Chapter 71: Seven Wings (4)

The Primordial Unity Divine Art had been unleashed.

In truth, if he had used the divine art from the very beginning, he could have driven the fight in a more advantageous direction.

But no matter how exceptional the ability, it would be useless before the greatest martial arts of the Central Plains.

Yet Carl had not done so.

‘One must not depend on martial arts.’

The title of the Strongest Under Heaven did not refer to the one who was the most powerful in the world.

From the beginning, there was no one born to become the Strongest Under Heaven.

It was about building oneself up from the very bottom, defeating one opponent after another, and ultimately surviving to make one’s name resound.

An absolute master with invincible power from the moment of first appearance existed only in legends and heroic tales.

Only after experiencing many different environments and foes could one truly be called a master.

Moreover, even a divine art was not invincible.

Its peak might indeed reach the heavens, but depending on how it was used—and who used it—its effectiveness could vary drastically.

If the Primordial Unity Divine Art were truly an invincible martial art, then the grandson of the Divine Warrior would never have been assassinated and killed.

‘Still… the level has changed.’

Carl looked at the swirling currents of air around him.

Though he had not yet crossed the wall and remained at the same realm of rationality as before, the aura he felt had grown deeper.

Perhaps it was the influence of the growth of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Bright Heaven Divine Art.

The very fact that Matthias, who had so far spoken leisurely, now faltered and stopped was proof enough.

“What in the world is this…?”

He stared at Carl with a stiff expression.

What was this overwhelming energy he felt from the man?

Breathing slowly, he tried to process this phenomenon that defied his common sense.

‘Understandable.’

After all, this was a martial art said to contain the essence of the Divine Warrior.

Feeling the fullness surging through his entire body, Carl slowly raised his sword.

Whish!

For the first time since the battle began, Matthias’ movements changed from his usual static posture.

It was the first time since using magic bullets that he had stepped forward directly and swung his sword—

—like a maestro conducting an orchestra.

Thud—!

The fired magic bullet sank into the gray aura.

But unlike before, the protective field of the Primordial Unity Divine Art blocked all of them without any trouble.

Without suffering the slightest damage and having nullified every one of his opponent’s attacks, Carl tilted his head with a faint smirk.

“I think I understand now why you needed seven wings.”

“…You bastard!!”

Kwaaaang!

Matthias’ aura burst open.

Sensing danger, he seemed intent on no longer hiding his power, ready to reveal his full strength.

Shhhhraaa!

The air rippled as countless trajectories of magic bullets rained down.

Just like before, Carl condensed part of his own energy and left it as bait, neutralizing the sure-hit effect embedded in the opponent’s technique.

Papapapak!

Dashing through the forest to escape the magic bullet’s range, he leapt onto a tree branch and looked down at Matthias.

Even with the divine art’s energy supporting him, he still could not read the magic bullet trajectories.

That was why, as he studied the terrain to chip away at his opponent’s defenses from the outer perimeter, Carl noticed something odd.

Rustle.

Night had already fallen in the Erendal Forest.

A thick darkness had settled in, and only the sound of the cold wind swept through the surroundings.

But within that darkness, something other than the night itself was writhing and moving.

Like a faint shadow…

‘What is that?’

The sense of wrongness quickly turned into suspicion, and then into certainty.

Tap.

Carl lunged forward, pretending to cut down a magic bullet, and swung his sword to slice the ground.

Slice.

The ground should have been empty, yet he felt something being cut at the tip of his blade.

Hssssss—

At the same time, the shadow that had been writhing on the ground shimmered and vanished.

Even though it was blended with the darkness, the sight was perfectly clear to him.

‘A blind spot.’

A shadow hidden within the darkness—

The two were separate elements.

They could mix, but they were not the same; an ordinary person would never be able to distinguish them.

Which meant the two had been overlapped to exploit a weakness.

‘If that’s the case—’

Forming the hypothesis, Carl surged forward fiercely toward Matthias.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Matthias also swung his sword, launching another round of magic bullets.

But Carl, without defending at all, slashed at the rippling darkness around them.

Shhhhraaa—!

The magic bullets never fired.

It was as if the conduit had been severed, dispersing into black smoke that scattered in the air.

“…Hah!”

Matthias let out a gasp of shock.

He had never expected the shadows to be discovered, and he retreated in visible panic.

Whoosh.

Carl gave a faint smile at the pitiful sight of Matthias, now within arm’s reach without any resistance.

“Once you understand the principle, it’s nothing special. That’s why they call it a trick.”

“Wait…!”

Matthias readjusted his grip on his sword.

Bending his waist, he swung, as if he still had another technique left.

Fwoooosh!

Dozens of magic bullets erupted all at once, seemingly to buy time.

Perhaps unable to spare the effort to use shadows, he fired them randomly around himself to block Carl’s approach.

Step.

Carl willingly stepped right into the barrage.

His protective aura shattered, and the artifact guarding his body broke apart.

In an instant, his entire body was soaked in blood, but he still raised the blood-stained sword with a curling grin.

