Chapter 249: You Shall Not Pass (4)

Keter knew Minerva’s secret. Inside the massive armor that exceeded two meters was a small and delicate girl. That armor was an artifact called Brynhild, which granted anyone who wore it strength and abilities comparable to an ogre.

In short, it meant this fight of strength was unfair. Being human, Keter couldn’t use aura or magic and only used physical strength in the royal palace’s divine zone, while Minerva used the power of the artifact.

However, Keter didn’t care about that and clasped hands with Minerva. Due to their height difference, Minerva naturally pressed down on Keter. At that point in time, Minerva didn’t think much of it. Her mind was focused purely on the perspective of competing strength.

The spectators also likely thought that they would compete in strength that way since there was a height difference, but that wasn’t the case. It was all a situation Keter had intended.

Pressing down uses only the upper body’s strength, but the one pushing up can use not only the lower body, but also the rebound from both feet driving against the ground.

Many people called Keter crazy. When he was young, he often tried to explain out of frustration. However, no matter how much he explained, people didn’t believe him.

“You calculated all that? In that short of time, which wasn’t even ten seconds?”

“So you’re saying you’re a genius who knows everything, huh? Lucky you.”

Even when he explained kindly, they didn’t believe him and instead cursed him for being a show-off. When he realized that telling others his plans was foolish, he came to understand the truth that speech was silver, and silence was golden.

I do it because I can.

Killing the queen who was called a god, saving the Sefira family that had been politically isolated, and blocking the path to the palace...

And even winning a power contest against a titan.

He gathered power from the tips of his toes and passed it into both arms.

Boom!

Just exerting strength made a booming sound like a drum bursting.

Minerva’s huge physique was slightly pushed back. Having thought she could easily overpower someone like Keter, her eyes widened.

Keter smiled at her and said, “Seems like you didn’t eat breakfast.”

At those words, Minerva answered by releasing steam from her armor. Minerva’s Brynhild shone red. At the same time, Keter was pushed back two steps. Smoke rose from the ground due to the friction, and heat haze shimmered around their clasped hands.

Minerva was genuinely shocked.

He endured seventy percent output with the mere strength of a human?

Seventy percent output of Brynhild was enough strength to lift and throw a boulder the size of a wagon. Minerva couldn’t believe he had endured that with human power. However, it was still too early to be surprised. Keter maintained Level 1 of Heavenly Strength at all times, but now he raised it to Level 3.

Because of this, Minerva was pushed back three steps. Her Majesty’s Bridge was made of silver, so it warped from the friction, producing a deafening shriek of tearing metal.

Minerva couldn’t understand how Keter could push back Brynhild with only human strength, but losing to Keter in a contest of strength here was something she absolutely couldn’t allow.

One hundred percent output.

She released one hundred percent output against a human who had neither aura nor magic. Brynhild, which had been glowing red, soon shifted into a blue light.

At the same time, Keter raised his Heavenly Strength to Level 5. A shockwave burst out from his strength alone, and the bridge beneath their feet caved inward.

Everyone was at a loss for words at the sight. Minerva simply couldn’t understand the current situation. She had rarely used Brynhild at one hundred percent output, but even after doing so, she still couldn’t take the upper hand in strength. One hundred percent output could only be maintained for ten minutes at most. If victory wasn’t decided within that time, Brynhild would enter a forced cooling status, and its output would drop to twenty percent.

Me, losing not in anything else, but in a contest of strength?

Ever since Minerva boarded Brynhild, she had always been invincible. No matter the situation or opponent, she won every single battle. There might have been crises, but she always overcame them.

Yet now? Her opponent wasn’t even a powerful enemy. Not a monster, not even a seven-star Prime. Just a human. To lose to a pure human was beyond humiliation for Minerva. It felt like the denial of her entire life.

On the other hand, Keter also had no intention of losing this match. Even if he had once received Minerva’s help, even if he wished to remain on good terms with the Aegis family, the concepts of holding back or deliberately letting someone win simply didn’t exist for him.

Minerva was the first to shout her battle cry.

“

Ah, aaahhh!

”

Her real voice was that of a graceful young girl, but once it passed through Brynhildr, it became like the roar of a furious beast.

Brynhild responded to her will. Rage, competitiveness, the desire to win, such intent amplified Brynhild’s original power. At that moment, Minerva didn’t catch it, but Brynhild’s output increased exponentially.

As Minerva raised the armor output to 300 percent, the blue light radiating from Brynhild changed to yellow.

At the same time, Keter realized that he would lose at this rate.

You exceeded your max, huh? Then I’ll exceed mine too.

Keter recalled the words of the master who had taught him Heavenly Strength.

“Don’t attempt Level 6 with a half-hearted mindset!”

“Why? Will I die?”

“Life isn’t that big of a deal! You’ll lose something far more important!”

“So what is it?”

“Look!”

His Heavenly Strength master pointed at his own head. He was bald, completely hairless.

