Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 40

Graduation Project

As Castia finally lost consciousness, Maspoff slowly turned his body to face Harang.

“You bastard… where are your companions?”

“There are no companions.”

“No companions? Then what were those spells earlier! There had to be more than one person!”

“Companion mages? Are you talking about this?”

When Harang opened his left hand, flames erupted. Seeing this, Maspoff spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

“No way… are you a Magic Swordsman?”

“I’m not a Magic Swordsman.”

A Magic Swordsman refers to a mythical warrior who uses both magic and swordsmanship simultaneously in battle. Such warriors do not exist in this world.

He could not use both at the same time. When using magic, only magic; when using swordsmanship, only swordsmanship.

“I’m a swordsman and a mage. I have two jobs.”

“…Does that mean you’re alone?”

“It turned out that way.”

“Despite being in such a wrecked state, you’re bluffing. I spared the prince because I feared retribution, but I can kill a commoner like you as much as I want!”

Maspoff mistook Harang for a commoner because Harang was still concealing his eye color. When Harang adjusted the lens to restore his original eye color, Maspoff shivered in shock.

“…Kaladan?”

An entirely unexpected identity.

However, realizing the ideology of the Kaladan family, Maspoff smiled.

“The Kaladan family does not retaliate if a family member dies in an honorable duel, right? Am I correct?”

“Of course. Even if you kill me here, it won’t cause a big issue.”

“Ha. Then, with what confidence did you come after me? You might have had a chance earlier, but now you’re weakened! Do you think you can beat me in such a state?”

“…”

Plunging his sword into the ground, Harang leisurely untied his disheveled hair ribbon and neatly tied his hair back.

Maspoff watched with a smirk, knowing Harang was buying time to recover his strength. Yet, he did not attack.

Why?

It was because Harang had completely seen through Maspoff’s psychology.

“Hehe, a duel, a duel… A lowlife like me, having a duel with a mighty Kaladan…!”

Harang had thoroughly investigated Maspoff and knew what kind of life he had led.

Maspoff, who had lived soaked in inferiority, was now intoxicated with the fact that he was going to duel a Kaladan as an ‘equal.’

“A pro…”

Harang said, pulling the sword he had planted into the ground and pointing it at Maspoff.

“…cannot always be perfect. Mistakes can happen anytime.”

But… a true pro minimizes their own mistakes and maximizes the exploitation of their opponent’s mistakes.

“Maspoff, you made a huge mistake.”

“What are you talking about now? Aren’t you the one who made the mistake by challenging me to a one-on-one duel?”

Harang shook his head.

“If you really wanted to survive, you should have risked your life and attacked me with your thug subordinates earlier.”

“You… bastard!!”

Maspoff, thinking that the church was attacked by at least a 4-star swordsman and a 4-star mage, believed that the knights of the royal capital had discovered his hideout. He left the cleanup to his thugs and fled.

That was Maspoff’s most fatal mistake.

‘If he had fought together with his thugs, I would have lost.’

Harang had already known that Maspoff would not do so.

In other words, the fact that it was now a one-on-one situation was all part of Harang’s meticulous plan.

“I don’t need those thugs. Your swordsmanship is certainly impressive for your age, but it doesn’t mean you’re stronger than me!”

Maspoff, having embraced demonic energy as a heretic, had reached the 5-star level, but his pure skill before that was only at the 3-star level.

‘He believes that his power is everything.’

Vrrr!! Sword energy flowed from Harang’s sword.

Now at the 4-star level, he could freely wield sword energy, but the problem was that he had less than half of his remaining mana.

“Ha, with such weak sword energy…”

Whoosh-!! Suddenly, Maspoff sprang forward and leaped straight at Harang.

“You think you can take me on?”

Thud!! Harang’s sword clashed with Maspoff’s fist, causing a small shockwave. Harang felt the floor slightly buckle and could gauge Maspoff’s strength.

‘It’s within my expectations, but…’

Even with the Silver Heart, Harang was slightly being pushed back by the demonic energy, which had a name for its explosive destructive power.

‘But.’

As Harang’s sword slipped and flowed downward, he aimed a kick at Maspoff, causing him to retreat slightly in surprise.

‘His technique is woefully lacking.’

His body movements couldn’t keep up with his immense destructive power.

Although his pure power and speed might be superior to Harang’s, the lack of skill in handling it meant Harang still had a chance.

The only concern was that this was Harang’s first time facing martial arts since being reincarnated into this world.

“You bastard!”

As Maspoff gritted his teeth and began throwing punches, Harang widened his eyes and switched to a defensive stance with his sword.

When he blocked a punch aimed at his cheek, another punch came toward his abdomen, and when he blocked that, another punch shot toward his neck.

