Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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“Oh my god… What am I even looking at?”
Greol had been with the Silver Knights for two years now.
Considering most knights stayed for five to eight years, he was still very much a rookie.
Fortunately, he’d been assigned to Fox’s squad right in his first year.
Any group with real power came with its own perks, after all.
In that sense, Fox’s squad was solidly upper-tier within the Silver Knights, with Fox as its leader.
Of course, that was all because Fox, a fifth-year knight, was so damn strong.
Everyone figured he’d breeze through the upcoming promotion exam.
But even so, Greol couldn’t make sense of what was unfolding right in front of him.
It felt like he had to be seeing things wrong somehow.
Thwack-!
“Guh!”
The moment Isaac’s wooden sword struck the guy’s thigh, Fox’s body lurched violently.
It felt like his thigh had been torn open.
“You bastard-!”
But he couldn’t go down looking this pathetic.
Gripping his sword with both hands, Fox swung down at Isaac from overhead.
He figured he’d just cleave the punk’s wooden sword in half.
Clang-!
Isaac parried Fox’s blade with his own wooden sword, then pivoted on his left foot and smashed the guy’s right thigh again.
Thud! Thwack-! Thwack!
There was no pattern to Isaac’s relentless strikes.
One moment they sliced in with razor sharpness, the next they hammered down like a club.
‘What the hell… is this guy?’
Janiel’s eyes shook as he watched the duel between Isaac and Fox.
At first, he’d approached out of simple curiosity about this outsider joining their training.
And he’d grown close because he liked how diligently the commoner trained.
‘This guy’s a total freak… way outside the norm…?’
Fox’s swordsmanship was top-tier even among the Silver Knights.
Yet here was this guy schooling him almost purely on sword skill.
And on top of that,
‘Every time he blocks, he twists just enough to keep the blade from biting in.’
It was a technique that was hard to pull off even if you knew how.
It meant freakish dynamic vision combined with insane reflexes.
Smack-!
“Argh!”
This one landed hard.
The instant Isaac’s wooden sword cracked Fox on the crown of his head, blood began trickling down.
Drip…… Drip……
In the end, Fox dropped to one knee on the ground, breathing raggedly as he glared up at Isaac.
His hair was a tangled mess, and the blood running down his forehead crossed between his eyes and nose before dripping to the dirt.
Isaac looked at Fox and said.
“If that had been a real sword, you’d have died twenty-four times.”
He’d let twenty-four lethal blows land.
The gap was heaven and earth, and it had all happened in less than ten minutes.
With that, Isaac turned away.
He had no hobby of beating on someone who couldn’t fight back anymore.
And that’s when it happened.
“Stay right there, you son of a bitchhhh-!”
Whumm-!
“……!”
“F-Fox! Don’t-!”
Fox let out a scream like a war cry, and his sword began to hum faintly.
Runes etched into the blade glowed.
Faint as it was, that was unmistakably mana.
Thanks to diligently practicing his family’s mana cultivation method since childhood, he’d recently reached the point where he could channel mana to reinforce his weapon.
Up until now, Isaac had been able to fend it off with those subtle twists.
But now? It was a different story.
If Isaac had a real sword, maybe—but no wooden sword could block this.
“You crazy bastard! Stop it, Fox-!”
Clang!
Janiel yanked his sword free and charged at Fox.
Mana was already gathering in Janiel’s blade too, but
‘I’m… too late……!’
Fox was already right up in Isaac’s face, swinging at him.
The moment Fox’s sword arced toward Isaac’s head,
Screeech-!
It sounded like metal tearing, and everyone nearby clapped their hands over their ears and whipped their heads away.
The grimaces on their faces said it all.
Clatter.
A broken sword blade tumbled from the sky.
Eyes followed it to the ground, then flicked to the sword still in Fox’s hand.
The snapped blade in Fox’s grip—and Isaac’s wooden sword, which drew even more stares.
“……Wow.”
Janiel, mid-charge, froze like a statue and let out a low whistle.
A blue aura was sheathing the wooden sword in Isaac’s hand.
‘Aura…… user?’
This wasn’t like Fox or himself, barely reinforcing weapons with mana.
No—this was aura, reserved for those who’d achieved enlightenment or transcendence.
And the aura cloaking Isaac’s wooden sword was visibly colored to the naked eye.
It meant his mana had taken on a distinct quality.
The blue aura, evoking a summer sky, was beautiful yet radiated a ferocious menace that made his whole body tremble.
“Want to go again?”
