Chapter 554
You sure brought back a lot. (3)
At the same time, Leonard crossed his arms and stepped back.
A vivid red line was drawn across his arms, soaked with mana.
‘What the hell?’
Even as he retreated, Leonard couldn't hide his shock.
His arms had been cut without any warning. If he hadn’t been a transcendent, his head would have been severed in an instant.
The thought alone sent chills down his spine.
‘What kind of technique is this?!’
Leonard had seen countless transcendents while working with the Salvation Church.
Even if the church’s priests were only half-baked transcendents, they still wielded immense power.
Figures like Gartros and Aiden were opponents he couldn’t confidently defeat.
And then there was the Duke of Fenris, whom he had glimpsed briefly stronger than even the rumors suggested.
But the man standing before him was different from any transcendent he had ever encountered. No matter how powerful a transcendent was, he had never imagined one could wield such a technique.
The man on horseback, Julien, continued to gaze at Leonard with an expressionless face.
“I’ll handle him.”
That one sentence was all it took.
The Mobile Corps understood and bypassed Julien, charging directly into the villagers.
Kwaaaaang!
“Uwaaaagh!”
The villagers, who had been scrambling to flee, were helpless against the cavalry's charge.
They were swept away.
Leonard ground his teeth.
‘These lunatics.’
Even if they had gathered enough information, their methods were too extreme.
They didn’t even bother to verify anything before slaughtering indiscriminately.
He had never seen people more brutal than themselves.
These bastards were worse than the Salvation Church.
Even as the Revolutionary Group members hidden in the village were cut down, Leonard couldn’t move to help them.
‘No openings.’
His opponent was not someone he could afford to fight while distracted.
On the contrary, he had to put his life on the line just to keep up.
If the Duke of Fenris had been like a raging storm that tore everything apart, then the man before him radiated a refined killing intent so chilling it was almost surgical.
Even the slightest opening would lead to his death.
Leonard had no choice but to focus all his attention on the man before him.
Noticing Leonard’s reaction, Julien found himself intrigued.
‘He’s no ordinary man.’
Stronger than the Salvation Church’s half-baked priests.
It was strange for someone of this caliber to be in a mere village.
Julien dismounted and asked,
“Who are you?”
“……”
Leonard remained silent.
He was more accustomed to hiding his identity.
But then, he reconsidered.
He had already encountered the Duke of Fenris. Others would soon deduce his identity anyway.
There was no reason to keep it a secret.
So, he responded confidently,
“I am the master of the Revolutionary Group.”
“……”
Julien's eyebrows twitched.
A more significant figure than expected was here.
As Leonard gathered his mana, he asked,
“Who are you?”
“Julien.”
Leonard nodded. That name was familiar.
The prince of Turian and the hero who had saved the kingdom from crisis.
To think he was moving alongside the Duke of Fenris’s Mobile Corps.
As Leonard subtly edged backward, he asked,
“How exactly did the Duke of Fenris feed you that information?”
“……”
Julien didn’t answer. Instead, he asked his own question.
“What is the Revolutionary Group’s leader doing here?”
Leonard smirked.
He was curious about whatever trick the Duke of Fenris had pulled, but it wasn’t a question he truly needed an answer to. His real aim was to buy time through conversation.
If the other side initiated the questions, all the better. That would make escaping easier.
“I’m—”
Slash!
“Guh…!”
Leonard quickly retreated. A deep cut had appeared across his chest.
‘Attacking in the middle of a conversation?’
According to the information he had, Julien wasn’t the type to pull such tricks. He was known to be indifferent and cold, but he preferred direct combat over ambushes.
No he didn’t even prefer it. With his level of skill, he never needed underhanded tactics.
But now, he was acting differently than the reports suggested.
Leonard narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“I didn’t expect you to fight like this. But aren’t you the prince of Turian? Did you learn this during the war? Have you abandoned chivalry?”
He said it to provoke him, but Julien answered with an expressionless face, completely unfazed.
“I learned it from a friend.”
“What? What friend?”
“The Duke of Fenris.”
“……”
Leonard let out a hollow laugh.
He had heard that everyone around the Duke of Fenris was strange, but it seemed they were outright corrupting people.
In truth, the person who had suggested this tactic to Julien was Ghislain.
— “You can attack across space, right? Just start a conversation and slash them right away. No need to drag things out.”
Trying it now, Julien found it surprisingly effective. Against someone weaker than Leonard, it would have worked perfectly.
Due to the posture ingrained in him since childhood, he wasn’t about to fight dishonorably but he also had no intention of upholding chivalry when facing enemies.
