Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 142

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Chapter 142

Northern Germany, Hamburg.

Hamburg, one of Germany’s largest cities and a crucial transportation hub as a port city, was set to host the World Martial Arts Tournament.

I looked around the bustling cityscape, my eyes gleaming.

Hamburg, a major logistics base during the Great War, was now more of a tourist destination than a military area.

I sat in a café in a hotel overlooking the river and took a sip of coffee.

“It’s a beautiful city. It’s amazing that a martial arts tournament is being held in a place like this.”

Sitting across from me was Anastasia, the head of the Black Tortoise Society.

A cute dress, a beige coat, and large non-prescription glasses.

Anastasia looked more and more her age as the days went by.

She was dressed so casually that you wouldn’t think she was the head of a leading East Asian intelligence group, as if she was making up for lost time.

“More importantly, is it okay for you to be wandering around like this? I heard you have a lot of work to do.”

“It’s fine. Besides, my partner wants information, so I have to come, right?”

Anastasia smiled brightly.

“I would have been fine with just a phone call.”

“Hmm… Does Lee Cheol not want me to come?”

“That’s not true. I’m glad to see you after a long time.”

A friend and companion.

The Black Tortoise Society would need my help a lot in the future, and likewise, the Black Tortoise Society was expecting a lot of help from me.

“Then that’s good. I wanted to see Lee Cheol and talk to him in person after a long time.”

Anastasia tucked her hair behind her ear. Her platinum blonde hair shone softly in the sunlight.

“By the way, I heard the main rounds start tomorrow. Are you ready?”

“You can never be fully prepared. I was just training.”

“Hmm… I’m worried I might be disturbing you.”

“It’s okay. I’m focusing on meditation rather than physical training right now.”

I was studying the Divine Mana Art 4th Tier secret manual that my aunt had given me whenever I had time.

Of course, it was impossible to master the 4th Tier perfectly in just two weeks.

There were many difficult techniques written in the manual, so I hadn’t mastered them all yet.

Like the 2nd and 3rd Tiers, I would be able to complete the 4th Tier only after a long period of effort.

“Then that’s a relief. By the way, a 4th Class Warrior. You’re really amazing, Lee Cheol.”

At Anastasia’s words, I smiled faintly and nodded.

It wasn’t something to brag about, but I now had the martial prowess to be called a full-fledged 4th Class Warrior.

A level comparable to my sixth sister before I left for the Warrior’s Path.

It was the rank that my uncle Lee Tae-hong had reached during his prime, although he was now retired.

Of course, martial prowess can never be judged solely by numbers or ranks.

In actual combat, you can lose to a lower-ranked warrior depending on the situation.

The important thing was that I was steadily catching up to those who had gone far ahead of me.

It was important to never forget the attitude of constant self-improvement.

“Anyway, I’m glad you were preparing. Here’s a summary of the main round participants from each region. It’ll be quite interesting.”

Anastasia handed me a tablet PC.

As soon as I unlocked it, I saw the documents that were open.

I looked at the names and faces on the screen, my eyes gleaming.

“The youngest son of Duke Eastgrow of the British Swordmanship Family participated the day before the preliminary round. So the information is a bit late. Have you heard of ‘Iron Wall’ Ron Russell?”

“Of course.”

Ron Russell, the youngest son of Henry Russell, the Sword Saint, known as the strongest knight in Europe.

Only 18 years old this year.

He became the owner of the Holy Sword at the young age of 10 and first made his name known to the world at the age of 15 by slaughtering a large number of marine monsters that appeared in northern Scotland.

Unsurprisingly, he passed the Western European preliminaries with an undefeated record and seemed to have finished each match in under 5 minutes.

‘I can’t believe that Sword Emperor Ron Russell is participating in this tournament.’

If he applied to participate the day before the preliminary round, it was understandable that the Black Tortoise Society’s information was late.

In my past life, Ron Russell was the strongest swordsman in the Western world.

A genius of the sword born in the knightly country of England with the support of the state and his family, he was called the most powerful barrier protecting England.

‘In my past life, he was often compared to Jang Han.’

Jang Han and Ron Russell were the same age, but they were often compared as they each became the heads of large Eastern and Western forces at a young age.

Lee Seo-hyun was also a comparison target, but she was considered somewhat inferior, and perhaps because of her gender or the nature of her power, she was more often associated with the youngest Paladin of the Vatican.

“Next is the person who won the Mediterranean region with an undefeated record.”

