The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 261

"To think they could use the demonic beasts of the forest as soldiers so skillfully. Thanks to them, our travel time has been delayed far more than expected."

Liam spoke, then with a light flick of his hand, shook the blood from his blade before sheathing it once more.

With that, he signaled the end of the battle to his subordinates. Liam turned to look at the injured and fallen knights and holy knights, then said,

"We will recover the stamina spent in battle and then set out again. Until then, regain your strength and treat any injuries."

"""Yes, sir!"""

They answered Liam's command with a loud cry before collapsing to the ground as if they were falling.

After entering the forest, the continuous fighting had taken a significant toll on all of them.

One of the holy knights, catching his breath on the ground, glanced back and forth between Liam and the massive stag lying before him.

'Even if we were a bit exhausted from the constant fighting, to think he could dispatch one of the kings of the forest so easily, when all of us together were being pushed back...'

The holy knight recalled the swordsmanship Liam had displayed just moments ago and swallowed unconsciously.

'Is this the power of the commander of the holy knights, the strongest among them, the Commander of the 1st Holy Knight Order...?'

His skill was nothing short of marvelous; he was, quite literally, on a different level from them.

If Liam hadn't stepped back to let them fight for the sake of gaining practical experience, if he had fought from the beginning, they would have continued their advance without a single loss of strength.

It seemed he wasn't the only one with such thoughts; even as they rested, the others kept stealing glances at Liam.

Just then, Liam gazed at the carcass of the stag he had beheaded, lost in quiet contemplation.

'I had heard beforehand that there were demonic beasts called kings in this forest, but they're stronger than I expected.'

Their strength was enough to understand why they were so arrogantly called kings.

For a moment, Liam weighed the stag king he had faced against the other commanders in his mind.

"As long as I'm not careless and don't get overconfident, it should be fine... Well, I'm not dealing with people, but beasts, so it should be alright."

With that conclusion, Liam dismissed the thought.

◎ ◎ ◎

'What is this?'

After parrying an invisible arrow of wind and slicing through a net that rained down from the sky, Noah emerged from the smokescreen. He turned his head toward the sudden appearance of a ferocious aura and narrowed his eyes.

'Those two... seeing their eyes, I thought they had something up their sleeves, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.'

Bodra was just as surprised.

To Bodra, the two had been like lion cubs who had just been weaned and were learning to hunt.

She had to admit they were born far more extraordinary than others, but they were still cubs who lacked sufficient power.

However, the presence the two now exuded erased that image of young cubs.

Their outward appearance was still small.

But the claws on their hands and the fangs in their mouths, wreathed in a ferocious aura, were hard enough to handle the fight to come and sharp enough to pierce an enemy's tough armor and reach the heart.

'I don't know what happened in that short time, but...'

A grin spread.

'These two right now are a genuine threat.'

The two men reached the same conclusion simultaneously.

But their subsequent actions were polar opposites.

Thwack-

Noah, giving the two unmoving figures no opening, kicked off the ground with all his might to finish them quickly, putting more strength into the hand gripping his sword.

Fwaaat-

Bodra, judging that the two were not yet fully prepared, moved to their side to buy more time. She planted her feet deep into the ground and focused her aura into the hands holding her bow.

Countless arrows shot forth from Bodra's bow.

They didn't fly stealthily, hidden by the wind.

They were shot with force, each one cloaked in a raging gale that swept through everything.

Fwoooosh-!!!

Each arrow that flew was like a small storm.

Grit-

Noah clenched his teeth as he faced the baptism of arrows flying straight at him, as if to give him no place to dodge.

The swordsmanship Noah had mastered was a heavy sword style that focused on putting weight into a single swing.

Therefore, if he swung his sword with all his might, he had no fear of being pushed back in the contest of strength Bodra had just initiated.

However, to use his full power, he had to swing his sword by infusing strength and weight into each and every blow.

'And if I do that, the speed of my feet kicking off the ground will naturally slow, and I'll lose time.'

Noah's mind raced.

'Should I dodge?'

'No, at my speed, I can't evade arrows like these.'

