The Indomitable Martial King

‘Could those be… an artifact that enables spatial movement?’

If it truly was an item with the power to transcend space, it would be an artifact renowned across the continent, much like the Eldrad war armor. Disbelieving, she swung her scimitar down.

“Go! Salamander!”

The salamander embedded in the sword flew out. It hurled itself towards Jade, who was standing at a distance. Just as the salamander was about to strike…

Bang!

Jade disappeared again, and the salamander crashed into the ground, exploding. He reappeared to the left, sporting a sardonic grin.

“It’s useless, elf girl.”

There was no doubt about it.

Spatial movement—an artifact from the Age of Silver capable of personal teleportation.

Siris’s complexion paled. How could she possibly stop a high-ranking mage who could freely move through space and cast powerful spells?

Moreover, the Blink Boots weren’t the only artifact Jade possessed.

“Too valuable to use on an elf like you, but…”

Jade extended his hand towards her.

“There’s no reason to hold back now.”

A faint light emanated from the glove on his hand. An ominous premonition sent chills down her spine. Her instincts moved before her reason, and Siris leaped back without thinking.

Slash!

With a chilling sound, a sharp disc of light flew past where she had just been standing. Simultaneously, the thick upper section of the fortress wall was sliced off and slid down.

Siris stared in horror at the severed wall. The cut was so smooth that it reflected her face. Such incredible cutting power!

‘Magic? Aura?’

Either way, it was an immense force.

Jade proudly displayed the glove on his right hand, murmuring.

“The Sword of Severance.”

Buzzzz!

A flash of light burst from the glove, forming the shape of a sword. Siris gulped. It was a simple sword of light, but the energy it contained was so powerful that just looking at it made cold sweat run down her back.

“Try to block this.”

With a cold voice, Jade disappeared from sight again. He jumped through space and reappeared behind Siris, immediately swinging the sword of light. Siris quickly twisted her body to evade, but she was a bit too late. Her clothes tore, and blood splattered.

“Ugh!”

She let out a groan and launched a counterattack with a slash. However, Jade was no longer there. In an instant, he moved to her side and swung his sword to deliver another blow. Blood splattered again.

Jade relentlessly pressured Siris, continuously teleporting through space. As she was driven back, more and more wounds appeared on her body.

“Ugh!”

Her face contorted with pain and humiliation.

The opponent’s swordsmanship and movements were nothing special. They were just at the level of an ordinary mage who had learned basic martial arts. But with that damn teleportation added, he was impossible to catch. The best she could do was barely avoid fatal injuries.

“Tch, you dodge well.”

Jade clicked his tongue as he watched Siris, who swayed like a reed but managed to protect her vital points. Then he wiggled his fingers to cast a spell.

“Hold Slow!”

Although it was a low-circle spell, it was enough to restrain her movements for a moment. Siris’s movements came to a sudden halt.

“You put up quite a fight, but it’s over now.”

Jade shot a disc of light at the immobilized Siris. It was the same cutting light that had sliced through the castle wall earlier.

Vroooom!

The disc of light flew towards her with a strange noise. In desperation, Siris crossed her scimitars to block it.

Clang!

With a loud metallic sound, both scimitars shattered. The scattered fragments of light pierced through her entire body. Siris screamed as pain engulfed her.

“Ahhhh!”

Her slender body, now covered in blood, was thrown to the ground. Crawling on the floor, she let out groans.

She couldn’t move at all. Blood flowed from her body, staining the wall red.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Hahaha! Seeing you crawl like a dog, now you finally look like an elf!”

Jade laughed heartily as he raised his hand to prepare a spell. He wanted to finish her off with his own magic. Flames flickered and soon transformed into a large fireball.

“You dared to block my magic?”

The fireball grew larger, emitting the heat of condensed magic power, ready to explode at any moment.

Fear lit up in Siris’s eyes. Unconsciously, a name burst out from her heart.

“Repenhardt!”

* * *

“Siris!”

Lephenhardt widened his eyes as he looked at the fortress wall. Siris was being relentlessly pushed back by an unknown mage. At first, it seemed she was handling it well, but as the mage began to wield a sword of light, she was quickly overwhelmed and on the verge of defeat.

‘I thought there wouldn’t be any danger, but where did that guy come from?!’

Lephenhardt stomped his foot anxiously.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he would not have sent Siris to the battlefield alone. He desperately wanted to rush over and help her immediately, but…

‘Damn! It’s too far!’

The former Lephenhardt, who was once a 10th Circle Grand Mage, could have flown through the air and reached the wall in an instant. However, the high-speed flight magic, Fly, was an 8th Circle advanced spell. The best he could do now was a simple 5th Circle levitation spell, Levitation.

Even if he started running now, he wouldn’t make it in time.

“This is urgent…”

Lephenhardt looked around frantically, searching for a solution.

Then, his eyes fell on a giant catapult.

“That’s it!”

With eyes shining, Lephenhardt ran towards the catapult. The knight who was just loading a boulder onto it looked puzzled.

“Your Majesty?”

“Borrowing this for a moment!”

Lephenhardt shouted as he leapt onto the catapult. With a light kick, the boulder that had been loaded flew off to the side. The soldiers, seeing him land where the boulder had been, asked in bewilderment.

“Huh?”

“Your Majesty, what are you…?”

“No way?”

Without responding, Lephenhardt reached for the tightly drawn rope. A blade of golden aura shot out, cutting deep into the rope.

Bang!

As the rope snapped, the catapult, with tremendous force, launched its payload into the air. Of course, in this case, the payload was Lephenhardt himself.

Whoosh!

