Chapter 347
“Your Round Table will have all of its members brutally slaughtered by the minions of Gehenna, and your houses will burn to the ground and disappear.”
“Wh-what? Do not speak such impossible nonsense!”
“Nonsense? Look.”
Paaaat!
Chris unleashed his magic.
In the air, an image of the Round Table meeting its horrific end appeared as a video.
“This is a ‘realization’ of the revelation from the Constellations. Marquis Hainper, as the Head of the Sorcery House, you should know. That this is not a false illusion, but a revelation I have witnessed myself.”
Even if they were both image magic, ‘realization’ and ‘illusion’ were different.
‘Realization’ was to draw a perfect picture of something one had actually witnessed or that actually existed. The very manifestation of the spell was completely different.
‘In truth, it’s not a revelation from the Constellations, but a realization of a scene I saw in my past life.’
Marquis Hainper, the Head of the Sorcery House, nodded heavily.
“…It seems the words of His Highness the Hero are not a lie.”
A shock spread through the hall.
“Th-that can’t be?”
“You can’t believe it?”
Chris let out a smirk.
“I think it’s plenty possible. Looking at your pathetic state right now, that is.”
“!!”
“You all know it, too, don’t you? Just how far your level falls compared to the true prestigious houses of the Magus Empire.”
The House Heads bit their lips hard.
He was right.
Although they acted high and mighty as the heads of prestigious houses, not a single one among them was an 8-Star.
Among the House Heads of the Round Table, only the head of the magic noble house was an 8-Star; the rest were all 7-Stars.
“…Still, we have no need of your help. A revelation like that. Our Round Table can overcome it.”
“Really? I doubt it.”
Chris openly sneered at them.
“From what I can see now, it looks like none of you have even properly mastered your own family’s secret arts.”
“!!”
This was a comment they could not let slide.
The House Heads, incensed, glared at him.
“Take back that statement.”
“Take what back? Right, since the House Heads are in such a state, the whelps under them were at that pathetic level, too.”
The House Heads could no longer hold back and began to raise their auras.
The atmosphere was that of a duel about to be declared.
It was the reaction he had intended.
“I will prove my words myself.”
“…What did you say?”
“I am saying that I will personally duel all of you and win.”
“!!”
The House Heads wore expressions of disbelief.
But Chris’s face was serious. An expression with no bluff, no exaggeration.
“A simple duel would be too bland, so I will face each of you with your own specialty. If your specialty is swordsmanship, I’ll use swordsmanship, if it’s martial arts, I’ll use martial arts. No, that seems too easy as well.”
Chris continued with even more insane words.
“I will face each of you using only your own family’s secret arts.”
“…Our family’s secret arts, you say?”
“Yes, there were materials you all donated here at the training center, weren't there? I’ve studied them for about half a month, so I will face you with that.”
Chris hadn't just been guiding the students.
In his spare time, he had been making the vast materials stored at the training center his own.
“Cut the nonsense. The materials we donated were nothing but basic secret arts. And you’ll face us, the masters of those arts, after studying them for only half a month?”
Thinking that he was insulting them, the complexions of the House Heads flushed.
However.
“I’m telling you, that’s more than enough.”
“!!”
“If you can't believe me, let’s make a bet. If I am defeated, I will leave the Keinper Training Center at once.”
Chris looked around at the House Heads.
“Instead, if you lose, you will also enter the Keinper Training Center and receive my teachings.”
“…Wh-what did you say?”
“Did I not say? The reason I am here is for your Round Table. Since your level is so low, I will bestow my teachings upon you.”
Chris tilted his head.
“Don’t tell me you lack confidence? To back down even when the condition is that I fight you with your own family’s secret arts? The name ‘Head of a Prestigious House’ will weep.”
The faces of the House Heads turned red, as if they could no longer endure it.
“…Very well. Prepare yourself.”
And so, they headed to the dueling grounds located in the training center.
Who knows where they had heard the rumor, but the students had flocked to the site.
“That devil is dueling the House Heads?”
“Who do you think will win?”
“…I don't know.”
The students trailed off.
They, too, now knew that the young Hero was no ordinary person.
But these were the House Heads of the great Round Table.
Furthermore, the Hero had said he would face them all alone.
“Since it’s a gauntlet, I don’t know about one, but wouldn’t two be difficult?”
“I think so, too.”
This, in itself, was a great assessment.
The prestige of the Round Table’s House Heads in the Alliance was enormous.
“But I heard His Highness the Hero is going to face the House Heads with the Round Table’s own secret arts?”
“What, are you crazy? Is that true?”
“Yes, I heard he said he would show the House Heads the true essence of the Round Table’s secret arts.”
“…I knew he wasn't sane, but it seems he’s truly lost his mind.”
The students clicked their tongues with fed-up expressions.
In the meantime, a thoroughly enraged middle-aged man stepped onto the dueling grounds.
It was Marquis Lamed, the Head of the Flash Sword House of the swordsmanship field.
“As promised, if you are defeated, leave the Keinper Training Center at once.”
“Right, you keep your promise, too. If you lose, you become my disciple.”
“You whelp…!!”
With a face that looked ready to burst, he took the stance for drawing his sword.
But Chris raised his hand to stop him, then said something unexpected.
“Wait, are you coming at me alone?”
“…What?”
“I doubt you’ll be enough.”
Chris spoke in a tone as if he were genuinely worried for his opponent.
“You alone won't even be a match, so all five of you, come at me at once.”
“Shut up!!”
With a face that had nearly lost all reason to anger, Marquis Lamed began his attack.
Paaaaaaah!
A single flash.
He rushed toward Chris like a ray of light, and in a blink, a single line was drawn.
