"Hahahaha. You're insane."
Elder Sebali burst into laughter as he watched Azadin challenge him.
"How dare a low-ranking herald challenge an elder!"
As Sebali swung his sword, a dark crimson arc flashed. In the storm, the shadowy blade melted into the darkness, making it impossible to see.
Azadin avoided clashing his own sword against it.
'I'm confident in my strength, but that sword is obviously something strange. If I recklessly clash with it, mine will be cut.'
Cautious of the elder's blade, Azadin took an arrow from his quiver and threw it like a dagger. But Sebali brought his hand to his mouth and shouted,
"Gal!"
The arrow exploded in midair, and a terrible roar poured down upon Azadin.
"Ugh!"
As Azadin staggered from the pain in his ears, Sebali reached out his hand.
"Foolish brat! I only humored you with conversation because I found your efforts to reach me commendable. Did you think I was afraid of you?"
Dark crimson shadows extended from Sebali's hand, targeting Azadin. Though Azadin dodged and deflected the cursed projectile with his sword, his fingertips tingled the moment they made contact. The magic prowess coursed up his arm just from that touch.
"Die!"
Sebali, seemingly certain of his victory, raised his sword and brought it down on Azadin.
The magic he used was the Dark Moon of Beauty of Nature, a powerful curse-type spell—instant death if it struck a vital point, and temporary blindness even on light contact.
But Azadin's body had an unusually strong resistance to magic, and he possessed a unique kind of sight.
'He thinks I've gone blind. So this is the New Moon of Beauty of Nature, huh.'
When he saw Sebali relax and swing his sword leisurely, Azadin waited on purpose, dodging by a hair's breadth before striking back with a jumping kick.
—Thwack!
The sword missed, but Azadin's kick landed squarely on Sebali's face.
Though the elder was already moving backward, meaning it wasn't a clean hit, Azadin's strength was monstrous. With a mere flick of a finger, he could shear off someone's nose; a single kick could snap a person's spine. And that power had struck Sebali's face.
Elder Sebali's head was slammed into the ground, and he rolled across it disgracefully.
"Hup!"
But Azadin didn't let his guard down. He immediately followed up with a throwing knife technique. Gripping his sword like a spear, he hurled it with terrifying force.
"Urgh!"
A normal person would've lost consciousness from that impact alone, but Sebali, having barely hit the ground, sprang up and swung his sword, deflecting the flying blade. Azadin's sword shattered in the air, pieces falling to the ground.
"As expected. It would've been dangerous to have a sword fight with him"
Azadin drew a dagger and a curved sword. The curved sword had been taken from a Naga corpse during the Wendigo incident. The dagger was the Wendigo's own.
"You bastard… How dare you!"
Shaking, Sebali rose after Azadin's kick. Blood streamed from his nose, his vision spun, and flashes of lightning burst within his skull.
He had barely been grazed while retreating, yet Azadin's kick had such fearsome force.
'Just a bit deeper—a finger's width—and I would've died instantly! That's not human strength! And on top of that, my magic doesn't work on him? Why?!'
Azadin smirked at Sebali's fury.
"You've been retired for quite some time. Looks like your combat instincts have dulled. Don't you think you're being a bit too careless?"
An elder of the Herald Clan, a high-ranking official of the House Aether, and the highest-ranking leader of the Korasar pedders' guild—Sebali's status was far above Azadin's. The fact that he had been struck and rolled on the ground was humiliation enough.
And now Azadin was even taunting him. Sebali was on the verge of exploding in rage.
— 'Beauty of Nature, Kazas Haeseo, Dusk Light!'
After provoking the elder with a sly grin, Azadin immediately lowered his stance and dashed at Sebali.
'Fool! You think to engage me in hand-to-hand combat? Even injured, I—!'
An Elder of Aragasa is one who inherits and passes on the knowledge and techniques of the Aragasa—their swordsmanship, magic, law, politics, stealth, sabotage—masters of all disciplines.
That was what being an elder of Aragasa meant. Sebali's swordsmanship alone was already at the level of a master.
But Sebali chose raw power over swordplay.
Having experienced Azadin's kick firsthand, he assumed Azadin was relying on brute strength to push through with his weapons. However, Sebali's current magic sword could cut ordinary steel blades like brittle twigs.
'If he's coming at me trusting his strength, even better!'
Sebali channeled his power into his magic sword and swept it wide, intending to cut Azadin in half.
As Azadin brought his weapons to meet Sebali's blade, the elder was certain of victory.
But—
Clang!
Azadin met Sebali's blade first with Wendigo's dagger, then reinforced it with his curved sword, successfully blocking the attack.
The dagger Azadin held was a sacred relic of the nether, belonging to the Wendigo. It could not be destroyed by anything of this world.
Sebali's magic sword, capable of severing physical blades effortlessly, was stopped dead by Wendigo's dagger.
"Kh?!"
Elder Sebali was stunned at what had just occurred.
His magic sword should have cleaved through Azadin's weapons and cut him in half.
But the Wendigo's dagger, being a sacred relic of the nether immune to magic and force, stood firm. And because Sebali had put too much power into that one swing, he had unintentionally drawn dangerously close to Azadin.
—Thwack!