One of the powerful advantages of martial arts.

Compared to a sword, the chain of attacks was far more fluid and swift, and the aura’s strength was much tougher than sword energy!

Naturally, the aura wrapped directly around the body was much tougher and more destructive than the aura applied externally, but Harang hadn’t expected it to be this explosively powerful, causing him to break out in a slight cold sweat.

‘Even so, the strength of a sword is…’

Compared to fists, the sword had an overwhelmingly longer range.

Swoosh! As Maspoff’s fist fiercely grazed his cheek, leaving a wound, Harang spun his sword like a windmill and slashed at close range.

“Ugh!”

Unable to pull his arm back in time, Maspoff’s forearm was slashed.

The aura of a 5-star martial artist covered from his fist to his wrist, leaving his forearm completely defenseless.

The wound wasn’t large, but the surprise attack from Harang was so fierce that Maspoff, who had retreated slightly, raised his guard to defend against the continuing sword attacks.

Thud!!

Until Harang kicked him in the abdomen.

“Ugh! You…!”

Although the kick without aura wasn’t too impactful, it naturally brought Maspoff’s guard down, and Harang’s sword, like a snake, aimed at Maspoff’s neck through the opening.

‘…!!’

A chilling strike that made his heart sink.

Since it was literally an unexpected attack, Maspoff felt his heart drop, but contrary to his frightened mind, his 5-star aura-clad arm moved instinctively to guard his neck.

Thud! Though the attack was blocked, Harang didn’t feel disappointed and immediately swung his sword again, aiming at Maspoff’s chest.

However, just before Maspoff’s hand could reach him, Harang jerked his head back in surprise.

A punch wrapped in demonic energy brushed past his nose at a terrifying speed! If it had hit, his skull might have been shattered. Yet, Harang did not panic. He performed a backflip and swung his sword.

Slash!

“Argh!”

Maspoff’s arm, which had been poised to throw another punch, was cut. Harang stepped back two or three paces.

‘…What the hell?’

Maspoff’s face twisted in anger as he clutched both his wrists.

He could feel that Harang’s strength and speed were inferior to his own.

Even so, he couldn’t land a critical hit on Harang. Instead, Harang’s unpredictable sword strikes kept inflicting minor wounds.

‘Still, he’s a Kaladan. I must acknowledge his skill.’

Maspoff’s eyes glinted.

There was a perfect countermeasure for knights who fought as if they were sparring.

“Hup!”

Maspoff lunged at Harang, who took a defensive stance and prepared to counterattack. However, Maspoff’s punches were so fierce that Harang almost misjudged.

‘What the…?!’

A punch aimed at his neck sent a chill down his spine. Although Maspoff’s entire body was full of openings, and a counterattack could inflict a fatal injury…

‘If I make a mistake, I might die too…!’

Boom!

Harang, unable to fully block Maspoff’s punch, was sent flying, crashing through several shacks.

Maspoff did not stop. He leaped high and aimed a punch at Harang’s fallen form.

Boom! A massive crater formed, but Harang barely rolled to the side to avoid it. Before he could get back up and regain his position, Maspoff’s fists rained down relentlessly, as if to crush him entirely.

Each punch carried the intent to pulverize Harang, leaving him with no choice but to remain on high alert.

But that wasn’t the main problem.

The issue was not just Maspoff’s violent attacks. Despite seeing clear opportunities to counter, Harang couldn’t bring himself to thrust his sword.

Maspoff was aware that even if a sword pierced his heart, he would still smash Harang’s skull.

Such behavior was unacceptable in a duel. The one who first aimed their sword at the heart or neck was supposed to win. In sparring, no knight ever risked death to kill their opponent.

Crash! Thud!

As the shacks and ground collapsed, Harang’s entire body began to bruise. No matter how hard he tried to defend, he couldn’t completely deflect the destructive force of Maspoff’s attacks.

It was frustrating that he kept seeing openings but couldn’t exploit them with his sword.

A single mistake could lead to death. This was real combat.

Harang had never expected the difference between a duel and real combat to be so stark, causing him to grit his teeth.

Throughout both his previous and current lives…

Had he ever fought to the death with someone?

‘Never… not once.’

In that case…

Were all his previous sparring sessions and duels just ‘games’?

‘The battles in my past life, I can’t deny it. They were games. They weren’t life-and-death struggles.’

But the swordsmanship he learned in his current life was different. Even if he didn’t engage in life-and-death battles regularly, he had trained enough to always be ready to use lethal force if necessary.

Whoosh!

Maspoff’s eyes gleamed murderously as he threw another punch.

His fist was surrounded by a sinister, dark-red demonic energy.

‘This is the end!’

This would shatter his sword completely.

