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Chapter 194
The Four Heavenly Clans were among the greatest clans of the Eastern Continent.
Naturally, even the elders and other members were all incredibly skilled.
On the other hand, the Bata side was woefully unprepared for a clash of this scale, leaving them with pathetically weak forces.
So, of course, the outcome was all too obvious.
Bachen tried to shake Leon's composure with words, but Leon remained indifferent.
‘This bastard... why doesn’t he show a hint of being shaken?’
He’d clearly cared for that little girl, so Bachen couldn’t understand his attitude.
At that moment, Leon spoke calmly.
“You forgot someone, didn’t you?”
“……”
“Luna’s probably not as weak as you think.”
At Leon’s words, Bachen let out a scoff.
“Don’t tell me... you're this confident because you believe in that wench?!”
KAANG!! SCHWAAK!!
Not missing the opportunity, Bachen struck Leon’s sword aside with force.
But Leon’s blade flowed like water and pierced through Bachen’s shoulder.
Got him!
Even while suffering a serious wound, Bachen grabbed hold of Leon’s sword without hesitation, like giving flesh to take bone.
‘Now, what will you do? If you want to retrieve your sword, you’ll have to face a counterattack.’
Just as Bachen prepared his decisive move, Leon released the sword without hesitation.
Though disappointed he didn’t land a solid blow on Leon, Bachen had at least achieved one goal.
“Fine. I’ll admit it. That wench did hold unexpected power. But to think she alone could take on the entirety of the Four Heavenly Clans? How foolish, utterly foolish.”
He didn’t know Luna’s true identity.
If she really had strength on par with or beyond a master like Leon, one might even believe she was a reformed ancient monster in disguise.
Still, Bachen had fought her once.
She was surprising, and her ambush had been sharp — but in his judgment, she alone couldn’t stand against the elders and forces of the Four Heavenly Clans.
Leon had to know that too.
Bachen reached for the cursed sword embedded in the ground.
If he could grasp that sword, he’d gain the power to cut down this arrogant brat.
“You dropped your sword. That’s your fatal mistake.”
“A sword is just a tool. You shouldn’t become attached to it.”
But he was wrong.
Even though the cursed sword, Elekstra, had been in Mielephon’s possession, no one had ever used it.
Why had the Head of Mielephon, Catsey Mielephon, tested Leon’s qualifications through a spar?
Bachen didn’t understand.
“Guh?!”
The moment he grabbed the sword, Elekstra responded as if it had been waiting — channeling its malevolent energy straight into his body through his hand.
Panicking, Bachen tried to let go...
“Ugh?! Why—?!”
But the sword clung to his hand like a leech, greedily devouring his aura and stabbing its malevolence into him.
Anyone unable to control such energy would quickly have their aura drained and be consumed by the sword’s malevolent force.
Just then, Leon’s voice reached his ear.
“So that’s why you were obsessed with the sword… Did you think it had some hidden power?”
It had been a delusion.
While the cursed sword Leon carried had extreme durability and sharpness, it was far too steeped in evil energy for a human to wield — it drained more power than it gave.
This sword... had no special power to grant its user.
With all his strength, Bachen finally tore the sword away.
But in that brief moment, the aura drained from him was more than he could ever have imagined.
“If you’re done watching, give it back.”
THUD!!!
The sword bounced off the floor and flew back into Leon’s hand.
“……”
Bachen saw and understood.
The level of control required to retrieve a sword lying on the ground using only aura.
A level that only a handful among sword masters could reach — one that many failed to attain before dying of old age.
The Mental Realm — Mind Master.
What Leon had done wasn’t the real thing — more of an imitation.
Just as he once mimicked aura blades during the Expert stage, now at the Master level, he was mimicking Mind Master techniques.
But Bachen couldn’t tell the difference.
He’d never actually seen someone at that level — only heard stories.
“Y-You… what are you?”
This boy’s supposed to be around seventeen?
It made no sense.
It would be more accurate to call him a monster in disguise, as the Eastern Continent sometimes described — one who turned back time and hid their true form.
Only now did everything begin to make sense.
The origin of that absurd power.
Leon wasn't a seventeen-year-old human.
He was some monster hiding his identity beneath a human shell.
A monster Bachen could never defeat.
Realizing this, Bachen fell into panic.
“No… no, this can’t be happening!!!”
He drew a spare sword and attacked Leon with mad fury.
Faster, more frenzied — but Leon calmly sliced through his body bit by bit.
That was the inevitable end for a sword master who lost their composure.
After several clashes, Leon clicked his tongue and caught Bachen’s sword with his bare hand.
“Gasp?!”
SHWAAK!!!
Before Bachen could react, Leon slashed him diagonally.
“You monster…”
“You hear that?”
Leon spoke calmly, pointing his sword at Bachen’s neck.
BOOOM… BOOM!
A deafening rumble echoed in the distance.
Even Bachen could tell — it was coming from the Bata faction’s side.
