Chapter 258
Chapter 258: Are We Fighting Today? (1)
Ghislaine and the knights who were about to go hunting also discovered the group.
The knights’ thoughts upon seeing Doncard for the first time were all the same.
‘Filthy…’
‘Does that guy never wash?’
‘They call him a king, but he’s just a beggar king.’
Doncard was horrifically dirty. His unkempt hair and wildly grown, tangled beard made it feel sticky just to look at him, and there were unidentifiable stains all over his body.
Moreover, the stench was overwhelming. People around him instinctively stepped back. It was so bad that even his followers kept a distance from him.
Yet, they couldn’t afford to underestimate him because of the dangerous light hidden within his filthy appearance.
That gaze was akin to a beast eternally thirsting for blood. No, by the looks of it, it was clear he had already given up on being human.
He was nothing more than a filthy beast living for eating, sleeping, and hunting, having abandoned civilization.
“Cough… I heard the newcomers have touched our hunting ground… Who’s the leader here…”
Doncard asked, slowly looking around at Ghislaine and the knights. Some drool dribbled as he spoke.
The knights, including Kaor, all turned to Ghislaine. Naturally, Doncard and his followers, along with the onlookers, also gazed at Ghislaine.
“Is it you… the leader… cough.”
Doncard swallowed his drool and asked again.
In response, Ghislaine threw his arm over Kaor’s shoulder and grinned.
“From now on, this guy will be the commander here.”
At this sudden declaration, Kaor looked at Ghislaine and asked.
“So, I’ll be… the lord of Penris?”
“Not quite.”
“What kind of commander then?”
“I’ll go back when my training is over. If you want to stay here comfortably, you have to be the commander. That way, you can maintain order among those living here, right?”
Kaor nodded. As long as there wasn’t a lord, he was the strongest in this town. That was obvious.
Doncard saw Kaor’s demeanor and chuckled.
“Hehe… then let me make a suggestion…”
Kaor, now acting as the temporary commander, stepped forward with bravado.
“What’s your suggestion?”
“You seem capable enough… so why not come under my command… I’ll treat you well.”
“Hmm.”
At that, Kaor tilted his head slightly, then asked Ghislaine.
“What should we do in this case?”
“That’s for you to decide. When I leave, you can either live well under him or not.”
Ghislaine replied with a smile while Kaor snorted as he looked at Doncard.
“You little brat, come serve me. Then I might let you keep your life.”
Everyone around laughed at his confident words. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken so arrogantly to Doncard.
It was a truth that things got more entertaining whenever a new character showed up.
Doncard also grinned as he surveyed Ghislaine and the knights. However, his eyes shone sharply.
‘There are too many… The risk of killing them all is a bit too high…’
It wasn’t that murder was forbidden. That kind of law was just a nuisance.
It was simply that the opponents were formidable and there were quite a few of them. Of course, he could sweep them all away, but soon, monsters would swarm.
If he struck blindly and injured or killed one of his followers, it would endanger them all. If their power weakened, other hunters could strike.
Yet, he couldn’t just leave them alone. Those in power cannot afford to let challengers threaten their authority. That’s just how organizations operate.
Doncard looked at Kaor and spoke.
“If we have a one-on-one duel… if I win, you leave this place and surrender the inn… if you want to hunt monsters, go to another fortress… if you’re scared, you can leave now…”
“Huh? A one-on-one duel? With me, the greatest sword genius of the Ruthania Kingdom?”
No one calls him that. Doncard smirked disdainfully.
“Sure… but since killing is off the table, let’s do it barehanded… Though if you die, that’s not my fault… hehehe.”
“Is this guy all talk?!”
Kaor was not one to endure provocation. He stepped forward angrily.
Ghislaine, watching Kaor’s back, said calmly.
“Hey, you can handle this right? Just fight like you’ve been taught.”
“Just watch, I’ll crush this punk!”
Kaor cracked his neck and grinned. Doncard smirked too as he approached Kaor.
Soon, people made space for the duel. Everyone was accustomed to such bouts happening frequently.
As soon as the area cleared, Doncard suddenly swung his fist.
Boom!
Kaor quickly crossed his arms and blocked the punch. A tingling sensation jolted through him, and he felt a bit tense.
Doncard still wore a smirk on his lips.
‘Not bad… Shall I crank it up a notch?’
Boom! Boom!
