My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 58

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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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Have you ever killed a man? At that question, Arkel regarded him coolly before speaking.
“Yes.”
The flat answer hung in silence. From within the helmet, Kihano’s voice emerged sharper than before.
“……Was that murder a righteous one?”
“No.”
“……How many did you kill?”
Arkel studied him quietly. His silver-gray eyes glimmered with indifference.
“Is there a reason to count?”
The moment those words left his lips, Blood Energy began pouring from Kihano in waves.
Sacred yet ferocious, sharp enough to cut the air itself—he gripped his Spiked Mace and roared.
“I will execute justice here!”
—Dong-dong-dong……!
As the bell tolled, Arkel stepped back and conjured an Ice Spear.
—Crack!
Kihano vanished. An instant after the Ice Spear struck bare earth, drops of blood scattered through the air.
The Spiked Mace grazed Arkel’s chin. Kihano had already closed the gap.
Arkel moved fluidly, unleashing Rapid Fire. Yet none of his spells found their mark—his magic arrived half a beat too slow.
—Crash!
The mace shattered the palisade where Arkel had been hiding. A reverberating shriek echoed across the field.
“Fleeing, are you? Coward!”
Kihano wasn’t channeling any special magic—only the raw might of his body, driving Arkel steadily backward.
Arkel’s brow furrowed. He fired an Ice Spear upward.
—Boom!
The attack struck the wooden tower directly. A cascade of timber crashed down toward Kihano.
He didn’t hesitate. His mace swung upward, and thick logs splintered into fragments in an instant, scattering in all directions.
Cesare drew a sharp breath of surprise.
“How is he moving like that? In that much heavy armor?”
Kihano was encased head to toe in Plate Armor—nearly thirty kilograms of weight—yet his movements remained light and graceful.
Jenia tilted her head.
“When I caught a glimpse of him before, he wasn’t nearly this fast. Why has he suddenly gotten quicker?”
“He receives the blessings of the god of justice.”
An ability that grows stronger the more wicked the opponent.
It was a gift commonly bestowed upon the faithful of Justia—a blessing granted to those who walked the path of righteousness.
“He said he’s blessed by Justia, but…… how could he know that his opponent is wicked to begin with?”
“It seems he possesses Truth Discernment.”
Kihano extended his hand to some and crushed others beneath his heel. He had clear criteria by which he judged.
From the way he prayed, Dein could infer the nature of his power. He clenched his fists as he watched Arkel pressed into retreat.
The sight of Justia’s followers massacring the bandit gang—even now, it was unforgettable.
Because Dein understood that power, he had urged Arkel not to fight. Kihano’s ability was his natural counter.
“Cesare going would be more efficient than you. You know which approach works better.”
“Still, I’d prefer to fight. Cesare is……”
When Arkel spoke those words, he was perfectly calm.
“Because he hates being called wicked.”
Butcher, villain, wastrel—every time people called Cesare such things, he raged and cursed.
But both Arkel and Dein knew the truth. He was ashamed of being a butcher.
If Cesare were publicly branded a villain before everyone’s eyes?
Because Arkel had imagined that scene, he had defied his master for the first time.
—Snap!
Arkel ducked behind the palisade, but Kihano’s mace shattered the barrier entirely. There was nowhere left to hide.
“Do you remember the faces those you killed wore?”
Kihano’s voice rang out, thick with rage. Arkel stepped back and replied.
“I’ll remember when I see yours.”
—Whoosh!
Before the words could settle, the fallen timber scattered across the ground ignited. Searing Mana rippled from Arkel’s body.
This had been Arkel’s strategy all along. In exchange for letting Kihano destroy every palisade and barrier that might shield him, he had filled the entire arena with kindling.
With each dance of Arkel’s Mana, flames spread on all sides. Within moments, a sea of fire engulfed the field.
Even the spectators felt the heat. Jenia jumped to her feet—not from fear, but from exhilaration.
“Look, steam is rising from his armor!”
The Plate Armor was growing scorching hot. Kihano was being boiled alive inside his own shell.
The fire was too massive to extinguish, and there was nowhere to flee. Anticipating that Kihano would try to escape through the water channel flowing behind him, Arkel stretched his hand toward it.
He meant to freeze it off. But Kihano did not retreat. Instead, he charged forward.
—Whoosh!
An armored holy knight burst through the flames. Just as his sharp Spiked Mace came down toward Arkel—
—Clang!
A barrier materialized between them. As the Mace bounced away and Kihano stumbled, Arkel slipped inside his guard.
With one hand, he seized the Helmet and crushed it. As he cooled the superheating Helmet to absolute zero, an explosion erupted.
—Crack!
Fragments of the broken Helmet scattered outward and inward. Arkel’s hand became slick with blood.
As the Helmet shattered, Kihano’s bare face was exposed. It too was smeared with blood.
The moment blood filled one eye and he squeezed it shut, Arkel unleashed a relentless barrage.
Kihano barely managed to block the Ice Blade with his Shield as he fell back. Seeing this, Jenia released a breath of relief.
“Thank goodness. But who cast that barrier…? Master?”
Jenia looked at Dein. In his hand was a torn Scroll. Cesare also asked in surprise.
“Master, you bought a Scroll? I thought you wouldn’t?”
“Arkel asked for it.”
“Him? That tightwad?”
Before setting out, Arkel had made a request of Dein. One of them was to use a Scroll for him.
「I know it’s wasteful with money. But no matter how much you use, I want to win.」
Only after hearing that plea did Dein finally relent. He decided to indulge Arkel’s first act of defiance, his first complaint.
Dein drew out another Scroll. His bag was packed full of Scrolls of every kind.
“Indulge yourself freely, Arkel.”
Each time a Scroll tore, Arkel’s Magical Power surged, his attacks grew sharper, and his movements became lighter. He, who had been half a step slower than Kihano, now began to move half a step ahead. The Ice Spear that melted and flowed refroze, seizing Kihano’s ankles.
But Dein was not the only one who could use Scrolls.
“Damn it, use a Healing Scroll on Number One! Bring it at once!”
“And an Acceleration Scroll!”
The spectators who had wagered money on Number One began to lend their support, one by one. Kihano broke through the ice and surged forward.
The scars etched on his face were vanishing. Meanwhile, blood flowed ceaselessly from Arkel’s body.
—Boom!
As Kihano’s Mace came down, Arkel created an Ice Shield, but it shattered at once.
Fragments flew in all directions. Cold ice shards and hot blood mixed together as they fell to the dirt.
The Mace struck with devastating force, leaving a deep wound across Arkel’s chest. Blood sprayed, and Jenia turned to Dein in panic.
“Master, don’t you have a Healing Scroll? If my brother keeps this up, something terrible will happen.”
“I cannot use it.”
“Why not?”
“Arkel asked me not to.”
Arkel’s second request was that Dein not use a Healing Scroll for him.
Cesare gritted his teeth.
“Damn it, no matter what he says, he needs to stay alive! If he dies like this—!”
“He will not die.”
Dein spoke with absolute certainty. In that moment, Arkel was sent flying by a kick from Kihano.
He lay utterly motionless, like a corpse. Kihano stood over him, breathing hard, his eyes fixed on his prey.
“I shall grant you a final dying wish.”
The moment he took a step forward to end Arkel’s life—he froze in place.
The cheering spectators held their breath. A pressure filled the arena, so immense that even ordinary people who sensed neither Mana nor Blood Energy could perceive it.
Arkel still lay sprawled as if dead. But in the blink of an eye—
—Boom!
Arkel was already in front of Kihano.
The ice fragments he launched struck Kihano’s abdomen with full force. His Plate Armor held firm, preventing penetration, but the impact transmitted nonetheless.
As ice assailed Kihano from all sides, a nearby spectator lost all composure and muttered.
“…He’s smiling?”
Arkel was smiling. His ever-impassive eyes now gleamed with madness, his lips curled upward.
Even his breathing seemed to drip with pleasure. Drenched in blood, seeming ready to fall—yet that smile never wavered.
The crowd went silent. Their cheers died. Madness and sadism poured from him in waves.
Dein covered his face with one hand and sighed.
“That one gets excited when he sees blood.”
“But elder brother—didn’t Master train him to be good?”
“Arkel has never been good, not for a single moment.”
He was only restraining himself. To live as Balanus, he had forcibly amputated his own nature and forged chains around it.

