Chapter 269

〈 Chapter 269 〉 Part 1, Chapter 12, Section 15

“PUHHEUK!!”

“Master!”

The waterborne Suborof was helped ashore by the butler. After coughing up a lot of water, Suborof refocused at the thunderous sound ringing out on the bridge.

“What’s the situation?!”

“L-Lord Rasputin has turned into a monster! The official ‘Monster’ designated by the Association!”

“KULUG, what?!?”

Suborof, supported by the butlers, turned his gaze to the bridge. The being that was undoubtedly Rasputin was overwhelming Light Blade Heo Yoon-hwan, who had been felled by a mere iron rod.

“Wh-what…!?”

Suborof was thrown into confusion. The one who attacked the family was clearly the Light Blade, and Rasputin was known as a Russian special ability user and a leading candidate for the Round Table.

“Is that monstrosity truly Rasputin?!”

“Yes! …The magic pattern checks out! It’s definitely Lord Rasputin! Enemy unknown! But we’re clearly at a disadvantage!”

“Such nonsense…?!”

The grotesque monster was pressing the young man with an overwhelming force, swinging a massive mace while pushing back the youth armed with just an iron rod.

KAANG! KAANG!

Even Suborof himself instinctively felt it would be difficult to face this monster. The beast was powerfully driving the youth into a corner, and the youth—Light Blade—was dodging by crouching low and twisting, deflecting Rasputin’s attacks.

KAANG!

The iron rod held by Light Blade bent significantly under Rasputin’s mace. Without hesitation, Light Blade threw the bent rod and grabbed another one protruding from the ground.

He fortified his defense like blocking the path to the side palace. Suborof, seeing Light Blade standing firm against the gate of the side palace, muttered to himself.

“Isn’t that guy quite the hero…?”

Suborof couldn’t help but fall into confusion. Setting aside all other factors, he simply couldn’t believe the information that “Rasputin is a monster.”

“Is the monster you’re talking about the same one I know?”

“Yes! ‘A human possessing ominous energy emerging from the dimensional gate!’ It’s definitely Lord Rasputin…a monster!”

The head butler revealed the truth with a cry of frustration. Though his mind was a jumble of complexity and confusion, Suborof gathered all his reason and judged by one standard alone:

– What’s the best course of action as a commander and member of the Association in this current situation?

His instincts as an were warning him ceaselessly: That monster must be defeated. Taking a deep breath, Suborof raised his wrist to his mouth.

“Master…”

The head butler couldn’t say a word at the cold, hardened expression on Suborof’s face. Before issuing orders through his smartwatch, Suborof gave a calm command to the head butler and nearby retainers.

“…Contact the Association immediately. Gather all B Rank Heroes and above from Moscow here right away! The opponent is…”

Suborof closed his eyes tightly and shouted.

“The giant wielding a mace! Rasputin has fallen!”

In the midst of making the interception order as a commander of the Association,

“Do not attack the blond youth! He’s on our side for now!”

He decided to trust the man risking everything to protect his daughter, even if just once. Suborof’s cry spread across the battlefield through the smartwatch, and the retainers gathered near Suborof, pooling their magic power to aim their bows at Rasputin from afar.

“Prepare to fire!”

“A-ah, no! We’ll hit our own people!”

“Kuht, what speed…!”

It was likely due to the battle between S Ranks; the speed was beyond what the eye could follow. Even the sharp-eyed marksmen, let alone A Rank Suborof, struggled to keep up with their fight.

“Stop Rasputin!”

“Now’s our chance! SS-”

Just when the battle seemed to momentarily subside, Rasputin leaped high into the sky with his mace.

A massive black light began to gather on the handle, its length visibly reaching over ten meters just by looking at it.

Rasputin aimed it directly at Light Blade, specifically targeting his legs.

“What madness…?!”

Seeing Rasputin seemingly ready to smash the entire bridge leading to the side palace, Suborof involuntarily leaned forward. The magical power gathering on the handle Rasputin held was so oppressive and sticky it felt like it could choke the breath out of him.

“Danger-”

As everyone focused on Rasputin’s mace, only Suborof noticed Light Blade, who made no move to evade the attack.

“!!”

And then Suborof saw it—the small golden dagger held in the hand of Light Blade, who stood nonchalantly with his arm raised above his head.

KWA——ANG!!

