[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Chapter 304: That, I'm a Little Sorry About

Ivan ran on the river, and I spread my Black Wings.

“Water-walking? You’re full of tricks.”

“What about you, what kind of skill is that? How absurd.”

We ran, insulting each other, and soon arrived at a deserted plain.

“Stop, how far are we going?”

At Ivan’s words, I folded my wings and landed, replying.

“Well, this should be far enough that no one can see us.”

“It has been that way for a while.”

Ivan snorted.

“What about your men?”

“Left them behind.”

“The boss goes into enemy territory alone, and they don’t even follow? What a bunch of lawless bastards.”

“Who would dare disobey my command? If I say I will do it, I do it.”

“So full of dignity. What a great man you are.”

I asked Ivan sarcastically.

“So? Why go through the trouble of this creatively fucked-up method? You scared the shit out of me.”

As I swore comfortably, Ivan sighed and said.

“It was certainly a rather unique method.”

“Unique? It was fucking insane.”

“Stop swearing. There was something I had to confirm.”

“What did you have to confirm?”

Ivan’s expression hardened.

“Karzan. I came here to make you a proposition.”

“What a murderous look. Is this an offer I can’t refuse?”

“Not quite.”

Ivan looked at me with assessing eyes.

“Karzan, it seems you gained quite a fateful opportunity from defeating Grimnar. You have become considerably stronger.”

I did not bother to deny it.

“You could say that.”

“But it is still not enough.”

Ivan declared.

“If you lose to me here, withdraw your army.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“I am being serious.”

Ivan’s voice dropped low.

“This is a battlefield where I, Duke Montera, and Litvaleur’s Grand Commander of the Royal Guard have all gathered. If you cannot defeat me here, your side has no chance of victory with its current strength anyway.”

Ivan pointed at me.

“I have confirmed the level of your comrades. They are certainly outstanding, but they are too young. Not enough to change the tide of the war.”

“First of all, leaving all that aside…”

I replied calmly.

“If I withdraw as you say, I won’t get the ducal title.”

“A needless worry.”

Ivan dismissed it.

“If you lose and Verdzig also loses, then neither of you will have anything to say. Go back and compete again.”

“Strangely enough, that makes sense.”

I let out a smirk.

“But you are 8th tier, right? I am not confident I can win.”

Considering the overwhelming martial prowess Ivan had shown earlier, it was clear that I was not yet at that level.

“I did not mean for you to win, either. Instead…”

Ivan raised a single finger.

“Then what? I just have to endure one exchange?”

Ivan replied as if he was listening to utter nonsense.

“No, 100 exchanges. If you endure 100 exchanges, I will withdraw.”

“100 exchanges? You’re fucking kidding me.”

“It will not be an impossible condition.”

Furthermore, Ivan added.

“If you possess that level of skill, you will surely be able to gain another enlightenment through this duel.”

“…Ivan.”

I sighed and finally let out the words that had been itching to come out.

“What are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you do not want to kill me, then act more clearly. Do you want to bite the hand of your master?”

“Karzan.”

Ivan tapped the area over his heart.

“Do not say such irreverent things. I am afraid the restriction might activate just from answering.”

“You slave-like bastard.”

I spat out a curse.

‘Right, now I get it.’

He was hoping.

…Hoping that I would become strong enough to crush all oppression.

“Alright, Ivan. In that case, I will be your liberation army.”

I drew Voyager of the Night.

“Still full of bluff and bluster.”

As Ivan quietly drew his sword, the movement itself was martial art.

“Absurd bastard.”

To be called an 8th tier martial artist, he was truly on a different level.

It felt like calling him a God of War would not be much of an exaggeration.

‘But that cannot be right.’

Let’s say there is a giant rat.

To an ant’s eyes, it might look like a god, but from a cat’s perspective, it is nothing more than prey.

In the Dark King’s eyes, Ivan too must be nothing more than a slave with useful talents.

“Karzan, do you remember?”

The solemn slave spoke.

“We often observed each other’s methods.”

“Yeah. We did.”

