Ch.252EP55. – The Knight Do Not Speak Falsehoods (8)

-It looked like a scene from a series of plays.

It was a process so perfectly coordinated, so urgent and natural that one might suspect the actors were performing rather than living it.

Puhwak…!

…However, the scene that followed was enough to bring them back to reality.

Iliad, the man called the Sword Saint, collapsed and spat blood, crumbling like a puppet with its strings cut.

Thud…!

He fell, raising dust, in a scene that was silent yet overwhelmingly heavy.

“He’s… he’s dead…”

It was the Barbarian who spoke, the first to face reality with his murmur.

“……..”

An intense silence suddenly enveloped everyone.

No one opened their mouth.

Whether they were silent due to the emptiness of death, or watching the bereaved family’s reactions, or perhaps the family couldn’t accept reality and were speechless with grief…

Whatever the reason, one thing was certain.

It was not a positive silence.

However.

“…So it has come to this, after all.”

“It was splendid, truly a splendid duel.”

Despite their family member’s death, they showed no signs of blaming or resenting the knight.

Rather, they seemed to have prepared themselves as if they had known this would happen, and one could see them accepting the situation relatively calmly.

The House of Ophen, a prestigious family of swordsmanship and honorable knights.

Even though a blood relative had died, if that death came from a fair and square duel, it was the duty of a knight family to accept rather than condemn it.

Though called nobles, as knights who lived their lives on the edge of a blade, they had to live prepared for death.

So despite their sorrow, they showed no resentment at Iliad’s death.

This was a life-or-death duel between knights, and there was no cowardice in this duel.

There was absolutely nothing to resent.

Therefore, what they had to say was…

“Thank you, thank you, child. For allowing him to go as a true knight until the end.”

“Instructor, I apologize. We’ve caused your hands to be stained red with family matters. Even though things turned out this way, I won’t hold any grudges. This is the life of those who live by the sword…”

It was right to express gratitude if that’s what they felt.

After all, he had resolved something they couldn’t do because of their weak hearts.

They might be indebted, but they wouldn’t resort to cowardly acts like resentment over this matter.

“Iliad, that child must have been satisfied.”

“Yes, certainly…”

“-He was truly strong, Mother. I never thought I would have such a duel with no regrets. Arno, you have a good master.”

“That’s right, Father.”

“It was good to send him to the Academy.”

“Haha, I still feel a bit regretful. If I were still active, I could have fought more splendidly than now.”

“You were plenty splendid, that’s why… Huh?”

“You were already magnificent. Of course, if you were still active, an even more splendid duel… Eh?”

“…Hmm?”

…Suddenly, people felt something strange.

What is this?

Why are they hearing the voice of someone who shouldn’t be heard?

The family members blinked with expressions suggesting they might be hearing things due to grief, and facing the Ophen family who were tilting their heads in confusion with identical eyes…

“You’re all having fun…”

The knight merely snorted.

* * *

Kuwoong!

Ihan just lay there.

All strength seemed to drain from his body as he sprawled out, gasping for breath.

“A-Are you alright?”

“…I’ll be fine after a little rest.”

Though he said this, Ihan felt he wouldn’t be able to use his strength for a while.

His body felt that heavy, and he was even dizzy.

Not only had he lost quite a bit of blood, but using mental energy had brought him tremendous fatigue.

If it weren’t someone with strong mental fortitude like Ihan, they would have fainted long ago or even died.

Honestly, he wanted to get a good night’s sleep, but.

“First, I need to finish treating that gentleman before I can sleep or whatever.”

As soon as Ihan spoke, Felinshia asked urgently.

“W-What did you do?! How is Iliad still alive? And what did you do to make him suddenly recover?! There has never been a single case of a Mein returning to human form!”

“…Please calm down. And ask one question at a time. I can’t focus.”

“Ah…”

Felinshia seemed to be influenced by Ihan’s calm demeanor and finally became somewhat subdued, observing Ihan’s condition with an embarrassed expression.

