Chapter 188
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Chapter 188
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: The Rampaging Macheon
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Melissa slowly aimed the tip of her sword at Cheonryeong, and he offered a brief show of respect.
"You're strong, miss."
Melissa made no reply. Instead, she erupted with qi that pressed down on her entire body like a crushing weight, leveling her sword tip at him.
Gordon and Karim were pinned so thoroughly by the overwhelming pressure that they could barely move, but Cheonryeong withstood it and even closed the distance.
"You coming in too? Now it's five against one."
"I'm not exactly thrilled about this duel myself. But if it's something that must be done, then it shall be done."
Aura flowed elegantly around him as he spoke with calm composure.
"This matters to you as well, but I have circumstances of my own that keep me from backing down. So I'll have to get a little rough."
With those words, both Melissa's and Cheonryeong's figures vanished in an instant, only to reappear as their swords clashed.
Unlike her fights with Gordon or Karim, however, neither side was being unilaterally overwhelmed.
Every time he unleashed his intense white aura and she exploded her black aura in response, black-and-white energies scattered in all directions.
"Oh, not bad..."
Luna let out a short murmur of admiration as she watched.
She'd heard that the Eastern Continent's sword arts were highly advanced, with systematic training methods from childhood that made the younger generation far stronger than their peers in the central or western regions.
That boy was probably one of the real standouts among them.
But Melissa was no different.
She had no idea how many years of structured training the boy had under his belt, but the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword that Melissa wielded had been honed and perfected by me through battles with enemies.
It had evolved through countless bold experiments and real-world application over an unimaginable span of time, so purely in terms of quality and future potential, Melissa's held the edge.
Without the procedure we'd done before coming here, it probably would have been a close fight.
But now, like reaping the honey from long-tended hives, the stacks built up in Melissa had burst forth.
Her power had risen to a level even she herself didn't realize.
That said, the results didn't exceed what I'd anticipated.
"Restrictions in place?"
"Not fully adapted to her body yet. She'll speed up soon enough."
Sure enough, during their clashes, Melissa's initially somewhat passive and sluggish responses grew more familiar, faster, stronger, and fluid.
As the fierce, rapid exchange began tilting in her favor, Cheonryeong's expression gradually darkened.
"Incredible..."
Their raw outputs were comparable.
The techniques they employed weren't far off from what mid-tier Sword Experts used.
But in every other aspect—finesse, audacity, power allocation, instantaneous aura control—Melissa was starting to gain the upper hand.
Even more astonishing was how the gap between them kept widening.
Melissa's attacks pushed in ways that far surpassed Cheonryeong's predictions, while his strikes were somehow handled all too easily by her.
The habit of dodging attacks by a hair's breadth with fluid body movements was something I'd taught her, and she was making great use of it.
Misuse it, and it was endlessly dangerous—but done right, no method saved stamina more reliably.
From the opponent's perspective, though, it created the illusion that she had an intimate grasp of their swordsmanship.
Just as everyone was stunned by Melissa's unexpected dominance...
Someone approached me.
It was none other than Hwaryeong, Cheonryeong's younger sister—the very one currently locked in combat with Melissa.
Clad in beautiful Eastern-style robes, she clutched a fan in one hand and approached me with a rigid expression.
"Young Master Leon Cascadia."
"You're... Hwaryeong, right."
"Yes. I am Hwaryeong."
I remembered her wearing a rather bitter look when we'd first met and then storming off.
Her own brother was fighting like that, and she had no interest?
"Not done sparring yet?"
"My brother dislikes interruptions during a duel."
With that, she extended her fan toward me.
"If it wouldn't be too rude, might I gauge your strength?"
What the hell did this woman want?
"Any reason I should?"
I asked while munching on imaginary popcorn, and her face twisted into a complicated expression.
"I came all this way specifically to meet you. Separate from the others."
"What about the exploration?"
"I don't have many opportunities to step beyond my family's walls."
I turned down her proposal based on her words.
"Whatever your reason, this doesn't seem like the time or place."
"Is that truly so?"
"Pardon?"
"Even in the Eastern Continent, we've heard the rumors about you. Tales of Young Master Leon that are hard to believe. But opportunities like this are rare for me..."
Luna glanced my way at her bullheaded insistence.
Kill her?
No, hold back.
What kind of angel was this destructive?
The duel had become a one-sided beatdown now that Melissa was fully attuned to her body.
"I deemed this my only chance, so I must risk the rudeness."
With those words, an odd flow of mana stirred around her.
I'd heard that in the Eastern Continent, they used mana to create formations.
Sure enough, a Taiji-patterned mana began swirling around her.
