Chapter 190: Counterattack (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Counterattack (5)
100 meters, 90 meters, 80 meters...
Roman Dmitry closed the distance.
Though every nerve in his body was on edge, Count Fabio did not take a single step back.
As a noble of the Empire, he refused to show fear before a mere kingdom like Cairo. Above all, he was absolutely certain he would not die here.
Rumble!
"Stop right there!"
Gustavo, the commander of the Kronos Knights, charged forward.
As the leader of the 10th Knights Division, he instinctively knew he had to step in given how the situation was unfolding. The aura rising from his blade blazed like a miniature sun. Even without any explanation, it was immediately clear that he was on an entirely different level from the Kronos Empire knights Roman Dmitry had faced so far.
He was fast.
Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, he struck the exact moment Roman cut down another enemy.
Clang!
Rumble!
A single clash.
A massive wave of mana erupted.
Without pausing, Gustavo unleashed a flurry of follow-up attacks, their figures blurring into a chaotic tangle as he relentlessly pressed the offensive. Few could withstand Roman Dmitry's onslaught to this degree. It would have been a shocking display to anyone ignorant of Gustavo's true identity, but for a man of his stature, such prowess was only natural.
78th in the continental rankings.
35th in the Kronos rankings.
He was a powerhouse recognized by the entire world.
Though ranked higher than Count Nicholas, he was not even among the top ten in his own country. Gustavo was a prime example of just how terrifyingly powerful the Kronos Empire truly was. The 5-Star Aura erupting from his blade triggered a massive explosion. Where other swordsmen couldn't even block a single blow from Roman, Gustavo actively pushed him back, determined to end the battle right here with his own two hands.
However...
Clang!
Clash! Clang! Clang!
Roman parried every single strike.
Whenever another Kronos knight tried to exploit a perceived opening, Roman would force Gustavo back and cut the interloper down in a single stroke.
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
That was exactly what had just happened.
An imperial knight rushed in, trying to slip through the chaotic waves of aura, only for Roman Dmitry to deflect the strike and carve his chest wide open. But there was no time to rest after killing just one. Other knights immediately charged in, and even while blocking Gustavo's relentless strikes, Roman systematically ended their lives one by one.
Roman was in the very heart of enemy territory.
Even with a top-tier swordsman like Gustavo leading the charge, the Kronos Empire cared nothing for fair play. They didn't slacken their assault for a second, swarming him from all directions. It looked like a pack of fierce predators ready to swallow Roman Dmitry whole, but in the end, it was the imperial swordsmen who fell one after another in the brutal melee.
Corpses piled up one by one.
Despite his obvious numerical disadvantage, Roman Dmitry's overwhelming presence slowly began to crush his enemies.
It made no sense.
Even the great Gustavo had stepped forward.
They were launching a coordinated assault alongside a 5-Star Swordsman, not some random nobody, yet their opponent did not waver in the slightest. At first, Gustavo hadn't thought much of it. He had focused solely on the single goal of victory, but at some point, he began to realize his opponent was completely ignoring him.
'This bastard...'
One against many.
Yet Gustavo had merely become one of the "many."
Being a 5-Star Swordsman didn't earn him any special treatment; to Roman, he was just a slightly stronger face in the crowd.
As rage boiled within him, Gustavo had no choice but to accept a single, chilling truth.
'Roman Dmitry is far more dangerous than I thought. If we let him live, there's no telling how the tide of this war might turn. Even if it costs me my life, I must eliminate this threat to the Empire.'
His eyes turned venomous.
He resolved himself to land a certain-kill strike.
Click.
Limiters released.
Deep within Gustavo, his mana began to erupt like an active volcano.
* * *
Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The entire flow of the battle shifted.
An aura hot enough to melt the surrounding snow radiated outward, its intense heat pressing heavily against Roman Dmitry.
Its power had doubled in an instant.
Roman raised his own mana to match, meeting Gustavo's attack head-on.
Boom!
Rumble!
Shockwaves of mana rippled through the air.
