The Indomitable Martial King

It was a voice that clearly acknowledged magic. As Kalken continued speaking to the inwardly relieved Repenhardt, he said,

“But that alone will not earn our trust.”

“I am aware.”

Acknowledging magic did not mean Kalken recognized the magician as well. He merely saw it as one of Repenhardt’s weapons. If Repenhardt confronted Kalken with methods that were uncharacteristic of a warrior and more like those of a magician, even if he won, he would only be perceived as a powerful magician, not gain their trust.

The Repenhardt of the past life had earned the trust of the orcs because of his actions and attitude towards them. It was never due to the power of strong magic. In fact, despite his earnest efforts towards the orcs, he had struggled immensely to win them over because he was a magician.

‘Thanks to this body, the process will be faster now. This is good.’

Repenhardt chuckled inwardly.

Kalken raised his greatsword and shouted like a declaration.

“Then, let us begin the Ritual of Hotu again!”

“Very well!”

Repenhardt aimed his two fists at Kalken.

Kalken also emitted a green aura, getting into a battle stance.

The atmosphere became tense again. With eyes full of determination, Kalken and Repenhardt glared at each other. A fierce fighting spirit rose between them, blending like a mirage.

At a certain moment.

“Taaat!”

“Kaaaat!”

The two aura users lunged at each other.

Kalken’s greatsword swung long towards Repenhardt. The green aura on the over two-meter-long blade shimmered, scattering the light of destruction.

Boom!

Wherever the aura grazed, explosions erupted, kicking up clouds of dust. Repenhardt blocked the blade with spiral guards on his forearms and extended his left fist.

“Energy Blast!”

A golden projectile flew straight at Kalken. Kalken dodged by leaping to the side and brought down his sword again. Focusing the aura of his entire body into a single strike, the intensity of it sent shivers through Repenhardt, who stepped aside to avoid the onslaught. The philosophy of Gym Unbreakable was to endure most attacks with the body, but the force imbued in Kalken’s sword was extraordinary. It had enough power to pierce through Repenhardt’s spiral guard.

Narrowly dodging the blade and closing the distance, Repenhardt repeatedly thrust his fists while shouting.

“Chain Energy Blast!”

Dozens of aura projectiles poured down, occupying all directions around Kalken. The trajectories were too many to deflect individually, but Kalken easily blocked all attacks using the flat of his sword as a shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The clash of auras echoed loudly. Clicking his tongue, Repenhardt widened the distance.

‘As expected, orcs handle such massive weapons so well.’

The martial arts of the orcs, developed over long years, had intricate aspects. Despite the large size of their weapons, their movements were never sluggish. Using the sword’s center of gravity to deliver powerful strikes and then changing the trajectory with centrifugal force, Kalken’s technique left Repenhardt constantly retreating, unable to find a way to counter it immediately.

Continuously throwing punches and swinging his legs, Repenhardt fervently blocked Kalken’s attacks.

Boom!

Dozens of exchanges took place, and the sound of thunder echoed in all directions. After fighting for a while, Repenhardt decided to attempt magic discreetly.

“Dream, take hold. Improved Sleep!”

It was an improved sleep spell he had used before. Thanks to his hard work, he had reached a level where he could cast lower circle magic even during combat. In truth, this single spell would put Kalken to sleep again, making it quite a sneaky tactic.

‘But by now, I’ve proven my worth as a warrior sufficiently.’

Honestly, if the fight continued, someone might get hurt, so he planned to conclude the duel here. As expected…

“Zzz!”

Sadly, it worked immediately. Mental spells couldn’t be seen like fire or lightning, making them impossible to dodge. Thinking he had won, Repenhardt was about to deliver a final blow.

“Zzz!”

Snoring loudly like a battle cry, the sleeping Kalken dodged his attack and counterattacked!

“What the…?”

Repenhardt, utterly shocked, took a hit to his side. Grimacing, he stepped back. Fortunately, his instincts kicked in, activating his spiral guard, allowing him to fend off the slash. However, he was still bewildered.

“Did the spell not work?”

That wasn’t the case. He could still hear Kalken snoring. Yet, his body remained in a proper combat stance, moving automatically like a sleepwalker.

After a moment, Kalken yawned and woke up from his sleep.

“Yawn! Did it happen again?”

Then, as if nothing had happened, he resumed the duel. Repenhardt, bewildered, muttered to himself.

“Did Kalken have such a skill?”

☆ ☆ ☆

Sillan, who had been watching the duel, asked Russ in a puzzled voice.

“Wow, he can fight while sleeping? Can aura users do that?”

But Russ did not answer Sillan’s question. He simply muttered to himself in admiration.

“This is truly educational…”

Russ had the keen insight of an industrial spy when it came to absorbing others’ secret techniques. The moment he saw it, he understood exactly what Kalken had done.

Right now, Kalken had set it up so that after leaving a portion of his aura in his nervous system, his body would automatically counterattack as soon as the command from his brain was cut off. Sometimes, when an aura user loses consciousness due to severe injury, the aura rises on its own and heals the body. The aura, which manifests from the body’s vitality, possesses this self-protective nature, and Kalken had skillfully extracted and isolated only that trait through delicate aura manipulation.

‘If you handle aura like that, you can artificially impart a reflexive nature. I should practice that later.’

Russ, who had gained yet another new technique, wore a delighted expression. He was increasingly glad that he had decided to follow Repenhardt.

