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Papir, a diligent member of the 4th Battalion of the Imperial Knights, couldn’t believe his eyes. There were enough rumors going around to make his ears itch, but now, Papir had seen it himself. As fellow Imperial Knights, they had breathed the same air for the last five years, but Papir had never seen Joshua in action until now.
And the revelation seemed to be too much for him to bear.
“Argh!” A pained groan slipped out of Papir’s slacked jaw.
The first thing that he felt was shame.
Spare van Huddles, his comrade in the 4th Battalion for ten years and his competitor for the position of Battalion Commander, was knocked out before he could even draw his sword, and Papir was ashamed because it happened to him as well.
It happened so fast that when Papir blinked, he was already staring at the ceiling. However, one thing was for sure. Joshua’s fame as one of the Superhumans wasn’t in vain.
“He’s… not human.” Papir’s body was damp with sweat. Surprise, wonder, fear—he felt like he was being dragged down by an invisible force. Even though Joshua was merely standing there with his spear pointing to the sky, Papir felt like he was facing tens of thousands—perhaps even hundreds of thousands—of soldiers.
“...!”
When the crimson spear slowly started moving, Papir’s eyes bulged, his heart thrashed wildly against his chest, and he was finding it hard to breathe.
Papir had committed his life to the sword. He had heard of an elite among elites who had lost not even a handful of times. However, nothing he had ever seen before could have prepared him for this, and fear quickly overwhelmed him.
‘Come at me…’ Joshua seemed to be saying that to them.
‘I can’t win…’ Papir started trembling. He felt weak and useless. Most importantly, he was scared. ‘I don’t want to fight him.’
“Ugh…” Papir took a step backward. Right now, he wanted to turn around and flee.
“I-I give… up…” It seemed that Papir wasn’t the only one who had given up. A knight of the 9th Battalion had his eyes practically rolled back into his head.
“...” Joshua turned to look at Lugia with a sparkle in his eyes.
The Magic Spear Arts was an offensive spear art, but it could also be used to defend. Whenever there was light, there would always be a shadow, and whenever one went up a hill, one would eventually have to go down.
A mountain could send parching winds, but sometimes the winds were sweet.
However, once one finally reached the summit of a mountain, one would find another mountain with a higher summit.
“This is the amalgamation of humankind,” Joshua muttered.
How dare mere humans weigh their pitiful power against nature itself? The mountain was the spear. No, the mountain could kill through its sheer presence alone. Such was Mountain Crush.
“Umf…”
The first person to reach Joshua was the youngest member of the 10th Battalion, a man with grand ambitions. As the first in line, he was inevitably the first one to get flattened by the sheer force Joshua was exuding as the avatar of a mountain.
And that wasn’t the end of it…
The next one to tragically collapse was a member of the 9th Battalion. The knights from the higher battalions were no different. Actually, they were still standing, but they were barely hanging on.
“What the hell?” someone exclaimed from somewhere.
Joshua hadn’t even brandished his spear just yet, but the knights—the self-proclaimed strongest knights in Avalon—continued to fall just as they arrived in front of the former.
***
“Cazes?” Ranger stood in a damp, sunless patch hidden by the inner wall of the Imperial Palace. The noises from the training hall couldn’t be heard in this place.
“Tell me, Ranger,” said Cazes.
“What is it?”
“For you, who is Count Sanders?”
“That’s your question?” Ranger looked like he couldn’t believe it. “He’s obviously our Battalion Commander.”
“Right? He’s our Battalion Commander, after all.” Cazes laughed and nodded. “He’s our proud Battalion Commander, even if everyone tells us that he’s not.”
“Damn it.” Ranger seemed frustrated. “Do you still remember when he finally defeated the proud Battalion Commander of the 2nd Battalion?”
“Was it last year?”
“He gained so much respect back then. That scumbag Derek had always been looking down on our battalions, but he got humbled.”
Cazes chuckled bitterly. “Because of our Battalion Commander’s background, Derek didn’t even treat him like a human being. He looked at us like we were some kind of garbage.”
“Right! So Battalion Commander decided to beat the crap out of him, and he showed us how proud he was of us. Actually, I even took the initiative to start washing his underwear back then.”
“Yeah, I know that. Actually, do you have any idea what kind of rumors started after you started doing that? The palace maids were gossiping about how you had discovered a brand-new world or something.”
“What brand-new world? I’m straight, goddamned it!” Ranger cursed before burying his face into his hands. “I was just trying to support the Battalion Commander by using my own hands to wash his clothes!”
“...” Cazes couldn’t help but smile. He was the only one who understood Ranger’s feelings right now.
“Well, you have plenty of time now, right?”
“Huh?” Ranger’s head jerked up.
“Word on the street is that the Battalion Commander has other loyal servants.”
“So what? Are they willing to wash his underwear?” Ranger frowned.
“What’s up with that fixation on his underwear?”
Ranger furiously shouted, “It means that I’m willing to go the extra mile for our Battalion Commander! Anyway, what are they?”