He had never cared about such things in the first place.
Leonard clenched his teeth at Julien’s nonchalant response.
He wouldn’t be easy to shake.
“Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.”
Kwaaaaaa!
Drawing out all his power, an overwhelming surge of mana radiated from Leonard.
At the same time, Julien moved, swinging his sword.
Kaang!
Leonard’s sword blocked Julien’s blade. However, despite successfully parrying, his clothes were torn, and wounds were etched onto his body.
Blocking alone wasn’t enough. The aftershock of mana was bypassing space itself and striking him.
But Leonard wasn’t just anyone. He was the one who had led the Revolutionary Group from the shadows all this time. As cautious as he was, he was also highly adaptable.
Paak!
In an instant, his body blurred, creating multiple afterimages. It was an extraordinary technique, one that could easily fool an average opponent.
But deceiving Julien’s eyes wasn’t that easy. He could see the flow.
Julien swiftly grasped the mana’s movement and swung his sword toward one of the afterimages.
Sssrak!
Leonard’s body was cut once more. Twisting himself at the last moment, he narrowly avoided a fatal wound and pulled several orbs from his pocket, throwing them.
Boom!
The orbs shattered, releasing a thick cloud of smoke that spread rapidly, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
But such an attack was of little use against a superhuman. Though the smoke momentarily hindered their sight, they could still perceive movements through their senses.
And Leonard was well aware of that. He wasn’t trying to hide he was simply shaping the battlefield to his advantage.
Charrk!
Leonard reached behind his waist and pulled out a pair of chained sickles. They were much smaller than ordinary ones, with incredibly thin chains.
The weapon’s special mechanism allowed the chains to retract into the handle, making it appear like a small sickle when not in use.
These two chained sickles, always strapped to his waist, were Leonard’s true weapons. They prioritized portability, making them seem less lethal but in the hands of a superhuman, the story was different.
Fwaaash!
Mana coursed through Leonard’s chained sickles as he swung them wide. The elongated chain allowed him to attack from a distance.
Julien easily dodged the sickles as they shot through the mist. Then, without hesitation, he swung his sword in the direction they had come from.
Sssrak!
He was certain he had cut something but the wound was shallow. Leonard had already relocated while throwing his weapon.
Using the momentum from pulling the sickle buried in the ground, Leonard emerged from Julien’s flank.
Fwip!
They were both moving at speeds beyond human perception. In battles like these, even the slightest lapse in vision could be fatal.
Yet, before Julien had even turned his head, his sword was already poised to strike.
Clang!
Their swords clashed, scattering sparks into the air.
When his attack was blocked, Leonard once again melted into the mist. At the same time, his chained sickles floated through the air, aiming for Julien.
Clang!
The sickles and Leonard’s sword attacked relentlessly, keeping Julien on edge.
And as time passed, their speed only increased.
Leonard was finally unleashing his full power.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Julien couldn’t afford to take the attacks lightly and swiftly swung his sword to block them.
If he dodged the chained sickles, Leonard’s sword came for him. If he blocked the sword, the chained sickles would strike.
It felt as if he were fighting two superhumans at once.
That was how refined Leonard’s weapon techniques were enough to make even Julien furrowed his brows for a brief moment.
Inside the mist, the two of them clashed at an incredible speed. However, the duel didn’t last long.
Julien changed his approach. Instead of reacting to Leonard’s attacks, he opted to cut down everything in the surrounding space.
It would consume a great deal of mana, but there was no reason to let himself be dragged into the rhythm of his opponent’s exceptional weapon skills.
Clang! Clang!
After a brief exchange, Julien found an opening and swung his sword in a wide arc.
He wasn’t targeting anything specific his strike simply aimed at everything within his reach.
Sssrak!
“Guh!”
Leonard, who had been moving frantically, let out a groan as a slash opened across his abdomen.
‘What kind of monster is this?’
He had always considered himself quite strong, but this was on an entirely different level.
Even after relentlessly attacking without pause, his opponent remained unfazed. The most he had achieved was a small wound on Julien’s side.
Meanwhile, Leonard himself was covered in cuts, his body drenched in blood.
Even the potent poison laced on his weapons seemed to have no effect Julien’s movements remained just as sharp and unyielding.
He couldn’t understand how that was possible.
‘This isn’t going to work.’
He hadn’t planned to keep fighting indefinitely anyway. His goal was to find an opportunity and escape.
Paak!
Leonard suddenly threw his sword.
Clang!
As expected, Julien blocked it. But Leonard still had one more move left.
