Chapter 408
Chapter 408: Training Partner is Optimal (1)
‘It’s really over.’
Tenant bowed his head.
Behind him, the Penris Mercenary Group was trampling the remaining Roderick’s Army, and in front, Count Penris’s forces blocked the way.
There was no escape now.
Chased and chased, he had finally reached a dead end.
‘How the hell….’
The Penris army knew exactly where the enemy was moving and where their allies were going. Even though they were far apart, they moved seamlessly and without gaps.
‘Impressive.’
Impressive didn’t even begin to cover it; he couldn’t express it in any other words. He was a knight, not a writer.
He had been utterly defeated. Not only Count Penris but other commanders had outmaneuvered the Roderick command.
How could such talents be gathered in the North?
‘Maybe….’
Maybe when Count Penris had circled around to the West, their defeat had already been decided.
“Tenant! Tenant! What should we do now?”
Marquis Roderick trembled as he spoke. His face was pale, seemingly on the verge of tears.
“Marquis…”
“Hurry, let’s run! With your skills, you can break through, right? I’m sure you can!”
“……”
Maybe he could break through. Tenant was confident in his skills and horsemanship. No matter how much of a master Count Penris was, it wouldn’t be easy to catch him while he was fleeing at full speed.
If he fled alone, that is.
“Everyone dismount.”
At Tenant’s command, the remaining knights and soldiers of Roderick dismounted. Now there were barely over a hundred of them.
Marquis Roderick asked again, his voice shaking with anxiety.
“Why are you telling me to get down? If we all charge, we can surely escape!”
“Marquis, please dismount.”
“No! Why should I get down? I’m leaving this place! Lead the way! Hurry!”
Tenant spoke to the knights beside him.
“Support the Marquis.”
“Let me go! You bastards!”
Marquis Roderick thrashed, trying not to be pulled off his horse, but he couldn’t match the knights’ strength.
“Ugh! You swines! Are you betraying me now? Trying to turn me in and beg for your lives, you worthless scum who don’t know honor!”
Marquis Roderick screamed and twisted his body. But Tenant and the knights of the Marquis’s house said nothing.
They simply held his arms tightly so he couldn’t escape.
“Let me go! I said let me go!”
Just then, Dominic, who had wiped out Roderick’s army in the gorge, came charging with a terrifying expression.
“Marquis Roderick! I’ll kill you!”
Covered in blood, he radiated a terrifying light from his eyes. There was a resolve to kill Marquis Roderick directly.
Whoever stepped forward to block him, Dominic would fight like a madman. Stopping someone filled with such resentment was impossible.
In a moment of reluctance, Tenant said,
“Everyone drop your weapons.”
Clank, clank.
The knights and soldiers instantly let go of their weapons. They, too, didn’t want to fight anymore.
Dominic stopped his advance and spoke.
“Do you think I’ll let you off for this? Even if I spare those who surrender, I won’t spare Marquis Roderick.”
Clack, clack, clack.
Ghislaine approached leisurely on the Black King.
“Are you surrendering? It seems duller than I expected.”
At those words, Marquis Roderick glared at Ghislaine.
“Count Penris… how dare you…”
Marquis Roderick’s face reddened with rising fury. It was only natural to be furious for having lost despite wielding overwhelming force.
He wanted to scream and curse. But in a situation where all his knights had betrayed him, he couldn’t act as he wished. He just breathed heavily, not wanting to die right away.
Marquis Roderick glared at Tenant standing in front of him.
“Tenant… I took great care of you… Truly, even with great talent, a lowly background can’t be helped. You wretched betrayer.”
“……”
As Marquis Roderick had said, Tenant was originally the son of a serf. But recognizing his vast talent, Marquis Roderick had personally taken him in.
Thanks to that, he had grown to earn the title of the Greatest Sword of the West and become the Captain of the Marquis’s Knights. With the Marquis’s help, he even acquired a noble title.
‘But to betray his benefactor like this?!’
Marquis Roderick spat as he spoke.
“I shouldn’t have taken in someone like you. How dare a little mutt I raised betray its master? You’re even trying to surrender to some kid from the North?”
Tenant, who had remained silent for a while, finally spoke with great difficulty.
“I will not surrender.”
“Then why are you doing this? Why do you hold on to me instead of running away to the end?”
“I will not run.”
“What?”
Tenant placed his fist over his heart and, with a solemn gaze, said,
“There is only one thing remaining that I can do for you, my lord.”
“What is that?”
“To ensure my lord does not suffer further humiliation from the enemies.”
“You… what are you saying…?”
“That is the only way to protect my lord’s honor.”
Thud!
Tenant’s sword struck like lightning into the belly of Marquis Roderick. No one could stop it in such a sudden situation.
“Cough, hack…”
With the guard knights holding his arms, Marquis Roderick couldn’t even make a proper resistance as he was stabbed in the gut.
Watching him bleed profusely as he died, Tenant shed tears of blood.
“It was an honor to serve you, my lord.”
At Tenant’s sudden action, even Dominic stopped in his tracks. Marquis Roderick had intended to kill him, and he had received permission from Ghislaine as well.
Tenant acting first like this was unexpected.
As Marquis Roderick’s breath faded, Tenant drew his sword and said,
“Kneel and surrender to Penris. There’s no need for any more sacrifices.”
The remaining soldiers of Roderick knelt down. But the knights were different.
Some knelt, but many couldn’t even bring themselves to do so.
Knights who switched flags would have to endure infamy for the rest of their lives. They would either have to live poorly under a pitiful lord or change their status and survive.
Having lived with pride as one of the best treated in the West, they couldn’t imagine living such a life.
Slice!
Those knights retrieved daggers from their pockets and committed suicide one by one.
But Tenant didn’t pay any attention to them.
