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[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 29
Scarlett Arzen followed Ren Arzen up to Brillant.
Normally, she should have stayed longer in the southern desert, but because of Ren, she couldn’t.
After encountering the black mage and digging into the incidents in the desert, her suspicions about Ren Arzen only grew.
The black mage who tried to kill Ren Arzen.
He was a powerful black mage, one whom even Scarlett had a hard time defeating.
The Ren Arzen she knew should have died within seconds against someone like that.
But the black mage showed a deep hostility toward Ren and, until Scarlett arrived, he had managed to survive.
And that wasn't all.
The wound on Ren's side.
Judging by the bloodstains on his clothes, it was clear he had been injured in the desert, but the wound was already quite healed.
Moreover, the nature of the wound was very different from the style of attacks that Nigermann used.
‘Suspicious.’
Scarlett couldn't suppress her growing curiosity about Ren Arzen.
So she decided to observe him.
She could smell the scent of battle from him.
An intense instinct told her that she would experience a fight unlike anything before.
Scarlett’s instincts had never once been wrong.
"......"
Driven by the desire to uncover Ren Arzen’s true identity, she abandoned everything related to the desert and headed to Decaine.
And, as expected.
Ren Arzen was there.
‘What is he doing?’
He looked like he was focusing intently on his sword.
His atmosphere was completely different from the Ren Arzen she had seen before.
Just the fact that he was holding a sword made the surrounding air feel heavier.
It was the first time in a long while that she felt goosebumps from head to toe, sensing danger.
Even when she faced the obsidian worm in the desert, or fought the black mage, she wasn’t scared.
But now, she was frightened to the point that she was scared to face that sword.
‘No way…’
She erased her presence and didn't even breathe.
No — she couldn't breathe.
The suffocating air enveloped everything.
Wooong—
A thick gray aura rippled over the dull-edged sword, and the sword moved.
An incomprehensible and bizarre sword path sliced through the air.
In the darkness, the aura slashed through a tree and vanished.
"Shi...!"
She barely managed to swallow the exclamation that had almost burst out.
Fortunately, Ren Arzen seemed too focused on his sword to notice.
‘How does Ren Arzen know that technique…?’
It was clearly the Arzen swordsmanship's Third Ultimate Technique: Moon Wave.
And yet, it was different.
The way he channeled and manifested energy was similar to Moon Wave, but its destructive power was distinctly different, and the way it cut its target also varied.
‘If the energy imbued in that aura had been stronger... Could I have blocked it?’
Scarlett couldn’t easily answer that question.
She ran dozens of simulations in her mind in an instant, but no clear method to counter it came to her.
A stealthy yet deadly strike.
This was not a simple technique that could just be called an "ultimate move."
Scarlett, almost as if enchanted, revealed her presence and walked inward.
Srrrng—
She drew her sword.
If she didn’t, she felt like her body would tremble uncontrollably.
Gulp—
Standing before her was Ren Arzen.
A failure who fled the family in disgrace.
A loser.
Trash.
Yet Scarlett found herself tense before him.
"You... What’s your true identity?"
Ren’s expression stiffened instantly.
She could see the strength tightening in his grip on the sword handle.
"Good thing I decided to watch you after all."
Scarlett wasn’t thinking about fighting anymore.
She just wanted to see that technique again.
If possible, she even wanted to learn it herself.
"The move you just showed... What is it?"
Ren looked at Scarlett’s half-dazed eyes and quickly racked his brain on what to do.
If this crazy woman attacked immediately, there would be no stopping her.
‘Damn, she clearly noticed that it was a unique move she hadn’t seen before…’
What should he do?
If she hadn’t seen the technique earlier, he could have just taken a beating and moved on.
But now that Scarlett had witnessed his Moon Severance, there was a good chance she'd demand he show his full ability — possibly to the death.
‘Should I just go all-in?’
Maybe if he used the ancestor’s power through spirit summoning, he could win?
‘No, no… that's not a solution.’
Winning would be a problem, losing would be a problem.