Sword-drawing techniques, magic bullets… what would be next?

“Not that I’m particularly curious.”

Slice—!

It was the purest, most upright trajectory imaginable.

A display of pure martial skill—something magic bullets or sword-drawing techniques could never hope to imitate.

Matthias’ head, caught in the gray trajectory linking through the air, was sent flying upward.

But Carl did not stop his sword—his shoulders twisted.

Jeojeojeojeok—!

Relentless slashes poured down.

If only to prevent the man from suddenly declaring, “The real reason I was elevated to the First Seat of the Seven Wings is because of my regeneration ability!”

Without leaving a shred of chance, Carl shredded Matthias’ body.

Fwaaash!

Gray flames rose, burning every fragment to ash.

…Admittedly, the mind-affecting magic bullets were a little tempting, but if he were to learn them, they would undoubtedly be a hindrance.

If it were a different martial art, perhaps—but tampering with the mind would surely affect his path toward the higher realms.

With supreme martial arts already in his possession, there was no need to be bound by such cheap tricks.

“……”

After confirming Matthias’ annihilation, Carl sharply turned his head.

His gaze landed on a hill protruding in the distance.

He had felt someone watching him from there, but when he probed for their presence, there was no one in sight.

“Hmph.”

It seemed he had been made to play the clown.

Carl watched that spot for a short moment before letting out a mocking smile and moving on—

—while looking forward to the day they would meet again.

“……”

Luna was sprinting through the forest.

She had split up from Darius and Ivan to search for Carl’s trail.

The others seemed to be wandering without finding him, but Luna alone could follow the Master’s trace.

‘Fourteen… fifteen. Quite a lot.’

On trees, rocks, and any notable structures, there were marks only members of NOX could recognize.

Every time the Master stopped, it meant there had been one of those monsters there.

There were no signs of battle or fragments left—clearly each had been dispatched with a single strike.

‘Where is it?’

After who knew how long, the trail of marks ended.

It meant he was either still fighting someone or was nearby.

Thud.

Dropping from a tree and stepping into a clearing ahead, Luna’s eyes widened.

“…Impressive.”

The entire area was overturned, as though an intense battle had taken place.

The aftermath was strong enough that she had felt it even from far away.

There were no traces that identified the Master.

Which meant he had killed the enemy here, erased all traces, and moved on.

Letting out a short sigh of relief, Luna scanned the area again.

“…Found it.”

And then she kicked off the ground again—

—faster than before, in case the Master was injured.

She had been sweeping the surroundings for about five minutes when a voice rushed into her ear through sound transmission.

-This way.

“…!”

It was the Master’s voice.

Luna froze, scanning her surroundings—then sensed him not far away.

Leaping between trees, she found the Master leaning against a pillar, wounded.

“Master…!”

“Luna, what about the other side?”

“Lord Carius arrived and took on the monster. There were no fatalities. Currently, Darius, Ivan, and I have split up to search for you.”

“Hm.”

Carl gave a short nod.

He had been slightly worried, but it seemed Luna had fulfilled her role well.

All things considered, the gains outweighed the losses—it had been a good result.

“Are you hurt?”

“There was one monster in the mix that wasn’t easy. I made myself look roughed up—being too unscathed might raise suspicion.”

“…For something like that, this seems a bit much.”

Luna carefully examined Carl’s wounds.

He had gaping holes in multiple places on his body, and it looked like some bones were broken and organs damaged—yet he appeared perfectly calm.

If it were her, she would have been screaming that she was about to die.

“It’s already treated. I’ve drunk a potion, and I’m keeping it in a slow-healing state.”

“Understood.”

Luna agreed it was better that way.

Just as she was about to fire the signal flare to indicate she had found the Master, she noticed a small cut under Carl’s eye.

“Eek.”

“…?”

Carl, who had been regulating his Primordial Unity Divine Art, looked over at Luna when he heard her odd noise.

Wondering what was wrong, he saw her rush over with a handkerchief soaked in potion.

“P-please excuse me for a moment, Master.”

Then she suddenly dabbed at the wound on his face, treating it.

Carl asked with a puzzled expression,

“Why are you doing that?”

“Uh—wounds on the face are not allowed.”

“Face?”

“……”

Luna pressed her lips shut.

This was because of the strict order she had received from the Queen when she had been summoned to headquarters before coming on this field exercise.

-While on duty, the Master might sometimes intentionally inflict wounds on himself.

-Yes.

-That can’t be helped. Assess the situation and help him according to his intentions.

-I understand.

-But.

-…But?

-Never on the face.

Even after several days, Luna still remembered vividly the Queen’s murderous gaze.

-If even the smallest scratch appears on the Master’s face…

The sentence had trailed off.

But the sheer killing intent that bound her had nearly made her faint.

‘That must never happen.’

Someone of the Queen’s position could bury a low-ranking member like her with a mere breath—

—or perhaps make her disappear without a trace.

“…The face is off limits.”

That was why she desperately treated the cut on Carl’s face—

—praying it would heal before the Queen ever found out.

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