MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02Of course, it wasn’t just Eurius and Ismail who were fighting in the hall.

The Pluto branch, led by Ismail, had a characteristic that didn’t fit well with openly attacking like this, as they were skilled in assassination and magic.

But since almost all of their forces, including the Archbishop, had mobilized, their power was not to be underestimated.

However, even though they were outnumbered, Eurius’s knights and the experts of the Hidden Moon Hall were still pushing the enemy back.

The reason why they were gaining an advantage even though they were outnumbered was because in this elite battle, a few skilled fighters could sway the situation.

“Knights, form a barrier and block them! Squad leaders support the ones who are falling behind.”

Heinz was giving orders while blocking the assassins’ irregular attacks steadily.

Other than that, Linfield, Cain, and others were also holding on somehow while being attacked by several people at the same time.

In the case of Beatrix or Jegal Geon, they were showing brilliant performances.

Swoosh!

Their sword and spear left blood and corpses of assassins wherever they went.

Of course, Ismail wasn’t unaware of that situation.

‘If it weren’t for this damn brat, I could have killed them myself.’

He bit his lips while still fighting with Eurius.

‘If I get out of this situation, I can turn the tide.’

Anyway, even if there were a few skilled fighters among them, he didn’t see anyone who could match him.

‘There’s no choice.’

Ismail eventually took Eurius’s fist that was coming to his chest head-on.

Bang!

“Cough!”

Even though he had layered a shield in advance, he couldn’t be safe from receiving a superhuman’s attack head-on. Blood sprayed from his mouth.

‘I have to finish this.’

Eurius quickly tried to narrow the distance again. But Ismail wasn’t going to let him do that.

Ding!

[You are cursed with Weakness. Your Strength rank decreases.]

[You are cursed with Swamp. Your Agility rank decreases.]

[You are cursed with Confusion. Your senses are impaired.]

Ismail, befitting an Archbishop, cast three curses on Eurius consecutively in the short time he bounced back.

“You damn brat! You only get away with it once!”

He stretched out his arm and made a gesture of pulling something.

Swoosh!

“…!?”

It was faster for him to pull one of his followers near him than for Eurius to approach him again.

Bang!

Just like Jamir, the follower that Ismail pulled exploded near Eurius.

“Damn it!”

He raised his self-defense technique and distortion to the maximum and blocked the shock.

Fortunately, the explosion wasn’t very powerful because the material (?) wasn’t good.

But that wasn’t the important thing. Once the distance was widened, it was hard to drag him into close combat again.

Bang!

As he dodged Ismail’s hand and tried to dive in again, another explosion went off behind him.

“Ugh!”

This time, his reaction speed was delayed because of the curse that reduced his physical abilities and the shock of the explosion.

He couldn’t avoid it completely and a piece of flesh was torn from his shoulder.

‘He’s more tenacious than I thought.’

‘He said he was an Archbishop? He lives up to his name.’

That’s how the standoff continued for a while.

The situation was somewhat unfavorable for Eurius, but Ismail didn’t have a hidden card that could subdue him right away either.

‘I need some way to break this deadlock’

The same thought flashed through their minds at the same time.

***

Meanwhile, there was a group observing the battle from a distance, far from the palace. It was Gideon’s faction, which had failed to attack the capital.

“It seems like our side is at a disadvantage, but should we intervene?”

“However, we could potentially disrupt the Archbishop’s intentions.”

The situation was slightly unfavorable for the Order, but Ismail, in fact, had a slight advantage over Eurius. Intervening now could also intercept the initiative, a reason to provoke Ismail’s anger.‘Jamir, who had a reason to intervene, died pathetically as well. What should I do?’

Originally, they had come here as a reserve force under Jamir’s command. However, it was a situation where they were hesitant to intervene, even if it was a matter concerning the Order, as it involved the affairs of another faction.

“Hmm… this is quite an interesting fight, isn’t it?”

“…!?”

Gideon suddenly looked to his side in surprise at the voice he heard in his ear.

‘An Easterner?’

The voice belonged to a middle-aged man who appeared to be from the East. He seemed rather intrigued as he observed the battle between Eurius and Ismail.

“Who the hell are you?”

“One side wants to keep their distance, and the other wants to narrow it. If you don’t have a way, the young man who’s already injured may be at a slight disadvantage.”

“…!?”

“Ah, if only I could have jumped in there and enjoyed the fight using the footwork. Our friend here doesn’t seem to have much skill in footwork compared to the level he achieved.”

The Easterner continued to watch the confrontation between Eurius and Ismail with an unconcerned attitude. He occasionally expressed admiration or sighed.

Gideon was left speechless by his nonchalant demeanor.

Moreover, the middle-aged man was quite detailed in his commentary on their duel. Gideon and his subordinates, without realizing it, began to be captivated by the man’s explanations.

***

As the duel dragged on, just as the middle-aged man had said, Eurius, who was accumulating injuries, was getting tired first.

‘This won’t do. I need to come up with some means… Huh?’

Hum

Eurius felt a vibration from his waist and looked at his Yellow Dragon Sword.

[Draw it.]

‘Using a sword against him wouldn’t be a good choice?’

Ismail’s hand easily blocked his intangible sword.

That’s why he was trying to drag him into close combat that he wasn’t familiar with?

