Chapter 180
He felt sluggish. His eyelids were too heavy that he couldn’t even think about lifting them. In fact, he considered letting sleep take him again.
After all, he had spent three days in grueling combat against tens of thousands of foes with neither food nor rest. No matter how well-trained he was, he couldn’t take it anymore.
‘I don't want to get up.’
He wriggled in bed like a schoolboy who didn’t want to get up for school.
‘I want to sleep more.’
Deep sleep chipped away at his fragment of consciousness amidst a sea of emptiness.
‘Yes, I’m just going to sleep like this…’
His eyelids twitched.
‘Am I going to keep sleeping like this? Until when?’
Would he be able to wake up once he gave in to the temptation of sleep?
‘I can’t wake up?’
A small light was rekindled in the deepest recesses of his consciousness.
In other words, if he slept eternally, then it meant he was dead.
What would happen if he died? He had lived his life touching nothing but iron, and he suffered like a pauper, but now he was going to die in a random gorge.
He was in great shape with all four of his limbs still attached, but he was already thirty years old and had never touched a woman’s hand. He was going to die an unfortunate death as a bachelor.
He was sure that a memorial to him would be erected in honor of his pitifulness for people to pay respects to him.
- Here lies the pitiful virgin knight, Cain.
‘Please let me reincarnate as an archmage who will shock the world…!’
“Goddamned it…!” Cain’s eyes snapped open as he cursed. His eyes were bloodshot due to exhaustion. How could he accept such a terrible end to his life?
At that, Cain composed himself and looked around with his bloodshot eyes.
“...?”
The scenery was moving rapidly, and he felt as if there were lead in his bones. Cain flinched when he realized that someone was holding him as they forcibly moved him around.
‘I-I have never let anyone touch me before…’?
Cain was more surprised that someone was holding him rather than the fact that he somehow managed to survive. However, he wasn’t really pleased with the discovery.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with regrets, but he immediately tried to bargain with himself. ‘Ah, what if it’s a woman?’
Of course, Cain was quick to abandon that thought. He couldn’t even begin to imagine a lady handling him like this.
Cain’s forehead wrinkled. He closed his eyes as he tried to recall his latest memories.
‘I’m sure that at the last moment…’
The last scene he saw before passing out was an individual clad in black.
“It’s Barbarian…!” Cain's eyes remained shut as his aching head let out waves of dull pain.
‘Are we there yet?’
All of a sudden, many thoughts popped up in his mind. It was mostly his regrets and lamentations about how he would never be able to accomplish what he sought to accomplish in the first place.
He had done his best to be of help to his master, but what a shame that he wouldn’t be able to meet his master again before his death…
What a shame that he would never be able to live happily ever after...
What a shame that he could no longer pursue his dream of reaching the summit of the continent, meeting a beautiful, kind wife, and having at least five children with her…
‘I also really wanted to check whether Icarus is a guy or not…’’
Unfortunately, his dreams would never come true.
“Goddamned it…” Cain couldn’t help but curse as he felt the darkness closing in.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, he felt himself flying through the air to land with a thud.
“Ughhh…” Cain barely managed to lift his head after falling face-first. His vision was hazy, but he could make out a familiar dark silhouette.
‘Is it Master?’
Could it be that Cain’s prayers had come true? Cain stared wide-eyed at the silhouette, but he soon shook his head.
‘They’re not Master...’
The dark silhouette was familiar, but it felt like it belonged to a stranger at the same time. In addition, their physique didn’t match Joshua’s physique. Moreover, the aura they were giving off seemed darker and grittier…
“The Dark Knight of Dennis River!”
Cain heard a scream piercing through the surroundings.
‘Dark Knight?’
“Ah!” Cain smiled upon realizing it.
He had only heard of the Dark Knight. He knew that the Dark Knight had appeared like a ghost at the Pontier Family and had been Icarus’ reliable support. When he had first heard that, he had been so relieved as he had been stuck in the gorge.
‘No longer…’
Even as his vision began to blur as he lost consciousness, he saw one last thing. A monster seemingly dripping with black smoke while wielding an enormous axe and a mysterious dark knight heading cutting through the dust as he towards him. And finally…
“I won’t let one of you slip again!”
“...!”
As the large-framed monster yelled, the enormous axe came whistling down, but then, the mysterious dark knight appeared right in front of them and wrapped his arms around Cain.
Swish, thud!
Cain felt a thud and lost consciousness.