If he won without an overwhelming difference, she would keep challenging him.
If he lost, he would have to lose in a way that clearly showed he was weak.
But at his current state, neither winning convincingly nor pretending to lose seemed possible.
Even attempting a spirit summoning now would cause serious strain on his body — he’d be lucky if he could hold it for even one minute.
[Scarlett Arzen]
-Trait: Madman
-Skills: Intermediate Arzen Swordsmanship
-Strength: 18.9
-Agility: 20.1
-Stamina: 21.2
-Senses: 15.3
-Vital Energy: 10.8
‘Her abilities are similar to Princess Jane's bodyguard, Sica…’
But unlike Sika, there was no one Scarlett had to protect, and she wasn't someone who would back down after glimpsing only fragments of an opponent’s strength.
If anything, even knowing she might lose, she would fight until she died.
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
Seeing Ren silently brooding, Scarlett stepped closer.
"You asked about the move... Its name is Moon Severance."
"Moon Severance?"
Scarlett tilted her head in confusion.
"The technique you just showed is Arzen Swordsmanship’s Third Ultimate, Moon Wave."
‘Third Ultimate, Moon Wave? Not the Third Decisive Move, Moon Severance?’
Ren twitched his eyebrow slightly at Scarlett’s words and glanced at Havenberg.
—The Third Ultimate, Moon Wave... Didn’t you say before that the Havenberg Swordsmanship was no longer practiced in Arzen?
Havenberg spoke in a slightly bitter voice.
Only then did Ren roughly understand what was going on.
‘Did they fail to properly inherit the Decisive Moves and ended up modifying them into something else?’
Thus, the techniques used by Scarlett and those used by his ancestor had become different.
It seemed the Decisive Moves had been adapted and even renamed.
"The original name of the technique was Moon Wave. But what I showed is Moon Severance. I developed it myself after seeing yours."
"You… made it yourself?"
"Yes."
Ren decided he would rather be treated as a reclusive genius.
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[Translator - Night]
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* * *
I couldn’t reveal the truth about the Havenberg Swordsmanship, and since I had clearly demonstrated a technique resembling Moon Wave, I had no choice.
I would just have to become a genius.
‘Yeah, I have Arzen blood too.’
Given my past actions, they wouldn’t trust me easily—but what could I do?
They had seen it with their own eyes; they couldn’t not believe it.
“You’re spouting ridiculous nonsense. You saw my technique just once and then improved on it? Ha!”
Her atmosphere grew seriously grim.
On the silver blade, a shimmering aura began to flicker.
“I’ll find out if we clash.”
‘This is insane!’
I had thought I could at least exchange a few more words, but she charged at me without warning.
‘Am I going to die here…?’
“Moon Severance? Fine, then try to imitate it.”
Arzen Swordsmanship
-Third Stance
-Moon Wave (Moon Wave)
As she swung her sword through the air, imbued with crimson sword energy—
[Descent - Havenberg Arzen]
With a flash of pure light, Havenberg readjusted his grip and thrust his sword forward against the incoming red wave.
Crack!
The worn-out sword clashed with Moon Wave and shattered into pieces.
But the crescent-shaped crimson sword energy also scattered and disappeared along with Ren’s sword.
“Moon Wave... the name’s nice. But that technique—you didn’t even grasp its essence. It’s just half a skill... no, a quarter of one. Tsk.”
Though his sword was broken, Havenberg still remained relaxed in front of Scarlett.
Having felt the pressure, spirit, and sheer aura when he had unleashed that move earlier, Scarlett grit her teeth and sheathed her sword.
There was no point continuing; after all, her opponent’s sword was already broken.
“A quarter... not even half?”
Scarlett’s pupils trembled, seemingly deeply shocked.
“That’s right. You brought that pathetic thing here and dared to call it a technique. Tsk, tsk. Is that how your father taught you?”
“...What?”
I shook my head, used to Havenberg’s harsh tongue.
My head already felt like it was about to explode from the backlash of the manifestation; I just wanted this over with.
