The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 246

Side Story Chapter 246

Kireua had already experienced what he could do with the power of Greed, so he knew the most efficient way to utilize his power when he was facing foes numbering in the tens of thousands.

‘I’m starting to understand how the man who was betrayed by both the Angel and Demon Realm could have fought millions of demons and angels single handedly.’

Kireua felt vigorous, unintimidated by the legion he was facing. He stepped forward, alone, and quickly drew upon his power—when suddenly, what looked like a black cotton ball popped up and wiggled in front of him.

“C-Coal?” Kireua sputtered, astonished.

Coal had died, and Kireua had watched it happen with his own eyes. It didn’t take long for Kireua to realize what the creature truly was.

‘It’s not Coal.’ Kireua thought. ‘If I had to put a label on it, it’d be Coal Junior.’

Still, Kireua smiled brightly. Although he didn’t tell anyone, Kireua had been thinking that it may be possible for a new ego to be created, considering how special the Greed was; it turned out he was right.

-Wowsie! It smells nice!

Kireua gave the black cotton ball a nostalgic look.

“Your name will be Coju.”

-Coju?

Coju—Coal Junior—spun around to look at Kireua. Coju was a lot smaller than Coal, but that was adorable in its own way.

“Let’s go, Coju,” Kireua said with a warm smile, gesturing to the enemy.

-Can I eat all that?

Coju looked up at him with twinkling eyes, drawing a chuckle from Kireua.

“Yes, you can.”

-Yay!

Coju grew bigger as it bounced up and down, although nobody except Kireua could see Coju right now.

However, those who were sensitive to energy flows could sense it—Cain and Issac noticed almost immediately.

“What in the world...?”

“...Your Highness.”

The two looked at Kireua, surprised.

Around one thousand enemy knights were charging toward Kireua, trying to intimidate the Avalon unit. These were fully armored knights on horses, so facing them alone without any armor was suicide. Human flesh was so weak that it would be crushed under a horse’s hooves. On top of that, those were knights capable of using mana, not ordinary cavalrymen.

‘...But that only applies to ordinary people.’

Kireua leaped into the enemy’s ranks.

Coju was swept through the knights as well, but, just like none of them could see it, Coju wasn’t able to physically attack them either. Nevertheless, Coju produced amazing results.

“Huh...?”

“W-Wait, why do I suddenly feel so weak?”

“I can’t use my m-mana!”

The knights shouted in bewilderment after Coju absorbed all their mana. Kireua could see Coju happily bouncing up and down with a plump belly. Even if the cavalry knights were in their full gear, they were just quick and sturdy puppets when they couldn’t use their mana.

“Ugh!”

“He’s t-too fast... Agggh!”

“W-We can’t keep up with him without our mana! Fighting the Martial God like this is suicide!”

Kireua was still disguised as the Emperor of Avalon, so the knights were already discouraged. Now that they couldn’t even use their mana on top of that, their morale was rock bottom.

“Intermediate Experts and lower, retreat! Change formation! Advanced Experts and above to the front!” Marquess Veder, the commander-in-chief of Hubalt’s reserved force, quickly came to his senses.

At least fifty knights had fallen off their horses, unconscious, after Kireua’s initial assault. However, there was still some distance between Kireua and the remaining knights because of their horses’ speed, they still had the chance to reorganize their formation.

But despite his decisive orders, Veder was skeptical about their chances of victory.

‘...Fuck! What kind of fuckery is this!’

No matter how hard he worked his mana hall, he could use only half the amount of mana he was usually able to wield. He had been a Master for over ten years, but he was reduced to using his mana like an Expert.

“What manner of witchcraft did you use, Joshua Sanders...!” Veder gritted his teeth. He was one of the ten marquesses in Hubalt and had been full of confidence before the battle because he was certain the rumors were exaggerated. Even the Martial God wasn’t exempt from the ravages of time, so he wouldn’t be able to fight like he had during his prime. On top of that, during the Martial God’s famous battle against an army of a million, he used guerilla tactics rather than fighting them head-on.

