F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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68

 

‘How did he climb all the way here with such tiny mana?’

 

When the butler first encountered the intruder, what he felt was doubt.

 

From the outside, he looked like a human who couldn’t even beat the common riffraff demons scattered on the streets.

 

Just how did he manage to get inside this mansion?

 

Even while drawing his sword, curiosity arose, but today wasn’t a leisurely day to prioritize personal emotions.

 

‘I need to finish this as quickly as possible and go back to assist.’

 

It was the day to inspect the modified demons stationed as guards.

 

Although Count Garisto belonged to the genius class among demons, inspecting that many in a single day by himself was quite difficult work.

 

“I’ll go first.”

 

The butler displaying the leisure of the strong.

 

Whatever trick he used to get here, it wouldn’t work against an overwhelming difference in mana.

 

Dealing with him would be as easy as a child stepping on an ant.

 

There was no need to think complicatedly.

 

The butler opened his subspace, grabbed whatever came to hand, and spread his wings.

 

‘I should be careful not to splatter too much blood.’

 

If too much blood splattered on the ground, it could become a problem when cleaning.

 

He controlled his power and flew, thrusting his sword toward a vital point.

 

He could finish it in one strike at most—

 

Clang—!

 

It was blocked.

 

It bounced off so cleanly it was absurd.

 

Neither the speed nor the strength should have been able to keep up.

 

He blocked it perfectly and conversely attacked the butler who was full of openings from carelessness.

 

“Kheup!”

 

A sword strike he barely avoided by turning his head with the innate reflexes unique to demons.

 

The flustered butler instantly leaped backward and quickly created distance.

 

“…You.”

 

“You’re quick, honestly I thought it was over.”

 

The butler had fallen into arrogance and hadn’t even thought about his next stance.

 

Aiming for such an opening, he deflected the sword and immediately aimed for the head, but unfortunately didn’t hit properly.

 

“There’s a reason for everything that you climbed all the way here.”

 

“I was hoping it would end cleanly without knowing that reason.”

 

A proper stance, unlike before.

 

Tension rose in him.

 

“Now I’m coming?”

 

“Please, as you wish.”

 

Different.

 

A weight that couldn’t be judged by mere mana amount.

 

Jung Juhyeok kicked the ground with his mana-infused foot, and soon approached the butler in an instant with the sound of cutting wind.

 

Then a sword lightly swung horizontally.

 

If it had come to the careless butler like before, it might have worked.

 

Clang—!

 

But now the butler was definitely on guard against him.

 

A man with mana so weak he couldn’t even handle the common demons scattered everywhere.

 

However, a man who blocked his sword even with such mana.

 

Different from those who simply push forward with mana amount.

 

They competed with skilled swordsmanship and purely trained bodies.

 

Naturally, the latter was a much more troublesome opponent than the former.

 

If they possessed unexpectedness, the man standing before him was no exception.

 

‘I should have realized it from when he came after destroying all the traps.’

 

Because of his pathetically small mana amount, he had unconsciously dismissed him.

 

He blocked Jung Juhyeok’s sincere sword strike.

 

While it didn’t break the butler’s bones, it shattered his preconceptions.

 

‘His mana control ability is also top-notch.’

 

The mana control he had just displayed.

 

He had loaded exactly the right amount of mana into the necessary parts before flying forward.

 

If he used mana to achieve that level of speed with his current meager mana amount, his mana should have been noticeably depleted.

 

Yet his mana amount seemed no different from before.

 

“Physical abilities and excellent mana control… the splendid fruit of effort steeped in blood and sweat.”

 

“Thanks for recognizing it.”

 

“I too will face you with proper courtesy.”

 

The butler once again reached his hand into empty air.

 

He had decided to give his all against Juhyeok.

 

Not some ordinary sword lying around, but a so-called famous sword that he only used when truly serious—

 

“Now.”

 

“What?”

 

The moment when his hand was fumbling in empty air.

 

Juhyeok didn’t miss that brief opening and rushed in, swinging his sword.

 

The butler panicked momentarily, withdrew his hand from empty air, and flew backward, barely avoiding the attack.

 

“Wh-what are you doing?”

 

“What do you mean what? I attacked an opening my opponent showed during a duel.”

 

His opponent was holding a sword yet carelessly drawing a new one.

 

When would there be a better moment to attack than this?

 

The butler was enraged by his shameless response and said:

 

“Do you know nothing of honor!”

 

“I value victory achieved while living over honor left behind in death.”

 

A rule taught countless times at Hunter Academy.

 

The one who survives is the strong one.

 

Even if you roll through a dung field, you must survive to become something.

 

Don’t show pointless stubbornness before monsters several times stronger than you—just run away quietly.

 

If you can win, use any means necessary to kill the monster and survive.

 

Juhyeok agreed with those words a hundred times over.

 

Of course, since he wasn’t the type to be particularly cunning, winning through tricks would be somewhat difficult.

 

But at least he wasn’t stupid enough to let such an obvious opening pass by.

 

“Hah, this is why humans are…”

 

“I don’t think that’s something I should hear from a demon.”

 

“Enough. There’s no need to talk further.”

 

Unlike before when he leisurely fumbled around, he quickly drew his sword from empty air.

 

That sword was not the ordinary sword with a ruby like before.

 

A serpent quickly climbed up his hand from empty air, coiling around his wrist.

 

The serpent that had coiled around his wrist placed its body into his palm, and after grasping it, the butler pulled from empty air.

 

“If you’re going to come at me with such sincerity, I’ll respond accordingly.”

 

His sincerity revealing its form.

 

The blade gleamed with a murky light, giving an ominous feeling that flesh would rot if cut by it.

