Chapter 97
Squelch! Squish!
Rough sounds echoed inside his body.
Hearing those sounds, Lloyd thought to himself.
‘This poison… it’s no joke, huh?’
It really wasn’t a joke.
His palm was pressed against the Queen’s solar plexus.
Through that hand, he was absorbing the energy of the deadly poison.
Moment by moment, it attacked the blood vessels and surrounding tissue.
Each time, the muscle fibers and veins screamed in agony.
Squelch! Squish!
The toxic energy trying to tear through tissue clashed with the resisting body.
In the tug-of-war between the two, sweat poured down Lloyd’s face.
He pushed himself harder.
He poured even more strength into the [Asrahan Heart Technique].
The three [Circle Shift]s spun more fiercely.
He absorbed the poison that had invaded the Queen’s body.
“How… did you learn something like this?”
The Queen looked up at him.
This was a mana absorption technique she had never encountered before.
Her gaze was a mix of shock, confusion, suspicion, and admiration.
A bitter smile crept onto Lloyd’s lips.
“Ugh… Huu, if you keep talking like that…”
“Should I not?”
“It makes it harder to focus on the emergency treatment, Your Majesty.”
“But despite your words, you’re removing the poison quite well.”
“Well, if you call it whining, then I suppose I have nothing to say—”
Lloyd kept up the [Asrahan Heart Technique] while joking around.
“If you’re going to talk, might as well cheer me on so I can get fired up.”
“Cheer you on? But blindly absorbing poison like this could put you in danger. Do you have a plan?”
“Of course I do. I’ll have to expel it.”
“I see.”
Maybe it was because the poison was being drawn out.
Or maybe it was because she realized he had a plan.
Either way, the Queen’s expression relaxed slightly.
Though her gaze toward him remained sharp.
“There are two more things I wish to know.”
“Yes, go ahead and ask.”
“First. How did you sense what was happening here and rush in?”
“I’ve got good instincts.”
“Instincts?”
“Yes.”
“Be specific.”
“Uh, um… are you suspecting me?”
“Of course I—”
“If I were in league with Sir Cherny, I wouldn’t be risking my life to extract the poison from Your Majesty.”
“……”
“It’s true. I overheard Sir Cherny talking to the chamberlain and sensed something suspicious.”
“Suspicious? What did they discuss?”
“They were talking about the banquet going on until the moon sets, and other such things.”
“That sounds like a normal conversation. Why?”
“Just a feeling. His tone, his eyes—they were… off.”
“Off?”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect a coup or anything at first. But—”
“But?”
“I thought Sir Cherny and the chamberlain were, well, that kind of relationship.”
“……”
“So I figured it might be an entertaining spectacle and followed them out of curiosity. Then I ended up here in this mess… That’s all.”
“A sight you shouldn’t have seen.”
“Not at all.”
A moment of silence passed.
Lloyd let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
‘Thank goodness, I’ve deflected her suspicion.’
The attempted assassination of the Queen.
He only knew about it because he had read The Iron Blooded Knight novel.
No one else in this world knew.
Not even the Queen.
The assassins’ coded messages—only he could understand them.
‘Which makes it the perfect situation to be suspected.’
He had rushed in to save the Queen, but the act itself was suspicious.
He was the first to detect the signs of assassination, even before the assassins arrived.
That alone was suspicious enough.
So he had to dispel that suspicion first.
Thus, Lloyd employed a little trick.
‘Mixing truth and lies—a con that always works well.’
He confessed to hearing Sir Cherny’s coded message.
Then added the lie about “Sir Cherny being gay.”
He downplayed his actions as a nosy brat chasing gossip out of curiosity.
And right now, he was literally risking his life to remove poison from the Queen.
All those factors combined created a synergy.
Just as he intended, the Queen’s suspicion subsided.
The look in her eyes softened.
“I see. But I have one more question.”
“Yes, what is it this time?”
“Why has your speech grown more casual?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Since you forcefully laid me down for treatment earlier, your manner of speaking has grown increasingly informal. Was that intentional?”
“Of course not, Your Majesty.”
“Your tone shifted faster than the wind.”
“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Majesty.”
“Doesn’t seem like a misunderstanding to me.”
“It’s truly unfair, Your Majesty.”
“Shameless.”
The Queen let out a soft chuckle.
But only briefly—her expression hardened again.
