Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Warrior’s Demon Beast Hunt

The news that Leon had received the recognition of the Count of Enox spread quickly throughout the mansion.

Because of that, Leon had to hear people whispering whenever he passed by.

“I heard he actually ate poison?”

Most of what he heard were unpleasant remarks, but Leon paid them no mind.

They were merely the judgments of insignificant people. Such criticism could never shake Leon’s composure.

Leon headed toward where Retina was. He wanted to apologize to her.

Even though things had turned out well in the end, Leon had made a promise to her — not to cause any trouble.

Since he had broken that promise, it was only right that he apologized.

Fortunately, Ryan was nearby as well, so Leon went to meet Retina with him.

Ryan had said, “You’re the only one who made a scene in the first place.” But Leon deliberately pretended not to hear that.

Retina was with the physicians of the Count of Enox’s household. From the conversation he overheard, it seemed that she was making an antidote for the basilisk’s poison together with them.

“She’s a mage, but she also knows medicine?”

What a remarkably knowledgeable woman she was.

At Leon’s call, Retina turned her head.

“I heard you ate basilisk poison? You look fine, but just in case, come here and get examined. Sometimes the poison builds up inside your organs without you realizing it. It could erupt later, so let’s run a check now.”

Leon silently obeyed her words. Retina carefully examined his body. Watching her exchange opinions with the physicians was quite an interesting sight.

“Retina, I’m sorry,” Leon said.

“I couldn’t keep my promise not to cause trouble.”

“I know. But why apologize now? I understand you were in a situation that would make anyone angry, and things ended well, didn’t they?”

“Even so, it’s still true that I broke my promise, isn’t it?”

Retina looked straight into Leon’s eyes. After a brief exchange of gazes, she curved her red lips into a smooth smile.

“This much is nothing in the mercenary world. Compared to what you’ll go through in the future, it’s barely a scratch. And remember — we’re Black Dragons. Even if you make a mistake, as your senior, it’s only natural for me to cover for you. Keep this in mind: whatever wrong you commit, it’s the Black Dragon’s place to scold you or forgive you.”

Despite her words, Retina looked pleased. She seemed touched that Leon had cared about something so small.

“Most mercenaries are too dense to even think about things , but you’re different. I really like that.”

Of course, Leon hadn’t always been this way. Back in his days as a wandering ronin in his previous life, he had once been saved by a master’s mercy — all because of a single small act.

It must have been since then that Leon began to pay attention to such small things, expressing gratitude and apology whenever he could.

The world was smaller than one might think. A single small action could one day return as a mighty storm.

That was why Leon always tried not to overlook even the smallest of things.

Retina also praised Ryan, who had followed Leon. Ryan looked bewildered — understandable, since he had never expected to be praised over such a trivial matter.

Soon, with a dawning look of realization, Ryan silently expressed his gratitude to Leon with his eyes.

He too understood — that even within the same group, being acknowledged was another matter entirely.

Before long, Leon and Ryan had to leave the room, as they were said to be disturbing the antidote preparation.

“You’re more calculating than you look, aren’t you?” Ryan said.

“You think things through more than I expected. I never thought you’d help me like that. So, what do you want in return?”

Ryan looked to be in a good mood.

He would eventually return to the Duke of Kellyburn. To him, building good relations with the Black Dragons — from whom he might need help one day — was a happy turn of events.

Leon simply replied that he wanted nothing.

In truth, he had brought Ryan along only because he didn’t want to get scolded alone.

Had Retina not been such a forgiving person, Ryan would have been scolded heavily along with Leon.

But Ryan seemed to take it differently, chuckling as he said,

“Embarrassed, huh? Don’t worry, this big brother will pretend not to notice.”

“It’s really not that.”

“Sure, sure. This big brother knows everything.”

Ryan replied with a laugh. Leon shook his head helplessly and then headed toward a quiet, deserted place. There, he gripped his sword.

Ryan had followed him and asked. Didn’t he have anything better to do? Why follow someone around ?

Leon didn’t answer and instead began swinging his sword. He wanted to quickly test the insight he had gained in his trance. There was no time to waste on meaningless chatter.

Leon swung his sword — sometimes powerfully, sometimes gracefully.

Each time the sword sliced through the air, the front strands of Ryan’s hair fluttered slightly.

“You swing your sword in a really strange way,” Ryan commented.

“Why do you always twist it before swinging? You could just swing it straight .”

Ryan’s sword style was practical — heavy and fast.

“That’s a shallow sword.”

“My teacher says something similar. But what exactly do you mean by ‘depth’?”

Leon hesitated to answer. Warriors generally disliked revealing their cultivation process to others — their martial art could be stolen.

But the reason Leon had shown Ryan his training without hesitation was because Ryan didn’t know any martial arts to begin with.

Still, was it right to teach him his knowledge?

His hesitation didn’t last long.

“A true master puts intent into every swing. Their thoughts — what they wish to convey through the blade. I call that will, and I can handle it, though only faintly.” Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel⁂fire.net

“So you twist your sword because of that will?”

Leon nodded. Martial arts were, after all, the creation of someone. No one could perfectly understand the creator’s intent.

That was why most practitioners tried to embody even the seemingly unnecessary movements completely — believing the creator must have hidden meaning within them.

He swung his sword again, and Leon’s eyes widened.

Ryan was mimicking Leon’s Twelve Celestial Sword Styles exactly. It was impressive.