'Trust the armor's performance and charge head-on?'

'As incredible as the armor is, it's not enough to nullify all damage if I take an attack like this head-on.'

Amidst that rapid thinking, a single path appeared.

'...In the end, there's only one way.'

Having finished his brief deliberation in an instant, Noah threw himself down that path with all his might.

He confronted the storm of arrows flying at him, using the attack as a trigger to crush all the traps flying from every direction, advancing by smashing the ground with brute force.

Like a boulder tumbling down a rugged mountain, he accepted the fact that he would be broken, and in turn, used that crisis to add even more power and speed to his charge.

'I've reached them.'

Just like that, Noah arrived right in front of Mio and Rwen.

'Dammit, am I too late!'

Fwhoosh-

Bodra urgently threw down her bow and gripped her shortsword.

At the same time, Noah swung his sword to decapitate them both at once.

In that instant.

""Dragon Madness Transformation, Second Stage.""

Ssk-

The two, who had been standing still with their eyes closed, muttered a short phrase and opened their eyes.

The eyes thus revealed glared fiercely at Noah's face as he swung his sword toward them.

Though the two had come to their senses, Noah didn't panic and put even more force into his sword.

To which Mio and Rwen said,

"This is gonna hurt like hell."

"This is going to hurt like hell."

It was a strange thing for the two to say, as the attack hadn't even reached them yet.

'What do they mean?'

Even as he swung his sword, Noah felt a flicker of doubt.

KWAAAAANG-!!!

And while holding that doubt, he was struck in the stomach by Mio's fist, which blazed like a flame.

PWAAAAK-!!!

And then struck on the chin by Rwen's kick, which flashed like lightning.

'What is this...!'

Noah was stunned by the speed and impact that far surpassed his expectations.

Even so, he instinctively swung his sword toward the two.

But the hands and feet of the two, their faces deeply scowling, moved faster than Noah's instincts could move his sword.

KWAAANG-!

Once again, their attacks rained down on Noah.

The one being attacked was Noah, and the ones attacking were Mio and Rwen.

Gulp-

However, Mio and Rwen clamped their mouths shut and gritted their teeth as if they were the ones being attacked.

It was a desperate measure the two had chosen to keep from screaming against the unimaginable pain that was erupting throughout their bodies.

Krr-d-dk-

The pain, like every joint in their bodies was being stabbed with needles, caused all their muscles to tense up.

Fsssh-

The thought that not only she, but her sister beside her, was feeling this horrific pain made her eyes burn with bloodshot rage.

Guuuk-

The thought that the one before them was the sole reason she and her sister had to suffer this pain moved them with an unbearable impulse.

""Die!!!""

The two shouted as they rushed toward Noah.

In that moment, they understood why the character for 'madness' (狂) was attached to this technique.

What other word could possibly fit the sight of them, eyes bloodshot with pain, screaming ferociously and charging without rest?

Mio and Rwen attacked Noah, who had been launched into the air by their assault, driving him back without giving him a chance to land.

"Keuk!!!"

Noah barely managed to right himself in mid-air, swinging his sword to parry their attacks.

With every blow he blocked with his sword, astonishment filled him.

The sudden, massive increase in their power and speed was surprising, but what was more surprising were the techniques they were unleashing.

Each and every one of their attacks had a depth that was incomparable to moments before.

They had used the previous exchange as a stepping stone and grown in a short instant.

"Cough...!"

And that growth was not stopping, but continuing even at this very moment.

However, the two themselves were not aware of their own transformation.

They were simply engrossed in pouring out their thoughts and emotions against Noah.

All to forget this pain, even for a moment, and to escape from it, even a second sooner.

'Sigh, at this rate, I don't know when these kids will ever be able to pull their own weight.'

The key the two found to escape their painful situation, to defeat the enemy before them, was a memory from the past.

'To reproduce the brilliant movements of a flame, you can't just use your fists; you have to be able to use many other things at the same time. A brawler like you with a rich imagination for fighting can do it.'

'To move as fast and strong as lightning and attack the enemy, you have to constantly move your body and your mind, especially your mind. Well, you seem smart, so you should be able to do it.'

