“Instead!”
Yujin added a condition to the proposal.
“If you realize the skill gap and surrender, then I’ll use this long one.”
“If you win, you can take my head as is, but if I win, you work under me.”
A very simple wager.
“This is my offer.”
“Who’d accept that?”
Baneul pointed his twin daggers at Yujin with both hands. He had no intention of accepting the wager, but it seemed he was willing to carry out the contract.
“Can’t be helped.”
If words won’t work, then fists will have to do. Throwing the dagger down was just a courtesy after all, since once he knocked him out and dragged him back, there would be no way out.
Crunch
He clenched each finger joint tightly.
‘So, let’s finish this quickly.’
Spreading both hands wide to show an opening, he said,
“Come.”
At that moment, Baneul moved. He dashed forward, leaving afterimages behind, and now held both daggers with the tips pointed at the center.
‘They want to end this quickly too.’
He gave up defense and focused entirely on offense. Now that Yujin knew the relic’s power absorbed shock and released it as sword energy, he too would not passively defend but rather redirect it.
‘Redirecting means less shock accumulates on the daggers!’
Shick!
Baneul’s right-hand dagger soared upward from below. Judging from the trajectory, he aimed for the diaphragm. His left-hand dagger was raised behind for a follow-up strike.
‘Fierce.’
But Yujin casually swung his right hand to the lower left.
Clack!
The dagger was deflected with a sharp sound and grazed his right side. The blade scratched through the clothes at his ribs, exposing bare skin, but it did not cut the flesh, so the damage was minor.
“Wha—”
Baneul’s pupils flickered as he realized the stab had missed. He realized in that split second what had just happened, but true to a professional fighter, he kept moving.
Click!
His deflected dagger snapped upright, then traced a wide diagonal arc through the air. Of course, Yujin stepped back to avoid the slash.
Shwaak!
The sword energy extended further than the blade. Even stepping back nearly five paces, the pressure of the slash slightly pressed against his nose.
Ouch…
There was a slight sting at his nose tip.
‘If I had been a bit slower, my head would have been sliced in half.’
With distance created, Baneul opened his mouth.
“What was that just now?”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb!”
He scowled as if telling him not to deceive.
“Who the hell slashes with a sword and blocks it with their bare hand?”
So he saw it at the moment it was swung. He had reflexes worthy of a Free Knight. Most don’t even realize it’s being blocked.
“You can block it, so what?”
Was he excited because it was a new technique? Or angry that he’d been countered by it? Maybe both, which explained his flustered, angry state. Having a blade blocked like that when you’ve fought before can feel like an insult.
“Want to learn? Join me, I’ll teach you.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
“Tch.”
Yujin clicked his tongue, feeling like his sales pitch failed. If he still refused to give up, he’d have to break him by force. Showing his still empty bare hands, he provoked Baneul.
“They say you can’t beat someone barehanded, even if they’re holding a weapon~”
“You bastard…!”
The provocation worked, and he charged again. Perhaps due to the previous missed stab, this time short slashes flew in a rapid sequence.
‘He’s excited and losing his judgment.’
Daggers are generally better suited for stabbing. They are short, but if you throw your body forward and extend your arm, the reach grows. However, if you use a dagger to slash, the maximum reach is limited to the arm’s length.
‘I’m grateful for that.’
Yujin traced arcs with both left and right hands. He struck the blades upward with the back of his hand to twist the dagger’s trajectory, or downwards with his palm to bend the strike.
Clang! Clank! Clank-clang!
The clash of daggers and hands rang like a metallic symphony.
“Hah… huh…!”
As the dagger’s paths twisted, it was Baneul who grew tired. Yujin was deflecting attacks smoothly with minimal movement, but Baneul had to strike faster and harder each time to overcome it.
“Tired, huh? Give up~”
Yujin rubbed his aching palm from deflecting blades. The downside of blocking sword strikes is that the hands hurt the more you do it, but compared to the frustration of having your attacks constantly slipped aside, it was better.
“…Fine, I see that you’re skilled.”
Yet Baneul did not yield. His narrowed eyes slowly opened wide, revealing fierce determination. It seemed he still had some hidden trump card.
“What are you trying?”
“Try blocking this too.”
Baneul raised the right-hand dagger vertically, and drew the left-hand dagger back, preparing a horizontal slash. Could he be trying to strike his right dagger with the left one?
‘What technique is this?’
[This one’s big. Be careful.]
Illudo sensed something too and spoke. Though the nature of the attack was unclear, it was better to be cautious, so he drew a throwing star.
[Is one enough?]
‘Enough.’
What mattered was not the number of weapons, but whether the vital point was struck at the right moment. An enemy’s attack can be nullified by intercepting it with perfect timing.
“On!”
Baneul swallowed and swung his left dagger. It traced a silver arc, and crossed with the right dagger’s twin.
Clang!
A clear metallic ring sounded, and from the crossed daggers, a cross-shaped sword energy shot forth. The sword energy was the size of a four-story building quartered. No way to block that with just a dagger strike.
Kururu…!
The sword energy tore through the ground at a distance. The street’s paving stones scattered everywhere, and the streetlamp bent like a reed.