“You mentioned Sir Asrahan, did you not?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Will he be all right? Against Sir Cherny?”
“……”
Lloyd fell silent.
It wasn’t a question he could answer lightly.
That was why he was doing everything he could right now.
Pouring his all into absorbing the deadly poison.
So he could finish emergency treatment quickly and rush to Javier’s aid.
‘Javier hasn’t reached the level of Swordmaster yet.’
But now he had to face Sir Cherny, who was a Swordmaster.
What would the outcome be?
He couldn’t say.
He couldn’t even predict it.
‘He won’t go down easily. But I can’t be at ease either.’
Javier was exceptionally talented.
He had reached the peak of [Sword Expert], and possessed a [Triple Circle].
But even combining all of that?
‘There’s still an insurmountable gap between him and a Swordmaster.’
That’s how extraordinary and terrifying a Swordmaster was.
Only a [Swordmaster] could stop another [Swordmaster].
Their very existence rivaled strategic weapons.
In the modern world, they were akin to nuclear arms.
The number of [Swordmasters] a nation possessed—
That alone was a measure of its military power.
‘And Javier has to face someone like that alone.’
Of course, in the novel, Javier eventually became a [Swordmaster].
He even surpassed that, becoming the first-ever [Grandmaster] in history.
But that was the novel’s story.
This was different.
Today, if things went badly…
‘Javier could die.’
Javier was his greatest anchor and most vital insurance for the future.
He didn’t want to lose someone like that in vain.
Zeeeeeeee!
Lloyd pushed the rotation of the [Circles] even further.
He pushed to the very limit of his capability.
The deadly poison absorbed from the Queen accumulated around the spinning [Circles].
But he didn’t care.
‘Once I absorb it all, I’ll expel it and run.’
Then he would fight alongside Javier.
Sweat streamed down his face as he steeled his resolve.
The droplets fell, pattering softly on the Queen’s cheek.
But she could not bring herself to scold him.
Lloyd’s expression, wholly focused on the [Asrahan Heart Technique], was far too serious.
‘He becomes more astounding the more I see him.’
A suspension bridge project she’d never heard of.
He made that grand declaration a reality, proving his skill.
But now, it was clear he was hiding even more than that.
‘A technique that can absorb external mana, even from another person and with specific properties… I never imagined such a thing possible.’
And yet, what she thought impossible was unfolding right before her.
The poison leaking from her body each moment.
That was the undeniable proof.
It left her—a Swordmaster—staggered and awed.
‘Just how far do this man’s abilities go?’
If she could, she wanted to find out.
She was intrigued.
Curious.
While the Queen looked up at Lloyd with eyes full of wonder, the intense emergency treatment continued in the quiet break room.
♣
Schlick!
The [Burst Step] was cleaved in two.
The [Aura Sword] surged forward.
It slashed at Javier’s chest.
But no blood flew.
‘Hm?’
Twitch—Sir Cherny’s eyebrows trembled.
For a moment, he had been sure he’d landed a hit.
But the moment after swinging his blade—
The impact felt too light.
It had only grazed him.
The moment Sir Cherny realized it—
Javier’s counter came streaking like lightning.
Shwiing!
“……!”
It wasn’t imbued with [Aura].
But it was blindingly fast.
Sir Cherny raised his sword.
KLANG—!
Javier’s blade bounced off the [Aura Sword].
In that shockwave, Sir Cherny finally saw it.
‘My last strike only cut his clothes.’
He glimpsed Javier’s front.
It was torn in a diagonal line.
Through the tear, a glimpse of Javier’s bare chest was visible.
‘Incredible reaction speed.’
Sir Cherny was honestly impressed.
When he had split the [Burst Step] earlier—
And carried that momentum into a slash at Javier’s chest—
He had been sure the fight was over.
But no.
‘He’s strong and fast despite not being a [Swordmaster]. Even his technique is refined. Purely by skill alone, he might be on par with me—no, possibly beyond.’
The silver-haired youth before him.
Barely past twenty, by the looks of it.
His monstrous talent was terrifying.
If that brat reached the level of a [Swordmaster]?
‘He’d surpass me instantly.’
He had no choice but to admit it.
And along with that admission came a violent impulse.
‘But you’ll never surpass me. Because you’ll die here today.’
The thrill of snuffing out a legendary talent before it bloomed.
Driven by that brutal impulse, a smirk spread across Sir Cherny’s face.
