Chapter 170: The Knights’ Spring (5)

Rumble-!

“…”

Crack-!

“…So noisy.”

Boom-!

“They’re taking longer than I thought. It seems like it’s a rather big matter.”

Normally, he had no interest in whatever was occurring outside. He always spent his time reading his books, studying in a space isolated from the outside world.

But today, with the annoying sound that kept entering his ears, even he thought that the outside world was especially noisy.

BOOOM-!

Moreover, even after some time passed, the noise didn’t get any lower, and instead, only got louder.

The noise pollution was so bad that it was almost killing him.

“Tsk.”

Thud-!

And so, the man who originally had no intention of going outside finally got up.

“Is it a matter that’s too much for even my kind to deal with?”

They’re probably dealing with a really dangerous creature here.

The man stretched out his legs before walking towards the door to stop the cause of all the noise pollution.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

The greatest organization in the empire.

The impregnable fortress that no one had ever breached.

The ivory tower of mages.

The castle in the sky that no mortal dared climb.

The sacred place of mages that was known by countless other names, was now being crushed.

By a disaster that could even cause it to fall from the sky…

This was the first time such a thing happened in the thousand years of the Magic Tower’s history. If it was any other organization, they’d have collapsed without being able to make head or tail of the situation.

However…

“[Blow, North Wind]!”

“[Stronger, With More Power]!”

“[Earth, Help Me], [Be Firm, Firmer]!”

Due to the nature of the place, there were a lot of mages inside.

Instead of feeling afraid of the one who dared to attack their sacred place, they trembled in anger and cast their magic. Some were repairing the destroyed castle, others were casting defensive magic, and others were trying to fix the Magic Tower’s Magic Field.

And the rest…

“That’s the guy! The guy who dared to attack the Magic Tower!”

“Bastard…!”

Immediately began to fire magic towards the assailant.

Looking at their current appearance, those who thought that mages were graceful, elegant fighters, would be disillusioned due to how barbaric they looked.

Then again, it would be strange if they didn’t get angry, after all, their home was destroyed. It was just, considering that they were mages who always had to keep their mind calm, their appearance was unsightly.

But…

What’s wrong with these people?

The assailant, the number one contributor to the collapse of the Magic Tower, frowned. He was someone who had toyed with countless mages, but seeing their reaction, for some reason, he felt uneasy.

He, Lee Han, knew a lot about mages even though he didn’t mean to. Once someone hated something, they became the most knowledgeable person about it, after all.

It could be said that he became an expert of mages because he was the one who hunted them the most in the current era.

…That was why he found it strange.

Why are these guys so sloppy?

He could hear various spells that they aimed at him.

“[Strike at those who block my path]! [Burn! Burning hotter]!”

“[Leaves, whisper], [Earth, please bring down your hammer].”

A bow of flame, a weapon made of leaves, and a hammer made of earth threaten him at the same time.

However, despite that…

Bang-!

Dealing with these spells is way too easy…

It only took the wind generated by his fist to erase all those spells cleanly. Not only that, even the mages were blown away without being able to respond to the unexpected blow.

Overwhelming.

Lee Han was completely overwhelming the mages.

“…”

However, he wasn’t wearing a happy look at all.

It’s not that they’re weak…

Indeed, the mages weren’t weak by any means. On the contrary, their level was quite high, and their magic was fierce. The Magic Department’s cadets couldn’t even be compared to them.

…But that’s all.

These guys are just a bunch of dumbasses.

At that moment, he realized why these people were so weak.

They lack practical experience.

He realized that the shelter called Magic Tower was, in a way, a ‘poison’ to the magic freaks.

They don’t know how to hunt because they live their whole lives in such a safe haven. They kept making fun of the weak, but they couldn’t even fight properly.

The more he fought them, the more he became certain.

These magic freaks were like tigers who had lived their lives in a zoo. They weren’t beasts that had their bestial instincts removed, they didn’t have that instinct in the first place. They were just pets that could only eat food that was prepared for them.

Ridiculous.

That was why they were so surprised by the attack.

They’re so weak that it’s disappointing…!

But…

─There’s no way this is all they have, right?

Lee Han increased his vigilance.

Just as stated before, Lee Han knew a lot about magic freaks even if he didn’t mean to learn anything about them. It was no exaggeration to say that he’s an expert in matters regarding magic freaks. While he detested them, he never underestimated or looked down on them.