The mace and the dagger clashed. Everyone expected Light Blade to crumple, and the bridge to collapse.

…….

Surprisingly, Light Blade didn’t retreat even a single step. Not only that, the bridge remained unbroken. As everyone watching the battle was left speechless,

KWA—–ANG!!

Rasputin’s enlarged mace exploded into fragments. The divine mace that seemed ready to demolish the bridge and shake the earth itself scattered into dust in the air as if it were nothing.

KUNG!

With his attack rendered futile and his mace shattered, Rasputin fell to the ground under the pull of gravity.

Not only had his ultimate strike failed, but the fact that it was blocked and destroyed by a mere 15cm-long dagger left Rasputin seated dumbfounded on the ground.

“……”

Light Blade merely frowned at Rasputin’s third leg, which dangled uselessly.

“What just happened…?”

Light Blade had shattered Rasputin’s mace with a single gesture.

* * *

“Wow. Look at him stealing techniques.”

“What are you talking about? Are you trying to die?”

Rusalka snapped at me irritably.

While she knew better than anyone else how incredibly strong Light Blade was, ever since he started focusing on defense, Rusalka had been anxiously pacing around, worried.

“That was the technique I used against Light Blade.”

During the first battle when I went after Cheong-song’s Cube and fought Light Blade, I broke apart his sword dozens of meters long with sheer strength alone.

“Magic power released externally and solidified into weapons has something akin to bones inside, like a human body. You can’t just pump raw magic power into it; you need a framework and then add flesh around it—”

“Just get to the point.”

“……I attack the framework to destroy the weapon.”

Though my answer was curt, Rusalka smirked, pleased with her husband’s prowess.

“Of course it’s our Lord. To stand before such a massive mace without blinking—”

“It’s my technique.”

“Do you have proof? Did you patent it or something?”

“……Tch.”

Rusalka sides with Light Blade, not me. While she gleefully watched her now stronger husband in action, she suddenly became anxious again, like someone suffering from bipolar disorder.

“Why isn’t our Lord using his sword? Is he worried about others’ opinions?”

“Yeah. He’s hiding his identity as Light Blade, including his weapon. Didn’t he already use his ultimate move? He’ll need some time before using it again.”

“So we just have to keep watching this?”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Relax. Can’t you see Rasputin getting stiffer there? Do you want your husband to get beaten up in front of you?”

“If you don’t shut up. Just help from afar!”

Rusalka shrieked and stepped onto the balcony. Crossing the barrier, she lifted both hands high into the sky.

“How annoying. Tsk.”

I watched as water from the lake surged onto the bridge and set fire to the vodka.

“Oh.”

The tipsy Hwanryong was impressed by my trick, and I offered him the glass of vodka lit with blue flames.

“Cheers.”

“Hehe.”

Hwanryong rested his head on my shoulder and downed the flaming vodka in one gulp.

“Hihiiiii….”

“Let’s just watch the fight.”

Though we were ready to jump in if necessary, there was no need for both of us to get involved in the couple’s fight.

“Truly spectacular. Amazing.”

The water rising from the lake enveloped the bridge in a dome-like structure.

“Look at her creating a battlefield for her husband to run wild. Is that what they call support?”

“Wrong… or maybe right?”

It wasn’t particularly enviable.

…Maybe.

* * *

The water barrier controlled by Rusalka surrounded the two men. Knowing his wife’s abilities well, Light Blade smiled knowingly, while DD was infuriated by the barrier cutting off the outside world.

[UUOOO! Are you imprisoning me?! So, you find me ugly and lock me up! My size is disgusting!]

DD screamed in anguish, spilling out his grievances. Light Blade clicked his tongue at DD’s form and conjured a golden sword in his hand.

“No one in this world thinks your size makes you dirty. They’re probably just envious.”

[WHAT…]

Light Blade pointed his sword at DD’s stiffly erect third leg.

“But walking around like this makes people uncomfortable. This is pure self-pity, huh?”

[Unbelievable! I cannot understand!]

DD gathered magical power in both hands. A mace identical to the one shattered by Light Blade’s dagger appeared in DD’s hands, but it was much smaller, resembling maracas in a child’s hand.

[Didn’t you see the Black Sage’s swaying breasts! Did people call them dirty? No! They cheered for more swaying!]

