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chapter 08
“What?”
“Are you seriously calling that a threat?”
Elin was taken aback by Noah’s words.
She had expected her presence and momentum to intimidate him—but he remained perfectly fine.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Elin had never experienced this before. At least, not among her peers.
“You have quite the presence for someone your age.”
“!”
Noah said this with a smirk, an expression that clearly mocked her. Seeing Noah like this made Elin’s anger surge.
“You little….”
She thought him extremely arrogant. He was younger than her and came from a family of entirely different standing.
“Quite insolent, aren’t you.”
Yet Elin thought that showing anger here wouldn’t be a smart move. So she suppressed the rising fury within her.
“Pfft.”
Noah burst out laughing at her attempt to appear adult-like. To someone who had lived for decades, it looked merely like a child trying to imitate an adult.
“…You’re laughing?”
Seeing Noah laugh, the last thread of Elin’s composure snapped. Her eyes blazed as she glared at him. She was no longer just emanating presence—now she radiated a deadly intent.
“The knights of your family are just a ragtag bunch. What makes you think you can act like this?”
Elin glared at the knights of the Veratan family standing behind Noah. They were barely holding back the life-or-death aura she radiated. Even that, however, was only possible because Noah had trained them relentlessly.
“They’re still growing. It’s more surprising that your life-force can withstand their aura than the other way around.”
Noah turned his head toward his knights and continued in a strong voice:
“But it’s not like they lack the talent to become knights. I guarantee that in a month, my knights will surpass yours.”
Noah’s statement made his knights widen their eyes. They hadn’t expected such words in a public setting.
But Elin found Noah laughable. She opened her mouth with a mocking tone:
“Hmph. That’s ridiculous. You’d need someone with actual knight-level skill for that to happen.”
Noah frowned at her remark. It was dismissive even toward him, including Baron Veratan.
“It sounds like you’re saying there’s no one in my family who looks like a knight.”
“Oh, if it came across that way, I apologize. I’m just stating facts.”
Elin said this while glancing at her own knights, who were smirking disdainfully at Noah and his men.
‘I don’t like this.’
Noah was dissatisfied with the scene before him. He wanted to crush the arrogance of those who looked down on others simply because they were weaker.
“If you don’t want to listen… why not prove it in a duel?”
At that, Elin shrugged. Noah smiled inwardly.
‘She’s digging her own grave.’
However, Noah’s knights were worried. They feared he might actually accept the duel. Even though Noah was strong, they believed he wasn’t stronger than Elin.
In the kingdom, she was known as a sword prodigy.
“Master… you don’t have to overexert yourself.”
Noel stepped beside Noah and whispered:
“She’s called a sword prodigy. Even if you’ve changed…”
“Enough. Step back.”
Noel fell silent and stepped back at Noah’s firm command. Elin looked at the two of them, exasperated.
“You act like you could actually defeat me, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Hmph…”
Noah responded calmly to her words. Elin began to feel curious about his demeanor.
‘Does he have some hidden advantage?’
It was strange that he could withstand her aura so calmly, but that alone didn’t reveal his strength. Noah, however, had been confident in his victory from the start.
Elin wondered where his confidence came from.
“So, you have no reason to refuse the duel, I suppose?”
“Exactly.”
“Good. Then draw your sword.”
They would face off.
“Doing this without a wager seems boring. How about a simple bet?”
Elin added a remark to Noah. He replied in a calm tone:
“A bet… what do you have in mind?”
“If you beat me, I’ll give you a magical artifact.”
Elin said this arrogantly, causing the knights of the Bizmark family to gasp.
A magical artifact.
It was a rare item that couldn’t be bought with money. And the artifact she offered was one of the few in the Bizmark family’s possession.
“But if you lose, crawl under my legs like a dog and bark.”
Noah chuckled softly at her words.
“I hope you keep your word.”
He accepted her challenge.
In the center of the training ground, Noah and Elin took their positions. Noah’s knights stood to the right, Elin’s to the left.
At the center stood the commander of Elin’s knights.
Alexant acted as the referee.
“The rules of the duel are simple: continue until one party is incapacitated. Take care not to cause actual harm. There is no healer present here.”