In truth, even aura users rarely fought against other aura users. Aura users were practically strategic weapons themselves. Unless there was a war between nations, it was rare for them to personally engage in combat.

Moreover, information about a warrior’s techniques was akin to their lifeline, so unless it was an extremely urgent situation, sparring between aura users was also avoided. If they were at Russ’s level or higher, they could roughly grasp their opponent’s techniques.

However, Russ had already met five aura users in the few months he had followed Repenhardt. Not only during his duel with the Dwarf aura user but also with Kalken and Stalla, he had already acquired several techniques. Unlike humans, other races had unique ways of handling aura.

With an excited face, Russ continued to focus on the clearing. To Russ, who had always hungered for martial arts, their duels were like a grand feast laid out before him.

Meanwhile, Repenhardt continued to exchange attacks with Kalken, observing his opponent. His mind was in turmoil. In his memory, Kalken had never used such techniques.

‘No, maybe he never needed to. Back then, I had distributed mental defense charms to all my orcs.’

Thinking back, since there was no chance of losing consciousness due to magic at that time, there would have been no reason to use that technique. To confirm, Repenhardt attempted magic once again.

“Be petrified, like stone! Paralyze!”

It was certain that Kalken had no resistance to magic. The spell worked properly again this time, but it still had no effect. Once again, Kalken’s ‘automatic combat mode’ simply counterattacked.

“Magic will no longer work!”

Kalken shouted, counterattacking as if nothing had happened. Repenhardt clicked his tongue as he scrutinized him. It took him a bit longer than Russ, but he had finally figured out Kalken’s technique.

‘So that’s how it is? Then mental magic won’t work.’

Mental magic essentially involved interfering with the opponent’s brain. As soon as the interference occurred, everything below the neck disconnected from the brain and moved autonomously, rendering it useless.

‘Should I try another spell?’

Repenhardt contemplated for a moment. There were many spells that could be effective against an orc with weak magic resistance, even if they weren’t mental spells.

But he soon dismissed the thought. He was undergoing the Ritual of Hotu. Although he was a mage, and his mind had briefly shifted in that direction, now was the time to showcase his skills as a warrior.

Taking a stance, Repenhardt spoke.

“Then let’s get serious!”

With a grin, Kalken responded.

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

☆ ☆ ☆

An aura-infused greatsword tore through the air, producing a deafening roar.

A golden iron fist sliced through the empty space, creating a magnificent shockwave.

The iron fist and greatsword clashed, shaking the sky and tearing up the ground.

Clang! Clang!

The terrifying sound of thunder continuously echoed, as if to split eardrums. Brilliant auras intertwined, swirling like a storm. Dodging, blocking, and counterattacking in quick succession, Kalken and Repenhardt displayed a closely matched contest, showcasing all the techniques they had mastered.

“Hahaha! This is delightful!”

Swinging his greatsword, Kalken shouted in excitement. Repenhardt, equally exhilarated, shouted back.

“Impressive technique!”

Not long ago, Repenhardt had insisted he was a mage, but now he was caught up in the atmosphere and was getting excited. No matter how much his soul belonged to a mage, his body was that of a warrior, and he couldn’t help but be influenced. Besides, it had already been nearly six or seven years since Repenhardt, resurrected in this era, had been training as a warrior. Even without considering his physical state, he had already been reborn as an excellent warrior.

How long had they been fighting so intensely? Swinging his greatsword, Kalken shouted.

“Let’s bring this to an end, human warrior!”

Repenhardt responded, thrusting a front kick toward the greatsword.

“So will I!”

The exploration of each other’s capabilities had long since ended. Both knew it was time to attempt a decisive strike. They exchanged blows continuously, seeking an opening in each other’s defenses.

At some point, Repenhardt launched a series of aerial kicks at Kalken. His aura-infused legs whirled like windmills, rushing straight at Kalken. Although Kalken twisted his greatsword to defend, the heavy kicks landed in succession, pushing him far back. His legs dug into the ground, leaving long furrows like plow marks.

“Ugh!”

Despite blocking with the flat of his sword, his arms went numb. As Kalken groaned, Repenhardt suddenly bent his knees and pulled his right fist back.

Whoom! Whoom! Whoom!

Golden aura gradually gathered around his fist. It was his most powerful strike, the Calamity Horn.

Kalken instinctively recognized the technique and heightened his vigilance. In a simple warrior’s duel, one could just stab the opponent while they were preparing an attack, but among aura users, their auras protected their bodies even in such moments. Attempting to exploit a gap with a weaker technique would only invite a deadly counterattack.

There was only one course of action for Kalken to take.

He would also use his strongest technique!

Kalken extended his greatsword behind him. He let out a roar.

“Raaaah!”

The green aura on the greatsword exploded into a dazzling light. They both concentrated their full power on a single point, eyeing each other intensely.

Without needing a signal, the two warriors launched themselves simultaneously.

Repenhardt thrust his fist forward. The golden aura converged into a formidable horn of destruction, shooting toward Kalken.

“Calamity Horn!”

Kalken swung his sword downward. The aura on the greatsword emitted an irregular trajectory and a thunderous roar. The greatsword became a bolt of lightning aimed at Repenhardt’s head.

“Thunder Drop!”

Their ultimate techniques clashed, shaking the sky over the wilderness.

KABOOM!