Rem turned around and struck down a spear with his axe.
Clang!
The spear blade spun through the air and flew off.
The Troll was indeed a creature of immense strength, but Rem was also a human of great power.
Audin, running forward, caught the flying spear mid-air with a swift motion.
Despite the heavy weight and speed of the spear, it came to a sudden stop the moment it touched Audin's hand.
It was almost absurd how easily it was halted, considering how forcefully it had been launched.
It was an abnormal scene, made possible by abnormal strength.
It looked as if it defied the laws of physics.
There's a saying that strength beyond limits can seem like magic.
This was exactly that. A brute strength honed to an extreme degree.
In terms of raw power, Audin surpassed Rem.
The Troll brothers didn't even have time to realize something was wrong.
"Hahaha!"
Audin let out a burst of laughter as he leaped forward, and with a loud bang, the ground exploded beneath his feet, sending dirt flying like a fountain.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Not just once, but three more times, the earth erupted in dirt fountains.
Audin's body left a long trail, an afterimage, as he rapidly closed the distance.
That massive frame of his moved at an unbelievable speed, shrinking the space between them in an instant.
To an ordinary person, it would seem as if he had suddenly vanished. His thighs, strengthened through relentless training, combined with his perfect control over his body, enabled this incredible charge.
It was comparable to the charge of a Knight. That's what Encrid thought the moment he saw it.
Audin, now closing in, swung the spear like a club, striking one of the Trolls on the head.
The Troll, caught off guard by Audin's speed, couldn't even dodge.
And when added his 'Concentrated Burst' technique on top of it—
Wham! Bang!
The Troll's head shattered, black blood spraying into the sky. It was almost an expected outcome.
Skull fragments and other parts of the Troll's head scattered in all directions. The blood sprayed out in a radial pattern from where the spear struck, shooting upward toward the opposite diagonal.
Though the sun was beginning to set, it didn't matter much, as no one here had trouble seeing in the dark.
So.
"Don't let any escape."
Encrid spoke.
Dunbachel and Teresa charged forward.
Audin laughed as he pounded the Trolls.
Even with their famous regenerative powers, the Trolls were no match. Arms were torn off, eyes popped out and crushed under the force.
Encrid had no need to step in any further.
The five Trolls didn't even dare to think about running.
If just one escaped, it would hide somewhere, and after that, they'd be forced to play a game of hide-and-seek. Even for Rem, it would be a troublesome ordeal.
Chasing down a creature determined to hide was a whole different matter.
So, they couldn't let any escape.
And, of course, none did.
Audin, holding nothing back, dismembered and dismantled three of them.
Of the five, Rem swung his axe and turned one into nine pieces.
"What's going on with him?"
After cutting it up, Rem turned toward Audin and asked.
The question carried the meaning of 'Why is that bear so excited?'
"Haha, it's a fine night. The Lord is watching over us."
Audin just laughed in response.
The last Troll was dealt with by Dunbachel and Teresa, who competed with each other as they tore it apart, smashed it, and split it open.
And that was the end.
There wasn't even a moment for the Trolls to demonstrate their famous regenerative powers.
Sinar just watched. No, she was too busy trying to put out the fires. Then, crouching down, she raised her head and asked:
"Shall I light it again?"
Encrid glanced at the sky to gauge the time. Evening had passed, and now it was night.
Had it been closer to dawn, resting here might've made sense, but was it necessary?
No task in this world demands an absolute 'must'.
Encrid wanted to wash up, and he also saw this as an opportunity to train. Above all, there was no real reason to endure the discomfort of camping out.
"Let's head back."
If they ran through the night, they could reach the Border Guard in two days.
If they pushed harder, they could arrive the next night.
Would that be too much? Even such intense training had its purpose.
After recovering from their previous injuries and taking time to rest, their bodies had grown less accustomed to strain.
So, this was a perfect opportunity to push themselves. Even the act of running would be good training.
That kind of thought process led Encrid to decide to postpone rest until they arrived at the city.
No one complained.
* * *
The rumor of the group who had cleared out three Low-Class Demon Realms—more precisely, two colonies and five troublesome monsters—quickly spread to the surrounding areas.
"I have nothing to say."
Krais was the first to hear the news, and his first words were, "I have nothing to say."
Who wouldn't be shocked to hear this?
It wasn't meant in a negative way.
From the moment Krais heard what Encrid had done upon his return, his mind started spinning.
If this kind of thing was possible.
In other words, if there were multiple people who had the ability to annihilate, burn, crush, slice, and kill any approaching monsters, and if they would step up just by being asked.
Ah, except for one.
