The Indomitable Martial King

Chapter 64

“If you’re an Aura user, face me fair and square! What kind of cowardly act is this?”

One of the knights exclaimed indignantly. Repenhardt just flicked his tongue out dismissively, ignoring the comment.

‘Fair and square, when they’re all ganging up on one?’

Repenhardt, having once again soared through the air to create distance, now landed in front of the priests of Aerius. The priests, having witnessed the mages being overpowered, each began their prayers, drawing forth protective barriers.

“O Aerius…”

“Grace us with the protection of the skies for your servants!”

They wrapped themselves in a blue halo of defense, especially concentrated around their legs, in anticipation of Repenhardt’s energy blasts.

However, Repenhardt had no intention of using the same tactic again.

‘It seems I can’t deal with priests the same way as mages.’

If he intended to kill, there wouldn’t be much difference, but to subdue them without endangering their lives, the approach to mages and priests had to be entirely different. Mages could be neutralized through pain from injuries, but priests were not so easily dealt with.

Divine spells were not about concocting spell formulas in the mind to perform miracles, like a mage would. Priests call out to their deity from their hearts to manifest miracles into reality.

In fact, sometimes, the more a priest is injured, the stronger their divine spells become.

It was a simple principle. Who would be more sincere in their pleas for salvation, someone unharmed or someone severely injured?

‘That’s why priests need to be subdued without injuries.’

As soon as Repenhardt landed, he charged forward. The priests, expecting a golden projectile, flinched at the surprise, but Repenhardt suddenly reached out. His thick fingers broke through the halo of light and grasped the throat of a middle-aged priest.

“Ugh!”

The priest struggled for a moment before going limp. The other priests were horrified.

“Priest Hator!”

“Such a brutal man! Strangling someone to death!”

In reality, Repenhardt had precisely pressed the carotid artery to cut off blood flow to the brain, causing unconsciousness. But there was no time to explain, and Repenhardt rushed towards another priest. This one seemed to have some hand-to-hand combat skills and threw punches that appeared somewhat decent.

“Yah!”

But to Repenhardt, trained by the best fist fighter on the continent, it was child’s play.

“Ucha~!”

Easily deflecting the punch, Repenhardt instead used the opponent’s forearm to choke him. The priest’s complexion turned pale, and he soon passed out.

“Kekeke…”

Thus, Repenhardt went from one priest to another, kindly applying chokeholds. Unlike with the mages, this was a time-consuming task, and soon enough, knights joined the fray, attacking Repenhardt earnestly…

“Cough, cough! Please, spare me!”

“This villain! Release Priest Lahan!”

“Cough, cough! He’s choking me…”

“Priest Smard!”

Even as the knights’ attacks poured down on him, Repenhardt skillfully dodged and rendered each priest unconscious. With both the mages and the priests defeated, Knight Lot was furiously shouting orders.

“Throw the net! Throw the net!”

But a net made of iron chains was easily caught and torn apart by Repenhardt’s bare hands.

“Crossbow! Shoot him with the crossbow!”

Even crossbow bolts, capable of piercing steel, were effortlessly deflected by the swirling aura around Repenhardt’s body. From the moment the aura manifested, it was clear that Repenhardt found such attempts hardly bothersome. Knight Lot yelled with a voice that sounded like he was about to cry.

“Everyone attack! You are the honorable knights of Tenes!”

Only about a third of the knights remained standing, a number rapidly diminishing. With a look of despair, the knights charged for one last attempt.

“Aaaahhh!”

But the outcome was disastrous.

“Haap!”

With a light shout, Repenhardt soared into the air, immediately striking the head of the lead knight and using the recoil to perform side kicks to the left and right, followed by a backhand strike to another knight, and then, upon landing, a sweeping kick that took down three more. Moving through the knights with the speed of an eagle preying and the strength of a bear, Repenhardt’s attacks left seven knights groaning on the ground. Now, without the protection of the priests, one hit meant the end. They would not rise again. A murmur spread among the remaining knights.

“What, what is this?”

“This is nothing like yesterday!”

At this point, even the spirit of the world-renowned Tenes knights was broken. Knight Lot murmured in a dazed voice.

“Is this… the power of a ‘real’ Aura user…”

He gloomily counted the number of knights left standing. Now, fewer than five remained. As Knight Lot looked at the faces of the remaining knights, his expression suddenly hardened.

“Russ, that bastard!”

Among the remaining knights, he saw Russ, who was just standing there, dumbly observing the situation. Shocked, Knight Lot shouted.

“Russ! What are you doing?”

But Russ showed no reaction, as if he couldn’t hear Knight Lot at all, just staring blankly with his mouth open at his falling comrades.

‘What’s with that guy? Usually, he can’t wait to jump into action even when told to stay put, and now, when he should be moving, he’s frozen like a statue?’

However, now was not the time to deal with insubordination. Drawing his sword, Knight Lot gritted his teeth.

‘I’ll have him expelled. Once we return to the clan, I’ll make sure he’s expelled!’

With a battle cry, Knight Lot charged towards Repenhardt.

* * *

‘Ah…’

Russ watched as his comrades fell one by one. The honorable knights, who had undergone rigorous training, were being knocked down as if they were mere foot soldiers.

