Chapter 204: Turns Out Everyone’s Plotting Something (2)

Even if a warrior learned both the Combat and Divine Technique, it didn’t mean their strength would be increased like 1+1. Divine Technique was like a [Mystic] that was exerted through ‘faith’, ‘piety’, and ‘firm prayer’ toward God. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was a [power without price], unlike Combat Technique which required one to strain one’s body.

It was pretty much a potent power that could be obtained simply by believing in God.

A knight who could use Divine Technique was not a simple knight, but a knight who could also use magic. This was why in the past, there was a time when people used to call such knights [Magic Swordsman].

Of course, if someone were to call them that these days, they’d be furious and angry. Still, the Templar Knights were those who were worthy of being called Magic Swordsman. After all, the power they had obtained was different from other knights.

Indeed, they were so strong that they could probably go toe-to-toe to the strongest knight order in the kingdom, Galahad’s knight order.

That was definitely the case, but for some reason…

Crackle-!

“Kuaaaak!”

Rumble-!

“Keuheuheukk!”

Every time the 3-meter-long whip, or rather person, was swung, the templars’ waists would bend or skid through the ground. But, those were actually the better outcomes. Among them, there were some who were completely knocked to the ground or had blood flowing from their heads, as if they had suffered serious injuries.

The templars were made aware with their whole being of the unpleasant fact that the human body was surprisingly strong and could be used as a weapon. And that they were completely helpless against it.

It wasn’t that they were weak, though…

But rather…

‘M-My body feels heavy…!’

‘Why does the Divine Technique act like this—? No, why is my body so heavy?!’

They were having a hard time exerting their usual strength. It was as if they had to move around in the water.

For some reason, the air around them was heavy, and they couldn’t move their bodies as they wanted, as if their wrists and ankles were tied with iron balls. Because of that, it was difficult for them to use the Divine Technique that they normally could use as easily as breathing.

“The technique you used, the Divine Technique. You need to ‘pray’ to God to use it, right?”

At that moment, their opponent willingly told them the reason behind why their bodies were heavy and why they were unable to use their Divine Technique as they pleased.

It was truly nothing but a display of humiliating kindness.

“I heard that the reason why the inquisitors and templars move around in groups is to buy time for their comrades to recite their prayers. In other words, not giving time to recite prayers is a way to gain the upper hand when fighting Divine Technique Users.”

Whoosh-!

“I was a little skeptical when I heard it, but it turned out to be true, huh?”

Equivalent exchange.

In this world, there truly wasn’t a power without a price. Power with only convenience without drawbacks really didn’t exist. In other words, even for the Divine Technique, one wouldn’t be able to use it if the conditions weren’t met.

“You…! What the hell are you doing?!”

The templars screamed.

Their opponent seemed to know Divine Technique well that was for sure, but they still failed to understand how he could put such intense pressure on them.

However…

“Hmm, there are still about 40 left? Woah… Can’t believe there are so many lunatics here.”

The man didn’t even entertain them with an answer and just calmly swung his whip—a person, actually—and attacked them. Receiving his attack, the templars…

Bang-!

Only got more of their blood splattered into the dirt ground below.

Woah! They really are invisible!

Actually, the templars had been misunderstanding something. Lee Han ‘couldn’t see their appearance nor hear their voice’.

He didn’t even know what kind of spell they were using—their voice, appearance, even smells were all hidden from his senses. Unless one learned the Divine Technique or magic, there was no way they could see through the Divine Technique the templars were using.

What Lee Han did was just…

Hm… They are there?

Relying completely on his ‘instincts’ to strike them.

And somehow, with just that…

Bang-!

He had a hit rate close to 90%.

Nineteenth guy.

His strikes were accurate. Every time he hit something, a sensation that felt like catching a fish on a fishing rod coursed through him through his fingertips.

However, it was impossible to tell everything with just his instincts alone, so he used another trick.

“Ha!”

Lion’s Roar.

His powerful roar that was filled with his spirit quietly spread through the forest.

