Chapter 285

Who were the leaders of the Middle World?

A question that had been repeated throughout history, and naturally, the humans considered themselves to be the rulers . Elves, dwarves and other beastmen had far too few numbers while the countless monsters lacked intelligence despite their formidable strength .

The orcs were the only ones that could compete against humans but they were overly instinctive . When they were hungry they would eat, sleep when sleepy and fight if they wanted to…

Even after a long time, the orcs showed no development and thus, the existence that carried the biggest influence in the Middle World became humans . Of course, that was without considering the administrator, mediator and observer, the great existences called dragons .

‘Dragons are the true rulers and leaders of the Middle World . ’

Pierce breathed in deeply .

However, since a few hundred years ago, the dragons had hidden themselves from view . There were rumours that they had left for the World of the gods, to a different dimension or that they had all entered hibernation but no-one could provide the exact evident reason for the disappearance of the great beings .

A small portion of humans including mages were greatly shocked from the disappearance of dragons but most were happy and joyful of it . The reason was,

‘Because of the Mad Dragon Lunark . ’

Even from amongst the dragons, the Mad Dragon was the only black dragon and was infamous for being a slaughterer of the Middle World . Without following the Dragon Lord, Gold Dragon Europas’ orders and commands, he travelled the Middle World alone and brought all sorts of slaughter and destruction .

Offering treasures, gold and silver were pointless . There were times when even beauties were offered but that too was pointless, as the Mad Dragon had only seeked massacre and destruction .

That Lunark had disappeared together when the other dragons had hidden themselves, so it was something which humans couldn’t avoid being joyful of .

‘And yet this is that Mad Dragon Lunark’s lair?’

Glancing through the lair, Pierce let out a deep breath . Now that he saw these treasures filling this place as remains and proofs of the destruction and massacre, his heart tightened .

“Shouldn’t have been that long since he had left the lair but…”

Walking across the lair, Kalian shook his head and on his face surfaced annoyance .

“The gems are still there but the weapons are all gone . This crazy blackie…”

He kicked away the gems reaching onto his feet .

“Is he planning to make an army or something…”

Turning his head over, Kalian faced Pierce .

“At this rate, we too need to make a new arm…”

When his words reached around there,

Kwang!

Along with a massive noise, a strange organism sprouted forth from amongst the mountain of treasures . The strange organism was five times bigger than Pierce with a build that made people speechless . Although its two legs were short, its two arms were long enough to touch the ground, and its head was very small without a nose, with only one eye and one mouth .

“What in the world…”

Pierce gave a frown . This was an organism that he had never seen, or even heard of in his entire life but Kalian gave a light smile and shook his head .

“A guardian . ”

“Is that a guardian?”

Staring at the strange organism, Pierce asked to which Kalian replied with a flat tone .

“Right . Lunark loved using Keakes as the Lair Guardian for a long time now . ”

“Keakes…”

Pierce gulped .

“Kuang!”

As if it had been waiting, the strange organism, Keakes let out a peculiar voice . Raising its long hand up, the massive palm appeared in full as it blocked the lair’s ceiling . Stepping back, Kalian waved his hand at Pierce .

“You try fighting against it . ”

“Me, sir?”

Pierce asked back with surprise but Kalian only nodded in reply . After another gulp, Pierce glared at Keakes . It was massive but he wasn’t scared .

‘I am the continent’s greatest spearman . ’

Not counting Roan of course .

He pointed his spear at Keakes and Keakes immediately replied by waving its large hand .

Paat!

It swung in like a whip .

Taat!

Kicking off the ground, Pierce flew his body across as the mana flowed ideally and efficiently throughout his body .

Spat!

His shadow blurred and the spearhead danced across the dimension .

Swing! Slash!

Deep wounds were created on Keakes’ arms, but,

Shrrk .

A wound that would’ve been critical on any humans had disappeared in the blink of an eye .

“Uh?!”

Widening his eyes, Pierce made a slightly surprised expression and in that instant, a large hand flew towards his head .

“Hup!”

Rapidly regaining his breath, he kicked off once again .

Kwang!

Together with a loud noise, the large palm slapped the empty ground . The attack was strong enough to sink the hard ground in .

Drop .

When Keakes raised its arm, bits of stones fell down from its palm . Actually, they appeared to be little stones compared to its arm but in fact were small-sized rocks .

“The regeneration ability of Keakes is astounding . Just cutting up wounds won’t do anything significant to it . ”

Kalian’s voice entered his ears .

“You must cut it off in one slice . Whether it be an arm or a neck – so that the wound cannot close you need to slice it off with one movement . ”

He talked nonchalantly but it definitely wasn’t something easy . Pierce had no choice but to grit his teeth .

