Chapter 232: The Realm of Myths (1)

While he had been active in the Jae Nation of the Southern continent, Antras fought against Jayhan, a young king of the Ha Nation for twenty years. While Ha Nation was only a small country that had less than half the national power of Jae Nation, it had still taken Antras twenty years to topple that country. 

There was only one reason for it - King Jayhan of the Ha Nation. Out of all kings in the seven nations, King Jayhan was the strongest and the most trusted by the citizens. He was someone who was so overwhelmingly strong that whenever people talked about the strongest people in the Southern continent, he was always one of those who were talked about. And due to his bravery in consistently standing at the forefront of any battle, he was given an assertive nickname: the Tiger King. 

Whenever the Tiger King stood at the forefront of any battle, common sense never seemed to apply to him and Antras’s tactics often failed. That was when Antras realized for the first time - when someone who goes beyond common sense takes the lead with the people’s trust, then normal strategic calculations may not work on them.

Later on, by joining with his father, General Lee Myung, the strongest man in the Jae Nation, Antras managed to defeat the Tiger King. No, it wasn’t completely accurate to say defeat. In the final battle, Jayhan and his father, General Lee Myung...

“No, this isn’t the time to think about anything else.”

Antras gritted his teeth. Once he remembered his old enemy, Antras had been caught up in his memories but right now, he had to focus and respond to the reality in front of him. 

“It’s… it’s weakening!”

The Imperial commanders’ urgent shouts could be heard.

Barron had broken through the Empire’s encirclement with pure force. By this time, there was only about 100 cavalry who had managed to follow him, however…

“Barron, the greatest hero of the Republic!”

“Barron, the strongest in the Empire!”

“Barron! Barron! Barron!”

“Barron! Barron! Barron!”

“Barron! Barron! Barron!”

At that moment, the morale of the Republican soldiers soared. Conversely, the Imperial soldiers were overwhelmed. It was unknown whether it was because of Barron’s singlehanded might or because of the Republicans’ fanatical morale, but what was certain was that the Republican Army was currently overwhelmingly pushing the Imperial Army, who had more than double the soldiers, back.

This war wasn’t making any sense. Antras knew what he had to do to bring this nonsensical reality back into a reality that made sense.

“Marquis Baker Gotham. Duke Hector Sebastian, Duke Dominic Florian.”

Antras immediately gave orders to the three Masters. But he left Duke Schweiker out.

“Bring me that man’s head immediately. If we cut off his head, then the Republican Army will collapse on its own.”

He was telling three Masters to work together for one man. Usually, none of them would obey such an order but…

“Understood.”

Without a second thought, the three of them climbed on their horses and charged towards Barron. They knew it would be reckless to face that man in a one-on-one fight.

They also knew it wasn’t honorable, but it was different from the time they fought against the Lester Kingdom. The three of them convinced themselves that it was only natural to do their best to win the battle and charged forward. But…

“......”

Duke Schweiker, the one person excluded from his order, frowned. He had thought Antras would send him out as well, but when there was no order, he took it on himself to climb on his horse.

“I will go as well.”

When he said that, Antras stopped him urgently.

“Wait a minute, Duke Schweiker!”

“Why?!”

For a second, Antras drew back when Duke Schweiker snarled at him, but he pulled himself together.

“Our infantry line weakened because of the Republic’s onslaught. If Your Grace goes and slows down the enemies attacking, then our soldiers’ morale will rise and we will be able to stand against them again.”

At those words, Duke Schweiker responded irritably.

“Didn’t you say we’d be able to stop the enemy if we cut off Barron’s head?”

“......”

“So then why are you taking me out? In the beginning, you promised me that you’ll have that man stand in front of me!”

“That’s right. I did say that.”

Antras gave him a grim smile. When Duke Schweiker hadn’t wanted to join this war, Antras had promised to get the Republic’s Barron in front of him. 

Duke Schweiker had isolated himself in order to train and perfect his martial skills. But there was a limit to training alone. That was why he needed a strong opponent and the only person on this continent who was on par with him was Barron of the Republic. That was also why Barron was such a great bait. 

But at that time, Antras hadn’t known that Barron of the Republic was such a monster. 

‘Just Duke Schweiker himself is second to my father…’

If he was being honest, he had underestimated this man named Barron. Before Siegfried had appeared, the Republic’s power hadn’t been all that great. That was why Antras had been careless. He had thought that even if Barron was strong, he couldn’t possibly surpass Duke Dominic Florian. But in reality, Barron was also a monster.  He was a monster that wasn’t any inferior to Duke Schweiker.

Antras knew that the worst possible outcome right now was for Duke Schweiker and Barron to collide. 

‘Siegfried and Grand Duke Forrest are still alive… no. I have to stop that from happening.’

Antras made up his mind.

“I will keep my promise. But as a strategist, I have a duty to minimize the damage to the soldiers.”

“Then…”

“While you go and deal with the Republican soldiers to balance them out, the three Masters of our country will hold Barron back. In that time, if you’re able to come back, then you will be able to fight against General Barron as I promised.”

Duke Schweiker frowned at those words.

“...What will you do if Barron is killed before I come back?”

‘Well, that’s exactly what I’m hoping for.’

“In that case, wouldn’t that mean that the man known as Barron wasn’t worth your attention in the first place?”

Antras was giving him a completely different answer to what he actually thought.

But his words were persuasive.

“I guess I’ll have to straighten out the lines as quickly as possible.”

After saying that, Duke Schweiker quickly mounted his horse and ran to the frontlines. 

Looking at the back of Duke Schweiker, Antras thought to himself. 

‘If you hold me responsible later, I’ll pay the price then. But I can’t let you and Barron fight right now.’

There were three results that Antras was currently expecting.