Azadin's low kick smashed into Sebali's thigh. In that instant, Sebali's body spun through the air.
As the world flipped upside down, Sebali instinctively covered his head. His elbow hit the ground first, and he rolled across the surface.
A fierce pain followed. It wasn't like being kicked by a man, but more like being hit by a speeding carriage.
'My thigh! My muscle tore, the bone broke! What kind of kick—?! It was like getting hit with a warhammer!'
Yet true to the title of Aragasa elder, Sebali somehow regained balance even in that state. He instinctively braced himself on the ground and straightened his head.
Years of combat training activated like instinct, guiding his body even as his consciousness wavered.
But Azadin, too, was an Aragasa. He knew all too well how an elder of Aragasa would react in a situation like this.
—Shlik!
Azadin's curved sword chased after him.
In a pinch, Sebali planted his hand on the ground and barely dodged by supporting his body with only the strength of his arm.
Despite the severe injury—his leg muscles torn—Sebali managed this acrobatic feat to evade Azadin's blade. Truly, he had the skill befitting an elder of the herald clan.
However, the outcome was already decided. Not only had the muscle in his leg torn, but his thigh bone had also fractured completely.
A renewed jolt ran through his head, and Sebali's vision swayed, dizziness setting in as blood poured from his nose like rain, choking his breath.
'Unbelievable. To me, at the hands of such a brat?!'
To Elder Sebali, nothing could have been more unjust. There were still sword techniques, spells, and skills he hadn't had the chance to unleash—but the accumulation of injuries was too great.
From the beginning, he shouldn't have engaged this one in close combat. He should've maintained distance and fought with magic and archery.
Had he known this boy possessed such monstrous strength, he never would've made that mistake!
He could not accept defeat here.
An elder of Aragasa, losing to a mere low-ranking herald—one who had even been disqualified during the selection process—his pride would never allow it.
"You bastard!"
Sebali tried to shout again, raising his hand to his mouth, but Azadin's curved sword swung in to cut that hand off.
Sebali had no choice but to pull his hand back and evade. But with his legs in such a state, the sudden movement caused him to collapse and roll across the floor once more.
"Elder Sebali. The fight is over. Will you surrender? Or will you die here?"
Azadin's cold killing intent and curved blade were aimed at Sebali's throat.
Just then, a flash of lightning outside the window cast Azadin and Sebali's shadows long across the room.
And after the lightning faded, an additional shadow appeared in the lighthouse.
—Krrrrrummm.
The thunder came late, shaking heaven and earth as it followed the lightning.
***
—Clap, clap, clap…
The newly arrived figure applauded Azadin.
"Impressive."
A young woman stood by the window, leaning against the frame.
"For someone so infamous as a dropout, to think you'd defeat an elder. So this is the power of Beauty of Nature, Kazas Haeseo? Now I understand why Lady Arael insists we must bring you to our side."
"Zenith, is it?"
Azadin frowned.
"It's been a while, Azadin. You've changed completely from when we were kids. Back then, I thought you were just a grotesque monster, but now? You're quite attractive. Wow, once all the fuzz is gone, you really do look like Lady Arael. Attractive enough to overlook the fact that you've got no eyes."
Zenith was two years older than Azadin, but she'd joined the training late, so they had trained together during the same period.
Even back then, she had been renowned for her beauty, and now, she had grown into a stunning woman with long, slightly curly brown hair and a voluptuous figure. Her allure was so intense and mature for her age that many had fallen under her spell.
"Hmph."
And, of course, she had been one of the people who stood by—or even joined in—while Azadin was abused and scorned.
Azadin picked up an arrow and threw it like a dagger, piercing the arm of Sebali, who lay on the floor.
"Grah!"
"You should stop that. Are you planning to kill an elder?"
"I have to disable his magic somehow. Fortunately, I've got someone on my side who can use healing magic. If I treat him immediately, he won't die."
"Is that so?"
Zenith snapped her fingers.
"C-Captain!"
A panicked voice came from the mouse in Azadin's bag—Scott's voice.
"We're surrounded! And the enemy is—"
The next moment, the mouse shuddered and dropped dead. The necromantic spell had been dispelled.
"..."
"Well, now I've got a hostage, haven't I?"
"Sebali's life must be more important to you than theirs, right?"
"Oh, don't bluff, Azadin. You're not the kind of guy who can abandon his comrades, are you? Or are you really that despicable?"
"Despicable?"
"You'd rather fight us—even if it means letting the comrades who followed you for the sake of Hubris's people die?"
"I may have lost contact with my companions, but they wouldn't be taken so easily. From the current situation alone, I can't conclude that they've become your hostages."
"Ahaha. You think so? But your servants are from the House Aether, right? So what do you think happens if someone of even higher rank from that House gives them an order?"
"You mean Zion Aether?"
"Oops. Did I just say that out loud?"
"I considered that possibility the moment communication was lost. Truly, Arael is… something else. How did she manage to get so many people under her control?"
Azadin let out a bitter smile.
He now understood how Arael's ambition had moved so many Aragasa. But that ambition was the path of domination—trampling other factions to rule over all. It didn't matter how many were killed along the way.
The fact that such an idea had gained this much support within the Aragasa Clan meant...
'I may be turning the entire Aragasa against me.'