 

“Come, step forward.”

 

“…”

 

The strike he couldn’t land properly even through his earlier surprise attack.

 

It had been quite a confident blow, but seeing that he dodged it, this wasn’t an opponent he could easily defeat.

 

‘I’ll have to clash with him first.’

 

To assess his opponent, he had no choice but to cross swords.

 

Juhyeok once again channeled mana into his feet, kicked off the ground, and rushed at him.

 

Clang—!

 

A heavy ringing sound, different from before.

 

Since the sword’s weight had definitely changed, the reverberations echoing through the mansion were different too.

 

The butler skillfully blocked the sword and lightly pushed it away.

 

Then it flapped its wings and explosively burst forward with speed, thrusting.

 

Ting―!

 

The speed was sufficient to keep up with.

 

However, if he lost focus for even a moment, he would quickly miss the timing and get hit.

 

Unlike the recent battles where he had been overwhelmingly dominant, this was a state where their strengths were evenly matched.

 

His heart pounded as he faced a new opponent after such a long time.

 

A chest burning hot with excitement.

 

In contrast, a head cooling down as trained.

 

This time, Juhyeok lightly deflected the sword and calculated the optimal attack route.

 

Thoughts flowing in an instant too brief to even count as a second.

 

He attacked using the method with the highest success probability through calculations that were almost instinctual.

 

If it had been the Modified Demon he just fought, it would have been more than enough to land the attack.

 

Tang―!

 

But the butler was not an easy opponent like the Modified Demon.

 

A fierce exchange of offense and defense continued.

 

Even when Juhyeok tried to parry the sword to break his stance, the butler attacked only through routes that would be fine even if countered, predicting everything from the moment he attacked.

 

Despite deflecting the sword and sending it as far outward from the body as possible, he quickly used the force in that direction to block his own attack.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Only silence lingered in their duel.

 

There was absolutely no defensive stance.

 

Unlike the previous Foreign S-Rank who had taken a defensive stance, the butler was purely offensive.

 

As if to show that swords were meant for attacking others, not for defense, he continued his attacks without ever resting.

 

Juhyeok had the same style as the butler.

 

In fact, until he became strong, he was the type to block attacks as much as possible and lead into a battle of endurance, but his aggressive tendencies began to be specialized in the Training Room.

 

A style that gradually began to change as his power grew larger.

 

Juhyeok now began to show the fighting style of the strong, not the weak.

 

Clang―!

 

They clashed without rest.

 

The handle grew hot from the fierce exchange of offense and defense.

 

Despite both engaging in an all-out brawl without holding back, not a single effective hit landed.

 

A truly proper opponent.

 

This wasn’t a boring sparring match where they watched for disadvantageous situations and aimed for openings.

 

They fought with sparks flying from their blades, trying to finish each other off somehow.

 

The two became deeply immersed, dancing together on a single log bridge, unaware of the passing time.

 

When would this ever end?

 

Just as they were excitedly clashing swords without even having such thoughts.

 

A cold third party’s voice interrupted their immersion.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Upon hearing that voice, the butler flew backward and created distance.

 

He lowered his sword and turned toward the direction of the voice, bowing.

 

“The sound of clashing swords is breaking my concentration.”

 

“I apologize. A stronger individual than expected has arrived.”

 

The guy expressed his sincere regret.

 

Looking in the direction he was greeting, there was a little boy with a youthful face and height not even half of Juhyeok’s, wearing a tired expression.

 

A child who looked like he wouldn’t even be middle school age spoke to Juhyeok in a mature tone.

 

“I’ve been watching the whole time, so I know. You’re strong.”

 

“Garisto.”

 

The man from the memories he had seen.

 

[Mercy, you mean the act I’m bestowing right now?]

 

From his voice to his appearance, everything matched perfectly with the Garisto he knew.

 

The fact that he’s much shorter than expected is quite surprising though.

 

Anyway, even before the difficult confrontation ended, he came up looking for him.

 

“That’s right, I am Count Garisto whom you’ve been so desperately seeking.”

 

Saying that, Garisto walked over with heavy steps.

 

If not for his reverse pupils, he was such a beautiful boy that it wouldn’t be strange for him to work as a child actor in the human world right now.

 

Perhaps his insides are solid unlike his delicate-looking exterior.

 

Even though his opponent was holding a sword, he showed no cautious attitude whatsoever.

 

Garisto had already approached Jung Juhyeok to within arm’s reach.

 

“Coming to interfere on such an important day as today, you must have quite an interesting reason?”

 

“Not interesting, but there is one… But before that.”

 

“Before that?”

 

“Get rid of that strange thing behind me.”

 

“…What, wasn’t it yours?”

 

A bolt he took out from his pocket and threw lightly.

 

When he threw it over Jung Juhyeok’s shoulder, there was a sizzling sound and some small winged creature fell down.

 

Then the presence he had felt behind his back until just now disappeared.

 

‘I had a hunch, and it was right after all.’

 

It was obvious who had attached this without even looking.

 

‘Since I kept feeling it from before crossing the Gate, they must have been watching everything from the beginning.’

 

Until now he had just pretended not to know, but from the point of meeting Garisto, no leaks allowed.

 

Jung Juhyeok trampled and crushed the winged creature.

 

Then the winged creature rose up as smoke and displayed text in the air.

 

[Petty]

 

After those letters appeared, they immediately scattered into the air.

 

With this, the risk of secrets being revealed also disappeared.

 

“So… now that the intruder is gone, shall we have a conversation?”

 

When he turned around, Garisto was yawning as if bored.

 

He covered his mouth with his hand as he spoke.

 

“If it’s a boring story, I’ll use you as a test subject.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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