Ch.65EP.18 – Ghoul vs. Ghoul? (3)

As everyone knows, the main attraction on the final day of semester evaluations was never meant to be the first-years.

It was the second and third-years.

Warriors who had honed their combat techniques and pushed their abilities to the limit.

Naturally, crowds gathered to watch them perform.

That’s why attendance was typically sparse during first-year evaluations.

Why bother watching novices engage in pathetic battles?

But now,

A substantial crowd had gathered, and rather than diminishing, their numbers continued to grow.

While many were ordinary citizens, there was also a significant number of nobles present.

What purpose had drawn such a large gathering?

“…He’s coming out.”

“Is that him? Wow, he’s even more handsome than the rumors suggested!”

“Young Lord Roen!!”

“Glory to the brave lion-!”

[[Glory to Lionel forever! Honor to the kingdom’s brave lion-!]]

[Wooooah!!]

Yes, this massive crowd had gathered solely to see one man’s face.

The name they shouted with such fervor.

Guardian of the North.

The glorious Black Lion.

The kingdom’s eternal comrade and ally.

People shouted in unison to the most promising lion of the current era.

Hoping he would engage in a sacred duel worthy of his illustrious bloodline.

Expectations, cheers, aspirations.

These intangible elements poured forth as momentum, and while anyone else might have felt dizzy facing such a situation.

The black-haired man standing in the center of the Colosseum.

Roen was focused solely on the opponent he needed to face.

With piercingly steadfast eyes.

“I feel like a clown.”

Roen muttered to himself with a quiet sneer.

Honestly, he wasn’t particularly pleased.

Displaying one’s abilities so publicly wasn’t exactly wise.

However.

– If you’re going to do it, give it your all. Don’t treat it like a joke.

…Just the other day, his instructor had appeared with a somewhat haggard and tired expression, gathering all the students to offer encouragement.

He’d said if they were going to do it, do it properly, and if possible, avoid injuries and take care of themselves.

It was a somewhat strange statement.

Give your all, but don’t get hurt.

Was this his way of showing concern for them?

Yet Roen couldn’t shake the feeling that the instruction to avoid injury was meant for the other students, while the earlier comment about “giving it your all” was directed specifically at him.

As if seeing through his intentions.

‘I originally had no intention of participating.’

He had been fully prepared to forfeit.

He’d wondered what was the point of participating in such a trivial display.

Yet here he stood.

Yes, how could he, a debtor, refuse an order?

‘I don’t know if this will repay my debt from that time, but I’ll show you.’

My very best.

[GRRR-!]

Roen slowly lowered his well-forged longsword.

Rather than assuming a stance, his posture seemed somewhat slack.

To some observers, it might have appeared careless, but those with a keen eye widened their eyes.

Despite his seemingly loose posture, there were no openings.

“Know that this is too merciful a fate for you, hateful monster.”

[GRR?]

The rock troll lacked any semblance of reason and couldn’t understand what Roen was trying to say.

It only possessed the “instinct” to hit and crush its opponent.

So the rock troll charged at Roen, who wasn’t even attempting to dodge.

It was simply charging recklessly, just as it had when fighting Barry earlier.

Yet.

“Why isn’t he moving?”

“Wha-what?!”

The crowd was bewildered.

With the monster approaching right before his eyes, he wasn’t taking any defensive or offensive stance,

Just as they were about to shout something,

“Sword Energy (劍氣), that’s what I’ve named it.”

Swoosh!

In an instant, the blade flashed.

This wasn’t a metaphorical expression—everyone watching saw it.

Light flickered from his blade.

And the next moment.

Crack!

Crack…!

[GR━…R….]

Thud…!

The rock troll couldn’t even utter a proper death cry before its functions ceased.

It was a dreamlike, yet empty spectacle.

“What…?!”

From the audience’s perspective, they couldn’t tell what had just happened, and only after five seconds of silence did they notice.

The rock troll’s head, heart, and stomach had been precisely pierced.

Three wounds that appeared without anyone noticing when they were inflicted.

