episode_0017

In the Waltz Mine in the Valkyrie Territory.

Mercenaries were busy clearing out the bodies of orcs.

“Hey, Han and Lee, stop fooling around and get moving.”

“What are you talking about, Lee? What do you mean by fooling around?”

“Han, Lee, you two arguing like this is considered fooling around, so get your hands moving.”

Han and Lee, upon hearing Ain’s words, silently continued their work.

As they were working.

At the entrance of the mine.

A man entered.

Dressed in dark attire so dark it seemed black.

A suspicious man.

Step by step.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the mine.

Han, the first to notice, shouted.

“Hey, you can’t just come in here!”

“…”

“No response. Hey, Lee, go and talk to him.”

Lee glanced at Han once, let out a sigh, and walked over.

“Hey…”

Lee stood in front of the suspicious man.

The moment Lee stood in front of the man, he suddenly stopped talking.

The expression on Lee’s face that was present just a moment ago disappeared, replaced by a blank expression.

Not realizing Lee’s expression, Han shouted.

“Hey, Lee! You have to speak, what are you doing?”

Han walked over and stood next to Lee.

And the moment he saw Lee’s face.

“What is this…”

Han was taken aback.

But his surprise was short-lived.

Han’s expression also changed to a similar one as Lee’s.

And the suspicious man, passing by the frozen duo, approached Ain, who was the last one standing.

Ain, who had stopped working, gave the suspicious man a fearful look.

“W-who are you?”

A strange situation at a glance.

Ain realized that the figure in front of him was no ordinary being, so he acted with caution.

“I… don’t know.”

Before the suspicious man could finish speaking, Ain’s expression also changed like Han and Lee’s.

The three mercenaries stood there, lost in thought with blank expressions.

“This is strange.”

The suspicious man looked around at the orc bodies scattered around.

Then he stood in front of one corpse.

The body of a dead orc shaman with a shard of obsidian embedded in his forehead.

“Even the Knights of the Order would have found it impossible to deal with….”

The suspicious man’s gaze turned to the shaman’s staff.

A staff shattered into pieces.

“Was the mana stone broken and lost?”

The suspicious man let out a long sigh.

He was annoyed by the situation that had unfolded.

“Even with all that power, this is the result.”

The suspicious man.

He handed the mana stone to the orc shaman.

All for the sake of an experiment.

“It’s inevitable to oppose using monster-like creatures in war.”

Saying so, the suspicious man, with a grim expression, performed an incantation.

At the same time, a hesitant black mana emanated from him.

And he was enveloped in that black mana, disappearing like mist.

After the suspicious man left.

Before long, Han and Lee underwent a change.

“Huh…? What’s this…?”

“Huh, why am I standing here?”

Han and Lee looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Just like them, Ain, who had regained his senses, shouted at them.

“Han, Lee! What on earth are you doing there!!! Let’s finish the work quickly!!!”

***

The dual swordsmanship, Pandert.

He was the leader of the Silver River Knights, representing the Messiah Viscount.

As the knight representing a prominent family, his skill was top-notch.

Sword expert of the highest level.

He had reached a state where Ora Knight was right in front of him.

And in that state, he stood before Arthas.

“You’re strong.”

“…Yes.”

At first, Pandert rejected the proposal of Viscount Messiah.

To think that a young lad in blue would have to face the chief and vice-chief in a chariot duel.

It was humiliating and damaging to his pride.

But as a vassal, he couldn’t refuse Viscount Messiah’s words.

So he accepted it quietly.

However…

“To defeat the vice-chief so easily…”

It was astonishing.

The young lad in blue was no ordinary lad.

He had faced and easily defeated three intermediate level knights.

“But… that’s not the end.”

Intermediate level was common, but advanced level was different.

A level that those without talent could not reach.

It was the stage where the first barrier appeared.

Even though his lord, Andrew Messiah, was a peculiar case, it was difficult for someone without talent to reach a level beyond intermediate.

