Side Story Chapter 62
Zero tensed up. The situation had become extremely dangerous.
The Martial God had said himself that he was currently unable to use his mana. Although he had no problem dealing with small fries, he had mentioned that he would be in trouble if he ran into someone genuinely strong.
Cain de Harry, the Combat Emperor Star, was one of the Nine Stars, the strongest people on the continent. If he wasn’t genuinely strong, who else could be?
“Are you serious?” Cain asked.
“Of course.”
“I don’t think you’re in your usual condition.”
“I knew it.” Joshua smiled bitterly. “You noticed it right away.”
Zero became extremely anxious when he realized his worries had come to pass.
‘I need to stop this,’ Zero decided. He prepared to step between the two men.
“Since it’s Berche’s Bloody Battle, we should do this on equal terms,” Cain said.
Joshua looked askance at him.
“In order to make this fair, I’ll also seal my mana and make this into a battle of pure strength. This’ll be a fight between two men.”
Zero brightened up, but his positivity didn’t last long.
“That’ll make Berche’s Bloody Battle less meaningful. If you go easy on me just because I’m the emperor, who will try to reach a higher rank? Social status, title, rank… These external factors don’t matter in Berche’s Bloody Battle. This tradition is a test of skill and skill alone.”
“Wait, what in the world are you doing?” Zero stormed up to Joshua, looking as if he was going to grab Joshua by his collar. “He offered to go easy on you!”
Joshua shrugged. “I’m the Martial God.”
“You said that you’re under restrictions!”
“Don’t use an excuse during a duel.”
“What did you say?” Zero frowned slightly.
“It’s genuine advice. If you lose, then you lose. What matters is how you react after your defeat. Use it to improve yourself or drown in a pool of despair.”
“Huh…” Zero stared at him, slack-jawed.
Of course, Joshua was also worried. It had been a while since he had been tense like this—his palms were actually sweaty. On top of that, this body wasn’t his in the first place; his real body was still trapped in the ice boulder. He had trained himself physically and accumulated his mana for decades. He even used to have a weapon that he was familiar with.
However, he had nothing right now. Technically, he was a phony who had infused his soul into another person’s body.
“Who are you?” Cain interrupted, eyeing Zero.
Zero realized that he and Lilith were still wearing their robes and bit his lip, mortified by his mistake.
“Can you give me the chance instead?” Lilith took off her hood and stepped forward.
All of the Imperial Knights of the Avalon Empire were male, so when a beautiful woman showed up, they inhaled sharply. Their jaws dropped to the ground.
“W-Wait. The Silver-Eyed Ghost Sword…?”
“Lilith Aphrodite!”
“The next pope’s daughter!”
The murmuring among the knights became louder. Although they were going through a civil war, they still had eyes and ears.
After Lilith had manifested the authority of a demon king, the Hubalt Empire had publicly declared Lilith Aphrodite a public enemy. Then the Empire had sent numerous paladins to hunt her down—that very fugitive had shown up in the Avalon Empire right now.
“I’ve been wanting to try fighting against the Combat Emperor for a long time.” Lilith smiled.
She chose to take the bull by the horn. The news was going to spread anyway, so she decided that she would choose when she would reveal herself. It was intended to prove her value to Avalon, but her eagerness actually caused a misunderstanding.
“Why is she with His Majesty?”
“Wait…”
“Are we thinking the same thing? The word starts with ‘in’ and ends with ‘-ty’.”
“But Her Majesty Iceline is right there, so unless she’s crazy…”
As a matter of fact, the story of Lilith trying to seduce Joshua whenever she had a chance was well-known across the entire continent.
“There are already three queen consorts, so why not four?”
“But all of the queen consorts had to get married at the time. Even considering His Majesty's personality, he would never get married for a fourth time.”
Iceline, the First Queen Consort of Avalon, had had a crush on Joshua for almost a decade. For Joshua, she had gone on a journey on her own to find a primordial stone and fought against the other Seven Mages to prevent them from taking the stone away.
In the end, she had to leave the Magic Tower, but that had not been easy either. According to tradition, a mage of the Magic Tower had to give up all of the knowledge they learned from the Tower and shut down their circle to leave. The tradition was strictly enforced due to the Evergrant con Aswald, the previous Royal Chief Mage and the Magic Tower’s eternal traitor.
Joshua was the one who had saved Iceline from that trouble. By offering Iceline the extraordinary solution of marrying an emperor, Joshua had helped Iceline leave the Magic Tower.
The Master of the Magic Tower’s reaction was more preposterous.
“I don’t know about becoming the Royal Chief Mage, but becoming the Queen Consort of the Avalon Empire? We have no other choice. We can’t turn the Martial God and the entire Avalon Empire into our enemies, can we?”
So said Thetapirion Whitesox, the current Master of the Magic Tower.
Cain looked at Lilith and shook his head. “…Once again, you’re causing big trouble as soon as you’re back.”
“I can’t turn my back on my friend in their time of need.” Joshua shrugged.
