The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations - Chapter 293
Chapter 293: Time to Reap the Rewards (1)
The clash of swords resounded as the two blades collided fiercely. Their mutual hatred left neither side any room to retreat.
Clang!
Naturally, Harold could not withstand Ghislain’s power, who had opened his Third Core. The moment their blades met, Harold’s sword was violently deflected backward.
“What in the—!”
Although Harold had already acknowledged Ghislain’s strength, experiencing it firsthand was an entirely different matter.
Even after exhausting every ounce of his life force, the disparity was insurmountable.
Before Harold could regain his stance, Ghislain struck again.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ghislain’s superiority wasn’t limited to sheer strength. His swordsmanship was so dazzling that Harold’s eyes couldn’t even track the blade’s trajectory.
It was an incomprehensible level of mastery—one no one could reach at that age.
Harold, swallowing his shock, swung his sword again. But no matter what he tried, his blade couldn’t touch Ghislain. Instead, he found himself overwhelmed, barely managing to block the attacks.
‘Could this bastard’s talent truly be this extraordinary?’
Ghislain was a towering wall. The more Harold fought, the more he realized the depth of his opponent’s ability. It was as if he were battling a veteran warrior far beyond his years.
Facing the overwhelming gap, Harold eventually began to lose his will to fight. Ghislain, however, didn’t miss the brief opening this created.
Slash!
“Argh!”
Harold narrowly evaded a fatal blow but suffered a long gash across his chest. Gritting his teeth, he staggered back several steps.
‘Could that bastard… truly be the strongest in the North?’
The ducal family had regarded Ghislain as an equal to Yurgen, the North’s most renowned swordsman. But Harold had dismissed that assessment, assuming it accounted for Ghislain’s military leadership, strategy, and estate management, not just raw combat power.
Yet here he was, still fighting with this kind of strength despite his exhaustion and injuries. How strong must Ghislain be to maintain this dominance?
Even after seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it in his body, Harold found it hard to believe. Ghislain’s absolute superiority stoked Harold’s growing sense of defeat.
“I refuse to accept this!”
Before Harold could let out his defiant roar, Ghislain’s blade came streaking toward him.
Boom!
It wasn’t just a swing—it felt as though the very fabric of the air was being torn apart. Harold could hear the heavens scream as if the world itself were being shredded. He had no confidence that he could block it.
As he locked eyes with Ghislain’s crimson, devilish gaze, fear overtook Harold, paralyzing his reason. Acting purely on instinct, he raised one arm to defend himself.
Crunch!
“Arghhh!”
Harold’s left arm was severed at the elbow. Blood poured freely as he screamed in agony.
Ghislain, watching Harold’s pitiful state, stabilized his core and reduced it to the open level. He had already forced Harold into submission and severed his arm, so there was no need to unnecessarily strain his Third Core.
“Don’t think for a second you’ll die peacefully, Harold.”
“Grr… urgh…”
Harold could only clutch at his severed arm, groaning in pain.
Gone was any semblance of dignity befitting a Grand Lord. His once-pristine appearance had devolved into a disheveled mess, his mouth dripping with bloodied saliva.
No matter how rigorously Harold had honed the mana cultivation and swordsmanship of his noble lineage, he had never been a man truly devoted to the sword. Most of his time had been spent managing his territory and engaging in politics.
Blessed with good talent and raised in a privileged environment, Harold had risen to the level of a senior knight. But that was as far as he could go.
Burning through even his life force, he was still no match for Ghislain, who had fully unleashed his Third Core.
“Ha… ha… haha…”
At some point, Harold’s groans turned into bitter laughter.
“How… how can someone your age wield such knowledge and power…”
How had the rogue once known as the North’s madman turned into such a monster?
Why had he failed to notice this transformation?
Everything was a mystery, and everything was regret.
“Ha… haha… I burned my life force… yet I couldn’t even graze you.”
Life force was not something one could recover once depleted. Just tapping into it could accelerate aging, and it was only used in the most desperate, life-threatening situations. Even then, it was meant to be used sparingly.
Harold had sacrificed his very life to kill Ghislain, even destroying his core in the process. Yet, despite the overwhelming surge of power, he couldn’t land so much as a single decisive blow.
Despair.
The immense despair of being unable to overcome his opponent, even after giving up everything, swallowed Harold whole.
He had lost everything, and even his vengeance would go unfulfilled as he faced his end.
“Ha… hahaha…”
Harold couldn’t endure it any longer. The humiliation, disgrace, and the shattering of his pride tormented him endlessly.
He trembled several times before finally raising his head to glare at Ghislain. His gaze was dark and sunken.
Ghislain stared back at Harold and spoke.
“I’ve dreamed every night of killing you and the Duke of Delfine. Today, one of those dreams has come true.”
“Ha… hah… you should have kept it a dream.”