‘Good . Let’s try it once . ’

Pierce was a man who did not know of the word, give up, and once again, he kicked off the ground .

Pabat!

Going around Keakes quickly, he swung his spear .

Slash!

The sharp spearhead slashed at Keakes’ arm together with the dimension, but its bones were as big and tough as his body suggested .

Tang!

The spear that went through the meat was blocked by the tough bones .

“Kuk!”

Putting power into both of his hands, Pierce tried to cut off the bone but it was pointless and soon, the organism’s other palm drew closer into his head .

‘Damn!’

Having no other choice, Pierce retrieved his spear and fell back .

Shrrk .

The wound created from the spear was immediately closed but Pierce couldn’t afford to stay regretful the entire time .

Kwagwang! Kwang! Kwang!

Keakes smacked its palms left and right without a stop, and every time that happened, ground was broken apart along with resonating echoes .

“Come on, hurry . ”

Kalian’s voice entered his ears and sounded cheeky but Pierce didn’t have any room to spare .

Pababat! Swing! Slash! Spat!

The fierce battle continued . Keakes’ attacks were ferocious but each of its actions were too big, while Pierce’s attacks were fast and elaborate but weren’t powerful enough to cut off its bones .

‘There should be a way…’

Pierce clenched hard . The mana inside his body had fallen to below half and with one mistake, he could end up as a mass of blood on Keakes’ hand .

In that instant,

“Pierce, how do you cut trees with an axe?”

Kalian’s voice was heard . It was still cheeky but it wasn’t something that could be therefore ignored .

‘When cutting trees?’

His eyes brightened .

‘Good!’

Something sparked in his head .

Kwang!

Keakes’ palm fell right next to him, and immediately Pierce ran up the arm and waved his spear .

Tang!

But it was soon blocked by the tough bones and couldn’t move any further . Without being startled, Pierce quickly retrieved his spear .

Shrrk .

The wound was closed immediately after but Pierce instead wore a faint smile on his lips .

Kwang!

Keakes’ massive palm once again struck the ground . Pierce, who had dodged that with elaborate movements, waved his spear again .

Slash!

The spear once again dug in deep into the thick arm .

Tang!

But another sound rang as the spearhead met a hard bone .

Shrrk .

When he took the spear back out, the wound was closed without a sign . It seemed to be exactly the same as the previous time but Pierce wore a strange smile of satisfaction .

‘I knew it!’

His expression said that his expectations had been on the mark . From then, Pierce continued dodging Keakes’ attacks while diligently waving his spear, and every time, the spear dug through the thick arm before colliding with the tough bone .

“Oho . Impressive . ”

Staring at that, Kalian let out a low mutter and soon became delighted into clapping .

“Hahaha . To slash the same exact place over and over again . Although I did give a bit of a hint, to think that he was able to pull that off against the moving Keakes… amazing . ”

Kalian lifted his thumb up .

It was true . Despite having to restlessly avoid Keakes’ attacks coming without a stop, Pierce had been able to cut the exact same spot over and over again . It was surprising enough that he was able to remember a place that had been healed without a single mark remaining, but the fact that he was able to cut the exact location despite having to avoid Keakes’ powerful attacks was more astounding .

Tang! Tang! Tang!

Every time, the spearhead was blocked by the tough bones but with every attack, a small crack was formed on that tough bone .

‘Unlike the skin and the muscle, the bone is not regenerated . ’

Pierce wore a faint smile, and focusing his all into his fingers, like a lumberjack cutting a tree with an axe, he aimed exactly at the faint crack appearing on the bone with his spear .

Tang! Tang! Tang!

And every time, the bone was slowly broken and cracked, until finally,

Slash! Pagak!

Pierce’s spear slashed through the thick arm and even cut away the tough bone cleanly .

Sphat!

The spear that appeared like a twig in front of Keakes’ arm, divided its arm as it reached into the skies . It was a clean and perfect dismemberment .

Kuung!

Together with a heavy sound, Keakes’ right arm fell on the ground .

“Kuang! Kuang!”

Waving its right arm that had now become missing underneath the elbow, Keakes let out a strange voice . During that, Pierce stepped back and heaved out deep breaths .

‘Huu, huu . I did it . ’

He found it hard to believe himself .

‘By going against a guardian, I learned another way to use the spear . ’

Through this fierce battle, he felt like he had grown one step further .

“Kuang!”

It was then that Keakes raised a shout while lifting its left arm towards Pierce .

“Huu . Round 2 huh . ”

Pierce made a bitter smile . It was one arm less but the fight was not over yet .