With those delusions on his mind, Veder had already been imagining the rosy future the awaited him after his victory. Once he eliminated the Martial God, everyone in Hubalt—no, in the entirety of Igrant would look up to him.

However, Veder had quickly been brought back to reality as soon as the battle had started.

‘How the fuck does a human fight like that?’ Veder seethed.

If he had found out that he was dealing with a fake Joshua Sanders, Veder would have lost it.

“Front ranks, draw up your mana!”

“Yes, sir!”

Around one hundred knights infused their mana into their swords. Considering their original level, itt was a laughable display, but their mana took the clear form of swords nonetheless. A testament to their training; each one of them was close to becoming a Master.

“See! Even witchcraft can’t defeat real talent! Have faith!” Veder encouraged.

“Ohhhhhhhh!”

Kireua saw the enemy quickly rearranging their formation, cheering. He came to a halt with a bitter smile.

“It looks like Greed can’t solve every problem,” he mumbled.

Mana was a knight’s tool of choice, so the ability to take away their mana provided Kireua with a great advantage. However, that wasn’t going to make him invincible, and the chances of Greed not being much of a help when facing people like Bel, the Battle God, was also high.

‘Greed is only effective in dealing with numerous, mediocre enemies. In that case...’ Kireua leaned close to the ground with a smile. ‘...I’ll have to make the best of it while I can.’

Kireua charged once again. He sensed that only around one hundred people out of the one thousand could still use their mana at an effective level. The most skilled among them had lost most of his power to Coju and could only fight like a peak-level Expert. People like them had no chance against Kireua, who was an advanced Master.

‘Magic Sword Level 5: Levitation Sword.’

Kireua couldn’t use a technique which actively utilized his sword because he had to maintain his disguise.

“Get into a formation and hold your positions!” Veder shouted as soon as he lost sight of Kireua. “Don’t let your guard down just because we’re dealing with one person! This is Joshua Sanders we’re facing!”

“Yes, sir!”

Kireua shortened the distance between him and the enemies from fifty to ten meters in a flash. He leaped high above his enemies and spread his arms like a bird.

“What!?”

‘...Blade Rain. Fly—carry my murderous energy and slay my enemies.’

“Ahh!”

“Wh-What in the world...?”

“My sword!”

The knights were shocked to see their swords slipping out of their grip. Those who could still use their mana succeeded in keeping their swords—barely—but there were only one hundred of them. The other nine hundred swords flew into the sky and pointed themselves at the knights on the ground they had once belonged to. Veder could only boggle helplessly at the sight.

Kireua lightly swung his sword. “Go.”

All nine hundred swords simultaneously descended in a torrent of steel.

“Gah!”

“Arggghhh!”

“My arms! My arrrrrms!”

Without their mana, the knights were helpless against the rain of swords.

“Ah, shit!”

Things were relatively better for Veder and the one hundred knights who hadn’t completely lost their mana. The falling swords weren’t infused with mana, so they could be parried if the knights used every bit of their strength. However, the swords traveled so swiftly that the knights couldn’t weather the barrage uninjured.

Despite the confusion, Veder didn’t miss the fact that Kireua was about to land not so far away from him.

“I’ll kill you!” Veder deflected one last sword and then leaped off of his horse. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

The Martial God wouldn’t always be invincible—and he was currently off his guard, so now was the only chance for Vedas to slit his throat. The veins on Veder’s neck bulged, a sign that he was using his precious, unrecoverable true mana.

Immediately, Veder regained his original power—in fact, he got stronger thanks to his true mana.

“Die!” Veder swung his razor sharp sword toward Kireua’s neck just as he landed with his back turned to Veder.

‘Wait, why is he smiling?’

Kireua turned around, smiling from ear to ear—but Veder didn’t get any more time to think about Kireua’s odd smile. Before Veder could realize what was going on, his decapitated head was rolling on the ground.