Chapter 81

The third Ars, ‘The Heated Iron Bloodline,’ was the heaviest of the seven.

It was so damn heavy that it was difficult to take out.

A terrifying humming sound and scorching air would emanate from it with just a light swing.

The power of the Ars ‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’ lies in its weight and heat.

It’s not a simple physical weight, but the weight of the soul and not a simple physical heat, but the heat of the soul.

The iron bloodline was as thick as a thumb.

But when I swung it, it carried a weight similar to a siege weapon.

Also, it was so heated that my skin felt like it was scorching without even touching it.

With just one collision, Amethus realized its power.

“……”

The man with the jade-colored eyes leaped backward.

He easily kept his balance even on the sharp reefs between the thorn-like waves.

“Hmph.”

I scoffed.

The third secret that gave birth to the iron bloodline, ‘He does not give up’.

When I dwell on this thought, it makes me somewhat cynical.

Whatever shame may come later, I can't stand it without looking down on the world.

The weight of the iron bloodline was the same for me.

I had only swung it two or three times, and my arm already felt like it was about to break.

This wasn't a metaphor; my tendons and muscles were on the verge of rupturing.

Even with Mana Armor Valziart on, this was the case.

“I guess I have to drink more.”

I took out a small bottle.

It had been prepared on the ship and was already chilled.

“What is that?”

“Lahukala.”

Amethus's eyes sharpened.

He had heard the name before.

He had heard it was a military-grade enhancement drug that could give even a mere child strength for a short period.

He had considered it a rumor until now, but it seemed to be a real thing.

“I rested enough just to drink this.”

Actually, it wasn't something I could drink one after another.

During the ten-day voyage, I had consumed a lot of sugar and otherwise slept like I was dead.

Thanks to that, I felt refreshed without any fatigue or side effects.

Enough to overexert myself one more time.

I poured all the Lahukala down.

It was more and better quality than before.

An even greater power quickly surged within me.

Above all, the duration was incomparably longer than before.

The side effects would also be incomparable to before, but that was a problem for later.

And if I lost this fight with the fortune-teller Amethus, there would be no later.

My head would be cut off and the Regression would be for nothing.

The blue eyes of the Reclusive Prince blazed deeper than ever.

“Let's do this, fortune-teller.”

***

‘Three hours… it should last.’

I gauged the duration of the Lahukala through my pulse.

It was meticulously prepared.

Thanks to that, the drug's effect would last for a long time.

As the Lahukala gradually took effect, handling the iron bloodline became easy.

There was a buzzing sound.

The iron bloodline drew a circle.

All the air in its path burned up and radiated heat.

Amethus moved just half a step to avoid it.

His jade-colored eyes were calm.

The iron bloodline was long and heavy.

The way it was handled was not very different from a whip.

I could sweep a wide area with just a slight movement of my hand.

However, compared to a sword or spear, its trajectory was simple and the interval between attacks was long.

‘He’s definitely different from Niko.’

The strength of Amethus and Niko was difficult to compare.

However, there was a big difference in their fighting styles.

Niko would push his opponent with the monstrous power that came from his large physique.

With his long experience, he treated cheap tricks as nothing, making him like a tidal wave.

On the other hand, Amethus was skilled at reading an opponent's movements with his unique intuition.

As he sharply pierced through openings, he was the most difficult type of opponent for me to deal with.

‘He's really like my natural enemy.’

Just having my secrets revealed because of his intuition makes me furious.

But the compatibility is also the worst!

There was no time to save 'Fantasy Finger' or 'The Unclosable Twenty Steps.'

‘He's been trying to kill me with all his might from the start, and it's draining me.’

I already had a few shallow wounds.

This meant that his double-edged sword had even pierced through 'The Unclosable Twenty Steps.'

When his jade-colored eyes glinted, I swung the iron bloodline to drive him away.

The wounds were only shallow, but Amethus's sword had already reached me.

However, the iron bloodline had not yet reached Amethus.

Since it was so heated, a slight touch would leave a large wound, but that one touch was difficult to achieve.

‘Where...’

My blue eyes became desolate.

As I pushed the approaching Amethus away with 'The Unclosable Twenty Steps,' I simultaneously grabbed his ankle with 'Fantasy Finger.'

The moment he lost his balance, the iron bloodline flew in from a blind spot.

There was a clang.

‘He blocked that?’

I clicked my tongue.

Seeing Amethus nonchalantly batting away the iron bloodline that had come from an utterly unpredictable place, I had nothing to say but an expletive.

‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’ moved like a living snake.

This was because dozens of unseen hands flew through the air, controlling the bloodline.

No, even a living snake would never be able to move like that.

But Amethus, that damn fortune-teller.

He didn't allow a single attack, no matter the situation or the angle.

When I flicked the hand holding the iron bloodline, his jade-colored eyes had already read my intentions.

Tsk, tsk.

I clicked my tongue nervously.

I was upset.

But I wasn't the only one who was unhappy.

Amethus, who had once again flicked away the iron bloodline that flew in from a blind spot, glared with his jade-colored eyes.

“That's strange, Your Highness.”

Amethus's eyes were deeply clear.

They seemed to be reflecting somewhere other than here.

I realized.

That bastard, that damn bastard!

It seemed he had seen through another secret.

“That... heavy and hot cord...”

“I call it the iron bloodline.”

“Yes, it seems that the cord is indeed an Ars.”

An iron bloodline, he said.

Amethus lightly disregarded my muttering.

‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’ was excessively heavy and excessively hot.

It couldn't be explained without it being an Ars.

“But...”

He held up his double-edged sword and rushed in.

The iron bloodline, which was flying, bent in mid-air.

It seemed to be alive.

The heavy, hot cord and the power to bend it in mid-air felt like different forces.

He batted away the iron bloodline and leaped.

