Ch.204EP.46 – Everyone Has a Plan (2)

A warrior learning both holy arts and martial arts doesn’t simply mean gaining a 1+1 strength.

Originally, divine power itself is a [mystical] force manifested through “faith” in God, “piety,” and “steadfast prayer.”

The holy arts it produces could be called a [power without cost], unlike martial arts which strain the body.

A mighty power obtained simply through belief in God!

Therefore, a knight who mastered holy arts wasn’t merely a knight, but signified a knight who could use magic as well.

That’s why some people in ancient times called knights who mastered holy arts [magic swordsmen].

Of course, in the current era, Holy Knights would become furious if called that, but they were individuals who possessed power different from other knights, worthy of such a title.

Yes, they were comparable even to the Galahad Knights, the kingdom’s strongest order.

…That should have been the case.

Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Boom!

“Guhurk!”

Every time the three-meter-long whip—no, person—was swung, Holy Knights either folded at the waist or tumbled across the ground.

But that was actually better; those who were slammed into the ground or bleeding from their heads appeared to have suffered serious injuries.

The Holy Knights were learning the unwanted fact that the human body is surprisingly sturdy and can be used as a weapon, and they were helplessly being beaten.

It wasn’t that they, the Holy Knights, were weak.

Simply.

‘M-my body feels heavy…!’

‘Why is my holy art so… No, rather, why is my body so heavy!?’

They were finding it difficult to exert their power as usual.

How to describe it? Like struggling underwater?

The air pressure felt unnaturally heavy, and their bodies wouldn’t move as commanded.

It felt like iron balls were chained to their wrists and ankles, making it difficult to use holy arts unlike usual.

“—To use what you call holy arts, you first need a ‘prayer,’ right?”

And the opponent explained why their bodies felt heavy and why they couldn’t freely use holy arts.

…It was a humiliating kindness.

“The reason Inquisitors and Holy Knights move in groups is to have comrades buy time for reciting prayers. I heard that preventing them from having time to recite prayers is the way to gain advantage when fighting holy art users.”

Whoosh!

“I was a bit skeptical at first, but it’s true?”

Equivalent exchange.

There’s no power in the world without cost, and no power exists that’s only convenient.

Even if it’s holy arts, it’s natural that you can’t use them if you don’t fulfill the conditions.

“You…! What on earth are you doing!”

The Holy Knights screamed.

They were thrown into utter confusion, unable to understand how he knew so much about holy arts and how he was exerting such intense pressure on them.

However.

“Hmm, about 40 left? There are quite a lot of these lunatics.”

He simply continued attacking them by swinging his whip (which had been a person) without giving any answer, and the Holy Knights…

Splat!

Once again had to splatter blood on the dirt.

‘Wow, I really can’t see them?’

…If there was one misconception to correct, it was that he “truly couldn’t see or hear their appearance and voices.”

Whatever holy art it was, it completely concealed the opponent’s sound, appearance, and even smell. Probably without learning holy arts or magic, there would be no way for an ordinary person to see through holy arts.

Therefore, he simply had to.

‘Ah, is it here?’

Strike the enemy by gauging with his ‘sixth sense’ alone, and coincidentally.

Crack!

He was successfully hitting them with a nearly 90% accuracy rate.

‘Nineteenth one.’

The precise feel.

Every time he hit something, a sensation traveled up his fingertips, like the feeling when catching a fish while fishing.

But one can’t know everything by sixth sense alone, so Ihan used a trick.

“━喝!”

A lion’s roar.

Ihan’s powerful shout filled with his spirit spread quietly through the forest.

It was a different usage from his usual lion’s roar that seemed to tear the opponent’s eardrums; it was a technique to “spread his spirit throughout the area.”

‘That spear guy is helpful at times like this.’

A technique inspired by watching the spear wielder dominate space by dispersing killing intent.

Although he didn’t have the vast, unending killing intent like the spear wielder, he had his spirit that had been tempered like aging wine over a long time.

By spreading it throughout the forest, he could sense the presence of invisible enemies and also rob them of the concentration needed to recite prayers by exerting mental pressure.

‘I can also use it like ultrasound.’

The gentle lion’s roar spread like sound waves, revealing the positions and numbers of hidden opponents.

If someone asked how he could detect sound waves like an animal, he would answer.

…It just works.

Thanks to that.

Thwack!

Ihan could locate the positions of those rushing toward him without any hesitation.

By now, Ihan had let go of the human whip and was pummeling them with his fists.

As he became more proficient with using sound waves, it wasn’t difficult to detect their movements, and Ihan lightly pounded them as if throwing jabs.

It looked like he was shadow boxing alone, and Ihan’s movements became rougher.

Whoosh, whoosh!

He continued advancing while stepping, and his fists extended faster.

Thud!

A left hook blazed through, breaking through the opponent’s shield and striking their face.

Crack!

The next opponent seemed to block, but instead, their shield crumpled as an uppercut shattered their jaw.

Boom!

A liver blow, or a body blow that shows hell to the opponent with just one proper hit, accurately penetrated the armor and heavily struck the opponent’s internal organs.

If there had been no armor, the liver might have actually burst.

As he demonstrated simple techniques and struck roughly like this, Ihan’s fists continued to pound the empty air, and each time.

Splat!

Blood splattered on the ground, jaws were crushed, and sounds like internal explosions rang out one after another.

Whether the opponent attacked with a sword or spear, he broke it, and even if they focused solely on defense with a shield, he shattered it.

