Chapter 278: How to Protect What is Precious (2)

Strength and pride were said to be proportional. The stronger someone was, the less they avoided battles that came their way. Part of it stemmed from confidence in their own power, but it was more for reputation and honor.

Especially for those who bore the title of Master, a Superhuman, running away from a fight in aristocratic society alone could lead to social execution. Even if they died, they fought to the end. That was the pride of the strong and the honor of nobles.

Yet, Keter spoke of running away without a trace of hesitation or shame.

“Try and follow me if you can.”

He turned his back on the enemy and fled. The Grandmasters surrounding him hesitated for a moment, but soon began to chase after him. They didn’t take orders from others. They themselves were commanders, and believed that chasing after Keter was the correct decision.

However, Keter was way too fast. The knights of the Lillian Kingdom learned only basic footwork as their movement technique, so Agile Footwork, which allowed one to travel quickly and far, was unfamiliar. Keter had never learned that technique, but he understood its principles, so he widened the distance by several dozen meters in the blink of an eye.

The only one who managed to keep up with Keter was the Sword Dragon, Rajis. The secret technique of the Garcia family, Flawless Immortal Raiment, contained the principles of Agile Footwork. Just then, Rajis began to sense that Keter wasn’t simply running away.

“Surely not, Keter. You wouldn’t go that far, would you?”

But his ominous assumption became true.

“Th-that’s—!”

As the main base of the Bydent family came into view, Rajis broke into a cold sweat. No matter how reckless Keter was, he desperately wanted to believe Keter wouldn’t go that far.

Keter rammed straight into the outer wall of Bydent’s army encampment, and Rajis hoped that Keter would just ignore the soldiers and run past them.

Boom, boom, boom!

A monstrous explosion roared out. At the same time, alarm bells announcing an intruder rang in every direction. Rajis poured all his strength into his legs, shortening the distance in an instant. A distance that normally would have taken twenty seconds only took five seconds. However, Rajis’s jaw dropped, and his legs trembled at the horrific scene before him.

“

Oh...?

”

Everywhere his eyes landed, corpses lay scattered. Arms, legs, and organs were torn apart so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell how many died.

This was what happened when Keter used his signature explosive arrows, Milky Way, in war. He could slaughter hundreds, even thousands, like it was nothing.

Using his sword like a cane, Rajis leaned forward and vomited. He had seen countless corpses and fought beside them ever since becoming a knight, but this was something he had never witnessed before. What made it even harder to accept was that the one responsible was Keter, someone far younger than himself.

Keter drank water from a canteen he grabbed off a fallen soldier. Then he looked at Rajis vomiting nearby and said, “That look in your eyes, you seem to see me as a villain.”

“With such power, Keter...! How can you slaughter those too weak to resist?”

“Anyone hearing you would think I massacred children and elderly civilians. The ones I killed were soldiers. Soldiers exist to kill and to die, and that’s what happened here. I killed, and they died.”

“This is cowardly. Your opponent is us!”

“So ganging up on one man is righteous, but reducing Bydent’s forces to lighten Sefira’s burden is wrong?”

“Well—” Rajis couldn’t refute it, and that made him more enraged. “How can you be so proud after killing so many?”

Keter tossed the canteen at Rajis and began to stretch.

“That lukewarm resolve is exactly why you fail to kill and end up being killed. War is simple. It all depends on who is stronger and who is smarter. Everything else is not as important.”

“That is behavior fit for beasts.”

“It’s worse than beasts. Beasts fight only to survive. It’s the same for me; I fight to survive. That is my reason. But you. You were acting like some apostle of justice the last time I saw you. I’m the villain, and you’re here to execute justice, are you? I’d like at least that much to be clear.”

Keter held out his hand, giving Rajis time to answer. However, Rajis couldn’t answer. His silence wasn’t his reply. It came from not knowing what to say.

Keter sighed and shook his head. “As fish simply drift along with the current, people also follow the flow that society creates. There’s nothing wrong with that, nor is it incorrect, but people like that will never be able to kill me.”