His grip on the sword tightened.
‘I’ll make sure you die today. Go on, struggle all you want!’
He had already drawn his [Aura Sword].
He feared nothing now.
Swish—Snap!
Sir Cherny’s sword came crashing down at an odd angle.
Blazing [Aura] enveloped the blade as it surged toward Javier.
CLANG—!
[Aura] and sword collided.
In that instant, a part of Javier’s blade shattered.
It was crushed and torn apart by the [Aura].
Javier’s expression hardened.
Sir Cherny sneered.
“You really thought you could block an [Aura Sword] with that level of skill?”
CRACK!
Another swing of the [Aura Sword].
Javier’s blade crumbled further under the pressure.
Sir Cherny’s sneer deepened.
“You blocked it again? I should praise you for not getting your sword completely split by an [Aura Sword].”
Heh.
Another swing.
Part of Javier’s blade chipped away again.
Killing intent now laced Sir Cherny’s sneer.
“Ho. Three blocks. Is it because you’re the Queen’s treasured sword? What now? How about trying that technique from earlier again?”
“……”
Javier couldn’t respond.
He had no time to.
From the moment he blocked that first [Aura Sword], his insides were in turmoil.
The shock of deflecting the [Aura] tore through him.
It felt like stopping a giant’s hammer with nothing but a fingertip.
Using the [Asrahan Heart Technique] to absorb mana wasn’t even an option.
Every block came with overwhelming impact that accumulated within him.
His legs wouldn’t move.
They refused to respond.
They were frozen from the shock piling up.
‘Should I use [Burst Step]?’
The thought crossed his mind.
But it wouldn’t work.
Even his strongest technique had been cleaved in two earlier by the [Aura Sword].
If he used it again, his chest would be split open for real.
‘If only I were a [Swordmaster].’
If he had reached that level, a [Burst Step] from there could pierce through the [Aura Sword].
No—he wouldn’t even need [Burst Step].
He could simply counter with his own [Aura Sword].
‘Lloyd… sir.’
BOOM!
Another strike crashed down.
It felt like he was being nailed into the ground.
“Khak!”
Blood splattered from his cough.
The rotation of his [Circles] slowed.
And then came the fifth strike.
A savage strike fell like a bolt of lightning.
KRAK!
“……!”
At last, the Queen’s treasured sword was broken.
Through the shattered blade, the [Aura Sword] came crashing down.
‘It can’t end here!’
He had to buy even one more second.
That way, Lord Lloyd could finish treating the Queen.
Then Lord Lloyd would have a chance to survive.
The Queen was a [Swordmaster]; she would be able to face off against Sir Cherny.
‘Ghhk!’
Javier cast aside his pride.
Faced with death falling from above, he struggled to survive even a second longer.
He collapsed and rolled to the side.
SCREECH!
The [Aura Sword] narrowly scraped the floor, sending sparks flying.
But he survived.
Even if just for a moment.
He wanted to use this brief extension of life to buy more time.
Swinging his half-destroyed sword, he tried to resist—anything to raise Lloyd’s chances of survival.
At that moment, a merciless kick came flying in.
BOOM—!
“……!”
A front kick slammed into his chest.
Under its crushing weight, Javier was hurled back nine paces down the hallway.
He crashed into the corner table and rolled across the floor.
CRASH, SMASH!
Splinters of broken wood flew everywhere.
From the wreckage, he barely managed to lift his upper body.
‘It’s not over yet.’
He didn’t give up.
He reached out.
He grabbed a broken table leg.
Sir Cherny charged in, closing the distance in a flash.
He brought his blazing [Aura Sword] down.
“It’s over!”
SHWAAANG!
The [Aura Sword] fell like lightning.
Javier raised the table leg.
Sir Cherny grinned wide.
An [Aura Sword] could only be blocked by another [Aura Sword].
That was an absolute law.
‘And yet you raise a table leg before my [Aura Sword]? Ha!’
Go on and thrash all you want.
Just as he thought that—
THOK—!
The [Aura Sword] was stopped by the wooden table leg.
“What?”
What in the world?
Sir Cherny’s eyes widened.
And then, it began.
The table leg started to change in an unprecedented way.
ZZZZZZZ—
A cool light surged from within it, in streams.
It wrapped around the table leg in a fierce radiance.
It was the brilliant resolve forged only by one who had awakened to the true essence of the sword.
It was [Aura].