Chapter 260
Gerard blinked and instead threw a question at Banatel.
"And what about you, Banatel? What are you doing here? At your age, showing off your strength to youngsters? Have some dignity, will you?"
Banatel's face turned slightly red. To be honest, he did feel embarrassed about personally laying a hand on Russ, who was young enough to be his grandson.
"Is this really the time for you to talk about dignity? Cover yourself up first! Look at you, walking around like that at your age!"
At the moment, Gerard was wearing only a pair of simple trousers, having completely taken off his top. Even in the middle of winter, he usually wore just a vest or went bare-chested, and now that it was midsummer, his attire was only natural for him.
"Hmm..."
Gerard narrowed his eyes and looked Banatel up and down. Compared to his own massive 2.5-meter frame packed with solid muscles, Banatel looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man. His posture was straight for someone his age, and he was quite tall with a fairly sturdy build, but at best, he was only at the level of a regular person.
As if to make a point, Gerard flexed his pectoral muscles, making them twitch on both sides, and burst into hearty laughter.
"If I can still dress like this at my age, isn't that something to be proud of? What's there to be embarrassed about? Or are you jealous?"
"Ugh..."
Banatel let out a groan. Honestly, he was jealous. It was just something natural for men.
"Shut up!"
With a loud scold, Banatel pointed his sword at Gerard. Struggling to maintain a neutral expression, he continued speaking.
"Showing off? Nonsense! I am here to punish heretics in accordance with Seiya’s will!"
"Ah, well, I suppose you have to do what you're told since the Empire pays your salary. Should've saved up some money when you were younger, don’t you think?"
Gerard’s tone was smooth and mocking, and Banatel’s expression grew even more twisted.
For the sake of their disciples, the successive successors of Gym Unbreakable had always made sure to amass wealth from a young age. Naturally, Gerard had done the same, exploring dungeons, taking on various requests, and diligently growing his fortune. He had squandered more than half of it raising Repenhardt, but even so, he remained one of the wealthiest men in the Vasily Kingdom.
Since he had no trouble making a living, he never needed to depend on the state. And that was why Gerard could remain a free warrior.
On the other hand, Banatel had never been an exceptionally strong swordsman in his youth, so he had been too busy just trying to make a living. He never really had the chance to amass wealth. Even after becoming an Aura User, nothing had changed. His swordsmanship was inherently unsuitable for passing down to disciples. The sheer magnitude of his aura wasn’t the result of some extraordinary method, he was simply born that way.
That didn’t mean Banatel was poor. As the Sword Star, hailed as the guardian deity of the Empire, he naturally received a substantial sum from the Empire under the pretense of maintaining his dignity. But no matter how much money he had, in the end, he was still just a salaried man.
A guy with a great body and a fortune. Banatel ground his teeth.
"Ugh, that bastard is so damn annoying."
Gerard frowned in return.
"Listen to yourself. You think you're any less annoying?"
Even Gerard couldn't help but envy Banatel’s overwhelming aura reserves. As an Aura User, how could he not covet such immense power? Honestly, it was impossible not to feel jealous.
The two men glared at each other, growling like beasts ready to pounce.
Russ watched them with a blank expression.
'What kind of way of speaking is that…?'
For a conversation between two of the most renowned warriors of their era, a Sword Star and the Fist Emperor, their choice of words was utterly lacking in dignity. They sounded like common thugs bickering in a marketplace.
Yet, the older Aura Users around them didn't find it strange in the least.
Youngsters assumed that as people aged, their speech naturally became more refined. But in reality, even the most dignified seventy-year-old would revert to the way they spoke in their youth when they ran into an old acquaintance, especially if that acquaintance was someone they had been butting heads with for decades.
‘Ugh... Of all people, he had to show up here.’
Banatel groaned inwardly.
The massive old man before him, Gerard, the Fist Emperor.
Seeing this old rival of his made his hands itch. But he forced himself to recall the Emperor’s orders. Suppressing his competitive urges, Banatel finally spoke.
"Step aside, Gerard! This is a matter of the Holy Basutalon Empire! Surely, you don’t intend to make an enemy of the Empire?"
Then, glancing at Russ and Tassid, he sneered.