“I-I’m sorry.”

She seemed ashamed that she couldn’t maintain her composure.

Well, he understood.

Who could remain calm when their son, whom they thought would never return to normal, came back in his original form?

It was practically like seeing someone return from the dead.

So instead of scolding her, Ihan responded calmly.

“…I’m sorry to say this when you seem relieved, but you need to take care of your son quickly. He’s not safe yet.”

“What?”

“Use your aura or whatever. If you leave him like that, he’ll die.”

“!!?”

No sooner had Ihan finished his advice than Felinshia placed her hands on Iliad’s body, and in less than a minute, she was shocked.

“I-I see, so that’s how…!”

Hwook!

Felinshia seemed to quickly recognize what she needed to do and released her aura.

Woowoong!

A vast amount of aura enveloped Iliad’s body like a cocoon, with the aura particularly concentrated on Iliad’s chest, specifically around his heart area.

As if protecting his heart.

“…What, how did you do it?”

While the mysterious aura was pouring out, and everyone was blankly unable to understand the situation, only Derrick, whose curiosity got the better of him, asked a question.

Asking what mysterious method he had used.

To that question.

“Nothing special, I just killed him and brought him back to life, that’s all.”

“??”

“Well, to be precise.”

…I destroyed his heart once.

* * *

-The day before, in the tunnel, Taechang had told him.

About the criteria that distinguish low-level fighting techniques from high-level ones.

Namely.

– The reason why the fighting techniques learned by nobles, the so-called prestigious family techniques, are classified as high-level is because they consume the magic stones of magical beasts.

It was shocking information.

As everyone knows, if magical beasts are used for food, it leads to Meinization, and if one eats a magic stone, they inevitably become a Mein—this was the “common knowledge” known to the public.

But Taechang’s statement, which destroyed this common knowledge, was shocking enough to shake not just the kingdom but the entire continent.

However.

– Ah, of course, you can’t just consume it as is. You have to dilute and process it into a [potion]. It’s a secret method of the prestigious noble families.

Should one listen to the end of what people say?

Taechang’s additional explanation was quite understandable.

– As you know, fighting techniques were originally devised for humans to fight monsters like magical beasts and demons, but honestly, it doesn’t make sense, right? Exploding life energy inside the body to gain physical abilities dozens of times stronger… No matter what, it’s suicidal.

A combat method that ordinary humans cannot handle.

One or two times might be manageable, but if this fighting style is repeated, the human body will eventually be unable to withstand it and die.

Even if the body could endure, life energy would be depleted, possibly leading to death before reaching thirty.

According to records, due to these side effects, many early users of fighting techniques ended their lives in their twenties.

…Therefore, researchers had to make a choice.

Whether to abandon fighting techniques as they were, or to contemplate ways to use them safely.

And people’s choice was naturally…

– They sought improvement methods, and researchers focused on the Meinization phenomenon.

Through Meinization, also called Mein disease, humans gain literally superhuman strength.

Researchers saw potential here.

– They decided to focus this Meinization phenomenon on just one place.

Without affecting the brain or other parts of the body, they would induce Meinization in just ‘one place’.

The most important organ in the human body and the source of life energy.

None other than.

– The [heart].

Heart strengthening.

Researchers were convinced that inducing artificial Meinization only in the heart to obtain a strengthened heart was the way forward for fighting techniques. After numerous experiments and verifications, this spread among the powerful, and many knight families, based on these experimental data, succeeded in completing their own unique fighting techniques after decades or even centuries.

– That’s why high-level fighting techniques are incomparable to lower ones, and nobles have built power that commoners cannot challenge. Even if commoners learn the secret of heart strengthening, it’s still a distant goal to surpass the unique prestigious family fighting techniques and potion manufacturing methods created after hundreds of years of trial and error and experimentation. In terms of technological difference, it’s almost like comparing a steam engine to a rocket device.

