The Swordsman Genius Returnee Even Swallows Immortality

5

Clang!

The sound of swords clashing echoed through the empty lot.

The ones clashing swords were a group of men.

On one side was Dante, a knight belonging to Banpellion.

On the other side was Bolanz of Glysys and his men.

They hadn’t intended to fight fairly from the start.

As proof of that, Dante had been fighting against multiple opponents from the very beginning.

Chivalry, my foot.

The Glycis knights had never treated Dante as a knight from the very beginning.

“Where did that smug attitude go?!”

Bolanz pushed Dante and yelled.

It might have been different if it were a one-on-one fight.

No matter how skilled Dante was, it was impossible for him to fight against numerous active knights all by himself.

As proof of that, Dante was barely blocking their swords, breathing heavily.

Dante had knocked down two of them, but there were still too many of them left.

“If you bring your master here and make him apologize, I’ll let you go!”

Bolanz provoked Dante even more.

He may have lacked swordsmanship skills, but he was top-notch when it came to provocation.

However, he wasn’t lying about being coveted by other factions.

Despite being exhausted, Dante fought back without showing any openings.

But the numerical advantage eventually led to a difference in stamina.

Dante fought well.

However, he couldn’t overcome his physical limitations.

Clang! Thud!

In the end, Dante’s sword was knocked away by Bolanz’s sword and rolled on the floor.

It was because he had given an opening while fighting another knight.

“Are you still going to resist?”

Bolanz pointed his sword at him.

It was quite a sight to see Dante, who had always stood before him, cornered like this.

“Even now…”

“Bolanz, shut up.”

Dante, who was gasping for breath, shouted.

“No matter what you say, I can’t tolerate you insulting Banpellion.”

There is no future for those who forget their favors.

This was who Dante was, old-fashioned and honest to a fault.

“Haha.”

Bolanz looked at Dante with pity.

“Then I’ll have to make sure you can never work as a knight again.”

Bolanz’s sword was raised.

The aura wrapped around his sword was aimed at none other than Dante’s wrist.

He intended to end the long relationship that had lasted since their days at the Knight Academy.

“Farewell.”

And then, the moment he swung his sword down,

Swish!

He flew up into the sky.

“Ugh, blergh.”

After flying for quite some time, he rolled on the floor and vomited.

The pain from his abdomen made it hard to think straight.

“Vice-captain!”

The members’ voices echoed.

Where Bolanz had stood a moment ago, a man now stood.

He had a scabbard on his shoulder like a club, and he picked his ear.

“I was just watching the kids fight, but they crossed the line.”

“Mr. Habel?”

Dante called out his name and was surprised to see him.

In the meantime, Bolanz staggered to his feet.

His insides felt like they were twisting, but he stood up, driven by anger at being hit by someone he had never seen before.

“Wow, you’re pretty tough.”

Habel praised him briefly.

His tone was clearly condescending.

That fact made Bolanz even angrier.

“Krok, this bastard! Does he know who we are?”

“You’re just a bunch of corrupt followers.”

“Co, corrupt followers? We’re the Knights of the Gleysis family!”

“…Gleysis?”

At that moment, Habel stopped for the first time.

Bolanz thought he was scared of the name Gleysis.

Bolanz’s eyes flickered.

“That’s right, Gleysis. Gleysis of the Five Great Families. Are you starting to get the picture?”

“Is Gleysis one of the Five Great Families?”

However, Habel’s reaction was different.

He responded as if it was nonsense.

“What are you talking about? Gleysis is a vassal family of Banpelion.”

The five families that had pledged allegiance to Banpelion 100 years ago.

One of those families was none other than Gleysis.

How could Gleysis be one of the Five Great Families?

Their lord, Banpelion, was in this state.

“Mr. Habel, how do you know that…”

Dante was surprised that Habel knew that fact.

The fact that Gleysis was a vassal family member of Banpelion was their sore spot.

That was why most of them kept it a secret now.

How did Habel know about it, and why was he saying it out loud?

“What the hell is this crazy guy saying?”

