Chapter 266
Siris, gripping the mane of Attila, who had transformed into a black horse, asked with a worried expression.
"Will the two of them be safe?"
"We can't have high hopes, but…"
Attila replied in a gloomy voice.
According to the information obtained from the City of Zarud, those currently invading the White King Castle numbered as many as eleven Aura Users, including none other than the Sword Star himself. No matter how skilled Russ and Tassid were, there was no way they could take on such opponents.
Combat was always uncertain until the fight began, but that only applied when the forces were somewhat comparable. When the disparity was this overwhelming, the outcome was obvious.
However, Attila forced a brighter tone.
"Holding onto hope until the moment of despair is nature’s teaching for all living beings. Let’s believe that they will survive."
The four of them swiftly exited the forest. As they neared the White King Castle, the ground and sky trembled with deafening roars.
Repenhardt frowned as he continued sprinting forward.
"What is this enormous energy? What the hell is happening at the White King Castle?"
A clash of Aura far beyond common sense was raging endlessly. One of them, in particular, felt eerily familiar. As they got closer, Repenhardt’s expression twisted.
The sky above the White King Castle was dyed crimson and gold.
That familiar golden Aura was…
"…No way?"
Finally, when the four of them reached a hill overlooking the White King Castle, Iniya and Attila involuntarily gaped.
"Oh my…"
"Huh?! What… What are those?!"
Two monsters were rampaging. Though they appeared as elderly men, what the group saw before them were nothing short of pure beasts.
The devastation they wrought upon their surroundings left Repenhardt's party frozen in place like statues.
In particular, Iniya's complexion was beyond pale, she looked as if she had seen a corpse. She fixated her gaze on one of the monsters, the towering old man radiating golden light.
‘To think that someone like that exists besides Repenhardt-nim…!’
No way!
Iniya had firmly believed that the most masculine man in the world was Repenhardt. But now, this was beyond anything she had imagined! The world was truly, impossibly vast!
That didn’t mean her admiration had shifted toward that hulking old man. To be clear, Iniya was not just after muscles, she sought a balance of both intellect and martial prowess. If she had only cared about raw muscle, even an orc might have suited her tastes.
Regardless, the power before her was beyond overwhelming. Even she, who took pride in being the strongest among elves, felt utterly insignificant.
‘Humans are terrifying…’
Attila quickly reverted from his black horse form and asked,
“Your Majesty, with such a physique and golden Aura… could it be…?”
Repenhardt, still dazed, responded absentmindedly.
“…That’s right, Attila. He’s my master.”
* * *
Repenhardt rubbed his eyes and looked back at the battlefield.
There was no doubt.
“…It’s really him.”
Chills ran down his spine. The very man who had haunted his nightmares time and time again had materialized in reality, standing before him.
Siris, puzzled by his reaction, asked,
“Repenhardt-nim? Why are you stepping back?”
“…Ah, I didn’t even realize.”
Repenhardt gave a bitter smile. It seemed the fear ingrained into his body had momentarily acted on its own, betraying his conscious will.
Logically speaking, he had no reason to fear his master. Sure, the training had been agonizing, but he knew full well that it had all been for his own good.
‘But why is Master here…?’
A shiver ran down his spine. Even thinking rationally, there was reason to be afraid.
‘D-Don’t tell me he’s developed a new training regimen?!’
Repenhardt quickly calmed himself, regaining his composure.
No matter how deeply his master’s “love-filled violence” had been seared into his bones, no, his very soul, he had once been a great Grand Mage, even feared as a Demon King in his past life. If he couldn’t even handle this, how could he claim to have reached such heights?!
Steadying himself, Repenhardt carefully assessed the situation. His gaze shifted to Gerard’s opponent, the old man exuding a crimson Aura.
“That must be Sword Star Banatel.”
Each time the two clashed and separated, the clouds split in half, and the earth trembled. Whenever a stray Chain Strike Blast or Straight Cannon painted the world gold, the very landscape was reshaped. Each time the crimson Blade Aura raged violently, hills turned into plains, and plains became craters.
No matter how calmly one tried to observe, the sheer destructive power of those two was beyond anything one could grow numb to.
Repenhardt clicked his tongue.
“…Hah, was Master always this much of a monster?”
