Chapter 172: Beatrice’s Sword (3)

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There were often moments in life when one had to confront irrationality.

It had been the same back when he lived as an assassin in the Central Plains.

An assassin was someone who handled targets for money.

He could not always choose easy or weak opponents, and after gaining fame and reaching a certain level, only troublesome targets were assigned to him.

‘If we fight purely with force, I’ll lose.’

That was why he always had to attack his targets from angles other than brute strength.

He analyzed various elements such as habits, behavioral patterns, thought processes, and relationships, weaving them into a single thread.

Unless one was entirely emotionless, there was always a weak point where psychological resistance collapsed.

Carl would pinpoint that spot like a ghost and strike sharply to sever the opponent’s throat.

‘There are two points I need to exploit.’

Carl narrowed his eyes.

Lancelot’s martial prowess clearly surpassed his own.

As a former knight of Saint Beatrice, he would have easily surpassed the level of a Master.

Still, the summoning magic of black magicians could not be permanent or flawless.

There had to be limits on the power he could use, and surely a time limit to how long he could remain in the Middle Realm.

However, relying on such uncertainties made the fight too unpredictable.

So, he would focus on just two solid factors.

‘First, the opposing energies.’

Carl meticulously controlled his internal energy, dividing it into two flows.

One was the Primordial Unity Divine Art, formed by the union of the Bright Heaven Divine Art and the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

The other was the divine power he had seized from Kylos.

He forged a blade aura on the Heavenly Thunder Sword using the Primordial Unity Divine Art, then coated its outer layer with divine power.

‘Unfortunately, the Primordial Unity Divine Art doesn’t contain divinity.’

The Bright Heaven Divine Art, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and divine power.

Although the unified state of the Primordial Unity Divine Art held a deeper weight than before, its harmonized nature did not bear distinct divinity.

Because of that, it had difficulty effectively countering demonic energy, which was why Carl had intentionally separated Kylos’s divine power.

‘If I do this…!’

He could harness the power of the Primordial Unity Divine Art while breaking the opponent’s energy with divinity.

Szzzzk─!

As expected, the Heavenly Thunder Sword unleashed its full might, clashing against Lancelot’s blade with newfound force.

When the resulting shockwave shook the space around them like thunder, Lancelot stared at Carl with eyes tainted by demonic energy.

“Divine power? Doesn’t seem like you’re a paladin.”

“I’m just a man of many secrets.”

Whoosh.

The harmony of the Primordial Unity Divine Art and divine power.

Confirming that his technique was effective, Carl didn’t stop and pressed on with an unrelenting assault.

Clang! Clang!

Bluish trajectories carved into the air, pressing down on Lancelot with no room to breathe.

The opponent, who had maintained the upper hand throughout the battle, faltered for the first time, gradually retreating as the demonic energy cloaking his body was scraped away.

‘Now!’

Snap.

With a flick of their swords, Carl knocked Lancelot’s blade aside, exposing his chest.

Slamming the ground with force, Carl dashed in close and launched a powerful straight punch.

But Lancelot wasn’t going to just take it either.

Having closely observed Carl’s movements, he also reached out, matching Carl’s strike head-on.

Boom!

A heavy impact erupted, tearing up the ground beneath them.

Carl narrowed his eyes, watching his fluttering sleeve.

“So this is how you do it. You manipulate mana in an intriguing way.”

His sleeve looked as if someone had torn it off in chunks.

Lancelot’s energy had pierced through his defensive tension and torn into his forearm.

Of course, Lancelot himself wasn’t unscathed either.

The armor made of demonic energy had been destroyed up to his elbow, revealing his pale bare skin.

“So then.”

With their hands still locked together.

Carl spoke of the second factor that could bring him victory.

“Why did you kill Saint Beatrice?”

“……”

Lancelot’s expression disappeared.

The eyes that had been watching Carl with interest were now clouded with darkness, and only a cold murderous intent remained.

“Since I’m asking so directly, I’m all the more curious. Lancelot, why did you, who claimed to be a knight, kill Beatrice? It couldn’t have been an easy decision to kill someone hailed as the Saint of that era.”

The factor that could bring victory.

First, gaining the upper hand with opposing energies.

Second, provoking the opponent with psychological warfare.

‘His reverse scale is Beatrice.’

Thankfully, he had blabbed about his greatest weakness with his own mouth, so it was only right to make use of it.

“How dare you.”

It was an icily cold voice.

The demonic energy that had been calmly taking shape began to boil, and like a volcanic eruption, it started flooding the surroundings, engulfing the space.

“To speak that name without knowing anything.”

“Wasn’t it you who knew nothing? Or… did you ask despite knowing everything?”

Carl tilted the tip of his sword and sneered.

“Won’t you tell me why? I happen to be quite fond of history.”

Zzzzzt.

As he said this, Carl gradually melted into the shadows.

Stepping with Dark Flow Footwork, he began to aim for the openings of the slowly seething Lancelot.

“……”

Lancelot stood still in place, unmoved.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like he was just standing there blankly, but Carl kept his blade poised with unwavering focus.

‘This space is under his control. If I move with killing intent, I’ll be caught.’

And then he’d have to endure that tidal wave of fury with his entire body.

‘Let’s test the waters a bit.’

Carl lightly swung his sword.

Instead of charging in directly, he sent out a blade aura to probe the opponent’s condition.

Boom!

