Chapter 48
"For the citizens of the Arnan Empire that are suffering! For the kids who\'re crying! I, Reinald von Arnan, will eliminate you!"
The light of golden mana emerged from his body.
His fluttering golden hair made it seem like a scene from a movie.
The middle-aged man and the dwarf wielding a hammer took a step to the front.
"Haha! Good, Reinald! You caught a demon dragon, so why not a demon?"
"Hahaha, you\'ll get lots of free black beer after this, kid."
The dwarf and the middle-aged man said something while looking at Reinand, burning with a desire for justice.
The brown-haired woman looked at Reinald with her cheeks red.
The elf that was next to him sighed and opened her mouth.
"The opponent is a demon. Can you do it, Reinald?"
"It isn\'t a matter of whether I can do it or not! I must do it!"
Reinald said so and raised his sword.
\'Woah, nice quotes.\'
KangWoo looked at Reinald burning with passion in disbelief.
He felt too much cringe while looking at him.
\'Why are they acting like this? Did they take some weird drugs?\'
KangWoo couldn\'t follow their tension.
"Ha-ab!"
Reinald took a step forward and swung his sword, aiming for KangWoo.
He launched golden sword energy at KangWoo.
KangWoo swung his sword at the golden sword energy that was flying in his direction.
Boom-!!
The golden sword energy that was cut in half exploded in mid-air.
The ground around it was turned upside down as if a bomb had exploded.
\'It isn\'t an attack that you can just block.\'
KangWoo frowned while he was in the middle of the explosion.
He wasn\'t expecting the sword energy to explode when he cut it in half.
"The equipment is clearly very nice."
Normally, he would\'ve been hurt a bit by the attack.
But thanks to the expensive Gargoyle\'s Armor he had obtained from Moon YeongHo and the epic items, he didn\'t receive any damage from the explosion.
KangWoo thought that he had made the right decision to acquire the equipment and then turned his head around to Reinald\'s party.
"Then, since he attacked first…"
It was his turn to strike back.
Whir-
\'Authority of Explosions.\'
Black smoke began gathering around KangWoo\'s palms.
It was a small and round orb of demonic energy.
Then he grabbed onto it.
\'Heat Rain.\'
It was a technique he had invented by using the Authority of Explosions as a base.
The orb, which was as big as a basketball, was divided into pieces the size of billiard balls.
KangWoo waved his hand and threw the balls at Reinald\'s party.
"I\'ll block them!"
The middle-aged man ran to the front and raised his shield.
"Iron Wall!"
With his shouting, a blue wall appeared in front of his shield.
KangWoo smirked after looking at the blue wall.
"Fall."
Boom-!!
"Ugh!!"
The tens of balls flying toward him changed direction and fell to the ground.
As the bombs suddenly fell to the ground and exploded, the middle-aged man was pushed back because of the recoil.
"Hans!"
Reinald shouted the name of the man that bounced away and then glared at KangWoo.
"How dare you...!"
\'Hey, dumbass, you were the first one to attack.\'
If someone saw the situation, they would probably think they\'d been ambushed.
KangWoo couldn\'t believe how Reinald was reacting.
"I won\'t forgive you!"
"I also won\'t forgive you."
It seemed like he\'d forgotten he was the first to attack. KangWoo didn\'t like his attitude.
KangWoo stomped on the ground and leaped toward Reinald.
"Arnan Empire Sword’s First Movement! Blade Storm!"
\'Why is everyone fighting while shouting the names of the techniques?\'
Judging by the technique\'s name, it seemed like a wide-range attack.
\'Then I\'ll pierce through it with the least amount of damage possible.\'
With his eyes shining sharply, KangWoo used the Authority of Iron Wall.
Crack-!
Just as its name indicated, Reinald\'s attack was a long-range one that used its blade to create an attack that looked like a storm.
KangWoo lowered his body and pierced through its attack, then he used the momentum to kick Reinald in the stomach.
Paf-!!
"Ugh!!"
"Reinald!"
"You bastard!!"
* * *
As Reinald was pushed back by the kick, the dwarf and elf\'s attacks came in his direction.
KangWoo leaned back and dodged the three arrows flying in his direction; then he extended his hand toward the dwarf that was holding the hammer.
\'Authority of Destructive Void.\'
Poof-!
"Ugh!"
The dwarf vomited blood after being hit with a bullet made of compressed demonic energy.
KangWoo walked toward the dwarf to finish him.
"Fire Blast!"
At that moment, a fire was launched in KangWoo’s direction.
It was an attack made by the brown-haired woman with a wand.
It was a very strong attack to receive while believing in the capabilities of his equipment, so he backed off.
