Duel!!
“It's a duel!!”
“Waaaaaaah---!!”
“Everyone, fight!!”
Just moments ago, the audience had been screaming in horror at Bogan's corpse, but now they erupted in cheers as if none of that had ever happened.
“No wonder……”
Adel frowned at the smoke wafting from the tables in front of the spectator seats.
“This place is crawling with drugged-up idiots too.”
It all made sense now, seeing the audience in such an over-the-top frenzy. The smoke rising before them was laced with hallucinogens.
“Even in Ruinxen, where all the lunatics gather, they don't touch this crap. This city's really just a sewer full of filth.”
Adel shook his head.
“At least it'll make it easy to fight without holding back.”
“……Did you release the offerings?”
“Yeah. That's right.”
“Killing Bogan means you're no ordinary fighter…… Who the hell are you? If you're bold enough to target Cratel, you'd have to be from somewhere like the Azal Kingdom in the central nine nations…… But they wouldn't strike here in the middle of a war.”
Adel eyed Karono with intrigued curiosity at his words.
“You're not one of those Viking raiders led by the Red Feathers, judging by the bow.”
“Exactly.”
“The only ones with the guts to target a slave city besides the Red Feathers would be Adal's bandit crew.”
Adel chuckled.
“The Red Feathers and Adal have some decent trash among their ranks, but hanging out in those dung heaps must've dulled their eyesight.”
“……What?”
Karono's eyes twitched faintly.
“They say the Walden Kingdom, which supposedly hunted a dragon and built its capital from its bones, had knights who had all reached the pinnacle…… Guess the king's blood just attracts scum.”
Karono flinched.
“Makes sense—you probably haven't even seen real knights up close. Not since they kicked you out.”
Boom---!!
In that instant, Karono swung the crude greatsword from his back and leaped at Adel.
[Not bad.]
Kalderet offered a brief appraisal of Karono's movements. For an ancient god like Kalderet to acknowledge him meant Karono had already surpassed the ordinary.
Whooom---!
Clang--!!
Sparks flew with a heavy crash as their swords met. Adel's body lifted off the ground from the impact, shoved backward.
'What kind of power……'
Adel, who had blocked the strike head-on, was dumbfounded. His arm throbbed from the blow. But that reprieve was short-lived; Karono's follow-up forced him to raise his sword again.
Clang!!
Cliiing--!!
Clang--!!
The greatsword swept up from below like a thunderbolt, then crashed down relentlessly. It was like a barrage of bombs, an unending assault.
Clang--!!
Unable to withstand the force, Adel's sword snapped in half.
Clink, clink, clink……
The broken blade spun across the floor.
“W-wait a second! Karono!! This is a problem!! Contestants only duel the champion after the main rounds……”
The announcer shouted in panic during the brief lull, but his words cut off abruptly.
A sword at his throat silenced him instantly.
“Who the hell's left to fight in the main rounds? Get lost. You'll end up like Bogan if you get caught in this.”
“B-but…… Eek?!”
The hesitant announcer yelped and fled the stage as Karono swung his greatsword.
“Scum's cleared out. So why'd you crash the arena and bring up Walden Kingdom? How much do you know?”
Karono glared like he wanted to devour him, but Adel was more focused on why he'd been pushed back by that earlier attack.
'Even in my memories, the Liberator King's skill was sword master level, but his raw strength never felt this overwhelming……'
And this was even earlier than when they'd met in his previous life—his swordsmanship wasn't even fully formed yet.
'And yet this pressure……'
Adel smirked.
'Guess it's because I'm still weak too. Not fully formed myself.'
Facing Karono, Adel felt a rare thrill, like standing before a legendary quarry.
“You think this is funny? You mad bastard……”
Thud---!!!
Karono slammed his sword into the ground and assumed a stance.
“Waaaaaaah---!!!”
“Waaaah--!”
“Fight! Fight!!!”
“Awesome!!”
“It doesn't end till one of 'em drops dead!”
Contrary to the announcer's fears, the crowd's heat was incomparable to before. Drugged out of their minds, they didn't care who these fighters were—they just craved blood and death.
“Mind helping me out later? Killing all those spectators solo would tire my arms.”
Adel swept his gaze over the stands.
“Save your bullshit and worry about your own neck first. Answer my question.”
“Eh, you'll end up helping me anyway. The ones I want dead aren't just them.”
“Raaaaagh!!!!”
Karono stomped and leaped, cratering the floor as stones scattered everywhere.
Crunch--
Adel tossed the broken hilt and nocked an arrow in the Lion Bow.
Hummm……
Aura poured from the bowstring as the arrowhead ignited red.
Whoosh-!
Whoosh, whoosh--!!!
He unleashed a flurry of arrows at blinding speed. They curved with uncanny will, targeting Karono's blind spots.
Desert Archery - Swallow Blade.
“Guh?!”
Karono, charging at Adel, halted abruptly and swung his greatsword at the incoming volley.
Clang--!!
Craaaash--!!