This was the secret and core of noble, high-level fighting techniques, and when Ihan first heard this, he was stunned.

– Whether in this world or another, there are truly crazy people everywhere.

– B-But they didn’t experiment on innocent people, they mostly used heinous criminals for experiments…

– Do you believe that?

– ……

– I’m not condemning it. Human progress has such dark aspects. Still… it’s not very romantic.

– Hmm…

It was undeniably somewhat disillusioning.

Well, innocence is meant to be lost, so he accepted it, and even forgot about it for a while after hearing the story.

But today.

“-I remembered the secret of fighting techniques.”

“M-My goodness… Such a secret…”

“Kunta is also surprised.”

“It would cause great confusion if revealed, so it’s a fact that’s better kept hidden.”

“If it became known, people might carelessly consume magic stones, so we need to be even more careful.”

The bear, the big guy, and others expressed their surprise in turn, while the wolf cub and Taechang, who already knew the secret, scratched their cheeks bitterly.

“Well, it’s an uncomfortable secret.”

Ihan snorted at them, who clearly looked guilty.

As if their lack of “nobility” was a flaw.

“If you’re nobles, act like nobles—be unlikable and lacking in humanity. Tsk tsk.”

“Please stop hating on nobles…”

“That’s discrimination, Instructor.”

“Cut it out. Though I happened to mention it, my point isn’t to discuss the origin or rights and wrongs of fighting techniques. I’m explaining how I treated the fairy tale writer.”

Ihan scolded them to stop nitpicking, and they shut their mouths.

They only listen when scolded—truly precious children.

If his body were in better condition, he would have disciplined them, but being exhausted, Ihan satisfied their curiosity instead.

“My treatment process was honestly nothing special.”

A ‘guess’ based on belief.

“Honestly, I didn’t think that gentleman would foolishly eat magical beast meat or stones, no matter what.”

If he were foolish or stupid, maybe, but the Iliad he knew wasn’t a foolish man.

Rather, he was extremely wise.

So how did he become a Mein?

“I thought, ‘If it was a disease that was ‘dormant’ and then became toxic, even someone like him would be helpless’—that’s what occurred to me.”

Though the method was unclear, if magical beast cells in the heart spread rapidly throughout the body like cancer cells, becoming a Mein wouldn’t be strange.

In other words, a mental breakdown.

He guessed it might be a tragedy caused by the overloading of the heart, the so-called energy center, and with this speculation…

“I crudely ‘broke it’.”

“……”

“Well, fortunately, it seems my guess was right.”

“…S-So it was a gamble?”

“Hmm, perhaps?”

“……”

“What?”

“……”

It was brazenness beyond measure, and they were dumbfounded.

But as much as they were dumbfounded, they were amazed.

‘C-Can anyone come up with such an idea in this situation?’

The fact that he made such a judgment when faced with a Mein, humanity’s natural enemy, and that he came up with a treatment method during combat, was certainly an indicator that he was an extraordinary human.

…The problem is that his thinking is too extraordinary for ordinary people to comprehend.

“B-But Master, I understand the principle and process, but if you destroyed his heart, how is Mr. Iliad still alive?”

It was a fundamental question—normally, wouldn’t someone die if their heart was broken?—and Ihan shrugged.

“I struck with ‘force’ twice. The first force destroyed the inside of the heart, and the second protected the outside to temporarily prevent it from being destroyed. Because of that, the heart stopped temporarily, but fortunately, he regained consciousness…”

Pointing.

“And since there’s a means to regenerate the heart, I thought there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“……”

In the direction of his finger was the Sword Master, busy restoring her son’s heart with massive aura, and despite the situation, the disciples almost applauded.

“Instructor, you truly never break your promises……”

“I said I hate lying.”

“…Ha.”

Arno lowered his head with an admiring chuckle.

Truly…

“…I respect you, really.”

What an extraordinary person, he thought.