# Chapter 109
—
Haerbin’s brow furrowed.
“When have we ever met before?”
Arthur laughed.
“Rather than *we’ve met*, it’s closer to *we will meet*.”
“Closer to *we will meet* than *we’ve met*?”
“Yes. Closer to *we will meet*.”
Haerbin let out a hollow chuckle.
‘What nonsense is that supposed to mean?’
Closer to *we will meet* than *we’ve met*?
Did that mean this assailant was from the future?
After a brief moment of thought, Haerbin shook his head.
‘Not just his rambling—this entire situation doesn’t make sense.’
While he had dozed off for a moment, some mysterious figure had appeared and slaughtered the soldiers of Dormund.
Even the family’s magicians seemed to have been cut down in the process; he had glimpsed figures in robes collapsed among the dead.
From Haerbin’s perspective, none of this made sense.
‘It’s only been a single day since Lord Ian ordered me to investigate the rear… and yet this happened?’
His narrowed eyes shifted.
Through the bone-chilling downpour, he could make out the blurred face of the assailant staring back at him.
Rain streaked down the man’s face, but the blood that hadn’t been washed away melded with his features, giving him the look of a demon.
‘Perhaps he really *is* a demon. An evil one, here to bewitch me.’
With that thought, Haerbin exhaled lightly.
*Whooom—!*
In that instant, a surge of blue sword aura shot up along his blade.
The air shifted, the temperature around them warping from the sheer presence of that noble aura—something only the finest swordsmen could exude.
Watching, Arthur burst into laughter.
“Sword aura… that’s right. You were a genius, weren’t you?”
At his words, sword aura also erupted from Arthur’s demonic sword.
Haerbin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Sword aura… you say?”
“Why? Did you think you were the only one who could wield it?”
“…So you’re not a demon after all?”
“A demon? Where did that come from?”
Unable to hide his unsettled expression, Haerbin muttered under his breath.
“You mean you’re not a demon trying to beguile me, but a real human being?”
Arthur blinked, then laughed loudly.
“Haha… amusing. A demon calling *me* a demon.”
With that carefree laugh, Arthur leapt forward.
Haerbin flinched, murmuring to himself.
‘For his opening strike… to launch himself skyward?’
No matter how skilled a swordsman might be, changing direction in midair should be impossible.
But at that moment, Arthur’s body vanished.
“…!”
Startled, Haerbin swung his sword instinctively behind him.
*Clang—!*
Steel collided with steel, sword aura crashing together in a burst of sparks.
Steadying his pounding heart, Haerbin asked,
“Are you a bloodline ability user?”
“Who knows?”
As Arthur answered, he awakened Tacen’s power.
Suddenly, Haerbin’s body was shoved back as though swept by an invisible force.
“Wh-what?”
Haerbin’s gasp betrayed his disbelief.
Never once since grasping a sword had he been overpowered in raw strength. Yet today, for the first time, he was forced back.
In that fleeting moment, Arthur’s demonic sword vanished.
“…!”
Relying solely on instinct, Haerbin jerked his head aside.
That desperate motion spared his life.
“Ohh… as expected, not so easy.”
Arthur’s mutter followed, and blood trickled down Haerbin’s cheek.
Staring at his own blood, washed away in rivulets by the rain, Haerbin’s throat bobbed.
‘Just what… is this swordsman?’
Was there truly someone within Arcane who had reached such a unique yet exalted realm?
At that moment, Arthur broke off their clash and leapt lightly into the air.
“Sir Raine—!”
Almost at the same time, the remainder of Dormund’s army arrived on the scene.
Roughly 150 soldiers.
Arthur swept his gaze over them and murmured,
“So Ian Dormund has gone north, hasn’t he?”
Haerbin snapped to his senses and answered.
“How… how do you know that?”
“If he’s not here, then of course he’s in the north, isn’t it obvious?”
“……”
“Hm… originally, I planned to kill him here today. A pity.”
At Arthur’s words, Haerbin’s eyes twitched.
“Kill Sir Ian Dormun? *You*?”
“Yes. That’s why I came here.”
“Do you not fear the consequences?”
“Consequences?”
Arthur smiled faintly.
“If I feared consequences, would I be doing something like this? Don’t you agree, Haerbin?”
Haerbin closed his mouth.
“……”
In the heavy silence, he gripped his sword once more.
At that moment—
*Fwoooosh—!*
An even nobler surge of sword aura flared along his blade, sharper, colder.
Arthur’s gaze narrowed at the sight, while Haerbin muttered,
“Normally, upon meeting a swordsman like you, I would challenge you to a duel…”
His words trailed off as he raised his sword.
“But you are too dangerous. Forgive me. From this moment, I face you not as Sir Haerbin the knight, but as Haerbin, soldier of Dormund.”
—
—
Arthur had recognized him the instant he laid eyes on him.
‘The swordsman who drove me into death at the very end.’
Unlike now, the Haerbin of the future had not been this talkative.
Taciturn, expressionless—he was a man who spoke with his sword, not his mouth.
That was why he had been such a difficult opponent.
Though it had been Cain and Ian who plunged their blades into Arthur’s chest, the one who had created that outcome was Haerbin Raine.
The sword of the one hailed as the genius among Dormund’s many knights, the “Colorless Knight.”
