Chapter 41: The Train (3)

“Evan, take Adele and run.”

“Understood.”

At my command, Evan immediately nodded and took Adele and Lily with him.

A brutal impact echoed as a fist and magic circle clashed.

Boom!

With a thunderous sound, one of the magic circles shattered.

Was he destroying magic itself using just aura and sheer force? It was an unrefined method, but undeniably effective.

“Haaaaaa!”

With a powerful battle cry, Katra smashed another magic circle with his fist.

A relentless barrage followed, his next strike aimed straight at my chest.

Yet—

It stopped just a hand’s width away from landing.

His expression twisted again at the sight.

“Again with this nonsense.”

“Calculation Deployment.”

Dozens of white magic circles unfolded in the air.

Katra, watching them, took a slow breath in. Then, crimson aura began to swirl around his entire body.

“Strike.”

“Haaaaa!”

Countless spears shot toward him.

With a short, sharp exhale, crimson afterimages filled my vision.

The next moment, the spears were all shattered.

Standing in the middle of the destruction, Katra exhaled a white breath and spoke.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Just covering himself in aura gave him this level of reaction speed?

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a crooked grin.

This magic wasn’t meant to deal damage, but it had been a while since I’d seen someone endure it so effortlessly.

“Coordinate Designation.”

The true purpose of my deployed spears was to pinpoint his exact location.

They were merely a setup for my next move.

Beyond the shattered ceiling, an enormous white hammer appeared.

Seeing it, Katra grinned wickedly and looked at me.

“Hah. You really are something else, Duke.”

“Chain Strike.”

The hammer fell.

A colossal blow, carrying the weight of gravity itself, came crashing down on him.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, the entire train car was wrecked.

The floor had already shattered, and debris from the gears that connected the wheels to the power source flew in all directions.

A cloud of dust rose, obscuring my vision.

“Cough…”

I clicked my tongue at the sight of Katra, who had caught the hammer head-on with both arms.

I already knew the Emperor’s Sword was strong.

But facing him directly like this—it was a bit overwhelming.

“Tch, you got me. Duke, you bastard.”

“Let’s take this elsewhere.”

If we continued fighting here, the entire train might explode.

Fortunately, this car wasn’t directly connected to the power source, so it wouldn’t blow up immediately.

As for the remaining small fry on the train, Evan would handle them.

For now, it was best to change locations.

“What?”

Ignoring Katra’s confused response, I approached him.

He was barely managing to hold up the hammer pressing down on him.

I reached toward him—

And in an instant, white magic circles began forming around him.

A thick vein bulged on his forehead as he realized what was happening.

“You… You damn—”

Before he could finish his sentence—

He vanished.

He was probably teleported to the Everlasting Snow Mountain Peak, a location I had predesignated.

Honestly, I didn’t care if I left him there.

I was already getting tired of dealing with him.

But knowing that battle-maniac, he’d never forget this.

Katra, the sword even the Emperor couldn’t fully control.

Which also meant—

If used correctly, he could become a tool for rebellion.

It might be troublesome now, but dealing with him here and now was the better choice in the long run.

****

A snowstorm raged so fiercely that it obscured all vision—a treacherous mountain teeming with monsters of an unknown kind.

And in the heart of it, a lone man clenched his teeth in frustration.

Snow piled up everywhere except for the space surrounding him, where a crimson aura flared.

“Hah. This is unbelievable.”

Katra muttered irritably.

But words alone weren’t enough to vent his frustration. He threw a punch at a nearby tree—

Crack!

The massive tree snapped like a brittle twig before crashing lifelessly to the ground.

The sight only seemed to stoke his rage further, and he followed up by kicking the remaining stump.

“I finally got fired up, and this damn—”

It had been a long time since he had faced someone of that caliber.

The Second Prince was just an inexperienced sapling—not even worth the trouble of beating.

The Master of the Magic Tower had refused to fight him altogether, so he wasn’t even worth mentioning.

And that so-called Chief Attendant who never left the Emperor’s side? The man never revealed his true strength, making him even less worth his time.

For far too long, he had been parched for a real opponent—someone who could quench his thirst for battle.

And then, finally, Duke Hardenberg appeared.

Fighting him felt just like the time he had faced the Emperor.

The overwhelming sensation of standing before an immovable wall.

The raw exhilaration of struggling against something greater than himself.

And the bitter taste of defeat.

The first man to ever defeat him—the Emperor.

Now, standing against someone of a similar level made his heart race.

But then—

“Haah…”

Katra had always thirsted for battle against the strong.

And yet, before he could even savor it, he had been thrown to this desolate place.

“Next time I see you, I’ll kill you.”

