Chapter 224: The Knight Broods Over His Defeat (3)

Crumble-!

Lee Han heard the sound of the wall collapsing behind him, but he didn’t care. Even if it was a whole mountain that collapsed, he probably still wouldn’t care. After all, what mattered to him right now was his confrontation with the superhuman in front of him. He didn’t have the leniency to look elsewhere.

He stretched his body lightly.

Thud-!

Thud-!

His body bounced back and forth as he hopped on the spot. Baltar’s punch just now didn’t seem to leave a single wound on his body, even though the wall behind him crumbled down.

At best, what he felt right now was…

“That stings so bad.”

A stinging sensation on the place where he was hit.

Indeed, the place where he was hit hurt more than the part of his body that collided with the wall just now.

“Monstrous old man.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. Also, I’m not a monster, I’m a superhuman.”

“…Sure, sure. A superhuman is worse than a monster anyway.”

“Quit your yapping. Are you here just to whine?”

“Hell no.”

Thud…

After finishing his warm-ups, Lee Han sent a glare towards Baltar. He eyed the old man like a beast eyeing its prey, but no matter how much he did so…

As expected, he has no opening.

He didn’t find any opening from his opponent. Even if there was, it’d be a trap the old man had set up to draw him in.

However…

Here I go.

He quickly discarded the absurd thought of looking for an opening.

Because in the end, what he had to do…

Boom-!

Was just to pounce on that monster, to force it to make an opening.

Lee Han’s legs, which inflated in an instant, charged forward with tremendous force. His charge, which acceleration comparable to a cheetah’s zero-to-hundred, while also having the power of a tank, shot out like a missile.

It was an incredible power that instantly devastated the surroundings just by him hitting the ground—it really was a technique that should never be used on humans, but…

Boom-!

“You’ve definitely gotten stronger, haha.”

“…!”

“Put more oomph into it. A young man isn’t supposed to be this weak.”

His opponent wasn’t a human.

Due to that, his charge was in vain.

Boom-!

Only the surroundings and the knights nearby were devastated by the shockwave left by his charge.

His target, Baltar, easily blocked it, slamming him with one hand and snickered at him.

“I still remember when you came to me and told me you want to become an instructor—a job that doesn’t suit you at all. Back then, you used a technique to slam your torso—what was it called? Bending Body Launch? Now that I recall that moment, it was a good memory…”

“Hmmmppph!”

Crackle-!

As Baltar went on with his monologue, Lee Han tried to escape his grasp with all his might. However, the more he tried, the heavier his body became. It was as if he was caught in a spider web that he couldn’t escape from.

“Let’s try to recreate that time.”

Thwack-!

Baltar reached out to Lee Han’s shoulder with his other arm.

Just like that…

“You called this Energy Penetrating Attack, right?”

“!!?”

“It’ll hurt a little more than last time.”

The moment he finished speaking, Lee Han’s body crashed into the ground.

But, it wasn’t just a simple crash.

Crackle-!

“Keuk!!”

The power of Baltar’s Energy Penetrating Attack didn’t stop at hitting Lee Han’s body, it also caused the ground to collapse.

Just a little stronger than before my ass—!!

If Lee Han had unleashed the power of a missile with his charge, Baltar unleashed the same power with just his palm.

The intense shockwave hit his shoulder and spread to wreck his entire body. For a moment there, he almost lost consciousness.

“Cough!”

“Is that all?”

Whoosh-!

“Well, that was a disappointment.”

Thud-!

Baltar placed his foot on his fallen back.

He didn’t do anything special, just putting his foot there, but the moment his foot touched Lee Han’s back…

Thud──!

…Lee Han’s whole body was crushed, as if a weight of about a ton was pressing him from above.

“Two years ago, you had that Thousand-Pound Hammer Technique or something, right? I figured that I should make my own interpretation of it. However, matching it so that I let out 600 kg worth of force is hard, so I just made it exactly 1,000 kg. How’s it? Pretty heavy, no?”

“…”

“Hey, you still there?”

“Y-You…! Why are you stealing my idea?!”

“As expected, you’re still fine.”

“!!?”

Anger welled up inside Lee Han.

What did he mean, I’m fine?!

If he hadn’t unleashed his Vajra Body in full, his back would have been torn apart long ago. That was how strong Baltar’s attack was.