“Ooh!! As expected!!”
“The Flash Sword King!!”
It was in the moment that the spectating students were letting out cries of admiration at the ultimate fast sword.
Tak.
The sword was stopped in its tracks.
The tip of Chris’s sword had precisely struck Marquis Lamed’s.
‘How?’
Marquis Lamed’s eyes flew open.
He was famous for having the fastest sword in the Alliance.
And yet Chris’s sword, which he had drawn later, had overwhelmed his.
That wasn't the only astounding thing.
‘That technique just now was?’
Chris twisted his lips as if to say, that's right.
“Didn't I say I’d face you with your own secret arts?”
It was the basic thrust of the Flash Sword House!
“Don't get cocky over a lucky shot!”
Paaaaaaah.
A rain of swords poured down.
It was the Storm of Blossoms, a high-level secret technique passed down only to the important blood relatives of the Flash Sword House.
Countless swords rushed toward Christian.
“Pathetic, as expected.”
“!!”
Chris moved his sword.
“I’ll show you. The proper secret art of your Flash Sword House.”
Chris extended his sword forward.
Fluttering Butterfly.
It was a sword art that checked the opponent by vibrating the sword in all directions, and it, too, was a basic secret technique.
One that even the lowest-ranking warriors of the Flash Sword House learned.
But, though it was a basic technique, how could this be happening?
Chwaaaaat!
The storm of Marquis Lamed’s swords was instantly swept away.
As if it had been blocked by an invisible curtain.
“Wh-what?! That's not Fluttering Butterfly!”
“It isn't? It's written in your own secret manual. Use the waves and vibrations created by the sword's trajectory to sever the core of the opponent's attack and neutralize it.”
Click.
Chris sheathed his sword.
He was preparing to unleash another basic secret technique of the Flash Sword House, the art of drawing the sword.
“This is your basic secret technique, the Sword-Drawing Flash. I'll unleash it straight down the center, so try to block it.”
“!!”
To tell his opponent the very point he was going to strike.
It was an absurd sight, but Marquis Lamed could not take it lightly.
He had a gut feeling that this was no ordinary matter.
“…You're the one who should be prepared.”
Paaaaaaah!!
A powerful aura surged up as if he were using all his strength.
It was the Crushing Flash, the strongest secret technique Marquis Lamed had learned.
It was a single strike that used a 7-Star miracle to imbue the ultimate speed with weight.
Using a miracle technique during a duel in the Alliance was against the rules, but that was how desperate he felt.
However.
Chris spat out as if it were pathetic.
“Wrong.”
Paat!
He drew his sword.
As befitting a basic secret technique, it was a sword draw that competed with pure speed.
The very foundation of the basics, without any particular skill or great sword principle imbued in it.
But the result of the sword that this simple sword draw unleashed was by no means light.
Crack.
The secret technique Marquis Lamed had unleashed began to split apart.
It was an unbelievable sight.
The family’s lowest basic technique and its highest secret technique had clashed head-on, and the exact opposite result was occurring.
‘Because what's important is not whether it's a basic or a high-level secret technique.’
That was right.
Even a simple single strike could have vastly different results depending on how it was unleashed.
What was important was the meaning imbued in that sword.
Chris, although it was a basic technique, had unleashed a sword that best matched the meaning of a ‘single flash’.
A sword that cuts all things with a single ray of light.
As long as one could not surpass the meaning of the single flash imbued in Chris’s sword, it was useless no matter what great secret technique one unleashed.
Finally, Chris’s sword completely neutralized his opponent, Marquis Lamed’s, secret technique, and then.
Flash.
Marquis Lamed’s sword split into two pieces.
“……”
Marquis Lamed stared blankly at his own sword.
The family heirloom, a famous sword among famous swords, had been broken in two.
“M-my family heirloom….”
“I don't think your family heirloom is what's important right now, is it?”
Chris sneered.
“A House Head should be lamenting the fact that he hasn't even properly mastered his own basic secret arts.”
Marquis Lamed's eyes flew open, but he couldn't say a word.
He was right.
“Go down and reflect on your actions!”
Marquis Lamed's face turned beet red, but in the end, he left the stage without being able to say a word.
At the shocking sight, everyone in the hall fell into a deathly silence.
It was a scene that went beyond mockery, looking almost like an instructional sparring session.
Following that, the others stepped onto the dueling grounds.
Martial Arts, Sorcery, Taming, and Stellar Radiance.
They were the four House Heads.
This time, they intended to attack together.
“It seems you've finally come to your senses. Right, there's no need to be ashamed. It's only natural for the weak to attack the strong together.”
The four House Heads bit their lips.
Although they had lost face, they couldn't muster the confidence to face that monster alone.
“Instead, there is a condition.”
“Hmm?”
“We will use our full strength, so you do the same. Don't think of humiliating us with your half-assed efforts.”
They were telling him to display his proper skills, not just the basic secret arts of their families.
“I don't think that will be necessary.”
“!!”
Chris sneered.
“If you want me to use my full strength, then you all had better try your best to make me. Though I doubt it will be possible.”
The atmosphere of the House Heads turned fierce.
“I am the Fist King of the Martial Arts House.”
“I am the Beast King, the Head of the Divine Beast House.”
The two figures with strong impressions stepped forward and spoke.
The House Heads of the Round Table often used the character for 'King' in their nicknames to command respect.
The two who were behind them also introduced themselves.
“I am the Curse King of the Sorcery House.”
“I am the Radiance King of the Stellar Radiance House.”
A joint attack by four House Heads.
At the sight, which was like a Demon Lord-class magus from the Magus Empire had descended, everyone in the hall swallowed hard.