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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 152: Fafnir (2)
***
Damien’s declaration was met with silence.
“Pu, puhp.”
“Ke, kekeuhp.”
Soon, laughter erupted intermittently among the purebloods.
“He’s going to face us with the same weapon? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a funny guy.”
“Another fool appeared, surpassing the one who came last time.”
The purebloods desperately held back their laughter, perhaps because they were in front of the Mercenary King. But it was no use.
“Kukukuku!”
Even the Mercenary King himself burst out laughing. He raised himself from the bed and slapped his knees with his palms.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a guy as funny as you! Yes, of course, a man should have this much spirit.”
The Mercenary King laughed so hard that he even shed tears.
“But even spirit can become arrogant if it goes too far. From what I can see, you’re being too arrogant.”
The Mercenary King continued, wiping away his tears.
“You know this, don’t you? Once you reach high class, you have no choice but to master the weapon you use.”
High class was a realm that could only be reached by mastering the art of weaponry.
Being a master was not enough. You had to know how to use a weapon on a much higher level.
And he was going to face them with the same weapon, not even his main weapon?
“It seems like your pride has been greatly hurt by the attitude of the purebloods. I will apologize for that. So use a sword.”
The Mercenary King said with a kind face. Damien replied with an annoyed expression.
“If you’re done talking, let’s start.”
“Kukukuku! If that’s your will, then there’s nothing I can do. Baltyn, do your best to face him.”
“Yes, I will face him with all my might, as if I have met the enemy of my life.”
The Mercenary King burst out laughing again at Baltyn’s mocking words.
“Then let’s start, Damien Haksen.”
Baltyn unleashed his aura. A vast amount of mana spread out in all directions.
As soon as Damien was touched by Baltyn’s mana, he felt a sensation like static electricity flowing through him.
‘This is why the dragon’s bloodline is annoying.’
Dragon’s mana had the property of paralyzing the flesh and mana of living beings. It was a power known as Dragon Fear.
This property was also present in those with the blood of the dragon. However, it became weaker with each generation.
Baltyn, being the grandson of the Mercenary King, did not have a very strong Dragon Fear.
That’s why Damien only felt a sensation and didn’t feel any significant effect.
‘It’s also because they don’t know the secret of the bloodline that why the Fear is weak.’
Baltyn and the other purebloods did not yet know the secret of the bloodline. This was because the Mercenary King had not revealed it to anyone.
“Keep your eyes wide open and watch. Or you’ll fall over in the first blow!”
At that moment, mana exploded from behind Baltyn.
Baltyn’s body shot forward at an incredible speed. In time with that speed, Baltyn thrust his spear at Damien.
Here, the spear accelerated with another explosion of mana. The speed was so fast that it was as if the spear had disappeared.
However, Damien had already read Baltyn’s move. Just before the spear accelerated, he tilted his head to the side. The tip of the spear grazed his cheek and passed by.
“You dodged my first blow, which even my grandfather acknowledged? It seems the rumors are not all false!”
Baltyn quickly retrieved his spear. And he thrust his spear at Damien again and again.
Each time he thrust the spear, mana exploded and accelerated it.
The intervals between attacks were so short that it seemed as if several people were thrusting the spear at the same time.
“Huh?”
“What?”
With each thrust of Baltyn’s spear, the purebloods’ faces were filled with astonishment.
It wasn’t Baltyn, but Damien who was blocking all the attacks.
Damien was effortlessly deflecting all the thrusts that Baltyn was pouring out.
The sound of the two spears colliding rang out incessantly, like a woodpecker’s call.
“H-how… h-how is he blocking Baltyn’s attacks?”
“Baltyn is one of the top ten spearmen in the mercenary company… ?”
As the purebloods’ astonishment grew, Baltyn’s face hardened.
A swordsman who was using a spear not being overpowered by a spearman? This was the first time in Baltyn’s life that he had experienced such humiliation.
“T-this… an outsider like…!”
His pride as a pureblood was cracked. Blood rushed to Baltyn’s throat.
The amount of mana Baltyn was emitting increased even further. The speed of his attacks also began to increase.
‘So much mana. Truly befitting of the dragon lineage.’
Damien was secretly impressed for a moment.
Baltyn had been attacking from the start without sparing his mana or stamina.
Normally, a high class would be exhausted by now. But Baltyn was actually increasing the intensity of his attacks.
It was all thanks to the dragon’s blood flowing through Baltyn’s body.
Thanks to the dragon’s blood, he had not only an abundant amount of mana but also strong blood vessels that allowed him to use it freely.
‘I’m envious. If I had the dragon’s blood in my body, I would have already reached master class.’
The advantages of the dragon’s blood were countless.
A strong body, endless stamina, senses sharper than a beast’s, and so on.
No wonder the purebloods were so proud. They had abilities that were several times greater than those of humans.
Of course, that didn’t mean Damien would lose.
“It’s time to finish this!”
Baltyn pressed Damien even harder. Thrusts rained down from all sides. It was as if he was trapped in a forest of spears.
But Damien had already read everything about Baltyn.
He had caught the moment just before Baltyn thrust his spear when his strength and mana would loosen slightly.
He aimed for that moment and raised his spear. The sudden attack caused the spear to fly out of his hand.
At the same time, the bombardment of spear blades that had been covering Damien disappeared in an instant.
“Wh-what…?”
Just as Baltyn was confused, Damien struck Baltyn’s forehead with his spear.
“Smack!”
The tip of the spear dug deep into the forehead. Baltyn flew backwards.
Since it was a training spear, he didn’t die. But Baltyn was hit with a pain so intense that it was difficult to breathe.
“Gasp! Cough!”
Baltyn clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground. Tears spilled out from his eyes and covered his entire face.
