Chapter 800 – The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
The monsters that attacked the Mirphobos territory were annihilated in less than an hour.
The soldiers’ morale soared to the heavens after witnessing me slice through three minotaurs in one fell swoop. Thanks to the soldiers exerting themselves beyond their limits, the front lines were maintained. The Golden Rose Knights galloped across the front lines, subjugating monsters. It was also partly because Yuria stepped in from time to time.
I pulled out a chair and sat on the platform in the plaza, watching the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield. Thanks to using Complete Recovery, my body felt great without any fatigue.
I pondered the situation from a moment ago. It was a strange sensation I had never experienced before. How could I taste that sensation again? Would using the skill under the same conditions work? But for some reason, I had a feeling that even if I used the skill the same way, I wouldn’t feel the same sensation as before.
“Yuria.”
So, I decided to ask her.
“Yes, Master.”
“You saw me use a slash to take down three minotaurs at the same time, right?”
“You were magnificent. The straight slash was incredibly beautiful. Even an aura master who had just reached the master level wouldn’t have been able to dodge or block that slash.”
“If you were the opponent? Be honest.”
“I would have dodged before you even launched the slash. Your movements were too telegraphed. If I couldn’t avoid it, I would have countered and nullified it.”
I felt a little dejected. So, even that slash wouldn’t work on Yuria.
“But, before I swung my sword…”
I told Yuria about the sensation and the realm I had felt. Yuria wasn’t surprised at all.
“You mean that sensation.”
“You know about it?”
“Yes. It’s a sensation I feel sometimes too.”
“How can I feel that sensation again?”
Yuria looked troubled at this question.
“Well… it’s not a sensation I can feel at will. It’s a sensation I can barely feel after being in peak condition and concentrating to my limit. I felt it once about four months ago.”
“What’s the probability?”
“……0.8%? I think.”
“That’s doable.”
“……”
I gave up on feeling that sensation again.
Saying it was doable was just from Yuria’s perspective.
To feel that sensation again, one would basically need Yuria’s talent. It was realistically impossible for me, who could only use the genius time for 10 seconds once every ten days.
I decided to let it go right away. It was foolish to cling to something knowing it was impossible.
I have the Leisure Life app. Even without that sensation, I will steadily grow stronger.
“My lord. The cleanup is mostly finished.”
Floy and a few female knights approached me. Behind them, men tied with ropes were walking in a line. The female knights forced them to kneel on the ground.
“Kneel! Our lord will decide your fate!”
“Do not raise your heads without permission!”
“Those who show hostility will not be forgiven.”
The knights yelled at the prisoners. The prisoners just kept their mouths shut and lowered their heads.
“About 50 people, huh. That’s quite a lot. What are they?”
“They are the relatives of Baron Mirphobos, his retainers, and the surviving knights who followed him.”
I tapped my fingers on the armrest of the chair.
In the case of other nobles in this world, they don’t recklessly kill nobles when they win a war. They take them as prisoners and release them after receiving money from the noble’s other relatives or the kingdom. It was a kind of unwritten rule and custom. Of course, there was no law that said they had to follow it. It was just that it was more humane and profitable to do so.
If they didn’t have any relatives or the kingdom didn’t pay, they would often secretly sell them to slave traders without killing them. Noble ladies and noble daughters were sold for high prices, and nobles were sometimes sold as targets for venting anger.
‘Knights rarely become slaves.’
Most knights in this world are superhuman. Knights are essential to maintain combat power.
“Knights of Mirphobos. Are there any among you who will swear allegiance to me?”
“……”
It was silent. No one raised their head or opened their mouth.
“Answer me.”
“…We swore allegiance to Lord Mirphobos. We would rather die. We have no intention of becoming your knights.”
“Is that so.”
I thought they would say that.
Most knights were stubborn. Once they swore allegiance, they wouldn’t break their oath easily.
Of course, if you tempted them with money or power, they would easily fall for it, being human, but I had no intention of doing that with these guys.
‘They’re the kind of guys who might stab me in the back someday. And they’re male knights.’
I scanned them. There was only one. There was a female knight. But her face was like a soboro bread. I turned my gaze away.
‘I should sell the knights instead of killing them. And kill some of the nobles I don’t like.’
My gaze turned to the two young men sitting at the front. They glared at me despite the female knights’ warnings. The female knights looked at them with displeasure but didn’t touch them.