Harold replied in a voice that cracked with pain.
“Fine, if I’m going to lose everything anyway… I might as well use that.”
“What?”
“Ghislain… you’ve never seen a power like this. It’s a shame I won’t fully feel the satisfaction of killing you with my own will… but it’s better than dying defeated. Watch closely. Witness the ultimate power I’ve kept hidden.”
Grrrr…
Suddenly, Harold’s body began to swell far beyond its normal size. His muscles expanded grotesquely, and veins bulged as if they might burst.
A storm of mana erupted violently, tearing through the air. Blood began to spurt from different parts of Harold’s body, unable to withstand the overwhelming force.
Ghislain’s eyebrows twitched as he observed the transformation.
‘This…’
“Graaaah!”
The light of reason disappeared from Harold’s eyes. He had become a beast drenched in blood.
Boom!
Harold’s entire body radiated mana, igniting his life force in a fiery explosion. It was similar to the mana techniques used by Ghislain and the knights of Fenris, except for one crucial difference: Harold’s mind was utterly consumed.
“Graaaaah!”
Letting out a monstrous roar, Harold swung his sword, unleashing a tremendous gale.
Boom!
The sheer force was enough to momentarily push Ghislain back.
‘Interesting.’
As Harold closed in, Ghislain met him with a cold smile and struck back.
Clang!
The battle resumed, but the dynamics had shifted. Harold began to overpower Ghislain, his strength and speed amplified to an astonishing degree.
Harold moved without regard for his own injuries. He was like a wild, berserk animal.
Clang!
Blocking Harold’s blade, Ghislain smirked.
“Have you abandoned your humanity, Harold?”
“Graaaah!”
Harold didn’t respond with words, only another guttural roar.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As Ghislain continued to fight him, an unsettling familiarity crept into his thoughts.
‘I’ve seen this kind of power before.’
Ghislain was well-acquainted with Harold’s mana technique, having seized it after conquering Desmond in his previous life. That technique had no such ability.
No matter how desperate one became, it was impossible to unleash such ferocious power using conventional mana techniques. The mana cultivation methods of noble houses never employed such reckless means.
But now, Harold was exhibiting strength that far surpassed his natural limits, as if his abilities had exploded exponentially.
It was eerily similar to Ghislain’s own methods.
‘It’s just like back then.’
In his past life, Ghislain had occasionally encountered individuals who burned their life force to surpass their limits. At the time, he had dismissed it due to his overwhelming superiority; whether his opponents ignited their life force or not, it made little difference to him. Such techniques weren’t entirely absent on the continent either.
But for someone like Harold, a high-ranking noble, to employ such a technique was deeply unusual. In his previous life, he had killed Harold so swiftly that he hadn’t noticed such an anomaly.
‘This… feels like…’
It reminded him of the flawed mana cultivation method Vanessa had learned in his past life. That technique had driven her mad.
Now that he thought about it, some of his other opponents had displayed similar tendencies.
‘They either went mad… or turned into monsters. Could they all have been using mana techniques similar to this one?’
At the time, he had attributed the explosive bursts of power to unique combat styles. Since his own methods bore a resemblance, he hadn’t given it much thought.
He simply defeated them all with ease, rendering any investigation unnecessary.
But for Harold, a high-ranking noble, to use such a technique? That was suspicious.
Ghislain began to recall those he had fought in his previous life. Those who exhibited similar explosive powers shared one common trait:
‘They always died after using this power.’
Unlike the refined mana cultivation method Ghislain had developed and improved, which allowed practitioners to gradually extend their limits with consistent training, this reckless technique offered no such safety. Those who unleashed such explosive power never survived.
However, the enemies Ghislain had encountered in his past life were unable to stop once they unleashed this power. It was as if their strength ran rampant until their very deaths.
It was a flawed, side-effect-riddled version of Ghislain’s mana cultivation method, one that forsook stability for extreme power.
The current Harold bore a striking resemblance to those foes from Ghislain’s previous life.
“Graaaah!”
Harold could no longer be called human. He had become a monster driven solely by the instinct to kill everything in his path.
Boom!
Crash!
Ghislain, blocking Harold’s wildly swinging sword, was gradually pushed back.
The strength behind Harold’s attacks was increasing. The sheer force emanating from his blade was enough to crack the ground, and Harold himself seemed unable to control his own power.
Gnashing his teeth, Ghislain let out a laugh and opened his Third Core again.
“Fine, let’s take this to the end.”
Rumble!
Crash!
Their blades, now cloaked in intense mana, clashed once more. This time, unlike before, Ghislain held his ground.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Each collision sent shockwaves rippling through the area, scattering debris in all directions.
Desmond’s remaining aides and bodyguards, who had been watching from a distance, retreated even further.
If they were caught in the storm of power, they would be torn apart in an instant.
