Ch-103
—
*
‘Darkan’s Afternoon’ had a rather unusual system for a restaurant.
You paid first, and then they prepared food corresponding to the amount paid.
Naturally, the higher the amount, the higher the floor you were taken to.
“We will treat you with our utmost hospitality!”
When I handed over one million gold, every employee on the first floor bowed their heads.
I was then guided to a window seat on the fourth floor.
The largest table there—twelve seats—and only the three of us sat at it.
“Thank you so much for choosing Darkan’s Afternoon. Is there anything you cannot eat?”
To the polite, sharply dressed waiter’s question, Hudson shook his head.
“No.”
“Then please enjoy our specialty juice made from ‘Leviathan’s Mucus.’ It’s our pride and a special drink served only to VIP guests.”
“…?”
Leviathan’s what?
The Leviathan was a monstrous being from the dragon race.
Which meant this was juice made from a dragon’s mucus.
After a moment, the server poured a white, viscous liquid into a tall glass.
…What the hell is this thick slime?
Even someone who claims they can eat anything would think twice about this.
Are they really expecting us to drink this?
While I was contemplating, things got noisy beside us.
“Wait. We never got that seat. Are you kidding me?”
“Lady Dersian… That table is only for guests who’ve spent over 500,000 gold…”
“Shut up. A lowborn dares talk back to me?”
“M-my apologies.”
“Move us to that table. Now.”
“T-That goes against store policy…”
Smack!
The server’s face twisted halfway to the side.
Clutching his cheek in shock, he stared blankly as the girl spat venom at him.
“You garbage. Are you insane? Do you think I’m doing this because I don’t have money?”
“S-sorry…”
“Cut the crap. Give that table to us.”
“T-that’s difficult—”
“Alt. If he speaks one more word, cut him down.”
“Yes.”
Shing.
The swordsman standing beside her pointed his blade.
The server’s face drained completely white.
It was utterly comical, yet my eyes couldn’t help but drift toward them.
‘Dersian?’
Dersian—Isabella’s family name.
…And that brat is the young lady of *that* Dersian family?
The very one that co-hosts the special-grade auction with Darkan?
Is that why no one nearby is daring to utter a word?
More importantly—
‘A copper fox mask…’
The swordsman beside Lady Dersian wore a copper-colored fox mask.
Exactly the same shape as the silver fox mask the 2-star transcendental used in the Abyssal Labyrinth.
【Lv. ♠】
But unlike the silver fox mask, what floated above this copper fox mask was not a number, nor a star—
but a *spade*.
That strange notation had been stealing my attention from the moment I entered this place.
‘He’s definitely a transcendental…’
He was clearly transcended, but it didn’t look like he’d transcended by consuming a star.
Yet the only method of human transcendence I knew involved consuming stars.
Unless he had advanced through a non-human pathway entirely—
Like saintesses—beings treated as non-human—
or like Maxim, who used a Demon Heart to reach level 10.5.
Did the Empire discover a method of transcendence beyond star consumption?
“…”
Hudson frowned deeply.
Balte as well looked displeased.
Such behavior at a place for meals was impossible for them to tolerate.
Especially Hudson—an aristocrat of Britain.
There was no way he could quietly overlook such rude conduct.
But because I was here, he was holding himself back.
Not wanting to cause trouble for me.
‘I wondered if this was an act at first…’
The scene was so absurd that I initially thought they were testing us.
But our arrival at this restaurant, and our decision to go to the fourth floor, had been completely spontaneous.
It wouldn’t make sense for the Dersian family’s young lady to be planted here in advance.
Meaning—
She really *was* just insane.
‘Do as you like.’
So I nodded toward Hudson, who was watching me.
Do whatever you want.
Whether he held back or not was his choice.
He—not I—was the one who received the invitation here.
“I’ll give you three seconds. Answer properly.”
“…!”
Lady Dersian suddenly began a countdown.
“Three.”
The server’s face went from white to blue.
He really believed he was about to die.
“Two.”
“W-wait…!”
“One. Alt—cut him.”
The copper fox-mask swordsman known as Alt was just about to swing—
“Shut your mouth already, you foolish brat.”
Hudson shouted.
Instantly, Lady Dersian’s expression froze stiff.
“…Are you talking to *me* right now?”
“Didn’t your parents teach you to be quiet while eating? Ah, I suppose you might not have parents.”
“Wh-what!?”
“Manners make the person. Become a person first.”
“Alt! Kill him! Kill that bastard!”
Lady Dersian shrieked.
…Hudson, were you imitating my way of speaking just now?
Shhhhk!
Clang!
The blade flying toward Hudson was casually deflected.
‘Not bad.’
My palm tingled.
As expected, that spade mark really was the symbol of a transcendental.
I had never clashed head-on with a transcendental without preparation before.
And if this copper fox-mask really *was* a transcendental, then he was leagues above someone like the 10.5-level Maxim.
Someone you cannot face without preparation.
Before climbing the Mountain of the Trainee, I would’ve used tricks like the Throne of Light instead.
But now—
‘I can take him.’
Now, I could face even a transcendental with nothing but my **raw, personal strength**.
Just like when confronting Greed and risking everything in a wager, or when shattering the Queen of the Desert’s mystique—
I had reached a level where my *martial power alone* was enough.
I wanted to see for myself how far my accumulated effort could reach.
Perfect.
A member of the Dersian family.
A transcendental with a spade mark.
The perfect opportunity to satisfy all my curiosity!
