Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Why the Five Great Families Couldn't Purge Gehenna
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The reason the Five Great Families couldn't fundamentally purge Gehenna.
It was all because of Mad Dog.
The Tower had an unwritten rule: no family heads allowed.
Among the climbers who dared enter such a place, Mad Dog was one of the top powerhouses.
'Even in Astria, there are only a handful who could stand against him!'
And now, that man had revealed himself.
Ching!
The sharp ring of a sword echoed once more.
It came from Mad Dog's fist clashing against Dante's blade.
His fist seemed harder than steel, unscathed even against Dante's sword.
"That's a fine blade. It held up against my fist."
He was praising Dante's sword, of all things.
And it was true.
Every time their fists met Dante's sword, Dante's hands tore open.
The blade endured, but Dante's body couldn't.
And that meant he couldn't block the next attack.
"Dante!"
Bam!
Like Pelerin before him, Dante soared into the sky.
Pelerin jumped up hastily to catch him, tumbling across the ground.
He regretted catching him for a moment, but there was no choice.
If even one of them fell here, it was over.
Mad Dog hadn't charged immediately because there were two of them.
"Ugh... sorry."
Dante staggered to his feet.
Pelerin looked at him and spat blood onto the ground.
"We should run."
They were already exhausted from the earlier fight.
Even at full strength, victory wasn't guaranteed.
Fighting now was impossible.
"Havel's behind us. He can handle Mad Dog."
Victory still wasn't assured.
But it was better than the two of them facing him.
Pelerin said this, but Dante assumed his stance.
Pelerin's eyes widened in shock.
"Dante?"
"This is the first direct order Master Havel has given me."
Dante respected Havel deeply.
Through their time together, he'd seen a world he never knew and grown immensely.
Havel might not see it that way.
But in Dante's heart, he was his master.
And now, he'd given him his first true task.
Running was out of the question.
"I'll fight."
"Are you insane? Is some order worth your life? Is Havel your lord now?"
"Master Havel isn't my lord."
His lord was Arthur, not Havel.
But Havel was someone Dante respected just as deeply.
"I'm a knight."
A knight gives his all to the mission he's been given.
Sometimes, even his life.
That was Dante's idea of a knight.
"If I've been ordered, I'll see it through."
Stubborn, rigid, a true knight.
That was Dante.
Dante kicked off the ground.
Mad Dog watched them without launching another attack, for some reason.
It was like toying with prey already caught.
"Brave."
Mad Dog grinned at Dante.
"I was going to kill you if you ran. Fine. Tormenting you to death sounds fun too."
The moment he said that.
Boom!
Mad Dog slammed both feet into the ground.
Darkness from the Dark Zone erupted beneath him.
In an instant, the surroundings were consumed by shadow.
The darkness even swallowed Dante's Dawn light.
Ching!
A sword rang out from within the gloom again.
Pelerin froze upon hearing it.
He couldn't understand Dante's actions right now.
The first clash had shown the outcome.
The strong always gauge their foe's power in the opening move.
A monster they couldn't beat even in death.
That was Mad Dog.
Woof!
A dog's bark echoed from the darkness.
It was Mad Dog's odd habit when powering up.
And whenever that sound rang out, someone died without fail.
Pelerin stepped back.
He had no intention of dying here.
He would join Astria for the greater cause of conquering the Demonic Palace.
'I'm running. I'm surviving.'
With that, he turned.
But as he tried to step forward, he couldn't run.
Chaos flooded his mind.
He remembered how he'd looked down on Dante.
'Who's looking down on whom?'
He realized how shameful that was.
Dante wasn't weak.
He was someone who never turned from a stronger foe.
The truly weak one was himself, trying to flee.
"Damn it!"
Pelerin spun back around.
He drew his sword and charged into the darkness.
He wouldn't run alone.
If he fled, it would be together.
The moment he kicked into the shadows with that resolve.
"Cough... hack."
In that brief instant.
Dante appeared, a total wreck.
He was covered in blood, his sword arm the only thing intact—his other arm mangled.
He must have blocked vital spots to end up like that.
Mad Dog, meanwhile, was unscathed.
Only Dante's blood stained his bandages.
He hadn't changed at all.
"Hm?"
Mad Dog turned to Pelerin.
Meeting those red eyes sent a chill down Pelerin's spine.
'Am I crazy?'
Why had he come back?
Regret filled his mind.
Thud!
Suddenly, Mad Dog leaped back, slamming the ground hard.
Pelerin stared in surprise.
Cold sweat beaded on Mad Dog's face.
His red eyes, pupils shaking, pierced the darkness.
Pelerin realized he wasn't looking at him.
"What... what are you? Human?"
Mad Dog stammered.
"Of course I'm human. What else would I be, a monster?"
A reply came.
It was Havel.
He appeared carrying the three unconscious ones like sacks.
He tossed them roughly to the ground and glanced at Pelerin.
"Can you win the trial?"
Pelerin shook his head immediately.
"Not ready to die yet."
"Too bad for Astria, then."
He said it without a hint of regret.
Pelerin gave him a dumbfounded look.
"Dante."
"Yes."
Dante, gasping and bloodied, barely opened his mouth.
"You gonna keep going?"
"Yes."
Pelerin glanced at Dante.
Even he was exasperated by that stubbornness.
"Fine. Then do it."
Mad Dog's brow furrowed at the sight.
"You think I'll play along with your little game?"
The sensation he'd felt from Havel moments ago.
