Chapter 178

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Inield, whose entire body was trembling in agitation.

'Is he at the level of an advanced Expert?'

Inield's behavior was completely foolish, but the energy coming from him was similar to an advanced Expert. He was definitely not weak. There was a good reason for Morell allowing the duel.

However, neither Inield nor Morell managed to discern Raon's might. They were likely thinking that he was an intermediate Expert based on what he showed on the outside.

'He's certainly skilled, but he's somewhat sloppy.'

Compared to his pressure, Inield's prowess wasn't exactly sturdy. It didn't look like he had much experience with actual fights.

"Argh!"

Inield ground his teeth, glaring at Raon's huge club.

"Are you looking down on me? Draw your sword immediately!"

He pointed at Heavenly Drive, which was hanging around Raon's waist.

"This sword has never been used. It's too good to be used against you."

"You damn bastard! I'm really going to kill…"

He started swearing but stopped himself after taking a glance at the princess behind him. He was extraordinary in a bad way, considering he was paying attention to the princess in such a situation.

"What's happening here to cause such a crowd?"

"They are apparently having a duel. Moreover, it's between Zieghart and Balkar!"

"Two of the Six Kings? That's crazy!"

"Woaaah!"

Since they were in front of the city hall, which usually had a large amount of traffic, people had gathered and surrounded them in no time.

"I wonder who's going to win."

"Sadly, the outcome is already decided."

"It's obviously Balkar."

"Why? Zieghart is also one of the Six Kings."

"The blonde guy with long hair is Inield. He's a student of Morell, who is a 5th-circle magician. I heard his fist, which uses two attributes, is really outstanding. On the other hand, the handsome fellow over there looks young, and his name isn't famous either."

"Hey guys, stop talking so much and come here to make a bet! We can't just sit by when something this great is happening!"

Since there were so many people, they naturally started to gamble. However, most people believed that Inield would win after hearing about his fame.

"Haa, fine. I'll make you regret not drawing your sword."

Inield smiled gladly upon hearing the spectators praising him. He really was a consistent guy, considering he wasn't angry and excited anymore after a bit of praise.

"Get ready to kneel and beg for forgiveness in front of the princess after you lose!"

Inield equipped his combat glove, then gathered his hands in front of him. He chanted a spell to accelerate the flow of his mana, and his whole body started to radiate with it.

"We are starting, right?"

Raon smiled coldly and kicked the ground. He reached the area in front of Inield in the blink of an eye, then swung the club—which was the size of an adult body.

"Wh-What? Shield!"

Inield panicked while chanting a buff spell, hurriedly using shield magic. A blue barrier appeared in front of him, but it was pointless. Everything was equalized by a club.

Clang!

The shield was shattered like glass, and the blunt club smacked into Inield's ribs.

Smaack!

With a frightening sound like a shattering boulder, Inield was bounced back like a ball, falling his head-first to the ground.

Whoosh…

The jaws of the dozens of people surrounding them dropped at the sight of the steam coming from Raon's club.

"Wh-What?"

"That movement just now…"

"I almost couldn't see anything!"

"How did he do that with such a big…"

It wasn't just the spectators. The Balkar Kingdom's magicians also turned pale and stiff.

"Inield!"

Morell used his mana to shout, and Inield, who had collapsed on the ground, hurriedly stood.

"Huff! Huff!"

He was breathing heavily and his whole body was drenched in cold sweat, but he looked rather intact considering that he had been hit by a club.

"I knew it."

Raon snickered, looking at the ring on Inield's right hand.

"Is it an artifact?"

He felt like he was hitting a bag full of beans when he smacked Inield with his club. As expected of the Balkar Kingdom, which was famous for their artifacts. He must've been wearing an artifact to enhance his physical defense.

"Y-You bastard! How could you do that?"

Inield screamed, his eyes red.

"What?"

"Why would you attack me while I'm preparing? You coward!"

"Prepare? What preparation?"

"I was casting buff magic! How could you attack during that? Don't you have any honor?"

He called him a coward while looking around him, as if he was the victim of unfairness.

"Coward?"

Raon swung the club onto his shoulder, tilting his head.

