The Swordsman Genius Returnee Even Swallows Immortality

16

The Glysys Meteor 3rd Knights Order.

Having received a rescue request, they were urgently heading towards the 4th stratum.

This morning, a knight belonging to the 4th Knights Order appeared on the tower in a disheveled state.

He said that a monster had appeared on the 4th stratum and that the Commander was in danger.

The Commander of the 4th Knights Order is Drathain, the youngest direct descendant.

Naturally, they couldn’t just leave him to die.

The 3rd Knights Order, who had received the rescue request, moved quickly.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves! That whale Calamity Beast we saw earlier seems to have attacked the 4th Knights Order!”

At that moment, one of the knights shouted out loud.

The whale that had just broken the ground and soared into the sky.

They judged that this whale was the culprit that had annihilated the 4th Knights Order.

It was a Calamity Beast of a size they had never seen, even in the upper stratums.

The moment they thought a great battle was about to take place and accelerate their speed.

What they saw in the Ice Snow Forest they had entered was the corpse of the whale.

“…It’s already dead?”

The whale’s cause of death was a puncture wound.

It was because the whale’s chest had been pierced through.

The 3rd Knights Order was bewildered.

It was a Calamity Beast of a dangerous size, by anyone’s standards.

Such a Calamity Beast had died before they could arrive.

Then who on earth?

Thud!

At that moment, they heard footsteps.

Even though it was the 4th stratum, this was the forest of the Calamity Beasts.

They hurriedly prepared for battle.

However, what appeared before their eyes was a familiar face.

“Hmph, hoo.”

The one who appeared, staggering, was none other than Drathen.

His face was a mess, with tears and snot mixed together.

There was not even a hint of Drathen’s usual valiant appearance.

Pria, the sub-captain of the 3rd Knights’ Order, rushed out.

“Lord Drathen, are you alright?”

Pria covered Drathen’s face first.

It was not a face that should have been seen by the knights.

It seemed that he had fallen into a great panic, likely due to the fear of death.

“The evil beast is dead. You don’t have to be so scared.”

She hurriedly patted his back.

However, Drathen did not stop trembling.

“Lord Drathen?”

His condition was strange.

No matter how depressed he was of death, the cause of his death was gone.

Furthermore, the Meteor Knights’ Order, who would rescue him, had arrived.

There was no reason for him to be this scared.

Thud――.

At that moment, another sound of footsteps was heard.

The one who appeared there was a white-haired man.

Despite being quite handsome, the man with a strangely faint aura looked at Pria.

Then he asked expressionlessly.

“Are you the Meteor Knights’ Order?”

“Yes, that’s right, but who are you?”

“I am Havel. I belong to the Van Pelion.”

Pria’s eyes widened.

Van Pelion was a family that had recently been making a name for itself.

Why were they here?

“Sub-Captain Pria, didn’t you hear about the friendly match at that time?”

Then, one of the knights whispered to her.

Only then did Pria recall.

It was about the friendly match that the youngest of the Glysis had caused.

“There was a problem during the friendly match.”

He calmly explained the situation.

“That evil beast suddenly appeared and attacked the Meteor Knights’ Order, so the Meteor Knights’ Order was annihilated.”

Pria’s eyes stared blankly at him.

‘Is he the one who put a hole in the whale’s body?’

However, his level did not seem to be that high.

“Anyway, it’s okay now. The other Meteor Knights’ Order members have arrived.”

“Oh, yes, that’s true. You’ve worked hard. I’ll take those people with me and quickly get out of the 4th stage.”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s that?”

“What I said is about the friendly match.”

He said so with a smile.

“Should we continue it?”

“Yes?”

Puria couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

So, I have kindly explained to her.

“The Sirius Knights have also come additionally, and Drathen, the person concerned, is alive. So, is there anything we can’t do?”

It was a ridiculous sophistry.

They were continuing the friendly match even though the 4th Knights were annihilated.

She couldn’t understand what he was thinking at all.

“Drathen, what do you think?”

At that moment, Drathen’s body trembled violently.

Only then did Puria realize after seeing that.

Drathen was afraid of that man.

“I, I, I.”

“Sir Drathen, it’s okay. We’ll escort you outside just like this…”

“We’ll continue the friendly match.”

However, Drathen declared it with his own mouth.

Puria’s eyes frowned.

She couldn’t understand how such a proud Drathen became so broken.

“Drathen said so. Of course, it doesn’t matter if the other Knights go back. Drathen can go up alone.”

Could they send Drathen, who was in this state, alone?

Of course, the answer was impossible.

They came to rescue the direct line.

If Drathen died, it would be a total failure.

“Then, we’ll go first. Since there are only two of us.”

Havel said so and turned around.

Puria couldn’t help but feel defeated.

‘Does he think that the two of them can defeat the 3rd Knights now?’

Of course, the Sirius 3rd Knights were stronger than the 4th Knights.

Did he think that the two of them could defeat them?

She had a bad feeling about this.

Super rookie Dante and the mysterious man.

It seemed like these two would cause a storm in Glaysis.

“Everyone, support Sir Drathen and move.”

A dreary spirit swirled in Puria’s eyes.