On the contrary, he always thought that these magic freaks were more dangerous than anyone else.

Hence why he felt unsettled.

Because their current display didn’t warrant his assessment of them as dangerous.

He never looked down on them.

They had been acting as parasites of the empire for a thousand of years, so he knew that this wasn’t all that they could offer.

He trusted them as much as he detested them.

And as expected…

[Uoooo-!]

As if to repay Lee Han’s trust, they finally started to show their strength.

“Finally, they’re coming up with something good!”

One other way to refer to the magic freaks was ‘the ones who prepare’. There were a lot of meanings behind that name, but if Lee Han were to interpret it in his own way, it meant those who were always cunningly prepared for a crisis.

And those cunning things would definitely…

“T-The [Bronze Giant] is making its move!”

“That intruder is finished.”

“Hehe, I never thought I’d see that thing move in my lifetime.”

“…Ugh, it’s too late, too late!”

Thump-!

Thump-!

Thump-!

It gradually appeared from inside the half-ravaged Magic Tower with its giant steps. A 10 m tall giant, made of bronze—it didn’t betray the ‘giant’ moniker in its name.

More importantly, there wasn’t just one…

“…Twelve.”

Ha…

These guys are hiding something quite fun, after all!

Lee Han looked at the twelve giants approaching him with excitement.

As expected of the magic freaks’ lair!

This is it!

Clench-!

He clenched his fists hard.

Although the mages of the Magic Tower were bewildered by the destruction of the magic field, which had never been damaged before, making their response delayed momentarily, they couldn’t really sense any crisis from the attack.

That was because the Magic Tower had an endless means to ‘eliminate’ assailants.

The Bronze Giant for example, was a cutting edge product of magic engineering, born from all the wisdom of the Magic Tower. Just a single of them could toy with and destroy a territory, and now there were twelve of them.

The assailant’s death was pretty much certain.

Bang-!

“…??”

…But, the sight that unfolded in front of the mages made them doubt their eyes.

“T-The giant’s arm…?”

“…Was pulled apart?”

The Bronze Giant’s arm was pulled out way too easily.

It wasn’t like the assailant was using magic, he was just…

Crack-!

Pulled out the Bronze Giant’s arm with his strength—no, his overwhelming strength.

Although, the knight would’ve laughed at the mages’ thoughts if he were to hear them. After all, he didn’t just pull it out with his strength, he had used a technique.

A technique called [Energy Penetrating Attack].

Rumble-!

The giants attacked the knight, making the ground shake. However, the knight’s gait didn’t show any fear.

Whoosh-!

His movements were like a breeze, leisurely slipping through the gaps of the Bronze Giants as if he was teasing them. It was really hard to believe that his large stature could produce such flexibility and speed.

Despite their large size, the Bronze Giants were considerably fast, but the knight dodge their attacks so easily, leaving the mages dumbfounded.

Not only that…

Boom-!

The knight also displayed movements that were nothing short of extraordinary; a barrage of attacks on a Bronze Giant with his fist. It was as if he was trying to prove that there were a lot of places he could hit, and that the Giant’s large bodies didn’t do it any favor.

As for the Giant that was hit by his punches…

Crack-!

…Parts of its body imploded, and its legs broke apart.

Crackle-!

The spectacle made it seem like the knight was toying with the Bronze Giant. It even made the mages wonder if the Bronze Giants were originally such a weak thing.

Boom-!

But, the heavy tremor that the Giant created as its fist touched the ground clearly showed that it wasn’t weak at all.

Indeed, the Bronze Giant was strong. Then again, they were the God of Destruction, the slaughterer of the battlefield, there was no way they’d be weak.

But that also meant…

“Just what is that guy?!”

The knight who had the ability to play around with the Bronze Giants was much stronger.

Although the mages were unable to hide their shock, they soon came to their senses and prepared their magic. They realized that they shouldn’t just watch blankly, and that they should step forward, but…

Flinch-!

“!?!”

“L-Lord Devrick!!”

“My kind!!”

At that moment, one of the mages who was about to cast a spell had his head blown off.

While everyone was focused on the battle between the Bronze Giants and the knight, the Mad Wolf arrived at the battlefield. He was a man who never missed his prey, a man who’d immediately cut off his prey’s breath the moment he captured it.

Just like now.

“Foolish bastards. If you want to join the fight, you should have come out earlier. Why are you trying to get involved in a knight’s battle? Have some shame, you fools who didn’t even know a lick of what honor is!”