Shrrrk!
The remaining chained sickle tied to his waist shot off in the opposite direction.
At the same time, the other chained sickle flew toward Julien.
Clang!
Julien deflected the sickle and charged forward, but Leonard had already used the momentum of the other chain to propel himself far away.
Without hesitation, he detonated his mana and sprinted with everything he had.
“Stop him!”
The Mobile Corps, who had already secured the village, had surrounded the area. Leonard pulled out more orbs from his pocket and hurled them in all directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick smoke erupted everywhere, spreading rapidly. It was so dense that even opening one’s eyes became difficult.
“Argh! What is this?!”
“I can’t see a thing!”
“Hurry! After him!”
The Mobile Corps couldn’t chase Leonard effectively within the fog.
Julien locked onto his presence and gave chase, but Leonard repeatedly swung his long chained sickles to keep him at bay.
After repeating this process several times, he finally managed to widen the distance. Without looking back, Leonard fled at full speed.
Julien halted his pursuit. His opponent was highly skilled if he had gained this much ground, catching him wouldn’t be easy.
Besides, he wasn’t in a condition to exert all of his strength either.
“…He’s quite strong.”
Julien let out a genuine murmur of admiration.
No one had ever lasted this long against him in a one-on-one duel.
That was how strong and exceptional the leader of the Revolutionary Group was.
"Lord Julien! Are you all right?"
As the smoke began to clear, the soldiers rushed toward him in a panic.
"I'm fine."
Black blood was trickling down Julien's side. He had been using mana to prevent the poison from spreading.
Ordinary poisons could be completely neutralized with mana, but the one Leonard had used wasn’t so easily dispelled.
It was the strongest poison he had ever encountered even deadlier than the one he had ingested during an assassination attempt in his childhood.
He couldn't help but wonder where Leonard had obtained such a rare toxin.
Still, Julien casually sprinkled a potion over his wound, unfazed. With a few days of mana cultivation, he could purge the poison from his system.
However, he would need to warn the others to be wary of poison from now on. A superhuman might not die easily from it, but their combat ability would suffer greatly.
"Let's head back."
At Julien’s command, the Mobile Corps finished securing the village and loaded the confiscated goods onto the wagons.
Their mission here was complete. Now, it was time to rejoin the Allied Forces.
On the way back, Julien found himself lost in thought.
‘It’s not enough.’
His opponent had been formidable, but not unbeatable. If anything, Julien had clearly dominated the battle.
And yet, Leonard had still managed to escape.
It was due to his intricate techniques but at a certain level, such techniques could no longer be dismissed as mere tricks.
Moreover, Leonard was incredibly adaptable. In the end, Julien had still been poisoned. That alone proved that his opponent had more experience than he did.
‘So it’s true.’
Julien lacked experience.
His talent was so overwhelming that he had never truly fought against opponents of equal or greater strength. He had never needed to grow through battle.
The only exception had likely been his fight against Helgenik.
Even someone with talent as immense as his couldn’t fill the gaps in experience just by breathing and absorbing knowledge.
Through this war, Julien was beginning to realize that.
Just meeting the leader of the Revolutionary Group today had been a significant gain. He had once again identified what he was lacking.
‘Next time…’
Next time, he wouldn’t fall for the same tricks.
Today, he had gained yet another revelation.
And with each passing day, he continued to grow stronger.
* * *
The Mobile Corps raided the Revolutionary Group’s hideouts before returning to their base of operations.
Claude flailed his arms in exaggerated frustration when he saw the massive number of wagons they had brought back.
"Come on! Why do you guys always bring so much stuff back? It’s overwhelming!"
Ghislain never went anywhere without returning with something valuable. It was no different from when he was managing his own territory.
The Mobile Corps had split into different units and raided six Revolutionary Group hideouts, including Stonebrook Village.
Naturally, the amount of plundered goods was immense.
Ghislain lifted his chin smugly and said, "Distribute this properly among the Allied Forces. Also, we sent troops to the other locations, right?"
"Of course, we’ve already dispatched some of our forces."
Troops had been sent to hideouts in more distant areas beyond what the Mobile Corps could handle alone.
After all, the Mobile Corps now had to fully commit to the Kingdom of Atrode’s invasion campaign.
"Good. We’ll rest for two days, then move out. The Allied Forces’ reserve troops will advance at the same time."
Ghislain, as the Supreme Commander, issued his orders, and they were relayed throughout the camp.
Now, each unit would begin marching toward their designated strongholds.
And after finally getting some rest—
Ghislain once again had that mysterious dream.