He simply glared at Ghislaine and threw his scabbard to the ground.
Then he shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“I! Tenant, the Captain of the Marquis Roderick’s knights and the Greatest Sword of the West!”
He stretched out his sword and pointed at Ghislaine.
“I challenge the Greatest Sword of the North, Count Penris, to a duel!”
Everyone fell silent.
The situation had turned strangely. It should have been an easy sweep, but Tenant had killed Marquis Roderick personally, causing them to miss the opportunity.
Clack.
Ghislaine dismounted from the Black King. He discarded his spear and drew his sword.
“I will acknowledge that spirit.”
“Thank you.”
Tenant sincerely bowed his head.
Of course, Ghislaine had no interest in chivalry. His true identity was closer to that of a mercenary than a noble.
But he wasn’t ignorant enough to dismiss those who upheld chivalry. He had never shied away from a duel requested by a capable opponent either.
Tenant was a skilled individual who would be recognized by anyone.
“Come. Let’s see the skills of the Greatest Sword of the West.”
Tenant smiled. Who would dare speak like that to someone who had reached the top within a region?
But the opponent truly had the qualifications. He was indeed someone contesting for the position of the Kingdom’s Greatest Sword, having reached the realm of a master.
Since Ghislaine had accepted, the others had no choice. Everyone cleared away and made room.
Boom!
Tenant charged forward, swinging his sword. Even decent knights would lose sight of him in an instant due to his speed.
Clang!
“Not bad.”
Ghislaine grinned as he blocked Tenant’s sword. Even though the West was notorious for laziness, the reputation of the Greatest Sword of the West was not earned uselessly.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, dozens of exchanges occurred. Ghislaine intentionally didn’t unleash all his strength.
If it were purely based on swordsmanship, Tenant was better than anyone from Penris.
Restrained aura and no unnecessary motions showed how great his talent was and how hard he had trained.
Fighting someone like this was enjoyable. It would be a waste to care only about efficiency.
Ghislaine suppressed his mana and tried to compete using only swordsmanship. He was also proud of his own sword skills.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The speed of the two gradually increased.
Before long, in the darkening space of night, the red and blue lines danced, intertwining without rest.
The people of Penris gasped at the sight.
“To think we could fight at this level against our lord.”
“Looks like there’s a strong one in the West.”
“What a waste of talent.”
They all understood what the outcome would be. Rarely could anyone defeat their lord in a one-on-one duel.
Even if the opponent was the strongest in the West.
But seeing Tenant, who refused to kneel and put in his utmost effort even knowing he would lose, even they couldn’t help but feel solemn.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The duel between the two intensified. Each time they swung their swords and clashed, shockwaves erupted outward, shaking the ground.
‘Tenant, you must have reached the master level in your previous life, didn’t you?’
When he burned the West as the King of Mercenaries in his past life, Tenant had been at the level just entering mastery.
At that time, there was no need to exchange swordsmanship. Ghislaine’s furious blade had mercilessly ripped apart the enemy.
In any case, Tenant possessed the talent to surely become a master in the future.
‘It’s a shame to kill you here, but…’
If he took such a person in, it would greatly help in future battles. Ghislaine didn’t have deep resentment enough to kill him either.
But Tenant would never bend. He was a knight with as much pride as arrogance.
‘Use your talent without regrets.’
Ghislaine’s swordsmanship gradually began to change. Until now, he had fought Tenant with orthodox swordsmanship, but now he unleashed a fierce brutality, tearing everything apart.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tenant’s eyes widened. The other’s sword moved as if it were alive. With each incoming strike, it felt as if there was a will behind it.
“Guh!”
Tenant was barely managing to block now. His face turned pale in horror.
‘Was it really this level?!’
He already understood the opponent was holding back. The more they mixed swords, the more it became evident.
Count Penris was suppressing his mana to engage purely in a duel of swordsmanship. The fact that his sword didn’t show the shape of a demon was proof of that.
‘I thought at least I could show superiority in swordsmanship…’
He thought that if he could demonstrate superiority in swordsmanship, he could preserve the pride of the West.
But that hope completely faded. There was no room to consider whose swordsmanship was better.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
‘I’m going to die!’
Tenant tried desperately to dodge the strikes coming from all directions.
He had already resigned himself to death. But as ‘real’ death approached, every nerve was on high alert.
Count Penris was far beyond in both the amount of mana and swordsmanship.
It was unbelievable. How could human swordsmanship be so outstanding!
‘Was my talent nothing special?’
Tenant had shone brightly in swordsmanship since childhood. He instinctively understood how to wield his sword and how the opponent would move.
He knew he was born with different talents. Becoming the strongest in the West seemed to be his destiny.
But at some point, he hit a wall. He had glimpsed the world beyond but could not cross the wall.
Time passed endlessly in such a manner.
‘Ah… now I understand what was lacking…’
No matter how hard he tried, the path he couldn’t see began to illuminate as death approached.
As he saw the sword coming to surely kill him, his body tingled all over. All his nerves sharpened as he sought to escape this situation.
Mana began to untangle, flowing into every minute muscle.
As his life reached the brink, the abstract concepts he had held in mind began to take shape.
His body was now evolving to fill the deficiencies in order to survive.
Wham!
A new world unfolded before him. The ultimate realization gained in the face of extreme terror transformed his vision of the world.
It was slow.
The flow of time had changed. It felt like everyone around had frozen.
All senses were vividly absorbing the information from the surroundings.
This is…
‘Is this the world beyond the wall?!’
He felt a thrill as goosebumps covered his body. Everything he had diligently honed during his training became a single will, unfolding in the world.
Boom!
Suddenly, an immense light burst forth from Tenant’s sword.
At the same time, Ghislaine’s body was enveloped in black energy.
Boom!
