Chapter 293
Chapter 293 – It’s Time to Pay the Price. (1)
The swords of the two clashed violently. There was so much hatred between them that neither side could afford to give an inch.
Kaaang!
Of course, Harold stood no chance against the power of Ghislaine, who had unlocked the third stage. The moment their blades met, Harold’s sword was knocked back.
“What the!”
I thought I knew Ghislaine was strong, but experiencing that strength firsthand felt completely different.
Even having burned all his vitality, the gap was still this vast!
Before Harold could even correct his stance, Ghislaine swung his sword again.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
Ghislaine’s superiority wasn’t just in strength. The trajectory of his sword was so dazzling that Harold could barely follow it with his eyes.
This level of skills was something that shouldn’t be attainable at such an age.
Harold swallowed his shock and swung his sword, but no matter what trick he tried, he could not land a hit on Ghislaine. He was merely focused on blocking.
‘This guy’s talent is at this level!’
Ghislaine was like a massive wall. The more they fought, the more his true strength became apparent. It felt like fighting an incredibly seasoned warrior.
Overwhelmed by this vast difference, Harold ultimately lost his will to fight. Ghislaine didn’t miss that brief opening.
Swoosh!
“Urgh!”
Harold barely managed to evade but was still slashed across the chest. Gritting his teeth, he took a few steps back.
‘Is this guy really the North’s Greatest Sword?’
The Duke Faction regarded Ghislaine as being on par with Jurgen, the North’s Greatest Sword. But even upon receiving that information, Harold had considered it meant strength alone, including command skill and territory management.
But the fact that he could still wield such power while exhausted and injured! Just how strong was he to still be able to fight like this?
Despite seeing it with his own eyes and feeling it in his body, Harold couldn’t accept it. The realization that Ghislaine excelled over him in every aspect further fueled his sense of defeat.
“I can’t acknowledge this!”
Before Harold could scream out in fury and swing his sword again, Ghislaine’s blade flew straight at him.
Kwarrrng!
It was just a swing, but it felt like the fabric of space was tearing apart and the sky was screaming. Harold had no confidence he could block that sword.
When he met the gaze of the demon with red eyes approaching, his hair stood on end, and he felt immense terror.
Paralyzed by fear, all he could do instinctively was raise one arm.
Crack!
“Graaah!”
Harold’s left arm was severed from the elbow down. He screamed out in agony as blood poured from the wound.
Seeing that, Ghislaine stabilized his core and stepped down a stage. Having immediately overwhelmed him and severed an arm, there was no longer a need to force himself to maintain the third stage.
“Don’t think about dying easy, Harold.”
“Grrr……”
Harold could only hold the severed arm and groan.
The dignity of a great lord was no longer visible in him. His once immaculate appearance was now a disheveled mess, and blood-mixed saliva dripped from his mouth.
No matter how much he had learned from a prestigious family’s Mana Circulation Method and swordsmanship, Harold had never been someone dedicated to swordplay. He had spent more time managing territory and dealing with politics.
He had been born with good talent and had an affluent environment, allowing him to reach the level of an upper-tier knight, but that was it.
There was no way he could withstand Ghislaine’s third-stage power even after sacrificing his vitality.
“Grrr……”
His groans transformed into self-deprecating laughter.
“How can…… someone like you have such knowledge and power at that age……”
How did the unruly boy from the North become such a monstrous figure?
Why did I overlook this guy’s information?
Doubt and regret surrounded him.
“Grrr…… even though I burned my vitality, is that not enough to even touch you?”
Vitality was the very essence of strength that, even with a small amount used, would lead to aging and never be restored. Thus, one wouldn’t use it unless in extreme, life-threatening situations. If they did, they had to use it temporarily and stop.
Harold was prepared to sacrifice his life to kill Ghislaine, even destroying his own core. But despite that overwhelming power, he couldn’t graze even a hair on Ghislaine’s head.
Despair.
A massive despair engulfed him from the realization that he couldn’t kill his opponent despite sacrificing everything.
He had lost everything, and now he was about to die without avenging that grievance.
“Guhuhuh…”
He couldn’t contain it. Shame, humiliation, and his shattered self-esteem continued to torment him.
Halting several times, Harold lifted his gaze to Ghislaine. His eyes were dark and sunken.
Ghislaine, too, glanced at Harold and spoke.
“I used to dream every night of killing you and Duke Delphine. Today, I’m fulfilling one of those dreams.”
“Grrr…… why didn’t you just stick to dreaming?”
Harold continued with a cracked voice.
“Fine, if I’m going to lose everything anyway…… I’ll use it…”
“What?”
