The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 11

The training grounds of the Knights.

Dust swirled in the air as the afternoon sun beat down on the training grounds. Knights in worn leather armor practiced sword strikes, the clang of metal echoing across the field. When Lord Romero and his group arrived, led by Jonathan, the knights stopped their training and stood straighter, their faces respectful.

*Thud.* Boots hit the ground in unison as they knelt.

“We greet the Lord!” they shouted, their voices strong and clear.

“We greet the Lord!” echoed another group.

The Dmitry family.

The Dmitry family’s land was small and far from the center of the Cairo Kingdom. But in their own land, they were very important and respected. The Dmitry Knights, in particular, received some of the best treatment in the area.

The knights’ perfect discipline showed how much they respected Lord Romero.

Jonathan, the Knights Commander, stepped forward and spoke.

“From now on, we will proceed with Roman Dmitry’s swordsmanship sparring. Those who wish to spar, come forward.”

There were no volunteers.

The knights glanced at each other with troubled expressions, perhaps because Jonathan’s words were so sudden. It was only natural, since the opponent was Roman Dmitry.

The knights thought, ‘If we win against Roman, it’s no big deal. But if we lose, Lord Romero might be angry and kick us out of the Knights.’ Besides their respect for Lord Romero, they didn’t want to be used by the young lord.

“If there are no volunteers, I will choose the opponent.”

Jonathan’s gaze swept over the fifteen knights of Dmitry, excluding himself. In reality, only Jonathan and one other had actually been knighted. The remaining fourteen were commoners hoping to become knights, but their skills still needed work.

The problem was what to do now. He could have called out anyone when Roman was the fool everyone knew, but the changed Roman’s limits were unknown.

‘I can’t let the Dmitry Knights be defeated by the young lord,’ Jonathan thought. ‘Therefore, the young lord’s opponent must be skilled enough to completely subdue him. Only then can we save the face of the Knights and confirm the true strength of young lord Roman, who defeated Blood Fang.’

He actually wanted to step forward himself, but as Knights Commander, he couldn’t carelessly draw his sword. He had no choice but to swallow his disappointment and make a decision.

From the moment he accepted Lord Romero’s proposal, Roman’s opponent had been decided.

“Chris, step forward.”

“…Yes?” Chris, a handsome blond man, looked surprised at Jonathan’s call.

Chris doubted his ears. The Vice-Commander of the Dmitry Knights, and not just any ordinary knight, being called out.

“I don’t think it’s my place to step forward.”

Disobeying orders was a very important issue. Normally, Chris would have obeyed without question, but this time he couldn’t accept the order. The reason was simple: the opponent was Roman.

Even Chris, who sincerely loved the people of Dmitry, loathed Roman, the fool of Dmitry. ‘If only he wasn’t the Lord’s son,’ he thought.

In the past, Chris had an incident involving Roman. A violent incident broke out in the entertainment district, and the person causing the trouble was Roman Dmitry. Roman was drunk and causing a ruckus, and because he was the eldest son of Dmitry, no one dared to touch him.

Chris, who was on patrol with the guards, found the scene. He needed to solve the problems of the territory, and when he politely tried to stop Roman, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his cheek.

*Slap!*

Roman shouted that Chris dared to touch him, and Chris felt a genuine urge to kill him. But he endured it. Roman Dmitry was a son of a bitch, but he had the Dmitry name.

Chris resolved the incident as safely as possible, but from then on, he hated Roman Dmitry so much that he felt chills whenever he saw him. Jonathan, the Knights Commander, knew that.

Chris naturally thought he would be excluded from the sparring match, so he couldn’t help but question the order. Jonathan said,

“Young Lord Roman is skilled enough to have single-handedly defeated Blood Fang. For an equal sparring match, someone of that skill must step forward, and the person who can represent the Dmitry Knights is none other than you, Chris.”

“This Blood Fang incident……”

“Chris.”

Jonathan’s expression hardened, making it clear that he would not accept Chris disobeying orders. Chris lowered his head.

‘Damn it,’ he thought.

“I understand.”

Roman’s actions were famous among the knights. There was a debate about whether Roman really had the power to defeat Blood Fang, but Chris firmly said it couldn’t be true.

He knew because he had experienced it himself. Just two years ago, Roman had slapped him, and he had the strength of an ordinary person who had never trained with a sword.

Victory or defeat? He wasn’t worried about that. However, if he was going to spar, he wanted to do it properly.

“I have a condition.”

“Speak.”

“I was taught to treat sparring like a real battle. No matter who the opponent is, I have no intention of holding back when swords meet. If you allow this, I will accept the honor of facing Young Lord Roman Dmitry.”

Chris glanced at Lord Romero. When Lord Romero nodded, Jonathan asked Roman to confirm his intentions. But Roman smirked.

‘Is he smiling?’ Chris thought. It was a reaction that truly touched his nerves.

Chris knew that Roman was the heir to Dmitry and wouldn’t want to humiliate him in front of the Lord he served. However, with just one smile, his reason flew away.

‘This bastard,’ he thought.

Unlike his appearance, which suggested he couldn’t even wield a sword properly, the blond, handsome Chris was known as Dmitry’s fighting dog, a man who saw things through to the end once he got started. People were worried about Roman’s safety against such a powerful opponent.

