TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 135
Freya’s child.
Arsolder Freya.
If nothing else, he could be said to have the largest build among all the students at Rahelrn Academy.
Despite Kraush being considered tall among his peers, he was still a head shorter when facing Arsolder.
“Haha, everyone in Balheim is so full of confidence. I like that.”
Arsolder burst into a hearty laugh, clearly amused by something Kraush had just said.
Yet, even as he laughed, his eyes never stopped scanning his opponent.
He was a Freya, a people called the warriors of battle.
He could instinctively sense it.
That Kraush was no easy opponent.
“But I’m not lacking confidence myself, you know.”
He flung off his cloak and outerwear, revealing his massive muscles and tattoos.
Watching this, Kraush wore an unimpressed expression.
“Then give it everything you’ve got.”
Kraush was determined to definitively defeat Arsolder today.
His current allegiance was clearly with the Sigrid faction.
But Arsolder had a natural disposition for freedom.
No matter where he belonged, it was as if he held the reins of his own life.
He wasn’t bound by affiliations.
Thus, there was only one thing he revered.
Martial prowess.
Arsolder followed nothing but this.
‘And this guy is one of the essential figures for the Skyborne Generation.’
One way or another, a confrontation with Arsolder was inevitable.
Only by proving his martial strength would Arsolder acknowledge him as a member of the Skyborne Generation that Kraush sought.
“Everything I’ve got, huh.”
Arsolder’s lips curled into a slow, deliberate smile.
“You said exactly what I wanted to hear.”
It was a smile that carried genuine satisfaction.
“Kraush!”
At that moment, Kraush heard a voice calling out to him.
It was Glen, Mary Diana’s cousin, who had somehow recovered and was now standing.
Glen was aligned with the Empire.
Naturally, he was well aware of Arsolder.
“Senior Arsolder is truly strong! Don’t let your guard down!”
Glen still remembered that day vividly.
The day that a child sent by the battle-hardened Freya requested a duel from the Empire’s elite knights.
The knights accepted the challenge without hesitation, and the outcome was devastating.
That day’s events were a stark testament to why Freya was called the warrior nation.
Hence, Glen, despite his still-healing body, warned Kraush.
To never, ever let his guard down.
‘Who does he think he’s warning?’
Kraush casually waved his hand, as if to say not to worry.
He had no intention of being careless.
Against someone hailed as the most destructive in the Skyborne Generation?
Sorry, but he wasn’t so well-off in life that he could afford to let his guard down.
Carelessness was a word that equated to death for Kraush.
“Begin!”
At that moment, the referee student shouted for the match to start.
The battle between Freya’s child and a direct descendant of Balheim.
Naturally, the spectators all gazed at the arena with eager anticipation.
KWA-BOOOOM!
A deafening roar erupted alongside something too fast for their eyes to follow.
Dust swirled violently, clouding the students’ vision.
Everyone widened their eyes in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.
WHOOSH!
But soon, as if to answer their questions, the dust abruptly settled.
At the center of the area where the dust cleared—
Kraush and Arsolder stood facing each other.
Arsolder’s primary weapon was none other than his own body.
His fists, harder than rock, were strong enough to dent or even crush a blade upon impact.
The problem was the speed of those fists.
With a natural reach exceeding 2 meters, Arsolder’s punches moved at speeds beyond human reflexes.
Those who had fought Arsolder all said the same thing.
It felt like battling an Erosion Species, not a human.
And now—
Arsolder’s relentless assault was bearing down on Kraush.
BOOM! BAM! BAM!
Each time the two clashed, the resulting shockwaves made prior battles seem trivial.
Each strike carried enough force to shatter a human body.
Glen’s eyes widened in alarm.
Arsolder’s onslaught was far fiercer than it had been before.
It had only been a single year at most—
Yet the monster he’d been before was now even stronger.
Each swing of Arsolder’s fists sent gusts of wind that whipped through Glen’s hair.
Even from this distance, the power was palpable.
If he were the one facing those blows, he doubted he’d last even a minute.
Even if he chose to dodge as much as possible, the speed seemed almost unavoidable.
But what shocked Glen was something else entirely.
Before Arsolder’s outstretched fist—
Kraush’s Rain Thunder Prime intercepted and absorbed the blow.
Without a single misstep, he blocked every punch.
As if he could see every move Arsolder made.
Kraush’s blade unfailingly met Arsolder’s fists.
By tilting his blade to deflect the punches, he redirected all of their force.
“W-What? He can see all of that?”
“…Is he really blocking that head-on?”
The strange sight left everyone watching in astonishment.
And Arsolder, who was throwing the punches, was no exception.
Before his fists could reach their full power, Kraush’s blade was already in position.
If it had happened once or twice, it might’ve been chalked up to luck.
But even under this relentless barrage, Kraush continued to preemptively nullify every attack.
Almost as if he could predict exactly where each strike was aimed.
‘Blunt Sword, was it?’
It was a rare technique, but Arsolder was not unfamiliar with it.
However, Kraush’s swordsmanship seemed to be a level above even that.
‘Let’s see.’
Arsolder abruptly halted his punch mid-swing.
Instead, his opened hand shot forward, blocking Kraush’s line of sight.
In an instant, a feint unfolded.
Within the illusion, Arsoldar’s fist shot upward in an instant, aiming for Kraush’s jaw.