One punch, one kill.

At some point, the presence of those rushing at him diminished, and Ihan stopped momentarily and dusted off his hands.

“This is the power of boxing, you medieval bastards.”

Actually, it’s not the power of boxing but just the power of [Internal Weight Method], but whatever works, right?

“How long are you going to keep watching?”

-……

“Yes, I’m talking to you. The one holding the huge shield.”

-!?

“You look the strongest, are you planning to stay still? Until all the others fall? Hmm, if you’re waiting for my stamina to drain, I hate to tell you, but I’m not even sweating? Look.”

-!!!

Ihan showed his forehead, which truly hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat, as if taunting the invisible opponent.

Sure enough.

Whether the provocation worked or not, the opponent’s presence clearly showed excitement, and Ihan sensed that they were about to step forward but were being restrained by other comrades.

‘I see, so that guy must be the caster of this invisibility holy art?’

Through this process, Ihan could roughly guess why the one with the strongest presence wasn’t moving.

That he might be the one casting the holy art that hides appearances and that he might be a quite important figure.

These two pieces of information.

Therefore.

“Thanks for making it so obvious.”

Ihan lifted a fallen mace with his foot and took a stance as if kicking a ball.

-Gwanilchang.

True to its name, it might not pierce the sun, but it was the name of a spear blade that could easily pierce fortress walls.

* * *

“-Everyone evacuate immediately!”

Erhin shouted his order desperately and raised his massive shield.

A strike emanating a chilling aura was about to engulf him, and Erhin immediately deployed his holy art.

[Great Holy Art – Indomitable Fortress].

A holy art said to have withstood even a Great Archfiend’s attack in the past.

Originally, it wasn’t meant to be cast alone but required ten or more people, but now there was no opportunity to request help from others.

It was only thanks to the time his comrades bought while falling that he could barely recite the prayer and deploy it.

“Nnnggghh!!”

Erhin de Lohengrin.

One of the kingdom’s most promising talents and known as the Swan of Lohengrin.

Though he was always composed and never lost his dignity, at this moment he threw away all dignity and felt like he was about to suffocate.

Not only was there the side effect of casting a Great Holy Art alone, but his body couldn’t withstand the intense aura engulfing him.

Blood vessels burst in his eyes, turning them red.

He clenched his teeth so hard that his molars cracked and his skin tore.

With the illusion that the human body was this fragile, Erhin even lost consciousness for less than 0.5 seconds.

But his will, as if refusing to break, held onto one thought.

‘I will block it, I must block it! I will never be pierced!’

Holy arts are the power of faith.

The greater the faith, the less doubt in God, the more powerful the holy art becomes.

So he did not doubt, and he was certain he could block it.

He would be like an impenetrable fortress wall…-.

“-Ah, so that’s what you look like?”

“…?”

“Kid, you’ve got a face that could make girls cry. But what can you do? With both arms gone?”

“……”

“Can you regenerate arms with holy arts too? I’m genuinely curious.”

“Nngh…!”

Erhin couldn’t give any answer.

He could only look at his shield that had somehow disappeared and his own arms that had vanished as if disintegrated, and then…

“Aaaaaahhh…!”

Let out a pain-filled scream.

As if to show that the noble swan’s wings, no, his faith, had long been broken.

The fortress wall could not withstand Gwanil.

* * *

…Belatedly, or rather, despite rushing at full speed less than 5 minutes after the situation erupted, the situation was already over.

“Huff, huff, haaah.”

“Ah, you’re here?”

Derrick and Roen.

The two boys had no time to respond to their master’s casual greeting as they surveyed the devastating scene before them.

Rustle…

People with limbs bent unnaturally, those bleeding with shattered armor.

Even a giant with a folded waist, barely clinging to life…

These weren’t just third-rate thugs but Holy Knights renowned throughout the kingdom, and they were all lying fallen, on the verge of death.

“…50 Holy Knights…”

“……”

Exactly 52.

This represented 70% of the Holy Knights’ total force, and it was nothing short of a devastating blow to the Holy Knight Order.

But what was even more bewildering was the fact that this force of Holy Knights had been subdued by just one person.

They certainly weren’t a weak force, so how…

“When they can’t use holy arts, they’re on the same level as those white cats, aren’t they?”

“You mean holy arts, sir?”

“It’s disappointing. Can their level drop this much just because they can’t use holy arts? Or are they so dependent on holy arts that their skills have fallen behind?”

The young masters would be better.

This was the instructor’s honest, straightforward review, and the two boys were simply dumbfounded by his attitude, which seemed like he was writing a restaurant review.

However, the next moment, what was even more bewildering was none other than.

“…It shouldn’t be possible to block holy arts in the first place. How did you manage to block them?”

“Just like this?”

Whoosh!

…It was the amazing feat he demonstrated.

“……”

“See, like this… Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…I’m speechless. How on earth…”

“-D-Dragon Fear!”

“?”

“I-I see, so you’re the White Lion of Pendragon! It was the power of the dragon’s bloodline, that’s why the holy arts…! Damn it! I should have been more careful!”

“??”

The lament-filled mutterings of Erhin, whose arms had disappeared.

The two boys blinked, thinking this person seemed out of his mind.

They wondered what nonsense he was spouting.

And to him.

“Always obsessed with bloodlines, these noble bastards, tsk tsk.”

“…Why are you looking at me when you say that?”

“You’re a noble too, aren’t you?”

“…Let me say it again.”

Please stop hating on nobles.

…It’s scary.