And now, here he was again, crossing blades with that so-called genius.
*Clang—!*
The weight, the sharpness—yes, it was as he remembered. But something felt different.
‘Is it because of the ten years of absence?’
Answering his own thought, Arthur nodded inwardly.
Ten years—for a mage, it was long. For a knight, it was everything.
And that made Arthur laugh.
‘It’s a pity I missed Ian… but killing Haerbin isn’t a bad consolation.’
Ian could always be slain later, once he reached the north.
But Haerbin Raine—this was an unexpected prize.
The man once called Dormund’s genius swordsman, the Colorless Knight, the one who had always stood at the frontlines.
The man who had personally slaughtered the most vassals of House Bayern.
Now Arthur had the chance to kill him.
‘How many people of Bayern perished by his blade alone?’
Ten? A hundred?
Perhaps over a thousand.
Counting even the direct citizens of Bayern’s dominion who had risen in rebellion against Dormund, the number might be even higher.
‘A man with more than enough reasons to die. Today, here, I will end him.’
Resolute, Arthur reversed his grip on his sword.
*Whooom—!*
The aura swirling around his blade carved circles of light in the air.
Watching, Haerbin cast a glance around.
‘Out of 350 men… only 170 remain?’
He let out a bitter laugh.
‘In that short span… this man’s sword has erased 180 lives?’
It wasn’t rage he felt, but disbelief.
After such slaughter, this swordsman was still unsatisfied, seeking more battle?
‘For what reason?’
But no—by now, reason was irrelevant.
This man had abandoned both the duty of a swordsman and his very humanity.
So Haerbin chose no longer to consider him human.
“All units, prepare.”
At his command, Dormund’s soldiers leveled their spears and blades once more.
“From here on, we are not hunting a man… but a beast.”
His eyes gleamed.
“First line, load—!”
At Haerbin’s cry, gun barrels swung toward Arthur.
“Oh?”
Arthur’s amused exclamation came just as the muzzles spat fire.
But he had already slipped away with spatial leap, evading the volley.
“…!”
A few soldiers gaped at the sight.
From the void, Arthur reappeared, diving straight into their formation—only for Haerbin’s sword to intercept.
*Chaaang—!!*
Their sword auras collided again in a deafening clash.
Pressing forward, Arthur asked,
“How did you know I’d leap in this direction?”
“Isn’t killing the snipers and gunners first the most basic rule of battle?”
Arthur chuckled.
“True. But the fact that you blocked my strike with that alone… hm. Yes. I really will have to kill you.”
With that, Arthur knocked Haerbin’s sword aside.
*Whirr—!*
His demon sword lengthened and swept toward Dormund’s troops.
*Clang—!*
Soldiers with shields blocked the strike.
Or so they thought.
“Uaaaagh—!”
Against sword aura, said to cut through anything, even the sturdiest shield was nothing but parchment.
Sundered shields split apart, and Arthur’s blade cut down several soldiers behind them.
Haerbin’s face twisted as he shouted,
“…Will you not stop?!”
He brought his sword down with a roar.
But Arthur’s blade was already there to meet it.
*Clang—!*
The impact of their colliding sword auras sent dust and wind whipping between them.
Two streaks of light tore through darkness and rain, exchanging blow after blow.
Watching, one Dormund soldier muttered in a daze,
“How… how could anyone step into that clash?”
The others silently agreed.
When the blade appeared, its wielder vanished. When the wielder appeared, the blade disappeared.
*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!*
In such chaos, none could aim properly at the assailant instead of Haerbin.
And so, the 150 remaining soldiers could do nothing but watch helplessly.
Until a faint groan broke through—
“Ugh…”
Startled, several soldiers turned.
Soaked in blood, a mage was gesturing weakly.
“Are, are you all right, Sir Mage?!”
“…Shut up, just… help me up first!”
Hurriedly, they lifted him.
Barely able to sit upright, the mage gasped,
“If you search that bastard’s robes, you’ll find a potion. Bring it here.”
One soldier quickly rummaged a corpse and produced a crimson potion.
The mage splashed it over himself and let out a ragged breath.
“Damn it… I really came close to dying. What’s that monster doing now?”
“H-he’s locked in battle with Sir Haerbin!”
“With Sir Haerbin? Who’s winning?”
“…That…”
“They’re even?”
“…To my eyes, yes.”
The mage let out a hollow laugh.
For someone to fight on equal terms with Dormund’s most promising six-circle knight… normally, such words should not even be believed.
But having witnessed the assailant’s strength firsthand, he couldn’t dismiss it.
‘Where the hell did such a man come from? And why attack here of all places?’
After a moment’s thought, he shook his head.
His motive wasn’t important now.
What mattered was stopping him—whether by killing or capturing—before he rampaged further.
His eyes gleamed.
“Listen well, all of you.”
The soldiers stared at him wide-eyed.
“From here on, just once—I will create an opening against that monster.”
His gaze sharpened.
“When I do, unleash everything. Yes… fire the \[cannon]. At that monster.”
The soldiers blanched.
“Y-you mean… fire a cannon at a human?”
“Why shouldn’t we?”
The mage’s retort silenced them.
Turning back toward Arthur, the mage muttered coldly,
“That’s exactly what cannons exist for—to take down monsters like him. Now quit whining and bring it here!”
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