‘But—’
Illudo threw the throwing star at the energy’s crossing point. The small metal blade couldn’t stop the sword energy’s momentum, but snap! He flicked the throwing star with his thumb and forefinger to detonate it.
Bang!
The explosion’s recoil halved the sword energy’s initial speed. Though the reduction lasted less than a second, it was enough time to prepare a counter.
“Phew…”
Breathing steadily, Yujin advanced toward the slowed sword energy. As he moved forward, he extended his right hand to the sword energy’s intersection, and clenched it as if gathering the two crossed energies.
Flash!
“Ugh!”
The shockwaves hit his entire body. Since the sword energy alone could split a building, receiving it barehanded shook his insides.
Drip…
Blood leaked from his mouth and nose.
‘But—’
He was an immortal. This level of shock was well within his regenerative capacity. Thanks to that, he could use a trick even against such a powerful attack.
Crack…!
The sword energy flowed down his back. More precisely, its destructive force passed through his body and exited. This was a technique inspired by the principle of taking an opponent’s attack and letting it flow backwards, used by martial artists from the eastern continent across the sea.
‘Normally, it’s not this crude,’
but since his body was immortal, this was a makeshift method. The giant sword energy Baneul had unleashed was thus trapped in his grasp, and after releasing all its energy, it faded into the air.
“…Huh?”
Baneul was dumbfounded at the sight, and sank to his knees with a hollow expression. This was probably his ultimate card.
“Phew…”
Yujin also suffered injury blocking the sword energy with bare hands, but due to his immortality, his internal damage quickly healed. The only advantage granted by the curse of immortality.
‘Feels like I’m going to die.’
Still, pain was pain. He wiped the blood from his face and said,
“Now it’s over, right?”
He asked with a deliberately relaxed expression. Showing weakness here might invite another attack. Baneul sighed deeply upon hearing the question, and finally admitted defeat.
‘He understands the gap between us well.’
He even saw his ultimate skill neutralized. He must have judged that no matter what means, he couldn’t win.
“I lost.”
A skilled fighter must be able to judge which battlefield favors him.
“Wise choice.”
Patting Baneul’s shoulder as he kneeled, Yujin said, “Then shall we talk about our working conditions?”
‘What kind of guy is he?’
Baneul was taken aback by the young man before him. Reflexes that dodged every critical strike. Not only dodging, but also parrying blades barehanded, and now even enduring the relic’s ultimate skill barehanded.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve faced such a strong opponent.’
Though it was embarrassing to say it himself, he believed his skill was not inferior to anyone. That was why he had accepted the assassination contract from some half-mangled mercenaries,
‘But this is tougher than I thought.’
Was his name Yujin? He didn’t understand why such a skilled fighter wasn’t known, but one thing was clear from this fight:
‘I’m at a disadvantage.’
He could keep fighting. He still had unseen cards. But continuing would exceed the advance payment he had received.
‘I don’t do losing business.’
He wouldn’t, but his pride was scratched. He hadn’t taken this by choice, but he was a Free Knight now. And yet he couldn’t even land a single hit on some unknown mercenary?
‘If I could at least land one blow…’
Besides, he still had a hidden card. Using it might change the outcome. So he tried to move,
Thump!
‘What’s this?’
His heart ached sharply, as if someone had struck it directly. Though it was a brief pain,
‘I’m going to die.’
He realized it instinctively. The moment his eyes met Yujin’s, his survival instinct warned him.
‘Who is this man?’
For some reason, Yujin appeared like a gigantic mountain.
Boom!
With a roar, the ground trembled momentarily.
“What, what was that just now…?”
Sylvia flinched at the explosion sound. She wasn’t the only one who heard it; the Auntie at the counter also raised her eyebrows.
“Oh my, oh my, what on earth is happening…?”
She went outside to see what was going on. Sylvia and Budika also seemed more curious about the commotion than about shopping. Emilia followed them out of the shop.
“Did you hear that just now? An explosion?”
“Did the powder magazine blow up?”
“But there’s no smell of gunpowder.”
The villagers began to gather in the street, murmuring. In a rural town like this, there were rarely disturbances, and especially, there were almost never loud noises or tremors.
“Emilia, what do you think?”
Budika asked her for her opinion. Probably because she was the only mage in the group, they looked to her to explain the strange phenomenon.
“This is…”
The explosion sound was not from igniting gunpowder. More precisely, it was the sound of something being struck with great physical force, meaning someone had manifested strong physical power somewhere.
“Magic?”
But to shake the entire village with strong vibrations, the physical force would have to be enormous. It would be difficult to manifest that level with magic alone. Even if possible, drawing mana from nearby would have given it away already.
‘What could it be?’
Just then,
“Hey, you guys! Hey!”
“Huh?”
Turning toward the familiar voice,
“Uwaaah!”
“Disaster! We’re doomed!”
Lian and Emilie came running over with scared expressions. What happened while they were with the uncle? Breathless from running, Yujin asked Lian,
“What about the uncle?”
“Huff…! Huff… The uncle… huuh!”
He caught his breath and urgently said, “The uncle got into a fight with someone else!”