Chapter 511: Brilliance (10)

Chapter 511: Brilliance (10)

Three hundred years after the war ended, Helmuth had become an empire. Had there ever been a time since then when he had been so engrossed in his swordsmanship?

‘No, never.’

If he had to make an excuse, it would be that he had lacked time for such dedication. After all, the dawn of the empire had been tumultuous.

While Gavid was absorbed in all the duties of a duke, the other two dukes dedicated themselves to strengthening their power in their own ways.

The Black Dragon Raizakia started with his hatchlings. He attempted to mass-produce dragons through continuous breeding. He had hatched a mad plan of continuously birthing and consuming his own hatchlings — birth, eat, and repeat. Had it succeeded, the Black Dragon Raizakia would no longer be a demonic dragon but a horrendous monster, albeit one of immense power.

The Queen of Night Demons, Noir Giabella, exploited legions of night demons to harvest life force across the continent. At the same time, she focused on meticulously developing her territory. As a result, Noir quickly transcended the level of an ordinary Demon King and became a monstrous entity instead. Điscover new chapters at novelhall.com

On the other hand, apart from his ducal duties, Gavid had no time to devote himself to personal training. But he still managed to become stronger than he had been three hundred years ago. Even without dedicating himself as the others had done, Gavid's power grew stronger as the empire strengthened.

Was it because the Demon King of Incarceration’s dark power became more potent? No, that wasn’t it. The Demon King of Incarceration had already been powerful even 300 years ago.

He couldn’t be certain, but Gavid suspected his strength was linked to his status as the Grand Duke of Helmuth. This was similar to Noir Giabella gaining immense power using two territories; Gavid derived his strength from his title as the Grand Duke of the empire.

'But it's not enough,' Gavid decided.

He was not satisfied because the power he sought was not of this kind of power.

Endless dark power? The Demoneye of Divine Glory, which granted him the authority of the Demon King? No. What he desired was a different kind of strength.

"The sword."

Now, Gavid was the only one in the vast residence of the Lindman Ducal Manor. The mansion hadn’t seen a lot of people to begin with, but now, it was empty. Not even the servants kept for its upkeep remained and it wasn’t just the servants either. The furniture that filled the mansion was also completely removed.

What filled this now vast and empty mansion was only Gavid Lindman — as just a demon — and a few swords, but not Glory, and a bundled chain from the Demon King of Incarceration.

With a watery smile, Gavid extended the chain forward.

He had received the bundled chain directly from the Demon King of Incarceration.

Chains represented the authority of the Demon King of Incarceration. They materialize the power of incarceration.

He had served the Demon King of Incarceration for a long time. As long as he had used the Demoneye of Divine Glory, he could understand the essence of incarceration without needing to be told directly. Chains could bind. They could control. And they could confine. The power of incarceration was precisely that.

This chain was no different. It was confining something.

Naturally, Gavid had failed to discern its purpose when he had first received the chain.

Gavid had received many things from the Demon King of Incarceration over the years.

He was granted his title as the Blade of Incarceration.

He was given the Demoneye of Divine Glory.

He was handed the Demonic Sword Glory.

He was called the Grand Duke of Helmuth.

All these things were gifts from the Demon King of Incarceration. But those gifts were instantly understandable in their purpose upon receipt. But this time, it was different. The chains he now possessed were difficult to comprehend.

Gavid had spent an entire day pondering over the use of these chains after returning to his mansion. He infused them with dark power and attempted to comprehend them through the Demoneye of Divine Glory, but their purpose eluded him despite the various methods he tried.

—A tuning is necessary.

He recalled these words.

However, he didn’t think he would be satisfied with a victory in his current condition. No, it would certainly leave him discontented. Hence, tuning was essential to ensure that the three hundred years were not spent in vain, to avoid insulting the opponent in the duel, and to ensure satisfaction with his victory.

"Thank you,” he murmured while wandering the wasteland again. It had been nine days since he first used the chain, but Gavid felt that the time he spent here was significantly longer than nine days.

The flow of time in this wilderness deviated from reality. No matter how long he lingered here, only a few minutes would have passed in the real world upon return.

It would be near impossible for a human to accept such disparity. Immersing oneself too deeply could essentially shatter one's mind. Even for a demon, excessive repetition could lead to the same fate. Yet, for Gavid, this posed no issue; he yearned to be consumed by such immersion to the extent of breakage.

He had come to understand a few things. This wilderness represented memories from a distant past that Gavid was unaware of.

Through his power, the Demon King of Incarceration had entirely sequestered these memories from a time far beyond Gavid's knowledge. In essence, these memories projected someone who once truly existed in the distant past.

The man who appeared in the wilderness seemed... not human. Gavid couldn't perceive him as anything else; it was inconceivable for a human to possess such strength. This man seemed born for battle, his strength and ferocity intensifying with every encounter.

The man’s sword was perfected for the sheer purpose of killing, honed through thousands if not tens of thousands of battles. It was impossible to refine such a sword outside the chaos of war.

Gavid had thought such a human could not exist. No one in the history he knew of possessed such formidable strength. Then who was 'he'? Was he truly human? What was his name, and in which era was he from?

Initially, these questions had plagued Gavid, but after several deaths, he no longer pondered such curiosity. The identity of his opponent did not matter. What was important here was:

'Not dying.'

The irony of such a thought made Gavid smirk, and he paused in his steps.

He saw the man standing in the distance, casually drawing a great sword and slinging it over his shoulder. He approached Gavid with a nonchalant stride.

Their first encounter had begun with an immediate attack, but it wasn't always the same. Sometimes, the man would appear suddenly from behind for a surprise attack, and at other times, he would wait for Gavid to make the first move.

However, regardless of how each battle began, the end was always the same. Gavid had yet to inflict any significant injury on the man.

Once, Gavid became fed up with one-sided defeats. He had attempted to use the Demoneye of Divine Glory and Glory at full power.

That had been the worst of it.

When Gavid used the Demoneye, the man's power transformed. When Gavid wielded Glory, the man's power became the sword itself, and fought Glory head-on. Gavid had even attempted to suppress the man's strength with the Demoneye of Divine Glory, but it had proved to be futile.

He was utterly overpowered. Gavid faced a humiliating defeat while feeling a stark difference in their power output.

"I don't know who you are,” Gavid said.

It was a futile attempt. Dialogue was impossible with the man, who emitted no sound, not even that of breathing. The only interaction between Gavid and the man was combat.

"There must be some connection to Hamel,” Gavid murmured softly while drawing his sword, Glory.

While different in magnitude, the man's mysterious power bore a resemblance to the sword Eugene used against the specter.

"An ancestor of Hamel? Or perhaps...."

Gavid aimed Glory at the man, who continued his casual approach.

"Hamel's previous life?"

Under normal circumstances, Gavid would not entertain such speculation, having never considered the existence of reincarnation or past lives.

But now, he couldn't dismiss the possibility. If Eugene Lionheart was indeed a reincarnation of Hamel from three hundred years ago, then perhaps... even Hamel could be someone's reincarnation.

The man lowered his greatsword from his shoulder. There was a subtle transformation in his casual stride, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes. Gavid's Demoneye of Divine Glory emitted an ominous glow.

Agaroth's sword descended upon Gavid.