Chapter 134. Who Are You?
What the Third Sword saw was, truly, a furnace of chaos and destruction.
Trees that had once been thick were snapped apart and finished, and the constant eruptions of magical light illuminated the dark night.
With every flash of light came a deafening blast without fail.
Kwaang, kwaang!
Pubububububuk!
Jjeoong—!
From the sky, spears of ice rained down, and flashing lightning struck the earth.
“What in the world…?”
Zeke watched the battle for a short moment, trying to understand.
First—
‘…That’s definitely the Young Lord.’
But the matchup was strange.
The two mages were the most flamboyant combatants, but the Young Lord too was waging a battle that was anything but light.
Chaeng, chaejaejaejaejaejaeng!
In a single breath, dozens of sword-lights flickered, and Aether scattered in all directions like sparks.
He didn’t even hesitate to throw fists.
Kkigigigik—
They clashed blades and pushed in a contest of strength, then, as if on cue, both let go of their swords and slammed fists into each other’s faces.
Ppeok!
Kang!
Trading a hit at the same time and staggering back looked so alike it was like watching a mirror.
And after staggering only briefly—
“Ha-ha! Weak. You’re weak!”
“…Kkeu.”
The one to recover balance first was the knight in pitch-black armor.
Perhaps it was only natural.
Even if the Young Lord’s reach was overwhelmingly longer, the knight was armored.
It wasn’t as though the Young Lord’s fists couldn’t do anything to mere metal, but at similar levels, equipment difference couldn’t be ignored.
Anyway.
Just as the Young Lord regained balance late and launched himself toward the sword he’d thrown away, the black-armored knight slammed straight into him.
Kwaang!
The Young Lord flew back and crashed into the ground.
“Kkeu… ugh…”
A groan of pain.
Even for the Young Lord, the impact of a fully-armored knight charging with all his strength was not something easily shaken off.
Scrabble, scrabble.
Even while groaning, the Young Lord crawled and flailed to grab the sword lying far away.
The black-armored knight charged again like a leopard at that exact moment!
“Where do you think you’re going! Let’s end it now!”
“…Kuhk!”
The black-armored knight kicked the Young Lord, then immediately mounted him and raised a fist.
‘…!’
Zeke, who’d been watching blankly, jolted as if in a seizure and placed a hand on his sword hilt.
‘How dare you!’
But then—
…Kang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed through the forest, and the black-armored knight suddenly screamed.
“…Kaaak!”
“Huh?”
Zeke, who’d been about to draw his sword at any moment, let out an empty breath without realizing.
Because—
the Young Lord, cornered, had smashed the black-armored knight’s head with a fist-sized rock.
But it didn’t stop there.
“Y-you coward!”
“Ha! Coward? Then what about you, wearing full armor—are you ‘fair’?”
“Fair! This is no different from my body.”
“Then this rock is an extension of my body too. Isn’t it? And not just a rock. Look.”
Mocking the staggering knight, the Young Lord grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground.
You didn’t even need to see what came next.
Shaaak!
He threw the dirt straight into the black-armored knight’s face.
And it wasn’t just once.
“Ack! My eyes—my eyes…!”
Shak, shak, shak!
As if worried it might not get in, he carefully threw it again and again—twice, three times, not stopping.
At the sight, Zeke stood with his mouth hanging open, utterly stunned.
‘…Y-Young Lord?’
It was cowardly.
And petty.
This… yes. This wasn’t a warrior’s duel—it was no different from a dirty brawl between back-alley thugs.
But for none other than the Young Lord of the great House Lortel to choose such a cowardly move?
Unbelievable.
Yet that wasn’t the only thing shocking Zeke.
‘Why…’
Do you look like you’re enjoying it?
Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
“Kaaak! Bone—my bone got hit! Bone!”
“Bone? Then I hit you properly.”
Somehow, he’d slipped out from under him and was now beating down the black-armored knight with a cheap iron sword.
He could have cut his throat if he wanted. But the Young Lord stubbornly, obsessively beat him with the flat of the blade.
Of course, if he used Aether, whether it was edge or flat, lethality wouldn’t differ much—but the Young Lord wasn’t using Aether either.
He was simply—
“How about it, bone again? Or is this side bone? Hm?”
“S-stop… kuhk!”
Sweating profusely, wearing a bright, delighted smile as he thrashed the other person like it was the most fun thing in the world.
Zeke shook his head hard at the confusing spectacle.
‘What… in the world is this…’
A moment ago they were charging like they wanted to kill each other, and now that a chance opened up, they were busy beating each other senseless.
And the black-armored knight was the same.
Kwak!
“Kkheuk…!”
“Hahahaha—this is what they call a joint, you foolish thing.”
A vicious kick to the shin, then a fist straight to the face. Pak! As a crisp sound rang out, before the Young Lord’s body could even collapse, the second and third punches followed.
This too was a perfect chance to kill the opponent.
If he just put a little more Aether into his fist… no, if he could fight the Young Lord on equal footing, then even swinging with full strength would have been enough to crush a skull.
“Die! Die!”
Ppeok, ppeok!
Despite the vicious atmosphere, neither side showed any moves meant to kill.
So it felt like—
watching neighborhood brats brawling to see who’d be the alley boss.
Once he realized that, the situation itself was strange in more ways than one.
Not just the Young Lord and the black-armored knight—both mages too.
Look.
Jjeojeojeojeong…!
Kwaang! Kwagwang!
They hurled spine-chilling magic at each other, yet not a speck of killing intent—clean as could be.
And that wasn’t all.
‘Just who is that…?’