Bolanz, who did not know about it, made a bewildered expression.

Bolanz, who was not interested in Banpelion, was not interested in people from 100 years ago.

He didn’t even react to the now-forgotten name Habel.

“Ha.”

Havel exhaled very briefly.

He didn’t know what it was, but the current situation, after 100 years, felt unclear.

“Dante, aren’t you ashamed to hide behind such a guy…”

Volanths tried to raise his voice at the situation that was strangely turning.

“Be quiet.”

At that moment, Havel barked.

His suppressed voice fully contained an unpleasant emotion.

And that emotion was expressed as Havel’s momentum.

Thud!

He merely expressed his emotions.

However, that alone shut the mouths of Volanths and the knights.

They felt that their voices suddenly were unable to escape from their mouths.

Cold sweat began to drip down their spines.

They couldn’t even breathe.

In the direction they were looking, there was a giant beast.

A beast that humans wouldn’t dare to deal with.

It was looking down at them.

They weren’t the only ones who had become quiet.

The sound of bugs that could be heard in the surroundings.

The footsteps of a tiny mouse.

Even the sound of the wind.

As if time had stopped, everything became silent.

That sight had been created with just one of Havel’s shouts.

Dante gulped.

Just what was this sight?

Volanths and the knights’ eyes were rolling back, as if they were about to lose consciousness.

The momentum that had risen from Havel had blown away their minds.

A monster.

There was a monster in this place.

“Dante.”

Havel’s tone had changed to a lower one.

“Yes!”

Dante replied with a loud voice, like the man he had during his freshman year at the Knight School.

Somehow, it felt like he had to do it that way.

“I need to hear what happened between Banphelion and Glacies.”

Just like he had during his lord days.

Havel turned his body, along with his overbearing momentum.

Dante immediately followed after him.

Flop!

Ignoring, with effort, the sound of knights and valets collapsing behind him.

* * *

Havel heard everything that had happened from Dante.

The conclusion was simple.

During the absence of Havel and the Dawn Knights.

Glaysis and the other vassals joined hands and betrayed them.

‘These ungrateful wretches who don’t know how they got their meals.’

Havel’s eyebrows knitted together tightly.

The absence of Havel and the Dawn Knights was prolonged.

As a result, the one who rose to the position of the next house lord was his younger sister, Aria Vandelion.

However, at that time, Aria Vandelion was only fifteen years old.

She was too young and lacked the strength to lead Vandelion.

Because of that, there was rampant scheming among the vassal families.

‘And they eventually betrayed Vandelion.’

In the process, Vandelion, who had been deprived of a huge amount of wealth, ended up in this state.

Anger surged in Havel’s eyes.

He wanted to find those bastards right now and send them to the guillotine.

However, the traitors had long since become skeletons.

That fact was regrettable.

‘Even though I’ve achieved immortality and left the Demon Realm, there are still things I can’t do.’

It was a truly ridiculous situation that his targets for revenge were all dead, making revenge impossible.

“Excuse me, Sir Havel.”

At that moment, Dante called out to him cautiously.

“Just who is Sir Havel?”

He might seem foolish for being defeated so easily by Havel.

However, not just anyone can become a member of the Blazing Knights.

Regardless of Glaysis’ past, they are now one of the Five Great Families.

It was abnormal for them to be so easily carried away by mere momentum.

Havel looked up at the sky.

The world had changed.

A whole 100 years had passed.

Everyone knew him only as someone who had disappeared into the past.

Despite having escaped from the Demon Realm with such desperation.

The reality that there was not a single person to welcome him.

‘Perhaps I.’

On that day when he first regressed.

He might have died, just like everyone else.

“Haa…”

Havel let out a short sigh.

“I am.”

After a while.

“Havel.”

He introduced himself like before.

“A mercenary hired by Van Pelion.”

Just like the first time he introduced himself, he had no intention of revealing his true identity.

What is important to the family is not the glory of the past, but the strength to live in the present.

Dante watched him for a moment.

Dante could not understand his circumstances.

He also did not know why he had such lonely eyes.