Leon had only been able to fully perform all twelve forms after gaining countless realizations.

How Ryan could imitate it without even knowing the incantations of the Twelve Celestial Sword Styles was beyond him.

“No… perhaps it’s only natural.”

What Leon had realized so far were things anyone might know.

Who in the world would fall into a trance just by realizing how to swing a sword?

The excitement in his heart subsided.

He had thought he had grown stronger — but realizing that this was arrogance made his heart grow heavier.

‘Fortunately, Ryan didn’t know a single thing about the intent of the Twelve Celestial Sword Styles.’

The sword Ryan showed still lacked depth. It was merely a mimicry of the form and sequence — something that should be called swordplay rather than swordsmanship.

Leon thought that he needed to stay vigilant. Ryan was what people called a genius.

But even Ryan’s talent could not compare to the truly transcendent — those of heaven beyond heaven.

If Ryan could perfectly imitate all the forms and movements of the Twelve Celestial Sword Styles, then someone with even greater talent might one day be able to grasp its very intent.

If Ryan were to grow stronger in the future, he might even reinterpret the sword style himself and create a new martial art.

To create a martial art usually took at least several decades — if not longer. But the world was unpredictable, after all.

Leon decided to appear calm while vowing to be more cautious from now on.

Then the next day came.

Leon immediately went out to hunt the basilisk. He had already confirmed that the poison of the basilisk was harmless to him, so there was no reason to delay.

“The basilisk, despite its large size, is hard to spot because it crawls along the ground. Don’t let your guard down. Its true threat isn’t the poison — it’s the sheer size that allows it to swallow a human whole.”

Leon engraved his warning deep into his heart. It was his first time hunting a demon beast. Being his first, there was bound to be some inexperience.

Leon focused, heightening his senses to the utmost. To eliminate as many variables as possible, he could only rely on his concentration.

Before long, they arrived in the region where the basilisk was said to appear.

A sinister hiss brushed against Leon’s ears.

An unpleasant sound — unmistakably the basilisk’s.

Leon tightened his grip on his sword hilt. It was a massive creature. Any lapse in focus would mean surrendering the initiative to it.

At that moment of heightened alert—

The basilisk revealed itself right in front of them. Hidden among the bushes, its massive body came into view — blood-red eyes, and a serpentine tongue writhing ominously.

The green venom dripping from its fangs made one’s skin crawl just to look at it.

The poison that fell from its fangs sizzled and melted the ground. A terrifying acid. At that potency, one would worry more about being melted alive than poisoned.

‘Even its size is different from what I heard.’

He had been told it was about the size of a bear — but this one was as big as a house.

The basilisk glared down at him with crimson eyes, clearly seeing itself as the predator.

“This one’s grown. I didn’t expect it to be this big. My apologies.”

“There’s no need to apologize. What will you do about it?”

“Just as planned. Watch out for the acidity of its venom — it seems its poison has grown stronger along with its body.”

Leon lowered his stance and locked eyes with the basilisk. Its gaze was calm, unbothered even by the conversation between him and Kazan.

It saw itself as the superior being — no wonder it exuded such composure.

Then, the beast decided to hunt.

The basilisk lunged at Leon with startling speed for its size — an enormous body moving with serpentine agility.

It was a calamity in motion.

In that instant, Kazan struck first, cutting deep into the basilisk’s torso. Considering its massive body, it was little more than a superficial wound. Its hide looked so thick that it probably didn’t even feel pain.

The basilisk’s attack pattern was simple. When close, it snapped its venomous fangs; when far, it charged.

A limbless creature crawling on its belly — no room for unpredictable movements.

But it was resilient. In mere moments, Kazan had slashed the creature’s body dozens of times.

He focused his strikes on the same areas he had already cut — a flurry of blows that would have killed any other demon beast.

Yet the basilisk remained unfazed. Its attacks were crude, but it simply refused to die.

Now Leon understood why Kazan hadn’t been able to kill it alone.

The creature’s outer hide was in tatters, its whole body bleeding — it should have been dead already.

But the basilisk didn’t stop. Instead, the more wounds it sustained, the more violently it thrashed, its fury boiling over.

Such tenacious vitality — could it even be killed?

Leon’s sword pierced into the basilisk’s jaw. The sound of bones breaking followed.

This one had to be fatal.

At last, the basilisk collapsed, its strength exhausted from accumulated wounds.

It was a victorious moment — yet Leon and Kazan were too drained to celebrate.

“Now I understand why you said you couldn’t take it down alone. No matter how much you cut it, it just wouldn’t die.”

“Now you see why I was furious with the Count? He told me to hunt something alone. One helper would’ve made it easy, but he never gave me a hand — not once!”

Kazan ground his teeth, clearly humiliated by the experience.

Leon slowly rose to his feet. To prove the kill, he needed to collect the basilisk’s head.

Since Kazan had done most of the fighting, Leon figured he should handle such menial work.

A tremendous slash came flying toward Leon from somewhere.

Leon hastily raised his sword to block the blow. He hadn’t even registered the attack — his body had reacted purely on instinct.

He only realized what had happened after the shock reverberated through his arms.

“So, you were hiding here.”

A man emerged slowly from the bushes as he spoke.

He wore an eyepatch over his left eye and held a rapier in one hand.

The man had a rough, intimidating face, his yellowed teeth showing as he grinned.

“You’ve got guts — daring to mess with us and still not leaving the Empire’s borders.”