The Terminally Ill Young Master is the Mad Dog of the Underworld
Chapter 253

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Chapter 253: Finding Out What You're Curious About Yourself

"Seaweed head? Even the insults you spout resemble that bastard."

When Schelde chuckled, I scolded him.

"Stop obsessing over him already. Did you lend him money or something?"

If so, then I'm sorry.

"Haha."

Schelde laughed.

"Let's end the verbal sparring here."

I definitely didn't blink.

Yet in an instant, Schelde's sword that had 'appeared' before my eyes from far away came crashing down on my head.

It was heavy as if carrying the sky on its shoulders, and fast as a meteor falling from the distant heavens.

KWAAAAAAANG!

Nearly split in two, I deflected Schelde's sword strike and retreated.

'Damn heavy.'

Just receiving one strike made my grip hurt as if it would tear apart.

CHAENG CHAENG CHAENG CHAENG CHAENG!

Having gained momentum with his first attack, Schelde unleashed a fierce assault as if to end the fight right there.

Then the two swords danced and sparks flew.

'Strong. Simply and purely strong.'

Even though the techniques were familiar to my eyes, the speed was hard to follow, and the variations he had modified with his own insights were mixed in here and there, greatly shaking my defense.

"According to Gilbert, you looked like someone who had perfectly analyzed our sword techniques, but I suppose that was an exaggeration?"

Even at Schelde's taunts, I couldn't make any reply.

If I opened my mouth, I was under such great pressure that my mana circulation would be disrupted.

'Damn it all.'

Without a doubt, when it comes to the sophistication of techniques, I don't easily yield to anyone.

However, Schelde's martial prowess had crossed a wall I had never managed to overcome.

'In other words, there's absolutely no way I can win in a direct confrontation, but...'

If victory and defeat were determined solely by martial prowess levels, then the ruler of this continent should always be the place with the strongest warrior.

But has it ever been that way?

'Of course not.'

Of the ten opponents I've fought so far, at least two or three were stronger than me.

"Karzan, how long will you hide your strength?"

Schelde urged.

"If the power you possess is merely this much, I'm quite disappointed. How about asking for help from those around you right now instead?"

"Who knows?"

At this point, I had to make a decision.

'If I bring out all my abilities, the fact that I'm not simply an Intelligence Director of Grunewald but have learned various martial arts that only direct descendants can master will be revealed.'

In that case, I would at least need to definitely kill Schelde to eliminate all witnesses.

'Then I need to move locations first.'

Of course, I couldn't expect that bastard to follow obediently.

'There are risks in fleeing while luring him.'

He might not follow, and if he figured out that I 'wanted a quiet place,' he could use that against me.

'Well, I'll have to push myself a bit.'

I deliberately stepped hard on the ground to kick up a dust cloud.

KWAAAANG!

I intended to use the dust as a smokescreen to temporarily block everyone's attention.

"Cheap tricks!"

I activated the Light Star ability and momentarily greatly increased my mana output, then used the Dark Star ability to instantly erase my presence.

"!"

Even Schelde tensed up for a moment and lowered his stance...

'Moon Dance.'

Suddenly activating the Moon Dance technique, I used a moment of acceleration to outpace even Schelde's sight and mana sense, seizing his rear.

"!"

Faced with an unexpected technique he didn't know, Schelde's choice was to first create distance and focus on defense.

'I knew you'd react that way.'

The more masterful the fight, the more importance is placed on controlling distance and spacing, and reading the opponent's moves.

Therefore, retreating first when faced with an incomprehensible attack was an extremely rational decision.

'That was your mistake, Schelde.'

Rational means that judgment is also easy to predict.

I lowered my stance and dove below Schelde's center, then kicked off the ground and swung my sword toward the upper right.

'Lonely Wave Yearning Moon.'

The technique containing the essence of the heavy sword struck Schelde upward.

CHAAAAENG!

It was an attack with enough tremendous force to lift even a giant sailing ship above the water's surface.

Unable to withstand that power, Schelde's body was lifted into the air...

'Time to finish this.'

I momentarily set down my sword, overlapped both palms, and unleashed the first technique of the Ink Soul Sacred Shadow Technique.

'Celestial Chain Breaker.'

KWAAAAAAAAAANG!

Finally, watching Schelde get flung far away like an arrow, I grinned coldly.

"According to plan."

It was a surprise attack unleashing three techniques at once.

Since all of this happened in a single moment, I expected it would be difficult for the enemies in the chaotic battle to figure out the identity of these techniques.

"Stop right there, Schelde!"

I quickly chased after the flying Schelde, moving away from the battlefield.

"Well, well, you were dozing off but you're quick to follow at times like this."

