novelraw Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
146
“Th-that is insane…….”
Cassian smiled, thinking Rozalin had let another vulgar phrase slip, and turned toward the voice.
Pan was standing there.
“H-huh?”
Rozalin, too, stared at Pan with her mouth hanging open.
She had been just about to say those exact words herself and was wondering who could possibly understand her feelings so perfectly.
And that person was Pan?
‘So this is why they say you have to be careful even about how you drink water in front of kids.’
Maybe she really should clean up her language from now on.
With that thought, she looked toward Cassian.
Cassian quietly lowered his sword and asked,
“It seems you no longer have a leader. Will you continue fighting? I believe you have already seen how this ends.”
“……!”
The mercenaries said nothing.
They simply scattered in small groups and fled in every direction.
As they did, people gathered around Cassian.
They had many things to say.
“Teacher! What was that? That thing—did you fire it? Aura? You can use Aura without the sword?”
“That is insane. Is that a new realm? Sword Master? Did you finally reach the same realm Pan was in back then? I am only an Adept, and I cannot do that, so you are clearly not in the same realm as me!”
“Teacher, what was that? Is it something we can learn? You are not going to end up like Sordian trying to learn it, are you? How many days would it take?”
Faced with the flood of questions, Cassian could only offer a bitter smile and remain silent.
Truth be told, even he did not fully understand it yet.
All he had done was add a powerful desire—to cut a distant enemy—to the sword intent he already possessed.
But did that mean his sword intent had changed?
If so, his stance and form should have changed as well.
Was it because the sword itself was different?
No.
The sword in his hand felt extremely comfortable, but at the same time, a sword was still just a sword.
‘My awareness of the sword has broadened.’
That description felt more accurate.
He had begun to see the world more broadly, beyond the sword’s limits.
In magical terms, it was akin to breaking the constraints of swordsmanship and stealing the order of something else—something at the very entrance to the sixth circle.
‘It is not Master.’
Pan had cut time itself.
With that as the benchmark, the title of Master could not be used lightly.
But it was certainly no longer Adept either.
‘Perhaps… Expert.’
If Adept felt like advancing into a professional course, Expert felt like having become a complete specialist.
Aura Expert.
Or Sword Expert.
The title rolled smoothly off the tongue.
Having settled on the designation internally, Cassian spoke to the others.
“Avril did not come. This plan only works if Avril is not in the Empire.”
“Then what about the Chairman……?”
“He is probably dead. At best, missing. Otherwise, this operation would not hold.”
Cassian thought of Gwen.
How would that teacher, who cherished her students more than anyone, feel about her father?
What would she think of the merchant who exploited that academy-centered obsession?
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
“I will explain once we leave the capital. Let us go. We do not have much time.”
There was no way a battle this loud would escape the notice of an intelligence group like Red Moon.
They needed to hurry.
As they were boarding the carriage again, two mounted men approached from the shadows.
“Huh?”
Rozalin narrowed her eyes at them, then blinked.
They were familiar faces.
“Wait. Should you not be on the northern border right now?”
“Do I know you? This is our first meeting. Roto, do you know her?”
“I am seeing her for the first time as well.”
About five years from now, the two of them would fight under Rozalin’s command.
At this point in time, they should have been stationed on the front lines of the House of Crownhardt.
Which meant—
“You have arrived.”
“The Duke deployed several units in advance. You will move with us.”
They were the men who had ridden on the carriage when Cassian met the Duke of Crownhardt—his helpers, sent to facilitate Cassian’s escape.
“The carriage is too cumbersome. We will abandon it. Smaller horses have been prepared.”
“We will leave the Imperial Capital quickly, then abandon the horses again when we use the back passages. From there, we will have to run through the sewers.”
“Once outside the outer gate, our brothers will be waiting, with horses.”
“We can escort you as far as the northeastern border. From there, you will need to head south on your own. Can you manage?”
The two men spoke and moved at the same time, rapidly laying out the plan.
Their briefing was so fast, concise, and orderly that it hardly felt like two people speaking.
A followed by B, then B followed by C.
The sequential reporting style hinted that they were elite soldiers with long battlefield experience.
Their execution was just as impressive.
They naturally took up vanguard and rear guard positions, performing perimeter watch, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
They missed not the slightest irregularity.
Above all, they were fast.
“Impressive.”
Cassian, following behind, voiced his admiration.
“At this level, their proficiency is extremely high.”
Rozalin, already familiar with their abilities, supplemented the explanation.
“Honestly, if we talk purely about observation, you are far superior, Teacher. Your judgment is better too. But these two have automated every decision.”
“Automated? Like memorized formulas?”
“That is how the military works. Manuals. Repetition. Mastery.”
Like the Lionheart Knights.
Most imperial armies and elite knight orders shared that same feel.