Oh, right. One of them was on leave, so that made two exceptions. But even then, it was still an impressive show of strength.
Even Rem and Audin, who usually didn't step up, were more active than before.
'Dunbachel and Teresa also shouldn't be underestimated.'
There was also Esther and Odd-Eye, but Krais considered them a side issue.
"I'll go meet the Lord."
Krais said, and Encrid nodded vaguely.
Krais's eyes sparkled, clearly having thought of something again.
He must have seen some opportunity to earn money.
Encrid, on the other hand, immediately went to wash, rest, eat, and then dove back into practicing the Isolation Technique.
'Concentrated Burst' was, after all, a technique that required the body to keep up.
It revolved around the compression and explosion of muscle power.
Once he got used to it, he could replicate what had been done to him just a moment ago.
Audin, after beating the Trolls to death, smiled more deeply than before and personally demonstrated the technique to Encrid.
"You can do things like this once you've mastered it."
He approached with a hammer in his left hand as he spoke.
Though his presence was quite intimidating, at the same time, it was exciting—and that excitement was well justified.
Audin's massive frame, akin to a Giant, loomed over Encrid. Though Encrid wasn't short by any means, he couldn't match Audin's height.
"Watch closely."
Audin said as he extended his fist, stopping just a finger's width away from Encrid's abdomen.
It was in that brief moment that the Sense of Evasion kicked in.
There was no time to dodge. Encrid instinctively tightened his abdominal muscles.
Boom!
With an explosive sound—more precisely, a sound of something bursting right in front of his abdomen—Encrid felt a sudden weightlessness. Both of his feet lifted off the ground. He flew backward for a few steps before landing.
He didn't roll awkwardly, though.
He maintained his balance. All those times getting hammered had paid off. His resilience had noticeably increased.
"What was that?"
"That was the Concentrated Burst."
Encrid's eyes drifted to the ground. The dry dirt of the training field bore the clear mark of what had happened.
The ground had been deeply dented and twisted. It looked as if a small vortex had formed.
'Rotation of the ankle.'
Compression and explosion of every muscle in the body.
To display that kind of destructive power from just a finger's width away was overwhelming—and captivating.
"Impressive."
Encrid sincerely admired the technique, then immersed himself back into his training. Both his body and mind were busy.
After all, he wasn't just learning the Concentrated Burst.
Audin still had him getting hammered all over his body—every muscle except his head was hit evenly.
After that, Encrid roughly learned Dunbachel's full-body elastic sword technique.
He went to the blacksmith to grab a shield, sparred with Teresa, and later trained in handling other weapons with Rem.
"Does learning all this miscellaneous stuff really help?"
Rem asked.
Sometimes people say that depth in learning is important, but that kind of logic didn't apply to this crazy guy.
In other words, Rem asked despite knowing the answer.
"It does."
The reply was brief.
Encrid found his way through a mix of experience and instinct.
Was this the path to becoming a Knight?
He didn't know.
But one thing was certain.
'This is driving me mad.'
He was completely absorbed in the joy and excitement. Euphoria filled his body. Learning and mastering new things at a remarkable pace.
"Your body is kind of dumb, Captain. I mean, you can handle all that willpower stuff, but you struggle with this?"
Rem's harsh words cut in, but it didn't matter.
Compared to before, his growth now was unbelievable.
Ragna, watching lazily from the side, took it all in with tired eyes.
It wasn't that he'd lost his drive.
He had simply seen the path of the Knight's sword and now, after facing it, he was doing what needed to be done.
It was a time for organization and refinement.
Ragna had wandered the continent for a long time.
Half of that time, he had been lost, not by choice. Yet, he had encountered many along the way.
Each had their own unique techniques.
Mercenaries and warriors of the trading caravans were among them.
Ragna was a genius, and by merely watching their techniques, he could quickly grasp and learn them.
After seeing it once, he could replicate it. After a few repetitions, he was on the same level as the original user, and within two days, he had surpassed them.
"You're a demon. A demon's talent."
That was something a bodyguard of one of the caravans had said to him.
It was then that Ragna realized he was different from ordinary people.
But with that realization came a question.
'Should I go further?'
No one around him could keep up. Was this even a path worth pursuing?
Doubt and hesitation crept in. The doubt soon began to gnaw at him. At some point, he stopped pushing forward.
Even though he still had the drive, he settled for mastering what he had already learned.
What he needed was a catalyst. That catalyst was his fight with the Knight-in-training, Aya. Through that, he broke past his limits.
And why had this been possible?
Because whatever had been eating away at his heart had vanished.
"When are you going to stop playing around? Let's have a duel."
Yes, it was because of this man.
