Chapter 49: Great Warrior Battle (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: Great Warrior Battle (4)
Chris's victory in the previous round had been shocking.
Staring at Janson's head rolling across the ground, the spectators forced themselves to accept reality. They rationalized that such a feat was only possible because Chris was a genius swordsman. After all, wasn't he Jonathan's disciple? While his victory defied common sense, it wasn't entirely impossible if he had inherited Jonathan's teachings.
The problem lay with the second duel.
While they could somehow rationalize the clash between Chris and Janson, looking at Homeros's rapidly cooling corpse made the crowd feel as if their brains had short-circuited. Homeros wasn't someone who could be described with a simple word like "strong." He was a formidable expert who had entered the rankings even before reaching the 4-Star Realm. He was Cairo's rising star, a man eyeing the coveted top thirty.
And he was dead.
Without even getting the chance to fully unleash his 4-Star Aura, his sword and body had been cleaved in half by Roman's single strike, spraying blood across the dirt.
"H-how could this happen?"
"Am I seeing things?"
The crowd was utterly dumbfounded.
Roman Dmitry.
They had taken his death for granted. They believed his refusal to forfeit—even after learning his opponent was Homeros—was mere bravado. Not a single person had given him even a one percent chance of winning. Now, no one could find their voice. Setting aside the fact that this was a crucial duel deciding the outcome of the war, the spectators just blinked repeatedly, checking over and over again to see if this was actually reality.
Only one person remained entirely unfazed.
Roman, and Roman alone, accepted the reality before him as a matter of course.
‘To think a mere boy who hasn't even reached the peak stage dared to act so arrogantly.’
Homeros's Aura had indeed been strong.
He was the strongest person Roman had encountered so far on the Salamander Continent. However, Roman's standard of evaluation lay not in this world, but in his past life. In Murim, where masters shone like a galaxy of stars, even the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk had to prepare for death if he let his guard down. Compared to that place, the cultivation methods of this world were inefficient—utter garbage.
Take Homeros's final strike.
While the crowd had marveled at the Aura pushed to its absolute limit, Roman had only inwardly sighed at the Qi leaking out everywhere.
And so, he ended the duel.
He knew his victory was assured. Homeros was simply no match for him, and the competitive fire that had briefly flared up within Roman died down in an instant.
Roman spoke. "Arbiter. Please declare the result."
Only then did the crowd snap back to reality.
Following Chris's victory, Roman had won. In a best-of-three match, the Lawrence family had already secured their overall victory.
Gulp.
Chris swallowed hard. As he watched the duel between Roman and Homeros, his palms had become drenched in sweat.
‘...So this is my Lord's true strength.’
In truth, Chris had never been able to clearly gauge Roman's actual limits.
During their very first spar, Roman was definitely not as strong as he was now. He had seemed like someone who couldn't use Aura at all, and Chris had suffered the humiliation of losing to him in a battle fought purely with swordsmanship. Later, Chris learned the truth. Roman was manipulating mana in a completely different way. Contrary to his public reputation as the Fool of Dmitry, he had already reached a formidable level.
The problem was that the exact ceiling of his strength remained unclear.
Was defeating Chris his limit, or was there something far beyond that Chris couldn't even fathom? He couldn't find the answer.
Thus, this war was the perfect opportunity to witness Roman's true prowess.
When Roman slaughtered a dozen or so soldiers, Chris accepted it. That was well within the capabilities of the Roman he knew.
When Roman severed the head of the 2-Star Swordsman, Berge, in a single blow and shattered Flare, Chris was honestly a bit surprised.
But finally, he had completely overwhelmed Homeros.
Even if Homeros had let his guard down and failed to unleash his 4-Star Aura, Roman had still sliced through a man who had pushed his 3-Star Aura to its absolute limit—cleaving both sword and body in half. It was a truly overwhelming sight. Even Chris, who believed he knew Roman well, was left utterly shocked by this reality-shattering display.
‘Did my Lord already possess this level of strength when we sparred? Or did he achieve such astronomical growth after our duel? Neither makes any sense. If it were the former, the Lord back then was definitely not strong enough to overwhelm Homeros. If it were the latter, the timeframe is far too short—it defies all logic. How on earth is this possible?’
His mind was in a frenzy. He couldn't even begin to guess the truth.
Two months.
It was a brief period in which ordinary people couldn't even manifest a 1-Star Aura, but Roman's standards were different.
After defeating Chris, Roman had steadily improved himself. He underwent Shedding Bones and Rebirth. By utilizing the Flame Divine Art, he advanced into a realm that Chris couldn't even dare to approach.
It was a rate of growth so rapid that even in Murim, a parallel could scarcely be found. It was only possible because he was the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk, the one hailed as the Best Under Heaven. It was only natural that Chris could not comprehend Roman's growth.
"Phew."
Chris let out a deep breath.
After his victory against Janson, Chris had thought that perhaps the day he would surpass Roman's wall might come soon.
But that was an illusion.
Now that he had witnessed Roman's true strength, Chris felt a profound sense of awe, accompanied by an inexplicable feeling of suffocation.
‘Perhaps my resolve was too hasty.’
His vow to serve Roman faithfully until the day he surpassed his Lord... Only now was Chris beginning to realize just how naive that judgment had been.