This sight nearly caused another moment of silence, but even more surprising was:

“Wh-what was that?”

“…My goodness.”

“……”

“D-did I just see that? Was that an Aura?!”

“H-how could someone his age be an Aura user, no matter how much of a genius he is!?”

“N-no, it’s not Aura. It’s not Aura, but what on earth…?”

The public’s reactions were broadly divided into three categories.

First were those who simply marveled, not even understanding how he had won.

Those with knowledge of swordsmanship seemed utterly confused.

They couldn’t comprehend what power, similar to the Aura they had just witnessed, could be.

And the final category:

“He mixed sword naming with materialized momentum.”

“Not only did he blend two techniques, but it seems he combined Quick Sword Style, Variable Sword Style, and Phantom Sword Style. He also used spiritual energy to fill in the gaps. …It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that he can handle such techniques so freely. I can’t do that.”

“The black-haired one is strong. Really strong!”

The extremely small number of talented swordsmen who recognized what he had accomplished.

Those who could pride themselves on their skill gradually understood what sword energy Roen had unleashed.

Using the resonance phenomenon between sword and swordsman to maximize the destructive power of the sword strike—the “sword naming” phenomenon—and the “materialization of momentum” that only masters of combat techniques can perform.

After simultaneously manifesting these two techniques, he imbued the sword with three sword styles—Quick Sword, Variable Sword, and Phantom Sword—and released them all at once.

…Explained this way, it might sound simple, but it was an impossible technique.

Both sword naming and materialization of momentum require intense concentration.

Additionally, using spiritual energy as a supplementary means to deploy three sword styles at once…!

This was like writing different content with both hands simultaneously while playing a harmonica.

What does that mean?

It means he accomplished the impossible.

And this was a field that couldn’t be mastered through effort or passion alone.

It was purely a realm of talent, a new perspective distinct from sword naming.

Sword Energy Wounding (劒氣傷人).

A realm where the energy released by the sword alone can cut a person.

That would be an appropriate name for it.

“Th-that’s the genius who pioneered a new era in combat techniques…”

“And he’s younger than us?”

“Damn it! Damn it all!”

The second and third-year students despaired at his skill.

They had heard the rumors, but honestly believed them to be falsehoods fabricated in the North.

They thought they could humiliate him in a serious duel, but that wasn’t the case at all.

They couldn’t even manifest sword naming yet.

They hadn’t even qualified for it.

The gap was like that between a three-year-old child and an adult.

Yet their opponent had already mastered a technique that coexisted beyond sword naming and materialization of momentum.

A gap that could never be bridged even if they dedicated their entire lives.

It felt like a lifetime dedicated to sword and combat techniques was being denied, and their motivation was not just dampened but replaced with despair.

“…Ugh.”

Sometimes, witnessing such immense talent breaks one’s spirit.

…However.

“W-well, it’s interesting.”

“But it’s kind of ambiguous?”

“Right…?”

Unlike their despairing seniors whose spirits were broken, this year’s freshmen—

That is, the first-years who had trained under Ihan—cast subtle glances.

“It’s just combat technique being combat technique, that’s all.”

This wasn’t an assessment born from ignorance of swordsmanship or a low level of understanding.

How should one put it,

The sword energy emitting light was certainly an impressive technique, but it somehow looked ‘normal’?

After all.

“The Hundred Step Divine Fist is more impressive, actually.”

Like striking objects dozens of steps away.

“I’d rate Vajra higher, wouldn’t the instructor be fine even if hit by that sword energy?”

“No, senior. I think he’d dodge it with Divine Bow Shadow Movement.”

Or not having arrows or swords pierce the skin, or moving faster than arrows.

“No, I think a Lion’s Roar would end it. The Grand Master might erase sword energy with just one shout.”

“…I want to deny it, but why does that seem possible with him?”

They had been exposed to too many superhuman techniques.

The first-year students.

Even the noble young ladies evaluated Roen’s technique as merely a “flashy skill” and regarded it with indifference.