Encrid stood in front of him, holding a sword, beckoning him.
Ragna nodded.
He had sorted out his thoughts, and he had also finished organizing the clutter of techniques that had accumulated over the years.
Like the man before him, Ragna had begun to carve his own path.
And that was the birth of the Ragna-Style Swordsmanship.
Instead of being trapped by convention, Ragna had opened up a new way.
"A heavy and fast sword."
At the very moment Ragna spoke, Encrid instantly recalled the Knight's sword.
With a swoosh, the sword disappeared, cutting through space and reappearing.
The speed was different. The weight was different too.
As Encrid raised his sword horizontally to block, there was a deafening boom, and the impact coursed through his entire body.
'A cleaving strike?'
It wasn't exactly the same as the Concentrated Burst, but the power was comparable.
Ragna had absorbed the technique just by observing it and incorporated it into his own swordsmanship, modifying it to fit his style.
A true genius.
"You crazy bastard."
Rem said with a laugh as he picked up his axe.
"Alright, now I can finally pound your ass."
As Encrid was pushed back from the blow, Ragna casually spoke to Rem.
"What's that lazy bastard saying now?"
"He said now he can beat you without killing you. Hard to understand? Need him to show more hand gestures?"
"Yeah. Let's do it. Let's die together."
Soon, Ragna and Rem clashed.
Encrid, having stepped back, didn't bother intervening.
This fight was different from before.
Rem was being pushed back. Ragna had crossed some kind of threshold.
That's not to say Rem was just losing easily, though.
Encrid took in the duel, absorbing every detail.
There was so much to learn. Things that were once invisible to him were now clear.
A heavy and fast sword—Ragna demonstrated exactly what he had said.
Though it looked light, Ragna's sword clashing with Rem's axe was heavy and forceful.
Bang!
With each resounding explosion, nearby soldiers curiously peered over.
Some were shocked, while others were unsurprised yet still amazed.
After all, the members of the Madmen Platoon weren't exactly ordinary humans.
Watching their duel, Encrid felt chills all over his body, so excited he could hardly contain himself.
He couldn't hold back.
"Are you just going to watch?"
Encrid suddenly dragged Sinar into the mix.
Her delicate, precise swordsmanship—he wanted to see and learn from it through a duel.
"You greedy fiance, what will you offer in return if I give you this?"
Anything but the engagement.
"How about a date?"
The Fairy asked, and Encrid, unable to resist his desire, answered.
"Let's do it."
A date for swordsmanship—it seemed like a joke, but both Encrid and Sinar were satisfied with the deal.
* * *
"You want to plunder the swamp?"
Count Molsen asked, his butler bowing his head as he reported.
"My apologies. I didn't expect them to move so quickly."
It was the Count himself who had spread monsters in the swamp.
Using creatures like 'Bell', insects, and blood-sucking flies, he had blocked people's access to the area, using it for several magical experiments.
It was also a good place to gather rare magical ingredients, including herbs.
He had known that Encrid had left the city and gone to deal with the Gray Ghoul Forest. He wasn't gathering intelligence for no reason.
Even if that brat Frog was causing a ruckus, surely they'd get some information, right?
So, he knew about it.
"They also took down five Trolls."
"What the hell are these guys?"
The Count was dumbfounded. Are they running around without sleep or something?
The terrain was too rough for a carriage to travel, wasn't it?
Were they just running through unpaved roads?
For a moment, the Count couldn't find words, feeling a brief sense of frustration before shaking it off.
'This is absurd.'
It was too late to do anything about it.
And he certainly couldn't admit to releasing monsters in the swamp.
But in the end, none of it would matter once he got what he wanted.
"A member of the Language Revival Guild has infiltrated the territory."
"Deal with them."
"There are some troublemaker mercenaries involved."
It was clear that the local security forces wouldn't be enough to handle the situation.
The Count dismissed thoughts of the Madmen Platoon from his mind.
Afterward, his mind cleared, and the solution presented itself.
"Send Mats."
"Yes."
The butler bowed his head.
The Count sat down in his chair, quietly lost in thought.
The preparations were still lacking. So, he would have to wait. But how long should he wait?
At most, a year or two.
Is it human instinct to strive for greater heights?
Or is it his own desire, born from growing up in power?
He didn't know.
He would know once he reached the top.
Until then, he didn't care to know. His current ignorance would bring the pleasure of discovery when the time came.
Until then—
'Will they survive?'
The Madmen Platoon.
Encrid.
What an unusual human.
Impressive.
When the time came, they'd better not stand against him.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to let them live.
The Count would prefer to keep him alive.
It was rare to find a person who intrigued him this much.