refined it further, he might be able to do it himself.
And now, through the desperate struggle against the Grand Duke’s impulse ball, the missing pieces had fallen into place. The fragments in his mind connected, allowing him to realize body impulse.
“A ridiculous genius. Is this the level of ‘just watching someone do it and copying it until it works’?”
Of course, this was only possible because his concentration had reached its peak under life-threatening pressure.
But the very fact that it was possible proved just how absurd Morde’s talent was.
“Well done. You’ve surpassed my expectations beautifully.”
The Grand Duke smiled with satisfaction.
At that sight, Morde barely restrained the urge to grit his teeth.
‘This old bastard.’
After putting someone’s life at risk and acting like that!
‘I’ll remember this. I won’t forget today. Someday, when I get the chance, I’ll punch that face of yours and say it— “I’m disappointed. You didn’t live up to my expectations.”’
It was a thought far too unfilial to have toward one’s father, but Morde no longer considered the Grand Duke his father.
The Grand Duke was merely someone who had indulged his own desires and inadvertently produced an illegitimate child.
He gave no affection and bore no responsibility.
How could someone who only acknowledged illegitimate children that “proved their worth,” and treated them as lower than other children, be considered a father?
“Of course, the original Morde might have thought otherwise, but I don’t need your affection or recognition.”
To the current Morde, the Grand Duke was simply a potential future enemy, a possible antagonist.
Above all, the Grand Duke’s past actions in Sedokma were so vile that opposing him brought no hesitation.
“If you walk the same path as Sedokma, I won’t hesitate to crush your head.”
Unaware of Morde’s inner thoughts, the Grand Duke said,
“Indeed, my bloodline. Since you’ve passed the test so well, I should give you a reward. Is there anything you desire?”
At that moment, Morde snapped to attention.
“This is an opportunity.”
Morde realized that an unexpected chance had come to him.
There were many things he could request as a reward from the Grand Duke.
He could ask for a special elixir to strengthen himself, or request a good mentor to personally train him one-on-one.
But as the sole heir of Sedokma, Morde knew there was something far more important than that.
“I’ll get ahead of what Aidan would take.”
His goal, the task he must accomplish to save this world from its destined destruction.
That was to gather the “world fragments” before Aidan did.
“I would like to challenge the Tomb of the God of War.”