Chapter 176: Till the Heart Beats (3)

-You’re just a monster in human form! A childish madman who doesn’t know how humans should live! I regret taking a monster like you as my disciple…!

“…Why do I suddenly remember this?”

Toure blinked, confused.

Since he was someone who’d ‘delete’ all the useless memories the moment he made them, it could be said that he was someone with a severe degree of forgetfulness. He did so because he judged that the emotions left behind by memories were unnecessary.

But now, a memory that he thought he had clearly deleted came to mind. It was the memory of the day he killed his master, the event from 400 years ago which made him the master of the Magic Tower.

Moreover, the same memory also had the will that his master left behind, which was no different from a curse.

“What a strange thing.”

Toure scratched his cheek. It was the first time he had experienced something like this.

Nevertheless…

“I have to study it!”

This phenomenon just added another thing for him to study, hyping him up to conduct his research on the humans’ brain again.

While Toure was nodding his head slightly as he thought about that…

Step-! Step-!

“Is your strategy meeting over now?”

He saw two toys approaching him. The memories that suddenly came to him were put on the backburner as he let out a bright smile, excited to see how these toys would entertain him again.

“Surely you two aren’t going to use a sword or a spear again, are you? Sorry, but I’m a little sick of that, so please try something else~”

I’ll wait for you.

Toure spread his arms wide, saying, “Do whatever you want.”

He ignored them, looked down on them, and didn’t even see them as enemies. It would be more accurate to say that he saw them as weak and worthless little rats.

To be treated this way would infuriate any knight no matter what.

“Really? Then, swear that you’ll wait for us to prepare.”

“…Huh?”

“What? Are you trying to back off now?”

“No, no, that’s not the case at all…”

However, contrary to his expectations, in front of such an extreme humiliation, the knights didn’t even flinch.

Although Toure was a little surprised…

“Go ahead. Prepare as much as you like.”

That feeling quickly disappeared and he gave his permission without hesitation. He wasn’t afraid of them at all. After all, he was certain that anything the small creatures could do would never endanger his life.

It sounded arrogant, but he had the power to act as such, so in the end, it wasn’t arrogance but a natural stance from someone so powerful. He knew that no matter what method they used, they wouldn’t be able to beat him since the result was already decided.

And so, he encouraged them to try anything they wanted, hoping that at least they would entertain him a little.

“…”

“…”

The two knights showed no reaction to his treatment, but that was only on their faces; their eyes were blazing with anger. That anger was so hot that it seemed it could flare up at any given moment.

Crackle-!

Their body temperature rose due to their anger. The hot momentum melted the snowfield, turning even the blizzard into raindrops.

“Let’s start.”

“Got it.”

With that as a cue, they started what they had to do.

Bang-!

Crackle-!

…Huh?

At that moment, Toure’s expression stiffened. He was truly at a loss at what was happening.

“W-Why are you guys fighting with each other?”

Seeing the two men suddenly hit each other left Toure startled.

The green-haired knight suddenly pulled out a dagger attached to his spear and stabbed the large knight’s wing joints, at the same time the large knight hit the green-haired knight in the center of his chest.

…An infighting?

No, it shouldn’t be that…

Even an Archmage who had lived for over 400 years was speechless at the unexpected situation.

Shiver-!

“!”

Then, soon, he felt a strange sensation, something he had never felt since becoming an Archmage.

A chilling sensation.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

The beating of Lee Han’s heart rang in his ears like the sound of a drum. A strange, yet intense flow covered his entire body, making him feel the resonance inside his body even more clearly.

He gritted his teeth as he felt the intense energy transmitted through his wing joint.

It was a fierce, extremely rough energy that seemed to tear his body apart.

The identity of that energy was Combat Energy.

Wooong-!

However, it wasn’t just any Combat Energy, it was the Combat Energy of a knight who could be considered as one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, a man that even he couldn’t guarantee victory against.

Not only that, the strange energy called Red Combat Energy was also in it, making his body tremble like crazy.

Nevertheless, he had to endure this crazy energy that seemed to destroy the insides of his body.

Crackle-!

Meanwhile, Lake was enduring the pain in his own way.

He had to face the horrifying sensation of Lee Han’s power forcibly destroying and restoring his body.

The pain he had to suffer was comparable to that of fractured bones, but he endured the pain with sheer will alone.