It was a realm ordinary swordsmen dared not approach. Roman Dmitry and Gustavo traded blows like madmen, each looking to devour the other. With every clash, the earth shook. Their duel transcended human limits, reaching a point where the surrounding Kronos soldiers collapsed, unable to withstand the sheer aftershocks of their power.
Amidst the chaotic exchange, Roman Dmitry sensed something strange.
He instinctively realized that Gustavo's sudden transformation did not stem from his own natural skill.
'He is using primordial energy.'
Primordial energy.
It referred to the innate energy a human was born with. It wasn't a power that could be artificially accumulated; rather, it naturally formed as a person lived and breathed. Because it was a finite, intrinsic force, primordial energy was directly linked to one's very life force.
In other words, Gustavo was currently burning away his own lifespan, fueled by a desperate desire to kill Roman Dmitry.
Over the past few years, Roman Dmitry had thoroughly studied this continent.
As far as the world knew, there was no method to utilize primordial energy. Whether this was Gustavo's personal secret technique or a hidden art of the Kronos Empire, it was entirely unique to them. Gustavo burned with the desire to defeat Roman Dmitry using this unexpected power, but to Roman, this was a force he was already intimately familiar with.
In his past life, Murim had been filled with all kinds of people.
Among them, martial artists pushed to the brink would sometimes sacrifice their lives like mayflies, burning their primordial energy to launch a desperate final attack. They knew full well that consuming it would lead to a grim end. If they managed to finish the battle before the energy was completely depleted, they might survive—but even then, the cost was spending the rest of their lives as a crippled invalid.
It was a forbidden realm.
Even the martial artists of Murim did not dare touch primordial energy lightly.
Yet here on the Salamander Continent, he had found someone tampering with the very power that Murim warriors shunned.
Rumble!
Mana boiled over.
Gustavo went berserk under the influence of this uncontrollable power, but it did not change the outcome.
This was his limit.
There would be no miracles.
Roman Dmitry had given his subordinates a year to grow. A year ago, while sorting out the hierarchy of the Northeast region, Roman had already entered a new realm. He had already possessed the strength to surpass Butler and defeat Count Nicholas back then, yet he still took ample time to solidify his foundation.
So, had only his subordinates grown stronger during that time?
No.
Roman Dmitry had grown far stronger, too.
Just as they had reached realms beyond anyone's imagination in a mere year, that same year had yielded entirely different results for Roman.
A clash of pure power.
They collided head-on.
Even though Gustavo had unleashed his absolute limits, he couldn't push Roman back a single step.
'I-impossible.'
Gustavo was struck with horror.
He had used primordial energy, fully prepared to end up crippled or dead. He had unleashed a secret weapon unknown to the world, yet he still could not overwhelm his enemy. Through this abnormal method, Gustavo had surpassed his own limits. Yet, if he still couldn't defeat his opponent, it meant that Roman Dmitry was simply out of his league from the very beginning.
Now, there was little time left.
As his primordial energy rapidly depleted, Gustavo made his decision.
"You won't be able to block this!"
Rumble!
The final blow.
He channeled his remaining mana.
As Gustavo was enveloped in aura like an incarnation of fire, Roman Dmitry prepared his own strike.
The middle forms.
There was no need to go even that far.
Just as his physical swordsmanship had evolved, the power of his Heavenly Demon Sword Technique had also reached new heights.
'Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - First Half Third Form.'
Rumble!
A clash of power against power.
The moment Gustavo's attack connected, a world-shaking storm of aura swallowed them both.
Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
* * *
A thick cloud of dust rose into the air.
When the energy that had swept over the battlefield finally settled, the onlookers witnessed an unbelievable reality.
"...Knight Commander Gustavo was defeated."
What remained of Gustavo lay sprawled on the cold ground.
He had been torn apart so brutally that his face was completely unrecognizable. Roman Dmitry looked down at the corpse, his expression as calm as ever. Gustavo had been a man as strong as Count Nicholas. At one point, Roman had thought the people of this world utilized their power incorrectly. Now, however, he acknowledged that their methods of pushing power to its absolute limit had simply developed in a different direction from Murim.
