Chapter 344
In that moment, their faces turned beet red.
It wasn't just with anger; a look of bewilderment flowed.
That was right.
These were the ones who, despite not being qualified, had entered the training center through unjust means.
Simply completing the program at the Keinper Training Center was an acknowledgment of being one of the greatest talents on the continent, so they had used their connections to get in.
‘Damn bastards.’
There was a reason for his anger.
‘I need to raise as many suckers as possible here to fight in my stead, but because of these whelps, I'm losing the opportunity to cultivate actual talent.’
Chris hadn't come to the training center simply to cultivate his own power.
He had planned to develop the talents of others as much as possible to prepare for the coming tribulation, but because of those who had entered through dishonest means, he couldn't raise that many suckers.
‘If I can't raise suckers, I'll have to suffer through it all myself!’
He glared at the illegitimately admitted students, filled with anger.
“Any complaints?”
“N-no…”
“I’m sure there are. All of you, step forward. I’ll show you why you are not qualified.”
The illegitimate students gaped.
They all knew their own faults, so they couldn't think of protesting.
To be precise, they were keeping their mouths shut out of fear of the Hero, who was emitting a ferocious aura before them, but Chris had no intention of letting them go so easily.
“All of you, come at me at once. If even one of you succeeds in touching the tip of my finger, I will acknowledge you.”
An absurd proposition.
Nearly thirty people had been pointed out.
And yet he would face them all alone?
However, the students hesitated.
Although they had entered through dishonest means, they weren't complete amateurs.
They had eyes to see.
They felt they shouldn't attack him.
In particular, the look in his eyes as he stared at them felt more wicked than that of most magi.
Still, how could they back down in a situation like this?
They all gritted their teeth and charged.
And they came to realize.
That their intuition had not been wrong.
Thwack!
“And you call these things talents.”
“Keok!”
“Kuaaaack!”
“The very air you breathe is a waste. If it were me, I’d be too ashamed to even show my face, yet you get in through dishonest means? You’ve got some nerve.”
Thwack! Thwack!!
Even though it was a 30-on-1 duel, it was completely one-sided.
No, this wasn't even a duel.
He was beating up thirty people all by himself.
And he was doing it thoroughly.
Who knows how he was hitting them, but with every blow, they all looked like they were about to die.
The mental attacks in between were a bonus.
Before long, all of the illegitimately admitted students were laid out neatly on the floor.
“……”
“……”
The hall fell into a dead silence.
The remaining students, all frozen stiff, stared at Chris.
“Clean up this trash. Now, let’s have a proper greeting. It’s a pleasure.”
“…A pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes. I’ll say this in advance, I am not a kind professor. If you have any complaints, speak now.”
But no one opened their mouth.
They were completely intimidated by the surreal scene they had just witnessed.
It was just as he had intended.
‘I didn't punish the illegitimate entrants without reason.’
To raise their skills in a short amount of time, he had to make them follow his words without question.
In other words, he had punished them for the greater good. Truly.
‘But this isn't enough.’
He had to make them obey any order he gave, absolutely.
As it happened, there was a sacrificial lamb.
“It seems there is someone who has a complaint about me.”
Chris pointed out one person.
It was toward a man with a fierce expression in his mid-thirties.
“Isn’t that right, Aiden, the Pulverizing Mace?”
“!!”
Everyone in the hall sucked in a breath.
The Morning Star of the Round Table.
It was already a famous story that Aiden had it in for the Hero, and yet the Hero had started a fight with him first.
But Aiden’s reaction was strange.
Given his usual hot-headed personality, it wouldn't have been strange if he had immediately thrown a punch, but he was just biting his lip hard without any reaction.
As if he were scared.
It wasn't a misunderstanding.
Aiden was flustered.
‘What?’
The others couldn't accurately gauge the Hero's level, but Aiden, who had reached the peak of 7-Star, was different.
‘…He’s not at a lower level than me. How?’
He couldn't believe it, but it was the truth.
And though Aiden had an arrogant and rough personality, he also had a cautious side that knew to restrain himself in front of a stronger opponent.
In other words, selective intermittent explosive disorder.
Also known as a personality that is selectively good at controlling its anger.
‘…For now, I'll just watch. It’s not because I’m scared. This is, after all, a student showing respect to a professor. I am the young lord of a prestigious house who knows his manners.’
As he was rationalizing to himself, some clueless people chimed in.
“Sir Aiden, say something!”
“Even if he is a professor, he cannot treat the rising stars of our Round Table so carelessly!”
They were the children of the other prestigious houses of the Round Table.
They did not doubt for a second that their hero, Aiden, would bring this cocky Hero to his knees.
‘These damn idiots. Are they blind?’
Aiden looked at Chris.
Their eyes met, and his heart sank.
It was that kind of look.
-Hurry up and come at me. Let's throw down.
Those were not the eyes of a Hero.
He could feel a viciousness akin to that of a heinous magus from the Magus Empire.
I absolutely cannot mess with him.
His intuition, which had sharpened since he had reached the peak of 7-Star, was screaming a warning.
But he couldn't back down and lose face.
“Sir Aiden, it is time to show them the greatness of our Round Table.”
“Please let them know that you, Sir Aiden, are the true Hero!”
Aiden wanted to cry.
Instead, he looked for an exit strategy.
First, he put on the fiercest expression he could muster.
