Chapter 121
On the second floor of the Inquiry Hall,
Duke Beowulf and Lorena remained seated while other nobles had fled the scene. It would have been stranger if they had scurried away like the rest, given the circumstances.
Beside Lorena, a middle-aged man with his arms crossed sat in quiet authority. He was none other than the Duke of Northern Frost, a superhuman among superhumans, capable of resolving this crisis in an instant.
They watched the fierce battle between the special task force members and the Dragon Soldier Project instructors unfold.
The fight was evenly matched, but with Yan and Leon joining in, the scales tipped decidedly.
Lorena rose to her feet, witnessing the intense combat before her.
“I should help and quickly put an end to this situation.”
But she found herself unable to step forward.
“…?”
Duke Beowulf’s hand, large as a pot lid, had blocked her path.
Lorena frowned slightly and turned to Duke Beowulf, who responded with a sly smile and a nod towards the front.
There, Yan was causing a commotion, taking on several members of the special task force.
“Let’s just watch a little longer.”
“Lord of the House!”
He continued without taking his eyes off the grand clash between the chief instructor and the task force leader.
“It seems something interesting is about to happen.”
* * *
The Task Force Commander sneered as he watched the Chief Instructor charge at him like a mad dog.
“This is no time for jokes.”
Was this reckless assault because of the vengeance he swore for his mother?
Even so, it was unexpected for the second in command of the Task Force to rush in so defenselessly.
The Commander reached behind his back, drawing two daggers from the hidden sheath and slipping them between his fingers.
As the Chief Instructor closed the distance to twenty paces, the Commander’s hands flashed with a dark energy.
“Shadow Thunder!”
Boom! Boom!
The daggers, now enveloped in a dark aura, tore through the air towards the Chief Instructor.
Their speed was so great that even the sound they made was extraordinary.
The twin Shadow Thunders aimed straight for the Chief Instructor’s head and heart.
And they pierced through—right through his brow and heart.
That’s when it happened.
A smile curled on the lips of the Chief Instructor.
“Not even close.”
Whoosh!
The figure of the Chief Instructor, struck by the Shadow Thunder, vanished like a mirage.
Crash!
The aimless Shadow Thunders slammed into the wall.
“What in the—!”
The Task Force Commander’s eyes widened in shock.
At that moment, a chilling premonition struck him.
A deadly aura approached from the left.
Without a second thought, the Commander dodged to the side.
But…
Slash!
He couldn’t avoid a cut to his flank.
Rolling hastily to the side, the Commander looked up incredulously.
The Chief Instructor, laughing wildly, licked his own blood off the Black Shadow Sword.
“Is that all you’ve got? Disappointing.”
Grit!
The Commander clenched his teeth.
Just then, the Chief Instructor moved again.
The Commander’s eyes bulged as the Chief Instructor, who had just evaded the Shadow Thunder, charged at him with incredible speed.
He quickly drew his sword from his waist.
Clang!
Sparks flew and a metallic ring echoed.
The Commander’s eyebrows twitched.
Even in that brief exchange, he could tell.
The power behind the Chief Instructor’s sword was no less than his own.
“So, you’ve been hiding your strength.”
The Commander narrowed his eyes, a low growl escaping his throat.
He had long known that the Chief Instructor was sharpening his blades for revenge.
It was only natural to assume he was concealing some of his power.
‘But to this extent?’
The technique that had dodged his Shadow Thunder and the power felt in their clash.
The Chief Instructor was certainly not his inferior.
“Feeling a bit rattled?”
The Chief Instructor chuckled at the Commander’s dismay, slightly pulling back the Black Shadow Sword.
Then he unleashed a ferocious barrage of strikes.
The black trail of the Black Shadow Sword relentlessly targeted the Commander’s vital points.
Cold sweat trickled down the Commander’s back.
‘If I don’t turn the tide now, I’ll lose.’
In that case, he had to sacrifice flesh to save bone.
Thump!
He offered his shoulder to the vicious bite of the black trail.
And then…
Whooosh!