“Wait, their arm…!” Cain’s eyes widened when he recalled that detail.
His benefactor was holding him with their left arm, but there was nothing where their right arm should be.
“To save me…” Cain bit his lips.
Cain’s benefactor had to sacrifice their arm just to save him. As a fellow swordsman, Cain was familiar with what it meant to lose one’s arm. Moreover, his benefactor was a strong Class A Swordsman.
Cain knew better than most what kind of effort his benefactor had put in just to reach their current heights, but to think that they would sacrifice their arm just to save him…
‘Goddamned it! Am I really this pitiful?’?Cain forgot his pain as he clenched his hands until his nails dug into his palms. His benefactor had to sacrifice an arm to save him, but he was lamenting about how he would die a virgin…
‘I have to take responsibility.’
Cain’s eyes glowed with determination as he stared at his benefactor’s back.
One should never become a burden to others. This was Cain’s principle.
“Please let me down.” Cain finally managed to force his mouth open. Of course, his voice sounded hoarse. It seemed that he had truly been asleep for a long time.
“I don’t know who you are, but I will repay you for saving my life. I know that it won’t be enough, but I’ll do my best to repay you…” Cain trailed off. He took another look at his benefactor’s missing arm and continued. “So please let me down.”
“...” Cain tilted his head while staring at his benefactor’s back. “Excuse me?”
He still didn’t receive any reply, so he couldn’t help but find it strange.
Since his benefactor managed to save him, it meant that his benefactor was definitely stronger than Cain himself. As such, his benefactor should have long noticed that he was already awake. Not to mention, he was talking directly to his benefactor.
Cain decided to take a closer look at his benefactor, and he quickly discovered the source of the unusual energy that had been getting on his nerves ever since he woke up
“Is that... your arm?” Cain stared and noticed that his benefactor’s arm wasn’t quite gone. Cain thought it was just a distinct, unique type of mana, but throughout the continent, there was only one energy that felt as sticky and dreary as this.
“Demonic power?” Cain muttered in surprise as the right arm of his benefactor dripped with a steady stream of smoke.
It had already been one month since Marquis Crombell started attacking the Pontier Family near Aiden Gorge, and Cain was currently being dragged away by someone in an unknown woodland.
***
“Greetings to the King of Reinhardt!”
“Greetings to the King of Reinhardt!
The host gave his greetings first, but the audience members were quick to follow him.
“As the Champion of the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle, you may issue a challenge to a current Master. Of course, you may also challenge the great Nine Stars and the Twelve Superhumans in our time-honored Reinhardt Masters’ Battle tradition!”
The crowd erupted into cheers.
A new powerhouse, a new king, and a new challenger!
The crowd was thrilled. In addition, the new King of Reinhardt was relatively young, and he possessed a handsomeness that even the elves—renowned for their beauty—would have to submit to him.
“Your Majesty! If you can, please disregard the politics and challenge an opponent you want to challenge of your own volition!” someone cried out.
Historically, the previous champions chose to challenge a Master who could potentially become a political enemy. After all, the challenge was an excellent opportunity for them to bolster their strength and weaken their political enemies with justification.
A challenged Master would have a month to respond, and if they failed to respond or if they declined the challenge, they would immediately lose their acknowledgment as a Master. The same rule applied to the Nine Stars and the Twelve Superhumans.
“Yeah! What’s the point of defeating another Master if you’re already a Master? I want to see what happens when you go above that!”
“We want Joshua in the Twelve Superhumans! We want Joshua in the Nine Stars!”
“We don’t expect it right away, so it’s okay to take it one at a time!”
The protagonist, Joshua, stepped up under the expectant gazes of the crowd.
“I shall issue a challenge.”
“Ooooh!”
The audience erupted into yet again another wave of cheers upon hearing the response that they had been waiting for from Joshua.
Lilith Aphrodite, the Master of Moon Gate, and the six Masters seated on the judges’ seat stared tensely at Joshua.
Joshua swept his gaze across the crowd and started. “Listen, people of Igrant! As the new King of Reinhardt, I proclaim…”
Gulp.
Quite a few people in the crowd gulped a mouthful of their own saliva as they kept their eyes on Joshua. They didn’t even dare to blink—they were afraid that they would miss a single word in the sentence that Joshua was about to say.
Eventually, Joshua’s voice, amplified through magic, filled the huge coliseum of Reinhardt as he said, “I proclaim the best out of the million mercenaries—Superhuman Barbarian—as my next opponent.”
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