As I was thinking that, the next page showed the figure of the Saint who was often compared to Lee Seo-hyun.

“Serena Cannata. A prospective Paladin. There’s even talk that she’s the reincarnation of Saint Georgius.”

Reincarnation in Christian culture was somewhat out of place, but she was a possessor of such powerful martial prowess that she was called that.

‘Serena Cannata. Known as the Dragon Slayer.’

The Paladins of the Vatican learn special mana arts.

Thanks to those special mana arts, they had a superior compatibility against warriors who had learned conventional mana arts.

In addition, there were many other championship contenders.

Justin Garrett, a psychic who was famous in the Americas.

Quabna Essie, a martial artist who applied from South Africa.

Walter Benal, the son of Andre Benal, a legendary explorer of the South American wilderness, who began to gain fame.

More talented people than I could have imagined appeared.

“In many ways, the general public, who have been longing for or curious about ‘this world’ but also feeling a sense of distance, seem to be showing considerable interest in this tournament.”

“Thank you. It must have been hard to get.”

It wasn’t just a list or personal information but also data collected and analyzed by the Black Tortoise Society’s informants.

It was truly information that couldn’t be exchanged for even a thousand pieces of gold.

“Lee Cheol isn’t taking advantage of his equipment, so he’s at a disadvantage in many ways. Are you going to be okay?”

I wasn’t currently using Black Night, Mujin, or Eunhan.

In contrast, other participants would be using their own weapons.

And those pieces of equipment would be Saint-grade or Celestial-grade, not mediocre or masterpiece-level.

Of course, I wasn’t weak just because I couldn’t use my personal equipment.

I could handle all weapons skillfully. Especially the sword was one of the weapons I handled best.

But my power was best demonstrated when using multiple pieces of equipment at the same time.

It was like fighting with one or two shackles on me.

“It’s okay. I have a goal I want to challenge in this tournament.”

At my words, Anastasia’s eyes sparkled.

“You mean that power flowing within you.”

“Your mastery of spiritism has improved quite a bit. You can see this.”

I felt the flow of mana operating within me.

To be precise, it wasn’t mana, but aura.

Like when I first learned mana arts with my aunt a long time ago, I was operating aura all day long.

And in order to complete the 4th Tier of mana arts, I was planning to use only a standard-issue iron sword in this tournament.

“Lee Cheol is strong, so he’ll be able to win.”

“Thank you, Anastasia.”

Anastasia smiled.

Then she stopped moving for a moment.

“There’s one more piece of information I need to tell you. I don’t know if it’s necessary information, but… I’ll tell you in advance.”

Anastasia mentioned the information with a calm expression.

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes when I heard that story.

* * *

The first day of the main rounds began.

I didn’t have a match today, but I came to the stadium to watch.

The reason was simple.

‘Jang Han’s match.’

I had never seen Jang Han use his full power in the preliminary rounds, so I could only guess at the level he currently possessed.

But the main rounds would be a little different.

Since the opponents were worthy opponents, I would be able to see Jang Han’s true martial prowess to some extent.

“From now on, the match between Jang Han, the disciple of the Nine Dragons Gang Leader of China, and Mikhail Chira, the youngest member of the Silver Cross Knights of Poland, will begin!”

I narrowed my eyes at the announcer’s introduction.

‘Jang Han became a disciple of the Nine Dragons Gang?’

I knew that Jang Han becoming a disciple of the Nine Dragons Gang was something that would happen much later, but he had already gone under them.

‘He’s strong.’

The man facing Jang Han looked quite strong.

As expected, only people of a certain level or higher were appearing in the main rounds.

A solid yet agile body, a tall height, and even the mana flowing out subtly.

In comparison, Jang Han looked somewhat small and even sinister.

He possessed the unique gloomy energy of an assassin and even had a dangerous aura.

And.

‘…He’s completely controlling it.’

Unlike Mikhail, whose mana was flowing subtly even though he was controlling it, not a single strand of Jang Han’s mana was flowing out.

And that meant one thing.

‘He’s already at the 6th Stage?’

At that moment, Jang Han moved.

I saw Jang Han draw his long sword. But I missed his first step. Jang Han was already right in front of Mikhail.

“Hmph!”

Clang!

Mikhail was also surprised and quickly moved his long spear.

The advantage of Mikhail’s weapon, the spear, had already been offset.

Jang Han had already penetrated deeper than Mikhail’s range and was wielding his long sword.

“Kugh!”

