The True Hecleus’s Style 4

‘Level… up…?’

Why would those words leave that fiend’s mouth?

“Kuhuhuhuh…”

Despite being covered in wounds, Berthe gazed at Doyun with a low chuckle.

And then.

“…!”

He vanished.

In that instant, Doyun felt his body abruptly lifted, propelled helplessly forward.

Kwang!

His body slammed into the ground.

“Doyun!”

Haineken cried out in shock.

Even he had momentarily lost track of Berthe’s movement. The fiend had swiftly repositioned behind Doyun, attacking him from the rear.

Unable to feel pain, Doyun half-rose, regarding Berthe.

From afar, Berthe gazed back at him with a nonchalant smile.

And before he vanished again, Doyun caught his muttered words.

“Hecleus’s Style. Ground Contraction.”

“…Ground Contraction?”

An aspect of Hecleus’s Style absent from Doyun’s memories.

He had no time to ponder it.

Doyun immediately rolled aside with all his might, as Berthe reappeared overhead, stomping down where he had been.

Kwahng!

Amidst the upturned earth, Berthe murmured.

“Tch. That level of perception is truly astounding.”

Berthe clicked his tongue, his demeanor oozing nonchalance.

But Doyun responded with silence, rising to launch Hecleus’s True Strike once more.

A strike leaving the opponent two choices – deflect or evade.

However, Berthe demonstrated a third option.

Extending his index and middle fingers, he lightly jabbed the precise center of Doyun’s fist with immense precision.

Pik-

Crunch-

“…!”

Doyun’s right shoulder was completely dislocated, the force driving it back.

‘This is…!’

A technique embodying a level of finesse uncharacteristic of Hecleus’s Style.

Akin to the Spear Rebound Doyun had used against the Imp – precisely meeting the opponent’s spearpoint to deflect its entire momentum, shattering their grip.

‘Busker’s Swordsmanship. Extreme Rebuff…?’

An uncannily similar technique.

“How’s that? A technique combining both overwhelming force and delicate precision. Truly beautiful, is it not?”

Berthe licked his lips, unable to contain his satisfaction.

“After the deaths of the Hero and Sword Saint 100 years ago, the Fist Saint seemed to undergo a profound change. Spending his life roaming battlefields alone like a wild horse, never facing or cooperating with others in the Alliance…”

Despite being a Legion Commander, reverence and awe were evident on Berthe’s face as he spoke of Hecleus.

“He must have lived longing for his two sole understanders, his departed friends. The proof lies in the evolution of Hecleus’s Style he cultivated over the 40 years after Enoch’s demise.”

He regarded his own hands.

“Hecleus’s Style, evolved by incorporating Busker’s and Razvolnic’s principles – the true, perfected form!”

Once more, he gazed at some empty space before him, his body quivering with rapturous delight.

“To attain the pinnacle of martial arts, Hecleus’s Style Level 8 Rate A… I, the Armored Dragon Kyu-ryong, have finally acquired the ability to wield it…!”

Berthe looked down disdainfully at Doyun, who was resetting his shoulder with a crunch.

“Just how you came to learn Hecleus’s Style is uncertain… but even you could only utilize the outdated, incomplete Hecleus’s Style from 100 years ago – a downgraded, legacy version.”

He bared his vicious fangs in a viscous grin.

“You cannot defeat me. This war… is my victory, insect.”

Neither Doyun nor Haineken could comprehend Berthe’s words.

Leveling up? Skill Level 8?

‘Could it be…’

With lingering doubts, Doyun used his trait [First Guild Master] to inspect Berthe’s status.

And then.

Ting!

An alert chime sounded – one that should never be heard.

[Status Window]

Name: Berthe

Race: Dragon / Divine Beast

Affiliation: Demon Lord’s Army

Talent: Genius

Stats:

Strength – Level 8

Agility – Level 8

Vitality – Level 7

Endurance – Level 9

Mana – Level 8

Innate Traits:

[Divine Beast]

[Armored Dragon Kyu-ryong]

.

.

.

Acquired Traits:

[Legion Commander]

[Fallen Dragon]

.

.

.

Skills:

[Hecleus’s Pugilism Style Lv. 8 Rate A]

.

.

.

Doyun could scarcely believe the reality before him.

“You… how could you…”

At last, the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Legion Commanders were monsters whose immense power was predetermined from birth, incapable of further growth.

And yet, the Demon Lord’s imp forces had grown stronger. The Tsunami Tamer and officers had grown stronger. The Demon Lord’s army had grown stronger.

And right before his eyes, Berthe had grown exponentially, terrifyingly stronger in an instant.

“You lot…”

Doyun murmured, eyes widening.

“Have been granted the System’s blessings…!”

Upon hearing this, Haineken’s mouth fell agape in shock.

“It was treated as a classified secret of sorts, but what does it matter – you’re all doomed anyway.”

“Just how could this be…!”

“Do you think divinity belongs solely to you?”