Though the two knights hadn’t even been doing this more than 3 minutes, the incredible pain they suffered made it feel like 3 hours. They endured the compressed power with their bare body, through the pain that felt like they were having all their teeth pulled out, showcasing how hardcore their endurance was.

It could be called the time of suffering.

They risked their lives to skip the process that would normally take at least six months—or three months the quickest—of training. Even if they did survive, their life span would be shortened considerably.

Risking everything really wasn’t a metaphor here, they were literally doing it.

And the two knights who did that…

“…I’m never gonna do this ever again. This is just crazy.”

“…Same.”

Finally returned from the path to their deaths, wearing pale, tired faces.

If either of them had made even the tiniest mistake, if their control had fallen off even a little, they would have died. But they survived. That was how excellent they were as knights.

One was a knight who trained like crazy to obtain a steel-like body.

While the other was a knight whose talent was second to none.

That was why, they could gamble it all away like this to begin with, and they succeeded.

“How long does this last?”

“About 15 minutes.”

“…That’s short.”

“How long will it last for me?”

“Around 20 minutes?”

“…”

“Well, it’s because this is your first time doing something like this. In my case, I’ve done this kind of thing with my cadets before, so I could stretch the time to some extent.”

“…I feel sorry for your cadets now.”

Even though the two knew that their lifespans had shortened, they didn’t care at all. They only looked at the ‘present’.

And towards the two who acted like that…

“…I see. You guys have a few screws loose.”

The madman called them crazy.

Toure stared at them with a shocked expression.

He was genuinely shocked.

It was the first time that the madman who had only been splitting things apart had a serious look on his face.

“At first, I wondered why you guys acted so strangely… But now I think I understand why! You shared the power you’ve trained for so long with each other!”

He understood. Because he was a mage, he could understand it easier than most people.

One of the reasons why the presence or absence of a master was important to a mage was because a disciple could take everything the master possessed when they died. Not just their wealth or research, but their ‘magic power’ too.

The process of inheriting magic power wasn’t simply an act of adding more magic power to the disciple’s body, but also an act of indirectly imprinting the flow of magic power that the master had accumulated throughout their life. Or, to put it in simpler words, it was an act of imprinting one’s experience in another’s body.

This way, the master would share their time as a stepping stone for their disciple to reach a higher realm.

Although, there was a ‘minor drawback’ in that process. The person who passed on their magic power would die. This was why most mages thought that passing on their magic power was a waste, and if they wanted to inherit magic power from their master…

…They had to kill their master with their own hands.

This was also why Toure killed his master.

And this was also why he didn’t pass on his magic power to anyone even if he wanted to.

Because he didn’t want to die.

And yet, such an act…

“Knights like you resolve yourselves to do that? Amazing!”

Toure’s eyes sparkled as if he was amazed, but the two knights just looked at him with contempt.

“Do you think we’re a bunch of crazy fuckers like you magic freaks are?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“…You guys are too much.”

Toure groaned as he said that, but the two knights just snorted.

As if they found his reaction disgusting.

Furthermore…

“What we did wasn’t the same disgusting things you do, you monster.”

A method called ‘Cross Body Energy Transfer’

The principle behind it was an act of a master passing on their internal energy to their disciple. Through the technique, the disciple would be able to advance to a higher level.

It was similar to the magic power inheritance that Toure was familiar with, but what they did was just something with ‘Cross Body Energy Transfer’ as its inspiration.

Which was…

“Which is!?”

“Do it yourself if you’re so curious.”

“You’re too much!”

“…”

“…Hehe, I’m joking. Feel free to do anything!”

Toure spread his arms again, saying that whatever they did didn’t matter. So, the two knights…

“Let’s see how long you can laugh.”

Willingly showed him.

And then…

Bang-!

“…Huh?”

…In the next moment, Toure felt pain.

“Finally! I can hit him properly…”

Lee Han expressed great satisfaction at the sensation he felt.

Hitting the worst of the worst magic freaks in history, not just any normal magic freak, was enough for him to blow off some steam.

But of course, he…

Whoosh-!

“I’m gonna hit you a thousand times more, you crazy monster.”

Had no intention of being satisfied with just a single hit.

…My magic field and Memorize didn’t respond to that…?

Why?

Seeing his defenses not working, Toure wondered. This was the first time since he became an Archmage, the first time in over 4 centuries, that this had happened.