"Or perhaps you plan to spout some sappy nonsense about protecting your disciple’s subordinates? Gym Unbreakable is supposed to be about walking the path of a bold and free-spirited warrior, isn’t it?"
To Banatel’s surprise, Gerard nodded without hesitation.
"Of course. I didn’t fire off a Chain Strike Blast just to protect those kids. I just saw a familiar face and thought I’d say hello."
The other Aura Users gawked, their mouths agape at Gerard’s sheer audacity, treating a Chain Strike Blast the size of a house as nothing more than a casual greeting.
But Banatel remained unfazed. If he had spotted Gerard first, he would have done the same, firing off a barrage of Blade Aura slashes as a way of saying hello.
Gerard tilted his head.
"But then again... is there really any reason for me to stand by and watch my disciple’s subordinates get killed, just to stay on the Empire’s good side?"
After all, paying heed to others’ opinions was hardly the path of a bold and free-spirited man.
"And more importantly..."
Gerard grinned and clenched his fists.
"When you and I meet, wouldn’t it be a shame if no blood was spilled?"
With those words, Banatel’s last thread of patience snapped.
To be honest, he didn’t give a damn about the Emperor’s orders anymore, what he really wanted was to settle things with the damn old bastard in front of him.
Murderous intent surged around Banatel’s shoulders, thick and suffocating.
"Yeah, there’s no way I could just walk away after running into you. Isn’t that right, Gerard?"
"Of course!"
Banatel adjusted his grip on his sword as a storm of aura erupted from his entire body. Winds howled, and the ground trembled beneath the sheer force.
"Gerard! This time, I’ll carve you up like sashimi!"
Gerard laughed, completely unfazed, and roared back.
"That’s my line, Banatel! This time, I’ll turn you into a bloody pulp!"
A golden aura burst from Gerard’s body, forming a pillar of light that pierced the sky. The sheer pressure of his aura distorted the very air around them.
* * *
Banatel raised his sword and locked eyes with Gerard.
Gerard clenched his fists and met Banatel’s gaze head-on.
The distance between them was about twenty meters, far too wide for a proper melee brawl, but for Aura Users, it was well within striking range.
With crimson flames of aura flickering around him, Banatel stepped forward.
"Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since we last clashed, Gerard."
He muttered under his breath and then slammed his left foot into the ground with force.
A brilliant wall of aura surged up like a massive tidal wave.
With a deafening roar, the earth cracked and rippled beneath the overwhelming force. The wave of aura charged forward in a straight line, bearing down on Gerard like an unstoppable flood.
Unlike before, when the energy had spread in all directions, this time it was focused solely in one direction, with Gerard in its path.
Naturally, its power was on a completely different level from the previous attack.
Russ and Tassid, who had been standing behind, paled in horror and leapt backward.
“Damn it! If we get caught in that, we’re done for!”
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The wave of Aura ravaged the ground before White King Castle, mercilessly tearing through the earth as it surged toward Gerard.
At that moment, Gerard stepped forward.
"Yeah, it’s been… what, ten years?"
He replied nonchalantly as he lifted his foot. Then, just like Banatel, he stomped down with force.
A geyser of golden Aura erupted.
A towering pillar of energy, nearly ten meters high, collided head-on with the crimson wave.
BOOM!
The entire land trembled.
Chunks of earth were torn from the ground, spiraling upward into towering pillars of dirt before shattering midair, raining down as a storm of stone debris.
Even the Aura Users from foreign lands, who had been watching from a distance, clicked their tongues in disbelief and hastily raised their Aura Guards.
"Urgh!"
"Those monsters...!"
Banatel took another step forward, this time with his right foot.
"Ten years? Feels longer than that!"
Behind the surging Aura wave, dozens of crimson vortexes swirled into existence, forming a domain of raging winds. The storm of energy carved deep trenches into the earth as it hurtled toward Gerard.
Gerard stepped forward again, muttering to himself.
"Hmm, no... more like fourteen years."
After all, it had been right after his duel with Banatel that he had first met young Teslon, now known as Repenhardt.
BOOM!
The moment his heavy foot struck the ground, a massive circular ripple of golden Aura expanded outward.
As the golden waves clashed with the crimson storm, explosive bursts of energy detonated across the battlefield.
Thunder rumbled.