Behind Berthe, the Demon Lord’s high officers grinned triumphantly.

“The former Demon Lord, a mortal existence who momentarily attained the divine realm. And the current Demon Lord who directly inherited her power. She is our deity.”

“…Are you saying the current Demon Lord also created the System’s blessings?”

Inconceivable.

The System’s Blessing – one of this world’s three great miracles, an awe-inspiring divine force.

The manifestation of holy power. The Avatar of the Hero Enoch Razvolnic. And the third was the System’s Blessing itself.

Particularly the System – a grand miracle for which the Deity had paid with self-imposed shackles. Something even the Demon Lord, who had briefly tasted divinity, could never replicate.

“…Well, not a complete replication, but still.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lord Berthe!”

Berthe closed his mouth at the Necrotic Gardener’s urgent call, having been about to divulge more. Even in this advantageous situation, some secrets were better left unsaid.

“…Got a bit too carried away in my elation. Nearly slipped up.”

He twisted his neck with a crunch.

“You must understand. As one grows old, one becomes a tad too loquacious. But enough idle chatter – time to bring this to a close.”

He grinned wickedly.

“Be utterly overwhelmed by the awe-inspiring Hecleus’s Style Level 8 Rate A, the pinnacle of martial arts, insect.”

Berthe unleashed a fist of overwhelming, cataclysmic destructive force, worlds apart from his previous strikes.

Doyun responded as before with Hecleus’s True Strike, but the dynamics had shifted completely.

The moment Doyun’s right fist met Berthe’s,

Crack-

“…!”

An ominous sound accompanied his arm shattering under immense force.

Ttohng–!!

And ultimately struck head-on, Doyun was sent hurtling back like a cannonball, leaving a massive shockwave as he slammed into the Alliance ranks.

Kwagwang!

“Aaakk!”

“Uwahh!! My leg! My leg!!”

That single, glancing blow – not even a direct hit – instantly inflicted over a thousand casualties among the Alliance forces from the mere shockwaves alone.

“Fall back! Everyone fall back!!”

Haineken roared to the commanders. In this clash of overwhelmingly powerful beings, the rank-and-file were utterly useless – mere casualties waiting to happen if caught in the crossfire.

Soon, the terrified troops hastily retreated, the battlefield obscured by thick clouds of dust.

“You too, withdraw!”

“No, we shall remain. The Master requires healing and protection!”

The elite Panthera Guild members guarding and treating Haineken spoke resolutely. Even after witnessing the Legion Commander’s monstrous prowess, their resolve remained unshaken.

“…Suit yourselves. Stay and die with me then.”

“It would be an honor.”

Despite coughing up blood, Haineken couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.

Reinvigorated with courage, he staggered upright, clutching his spear shaft. He had to aid Doyun, for their sakes if nothing else.

But.

“How poignant. Very well, I shall grant you all death together.”

The 3m giant’s form blocked his path amidst the dust clouds.

‘When did he…!’

Once more, Haineken had failed to track Berthe’s Ground Contraction speed.

“Die.”

Fwoong-

The mere shockwave from Berthe’s fist leaving his waist instantly dispersed the surrounding dust clouds.

Facing that massive fist, feeling his hair rippling from the gale pressure, Haineken truly sensed his own demise approaching.

‘Ah…’

So in the end, I too will close my eyes on the battlefield.

Faces flashed through his mind like a zoetrope – his sister Annie, his Master, Leah, Vilarn’s Dragon King candidates, and Doyun.

‘I’m sorry, Annie.’

In this cruel world… live long, I beg you.

His eyes slowly closed.

But in that moment he mistook for his last, the sound reaching his ears was not that of his skull shattering, but rather:

Pik-

A deft, precise hand movement.

Crunch-

The thick sound of Berthe’s arm shattering.

“…!”

Berthe suddenly glanced down at his completely dislocated shoulder in bewilderment.

“Ah…”

Before him, and before Haineken, stood Han Doyun with his right arm dangling lifelessly, shattered beyond repair.

His left index and middle fingers extended, inspecting their very tips.

“You…!”

The technique Doyun had just used was Berthe’s Ground Contraction from the new Hecleus’s Style.

And likewise, it was the Extreme Rebuff from that same new Hecleus’s Style Berthe had demonstrated.

“You…!”

He could utilize the new Hecleus’s Style as well…!? No, impossible!!

In Berthe’s stunned silence, unable to find words, and behind the equally dumbstruck Haineken and his guild members gaping at Doyun.

Doyun murmured softly.

“Perfected form, evolution, progression… you may grasp the System’s power to mimic it, but you fail to comprehend its true essence.”

Longer than even the Fist Saint himself, for over a century, this man had trained and researched Hecleus’s Style – Enoch Razvolnic.

“Hecleus’s Style was, and remains to this day…”

The aura of Hecleus’s Style rippled around his body.

“…a complete, perfected martial art from its inception.”