Doncard’s punches grew faster with his boosted mana. He was a capable fighter, contrary to his dirty appearance.
“Guh!”
Kaor was surprised. Doncard’s skill was unexpectedly good.
‘What the hell? This guy is strong!’
He had fought many knights while participating in the war. Thus, he knew he was among the top knights in the North.
Having received teaching from Ghislaine, his skills increased even further. He thought any typical knight would be no match for him.
But as the fight dragged on, Kaor gradually began to lose ground.
‘Damn! This punk is no joke!’
Doncard’s punches were unpredictable to the point of being difficult to read. Even Kaor, who prided himself on his adaptability, was taken aback.
He did not claim to be the king of this rough place for nothing.
‘Calm down, I must stay calm.’
Contrary to his thoughts, Kaor’s hands and feet began to feel increasingly disoriented.
He had learned the basics from Ghislaine and had acquired advanced sword techniques. Thanks to that, he had filled in his gaps and surpassed a minor hurdle.
However, even with higher-level techniques acquired, it was insufficient time to engrain them into his body properly.
These were techniques that required years of training. There was no way to grasp and master them in such a brief moment.
Ghislaine clicked his tongue, observing Kaor.
“Tsk, tsk, that impatience of yours is always the problem.”
It’s hard to change an innate disposition. Especially one bred through life-and-death situations.
The more Kaor fought, the more desperate he became, returning to his old habits of simply trying to kill with a quick strike to the vital points.
His hands and feet grew dizzy and he started relying only on the habits and techniques he had originally developed.
“Gah!”
Unbeknownst to him, Kaor grimaced and gritted his teeth.
The punches that had connected well at first were gradually missing. In contrast, Doncard’s face began to show more and more confidence.
‘Hehehe… Watching him fight, he seems like a guy who’s only honed his skills in real battles. He appears capable, but he’s unable to use them effectively. He’s just the type who’s perfect to die in battle…’
A laugh escaped him. He could feel his opponent getting flustered and impatient.
He had fought countless battles in this place. He survived by honing his own techniques through combat.
If both had the same experience and street smarts, he could not help but prevail due to age and experience.
In essence, Doncard was a higher tier replica of Kaor.
With newfound composure, Doncard calmly blocked Kaor’s attacks while launching counterattacks.
Bam! Bam!
“Ugh!”
After taking a few more hits, the accumulated damage began to wear Kaor down significantly.
His face started swelling, and he tasted blood in his mouth from a split.
The watching knights of Penris were shocked.
Kaor was a renowned powerhouse in the territory. Yet now, it was hard to believe that Doncard seemed to be gaining the upper hand against him.
‘This place is no joke.’
‘There’s no way monsters who have only hunted for years could be ordinary.’
‘Could we have just been frogs in a well?’
Seeing Kaor, who was stronger than they were getting beat up, made them uneasy. The confidence they had gained from overpowering the initial hunters quickly dissipated.
As the watching crowd noticed the shift in tides, they began to boo Kaor and cheer Doncard.
“Wahaha! Seems like the fearless ones end up like this! It was all good when hunting monsters, huh?”
“Hey, redhead! Put in some more effort! You were fighting well at first; what’s happened now?”
“Doncard is really strong. He’s killed over a thousand monsters alone. It’s no wonder they call him the king of Ironcliff.”
Though the hunters generally disliked Doncard, they still depended on him. After all, he had the highest monster kill count in this area.
And they also didn’t appreciate the chaos Ghislaine and his group had suddenly brought to their hunting grounds.
Fueled by this atmosphere, Kaor grew even more enraged.
‘Damn! Damn! Damn!’
It felt like a hot fire was rising in his chest. He couldn’t stand this humiliation.
‘If it were Gillian, he wouldn’t have been beaten like this.’
Gillian was a man like iron. Rough, yet there was something massive and solid within him.
No matter how strong Doncard was, he would have fought methodically. No, if it were Gillian, he would have turned Doncard into pulp long ago.
As such thoughts crossed his mind, Gillian’s skills resonated within him. But Kaor absolutely could not accept that.
‘I’m stronger than Gillian!’
No matter how hard he tried to stay calm, his heart wouldn’t settle. He boiled with anger.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Now, all his punches were missing. Doncard toyed with him, slipping away and landing punches in return.
Bam!
