Chapter 16

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 16

The weapon Rohan drew was a longsword.

It belonged to a Noxis soldier.

“I’m coming.”

BOOM-!

The ground where Kaisen kicked off caved inward.

Despite his enormous body, he was unbelievably fast.

Instead of dodging, Rohan raised his sword.

He wanted to experience Kaisen’s fighting style for himself.

Boom! Their swords collided, but a strange sound unlike the usual clash rang out.

“Ghk!”

A shock surged through him as though his wrists were about to be torn off.

Rohan’s body was lifted straight into the air before being hurled backward.

His back scraped across the ground, and dust filled his mouth.

“Pathetic. Are you made of paper?”

Kaisen mocked him while casually spinning the greatsword with one hand.

Rohan silently got back to his feet.

‘Heavy.’

Kaisen’s sword was not simply heavy.

Strength exploded simultaneously from his legs, waist, and shoulders.

Rather than swinging the sword, it was as though he drove it downward with his entire body.

Rohan waited for Kaisen to approach first.

“Hmph. What, did you get scared?”

As expected, Kaisen charged again.

This time, he swung horizontally.

Rohan rolled sideways across the ground to escape.

Whoosh-! Rather than cutting through the air, the sound seemed to tear it apart beside his ears.

The tip of the sword swept past his waist.

At the same time, Kaisen’s exposed leg entered his vision.

Rohan immediately thrust his sword toward the lower body.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

Before he knew it, the flat of Kaisen’s greatsword had dropped down and was protecting his leg.

‘He’s fast too.’

That area had definitely been open.

Just as Rohan tried to move, a fist like a bear’s paw flashed into view.

Rohan twisted his head, and the fist grazed his jaw.

Had it landed properly, it would have knocked him unconscious on the spot.

Kaisen chuckled.

“Did you know? People from the Ruki Mountains are pretty damn good at hand-to-hand combat too. To be recognized as an adult, you have to kill a bear with your bare hands.”

He seemed pleased that the spar had nearly ended with one punch.

‘There’s nothing to gain from running your mouth.’

He was freely revealing information that was practically one of his weapons.

Rohan wiped the corner of his mouth and organized his thoughts.

‘He uses swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat together.’

Curiosity filled Rohan’s mind.

It was his first time seeing a technique that alternated between sword and fist while controlling distance.

If he dodged the sword, the fist came.

It was troublesome, but if he knew about it, he could respond.

‘Can I turn it around and attack instead?’

Rather than thinking, he acted.

Rohan moved first.

He charged straight ahead, then changed his path and thrust diagonally.

If he could not win in a direct contest, then he only had to make use of his superior speed and slowly wear Kaisen down.

Kaisen narrowly twisted his shoulder and avoided the sword.

Then, as Rohan closed to point-blank range, Kaisen immediately brought down a foot like a bear’s paw.

Rohan twisted aside as though he had expected it and thrust his sword.

Swift Sword.

The crescent blade was drawn rapidly from his waist and shot toward Kaisen’s ankle.

Rip- The fabric wrapped around his ankle tore open in a long line.

“Hah! You’re playing petty tricks.”

It was only the fabric that had been cut... but for a brief moment, confusion appeared in Kaisen’s eyes.

Something had changed.

Kaisen planted his feet firmly on the ground and assumed a defensive stance.

Rohan grinned.

“Did that surprise you?”

“Bullshit.”

As Rohan slowly scratched at his pride, Kaisen’s face turned red enough to burst.

He looked like an enraged beast.

Kaisen charged first.

Swish-! Rohan nearly got cut by the fast thrust, but managed to avoid it.

When the distance closed, Kaisen predictably extended his empty hand.

His fingers grazed Rohan’s clothes, nearly grabbing them.

Instead.

Slash-!

Swift Sword.

The same technique deserved the same response.

This time, a red line appeared across the back of Kaisen’s hand.

“Your hand got cut.”

“Fuck! Are you fighting with your mouth?”

Kaisen huffed angrily.

Rohan’s mind spun rapidly.

‘Fast, but crude. His attacks are full of power, but straightforward. When I give up distance, he uses hand-to-hand combat.’

The biggest problem was...

Clatter.

Rohan dropped the longsword he was holding onto the ground.

Shing- Then he drew the one-handed sword from his waist.

‘His sword is overflowing with emotion.’

The corners of Rohan’s lips twisted.

Someone ruled by emotion could never defeat someone rational.

__________

“What the hell is this bullshit?”

When Rohan drew a new sword, Kaisen cursed.

Changing weapons in the middle of a fight?

And while Rohan was in the more favorable position at that.

It was an obvious act of disrespect.

“I’ll fight you properly now.”

Kaisen shifted the sword he had been holding with one hand into both hands.

The Ruki Mountain style that mixed swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat did not work on Rohan.

Then all he had to do was abandon it cleanly.