Crash!
Ghislain deflected Harold’s sword once again and dashed forward, planting his foot firmly on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from view and reappeared behind Harold, swinging his blade.
Slash!
Wham!
Harold turned swiftly, retaliating with his sword. Ghislain ducked to evade the strike and leapt back.
‘As I thought…’
This wasn’t simply enduring pain. Harold’s body didn’t show even a momentary flinch or hesitation. It was as if his sensory nerves were entirely shut off, leaving his body to move purely on instinct.
Moreover, the wounds inflicted on him were incredibly shallow. His entire body was encased in an overwhelming surge of mana.
Crash!
When Ghislain dodged another of Harold’s attacks, the ground behind him shattered violently. Ghislain retaliated by stomping the ground hard with one foot.
Boom!
The resulting shockwave caused Harold to stagger, momentarily losing his balance. Ghislain seized the opportunity and swung his sword again.
Slash!
Even after cutting at Harold’s neck, the blade only left a faint line on the surface. Harold’s defensive power was immense, managing to withstand the force of Ghislain’s fully unleashed Third Core.
“Graaaah!”
Whoosh!
Once again, Harold swung his sword, but Ghislain evaded it with ease.
Though Harold’s strength had grown, his swordsmanship had regressed. Devoid of reason, he was now simply swinging based on primal instinct.
‘This feels a bit different.’
Even in his past life, there were enemies like Harold, but their abilities varied.
Some who lost their sanity still managed to wield their original skills fully. Vanessa, for instance, had gone mad but retained her ability to cast 7th-circle magic flawlessly.
Others who transformed into monstrous forms retained their mental faculties.
Compared to those individuals, Harold seemed to lack something.
“Graaaah!”
When his attacks failed to land, Harold let out a furious roar. His reasoning had deteriorated to that of a mere beast.
“Phew…”
This kind of fight would never end. Ghislain’s gaze darkened with resolve.
He would undoubtedly encounter more of these kinds of foes in the future. There was no need for hesitation or deliberation now.
Crack.
His own body had already begun to break down, exceeding its limits.
Hummmm!
Ghislain accelerated the circulation of his mana. His core burned intensely, and every nerve in his body screamed warnings of impending danger.
Crash!
This time, Ghislain met Harold’s attack head-on.
Clench.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and swung his sword without pause. It might have seemed reckless, but Ghislain refused to miss an opportunity just because it was dangerous.
There were still countless enemies left—foes far mightier than Harold.
Fighting opponents like this with all his strength was the only way to grow further.
Crack!
‘Just a bit more.’
Normal training had limits when it came to physical growth. Only life-or-death battles could drive one to reach new heights.
Crack! Snap!
His bones and flesh had long since been torn and twisted. Any further fighting would destroy his body rather than serve as training.
But…
Crack!
The new ability he had gained from consuming the Blood Python’s venom was activating.
That ability squeezed out the last remnants of his mana, working to heal his body even as it exceeded its limits. It allowed him to push past the boundaries of human endurance.
Hiss!
The blood covering Ghislain’s body evaporated into crimson smoke, wrapping around him.
‘More!’
Crash!
At some point, Harold began to succumb to Ghislain’s overwhelming strength.
With crimson energy blazing from his eyes, Ghislain relentlessly struck Harold with his blade.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Graaaah!”
Harold screamed in agony. Each time their swords clashed, the impact reverberated throughout his body.
Even the monster, who had lost his reasoning, now showed fear in his eyes.
Crash!
Unable to withstand the tremendous force, Harold finally dropped his sword.
Ghislain didn’t stop. He slashed Harold’s body without hesitation.
Crash!
Though his grip was numbed, Ghislain tightened his hold on his sword and struck Harold repeatedly. Harold’s body was so unnaturally tough that it felt like striking with a blunt weapon rather than slicing with a blade.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Graaaah!”
Harold flailed his remaining arm wildly in a desperate attempt to resist. But Ghislain, swinging his sword with monstrous speed, pounded him relentlessly.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The unrelenting waves of mana emanating from Ghislain battered Harold’s body. At some point, Harold was no longer able to counterattack and was continuously pushed back.
The fierce mana storm tore through Harold’s insides, clashing with his own exploding mana and amplifying the destructive impact.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Harold was pummeled mercilessly. Each strike dispersed and dissipated the mana that had enveloped his body.
Snap.
Even Ghislain’s bones were cracking and breaking under the strain. Yet he endured the pain with superhuman fortitude and spoke.
“It’s over.”
Thud!
Ghislain planted his foot firmly on the ground and, like wielding a club, brought his sword down forcefully on Harold’s head.
Crash!
Harold, reeling from the tremendous shock, let out a voice that sounded human rather than beastly.
“This… what is…”
Reason began to return to his eyes.