It was as if an earthquake had struck, the entire White King Castle, the surrounding hills, and the nearby forests shook violently.
Cracks spread across the fortress walls, bricks shattered, and debris rained down in a deadly cascade.
The knights and soldiers screamed.
"AAAAH!"
"R-run! The walls are collapsing!"
CRASH! BOOM!
Dust and rubble filled the air as parts of the castle walls crumbled.
Crouching low with his shield raised over his head, Azrael von Kato muttered in sheer disbelief, his face pale.
"...My god, is that truly the power of humans...?"
Banatel and Gerard continued to advance.
With each step they took, the air warped and the earth quaked.
Two blazing streaks, one crimson, one golden, scorched the battlefield, unleashing destruction in all directions.
"You’ve improved a lot, Banatel!"
With a single step, the ground split apart.
"And you haven’t lost your edge, Gerard!"
With two steps, the sky itself threatened to tear asunder.
The crimson and golden lights raged wildly, consuming everything in their path. Dirt and grass were swept into the sky, soaring high before being shredded apart. The clouds themselves split and twisted into raging vortexes.
It was as if two walking natural disasters had collided.
Dodging the waves of destruction, Russ clicked his tongue in disbelief.
That a single person could unleash such overwhelming power, it was beyond impressive.
‘Truly incredible…’
Yes, it was incredible. But at the same time…
"No, seriously, how is it that a duel between the two greatest warriors of our time is this uneducational?!"
Russ muttered in sheer exasperation.
A battle between the Sword Star and the Fist Emperor should have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness new realms of mastery, something that could provide invaluable insight just by watching.
To be honest, he’d been looking forward to it quite a bit.
But one of them had done nothing but increase his Aura reserves like a brute, and the other had done nothing but train his body like a lunatic.
There was nothing to learn from either of them.
Both of their Aura techniques were as basic as could be.
Because Gerard was fighting Banatel, he seemed like a refined technician in comparison, but to someone like Russ, a true technique-based swordsman, even Gerard’s approach was laughably simplistic.
‘An absolutely insane fight… with absolutely nothing to gain from it.’
Russ let out a wry smile and continued watching.
They were undoubtedly the strongest warriors of their era… and at the same time, completely unlike what one would expect from the strongest warriors.
As they drew closer, their battle aura swelled even further.
Killing intent roared within their Aura, making the very heavens tremble.
The nearby hills split apart, revealing deep wounds in the earth.
The trees in the forest were uprooted and sent crashing down.
All across White King Castle, sections of the fortress crumbled. Towers snapped in half, and the inner walls collapsed in on themselves.
With every step they took, the world around them was reduced to rubble.
RUMBLE!
Finally, the two warriors stopped in their tracks.
Within the swirling storm of Aura, Banatel and Gerard locked eyes
And then, suddenly, they both grinned.
"You’re still the same dumbass, relying only on the fundamentals, Banatel!"
"And you’re still the same brute, doing nothing but training your body, Gerard!"
And then, at the same time
"Kuhahahaha!"
"Hahahahahat!"
Banatel leveled his sword and assumed a formal stance.
The single and only sword technique he had ever learned
The Opening Stance of the Imperial Sword.
"Only someone like you can make a fight feel right, Gerard."
Gerard stretched out his fist, spreading his legs slightly and bending both knees. It was a stance as immovable as a great mountain, massive, unshakable, and unwavering.
"That should be enough of a greeting for the time we’ve missed, Banatel."
With sword and fist aimed at each other, their eyes gleamed with fierce intensity.
Banatel's Blade Aura flared even brighter, its radiance growing ever stronger.
Then, he roared.
"Enough playing around, let's get serious!"
At that moment, everyone in White King Castle froze in sheer disbelief.
Playing around?
Did he just call this playing around?
Right now, White King Castle was on the verge of total collapse because of that "playtime"!
"……."
Azrael blinked blankly.
Never before had he so deeply understood the meaning of "When whales fight, shrimp get crushed."
Gerard bellowed in response.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
BOOOOM!
Both warriors launched themselves forward at the same time.
A column of explosive force, several meters high, erupted from where they had stood.
Their shadows blurred
and in an instant, they had closed the distance, their forms colliding in midair.