—Just stop it, please!
Scarlett, on the other hand, seemed utterly stunned by the insult.
“Just boosting destructive power and range doesn’t make a technique stronger. Besides, even in Arzen, the Moon Wave wasn’t meant to be used like that.”
“What do you know to run your mouth like that?”
“I know better than you. Isn’t that why I broke your pathetic technique in a single clash? With a garbage sword, no less.”
“...”
Scarlett’s face turned red with rage.
If she’s trembling this much from rage, the psychological damage must be pretty intense.
Feeling the limits of my spirit power, I dispelled the summoning.
Click—
The sound of someone gritting their teeth came from ahead.
Fortunately, since she had sheathed her sword, it seemed she wasn’t planning to fight further.
Considering how much pride she seemed to have in her swordsmanship, it must have been utterly devastating to her.
“Hey.”
Scarlett’s low, cold voice made me flinch.
“Yes?”
“You. Fight me again.”
“Of course.”
‘Fight again? I don't want to see you ever again…’
I muttered inside but outwardly smiled.
I was on the verge of collapsing but forced myself to keep going to somehow finish this situation.
“I have one condition, though.”
“What is it? And why did you suddenly start talking so politely? You were throwing insults just a moment ago.”
I debated whether I should stick to the ancestral way of speaking but gave up.
I’d just get caught anyway if I faked it.
“Sometimes, another personality surfaces inside me. Especially when I see people with a lot of pride but no real skill.”
I just went for it.
If she got angry and attacked again, I was dead meat anyway.
“You... Are you really Ren Arzen?”
“I am.”
“And you’re supposed to be a genius? Then why did you run away from the family, pretending to be dumb?”
‘I never pretended to be dumb.’
Was she mocking me?
I barely restrained himself from cursing.
“...Because Arzen was too small a world.”
I spat out a random excuse.
“Small... world...? Ha, hahaha!”
Scarlett suddenly let out a hollow laugh, then burst out into insane laughter.
‘This woman’s completely crazy.’
“Ah, sorry. I just never imagined someone would call Arzen a small world.”
“It’s fine.”
“The greatest sword family on the continent... too small. Are you really a genius? You realized that before you even came of age and ran away?”
She seemed to realize something and nodded to herself.
Her wild gaze quickly settled into a sharp, piercing stare at Ren.
“You really are a genius.”
“I am.”
Then she walked up right in front of me and grabbed me by the collar, pulling me so close our faces almost touched.
Close enough that even her shallow breaths tickled my skin.
“Your breathing is all over the place. Your muscles are trembling slightly like they’re not obeying you.”
She muttered to herself as she placed a hand on my chest.
“And the energy I feel from your body isn’t much. At best, at a knight’s level. Am I right?”
—Still, she’s sharp.
Excellent observational skills.
She hadn't noticed before when she was all riled up, but now that she was calm, she immediately recognized that my body was abnormal.
“You're right.”
“How can someone like you even exist?”
She let go of my collar and stepped back.
“I’d love to fight you more... but unless it’s a life-or-death battle, you wouldn’t even be a proper opponent.”
Having quickly grasped my true capabilities, she smiled faintly.
—Without a life-and-death struggle, huh. She’s accurate. Still, her battle sense is definitely better than yours.
“When do you think you’ll reach high knight level?”
It was such a ridiculous question that anyone overhearing it would think she was insane.
But there wasn’t a hint of joking in Scarlett’s gaze.
“That... I don’t know.”
“Really? I thought you’d be able to feel it.”
She gave me a half-lidded glance.
“You're lying, aren't you?”
Did she think I was some prophet?
“How would I know that?”
“Hmm… then get stronger until I learn that Moon Severance thing. I’ll wait for you until then.”
I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“Who are you planning to learn it from?”
“Who else? You.”
She said it with a bright smile.
“No tha—”
“If you don’t teach me, I’ll fight you to the death right here.”
I barely managed to swallow the curse trying to slip out.
‘Haa... I really got caught by a lunatic.’
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[Translator - Night]
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