If my body hadn’t transformed, I would’ve died, dammit!

Kwak!

Lee Han felt overwhelming gratitude towards the fairy, but expressing his gratitude would be something he’d have to do later. Because for now…

“Hoo!”

He had to escape from the guy’s grasp.

Bang-!

Lee Han dug into the ground like a mole and went in.

Even Baltar, the greatest in the world, was surprised to see this kind of evasive technique. But, regardless of what he was thinking, Lee Han’s figure quickly disappeared into the dirt.

“I always knew that you had given up on being human a long time ago, but I never knew that you chose to be a mole instead.”

His tone treaded between teasing and provoking.

To that, Lee Han…

“Don’t look down on moles, you old freak!”

Thud-!

Thud-!

Thud-!

Decided to teach the old man how scary moles were.

Numerous holes began to appear in the ground. They made Baltar feel slight trypophobia, and at the same time, he wondered what kind of trickery the young knight before him was trying to pull.

Thud-!

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a fist shot out of the hole and brushed past Baltar’s shoulder. But, Lee Han knew that a single punch wasn’t enough, so he opened his mouth.

“Let’s see if you can block this too.”

Thud-!

What he was doing here was using the holes as a muzzle for his fists. Each of his fists were infused with Hundred Steps Divine Fist and Hitting A Cow Across The Mountain, and they were being fired at Baltar in rapid succession—as if it was a machine gun.

Bang-!

Bang-!

Bang-!

“Hehehe! What a crazy guy!”

Seeing this, Baltra laughed. This was the first time he had seen such a tactic.

As a knight who had lived for over 70 years, he had dealt with various Mystics, magic, and of course, swordsmanship, but this was his first time seeing such a technique. The young man in front of him had unleashed his power indiscriminately the moment he entered the ground.

I guess power really isn’t something you just throw around carelessly.

Bang-!

When he tried to feel the power contained in the fists, his hands went numb. Although the method itself was ridiculous, those who had to deal with this technique would feel the chills and worry that their heads might fly off.

“Such a kind young man. Doing such a ‘trick’ for an old man who lives such a boring life.”

But, he was Baltar. While others might have to tread carefully facing such a technique, he just thought it was a funny trick. It just reminded him of the time when he saw his grandson, who had just learned how to speak, crawling towards him while slowly saying ‘G-Grandpa!’.

So, for the sake of the guy who had impressed him…

“I’ll try to be a little more serious.”

Clang-!

He picked up an iron sword. It looked so ugly that it almost looked like a decoration, it also was on the verge of breaking since it hadn’t been maintained at all.

Why did he pick up such a thing?

Because, the moment he held the rusted iron sword in his hands…

“Doesn’t matter, I just need to swing it.”

Whoosh-!

He swung it, producing a cutting energy that usually would come out of a Renowned Sword.

Horizontal slash.

A basic slashing motion—one that anyone who learned swordsmanship would’ve performed thousands or tens of thousands of times. But, any swordsmen who saw this horizontal slash would find themselves doubting their eyes.

That was how perfect it was.

If there was an ideal slashing motion that a human could do, it’d be like what Baltar just did. It couldn’t be anything but a beautiful motion that was too precious to miss—anyone who laid their eyes on it would never let themselves blink.

That was why the current situation was a tragedy. After all, all the knights had run away from the training ground, giving up the chance to see his swordsmanship, so no one saw Baltar’s slash.

But, it was probably a fortunate thing that there was no one there. Because, if there was…

Slash-!

─They probably would’ve been cut down into two.

For a moment, Lee Han’s fists that had been hovering in the air stopped. Not only that, even the flow of air seemed to stop at the same time.

“I’ve cut them all.”

Stab-!

Over a hundred fists burst at once like balloons. The bullets of fist that had been fired at him were neutralized, and it was quite a wondrous sight.

Thud-!

“Well, how long do you want me to play whack-a-mole?”

The moment Baltar lightly rolled his foot, cracks spread through the ground…

Crackle-!

And the entire ground, except for the spot where Baltar stood on, turned upside down.

“…”

“There you are.”

After that, Lee Han finally revealed himself. He could only gaped blankly even as he was hit by a lump of sand and rock fragments that fell high into the sky.