It was a feint attack that obstructed Kraush’s vision.
Crack!
At that moment, a short bolt of lightning sparked from Kraush.
Clang!
And once again, the outstretched Rain Thunder Prime blocked Arsoldar’s fist.
Despite the attack that obscured his vision, Kraush reacted with pinpoint accuracy.
This wasn’t within the realm of mere dynamic vision.
Kraush clearly possessed the ability to reflexively counter any attack directed at him.
‘If he keeps this up, his nervous system will undoubtedly suffer significant damage later.’
Kraush didn’t seem to care about such things in the slightest.
‘And the strength to withstand my punches.’
Smoke began to seep from Kraush’s mouth.
With every moment, Arsoldar felt Kraush effortlessly handling his attacks more and more.
The Sky-Thundering Annihilation Kraush displayed earlier—
Its destructive power was so immense that even Arsoldar couldn’t help but flinch.
And now, Kraush was undoubtedly increasing his output in real time beyond what it was before.
The sight left even Arsoldar feeling a sense of unease.
‘He can reflexively counter every attack aimed at him, and his output might even surpass mine.’
A hollow laugh formed on Arsoldar’s lips.
What kind of monster is this?
At the same time, his grin spread into a bold arc.
It was precisely because he was facing such a monster that he chose to endure this duel to the end.
‘Facing monsters like him is what makes life worth living!’
If the other side fought like a monster, then he would become a monster himself.
Arsoldar’s body began to swell more and more.
The spectators started to sense something strange as his figure grew larger and larger.
“Arsoldar-senpai is… he’s still growing.”
Many of those present were Second Year Students.
They had never seen Arsoldar’s secret technique before, and their faces showed their confusion.
On the other hand, the First Year Students all grimaced in unison.
Each of them had memories of falling victim to Arsoldar’s secret technique.
The skill, Gigas.
A gigantification technique Arsoldar had contracted with the gods to use, allowing him to battle Erosion Species far larger than himself.
Before his massive form, opponents appeared infinitely weak and insignificant.
“Pffft-ha!”
Having completed his transformation, Arsoldar, now towering above the roof of the Training Ground, burst into laughter.
“Alright! Bring it on!”
Madman.
Kraush looked at the ecstatic Arsoldar with an expression of sheer disgust.
And then, as if a meteor had fallen—
Arsoldar’s wild barrage of punches began.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The area descended into chaos in an instant.
The gigantic fists, far larger than a person, delivered a destructive force on a completely different scale than before.
The spectators were swept away by the wind generated from the barrage of punches raining down on the arena.
Amid the screams reverberating from all sides—
Kraush’s figure was obscured by the smoke.
But without a doubt, Kraush was still moving endlessly within the dust cloud.
It was because, despite the relentless punches, Arsoldar felt no sensation of impact in his hands.
“Pfft… Hahahaha!”
At that moment, Arsoldar began laughing maniacally.
Arsoldar wasn’t someone who blindly threw punches.
He was clearly blocking Kraush’s possible paths and delivering precise attacks.
His innate combat instincts gave him an exceptional understanding of how to drive his opponent into a corner.
Yet, even so, he felt no sensation of contact.
Within the dust cloud, Kraush was undoubtedly evading every single one of his attacks.
“Then let’s take it up a notch!”
At that moment, Arsoldar brought his fist crashing down with a massive smash before leaping into the air.
Above the shattered arena—
Arsoldar clapped his colossal hands together.
With that, a golden aura encircling his back appeared, and another pair of arms sprouted from his sides.
“Not enough!”
But Arsoldar didn’t stop there.
When he clapped his hands together once more, yet another pair of arms emerged.
A total of six arms stretched upward, as if reaching for the heavens.
Giantification.
Six-Handed Ape.
Like a god of the skies delivering divine punishment to the surface—
Arsoldar’s six arms descended mercilessly.
Boom, boom, boooom!
Everyone who witnessed the scene stood with their mouths agape.
It was an overwhelming spectacle that made one question whether a human could truly achieve such a feat.
Before the rampage of this monster, humans seemed no more significant than ants.
“Arsoldar! What do you think you’re doing? Stop this at once!”
At that moment, a voice rang out from outside the arena.
A figure had appeared, running toward the scene while gasping for breath.
The Commoners’ Hero, Felray.
He had rushed over upon hearing that Arsoldar was participating in the duel.
The arena was in utter chaos, thanks to Arsoldar.
Felray couldn’t discern who Arsoldar’s opponent was in this moment.
He only knew that if he didn’t intervene immediately, things would spiral out of control.
Felray drew his sword.
A rampaging Arsoldar could only be stopped with force.
Just as Felray resolved himself to act—
Whoosh, BOOOOM!
From within the dust cloud, a black flame surged upward, severing one of Arsoldar’s massive arms.
Everyone who saw the scene stood dumbfounded.
Up until now, anyone watching would have expected Kraush’s defeat.
Yet, the black flame that surged now was unmistakably Kraush’s.
A crazed grin spread across Arsoldar’s face.
That grin was unmistakably that of a madman.
But within the dust cloud, an even greater madman was present.
Kraush’s blood-red eyes gleamed slowly through the swirling dust.
“Hey.”
With black flames surging from his entire body, Kraush exhaled a pale smoke.
“I’m fully charged.”
Time to take a beating.