After walking for a long while, they reached the sewer the men had mentioned.
They moved through it at a near run for about two hours.
The moment they emerged, they mounted horses again and traveled a short distance.
There should have been people waiting to join them there.
“…….”
But waiting for them was not a unit.
It was a single man—and the bodies of those who had fallen around him.
They had not even managed to put up proper resistance.
Most lay collapsed without ever drawing their weapons.
Even those still clutching weapons had arms, legs, gazes, and necks all misaligned.
It was the aftermath of people who had panicked, unable to grasp their opponent’s position, before falling.
Against overwhelming power that transcended discipline, repetition, and training, all of that meant nothing.
The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, feeling the wind.
His gray hair fell in long locks down to his waist.
A massive cloth was draped over his shoulders like a shawl, with nothing worn beneath it.
As a result, his bronze-toned upper body was fully exposed, sculpted like a statue.
Muscles compressed to their absolute limit formed a perfectly ideal physique.
His face carried a rather cheerful impression.
Long, narrow eyes, a well-shaped nose, thick eyebrows—everything combined into the image of a handsome, confident man.
He wore loose, wide trousers, secured at the ankles with broad cloth so as not to impede movement.
Notably, he was barefoot.
A man in whom dignity and feral savagery coexisted.
Cassian had little difficulty deducing who he was.
“The Wolf King.”
“I heard my sister owes you.”
“I am the one who owes her.”
“That is true too. I also heard you took all the medicinal herbs we had gathered. They were quite expensive.”
“Shall I pay for them?”
“No need. Thanks to the kid over there, I bought myself another five years of life. Let us call it even.”
He was a peculiar man.
There was not a hint of formality in his speech.
A man like the freely blowing wind.
Yet the power carried in his voice was genuine.
Even now, just exchanging words with him, Cassian could feel mana leaking from his voice.
‘He is like Teacher.’
That was Pan’s first impression upon meeting the Wolf King.
Their personalities and appearances were nothing alike, yet their presence shared something in common.
The confidence unique to those standing at the very front, shaping the order of the era.
“I assumed you would move to deal with the demon once it appeared.”
“My subordinates are already on it. They have been stuck in the forest because of me, so they should blow off some steam.”
“You are the strongest among them, are you not? Should you not take responsibility for them?”
“They are my subordinates, not my children. From now on, only the strong survive. They need to realize that themselves.”
The Wolf King shrugged.
“If it is really necessary, Ulf will handle it. If that is not enough, then that was simply their limit.”
Cassian examined him.
His expression was filled with sincerity.
He truly seemed to believe that his subordinates dying was unavoidable, and not his responsibility.
That was precisely where Cassian could not agree.
“Did they not gather because they trusted you?”
“No. They gathered because they saw my strength.”
“They were born and raised there. You were the only one they could look to.”
“If they hated that, they should have left. They have two legs, do they not? Do I need to push them out myself? That sounds bothersome.”
Cassian stared at him for a long moment, then sighed.
“I have a rough grasp of your character. So why did you come, leaving even the demon behind?”
“You are the man Pan said was outstanding. Dangerous, too. I was curious. So I came. Well, it is not as if there is only one reason.”
For the first time, the Wolf King unclasped his hands.
Perhaps it was time to reveal his true intent.
A mischievous smile curved his lips.
“I gained something interesting in this life. From my perspective, it is a revolutionary technique, but everyone keeps going on about Aura, Aura… They only focus on what Pan showed once. So I thought I would prove it.”
“Prove it?”
“I will show you. Hup.”
He lifted one foot, then placed the other down—a simple motion.
With just that, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Blue patterns raced across the Wolf King’s perfectly sculpted muscles beneath the cloth.
Runic markings spread over his entire body, and a wolf’s howl echoed.
Before anyone could fully register what it was, the Wolf King’s form vanished outright.
“!”
In the literal blink of an eye, before anyone could react, the Wolf King was suddenly standing behind Pan.
“Check.”
He lightly shoved Pan’s back.
It was a casual motion, yet Pan was sent flying helplessly forward.
A blow powerful enough to launch him through the air.
“Wha—!”
Before Rozalin could finish shouting, the Wolf King vanished again.
“—What?!”
This time, he stood directly in front of Rozalin.
“You are still noisy.”
Smiling softly, he leaned in and lightly tapped Rozalin’s cheek.
Her body spun once and was flung away.
“Big Sister!”
Once more, the Wolf King vanished and reappeared in front of Hati.
Hati slammed face-first into the ground.
The soldiers of Crownhardt who had escorted them collapsed as well—no one even realized when it happened.
And finally.
The Wolf King disappeared—and reappeared above Cassian’s head.
“Oh.”
Cassian, already in stance, swung his sword with full force toward the Wolf King.