“Are they the sons of Mirphobos?”
“Yes, my lord. The man on the right is the eldest son, Elt Mirphobos, and the one on the left is the second son, Mondri Mirphobos. Since Baron Mirphobos has fallen in battle, the eldest son, Elt Mirphobos, will inherit the barony.”
Floy said calmly. I nodded and sneered at him.
“Congratulations on inheriting the barony. I’m jealous. I wonder when I’ll inherit my father’s title.”
“Baron Prukerus…! We will never forgive you! Everyone in this world will despise and condemn your treachery!”
The eldest son, Elt, shouted at me. The knights who were captured were moved by his spirit.
“Is your head full of piss instead of brain fluid? Don’t you know your situation right now?”
“Kill me… if you dare!”
Elt’s eyes trembled. He was afraid but still trying to maintain his pride.
“I was just going to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“I, I won’t yield to torture!”
“Your dignified attitude in the face of death impresses me. I will spare one of you brothers. So, fight each other. The one who wins will survive.”
I gestured with my chin. One of the quick-witted female knights cut the ropes that bound them and threw two daggers on the ground.
Their faces turned pale.
“If you both want to die together, I won’t stop you. I’ll give you three minutes to choose.”
The eldest son, Elt, gritted his teeth. He grabbed a dagger in one hand and handed the other dagger to his younger brother, Mondri.
“Mondri. Take the dagger.”
“B, brother…! You’re not really going to do this, are you?”
“One of us must survive to take revenge! Pick up the dagger and stand up!”
“Ugh, ugh!”
Elt and Mondri stood up and faced each other with daggers in hand.
“Here I come! Mondri! Do it right! Don’t blame me even if I kill you!”
Elt lunged forward with his dagger.
“Aaaah!”
Mondri closed his eyes tightly and thrust his dagger forward.
Thud.
Mondri’s dagger pierced Elt’s abdomen. Clang. Elt’s dagger, which had fallen to the ground, made a pathetic sound.
“B, brother?! Why?! Why did you do that?! You could have easily killed me!”
“…Because you are better than me.”
“There’s no way I’m better than you! I’m worse at studying than you, and the retainers follow you more! It would be better if I died! E, even now!”
“I believe in your hidden talent. What’s needed in this chaotic situation is power. With your talent, someday…”
“What a load of crap.”
Swish.
Mondri’s head flew off. I couldn’t bear to watch, so I directly swung my Fire Lotus Flying Blade.
“Y, Eugene Prukerus!! What is the meaning of this! Are you a man who doesn’t keep his word?! Are you even a noble?!”
“I told you to fight each other, not to act like a bunch of idiots.”
I raised my sword. Elt panicked and picked up the dagger that had fallen on the ground.
“Are you openly rigging the match? You deserve to die a hundred times over for doing such a thing…”
Swish.
Elt’s head fell off.
“You!! You despicable bastard!!!”
It was a knight. The one who said he would rather die earlier.
“Kill him.”
A female knight nearby raised her sword and beheaded him.
“Yuria. Send Baron Mirphobos’s head to Ention… to my father, with one of the soldiers.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Floy. Is the tally of the dead finished?”
“The tally is still in progress, but I can report if you want a rough estimate.”
“Report.”
“The number of slave soldiers killed is about 2,000, and the number of elite soldiers killed is about 300. There are 300 severely injured slave soldiers. The elite soldiers were treated for their severe injuries with potions, but the severely injured slave soldiers have been gathered in one place.”
“Leave the severely injured alone. I can’t waste expensive high-grade potions on slaves.”
It might be different in peaceful times. But in a war situation like now, high-grade potions were more expensive than slaves.
“What about the survivors of Mirphobos?”
“About 12,000.”
“Even after subtracting 2,000, we have 10,000 new slaves. That’s a profit. Prepare to return. Take all the assets in this city and set the buildings on fire. If the slaves resist too much, you can kill a few hundred of them.”
A few hours later, the Mirphobos territory was ablaze.
The area near the Mirphobos territory was all part of the Valt Kingdom. Even if I occupied this place, it would soon be taken away by the Valt Kingdom’s army. In that case, it was better to plunder the assets and burn the territory. The territory’s people were, of course, my slaves.
***
I returned to the territory.