Before descending the mountain, he had sparred with Gerard multiple times. Even then, he had found it absurd how no matter how much he struck, Gerard wouldn’t even flinch. Of course, he had known that his master was going easy on him, but…
‘Wow… Forget going easy, he really was just stroking me like he said.’
From what Repenhardt could see now, Banatel and Gerard’s skill seemed to surpass even Sword Star Cyrus and Fist King Teslon at their peak. Even if Cyrus and Teslon combined their strength, it didn’t seem likely they could handle either Banatel or Gerard alone.
Well, back then, those two had barely passed their fifties, whereas Gerard and Banatel were now over eighty. Their training alone spanned over thirty more years, of course, their mastery would be on a different level.
A sudden chill ran down Repenhardt’s spine, and he shuddered.
‘Good grief, if these guys had been around in my past life, I would’ve been in serious trouble.’
No matter how powerful they were, Repenhardt had once been a Grand Mage of the 10th Circle, an unprecedented existence in human history. They wouldn’t have been too much for him to handle. But if, instead of Cyrus and Teslon, these two had joined forces with Ellin and Jade to come after him… he wouldn’t have had the luxury of initiating his time regression.
(The unfortunate mixed-blood hero, Alex, had long since been erased from Repenhardt’s memory.)
Meanwhile, unlike the others, Siris was focused less on Gerard and Banatel and more on the ruins of the White King Castle. She had been worried about two specific people for a while now.
Suddenly, her face brightened as she shouted,
“Repenhardt-nim! They’re both alive!”
With her elven eyesight, she had spotted Russ and Tassid collapsed on one side of the plains.
Attila, who had reverted to his original troll form, beamed.
“Indeed! Though their injuries seem severe…”
At that moment, Iniya suddenly let out a scream.
“Ah! Repenhardt-nim!”
Something had changed. The Aura Users who had merely been watching began to move. Two of them rushed toward the injured Russ and Tassid, while the rest sprang toward the White King Castle all at once.
Repenhardt snapped back to his senses and hurried into action.
“Damn it!”
This was no time to be standing around. Even if his master could handle that monstrous Sword Star, there were still ten Aura Users left.
Without hesitation, he unleashed a Chain Strike Blast, cutting off their path. The brilliant streaks of destruction carved deep fissures into the earth, forcing the charging Aura Users to an abrupt halt.
As they stared at him in tense silence, Repenhardt bellowed at them.
“Who dares oppress my people?!”
A voice fit for an emperor. Having ruled as an Imperial Emperor in his past life and now as the Fist King in this one, Repenhardt had naturally developed a commanding tone. With the two identities merging, his voice boomed with unquestionable authority.
Yet, perhaps due to being thoroughly influenced by Gym Unbreakable, Repenhardt felt no awkwardness in such grand declarations.
With a thunderous battle cry, he launched himself forward.
“Taahh!”
Another golden meteor streaked across the sky, hurtling toward the battlefield in front of the White King Castle.
* * *
The trail of light struck the earth. As the explosion faded, a towering man, his bronze-like body sculpted like a god of war, rose to his feet.
The Aura Users tensed at the sight of the man standing tall upon the plains.
“…Fist King Repenhardt.”
Moments later, Attila and Iniya descended from the sky, landing beside him. Scattering an intangible force, the three of them stood firm before the shattered White King Castle.
Repenhardt planted his feet and glared at the Aura Users with piercing intensity. His overwhelming presence sent involuntary shivers down their spines.
His body, sculpted with rugged muscles reminiscent of towering mountains, and his unwavering Aura, an unseen force of pressure, made it clear.
This was the legendary successor of the unparalleled martial school, Gym Unbreakable.
That body, in particular, was utterly devoid of human softness.
How could someone who came from a mother's womb have such precisely sculpted, angular muscles? While he did retain some semblance of humanity compared to Fist Emperor Gerard, he was still just as inhuman in the end.
A monster's disciple was, naturally, a monster as well.
Sir Geblik swallowed hard, letting out a groan.
“As expected, his presence matches his reputation.”
Repenhardt raised his fist and shouted at the eight remaining Aura Users.
“This land belongs to the Duchy of Antares! Who are you to dare trespass upon it?”