“Did you ask if I have a complaint? Is that even a question?”
A rough voice.
The people held their breath in the explosive atmosphere.
But it was an act.
‘I’ll just act tough and make sure it doesn't lead to an actual fight.’
With that in mind, he opened his mouth.
“Even if you are a professor, that kind of behavior is….”
…unacceptable, so be careful in the future. I will be watching.
That was how he planned to end it.
He thought he could save face and wrap things up nicely at that.
But an unexpected voice cut in.
“How dare you speak to your revered professor with such an attitude?”
“…What did you say?”
It was Evan!
He spoke with angry eyes.
“To say ‘that kind of’ to your professor. What did you learn in your family? Or is the Round Table a house with no foundation that doesn't even teach basic courtesy toward a professor?”
Aiden was flustered.
‘What’s with this guy?’
No, he knew who he was.
The former heir of the swordsmanship noble house.
He was as famous as himself.
But why had he suddenly jumped in and started acting like this?
“Apologize for your rudeness to the professor at once.”
Aiden, who was already thoroughly annoyed, felt his anger surge.
Aiden would become docile in front of the strong, but he could become endlessly arrogant and rough in front of those weaker than himself.
“Shut up. Who do you think you are, you exiled vermin from the swordsmanship house? It seems I’ll have to fix that attitude of yours first.”
Aiden growled at Evan as if this were a welcome development.
Since he had no confidence in fighting Chris, he had changed his target to Evan instead.
‘If I teach that whelp a lesson, I should be able to save face.’
For reference, the swordsmanship noble house was not a member of the Round Table.
They were situated in a different location, and above all, the swordsmanship house had refused to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other houses.
-How can a tiger associate with a pack of wild dogs?
That was the arrogant statement the swordsmanship house had spat out while belittling the other houses of the Round Table.
Therefore, the Round Table gritted its teeth at the mere mention of the swordsmanship house.
Aiden resolved to properly stomp on Evan, the former heir of the swordsmanship house, on this occasion.
As Evan and Aiden were thus about to start a duel out of nowhere, Chris, flustered, called out to Evan.
“Wait, hold on.”
He had no intention of letting Evan step forward.
Above all, Evan was not yet a match for Aiden.
Although Evan had also grown rapidly of late, Aiden had been hailed as the greatest of the Round Table’s next generation for a long time.
However.
“Leave this to me. There's no need for you to concern yourself with such an insignificant whelp.”
“!!”
Evan said resolutely.
‘I have to become Christian’s strength.’
He had seen it with his Mind’s Eye.
Why Christian had come to the Keinper Training Center.
Why he was angry at everyone.
As expected, it was once again for the sake of everyone else.
‘A foolish guy who only knows how to think of others.’
Evan clenched his fists.
‘I won't let you shoulder all the burdens alone again. This time, I will be the villain.’
Evan, standing opposite Aiden, lowered his gaze.
‘For Christian to achieve his noble will, I must properly stomp on this whelp.’
He had heard the story as soon as he had arrived at the Round Table.
That the real Hero was Aiden.
It was a story that wasn't even funny.
Did the whelps of the Round Table not know that slandering the Hero was a capital offense?
‘Christian would want even a whelp like that to be kept alive for the sake of the world, so I can’t kill him, but.’
Instead, he would educate him properly.
So that he would never again dare to even raise his head to Christian.
That, after all, would be the proper courtesy toward the Hero.
“Take your stance.”
At Evan’s chilling voice, Aiden swallowed hard.
‘Wh-what? Why does that whelp have that look in his eyes? Like he’s insane?’
He hadn't even considered the possibility of losing the duel, but he began to feel a sense of foreboding.
Aiden, the Morning Star of the Round Table, a patient with selective intermittent explosive disorder, had a talent for instinctively recognizing an opponent's strength.
As if cold water had been thrown on him, he felt his anger become well-controlled.
“…Out of respect for the swordsmanship house's reputation, if you apologize even now, I will show you mercy.”
He cast his ultimate move, ‘How about we call it a draw?’, but unfortunately, Evan didn't even pretend to listen.
Instead, he took it a step further.
“The duel will follow the way of the magi.”
“…What?”
“Meaning, we fight until one of us falls.”
In other words, he was saying he would beat him to a pulp.
“…Wait, that’s…?”
“I’m starting.”
Aiden tried to say something, but it was too late.
Evan's sword flashed.
It was a single strike that announced the beginning of the Round Table's humiliation.
* * *
A deathly silence fell over the hall.
An unbelievable scene was unfolding.
‘Sir Aiden is being pushed back by that failure from the swordsmanship house?’
Failure.
Evan had been held in check by the other bloodlines of the swordsmanship house and hadn't been able to grow properly for a long time.
Therefore, the children of the prestigious houses who had known him for a long time often looked down on him.
But what was this scene before them?
Smack!
The flat of Evan's sword struck Aiden's cheek.
He wasn't wounded, but it was an utterly humiliating blow.
“You whelp…!”
“So noisy. Does the Round Table fight its duels with its mouth?”
Thwack!
The flat of the sword struck Aiden again.
A similar scene was repeated countless times.
‘How?’
‘Sir Aiden’s level of achievement should be higher, shouldn't it?’
Everyone wore expressions of disbelief, but Chris alone had an indifferent face.
‘It's Evan. Something of this level is only natural.’