“For the record, if Luna went all-out, even I’d have trouble beating her. And by the way — she’s not alone over there.”
KWAANG!!!
Soon, a warrior from Sichuan was flung through the trees and crashed to the ground, a bloody mess, rolling helplessly.
If he was launched all the way from there to here… just how strong was that force?
Bachen gave up trying to hold onto his fading consciousness.
There’s a monster in Bata.
This wasn’t just a matter of dragon soldiers.
Coral had superior military power to Bata in the first place.
And now, they’d even secured the presence of the dragon units to drive the nail in.
All that was left was to obtain a dragon essence to control the dragon soldiers.
That’s why they were so invested in this rift exploration—and they had planned to use it as a pretext to go to war with Bata.
But that should never have happened.
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Dragon soldiers?
They weren’t enough.
To counter the monster hiding in Bata, they needed at least an equivalent deterrent.
A war deterrent.
Not something meant to literally prevent war.
It referred to a being so powerful that their mere existence discouraged war from breaking out.
If a Sword Master was called a strategic weapon, then someone beyond that level was practically a deterrent in themselves.
A being whose presence alone made others think twice before starting a war.
And there wasn’t just one of them.
There were two?
Maybe even more?
Just what had happened in that tiny nation of Bata?
Eventually, something began to slowly emerge from Leon’s shadow.
‘Ah… so from the beginning, Leon Cascadia hadn’t even shown his full power against me…’
"Gordon will be joining soon."
As the massive form of a dragon took shape from the shadow, Bachen’s vision slowly dimmed.
The last thing he saw was the figure of a massive black-shadow dragon unleashing a breath attack toward the forest.
* * *
The breath attack from the massive shadow dragon Baril, which had erupted from the shadow, scorched across the forest and evaporated everything it touched.
It made sense, considering Baril’s core was a Dragon Heart—and not just any heart, but that of a Demon Dragon.
The output was to be expected, but even so, the firepower was better than anticipated.
Seeing how much stronger Baril had become since it was first created gave the impression of a newborn chick’s down feathers drying—something new and potent awakening.
KRRRNG!
After unleashing a breath attack, Baril gave a big shake, as if feeling refreshed.
It looked like a dog waiting for praise.
Baril, like Muyeong, was crafted as an undead with a relatively strong sense of self-awareness, which might explain its behavior.
The knights of Bata were frozen stiff by the sudden appearance of the shadow dragon Baril. When I suddenly approached, they flinched in surprise.
"Is anyone injured?"
"Uh… no!!"
They responded crisply, though visibly frozen with fear, their gazes all fixed on Baril, whose massive presence dominated the scene.
Of course they were afraid.
If they weren’t scared of a being that had blown away even Sword Master Bachen across the forest, that’d be strange.
"It looks like Coral’s side has been dealt with, so I’ll go join the others."
"Huh? Then what about here…?"
"Here, including that guy…"
I pointed at Baril and snapped my fingers, and black droplets began to fall from the empty air behind me—drip, drip—rippling out in dark waves.
And then—
Rrrrggggghhh…
A massive number of undead emerged from within.
They weren’t particularly strong undead, but with Baril alone being more than enough, I had summoned the rest just to block the path.
"Huuuh?!"
To the terrified knights, I said:
"They’ll guard you. If anything happens, fire a signal flare."
"Ah… understood."
"Then I’ll be going."
Leaving behind Baril, the shadow dragon, and the many undead, I moved toward the devastated part of the forest.
I hadn’t gone far when, amidst the wreckage, I saw a boy twitching—his lower half completely gone.
Gordon Roswell.
A prodigy nearing the intermediate level of Expert.
A soldier of Coral.
"S… save me…"
Apparently not dead yet, he reached out to me with a face that looked like he was on the verge of death.
Following Bachen’s order, he had rushed to regroup with the Sichuan forces, but couldn’t completely evade Baril’s breath.
He survived by sheer luck.
Though calling that “alive” might be a stretch.
As he pleaded with tears in his eyes, I slowly approached and let aura rise to my fingertips.
SHRAAK!!
As I passed by, I slashed his throat.
Better to die than live in that state.
Sure, with Luna’s healing powers, he might’ve recovered…
But there was no reason to grant him that.
Luna had already clashed with the Sichuan forces.
The booming sounds from deeper in the forest were proof enough of that.
As I moved further in, I could see craters scattered like bald spots on a patchy scalp.
What they all had in common was that, in the center of each crater, lay Sichuan warriors, beaten to pulps.
All taken down in a single blow.
They were already dead, so it was hard to judge, but the Sichuan fighters didn’t seem particularly strong.
Perhaps they were just the advance party.
BOOM!!
Another loud explosion drew me to where I saw Luna grabbing a bloodied warrior by the collar.
Everyone else around her was already down, not moving.
Due to her short stature, the man’s legs were dragging on the ground—but Luna didn’t care.
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