The Swordsman Genius Returnee Even Swallows Immortality

12

The Astral Knights Order was divided into four units.

Drathen Glyce was in charge of the 4th Knights Order.

The youngest son of the Glyce family.

A promising talent in swordsmanship.

Thanks to that, he had become the captain at a young age.

However, he couldn’t hide his discomfort now.

Recently, one of the vice-captains of the 4th Knights Order, Bolanz, and his men.

They had been defeated by Dante alone not long ago.

He couldn’t imagine how much his brothers had laughed at him for that.

He was still grinding his teeth over it.

And now, Dante was here.

“Is Dante that bastard?”

Drathen glared at Dante.

Dante, the super rookie who’s been the talk of the town lately.

‘He broke through to the 3rd rank in the shortest time?’

But it was strange.

Because the Dante reflected in his eyes didn’t have that level of skill.

He was excellent, but only to a certain extent.

He didn’t feel as great as the rumors said.

“Ugh, s-sorry, Sir Commander. You can just ignore him.”

Bolantz tried to avert Drathen’s gaze, sweating profusely.

He knew Drathen’s personality well.

Drathen absolutely couldn’t stand to be made a fool of.

The rumor that the 4 Knights had been defeated by a single person was the thing he hated the most recently.

Bolantz still felt dizzy thinking about how they had been defeated.

However, the one Bolantz was more afraid of now wasn’t Drathen, but Habell.

That man was a monster who shouldn’t be messed with.

Just facing him made Bolantz’s mouth go dry.

He still vividly remembered how his mind had gone blank in front of his aura.

He didn’t want to experience something like that again.

“Bolantz.”

However, Drathen interpreted Bolantz’s reaction differently.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

Drathen didn’t know Habell.

To be exact, he didn’t sense anything from Habell.

The Habell reflected in Drathen’s eyes was at the level of Dante’s porter.

A porter who carried his baggage.

Therefore, Drathen didn’t even consider Habell.

So, in his eyes, Bolantz only seemed scared of Dante.

“I didn’t think there would be such a coward in my Knights.”

“Coward! That’s not what I meant…”

“Shut up. Don’t make me angry than I already am.”

Drathen shouted at Bolantz, not hiding his contempt.

If he had just gotten angry, it would have been better, but he hated the sight of him being scared even more.

Bolantz’s face turned pale.

“Everyone, wait here.”

Drathen turned around.

Then, he began to walk towards Dante.

Bolantz wanted to stop him somehow.

However, he was afraid of the scolding that would follow.

He didn’t want to lose his position as Deputy Commander of the Knights, which he had worked so hard to achieve.

“Nice to meet you. Are you Dante, the rookie who’s been in the news lately?”

While Drathen was talking, Dante checked Habell’s expression.

In the bar where they had their dispute with the Volants.

Habel had been quite heated about Glycis.

So he wondered if he would react.

However, Habel showed no particular reaction.

He was merely looking at Drathen.

That fact was even more concerning.

Dante decided to answer for the time being.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It’s an honor to see such a famous rookie. I heard you only recently joined the Tower, but you’ve already entered the 4th stage. That’s quite impressive.”

“You flatter me.”

As Dante responded modestly, Drathen smiled slowly.

“But what a coincidence. I never thought our times for entering the 4th stage would overlap.”

Just as he said, this was a coincidence.

An unpleasant one at that.

“Oh, and I apologize for my vice-captain’s recent rudeness. I scolded him severely.”

Drathen spoke jokingly.

However, Dante could clearly sense the sting in his words.

“He even had a falling out with Banpelion because of it. It’s not good for there to be such conflict between our clans.”

And now he was bringing up their clans.

Dante glanced at Habel once more.

But he still only watched in silence.

“So, what do you say? Why don’t we have a friendly match, representing our clans?”

“A friendly match?”

“Yes, a friendly match. A competition to see who can clear the 4th stage first.”

Dante was taken aback.

They were a knight order, while he was only a duo.

Anyone could tell who would have an easier time clearing it.

‘What a shameless provocation.’

This was a declaration of war under the guise of a friendly match.

Drathen clearly intended to use this to restore his reputation.

“I’m sure it would be a fair match, seeing as you’ve climbed the Tower so quickly.”

He let out a malicious chuckle.

If they accepted the friendly match, he would crush them.

On the other hand, if they refused, he would spread rumors that Dante was a coward for declining.

Truthfully, Dante didn’t care about the rumors.

He was only concerned about Habel’s reaction.

“That sounds fun.”

At that moment, his worst fears were realized.

Habel had spoken.

He laughed as if he was watching a puppy’s antics.

“Mr. Habell, this matter is…”

Dante hurriedly tried to mediate.

But it was too late.

They don’t even know where to sleep, and they’re standing there naked.

As the former master’s family, can I just leave it be?

“Dante, accept it.”

Dante stopped talking.

Habell accepted the offer.

That was the conclusion.

“But it’s not fun if it’s just a friendly match, right?”

Then Habell made a suggestion.

“Hey, little Glysys.”

“What? Little?”

“Last time, your vice-captain said something funny. If you want to apologize, the master should come and do it.”

Dratain’s eyes widened.

It was because a mere mercenary had crossed the line.

“So you’re saying you want another apology?”

Dratain interpreted Habell’s ‘master’ as himself.

Habell looked puzzled at that.

