Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Freya Clan's Paiod Freya
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Freya Clan, Paiod Freya.
He, the leader of Greenroad, was now facing off against one man.
A man with a strangely faint presence.
He'd heard that the man with hair nearly as white as snow was named Havel.
'A climber who reached the 7th hierarchy.'
He hadn't heard the name in ages and figured the guy might have kicked the bucket.
But it looked like he'd resurfaced.
'For all the hype in those rumors, he doesn't look like much.'
Still, it was a fact that every single member of Greenroad was laid up in bed.
No way he was someone to take lightly.
"Kid, just look at that cocky mouth of yours."
But he wasn't about to lose in sheer presence.
Paiod held his head high.
"You need a proper thrashing."
Havel smiled lightly at Paiod, as if mildly amused.
"Go on, give it a shot."
With those words, Paiod's silhouette blurred into motion.
In an instant, the sword at his waist whipped out and thrust forward.
Paiod wielded a long curved blade about three feet in length and a short dagger.
The curved sword struck first.
Havel parried the incoming blade with his sheathed sword.
Boom!
The resounding crash whipped up gusts of wind around them.
A fitting display of strength from the battle-hardened Freya Clan.
Any ordinary person would have had their arm shattered by that single blow.
"Looks like the rumors aren't all hot air, huh?"
He didn't stop there, freely swinging his blades in a flurry.
The reach of the curved sword and dagger was worlds apart.
For anyone facing him, the drastic difference in range played tricks on the eyes.
Boom, crash, bang!
Havel blocked every strike with his sheathed sword.
It looked like he was too busy defending to even draw his blade.
Paiod flashed a mocking grin.
"Guess that's exactly as far as the rumors go."
"B-brother."
Just then, Balop's voice called out.
Paiod glanced toward Balop while pulling back from Havel.
Even then, Havel made no move to attack Paiod.
"...Look at the ground."
Paiod's gaze dropped to the floor.
His body froze.
Paiod's feet had been moving furiously, but Havel was a different story.
He hadn't taken a single step from his original spot.
Realizing this, Paiod's eyebrow twitched.
It wasn't that he couldn't draw his sword—he simply hadn't.
Paiod's face flushed beet red.
He looked utterly pissed.
"You think I'm a joke?"
Havel, hearing Paiod's words, wore a pensive expression.
"Nah, just had something on my mind."
Even while lost in thought, he'd blocked every attack?
That only fueled Paiod's rage even more.
"So you are looking down on me."
Crimson aura simultaneously poured from both of Paiod's blades.
"B-brother, maybe call it here."
"Balop, keep yapping and I'll beat you half to death. Shut it."
Paiod's eyes rolled back in fury.
Balop realized there was no stopping Paiod like this.
So he decided to stay quiet.
The outcome would speak for itself anyway.
"Go on, take all the time you need to think."
Crimson energy surged from his blades, rippling wildly.
Soon, Paiod charged like a raging bull.
This movement was on another level from before.
Like an enraged bull lowering its horns to charge.
Paiod's ferocious onslaught was relentless.
The air whistled with each swing.
His attacks grew fiercer by the second.
His skin began to take on a reddish hue.
Even his sweat droplets turned red—an eerie sight.
Havel felt the intense heat pouring off him.
And with that, scattered fragments of memory finally clicked into place.
"Ah, so it's that guy."
Havel's expression finally cleared.
Meanwhile, Paiod's face started to harden.
His full power was clearly ramping up.
The surrounding plants were withering from the heat he emitted.
Yet not a single bead of sweat marred Havel's face.
Paiod's secret art was Rampage Transformation.
A technique that accelerated his aura internally, boosting physical abilities higher and higher.
Passed down through generations, it strained the body terribly.
But it granted devastating destructive power in return—a mighty secret art.
Yet even with this powerhouse technique, something felt off.
Paiod's strikes were undeniably growing stronger and sharper.
But Havel's defense hadn't changed a bit from the start.
If anything, after that relaxed expression, his sheathed sword seemed even looser.
This was weird.
Unnaturally so.
Even smashing an egg against a rock would yield better results, wouldn't it?
That was how unshakable Havel seemed.
Paiod's eyes fell to Havel's feet.
They still hadn't budged an inch.
Biting his lip hard, Paiod glared.
"What do you mean 'that guy'? Have we met before?!"
Frustrated, he bellowed.
Havel lightly deflected his blade.
Overpowered, Paiod stumbled back.
"Never seen you before."
As Havel said, he'd never laid eyes on Paiod.
But he had seen someone who looked eerily similar.
