Reborn As Noble

In the middle of the chaos, the duel raged on.

"Oi, shorty!! HERE!!" Kenjirou shouted as he swung down his divine sword again.

CLANG!!

The Halfling General blocked the attack with one axe and twisted, bringing the second blade in from the side.

"You wicked human—" the General snarled, "—should DIE here!!"

His axes flashed in the light, moving with surprising speed and power, especially for someone half Kenjirou's size.

CLANG!

Kenjirou caught the first blow and parried the second, but the third scrape across his ribs left a line of blood on his side.

He staggered slightly, breath coming heavy—but his grin only widened.

"Hah… you actually scratched me."

The General didn't stop. He charged again, both axes spinning as if they were part of his body.

Kenjirou planted his feet and let the next swing hit him directly.

BAM!!

He skidded back, his boots dragging a deep mark through the blood-soaked ground.

His breath was ragged now. His shoulder throbbed. But his laughter didn't fade.

"AHAHAH... good... real good…"

Dark energy swirled around him like smoke, coiling tighter and tighter.

"Now we're really having fun."

"You'll be the next one I absorb!!"

Kenjirou's voice twisted into a dark, guttural laugh that echoed across the battlefield like thunder mixed with madness.

"HAAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

The Halfling General narrowed his eyes—and then noticed something.

The wound he'd just carved into Kenjirou's side—

It was gone.

The flesh was healing, threads of dark mana knitting the skin together right before his eyes.

"…Tch," the General muttered. "A regeneration spell?"

Kenjirou tilted his head back, grinning like a madman. "See this, shorty?" he shouted, slamming his sword into the ground and spreading his arms wide. "You. Can't. Kill. Me."

He pointed a finger at the General like a judge passing sentence.

"I have multiple blessings. You have dirt."

Clang!! He brought his sword back up and deflected a strike before spinning into a counterattack.

"Clang!

The Blessing of the Saint of the Gods!

Clang!

"This left hand—given by my queen, Zephyra herself! Enhanced with curse-forged mana!"

Slash!

"And the most recent gift... the one I took for myself!!"

He burst forward.

"This—" His eyes glowed crimson, his wicked grin stretching from ear to ear.

"—is REAL POWER!!"

He moved faster than before. His divine sword swung in blinding arcs, each strike aimed to break through the General's defense.

Dust and mana exploded with every blow. The General blocked what he could and dodged what he couldn't—but Kenjirou's speed, ferocity, and power had reached something inhuman.

"AHAHAHAHA!!"

Kenjirou didn't stop.

"Don't worry, shorty!!"

Kenjirou's voice thundered as he parried another axe strike, his grin stretching unnaturally wide.

"Once I absorb your power..." he hissed, his eyes glowing an even deeper red, "it will become mine! All of it! I'll use it—for me!!"

"For myself!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!"

He swung his divine sword in a vicious horizontal arc. The Halfling General barely managed to block it, his axe straining under the force.

But Kenjirou wasn't done.

The moment their weapons locked together, he jumped—twisting his body mid-air.

With a shout, he brought his foot down in a devastating kick, mana swirling around his leg like black lightning.

BOOM!!

The General was knocked back several meters, crashing through two halfling soldiers rushing to help him. Dust and shattered rock exploded outward from the impact.

Kenjirou landed in a roll, crouched low and grinning like a demon.

He pointed his sword at the staggering General.

"Weak..." he growled.

He took a step forward.

"WEAK...!!"

Another step, his aura crackling.

"WEEEAAAKKKK!!!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

He lunged forward again, blade raised, his eyes burning with wild madness.

Slash!!

Blood sprayed across the scorched earth.

The Halfling General stumbled back, a deep gash cutting across his shoulder where Kenjirou's blade had finally struck flesh.

He hissed through clenched teeth, dropping to one knee for just a moment.

Kenjirou tilted his head mockingly, his divine sword resting casually on his shoulder again.

"Oh? I thought you were strong!" he sneered, his eyes glowing bright red. "Come on, dual-axe shorty! Entertain me!!"

The General didn't respond, simply pushing himself back up with a grunt, still holding both axes firmly.

"Think fast, shorty!!" Kenjirou roared, charging in like a black storm, his sword swinging down with terrifying force.

CLANG!!

The General barely leaped out of the way, dirt exploding beneath his boots as he landed with a rough slide.

Then his eyes narrowed.

Mana surged around him, flowing from every pore. A glow of emerald and gold encircled his body, thickening the air like the pressure before a lightning strike.

"...Hmph," he muttered. "You talk too much."

His voice was calm—but his mana was anything but.

It exploded outward.

The Halfling General unleashed his full power.

Roots burst from the ground, wrapping around his boots to anchor him. Wind spiraled around his axes, and his eyes lit with primal fury. The ground beneath his feet hardened, cracked, and pulsed with nature's wrath.

Kenjirou blinked, then grinned widely.

"OHHH!! THAT'S more like it!"

He raised his sword again, his aura twisting with joy and bloodlust.

"Come on, shorty! Show me what you've got!!"

CLANG!!

Steel clashed again—divine sword against twin axes—as raw mana exploded into the air between them.

"AHAHAHAHA!!" Kenjirou laughed in the General's face, their weapons locked together.

"This is your full power!?!"

His eyes gleamed red with madness.

"WEAKKKKK!!!"

With a violent twist, Kenjirou broke the clash and spun—

Slash!!

His blade arced across the General's right shoulder, cutting deep into the armor and drawing another burst of blood. The General gritted his teeth, staggering but still remaining on his feet.

Kenjirou stepped back, his expression wild, almost trembling with excitement.

He raised his left hand—palm open, pointed directly at the wounded General.

"You're done, shorty."

A low hum began to fill the air. The wind stilled. The sky above the battlefield darkened as mana coiled and twisted in his palm like a spiraling void.

"Let me show you something special..."

Dark mana ignited.

Black fire—not one, but dozens of fireball-like orbs—began to materialize. They floated and spun, warping the air around them. Each one hissed with unstable power, burning without light and consuming the very space they occupied.

This wasn't ordinary fire.

It was corruption. Manifested.

Kenjirou's grin widened.

"Let's see you block this."

( End of Chapter )