Cutting through the wind, Lephenhardt’s massive body flew towards the walls of Hundargard in an instant. Both enemies and allies alike gasped and shouted in shock at the sight.

“Wh-what is that?!”

“What is he doing?”

“That’s insane!”

* * *

“Magma Flare!”

Jade’s spell activated. The fireball, seething with heat, surged forward in a violent torrent. The blazing river of flames vividly reflected in Siris’ blurry eyes.

The terrible heat pierced through her entire body. Her limbs were already paralyzed and unable to move. She didn’t even have the strength left to summon a spirit.

Siris closed her eyes, resigning herself to death.

“……”

Just before the river of flames flowing up the fortress wall engulfed her…

Whoosh!

A piercing sound filled the air as a golden meteor descended from the sky.

Boom!

The meteor struck the wall, shaking the ground. Startled, Siris snapped her eyes open. A towering figure, like an iron tower, was standing in front of her.

“Re, Repenhardt?”

For a moment, she doubted her own eyes. How could he be here, when he should have been far away? She even wondered if she was hallucinating on the brink of death.

At the same time, the river of flames engulfed the two of them.

Kwoooosh!

“Come here, Siris!”

Repenhardt hurriedly embraced Siris and turned his body. He channeled his entire aura to block all the heat with his back.

Whoosh!

The scorching flames engulfed Repenhardt and Siris, filling the top of the wall. The intense heat turned the fortress wall red-hot.

After a moment, the flames subsided. Repenhardt, still holding Siris, stood up. Even that powerful fire couldn’t penetrate Gym Unbreakable’s aura.

Using his aura to stop the bleeding on Siris’ entire body, he asked with a worried expression.

“Are you okay?”

Siris nodded blankly. She had been sure she would die, so she was still not in her right mind. Her heart was still pounding wildly.

Then she suddenly realized where she was. Siris’s face turned as red as a beet.

“……!”

Although she had suffered various humiliations during her time as a slave, Siris had always been returned early and had never actually been intimate with a man. This was her first time being held so closely by a man.

And it wasn’t just any man’s embrace. As usual, Repenhardt was shirtless today. In other words, she was directly feeling the warmth of his bare muscles. For a teenage girl, this was an overwhelmingly intimate hug.

“Pl-please put me down…!”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

Squirming, Siris wriggled out of Repenhardt’s arms. Thanks to the healing power of his aura, she could stand on her own two feet. With a burning face, she glared at him.

‘He came shirtless again! Again!’

“……?”

Siris’ sudden glare made Repenhardt tilt his head in confusion. However, she quickly relaxed her expression. Although she had briefly shown such an attitude out of embarrassment, after all, hadn’t he appeared like the wind and saved her in a moment of crisis? Honestly, it was quite moving.

“Thank you, Repenhardt…”

“There’s no need to thank me for something like this…”

Feeling awkward, Repenhardt seated her inside the fortress. Then, he called out to Azrael, who had been anxiously waiting for an opportunity to join the fight but couldn’t due to the fierce battle between Jade and Siris.

“Sir Azrael! Please take care of Siris!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Azrael immediately rushed over and handed Siris a healing potion. As he watched her treat her wounds, Repenhardt spoke soothingly.

“Rest for a bit. I’ll take care of this quickly.”

Repenhardt’s gaze turned to the young man with blonde hair. The youth glared at him with blazing eyes.

“So you’ve finally shown up, Fist King Repenhardt!”

* * *

“Quite a dramatic entrance. I’ve heard that the previous Fist Kings were brutish, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.”

Repenhardt frowned as he looked at the young mage in front of him, who muttered as if he couldn’t believe it. At first, he hadn’t recognized him, but up close, the face seemed familiar.

‘Huh? Why does he look so familiar?’

The young man had a gentle and handsome appearance, but when he made a particular expression, his demeanor changed completely, becoming cold and sinister. Repenhardt had seen this dual-faced individual in his previous life.

He hadn’t realized it because of his youthful appearance, but once he recognized him, he was sure. It was undoubtedly him.

The mage blessed by mana, the Mage of Light.

He was the strongest mage on the continent, except for Repenhardt.

One of the arch-enemies who had persistently troubled him by leading all the magical battalions of the continent.

‘Jade Arclight?’

For a moment, a look of astonishment crossed Repenhardt’s face.

‘Why is he here?’

It seemed he had been hired by Baron Chetas, but Repenhardt couldn’t understand why. The Jade he knew had no reason to come all the way to the Kingdom of Crovence to work as a mercenary.

Although he rarely left the Sun Tower and wasn’t known to the general public, in this era, Jade was quite famous among mages.

He was the second son of the prestigious Arclight family of the Holy Basutalon Empire, an elite who had received gifted education from a young age. By his mid-twenties, he had already reached the level of the 7th Circle, earning the envy of all mages on the continent.

Although he had been completely overshadowed after the age of thirty by Repenhardt, a monstrous talent of the same era, at this time, Jade was the rising star of the Sun Tower, receiving their full support. With a powerful family and outstanding talent, he had no reason to wander battlefields for money.

‘Is he traveling and temporarily relying on them for shelter?’

However, Repenhardt quickly dismissed these thoughts.

No matter the situation, the undeniable fact was that Jade was now standing before him. And that he had tried to kill Siris was also a fact.

It seemed like a strange coincidence. The one who had killed Siris in the past life was once again aiming for her life.

Repenhardt clenched his fists tightly. A chilling murderous intent began to emanate from his cold gaze fixed on Jade.

Jade shouted in a cold voice.

“I have no personal grudge against you, but a contract is a contract. You have to die! Fist King!”