‘That crescent blade is annoying.’

The blade that stabbed in quickly when the distance closed.

He had dismissed it as spoils Rohan took after killing Meiwa, but it was clearly not ordinary.

Though clumsy, what Rohan was using was unmistakably the unique swordsmanship of the Nakandiya Tribe.

There was no need to be afraid, however.

He did not know when Rohan had trained Meiwa’s techniques, but all he had to do was deny him the distance.

Rohan was more agile than expected, but not so fast that Kaisen’s eyes and body could not follow him.

‘You’re dead.’

How long had it been since he last held his sword with both hands?

Simply forcing him to correct his stance showed how much Rohan had grown, but.

Kaisen still did not think he would lose.

To think he would try to face this greatsword with a mere one-handed sword?

After a single exchange, his sword would probably snap.

Rohan was better than expected, but this proved he was still an inexperienced brat.

Just as Kaisen snorted.

Rohan twirled his sword through the air and spoke.

“I’ll fight you properly too.”

A vein bulged at Kaisen’s temple.

At that moment, Rohan rushed straight at him.

‘Idiot.’

His movements were agile, but Kaisen was a seasoned soldier.

He had seen movements like these countless times.

Now that he had decided to focus on the sword, there was no need to look for openings.

He only had to swing at Rohan with everything he had.

If Rohan tried to block, his small sword would shatter.

Swish-! Kaisen thrust his sword along the predicted path.

‘...?’

But the sword cut through empty air.

Rohan vanished from his sight for an instant.

It was the first time that had happened, and Kaisen was deeply flustered.

Swish, clang!

Sensing movement from the right, he instinctively raised his sword.

At the same time, sparks flew in the air.

He had nearly been cut.

Just as Kaisen caught his breath after barely defending.

“Hmm...?”

His right flank burned.

He was bleeding.

The crescent blade was in Rohan’s left hand.

Kaisen ground his teeth.

“You’re good at petty tricks.”

“Are they only petty tricks?”

Rohan charged again.

Refusing to back down, Kaisen swung his sword in response.

In a straightforward contest of sword against sword, Kaisen had no confidence that he could lose.

Clang, clang, claaang-!

Several exchanges passed in an instant.

‘Fuck, what the hell is this?’

As he traded blows, Kaisen gradually began to feel something strange.

‘What kind of bastardized swordsmanship is this?!’

Rohan’s sword was not particularly special.

And yet, for some reason, it was incredibly difficult to block.

It felt like fighting several people at once.

‘How can it be this irregular?’

Back when he wandered from place to place, Kaisen had once fought someone who had learned swordsmanship from many different places.

At first, Kaisen had been pushed back, but he had ultimately seized the advantage.

Because irregular swordsmanship lacked depth.

But this bastard was irregular, yet every single strike possessed depth.

As though each sword strike had required years of training to produce.

‘I’m being pushed back?’

Me, Kaisen?

The man no one in the unit dared pick a fight with.

A soldier who had survived by crushing countless enemies on the battlefield.

And yet instead of simply blocking the sword of a fifteen-year-old brat, Kaisen kept losing sight of him.

“Damn it! You little rat!”

Every time Rohan vanished from his field of vision, his body burned.

The crescent blade lightly sliced his flesh.

Since this was a spar, most people would hesitate to actually cut someone, but this bastard had no such hesitation.

Eventually, Kaisen’s anger rose all the way to his head.

“Fine, let’s take this all the way.”

Crack.

The ground beneath Kaisen’s foot suddenly sank.

The pressure applied in an instant traveled up his calf like a writhing snake.

The strongest move he could unleash.

Condensed Burst.

“Kaisen, don’t!”

Creed, who had been watching the spar, rushed forward, but it was already too late.

The force that began in Kaisen’s legs moved instantly into his upper body.

And then into the tip of his sword.

Rohan’s charging figure entered his vision.

And.

Fweee-!

Light gathered at the tip of Kaisen’s sword as though being compressed.

Mana exploded in an instant, producing a tremendous recoil.

“Ghk-!”

With a strangled cry, Rohan was hurled far away.

He rolled across the ground for quite some distance before finally slamming into a tree and stopping.

Kaisen breathed heavily.

“Haa. Haa.”

“Kaisen, you bastard! Are you insane?”

Creed rushed toward Rohan.

Rohan twitched once, then went limp.

Clatter- The crescent blade slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Kaisen, who had been breathing furiously, gradually steadied himself.

“Ah...”

A groan escaped him as he came back to his senses.

Kaisen looked back and forth between his own hands and Rohan.

‘Fuck... what did I do?’

Was there any meaning in winning like this?

Against a mere fifteen-year-old...

His arms were covered in shallow cuts.

His pride hurt.

Not because of Rohan, but because he was ashamed of himself.

He raised his head and spoke to Creed.