One, the three Masters would remove Barron’s head from his neck before Duke Schweiker managed to balance the infantry frontline. 

Or two, the three Masters managed to severely injure Barron before Duke Schweiker joined them.

Antras was hoping for either one of these two results. But, there was a third result Antras thought could happen.

Duke Schweiker deals with the frontline too quickly and the three Masters couldn’t injure Barron which would lead to the two monsters clashing against each other in prime condition…

‘If that happens, there’s a high possibility that it’ll twist things up a lot.’

Antras prayed for the third possible result to never happen.

***

“Hm…”

Barron stopped his horse. He had broken through the encirclement and was charging towards the enemy’s main camp when he saw three Masters rushing towards him. 

The three Masters stopped their horses in front of Barron, pulled out their swords, and pointed it at him.

“I am Duke Hector Sebastian.”

“Duke Dominic Florian.”

“Marquis Baker Gotham.”

Barron nodded when he heard the three’s self-introduction.

“That’s a relief.”

“...What do you mean?”

“That Duke Schweiker isn’t amongst you.”

At that, Duke Sebastian spoke with a smile. 

“You’re the strongest in the Republic, but you’re afraid of Duke Schweiker?”

Even if he was the enemy, Duke Sebastian was pleased that his disciple was acknowledged by such a strong man. But Barron’s subsequent words angered not only Duke Sebastian but the two other Masters as well.

“No, that’s not it. I’m glad that he’s not a small fry like all of you.”

For a second, the Masters of the Empire couldn’t understand what he had just said. And then…

“But what a pity. I was really looking forward to it.”

Once they understood what he said...

“I’ll kill you!”

“You foolish bastard!”

“......”

The three Masters had never been so outraged in their lives. 

“It’ll be too much for you fools.”

Speaking calmly, Barron stood against the three Masters.

But wouldn’t 3:1 be too much? That’s what they thought at first. The three Masters couldn’t stop that uncomfortable thought in the back of their mind. However, that thought immediately disappeared when Duke Sebastian flew backwards at a single blow from Barron.

“Guh…”

A single blow. Even as he flew away, Hector Sebastian couldn’t believe it.

‘What is this ridiculous destructive power…’

He knew that even if both of them were Masters, there could be a difference in destructive power, but this was too much. Duke Sebastian felt like his wrist was broken when he met Barron’s sword. Half the reason he was flying right now was that he allowed it to happen in order to protect himself from the impact. Otherwise, he was sure he would have dropped his sword at the first blow.

“Duke Sebastian?!”

Worried, Marquis Gotham shouted towards Duke Sebastian. 

“Don’t worry about me…”

“Kugh…”

CLANG!

Even before Duke Sebastian finished talking, Barron struck Marquis Gotham. Somehow, he endured the blow that came from the top, but his horse couldn’t.

“Neeigh!”

When Marquis Gotham blocked the strike, all four legs of his horse broke. But, he had somehow survived and when he faced Barron’s sword again, Duke Florian intervened from the other side. 

“My chance!’

With a flash of light, he aimed at Barron’s neck. Since Barron was trying to suppress Marquis Gotham with his own sword, it was impossible for him to defend.

‘I got him’

Duke Florian was convinced of his victory when he aimed at Barron using the gap. But…

CLANG!

Duke Florian’s jab bounced to the side.  Barron had grabbed the sword with one hand while swinging his other fist to push aside Duke Florian’s stabbing.

“That’s impossible… huh!?”

Before he even had time to be surprised, Duke Florian was dumbfounded when Barron reached out and lifted him by his chestplate. And then…

“Hup!”

CLANG!

“Guh!”

Barron threw Duke Florian into Marquis Gotham. It was as simple as grabbing him by the collar and throwing him. Duke Florian had never been attacked like this after he had become a Master… no, even before he had become a Master.

Barron nodded as Duke Florian and Marquis Gotham fell from their horses.

“Good. Seems like I can warm up.”

He got off his horse.

Crack Crack…

The three Masters felt sweat running down their backs as they watched him rotating his shoulders and turning his neck.

‘This…’

‘He’s a monster beyond imagination.’

‘Damn it…’

***

Having gotten off his horse, Barron pushed the three Masters back with his sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Kugh…”

“Guh…”

His attacks were harsh, destructive, and above all, practical.

Even if it wasn’t often, all three of them had at some point in time fought against the absolute powerhouse that was Christian Schweiker. In other words, they weren’t completely new to fighting against someone strong.

However, after fighting with him a bit, they realized they were deeply mistaken. Duke Schweiker and General Barron were completely different people.

Christian Schweiker had been trained by the traditional Duke Sebastian and had reached his present state by fighting against many strong people. Duke Schweiker had reached the peak as a traditional knight.

Compared to him, General Barron was someone completely different. He had developed on the battlefield. As a soldier of the Republic, he had been thrown into a war against the military powerhouse known as the Strabus Kingdom. And in order to survive, he had done his best. He had rarely fought in a fair one-on-one fight between knights.

There had been times where there were many opponents and there had been times when he had been isolated and separated from his allies. He had overcome situations that other people would have died ten times over, no, a hundred times, with just his talent and ability.

Perhaps it was because of his development process but Barron’s swordsmanship, it was more accurate to say that his combat techniques were not only practical, but almost barbaric.

Other knights also did things like kicking at their opponents so they would lose their balance or shove at others with their shoulders, but they would never punch the other person in the face…

“Keugh…”

Or head butt an opponent whose helmet just flew away...

“Guh!”

Or kick their opponent like they were a ball. Other knights would never do this.

“Gah…”

No place on their bodies were unharmed. They focused on Barron’s sword movements and somehow avoided fatal blows, but they couldn’t respond to the punches or kicks that came out of nowhere. As a result, all three men were bruised all over their bodies from dealing with Barron.