*
The duel was over.
Lawrence's victory.
There was no need to see more, but Count Ertes, who presided over the Great Warrior Battle, had a duty to oversee the match to its very end.
"The Great Warrior Battle must proceed through all three duels to the end. Since the overall victory has already been decided, both sides may, upon mutual agreement, send out new Great Warriors."
It was a gesture of leniency for the loser. Since there was no reason to waste manpower on a fight whose outcome was already determined, he gave Barco a choice between practicality and pride.
Even at Count Ertes's words, Viscount Barco could not snap out of his daze. From the moment Homeros collapsed, coughing up blood, Viscount Barco felt as if the clear blue sky was crashing down upon him.
‘It's over.’
His mind went blank. The conflict with Lawrence—Barco had poured everything into it.
He had intentionally forged documents to provoke a fight with Lawrence, and he had spent an astronomical sum of money pulling strings in the Central Government to bring in Count Ertes. That money did not belong to Barco. Unlike Lawrence, which possessed fertile lands, or Dmitry, which practically minted money from its iron mines, Barco was not a wealthy family. He had borrowed all the funds for the war from the Golden Bank using his credit as collateral.
His legs trembled violently.
He knew all too well what a credit loan meant. In exchange for requiring no physical collateral, an astronomical interest rate would soon descend upon Barco.
‘How could Homeros lose? Homeros is a 4-Star Swordsman. Unlike the riffraff of the Northeast Association, he is a true swordsman who has traveled the kingdom facing the strong. For him to lose like this makes no sense. This must be a conspiracy by the Mercenary Guild. They must have disguised someone else as Homeros and sent him to me! That's why that imposter couldn't even defeat the Fool of Dmitry and was killed!’
He turned away from reality. He refused to believe it.
The price he would have to pay was simply too immense to bear. Even as Viscount Barco's trembling, anxious eyes stared at Homeros's face, he desperately tried to convince himself it was all an illusion.
"...My Lord. We must send out our next Great Warrior," a knight spoke to him cautiously.
According to the original plan, a 2-Star Knight was scheduled to take the third turn. However, now that Barco's Great Warriors had been slain twice in a row, they could not afford to sacrifice another knight.
Practicality versus honor.
Viscount Barco did not hesitate for even a second when faced with this choice.
"We cannot afford to lose our remaining strength. Send out Benson in his place. Since he disgraced Barco's name at the social party, we shall give him a chance to redeem himself in this duel."
"Understood."
The knight withdrew, his expression slightly stiff.
It was a throwaway pawn. It was practically a death sentence, but Benson had no excuse to refuse the Great Warrior Battle.
During the last social party, Benson was the knight who had picked a fight with Kevin. Looking down on Dmitry was one thing, but the real problem was that he had been unilaterally beaten to a pulp by Roman in front of everyone. That incident had become a massive topic of discussion among the nobles. It was an event that clearly demonstrated the gap between Dmitry and Barco, and Benson had been disciplined and demoted as a result.
This was his last chance.
To survive as a knight of Barco, he could not avoid the Great Warrior Battle, even knowing he was being used as a sacrificial pawn.
"I am Benson of Barco."
As the final Great Warrior stepped forward, a commotion arose in the Lawrence camp.
Benson was an unstarred knight. For the Lawrence knight scheduled for the third turn, Benson was an opponent he was guaranteed to defeat. However, before the knight could step forward, someone else suddenly burst out from the ranks.
"I will face him."
It was a small boy. Wearing a helmet that didn't fit him at all, he looked up at Roman with a gaze of absolute determination.
It was Kevin.
At this sudden intrusion, the Lawrence knight spoke in a stern voice. "How dare a mere common soldier step forward in a place like this! Even if the opponent is an unstarred swordsman, he is not someone you can handle. The Great Warrior Battle is a sacred event that carries the honor of Lawrence. Out of respect for Young Master Roman, I will forgive you this once, so step back immediately."
Kevin's sudden action was an offense worthy of punishment under military law. The Lawrence knight spoke the truth, but the master of Lawrence he served watched the situation in silence.
Everyone knew.
Viscount Lawrence, Flora—they all knew that Roman Dmitry, who had led them to victory in the Great Warrior Battle, held the sole authority to grant Kevin's request.
Roman looked down at Kevin.
‘Foolish boy.’
He was reckless. Although Kevin had been improving rapidly of late, fighting against a fully grown, robust adult swordsman was a dangerous choice. Yet, Kevin still asked to fight. Whether it was to pay Benson back for what had happened before, or if he was risking his life to prove his own worth, the reason was unclear.
But one thing was certain.
"Go."
Roman liked Kevin's choice.
In a world ruled by the law of the jungle, the weak who suffered defeat were not granted even the slightest rights.
Take the incident at the social party. People gossiped about how Roman had taken splendid revenge for his subordinate, but behind that story lay a weak subordinate who had stood by silently, taking a beating even as his lord was insulted. People didn't think much of it. Kevin was not Chris, and they believed there was nothing a mere boy soldier could have done in that situation anyway.
That was precisely why Kevin had to step forward.
By staying at Roman's side, he had learned what Roman valued most.
Kevin spoke. "I will be right back."
As he stood up with a fierce look on his face, the people of Lawrence could not bring themselves to stop him.