The arrows, infused with Garon's God's Blessing, exploded against his blade in deafening blasts.
“Huff, huff……”
Karono's ragged breaths echoed from the black smoke. Despite blocking the blessed arrows, his greatsword was unscratched—not because it was masterwork forged, but……
Hummmm……
A faint milky glow clung to his blade, distinct from divine light.
[This is impressive. Sword qi already? It's been ages since I saw someone wield it. Thought the line died with the Sword Hero.]
Kalderet remarked with interest, eyeing the greatsword.
Sword qi was a specialized aura. While ordinary swordsmen sharpened their body's energy into blade forms, sword qi maximized it solely through the sword—a revelation granted only to those who devoted themselves utterly to the blade.
“That was a thousand years ago. Not anymore. The Sword Hero's secret manual, Continental Swordsmanship, was found by the Swordsmen's Association.”
They chose to reveal it to the world rather than hoard it.
“The association trains in the Sword Hero's arts. They opted for the whole continent to wield them over monopoly.”
And as they'd hoped, it became foundational for every swordsman on the continent.
Of course, they didn't reveal everything—the Sword Hero's ultimate techniques remained exclusive to association members.
And Adel knew.
'In his previous life, Karono mastered those techniques. Means he's tied to the association.'
That was another reason Adel wanted him.
'Get the Swordsmen's Association, and I'd have powerhouses beyond any knight order at my command.'
While the three great mage towers vied for magical supremacy, the Swordsmen's Association stood alone at the peak of swordsmanship.
“……Impressive. More skilled with a bow than a sword, huh? That's a design you won't see centrally…… Got it. You're from the desert.”
“Right. I'm Haien's eighth. No point hiding it. Not when I know you're the Walden king's bastard.”
“The White Ghost's son? He adopted another stray? What an incomprehensible guy.”
Karono's face hardened.
“What does a desert hunter want here?”
“Nothing special. This is just a city full of filth. I'm here on my father's orders, hunting demon spirit stones.”
“Demon spirit stones?”
“Already got 'em, so don't worry. But something sinister here rubbed me the wrong way on the way out.”
Karono was dumbfounded. If he knew what that 'sinister' vibe really was, he'd faint.
“Figured I'd handle it while I'm here.”
The demon stones were the goal, but no need to advertise that.
What mattered more was how they'd connect going forward, not how they'd met.
“You're insane. If you knew what you're messing with, you'd piss yourself. You're decent, but this level won't cut it.”
“Nah, I could. Just holding back 'cause unleashing everything would end the fun too quick.”
“Hiding your full strength against me? Lucky for you. I'm doing the same.”
Slash-!!!
In that moment, Karono's blade grazed Adel's leg. A thin cut opened, blood spraying for the first time.
'Leopard Sword……'
Karono's swift blade exploded sword qi for momentary hyper-speed strikes. Ill-suited to a heavy greatsword at first glance, but the weight amplified the speed's destructive power.
Of course, balancing both required monstrous strength like Karono's.
“Meant to shatter your leg. Lucky bastard.”
“Luck's yet to be seen.”
Adel hadn't tracked the Leopard Sword for the first time.
'Impressive……'
He nodded satisfactorily at his own wound.
“Don't know where you got your intel, but mentioning Walden's king just signed your death warrant. That bastard sold me here.”
“……”
Splat--!!!
Suddenly, a gash opened on Karono's collarbone, blood gushing. The dizzying shock dropped him to one knee involuntarily.
“……Guh?!”
He stared at Adel in shock. The wound was slightly deeper than the one he'd inflicted.
'When……'
The delayed eruption meant an exquisitely sharp cut. Karono couldn't fathom how Adel had sliced him without even drawing his sword.
“Couldn't care less about Walden's king. I only mentioned him to show I know what you want.”
“What I want?”
“I can make it happen sooner. Honestly, your dad selling you here? Silver lining—I got to meet you easy.”
Step- step- step-
Adel approached the kneeling Karono.
“There. Eye level now.”
The 14-year-old boy looked up slowly at him.
Grrrrrrumble……
In that instant, a faint roar echoed, as if the city itself were growling in warning.
A dragon's roar.
“Karono. With your skill, escaping a dump like this would be easy. But you're still here for another reason.”
Karono's eyes shifted.
“Like it or not, Walden's royal blood—the Tanon line—flows in you.”
He knew it instinctively. His blood kept him here.
The fate to slay the dragon.
“Funny, right? Dragon-slayer blood denied to direct heirs flows in a bastard like you. Maybe that's why your father feared you.”
Adel placed a hand on his shoulder at eye level.
“But that's not so bad. Proof you're destined for greatness.”
“……Greatness?”
To him, his discarded bastard life was just vengeance-fueled drudgery.
“Yeah. The feat only you, with dragon-slayer blood, can achieve.”
He'd never once seen his painful life as preparation for glory.
“Dragon hunting.”
“……What?”
Adel met his gaze.
“Karono, I'll make you king.”