Chapter 173: The Knights’ Spring (8)

…Outwardly, the boy looked like a boy one could find anywhere. With his refreshing smile, the brown-haired boy seemed to not have reached puberty yet. If he had been born in Lee Han’s previous life, he’d have been a popular idol or actor just because of his face.

However, the two knights didn’t even have the time to examine the boy’s face closely. Unlike the other Archmages, he didn’t exude extraordinary aura, but the two knights could tell that the boy was an Archmage who had ‘completely mastered’ his own aura; he just didn’t let even the slightest bit of it seep out.

Although it wasn’t something he wanted, Lee Han had seen two other people who had also completely mastered their aura. One was an old man who played house with the Princess, and the other was an old man who played around like a gangster in the knight order.

Both of them looked like ordinary people at first glance, but Lee Han knew more than anyone how strong those two men were.

In martial arts circles, these kinds of people were called Back to Basic or Blue Fire in the Brazier. They were people who hid all their energy and lived like spirits. No, they weren’t just lived ‘like’ spirits, they had truly become spirits.

That was what the boy was like.

It was because Lee Han couldn’t feel anything from him that he was actually scared of him, in turn, it made him refuse to even entertain the thought of fighting him.

Superhuman. A transcendent being that surpassed human limitation, something that could only be achieved by one in the thousands, no, hundreds of millions of people.

He was among those beings who had broken the limits and took on a human form.

Wanting to fight that thing?

The notion itself was already outrageous.

Hence why Lee Han and Lake…

Bang-!

Turned around and ran with all their might without hesitation.

The knights showcased their full speed of 200 km/h and disappeared from their spot in an instant. The further they ran, the faster they got, and as they ran at full speed, they quickly got further away from the Magic Tower. Before they knew it, the Magic Tower became nothing more than a small dot behind them.

That was how fast they were and how hard they were running…

“Eiii… You guys shouldn’t do that.”

[Crack!]

“…”

…But suddenly, the two knights who had run dozens of kilometers away from the Magic Tower, returned to the place where the Magic Tower was.

As if they hadn’t run in the first place.

“…Is it forced teleportation?”

“So, it’s possible to cut space, huh?”

However, instead of panicking, the knights tried to figure out what happened to them instead as they quickly tried to catch their breaths.

Then…

“How far did we get before you returned us here?

“About 9 miles.”

“Another fucker using miles…!”

“…Why are you mad?”

After a brief scuffle between the two knights, Lee Han turned his gaze at the boy, no, the old monster who had summoned them back here again.

“How far do we have to run to escape the influence of your space magic?”

“Hmm, you’re asking me that?”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to answer.”

“…Hahaha!”

To that, Toure de Sagan let out a cheerful laugh.

“No, no, I’ll answer you! My space magic can affect anywhere within a radius of 100 km. In other words, you can’t escape from me. Unless you guys move at the speed of light, that is.”

“…I see.”

Lee Han nodded at that moment. As if he was acknowledging that there wasn’t an inch of lie in the old monster’s words.

He, who usually had a strong aversion to magic freaks and didn’t believe anything they said, actually believed in his words. It was because the guy wasn’t an ordinary magic freak, but a ‘superhuman’.

Lee Han had met quite a few superhumans before. He knew their psychology and mental state well, so he knew that they didn’t usually lie.

How could he be so sure?

The reason was simple.

Because there’s no need for them to lie. They could do anything they want as long as they put their minds into it, why would they even lie?

They were people who not only had authority and money, but also ‘power’. Overwhelming power that was also proof that they were superhumans.

Why would someone who could push around anyone in the world at any time spit out cheap lies?

This was their current situation, that was the man they were facing was like.

A man who could do anything he wanted.

“You know, why don’t we talk? I’m a little curious about you two!”

“…”

“You guys are fine with that, right?”

Rather than an invitation, that was just a one-sided ‘order’.

Being hit with that was unpleasant, to say the least.

[Wait, Tower Master! We need to punish them immediately! Why are you suggesting to have a conversation with them?!]

[Have you grown senile, Tower Master?!]

[This won’t do!]

[Ugh!]

The Archmages started to complain.

Of the 5 Archmages of the Magic Tower, one died, another got cut in the chest, and the other became an amputee.

And that wasn’t all.

[Look at our dead kinds! At the state of the Magic Tower!]

Many mages had fallen; all because these assailants had dared to destroy the Magic Tower and attacked them.

Of course, many of the mages were still alive, and the Magic Tower could be rebuilt. After all, the Tower Master was still here.

However, that was that, the damage they suffered wouldn’t just disappear.

So, they deemed the assailants to be punished., and as the Tower Master, he should reflect that attitude.

…At least, that was the common sense here.

“Are you perhaps, trying to order me around?”

[…]

“I see that you’ve grown. You dare to complain to me now, hm?”

[…S-Sorry.]

“No need. I understand why you acted like that.”

[…]

“Haha.”

The boy’s mischievous, refreshing laughter didn’t make the Archmage happy at all. Instead, their faces turned pale as they lowered their heads.

They had forgotten who he was because they hadn’t seen him for a while.

That the Tower Master…

“…If you’re going to apologize in the end anyway, why are you complaining? So annoying—”

Crackle-!

Was the greatest madman in the Tower, someone who actually could and would act as he pleased.

[Urgh!]

[M-Master! W-We were spouting nonsense! P-Please spare us!]

[I’m sorry, I’m sorry…]

[Aaah!]

What was covering them wasn’t even his magic.

It was just his intent.

He was offended by them so he glared at them, and his intent became an attack that oppressed them. Conversely, if he wanted to kill them, the intent would kill them, and if he wanted to crush them, his intent would crush them.

