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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 8
‘But if I wasn’t mistaken back then…’
Melin’s eyes shone deeply.
‘Perhaps he’ll show an unexpected side again.’
With that expectation in mind, she watched the duel.
And then—
A scene unfolded that went far beyond her imagination, something utterly unbelievable.
Thwack!
A loud sound echoed.
‘What?’
Melin’s eyes widened.
She wasn’t the only one. Every demon in the training ground had the same reaction.
It was only natural.
Someone had fallen.
Not Chris, but Cannen.
Blood trickled down his face, struck directly by a wooden sword.
With a single blow.
Chris let out a smirk and glanced around at the Black Swamp Knights.
“The Black Swamp Knights aren’t much after all. Is there no one else who wants to step forward?”
"!!"
Silence filled the training ground.
The demons were bewildered.
‘What just happened?’
‘How did Cannen end up on the ground?’
No one could comprehend what had just taken place.
The moment the duel began, Cannen had aggressively pushed forward against Christian.
‘Even if he’s just a squire, Cannen is a demon who has reached the level of a One-Star Knight. There’s no way that brat could stand against him.’
‘How long will he last?’
‘Ten seconds?’
‘Five seconds?’
Everyone had predicted his defeat.
But in an instant, the match was decided.
Christian’s wooden sword broke through Cannen’s attack and struck him square in the philtrum.
And the result spoke for itself.
‘What the hell?’
‘Did Cannen let his guard down?’
But this was the second time.
Could it really just be carelessness if it had happened twice?
As confusion spread, an arrogant voice rang throughout the training ground.
“Is there really no one else? From what I’ve seen so far, it seemed like quite a few of you had a problem with me.”
Chris smirked, tilting the corner of his mouth in an irritating manner.
“Come on, anyone. I’d love to see the supposed strength of the Black Swamp Knights. It’s hard to believe the rumors.”
“!!”
The demons’ faces turned red.
They exchanged glances before pointing at someone.
A formal knight of the order, a Two-Star demon, stepped forward.
“My name is Thorn.”
“Well, not like I need to know your name.”
“…You’ll regret insulting the Black Swamp Knights.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Chris flicked the tip of his sword.
“Come at me.”
Thorn’s face flushed red with anger at the blatant provocation.
Clang!
Wooden swords clashed.
A sharp jolt ran through Chris’s wrist.
‘Just as planned.’
Chris smirked internally.
He had deliberately provoked the Black Swamp Knights.
Because he expected a Two-Star demon to step forward.
‘Their pride wouldn’t let a higher-ranked knight deal with a brat like me.’
The one who stepped forward was the perfect opponent for him in many ways.
For now, fighting against a Two-Star was just within his limit.
‘Even if I lack demonic energy, I can handle this much.’
Slash! Smack! Creak!
The wooden swords exchanged blows.
As time passed, the training ground grew silent.
Everyone started to sense something was off.
“What are you doing?!”
“End it already!!”
At a glance, it looked like the Two-Star demon, Thorn, was overwhelmingly pushing Chris back.
But he couldn’t finish it.
No—rather than finishing it—
‘What the hell? I can’t break through!’
Every time he attacked, the crude yet precise counters disrupted his rhythm.
Whenever he tried to overpower Chris, his attacks were dodged with subtle movements, or they didn’t land as intended.
‘The first two… they didn’t lose because they let their guard down.’
Thorn swallowed hard.
He couldn’t understand it.
Chris was undoubtedly weaker than him.
And yet, it felt like he was the one being pushed back.
To be precise—Chris seemed completely at ease, while Thorn was struggling with everything he had.
‘This is absurd.’
Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Thorn who was shocked.
Vice-captain Melin was also in disbelief.
‘…Unbelievable.’
She couldn’t hide her astonishment.
‘I wasn’t mistaken back then.’
The movements Chris was displaying right now—
Every single movement sent chills down her spine.
Because it was exceptional?
No, the complete opposite.
It wasn’t exceptional—that was the problem.
If he had overwhelmed his opponent with polished swordsmanship, it wouldn’t have been surprising.
But Chris was gaining the upper hand with nothing more than crude, unremarkable movements.
He was accomplishing something impossible.
‘…Insane. How is he doing that?’
She couldn’t understand it.
If someone possessed an overwhelmingly innate sense for combat, then maybe—just maybe—such a thing could be possible.
But no matter how much of a genius someone was, was something like this truly possible?
It was unbelievable, yet it was unfolding right before her eyes.
The entire training ground sank into a deathly silence.
Everyone was staring wide-eyed at Chris.
Meanwhile, Chris thought to himself.
‘Should I wrap this up? I’ve seen enough.’
There were two reasons he had stirred up this commotion today.
First, to gain recognition among the demons.
In demon society, where strength reigned supreme, being acknowledged through power was the best way.
