Chapter 175: Do You Feel The Difference in Power? (14)

Taragon felt nauseous. He hadn’t felt this nervous even when he had been surrounded by countless knights during the battle royale. Keter’s mere presence created the illusion that the entire world was trembling.

Rumble, rumble...

But it wasn’t an illusion. The ground really was shaking under the force of Keter’s aura.

“It's not an illusion! Keter, what are you doing?!”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I mean... w-we’re family. Isn’t it a bit much to go all out?”

“Because we’re family, I have to go all out. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”

“...Should I be thanking you for that?”

Just then, the referee raised his hand—a signal for them to step back.

Keter turned around and said, “I’ll show you what overwhelming power truly looks like.”

“I already know that plenty well...”

Though Taragon grumbled, he wasn’t taking things lightly. His grip on his bow was firm. Even if he lost, he was determined to land at least one hit.

Keter and Taragon took their places. The referee paused for dramatic effect. The audience’s anticipation was visible, and they were shouting for the match to start. They were tired of watching swordsmen fight because it was all too familiar. But a duel between archers? That was a rare spectacle.

“They’re not going to go easy on each other just because they are brothers, right?”

“If they hold back, I’ll be disappointed!”

Some spectators jeered, worried the brothers would fake the match. But they quickly realized that concern was unnecessary.

“Fight!”

The moment the referee’s hand dropped, Keter unleashed the Milky Way. Though it appeared like an arrow, it had more power than a siege ballista. Many knights had been eliminated by that arrow because they weren’t able to react in time, but Taragon—also an archer—saw it.

What kind of ridiculous technique is this?!

He had seen it many times before, but experiencing it firsthand, he finally understood how it had knocked out so many knights in a single hit. Most people dodged arrows by moving side to side. Unlike swords, arrows were point attacks, so large movements weren’t usually necessary.

But the Milky Way had an explosive nature, even exploding mid-flight. Dodging it by a hair wouldn’t cut it. One had to truly distance themselves to avoid the blast.

But that’s easier said than done!

Taragon found it strange that he could think so much in such a short time, but he decided to focus only on evading Milky Way right now. He disregarded all other thoughts. He forgot to breathe, forgot who he was, and concentrated solely on the arrow.

And then, he saw it—a possible way to counter the Milky Way, which seemed like an impossible attack. It was only a hypothesis, but...

Keter doesn’t manually control the explosion in real time. There’s a set moment, like a spell.

Keter’s advice to not be bound by common sense gave weight to his theory. Instead of thinking of the arrow as just concentrated aura, he imagined it as a magical pattern, like a mage’s spell. That was the key.

If the explosion occurs at a predetermined moment, then instead of dodging sideways...

The slowing of time, which only occurred during extreme concentration, shattered. Taragon lunged forward straight into the dazzling trajectory of the Milky Way. Of course, he wasn’t the first to charge it head-on. Many knights had tried the same, hoping to overpower it with brute force. But Taragon believed he was different.

They tried to destroy it by slashing, using their forward momentum. But in a clash of strength, the stronger one wins. Dodging and charging at the same time was difficult, but... Difficult doesn’t mean impossible. I can do it!.

Taragon twisted with force from the shoulder down. Back in Sefira, Keter had trained him to understand the importance of flexibility, and he had honed that skill ever since. He spun like an acrobat as he narrowly grazed past the Milky Way. The result would have been catastrophic if his prediction had been wrong, but it didn’t explode beside him.

It flew past him and exploded a few meters behind where he had originally stood. Even from that distance, the shockwave slammed into his back, propelling him further forward. It was the first time someone had successfully evaded Milky Way.

But Keter only smiled and said, “Overwhelming power is rarer than you think. Having more aura or better technique doesn’t make you overwhelmingly strong.”

Taragon said nothing. Though it sounded like Keter was making conversation, he wasn’t looking to talk. Also, just because Keter had composure didn’t mean Taragon did too.

Thunk.

Taragon swiftly pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. It was a greenstone arrow, specially crafted by Besil for his children. While not as strong as steel, it had excellent aura conduction, making it both powerful and stable. He had never used it before, not even against stronger opponents, but he was now firing it at Keter, his younger brother.

Twang!!

The sound wasn’t as powerful as the Milky Way but was still fierce. It was a combination of two techniques—Leo Archery and Yaksha Archery of Zodiac Archery—along with the intent to accelerate.

Taragon believed dragging out a fight with someone stronger was meaningless, so he had to end it in one shot. He poured all his aura and focus into that one arrow. It was fast and deadly enough that not even Keter could dodge or block it... or so Taragon hoped.

“Combat experience and adaptability often overcome mere strength, but...” Keter said, turning to the right and dodging the arrow.

However, he didn’t just dodge it—he caught it midair. That alone wouldn’t have been surprising, but he didn’t stop there. Even if caught, an arrow still carried momentum. Keter let that momentum carry him several meters, then turned it into rotational energy. He spun in the air, holding the arrow, then let go.

“...!”

