novelraw Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104: Verbon Fortress (2)
Watching the duel, Gaiard quietly made an offer to Evan.
“Shall I step in?”
Evan shook his head calmly.
“No, it’d be a waste to send our Red Count out for this.”
“Really? As you saw, those tribal warriors are on a different level from the ones you’ve faced.”
The Kandahr forces left to guard supplies were mostly laborers within the tribe.
Though their basic combat skills were formidable, they paled in comparison to a battle-specialized tribe like the Rockturtle.
“If we keep testing them, their arrogance will soar to the heavens.”
Evan rolled his shoulders lightly and said, “So it’s time to put them in their place. I’ll do it myself.”
Postponing Gaiard’s involvement, Evan decided to enter the duel himself.
“I’ll go.”
Striding forward, Evan was stopped by the duke, who grabbed his arm.
“Evan! There’s no need for you to do this.”
“He’s right. I’ll go. There’s no reason for the little count to step in.”
Jismon, the duke’s trusted knight and former royal guard, stepped forward.
But Evan gently pried the duke’s hand off and said, “No. There’s no need to use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. Sir Jismon, you should conserve your strength.”
“But, Little Count…”
“What, don’t you trust me? Or am I too weak for the duel?”
Jismon couldn’t respond immediately.
It wasn’t a lack of trust.
The aura emanating from Evan
proved he was more than qualified to fight.
But…
“Your opponent is a cornered beast. If you get hurt by such a brute, it’s only a loss for you.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t touch a hair on my head.”
Evan could no longer be stopped.
As he advanced, the duke clenched his teeth silently.
If any danger befell Evan, he’d throw duel etiquette aside to save him.
―Step, step.
Evan entered the dueling ground, facing Duraman, and quietly removed his shirt.
A chiseled, hardened body was revealed.
Duraman nodded, intrigued.
“Not a weakling, I see. But to send a greenhorn like you—does the kingdom have no talent left?”
“…”
Evan said nothing, merely stretching his neck to loosen up.
His lack of response provoked Duraman further.
“I’ll go easy on you. Run now, and I’ll let you live.”
“…”
“Do you fight with your tongue?”
Evan’s short taunt hit its mark.
Duraman’s face twisted as he swung his fist.
―Whoosh!
A fierce gust grazed Evan’s head.
Dodging lightly, Evan thrust his left hand forward like lightning.
‘That puny fist!’
Duraman instinctively braced himself to take the blow.
―Thwack!
A sharp pain surged through Duraman’s body.
It felt like a spear had pierced him deeply.
His body shook, and he unconsciously dropped to his knees.
“Guh…”
For the first time since the duel began, Duraman groaned.
The tribesmen watching stirred in unison.
Even Grumbak, who had been leisurely watching with arms crossed, leaned forward.
“Huff…”
Duraman, drooling and kneeling defenselessly.
Yet Evan didn’t follow up.
He merely pressed his foot on the back of Duraman’s head, brushing dirt off his shoe.
“If you go down this easily, it’s not worth it. How many lives have you taken?”
The humiliation of having his head stepped on overwhelmed Duraman.
Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fist and swung upward.
“Hrah!”
Evan lightly twisted his body, dodging the massive fist.
At the same time, he struck the same spot again with lightning speed.
―Thwack!
“Argh!!!”
Intense pain engulfed Duraman’s body.
This time, the shock was unbearable.
He collapsed to his knees again, letting out a scream of agony.
“Hrrgh…”
Writhing in pain, Duraman couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Neither could the watching tribesmen.
How was Duraman, who withstood any punch, crumbling so helplessly?
To an unremarkable fist?
“What just happened?”
“He endured stronger attacks before—why’s he like this now?”
No one watching could understand the scene.
A single light punch had brought the ironclad giant to his knees.
‘How’s that? A mediocre punch from someone you underestimated. Fighting isn’t just about strength.’
He, too, once believed that physical power was all that mattered in combat.
But an event had completely changed his perspective.
In the southern continent, in the harsh desert kingdom of ‘Solaid,’
those born there were forged in brutal conditions, naturally valuing physical strength above all.
Their belief led to the development of martial arts.
Solaid became the nation producing the continent’s finest fighters, its reputation shining in the arena.
Solaid fighters exuded overwhelming presence wherever they went, and in matches they entered, victory odds were always low.