A long trajectory swept around Lancelot.

At first, he stood still as if he had no intention of blocking it, but then he suddenly reached out, catching the incoming blade aura with his bare hand and lifting his head with blood-red eyes.

“Now I see it.”

Swish.

At the same time, Lancelot’s figure vanished from his spot.

Carl also dashed across the darkness to create distance, but his eyes widened as a hand seized the nape of his neck.

Boom!

He was slammed headfirst into the ground.

It might have been the first time this year he’d been overpowered like this.

The mask of NOX shattered, revealing part of his face.

Crack!

Carl swung his sword with all his strength, aiming to cut through Lancelot’s arm that gripped his neck.

But even the Heavenly Thunder Sword, surging with blade energy, only managed to dig halfway into the forearm.

“You spoke words you should never have uttered.”

“How laughable.”

Even as he coughed up blood, Carl sneered and gripped his sword tighter.

Crackle!

The turbulent blade energy dug deeper into the opponent’s arm.

But before that, Lancelot’s sword pierced Carl’s abdomen.

Thud.

Carl twisted his torso forcefully, diverting the trajectory of the sword to avoid his vital organs and minimize the damage.

Of course, the demonic energy erupting from the sword wreaked havoc inside, but he suppressed it with the energy of the Primordial Unity Divine Art and clenched his teeth.

Tap!

Realizing it was impossible to sever the opponent’s arm, Carl reached out and grabbed Lancelot’s neck in return.

Flash!

Divine power fused with the Primordial Unity Divine Art exploded directly into the opponent’s body.

It was likely more effective than cutting with a sword.

Sizzle.

Even as his own body boiled and melted, Lancelot didn’t blink once, staring only at Carl.

‘…It’s working.’

But Carl felt the grip on his neck gradually weakening.

So he grit his teeth and infused more divine power.

‘The energy… is weak.’

But the divine power taken from Kylos had its limits.

According to Gallon, divine power strengthened based on the god one believed in—but Carl had no intention of believing in Kylos.

…That was why he believed in himself.

‘The Bright Heaven Divine Art and the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.’

The space of mental imagery.

Within that space, the beings that had stood in for him during the fight against Kylos.

The giant World Tree that seemed to embody the Bright Heaven Divine Art, and the shadow of the first Heavenly Demon who likely created the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Crackle.

As the waning divine power weakened, the extreme yin of the Bright Heaven Divine Art spread from his fingertips, freezing Lancelot’s flesh.

Already weakened by the divine power cloaking him, Lancelot’s body began to freeze from within and eventually stiffened to the point where he could no longer exert strength.

The final blow was delivered by the flame of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Fwoosh.

A streak of demonic fire surged up.

Even though the body was coated in extreme yin energy, as if it had found premium firewood, the flame swelled in an instant and began to engulf Lancelot’s body.

Slip.

The hand clutching Carl’s neck slowly loosened.

Soon, Lancelot’s form crumbled from the head down, turning to dust and falling to the ground in a large heap.

“……”

Carl collapsed where he was.

His energy had been depleted significantly, so he lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

Ssssh.

At the same time, he felt the alien energy that had enveloped the area begin to fade.

It must have been some kind of barrier spread with Lancelot that had trapped him.

Calming his surging internal energy and coughing up blood, Carl let out a long sigh.

“A complete defeat.”

An absurdly overwhelming loss.

Though he had won the battle of life and death, he had underestimated his opponent’s strength and came dangerously close to death.

It was the result of the arrogance he developed after first reaching the level of Master, thinking he could defeat anyone.

And that left a clear aftertaste on Carl’s neck and abdomen.

Slide, plop.

As he pulled out the sword embedded in his abdomen, it too turned to dust and vanished.

After stopping the bleeding and drinking a potion, Carl looked at his ruined state and gave a bitter laugh.

“Still, I guess I got off cheap, all things considered.”

Lancelot of the Round Table.

No matter how strong he had originally been, he was powerful enough to shake an entire city.

If faced head-on, even a decent Master would have struggled to fight him.

He only managed to win by subduing him with divine power and exploiting the psychological gap created by invoking Beatrice.

“……”

Carl immediately closed his eyes and began circulating his energy.

The urgent task was to purge the demonic energy that had invaded his body.

He began the process of normalization by using the remaining divine power and the energy of the Primordial Unity Divine Art to expel the alien demonic energy.

“……Phew.”

When he finally finished one round of energy circulation, Carl slowly opened his eyes.

The sky was still dark.

He figured quite a bit of time had passed during the fight with Lancelot, but maybe time had flowed differently inside the barrier.

Given that the chaotic presences outside the forest had settled somewhat, it seemed the swarm of demonic beasts that had attacked the territory had also been mostly dealt with.

“My state is a mess.”

Carl looked at himself, then brushed off his clothes and stood up.

Blood and battle scars stained his entire body.

Still, it was enough to justify his absence.

Just as he thought that he’d likely be grounded from going out for a while and shook his head—

“……?”

Carl spotted something among the pile of Lancelot’s ashes.

He cautiously reached out, brushing through the ashes to reveal an object with a silvery-white surface.

“A pendant?”

It was a necklace in the shape of a pendant.

Inside, there seemed to have been a photo once, but now only scorched ash trickled out.

“……”

Sensing the energy imbued in it, Carl narrowed his eyes.

It seemed the real value lay in the pendant itself.

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