“Squad Leader. I think we should count this as Rohan’s win.”

“What?”

“Using the secret technique was excessive... and I’ve got more wounds... Rohan was incredible too...”

Kaisen rambled incoherently.

Creed let out an incredulous laugh.

“Your neck.”

“Huh?”

“If this had been real combat, your head would’ve been gone before you even activated the technique.”

Kaisen touched his neck with a confused expression.

Something warm stained his hand.

Blood.

His eyes immediately widened.

‘When the hell...?’

Kaisen’s hand trembled faintly.

Just as Creed said, if this had been real combat, his head would already have been gone.

His gaze slowly shifted toward Rohan.

For some reason, Rohan’s small body lying there seemed incredibly large.

________

It was a night filled with the sound of crickets.

Kaisen lay on his bed with one arm beneath his head and glanced toward Rohan.

Rohan was still sprawled out and had not awakened.

He had charged straight toward an exploding blade and slammed hard into a tree, so it was only natural that he would not wake for a while.

Perhaps he had suffered internal injuries, because even after they poured potion over him, he had yet to open his eyes.

‘This is fucking embarrassing.’

Kaisen’s face burned as he remembered his fight with Rohan.

To think he had been toyed with by a fifteen-year-old kid.

More than losing the duel, he hated the fact that he had failed to control his emotions and even used his secret technique against Rohan.

‘Why was I so emotional?’

Kaisen was an emotional person, but he was different when holding a sword.

A certain amount of anger increased offensive power, but once it passed a certain point, it robbed a person of judgment.

Kaisen knew that better than anyone.

‘Don’t tell me he did it deliberately?’

He remembered how Rohan had pointed to his swords one after another while scratching at Kaisen’s pride, and the little comments he had thrown out during the fight.

He remembered soldiers on the battlefield who used their mouths to completely throw their opponents off balance.

Kaisen did not know whether Rohan had done it deliberately, but in the end, he had still been manipulated by that snake-like tongue.

Thinking that far only made him more embarrassed.

“Mmm.”

A sound came from Rohan’s cot.

His eyes had not opened yet, but judging from the groan, he seemed likely to wake soon.

Looking at Rohan brought the battle from earlier that day slowly back to mind.

‘I shouldn’t have judged and looked down on him based only on appearance.’

He had dismissed Rohan because he looked small and frail, but he should not have.

It had been arrogance and conceit.

For some reason, it felt as though Kaisen had instead learned something from Rohan.

Next came thoughts of Rohan’s swordsmanship.

Rohan’s swordsmanship surpassed that of an ordinary soldier. No, it was truly remarkable.

‘Especially that irregular swordsmanship.’

A strange sword style that belonged neither to Noxis nor Karnia.

Every motion of his sword had been fierce and sharp.

Normally, swordsmanship without a clear lineage was shallow, but every one of Rohan’s strikes carried depth.

For Kaisen, who had stubbornly trained only one style of swordsmanship, it was an impossible puzzle.

‘And that agility too...’

He had lost sight of Rohan’s movements more than once.

The back of his neck suddenly felt cold where Rohan had aimed his sword at the end.

Had Rohan wanted to, Kaisen would already be dead.

‘I wonder how far he’ll go.’

Rohan had clearly said he intended to kill Myuria, and beyond that, Reinag.

Could Rohan’s sword truly reach Reinag one day?

Reinag was the most monstrous figure on the entire continent.

A living legend. Whenever word spread that he had appeared somewhere, the surrounding area would be devastated.

‘Maybe one day... it really could happen.’

After facing Rohan himself, Kaisen began to think it might not be entirely absurd.

“Mmm...”

Suddenly, movement came from Rohan’s bed.

The moment Kaisen sensed Rohan regaining consciousness, he hurriedly shut his eyes.

‘Fuck, why am I...’

It felt like being caught stealing food from the kitchen behind his mother’s back as a child.

To hell with it, Kaisen simply pretended to sleep.

Even so, every bit of his attention remained focused on Rohan.

Rustle. Clink.

He heard Rohan gathering his swords, followed by the sound of him getting up.

‘He’s going out in that condition?’

What an unbelievable freak.

But Rohan’s footsteps gradually came closer.

Could those footsteps really be coming toward him?

For some reason, Kaisen’s heart began pounding.

“Get up.”

Damn it!

They really were coming toward him.

“I know you’re not asleep.”

“Yaaawn-. Smack. Mm. Rohan. What is it?”

Kaisen rubbed his eyes and sat up while pretending to be half asleep.

He could only pull off the act because he did not know that he always snored the moment his head touched the pillow.

Rohan looked at Kaisen as though he were pathetic and spoke.

“Follow me.”

“W-why?”

“Condensed Burst. You have to teach me.”

“...Ahem. Fine.”

Unlike during the day when he had mocked him, Kaisen obediently picked up his sword.

Rohan had earned that right.