I'd only encountered formations while dealing with foes in Labyrinthos, so I couldn't analyze it in detail, but my proficiency in elemental and spirit magic let me perceive certain things naturally.
Truth be told, I had zero interest in whatever circumstances were driving her to this.
Formations were ultimately just a branch of elemental magic anyway.
The moment I prepared to reverse-engineer hers and forcibly dispel it...
"Ah, no! Macheon broke free!!"
A panicked shout came from the Eastern side.
Hwaryeong flinched in surprise and whipped her head around.
"No way..."
There, a small boy shrouded in billowing black qi burst through the shredded tent, emitting beast-like growls and a ferocious aura.
A few onlookers, excluding the flustered ones, wore expressions as if they understood the situation.
"B-but we had the suppression formation in place!"
"Did someone mess up and release it?"
"N-no, that's impossible! Unless someone deliberately removed the talisman..."
From the looks of it, Cheonryeong, Hwaryeong, and the Eastern Continent's overseers weren't entirely on the same page.
That was when it happened.
Macheon let out a guttural rumble, his crimson eyes flickering as they locked onto Melissa—still dueling Cheonryeong.
Oh, this was gonna be trouble.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHH!!!"
BOOM!!!
Macheon roughly hurled aside whatever he was holding and charged at Melissa like a rabid beast.
The bizarre aura flow of her Heavenly Demon Divine Sword seemed to have provoked him.
Was that kind of qi really coming from a kid's body?
To begin with, he didn't even seem alive...
It looked like they'd implanted something in a human body that absolutely shouldn't be there.
Less human, more monster.
Of course, since it'd been shoved in recklessly, it was out of control and rampaging.
Like a blood-maddened lunatic, he sprayed pitch-black aura like mist around him and barreled forward at tremendous speed.
Even Melissa, now attuned to her body, reacted a beat too late.
"Cheon?!"
Cheonryeong, mid-fight like Hwaryeong right in front of me, startled at the boy's appearance. Reflexively, he shoved Melissa aside and raised his sword to block Macheon.
CLANG!!!!
The thunderous crash was unbelievable for a sword meeting an aura-infused bare hand. Cheonryeong's blade flew into the air with ease.
No—precisely, the arm holding the sword went flying. His hand and blade had been severed clean off.
Undeterred, the boy called Macheon shredded the airborne arm to pieces and scattered it.
It was ferocity straight out of a beast.
"Kuh?!"
With razor-sharp claws extended, he bellowed like a wild animal, lunging at Cheonryeong again as if he couldn't forgive the interruption.
"Brother! No!"
Hwaryeong's horrified scream faded into the distance. And then...
"Why is Cheon?!"
Cheonryeong's voice grew clearer and closer.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHH!"
But the beast couldn't sink his claws into Cheonryeong's neck.
Because I'd appeared above the charging Macheon as if teleporting, seized his head with one hand, and smashed it into the ground.
His wounds were regenerating on nearly an instantaneous timescale—not human flesh at all.
"Grrk... kuh..."
"Stay down."
Was this runt the last one? This was outside my expectations.
Time for some reflection.
Never imagined the Eastern Continent would be raising a literal monster like this.
A monster in the truest sense. No longer worthy of being called human.
If he'd barged into the duel, the Death Knight I'd assigned to Melissa would've activated.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHH!!"
He thrashed wildly to escape me, but with his head pinned firmly to the dirt, I unleashed a burst of momentum in an instant.
BOOM!!!!
Something formless and colorless exploded outward from me, making his body convulse violently before going limp.
Everyone's eyes turned to me amid the sudden intrusion.
Perfect timing—everyone's attention was gathered. Time to say my piece.
First things first, these guys needed to be excluded from the rift exploration.
"I did say external interference during a duel means instant forfeit, right?"
My question was met with dead silence.
What, you all gonna clam up? Doesn't change a damn thing.
"Pack your shit and get out."
As expected—or inevitable, maybe—the other side didn't budge right away.
Melissa and the others had done their jobs, so now it was our turn to handle ours.
I left Arsha with Melissa and moved out alone with Luna.
As I entered Koral's camp, wary gazes converged from all directions.
When I stepped into the command tent where their leadership gathered, two men were waiting for me.
Both Sword Master-class powerhouses.
One was Koral's Sword Master, on bad terms with Bata.
The other was an elder from the Sacheon Clan, who had come from the Eastern Continent as reinforcements this time.
The Sacheon Clan...
The Eastern Continent was home to numerous clans in loose alliances. I didn't know the details, but the Sacheon Clan was one of the most influential giant factions among them.
Their presence carried an intimidating pressure, like they were trying to seize the initiative—but to me and Luna here, it was utterly meaningless.
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