“You lose your hair? Yeah, I definitely don’t want that.”

“It’s not that it always makes your hair fall out! Hair will fall out from somewhere on your body, and if you’re unlucky, it might be your head!”

“But is that really the only side effect?”

“Is the fact that nine out of ten who attempted Level 6 died not that important to you?”

“Oh, that’s true.”

Heavenly Strength was a technique that broke the limits of a human. At Level 5, it could draw out every ounce of human strength. From Level 6 onward was the realm of transcending humanity, unleashing power beyond what a human could produce. In other words, reaching Level 6 was impossible with a normal human body,

However, Keter had already stepped outside the bounds of human flesh. Through body modification techniques, he carried not only the genetic tissues of other humans, but also the organs and blood of monsters and other races.

Not only that, but the very structure of his body had become completely different from a human’s through metamorphosis. The number of bones, the range of joint movement, even regeneration. Keter already possessed the conditions to reach Level 6.

This meant Keter too could draw out more than five hundred percent of the power a human could produce, so Keter raised his Heavenly Strength to Level 6. To win, the two of them surpassed their limits.

As a result, the stage, Her Majesty’s Bridge, could no longer endure their power and began to creak. Just as the cracks caused by the two were about to spread beyond control, a dark-skinned woman appeared between them and pushed them apart with only a finger.

“You two have gone beyond the realm of play.”

***

The dark-skinned woman who suddenly appeared was Riri, the second prince Rakan’s aide and sword instructor.

Minerva and Keter, pushed aside by her finger, did not move at all like statues. It wasn’t because of Riri, but because of the side effects of having exceeded their limits.

Minerva had raised Brynhild’s output to three hundred percent, and Keter had surpassed the wall of Heavenly Strength Level 6.

If Riri hadn’t intervened, Her Majesty’s Bridge wouldn’t have endured the force of the two and would have collapsed. Neither the crown prince nor the second prince wanted that. After all, this place was the royal palace. Her Majesty’s Bridge was the only passage connected to the palace. If such a passage collapsed merely because of a play fight, the dignity of the royal family would have collapsed along with it.

How...?

Meanwhile, Minerva was shocked that even after surpassing her limits, she still couldn’t completely overpower Keter. Of course, she was aware that when she exceeded her limits, Keter had also exceeded his. However, the world of competition was merciless. Even if both had exceptional skill, a winner and a loser had to be decided, and the winner should have been her. Because she was using Brynhild, an artifact.

It wasn’t a fair match. Even if I won, it wouldn’t have been an honorable victory, but still...

She had lost a match she should have obviously won. That fact crushed her.

On the other hand, Keter wasn’t even thinking about Minerva at all. All of his attention was focused on the woman who had just appeared.

It's a dark elf. Those as rare as high elves.

Usually, elves were known for skin clearer than blue skies and brighter than gemstones. However, dark elves had black skin. A shade called the most beautiful black in the world.

That was the only difference between dark elves and regular elves. However, the world did not see it that way. They were labeled corrupted elves, evil elves, elves who made pacts with demons. Their black skin alone branded them as evil.

This belief continued for hundreds, thousands of years, and even other elves began to treat dark elves as fallen elves. Though in reality, they had no such connection.

In any case, Keter felt intrigued as he looked at the dark elf before him. Was it because he was seeing a dark elf for the first time? Because her skin was so radiant? No. It was because of the divineness she had shown.

She

must be an Authority. As expected from the royal palace, I can’t believe a seven-star Prime just appeared out of nowhere.

There were many types of Authorities that symbolized a Prime, but the most common was a formula-type Authority, one that forcibly imposed their own laws upon the world.

Is it a formula where her strength is automatically twice that of her opponent? Or one where she can push anything aside with a finger? I wanna test it out.

In battles against Primes, the importance of Authority was tremendous. Knowing or not knowing an opponent’s Authority could practically decide the outcome.

For Keter, who was even considering a confrontation with the queen later, figuring out the Authority of a dark elf who appeared to be affiliated with the palace was an interesting task which gave both enjoyment and practical gain.

Unaware of the way Keter was looking at her, Riri introduced herself before the gathered heads of families.

“Nice to meet you. I am Riri, the royal sword instructor.” After simply stating who she was, Riri sharply said to Keter, “Damaging Her Majesty’s Bridge is forbidden. Understood?”

“It’s public property, so I’ll be sure to treat it with more care,” Keter answered jokingly.

At that, Riri’s beautiful brows furrowed. Riri had originally planned to warn them and leave, but sensing something from Keter, she stepped close and examined him from head to toe.

Then, in a quiet voice that no one else could hear, she asked, “You, what is your relationship with Kadia?”

Keter couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at Riri’s question, as he never expected to hear that name at the royal palace, especially not from a dark elf.

“Do you have any business with my wife?”

He had simply stated the truth, yet Riri’s expression turned fierce.