“Ghislaine…… you’ve never seen this kind of power. It’s unfortunate that I can’t fully feel the thrill of killing you on my own will, but… it’s better than dying to you, isn’t it? Watch closely. I’ll show you my ultimate strength that I’ve been hiding.”
Grggggggg……
Suddenly Harold’s body began to swell more than usual. His muscles grew disproportionately, and his tendons seemed ready to burst.
A storm of mana surged violently around him. Unable to withstand the power, blood spurted from various parts of Harold’s body.
Seeing that, Ghislaine raised an eyebrow.
‘This is….’
“Graaah!”
The light of reason vanished from Harold’s eyes. He had transformed into a bleeding monster.
Rumbling!
All the mana that Harold had accumulated over his lifetime exploded with his vitality and burst forth from his body.
It was similar to the Mana Circulation Methods used by Ghislaine and the Knights of Penris. The difference was that the person using it had completely lost their mind.
“Graaah!”
As he let out another beastly roar and swung his sword, an immense gale surged forth.
Kwang!
Even Ghislaine was momentarily pushed back by that power.
‘Look at this?’
As Harold advanced again, Ghislaine met him with a chilly smile.
Kwang!
The nature of the battle that resumed was different from before. Instead, Harold began to overwhelm Ghislaine.
With a tremendous increase in strength and speed, Harold moved without caring about his own injuries.
He truly was a beast gone mad.
Kaaang!
Blocking Harold’s sword, Ghislaine chuckled.
“Have you given up on dying as a human, Harold?”
“Graaah!”
Harold could only scream out incoherently.
Kaaang! Kaaang! Kaaang!
Even while facing Harold, Ghislaine felt an unsettling vibe.
‘I’ve seen this power before.’
Harold’s Mana Circulation Method was something Ghislaine had learned about from his previous life when he conquered Desmond. He knew that method well, but there was no way it could possess this kind of capability.
No matter how determined one was to face death, such extreme power wouldn’t be possible. A prestigious family’s Mana Circulation Method simply wouldn’t use such methods.
But now Harold appeared to be explosively unleashing a power that was many times greater than what he originally possessed.
Much like Ghislaine himself.
‘This feels similar to that time.’
In his previous life, he had come across others who similarly unleashed their vitality to draw out strength beyond their limits.
Back then, he had been too high in his own prowess to care about whether his opponent was expending vitality or not. It wasn’t that mana circulation had disappeared entirely from the continent.
Yet it was odd for someone like Harold, a high-ranking noble, to be using such a method. In his previous life, he had simply cut down his opponents cleanly without ever realizing they might have harnessed such a technique.
‘This is like….’
Strangely reminiscent of the absurd Mana Circulation Method Vanessa had learned. She had gone mad while mastering it.
Thinking back, a number of those who had charged at him also seemed to have followed that path.
‘Madness… or transforming into a monster. Could it be that they all learned similar Mana Circulation Methods as this guy?’
Every fighter had slightly different methods of using mana, so he simply thought they were just bursting out their potential. Since he himself used a similar method as well, he never seriously considered it.
After all, he dispatched everyone who tried to challenge him easily, so it never became a pressing issue.
But seeing someone like Harold use such power was inevitably suspicious.
Ghislaine recalled the foes he faced in his past life. There was a common trait among those who had exploded their powers like Harold.
‘Using this power inevitably leads to death.’
Those who learned the mana circulation method he had adapted could extend their time if they trained consistently. Even if they exploded their power, as long as they stopped at the right moment, there would be no problem.
But those he encountered in his past life, once they unleashed this power, they could never stop. Their strength would rampage until their death.
It was nothing more than a colossal byproduct of pursuing power at the expense of stability.
Harold now resembled those foes from his previous life.
“Graaah!”
Harold could no longer be considered human. Only the instinct to kill everything in sight remained in that monster.
Vwoooom!
Kwang!
Ghislaine’s body was pushed back as he blocked Harold’s violently swinging sword.
His strength continued to grow. The very force emanating from his blade was enough to turn the ground over. It looked like Harold was unable to control his own power.
Ghislaine gritted his teeth and smiled, reopening the third-stage core.
“Alright, let’s see this through to the end.”
Drudududu!
Kwang!
The swords, enveloped in intense mana, clashed. Unlike before, Ghislaine did not yield and stood firm.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
With each clash of their swords, waves of mana radiated outward, battering the surroundings and scattering debris.
The remaining aides and guards of Desmond, who had stepped back a bit, widened the distance even further.
If caught in that storm of power, they would be torn apart in an instant.
Kwang!
As Ghislaine deflected Harold’s sword once again, he plunged into the ground.