“I understand. That’s why people help you when you’re in need.”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something right now. I have no intention of making her fight on my behalf,” Joshua said.
Cain's eyes widened. So did Lilith’s.
“Come.” Joshua gestured at Cain.
“…Your Majesty—no, Master.”
“Don’t worry about me. Do you really think I’ll get beaten up by my subordinate?”
“I’m not who I used to be,” Cain said firmly.
“I’m also not who I used to be.”
“I think we’re talking about two totally different things…”
Joshua smirked. “You’ve become quite a big talker while I was away.”
A vein bulged faintly out of Cain’s forehead.
Cain dropped his sword on the ground and raised his fists. “Fine, then. It seems you don’t have your weapon with you, so I’ll also fight barehanded. I’m trying to fight fair, not with a handicap, so don’t worry.”
“A fistfight? That’s good.”
Close combat skills were Joshua’s specialty, and Cain was well aware of it. However, the deciding factor of this fight was going to be whether or not they could use their mana.
“It’s said that even a dog can recite a poem if he spends three years in the Academy. For the last decade, I’ve learned your close combat techniques, but I never thought I would show you what I learned like this.”
Cain released his golden mana.
Obviously, he was going to hold himself back to some degree. No matter how much Cain hated Joshua right now, he couldn’t beat his one and only master to death.
It was a fight between a fist covered in mana and a bare fist. In their first exchange, Joshua’s insides would probably be turned upside down and he was going to cough up blood.
“I’ll… hear your resentment after I release all my pent-up anger. I’ll gladly be punished for my wrongdoings,” Cain said.
“You’ve definitely become a big talker,” Joshua casually interrupted, his teeth bared in a relaxed grin. “When are you going to start?”
Cain gritted his teeth.
Everyone tensed up, certain that Cain would be victorious. Joshua was going up against none other than the Combat Emperor. How could Jousha defeat one of the Nine Stars without using his mana?
“…Since many spectators are present, I’ll hurt your pride a little bit.” The end of Cain’s mouth curled upward.
Cain’s fists were immediately enveloped in layers of his golden mana.
“If you manage to hit me even once, I’ll admit defeat,” Cain declared.
“I told you that you don’t need to go easy on me.”
“I should do at least much to hurt the Martial God’s mighty pride.”
“You’ll regret it,” Joshua lightly responded.
“…I’ll start.”
Cain disappeared, reappearing in front of Joshua in the blink of an eye.
‘I knew it…’ Cain thought as he saw how slowly Joshua reacted.. Without his mana, Joshua was only a little stronger than an ordinary knight. Although he was still remarkable, that meant nothing to Cain right now.
Cain’s fist rocketed ruthlessly toward his heartless master’s face. It was time to let go of all his lingering anger. He couldn’t leave this man anyway, and Cain had felt this way for his entire life. Joshua was his first master and Cain respected him with all his heart, so he would probably remain loyal to Joshua until the day Cain went to his grave.
So Cain was going to punch Joshua just this once to let go of his resentment and his remaining negative emotions.
‘It’s going to hurt a little, master,’ Cain thought.
Cain threw a straight jab that boomed through the air and leisurely observed its travel. He was sure that he was going to see Joshua’s face slam into his sturdy fist.
Cain was quickly rewarded by the sound he had been waiting for—a meaty smack, like a drum bursting. He immediately noticed the Imperial Knights boggling at them and shut his eyes. ‘Was that too hard?’ he thought.
Although it was secretly refreshing, he also felt sorry like a parent holding back their tears as they whipped their children’s calves.
‘…Wait.’
Cain enhanced his eyes. Strange. He should have seen Joshua getting punched, not the other Imperial Knights. He heard the sound, but why couldn’t he feel the impact on his knuckle? More importantly, why did the left side of his face hurt?
“Ugh!” Cain groaned.
Cain lay on the ground, staring dumbly at the roof. Blood dripped out of his split lip.
“What in the world…?” Cain mumbled.
“Cain, have you forgotten because it’s been so long?”
“What are you…?”
“The characteristic of my mana utilization technique,” Joshua clarified.
Cain’s jaw dropped to the ground.
“I may not have a single trace of mana in me, but I can still use mana for a short time. You know why, don’t you? I use the mana in nature, not from my mana hall in my abdomen.”
“Wa-Wait…!” Cain sprang up from the ground, propelled by a sudden feeling of being cheated.
However, their fight was long over.
“What did you say before? That If I manage to hit you even once, you’d admit defeat…?”
“This is cheating!” Cain yelled.
Joshua smiled mischievously. “Cheating? It’s you who didn’t remember it, so why are you blaming me? You shouldn’t have added a weird condition in the first place.”
“This fight is invalid! If you don’t let me restart the fight, you’re the true villain and a fraud, Master!”
“How dare you talk that way to the supreme emperor?” Joshua joked.
Cain unconsciously clenched his fists. He already lost the fight and knew that Joshua wouldn’t let him, but he still had to say it:
“I’m begging you. Let me just punch you one time. Please.”
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