I looked back at the griffin flying after its master and chuckled.

No matter how fast you are, you can't catch up to me.

"Brother Knut, I'm going to have a one-on-one match, so please don't let anyone cross over!"

An answer to my shout came back on the wind.

"Leave it to me!"

Reliable.

I looked at Schelde, who was already stabbing his sword into the ground to make an emergency stop.

'Not a scratch on him, damn bastard.'

In any case, the audience watching our fight had now greatly diminished.

'Venion, Skella, and...'

Who's the other one?

I frowned at the presence with an unfamiliar mana signature I was sensing for the first time.

"...So that's Karzan. I didn't know he'd be this strong."

The owner of the gaze whose identity Karzan couldn't determine.

He was Bazalo, the Godfather of the Red Mist Alliance, a second rate major organization that dominated Grunewald Duchy's underworld.

"He's definitely from Grunewald, but what exactly is his identity?"

The fact that this man called Karzan could compete with Schelde to some degree was astonishing.

Schelde, the 8th Branch Leader of the Black Society, was the only formidable enemy in this duchy's underworld that he couldn't guarantee victory against.

'...Excluding the Black Serpent Duke and the two elders, there aren't more than ten people in the duchy who could match Schelde.'

Intelligence Director Venion, the Royal Guard Grand Captain and Knight Grand Commander, the Special Operations Division Grand Commander and Security Guard Grand Commander, among others...

'Among the direct descendants, there's Verdzig, and if we broaden it a bit, maybe Ulbhild.'

With the level of Allenvert, who defeated Siena Valkenhain, or Young Master Karl's realm, it would be impossible to compete with Schelde to this degree.

'...Venion, when did you raise a subordinate of such caliber?'

The person from Grunewald who had clashed with Bazalo the most was undoubtedly Venion, the head of intelligence.

That's why Bazalo knew best just how endless an abyss that man's essence was.

'This is troublesome. For someone of that caliber to join the intelligence department.'

The Black Society's expansion was already giving him headaches, and he had business with Verdzig and Allenvert regarding the Pawelmoon and the Bisakino Brotherhood.

"Day and night are getting tangled, and the sunny side and shadowy side are intertwining."

In other words, he felt that an age of turbulence, or perhaps war, was approaching.

'...Still, if possible.'

Bazalo closed his eyes and gauged the situation of the battle taking place in the distance.

'It would be better if you won, Karzan.'

Wouldn't it be a bit anticlimactic if he died before they could even meet, when they had arranged to meet through Nagan?

'By the way.'

He harbored a similar doubt to Schelde's.

'It couldn't really be that Karzan I knew, could it?'

"Haha, well now."

Schelde brushed off the dust with a face that showed little shock.

"Did you want to fight freely away from others' eyes? Seeing you go this far, I'm even more curious about what you're hiding."

Schelde pointed his sword at me.

"What were those techniques just now? How can a mere subordinate of Venion freely use Grunewald's martial arts?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Aren't these martial arts that only direct descendants can learn?"

I replied evasively.

"You know quite a lot."

Come to think of it, to them, Grunewald is both the nemesis that defeated them 200 years ago and the great enemy they still dream of revenge against.

If they hadn't deeply studied Grunewald's martial arts, that would be closer to dereliction of duty.

'In that case.'

I created an invisible sword energy using the Dark Star ability, then attacked Schelde while freely adjusting the length of the sword energy.

KAGAGAGAGAGAK!

"Invisible sword energy? Where did you learn such tricks?"

Schelde frowned.

"This is a branch of assassination swordsmanship. It's a martial art that doesn't exist in Grunewald."

Of course it would be.

The Seven Stars of the Black Sea Technique, which became the foundation of invisible sword energy, was a martial art created by the Vitenfeld founding ancestor but had long been forgotten.

'Moreover, invisible sword energy is a technique I created with Ulbhild's help.'

However, like the Penetration Technique, this too seemed to be a technique that someone had already pioneered.

"Don't tell me Venion synthesized all his martial arts into you alone?"

Schelde threw various questions disguised as soliloquies, as if trying to probe me.

'You're making too many assumptions.'

That's not Venion-style martial arts, that's Allenvert-style martial arts.

However, I didn't bother to correct that misconception, and instead combined Scarlet Cloud Ghost Path and Flowing Cloud Thunder Fist to face Schelde with frenzied movements.

KANG! PABABABABAK!

Swords tangled and fists and feet mixed.

Each time, bone-numbing impacts penetrated into my body.

With each exchange of offense and defense, I feared the thin, sharp bracelet sword might break.

However, this sword was also strengthened with Ink Soul Sacred Shadow Technique.

