Chapter 175: Till the Heart Beats (2)

Lee Han did well until the end.

He became a shield, drew Toure’s attention and showed the world what the [best tanker] was like, all so he could open up this opportunity.

Because of that, Lake just needed to do a good job as a [DPS], and not to worry about the tank that brought him here.

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

His spear extended.

The series of spear strikes gradually became faster and faster. Although he was swinging his spear alone, the strikes were so fierce that they created an optical illusion as if several people were swinging their spears at the same time.

That was how fast, accurate, and fierce Lake de Duran’s spear was.

-One-man phalanx.

He managed to become a whole pike infantry unit all by himself.

Swoosh-!

Swoosh-!

“…Clone?”

Lake’s body slowly split.

Because of how fast he moved, his afterimages continued to remain. Those afterimages gradually drew clear outlines and grew to five people. Of course, he wasn’t using clone magic or anything, the clones were created due to him moving quickly.

“Commendable…!”

Toure couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. The knight who had tanked and destroyed all his attacks were commendable, but this knight also managed to pique his interest since his skill was so great.

“─!”

Crack-!

However, Lake wasn’t happy at all about being praised, so he just clenched his teeth. After all, the dozens of spear strikes he fired in seconds didn’t even penetrate Toure’s magic field.

Through his [Third Eye], the result of assimilation of various Mystics into a single technique, he was able to see the gaps in the magic field, so he had been targeting it, but it felt like his spear was just chasing an illusion.

…I see, so it’s the kind of magic field that restores itself the moment it’s pierced.

He managed to pierce the magic field, but the speed of its self-restoration was so quick that it wasn’t even tangible for his eyes to see.

Seeing this, Lake intuitively felt that he had to unleash a strong blow.

Whoosh-!

He concentrated his powerful killing intent as he pulled his spear back in an instant. Then, he compressed his red combat energy and converted it into energy. The time it took for this process was less than 0.2 seconds.

-Fang of the Mad Wolf.

Hwaaaaak-!

The spear blade was filled with powerful energy in the shape of a giant awl.

If Lee Han used Sword Force, what Lake used could be called Red Body due to the colour.

Red Spear Energy.

Lake’s greatest strike, which would crush everything, burned into Toure’s force field.

Hwaaaaak-!

It was a blow that completely erased even the flow of air, and turned the surroundings into a vacuum. The blade of his spear pierced the atmosphere and burned even the oxygen. It was a blow that even a superhuman couldn’t easily see…

Bang──!

…A loud sound echoed and spread as Lake’s brows furrowed deeply. It was so loud that one could probably mistake it as a huge rock mountain being struck, not a magic field.

Although, what Lake actually struck was…

“-Amazing, but it was a bit slow. You should have finished preparing in 0.05 seconds, not 0.2 seconds. Otherwise, you would have hit me.”

A gigantic ice wall.

Toure managed to create a gigantic, thick, and tall ice wall with his magic in that instant.

In fact, one could even call it a castle wall due to how sturdy it was.

Thud-!

Thud-!

Though the ice wall was being torn apart by Lake’s spear strike, he wasn’t proud of it at all. After all, what he was aiming for wasn’t the ice wall, but the monster’s neck.

“…Memorization.”

“Correct. Mages always have spells ready, and I’m no different. In my case, even when I don’t really need to, I have about 41,514 defensive spells spread around my body just in case. Too bad, hehe.”

“…”

“This is why I told you two to give up. What you’re doing is nothing more than challenging the impossible.”

Like hitting a rock with an egg.

The result was obvious from the start.

Toure shook his head, saying that it was foolish of them to fight back in the first place.

Whoosh-!

“You want to keep going?”

Meaningless act.

Swish-!

Even from this close distance, he was still able to use his Perspective Manipulation, so he moved his hands and struck Lake.

“…It hurts.”

But perhaps because he had used it too much. His hand was even more seriously wounded than from the attack from before.

At that moment, Toure’s expression trembled.

…That knight who could strike even while being flung away was indeed strong.

However…

Swish-!

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

Toure’s wounds healed quickly.

“This is my victory, and you failed to leave any scars on me.”

No matter how much they struggled, it was meaningless. This sight perfectly showed that, and it should incentivize them to stop their meaningless struggle, but…

“…”

“…You are standing up again?”

…Even after he was flung so far away, Lake was still standing up again.

“But why?”

Toure tilted his head, genuinely curious..

Normally, if one saw an opponent they couldn’t win against and run away from, they’d just give up and stop resisting.

And yet, this guy was still burning with fighting spirit.

Even though this was all meaningless.

Regardless…

“No matter what era it is, I can’t understand the knights’ psychology.”

Toure shrugged his shoulders, saying he couldn’t understand.

“There’s no way someone like you would know.”

“Huh?”

…The knight who had been ignoring him even when he tried to talk to him opened his mouth for the first time.

Gulp-!

