episode_0126

“Those people are…!”

“Oh, a Sophist, Vivian.”

Vivian also noticed that the identities of those blocking them were Sophists.

“Behind me.”

Eugene immediately began to take a stance to protect Vivian.

“Trust me. I promised I would protect you. I always keep my promises.”

He appealed his confidence to the fullest.

Eugene Schneider, a Sword Expert level, no less.

Even though he is outnumbered four to one and has Vivian with him, he doesn’t think he will lose.

Of course, this isn’t just for a sincere appeal of confidence, but also to reassure Vivian, the person he’s protecting.

“I, I trust you, Eugene. I believe you will win.”

Vivian’s eyes looked quite tense.

However, she tried to calm her voice and replied, trying not to cause Eugene to waver because of her state of mind.

‘The Sophists deployed for a quest of this level would most likely have a Sword Expert. However.’

Eugene Schneider, maintaining a poker face, began to examine the opponent in detail.

‘There are four of them. I doubt a Sword Expert would bring that many people with him. I’ve heard that Sword Experts who live as mercenaries are very self-reliant. They get frustrated when their colleagues can’t keep up with their abilities.’

Eugene Schneider had heard about the tendencies of other Sword Experts.

Sword Experts, being the elite of the elite, have considerable egos, so they prefer one-on-one duels in battle.

Especially since they are Sophists, it is believed that their egos will be even stronger, so he guessed that there might not be a Sword Expert among the four Sophists.

At that moment, as Eugene Schneider was doing his own analysis,

“Hey, you with the demon blood.”

The leader-like Sophist in the middle of the six Sophists pointed out a very sensitive point.

‘Huh?’

The man mentioning Eugene’s demon blood.

Eugene felt a great sense of déjà vu at the sight.

“Heh heh heh… You have good eyes.”

Swoosh…!

Watching Eugene’s reaction, the man slowly took off his monk robe hoodie.

“Revenge should never be done simply. Shouldn’t the purpose be imprinted clearly before revenge is taken?”

Then he revealed his face under the hood to Eugene Schneider.

‘White hair?’

The man had white hair.

The moment the keywords Sophist and white hair were entered, someone suddenly came to Eugene’s mind.

‘Is he a relative of Lucas?’

It was the Sophist who fought Eugene Schneider in the Goblin Lair,

the white-haired sword user Lucas.

“I heard about my brother’s death in Pangea. And I heard the name Red Fox Mercenary Group. They said he was killed by a guy with demon blood, the son of a former Jedi.”

Thud, thud, thud.

The man who took off his hoodie walked a few more steps forward alone.

The man’s name is Ricardo.

He is Lucas’s older brother.

He came here for his brother’s revenge.

‘Demon? Sophist? Son of a former Jedi?’

Between Eugene and Ricardo, who already had a lot of information, the situation was quickly grasped with intermediate steps omitted.

On the other hand, Vivian had a mixed expression of bewilderment and embarrassment as very unfamiliar keywords were pouring out.

So she kept looking back and forth between Eugene and Ricardo.

‘I thought that if there was a guy who escaped back then, it would eventually come back as a boomerang, but to return in such an amazing form. This has become troublesome. He must have been aiming for this from the start.’

However, Eugene couldn’t afford to take care of Vivian’s psychological state.

In this case, they aren’t just people they happened to run into.

In fact, they should be seen as people who came deliberately.

Knowing that he is a demon hybrid and even a Sword Expert, they might have come up with a tailored strategy.

“But honestly, as a seeker walking the path of the sword, what I was most interested in was ultimately that.”

Fling!

The Sophists who appeared in front of Eugene and Vivian were wearing two monk robes.

One is for disguise.

Ricardo threw off the disguise monk robe.

‘That cloak color is?’

Eugene’s eyes showed quite a bit of agitation at the sight of Ricardo’s cloak that was revealed as a result.

‘A silver cloak, that guy is a Nagarjuna!’

It was Ricardo wearing a silver cloak, a different color from Lucas’s black cloak.

It was the cloak of a high-level seeker, Nagarjuna, one step above the intermediate seeker Claymore.

“You killed my brother, and you’re a Sword Expert?”

Whoosh!

Ricardo, who revealed the silver cloak of Nagarjuna, pointed his sword at Eugene Schneider.

Ricardo’s expression was as agitated as Eugene’s.

However, the difference was that Eugene felt embarrassed, while Ricardo felt interested.

“Honestly, I didn’t believe it. Because it’s the nature of swordsmen to overestimate their opponents and comfort themselves after a crushing defeat. But seeing it in person like this, it seems that the report of the surviving guy wasn’t a lie.”

Ricardo got to see his brother’s body in person.

However, that was all he indirectly experienced about the situation of the Goblin Lair battle.

The rest was just things he had grasped through the report of the surviving Sophist.

According to his report, the opponent was a mercenary, presumed to be the son of Ulysses, and seemed to have awakened as a Sword Expert towards the end.

It was clear that the content was at a level that could be dismissed as nonsense.

“Of course, it’s difficult for a sword user to maintain that posture in the current situation.”

But now it seems that the report wasn’t a lie at all.

Unless you are an awakened person in the upper tier of mental abilities, you cannot feel the special mana of a Sword Expert.

