Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Joshua’s eyes slowly passed over the three unconscious men. He knew their faces—they’d been judges at the Master Battle. Most nations had no more than three Masters, and these men had to be marquises or higher. They held important positions, and their skills were very important to their nations.

But right now, they were all sprawled out on the ground in front of a lone man.

“Kekeke...!” Arie strode down the path and lightly flexed his wrist. A thin, delicate, and sharp rapier appeared in his hand. However, the gorgeous rapier was soaked in blood that constantly dripped to the ground.

“...” Joshua listened carefully for a moment and let out a small sigh of relief. He could just barely hear the three men’s breathing. They weren’t in good shape, and the injuries they sustained required immediate medical attention.

‘Count Arie bron Sten...’

Joshua knew he deserved some respect. Not just anyone could lift his family to power singlehandedly. His exploits in Joshua’s past life were nothing short of heroic. He was an Imperial master—yes, but not just anyone could take down three Masters while suffering nothing more than scratches.

‘He’s practically godlike...’?Joshua's eyes shimmered.

Count Sten was powerful, but why did he remain behind the curtains in Joshua’s past life? Why did he not try to go even further with his skills?

“Quit worrying about silly things and just enjoy the moment.”

“...” Joshua’s train of thought was broken by Arie’s interruption.

“The last time we talked was about five years ago in Arcadia, no?” Arie said with a bitter smile, “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not trying to persecute you for what you said years ago.”

Arie looked into Joshua’s steady eyes and explained, “I just want to show you that rapiers aren’t as bad as you think.”

“...”

“Ugh... I really can’t take it anymore...” Arie licked his bloody palm and pointed the tip of his rapier at Joshua. “No more talking from now on, Joshua Sanders.”

“Are you crazy? Why did you harm the Masters of other nations?” Joshua asked with a frown before saying, “I know you’re smart, Count Sten, but I don’t think you can handle a Continental War.”

Joshua’s words made Arie reveal a tinge of sadness. Of course, it was just a tinge.

Arie’s sadness didn’t last long as he erupted into boisterous laughter. “Hahaha, are you talking about these good-for-nothing bastards? These bastards have no idea what’s going on at all! They’re simply drunk on their reputation as a Master!”

“...”

“And don't even get me started on those who will die anyway as their nation burns...”

Arie muttered in a voice that sounded more like a mosquito’s droning.

However, Joshua clearly heard Arie's whispers because Joshua could already be considered a Superhuman.

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t I say no more talking?”

There was a flash, and a gaping hole appeared in the massive, beautiful old tree next to Joshua. There were at least ten meters between them, but Arie’s move narrowed that distance in the proverbial blink of an eye.

However, Joshua remained unperturbed as he stood indifferently.

“Perfect.” Arie gripped his sword and straightened, adopting a stance that would allow him to attack or defend at a moment’s notice. “If you beat me, I’ll share a little secret with you. It’ll be good, so do your best, okay?”

Arie vanished the moment his words fell, but Joshua was ready with a crimson spear in his hands.

Joshua didn’t even bend his knees, but he had to take a step backward. It was all because Arie’s face suddenly appeared in front of him with his mouth open, revealing his tongue that flapped like a snake.

The fact that Arie could keep a secret was just one of the many reasons why he was so successful, but the primary reason for his success on the battlefield was his fighting style. Arie’s attacks were incredibly fast and deceptive. n0VElusB.C0M

Arie often relied on feints, fooling his enemy into overextending, which would reveal an opening Arie could exploit. And since Arie’s attacks were lightning-fast, he could easily stab his enemies a hundred times before they even realized it.

Arie’s fighting style became so infamous it earned the moniker ‘Dance of the Butterflies.’

Count Sten narrowed the distance between him and Joshua before relentlessly sending attacks one after another. Sparks constantly flew as the sound of metal clashing against metal incessantly rang out.

‘Don’t let those beautiful movements deceive you...’

‘Don’t even try to look at what’s going on...’

‘Feel it. Use your senses and thrust according to your instincts...’

Swoosh!

Joshua quickly swiped with his spear, and the lightning-fast attacks came to an end.

Arie and Joshua stared at each other intently.

“Hahaha!” Arie erupted into laughter while holding his rapier and staring at the hem of his sleeve that had been severed. The fruit was as sweet as he had expected, and Joshua was the perfect opponent to quench his thirst.

Right now, Joshua was the only one who could make him happy.