With the leg strength to cover hundreds of steps in a single bound, he was in front of me in an instant.

Suddenly, my vision was pushed back.

Something was pushing him away.

This also felt like a different kind of power.

“…It feels as if you have another Ars.”

It wasn't magic.

There were no spells, magic tools, Beastmen or fluctuations in mana.

The power, which seemed to impose itself on reality, was clearly an Ars.

From twenty steps away, Amethus gripped his sword again.

“That one cord, then another one that bends the cord in mid-air, and another power that prevents me from getting close.”

He had hit the nail on the head.

I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.

“It seems you have at least three Ars.”

“That's absurd, Amethus. An Ars is one per person. It's more than a norm; it's a law.”

“Doesn't that make it even more plausible?”

This was dangerous.

I couldn't let him probe any deeper.

I remembered the pre-Regression Amethus.

Thinking about what secrets he had seen through with his jade-colored eyes, it wouldn't be strange if he reached Septem Arcana.

“Your Highness Zionis, you are an absurd person by nature.”

“Hmph.”

I swung the iron bloodline with all my might.

I was a bit aggressive out of unease.

The trajectory was wide.

I just wanted to make him retreat.

This was a mistake.

Amethus didn't avoid it and instead came closer.

‘The Heated Iron Bloodline’ ricocheted off Amethus's left forearm.

Since he had taken off his armor, the iron bloodline touched his bare skin.

The moment it touched, his skin seared and a pungent smell filled the air.

His jade-colored eyes distorted.

An unimaginable pain instantly pierced his bones.

But he endured it as if it were natural and leaped forward as if he had been flung.

“……!”

Amethus was in front of me.

'The Unclosable Twenty Steps' was there, but I already knew.

His double-edged sword was faster than the speed of being pushed back.

“Argh……!!”

The fortune-teller was pushed back.

There was blood on the double-edged sword.

It was the Reclusive Prince's blood.

It had lightly pierced through my Mana Armor Valziart and deeply cut my chest.

Pushed back, Amethus spoke calmly.

“You're overreacting, Your Highness. My wound looks deeper.”

“...I'm eleven, you know?”

“Were you? I thought you were thirty.”

A complaint erupted inside me.

‘He got it right again, that damn bastard!’

Shion Pollinglight (age thirty, a Regressor) tried to hide his surprise.

Amethus was already rushing in again.

The wound from the iron bloodline must have been excruciating, but he didn't care.

He was fierce.

Every single thing about him was fierce.

I clicked my tongue so many times that the sound of 'tsk, tsk tsk, tsk' seemed to have a rhythm.

I pushed Amethus back again and leaped up.

‘But this isn't a fight I'm trying to win anyway.’

I threw the iron bloodline into the air. Dozens of 'Fantasy Fingers' I had already sent out pulled the cord. My eleven-year-old body flew through the air.

I became like a person swinging on a swing.

I instantly jumped from one reef to another and then to the reef beyond.

Seeing me disappear in an instant, Amethus let out a roar.

“Where are you going!”

He leaped lightly and jumped over several reefs.

They were all sharp, but he didn't care.

I swung away using the iron bloodline, and Amethus burrowed after me.

Amethus chases.

I don't get caught.

“The wind is strong, isn't it, Amethus?”

The Thorn Wave was already behind us.

The Hill of Storms was right ahead.

No, looking at this fierce wind, we might have already entered its edge.

I laughed and jumped without hesitation into the deeper parts of the storm.

“Do you think the inside of a storm will be any different, Your Highness?”

“Hmph, what do you think?”

The storm was fierce.

It wasn't called the Hill of Storms for nothing.

The wind was so sharp it felt heavy.

It pushed them back and tried to tear them apart.

The weight of the iron bloodline held me in place.

'Fantasy Finger' also acted as a foothold.

Amethus endured it.

He just endured.

In the middle of the storm, he moved effortlessly from one reef to another with his bare body.

He seemed to think he was the wind itself.

“…You can't… hear… me… so… let me… swear. You… damn… bastard…!”

“…I can… hear… you… just… fine… Your… Highness…”

In the middle of the wind, I escaped as if swinging on a swing.

Amethus chased.

The two of us collided and moved apart.

Piles of broken rocks would crash down, or waves would suddenly envelop them.

***

Humans were utterly powerless in the face of nature.

However, the two of them were too unusual to be put in the category of ordinary humans.

One was a Regressive Prince and the other was the fortune-teller of the Security Bureau.

They broke through the storm with little injury.

“Ugh!”

I landed on the ground.

The inside of the storm was surprisingly calm.

Sand rustled under my feet.

I smiled faintly.

The man with the soaked, menacing jade-colored eyes looked welcoming.

“Let's take a break, Amethus.”

I welcomed him with open arms.

“We've arrived at our destination.”

“……”

“The sandy beach is beautiful, isn't it? It truly lives up to its name as the pride of Hobel Bay.”

The sea was peacefully blue.

The wind was a gentle breeze, as if the storm in front of us was a lie.

It was a nice, warm temperature. I looked at the lush greenery and continued speaking.

“We've crossed the Thorn Wave and the Hill of Storms. So where are we now?”

“……”

Amethus didn't answer.

He stayed silent because he knew the answer.

A place once called the pride of Hobel Bay, an island where a disaster struck 46 years ago and now a name that had become a mockery.

“Arete Island.”

Shion Pollinglight bared his teeth and laughed.

“Doesn't that sound familiar?”

“…I've never stepped on it.”

“But it's your ancestors' land.”

The jade-colored eyes glared at me.

There was a hostility in them that I had never seen before, so intense it seemed to tear through the air.

I was calm.

As always, like a secret keeper, I spoke as if singing.

Aretion, Aretion.

“Amethus, Aretion.”

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