But through the experience of rolling around on the battlefield for a long time, it is possible to grasp the momentum enough,

Ricardo was convinced that Eugene’s current appearance could never be that of a sword user, based on that experience.

‘Hmm, he looks a lot like him. Seeing him talking about his brother a while ago, I guess he’s his older brother. That guy’s eyes right now are very similar to Lucas’s back then.’

And Eugene also obtained quite important information through Ricardo’s confident appearance.

At the time, Lucas had crazy eyes while facing Eugene Schneider, who was a Sword User Alpha.

He said that Eugene Schneider, who was stronger than him, would be able to push Lucas to his limits.

That feeling was also present in Ricardo’s eyes now.

It is clear that they are blood relatives, not just friends.

‘If his younger brother was a sword user and rose to the position of Nagarjuna, there’s a high possibility that that guy is also a Sword Expert.’

The look in his eyes sees Eugene Schneider as a rival,

Therefore, Eugene Schneider began to consider the possibility that Ricardo was a Sword Expert.

‘The difficulty has suddenly increased. If that guy is a Sword Expert, the rest of those guys will probably be Sword Runners or higher.’

When Ricardo’s group first appeared, Eugene guessed that about four sword users had appeared.

That’s why he was so confident in Vivian, but it seems like he’s screwed.

“I will take revenge, test my limits against a rival, and complete my mission. Demon-blooded Sword Expert Great Swordsman.”

Whoosh…!

At that moment, Ricardo took an attack stance.

Ricardo’s side couldn’t just keep talking.

Turanos’s special forces commander Adan would have already noticed that Eugene Schneider and Vivian had disappeared, and they must be chasing after them.

In other words, Ricardo doesn’t have much time to fulfill all three of the things he just said.

‘Oh… that stance, at least that bastard’s personality will be a little helpful?’

Swish…!

Eugene also immediately took a battle stance.

At the same time, he grasped the meaning of Ricardo’s attack stance and estimated the situation.

‘He’s saying that he’ll fight one-on-one for a certain amount of time. After that, if he feels like he’s losing, he’ll use drugs or gang up on me like his brother.’

There is a difference between an attack stance to play as a team and an attack stance to play solo.

Especially for those who have properly learned swordsmanship, the details show a big gap.

Ricardo’s current attack stance is extremely solo, and it is also focused on attack.

Therefore, Eugene calculates that a one-on-one battle between Ricardo and himself will take place for at least a few exchanges.

Eugene is thinking of finishing Ricardo off or dealing significant damage during that time.

“Let’s play, black-haired great swordsman!!”

ㅡFwoooooosh!!!

As Eugene thought, Ricardo separated from his subordinates behind him and came out alone like a bullet.

ㅡPapatapatapat!

The distance between Eugene and Ricardo is about 15m.

Ricardo’s explosive mana footwork decorated that distance.

‘You’re going to come at me in a straight line with the shortest distance?’

It was a no-retreat mana footwork aspect that clearly showed Ricardo’s personality.

A forward step that confirms his speed and accuracy without giving a feint,

on the other hand, Eugene Schneider

‘Then eat this and start.’

Wham!

Whoosh!

He is not the type to stubbornly stick to such orthodox methods.

Eugene, who was watching Ricardo’s no-retreat straight-line mana footwork, suddenly grabbed his greatsword underhand and took a wide step forward.

Swish!

At the same time, Eugene Schneider spread his mana footwork, sliding forward.

ㅡFwoooosh!

Then Eugene Schneider’s greatsword, swung underhand, dug straight into the dirt floor.

‘Since you’re coming at me from the front like that, I can’t help but do this on the dirt floor.’

ㅡPshashashashasha!

That thing he used on Jason in the Goblin Lair battle,

Eugene used the dirt-scattering tactic on the floor.

“!!!!!”

Ricardo, who was making a fierce straight-line movement, was surprised by the attack.

He has hardly ever fought a great swordsman, especially a great swordsman who is a Sword User or higher.

Moreover, Eugene is the type to do things that are very far from orthodox.

Although he has become a Sophist with a secret religious feel, he is a Sophist who mainly pursues direct swordsmanship, so this kind of trick is unfamiliar in a different sense.

‘Okay, you’ve got a good face. Try dodging to the side or stepping back!’

Fwoooooosh!

Moreover, Eugene is in a more developed state than when he did this to Jason.

He is taking a forward step to take follow-up action at the same time as scattering dirt forward.

Eugene is planning to catch Ricardo’s process of escaping using mana footwork.

‘Huh?’

However, Eugene Schneider’s eyes widened in surprise,

because Ricardo didn’t take the approach he was thinking of.

ㅡHweeeeeeeeee!

A tremendous wind pressure was created in front of Eugene, and the wind blew away all the dirt he had scattered.

“Lucas must have been very embarrassed.”

Fsssssssss…!

It was the wind pressure created by Ricardo.

And on Ricardo’s sword that created the wind pressure, a blue haze was rising.

The Sword Expert’s sword aura has been activated.

Fsssssssssss…!

‘He’s revealing it quickly.’

Then Eugene Schneider also floated a blue sword aura on his greatsword.