Imperial Guard - Chapter 91

The day of the Yongbong branch’s main competition has finally arrived.

As expected of the tournament that currently garners the most attention on the continent, many nobles from all over the continent gathered in the empire and waited for the main match in the circular stadium.

“What on earth are you thinking, Fermat?”

Archduke Eric, who was waiting for today’s match in the noble section of the huge circular stadium, looked at his friend sitting next to him.

Currently, the power of the 2nd Princess Yuriel has reached half that of the 2nd Prince Simon.

Considering that only two months ago, Yuri wasn’t properly recognized as a member of the royal family, this was truly a huge step forward.

And the largest force that has recently come under the command of the Second Princess is the Blue Tower.

The nobles took notice of the relationship between Fermat and Eric.

It was widely known among the high-ranking nobles that the two were close friends.

However, Eric, the person involved, still couldn’t figure out why the Blue Tower supported the Second Princess.

“Don’t worry, Eric. I already know.”

“So what···.”

Eric beat his chest, frustrated at Fermat’s reaction.

Does this man even listen to what he says?

Today, I wanted to agree with the theory that most high-ranking wizards are crazy.

“Eric. Why are you angry? Wouldn’t it be a good thing if the Blue Tower Tower joins your forces?”

“Fermat…! That personality that doesn’t even listen to what people say, I must have told you to fix that. I said I was curious about the reason.”

I don’t doubt my old friend Fermat.

However, Eric was curious as to why he entered politics.

“Tsk. How can you possibly do politics with such lack of awareness? Ser Rael, I mean. Is this good enough?”

Fermat turned his head away as if he did not want to talk any longer.

I couldn’t talk about him in a place like this.

“Rael···?”

Eric frowned at the word Rael.

Why is that name suddenly coming up?

‘···What on earth did you do to this guy, Rael.’

Eric was curious about his skills in persuading Fermat, the owner of the Blue Tower, the most powerful of the Empire’s towers.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

At that moment, Rain, the leader of the Rain Knights, approached Eric.

“Rain. What’s going on?”

“The great swordsman of Jeongcheonmaeng, Mu Baek Daehyeop, wants to talk to you.”

“Ah, is that the innocent great swordsman?”

Eric also knows the Jeongcheon Alliance in the eastern part of the continent well.

The organization that was created with the goal of walking a certain path suddenly grew in size and swallowed up the eastern part of the continent.

Now, it was no longer a blind spot, but it could be called a nation.

“It’s been a while. The great warrior without white hair.”

Eric smiled as he watched the approaching man.

Innocence.

As the vice-leader of the Jeongcheon Alliance, he is a strong man who has reached the entry level of Sword Master.

“Your Highness, how have you been? I was worried because you said you had a chronic illness, but I am glad to see that you are in good health.”

“Hehe, thank you for your concern.”

Eric came back from the Elf Forest today to be purified of his magic.

Thanks to Rael, I found a clue to curing a chronic illness.

“As the vice-leader of the Jeongcheon Alliance, it is my duty to take care of His Highness the Grand Duke’s health.”

“Come to think of it, the leader is not attending this time either.”

“Yes. I’ve been focusing on training recently to overcome the wall.”

Moo-Baek looked at the knight behind him while talking to Eric.

Rain. It was a face he knew well.

“Rain. You’ve gotten stronger too. If you keep doing this, you’ll get ahead of me.”

“Thank you, Daehyeop.”

Rain bowed his head.

The Kingdom of Vanessa, the Kingdom of the Desert, and the Jeongcheon Alliance.

Among the three countries, Jeongcheonmaeng was the one with the most communication.

‘I’m particularly concerned about Nagor.’

The Kingdom of Vanessa was not a place to be concerned about, except that the people were a little strange.

But Nagorno-Karabakh was different.

Rain checked the seats where the warriors of the desert kingdom of Nagor were sitting.

In the Kingdom of Vanessa, Geomryong participated directly, and in the Jeongcheon Alliance, the vice-leader Mu Baek came.

However, there was only one high-ranking noble from Nagor, Princess Skaria.

‘Is it my imagination that it feels like a discarded item?’

Rumors that the defenses of the Millennium Empire Kamen had been weakened had already spread throughout the continent.

Rain was even more anxious because he knew that the desert kingdom of Nagor had an inferiority complex towards the center of the continent.

“More than that… the opening match will start soon. My son will be playing in the opening match.”

At that moment, Mu-Baek pointed to the stadium with a proud face.

“Oh, really?”

“A talented post-graduate student in her mid-20s. Haha.”

Moo-baek smiled kindly.

His son, Mujin, was already active on the continent as a warrior.

I had no doubt that if that child grew up and took charge of the Jeongcheon Alliance, it would become a great nation comparable to the Vanessa Kingdom.

“I’m looking forward to it. Who will be your opponent?”

