Chapter 174
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Iron-Blooded vs. Hell (2)
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Crunch! Cruuunch...!
A sinister sound spread through the assembly hall.
The Hell Knight's bones stood up.
They were swept into waves of black mana.
As if it had received the blessing of immortality.
As if the shattering and crumbling had been a lie.
Legs and pelvis, spine and ribs, shoulder blades and cervical vertebrae, skull—they assembled in sequence. Armor with a black sheen enveloped its entire body. A helmet was placed over its head.
Kud thud!
Red eyes glowing from within the helmet.
At the same time, the Hell Knight thrust forward its only arm.
The massive two-handed sword that had fallen and rolled on the floor floated into the air and gripped in its hand.
Ominous mana surged from the giant blade.
At the same moment, laughter burst from Kannavaro's mouth as well.
"Ha, haha! Hahaha!"
It was Kannavaro, who had collapsed on the floor.
He quickly crawled backward, putting distance between himself and Haviel.
"Knight of Hell! Execute the enemy! Hurry!"
Kannavaro's shrill cry shook the assembly hall with a resounding echo.
At that cry, everyone inside the assembly hall reacted.
The fallen citizens laboriously lifted their heads.
They looked at Kannavaro through waves of severe dizziness.
Their gazes carried thick disappointment, betrayal, and disgust.
Once the pride of the city, a benevolent philanthropist.
Now, a mask discarded, revealing a depraved traitor.
But Kannavaro calmly brushed off all those stares. No, he didn't even care. His eyes were fixed only on the revived Hell Knight with fervent longing.
"Knight of Hell!"
His vomiting-like shout erupted again.
At that sound, the Hell Knight drew its sword.
Haviel had already aimed his sword at the Hell Knight as well.
For a moment, they waited.
The clash began without a sound.
...!
Clang!
The shockwave exploded ahead of the noise.
It swept through the assembly hall's interior.
Everyone who had fallen to the floor was caught in the shockwave and tumbled like fallen leaves.
Through that, Haviel and the Hell Knight intertwined and separated.
Separated, then clashed again.
Thud! Thwack!
Haviel raised his long sword with both arms.
He laid the blade horizontally above his head.
His two wrists moved at a cunning angle.
The long sword's forward edge swiftly traced a horizontal semicircle.
That flash targeted the Hell Knight's temple and charged.
Tzing!
The Hell Knight's greatsword blocked the long sword.
But in that instant, Haviel used the rebound force created by the block against itself.
He channeled the force bouncing back from the defense directly into the long sword.
His two wrists, raised above his head, moved at a cunning angle once more.
Gripping the hilt with both hands.
Using his left hand's back as the axis, his right hand rotated horizontally clockwise.
The long sword spun in a horizontal arc above his head.
And its back edge flashed as it flew in.
Toward the Hell Knight's opposite temple.
"......!"
The Hell Knight hurriedly jerked its head back.
Part of the helmet was sliced off by the silver aura.
At the same time, the Hell Knight launched a counterattack.
The black greatsword swept through space with power overwhelming technique and skill.
Thud crack!
The assembly hall floor cracked from the intense downward strike.
Pillars shook, and beams cracked.
Countless fragments flew at lethal speeds.
Most covered Haviel.
Some flew toward the citizens.
Haviel's eyes flashed.
"......!"
Tskakakak!
The silver long sword slashed, divided, and cut through space at invisible speed.
Dozens of fragments turned to powder in midair.
Pushing through that powder, Haviel charged.
The silver long sword became a fang as it was.
That was when it began.
Kwa te te te te tung!
If the long sword was a lethal fang, the Hell Knight's black greatsword was a weapon of murder in the truest sense.
The Swordmaster and the Knight of Hell unleashed all their killing intent at each other.
Like two beasts, white and black, tearing into one another.
Like light and darkness stabbing at each other's hearts.
Haviel and the Hell Knight clashed, casting aside everything.
When Haviel thrust, the Hell Knight slashed.
When the Hell Knight slashed, Haviel smashed.
When smashed, it charged.
When charged, it parried.
When parried, it smashed down.
When smashed down, it countered with an upward strike.
Kwaaaang-!
The downward black greatsword.
The upward silver long sword.
The two lethal weapons clashed in midair once more. They blocked each other's charge. Stalemated. Shockwaves burst without hesitation. Even in that, neither yielded. They competed in strength while locked still.
Kagagagak-!
The black greatsword pressed down.
The silver long sword held firm.
Intense friction arose where they met.
Through the sparks flying from the blades, Haviel and the Hell Knight's gazes intertwined.
The glow in the Hell Knight's helmet flickered even redder.
- You are strong, human.
"......"