If he defeated a formal knight—a Two-Star demon—then the way people looked at him would undoubtedly change.
‘And more importantly, there’s another reason.’
Chris’s gaze deepened.
His opponent swung a wooden sword at him.
But Chris was seeing far more than just that.
First, the position of the wrist gripping the sword.
The angle of the fingers.
The way the arm muscles contracted.
How the foot stepped forward.
How demonic energy spread through the body to enhance strength.
In other words, he was observing how the Black Swamp Knights’ fundamental sword style, Mud Swordsmanship, was executed in real combat.
‘So this is how it works.’
He had observed the knights' training sessions from a distance while running laps.
He had roughly grasped their movements, but watching from afar had its limits.
That’s why he had created this opportunity on purpose.
‘This should be enough.’
With that final thought, he swung his wooden sword.
Fwoosh!
Demonic energy coursed through his body.
It was weak—barely at the level of a newly advanced One-Star.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered wasn’t how much demonic energy he had—but how he used it.
The difference was night and day.
Unlike Thorn, who had unleashed a powerful wave of demonic energy yet failed to even graze Chris’s clothes, Chris’s sword effortlessly pierced through Thorn’s defenses.
Thwack!
Chris’s sword struck Thorn’s temple. The impact to a vital point made Thorn’s eyes roll back as he collapsed, unconscious.
“……”
A suffocating silence pressed down on the demons.
No one could process what had just happened.
The sheer shock of it made their minds momentarily reject reality.
But only for a moment.
A wave of astonishment rippled through the training ground.
“Insane… That reckless noble brat was this strong?”
“He’s not strong. His control over demonic energy, his swordsmanship—they’re both trash.”
“That makes it even crazier. Damn it. How the hell is this possible? His demonic energy barely reached One-Star at best.”
“Wait, wasn’t he supposed to have never trained in demonic energy? When did he even reach One-Star?”
It wasn’t admiration.
It was pure disbelief—utter shock that swept through the demons.
At that moment, a single word surfaced in all their minds.
‘…Genius?’
They swallowed hard.
This wasn’t something achievable without being a genius.
And not just any genius.
‘Just how absurdly talented do you have to be to pull something like that off?’
These were elite demons.
They had seen geniuses before.
Many among them were even considered prodigies in their own right.
But never had they seen talent of this magnitude.
‘That reckless brat had been hiding something like this?’
Their gazes began to shift.
Demons had a simple mindset.
Absolute survival of the strong.
They bowed before power and trampled the weak.
Chris had been despised not just for his debauchery, but because, at his core, he was weak.
A pathetic noble brat who was both powerless and a disgrace.
If he had been strong, many would have tolerated a degree of arrogance—so long as he didn’t cross the line.
Of course, even the strong faced punishment if they went too far.
But in the Magus Empire, demons were naturally lenient toward the powerful.
‘Good. Just the reaction I was expecting.’
Chris cheered inwardly.
This was precisely why he had orchestrated today’s events.
Yet on the surface, he showed no satisfaction, keeping his expression as cold and indifferent as ever.
That would win over the demons even more.
And just as he planned, their admiration deepened.
‘Not the slightest hint of arrogance. As if this was only natural to him.’
‘He’s finally acting more like a proper demon.’
Chris’s body had always carried a face that looked naturally ill-tempered.
Chris had undergone a complete transformation, exuding the refined grace of an aristocrat. Yet, with his cold, hardened expression, he radiated an unmistakable air of arrogance.
And the arrogance of the strong was a virtue that demons revered.
Demons valued raw confidence over false humility.
‘I’ll have to keep an eye on him.’
Just as their perception of Chris was shifting, he did something even more unimaginable.
‘This isn’t something I started just to end it here.’
“I’m disappointed. It seems I placed too much faith in the Black Swamp Knights.”
“!!”
With another insult to the order, the demons’ faces darkened.
Respect for strength aside, hearing their own knight order ridiculed was infuriating.
Just as some of them were about to step forward in anger, Chris threw out an even crazier remark.
“What does the vice commander think about this?”
“!!”
A smirk twisted Chris’s lips.
Deliberately provoking.
“If the knight order is this weak, then wouldn’t that be your responsibility as well, Vice Commander?”
A sharp intake of breath swept through the onlookers.
That lunatic was provoking Vice Commander Melin!
‘He’s insane.’
‘Forget changing—he’s just gone completely mad.’
‘Shouldn’t someone stop him?’
Melin let out a dry laugh.
“Young Master, I understand that an unexpected victory has you elated, but aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?”
“Well, we’ll see about that soon enough.”
Chris idly twirled his wooden sword.
“I hope the Vice Commander will personally demonstrate the true strength of the Black Swamp Knights.”
“!!”
He had just challenged Melin to a duel.
Her expression turned ice-cold.
“Brat, if I go all out, you’ll be dead in a second.”
Even her formal speech was gone.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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