The Indomitable Martial King

With a soft noise, the floating disk landed on the ground. Serelein stepped off the disk. Teslon, confused, followed and stepped onto the ground.

“Just as a coachman controls a carriage, a pilot enters the golem and directly maneuvers it, which certainly compensates for the golem’s weaknesses. Still, it was too large and heavy, remaining inefficient. So, we gradually attempted to lighten the golems.”

Serelein snapped her fingers.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With the sound, lights sprouted from the darkness here and there. Several beams of light shone on the middle of the dark space.

“After many years of improvements, the ancients eventually succeeded in manufacturing extremely lightweight golems. However, these golems became too advanced for ordinary people to handle. Therefore, only warriors who could handle aura could use these golems.”

In the center of the descending lights, Teslon stared blankly, mouth agape.

A giant gray steel figure stood there.

At first glance, it looked like decorative armor. But unlike the full plate mail of knights, this steel giant had no unnecessary decorations. Its sleek body closely resembled a human’s, appearing functional as if it had replicated every muscle in the body. The helmet had only the eye holes, with no discernible facial features. The only thing proving this wasn’t ordinary armor was the golden patterns engraved on the gray body.

Serelein walked towards the steel giant.

“This is an ancient artifact for aura users.”

She looked up at the giant and continued in a detached tone.

“240 centimeters in length, weighing 180 kilograms. Its power source is an orichalcum reactor. It has a lightweight adamantium exoskeleton connected to a magical circuit made of pure Eldril and is equipped with mithril cables to implement driving muscles that link with aura…”

Serelein turned around with a spin.

“It is a wearable golem that only aura users can operate, the Adamandril Suit.”

Teslon approached the steel giant with a blank expression. As he neared, a whirring sound was heard, and the giant’s exoskeleton began to peel away.

Clank, clank.

With metallic sounds, the interior of the giant was revealed. Serelein gestured with her hand.

“Try it on. Just feel like you’re putting on armor.”

“Ah, yes…”

Teslon cautiously inserted his limbs into the interior of the steel giant. Immediately, the exoskeleton closed, and he began to synchronize with the giant.

“This, this is…”

Teslon looked down at his own hands in confusion. It wasn’t simply the sensation of wearing armor. The feeling was subtly distorted, as if the armor itself had become his own body. Serelein’s voice followed.

“Activate the aura.”

With a shout, Teslon summoned the aura throughout his entire body.

“Hup!”

Whoosh!

A golden aura flared up like flames from the entire body of Teslon, who had become a steel giant. Teslon let out an exclamation in astonishment.

“This is unbelievable….”

The Adamandril Suit was naturally absorbing all of his aura as if it were his own body. Teslon took a step forward. Naturally, without a hint of awkwardness, this metallic body moved along with him.

Boom!

As Teslon stepped down from the platform, Serelein issued a warning.

“Be careful! Your physical senses are twisted right now, and it will be difficult to move. You need to adapt to the Adamandril Suit for a while!”

Teslon smirked.

“That won’t be necessary, Guardian Serelein.”

Suddenly, Teslon leapt into the air. The 2.4-meter steel giant floated lightly like a swallow and kicked continuously in mid-air.

Pabababat!

In the noise of the air being torn apart, Serelein muttered in astonishment.

“This can’t be. There’s no way he could adapt so quickly right after putting it on….”

Teslon landed on the ground. By lightly bending his knees and distributing his weight, there was no sound as the massive giant touched down.

A laugh echoed from within the helmet of the Adamandril Suit.

“Haha….”

He needed to adapt to the sensation? That wasn’t necessary. This feeling was all too familiar to Teslon.

This was exactly the enormous steel body he possessed in his past life! The true body he had always longed for and missed! The sensation was no different at all!

“Hahaha!”

Laughing heartily, Teslon spread his arms wide. Then he shouted.

“Spiral Guard!”

A vortex of golden aura swirled powerfully over the gray exoskeleton of the Adamandril Suit.

Teslon thrust his fist into the air.

“Straight Cannon!”

The aura curtain soared, searing through the darkness with heat.

‘It works! This is it!’

Though the power was weaker compared to his past life due to a lack of aura, it was undeniably the technique of Gym Unbreakable.

“In that case….”

In ecstasy, Teslon slightly bent his knees. Pulling his right fist back behind his waist, he concentrated all of his aura into a single point. Aura rings continued to rise over his right arm.

One stack, two stacks, three stacks, four stacks… five stacks!

‘Is five stacks the limit with my current amount of aura?’

Buzzzzz!

The murky yellow aura waves pulsed violently as if they were about to explode. However, even before this layered and accumulated destructive power, the Adamandril Suit effortlessly withstood all the recoil.

With his eyes gleaming, Teslon thrust his fist into the air.

“Calamity Horn!”

Boom!

Thunder roared. A brilliant pillar of yellow light burst forth, radiating from the vast darkness. The space distorted, shaking as if hit by an earthquake. Serelein clung to the nearby objects and screamed.

“Aaaaah!”

Boom!

A powerful explosion echoed from beyond the dark space. Serelein’s eyes widened in shock. The five-layered Calamity Horn had shattered even the barrier protecting this space.

“My God, such power….”

