Chapter 990: KOTY

Count Coty, one of the Empire’s guardian generals. His real name was Gainer Epoch. He had been born in a small land, revealed his talent beginning with battles against neighboring territories, and had been chosen by the emperor to guard the border.

‘It’s you.’

That Gainer Epoch took great interest in the situation around him. His nickname, Count Coty, was an abbreviation of Knight Of The Year.

Every year, he invited Imperial knights to the border and chose the most noteworthy knight of the year. That was the most exciting thing in his life and the hobby he immersed himself in. Aside from his duty to guard the border and training his body, it was his only interest, and the most entertaining thing among everything he knew.

“I’m going down.”

Gainer said, and his adjutant did not stop him.

“He was no easy opponent.”

Those were the words of the subordinate knight he had sent as a test. The man was called the Knight of No Action because he supposedly let every attack flow past him, but this time he had been beaten soundly.

His strengths were stamina that exhausted opponents and the endurance of his Will, but specialties like that were easily broken.

If he wanted to climb higher, in the end, he had to break out of his own shell.

Perhaps this incident had become that opportunity, because his expression looked better than before. Of course, he himself had said he felt strange, as though alongside the sense of defeat, there was also an odd relief.

“He left his name too, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Enkrid, he said.”

“Right. The captain of the Mad Order of Knights.”

It was a name he had heard again and again. He had been burning to summon the man and see his face at least once.

That did not mean he could leave his post, so he had used his head in his own way. He had sent a matchmaker named Bianca Conti and subtly tried to guide him this way, but the result had been failure.

‘That’s why I went this far, knight.’

Gainer thought to himself as he moved his feet. He was practically half-running. He had been waiting atop the wall all day, wondering when they would come. If anything, he was disappointed they had arrived earlier than expected, so he had not been able to receive them below.

‘How well does he swing?’

Even though he was past middle age, his heart pounded. How long had it been since a talent like that had appeared not within the Empire, but outside it?

The knight of talent who had left recently briefly came to mind, but he soon shoved that thought to one side. That bastard was someone he would never meet again now anyway.

‘Idle thoughts, out.’

The count steadied his mind inwardly and arrived before the wall.

“What are you doing not opening it!”

When he shouted without hiding his excitement, the pulleys gained even more speed. Five strong soldiers clung to each side, putting their strength into it.

Rummmble.

The gate made of iron opened. This city gate was called the Gate of Steel. It had earned the nickname because it was that heavy and could not be pierced, and because it had indeed been made by bringing in solid steel.

Whatever the case, the count burst out through the open gate.

He drew the sword hanging at his waist, a thick-bladed weapon with an edge on only one side, in a reverse grip, tossed it into the air, and caught it properly.

Ching—thak.

The sound of the blade being drawn, then thrown into the air and snatched back, was truly crisp, but the count’s steps were even crisper. Each time he kicked off the ground, his body shot forward.

It was a charge like a fine horse racing over the earth. More precisely, rather than a fine horse, it was more like saying some rhinoceros was charging in.

His build was large enough to prove he was not of the species called human. When a body like that came rushing forward, it looked like a boulder had simply started rolling.

‘The knight of the year is already half-decided.’

Would he overturn that? Was he skilled enough for it? Or was it an empty name? Was he just a man whose rumors sounded impressive? The epithet of demon slayer had reached even here, but was that true?

The count’s face reddened from excitement and questions. He looked practically like a red-faced rhinoceros monster charging in.

From the standpoint of those receiving him, that was not entirely wrong.

“So it is a provocation.”

It was the gray-haired knight. The count’s eyes, which had been fixed only on Enkrid, turned toward him.

The count was a man who had been scolded by his adjutant and everyone else more than once because, once he was absorbed in something, he did not look around him.

And yet now, his gaze shifted naturally, and he controlled the speed of his running feet.

If asked why, the answer would be instinct and insight.

He perceived what would happen one step ahead, put strength into both feet, and swung his sword horizontally—his sword, which was of suitable length and thickness to him, but was easily large enough to look like a greatsword to others—while moving his left hand behind his back and pulling his shield into his grip.

