When Rex closed his eyes.
Memories as nightmarish as they were came flooding back.
Memories of powerless days.
That day should’ve been a day where flowers of laughter wouldn’t fade away.
It was the day his high warrior brother was returning home to Elvenguard after completing his mission.
Cheers erupted from all around.
The fact that all of it was directed at his brother made Rex’s heart swell with joy.
But that happy day didn’t last long.
In the middle of the night.
His brother began telling tales of heroism.
Claiming he was thirsty, Rex went to draw water from the well.
The perfectly fine house was burning.
His brother’s head was severed, dangling in the hands of someone.
He couldn’t forget that horrific face.
Of course, he also couldn’t forget the pale face of the monster holding his brother’s head.
Young Rex took out the knife he had, tears streaming down his face, aiming it at that monster.
The monster, covered in blood, with that pale face.
He knew he had no chance of winning, but still refused to back down.
At that moment, the monster raised its sword.
The priestess of the World Tree blocked the way between them.
He could remember the priestess speaking to the monster.
He remembered how it nodded in agreement and turned away.
Escaping the terror of death, young Rex let go of his knife and fainted.
When he awoke, he heard that the name of the monster that killed his brother was Transylvania.
A mere monster that had regained the intelligence of a human.
From that day on, Rex vowed revenge.
To fulfill the revenge for his brother.
To forget the nightmare of that day.
To slay the monster with the pale face and enact justice.
“Fifty years ago! Do you remember the high warrior you killed in Elvenguard?! I am his brother, Rex! I promised revenge while holding my dead brother’s corpse and gritting my teeth! I’ve been waiting for today!”
And now.
Rex stood before that monster.
Unlike back then, when he could only look up due to their height difference.
Now he was looking down instead.
He no longer trembled in fear.
He didn’t know what kind of guts had made him return here.
But today, he was determined to avenge the defeat of fifty years ago.
He planned to slay the monster wearing a human disguise.
“Hey. What kind of ruckus did you cause while I was gone… huh?!”
“You challenged my disciple to a duel! This punk will fight in my place!”
“…?”
But the thrown gauntlet hit the unrelated human square in the face.
The conversation’s flow began to go in a strange direction.
“A dueling substitute? So you think I’m not worth facing you directly?”
Rex’s teeth ground together.
He couldn’t forgive it.
Whether disciple or whatever, if he knocked that guy out, Transylvania would have to face him directly.
“No, what do you mean? Why should I fight in your place—”
“Ha! You look like a punk, just like a monster’s disciple. Like a petty thief.”
“Take that back.”
He got riled up for a moment but looked like the human’s fighting spirit wasn’t high.
“With that attitude, it should be easy for you to take my place in the duel.”
“No. Why should I fight?”
“I will teach you to the best of my ability, so don’t worry. The best weapon test is on the battlefield, and the best swordsmanship test is also real combat. You must engage in actual fights with a fierce enemy—”
“That’s not the problem. Why do I have to fight someone who came to get revenge on you? You clean up the mess you made.”
Moreover, the relationship between the disciple and Transylvania didn’t seem to be that strong.
While an argument was ongoing.
Rex kicked the ground in frustration.
“Forget about the weaklings! Transylvania! You come out here yourself!”
The one I want to kill is you.
The one who beheaded my brother and mocked me that day.
Rex shouted, trembling his fists.
“If it wasn’t for that filthy priestess who colluded with you that day!”
He should have finished it that day.
He should have killed that monster.
But everything went awry because of the priestess who let the monster go that day.
“Priestess? Collude? What are you talking about?”
“Stop playing dumb! The former priestess let you into Elvenguard and helped you escape, didn’t she?!”
If Transylvania had colluded with the priestess, everything made sense.
How his high warrior brother was suddenly ambushed and lost his life.
How Transylvania escaped the siege.
In fact, the priestess was deprived of her position the very next day after being held accountable.
She reportedly could never return to Elvenguard again.
Nowadays, she seems to be called a witch.
“Because of that damned witch! After I kill you, I’ll also finish her off and complete my revenge—”
“Hey.”
At that moment, Rex felt the air turn cold.
His heart sank.
Pushing Transylvania aside.
The human who had been lackluster finally stepped forward with determination.
Holding the gauntlet Rex had thrown.
With a fierce attitude, as if ready to charge at any moment.
The human approached Rex, slapping the gauntlet back onto his chest.
“The duel will be in three days. Each side will have one representative. The priestess of the World Tree will be designated as the judge.”
“….”
He pierced through the human’s face.
“If I win, you’ll retract that statement and apologize.”
Rage was bubbling up.
.
.
.
“Yeah, yeah. You could have flared up like this from the beginning. Just take your worries and toss them away. I’ll do my best to teach you the martial arts secrets. If you fail… um… Good luck. The chance of winning against a high warrior of Elvenguard without grasping the martial arts secrets is virtually nonexistent, though.”
“….”
He couldn’t hold it back.