What seized Zeke’s attention was Aster.
“Slow, huh? Weak, huh? Like that, do you think you can land even one hit?”
Relentless mocking trash talk. And the way he moved—so un-mage-like, tearing across the slope in every direction—was impressive even to Zeke.
But his behavior was shifting from impressive into something that stirred up a sigh—an escalating series of bizarre acts.
“Kaaak, you vile bastard! Get away from there!”
At some point, he’d angled himself toward where the Young Lord and the black-armored knight were, subtly interfering.
At first, Zeke chalked it up to coincidence, but by now even he could tell.
‘…He’s being a pain on purpose.’
Yes. He’s deliberately being a brat.
But why?
For the Young Lord’s sake? No, not that either.
That gray-haired masked mage interfered no matter who it was—Young Lord or black-armored knight—whenever the tide started to tilt to one side, he disrupted it without fail.
And what was even more ridiculous—
the Young Lord was showing similar behavior to the masked mage.
Swaeaeaek!
“Ah, tsk! I said that was a mistake!”
“Same here.”
The Young Lord openly threw a rock, then shamelessly pretended nothing happened and charged the black-armored knight.
‘What in the world…’
Who is the ally, and who is the enemy?
No one could tell.
No—if you had to put it into words, nobody was an ally.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
In the four pairs of swiftly moving eyes was a thick, heavy distrust of each other.
Like they were all prepared to bash in the back of each other’s head at any moment.
With his own insight, Zeke could identify the ringleader behind this atmosphere.
That ringleader was…
the gray-haired mage.
“…A vicious one.”
This wasn’t a matter of level.
It was a matter of nature.
Because having a high level didn’t mean anyone could create a situation like this.
This kind of chaos was the product of malicious creativity—something only a person born with a truly rotten, mean-spirited temperament could make.
Honestly, Zeke wanted to keep watching.
‘They’ve hidden their identities, but… they don’t look truly evil.’
More than anything, it had been a long time since he’d seen the Young Lord like that.
A little… no, very rough.
Their malice toward each other was colliding fiercely, but the line wasn’t being crossed.
It almost felt like an emotional fight between old friends.
But—
that pleasant time didn’t last long.
“…Huh?”
Aster, who’d been darting all over the slope, suddenly stopped with a short exclamation.
Kwaang…!
A massive ice spear struck him head-on, but Aster evaporated the ice with blazing flames.
“So you’ve given up running like a rat?”
“No, wait a sec—there’s someone over th—”
Right then, a bundle of lightning slammed down onto the crown of Aster’s head.
Jjeojeojeojeong!
Parun, like he’d decided to finish it, drove dozens of bolts down into Aster—until the whole area became as bright as midday.
And the moment a terrifying pressure spread out from Aster—
“…Hey, come on!”
Paaang—!
A formless force expanded outward in concentric circles. In an instant, the flow of air around them changed.
Zeke frowned slightly at the sight.
Aster’s presence was stronger than he’d expected.
Because of it, the chaotic atmosphere of the battlefield went still in an instant, like someone had poured cold water over it.
“…?”
“What is it?”
As Parun questioned Aster’s sudden seriousness, Shine—who’d been grappling back and forth with Sion—threw out a question too.
Aster, eyes narrowed, stared toward where Zeke was and spoke.
“No, there’s someone over there.”
“Someone, you say?”
“If that was a lie to get out of the situation, it wasn’t bad. Your acting is pretty good.”
Aster, looking frustrated at the two of them refusing to believe, snapped in irritation.
“No, hey—parasite, fine, but you can’t feel that? It’s that obvious.”
At those words, Zeke, who’d been watching from concealment, stiffened his expression.
‘…He sensed me?’
He hadn’t trained in stealth professionally, but he wasn’t so sloppy that someone several steps below him could catch his presence.
Yet they found him?
A sharp alarm crawled up his spine, and Zeke unconsciously honed his aura into a blade.
This was not good.
It meant that masked mage’s level was far higher than Zeke had assumed.
Just as Zeke reached that thought—
“Who are you? Who’s spying like a damn rat?”
The masked mage stared straight at him and threw the question.
For Zeke, it was a very fresh experience.
On Lortel land, someone existed who would call the Third Sword a rat.
But surprise only lasted a moment.
Soon, Zeke stepped out of the brush.
Either way, if this was connected to the Young Lord, he needed to understand the situation in detail.
And when Zeke emerged from the brush—
“…Hmph.”
“Huh.”
Parun and Shine let out faint sighs.
Parun looked tense at the appearance of an unknown powerhouse, while Shine looked closer to simply shocked.
The only one calm as ever was Aster.
But there was someone in this place who was more shocked than anyone.
“…….”
Sion, covered in blood.
Zeke flicked a glance over the horrified Sion, then turned his gaze to Aster.
Tsuzuz—…
A suffocating pressure seized the entire area right after.
“You asked who I am?”
Zeke dominated the situation in an instant, taking in the three with eyes full of stern composure.
And when his voice flowed out, shock spread across the three pairs of eyes.
Because—
“This body is the Third of Lortel’s Ten Swords. I am the knight called Zeke.”
The one who had been hiding and watching the battle… was none other than the Third among Lortel’s Ten Swords.
After introducing himself, Zeke asked in return.
“Then who are you? Who are you to cause a disturbance within Lortel territory?”
Grrrk—
A suffocating pressure pressed down on everything around them, as if the entire mountain were screaming.
And at the end of that question, Aster thought—
‘This is… kind of…’
We’re f***ed.
Even if a first meeting goes badly, it didn’t have to get twisted this badly.