Grunewald's mana cultivation technique is definitely not to be taken lightly.

'The problem is.'

It wasn't simply that Schelde was stronger than me.

'He knows it thoroughly. Grunewald's martial arts.'

My speculation that they had deeply studied Grunewald's martial arts over the years was true.

Schelde's pressure, responding as if he understood all the sword forms of Azure Sea Moon Shadow Swordsmanship, all the fist techniques of Flowing Cloud Thunder Fist, and all the footwork and movement techniques of Scarlet Cloud Ghost Path, was truly overwhelming.

'Wow, this is interesting?'

Under the premise that my sword techniques had already been analyzed, I had no choice but to attempt more bold variations to catch him off guard.

In other words, by understanding the enemy's countermeasures, I was developing my existing interpretations by adding depth and changes.

Even more so...

'I too have understood and analyzed your martial arts in the same way.'

Through my past life experiences and combat with Huten, I too had mastered countermeasures that were no less than Schelde's.

Therefore, our fight was like...

A fateful duel between two mortal enemies who knew each other's martial arts too well and had devoted their lives to developing ways to counter those martial arts.

"Venion picked up quite a tiger cub."

No, you bastard. I was just born this way.

...The situation where I couldn't argue back was quite frustrating.

"When did Grunewald observe our martial arts to this extent?"

At this point, I deliberately replied indifferently.

"Are your martial arts some kind of divine ultimate techniques or something?"

"Hah!"

Even if they were, there can be no martial art that is complete and flawless from the beginning.

Downward strikes are blocked by upward strikes, and thrusting movements are blocked by deflecting movements - that's the natural order.

Any martial art can be countered.

'That's why when you deeply train in martial arts, you must eventually go through a process of transcending forms and styles.'

And the same applied to Schelde.

"But you're slowly reaching your limit."

Intuition and the unconscious reacted first, and just from the look in his eyes, his movements, and the flow so far, I had already 'foreseen' the next sword technique to come.

Nevertheless...

"Your breathing is insufficient. It can't be helped."

Schelde was right.

The physical abilities and mana amplified by Light Star were slowly reaching their limits.

'Is he gradually pressuring me, hoping I'll make a big move?'

If so, the intention of maintaining this level of pressure without overexerting himself also made sense.

'He could have ended this exchange long ago if he wanted to.'

Then what was he conserving his strength for?

'Perhaps he wants to observe Moon Dance one more time.'

Following a certain premonition, I brought out Moon Dance once more.

"Hahaha!"

Schelde, laughing as if he had been waiting, spread a black curtain just like Huten's.

KWAAAAAAAAANG!

"Indeed, so this is how it works."

A black barrier that blocked all swords flying from all directions.

From within it, Schelde laughed and said.

"It seems like Shadow Flowing Phantom Sword with a few additional principles added? It's quite flashy, but once you understand the essence, it's not an unstoppable sword technique."

As I suspected. He had induced this situation to 'analyze' another technique he didn't know.

'How very scholarly of you, damn bastard.'

His attitude was as if he had placed me right in his palm, but...

'It won't go that way.'

I slowly, leisurely brought my fist to Schelde's black curtain.

"What are you doing now..."

I used the strongest technique that had once penetrated Siena's Black Dragon Scale Lock Armor again.

'Soul-Penetrating Black Moon.'

KWAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

The Penetration technique that passed through the curtain directly struck Schelde.

"Khuk!"

Schelde, his internal organs shaken, spat up a handful of blood.

However, even Soul-Penetrating Black Moon at full power couldn't completely destroy the protective mana surrounding Schelde.

"...Karzan, excellent. I never thought you'd hide such a technique."

Schelde, clutching his side, released the black curtain.

"Penetration technique? This too is hard to find among Grunewald's martial arts. Venion really taught you all sorts of miscellaneous martial arts..."

Schelde chuckled.

"...or rather, isn't this too coincidental?"

Was it because I had expended too much mana? I felt my fingertips trembling slightly as I replied.

"What do you mean by coincidental?"

"Seventeen years ago, the technique Karzan used to break through the wooden box's defensive barrier was exactly like this."

Schelde's hand, which had been touching his side, lifted up his clothes.

"The wound from that day is throbbing."

Then his abs, marked with a large burn scar, were revealed.

'...Could he be one of those caught in the explosion back then?'

If so, that bastard was a member of the execution squad that chased me 17 years ago.

'Unbelievable.'

I thought, and...

"Unbelievable."

Schelde also said.

"My head still denies it, but my instincts are telling me that you are definitely 'that' Karzan. How is this possible?"

"Who knows."

I trapped my rising excitement in a murderous smile and said.

"If you're curious, find out for yourself."

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

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