Taragon quickly fired a second arrow, but it missed completely, as Keter was flying through the air on his greenstone arrow.

But now...

“Huh...?”

The greenstone arrow he had just fired was coming back at him. All Keter had done was throw it—no, he had simply let go of it. The speed and force of the arrow were weaker, but it was still rotating. Worst of all, Taragon never imagined his own arrow would be turned against him.

Sefira’s archers were trained against other archers as well. The most important thing they learned was to watch the arrowhead to predict its path. But Taragon couldn’t see the arrowhead, so he had no idea if it would hit or miss. As such, there was no way he could predict what part of him it was aiming for.

In that moment, he had two choices: he could attack again, assuming the arrow would miss, or he could retreat far enough to avoid its range entirely. Such binary decisions were inevitable in battle; he had to choose.

But this time, the slowed-down time that came with concentration didn’t happen. And so, Taragon relied on instinct and charged forward.

Thunk!

The greenstone arrow pierced his calf. He staggered, not from pain, but because his tendon had snapped. He quickly replaced it with aura, narrowly avoiding a fall, but for Keter, that moment was all he needed.

A shadow fell over Taragon, who was kneeling on the floor. Keter had been several meters away, but he was now suddenly right in front of him.

“Combat isn’t just a contest of strength and technique,” Keter said, holding up his index finger. “You only need to be stronger than your opponent for one single moment. That one moment is what decides the outcome.”

“...!”

“Of course...”

Keter curled his index finger into a fist. Blue aura began to surge from his hand.

Fwooooosh...!

Air spiraled inward around Keter’s fist, forming a vortex. Vivid, concentrated blue aura began to swirl visibly, compacting into a dense mass.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

So much aura was condensed into his fist that the surrounding space itself seemed to warp.

Keter raised that terrifying fist above his head and said, “But that is only possible if you have relatively similar levels of power!”

Keter slammed his fist into the ground. There was no technique or finesse behind the motion; he simply drove down a fist packed with raw, overwhelming aura.

Kaboom!!!

As his fist collided with the arena floor, a visible shockwave exploded outward in every direction. Taragon, whose legs had already given out, was caught in the blast and thrown from the ring, crashing outside its bounds.

“...”

“...”

Though Taragon had been swept up in the shockwave, his Aura Armor had protected him from any other injuries. Physically, he was unharmed, but mentally, the impact was massive. He hadn’t even been struck directly, but just the shockwave from a punch to the ground had sent him flying dozens of meters.

“...?!”

“...!”

The crowd was just as stunned. To Taragon, it had been a draining and exhausting match, but from the audience’s perspective, the entire duel had lasted barely ten seconds. And yet, what occurred in those brief seconds had been more than enough to leave everyone speechless. It was overwhelming—utterly overwhelming.

Plus, they had all clearly heard Keter’s word of advice to Taragon. Though Keter hadn’t raised his voice, his words somehow reached everyone in the arena, even through the roaring cheers.

If ordinary people heard it, the knights certainly did too. His explanation of what “overwhelming strength” truly meant had shaken them to the core. Some even closed their eyes and began to meditate after feeling enlightened; that was how complex Keter’s teaching was.

“...”

Amid the long silence, Keter pulled his fist out from the ground. The ring for the individual tournament was made entirely of orichalcum. It was so durable that even Aura Swords could barely scratch it, let alone cut through it. But now, there was a clear fist-shaped dent in that orichalcum floor.

“Whoo...”

Keter blew on his smoking fist to cool it down, then turned to Taragon.

“Do you feel the overwhelming difference in strength, Big Brother?”

Taragon was in a daze, but he still managed to nod.

Just then, the referee came to his senses and shouted sharply, “T-Taragon is out of bounds! The winner is Keter!”

* * *

For the first time in the history of the individual tournament, an intermission for repairs was called. It was all thanks to Keter, who had left a fist-shaped dent in the orichalcum floor.

Though Taragon had lost the match against Keter, he actually looked relieved. Part of it was because he still had a chance to compete in the losers' bracket, but it was more because the experience of fighting Keter, even just once, was invaluable—something he wouldn’t trade for anything.

And with this match, the way people looked at Keter began to change, especially among the knights.

He said all that like he wanted us to hear it, too.

Thanks to him, I’ve realized a new path in martial arts.

Who does he think he is, trying to teach us anything?

Some knights appreciated Keter’s gesture, while others refused to accept it and harbored jealousy. One of the latter was Norman, the monster from the Demon Capital.

Showing off so much. Do you not know the meaning of restraint? Why would you reveal such an important martial insight to so many people?”

Norman scowled with displeasure, then let out a smirk.

It won’t be long now anyway. I’ll live your life better than you ever could. Eheheh.

Although the match was briefly paused to repair the ring, the following rounds proceeded even faster. Normally, there was a ten-minute break between matches, but Eslow had now ordered the tournament to proceed without breaks, one match after another.

And so, the competition rapidly narrowed down to the quarterfinals. At last, the match the spectators had been waiting so long for was about to happen: Two of the top contenders to become the Sword of the Sword were finally facing off.