The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 34

Sixty duels had already taken place.

Lucas watched many people lose quickly, like falling dominoes. He swallowed hard, almost without thinking.

Gulp.

‘Can I really face that monster?’

He had felt it from the moment he first saw Roman.

A monster.

There was no other way to describe him.

Just looking at him made his heart clench with pressure, and beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

His palms were soaked with sweat.

Lucas, who had recognized Roman’s danger from the start, couldn’t offer a cheerful laugh like the other applicants when Roman mentioned the 120 duels.

The front lines.

The front lines were a place of life and death. There, you could die if you lost focus for even a second. Lucas’s sharp senses had always kept him alive in such places.

This time was no different.

His instincts told him that his opponent was an insurmountable monster, and based on his past experiences, avoiding the situation was the best course of action.

A battle where defeat was obvious.

He gritted his teeth, feeling nervous but determined. Even though passing the test only gave 8 silver coins, he couldn’t turn away.

‘I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve witnessed Rankers while wandering the battlefields, but aside from overwhelming force, no one has ever pressured me this much purely with their presence. Roman Dmitry is completely different from what I remember. He’s not the type to rot away in the backwater; he’ll spread his wings and soar across the continent someday.’

Lucas.

A B-grade mercenary.

People called him a successful mercenary, reaching B-grade. But Lucas knew he wasn’t truly exceptional.

B-grade was the limit of effort.

An ordinary person could earn the qualification of B-grade by risking their life and working hard, but the realm of A-grade was not allowed without the use of mana.

To become A-grade, battlefield experience alone wasn’t enough.

One had to possess overwhelming power, and the basic condition for that was the awakening of mana.

Therefore.

Lucas had reached his limit.

Being a B-grade mercenary had been a constant struggle. Now, facing Roman, he realized he had reached his limit, no matter how hard he tried.

Heading to Dmitry.

Going to Dmitry was a choice made because he felt hopeless.

Lucas stood at a crossroads of choices, and just as he was longing for a break, he saw Roman’s recruitment notice.

‘Roman promised that following him would make Lucas strong and successful. I can’t rationally understand why I’m giving up my comfortable life as a B-grade mercenary to follow Roman, but for now, I want to believe Roman’s words. Just for a year. Let’s see if Roman’s words are true or not for just one year. So.’

Clench.

He clenched his fist.

Stepping onto the stage, he gazed at Roman and grabbed the sword he had prepared separately.

‘First, I need to pass the test.’

“Begin.”

Clack.

The starting signal was given.

Simultaneously.

Lucas shot off the ground.

The previous duels.

Except for the first one, no one had dared to make the first move.

Watching the massive man fall powerlessly, everyone thought that making the first move was a very dangerous choice.

It was obvious.

This duel.

It was a fight to endure for one minute, not to win.

But rushing in to make the first move was no different from offering one’s neck to the opponent’s sword.

However.

Lucas’s thoughts were different.

‘The moment I delay even a little, I won’t be able to withstand Roman’s attack. To endure for one minute, I must take the initiative in the attack. That’s the only way to win this match.’

Instinct took over. He knew he had to attack first.

Once he made a decision.

The execution was bold.

Hesitation on the battlefield was directly linked to death, and Lucas aimed for Roman’s head and heart simultaneously without a moment’s hesitation.

Whoosh!

Lucas’s weapon was unique.

He used a slightly shorter sword in his right hand and held a dagger in his left hand.

Both were made of wood.

Roman provided different types of wooden weapons according to the applicant’s request, and Lucas’s case was not the first of its kind.

However.

The style of attack was unique.

Roman’s head and heart.

He swung the sword to cut off the head while stabbing the heart with the dagger.

Whoosh.

Thwack!

Roman’s movement was concise.

He avoided the dagger’s reach by taking a step back and knocked away the opponent’s sword with the wooden sword he was holding.

Then, Lucas quickly closed in.

He twisted the direction of the sword, swinging it as if to lightly graze the neck, and threw the dagger in his other hand towards Roman’s solar plexus.

It was unconventional.

There had been no ranged attacks so far, but Roman once again swung his sword and blocked all the attacks.

‘As expected.’

It was an admirable sight.

Usually, constant attacks would create openings. But Roman was like a strong wall that couldn’t be broken.

He was out of breath.

He wanted to step back and get ready for Roman’s attack, but he couldn’t.

‘The opponent doesn’t intend to kill me anyway. Even if it means giving up my flesh, I shouldn’t give the opponent a chance to attack proactively. Just until 40 seconds. I just need to hold out until then, and then I can buy time.’

Tap.

He rushed in even faster.

Pulling out another dagger that he had hung on his waist, he once again pushed the opponent with a two-way attack.

In that moment.

Smirk.

Roman smiled.

‘Not bad.’

It was decent enough.

Normally, attacking without care for your own safety was foolish in battle. But Lucas’s risky attack seemed right for this duel.

A man with instinctive senses.

These types were very useful on the battlefield.

Lucas would likely pass the test with a high probability, but he had no intention of letting him endure for a full minute.