Clang!

What suddenly bound his feet was a disc. More precisely, it was a heavy thrown object spinning so fast that even to a knight’s eyes, the shape of the axe could not be properly seen, making it look like a circle.

It flew in and struck the count’s greatsword. Centered on the count, who had stopped, impact spread with a thud.

Dust rose, and wind swept in all directions. In that way, the charge that was not quite a charge stopped.

“You could have told us his race beforehand.”

Crang asked as if muttering while watching it.

“I meant to clear up the misunderstanding slowly while you watched, but that was my mistake.”

Those were Seriana’s words as executor. The count covered half his upper body with a round shield and held his thick blade so its tip pointed behind his head.

His combat form was clear. Block with the shield and cut with the blade. The shield was no ordinary object either.

The outer face was engraved with the shape of a monster with fangs and horns, and whatever it had been made from, a faint light lingered over the whole shield. It was a heavy silver light, and something resembling divinity could also be felt from it.

Anyone who handled Will would be able to sense the power engraved on that shield. Rem, who handled sorcery in particular, was even more sensitive.

From the shield, he felt traces of sorcery and divinity at once. In other words, it was an unfamiliar method.

Should he call it a descent where divinity lingered?

Did that matter? He had seen some giant bastard draw a sword and charge in with his face flushed red, hadn’t he? Rem revealed his fighting spirit and bound the count’s feet by throwing one throwing axe.

“Wow. Looks like you’re no pushover either.”

The count spoke and fixed his gaze on Rem. Enkrid started to express his dissatisfaction, then stopped. No matter how he looked at it, the man had been his guest, and he was unhappy that Rem had snatched him away, but he knew Rem enjoyed stepping forward in situations like this, so he said nothing. He merely blamed his own carelessness.

‘I should have struck first instead of blocking and then hitting.’

This was all because of that knight bastard who had challenged him before. That man had let so many of his sword strikes flow aside that Enkrid had learned a great deal from watching it and had been about to test it, only for the initiative to be stolen from him.

No matter how one looked at him, Gainer Epoch did not belong among the young. Even from the outside, his hair was half-gray. He was well past middle age, but if one looked only at his body, it was clear he had a physique superior to most knights.

That was proof of the time he possessed and the price of the effort he had carved away over the years.

Should one call it the body of a giant who had trained again and again, as though chiseling stone with only a hammer and chisel?

There were not many cases where a person’s nature was revealed simply by looking at the body, but Count Coty’s body had a form that revealed what was inside him.

Look. My body’s incredible, isn’t it? I trained every single day without missing one.

Did it not seem as though the muscles of his forearms twitched and said that?

Leaving aside the fact that he was a giant, it meant his was a body that had never neglected training. Overall, he was like a rough lump of stone.

Rough fur, not properly trimmed at the ends, half-covered his shoulders and back as it fluttered in the wind. The only armor covering his body was that somewhat generous fur.

His appearance looked as though it should stink of rank animal musk, but the scent coming from him was actually clean.

Enkrid stopped where he was and became a spectator, and Jaxon’s eyes remained indifferent, but he sensed someone else approaching besides the man who had come forward.

When his gaze turned to one side, the assassin woman from before waved her hand.

“The count’s temper is a little hasty.”

She said it while sticking out her tongue. Was she trying to act cute? Jaxon ignored her as she was and turned his gaze away.

She might have hidden what was inside, but in any case, he felt no malice. As if proving that, the assassin woman stopped while keeping a suitable distance. Even if she harbored killing intent, it was a distance from which this side could respond enough.

The head of the Royal Guards and the five guards, including Riervan, once again surrounded Crang.

The head of the Royal Guards felt sick inside. Was this place called the Empire going to turn into this kind of uproar everywhere they went? As someone charged with protecting the king, he had not the slightest desire to enter a place where giants like that kept charging at them.

“They give titles even to giants, I see.”

His king merely moved his mouth calmly.

“Not all giants live drunk on blood. And the Empire does not distinguish by species when granting rewards.”