He spoke calmly, his eyes still like a lake as he continued to bleed.

“You see the world as a toy, and you think life is worthless, there’s no way you’d know.”

“??”

“You still don’t understand? The reason why we fight, the reason why we despise you.”

“…Is there a reason?”

Toure asked, genuinely curious, while Lake stared at him with a gaze that was filled with extreme contempt and disgust.

This fucker doesn’t even have a shred of guilt in his heart…!

Lake suppressed his emotions, then, he uttered Toure’s—no, the Magic Tower’s ‘sins’.

“─You bastard, it was you guys who let this [10-year winter] go on…!”

The wrath of the Fairy.

It was said that this terrible season of death lasted for over ten years because the Magic Tower and the empire angered the fairy. But the truth couldn’t be any more different.

“The Fairies didn’t curse the land, right?”

…Indeed. The Fairies never actually cursed the land.

Which meant, the one who caused this everlasting winter was none other than…

“Oh, that? That’s nothing, but who did you hear that from? I don’t think many people know about that.”

Them.

Even though they brought ten years of winter and caused one third of the Empire’s people to die from freezing and starvation, Toure seemed completely unconcerned. Naturally, the other mages of the Magic Tower also shared his indifference.

On the contrary, they looked like they didn’t know what they did wrong.

“Anyway, that’s why we created the Colony. That should make up for it, no?”

Toure laughed without hesitation as he said that.

“…”

…At that moment, Lake finally understood why the thug hated these magic freaks so much.

I can understand why he despises those guys.

They are horrible people—no, creatures that have no sense of guilt, they thought that everything they did was right…!

These fuckers…!

Humans’ natural enemies.

Monsters that humans couldn’t coexist with.

As a knight, it was his duty to kill those monsters and protect the weak.

Hence why, he… No…

“We are knights, aren’t we?”

They took up arms for the weak.

Rumble-!

At that moment, the ground shook with a sound that gradually got louder as the shaking grew fiercer over time.

Then at some point, someone’s hand reached out from under the ground.

“Haa…!”

A beast that didn’t look human at all emerged from the ground, roaring and panting.

“I almost died…”

“You are late.”

“…Why the fuck are you dying too?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t mind me.”

“…I-I see.”

Though Lee Han didn’t think it was nothing, he gradually got up, muttering softly, and analyzed the situation.

“…This is the worst.”

The mage was still there, untouchable, but that didn’t diminish his look of surprise when he dug through the ground and appeared.

What a funny guy.

There’s no way he could die from ‘just’ that.

I’ve sparred with that old man too many times.

He had sparred with that superhuman over a hundred times. Of course, he had never won, but he survived nonetheless. In that sense, this fight right now was light compared to sparring with that old man.

After all, that magic freak bastard was…

“Hey, did you notice?”

“…To some extent.”

“Right? Good, I’m not the only one who noticed.”

A seemingly random conversation.

But, their meaning was clear.

“That guy is weaker than the old monsters in our kingdom.”

The magic freak was one step behind the superhumans they knew.

“…Is His Majesty the Duke among those so-called old monsters?”

“Of course.”

“…You blasphemous bastard.”

“But you agree with me.”

“…”

Indeed, the magic freak was strong, but he lacked something.

It was true that he was an overwhelming, transcendental monster.

But… If he were to describe it…

His level… Wasn’t too much nor too little, exactly on the level of the ‘average superhuman’.

Of course, that was enough to make him a monster, but the two knights know how huge the gap between the levels was.

Hence why…

“We can kill him.”

Although, to do that…

“We need a big blow, not a quick one.”

“…It’ll be hard.”

Just a moment ago, he was able to easily block Lake’s big blow.

No matter how strong a blow he’d unleash, it’d be useless if it couldn’t penetrate the magic field and the defensive magic spread around that monster. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough powerful techniques to produce that much power.

Although, even if they did, they were sure that the magic freak wouldn’t give them time to prepare.

“…That’s why, I thought about it while digging the ground like a human mole.”

“Thinking about what?”

“A way to beat that guy.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s not a foolproof method, but still… We can try.”

“…What should I do?”

This is why it’s nice to talk to someone so smart.

Lake knew right away that Lee Han had said this to him because he needed his help, and asked what he could do.

So…

“How much can you do?”

Lee Han asked after explaining it.

“Everything.”

Lake answered that question without a moment of hesitation.

“…Rascal. So you can appreciate romance as well.”

It would make a good scene if the two of them suddenly took out a tobacco and smoked it. However, both of them were non-smokers, and they didn’t have time to smoke anyway.

Instead, they calmly grabbed their swords, axe, and spear and stepped forward.

Their condition was the worst. Their injuries were serious, but the driving force that allowed them to move forward was…

Thump-! Thump-!

Their hearts, beating hotly, stronger than ever.

As if reflecting their masters’ will, they uttered.

Their will to fight.