One minute.

It was a wall.

Roman wanted to show the applicants from the start how powerful their future leader was. He wanted them to trust him completely, without question.

‘Let’s end this now.’

Whoosh!

Tap.

It was instantaneous.

After deflecting the opponent’s attack, Roman’s linked attacks shattered Lucas’s defense.

The weapons in both hands were useless.

Lucas looked shocked. Everyone thought the duel was finished.

It was then.

Lucas, who had dodged the attack even by throwing his body to the ground, suddenly threw the sand he had prepared into Roman’s face.

Wham!

That was.

A clear foul.

This duel.

There were no special rules.

Roman had only told them to endure for one minute, and Lucas did not care about the means or methods.

‘This is a fight with victory at stake. To win this fight, I have to do everything I can.’

Roman’s attack.

He had been lucky to dodge the attack.

Considering the length of the opponent’s weapon, he threw his body to the ground, and fortunately, he was able to avoid the attack by a hair’s breadth.

Then, he immediately threw the sand he had prepared in his pocket.

Knowing he couldn’t win in a fair fight, he decided to blind Roman for a moment.

Wham!

Thwack.

Hit by the sand.

With the dust rising in a haze, Lucas got up as soon as he rolled on the floor and rushed in like a bull.

Counterattack.

From now on, it was his turn to seize the momentum.

However.

Lucas, who was about to swing his sword after reaching Roman’s nose, turned pale as he looked up.

“Gasp?!”

Roman.

He was looking at Lucas.

Lucas’s thoughts raced. He was confused.

Lucas, who thought Roman might have avoided the sand, was speechless the moment he confirmed the sand in Roman’s eyes.

Roman was hit by the sand.

His trick worked! The sand hit Roman’s eyes. But even with the pain, Roman didn’t close his eyes. He stared right at Lucas.

Red eyes.

Roman, who should have instinctively closed his eyes and complained of pain, waited for Lucas to rush at him.

In that moment.

Clack.

“…I surrender.”

Lucas dropped his sword.

He raised both hands and declared that he had no intention of fighting any longer.

Quick surrender.

That, too, was his experience gained on the battlefield.

Lucas’s plan.

Roman knew it.

Even after confirming that his hand was going to his pocket, Roman wanted to see the full power that the opponent could show.

And.

He was hit by the sand.

Even with the stinging impact, he did not close his eyes and looked straight at Lucas’s appearance.

‘Never take your eyes off your opponent. It’s a teaching I learned from the bottom of the Demonic Cult, etched into my bones.’

He recalled the past.

The Demonic Cult.

In the Demonic Cult, before they even started teaching martial arts, the first lesson was how to keep your eyes open.

Getting killed by a sword when you couldn’t see it was still death. So, the instructor, who was like a devil, ordered them never to close their eyes, no matter what.

In a situation where attacks and defenses were exchanged, a single blink could take a life.

Everything was controlled, even blinking. They had to learn to fight without ever closing their eyes.

The Demonic Cult’s method was cruel.

Throwing sand in the eyes was basic, and there was also a method of stabbing a dagger right in front of the eyes.

And.

Sometimes, accidents happened.

A trainee with a dagger stabbed in his eye screamed and knelt on the floor, and blood dripped from his face as he bowed his head.

Even so, the people who were being trained together did not turn their gaze away.

Blood and screams were like everyday life in the world of the survival of the fittest, and knowing that the price of a trainee’s slight flinch was directly linked to an accident, they gritted their teeth even more and tried to endure without moving.

That’s how they created powerful warriors.

Lucas had seen hardship, but Roman had seen far worse. Roman’s past was filled with unimaginable violence.

Clack.

“…I surrender.”

Lucas raised the white flag.

He dropped his sword and declared that he had no intention of fighting.

The test was over.

But Lucas, as well as the other applicants watching, thought that Lucas would be punished.

‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have used the sand.’

Lucas’s plan was different.

He wanted to endure for one minute regardless of the means or methods, and to obtain the result of ‘pass’ based on that result.

But he surrendered.

He knew how ugly this result was.

Some proud warriors would never surrender, even when facing death.

In contrast.

Lucas was a realist.

Thinking that his plan had completely failed, he was momentarily overwhelmed by the opponent and surrendered.

‘He must be disappointed in me. No, he probably didn’t even expect anything in the first place.’

He swallowed hard.

He waited for punishment.

He worried Roman would be angry or announce his failure in front of everyone.

Lucas thought that his greed had ruined the situation, but even if he could turn back time, he would have made the same judgment.

He was that kind of person.

The front lines where blood was rampant.

To survive in such a place, he lived without knowing shame.

But.

“Next.”

In that moment.

Lucas was flustered and looked up at Roman.

Roman did not get angry, nor did he ask why he used a foul.

The word ‘next.’

It was like saying ‘yes’ without words.

It expressed in a single word that your choice was not wrong and that there was no reason to blame you.

Lucas, a seasoned B-grade mercenary who had faced many tough situations, was still surprised. He couldn’t hide his confusion.