Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 35. A Demonstration for Berik
The Knight gripped his sword and surveyed his surroundings. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t comprehend this situation. Ian and his companion—mere pawns in a peace accord—had blended into the Cheonryeo Tribe as naturally as if they belonged there.
“Berik. Think you can handle this? You’re not dying today, are you?”
“Yeah, get lost. You die instead.”
“Your mouth’s running fine—looks like you’re in good form.”
“Hey, you Knight from Bratz! Beat some sense into Berik, will you? Knock him straight. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”
“Krahaha! Then isn’t the Knight dying either way? That’s hardly fair.”
“Ah, true. You’re right.”
They’d circled around Berik and the Knight like spectators at a fighting pit. I felt like a dog in an arena. The Knight looked at me sitting beside Kakantir and became certain something had gone terribly wrong. He would need to report this situation to Der.
“Ptui!”
Berik spat and gripped his sword hilt firmly. He’d deflected the Knight’s earlier attack with ease, but that was only because the man had been careless. Berik turned to me with a question.
“But Ian! How do we send word back if this guy dies?”
“There are plenty of sturdy Kusile. Don’t worry—just keep your neck intact. If you die, I die too.”
“Yes, yes. Understood.”
What was the problem with sending word back?
I could simply ride a Kusile myself if needed. At my words, Berik grinned and took his stance. As Kakantir had said, a battle without killing intent had grown tedious.
“Go easy on me, will you? I’m coming at you with everything I’ve got.”
“Your speech is crude!”
“That’s my charm!”
Clang! Clang!
Berik kicked up sand and launched himself forward in a single bound. The arc of his blade cutting through the air was too fast to follow. The Knight methodically parried each of Berik’s attacks.
“Uuuaaaagh!”
Screeeech!
The sound of clashing blades rang out chillingly. The Cheonryeo Clan members watched with interest, each adding their commentary.
“Knight! Kill him! Kill Berik!”
“Ahahaha! Look at that, look—he’s already tiring out.”
“That’s not true!”
On the surface, it sounded like they were cheering for the Knight, but both I and Berik understood the truth.
Hadn’t Kakantir told us himself?
“Go! Berik!”
“Show us what you’re made of!”
That the true path of a warrior leads toward death.
They were united in their hope that Berik would be reborn as a true warrior.
“Like a mad dog charging mindlessly.”
“That’s a compliment?”
Thud!
“Gack!”
The Knight seized an opening while defending and drove his elbow into Berik’s solar plexus. Berik’s face slammed into the sand dunes. Gasping for breath, he clutched his chest and wheezed.
“Ouch. That was a solid hit.”
“Berik! Don’t! Get up!”
“Tsk, tsk. I knew what you were from the moment you started showing off.”
I let out a short laugh. The moment Berik crumpled to the ground, the Cheonryeo Tribe’s reaction turned vicious. The Knight deemed there was no time to waste and immediately gripped his sword again.
The fallen target’s nape lay exposed and vulnerable.
Whoosh!
Just as the Knight’s blade reached for Berik’s neck, he twisted his body to evade while flinging sand at the Knight. Then, as if returning the favor, he drove his fist forward.
Thud!
“That hurts like hell!”
Thud! Crack!
As the exchange threatened to devolve into a brawl, the Knight glanced at the sky. The sun had fully risen. With every second precious, he had no reason to play around with Berik.
“Stop being a nuisance!”
Clang! Clang!
But the problem was that this Berik was far from easy prey. Every time the Knight thought it was over, Berik would strike back, leaving the Knight both irritated and flustered.
“Uaaaagh!”
“Hwaagh!”
Both their battle cries erupted simultaneously. Their blades locked as they drove toward each other’s hearts with murderous intent.
Squelch!
And finally, blood stained the blade.
The Knight’s attack pierced Berik’s flank with precision. Blood dripped steadily down the steel. The Knight didn’t stop there—he twisted the hilt.
A faint smile played at the corner of his mouth as a bonus.
“Gaaaaaaah!”
“Huh. Your skill is decent, but this is where it ends.”
“Ugh! Uaaaaaaagh!”
“I’m in a hurry.”
He was practically disemboweling him. When Berik grasped the blade with his bare hands, blood streamed down in multiple rivulets. The moment I found myself frowning without realizing it, the Cheonryeo Clan muttered with a murderous tone.
“The mad bastard—if you’re going to kill him, at least do it with honor.”
Combat without respect is nothing but mockery. And that was precisely the situation they despised most. Berik shook his head several times as if the world was spinning, then looked down at his wound.
“…Ha. Damn it.”
He clenched his teeth and tried to pull the blade free. But the Knight only drove it deeper. The blade’s tip eventually pierced through Berik’s body and emerged from the other side.
Thud!
The Knight kicked Berik’s body away. Stepping over the sprawling form, he approached me with heavy footsteps. Kakantir merely rested his chin on his hand with the same indifferent expression as before.
“Ian Bratz. Time is running out.”
He drew the short sword from his waist. Unlike with Berik, this would be sufficient for me. With each step he took, the surroundings fell silent. Only the sand-laden wind howled with a desolate sound.
“Your death shall prove the innocence of Count Derga Bratz. Consider it an honor to fulfill your duty and perish.”
He raised the short sword overhead. My gaze shifted from the blade’s tip to what lay behind the Knight. It wasn’t the reaction of someone facing death, so the Knight hesitated and turned to look back.
“Ha.”
