Free Web NovelMuen moved swiftly through the woods. With the bonus from Shadow Step, his figure nearly became a residual blur, setting off countless fallen leaves.
Liya, pulled along by his hand, actually kept pace with him.
"Th-That..."
At the girl’s soft call, Muen slightly slowed his steps and turned his head, puzzled.
"Mm?"
"N-Nothing."
But the girl only bit her lip, glanced at the small hand he was holding, shook her head, and said nothing at all.
Muen lifted a brow.
Does she dislike me holding her?
Makes sense.
But there was no time to worry about that now.
Feeling the violent tremors coming from not far away, Muen’s thoughts sank.
In the end, the very scene he least wanted to see had still occurred—and in the worst possible way, right before his eyes.
The one behind this was even crazier than he’d imagined, and to pull it off to this degree, it was hard to call it the strength of a single person.
And when these blood-gorged maggots banded together, even if his cheap father personally returned to Belrand, he’d probably have to treat it with utmost caution.
"Truly, they think highly of me. Looks like my engagement with Celicia drawing near really did jangle their nerves hard."
But after all he had been through, he was no longer some soft persimmon to be kneaded by those trash.
Muen curled his lip in a mocking smile at the rest and quickened his pace.
"Classmate Muen!"
A dragon-blood horse’s whinny rang out. A carriage burst through dense growth and swept rapidly to Muen’s front. Fanny, holding the reins, felt the dreadful aura from not far away; her face went ashen.
"What on earth is happening?"
"A small problem, that’s all. Don’t worry."
"A small problem?"
Fanny froze for a moment. She looked up at the blood hue that seemed to shroud half the sky not far away, and at the terrifying shockwaves that felt like they’d tear you apart if you got even a little closer... You call that a small problem?
"There’s no time to explain—go first!"
"Go where?"
"The border! There are troops once commanded by my father stationed there!" fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Muen looked past Fanny.
Dragon-blood horses were specially trained, so although they were extremely restless from the aura nearby, they still obeyed orders. Six carriages in neat formation had all followed.
The others were on the carriages as well, faces likewise a bit pale. Yet when they saw Muen—clearly a duke’s son younger than they were—they suddenly gained a backbone.
Muen’s eyes flickered once. He pushed Liya toward Fanny’s carriage. "You all go first."
"And you?"
"I’m their target. To be safe, I’ll go alone for now—"
Boom!
Before Muen could finish, the sound of ripping gale tore through. Alarms roared in his heart. With no time for words, he hauled Liya back into his arms and sprang away.
A figure like a cannonball crashed down, kicking up choking dust.
The dragon-blood horses shrieked in terror, as if sensing some dreadful thing drawing near.
When the dust fell and the “thing” within was revealed, Muen’s cheek twitched hard.
"Pink Bear? That fast and you’re done?"
"Your grandma—if you’ve got the guts, you go!"
The Pink Bear was in utter disarray, her suit almost splitting at the seams. Hearing Muen, she kip-upped out «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» of the pit and snapped, furious:
"Do you even know who that is? Hell, I’m not even a Crowned. Lasting a few exchanges is already badass, okay? Go flip through history—those who weren’t Crowned yet could still face a Crowned—who among them wasn’t a heaven-blessed prodigy who could steer the course of history?"
"But you were too fast. Nothing you do is as fast as that."
"Nonsense—who says I’m fast? I’m definitely not fast, I—"
"He is not fast. Being able to stall me for two minutes, with his current bodily condition, can already be called a miracle."
A flat, nerve-racking voice sounded. Muen and the Pink Bear stopped bickering at once, their gazes turning grim toward the far edge of the crater gouged by the impact.
"The words ‘heaven-blessed prodigy’ on the you of the past fit perfectly. But the curse of the Leopold royal family turned that talent of yours into a prison."
Indra King still wore a single ragged cloth robe, only now it looked even more tattered than before. Several more wounds had appeared on the pressed-together palms—yet compared to the Pink Bear, who was practically spraying blood, he seemed utterly unscathed.
And in truth, so it was. Between a veteran Crowned and a powerhouse who could “stand alongside” the Crowned, there remained a qualitative gulf.
"Just thinking of it is pitiable, Oranriel. You once had the chance to surpass that first emperor. But now you’ve fallen to the point of needing this kind of thing to keep numbing yourself." frёewebnoѵēl.com
Indra King flicked his fingers and somehow produced a little “yellow book” that looked very familiar to Muen. He flipped through it quickly, clicking his tongue:
"Oh? Didn’t expect you to be into this. No wonder that one chose to leave you back then."
"Shut up." The Pink Bear’s eyes turned rare vicious.
"I don’t need your pity."
"Heh. A pity indeed. It seems this is already over."
Indra King smiled without the slightest ripple of emotion and idly crushed the little yellow book to powder.
He first glanced at the Pink Bear, whose eye corner twitched; then his gaze swept over those brats, and as he watched fear bloom on their faces, his smile deepened.
Finally, his eyes fell on Muen.
The smile faltered.
Because from this kid—whose realm was only Second Rank, whose mana wasn’t worth mentioning, whom he could crush with a single finger—he felt no fear at all.
"Why?"
Indra King asked in puzzlement:
"You should be crying and begging for your life."
"Begging?"
Muen drew a deep breath, gently soothing the girl at his side whose delicate body trembled, and asked back, bewildered:
"Why would I beg?"
"Because you’re going to die."
"Why am I going to die."
"Because I want you dead."
"Fair point."
Muen’s gaze stayed calm.
"But up to now, the ones—or the existences—who’ve wanted to kill me are many. As for you, I’m afraid you can’t even take a number."
Silence—absolute silence.
At Muen’s overbearingly bold words, even the Pink Bear, who always prided herself on being too arrogant for friends, couldn’t help secretly giving Muen a thumbs-up.
No wonder I hit it off with this kid at first sight. This level of posing—he’s got thirty percent of my power from back in the day.
"..."
Indra King didn’t grow angry; his eyes only sank a shade.
Staring at the little fellow before him whom he could crush with a finger, he inexplicably felt a trace of unease.
But since there was unease, the hidden trouble had to be cut off quickly.
Indra King raised his hand again. In an instant, even the world’s faint breezes seemed to halt.
Yet within this absolute stillness, everyone felt only the despairing pressure there.
As if they were held in someone’s palm.
"Die."
Indra King spoke softly, like issuing a divine decree.
Then he clenched his hand.
In an instant, crisp cracking sounds rang in the air, lines spreading like a splitting eggshell.
In the next brief heartbeat, everyone here—together with everything around them—would be shattered utterly.
But Muen’s eyes remained calm, as if he hadn’t noticed death’s arrival.
Because in that instant, within this absolute hush of death, there suddenly...
came the sound of a soft sigh.