"Are you going to say that on the battlefield as well?"

"What?"

"I'm asking whether you are going to ask to stop because you aren't ready when a blade is right next to your neck."

"Th-This is different from that! This is a duel!"

"A magician started to cast a spell during a duel. Isn't that pretty much the starting signal? You were the one that made the first move here."

"Th-That's…"

Raon looked coldly at Inield, who was unable to answer, his lips trembling. He continued to speak.

"A magician using their magic is the same as a swordsman drawing their sword. If you want a duel where the opponent waits for you like playing house, you should do that at home instead."

"D-Don't humiliate Balkar!"

"I'm humiliating you, not Balkar."

"What you said doesn't concern me, but…"

"You talk way too much."

Raon swung his club. The powerful wind pressure crushed Inield's voice.

"Are you doing it or not?"

"Argh, I won't be careless anymore!"

Inield jumped back, quickly beginning to cast buff magic. All kinds of buffs, including haste, strength, and iron skin, seeped into his body.

"..."

This time, Raon stood still and watched until he finished casting all of his buffs.

"You fool! It's pointless for you to try and keep your honor now!"

"I wasn't standing still because of honor, but because it would be annoying if you started whining once again."

"You are all talk!"

With fire in his right hand and wind in his left hand, Inield disappeared from view. His presence reappeared behind Raon. He wasn't moving quickly—his presence literally disappeared, then reappeared. It was the short-distance movement spell, Blink.

"Die!"

Inield thrust his fist in a systematic path, storming with wind and fire. The powerful attack was directed at Raon's ribs. It was a childish attack, an attempt to return what he had suffered.

"That's too obvious."

With no agitation at all, Raon stomped the ground and turned his body around. The powerful force coming up from his ankle turned into a rotation of his waist as he swung his club.

Whoosh!

The powerful strike of the club clashed with Inield's magic fist, mingling with wind and fire.

"You idiot!"

Inield snorted, watching as Raon's club approached him. He had a fast reaction speed, one befitting a swordsman, but he seemed to have the classic smooth brain of a swordsman as well—after all, he was trying to pierce through the combined magic of the fifth circle spells Wind Torrent and Flame Dagger with a mere club.

'I'll burn you up immediately!'

He was about to concentrate more mana in order to burn that handsome face…

'Huh?'

The club that should've burned up a long time ago was right under his nose.

'Wh-What is happening?'

Even though it was a big club, it was just made out of wood. He couldn't believe that it was crushing his magic instead of burning up from the powerful heat.

'No way, is he actually using aura with his club?'

The bigger the weapon, the blunter it was, the more difficult it was to use aura. That was the reason there were so few hammers or morning star masters in comparison to sword masters.

However, that crazy guy seemed to be using aura with his club. Inield thought he was all talk, but he actually seemed skilled.

"Kwaaa!"

Inield shouted to increase his mana, but it was pointless. The club bludgeoned through the fifth circle combination magic with its tremendous power.

"B-Blink!"

Inield eventually gave up on the engagement and withdrew. He was planning to aim for an opening by using another spell after backing off.

'I-I did a good job getting out of there. I would've been beaten up again otherwi… Huh?'

As he was breathing a sigh of relief and watching his magic melt away, a shadow appeared above his head. When he raised his head to look at it, a huge club was falling down on him, hiding the sun.

"Ah…"

His mind went blank. His lips parted, and he was unable to even think about using Blink or Shield.

"Blink won't work anymore."

Raon smiled faintly, then slammed the club down.

Whaam!

With a shockwave powerful enough to make a crater on the ground, Inield fell. A significant amount of shock was absorbed, probably because the artifact was still functioning.

"Nice, you can take a beating."

A frightening light reflected in Raon's eyes as he raised the club.

"W-Wait! Wait! I los… Kuaah!"

Before Inield could surrender, Raon smacked him with the club once again.

Smaack!

Along with a wind fierce enough to turn the sand covering the ground into a whirlwind, Inield soared towards the sky.

"It's really nice that you won't die even if I beat you up at full strength."

Raon grabbed the club with both hands, then sent Inield flying as he fell.