“Am I right to feel that the Empire is more enlightened than I expected?”

“I do not know what you thought of my homeland, but it was also my homeland that taught Azpen how to build a bridge with beastmen.”

“The policy of integrating different races.”

Through that policy, they had embraced a great many different races. Crang also knew Azpen’s circumstances well.

“One exceptional talent understood and used it well.”

“That friend is in Border Guard now.”

“I know that too.”

Unlike how it appeared on the surface, the Empire had a great deal of interest in the continent.

The giant called the Margrave who had stepped forward was currently proving those words.

“It’s you! Rem, you mad bastard!”

“Who spread the rumor like that?”

The giant Margrave welcomed Rem. He had run out after seeing Enkrid, but was this one not also skilled enough to become knight of the year?

A hazy shape lingered behind Rem’s back. At the same time, his body became terrifyingly fast.

He approached with boom, boom explosions of air and drove his axe down vertically. It was acceleration difficult to follow unless seen through a knight’s eyes.

The axe falling as it was took on a gray hue, making it look as though gray lightning had fallen.

‘That’s mine.’

Rem had implemented the core of the swift sword Enkrid used as it was. It was not awkward either. He used it as though it had originally been his own.

Clang!

A roar rang out, and the count and Rem were both flung backward at the same time.

The count let the axe’s force flow off with his shield and shoved it away, while Rem knowingly tried to crush him with strength.

It was an entertaining sight. The giant let force flow aside, and the human put strength forward. Should they not normally fight the other way around?

That reversed fight continued right away. This time, the count charged.

Boom!

The ground burst, and a body twice as large as Rem’s pushed in as it was. He had his shield forward and his stance lowered.

That alone was a difficult attack to block. Rem pretended to swing his axe, then blocked and shoved the shield with the face of his axe, and the giant count swung the sword in his right hand with a whoosh.

While pushing the shield, Rem perceived the sword’s movement and dodged. As he did, he hooked the count’s foot, and the count endured with the strength of his ankle.

Rem, having predicted that he would endure, stepped on that instep again, and this time, the count quietly drew his foot back.

Every one of those movements was as natural as flowing water. Before long, a smile lingered at Rem’s mouth too.

This is pretty fun, isn’t it?

The count was not merely a decent fighter. This was similar in level to sparring with Enkrid or the other mad bastards.

In truth, one of the reasons he came to be called Count Coty was his skill at being able to spar right up to a dangerous line.

His shield blocked and deflected most attacks, and an agility that did not suit a giant supported his defensive technique. Contrary to appearances, he was specialized in defense.

Rem centered himself on both legs with Sky-Dropper and struck with the strength of Bodreme.

Boom!

A violent wind rushed out with the two of them at its center. It was no different from a storm being born. Esther and Nephir waved both hands toward the rushing wind and scattered it.

“If you do not intend to keep watching here, please come inside.”

The assassin woman said while looking at them.

Was this because she was not concerned about the count, or because she was bold enough not to care about trivial things?

“Shall we?”

Crang answered. Well, if it was boldness, this side was no pushover either.

“I’m watching.”

Enkrid stayed. The fight between those two itself was an entertaining sight right now.

Since Jaxon was following them, he did not absolutely need to go along. Kraiss had definitely done well by sending Jaxon.

“Watching is good. That man is beautiful too.”

Temares once again spat out something only a human-faced dog would say. He was calling a half-gray-haired giant, a knight like a boulder larger than Audin, beautiful.

And yet Enkrid understood what he meant. By now, he felt as though he was beginning to understand the standard by which Temares judged beauty.

Did Enkrid not have something similar in how he judged people?

‘Passion.’

The man’s will was firm and faithful to a single whole purpose, so there was no noise to be heard. Enkrid had taken quite a liking to the count the moment he saw him.

To Enkrid, seeing someone suddenly swing a sword and laugh was truly enjoyable, and that man was currently expressing that view with his whole body.

“Don’t corner him too hard, Rem.”

Enkrid cheered for the count. That man needed to have some strength left so Enkrid could enjoy himself too.