In Mio and Rwen's minds, which felt as if submerged in deep water, words from their spars with Lee Shin surfaced and burst like bubbles, spreading deep within.

'It's not just fist techniques, but also claw techniques, palm techniques, finger techniques, and even grappling. You have to be able to use all of these skillfully to deceive my senses for even a second.'

Haaa-

'Move your head to read the opponent's moves ahead of time, and move your legs to run to that predicted spot. Then, channel your power and throw a kick. Once you can do that, you might be able to touch my clothes.'

Their breaths became one, merging and then scattering.

In Mio's mind, a flame blazed brilliantly and splendidly, concealing what it used as kindling.

In Rwen's mind, lightning raged as if the sky were too small, striking out everywhere like a flash.

Hwarurururuk--!!!

Pajijijik--!!!

With a deep exhale as a starting point, a part of those images began to infuse their movements.

Kwaang-

A tightly clenched fist swung out and struck the flat of the sword.

The trajectory of the heavily falling sword was twisted.

Swiiish-

A leg, stretched straight, shot up into the sky, intersecting with the falling sword.

The head, protected by a helmet, was kicked.

Kaduk-

Fingers, bent like the claws of a beast, grabbed the armor.

The body, about to be sent flying from the impact, was held fast.

The tip of a foot that had already shot out struck the armor several times.

Dull impacts reverberated past the armor and into the body within.

An open palm, imbued with the mysteries of the Internal Heavy Hand Technique, shot toward the chest plate of the armor.

The impact pierced deep into the body like an awl, shocking the heart within.

A foot that had been high in the sky fell like a thunderbolt, aiming for the back.

Following the shock to the heart, it struck the spine, and the body that had been recoiling backward was thrown forward again.

Straight fingers, wreathed in internal energy, stabbed at the joints, the gaps in the armor.

Struck in the inner elbow, the strength in the hand gripping the sword loosened.

With the sound of crackling lightning, a swiftly swung leg struck the back of the knee.

The knee, which had gone slack as a side effect of focusing all his nerves on his arm to not lose the sword, couldn't withstand even that small force and easily buckled.

"Where do you think you're going."

In that moment, Mio's right hand wrapped around and seized Noah's right hand.

Like a punching bag hanging from the ceiling, Noah's body lost its balance and swayed, supported only by Mio's arm.

"How dare you."

Before Noah could counterattack, Rwen, having executed her footwork, channeled lightning-like speed into the tip of her foot, accelerated it further, and swung, wreathed in golden lightning.

KWAGAGAGWANG--!

Struck in the head by lightning, Noah rolled across the ground from the impact.

A period was marked on the chain of attacks that had flowed and intersected as naturally as water.

The result was disastrous.

The helmet that was part of the armor set was shattered by Rwen's kick.

And the sword that had been in his hand was now in another's.

"One helmet."

"One sword."

Rwen pointed to her own head, and Mio to the sword she had taken.

Despite gritting their teeth against the pain, they forced the corners of their mouths up and sneered at Noah.

Irhegue had taught them that dragons were noble creatures, and for that reason, they must destroy anything that tried to stand above them.

That teaching moved their lips and tongues.

"Now all that's left is to strip off that precious armor of yours, and we're done."

"Now all that's left is to strip off that precious armor of yours, and we're done."

Even as he struggled to regain his senses from the overlapping impacts, Noah heard their words.

Then, another set of words seemed to overlap with them.

-We need to melt down the weapon and armor you have, so that's why we don't have any yet.

-Now that you know, hurry up and slam your head on the ground, die, and hand over your weapon and armor.

Those were the words the two had said to Noah at the beginning of the fight.

At that time, Noah had replied with the same sneer they now wore.

‘Try it, if you can.’

"Haaa..."

Hearing their words and recalling the same thing, Bodra let out a breath with a look of disbelief.

"Didn't those two learn how to provoke the enemy better than how to fight from that annoying guy?"

Bodra had merely blurted it out in shock without any real thought, but surprisingly, her guess was correct.

(End of Chapter)