The Indomitable Martial King

“Indeed, considering his build, it’s not surprising he’s a battle mage.”

Repenhardt shouted joyfully, pleased with his opponent’s misunderstanding.

“There are six Aura Users in this mansion right now! They will sense your presence and rush here soon!”

“Hmph! Do you think you’ll survive until then?”

Spirius snorted. His stance was impressive for a battle mage, but he couldn’t compare to an Aura User. He aimed his sword and unleashed a fierce killing intent.

Wooong!

A red aura vibrated through the air. Repenhardt swallowed hard. The red blade aura carried a deadly energy, piercing painfully into his forehead. Earlier, Spirius had merely underestimated him, but now the attack would be a proper display of swordsmanship.

‘Ugh, how long can I hold out without manifesting my Aura?’

He wasn’t sure he could dodge it. Gym Unbreakable’s defensive techniques barely included any concept of evasion. While there were basic evasion techniques, they were on par with the common martial arts of the continent.

“I’ll end this with a single strike!”

A dazzling thrust turned the corridor red. Repenhardt, with a tense face, stepped back calmly. The red flash struck him like a meteor. He tried to dodge as best as he could, but his robe was torn and blood seeped out.

“Ugh!”

Repenhardt groaned. Despite his body being as strong as steel, he couldn’t withstand the Blade Aura without his Spiral Guard.

But even that was enough to surprise Spirius.

“Huh?”

The force contained in the Blade Aura was incredibly intense. For an ordinary person, a mere brush with it would tear muscles and shatter bones. Yet, he only suffered injuries akin to being cut by an ordinary sword?

‘His body is astonishingly resilient! Is it magic? But it won’t be of much use!’

Spirius sneered, raising his sword above his head. With a loud noise, the red Blade Aura transformed into a massive blade nearly three meters long.

It was his signature technique, the Gigantic Blade. Although it usually spanned a ridiculous ten meters, in this narrow corridor, this size was sufficient.

“Try dodging this one!”

Spirius’ greatsword swung towards Repenhardt. A massive red curtain filled his vision. The sight gave Repenhardt a sense of déjà vu. It reminded him of the first time he suffered serious injuries after descending the mountain, during his first battle with the golden knight, Eusus von Tenes.

In that moment, it felt like a splash of cold water jolted him awake. He had been similarly humiliated back then, trying to hide his identity!

“Ugh! Can’t make the same mistake twice!”

Bang!

With a deafening roar, the red Blade Aura scattered in all directions. The concentrated energy dispersed, causing the entire corridor to shake and collapse. Amidst the swirling dust, Spirius’s eyes widened in shock, nearly popping out of his head.

“T-That!”

Repenhardt, with his arms raised above his head, was emanating a brilliant golden Aura from his entire body.

“This… this can’t be…”

Spirius dropped his sword, his mouth agape. The mage before him, undeniably a mage, was blazing with a golden Aura. Even on this night, it was shining dazzlingly bright.

“An Aura User?”

“Sigh, things never go as planned, do they?”

With a bitter smile, Repenhardt tore off his tattered robe. His well-trained muscles glistened under the moonlight. Even Spirius, who had spent his life training as a knight, was awestruck by the sight of such a robust physique. Spirius’s face hardened.

A body forged to the extreme, clad in radiant golden Aura.

This was the distinctive trait of a highly renowned martial artist. A name known to every warrior worth their salt.

“Are you a descendant of Gerard?”

Now that he thought about it, he had heard rumors from the Kingdom of Graim about the appearance of Gym Unbreakable’s successor. The one who gained fame by defeating the golden knight Eusus. That name was surely…

“So, you’re the ‘Fist King’ Repenhardt?”

Spirius looked at Repenhardt in disbelief. In hindsight, the names were indeed the same. However, he had never associated the two because he couldn’t fathom a connection between a mage, a figure reputed to be nearly incomprehensible without a brilliant mind, and the successor of Gym Unbreakable, known for its extreme physical prowess and crude methods.

“No way… A descendant of the Fist King is a mage?”

Spirius laughed in disbelief. Was he implying that the person before him possessed the strongest body among humans and also had the intellect to become a mage? Wasn’t this level of unfairness beyond comprehension?

Repenhardt clenched his fist, speaking in a relaxed tone.

“If you live long enough, you’ll see all sorts of things. Getting surprised at every little thing, how do you expect to survive?”

With his identity revealed, Repenhardt felt at ease. Spirius, still stunned, gave a bitter smile at his words.

Thinking back, it had been one surprise after another recently. Slaves, mere slaves, had emerged as Aura Users in droves, and a young man, not even thirty, had defeated him with Aura. Compared to that, an Aura User also being a mage was hardly surprising.

“No matter! My mission hasn’t changed anyway!”

Spirius assumed a serious stance. Repenhardt spread his legs wide, taking a stable stance and glaring at him. Seeing Repenhardt’s mountainous posture, burning with Aura, Spirius’s eyes shone.

“Hmph, I felt a bit guilty about having to assassinate a mage. But now, I can go all out without any burden!”

“Feel free to give it your all.”

“You’re arrogant!”

Shouting, Spirius lunged forward. Repenhardt also extended his fist to meet him.

Boom!

Their clash caused the entire corridor to explode as if it had been bombed. Amid the explosions, red and yellow flashes separated only to collide again. Each collision sent shockwaves reverberating through the corridor.

“Gigantic Blade!”

