The Indomitable Martial King

Seeing the charging Amon Knight, Repenhardt grinned slyly.

“Alright, let’s disrupt the flow of magic!”

Repenhardt raised his hands and began chanting a spell.

“I am the ruler of magic, reversing the flow and severing the veins of my enemy, may all be overturned and entangled! Line Force Destroyer!”

A fierce storm of magic swirled around the cave. The Amon Knight was flustered. The power that had been flowing from the ruins, continuously healing his wounds, had been cut off?

“Kra, Kralc?”

“Hmph, while it’s tricky with wired control, it’s possible to disrupt wireless control at my current level,” Repenhardt exclaimed triumphantly.

“Russ! Tassid! Finish it off! It won’t regenerate anymore!”

“Yes, brother!”

“Understood, benefactor!”

Russ and Tassid responded simultaneously and sprang into action. The two men quickly flanked the bewildered Amon Knight from both sides. Dozens of slashes lacerated the Amon Knight’s entire body. Blue blood splattered everywhere as the Amon Knight screamed.

“Keeeugh!”

The Amon Knight’s eyes widened. It was already humiliating that a proud high demon like him had been bound to live in another dimension’s ruins, but now he was about to be killed by lowly beings. His demonic eyes filled with blood in rage.

I can’t die!

It was unbearable and infuriating. I can’t die like this!

But his wretched body no longer allowed movement. The battered and bruised massive frame of the Amon Knight slowly fell to the ground. Even while lying on the ground and writhing in agony, he kept repeating in his blurred mind.

I won’t die!

I absolutely won’t die like this!

“Just die already.”

Boom!

Repenhardt sent a blow that blew off the Amon Knight’s head entirely. Thus, the demon, full of resentment, finally met his end. It was indeed a sorrowful death.

Of course, Repenhardt didn’t care at all.

“What do they think they’re glaring about now, after spending their time gleefully tormenting the weak in another dimension?”

Siris ran to where the Amon Knight had been bound and quickly found a large staff. She turned and shouted.

“Repenhardt! Is this it?”

Repenhardt smiled broadly and nodded. Siris looked down at the staff with a sense of reverence and muttered.

“This is the Azure Sky Staff, Jerunting… our new World Tree…”

* * *

Three days away from Dungeon Kelte, there was a frontier village called Santara.

Having left Kelte, Repenhardt’s party stayed at the village’s only inn, “Rabbit Fox’s Nest.” They had stayed here before entering the dungeon, so the innkeeper welcomed them with a familiar and cheerful face, providing the best hospitality. In such a rural village, the presence of dungeon explorers who generously tipped was nothing short of a heaven-sent blessing.

After renting the entire second floor, Repenhardt’s party was resting in their respective rooms, alleviating the fatigue from their battles. However, Repenhardt was different. He was diligently meditating in his room.

“Hoo…”

Taking a deep breath, he submerged his mind deeply within. He guided the flow of mana through his spirit while reaching out to another concentration of power held in his hands.

The two relics in Repenhardt’s hands, the Golden Statue of Gahal and the Staff of Resonance, began to emit a faint glow. The light slowly seeped from the relics into his body. Repenhardt was using mana drain to absorb the power held within the relics.

After a while, Repenhardt opened his eyes and set the relics down.

“Ah, it seems I’ve barely entered the 7th Circle.”

He clenched and unclenched his hands, checking the mana flowing through his body. Besides Jerunting, there were many other relics they had acquired from Dungeon Kelte, and by diligently casting mana drain on them, his mana levels had significantly increased. Since he had already achieved enlightenment and breakthrough in his abilities, as long as he had the mana, he could elevate his circle.

However, even with the desired mana obtained, Repenhardt did not look particularly happy.

“Ugh, I’ve drained so much. What a waste…”

Behind him lay a heap of junk forming a small mountain. These were all relics from the Age of Silver on which he had cast mana drain. If he had sold them without draining the mana, he could have easily received thousands of gold coins for them. Now, they were just a pile of worthless debris. Repenhardt clicked his tongue at the sight of the relic remnants.

“After sucking so much, I’ve only managed to graduate from the 6th Circle? This body’s efficiency is really poor.”

He found himself missing his original body. If he wasn’t in this body of Teslon, the mana he had absorbed would have been enough to reach at least the early 8th Circle.