Boom!!

Harang couldn’t avoid the fist imbued with demonic energy and met it head-on with his sword. Unable to withstand the impact, he was sent flying, crashing through a wall.

Yet, Maspoff couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

He had aimed to shatter the sword, but he didn’t feel the sensation of breaking anything.

‘What’s this? Did he block it with sword energy?’

Impossible. A 4-star swordsman can’t envelop their sword in energy at will.

Sword energy can only be used at the pinnacle of sword techniques, during a singular, decisive strike.

Since Harang wasn’t properly executing his sword techniques, it was essentially impossible for him to use sword energy.

“…This is why bloodline matters.”

As Harang struggled to rise amidst a cloud of dust, Maspoff’s eyes widened.

On Harang’s left arm, a bracelet emitted a faint silver half-circle protective shield.

Crack… Shatter!!

The shield soon fractured like a spiderweb and broke completely.

It was an artifact given to him more than seven years ago by his sister Arihil as a belated birthday present at White Night Castle.

‘Orlang’s Touch’

An ancient artifact that can block a single attack of up to 6-star power. Although it had a critical drawback of a one-month cooldown, it could save his life once, like now.

This meant he had one more chance.

“You… bastard!”

Though his body was in tatters from the impact…

‘As long as I can hold my sword, I can cut even the heavens.’

Suddenly, an old saying of Hero Kaladan came to Harang’s mind, as a bolt of lightning struck his left hand.

Crack!!

“…Lightning.”

As a bolt of black-and-white lightning began to blaze in his left hand, Maspoff’s eyes widened in shock.

“You’re using magic together with swordsmanship…?!”

A mage who hadn’t reached a certain level must use both hands and their mouth to complete incantations, formulas, and magic circles. But Harang didn’t use anything.

‘There are no memorized spells nearby! How is he…!’

Moreover, what was that unique color?

He had never heard of flames mixed with white and black!

‘Ugh…!’

Harang struggled to lift the lightning in his left hand.

In his current battered state, even bearing the weight of the black-and-white lightning was a burden. Yet, he used all his strength to steady his sword, Cheongwolheun, in his right hand and ran his hand along its blade.

Although Harang couldn’t fully utilize Cheongwolheun’s potential at his current level, he could still harness its pure power.

‘Magic Amplification.’

He didn’t know why the sword had a magic amplification feature, but it was the perfect function for Harang.

Crackle!!

The weight of Cheongwolheun felt like it had multiplied many times, but Harang held on with both hands, smiling through the strain.

It was his first time using it in actual combat.

‘I originally intended to use this when I got stronger.’

Dragon Word Magic.

The impact of revealing this to the world would be immense.

Mages from all over the world would stop at nothing to steal his magic, and his brothers might even break family rules to kill him for his unique power.

Thus, he had planned to reveal it only when he felt it was safe to fully expose himself.

‘The world never goes as planned.’

At this moment, Harang revealing his Dragon Word Magic was a testament to his willingness to fight to the death.

It was a declaration to solidify his resolve.

‘If I can’t kill you, I will die.’

As Harang lowered his stance with his sword, Maspoff’s muscles bulged in fury.

“That puny lightning won’t change anything!!”

Maspoff’s approach.

Seemed so slow.

Thud… thud… boom…

Every step was but a moment in Harang’s eyes.

The fluttering hair, the round shape of blood droplets scattering, and the dust kicked up on the crushed ground…

Seeing all these, Harang’s silver eyes blazed with black and white light.

[Kaladan Secret Art, Dragon Sword First Form]

[Flying Butterfly Thunder Sword]

In an instant, Maspoff’s vision turned white. A bolt of lightning flashed, and his field of vision seemed to open up.

Gently… a black-and-white butterfly flew into Maspoff’s chest.

“What…?”

…It was a hallucination.

As he blinked his eyes open, he saw it wasn’t a butterfly but a small swordsman shrouded in black and white.

Thunk!

Harang had plunged his sword into Maspoff’s abdomen.

‘H-how…?!’

Unbelievably fast.

Despite the strength granted by demonic energy, his 5-star perception couldn’t catch it.

Gush…

Blood began to spill from Maspoff’s abdomen and mouth as Harang slowly lifted his gaze to meet Maspoff’s eyes.

‘Ah.’

For a moment, Maspoff was mesmerized.

Those calm, emotionless eyes. How could those silver eyes shine so brightly?

It was as if they contained both the silver of the moonlight and the shadows behind it, those black-and-white eyes.

In his final thought, he marveled.

‘Truly, beautiful…’

[Flight]

A bolt of white lightning shot up into the twilight sky of Garandel, resembling the flapping wings of a black-and-white butterfly.