If he just had a little time—no, just 10 minutes, he could roughly figure it out and solve it, but…

Booom-!

…Obviously, the knights weren’t gonna let him do that at all.

Whoosh-!

Lee Han had always been a fast and nimble knight despite his burly appearance, but now, his speed was incomparably faster than before.

Is this what it means to move like the wind?

It couldn’t have been anything but an explosive run. He had to open his eyes wide and put in all of his focus since he couldn’t control all this power properly yet.

Is this Combat Technique? This is crazy!

Combat Technique. A technique to let out the explosive power within one’s body and use it as one’s source of power. Finally, Lee Han realized why Combat Technique was deemed as an essential technique that knights should learn, and was still considered the best among all.

With this much explosive power, it’s a given that it’s so strong!

Depending on how he used this explosive power, his physical abilities could be amplified up to tens to hundreds of times. However, if he failed to control it, the same explosive power could just spell his doom.

It wouldn’t be a mistake to call this situation ‘walking on a tightrope’. Regardless, he still used it with all his might, uncaring if he’d fall off the rope or not.

The Combat Technique he was using was Galahad’s best knight’s, not just anyone else’s. Not only that, he also got the energy of someone who was born with the Killer Star.

It would be normal for him not to be able to handle it, but his abnormally strong body made it possible for him to endure such power.

Rumble-!

His Hitting a Cow Across the Mountain, which had been amplified to a different level, poured down like rain.

Due to the uncontrollable power, the range of Hitting a Cow Across the Mountain gradually expanded, and it struck the entire Magic Tower.

Because of that, the mages who were watching their battle from afar…

“Kuaaaaak!”

“S-Save me… !”

Crack-!

…Were thrown into a chaotic mess.

As for Toure, who received the blows head on…

Bang-!

“Again…?”

His body was frozen stiff after being hit by another blow that went past through his magic field.

Gulp…

No matter how much transcendental magic power he had, it wasn’t a light blow for a mage with a weak body to take.

An ordinary mage would’ve died immediately from taking a single blow of it. In fact, the only reason why he was still standing was because his body boasted iron-like durability through physical modifications that he attempted in the past.

However, if things were to continue like this, even he wouldn’t be safe.

I have to block it…

Toure swung his hands, about to cast a defensive spell for the first time in a while, but…

“That thug learned such a good thing.”

Crack-!

Unfortunately for him, there was another hunter who was targeting him.

With two short staffs in both hands, Lake took a stance. Those staffs were originally a spear, split in two with its spearhead removed. He then…

Whoosh-!

Swung the two staffs at a crazy speed towards Toure.

An indiscriminate strike, reminiscent of [Kali Arnis].

However, speed wasn’t the only thing it had.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

It was also powerful enough to crush the magic field around Toure.

Every time the defensive spell that was spread out by Memorize appeared, it was destroyed and crushed. Meanwhile, the red flame on Lake’s short staffs became bigger and darker every time they were being swung, and at some point, it emitted heat as if it was burning.

Crackle-!

The knight who was born with the abnormal energy of the Killer Star had never once released his energy into the world with all his might.

It was because his energy was like a double-edged sword that wouldn’t only harm others, but also its host.

But now, it was different.

Vajra Body.

The fruit of Lee Han’s tireless efforts were completely absorbed into his body.

As Lee Han’s intense Martial Power protected and strengthened Lake’s body, the killing intent of the Killer Star was no longer an energy that threatened and destroyed him, it became no different from a beast wearing a leash that obediently followed his orders.

Bang-!

Bang-!

Bang-!

However, the risk of him becoming a murderer from using too much of this energy still persisted.

That’s something that I will think about later.

But, Lake knew that in order to kill the monster in front of him, he had to become a monster himself.

And that he needed this hateful energy to do so, even though it was something that he hated all his life.

Crackle-!

Red Flame.

Lake’s Red Combat Energy turned into burning flames. It engulfed his entire body like firewood catching fire, and his entire body quickly turned red.

For that moment, Lake reached his peak and turned into a Flame User—no, a Red Human Torch. In that state, with his strength, speed, and the Red Flame, he…

Crack-!

Successfully melted Toure’s magic field and shattered it.

“Haha… This is fun…!”

Meanwhile, Toure laughed happily as he watched the flames engulfing him.

He felt more excited than ever because he had finally felt a sense of danger to his life after four centuries.

So this is it…

The so-called life-or-death struggle…!