“Is there even a weapon that has been passed down through Gym Unbreakable? Well, if it’s something like a club used to beat up disciples over generations, there might be.”

“Still… it looks like it’s somewhere around here? There’s no harm in checking it out, right?”

“That’s true.”

There wasn’t any urgent reason to return to the Duchy of Antares immediately. After a brief hesitation, Repenhardt quickly made his decision.

“Alright! Let’s stop by here on our way back. I’m curious to see what’s there too.”

The next morning, Repenhardt and his party left Santara Village. The location marked on the map was less than a day’s distance from Santara Village. Although Repenhardt usually had no trouble finding dungeon locations, this time, he had to ask the innkeeper about the nearby terrain.

“Do you have any idea about the place marked on this map?”

In truth, maps from this era had imprecise scales, making it hard to pinpoint exact locations based on the map alone. While he had visited dungeons before and could head straight to them without getting lost, this time, Repenhardt had no choice but to seek the help of the local residents.

“Looking at the map, it seems to be near Mount Part, west of the village. The terrain is rugged, and there’s little game, so the villagers rarely go there. If you head southwest from the village for about a day and see three peaks resembling blades, that’s Mount Part.”

Thanks to his habit of tipping generously, the innkeeper provided detailed directions to Mount Part. He even offered to arrange a guide, which Repenhardt had to politely decline.

A half-day after leaving the village, Repenhardt and his party easily found their target location at the mid-slope of Mount Part.

Sillan looked around with a curious expression.

“What kind of place is this?”

A massive, ruined structure stood at the mid-slope of Mount Part. It had a large courtyard and long, partially collapsed walls, making it a sizable building. However, it wasn’t a mansion or a castle. Instead, several low buildings spread out around the desolate courtyard. Siris tilted her head in confusion.

“It feels like a training ground for knights, but on a larger scale.”

“Mm, it reminds me of where I used to train.”

Nodding, Repenhardt moved forward. He stepped inside through the collapsed wall and looked around as he began to speak.

“Where did he hide the gift around here? We don’t even know what the gift is. How are we supposed to find it?”

Russ also touched his lips, wearing a peculiar expression.

“This doesn’t seem like the kind of place you’d hide a gift. I’ve been feeling a strange aura here since earlier…”

As an Aura User with keen senses, Russ had noticed it from the beginning. This area, which appeared to be just a ruin on the surface, emitted a faint, unusual energy. Unlike a dungeon that overtly exudes demonic and malicious energy, this place had a subtly unsettling feel that didn’t seem natural.

“Well, how bad can it be? Let’s just find the gift quickly.”

Repenhardt and his party leisurely walked around the ruins. No matter where they looked, it was just a ruin. There was no object that seemed like a gift. Repenhardt frowned and grumbled.

“Ugh, if he’s going to give it, why not just hand it over instead of making us play treasure hunt? That old man, seriously…”

They were rummaging through the buildings one by one. When they entered the large central building and began inspecting the floor and ceiling, they suddenly heard a strange noise.

Woooooong!

It was a bizarre sound that made the air vibrate. Startled, Russ and Tassid drew their swords and stood on guard. Repenhardt chuckled and stopped them.

“Why are you all so tense? It’s just a place where my master hid a gift for his disciple…”

Just then, the ground vibrated, and the entire floor beneath them collapsed!

“Eek!”

“Huh!”

As the floor gave way, they fell. Amid the confusion, Russ quickly channeled his aura to protect his body. Tassid activated his Spirits Weapon to float. Siris, flipping in the air, used Tassid’s sword to launch herself and hang on. They were all seasoned warriors, able to respond quickly even in this situation.

Naturally, Repenhardt and Sillan didn’t just stand still either. They both skillfully used levitation magic and the Sacred Feather spell to lighten their bodies. The problem was that they both were too overprotective.

“Ah, Sillan! Don’t use a holy spell! It’s clashing!”

“Why are you suddenly using magic, Repen?”

The levitation magic and holy spell cast on the entire group clashed with each other. As a result, even Tassid’s Darak began to lose its buoyancy and started falling.

“Ah, dear savior! What’s happening here?”

Before they could employ any other means, the entire group plummeted downwards. The voices of Repenhardt and Sillan bickering faded into the darkness.

“Seriously, we’re not in sync!”

“That’s because you’re suddenly pretending to be a mage!”

“I am a mage, you know!”

“Oh, both of you, shut up!”