He just felt that for some reason, he was involved with Van Pelion.

‘Why?’

He is an incredibly suspicious man.

However, to turn the game around, you need variables.

Havel seemed like he could become that variable.

‘One thing is for sure.’

Havel is strong.

At least, he is among the strongest people Dante knows.

In that case.

‘He might be able to turn Van Pelion into a storm.’

Van Pelion rising again is the wish of its master, Arthur.

As his escort knight, he must fulfill it.

Because that is the role of a knight.

He realized it after today’s events.

That he would never be able to climb the tower alone.

“Mr. Havel.”

So Dante called out to Havel.

Even though he had already accepted him as a mercenary.

He spoke with a sincerity that was different from how he had spoken when he was nervous.

“Would you climb the tower with me?”

Havel slowly smiled.

“Yes, I intended to do that from the beginning.”

This time, not for the empire, but for the family.

Have intended to climb the tower.

* * *

The Tower.

The place is called the Three Evils of the Beginning.

The third evil that appeared in the world.

It was a place where countless people climbed for honor and wealth.

The byproducts that emerge from the tower bring wealth.

And the climber gains the honor of fighting against the Three Evils of the beginning.

Those two things made many people climb the Tower.

Among them, the clans were mainly obsessed with the Three Evils of the beginning because of honor.

Honor is power.

Power brings strength, and strength brings wealth.

So they exploited this fact thoroughly and raised the Tower even higher.

The one who conquers the Tower conquers the world.

It is said that they are trying to strengthen their power with such rumors.

And in front of such a tower were Habell and Dante.

Because they left as soon as the morning came after talking last night.

“Can you come out even after entering the Tower?”

“Yes, that’s right. The same goes for other Evils.”

Habell made an absurd expression.

‘Was I born with all the bad luck in the world?’

For some reason, I felt like I had become a sage for a while.

Some people live locked up without being able to go outside.

Some people come and go as they please.

‘Life.’

Even if I live for over 100 years, life seems vain.

“Why are you like that?”

“No, nothing.”

Habell shook off his thoughts.

One thing for sure, unlike the Devil’s Palace, there was a city around the Tower.

A tower that appeared in the mountains.

The city cut down the mountain, centering on such a tower.

The name of the city is Babel.

It was a city that only used the by-products of the Tower.

The city was more active than ever.

A place where numerous heroes are born and die.

Some say that Babel is a city where the sun rises.

“Let’s go in.”

As Dante took the lead, Habell nodded.

The entrance to the Tower began to appear in Habell’s eyes.

‘It’s delicate. It feels like a complete artifact.’

If the Devil’s Palace felt like it was just left in the forest.

The Tower was like a delicate work of art, artificially carved.

In particular, the statues of angels and demons standing in front of the entrance created such an atmosphere even more.

That’s when Habell and Dante entered the Tower.

Just like when I first entered the Devil’s Palace.

A strange feeling passed through my body.

“I still can’t get used to this feeling.”

Havel raised his head, grumbling.

At that moment, a path made of blue bricks appeared before his eyes.

This was the 1st-tier, referring to the 1st to 10th floors of the Tower.

It was the Corridor of Trials.

[The master of the 10th floor of the Demon’s Palace has entered the 1st floor of the Tower.]

[The achievement ‘Challenger of the Tower’ has been registered.]

At that moment, letters suddenly lined up before his eyes.

“Huh?”

Those were the letters he had seen the day he left the Demon’s Palace.

I haven’t paid attention to it since Penril, but I didn’t expect it to appear again.

‘Is it related to ominous things, just like it was with Penril?’

Am I getting involved in something more troublesome than I thought?

“Havel.”

Dante’s voice rang out while Havel was contemplating.

Before him, human-sized rats were swarming in.

“Squeak, squeak!”

Giant rats even prey on humans.

They seemed to have decided to make Havel and Dante their meal for the day.

Dante was nervous because it was his first time in the Tower, nervously assuming a stance.

However, Havel tilted his head.

‘What the heck? These little rats?’

They’re too weak, even for the weak.