"AAHH!!"
Reinald, who had been cast aside after being kicked in the stomach, stood up and once again charged toward KangWoo.
A golden energy emerged from his body and shook its surroundings like an earthquake.
\'He\'s definitely strong.\'
KangWoo looked at Reinald, who was charging toward him.
Reinald was stronger than Moon YeongHo.
He would probably be able to eliminate a buer all by himself.
"Ha-ab!"
Clang-! Clang!
KangWoo and Reinald clashed with each other.
The golden and black energies entangled with each other in the air and caused huge destruction to their surroundings.
"Ha-ab!"
Boom-!
The golden sword energy exploded once again.
KangWoo was pushed back by the explosion in front of him.
"Oof! Did you see that? You evil demon!"
"..."
KangWoo frowned after being pushed back.
\'Things could\'ve gotten dangerous if I hadn\'t finished the fifth Awakening.\'
Reinald was more skillful than he’d initially thought.
Just based on his pure power, he may’ve been stronger than KangWoo at that moment.
\'No wonder he was able to catch a hatchling dragon.\'
KangWoo clicked his tongue while thinking of Echidna, whom Reinald had almost managed to kill.
\'But…\'
KangWoo\'s eyes shone sharply.
Reinald was definitely strong.
\'...He\'s just strong.\'
KangWoo charged toward Reinald and shouted.
"Blade Slash!"
"Ugh!"
After hearing KangWoo\'s shout, Reinald took a defensive stance.
But unlike his shout, KangWoo lowered his body and kicked Reinald\'s thighs.
Paf-!
"AARRGG!!"
Reinald screamed in pain while grabbing his right leg where he\'d been kicked.
"Y-you dirty demon! Y-you clearly said Blade Slash..."
Reinald looked at him in disbelief.
\'You\'re just stupid.\'
‘Only an idiot would tell an opponent what attack they’re going to use.’
The only exception was if it were an attack that you needed an incantation to use, but if that wasn\'t the case, it was best to hide as much information from the opponent about the attack as possible.
"R-Reinald!"
"Ugh... Everyone, e-escape! He\'s too strong!"
"We can\'t do that! We can\'t escape while leaving you behind!"
"Just go!" Reinald shouted while grabbing the leg where he had received the low kick.
Tears were flowing from his eyes.
"Stop making so much drama."
KangWoo walked toward them while laughing after seeing them act as if they were in the middle of a movie.
"You..."
Reinald glared at him intensely.
KangWoo got closer to him while calmly receiving Reinald\'s anger.
\'Well, the fight is already over.\'
For a warrior, the legs were their life.
You could fight with one less arm or even with a few ribs broken, but having your leg broken was a whole other story.
A warrior that couldn\'t move was just an idiot carrying a weapon.
"Ugh. Q-quickly. Everyone, escape!!"
Reinald wasn\'t stupid enough not to be aware of that, so he kept asking the other party members to escape.
He knew better than anyone how powerless a warrior that couldn\'t move was.
\'Should I end things?\'
KangWoo created a sword with the Authority of the Blade and pointed it at Reinard with his eyes sunken.
There wasn\'t any compassion or anger in his eyes.
For him, a fight was always like this.
He always fought and killed to live. Having feelings while doing that would be an unnecessary luxury.
"W-wait a moment, please!"
"Reina...?"
At that moment, the brown-haired woman came running and embraced Reinald\'s body.
She shouted at KangWoo while crying.
"P-please! Let Reinald Live! If he dies, the citizens of Arnan will lose their hope!"
"..."
"Also... He\'s the person I love."
"Reina..."
Tears flowed down Reina\'s cheeks.
"I\'m sorry for confessing in such a way. Reinald. B-but... I thought I wouldn\'t be able to say it if it wasn\'t now."
She turned her head toward KangWoo.
"I\'ll give you my life. I, I\'ll do anything you want! So, please! Let Reinald live!"
"..."
He had his mouth shut while listening to Reina\'s plea.
And then he burst into laughter.
"Stop exaggerating things so much."
KangWoo walked toward Reina and Reinald.
"What? If he dies, the citizens of Arnan will lose their hope? So what do you want me to do about that? Why should I care about that? First of all, you guys attacked me first, right? If I were in that situation and begged for forgiveness, would you have let me go? Huh?"
He calmly kept talking.
"No, right? There\'s no way you would do that. If you were prepared to kill, you guys should have been prepared to die."
KangWoo extended his hands toward Reina, who was covering Reinald.
He activated the Authority of Explosions. Strong demonic energy began gathering around the palm of his hand.
While looking at both of them tremble in fear, he said,
"Leave emotions to TV dramas, you idiots."