It was unmistakably the instinct of death.
True to his moniker, Mad Dog's senses were hound-sharp.
'No way I'm fighting that.'
With no desire to die, he turned and kicked off the ground.
Havel looked at him pitifully.
He'd thought this guy would at least make a good opponent for Dante.
"Watch Dante for me."
Havel instructed Pelerin beside him before vanishing.
Pelerin's eyes bulged as he disappeared in an instant.
He hadn't even seen him move.
At that moment, Mad Dog burst from the shadows again.
Yelp!
A dog's pained cry rang out as Mad Dog tumbled across the ground.
Havel walked slowly from behind him.
He kicked Mad Dog's leg.
"Gah?!"
Mad Dog launched into the air and rolled across the floor.
Havel stomped on his head.
"Fight Dante."
"Urk... ugh."
"Refuse, and you'll fight me."
Mad Dog's face paled under his foot.
The domineering aura was gone.
He was just a stray dog now.
"Fight me?"
Mad Dog shook his head fiercely, even pinned down.
He hadn't seen Havel's movement either.
Pelerin stared blankly at the scene.
Mad Dog was a monster.
One of the few in Astria who could win against him.
Yet here he was, cowering at Havel's feet.
The disconnect was surreal.
"Ha... haha."
Pelerin finally realized.
It wasn't Dante he'd underestimated.
It was Havel.
'The vessel Astria will embrace?'
Havel was beyond that.
A man the world itself might not contain.
That was Havel.
Mad Dog.
Leader of Gehenna.
Now reduced to a mere stray, facing Dante.
Dante himself didn't scare him at all.
But beyond Dante.
Havel's gaze, fixed on him intently—that terrified him.
The spots where Havel had struck still ached.
"Damn it, damn it."
Ever since becoming a Calamity Seed in the Tower.
He'd thought he'd never die again.
But this? Hiding in the Tower to escape that monster had been for nothing.
'I barely survived the Sword Saint and made it here.'
There was one reason Mad Dog was in the Tower.
The Sword Saint had come for him after he defiled his territory.
Mad Dog's bandit group had set up shop in Glasis territory at the time.
But a lone Sword Saint slaughtered them all.
The terror he'd felt then was on another level.
So he'd fled to the Tower.
For some reason, the Sword Saint never entered.
'I barely, barely made it here.'
He'd claimed a spot in the Tower, founded Gehenna.
Even earned the Tower's recognition as a Calamity Seed.
And now, on the verge of losing his life here.
Ching!
Dante's sword clashed with Mad Dog's fist again.
But there was no real power behind Mad Dog's punch.
Even if he beat Dante, Havel might not let him live.
So he dragged the fight out deliberately.
'Damn it, no way to escape?'
He racked his brain for escape routes over and over.
But each was blocked.
No matter what, he couldn't escape Havel.
"Ten more."
Havel spoke up then.
Because Mad Dog was intentionally prolonging the fight.
Havel hadn't brought him to play the clown.
"If Dante falls within ten, I'll let you go."
So he set a condition to make Mad Dog fight seriously.
Mad Dog's ears perked up.
For the first time, he spotted a real escape route.
Boom!
Mad Dog shoved Dante back and leaped away.
He turned to Havel, fists lowered.
"...For real?"
That alone showed his composure.
"Yes."
"I could kill him."
Mad Dog had dragged it out on purpose until now.
Yet Dante was already battered.
Killing him in five would be easy.
"As long as you drop him, I don't care."
Mad Dog's demeanor changed instantly.
The fear of Havel vanished in a flash.
"Havel, are you sane?!"
Pelerin shouted in shock.
No matter how Mad Dog was a pup to Havel, he was a predator to Dante.
"Watch closely."
But Havel didn't care.
He just crossed his arms casually.
"What kind of man fights to the end a battle you abandoned."
The moment he said that.
Mad Dog's legs bulged savagely.
He'd forced aura into them.
His muscles coiled like springs.
Boom!
The ground warped as Mad Dog launched forward.
His arms extended straight ahead.
It looked like a quadruped charge.
But his massive frame made it overwhelmingly intimidating.
Red and black lightning crackled in his grasp.
The power surging from it was pure killing intent.
Dante, eyes wide, thrust his sword to block.
His reflexes maxed out, the blade aimed true.
But it was Dante who flew.
Crash!
He tumbled across the ground.
"Dante!"
Pelerin cried out instinctively.
He thought he was dead.
Havel watched Mad Dog's arms in that exchange.
The fists moved three times.
First: the lower left rib guarding the heart.
Second: the spleen below the diaphragm.
Third: the lower abdomen.
Precise vital strikes.
A normal person would die from the first.
Proof: Dante lay motionless where he'd landed.
"Three down."
Mad Dog snorted.
One or three, didn't matter.
The last attack had ended it.
Mad Dog turned away, full power unleashed.
"A deal's a deal. Let me go."
But Havel tilted his head.
"Too early to call it done."
"What?"
Mad Dog looked baffled.
Push back all you want.
That last technique was full force.
No one could survive it.
But then Mad Dog's eyes widened slowly.
There stood Dante.
Leaning on his sword, gasping for breath.
Mad Dog's eyes shook.
Those three punches had landed solidly.
Each one lethal.
And he was standing?
"Hack... cough."
But not unscathed—Dante vomited blood.
Internal injuries from the attack.
Mad Dog clenched his fists tight.
"Seven left."
Havel counted down again.