Slaam!

Alongside the tremendous sound of exploding air, Inield slammed into the ground in a sprawl. Two of the rings he was wearing on his hand became dust and scattered into the air.

"Keuh…"

Apparently, he didn't have any other shock-absorbing artifacts except for the rings. Inield was unable to stand and just kept groaning.

"D-Don't kill…"

"I won't kill you."

Raon looked down on Inield with the club on his shoulder.

"But you tend to speak a bit too much. You should practice silence for a while."

He smacked his mouth while saying that.

Smack!

Along with a pleasant sound, teeth fell out of his mouth.

"Krrr…"

With his head knocked back, his eyes rolled back. He wasn't dead, but he was going to suffer for a while.

Raon shook off the blood from the club and smiled slightly.

'It's refreshing.'

Raon didn't care about whether or not he liked women or tried to attract their attention, but Inield had used Raon in order to get the princess's attention. Raon felt so refreshed, as if he had managed to relieve his stress by beating the other man up because he talked too much and acted like a child.

That's so harsh…

Wrath shook his head while looking at Inield, who was as limp as a rag.

The King of Essence would've finished him in a single strike instead of giving him so much pain.

'I still controlled my strength.'

If he really used his full strength, Inield would've died from the first strike. He went easy on him, despite how it looked.

Humans are just so cruel, despite being weak.

'Not really. Killing him is more…'

As Raon was shaking his head—

[You managed to invoke Wrath's admiration.

Strength has increased by 1.]

'Oh.'

The system came to give him stats, then left.

Wh-What's wrong with it? When did the King of Essence ever admire you?

'You admired my cruelty.'

N-No, that was just a figure of speech!

'You are a king, right? And the great king of Devildom on top of that.'

Y-Yes.

'It can't be just a manner of speech when it came from such a great king. All your words must be meaningful, mustn't they?'

That's…

'Anyway, it's nice that I got stats from beating a weakling like him.'

Wrath ground his teeth as he looked at Raon, who was checking his stats.

D-Damn it. You are so damn good at running your mouth.

That greasy Inield just talked too much, and Raon was good at running his mouth. Wrath could feel it every single time that he couldn't win against him with words.

I shouldn't face him…

Creak.

The spectators, who were blankly staring at Raon, finally snapped out of it upon hearing the collapsing sound of the ground that Inield was slammed into.

"Zieghart's young swordsman apparently won. And with an overwhelming difference, on top of that…"

"Gasp!"

"Am I dreaming right now?"

"It's my first time in my life witnessing someone using an aura on his club…"

"Does Zieghart even teach their students how to use clubs nowadays?"

"It's so crazy. He doesn't even look twenty years old yet…"

They swallowed nervously while examining Raon, who defeated Inield so easily.

"D-Did Sir Inield really lose?"

"Moreover, he lost to a club, not even a sword…"

"W-Wasn't it because he was careless?"

"No way! He even used Blink! He just couldn't dodge it!"

"How could this…"

Balkar's magicians stared at the collapsed Inield in disbelief, their lips trembling.

"Well, since the duel is over, the stakes shall be redistributed. Those that bet on Zieghart's victory, come this way. The odds are four to two!"

The person that started the bet quickly raised his hand.

"I got a jackpot!"

"I'll prostrate in Zieghart's direction every day from now on!"

"Zieghart's handsome swordsman! I'll buy liquor for you today!"

"M-Me! It's me!"

The Light Wind's familiar cheerful voice was mixed in between the people rejoicing over the money they got from gambling.

"Uhahaha! It's a jackpot!"

The red-haired elf, who had participated in the bet at some point, was giggling as he looked at the twenty gold he had in his hand.

"I knew it was a good idea to borrow money before coming here. I never lose when I bet on Raon! It would've been perfect if I had a bit more money to be…"

"Rimmer."

As Rimmer was taking the gold and laughing, Morell grabbed his shoulder.

"…What is that guy?"

Morell's astonished face couldn't be called merely surprised anymore.

"Is he a monster that Zieghart is secretly raising? How could he be hiding an energy that even I couldn't detect? What the hell is that guy?"