No matter how extraordinary the Adamandril Suit was as an artifact, this power far exceeded imagination. Even as a guardian, she was stunned to the point of disbelief.

With his fist still extended, Teslon burst into wild laughter.

“Hahaha!”

Teslon clenched his fist. Flames flickered over his dark pupils.

“Wait for me, Repenhardt! I’ll show you the true power of Gym Unbreakable!”

* * *

The northern trade route of Setellad, connecting the Kingdom of Graim and the Principality of Chatan.

Dozens of wagons were traversing the mountain path that cut through the Setellad Mountains. The wagons were loaded with all sorts of goods, surrounded by over a hundred cavalry and infantry soldiers guarding them. Following behind were rows of orcs, elves, and dwarves with their necks and hands bound. Each one wore tattered clothing and followed the wagons with lifeless eyes.

At the front of the convoy was the most luxurious wagon, from which a plump, jewel-adorned middle-aged man stuck his head out of the window. He shouted at the guards.

“Hey! Can’t you speed up a bit?”

A well-armed man rode up and spoke respectfully.

“Considering the slaves’ stamina, going any faster would be impossible. It would be troublesome if their value dropped, wouldn’t it, Mr. Drag?”

The middle-aged man in the wagon, a merchant named Drag from the Maul Trading Company, frowned and closed his mouth. The Maul Trading Company, which primarily handled trade between the Kingdom of Graim and the Principality of Chatan, dealt in various precious and specialty goods, but their largest trade items were always the multi-racial slaves.

Drag bit his nails anxiously.

“Yes, but… there have been numerous attacks around here….”

The mercenary captain in charge of the escort, Rumdad, shrugged and continued speaking.

“We’re almost at Strasand now. No matter how bold the Frisian Bandits are, they wouldn’t dare attack us with this many troops.”

“That’s true, but I can’t help but worry nonetheless, sigh!”

Clicking his tongue, Drag withdrew his head into the carriage and added a comment.

“And what kind of bandits are they? Just wild slaves, practically no different from monsters!”

Lomdran shook his head and moved a bit away from the carriage. Another man from the mercenary group approached Lomdran and spoke.

“We can’t underestimate them just because they’re wild slaves, Mr. Lomdran. Rumor has it they’re moving as cleverly as any human bandit group.”

Clicking his tongue, Lomdran responded.

“I know that. They even call themselves the Frisian Liberation Front. How can we just consider them as mere monsters?”

The Frisian Bandits.

This was the name of a notorious bandit group that had been appearing throughout the Setellad Mountain Range for the past few months.

Comprised entirely of non-human slaves like orcs, elves, and dwarves, they had started calling themselves the Frisian Liberation Front and began attacking caravans engaged in the slave trade. From the perspective of non-humans, they were rescuing their kin and reclaiming unjustly gained wealth, but from the human perspective, they were stealing private property, hence they were naturally labeled as bandits.

Nodding, the mercenary replied.

“The higher-ups may dismiss them as mere monsters, but they seem far from ordinary. Even the renowned Gran Mercenary Group fell victim to them.”

“Exactly. How those slaves, who once lived as captives, manage to move so stealthily is beyond me…”

There wasn’t much mystery about their identity. Escaped slaves often hid in nearby mountains and survived by ambushing passersby.

And about three or four months ago, a trend seemed to have started where non-human slaves were escaping en masse across the continent. Those slaves had all fled to remote areas and vanished, so it was easy to guess that those who survived the monsters’ eyes banded together as bandits to attack humans.

The problem lay with the actions of the Frisian Bandits.

They were so powerful that it was hard to believe they were made up of non-human slaves. They moved with meticulous strategy, targeting the most vulnerable places, easily dismantling the well-guarded mercenary groups of trading companies, and disappearing with the slaves and goods without a trace. Their movements were so precise that it was suspected they might actually be a properly trained army.

“Even the kingdom’s pursuit teams couldn’t catch them. They’re not just monsters; they’re as good as famous bandits or thieves!”

As the damage caused by the Frisian Bandits increased, it was natural that the Duchy of Chatan and the Kingdom of Graim didn’t stay idle. They mobilized their armies and conducted several sweep operations on the outskirts of the Setellad Mountains.

But they achieved no results at all.

Whatever methods they were using, the bandits left no trace behind in an uncanny manner. Or rather, they did leave traces, but no matter how hard they tracked, all trails always abruptly ended deep inside the wilderness.

It was beyond comprehension. It was hard to believe that slaves could survive in the treacherous Setellad Mountains, teeming with monsters, and even if they did, they should have left signs of their existence.

Yet, even after hiring numerous bounty hunters and employing mages to detect them, their base could not be found. All that was ever discovered were traces of temporary campsites.

The situation was so dire that even the renowned bounty hunter, Daunt, gave up, making this statement:

– It’s impossible! It’s like these bastards fall from the sky, stir up the mountains, and then disappear again!

Rumdad looked at the slaves in the rear with a wary eye.

“It’s hard to understand. Even if they’re used to fighting because of the orc gladiators, how can they evade the army’s search like this…?”

Rumdad, who had grown up in a mercenary group, couldn’t imagine doing such a thing against an army. The mercenary following behind shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, they must be desperate in their own way, right? If it were my brothers or family in such a situation, I’d use any means necessary to rescue them.”