Alexant looked between Noah and Elin as he spoke. Both nodded.
‘The commander is an aura knight.’
From a distance, he seemed unremarkable. But up close, Alexant radiated an extraordinary presence. Noah assumed this was due to his aura.
‘There must be a few more aura knights under him.’
If the commander was an aura knight, it was highly likely some subordinates were as well, though they didn’t show it.
‘But that doesn’t make them a particularly strong force.’
Even the Bizmark family was nothing compared to the Imperial knights. Their weakest knight was already an aura knight.
“Prepare…”
Noah cleared his mind and stared directly at Elin, who glared at him with a murderous intensity. Yet her body was relaxed—a sign of someone experienced in duels.
“Begin.”
Alexant announced the start.
Thud!
Noah and Elin stomped the ground simultaneously.
Clang!
Their swords collided. Every knight watching internally gasped.
“I never expected Elin’s sword to be blocked!”
“I thought it’d be over in the first strike…”
The Bizmark knights couldn’t hide their surprise but still predicted Noah would eventually lose.
“Elin trains in duels constantly. She can’t lose.”
Other knights nodded. Their eyes never left the duel. That she had blocked an attack was unexpected.
“Master!”
“Smash her!”
The Veratan knights cheered passionately. Noah smiled, listening to them.
“You find this amusing?”
Elin frowned at Noah’s expression and swung her sword with full force.
Whoosh!
Her attack descended in a straight line—threatening and powerful.
But…
“Just dodge it.”
Noah took a single step back, evading the strike. Elin gritted her teeth.
“You coward…”
“Why?”
“You dodged instead of parrying!”
Noah raised an eyebrow. He didn’t understand why that was cowardly.
‘I could easily win using my aura… but not yet.’
He had no intention of using the aura inside him. No need to reveal his hidden advantage—he could still handle Elin without it.
“Hah!”
Elin lunged deep into Noah’s space, activating Bizmark family’s sword technique: Moon-Splitting Form, First Move.
Zing!
Her sword began to resonate.
Noah calmly assumed a defensive stance, stepping back continuously.
“Is she really going to do that?”
“Shouldn’t someone stop her?”
The Bizmark knights whispered among themselves. They knew what Elin intended, and didn’t think Noah could stop it.
Clack.
Commander Alexant also placed his hand on his sword. He sensed danger.
Meanwhile…
“Master… he’ll win.”
“Seems so.”
The Veratan knights thought differently. They predicted Noah’s victory. No one argued to stop the duel.
‘I had a feeling.’
It was simple: based on Noah’s past actions, this was his aura.
Suddenly…
“Take this!”
Elin unleashed Moon-Splitting Form, First Move. Her sword flew toward Noah with a mournful resonance.
But…
“…Pathetic.”
Noah wasn’t afraid, nor did he surrender. He regarded Elin with mild disdain.
Jintelu Form, First Move.
Simultaneously, he assumed the Jintelu Form he had used on Noel—an advanced sword technique only Noah could wield, taught by Swordmaster Louise.
“What…?”
Elin’s eyes widened. It was only a simple stance, yet she felt fear.
“…A pathetic trick!”
She tried to deny the instinctive fear she felt, telling herself it was a misunderstanding, that she shouldn’t fall for such a simple ploy.
For less than a second, she hesitated—and then felt anger at herself for even thinking that.
‘Fear a descendant of a fallen house? Ridiculous.’
Thud!
Elin stomped the ground. She decided any further hesitation was useless. Whoever swung at her would see Noah unflinching.
She judged the situation and attacked.
Noah watched silently, unmoved, like a massive rock.
“Die!”
Elin swung with all her strength—the greatest effort she had ever put into a duel. She believed this strike would secure her victory.
Jintelu Form, First Move.
At that moment, Noah whispered the stance’s name softly.
“?”
Elin shivered at the sound.
Noah’s sword moved fluidly, and when it returned to his chest…
Crack!
Elin’s armor split and shattered in an “I” shape.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The knights’ mouths dropped open. Noah sheathed his sword and looked at Elin calmly.
“Hand over the magical artifact.”