“…You must be tired of living.”
Gripping Skullbreaker, I slowly rose from my seat.
“…You must be tired of living.”
With Skullbreaker in my hand, I rose slowly.
In an instant, the copper fox-mask swordsman was already before me, thrusting his blade forward.
Shuaaa!
A razor-sharp stab aimed precisely at my throat.
KRRRRSHHH!!
I kicked him away the moment before impact, sending him crashing through the wall.
A margin thinner than a sheet of paper.
Had I not expected that attack, my head would have been severed instantly.
Anyone experiencing a transcendental’s speed for the first time would die before even realizing how.
But I *did* expect it.
There was no one alive with more experience fighting transcendental beings than me.
From the moment I entered the restaurant, I had been paying close attention to the copper fox-mask’s movements.
“…!”
Ignoring the horrified gasps from the crowd behind me, I dashed forward and leapt through the broken wall.
Suspended in midair, I gripped Skullbreaker with both hands as sword energy wrapped around the blade like delicate threads.
《‘Sword aura’s has manifested. Damage increased by 50%.》
《‘Skullbreaker’ increases Sword aura’s damage by 30%.》
A total of 80% increased damage!
Skullbreaker amplified sword aura damage according to my sword mastery, giving me nearly twice the destructive power.
Feeling my whole body’s muscles swell with force, I brought Skullbreaker down onto the copper fox-mask swordsman.
KWA-BOOOOM!!
The ground caved in, dust exploding everywhere.
The sensation at my fingertips told me the truth—
He was pulp.
His mask shattered, revealing a wrinkled, grotesque face beneath.
Shhhhk!
A presence behind me.
I caught the incoming blade with my bare hand.
Flesh tore, but it didn’t matter.
Yanking the blade forward, I caused the attacker to stumble.
I closed the distance instantly and smashed my forehead into his face.
Crunch!
His mask shattered—
and the face beneath was identical to the one I’d just pulped.
Another identical one.
Not just one.
‘Not one, huh.’
More copper fox-masks began surrounding me.
Eleven of them.
【♠】
And every one of them bore the spade of a transcendental.
But after seeing those two identical faces, I was certain.
‘Clones. A power gained through transcendence.’
Special authorities granted only to transcendental beings.
The copper fox-mask’s authority was clearly this clone technique.
But if they were an authority, these were not mere illusions.
They were *true bodies*.
A total of twelve true bodies had to be destroyed to kill him.
I had only killed one.
Eleven remained.
A thoroughly annoying power.
Still, if a transcendental ended in a single blow, that would be boring.
And even after seeing my Swordaura, he didn’t react.
Even as one clone died, his face did not change.
Like a puppet.
‘I’ll break all of them.’
What expression would he make then?
I was genuinely curious.
*
*
“Alt! Kill him! KILL HIM! What are you doing!?”
Lady Dersian shrieked from inside the building, looking down below.
Her escort—Alt—was an undefeated warrior.
A monster with twelve lives.
A berserker who did not fear death!
No one had ever claimed all “twelve lives” from him.
But the opponent before him was also a monster.
Just like Alt, he ignored all pain and charged like a mad bull.
“What… what am I looking at right now?”
“That’s not sword aura… is that Swordforce?”
“Swordforce? You’re telling me he can wield Swordforce?”
Everyone in the restaurant was a ruler of at least one city.
Even the knights attending them couldn’t close their mouths at the spectacle.
Swordforce!
Sword aura was merely energy layered onto a weapon to increase power.
But Swordforce was the ultimate realm—
energy given *form.*
Its destructive power was on an entirely different level.
The young lady of the Dersian family heard more murmurs from the crowd.
“What is that massive sword?”
“Skullbreaker. A giant-only weapon. Only the greatest warriors of the giant race can wield it.”
“Then is that man… a giant?”
“It seems likely…”
“He’s small for a giant, isn’t he?”
“Some giants can shrink their bodies at will. Any top warrior should have that ability.”
A top warrior of the giants?
What nonsense.
‘Why would a giant be here?’
Giants were a mythic race.
Creatures who completely overwhelmed humans, yet only a handful still existed in the world.
They were the strongest species on earth, self-proclaimed guardians of the Goddess.
Their power rivalled dragons—
and were said to surpass many dragons.
If he was a top warrior of such a race, his might needed no explanation.
It might have been a mistake, but the knights were convinced.
That Swordforce was the proof.
A badge longed for by every knight who had reached the realm!
“A top warrior of the giant race who wields Swordforce…”
“And he’s using someone like that as a bodyguard?”
“Wasn’t that Hydragon-drawn carriage outside also his?”
“…Who in the world is he?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Hudson.
Just who was he, to be able to use the greatest warrior of the giants merely as an escort?
And his attitude made it all the more absurd.
Slurp.
He was sitting comfortably, sipping the restaurant’s signature drink, not paying the slightest attention to the chaos outside.
‘Does he think winning is only natural?’
‘Such composure…’
‘Against the Dersian family’s berserker…?’
Of course, contrary to their assumptions, Hudson was sitting on a bed of nails.
He was barely suppressing his gag reflex, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
‘Who in their right mind would *pay* to drink something like this?’
The thick, sticky mucus of a Leviathan.
It tasted exactly the way it looked.
Hudson had tried countless foods across Britain, but this flavor was nothing short of revolting.
Still, he could not afford to lose his composure.
The dignity he displayed here was, after all, the dignity of his lord—Randolph.