“Having faced him just now, Zamuel’s sword was at a level you would have reached if you had trained for about three to five more years.”

“Is that so?”

“If you had trained for another dozen or so years from there, you would have surely surpassed me. You had that much talent.”

“Thanks for the high praise, but…”

I shrugged.

“Who knows. As you said, I lacked roots and a pillar. Even if I had managed to overcome the 7th tier wall through some fateful opportunity, would I have been able to overcome the 8th tier wall as well?”

Ivan affirmed it.

“Right, that we cannot know. But.”

“But?”

“If you had accepted my proposition back then and wore the shackles, you would have surely obtained a superior demonic art and broken through the wall.”

“Didn’t I tell you? It is better to be a free commoner, even if a little weak, than a strong slave.”

I dismissed it.

“So are you proud of that power? You reached that level by comfortably training, eating lots of good elixirs, and learning lots of good demonic arts, didn’t you?”

Ivan let out a smirk.

“Karzan, I am sorry, but my path was not so easy either. Especially since you went and died like that…”

Then Ivan suddenly shut his mouth.

“No, let’s stop.”

“What, why did you stop talking?”

“Shut up.”

Ivan, with a somehow angered face, pointed the tip of his sword at me.

“First exchange, here I come.”

“Don’t you have some old master courtesy, like conceding the first three exchanges?”

“I do not. Prepare yourself.”

Swooooosh!

Ivan’s first move rushed towards me with the intent to take off my head.

* * *

Ivan pushed me with overwhelming power and speed.

‘He does not even allow a single breath.’

His body may be aging compared to seventeen years ago, but…

His well-trained body, the power and speed generated from his overwhelming internal mana, and above all…

‘He sees through every single one of my small movements and can easily predict my next move.’

Therefore, his judgment was fast, and therefore, there was no hesitation.

‘Dark Star.’

Only after I amplified my power using the ability of the Seven Stars of the Black Sea Technique and combined it with the Ink Soul Sacred Shadow Technique was I able to withstand the intensity of the Sword Aura that Ivan wielded so lightly.

“Incredible. To receive my Sword Aura head-on with all sorts of techniques.”

Of course, the price I paid was the feeling of my organs being churned and the pressure of my wrist about to break every time our swords clashed.

“Karzan. I told you to polish the sword itself, not to rely on divine arts. Did you not listen? To be clear, it is still not enough.”

To that, I replied harshly.

“You’ve been training for seventeen years and you have the nerve to say that. How much time has passed since you said that, you fucking prick?”

“…”

“Fucking old-timer. You got old and now you lecture at the end of every sentence. I’ll tell everyone about all the dumb shit you did when you were drunk…”

Ivan launched a slash to shut my mouth and charged again.

“Am I not talking about your mindset? You have ascended in other realms, but your sword realm has not yet caught up…”

“If it were enough, I would already be 8th tier, you bastard.”

I firmly defended against Ivan’s sword strikes by applying various methods from Siena’s Black Hawk Soul-Binding Sword Technique, the Royal Guard, and the Special Operations Division.

“It is not like I am in a situation where I can go into the mountains and cultivate myself, so stop your fucking whining. Are you pissed because I did not listen to you?”

“Absurd. That is not it…”

“An opening!”

“Crazy bastard.”

I shot out fist winds and tensile force with the techniques of the Flowing Cloud Thunder Fist, then spread my Black Wings to fly up and scatter my ultimate techniques.

“Celestial Chain Breaker, Profound Radiant Heaven Rend, Lonely Wave Yearning Moon.”

It was a display made possible only by having an internal mana as profound as the sea.

KABOOOOOM!

Papapapapapak!

A huge mana wave, the collision of Dark Soul Mana and Brilliant Spirit Mana exploding in all directions, and a heavy greatsword descended upon Ivan.

But Ivan did not dodge any of it and simply split, deflected, and countered it all with his sword.

“Is that all? If you think you can reach the 8th rank with an attack that only relies on ignorant firepower, you are gravely mistaken…”

Whether he was talking or not.