Two men holding wooden swords faced each other above the sparring arena.

Soon,

*Tap.*

“Start!” Jonathan shouted.

Chris, who had been twitching his legs while waiting for the signal, kicked off the ground as soon as Jonathan gave the signal.

*Tap.*

‘I’ll show you the difference in skill,’ he thought.

Chris moved with lightning speed, closing the distance with Roman in an instant. Before the onlookers could even blink, he swung his sword at Roman’s forearm, avoiding the vital points.

Thinking that Roman wouldn’t be able to block such a sudden and fast attack, he chose a part of the body that wouldn’t be a problem even if he was injured, based on his own judgment. But,

*Clang!*

‘……Clang?!’ The force of the block pushed back against Chris’s arm.

Roman and Chris’s eyes met. Chris felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of Roman, whose eyes did not waver even in the face of a surprise attack.

*Whoosh. Whoosh!*

Roman quickly recovered and followed up with a horizontal slash, which Roman calmly blocked this time as well. The defense just now was not a coincidence. The force of the block pushed back against Chris’s arm, and Roman’s defensive posture was quite stable.

‘Look at this,’ Chris thought.

It was unexpected. He never thought that Roman would have such basic skills. Perhaps Roman was really the one who defeated Blood Fang. If that was true, Roman would be as skilled as Jonathan, but that didn’t matter now that they were clashing swords.

The sparring had already begun, and Chris felt like he wouldn’t be satisfied until he defeated Roman.

*Tap. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*

He continuously swung attacks from above while taking aggressive steps. The onlookers exclaimed at the fast and powerful combo attacks, and Roman retreated, desperately blocking the attacks. It was a good defense. However, the moment Roman took his fifth step back, Chris’s eyes lit up.

‘Now is the time,’ he thought.

*Whoosh!*

He attacked the gap that had opened up. He was certain that the attack would land this time, but the wooden sword grazed Roman’s hair by a hair’s breadth.

*Flutter.*

Roman’s cold eyes could be seen beneath his hair fluttering in the wind. Chris didn’t know why he did it then, but even though he couldn’t properly grasp Roman’s movements with his eyes, he instinctively swung his sword to block the front.

*Thwack!*

‘How?!’ Chris thought.

Roman’s sword was already swung towards Chris’s head. It was a powerful attack that would have ended the match if he hadn’t blocked it. Roman was not only good at defense, but he also had excellent offensive basics. He disappeared from Chris’s sight as soon as the attack was blocked, moving out of sight like flowing water, and swung the wooden sword from below. Chris gasped at the unconventional attack.

“Hiss.”

*Whoosh!*

He was flustered. Was this Roman’s skill? He couldn’t believe it even after facing him directly.

‘This is really awful,’ he thought, gritting his teeth. He didn’t want to lose. He could not allow himself to be defeated by Dmitry’s fool in front of people, especially not in front of others.

He would wait for his chance, aiming for the opponent’s weakness just like Roman had attempted a counterattack. It was then that he saw Roman’s chest was wide open.

Roman’s movements were large. The moment he stepped forward, thinking that now was the time, Roman smirked.

‘……!’ Chris realized it was a trap.

He was in danger. At the sight of Roman dodging his attack without a care and immediately counterattacking, Chris instinctively exploded the power he had been suppressing.

*Boom! Rumble.*

An explosion occurred from within. It was the manifestation of aura. The standard that distinguishes knights is the aura of 1-Star, the power that turns humans into superhumans.

Jonathan’s eyes widened at the sight of Chris manifesting his aura.

“No!” he shouted. It was dangerous.

The clash between aura and wooden sword would have an obvious result. Not only would the wooden sword be shattered, but Roman might suffer from the power. The fact that it wasn’t a real sword didn’t matter. The power of aura was enough to slice a person with just a wooden sword.

Jonathan’s heart sank. It was a mistake. If he had known that Roman was skilled enough to corner Chris, he should have abandoned his pride and stepped forward himself. But then,

*Tap.*

Roman jumped forward. Even with a life-threatening strike in front of him, he did not hesitate to move forward.

Just one step caused a miracle. Roman’s face was slightly cut and blood splattered, and he faced Chris’s face, which was stained with embarrassment and shock. The match was over.

The defenseless Chris would have accepted the result even if he had sheathed his sword, but Roman did not let this situation pass.

‘Those who reveal hostility must be dealt with firmly,’ he thought. It was the rule of the Heavenly Demon. Even if he didn’t kill him, he had to pay the price for risking his life to win.

*Whack! Crack!*

“Ugh?!”

The wooden sword struck Chris’s face head-on, lifting him up as it was. Several teeth were scattered in all directions along with thick blood from his face.

People say that Chris, a 3-Star knight and disciple of Jonathan, who manifested the aura of 2-Star at a young age, is the greatest genius of Dmitry. He was considered a talent who would one day surpass Dmitry and make a name for himself in the Cairo Kingdom, and there was no match for him in Dmitry other than Jonathan.

Such a person fell backward as it was. His pupils, which had been released, proved that he had lost consciousness.

*Plop!*

Chris was knocked out. And after that,

“……What is this,” Jonathan said, his expression stained with astonishment.