He was none other than Lake, the Spear Guy. Raising his spear, he mocked the mages who knew no honor.

At first, he thought that the thug would’ve taken care of everyone here, but fortunately for him, there were still a lot of them that he could take on.

Too bad the tastiest prey has been taken by that thug already.

The Bronze Giants.

Rumble-!

The Giants that were fighting the thug had self-repair functions, seeing as their destroyed arms and legs were regenerating.

Moreover…

Clang-! Clang-!

As if they were judging that it would be difficult to defeat the thug in their humanoid form, they changed it into beasts.

Lion, bear, tiger, wolf, lynx, monkey, and many more.

The world is big.

As expected of the Magic Tower, they’re hoarding so many unique things.

Such a shame.

Lake felt that he’d feel happier if he was the one who fought with those things.

I only got these disappointing crumbs to fight.

When a frown was about to appear on his face because of that…

[-Lightning].

Bzzttt-!

A strong blow came towards him, pulling him back to his senses.

Boom-!

Lake quickly struck back at the lightning that came at him, and dissipated it,but his arm felt a little numb because of it. He hadn’t been able to block all of the shock.

“Elder!”

“The masters have arrived…!”

“It’s over for you guys!”

Whoosh-!

When the five old men flying in the sky appeared, the mages looked at them with a smile as if their scared faces just now had been a lie.

If the Bronze Giants were the guardians of the Magic Tower and the weapons of destruction that could annihilate its enemy, then the five men were high-ranking mages with powers that could not even be compared to other magicians.

The first-class mages of the Magic Tower, a.k.a the Archmage.

Five of the seven Archmage of the empire had appeared in the battlefield.

[He bounced that off?].

[An extraordinary warrior].

[But, in the end, he is just a lowly creature].

[That’s right].

[At least, he would be perfect as test subjects-].

Crack──!

Each of their words turned into a chant. Every time they opened their mouths, an intense pressure weighed down the atmosphere, shattering the buildings around them.

They were like living masses of magic power, and there shouldn’t be any monsters like them.

In ancient times, it wasn’t uncommon for Archmages to reign like gods, so it was not hard to understand why they were worshipped.

However, the man who was facing the five Archmages…

“…Good, good. Now, I’ll feel less disappointed.”

Smiled in satisfaction as he saw them.

Yes, this is how it should be…!

“Killing them will make it worth going through all that trouble to get to the empire.”

Whoosh-!

At that moment, an overwhelmingly thick killing intent emanated from Lake’s body. It was so thick that it spread like a fog.

Born with the killing intent of thousands of people, the Mad Wolf finally had a time to unleash that killing intent to the fullest.

Usually, his master, Duke Blake, had to rein him in and help him control it, but fortunately for him, that wasn’t needed today.

Because I can kill as much as I want!

He had enough justification.

For the blasphemous bastards who dared to aim for his lord, the Demon Sword of Galahad.

There was only one punishment that he could bestow to them.

Death!

The Mad Wolf ran towards the mages.

“That bastard looks so happy…”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

The guy had called him crazy countless times, yet he acted like a bigger lunatic than him.

He was like an uncle who said he didn’t want to go to the amusement park, but had more fun than his nephews when they got there.

“Haa… I want to fight those guys…”

Regardless, Lee Han felt regretful.

Because he wanted to fight those Archmages who radiated massive magical power.

Whoooooooooosh-!

After all, he didn’t come all the way here to fight these strange robots—no, golems.

At that moment, the Bronze Giants breathed flames that reminded him of ‘Greek Fire¹’, and he drew his sword in response, unleashing a horizontal slash.

Since they’d just regenerate if he were to attack them normally…

He…

Wooong-!

Lee Han filled his sword with ‘stars’.

Crunch-!

[Uoooo!]

“…Can your kind feel sad too?”

His single strike split the Bronze Giant’s body in half—no, completely annihilated it.

The intense power emitted from his sword completely erased even the Bronze Giant that had the ability to regenerate itself.

However…

“…So this is how powerful it is, huh?”

Lee Han actually didn’t expect it to be like this.

It was his first time using this technique in real combat; he didn’t know that its power would be this powerful.

-Turning Sword Energy Into Intent.

Lee Han learned a lesson from seeing the superior version of Sword Energy, ‘Sword Force’.

I can’t use this on people…

Unless I want to become a murderer, that is.