While they conversed, the two Grandmasters who had fallen behind finally caught up. Their gazes also trembled the moment they saw the scene, but those troubled emotions soon turned into anger and unleashed a barrage of attacks at Keter.

“Empty carts make the most noise.”

Keter avoided and blocked their attacks far more easily than before.

Seeing this, Tesla stepped back and muttered, “He recovered his stamina in such a short time, and not only that, he’s gotten even faster... What kind of monster is this?”

Zion, the Order of the White Leopard's Commander, solemnly replied, “We must finish him before he recovers further. I will create an opening.”

But Rajis stopped them. “Both of you, calm down. You are not in your right mind. Keter hasn’t gotten faster. It’s we who have gotten slower. Our sword and spear tips are trembling, which makes it easy for him to dodge.”

As proud Grandmasters, the two immediately got angry at the mention that they had weakened.

“What?!”

“Sir Rajis, whose side are you on?”

However, Rajis stood his ground and firmly continued, “You must calm yourselves. Keter intended to run away at first. Yet he didn’t, and he isn’t attacking us now, either. That means he intends to kill us here.”

Six Grandmasters had gathered to deal with a single opponent. That opponent was merely eighteen years old. Moreover, he was someone trained in archery, which was a discipline everyone despised.

At first, it seemed they had the upper hand. Keter had acknowledged his disadvantage and fled just moments ago. But before they realized it, the tables had turned. The beasts who believed themselves to be the hunters had stepped straight into the trap laid by the real hunter, Keter. And unlike Keter, none of them could run away. Not because they lacked the ability, but because of pride, honor, and the countless eyes watching them here.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Keter had slain hundreds, yet thousands still remained within the base. Being the Bydent family’s main encampment, there were not only soldiers, but countless workers and attendants as well.

“If we retreat, Keter won’t chase. He’ll kill everyone here.”

Rajis found the answer Keter had wanted in his own words, and at the same time, he felt a contradiction. Justice, after all, was supposed to protect the weak from the strong. But if that was true, then why wasn't he protecting Sefira from Bydent?

Is justice still justice if I only protect the parts I want to protect?

Rajis had always excused himself by claiming it was impossible to protect everyone, and that was reality. But for some reason, if Keter ever decided to carry out justice, Rajis felt certain that Keter would ignore those realistic problems.

“Sir Keter, my justice is shallow. I admit it. But even so, I will fight you. Because if I don’t, you will kill more.”

“Death has no value. Only the name attached to it does. If I had killed your parents, would we be having this conversation? Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers die, and it will still remain as nothing more than someone else's story.”

As if to declare the conversation finished, Rajis’s sword slashed Keter’s shoulder. Keter dodged by the width of a hair and smiled.

So this is a real Grandmaster. Perhaps about 0.5 of Hyperion.

Keter didn’t consider himself to be fighting six Grandmasters. Aside from Rajis, the other five were Grandmasters in name only.

A carriage isn’t great just because it’s big. How smoothly it goes and how comfortable it is, that’s what matters.

Those who merely increased their aura to step into the realm of a Grandmaster were no match for him at all. It wasn’t simply because Keter wielded the power of Ein. Technical mastery, mindset, and real battle experience. Those three things were what mattered most, and none of them satisfied him. Though Rajis fell short in terms of mindset, he was still worthy of being called a Grandmaster.

“Isn’t a life where work is fun the true definition of success?!

Hahaha!

”

As if to express his joy, hundreds of Aura Arrows bloomed around Keter like flowers.

***

In the past, while playing with his older brother, Jordic accidentally broke a porcelain vase. It was one of his father’s cherished treasures, so he nearly wet himself in fear. His father, the head of the Bydent family, was a strict man. Even the smallest mistake earned him and his brother a whip. And every time, he would say that he didn’t want to hit them, but they did wrong so that he had to, and that they owed him two apologies.

Before they could even think of what to do, their father stepped into the room, having heard the sound of shattering porcelain.