“He’s quite famous. His name was Rael, I think? But our Mujin is also quite famous on the continent…”

“Tsk.”

“this···.”

Eric and Lane turned their heads at the same time at the word Lael.

In particular, Rain had a bitter expression on his face, as if he was unlucky.

“Sir Lane. Why are you doing that?”

“You’ll know when you see it. A monster participated in this Yongbongjihoe.”

Rain shook his head as if it was true.

He felt even more pitiful because he knew the face of the innocent son.

Of all things, I had to meet that guy from the beginning… Mujin was unlucky too.

“···monster?”

Moo-baek felt something strange, but soon turned his head away.

Because the game is about to start.

*

Rael walked into the stadium, feeling the festive atmosphere that filled the empire.

The crowd that filled the stadium spoke volumes about the expectations for this year’s Yongbong branch.

‘Why is it the opening game? I want to finish quickly and rest.’

Lael was the first match of this Yongbongji meeting.

I didn’t feel any pressure just because it was the opening match.

Since there will only be longshots in the round of 128 anyway, I was planning to just wrap it up and leave.

‘I also got a recommendation from Uncle Eric… but since they gave out the 128 spots based on recommendations, there’s too much trash.’

In particular, there were many cases where they included their own children.

Even a hedgehog says that its own babies are cute, so we expect that the talent will blossom at Yongbongjihoe.

‘If that was the case, you guys would have gotten stronger a long time ago.’

Lael shook his head and entered the stadium.

Waaaa …

As we entered the stadium, a huge cheer erupted above us.

I took a quick look around and saw that the large stadium was packed.

‘I’ve never seen that face before… Judging from the clothes, it’s Jeongcheonmaeng.’

Rael turned his head and looked at the opponent standing in front of him.

It was absurd to see them wearing military uniforms that were out of touch with the times.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Mujin of Jeongcheonmaeng.”

A man with shiny hair bowed his head and greeted me.

Judging from his shaved head, he seems to be a Buddhist.

“It’s Rael.”

“Oh… You are Sir Rael, one of the three great men of the Empire. I have heard a lot about you among the young people of Jeongcheonmaeng recently. As a follower of Gaia, I also wanted to meet you at least once.”

“···You’re so tight.”

“Is it not allowed for Gaia’s followers to have bald heads?”

“No, that’s not it… Tsk.”

Rael sighed as he looked at Mujin, who looked like he was from Shaolin Temple.

It was strange that there was a Gaia cult in Jeongcheonmaeng, and he didn’t like the fact that his name was famous in Jeongcheonmaeng.

This continent was unnecessarily trendy for medieval fantasy themes.

“It is an honor to meet someone like Rael from the first match. I hope we can have a good match without any regrets.”

“Well… okay. Thank you.”

Rael also bowed his head slightly.

As an intellectual, he would not act so rudely to such a polite person.

‘Yeah. I’m so happy just to this extent.’

Being human is something you have to learn.

After seeing someone like Kyle, I found myself nodding when I saw Mujin.

“You said it was Mujin, right? It’s the opening game, so I’m sorry. I can’t risk all my assets to watch you here.”

“All my assets···?”

Mujin, who didn’t know that there was such a thing as predicting the outcome, tilted his head.

Sling-

Within seconds, Rael drew his sword.

I just felt sorry for the polite guy, I didn’t really expect an answer when I said that.

“Ugh···.”

Mujindo immediately drew his sword.

He instinctively swallowed his saliva at the overwhelming momentum he felt before his eyes.

‘The name Samgeol is no joke.’

There had been more than one or two rumors about the young knight, so Mujin thought this one was just a rumor.

But, the article in front of me was real.

The rumor that he was called one of the three heroes of the empire and that he killed high-ranking demons alone is true.

“I will do my best, Sir Rael.”

Hwaaak-

A sword energy rose from Mujin’s sword.

As he entered the graduate school, his sword blazed like a sword on fire.

‘We have to seize the momentum.’

Mujin had to achieve outstanding results in this Yongbong branch.

As the son of the leader of the Mu Baek clan, he had to be recognized by the Jeongcheon clan.

“I will go, Sir Rael!”

Kuung-!

Mujin grabbed his sword and rushed at Rael.

Rael’s power is equal to or greater than his own.

The moment you lose momentum, you can’t win.

“Tsk, you even told the other person that you were going to do it. The world has really become a better place.”

You’d have to get hit on the back of the head on the street to come to your senses.

“The first form of the Thousand-Slayer Sword, Ipcheon.”

thud-!

Lael took a step forward and pulled out the sword of the mouth, and Mujin frowned when he saw it.

‘What kind of sword is that thick?’

Mujin gripped his sword tighter.

In the end, the only thing you can trust is the sweat and blood you’ve shed so far.

Phew-!

Mujin swung his sword filled with power at Rael.