“Who would want an apology from someone like you, who doesn’t even have control of the family?”

But the words that came back were beyond Dratain’s imagination.

Dratain belatedly widened his eyes.

It was because he realized who Habell was talking about.

“You, madman!”

Despite his shouts, Habell picked his ear.

He was openly ignoring Dratain.

“If you’re talking about the master, it should be the master of the same family.”

He was referring to none other than the master of Glysys.

The Black Sword of the present era.

He was referring to Lebtrain Glysys.

A living legend, one could say.

Dratain was furious when he saw him mention his father, whom he respected the most.

His anger turned into murderous intent in an instant.

He intended to kill this guy who was making fun of his father right away.

“How dare you mention him!”

His hand went up to the hilt of his sword.

The murderous intent pouring out of him made even Dante freeze for a moment.

But Habell scoffed at the murderous intent that was as small as a rat’s turd.

At the same time, Habell’s aura changed in an instant.

Amidst his azure gaze, a flicker of fury ignited.

“Hey, who do you think you’re spewing nonsense in front of?”

Clang!

In that instant, Drathen’s bloodlust shattered like glass.

He couldn’t draw his sword.

A sensation surged through his entire body, forbidding him from unsheathing it.

Drathen was bewildered.

Cold sweat trickled down his face.

‘This, this bastard.’

Abel, witnessing this, retracted his killing intent.

There was no need to wrestle with a child any longer.

“Then I’ll take that as acceptance.”

With that, he turned away.

After all, the outcome was already decided.

“W, wait! We still need to discuss the rewards for when we win!”

At that moment, Drathen, regaining his senses, blurted out whatever came to mind.

But his words held no weight with Abel.

“Decide as you please.”

As if telling him to dream on about a victory he could never achieve.

As Abel departed, Dante, who had been observing the scene, left after him.

Left all alone, Drathen’s face flushed crimson.

Yet, despite the humiliation, he still couldn’t draw his sword.

That fact only made him see the more.

“What’s going on?”

“Is it a fight?”

“It’s the Meteor Knights.”

In the meantime, the climbers witnessed the scene and began muttering among themselves.

Their keen senses for bloodlust had detected the altercation.

“…Bolantz.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Drathen called out to Bolantz.

“You know that guy, don’t you?”

Bolantz’s face turned ashen.

“Tell me everything about that day.”

This match might not be as easy a victory as he had thought.

* * *

4th Order.

The Zone of Eternal Ice.

In other words, a frozen snow desert.

A place where the sands were covered in a blanket of pure white snow.

Amidst the vast expanse of the white desert, the occasional appearance of white stone pillars exuded an uncanny aura.

Like remnants of a civilization crumbled by the absence of human footsteps.

The pristine world upon the snowy desert resembled a world long since perished.

Crash—

At that moment, a portion of the snow desert collapsed, spilling sand onto the ground below.

It was because the glacier beneath the snow desert had split, forming a crevasse.

After the lightning zone where heavy rain poured, this was an unexpectedly frigid place.

It was a place where the tower’s malevolence was abundant.

The key to the snow desert was to avoid falling into the crevasse.

Underneath the crevasse existed numerous monsters.

They were always waiting for their prey to fall.

Their appearance was like antlions, the larvae of lacewings.

Climbers often referred to it as an icy hell.

Therefore, in the 4th stage, carrying an abundance of supplies was impossible.

Since the snow and sand swirled, it was easy to lose one’s way.

Some say

that those who perish in the permanent ice and snow die from the cold and hunger.

It is said that only those who can endure the passage of time can pass through.

In the midst of the seemingly endless snow desert

Habell and Dante were climbing the snow desert’s mountain.

“Excuse me, Habell.”

Dante called out to him.

Dante’s voice carried a hint of worry.

“Why, are you worried about losing?”

“No, I’m not worried about that in the slightest.”

Dante knew Habell’s abilities better than anyone.

A loss in the Friendly Competition?

He had never considered it from the start.

Dante’s concern stemmed from a different reason.

“What worries me is the reward.”

In the era Habell lived in, it might have been different, but now was the era of the Five Great Clans.

Among them, the Gleysis who wielded the Black Sword were known as a family of master swordsmen.

To receive an apology from Revarten, the head of the Gleysis household?

It was a thought others would be degraded to even contemplate.

Furthermore, even if he were to accept, the repercussions would be significant.

Dante was worried about that aspect.

“Don’t worry. The apology I intend to receive is for something else.”

“Something else, you say?”

Dante tilted his head.

If not that, then what?

Dante’s face hardened soon after.

‘Surely not.’

Dante looked back at Havel.

Havel wore a faint smile on his lips.

“You should apologize for betraying Banpellion.”

Dante realized his thought was correct.

Of course, Glysis would never apologize for that.

Of course, the moment they apologize.

It would mean admitting they betrayed Banpellion.

They wouldn’t apologize unless they were crazy.

But nothing is absolute.

If it has, he’ll surely make them apologize.

He was the one with such power.

And that meant it was the end for Glysis that day.

‘This friendly match.’

It might turn into something more absurd than expected.

“Haha, I’m looking forward to it. Right, Dante?”

Havel climbed the snowfield with a hearty laugh.

“Yes, yes.”

Watching him, Dante wished deep inside.

I hope Arthur doesn’t collapse in shock.

When he hears about this.