- I am Gio Rexius, First Legion Commander serving the Ruler of Hell. Had my summoning been with my body intact, it would have been even better. Yet even so, this is a thrilling battle beyond expectations. Thus, human knight, I wish to know your name.
"Haviel Asrahan."
- Pleased to meet you, Sir Asrahan. Fight with even greater vigor.
"Hoo. Such a bout is hardly welcome."
A contest of full strength.
With the blades between them, Haviel replied curtly.
The Hell Knight tilted its skull.
- Why?
"Who would eagerly embrace a fight burdened with so much?"
A wry smile tugged at the corner of Haviel's lips.
Saying it himself, it sounded ridiculous.
But it was his honest truth.
No one in the world welcomes a fight with so much at stake.
If possible, he'd just avoid it.
But because he had to.
Because there were reasons he couldn't avoid it.
That's why he fought.
It was just overwhelming.
Even as they conversed, the Hell Knight's pressure from the greatsword was growing stronger.
It was astonishing.
‘Can I protect the people like this?’
He worried.
He saw the fallen citizens.
Pushed by successive shockwaves, they lay scattered in corners of the assembly hall, leaning against walls.
None among them seemed able to stand fully. Meaning no one here could escape on their own.
So there was only one thing he could do.
Fight.
Win.
That alone would protect the people.
‘Like this!’
Kagak!
He momentarily tilted the long sword's tip low.
A slant formed along the lowered blade tip.
The greatsword pressing from above slid off.
It spat rough sparks as it slid down the sudden incline.
- ...!
The Hell Knight's glow wavered.
In a full-force downward press.
Before it could recover its strength, the greatsword slipped sideways.
Into that created gap, Haviel's right hand shot up.
A dagger was suddenly gripped in that hand.
Thwack!
Blasting fired from the dagger.
It charged at the Hell Knight's jaw.
- ...Grut!
The Hell Knight hurriedly jerked its head back.
Of course, the Hell Knight didn't just take it.
Kwaang!
It rammed Haviel with its shoulder.
A blow like being struck by a rock landed.
That was when it began.
Haviel and the Hell Knight intertwined once more like beasts in a dogfighting pit.
No, at the moment they were about to entangle savagely.
"Over there! Look this way!"
A sharp cry cut into the fight.
It was Kannavaro's voice.
Kwaang-!
Long sword and black greatsword clashing in midair.
Through that, Haviel's eyes flicked.
He quickly scanned the direction the cry came from.
And shook slightly in surprise.
Kannavaro.
Once a respected philanthropist in the city.
Even Haviel had stuck out his tongue, saying he'd never seen such character.
He had witnessed that man staging a hostage drama.
"If you intend to keep up that fight, you'd best rethink it. Drop your sword! Or else I'll slit the throats of these vermin one by one!"
Kannavaro was sneering.
One hand gripped a man's hair.
The other held a dagger.
The sharp dagger slightly dug into the man's throat. Crimson blood trickled down his nape.
A little girl collapsed on the floor cried out sobbingly.
"Daddy!"
"Ugh...! I-I'm fine. Daddy's fine."
The man, bleeding from his throat, tried to soothe his young daughter.
A sneer bloomed on Kannavaro's lips.
"Fine my ass. Shut your mouth. Unless you want your throat slit while you're still alive."
"Grgh... Ugh!"
The dagger shifted slightly sideways.
The man's nape skin tore, more blood flowing.
Kannavaro's eyes turned to Haviel.
"See that? I'll count to three. Giving you time to think. If you don't drop the sword after that, you'll watch this vermin's throat get slit in front of his daughter."
"......"
Haviel gave no reply.
He silently continued the fierce exchange with the Hell Knight.
Even so, his eyes periodically checked Kannavaro and the hostage man.
Was he agonizing over it?
Tormented, no doubt.
A twisted smile hung on Kannavaro's lips.
‘So drop the sword! Hurry!’
He was confident in his own way.
That guy would drop the sword.
Why?
Because he was a renowned knight of the kingdom.
A rising Swordmaster full of promise.
‘Right? Sir Haviel Asrahan.’
A knight of such fame would value honor.
He wouldn't easily abandon a hostage.
He'd succumb to the hostage play and drop his sword.
That was key.
‘Remove him the instant he does, then restore the barrier.’
Restore the barrier.
Then he could gather mana again.
If he scraped together every last drop of the citizens' life force.
He could fix all the Hell Knight's flaws and transform it into a perfect being.
Then, for the month the Hell Knight's summoning lasted, he could turn almost all the kingdom's territory into scorched earth.
If the subjugation army came?
Crush them too.
A Hell Knight at full power could do it.
Even beheading the kingdom's Swordmaster king was possible.