‘Hopefully my mana would be able to hold out…’

Cutting off the right arm required a lot more mana than expected, but he wasn’t desperate nor did he give up . He was Pierce,

‘The strongest spearman of the continent . ’

He still had the confidence and pride in himself, and of course, Roan was still an exception . Pierce was once again about to kick off the ground when,

“Pierce, take this . ”

Kalian’s voice dug into his ears and naturally turning his head in response, Pierce stared at Kalian .

Fling!

Immediately, a steel stick the size of an arm flew towards him . Pierce reached his hand out quickly and snatched it when suddenly, a strong and pleasant wave of mana entered through his palm .

“This is…?”

Pierce asked carefully while looking at Kalian . Kalian replied casually with a nonchalant expression and voice .

“It’s a spear I made . To give it a name… maybe Kalian Spear? It’s far below Travias Spear but it is still much better than the one you’re using right now . ”

“Kalian Spear…”

Staring at the steel rod the size of his arm, Kalian Spear, Pierce muttered in a low voice, but then,

“If you blank out like that, you might end up as a pool of blood . ”

Kalian’s voice was heard . Quivering his body, Pierce stared above and realised that Keakes’ palm had reached his surroundings . Unconsciously, Pierce flowed mana into the Kalian Spear and,

Paaaat!

Red light escaped from Kalian Spear and at the same time, the arm-sized steel rod elongated while a red spearhead showed itself .

‘I’m overflowing with power! No, it feels good!’

Pierce felt his own emotions being heightened from the powerful strength coming from the spear . Confidence that he would be able to cut anything overflowed immediately and it was then that Keakes’ palm fell towards his head .

Kwaaaang!

Its palm smashed the ground along with a deafening boom .

“Kuaaah!”

Imagining Pierce that would’ve been squashed by its palm, Keakes let out a weird roar and showed its happiness, but,

Pssht!

A vicious sound was heard as a red spearhead appeared above Keakes’ hand .

“Kuah?”

From the unexpected situation, Keakes was dumbfounded and blinked its large eye . Undaunted, the red spear travelled back and forth as it vertically cut through Keakes’ palm .

Shrrk . Kung!

From the tip of the finger to the wrist, Keakes’ left hand was cut open vertically and fell sideways cleanly with a heavy sound . And from the gap appeared Pierce .

“Hahahaha!”

With a laugh, Pierce kicked off the ground and the red spearhead slashed through the dimension as it etched deep into Keakes’ arms .

Sguguguguck!!

A gruesome sound filled the lair . The red spearhead of Kalian Spear flowed like water as it divided Keakes’ arm and now, Keakes’ left arm was cut lengthily from the hand to the shoulder . There was nothing to stop it and there was no urge to stop as Pierce kicked off the ground and raised the spearhead above his head .

Sphat!

At the same time, a red light flickered from the tip of the spear as the light shone upon Keakes’ left arm . Even the tough bones were nothing more than fragile twigs in front of Kalian Spear, and Keakes’ left shoulder was completely bisected .

Kugung!

The heavy arm fell on the ground with a heavy sound .

“Kuaaah!”

Keakes let out a pained roar, but without caring about that, Pierce kicked off the ground again and waved his spear with a jump . The spear cleanly dug into Keakes’ neck .

Blink .

Keakes blinked its large eye once before soon tilting to the side .

Kung!

The cleanly cut head fell on the ground before the body did, and soon, the massive body followed suit powerlessly .

Kukukukukung!

Together with the heavy, blunt sound, the mountain of treasures collapsed . Regaining his balance in midair, Pierce dropped down and landed on Keakes’ chest .

“Huu . ”

Heaving out a deep breath, he stared at Kalian Spear .

‘It’s a great spear . ’

Keakes’ bone which he had to cut dozens of times to barely dissect had been cut without a single issue . Besides, just holding onto the spear had allowed a fast recuperation speed of the mana inside his body .

“Amazing . Despite using my spear, you were able to solo the guardian of a dragon’s lair . ”

Kalian’s voice was heard, as he approached Pierce while clapping .

“Good . I like you . I’ll give you the Kalian Spear . ”

“Sorry? Ah… Thank you . ”

Pierce lowered his head with great joy . It is said that masters do not blame their equipment but that was not a reason to refuse good equipment . Kalian however, wore a strange smile and brightened his two eyes .

“However, I have a request . ”

“A request?”

Pierce asked back carefully .

“Ah! It’s definitely not a strange request . ”

Kalian smiled and continued his words .

“Find someone for me . ”

It was a completely unexpected request .

End .

Translator: Lunargrasp

Proofreader: Deathwing