He frowned at the broken vase and asked, “Who did it?”

Jordic couldn’t answer. His brother failed to catch the ball, but he was the one who threw it.

While he hesitated, his brother raised his hand. “I did.”

That day, his brother was whipped in his place. That memory never left him.

After that, his brother grew busy with lessons to succeed their father as family head, so he and his brother rarely spent time together. He also became buried in training, learning their family’s Moonlight Spear Style. Yet, his brother sent me gifts from time to time. Precious ointments for wounds, rare treats from distant lands... They rarely got to meet, but he always felt grateful for his brother’s kindness.

But then, his brother died. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t believed it when their father died, nor did he believe the rumors that his brother was the culprit. And the news that was even harder to accept was...

“Keter killed him.”

He refused to believe those words said by his brother’s aide, Nether, at first. Keter didn’t easily kill people. He rather toyed with them. Moreover, his brother wasn’t someone who would die so easily.

He had recently fallen out of favor with their family, but even so, he was trusted because he was that competent. And yet Nether said his brother was dead, by Keter’s doing. He wanted to ask Nether if it was him who did it, but he held back. Even if Nether was the real killer, what would change? Nothing would improve, only worsen. Nether said they had to use the fact that Keter of Sefira killed the Bydent family’s family head, and he understood why.

To ensure that his brother’s death wouldn’t become a meaningless one, he ascended to the position of family head. After that, he prepared for a Family War against Sefira. It wasn’t for the sake of avenging his brother. Bydent had wished this for a long time. It was something they had prepared for. Becoming the master family in place of Sefira. That was their father’s dream, and the dream of their entire family.

But why does Bydent have to become a master family in the first place?

Keter had also asked why Bydent insists on becoming a master family. Back then, Jordic answered that growth was simply the natural order of things, but now, he was confused. Bydent’s rise was what his father wanted, not what he wanted.

What he wanted was to hone the Moonlight Spear Style and become the greatest spear wielder in the kingdom, no, on the continent. He simply wanted his worth to be proven by the spear he wielded.

“How did things come to this...”

Jordic opened his eyes. The unique scent of elixirs filled the air. He saw Arbold standing over him. Arbold was his loyal subordinate and younger friend ever since their days in the Order of the White Leopard.

“How long has it been? Where is Keter?”

Yet now, he was the head and representative of the Bydent family. He had to assess the situation, analyze it, and issue commands.

“Nine minutes have passed. Tesla, Zion, and Rajis are currently engaged in battle with Keter.”

“Did the other two Grandmasters awaken?”

“They awoke just moments ago. However, they can no longer continue fighting due to the aftereffects.”

“You mean their wounds haven’t recovered even after using elixirs?”

“The wounds have fully healed, but their stamina and aura are depleted. They said they need more time to recover...”

Jordic struck his spear on the ground in rage. “Tell the commanders of the Order of the Black Leopard and Grand Corps, who are resting, to return to the front immediately. I’m gonna get a head start.”

Without even changing his clothes or drinking water, Jordic headed straight to where Keter was. He could feel with certainty that he and Keter, Bydent and Sefira, had come too far now. There was no turning back.

“Keter, I’m going to kill you.”

To Sefira, Volus may have been an evil villain, the lowest kind of scum, but to Jordic, he had been a gentle older brother. Even if Keter wasn’t the real culprit, the fact that he played a part in that death didn’t change.

Jordic knew this wasn’t righteous, but this was no longer a question of right or wrong. He had become head of the family simply by following orders and going with the flow. Yet now, he clearly understood why he had to fight.

For his brother’s vengeance, for his father’s unfulfilled desire, and for his own dream. He had to defeat Keter and overcome Sefira. If he failed, then neither he nor the Bydent family would have a future.

Determined, Jordic had become even stronger than before he was wounded. He crossed hundreds of meters to the encampment in the blink of an eye, found Keter, and immediately intended to thrust his spear, but there was no need. Keter was already coughing blood, his heart pierced with Nether’s sword.