Betting on their defeat was foolish.
So, how strong was the ultimate champion of Solaid’s own arena?
This question always sparked curiosity among those in the empire and other kingdoms.
―He’s not human. They say he has six arms, like a monster.
―They say he split the sea with one punch.
Such rumors abounded about him.
‘It was understandable. He was called the pinnacle of fighters.’
Though from a different nation, Evan, too, had stood at the top of the arena.
Naturally, he was curious about Solaid’s champion.
One day, by sheer chance, he had the opportunity to visit Solaid.
With limited funds, he stayed in a cheap inn in the slums.
True to its reputation as a nation of fighters, Solaid’s streets were filled with people training bare-handed.
Even doctors treating the poor had calloused hands.
‘It was pure coincidence, seeing him there.’
Near the inn where he stayed, a doctor treated the slum’s poor.
Late at night, after finishing his work, he walked alone into the desert.
Evan watched from his window but thought little of it, dismissing him as eccentric and going to sleep.
The next day, Evan was stunned.
The desert’s terrain had changed.
Even more shocking was that the area was a windless zone.
Hearing the full story from the innkeeper, Evan was struck again.
―Why so surprised? It’s normal for a champion.
The unassuming middle-aged doctor
was, in fact, the pinnacle of Solaid’s fighters.
Their first meeting was a string of coincidences.
But seeing him again was no coincidence.
Their second encounter was on a battlefield against Solaid.
When the empire launched an aggressive offensive, his army clashed head-on with Solaid’s fighter militias.
On that battlefield, Evan faced the middle-aged man again.
‘I nearly died…’
He wasn’t exceptionally strong or noticeably fast.
Yet, wherever he passed, soldiers dropped like flies.
Watching from afar, Evan instinctively realized.
This man walked the same path as him, a master who had reached the pinnacle of skill.
A light punch, like grasping sand with bent fingers, was a one-hit kill.
His dance-like kicks struck like lightning, cleaving the desert.
A realm far beyond contemporary martial arts.
Not mere physical clashes, but the embodiment of lethal killing techniques.
If Evan was a master of all weapons, this man was a living weapon, every finger and toe honed to deadly precision.
His name was Kailam Juan.
Known as the War God, he was one of the seven stars ruling the continent’s pinnacle, alongside Sword Saint Robern, part of the Seven Polar Stars.
‘I didn’t learn everything from Kailam. But I mastered his way of using hands.’
Though they met as enemies on the battlefield, a noble act of saving each other’s lives occurred.
As thanks, Evan received advanced knowledge of the body and a martial technique from Kailam.
‘Kailam’s Spear, Ashurat. No human can withstand it.’
A technique taught directly by the War God.
Even without the power to split earth or rivers, it was enough.
His martial arts were deadlier than any weapon when it came to killing humans.
“Gaaah…”
As proof, Duraman, with muscles like steel, curled up, unable to recover.
“You won’t understand why you fell. But it’s natural. The liver, when struck even lightly, causes agony.”
Kailam Juan, a fighter but also a doctor, knew the body’s weak points and incorporated them into his martial arts.
His techniques, considered centuries ahead even then, remained unmatched, and neither this island kingdom nor the barbarians knew of them.
“But don’t think you can collapse yet. You must suffer for every life you took.”
“Shut up!”
Duraman roared with rage-filled eyes.
His massive hand swung down at Evan.
But Evan didn’t dodge.
Instead of a fist, he opened his hand, fingers aligned.
To unleash the true ‘Ashurat.’
―Stab!
His fingertips pierced Duraman’s solar plexus precisely.
“Kaha!”
A pain-wracked face was laid bare, and Evan’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Go.”
Without hesitation, he opened his other hand and stabbed the throat.
―Stab!
His hand, like a blade, dug deep, and Duraman’s massive body convulsed, trembling.
“Guh… Guh…”
The giant’s face paled as his breathing stopped.
As if sliced by an invisible blade, he desperately tried to breathe, but couldn’t draw a single breath, collapsing slowly.
―Thud!
Normally, Evan would show mercy.
But this time, his touch was cold and ruthless.
As Duraman fell, the mood on Grumbak’s side sank sharply.
In the silence, Evan walked toward them slowly.
“Anyone else?”
His icy gaze locked onto Grumbak.
“If not… get lost now.”