"It's my first time seeing that expression on your face."

Rimmer smiled, putting the gold in his inner pocket. It was his first time seeing him so flustered, since Morell was an extremely composed person despite being a fire magician.

"Have you ever heard of the Sword Demon of Habun Castle?"

"Are you talking about that crazy guy that defended the collapsed castle wall from below during a wave?"

"Yes. That crazy guy is him."

"I see. Habun Castle's Sword Demon was a Zieghart swordsman, just as I expected. However, I didn't think he would be that young."

Morell narrowed his eyes as he looked at Raon. He didn't care about his defeated student or the bet anymore. He was simply filled with surprise over Raon.

"Rather than the past, I'm more looking forward to his future. You should watch him closely, since he will become a lot more famous soon enough."

"Stop boasting. He's indeed amazing, but there's a similar one in Balkar…"

"I won't accept it!"

The two people looked to the right, where a sharp voice suddenly spoke.

"I won't accept a duel like this!"

Princess Jayna was walking towards Raon, biting her red lip.

* * *

Raon tilted his head, watching as Jayna got in the way.

"What are you not accepting?"

"This match!"

Jayna glared at Inield under her feet and continued.

"I didn't accept it!"

"But the duel was performed with the consent of your group's leader."

Raon pointed at Morell, who was watching them with surprised eyes.

"He's not the leader, I am!"

Jayna confidently pointed at herself. It certainly could be the case. Prestigious families often put their successors in as leaders, in name only, in order to have them gain experience.

However, he wasn't going to overlook the matter just because of that.

"That won't do."

"What?"

"If you were going to say that, you should've said it before the fight ended. Telling me that you won't accept it when the fight's already over is pretty much proving your bad qualities by yourself."

"I-I couldn't talk about…"

"Moreover, this man was using Balkar's name and Zieghart's name."

Raon pointed at the still-unconscious Inield with his chin.

"The fact that you didn't stop him when he mentioned our respective affiliations means that you implicitly allowed him to do so. Are you going to keep insisting on it despite having staked Balkar's name? I guess your kingdom's name has no significance."

"He's right. She should've stopped earlier if she wanted to."

"I know, right? It's already all over, so why is she acting like that?"

"The way she keeps insisting after it's all over is so ugly."

The spectators whispered, their voices barely audible to Jayna.

"Ugh…"

As they scornfully looked at her, she scowled intensely.

"Sh-Shut up! This fight was wrong from the beginning!"

"Fine. Then I'll give you a chance."

As she was screaming at the spectators, Raon picked up the club from the ground.

"If you fight and win against me, I'll nullify the previous match."

"F-Fight? Between you and me?"

"Why are you so surprised? Did you think I'd just overlook it with no price?"

"I…"

Jayna's gaze was directed at the bloody club. It looked like she couldn't say that she wanted to fight after seeing the club that beat up Inield like a dog just a moment ago.

She swallowed nervously and turned around. She was looking at Morell, but he was just silently watching her. He seemed to be telling her to just admit defeat.

"No! Balkar can't lose to Zieghart!"

"If you don't want to admit it, you should fight me instead of squawking like that. Come at me."

Raon smiled coldly and raised the club. An energy even more powerful than when he smacked Inield was flowing on the club, aimed towards Jayna.

"Ugh…"

Overwhelmed by that tremendous pressure, Jayna couldn't even open her mouth. She just stood there with trembling hands.

"Do they specialize in running their mouths? All of them are all talk."

"May I take over that one?"

While Martha was smiling coldly, a pleasant voice could be heard among the Balkar Kingdom's knights.

'Is this another idiot?'

Raon turned his head to see which idiot yielded to his instincts again.

A knight in his late twenties that wasn't exactly tall, but had a sturdy build, stepped forward. His eyes were clear and straightforward unlike Inield's. He seemed interested in his might, rather than the princess.

"My name is Zatice, from the Balkar Kingdom's Torrent Knights. If it's not a problem, I'd like to try stopping Sir Raon's sword."

He politely saluted with his sword after walking up to him.

"Are you confident?"

"Not yet."