[Draw it.]

But the situation was more serious than he thought.

He had no chance of winning if he continued like this because his body was dulled by the curse and he had quite big wounds here and there.

‘But this sword wouldn’t try to kill me… Ah!’

A thought flashed through Eurius’s mind like lightning.

‘It’s risky, but it’s worth a try.’

Swoosh

As he drew his sword, Ismail also showed a slight interest in his eyes. But what could he do with a sword now?

“So you’ve given up completely.”

He sneered and stretched out his hand in an instant.

He was confident that he could break that sword like a twig with one hand.

Clang!

“…!?”

‘As I thought!’

Eurius smiled triumphantly.

Surprisingly, the Yellow Dragon Sword didn’t break, and it didn’t even let the effect of the dark energy from Ismail’s hand pass through.

[Adamantite – It has the property of repelling all energy generated by force.]

Eurius was holding the Yellow Dragon Sword, which was immune to any force, in a state where no force could pass through it.

Dark force, or magic, was also a kind of force or energy.

There was no way he could deal with the Yellow Dragon Sword that did not allow any force to enter.

‘This is as good as blocking his hand!’

Ismael was originally a priest by profession.

The reason he had the upper hand in the fight was simply because Eurius could not face him directly with his weapon.

“How can this be?!”

Clang!

His absolute power was blocked by his hand, and Eurius pushed him fiercely in confusion.

‘I’ll defend with the sword and attack with boxing!’

He blocked his hand with the sword and once again Eurius’s shoulder hit Ismail’s torso.

“Ugh!”

Ismail was also running out of force due to repeated attacks. Each of Eurius’s attacks was a fatal blow, and he couldn’t last long.

***

“The young one will win. He must have brought a new weapon that doesn’t work with magic, right? But why didn’t he use it until now?”

The middle-aged man who had been watching the battle until then kept shaking his head, and Gideon finally came to his senses.

‘Oh no! The Archbishop is in danger.’

As the middle-aged man said, Ismail was now being beaten up by Eurius.

This would be a good time to save him and have an excuse.

Gideon gave orders to the paladins behind him with a murderous look in his eyes.“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for your kind explanation. But now that we’ve been exposed…”

“Hmm?”

The middle-aged man also turned his head toward them as if everything was going as planned.

Shiver

Gideon felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

Come to think of it, he could barely follow the fight between the first prince and the Archbishop, even though he was a high priest himself.

But who was this strange middle-aged man who could accurately observe and explain such a duel from this far away?

The middle-aged man smiled faintly.

“I wasn’t planning on letting go of those who are emitting magic either.”

***

“Kraaak!”

He was almost out of force now. Ismail was hit by Eurius’s kick and flew back.

‘There’s no chance of winning. Why doesn’t my power work on that damn sword?’

Of course he had no way of knowing the reason. But he couldn’t see any way out of this situation in his current state.

‘It’s hard to escape, and judging by the situation, it’s hard to hope for salvation.’

Ismael’s wrinkled eyes became thinner and his eyes sharpened.

He gathered all the remaining force and pursed his lips.

“…”

Then he rushed toward Eurius with a terrifying momentum.

He squeezed out his last strength.

Clang!

His hand was easily blocked by the Yellow Dragon Sword again. But that wasn’t his real intention.

[You have been cursed with Binding. Your movement is temporarily restricted.]

‘Damn it!’

Eurius realized Ismail’s intention. Hadn’t he seen him blow up his subordinates like Jamir one by one?

If the explosion of a weakling had such power, what would happen if this Archbishop exploded right next to him?

‘I’m done for.’

Before he could finish his thought, Ismail’s body began to turn dark.

It seemed like Eurius’s body would be swallowed up by the explosion at any moment.

Crack

“…!?”

Suddenly, a blue line cut through the ground and separated Ismail and Eurius.

The blue line hit Ismail hard and lifted him into the air.

Ismail had a dumbfounded expression on his face.

He wanted to die together, but what was this situation?

Kwang!

Ismael’s body exploded in midair with a loud noise.

It was such a powerful explosion that even though it exploded in the air, the ground around it flipped over and the buildings that were caught in it turned into dust.

“Cough”

The dust settled and Eurius spat out a mouthful of blood.

‘If that explosion had happened right next to me, I would have died instantly.’

Fortunately, thanks to the help of an unknown person who separated him and Ismail, he was able to escape with serious injuries.

‘Oh no! What about the knights?’

He had somehow eliminated Ismael, but there were still many subordinates left.

Eurius hurried to go that way. But a voice he had never heard before stopped him.

“You don’t need to go there. I’ve already sent reinforcements.”

“Who are you?”

“Me?”

The owner of the voice was the middle-aged man from before.

He had a commanding presence with his blue uniform and sturdy build.

Eurius was shocked to see his stats.

[Jegal Unhyeon]

Job: Spearman, Grandmaster (Superhuman)

Strength: A+ Agility: S+ Intelligence: A Spirit: A+ Force Aptitude: A+ Force: S+

Disposition: Free-spirited, Chivalrous

[Traits]

Spear Technique (SS)

Azure Dragon’s Breath – Depending on your skill level, you get an additional bonus to your agility and force control.

Spatial Distortion – A fourth-level force control. You can change the trajectory of your spear at will within the range that your spear touches.