He swung his sword swiftly, delivering a cross-shaped slash.
“Shadow Dragon Sword – Cross Slash!”
The cross-shaped sword energy flew at the Chief Instructor with lethal speed.
The energy seemed poised to quarter the Chief Instructor at any moment.
“Gasp!”
The Chief Instructor inhaled sharply as the cross-shaped sword energy neared.
And as it approached, he began to swing the Black Shadow Sword at an incredible speed.
Swish-swish-swish!
The Black Shadow Sword began to dissect the cross-shaped energy.
Not blocking energy with energy.
But dissolving energy with energy.
And so, the once mighty cross-shaped energy faltered and dissipated without reaching its target.
Then…
Screeeeech!
Beyond the cross-shaped energy, a shadow dragon swelled its neck menacingly.
The cross-shaped energy had been nothing but a feint to launch this dragon breath.
And soon after.
“Die!”
The Task Force Commander shouted as the shadow dragon released all the mana it had been holding in one burst.
The beam emitted by the shadow dragon swept the surroundings and flew towards the Chief Instructor.
The Chief Instructor narrowed his eyes and stood the Black Shadow Sword upright.
“Black Shadow Sword Technique 2 – Bisection!”
As the Chief Instructor drew down the Black Shadow Sword, the fearsome beam that had been shot at him split into two.
Yan, witnessing this, unwittingly gaped.
‘That’s… one of the Three Great Swords of the Continent.’
The dragon breath, the Task Force Commander’s signature move, was one of the most powerful techniques in the empire, yet it was split in a single move.
Yan swallowed hard, watching the Chief Instructor.
Having blocked both the cross-shaped energy and the dragon breath, the Chief Instructor stomped the ground.
“Now it’s my turn!”
The Chief Instructor drew the Black Shadow Sword several times in the direction of the Task Force Commander.
Clang-clang!
Clang!
In an instant, dozens of sword strikes were unleashed towards the Task Force Commander.
The Commander bit his lip, blocking each strike from the Black Shadow Sword.
With each block, the force on the sword felt like it would tear his grip apart.
But.
‘It’s enough to block.’
That’s when it happened.
“What you see isn’t the only attack.”
The Chief Instructor’s mocking laughter pierced his ears.
And at the same time…
Pffft!
Something pierced through the Task Force Commander’s foot.
“Argh!”
The Task Force Commander’s body jolted.
But now was not the time to lose focus.
He quickly kicked off the ground and retreated.
Then he glared at what had pierced his foot.
A black shadow, like a painting, was rippling where he had just stood.
“…That’s…”
He had been briefed by those who had surveyed the Chief Instructor.
‘The Black Blade.’
One of the Chief Instructor’s techniques, developed independently from the usual members and officers.
Its feature was that it could exert physical force like a sharp blade.
The Task Force Commander swallowed hard.
According to reports, ‘The Black Blade’ required a preparatory action that seemed to press down on the ground before it could be deployed, but there was none of that.
And more importantly.
“Wasn’t it only usable in places connected to the shadows under your feet?”
The Chief Instructor laughed savagely as he raised the Black Shadow Sword again.
“If that was the limit, there would have been no need to persist with it.”
With those words, the Chief Instructor charged at the Task Force Commander once more.
The Commander desperately swung his sword, blocking the Chief Instructor’s approach.
Considering he had just blocked the dragon breath, it was clear he was overwhelmingly outmatched in swordsmanship.
Then the Chief Instructor lifted the corners of his mouth fiercely and swung his hand violently.
Whirrr.
Thump!
Something pierced through the Task Force Commander’s back.
“Argh!”
The Commander looked down at his chest in disbelief.
A dark spike had torn through his chest, protruding outwards.
It was clear now.
The information he had about the ‘Black Blade’ was incorrect.
But that wasn’t all.
Every technique he could use was blocked.
When his greatest firepower, the Dragon’s Breath, was split with a single move, it could be said the fight was over.
“It’s not over yet.”
The Commander ground his teeth and roared defiantly.
“Shadow Dragon!”