He shouldn’t have let it get to him.
He should’ve dealt with it much more calmly.
“But why suddenly burning with such fighting spirit?”
“Shut up, just….”
The moment Yulia’s name slipped out.
And when he heard the words about beheading Yulia.
He couldn’t help but push the accelerator to the floor instead of hitting the brakes.
Of course, he didn’t regret it.
Even if he went back in time, he would probably make the same choice.
How could he just stand by while he slanders Yulia with nonsense?
“By the way, colluding with the priestess… I really don’t understand what you’re talking about. My memories are hazy.”
Did Yulia collude with Transylvania and permit the attack?
What nonsense was that?
Though it might be different now, at that time, Yulia was the purest priestess deeply worried about the future of Elvenguard.
If that guy was mistaken, he was thoroughly mistaken.
He was probably so consumed by revenge that he became blind.
Then he had no choice but to beat some sense into him personally.
Since he declared he would kill Yulia, allowing that option was out of the question.
First of all, he was enraged by that.
And if that guy really went on to kill Yulia, the social repercussions would be enormous.
The financial city, Petenburg would collapse, and a global depression would sweep the world.
Wars would break out and nations would be laid to waste.
If humanity divided before facing the final boss, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
If it seemed like Yulia would come to harm.
Even the slightest threat must be crushed right now.
“What’s the reason for setting the duel three days later? You might not even grasp the martial arts secrets by then.”
“You need a deadline to improve efficiency. And…”
And.
The commotion that happened here would soon reach Petenburg.
Though intentionally deciding to have no audience to prevent detailed information leaks,
just the scattered bits of information would let Yulia suspect that I was involved in this duel.
News would get to Petenburg.
It would take a minimum of three days for Yulia to reach here.
Meaning whether he succeeded or failed in grasping the martial arts secrets within that time frame, he had to leave anyway.
‘At this rate, I might get my tail caught…’
Ultimately, instead of preventing the worst-case scenario of Yulia’s death,
he chose a lesser evil allowing Yulia to pursue him.
“Alright. Let’s get this started. I have no time to waste.”
“Unfortunately, facing off against blood ghouls will have to wait.”
“…Not even a little bit of it, I’m not sad about.”
Since he chose the lesser evil.
There was no turning back now.
He had no choice but to stomp on the misplaced sense of revenge.
“Okay. Then I will begin now. The martial arts secrets of Dakia, created and developed by Dakia and myself. I will pass everything on to you.”
*
“This is insane. How do we handle this now?”
“What do you mean how? We must cancel the duel and punish high warrior Rex.”
“The duel is a personal freedom. If you stop it, it’ll cause chaos.”
In the conference room where the elders gathered.
The High Elves were puffing smoke from their mana-infused pipes, sighing endlessly.
They were on the verge of losing their minds over the sudden commotion.
On the day high warrior Rex returned.
Of all times, he confronted Transylvania, who had infiltrated Elvenguard and challenged her to a duel.
Not just that, but the dueling substitute was none other than Michael Jackson.
The hero who saved Elvenguard.
Was it possible for things to spiral out of control this dramatically?
“But you know… isn’t this an opportunity instead?”
“Opportunity? Opportunity for what?”
“Michael Jackson has been granted the authority to receive prophecies from the World Tree, a strategic asset for Elvenguard. If Rex high warrior ends up failing to control his strength and kills him in the duel, we might just prevent the leakage of the prophecy…”
“What kind of nonsense is that! Elvenguard will not betray its trust!”
“Come on, let’s be honest! You all know which side benefits the nation better!”
The conference room quickly descended into chaos.
Stopping the duel was problematic.
Not stopping it was also problematic.
While expelling Transylvania might seem like a solution,
The duel would simply take place outside Elvenguard; nothing would change.
“I heard the news! Stop the duel! Right now!”
“Priestess?”
Just then, the door was roughly swung open.
Priestess Mia burst in, gasping for breath.
She looked ten times more anxious than ever.
“Priestess! I completely understand your concerns for Lord Michael Jackson.”
“I also understand that you’re likely concerned about prophecies concerning his marriage recently…”
“I’m not worried about that guy!”
Frustrated, Mia shouted.
These old folks still hadn’t grasped the real situation.
However, having briefly observed Yoo Jin’s sword and seen the might of his magic, Mia was confident in her assertion.
“High warrior Rex is in danger! If he dies as a newly promoted high warrior, the losses will be immense!”
Winning would be Yoo Jin.
Rex had not even a fraction of a chance of victory.
She could say that with absolute certainty.
“Heh, high warriors don’t lose.”
“Rex has been evaluated as closest to grasping the Merida-style martial arts secrets. He didn’t fall behind at all in matches with human sword masters.”
“Even if Michael Jackson is strong for a mercenary, surely not.”
“Yeeh… ”
Nothing was getting through.
Mia shut her eyes tight, suppressing her anger.
In just one day, Elvenguard could lose its top power.