And now he had broken free of those shackles.
Arkel no longer seemed concerned with preserving his own body. His magical power had grown sharper, and his blood energy burned crimson.
But there was a cost to this transformation. His already pale complexion drained further of color.
“At this rate, won’t he collapse from blood loss?”
“Probably. We need to finish this before that happens.”
Dein clutched a Healing Scroll. He’d kept it in reserve. If they found themselves pressed into a corner, he was prepared to use it despite Arkel’s objections.
“There is no place in this world where evil should exist! I will erase that place myself!”
Kihano roared and swung his Spiked Mace. The ice that Arkel had conjured gleamed within the inferno.
Ice and mace collided—rabid fury against righteous fury, violence against justice itself.
—Clang!
The mace recoiled and gave way, and in that moment, the Ice Blade struck Kihano’s arm with crushing force.
His fingers went slack. The mace clattered to the ground with a sharp ring.
As Kihano stumbled toward collapse, the blood-soaked Arkel seized him by the hair.
“Why? How? I who upheld justice… defeated by evil itself?”
Confusion flooded Kihano’s eyes. Arkel stared down into that gaze, then drove his fist into the man’s face.
—Crack!
Kihano fell silent and still. Arkel’s laughter had not yet faded, but when he spoke, his voice was quiet.
“It seems you are not justice after all.”

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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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