“You… No, who the hell are you?”
“Deputy Commander of the Arrowhead Unit, Sergeant Isaac.”
* * *
Crackle- Crackle-!
Late into the night.
Someone approached Rian as he sat staring into the campfire.
“Um…….”
In her hands was a flat loaf of wheat bread and some salt wrapped in cloth.
Her red hair had a faint pink tint, contrasting sharply with her blue eyes.
Rian said.
“Your name’s Kadelia, right?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for remembering. More than that, please… have this…….”
She carefully handed Rian the bread and salt.
It was just dough flattened and baked over open flames, but to them, having food at all was a blessing.
Rian dipped his head slightly and accepted the bread and salt.
“Thank you.”
“But… Rian, did you really come here to recruit us into your unit?”
“Not all of you. Just those who want to join and have the will.”
“Then why come here of all places? Did you know something about us?”
Rian just stared silently into the campfire at Kadelia’s question.
‘Reason for coming to Boreol…….’
Of course there was a reason. But he couldn’t exactly spell it out.
As Rian fell silent, Kadelia quickly apologized.
“S-Sorry. I shouldn’t have pried…….”
“No, it’s fine. Natural to wonder. It’s just… I didn’t have any clear reason myself.”
“Could… could I join the unit too?”
“…….”
Rian looked at Kadelia.
She couldn’t be much over twenty.
Starvation had left her painfully thin.
He didn’t think unit members had to be men, but
“Who knows. That’s not really a question for me.”
“Huh? What do you mean…….”
“If you’ve got the qualifications, anyone’s welcome. But you have to earn those qualifications yourself. Through your own effort.”
“Oh…… Yes.”
Kadelia murmured softly and gazed with Rian at the rising flames.
A brief silence followed, then Kadelia asked.
“So… is everyone in your unit as strong as you, Rian?”
“Not everyone. And I’ve still got a long way to go myself.”
“A long way? You took out all those nasty bandits while protecting people like us who’ve never fought. Does that mean you’re the strongest in the unit?”
Rian nodded at her question. Then shook his head.
“Ah, there’s definitely one guy stronger than me.”
“Someone stronger than you? Where are they now?”
“Probably… hard at work on the mission I gave him.”
* * *
“Hm?”
“……?”
Janiel tilted his head at Isaac suddenly turning to look at him.
“What’s up?”
“Didn’t you call me?”
“……No.”
“Oh, thought I heard someone.”
Isaac said as he dug in his ear with his pinky.
He’d really heard a voice calling him.
Janiel smirked at the sight.
“You move like some inhuman machine, but then you go and act like a total kid.”
“So, what’s this about?”
“Come on, you pull off that insane stunt and just walk away? Give us some explanation at least.”
“……Explanation for what?”
“That thing earlier. What the hell was it?”
The blue aura was still burned into his mind.
Isaac tilted his head at the question.
“You know what it was. Why ask?”
“That’s what I mean—it doesn’t make sense. How can a commoner use aura? Without even knowing mana cultivation methods?”
“……You know there are cases where extreme training or experience awakens aura, right?”
“That’s for once-in-a-generation geniuses in history books. Even a talent like me hasn’t manifested it yet, so how…….”
“How can a mere commoner be such a genius? That it?”
Janiel clamped his mouth shut at Isaac’s suddenly icy glare.
He realized he’d let his words run wild.
Janiel bowed his head in immediate apology.
“That was dishonorable. I never meant to disparage commoners. I just…….”
“I get it. After a few days with you, I know it’s just thoughtless talk with no malice. But I want to say this.”
Isaac stared straight at Janiel.
“That noble mindset of yours might be holding you back. You don’t look down on commoners, sure—but you think they’re beneath you, right?”
“No, I…….”
Janiel started to protest but trailed off.
Hearing it laid out, he realized all his actions and words toward Isaac had stemmed from that.
He’d approached without reservation because Isaac was a commoner, used casual speech from the start.
He’d taken Isaac’s formal address as natural, and felt deflated the moment Isaac revealed his aura.
Isaac turned away like it was no big deal.
He had no interest in bickering over an unsolvable issue with this guy.
Nobles thinking this way about commoners wasn’t new.
But before leaving, a thought struck him.
“The commander of my Arrowhead Unit is a commoner too. Just a year older than me.”
“……?”
“And he wields aura as well. Only one difference…….”
He’d get it from that alone, having had systematic training.
Isaac continued.
“He uses a bow.”
Janiel’s eyes began to shake violently.