Chapter 4: I Thought It Was Dark Fantasy, But It Was a Romance (3)

Thanks to the diligent care of the Nordelheim duke’s daughter, I recovered enough to move again in just three weeks.

I didn’t hesitate and picked up my sword.

This world was a ticking time bomb, its end always looming.

Lazing around, wasting time, meant I might not see the collapse coming until it was too late.

I had to master the use of those red and blue waves I’d glimpsed as quickly as possible.

I swung my sword, blindly following the waves.

Each time I aligned my blade with them, an inexplicable vibration coursed through my body.

It wasn’t just a simple tremor.

The moment I swung along the waves, my blade quivered, its power amplifying dramatically.

The increase in force was nearly double.

My sluggish strike clashed against Sir Dolfin’s blade, a seasoned knight.

The sound wasn’t the dull clang of steel on steel but a clear, resonant chime.

Ping!

Sir Dolfin’s sword was knocked back.

Stunned, he stared at me. “Ian, what did you do with that strike?”

“I’m not sure myself. Since Bephart, I’ve had this… realization, but I don’t fully understand it.”

“Your talent never ceases to amaze,” he said, shaking his head.

The sword swung along the waves always amplified its power, regardless of speed or strength.

I sparred with other knights, piecing together what these waves were.

With each training session, the vibration I’d felt during the Bephart fight deepened.

At first, it was in my muscles, then my bones, nerves, and senses, expanding outward.

The waves grew clearer, transforming from splattered paint on a canvas to sharp, distinct lines.

I decided to call this phenomenon Pulse.

Once my body fully recovered, I returned to the special task force as its leader.

With Krim’s death, I, the next most senior, naturally took the role.

The Bephart battle had wiped out the entire unit except me, and new recruits filled the empty spots.

I felt a pang of grief for Yulen and Krim, but I forced myself to shake it off.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ian. What’s your name?” I asked.

A lively blonde woman with healthy, sunkissed skin—rare for the North—saluted me. “I’m Rie. I’ve heard the rumors. You’re the charming guy who’s got both the duke’s daughter and the commander wrapped around your finger, right?”

“…?”

“Why do you look like you have no idea what I’m talking about? Don’t tell me it’s not true?” she teased.

“Why do these ridiculous rumors keep spreading? For the record, no.”

“But isn’t it true the duke’s daughter visited you every day with herbs?”

Freya Nordelheim.

The duke’s daughter had indeed brought bundles of herbs daily during my recovery.

Thanks to her, I healed quickly, but it sparked yet another rumor, separate from the fiancée nonsense.

“Well… that part’s true,” I admitted.

“See? You are charming,” Rie said with a grin.

I had no response.

Leading the task force, I hunted fiends and great beasts.

I never skipped a day of training with the Pulse.

At some point, I found myself focusing more on Pulse than aura.

Unless you reached aura mastery, Pulse was far more efficient.

My efforts paid off—I could now project Pulse through my weapon.

A Pulseinfused sword pierced the armor of a great beast.

A werewolflike creature in armor had a hole blasted through its chest.

Such destructive power was impossible with aura alone.

Only with Pulse could I deliver a blow that instantly killed the beast.

Beyond the hole in its chest, I saw a scorched section of the snowy mountain.

Rie and Nazhar, my squad mates, stared at me in shock.

“Ian, what was that?” Rie asked.

“I came to back you up—whoa! Do we even need to be here anymore?” Nazhar exclaimed.

As I trained with Pulse, I grew stronger, and my senses sharpened.

It wasn’t just about amplifying power anymore—I could anticipate attacks.

I could read the Pulse, which shifted with an opponent’s thoughts and emotions.

I could now hold my own against regular knights without losing.

“I yield,” a knight said as his training sword shattered, fragments scattering across the training ground.

That made eleven victories.

Using Pulse to sense attacks and amplify power had boosted my win rate from 20% to nearly 80%.

“How did you do that, Ian?” the knight asked.

“It’s a phenomenon I call Pulse. I can’t fully explain it yet, but it lets me read attacks in advance or amplify my strikes.”

“That’s cheating,” he muttered.

I developed several techniques using Pulse.

Some allowed me to predict attacks, others infused Pulse into my weapon for devastating strikes.

I named them collectively Pulse Techniques.

Once I’d reached a certain mastery, I decided to teach these techniques to my squad.

If Pulse Techniques could replace aura, it might change everything.

Teaching them was a struggle from the start.

Rie, Nazhar, and the others couldn’t even sense the Pulse, let alone use it.

I’d stumbled upon it by chance, so I didn’t know how to teach others to feel it.

“No way I can see paint splatters or lines,” Rie complained. “You said you only saw it when you were on the brink of death, right?”

“I can’t see it either,” Nazhar added.

If I couldn’t pass this on, Pulse would remain my personal skill.

But that wouldn’t do.

This wasn’t just my fight.

It was a war we all had to face together.

As I grappled with this, time passed, and the second great beast hunt began.

Licorice Radiata.

This great beast, which had appeared six years ago, didn’t hide its face with a helmet like others.

With a humanlike face etched with pain, it ravaged the front lines.

The strategy was to encircle Radiata with troops, then deploy elite fighters to take it down.

The goal was to trap it and eliminate it with a small, elite team.

Eight of us, including Irina and me, were chosen for the hunt.

Radiata regenerated by absorbing the blood of its victims, so a small, precise team was essential.

“Encirclement complete!” Irina shouted, planting a massive imperial flag.

“Let the hunt begin!”

At her signal, the eight of us, hidden among the encircling troops, charged at Radiata.

We dodged bloodthorns and spikes that swept across wide areas.

Breaking through its coagulated bloodarmor, six of us reached striking distance.

Two—Senric Veilheart and Rowenfall—died in the initial push.

We attacked Radiata from all sides with our weapons.

Frost spears, heavy hammers, doubleedged axes, short spears, swords, and scythes.

Each of us was a veteran of countless battles.

Our prehunt coordination paid off.

We parried, created openings, and rotated attacks seamlessly.

Radiata, adept at multicombat, clashed with us through dozens of exchanges.

Then, Lunette Carewin, wielding the heavy hammer, had her neck severed.

Ignoring her collapsing body, a scythe carved through the gap in Radiata’s shoulder armor.

For a fleeting moment, its right arm froze.

In that instant, Irina’s frost spear and my steel sword pierced its armor, slicing the flesh beneath.

“Kill it!” Irina roared.

“Galvard!” I shouted.

As Galvard’s doubleedged axe swung to decapitate Radiata—

Boom!

Galvard’s body, headless, crashed to the ground.

His corpse fell with a sickening thud, dead without a scream.

A halftransparent great beast emerged, trampling his body.

“What the hell is that?!” I yelled.

“Damn it!” another cried.

Screams echoed among the encircling troops.

Another great beast, leading a horde of fiends, had launched an assault on the front.

Radiata absorbed the blood of Carewin and Galvard, regenerating.

Irina bit her lip, glancing back.

I stepped in front of her, gripping my sword.

“Commander, help the others. I’ll handle this.”

Her eyes trembled with the same guilt I’d seen before—the fear of letting more comrades die.

I gave a small smirk and added, “It’s fine. I’ll survive.”

It was a reassurance.

For her, and for myself.

Irina muttered softly, “…I’m counting on you.”

Without another word, she rushed to aid the other soldiers.

I charged at the two great beasts alone.

Unlike the Bephart fight, where I’d survived alone to buy time, this was different.

This time, I wouldn’t just hold them off—I’d kill them.