It was a pathetic sight that didn’t befit the grandiose title of pureblood.
“…”
“…”
“…”
But no one could think of Baltyn as pitiful when they saw him like that.
Everyone knew Baltyn’s skills.
The grandchildren of the Mercenary King were all born geniuses. The purebloods were a group of the most outstanding individuals among those geniuses.
And Baltyn was an outstanding figure even among the purebloods.
And yet, even after fighting with all his might, he had been defeated.
And he had been defeated miserably, without even landing a single effective hit.
“I heard that the purebloods are all monster geniuses, so I had my expectations up.”
Damien added as he looked down at Baltyn.
“Well, they’re nothing special.”
At those words, the embarrassment on the purebloods’ faces disappeared and was replaced by anger.
The purebloods lived with a strong sense of pride in the fact that they were the descendants of the Mercenary King.
And now, an outsider was blaspheming them. They could not let this go unchallenged.
“Kukukuku!”
At that moment, a loud burst of laughter erupted. The Mercenary King was laughing so hard that his throat was exposed.
“Excellent! Excellent! I never thought you would even defeat the purebloods!”
The Mercenary King stopped laughing and looked at Damien.
The corners of his mouth were upturned, but his eyes were not. Damien looked at the Mercenary King and raised one corner of his mouth.
‘He must be shocked.’
The Mercenary King had brought Damien in the hopes of provoking the purebloods.
To put it more bluntly, he was nothing more than a toy. A toy for the purebloods to see how superior their talents were.
But the toy that was supposed to be beaten up and kicked out by the purebloods had instead knocked them down. And he had done it with an overwhelming difference in talent.
It was not difficult to guess what the Mercenary King must be feeling.
“Seeing this makes me want to see more. Is there anyone else?”
“Grandfather, I’ll do it.”
One of the purebloods stepped out onto the open space. This time, it was a woman.
“Kueshi! The Kueshi of the Twin Blades!”
“Kueshi is reliable!”
The appearance of the woman named Kueshi drew an even more excited reaction than when Baltyn had fought.
“Good. I will allow it.”
The Mercenary King also sent out the woman named Kueshi with a trusting face.
Kueshi walked out onto the open space and threw something at Damien.
“You said you would use the same weapon, right? I don’t have a training weapon, so use that.”
What Kueshi threw was a belt with daggers attached to it. It was made to be worn on the body.
“You seem to use dagger techniques?”
“Yes, that’s why I’m lending you mine.”
Kueshi said, folding her arms.
“You don’t mean to say you’re not confident, do you?”
At Kueshi’s provocation, Damien laughed and kicked the belt away with his foot.
“I don’t need it.”
“Huh, you said you would face me with the same weapon, and now you’re trying to back out…….”
“I mean I don’t need to borrow yours.”
Damien picked up a pebble from the ground.
“This will do.”
Kueshi’s eyes were fixed on the pebble. Soon, her eyes turned red with blood.
“…Suit yourself. But don’t regret it later!”
Kueshi drew her daggers and threw them at Damien.
Two daggers flew towards Damien’s head and torso.
Damien dodged the two daggers by twisting his body. And then he immediately held up two fingers in front of his temple.
The third dagger, which was about to pierce Damien’s temple, was caught by his fingers.
Kueshi clicked her tongue in regret.
“You’re not bad. Do you think that’s all it takes?”
“Who would be fooled by this kind of child’s play? Do it properly.”
Damien said, throwing the dagger in his hand to the ground. At that attitude, Kueshi’s eyes hardened.
“I’ll do whatever you want!”
As soon as the words were finished, Kueshi’s body disappeared.
She started to move around Damien. Her movements were so fast that only afterimages could be seen.
At the same time, Kueshi threw daggers at Damien. Daggers flew from all directions.
Damien dodged the dagger. The deflected dagger hit the ground and exploded. It was as if a rock had fallen, not a dagger.
‘She’s quite skilled at imbuing daggers with mana.’
Of course, imbuing objects with mana and throwing them was a very difficult technique.
After all, mana was meant to dissipate quickly once it left the owner’s body.
Only around the middle class could one barely release aura to attack enemies.
‘This must also be thanks to the dragon’s pureblood.’
Dragons were not only the strongest creatures on the continent, but also the most excellent mages. This was because they had both superior quantity and quality of mana.
The purebloods also possessed these characteristics.
‘She’s not just throwing them quickly, she’s aiming for my blind spots.’
Damien tilted his head to the side. A dagger that flew from an unseen angle passed by his nose and hit the ground.
‘It’s great, but it’s nothing special.’
Damien read Kueshi’s movements and swung his arm towards her.
“You think I can’t dodge a mere pebble… ?”
Just before throwing the pebble, Damien clenched his hand. The pebble shattered into several pieces.
The moment it left his hand, it split into dozens of pieces. The buckshot rained down on Kueshi.
“Huh?”
The range was too wide to dodge. The pieces of stone hit Kueshi’s body.
Each piece was small, but it was filled with Damien’s mana.
“Ugh?”
The pieces of stone dug deep into Kueshi’s body. Kueshi’s body flew backwards with a shock that felt like her bones were being crushed.
“Ku, Kueshi!”
“Euaaaat!”
The purebloods hurriedly caught Kueshi’s body. Kueshi was already unconscious.
“Ku, Kueshi!”
“Kueshi can be defeated so easily?”
“T-this can’t be…”
A heavy silence descended after the second defeat.
Two of those who had prided themselves on being purebloods had already been defeated. Everyone was stunned.
“…”
Even the Mercenary King was speechless and looked at Damien.
“Do you want me to prove myself further?”
At Damien’s question, the Mercenary King gritted his teeth and said.
“…No, that won’t be necessary.”
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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