Zatice confidently said that he wasn't confident in winning. However, he said 'not yet'. That meant that he believed he would win one day. Although his might didn't even seem to be at an intermediate Expert level, he could feel an unshakable will that surpassed his level.

'Balkar's knight, huh…?'

Since Balkar was a magic Kingdom, magicians were their main force rather than the knights. It was rumored that the knights had no power nor passion, to the point where they were called the magician's meatshields, but Raon couldn't feel anything like that from him.

"Fine."

Raon nodded and raised his club.

Zatice lowered his posture, raising his thick sword diagonally. He wasn't trying to avoid or retreat. He seemed to intend on stopping his attack, just like he said.

'That won't do.'

Raon slightly tilted the club in an instant. It was a trajectory that could never be deflected.

"Hmph!"

Zatice's focus was at an extraordinary level. As soon as he noticed the club's distorted direction, he gave up on deflecting it and focused all his power on defense.

Slaaam!

The clash between the club imbued with a mighty energy and the sword imbued with sturdy aura created a compressed shockwave.

Whoosh.

Amidst the subsiding gray current of air, Zatice could be seen holding a shattered sword. Even though the sword was broken, and he was kneeling, he still hadn't collapsed. Even though he must have been feeling an extreme amount of pain, he was gritting his teeth to endure it, still holding his broken sword.

"I-I've lost."

Zatice acknowledged his defeat, smiling faintly. However, his eyes were glittering even more than in the beginning. It looked like he managed to feel something from it.

'Not all of them are idiots.'

He fought fair and square, and acknowledged his defeat. Befitting the name of a famous Kingdom, not all of them were idiots. The man named Zatice had the potential of reaching a higher place as a warrior.

"Argh! He lost again! Why are those idiots acting up to ruin it for me?!"

However, Jayna's opinion seemed to differ. She glared at Zatice, who was spitting blood from his mouth, and burst the bubble of peace just as the situation was being settled.

"This also happened because he decided to act up on his own, so I won't accept it!"

Raon was irritated by her childish reaction.

"Princess Jayna."

Raon put down the club and stood in front of Jayna.

"I'll tell you this as the vice-squad leader of the Light Wind squad of Zieghart. If you speak recklessly one more time, I'll consider it an offense against Zieghart and draw my sword."

He tapped his scabbard, and the energy wave he'd been hiding so far burst from him like a tidal wave.

Whaam!

The overwhelming power crushed not only Jayna's spirit but also her emotions. Raon was the one that was dominating the space.

"Aww…"

Jayna bit her lip, sinking to the ground. She started breathing heavily, unable to endure Raon's frightening pressure.

"Answer."

"Huff…"

Raon didn't decrease his pressure. As Jayna started to drool from her mouth, Morell—who had been hanging back—was standing behind her already.

Whoosh!

The heat appearing from his hand pushed away Raon's pressure, cutting off the rope of aura that was seizing Jayna.

"That's enough."

Morell grabbed Jayna's trembling shoulder to pull her back, shaking his head. Her eyes lost focus, as if she were unconscious.

"Sniff…"

Considering she couldn't even look in his direction, the fear seemed to have deeply engraved in her brain.

"She's still immature, as she was raised as a sheltered child of the Kingdom."

"There's no reason for us to be considerate of that."

"You are right. I'll apologize in her stead."

His eyes looked surprised and agitated rather than apologetic. It looked like he was extremely surprised at the fact that he hadn't managed to grasp his prowess in the beginning.

"We will get going, then. We will withdraw from this matter, just like we promised."

"Where are you trying to go?"

Raon stood in Morell's way as he tried to leave.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't say yet what I wanted after my victory."

"Wasn't the loser supposed to leave?"

"Sir Morell said by himself that the terms for this duel was the loser obeying the victor."

"Ugh. What do you want, then?"

"Your student taught me something great."

Raon pointed at Inield, who the Balkar Kingdom's knights were carrying on their backs.

"The Light Wind squad will use the Balkar Kingdom's magician squad Salaman as their servants until the end of this mission."

Raon smiled and extended his hand towards Dorian.

"Contract."