“The instructor is more impressive.”

They couldn’t be amazed by this when their instructor had shown them techniques that were more astonishing, creative, and bizarrely unparalleled.

Though they had been under his tutelage for less than three months, the first-year swordsmanship students had developed excessively high standards.

“…How cold, these kids. After my lord went to the trouble of showing them that, tsk.”

The reason his lord Roen was called the promising successor of the North was because of that technique, yet strangely, many seemed unimpressed.

Even Lord Maximus had widened his eyes at the sword energy.

It was absurd.

But.

‘I’m sure I was shocked when I first saw it too, but now it just seems ordinary.’

Jack found himself agreeing with their assessment, which was absurd in a different way.

He supposed it was because they had witnessed so many incredible sights while training under that man.

The assessment that came to mind was:

‘If our lord is a genius, then that man is, well…’

…Like a beast—an elephant or tiger—that somehow gained human wisdom, read books, and even published papers to earn a doctorate?

It might sound insane, but all the first-year peers would probably agree that ‘this is accurate!’

Therefore.

‘My lord, unfortunately, compared to an elephant with a doctorate, you seem like an ordinary person.’

Jack couldn’t help but look at his lord, who was born in the wrong era, with pity.

And this genius commoner(?) who faced such sympathetic gazes.

“…What’s going on?”

Why are they reacting like this?

An inexplicable sense of disappointment washed over him.

* * *

Meanwhile, there was a girl secretly cheering for him, or more precisely, for her first-year peers.

“Everyone is amazing. If I were standing in front of so many people, I wouldn’t be able to move.”

[Arin, you’ve always been weak to others’ gazes.]

Irene Windler.

She was secretly watching the evaluation matches at the Colosseum under a perception-hindering spell.

While she came partly to support her close acquaintances, nevertheless.

“The instructor isn’t here…”

[He looked very tired the day before yesterday, I wonder if he’s okay?]

She had hoped to see him.

But unfortunately, he wasn’t visible today either.

Today marked the tenth day.

The girl and the ghost worried about the knight.

After walking around with her the previous day, his expression had somehow hardened.

Afterward, he suddenly disappeared, claiming it was an intensive training period, making it impossible for even her, his neighbor, to meet him.

Additionally, yesterday when she was told he was at home and went to check:

-The knight? I’m sorry, but he’s been sleeping all day despite being tired. Even when he wakes up, he just eats and goes back to sleep. I want to wake him up, but I can’t…

…that’s what she was told.

She couldn’t help but wonder if he was avoiding her because she made him uncomfortable.

If she had her way, she’d like to live with him like the maid…

‘Are you going to say something weird?!’

[Why? I only said what’s true.]

‘You!’

When the ghost girl whispered something strange in her ear, Irene flared up.

Living with him, that seemed a bit premature…

“It’s, it’s you again?!”

[What?]

This time, the ghost shrugged, claiming she hadn’t said anything.

“You!”

As Irene Windler’s face turned bright red and she was about to shout again.

Tap.

“…Rain?”

[Wow, when did the sky get so cloudy?]

Rumble.

The sky, which had been clear just moments ago, was suddenly covered with dark clouds as if painted black.

It seemed like a downpour was imminent, and Irene blinked in surprise.

[What’s wrong, Arin?]

“…Those clouds, they’re strange.”

[Huh?]

“……”

Irene Windler might be clumsy, prone to mistakes, and lazy, but her magical aptitude was unmatched among her peer magicians.

And Irene was a magician with an affinity for wind and water.

The girl’s magical power immediately sensed something off about the dark clouds made of water vapor.

‘It doesn’t seem naturally formed? What is it…?’

Irene observed the dark clouds carefully, trying to figure out what they were, and at some point.

“Huh!!?”

[Arin?]

She couldn’t hide her shock.

‘N-no, I must have seen wrong?’

The girl tried to deny reality, but how could she deny what she had already realized?

Before long, she had to acknowledge with a pale face.

Those dark clouds….

—were moving with a life of their own.