The enhancement of Stormbreaker, which I had placed in the Light Ascension Realm, was finally complete. I hadn’t calculated it exactly, but it seemed to have taken about a dozen years.
‘I didn’t experience that time, I used the cheat of automatic progression.’
I took out Stormbreaker.
It was a huge spear over 2 meters long, but it had become more sleek and refined. The length was still over 2 meters. The color had changed. It was originally a luxurious blue, but now it was a silver-blue. I liked this one better.
Stormbreaker had five functions: Transformation, Restoration, Clone, Body Enhancement, and Combination.
‘It’ll take some time to figure out how it’s been enhanced.’
Since I had plenty of time, it was no problem. I took Stormbreaker and headed to the training room.
‘Oh, right. I need to enhance the blue dagger artifact.’
The Light Ascension Realm was working hard today as well.
***
Several days passed.
The blue dagger artifact from Mount Lulut that Yuria brought was enhanced faster than I thought.
‘Yuria suggested using a slave for the experiment… but it’s better for me to do the experiment.’
I have Complete Recovery and Absolute Mind. Mental interference doesn’t work on me in the first place, and even if something goes wrong and I die, I can revive through Complete Recovery. And if I use Complete Recovery, all status ailments are also recovered.
‘I’m the best for the experiment.’
I heard the usage from Yuria.
I held the blue dagger in my right hand and stabbed my left hand. No blood came out. But I could vividly feel the pain of being stabbed by the dagger.
[I will give you a fitting trial.]
‘A voice? No. This is a kind of will. Is it the will of the artifact?’
[If you overcome the trial, you will receive a fitting reward.]
I roughly understood. If I passed the artifact’s trial, I could become stronger as a reward. Why not just make me stronger?
‘Okay. What kind of trial is it?’
[Abstinence. I will paralyze your sexual function.]
‘No way. Fuck that.’
I pulled out the dagger that was stuck in my hand. One of the two jewels embedded in the hilt shattered.
[Is this a surrender of the trial? You will pay the price.]
Thud!
The sound of my heart exploding rang in my ears.
I collapsed weakly onto the chair.
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
[Complete Recovery is being used.]
“Fuck. I almost died for real.”
I was sweating cold. Living as a eunuch? Are you crazy? This is one of the many pleasure worlds, a world where I can freely bed beautiful women. If I don’t get to eat Yuria’s pussy for more than a week, I’ll go insane.
‘This trial… it probably doesn’t apply the same way to other people. It’s probably different for each individual. Since my sexual desire is strong, it gave me the trial of abstinence. Whew. Even thinking about it now, it was a terrifyingly scary trial…’
I called for Yuria. I explained the situation to her and handed her the dagger.
“Don’t use it if you can help it. If you fail the trial or give up, you’ll die. There are other ways to get stronger, so you don’t have to use it.”
I secretly hoped she would give up.
“……No, Master. I want to get stronger even a little faster.”
“……”
Looking at Yuria’s serious face, I couldn’t stop her.
I felt a sense of unease for some unknown reason.
***
The next day in the afternoon.
I was walking lazily down the hallway when Melissa rushed towards me in a panic.
“Master! Something terrible has happened! The head maid…, the head maid…!”
It had been almost two years since Melissa had been this flustered. My body instantly stiffened. Yesterday’s events came to mind. Unease took over my body.
“C, calm down, Melissa. What about Yuria?! What happened?! D, did she die?! If she died, I’ll use any means to revive her…!”
“N, no. She didn’t die. More importantly, Master, why don’t you calm down and get up?”
“Get up? What are you talking about? I’m standing up.”
“Master, your legs gave out and you’re sitting down. Here, take my hand and get up.”
I looked down and realized I was actually sitting down.
I took her hand and stood up. My head was in a mess. I did care about Yuria, but did I value her this much? Suddenly, the bond level came to mind. Maybe the bond level was…
“Take a deep breath.”
“Hoo. Hoo. Hoo. Okay. Tell me. What about Yuria? Did she die? If she died, I’ll use any means to revive her…!”
“She didn’t die. Don’t make such a fuss. The head maid has lost her memory.”
“……Really?”
It was better than dying.
“Do you think I would lie in this situation? It’s not a surprise or anything. The head maid has lost her memory. And.”
“…And?”
“She’s become weaker. She’s at the lower level of an Aura Expert.”