Long ago, when Beltaron tried to conscript the Freya Clan as soldiers.
The strongest Freya warrior who stood at the forefront, blocking their path.
Gaioad Freya.
His Rampage Transformation lived up to the moniker of berserker.
Every swing of Gaioad's greatsword cleaved Beltaron knights apart, armor and all.
Its power went without saying.
'And he owed me one.'
Arhan had helped block the Freya Clan's forced enlistment into Beltaron's army.
Naturally, Havel, as part of Arhan, had aided the Freyas too.
Was it thanks to that connection?
Gaioad Freya had once helped Havel in return.
During Beltaron's assassination plot against Havel, whom they saw as a thorn in their side.
Beltaron's final knight appeared on Havel's travel route.
'Duke Zephyrus Bellagon.'
Back when titles like duke still existed.
Zephyrus suited the name "Devil" better than anyone.
He always spared enemy commanders.
But the way he "spared" them was so horrific, death would have been mercy.
His specialty? Recovery secret arts.
He regenerated his body endlessly.
With absurdly overwhelming strength to boot, he was a true immortal.
And he used those recovery arts for interrogation and torture.
'A monster who truly earned the devil label.'
Even Havel had his limits against that beast.
Plus, Zephyrus brought nearly twenty knights with him.
They meant to kill Havel for good.
That's when Gaioad Freya appeared.
He'd come to settle an old debt, standing against Zephyrus for Havel's sake.
Together, they repelled Zephyrus in the end.
But it came at a steep cost for their side too.
To face Zephyrus, Gaioad pushed Rampage Transformation to its absolute limit.
In doing so, he burned through his very lifespan.
A man who could have preserved his life even defending his clan.
"Havel, live on. In this harsh world, I hope someone like you endures a bit longer. You're the one who'll change it all."
Gaioad, who despised the corrupt Beltaron.
He'd grinned broadly at Havel's ambition to reshape the world.
That's why Havel vowed again before him.
During the Unification War, in that chaotic era, to set the world right.
'I kept that promise, at least.'
But that peace didn't last forever.
And over those years, Gaioad's clan, the Freyas, must have endured their share of trials.
Havel turned to look at Paiod.
Gaioad had always been bull-like, towering immensely.
Havel always had to look up at the massive man.
In contrast, Paiod had the build of an average guy.
Muscular like any Freya, sure.
But compared to Gaioad, he fell short.
If anything, he looked like Gaioad compressed and squeezed tight.
"You know Gaioad Freya?"
So Havel asked, gazing at him.
Did he know the hero to whom he owed his life?
The question made Paiod pause.
He narrowed his eyes and slowly lowered his sword.
"That's my late great-great-grandfather's name. How the hell do you know it?"
Paiod lifted his chin stiffly, clearly proud of the name.
Seeing that, Havel chuckled softly.
"I see. So that's how it is."
Gaioad's grandson, huh.
For some reason, it stirred a fond familiarity.
So Havel slowly rolled up his sleeve.
"Then why are you such a mess?"
At the same time, a chilling killing intent flickered in Havel's eyes alongside his smile.
Whoosh!
Paiod flinched before that aura.
He'd been so confident moments ago.
But the energy pouring from Havel was on a whole different plane.
Until just now, his presence had been barely there.
Now, it was so overwhelming he couldn't even part his lips.
Like a rabbit before a tiger.
No, worse.
His body froze solid, refusing to move properly, heart pounding wildly.
Through his Freya physique and Rampage Transformation,
He'd lived bending the world to his will.
He'd never encountered his natural predator.
This sensation was utterly alien to him.
"Wh-what the...?"
Stammering through bitten tongue, he replied.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
His breath caught in his throat.
He couldn't meet Havel's eyes straight on.
The breeze stung like ice, his body cowering preemptively.
The sounds around him seemed to fade away.
"Gaioad was a valiant warrior. He wouldn't tolerate injustice and always repaid his debts."
Havel held Gaioad in the highest regard.
He never looked down on the weak.
If someone needed help, he jumped in without hesitation.
So Havel couldn't stand for it.
For the descendant of his benefactor to be such a worthless punk?
No way in hell.
"I was gonna go easy and let you off with a light punishment."
Havel cracked his knuckles around the sheath.
Then he swung it in a blur too fast for the eye.
Whoosh, whoosh!
To Paiod, that sound heralded the end of his life.
"Can't let you keep living like this."
Time to repay a debt from a century ago.
Full-on curmudgeon mode activated, Havel closed in slowly.
Paiod could do nothing before him.
Just stare blankly at the whipping sheath.
And scream his lungs out for the heavens to split open.