With a loud cry, Spirius slashed his sword down. A gigantic red pillar, ten meters long, descended upon Repenhardt’s head. Russ would have dodged it easily, but Repenhardt had not learned such evasion techniques. Instead, he simply punched the sword.

“Haah!”

Gym Unbreakable’s philosophy of countering was very simple.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And for a pillar, another pillar!

Rumble!

A golden pillar rose, striking the red one. The clash of destructive light produced dozens of sparks. Scattered Aura overturned the ground and smashed the columns of the corridor. The entire corridor collapsed, sending dust flying from the mansion’s west side. Through the dust, two lights shot up.

The two Aura Users landed on the mansion’s roof. Spirius, his entire body enveloped in red Aura, shouted.

“How brutish! Pretending to be a mage and now revealing your true colors!”

“You were the one who swung the pillar first.”

Repenhardt retorted, launching punches to Spirius’s left and right. The colossal golden Aura-infused punches, more like catapults, tore through the sky, clashing with Spirius’s red Aura.

Bang! Boom!

Spirius, having shifted all his power to defense, barely withstood the attack before launching another Gigantic Blade. As the red flash swung towards Repenhardt’s left side, Repenhardt spread his chest wide and roared.

“Spiral Guard!”

The golden Aura surged around him, forming a defensive barrier. The red Gigantic Blade’s impact was absorbed and deflected by the Spiral Guard, scattering in a brilliant display of light.

Spirius stared in disbelief, but Repenhardt, now fully in his element, looked more resolute than ever.

A swirling vortex of Aura engulfed Repenhardt’s entire body, grinding down the red Blade Aura. While Spirius gaped in disbelief at the absurd sight of Aura consuming Aura, Repenhardt closed the distance and delivered a front kick.

“Gastryzen!”

Utilizing his entire body’s momentum, Repenhardt’s unique front kick, powered by the force of Gym Unbreakable, struck Spirius’s solar plexus. The shockwave dispersed the red Aura and penetrated Spirius, causing him to scream.

“Aaaargh!”

The shockwave continued, crashing into the mansion and triggering explosions. Servants and soldiers, caught off guard, screamed amidst the chaos.

“Wh-what the hell is going on?”

Reeling from the impact, Spirius staggered, coughing up blood. Repenhardt immediately moved in for a follow-up attack. His left and right kicks whipped through the air, striking Spirius hard. Spirius struggled to defend his vital points with his greatsword, but Repenhardt swiftly grabbed Spirius’s left arm.

“Got you!”

“Ugh!”

Though it was just a human hand holding him, it felt as if he was being crushed by a boulder. Panicking, Spirius tried to swing his sword, but Repenhardt was faster.

“Here we go!”

Holding Spirius tightly, Repenhardt spun him around. The combined force of his Aura and physical strength created a terrifying centrifugal force. At the peak of power and speed, Repenhardt hurled him.

“Lariat Swing!”

A red streak shot across Viscount Jaidin’s mansion, heading for the front yard. From this meteor-like object, a desperate scream echoed.

“Aaaaargh!”

Boom!

The explosion was so massive it left a crater, resembling a meteor impact. At the center of the crater, Spirius groaned. Despite the brutal beating, he was still alive, as expected of an Aura User.

“Ugh…”

Groaning, Spirius struggled to rise. His assassination attempt had failed, but he couldn’t die here. If he perished, there would be no Aura User left to serve Prince Carsus.

‘I can’t die like this…’

As Spirius tried to collect himself, a despairing sight greeted his eyes. Repenhardt, standing on the mansion’s roof, leaped into the air.

“Hah!”

Repenhardt’s golden Aura blazed as he soared towards Spirius, ready to deliver the final blow.

The golden aura soared high into the sky. Then, with all its weight, it descended to the ground. The explosive power of the aura combined with the rising momentum, transforming into a golden meteor that streaked across the sky!

“Taahh!”

Repenhardt focused all his strength into his knee and launched a flying knee attack. From a height of nearly 20 meters, his massive body struck Spirius.

Boom!

Dust erupted as if a geyser had burst. In the face of that tremendous impact, far surpassing the durability of an Aura User, Spirius let out a desperate scream.

“Craaaaagh!”

☆ ☆ ☆

Spirius died on the spot. Unlike other Aura Users, Spirius was thoroughly aligned with Prince Carsus. Keeping him alive would only cause future trouble, so Repenhardt had no choice but to be ruthless.

Leaving Spirius’s corpse behind, Repenhardt walked out of the crater. The front yard was already filled with a crowd of people. With two Aura Users causing such a commotion, anyone with functional eyes and ears couldn’t have failed to notice.

The banquet had long since been interrupted, and both soldiers and nobles had been watching the duel between the two men.

Someone muttered in a trembling voice.

“That aura…”

That statement set off a series of exclamations.

“Golden aura!”

“It’s the light of Gerard!”

“That’s right! I’ve heard of that man!”

One of the knights shouted in awe.

“Fist King!”

“Fist King Repenhardt!”

“Ooooooh!”

Exclamations of admiration erupted from all around. Everyone was astonished to discover that the mysterious sage was, in fact, the new Fist King. Watching the atmosphere, Malroid tilted his head.

“What? Did no one know the savior was an Aura User?”

Relhard shrugged his shoulders.

“He wanted to hide his identity, didn’t he?”

“Ah, is that what it was? I thought he wore that robe to hide his bulk.”

While the non-humans stood around, puzzled by the commotion, Repenhardt’s identity was a shock to the Prince Yubel’s forces. Yubel, with his mouth agape, murmured.

“My god, that man was the Fist King of this era?”