This time, he used the Lion’s Roar in a different way. Normally, the roar was so intense that it could just rip apart his opponent’s eardrums, but this time, he was just using it to ‘spread his spirit around’.

I never thought the shit that the spear bastard did would be helpful at times like this.

It was a technique that came to his mind after seeing the spear bastard sending his Killing Intent to his surroundings and using it to take control of the space.

Although he did not have the vast Killing Intent that would never die down like the spear bastard did, his spirit was still something that had been honed over a long period of time.

By scattering that same spirit throughout the forest, he could sense the invisible enemies’ presences. Then, by applying some mental pressure, he could also make them unable to concentrate and recite their prayers.

I can use it like an ultrasound.

The gentle Lion’s Roar spreaded like soundwaves, revealing the locations and numbers of hidden opponents.

If people were to see him, they’d ask how could he detect his surroundings with soundwaves when he wasn’t even an animal, but he’d just throw out this answer:

‘I just did.’

In any case, thanks to that ability…

Whoosh-!

He was able to figure out the location of the guys rushing toward him without any difficulty. After a while, he let go of the human whip in his hand and started hitting them with his fist.

As he became more proficient in using the soundwaves, it became easier for him to detect their movements. At first, he only gave them light jabs, as if he was shadow boxing, but over time, his movements became rougher, and rougher.

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

He didn’t stop stepping forward, and his fist extended faster and faster.

Bang-!

One of his left hooks pierced through the opponent’s shield and hit his face.

Crackle-!

The next opponent seemed to be able to block him, but his punch dented the guy’s shield, and his uppercut broke the guy’s jaw.

Thump-!

Occasionally, he threw a Liver Shot, or a body blow that gave them hell even if he just hit them once. Both blows pierced through their armor and hit their internal organs hard. If there was no armor protecting them, the Liver Shot could really make their body explode.

Every time he showed off such simple techniques and waved them roughly, his fist kept hitting the air, and every time that happened…

Splatter-!

Blood splattered on the floor, jawbones were crushed, and sounds of something exploding inside a person’s body echoed one after another.

Whatever it was the opponent attacked him with—sword, spear, whatever—he’d break their weapons. Even if they just focused on defense with their shield, he’d still destroy those shields unceremoniously.

One punch, one kill.

At some point, the sounds of people rushing at him decreased in intensity, and he stopped for a moment and shook his hands.

“Feel the power of boxing, you medieval bastards.”

Well, it wasn’t really boxing, but rather [Energy Penetrating Attack], but since it worked, it worked.

“How long are you going to watch?”

-…

“I’m talking to you, you bastard with a giant shield.”

-!?

“You seem to be the strongest among all of them, but it seems like you’re planning to just sit there until everyone else falls. Ah, wait, are you waiting for my stamina to run out? I’m not even sweating right now, you know? Look.”

-!!!

Lee Han showed his clean forehead—without even a drop of sweat—as if provoking the invisible guy.

And as he expected, the provocation worked. The opponent’s aura turned a little agitated, and his remaining colleague seemed to be stopping him as he tried to step forward.

I see, so that guy is the caster of the invisible spell they used?

Through a series of events, he was able to guess why the guy with the strongest aura wasn’t moving. The possibility of him being the caster of the spell to hide their presence was one, and the other was probably because he was a really important person among the rest.

Regardless, those two pieces of information were enough for him.

Hence why…

“Thank you for telling me what I want to know.”

Lee Han lifted the broken iron hammer with his foot and caught it with his hand. Then, he took a stance as if he was about to kick a ball.

-Sun Piercing Spear.

Even though it was a technique that couldn’t really pierce the sun unlike its grandiose name, it was still a technique that was powerful enough to pierce a castle wall as if it was paper.

“-Everyone, evacuate immediately!”

Erhin screamed the order on top of his lungs as he raised his huge shield.

A blow filled with a chilling spirit was about to strike him, and he immediately unleashed his Divine technique.

[Great Divine Technique – Unbreakable Fortress].

It was a spell that was said to have withstood even the attacks of the Great Demon in the past. Actually, it wasn’t even a spell that could be cast alone, but one that required more than ten people to cast, but he didn’t have the leniency to ask for help from others.