They realized once again that they should never go against him.

That was one thing they should never do, even if they were Archmages.

The Archmages lowered their eyes like prey before their natural predator. They didn’t even dare to make eye contact with him.

“Seriously, you guys are so pathetic.”

Haha!

The boy laughed cheerfully, as if he never got angry in the first place.

And then…

“In that sense, you guys are amazing!”

He turned his sparkly eyes towards the knights who were still fine even after being exposed to his intent.

However, the two knights who were the objects of his interest were…

“What did that bastard say?”

“I don’t know. His brain’s probably malfunctioned after living for too long.”

“Makes sense.”

Openly giving him disrespectful looks that said, ‘There are all kinds of lunatics in the world’.

“Puhahahahaha!”

At their reaction, the boy laughed loudly.

He rolled around in the air, as if swimming; he didn’t seem offended by their insulting remark at all.

…It really seemed like he had some screw loose somewhere, or as the Spear Guy had said, his brain was malfunctioning.

However, the boy, Toure de Sagan, were to say something about this, he’d say…

I’m not crazy, just curious.

He’d say that he was just relishing in the new and refreshing experience he was having.

“You know…”

At one point, he stopped laughing and started talking to them.

“Your strength is actually not any different from those old guys. No, if we look at your total amount of energy, those old guys probably got you beaten.”

By old guys, he clearly referred to the Archmages. Indeed, Toure de Sagan assessed that the knights’ and the Archmages were of the same level.

“I’ve seen warriors that are as strong as you guys. They are those who were called [Heroes] or [Demonic Humans]. They’re as strong as you or even stronger, and among them, there are many useful guys.”

But, such people were rare.

After all, not anyone could have ‘energy’ that was comparable to an Archmage.

By ‘energy’ he didn’t mean Magic Power.

But [aura] that was invisible to ordinary people.

Or, in another term, Life Force.

Knights called it Combat Energy or whatever, but to him, it was more convenient to call it aura. In that sense, the two knights’ auras were slightly inferior to those of Archmages.

But then again, how could these young people be compared to those who had lived for a hundred years?

Still, that was the thing that he could compare between them.

…However, even though their total amount of aura was low, they had this ‘specialness’ that even the Archmages didn’t have. A specialness that only those heroes or Demonic Humans who left their names in ‘history’ sometimes had.

It was none other than…

“‘Heroes who have trained their souls’ like you two are rare.”

[Soul Power].

“Those who survive countless battles, arduous training, or great trials that could cost them their lives. Even when they meet heroes or Demonic Humans of the same level, they always win by a considerable margin. Just like how you guys win against those old guys and the Magic Tower.”

The Magic Tower was not weak by any means. As he said, there were quite a few who had a similar amount of energy as the knights. The twelve Bronze Giants and the five Archmages were among them, but they weren’t the only ones.

There were ‘six’ more besides them.

However…

“Even if those six Hidden Ones come out, they won’t be able to defeat you guys. Someone’s strength can’t simply be determined by the amount of energy they have. You guys know ‘how to overcome’ and ‘how to win’, so it’s inevitable that our children can’t defeat you.”

The boy admitted that the Magic Tower couldn’t win against them. However, he didn’t seem particularly upset about that. He didn’t seem to care that the mages were dying, or that the Magic Tower was destroyed.

To him, it all seemed like ‘a minor matter, a natural process’.

However, there was one thing the boy couldn’t stand. This was an incurable disease that he had for a long time, but it was because of this disease that he was able to reach great heights.

So the boy used his curiosity and asked the two knights with strong souls that aroused his interest.

“You know… I want to dissect your bodies and souls. So, will you allow me?”

‘Inability to suppress his desire’. That was the name of the incurable disease that Toure de Sagan had.

“Oh, you can refuse if you want to. Although, even if you refuse, I’ll still ‘do it’ anyway, so I apologize in advance.”

“…”

“Ahahaha!”

The boy laughed cheerfully, as if the prospect of discovering an interesting [rare material] turned him into the happiest person in this world.

“Are you done?”

“…Huh?”

“I said, are you done, you crazy bastard?”

“…”

“Seriously, no one asked for your monologue.”

Crack-! Crack-!

Lee Han warmed up his body.

Thanks to the guy talking by himself, his body was recovering to some extent. Of course, it wasn’t just him, Lake too.

Plop-!

Lee Han took out two potions and injected them directly into his blood vessels as if it was an IV.

Potion doping.

Indeed, he was trying out the crazy method he used in the battle with the Demon King.

There would be side effects from this, but even if that was the case…

“What about you? Got something similar?”

“…Of course. The classic.”

“Oho.”

If this was what it took to win a life and death battle, then it would be well worth it.

Gulp-!

Lake took out something like a pill and swallowed it.

Not just one, he swallowed five at once.

“…You’re doing something dangerous.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Just one of the pills looked dangerous enough to take already, yet this guy took five of them at once. It was clear how much he hated losing.

However, Lee Han liked that.

I mean, this isn’t sports.

Doping was illegal in sports. After all, it was something that completely went against the spirit of sportsmanship. But what they were trying to do was not a sport with rules and unspoken regulations. It was a battle where they would need to kill to survive.

In such a battle, there was nothing called cowardice or foul play.

Indeed…

“Let’s see who gets dissected, you magic freak!”

The two knights joined forces at that moment.

As human history had shown, the way to deal with the strong was to ‘gang up on them’, a method that had been proven time and time again.

If they failed, they’d die, if they succeeded, they’d survive.

But, in the two knights’ minds, failure wasn’t even an option in the first place.