“Ugh... Haaahhh~!” Arie quivered and made ambiguous noises Joshua couldn’t identify whether they were moans or screams. Then, he turned around and looked at Joshua before exclaiming, “Hng! You're the best!”

Arie incessantly quivered as he climaxed, but as it subsided, his heart became filled with murderous intent.

Did he want to kill Joshua?

No...

How about the three worms thrashing around on the floor right now?

Yes...

He wanted to murder them. He was mad that these bastards had the nerve to try and steal the finest pray he had ever clapped his eyes on. He was so mad that he wanted to tear them apart right this instant.

Arie looked at Joshua and smiled. Immediately afterward, he vanished once more.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their weapons clashed once more, and the air became filled with the incessant noise of metal clashing against metal.

Joshua’s mana awakened Lugia from its slumber. Lugia was a powerful artifact that an ordinary Master could only hope to wield. Lugia was so powerful that a single thrust with Lugia would pulverize rocks. A glancing blow was enough to pulverize bone as well.

Arie and Joshua’s mana scattered all over the place as they exchanged moves, and the air became saturated with so much mana that it created an incredible sight.

Joshua was pretty strong as a human, but Lugia couldn’t help but think that he was afraid.

All of a sudden, Joshua’s perception of time slowed down as Lugia spoke.

- Are you scared?

- Don’t worry!

- Don't be afraid of the power you possess.

Lugia moved. It flashed with bright red lights, but they weren’t mere afterimages. Each of the many lights was an attack, and they collided with Arie’s thrusts.

“Ugh...” The ground violently shook, and Windwill was awakened by the vibrations coursing through the ground. Windmill felt like his head was being repeatedly smashed into the ground as the vibrations struck him.

However, the unbelievable sight in front of him made him forget the pain.

“Joshua Sanders and Count Sten...!”

The two monsters were grinning at each other.

Joshua wasn’t wielding a sword against Count Sten, but he was wielding a weapon that was better than any swords out there for him.

The two monsters fought as if they were the main characters of Armageddon, but the way they used their weapons betrayed the intensity of their battle.

“Are they really Masters just like us...?” muttered Windmill as he shuddered.

He wanted to pretend it was all a dream—a hallucination induced by the pain. It was too much to believe, even though he was looking at the incredible scene with his own two eyes.

What kind of madness overwhelmed him that he actually dared to fight such monsters?

Meanwhile, the battle between Joshua and Arie intensified.

Clang!

Joshua deflected a particularly strong attack.

“Hehehe...” Arie bared his teeth amidst the pleasure coursing through his nerves. He was overjoyed to find that Joshua could handle any of his attacks with no apparent effort, and it seemed that Joshua’s taciturn eyes could find all of Arie’s flaws.

‘I wonder how it would feel if that spear lodges itself into my heart? Ah, I really want him to show me more. I want to see everything...’

With that, Arie took five steps back while trembling with excitement.

“Mm, Joshua~” Arie spoke coquettishly as if he were speaking to his love. “Are you not upset about the fact that you were born to a concubine?”

Stop.

Arie’s sudden words forced Joshua to come to a halt.

“A sad life filled with insults and lies. You pushed past all those things and rose to your position in just a few short years. You crawled back up on your own from the very bottom...”

“...”

“Before you got the power, you did everything you could to hide what power you did have, and once you got the power, you left your family without any regrets. I was very interested in you from the first time I heard about you.”

“Before you got to where you are, you did your best to hide your power, but the moment you revealed your prowess to the world, you abandoned your family, seemingly without any regrets. I’m really?curious...

“But do you know what I find even more intriguing?” Arie stuck his bright red snake-like tongue and licked his lips. “You and your family—the Agnus household—never had any worthy opponent.”

“...” Joshua could hear each and every word coming out of Arie’s mouth, but he remained indifferent.

Arie stared at Joshua for a while, seemingly looking for a change in mood from the latter. However, Joshua remained indifferent, and his indifference only made Arie go even crazier.

“Pffft! Kekeke!” Arie’s laugh became tinged with madness.

“...”

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s my Joshua. Your everything is just so perfect!” Arie raised both hands like he was asking for a double high five. “Does he know? Does your father—the so-called Dark God and the Titan of Avalon—know about it?”

“...!” Joshua’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

The minute response seemed to have satisfied Arie as his lips curled up.

“Please me a bit more, Joshua.” Once again, Arie pointed the tip of his spear at Joshua and said, “Join me in this climax.”