However, that didn't mean they were stronger than him.
The more knowledge he absorbed from this new world, and the more of his past life's martial prowess he recovered, the deeper Roman Dmitry stepped into a realm that others dared not even covet—just as he had in Murim.
He shifted his gaze.
Count Fabio.
The man was staring at Roman, his face deathly pale. Slumped on the ground, he couldn't even summon the courage to run.
Step. Step.
Roman walked toward him.
No one stood in his way.
As even the proud knights of the Kronos Empire watched in paralyzed terror, Count Fabio snapped back to his senses.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
He threw away his pride, raising a white flag for the sake of survival. But Roman Dmitry's expression remained entirely unchanged.
Count Fabio knew it instinctively. 'He intends to kill me.'
Even if he surrendered, this monster would not let him live.
Count Fabio's expression twisted. If Roman refused to compromise, breaking his spirit through intimidation was the only way left to survive.
"Roman Dmitry! I am a noble of the Empire! Even in the midst of war, Kronos will never forgive anyone who lays a hand on an imperial noble! Do you think you can handle the consequences? Never! You will spend every single night trembling in fear of the Empire's assassins! Your blood will run cold, and you will lose your mind from the sleeplessness! Make your choice! Spare my life, and take the honor!"
He shrieked at the top of his lungs, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he glared straight at Roman.
Roman stopped in his tracks.
"I know the price of my choice."
Baek Joong-hyuk.
The man who had stood at the absolute pinnacle of Murim.
To him, assassination attempts were a daily occurrence, and endless struggle was his accepted destiny.
"So, die."
Stab!
He plunged his sword forward.
Slowly. Agonizingly.
Right before the eyes of the terrified imperial soldiers, Roman Dmitry pushed Count Fabio into the abyss of death.
* * *
Boom!
Rumble!
A massive explosion.
The clash between Gustavo and Roman Dmitry sent shockwaves all the way to the rear.
"...What in the world?!"
Marquis Vandenberg cut down a charging imperial soldier and whipped his head toward the sudden explosion. The fluctuations of mana were highly unusual. While ordinary soldiers might have merely been startled by the deafening noise, Marquis Vandenberg could feel the dense, raw mana carried on the wind.
'There is no time.'
If...
If something had happened to Roman Dmitry, the allied forces attacking the center would face a desperate crisis.
Cairo had chosen a two-pronged attack to cut off the enemy's retreat and wipe them out from the rear, but it was taking far longer than expected. With Chris's help, they had finally seized the upper hand. Yet, feeling the terrifying aftershocks of that explosion, an ominous dread he had barely managed to suppress began to creep back up his spine.
"Do not worry. What you fear will not happen, Commander."
It was Chris.
Had he read the Marquis's mind?
Marquis Vandenberg was left speechless as Chris casually reassured him before immediately diving back into the bloody fray.
'How can he be so sure?'
This operation was incredibly dangerous.
Roman Dmitry had taken on the most perilous role of all. Considering the sheer might of the Kronos Empire, it wouldn't be surprising if something happened to him. Yet neither Chris nor any of Dmitry's soldiers showed even a hint of anxiety. They had merely glanced toward the massive explosion for a brief moment before immediately resuming their slaughter.
Blind faith.
It was truly admirable.
He realized then that the driving force behind Dmitry's meteoric rise was this absolute, unbreakable trust centered around Roman Dmitry.
Dmitry was an unyielding iron fortress.
Once this war was over, it was a foregone conclusion that the Dmitry family would stand tall as the greatest house in Cairo.
It was then.
Pop. Pop! Pop! Pop!
In the distance, signal flares burst across the sky.
Red meant to begin the attack, yellow meant to retreat, and green...
'Means the enemy commander has been slain.'
His eyes widened.
The flare shining brightly in the sky was unmistakably green.
It was a shocking achievement that rendered all of Marquis Vandenberg's worries utterly meaningless—a triumph he hadn't even dared to imagine.