Mikhail quickly jumped back and thrust his spear. This time, Jang Han took a step back.

“Waaaaaah!”

A roaring cheer flowed over the stadium as they exchanged blows.

Whoosh!

I belatedly activated my Mystic Eyes [a technique to enhance perception].

It seemed like I needed to do that to capture every single detailed flow.

Thud-.

Jang Han, who had created distance, took a step forward.

The sound was heard immediately after he took the step.

Clang! Clangclangclang!

Dozens of metallic sounds erupted in the air.

I widened my eyes for a moment.

The path of the attack seemed to be cut off abruptly. Because it was such a fast quickdraw, the intermediate process was not visible.

The long sword that had been swung from the left while twisting his shoulder suddenly fell from above, and the long sword that had appeared from the right was suddenly finishing its slash and being retrieved.

Even though the distance between the audience seats and the stadium was far, the fact that it seemed like the frames were being cut off meant that it was a truly terrifying quickdraw.

‘As expected, our paths are different.’

I looked at those sword strikes, my eyes gleaming.

That was an assassin’s sword.

Each strike was precise and fast, and frighteningly delicate.

Jang Han was always aiming precisely for the opponent’s vitals or gaps.

Mikhail was surprisingly holding his own, but Jang Han was several levels above him.

“Kuaaagh! You pesky!”

And at that moment, Jang Han further amplified the amount of aura flowing through his long sword as if he was about to finish it.

“Gasp!”

Mikhail quickly unfolded an aura barrier in front of him and gripped his spear.

But I shook my head as I watched that.

‘You shouldn’t block that.’

I hadn’t even been swung yet, but I had grasped the true nature of Jang Han’s strike.

You shouldn’t block that; you should deflect it or avoid it.

That strike was not the kind of sword strike that could be blocked, no matter how much aura you had.

But Mikhail chose to defend.

Kwaaaang!

The wall of aura blocking the front was completely shattered, and Jang Han’s long sword was placed on Mikhail’s neck as if he had teleported.

Jang Han had a disgruntled expression.

Was it the first time he had stopped his sword right before cutting off his opponent’s neck?

Jang Han looked back at the referee very slowly.

“Jang Han wins!”

The referee belatedly declared victory.

“Waaaaaah!”

I let out a hollow laugh, leaving behind the cheers that were echoing once again.

Just now, Jang Han and Mikhail had exchanged at least hundreds of blows.

But the time it took for the match to end was only 3 minutes.

‘If he had wanted to, he could have ended it within 10 moves.’

Jang Han had become stronger.

His mana had noticeably increased, perhaps because he had taken a mystical medicine, and his movements had changed so much that I couldn’t even fathom them.

“…”

Jang Han sheathed his sword on the stadium and turned his body towards where I was.

Jang Han and my eyes intertwined in the air.

Did you see that?

It was as if he was saying that.

It seemed like he had deliberately dragged out the time and moved violently to show me.

Jang Han, who had been staring at me intently, turned his body.

I looked down at Jang Han intently and smiled.

* * *

Apart from Jang Han’s first battle, I also looked at all the participants’ matches one by one.

As befitting the talents who would lead the next generation of the world, they each had their own power and showed amazing skill.

‘It’s fun.’

It was a strange feeling.

Watching the warriors of the same age, whom I had only looked up to in my past life, wield their swords.

In the first place, even if I had seen their swords in my past life, I couldn’t even grasp how they were flowing, but now it seemed like I could see everything clearly.

‘The world is wide. There was so much I didn’t know.’

From the psychics I saw in the main rounds today to the African martial arts I had never seen before.

Every time I saw them, I was amazed at their unique movements and techniques.

The movements of those who had grown their strength in completely different cultures and in completely different ways were definitely different from those I had seen in Korea or China.

The mana arts of Africa had a unique way of strengthening the body, and the way of defensive mana arts in Europe was amazing.

A boy from the North American district even wielded dozens of swords by simultaneously operating telekinesis and aura and infusing aura into them.

Analyzing them one by one with my Mystic Eyes, I absorbed their movements and mana arts.

‘There’s this way; you can move like that.’

That kind of shift in thinking was happening.

‘Jang Han’s swordsmanship was like that, and so were Lee Seo-hyun’s movements.’

There are many paths and many ways.

At first, I thought of this tournament indifferently, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I had done well to come out.

The skills that the participants here show all become my experiences.

I’m sorry for taking it without giving anything in return, but I was going to absorb it as it was.

It was then.

‘Hmm?’