Berik was standing upright. His head was bent backward as if possessed by a demon, yet both his legs supported him firmly. He grasped the sword embedded in his flank and pulled it free in one motion.
Splash!
Blood erupted like a fountain. From head to toe, there wasn’t a spot that wasn’t crimson. Berik slowly lowered his head, then spoke with tremendous effort.
“…I’m… not… done yet… you bastard.”
“Just stop already….”
A sharp metallic ring.
That was when the Knight fell silent, confronted by an aura both familiar and alien. It was the same sensation the Knight Commanders had displayed during the demon battles.
A violent gust of wind.
Berik’s hair, which had been gently flowing, now whipped about with increasing ferocity. The sand trails etched across the ground rippled like waves.
“I repay one blow with two.”
“Damn it! This is absolutely infuriating!”
“Knight, use this.”
At that moment, Kakantir smiled and offered his own blade. The Knight’s sword, which had been lodged in Berik’s side, now lay abandoned on the sand. Without hesitation, I accepted it and lunged toward Berik.
A deafening clash of steel!
“I won’t die alone! I will! You bastard, I’ll watch you die first!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Berik exploded upward with explosive force.
I noticed his eyes blazing with the same luminescence as when he channeled his mana. From his blood-soaked face, only his eyes gleamed with fierce brilliance.
Clang! Clang!
“Argh!”
“What… what are you doing, damn it…”
Berik pressed forward at tremendous speed. Even as I barely evaded, I finally drew blood. His strength was incomparably heavier than before.
Blood sprayed in the wake of the passing blade. Whether it was Berik’s or mine, no one could tell.
“Die!”
A sickening puncture.
Berik’s attack pierced through my shoulder blade in one motion.
Time seemed to stop. I trembled and pushed the blade away with my other hand, but…
“Aaaagh!”
Just as I had done, Berik threw his weight into it as well. Then, raising the hilt, he dragged the blade toward my heart. As the long, deep wound opened wider, blood poured forth with my every breath.
“Ah, this…”
“Hah… hah…”
Berik clenched his teeth and pressed his knee against my neck. The blade slipped free from my shoulder, pointing skyward as if to pierce the sun itself, then without hesitation pierced through my throat.
A sickening puncture.
“Ah, damn it, really…”
And I collapsed onto the sand.
Berik clutched at his aching side and curled his body. Cheers and encouragement erupted simultaneously from the previously silent surroundings.
“Berik! Well done! You disrespectful bastard!”
“That’s right, you have to see it through to the end in a fight!”
“Better with the sword than expected. Berik, can you come to your senses?”
“Yeah. Don’t talk to me. It hurts too much…”
“Stop whining! After just a little blood loss.”
“Hey! Someone move him. Where did the Physician go?”
Kakantir watched the commotion with only a faint smile. Then he bowed his head toward me and whispered quietly. For some reason, he appeared genuinely satisfied.
“Now I understand why Lord Ian brought him along.”
“I did not bring him. We came together.”
“Haha. Yes, indeed. You possess the very virtues of a true warrior. This Berik is no ordinary man.”
“Where else would you find someone with such a fiercely stubborn temperament?”
The sand swirled as Kakan’s eyes gleamed with the question of his latent abilities, but I brushed off his words playfully. Then I approached Berik and crouched down beside him.
“Berik. Come to your senses.”
As I snapped my fingers before his eyes, Berik scowled and tried to bite my hand.
“Now, now. Not here.”
“…This really hurts like hell.”
“So it seems. Well done.”
The dormant power of the Mage Knight was beginning to awaken on its own. The magical energy I had channeled to stimulate it was gradually stirring to life. Berik made one last attempt to bite my finger before losing consciousness entirely.
“Move him over there, would you?”
“Right away. We should stop the bleeding too.”
“Well now. Is he asleep or unconscious?”
“With a hole through his belly, how could he sleep? He’s out cold.”
The Cheonryeo Clan members exchanged remarks as they carried Berik into the tent. A cloth was draped over the knight’s corpse as well. Nersaren retrieved the reply letter from the body, then called for Su.
“Su. Prepare yourself.”
“Ah. Please, no.”
She instinctively sensed what task was coming. Su drew an X with her hands to express her refusal, but was firmly ignored. Nersaren called over a subordinate and gave his orders.
“Cut off the knight’s head and place it in a box.”
“Aaaah! I’ll just take the letter! Yes? Nersaren?”
“No. It must be the head.”
There was nothing better to send as a reply to Count Derga.
Su bounced about desperately, clinging to Nersaren, but to no avail. Soon the knight’s corpse was dismembered. Nersaren turned to me and asked.
“Now we simply wait for the right moment?”
“Indeed. Since Count Derga now knows that ‘we’ wish to break the peace accord, he will immediately engage the Central Army. With reinforcements already on the way, there’s no advantage in stalling—he’ll want to eliminate the investigation unit first.”
The best scenario would be for Count Derga to resist fiercely, inflicting heavy losses on both the investigation unit and the Central Army before being defeated. With the Cheonryeo Tribe at my back in that state, I could secure an even more decisive advantage in victory.
“Demosha!”
A warrior carrying the knight’s corpse thrust his fist toward me. It was a salute—blessing from the gods, celebrating Berik’s growth, and reaffirming our bond.
I lightly met his fist in return.
“Demosha.”
The fighting spirit of these blood-driven warriors would make the desert burn even hotter. Like grasping for the light of the rising sun, my fist was unyielding.

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