Topple the hypocritical royals and usher in a new dynasty.
Fulfill that long-cherished wish.
‘So drop the sword. Hurry!’
Kannavaro tensed his eyes with fervor.
He braced for Haviel's next move.
The moment he dropped the sword.
He'd slit the vermin's throat in his grip.
In that gap of shock, cast black magic to aid the Hell Knight's fight.
Then the guy who dropped his sword would be defenseless and...
That was when.
Thwack-!
Blasting flew in.
"......!"
Kannavaro's eyes bulged in horror.
Only then did he realize the situation.
‘That mad bastard!’
He didn't drop the sword.
Instead, without a word, he launched a reckless attack.
‘Grgh!’
Kannavaro's heart pounded urgently.
No time to think.
He toppled backward.
At the same time, he thrust out his hand.
Activated a defensive spell.
Cheeng-!
Before the spell could even half-activate, blasting engulfed him. It shattered the defense and blew off the tips of his index and middle fingers.
It narrowly grazed past him.
Struck the assembly hall wall. Pierced through.
"......Kuh, kaaaaak!"
Suddenly missing finger joints, Kannavaro clutched his hand and rolled.
Haviel's eyes narrowed.
"Tch."
A miss.
He'd aimed to pierce the heart in one go.
But it veered off.
Because he was in a breathless exchange with the Hell Knight.
Because he'd fired blasting in that instant.
Aim was off.
He hadn't killed him.
All he managed was clipping fingers.
Regrettable. Anxious.
‘Should've ended him in that one shot.’
A massive loss in two ways.
One, the guy would now be wary of blasting.
So the same tactic wouldn't stop his hostage play.
The other...
Thud kwaaaang-!
"......Kgh!"
Haviel barely blocked the greatsword swung like a smash.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
‘An opponent where even going all-out might not be enough.’
In the breathless exchange, he'd fired blasting elsewhere. To neutralize Kannavaro. For that brief moment, he'd ignored the Hell Knight before him.
As payback, the second loss.
The balance of the even exchange broke.
Kwaang-! Kwak! Kwajik-!
Just once firing blasting elsewhere.
That much wasted motion.
Because of that one waste, the initiative in offense fully shifted to the Hell Knight.
He lost first strike in movement.
Breath and flow.
Direction of attack and defense.
He yielded the half-beat timing to lead it all.
Hard to regain.
Because the Hell Knight, sensing the flow shift to itself, unleashed a barrage.
Thud kwang! Thudeng! Ku kwak!
Smash down, shatter, burrow in, smash aside, pulverize.
Overwhelming power and momentum instead of petty techniques.
Before that destructive barrage, Haviel was gradually pushed to the assembly hall's corner.
Hard to find even a moment for counterattack.
If he recklessly countered?
He'd likely lose bone for flesh.
The Hell Knight's offense was that destructive and flawlessly tight.
And the situation worsened further.
"Kuh... grhahaha! Guhhr! You bastard! Think that trick would work!"
Kannavaro, who had tumbled, staggered to his feet.
Blood pouring from his severed finger tips.
He picked up the dropped dagger.
Gripped the hostage's hair again.
Aimed the dagger at the man's nape once more.
This time, thoroughly using the man's body as a shield.
"Now, I command again. Drop your sword!"
The shout laced with malice echoed thunderously through the assembly hall.
Haviel's expression darkened as he barely held on the defensive.
In this state, he couldn't dream of blasting like before.
But if he dropped the sword?
The Hell Knight's greatsword would cleave him.
‘What to do.’
Haviel's eyes wavered.
Must he watch the hostage die to keep fighting?
Must he drop the sword to save the hostage first?
Confusion reigned.
Which was the right call.
Of course, he knew continuing the fight was advantageous overall.
But choosing it readily brought immense mental burden.
The man captured, bleeding from the throat.
His young daughter crying while watching her dad.
Before that sight, his selfish self agonizing over whether to keep fighting.
‘What should I...’
Haviel's lips paled.
Victory's premonition colored Kannavaro's laughter.
"I'll count to three again!"
Haviel's shoulders twitched.
He looked at Kannavaro with urgent eyes.
Just a moment.
"Three!"
Please.
"Two!"
Stop.
"Ha...!"
Clang-!
Suddenly.
From Kannavaro's occiput.
A clear, beautiful sound rang out across the world.
At the same time, Kannavaro's shout cut off.
"......Kweek?"
His eyes rolled back white.
His body twisted.
Legs buckled.
He collapsed like crumbling.
From behind him, Lloyd revealed himself.
Gripping the steel shovel he'd full-swung with youthful vigor.
He shrugged at Haviel with a smirk.
"Lady Ella, need a hand by any chance?"