However, thanks to the time his comrades bought him as they collapsed, he was barely able to recite and perform the prayer.

“Keuuuuuuu!!”

Erhin de Lohengrin. One of the most notable young men in the kingdom who was bestowed the moniker of Lohengrin’s Swan. He always carried a relaxed atmosphere and never once lost his dignity, but at this moment, he felt like he could throw away all his dignity and everything.

Not only he had to bear with the side effects of the Great Divine Technique, he also had to withstand the intense momentum that was coming at him—which his body couldn’t handle.

His eyes turned bloodshot and eventually, blood burst out of them, dying them red.

He clenched his teeth so hard that his molars broke, his skin was torn.

On top of that, he even lost consciousness for less than a half second. At that moment, he felt just how fragile the human body was.

However, his willpower didn’t waver, and he held onto one thought.

I will block it, I will block it no matter what! I will never be broken!

Divine Technique was the power of faith.

The greater the faith and the less doubt there was in his God, the stronger the power of the Divine Technique became. Since he didn’t have even the slightest doubt, he was convinced that he could block this attack.

Like a wall that would never be pierce—

“-Huh, so that’s what you look like.”

“…?”

“Bastard, you look like you’d make any woman cry. Too bad that both your arms are gone now, though.”

“…”

“Can you regenerate lost limbs with Divine Technique? Ah, I’m just asking, you don’t need to answer that.”

“Ugh…!”

Regardless, Erhin couldn’t answer.

He could only stare at his shield that had already flown away, as well as his own arms that had disappeared as if they were gobbled by the air.

And then…

“Aaaaaaaah……!”

He responded with the only thing he could do.

Screaming on top of his lungs.

After all, his noble swan wings had been—no, his faith had been broken.

Then again, in the first place, a mere wall shouldn’t even dream of blocking the attack that was meant to pierce the sun.

Less than 5 minutes after the situation broke out, two guys came running at full speed. Unfortunately for them, everything was already over by the time they arrived.

“Huff…huff…”

“Oh, you’re here?”

The two guys were none other than Derrick and Roen.

They couldn’t even respond to their teacher’s greeting. Instead, they just looked around at the horrific scene around them with a sigh.

People with limbs twisted in strange ways, people whose blood poured out through the gaps in their broken armor… There was even a giant with a bent waist, barely breathing.

Those people weren’t some third-rate criminals—they were the renowned Templar Knights. And yet, they were all lying on the ground, dying.

“Fifty templars…”

“…”

To be exact, there were 52 templars.

They were roughly 70% of the total power of the Templar Knights. No one would be able to deny if one were to claim that this would be close to a total destruction for them. But, the most absurd thing about this matter was the fact that they were subdued by a single person.

Those guys definitely weren’t weak, and yet…

“Since they couldn’t use their Divine Technique, they were pretty much on the same level as the White Cat guys, you know?”

“Divine Technique?”

“Tsk, disappointing guys. How could their level drop so much just because they can’t use their Divine Technique? This is why you shouldn’t overly rely on shit like that, you’ll end up lacking in the basics.”

The Young Masters are way better than them.

That was his honest judgment as an instructor, and the two boys stared at him, shocked by his attitude that made it seem like he was reviewing a restaurant.

However, in the next moment, something even more absurd happened.

“…Divine Power is something that can’t be blocked, Instructor. How did you do it?”

“Like this?”

Whoosh-!

“…”

“See? Like this. Hm? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because what you did is just ridiculous. Just how—”

“D-Dragon Fear!”

“?”

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

“??”

Erhin, who had lost both of his arms, lamented in a low voice.

Seeing this, the two boys just blinked, thinking that the man had gone crazy. They wondered what kind of nonsense the guy was spouting.

And to him who was like that.

“Bloodline this bloodline that. This is why you nobles are hopeless.”

“…Why are you looking at me?”

“Aren’t you a noble too?”

“I’ll say this to you again in case you forget, Instructor.”

Please stop hating the nobles.

Seriously, please, it’s scaring me.