Some of the sand or pebbles even entered his mouth, but he failed to notice it.

That was how amazing the sight in front of him was.

“What do you think the ground is? A carrot? A radish? Why are you slicing them…?”

It was the moment when the dirt ground, roughly the size of a playground, was diced and turned over, and Lee Han couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing this made him understand why Baltar was called the ‘Sword God’ during the reign of the previous king.

Whoosh-!

The ground fell from the sky, while the surrounding walls cracked and collapsed due to the shockwave.

It hadn’t been 5 minutes since the battle started, yet the royal castle was already on the verge of collapse.

That fact alone could turn into a major accident, but the two men were just happily swinging their fists, ignoring such ‘minor things’.

Even if they were punished, they’d just accept it.

That was the kind of men Lee Han and Baltar were.

And now…

“How is it? Gonna accept your defeat now?”

Baltar asked, still holding the same sword in his hand.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Baltar without his sword and with his sword were two different people. For Lee Han, who had already been completely stripped down, it was clear that the former was significantly more ferocious, and it’d only be natural for him to admit defeat, but…

“Are you finally going senile, old man?”

“…You punk.”

There was no way Lee Han he’d do that without a fight.

Clank-!

He drew his sword, as if imitating Baltar. This was the first time he, who rarely used a sword, had drawn his sword against him. It was still impossible for him to control his strength while wielding a sword, he could easily kill an opponent with it, hence why he barely used it.

However…

“You’re not the kind of person who’d die just because I drew my sword. So, I figured I’d just use it against you.”

“Sure. Your sword is nothing more than a toy compared to me, though.”

“…That’s right, but hearing it still pisses me off.”

He was facing Baltar. There was no way the old man would die from this.

“The truth hurts.”

“…Fuck you!”

Though he was pissed off by that fact, Lee Han was still able to muster up a resolve to give it his all.

“Haaaa…!”

He was convinced that there was only one way to ‘hit’ him, so he pushed his concentration and senses to the limit.

Wooong-!

And began sharpening his blade.

Sword Sound. His sword started to hum as his energy seeped into it. Then, he continued to add skills he had stolen from the big guy from the North and Blackie, and then…

Whaaaaak-!

“…You’ve created something interesting.”

“Doubt you’ll find the power interesting, though.”

Sword Force.

Though it seemed to contain the stars of the beautiful night sky, its power didn’t embody the word beauty at all. After all, in essence, it was just a destructive power that was constantly emitted by the sword.

Wooong-!

A compressed, unimaginable power that shouldn’t be used against people, a technique that would instantly raise its user’s danger level by a notch.

Yet, Lee Han still aimed it at Baltar.

“This must be dizzying even for you, right, old man?”

He aimed his sword as if provoking the old man.

Thinking that even him wouldn’t be able to take this lightly.

But…

“Hmm, is that it?”

“…?”

“Heh, it seems you’ve forgotten who I am.”

“???”

“Well, I just have to teach it to your body again.”

Wooong-!

In an instant, a vortex formed in Baltar’s iron sword. It was similar to Lee Han’s—no, his was even stronger. Soon after, the energy began to concentrate.

And then…

Wooong-!

“!”

His Sword Force formed in an instant. A stronger Sword Force than even Lee Han’s.

“…”

Seeing Lee Han staring blankly at him, Baltar let out a kind smile—the kind of smile that a caring teacher would give to his student.

“Other knights are barely able to handle the Sword Resonance or Sword Energy, but for ‘us’, doing that is easier than breathing. Of course, when I say ‘us’ what I meant is…”

Crackle-!

“The Aura Users.”

As soon as he finished speaking, as if to kindly show that Sword Force was only the basics and there were still further steps to take, a change occurred in Baltar’s sword.

Roar-!

An unusual ripple appeared on the sword—a ripple that looked like a wave. When the pieces of light created by that ripple gradually formed a beautiful sphere like a glass bead…

“…Sword Force Compression.”

At that moment, Lee Han felt like he was going to lose in the morale fight.

Sword Sphere, or, Sword Force Compression.

He could only watch as the spheres of destruction that seemed like it’d destroy everything it touched appeared one after another.

“…Ha.”

He let out a wry laugh, finding the sight ridiculous.