And he probably hadn’t reached a level beyond that, being so young.

But…

“To defeat the chief so easily…?”

That meant that the lad before him was beyond intermediate.

He had broken through the first barrier.

“Yes, I must admit. He was talented enough to reach advanced level… worthy of becoming Master Gumsung’s disciple.”

But that was not the end.

Vertenia’s level was advanced.

If he had a flaw in praising men too much, it was a flaw, but his skill was undeniable.

But even Vertenia, whom he believed in, was defeated.

Now Pandert had no choice but to admit.

“…Lord Sangwoo is truly amazing.”

His lord didn’t arrange the chariot duel for no reason.

He realized that clearly as he stood before Arthas now.

“He’s strong.”

Perhaps even stronger than himself, who had reached the highest level…

But Pandert was not a man who gave up before even starting.

“By the way, it’s a peculiar mana… it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.”

Pandert saw that Arthas’s mana was peculiar.

“…I’ve suffered a lot because of this guy.”

Pandert nodded at Arthas’s words.

Such rough mana that could shatter a sword.

He had never seen such peculiar mana in his life.

Even if he said it was peculiar mana, it was just mana containing the energy of nature like water.

This peculiar mana was something he had never seen before.

Regardless of that, Pandert gave a warning.

“I’ll give you one warning.”

“A warning…?”

“When facing me, it’s better to show your true skill.”

Pandert didn’t want to let his guard down or waste the current duel.

So he sincerely warned Arthas.

But Arthas didn’t even respond to Pandert’s warning.

“…”

“I’ll take that as you understood.”

Pandert drew the two swords hanging from his waist.

Two swords sharpened to the blade.

They couldn’t be compared to the White Sword, but they were good swords.

Swords that could withstand peculiar mana to some extent.

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever let my guard down.”

As soon as the duel began, Pandert raised his mana to the limit.

Mana was imbued in the two swords.

“This won’t be enough to withstand peculiar mana.”

He raised more energy.

The mana began to condense even more.

Seeing Pandert’s mana, his subordinate knight shouted.

“Ora…!!!”

The unique power that Ora Knight, an expert at the advanced and highest levels, could briefly draw upon.

That power unfolded from Pandert’s sword.

“Now, show me your Ora as well.”

He had shown his Ora.

So it was common sense for the opponent to show their Ora as well.

If it wasn’t the same Ora, the opponent would be impossible to defeat.

No matter how peculiar the mana was, it couldn’t withstand Ora.

But Arthas did not draw his Ora.

He continued to use only mana, just as he did when facing Vertenia.

Pandert, whose pride was wounded, frowned.

It was a clear disregard towards himself.

“Why… aren’t you using your aura?”

“…This is enough.”

“You will regret it.”

As expected, he was arrogant.

An arrogant aura user.

To make such a choice in front of an aura.

“Show me your true power.”

Pandert crossed the swords surrounded by aura and struck down towards Arthas.

Without a moment of hesitation, with the intent to kill.

With both swords filled with aura, there was no way to block it.

Pandert smirked in victory.

However, contrary to Pandert’s thoughts…

It was the moment when Arthas’s mana clashed with Pandert’s aura.

Pandert’s aura was torn apart by Arthas’s mana.

As a result, the two swords hidden with aura revealed their true selves.

Those two swords became the next sacrifice to Arthas’s mana.

Crack.

The two swords exposed to Arthas’s mana shattered.

They turned into pieces and scattered into the air.

Like snowflakes fluttering in the wind.

Pandert could not believe the current situation.

An overwhelming defeat.

They couldn’t even exchange a few blows.

A one-sided defeat.

Feeling that all the time they had built up until now was meaningless, Pandert’s expression fell into despair.

Seeing Pandert in that state…

“The feeling when your precious sword breaks… I understand it once again. Commander Pandert has become another victim like me and Commander Bertnia.”

Once again, Teddy looked at the broken sword of Pandert and fell into his own delusion.