Smacking Kaor’s jaw with his counter, he fell back and rolled. It seemed Doncard wasn’t even putting much effort into it.
Kaor felt the humiliation as he sprang back up, but onlookers only ridiculed him further.
“Ughahaha! That guy is way too weak, huh? He came here acting tough with those skills?”
“Look at him trying to get up again, all prideful.”
“Hey! Put in some more effort! Doncard hasn’t even used his special moves yet!”
With mocking jeers ringing around, Kaor glared at them and shouted.
“Shut up! You bastards! After I take him down, I’ll kill every last one of you!”
That furious shout only had the opposite effect. The crowd laughed even harder at Kaor.
“Shit!”
Ignoring the people surrounding him, Kaor threw another punch at Doncard. He couldn’t withstand Doncard’s mocking gaze any longer.
“I’m the strongest! You hear me?!”
“Shut your trap.”
His movements grew too exaggerated. Doncard ducked easily and swung his fist.
Bam!
“Ugh!”
As if signaling the end, this hit was different from the earlier ones, hitting with a fierce intensity. Kaor was struck squarely in the face and spit blood, retreating unsteadily.
‘Am I really this weak?’
The emotional pain outweighed the physical pain. Regret surged within him.
‘I should have trained harder…’
He thought he had learned everything Ghislaine had taught him. But at some point, none of it came to mind.
Only the wild, reckless techniques he’d once employed resurfaced.
‘Was I only strong against weak opponents?’
He had easily defeated Cabaldy’s knights thanks to Ghislaine’s lessons.
But now, it was clear that was only possible due to a mere difference in skill. That small difference had granted him some leeway and allowed him to use what he had learned.
Now facing someone more experienced than himself, he couldn’t even recall those lessons, let alone apply them.
‘That’s just how I am…’
Instead of cutting corners, he should have trained properly. He was overly complacent, and didn’t want to repeat the same drills every day because it bored him.
Those minor differences had piled up to create the results he was facing now.
‘The lord was right.’
He was the kind of person who would only spring into action when faced with a situation. That’s why he had advised him to fight for his life to improve.
If he hadn’t been pushed, there was no way he would have kept training consistently.
Thanks to a slight bit of talent and luck, he had made it this far. That stubborn, ferocious spirit only came out when fighting, like a rabid dog.
Effort lacked his ferocity. In a way, this humiliation was to be expected. It pushed him deeper into self-loathing.
As Kaor staggered, Doncard approached.
“Now, die, you shit!”
Doncard bared his yellowing teeth as he swung a massive punch once more, but at that moment, Kaor heard Ghislaine’s voice in his ear.
— Take one step to the right.
Kaor’s body reacted instantly to Ghislaine’s words. It was the effect of special training.
Swish.
“Huh?”
Doncard’s punch whiffed. Kaor seized the opportunity and jabbed his fist into Doncard’s side.
Bam!
“Guh!”
As Doncard stumbled back a step, Kaor glared at Ghislaine and shouted.
“Don’t interfere! I got this handled!”
The onlookers exchanged incredulous gazes. It appeared Ghislaine was just innocently instigating trouble for no reason.
For those who didn’t know how to channel messages through air, that was inevitable.
This was a technique that only someone with Ghislaine’s level of mana manipulation, one of the top seven in the continent, could even conceive.
Ignoring the crowd’s reactions, Ghislaine continued.
— Get your act together. You possess enough skill to defeat that guy, and you know how. You just haven’t properly ingrained it into your body yet, and your impatience is holding you back. From now on, we’re training. Real combat is always the best training. If you argue, you’ll be going into special training alone.
“Gah! I said I got this handled…”
— Step back one.
Swish.
Though it frustrated him, his body moved reflexively again. Doncard’s punch sailed away from him once more. Kaor threw his own punch, but this time, Doncard dodged.
— Engage now.
Kaor planted his feet and charged into Doncard’s reach. Before he could throw a punch, Ghislaine’s voice echoed in his head again.
— Turn left half a step.
Kaor’s body shifted slightly. Doncard’s face involuntarily followed the movement.
— Stab.
Even though he was fighting barehanded, he had learned swordsmanship. He simply adapted it to hand-to-hand combat.
Following Ghislaine’s instructions, Kaor extended his fist as if thrusting a sword.
Bam!
Blood splattered as Kaor landed a solid hit on Doncard’s nose.
