Future Knight

Chapter 52

‘If only Red Rabbit had been able to unleash an Aura Sword back then, I wouldn’t have lost my arm helplessly like last night…’

Kang Chan realized that, for Jayna’s revenge, Red Rabbit also needed the ability to manifest Aura like their Gigantes.

Lost in thought for a moment, Kang Chan slowly spoke.

“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”

“What is it? Just ask! I’ll help you with all my might.”

“Why can Gigantes use Aura Swords or Aura Blades?”

“That’s because of the mana condensed in the Maglight Furnace.”

“Maglight Furnace? Then, if I install this Maglight Furnace on my Red Rabbit, does that mean Red Rabbit can also use an Aura Sword?”

Cracksion, hearing Kang Chan’s words, looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“No? Doesn’t your Gigantes run on a Maglight Furnace?”

“My Red Rabbit is not a Gigantes. It’s a mechanical creation made through the science of Zaid. It operates using a nuclear fusion generator instead of a Maglight Furnace.”

“N-nuclear fusion generator? What is that?”

“It’s a very dangerous device. If mishandled, it could easily destroy not just a city, but an entire country… That’s why I told you not to tamper with my Zaid.”

“A-a whole country? Is that even possible?”

“Yes.”

Cracksion couldn’t close his mouth, overwhelmed by Kang Chan’s words.

Arteon and Elradian, who were behind him, also widened their eyes in shock.

“What kind of device could wipe out an entire country?”

“I didn’t create it, so I don’t know the specifics either. But with such immense power, my Zaid can operate for 50 years without refueling.”

“5-50 years!”

Cracksion was astonished once again by Kang Chan’s words that his Zaid could run for 50 years without refueling.

Even the ancient giants that could self-recharge mana struggled to operate for more than half a year without external mana replenishment.

Yet, the heart of Kang Chan’s Zaid, that mechanical creation, could function for 50 years.

Cracksion, who had created the Elven Knight, and Arteon, who had designed the Maglight Furnace for the Elven Knight, shook their heads in disbelief.

“How does it function for 50 years?”

“That’s impossible even for the latest Maglight Furnace.”

“The principle of a nuclear fusion reactor is likely difficult for you to understand. I only know it theoretically. Anyway, tampering with that device could obliterate a kingdom in an instant. Will you still repair my Zaid?”

Faced with Kang Chan’s words that a single mistake could threaten the existence of a kingdom, Cracksion couldn’t help but hesitate.

However, his hesitation didn’t last long.

He couldn’t give up.

To his eyes, the mechanical creation called Zaid looked like a masterpiece, where even the smallest screw held immense value.

“Hmm, could you give me the schematics of that Zaid? Mark the dangerous parts. Then I’ll install the Maglight Furnace avoiding those parts. But in doing so, we might have to use all the limbs from the Gigantes to make it work with mana.”

“Understood. So, we have a deal.”

When Kang Chan extended his hand, Cracksion grasped it excitedly and shook it vigorously.

“Do you have any transport in the meantime? There are ten newly made Elven Knights using the mithril mined from the Elf Forest. They have improved performance based on accumulated experience compared to the first batch. If you need one, I can lend you an Elven Knight in the meantime. How about that?”

Kang Chan was momentarily speechless at the unexpected offer of a Gigantes.

“…Are you really giving me a Gigantes?”

Cracksion waved his hand at Kang Chan’s words.

“Remember, I’m not giving it to you, I’m lending it. So, please use it carefully and return it. I will repair your Gigantes… I mean, Zaid, under the name of Gafeld von Cracksion.”

Having often watched Elven Knights undergoing mobility training, Kang Chan had always wanted to ride one.

Now, unexpectedly gaining a Gigantes made him very happy.

With a Gigantes, it would definitely be easier to exact revenge on the Green Elves.

Late in the evening, before leaving the Red Mars ship, Kang Chan printed the blueprints for Zaid and packed a few portable equipment and emergency space rations for long-term combat into a duffle bag.

He paused and looked at the bed.

The bed where he and Jayna had shared their first passionate experience.

Uncontrollable tears began to flow.

“Jayna…”

Kang Chan hugged the blanket, still holding Jayna’s scent, and cried for a long time.

After crying for a while and barely managing to pull himself together, Kang Chan’s eyes were swollen.

He had lived his life without shedding a single tear, but now, just thinking about Jayna made him cry.

This room had become a sacred place for him and Jayna.

It was a room he might not return to for a long time, but he vowed to return before he died.

Kang Chan wrote two letters and fell asleep.
One letter was written to Jayna, who had gone to heaven, and the other was to his friend Zikyon, who was supposed to return in ten days.

* * *

The next morning.

All the prepared Elves and Dwarves hurriedly set off toward Mine Kingdom to evacuate.

Among these refugees were Edelene and Jaizen.

“Princess, why are you doing this? We need to return to Belaren, right? Yes?”

“Quiet! If I say we go, we go. If we return now, when will we ever get to see the Dwarven Kingdom again?”