At his command, the massive body of the shadow dragon began to stir.
Screeeeech!
The shadow dragon screeched as it flew towards the Chief Instructor. Its imposing size filled the hall, but…
Flash!
“Hmph! Such a fake dragon.”
Cracks appeared all over the body of the shadow dragon as the Chief Instructor spoke.
Scrape. Scrape.
With a chilling slicing sound, the massive body of the shadow dragon was split into three parts.
The Commander bit his lip as he watched the shadow dragon plummet with a thunderous crash.
And then…
Thud.
“Cough!”
In the blink of an eye, the Chief Instructor appeared before him and plunged the Black Shadow Sword into the Commander’s abdomen.
Not the heart, but the abdomen.
And there, the dantian, the source of mana.
The Commander’s eyes widened.
To be stabbed here meant…
“You can still use the Reverse Blood Technique even if your heart is crushed.”
“How… how did you know?”
The Task Force, the last bastion.
Reverse Blood Technique.
It was a secret technique that allowed one to gain power several times greater than their original strength at the cost of death.
A technique that used the recoil from forcibly reversing mana flow.
A desperate measure that could keep one alive for a brief moment even if the heart was crushed.
“If the dantian is shattered, even your precious Reverse Blood Technique is useless. You won’t have any mana to reverse.”
“You… bastard.”
The Commander’s focus blurred.
All his options were blocked.
Breathing became difficult.
And his mind grew faint with pain.
The Chief Instructor’s lips curled up at the sight of the Commander.
“I didn’t expect you to be this weak.”
The Commander struggled to speak.
“Why… why didn’t you use such power to do anything before?”
He had enough skill to kill him.
But the Chief Instructor had never caused a major incident, only showing his fangs slightly.
If he had wanted revenge, he could have done it earlier at the Task Force headquarters.
Why had he waited?
Why was he tearing at his throat now?
At the Commander’s question, the Chief Instructor grinned and raised his index finger.
“Because you’re not my only target for revenge.”
The Commander’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me you…!”
“That’s right.”
The Emperor.
The Chief Instructor was planning revenge not just against him, but also against His Majesty the Emperor.
“Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha.”
The Commander let out a hollow laugh.
Now he understood.
Why he had hidden his power, even though he was strong enough to defeat him.
The Commander’s eyes blazed with an intensity that belied his dying state.
“You were after my position!”
If he had harmed him earlier, the Chief Instructor would have had a hard time surviving.
Even if he was of imperial blood, the crime of killing the Task Force Commander would be too great.
And the Emperor himself would not have stood by, nor would the other nobles have supported him.
But now.
Now the situation was different.
The ‘taboo’ had been revealed in the presence of all the nobles.
The Chief Instructor who killed him would become a hero.
“Yes, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity because of your position.”
The Chief Instructor smirked as he pushed the Black Shadow Sword deeper, tearing through the dantian.
The Commander’s throat convulsed, and he spat out blood, with mana scattering from the broken dantian.
But his gaze settled more calmly than ever.
He had been contemplating how to end this situation ever since he realized the Chief Instructor’s target was His Majesty the Emperor.
The Commander’s eyes quickly scanned the interior of the Inquiry Hall.
The officers of the Task Force he had brought were being dealt with by the Crown Prince and a trainee named Yan, and they seemed about to be annihilated.
And.
‘Duke Beowulf as well.’
He was just watching for now, but who knew when he would turn into an enemy.
“Ha, haha.”
The Commander let out a bitter laugh.
Even the Reverse Blood Technique, his last resort, was blocked.
That meant.
‘There’s no way to deal with this guy here.’
Just then.
A thought flashed through the Commander’s mind.
‘Never use the Reverse Blood Technique with a damaged dantian unless you want to become a bomb.’
‘As for the power? If it’s someone like you, Commander, you could probably blow up at least a village.’
A conversation he had with the developer of the Reverse Blood Technique.
The corners of the Commander’s mouth lifted slightly.
“A bomb, huh…”
His body slowly crumbled to the floor.