Yet, Russ felt no anger at this sight. Unlike his fellow knights, he could not bring himself to charge at the enemy. Instead, he stood there, his sword hanging limply by his side, rooted to the spot in a daze.

‘So, this is it…’

The movement he had always yearned for but had never been able to grasp was unfolding before his eyes. Every step, punch, and kick contained an astonishingly intricate movement.

And within all these movements, there was a brilliant light. A light that guided the flow of power, sometimes amplifying it, sometimes flowing with it.

‘Aura…’

Although the realms of fist and sword were different, Russ was witnessing a true Aura user’s combat for the first time.

He could see everything.

Why each movement was made, why the power flowed in such a way – everything was crystal clear.

The true essence of martial arts that no one had taught him, that no one could teach him.

The true movement, breath, and flow that only those who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts could perform.

Without realizing it, Russ let out a sigh of admiration.

“Ah…”

Now he understood what he had been lacking.

Russ’s fingers twitched, and his arm muscles faintly vibrated.

‘So, that’s how you’re supposed to move.’

It was an epiphany. Like a dam bursting, the sensations that had been swirling in his mind for ten years of wielding his sword, yet remaining elusive, were now flooding through his body like a tidal wave.

‘That is true movement…’

Russ unconsciously raised his sword. As he slightly lifted his long sword, a faint blue light began to emanate from its tip.

“Taah!”

With a powerful shout, Knight Lot thrust his bastard sword deeply in front of Repenhardt. The strike was flawless in speed, angle, and timing. Compared to the other knights, his skill was exceptional, demonstrating not only his competence but also a strong sense of duty and patience as a commander. A more impulsive person would have abandoned their post and joined the fray long ago.

‘He is truly worthy of being the deputy to the Golden Knight…’

But to Repenhardt, an Aura user, such distinctions mattered little. He calmly sensed the incoming sword strike and smoothly twisted his body to avoid it.

Dodging the attack, Repenhardt extended his right leg for a counter uppercut! The punch, filled with Aura, crushed Knight Lot’s abdominal armor and surged powerfully upwards.

With a single blow, Knight Lot was launched into the air. Despite his considerable height and muscled physique, not to mention the heavy armor he wore, he floated up as if he were a balloon.

“Kugh…”

Even amidst severe pain, Knight Lot managed only a short groan, attempting to regain his posture. The shockwave had penetrated even through the armor, feeling almost like a direct hit to his bare body, yet he remarkably didn’t lose consciousness. He even showed the spirit to swing his sword again in that state.

‘Huh? He didn’t pass out?’

Even while being flung through the air, not losing the spirit to attack was truly exemplary of a warrior. Was it his formidable spirit? Slightly admiring him, Repenhardt twisted his head to dodge the sword strike and then extended a long right straight.

“Taah!”

Just as the lightning-fast right straight was about to strike Knight Lot, who was suspended in mid-air, Repenhardt swiftly retracted his fist and shot back.

Kwaang!

Timed perfectly, a thick column of lightning struck the spot where he had just been standing. The air boiled as if struck by lightning, and countless electric serpents writhed on the ground.

It was instantly recognizable: a 5th Circle Lightning Spell, Electric Spear.

“So you’ve finally shown yourself?”

Repenhardt turned with a grin. As expected, atop the rampart above, a knight clad in golden armor was glaring at him with a stern face, sword aimed in his direction.

The knight, Eusus, yelled with a voice filled with anger.

“In the name of Tenes, I will not forgive any more of your barbaric acts!”

* * *

Sir Lot groaned, lifting his head. His expression was a mix of relief and resentment.

“What took you so long to arrive?”

While he was grateful for being saved in the nick of time, the damage to the Tenes Knights was near catastrophic. Had he arrived just a bit earlier, this could have been avoided.

The remaining knights looked as if they were about to cry, shouting the name of Eusus.

“Sir Eusus!”

“Lord Eusus!”

“You’ve come!”

Without a word, Eusus slowly walked towards Repenhardt. As he surveyed the surroundings, his expression grew increasingly grim.

Even though there were no fatalities, the sight of the Tenes Knights scattered around was truly horrific. The mages, groaning on the ground, seemed to be in better condition. Most of the knights and priests were completely unconscious, unable to even groan.

In a low voice, Eusus spoke.

“…You’ve made quite a mess of my knights.”

His voice carried a clear anger, befitting of a leader who had seen his subordinates in such a dismal state. However, Repenhardt didn’t seem to sympathize much. Staring intently at Eusus, he suddenly snorted.

“Hmph! Acting like you’ve just arrived? You’ve been behind there all along, haven’t you?”

Eusus’s expression briefly flashed with surprise. Repenhardt pointed out, rather helpfully,

“Over there, behind that wall. You’ve been squatting and watching since a while ago, haven’t you? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

‘How did he know?’

Eusus was flustered. Indeed, he had arrived at the scene right after the battle had started and had been secretly observing the situation. But he was no fool. He knew aura users could sense beyond what was visible, including him. He had even cast a special magic to block his presence. He wondered how this man had noticed him.