His Aura-infused voice thundered across the battlefield, nearly deafening. The Aura Users stiffened. The sheer killing intent emanating from Repenhardt coursed through their bodies like a searing current.
“As expected of the Fist King…”
“What an overwhelming presence…”
They could not afford to be overpowered any further.
At last, an Aura User from the Holy Basutalon Empire, standing alongside the Sword Star, stepped forward. Sir Ricabon brandished his sword and roared,
“I am Ricabon of Basutalon! You, who defile Seiya and walk the path of heresy! In the name of Seiya and the Holy Empire, I shall execute you!”
“So, they really were from Basutalon. Well, that figures.”
Repenhardt nodded in understanding. In his past life, the Holy Basutalon Empire had been the most fervent in waging war against the Dark Empire.
Golden Aura erupted across Repenhardt’s entire body. As his Aura surged outward, a violent storm formed around him.
“Good! If you think you can, then try!”
Iniya also drew her sword, enveloping herself in a silver-white Aura. Attila rolled his shoulders and began chanting a battle hymn.
“My body grows vast, my feet stamp upon the evergreen forest of junipers!”
As the three prepared for battle, the Aura Users from various nations stepped forward, each invoking their Aura as they introduced themselves.
“I am Geblik of Graim.”
“I am Werl of Teikan.”
“I am Nasdan of Lastil.”
Hearing their introductions, Repenhardt’s eyes gleamed.
Each of them hailed from a different region.
Having once ruled as an emperor, he immediately grasped the situation.
‘I see… The empire must be unwilling to sacrifice its core forces, so they’ve forcibly gathered warriors from all over.’
Most of them seemed to be well-known figures in their respective nations.
A force of Aura Users this powerful couldn’t have moved unnoticed, yet neither Repenhardt nor Karl had received any intelligence about them. Clearly, the Holy Basutalon Empire had taken extreme measures to keep this operation a secret.
‘Makes sense. If they wanted this ambush to succeed, they had no other choice.’
Both sides’ Aura began to rise like shimmering heat waves. However, the battle did not immediately commence.
Once again, that problem had surfaced.
‘So… who’s going to fight?’
The Aura Users from various nations exchanged glances, hesitating.
A fight was inevitable. However, ganging up on a single opponent would be disgraceful for a knight’s honor. On the other hand, if only three of them stepped forward, they would be exposing their skills while the others conserved their strength.
‘Damn it, this problem again?’
Ricabon clicked his tongue. When they had fought Russ and Tassid, the Sword Star had been with them, so they could afford to be cautious. But now was not the time for hesitation. Yet, he himself was hesitant, so he could hardly blame the others…
In the end, it was the relatively pragmatic Nasdan who spoke up once more.
“Listen up. If you refuse the empire’s orders for this reason, it will bring disgrace upon your own kingdoms as well. That, too, would be a dishonor to your loyalty. Something must be sacrificed.”
Croatl, a free Aura User from Vasily, asked irritably,
“So what do you suggest?”
“We attack together.”
At the mention of a coordinated attack, most of the Aura Users frowned. But before they could object, Nasdan quickly continued.
“But, we only use basic Aura skills and refrain from revealing our trump cards. Even with just the fundamentals, we have the numbers advantage. There’s no way we’d lose, right?”
It was a convincing argument.
No matter how much the reputation of Gym Unbreakable shook the continent, they, too, were Aura Users, warriors who had ascended to superhuman levels. Even if they limited themselves to basic techniques, surely multiple fighters could take on a single Fist King.
Furthermore, by imposing restrictions on themselves, they could minimize the dishonor of a group assault, allowing them to justify it as a fair fight.
“…That makes sense.”
“Well, if that’s the case…”
The Aura Users’ expressions turned serious. Their fighting spirit noticeably intensified.
“What an absurd spectacle.”
Repenhardt scoffed.
All this nonsense over their so-called honor, only to end up coming up with this ridiculous compromise, it was laughable.
It reminded him of soldiers who would insist on pressing unnecessary creases into their uniforms, then parade around saying, ‘Look at this! Isn’t it impressive?’ when, to civilians, they still looked just like any other shabby soldiers.
‘Well, thanks to them, this fight just got a whole lot easier. No reason to stop them.’
Smirking to himself, Repenhardt slammed his fists together.
“Good! Who among you will face me?!”