“Battalion Commander is apparently forming an independent knight order with those other loyal servants of his and the Wilhelm Knights.”
“The Wilhelm Knights?” Ranger’s eyes widened. He had his own eyes and ears, so he had obviously heard the rumors by now.
“Yeah, the Wilhelm Knights of Reinhardt. And his First Sword apparently named himself the Golden Spirit Knight because of his noble soul or something,” added Cazes.
“Wait, really? That sounds cool,” said Ranger.
“Yeah, he apparently came up with his own moniker.”
“...” Ranger's eyes sparkled. “Let's also do it, too.”
“What?”
“Let’s make our own moniker,” explained Ranger.
“He already gave us a name.” Cazes looked at Ranger in disbelief before saying, “He gave us a great name. Crevasse Knights of the Frozen Nightmare.”
“That’s our official, formal name! As a small group, we can name ourselves like his fan club! We can have another name, can’t we?” asked Ranger.
“Technically, the Wilhelm Knights are—” Cazes started.
However, Ranger interrupted him. “I don’t give a damn! Let’s make ours!”
Cazes caved in and sighed when he saw that there was no way he could stop Ranger by now. In the end, he suggested. “Uh, what about Two Souls Knights?”
“What?”
“Well, we’re part of the Imperial Family, right? But now, we’re also going to be a part of our Battalion Commander’s family.”
“Oh, that’s true!”
“So, Two Souls Knights because there are two souls in each knight. I mean, it’s important for us to respect him as well, right?” explained Cazes.
Ranger nodded confidently. “I like it.”
“We’ll commit our souls to two different places—to our Battalion Commander and to our nation.”
“Cazes…” Ranger stuck his thumb up. “You came up with such a cool name!”
“Thanks….” Cazes smiled wryly.
“ARRRGH!”
A gutwrenching scream reverberated out of the training hall. Cazes and Ranger whipped around and shouted over each other in surprise.
“What the heck—”
“What’s going on?!”
Aside from one person, there was no one left standing in the training hall.
Cazes and Ranger then heard Joshua’s familiar voice.
“You people were once my comrades, so I’m going to warn you all.” Joshua swept his gaze across the training hall and said, “There are no rules against killing, so from now on, those who dare to oppose me—”
Joshua took a stance with Lugia and continued. “—Will die.”
***
“Awesome!” It was a simple word indicating the speaker’s amazement at the other party’s actions. However, it was a different story if the speaker was Emperor Marcus, who was considered to be the worst tyrant in history.
“Forcing five hundred people to their knees through sheer presence alone. Those were the imperial knights, to boot! Is that some kind of unique technique using mana?”
”Mana can be used in many ways, but it’s strange. It’s strange that a human being could actually do such a thing” Emperor Marcus couldn’t contain his admiration.
It was pretty obvious that Joshua’s feats weren’t something that just about anyone could do. After all, some mountains were truly impossible to climb for mankind.
Emperor Marcus would always wear a facade whenever he was in the presence of other people, but in the face of those who were truly strong, his true personality would always come out.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Speaking of those who were ‘truly strong,’ Emperor Marcus had acknowledged at least two people.
“Even taking that into account… Hmm. How fun.” He stroked his chin as he settled into his chair. “How does seeing your child’s growth make you feel, Adeh? Not bad, right? Don’t worry, I’ll make it even more interesting.”
“Your Majesty.” Astonishingly, Duke Agnus’ stony lips slowly opened as he spoke, “I still haven’t decided on my successor.”
“What are you talking about?” Emperor Marcus turned to face him. “The world already knows your plans.”
“I own the Agnus family, and Joshua is irrefutably my son. Who would argue otherwise?”
“And are you going to abandon that child, Babel von Agnus?”
Duke Agnus’ expression shifted as he replied, “Being the oldest child means nothing if your younger brother is superior to you.”
Duke Agnus didn’t express it outright, but he was obviously trying to say that Emperor Marcus should have noticed it by now.
“Oh-hoh.” Emperor Marcus’s expression was bemused, but his eyes shone dangerously as he said, “This is the first time you’ve shown me something like this, and recently—”
“It’s a bit absurd to be against the Titan of Avalon and the world-famous Dark God. Emperor Marcus chuckled hollowly. “What do you think will happen to the child when his promised future is taken away?”
”Well, it’s up to the merchant to decide whom he is going to sell his merchandise to, and I’m more interested in his mother. Apparently, she’s a maid? Is that right?”
Duke Agnus’ expression became much sterner.
“What kind of woman was daring enough to tempt you into fathering a child? I’m interested to know more about her.”
“She is not worthy of Your Majesty’s attention.”
“I’m the one who gets to decide that. Anyway, bring her with you the next time you come here,” said Emperor Marcus.
Unbeknownst to the spectators, sparks were flying between the two most influential people of Avalon.
~
Meanwhile, the training hall was once again filled with a cacophony of noises.
“It’s my turn.”
“...!” The noises vanished as a resonant hum tore through the air and flew toward Joshua, causing a loud explosion upon impact.