The moment he disappeared from his original position, he reappeared behind Harold and swung his sword.
Swoosh!
Vwoom!
Harold immediately turned around to swing his sword, but Ghislaine quickly ducked to evade and backed away.
‘As expected….’
This wasn’t about enduring pain. There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation or slight rigidity in his muscles. It was as if all sensation had vanished, and his body was unresponsive.
Moreover, the wounds were very shallow. This was because his body was wrapped in the surging mana.
Kwang!
As Harold’s next attack approached, Ghislaine dodged it, causing the ground to be utterly destroyed. Ghislaine stomped hard on one foot.
Kwang!
The shockwave shook Harold’s body, momentarily disrupting his balance. Ghislaine seized that opportunity to swing his sword again.
Swoosh!
Even though he had aimed for his neck, the blade barely left a line on the surface. Even after unlocking the core up to the third stage, Ghislaine’s defensive capabilities were astounding.
“Graaah!”
Vwoom!
Harold swung again, but Ghislaine easily avoided this attack as well.
While Harold’s strength had increased from before, his swordsmanship had declined. He was merely swinging instinctively, having lost his reason.
‘Something feels different.’
Though there had been individuals like this in his past life, their levels varied.
There were certainly those who would go mad yet still fully unleash their true capabilities. Vanessa had gone insane, yet she could still cast 7th circle magic.
Even if their bodies morphed into monsters, they retained their sanity.
Compared to those, Harold seemed somewhat lacking.
“Graaah!”
In fury, as his attacks proved ineffective, Harold’s cries turned vicious. His cognitive abilities had truly plummeted to the level of a beast.
“Huuh…”
Continually fighting like this would lead to no resolution. Ghislaine’s expression weighed heavily.
Such beings would undoubtedly appear again in the future. There was no need for further contemplation or worry right now.
Drududududu.
His own body was on the verge of collapsing as well.
Gooooo!
Ghislaine began to circulate his mana even faster. His core heated up rapidly. Every nerve was screaming warnings of danger.
Kwang!
Instead of dodging Harold’s attack, Ghislaine met it head-on.
Grind.
Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, he swung his sword relentlessly. It might seem reckless, but he had no intention of letting this opportunity slip just because it was dangerous.
There were still many foes ahead. Even stronger ones than Harold were awaiting him.
With enemies like this, he needed to grow stronger when meeting someone on the level of a challenge.
Crack!
Just a little more.
Standard training has limitations when it comes to physical growth. Nothing is as effective for development as risking one’s life in training.
Drududududu!
His bones and flesh had long been twisted and torn. Continuing to fight now would not be about training but merely damaging his body.
But…
Drududududu!
The new abilities gained from consuming the Blood Python’s poison.
That ability aimed to recover his body by squeezing the threadbare mana remaining within him. It was at moments like this that one could transcend their physical limitations.
Cheeeee!
The blood that drenched him instantly transformed into red vapor, enveloping Ghislaine.
‘More!’
Kwang!
At some point, Harold began to be overwhelmed by Ghislaine’s power.
Ghislaine unleashed his sword without mercy, emitting red light from his eyes.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
“Graaah!”
Harold howled. Every clash of their swords sent tremendous shocks throughout his body.
The eyes of the monster that had lost reason were now filled with bewilderment.
Kwang!
Harold, unable to handle the immense strength flowing into him momentarily, lost grip of his sword.
Ghislaine did not stop and cleaved Harold’s body straight through.
Kwang!
With a numbing grip, he strengthened his hold on the sword. His body had become so robust that it didn’t cut cleanly. It felt like he was smashing with a blunt object.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
“Graaah!”
With his remaining hand, Harold swung wildly in resistance. But Ghislaine swung his sword at an incredible speed like a bludgeon, continuously hammering down on him.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
The tremendous mana Ghislaine wielded relentlessly shocked Harold’s insides. At some point, Harold could no longer mount an effective attack and was continuously pushed back.
The violent waves of mana turned his insides upside down like a storm. The exploding mana of Harold collided, creating even greater shocks.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Harold was thoroughly punished to the point of satisfaction for the onlookers. With every shake of his body, the mana that had wrapped around him began to scatter and disappear.
Crack.
Ghislaine’s bones twisted and broke even as they were shattered. However, he bore through the pain with superhuman endurance and declared.
“It’s the end.”
Boom!
As Ghislaine stomped hard on the ground and swung his sword down like a club, he struck Harold’s head with tremendous force.
Kwang!
The sudden shock made Harold’s skull shake, and from his mouth came not a monster’s roar, but the voice of a human.
“What… what is this…?”
Light was returning to his eyes.