He was also a highly anticipated follow-up index for Jeongcheonmaeng.

The power contained in his sword was by no means light, and in an instant it reached Rael’s neck.

‘You let your guard down!’

Mujin never missed an opportunity once he got it.

He swung the sword with the conviction that Rael would not be able to receive it.

“Huh···?!”

But at that moment.

Rael’s body disappeared from his sight.

“What is this!”

Mujin turned his head, cutting through the empty space.

It was to find the missing Rael.

“Ugh!”

At that moment.

Paaaaang-!

A tremendous shock was delivered to the area around Mujin’s mind.

With excruciating pain spreading throughout his body, Mujin’s body snapped like a bow and flew backwards.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

Mujin flew straight into the wall of the stadium and crashed down with a loud noise.

‘Did I adjust my strength incorrectly?’

Rael looked down at his sword and tilted his head.

Still, he seemed to be doing pretty well in Jeongcheonmaeng, so I tried to use Ipcheon’s Sword to deal with him… but it seemed that was too strong.

“You didn’t lose in one room, did you?”

Thud-

Rael turned around, looking at the tightrope walker pinned against the wall of the stadium.

Since I won the game, I planned to go get my match prediction dividend.

‘Well, if you bet on Lucas and Carlson too… how much money would that be?’

Lael left the stadium with a smile.

*

“Um, what is that···.”

Moobaek stood up from his seat and shook his shoulders.

His son was pinned against the wall of the stadium, but it wasn’t Mujin he was looking at.

‘A mature graduate…? No, it’s more than that.’

Moobaek opened his eyes wide as he looked at Rael.

Rael’s movements just now were simple.

He bent down at an incredibly fast speed, deceiving Mujin’s senses and then struck his forehead.

But, during that brief moment, even Mu-Baek missed Rael’s movements.

No matter how strong he was, that was a strength that surpassed common sense.

“That’s why I told you… that you’re a monster.”

Rain was equally surprised when he saw the duel just now.

He didn’t miss Rael’s movements, but he was impressed by their speed.

Mujin probably passed out without even knowing why he was hit.

‘Really… he’s a guy who doesn’t know how to do things in moderation.’

Is that the guy who couldn’t even pull out a sword a few months ago?

Rain couldn’t help but be amazed at the ridiculous growth potential.

“huh···?

“What is going on?”

“With a loud thud, the Mujin Sohyeop flew away···.”

“Is this the end?”

Even most of the nobles did not properly understand the situation.

That’s how fast and strong Rael’s sword was.

“The Three Heroes of the Empire, Rael… Wasn’t that just a rumor?”

The nobles looked at the man in the stadium as the words flowed out of someone’s mouth.

It didn’t matter even if I didn’t understand the flow of the conversation.

You can tell the result just by looking at Mujin stuck in the stadium and Rael already turning around and leaving the stadium.

Mujin is a warrior who performed good deeds under the name of Jeongcheonmaeng throughout the continent.

There were quite a few people who knew of his strength.

That is why they could not hide their surprise when they saw Rael.

“Mujin. Mujin… collapsed in one room… This is ridiculous. Really…”

Moo-baek muttered as if he was in awe.

But he knew too.

The strength and speed that Rael had just shown was not something that Mujin, who was just entering the graduate stage, could withstand.

“Consider it as bad luck. The great swordsman Mu Baek. Even Mu Jin So Hyeop is very strong for his age. Even in our knight order, there is no one who can match Mu Jin So Hyeop.”

Rain shook his head and comforted the innocent Daehyeop.

Mujindo was by no means weak for his age.

Especially considering that most of the finalists of the Yongbong branch were trash nobles who had advanced through recommendations from noble families, he was definitely not a talent who had fallen from grace.

I was just unlucky to meet that monster.

“Your swordsmanship is truly outstanding, Lord Lane.”

At that moment, a man approached Lane.

Rain turned his head as soon as he smelled the thick scent of sand.

“···Are you not Lord Namaha?”

Namaha, the commander of the knights of the desert kingdom of Nagor.

Rain swallowed his surprise as he suddenly approached her.

“Yes, Lord Lane. That knight, Lord Rael, is truly amazing. Did Lord Lane himself teach you?”

“···We are friends. But this article has nothing to do with me.”

“Is that so? It has nothing to do with anything···.”

The eyes of Namaha, the commander of the desert kingdom of Nagor, narrowed.

He recalled the face of the man he had met a while ago.

‘This is the article he told me to pay attention to. I must be careful not to interfere with this work.’

I was told to handle it myself if I could, but Namaha had no intention of becoming their dog.

Even if we hold hands for a little while, the final winner will be them, Nagor.

‘I will let you taste the wrath that has hardened in the dry sand.’

Revenge on those who rejected the desert and took the fertile land.

A dark magic aura rose from Namaha’s fist.