“But….”

The truth was, Jaizen also wanted to see the Dwarven Kingdom.

It was no exaggeration to say that the best weapons on the Arkandor Continent were all made by the Dwarves.

As a warrior, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t interested in seeing their weapon manufacturing.

However, Jaizen had a mountain of reports to urgently deliver to the Emperor.

Yet the stubborn princess showed no concern for the nation’s safety or his opinions.

Watching Edelene, who couldn’t take her eyes off Kang Chan while sitting in the evacuating cart, Jaizen sighed deeply.

‘Princess, why don’t you just admit it? You’re doing this because of him, not the Dwarven Kingdom… Ugh.’

In truth, Kang Chan’s appearance was beautiful enough to make even a man like him sigh.

He seemed to shine even more now than when they first met.

Kang Chan, who had been mingling with the Elves, didn’t seem particularly special in appearance, but that made it all the more terrifying.

He possessed a beauty that could stand against the Elves without falling short.

Humanity on the now-extinct Earth had a near-obsessive attachment to beauty.

Their obsession with becoming beautiful was almost fanatical, to the point where, if they had money, they wouldn’t hesitate to go under the knife all over their bodies.

This madness didn’t die out even after Earth’s destruction, and with the advent of the space exploration era, advancements in genetic engineering led parents to manipulate their children’s genes to meet their beauty standards.

Children born this way all had the looks of what used to be considered handsome or beautiful in the past.

From that point, the standard of beauty began to change.

Rather than appearance, personality or character became the measure of a person’s charm.

So how beautiful must Kang Chan’s appearance have been, created within such obsessive standards?

To human eyes, his looks were undeniably beautiful, even when compared to the Elves.

Edelene couldn’t take her eyes off such a Kang Chan.

It wasn’t just his appearance that captivated her.

The incredible sight of him forcibly summoning back the Phoenix last night was a huge shock, but even more shocking was seeing him cry.

She was astounded by the fact that a man could look so beautiful while crying.

On the Arkandor Continent, men considered it extremely shameful to cry in front of women, so Edelene had never seen a man cry, except for boys.

Of course, Kang Chan wasn’t a man prone to tears.

During his service on the Red Mars, he had never once cried.

He had lived not knowing what tears were.

Jayna’s death was such a painful ordeal and unbearable agony that even he shed tears.

“Ugh….”

Edelene sighed continuously, the pitiful sight of him crying against the massive Gigantes etched vividly in her mind.

The reason she sighed so deeply was that she couldn’t figure out what to do with her feelings.

She was used to getting what she wanted, using any means necessary.

She had the power to do so.

But Kang Chan was an exception.

Her power and background were of no use to him.

Perhaps because he lived with the Elves, he seemed to have no desire for power or wealth.

Moreover, he was an incredible swordsman whose skills surpassed even Jaizen, who was known as a genius within the Empire, and the owner of a powerful Gigantes that could forcibly summon a Phoenix. He was also friends with that terrifying Dragon.

Exceptional skills, outstanding looks, connections beyond species…

There had never been a man who made her, the Empire’s princess, feel so insignificant.

If she wanted to win his heart, it would require purely her own effort.

So she couldn’t help but sigh.

When had she ever tried to put in such effort?

Edelene, at the tender age of eighteen, sighed endlessly, overwhelmed by this sudden infatuation.

She wasn’t the only one stealing glances at Kang Chan; there was also a woman named Elika.

In her arms was the divine weapon Kang Chan had gifted her.

Of course, thinking it was a divine weapon was her own misconception.

However, its power was so overwhelming that anyone would mistake it for a divine weapon.

Before evacuating, Kang Chan had returned to the Red Mars ship and handed her some railgun ammunition.

When she received the ammunition, she exclaimed in astonishment.

The arrows she knew were all the same, but the ones Kang Chan handed over shattered her understanding of conventional arrows.

They were so small and cute.

Railgun ammunition was about a 3mm small bullet encased in a small capsule, and such bullets were packed in long magazines, with 200 rounds each.

Kang Chan brought a bandolier that held six of these magazines and personally showed Elika how to wear it.

Though her face turned as red as a persimmon, Kang Chan, oblivious, paid no mind to her reaction.

Dressed in the bandolier and holding the railgun, she looked just like a member of the Red Mars.

Kang Chan seemed somewhat satisfied with her appearance, nodding slowly.

He then taught her how to handle the railgun.

“The railgun has a very strong recoil, so you need to brace it tightly against your shoulder and hold it as if you’re hugging the rifle. That way, you can prevent injuries from the recoil.”

When Kang Chan gently embraced her from behind to correct her posture, her face turned bright red again.

“Now, slowly switch off the safety, set it to single-shot mode, aim at the target, and pull the trigger. Take a deep breath, hold it, and then pull the trigger with three distinct pulls of your finger.”

Hearing Kang Chan’s instructions, Elika slowly aimed the muzzle at a rock on top of a boulder.

She steadied her breathing and slowly applied pressure to the trigger with her finger.