“It seems like we’ll have to go all out.”

* * *

After finishing his story, Havel immediately returned to where Dante was.

The Graisa members were nowhere to be seen.

They must have left.

It didn’t really matter.

The priority right now was the friendly match with the Knights of the Blazing Star.

‘They must have sensed something suspicious by now.’

Some of the members had shown their suspicions very clearly.

So they would definitely be moving at full speed.

So that they wouldn’t have any excuses when they lost.

“Dante, take this.”

“Yes.”

Havel handed Dante the ice essence he had gotten from clearing the trial.

Dante stored it away in his subspace.

“Did you tell the story well?”

“Yes, they accepted it.”

They had already experienced the 4th stage.

So they must know all the shortcuts.

“Havel-nim.”

Dante called out to him at that moment.

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

Havel understood what Dante meant.

“If I become a burden, please go on ahead.”

Dante’s eyes were sincere.

Seeing that, Havel found himself smiling.

“I learned from Havel-nim too. If it’s the 4th stage, I’ll somehow manage to clear it on my own.”

So Dante was asking him not to lose because of him.

He was basically telling him to defeat Glacies at all costs.

‘As expected, Banperion hasn’t fallen yet.’

Because they had such loyal knights.

In that case, it was only right to meet the knight’s expectations.

“Up to the 39th floor.”

Havel confessed.

“I’ll move on my own from there.”

Dante also deserved to see the end of this friendly match.

“…Yes!”

Dante showed his determination to follow him to the end.

Havel turned around.

“Follow me relentlessly.”

He would definitely win this friendly match.

* * *

The 4th stage, where the chill grew ever colder as the mask progressed.

Before long, there was nothing but ice instead of snow around them.

Above the ice mountains and plains in rows,

there were those who were speedily breaking through the 4th stage.

On one side was the Draco Knights, including Yuseong.

On the other were Dante and Habel.

The Draco Knights were certainly different from the 4 Knights.

They were swift, and they knew the way well.

Having experience in the 4th stage was a huge advantage.

And Habel and Dante were not falling behind either of them.

They broke through places they originally could not go through with extraordinary methods.

Although they had no experience, their speed was not slow at all.

Rather, it was to the extent that the experienced Draco Knights were astonished.

In such a fierce competition, the moment they arrived on different paths,

They both arrived at the 39th floor almost simultaneously without any error.

“Whew, whew.”

Dante gasped for breath.

All he did was follow Habel’s path.

And it was the same with the Draco Knights.

Shortcuts and experiences.

Plus, they had prepared countermeasures for the structure of the 4th stage.

However, even they had to run at full speed to barely make it on par.

Habel and Dante were too fast to be considered a duo.

“How on earth….”

Freya looked at the two with eyes of astonishment.

This side had struggled so much to shorten the time.

The fact that they arrived at the same time was unbelievable.

Are they really monsters?

It was the moment when anxiety became reality.

“Habel-ssi!”

At that moment, Dante, who had been catching his breath, inspired.

They had come this far.

His shout, filled with his plea to win, became the starting signal for Habel.

Kwaang!

He stomped on the floor and rushed out, causing dust to rise.

Habel began to distance himself in an instant.

“D, Deputy!”

Then, the Knights also inspired in dismay.

They are all exhausted.

The only one who could chase after Havel was Frea, the deputy commander.

Frea hesitated.

He was the deputy commander of the 3rd Order, but the command of this operation belonged to someone else.

“Deputy Commander Frea, go ahead.”

At that moment, Drathen spoke.

His expression was calm as he climbed the tower.

As if he had let go of everything.

“…Yes.”

Frea nodded and kicked off the ground.

Fortunately, he still had some stamina left.

Frea gradually moved away.

Meanwhile, Drathen looked back at Dante.

Drathen’s and Dante’s eyes met.

Dante cautiously placed his hand on his sword.

Drathen was the one who had sneakily attacked him from behind.

There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t do it again.

However, Drathen didn’t do anything to Dante.

“What about Vanpellion?”

Instead, he simply asked what he was curious about.

“What are you going to do with someone like that?”

He was obviously referring to Havel.

“Havel is just Havel.”

If he is Vampellion’s mercenary, then he is just a mercenary.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Even though he uses the lost Dawn Swordsmanship.

Even though he seems to have some deep connection to Vanpellion.

Dante had no intention of asking him until he spoke about it himself.

Just one thing, he knew for sure that he truly cared for Vanpellion.

Then Drathen chuckled.

“There is a tradition passed down through generations in Glacies.”

The power to see through the true nature of a person.

It is a special ability unique to Glacies that only one or two people per generation awaken.

Ironically, Drathen was the only one in the direct line, except for the Lord Commander, who had awakened the Insight.

With the power of that Insight, he had seen it.

“He is a monster. Not a human.”

Drathen raised his head.

“What is the point of a human fighting against a monster?”

That was why Drathen had sent Frea ahead.

He, too, will soon face reality.

And he will have a premonition of the result of the goodwill match.

If that happens, I can escape the tower by avoiding Havel.

You don’t confront a disaster.

The right thing to do is avoid it.

So I’ll run away to a place where Havel won’t notice me.

That was all Draetane could wish for.