“……”

Light Blade sighed deeply, bowing his head. It was clear that DD had lost control, perhaps due to revealing his true monstrous form.

[Why do they call mine dirty and impure! Why! Those who said bigger is better—who are they!!]

“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this either.”

Light Blade didn’t understand DD. Or rather, he didn’t want to. Anyone who understood DD as someone who had gone mad over something trivial was probably insane themselves.

“But I’m certain of one thing.”

The sword in Light Blade’s hand began to shine brilliantly.

“If your size has led you astray, I’ll cut off that root.”

With a leisurely pace, Light Blade stepped forward. If it weren’t for the tightly gripped golden sword in both hands, one might mistake him for someone out for a casual stroll.

[UUOOO!]

DD struck first. Unable to believe that his divine mace, created with concentrated magical power, was stopped with a single blow, DD swung wildly with both arms, attempting to crush Light Blade with the mace.

KAANG, KAANG!

Using the same movements as when he defended with a single iron rod, Light Blade blocked the mace. However, unlike the iron rods that bent each time they were struck, the sword condensed with Light Blade’s magical power not only resisted breaking but also began to shave away the mace.

[KROOOO!]

“Shut up.”

With a swing of his lowered sword, Light Blade cleanly severed the mace held high above his head. With another slash, he cut the broken mace in half, severing the core of the condensed magical power and destroying the mace.

[This, this is impossible!]

“Talkative much.”

All Light Blade wanted was to quickly ascend the tower of the side palace to meet his wife. There was no need to prolong the fight with this lunatic. Gathering magical power throughout his body, Light Blade steadied his breathing.

[KRAAAHHH!!]

DD released magical power from his entire body. Sticky and suffocating darkness flowed like fog from DD’s body, swallowing up the surroundings.

GUDDEUK! GUDDEUK!

With a grating sound, DD’s body merged with the surrounding darkness. His somewhat humanoid form absorbed the darkness, growing larger. And along with his body, his dangling appendage grew in size too.

[UWOOOT!]

“Seriously, he’s losing it.”

Light Blade was utterly exasperated by DD’s ever-growing form. At this rate, his grotesque appendage would soon surpass the average adult male in size.

“Is he transforming or something… sigh.”

Light Blade raised his sword mockingly as the darkness approached him closely.

“This will give Rusalka trauma.”

Though piercing during transformation triggers deep trauma for Light Blade and his wife, he steeled his resolve and infused magical power into his sword.

“HAAA!”

With a short yell, Light Blade dashed forward. Cutting through the encroaching darkness, he soared upward in front of DD’s toe, now towering over seven meters.

[UWOOOOO!]

DD bent his upper body to grab the ascending Light Blade. The thick darkness emanating from his body couldn’t stop Light Blade, so he attempted to catch him with his pot-sized hands.

However, Light Blade’s movements were far faster than DD’s sluggish attempts. Crossing his arms in an X, he dropped his sword vertically. Just as he reached the impenetrable pillar, Light Blade suppressed his disgust and swung his arms horizontally.

SWISH!

The pillar was sliced like a cucumber. DD’s movement, which was expanding rapidly, froze like a statue. Using the momentum from his leap, Light Blade embedded his sword into the cross-section of the severed pillar and twisted his body in mid-air.

WHOOSH!

DD’s claw missed Light Blade narrowly. Slipping through the gap between his fingers, Light Blade released his sword and stepped on its hilt.

“Hmph.”

Light Blade mocked DD, who opened his mouth wide in pain, then kicked the hilt, driving the sword deeper. Using the recoil, he retreated from DD’s body.

[KYAAAAAAAH!!]

Dozens of dark tendrils emerged from DD’s lower half, attempting to grab Light Blade. But with the kick-off, Light Blade spun in the air, distancing himself greatly from DD.

KUNG!

The severed pillar hit the ground at the same moment Light Blade landed gracefully, performing a landing technique.

SHHHH-

Like waiting for this moment, the water barrier cascaded down like a waterfall. Light Blade basked in the loving touch of the waterfall washing away the filth on him, surrendering his body to the waterfall flowing into the lake.

“It’s because you keep putting it up stiffly without regard for time or place that people call it dirty.”

Light Blade Heo Yun-hwan.

Mission complete.

On the bridge where the barrier had disappeared, a 9-meter-tall giant knelt unconscious, and in front of him lay a 2-meter-long black cylinder.