I used the techniques of the Dark Mana, that is, the Silent Night Soul-Soaking Divine Art, to cast a curtain of stealth over myself, and simultaneously activated the ability of the Dark Star to hide myself within the huge explosions and loud noise.

‘Behind you, you bastard.’

I executed the third ultimate technique of the Azure Sea Moon Shadow Swordsmanship most fitting for Ivan who was overconfident in his own sword.

‘Moon Dance.’

The Moon Dance, which added the principles of stealth and footwork to the Shadow Flowing Phantom Sword, had its power further enhanced as I mastered the various martial arts of the Silent Night Soul-Soaking Divine Art, the Ink Soul Sacred Shadow Technique, and the Seven Stars of the Black Sea Technique.

‘Try and block this too.’

An ultimate illusion sword, extending from within the stealth, descended upon Ivan.

“Hmm!”

Ivan, who received it with a defensive technique coupled with his body-protecting art, was slightly impressed for the first time.

“This is a technique that one would have to fall for if they did not know it.”

“Were you scared? You, the master who has reached the pinnacle of the sword? It is something you could have blocked with a single sword.”

“Do not provoke me. I simply chose the most appropriate defense.”

“Oh, is that so?”

I looked at Ivan with a mocking face.

“Go ahead, try and block it all.”

This time, I used Erosion, that is, I cast the curtain of the Darkest Night over Ivan to momentarily steal his vision.

“What is this now?”

Ivan, though surprised, once again deployed a sword screen to block my attack, but…

‘You think I would use the same attack twice? I’m not an idiot.’

I slammed my fist into the sword screen and activated the ultimate technique of the Karzan-style, the one I had used to defeat Siena and Gelberich.

“Soul-Penetrating Black Moon.”

Duuuuuuuuung!

This attack pierced through the sword screen and dealt a blow, but it seemed Ivan had a way to defend against even internal damage.

“Keum.”

After letting out a slightly uncomfortable breath, Ivan blasted me away with a mana wave and composed himself with a strange breathing technique.

“You bastard, this is a technique I have seen somewhere before.”

“Hehehe.”

Why would it not be? I had destroyed the Dark King’s precious box with this technique.

‘And got caught in the explosion and died.’

“Congratulations. It seems you are sturdier than that box.”

“Crazy bastard. Do you know how much trouble I went through because of that…”

Ivan, who was about to say something more, shut his mouth and launched a sword strike.

“Uh oh? Not so fast.”

The Ink Soul Sacred Shadow Technique, having reached the third stage, became a Sword Aura that could cut anything and could not be broken by anything, and received Ivan’s sword strike.

“It is getting a bit heavy. Shall I try deflecting this time?”

As I deflected the second strike, Ivan, as if not allowing it, launched a cross-shaped slash to make me retreat.

“Hehehe.”

With a face that said I could hold on for a bit longer, I opened my mouth again.

“Ivan. Let me ask you one thing.”

In truth, it was to buy time.

Things were getting a little tight.

“What is it?”

Whether he knew my intention or not, Ivan permitted the question with a stoic face.

“So what the hell was in that box?”

“…Do you really want to know?”

“I do. What the hell was in it that made you throw such a fit?”

“Ha, hahaha. Hahahaha.”

Ivan suddenly started laughing like a madman, then raised his sword and pointed it at me.

“If you are so curious, I will tell you. It was Ereshkigal.”

“…Huh?”

It was a statement that made me doubt my own ears.

“You do not know? The legendary elixir that is said to bring even the dead back to life, Ereshkigal.”

“…Wow, fuck.”

I blew that up with my own hands?

‘I’m going crazy.’

“Thanks to you destroying it, I have dedicated my life to obtaining it again. I went through hell to build my strength.”

“…”

I raised my hand in apology.

“I did not know it would be like that. That, I am a little sorry about.”

“Shut up. You son of a bitch.”

“Dumbass, I said I was sorry.”

“Dumbass? Did you call me a dumbass? You called me a dumbass!”

Ivan, who got worked up while talking, raised his sword.

“Let’s start again. It has only been 40 exchanges.”

This is fucking insane.

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]