“Kill who?”

A sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Katra whipped his head around—

Gray hair. Sharp silver eyes.

If his vision wasn’t failing him, then this was without a doubt—

Duke Hardenberg.

“Hah. Hahaha. So, you didn’t run away after all?”

“Why the hell would I run from the likes of you?”

That arrogant tone.

A deliberate provocation, but Katra didn’t mind it one bit.

After all, everyone else had always run from him.

Even the Emperor—his only exception—found it bothersome to fight him directly.

“Fine, then. Let’s have a proper match. Just the two of us.”

The snowstorm blurred their surroundings.

It wasn’t an ideal battleground.

But Katra didn’t care.

Compared to the battlefields he had fought on before, this snow-covered mountain was nothing more than a soft playground.

If anything, it was the perfect place to set his fighting spirit ablaze.

Whoosh—

Crimson aura began melting the swirling snow.

At the same time, brilliant white magic circles flickered into existence beyond the storm.

BOOM!

Fist met magic once again.

But this time—

It was on an entirely different level.

Katra couldn’t help but grin.

So that earlier display on the train wasn’t even his full strength?

‘This is thrilling.’

That feeling of standing before an insurmountable wall.

That crushing, unbreakable presence.

The exhilarating sensation of being alive.

How long had he searched for this?

Even when he killed the chieftain of the barbarians—even when he slew their so-called strongest grand chieftain—he had never felt this.

Some called him a madman.

And they weren’t wrong.

For this very sensation, this primal battle instinct—he had even slain his own father.

“Hahahahaha!”

A booming laugh erupted from him.

Even though he was being pushed back, he couldn’t stop laughing.

It didn’t matter if his fists failed to break through.

As long as he could experience this—the raw, visceral thrill of risking his life in battle—he was satisfied.

“This is the end.”

Just like before, but even bigger—

A massive war hammer appeared.

Its sheer size alone could flatten an entire mountain.

And yet, instead of despair, all Katra felt was burning anticipation.

BOOM!

With a sickening crunch,

His arm snapped.

A grotesque, sharp crack rang out, but he didn’t react.

He had no time for pain.

No time for anything except fighting.

“Heh… Hehahaha…”

His vision turned slightly red.

Was it excitement?

No—perhaps it was just the blood seeping into his eyes.

It had been a long time since he had been driven into such a corner.

“Haaaaaa.”

Crimson aura surged, regenerating the broken bone. His muscles repeatedly expanded and contracted, releasing wisps of white steam.

With his aura-clad arms, Katra slowly lifted the hammer—one arm holding it up, while the other clenched into a tight fist.

Boom.

His fist struck the center of the hammer, and a crack formed along its massive surface.

He didn’t stop there.

Blow after blow, he relentlessly struck—until finally, the hammer shattered.

“Let’s keep going.”

Just as he was about to take a step forward—

A sharp pain flared at the back of his neck.

That familiar sensation made Katra scowl.

“Tch. Just when I was starting to enjoy myself…”

The Emperor’s Summoning Command.

As if warning him not to resist, the pain intensified.

Was that bastard really trying to interrupt his fight with this pathetic excuse for pain?

Crunch.

“…What?”

Without hesitation, Katra dug his fingers into the flesh at the back of his neck—

And tore the mark right off.

A dull ache followed, but it was far less painful than the engraving’s relentless burning.

Watching the reckless, brute-force act, Abel unconsciously furrowed his brows.

The wound closed almost instantly as the crimson aura restored his flesh—leaving no trace of the mark behind.

Of course, this was only temporary.

The mark would return. It always did.

But at the very least—

Until that happened, he could keep fighting.

“You crazy bastard.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Duke.”

His fist flew forward—

Shattering magic circles as he charged in.

Yet Abel showed no sign of panic.

Instead, he simply launched another barrage of spears.

With explosive speed, Katra crushed the spears and lunged forward.

Even if his arm was severed, his aura restored it instantly.

Yet whenever he tried to land a decisive blow, Abel’s absolute control over the battlefield blocked him.

It had turned into a battle of attrition—

And Katra was loving every second of it.

Then—

Zzt.

The engraving reappeared on the back of his neck.

And this time, the pain was beyond comparison.

His knees buckled.

“Damn… that Emperor bastard…”

Cursing under his breath, Katra staggered backward.

At the same time, golden magic circles began forming around him.

The energy felt eerily similar to when the Emperor’s Hand had appeared earlier.

“Guess we’ll have to settle this next time, Duke.”

And with that—

Katra vanished.

“Yeah, no thanks.”

Abel let out a tired sigh.

That bastard was exhausting to deal with.

– – The End of The Chapter – –

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