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Sandrun couldn’t believe what was happening right in front of him. And then, standing beside the familiar figure…

“Creon?”

Sandrun’s expression twisted with displeasure as he recognized the man.

Looking at Damian, Sandrun asked, “Why is that pig here?”

“What did you just say?”

Creon flared up immediately, shouting angrily. But Damian just chuckled and turned to Sandrun.

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on your current opponent? The duel isn’t over yet.”

“…Right.”

Sandrun nodded in agreement. After all, the duel wasn’t finished.

As they paused for a brief moment, Maturn was catching his breath, still eyeing Sandrun cautiously.

Sandrun turned to Maturn and gave a slight bow.

“My apologies. I was just a bit surprised to see a familiar face.”

Then, Sandrun spoke earnestly to him.

“I can’t say this makes up for it, but from now on, I’ll fight with everything I have.”

For the past six months, Sandrun had fought against many opponents, maintaining his combat sharpness for the sole purpose of reuniting with Damian.

Now, Maturn had become his final sparring partner.

Raising his sword to shoulder height, Sandrun pointed it toward Maturn.

“Thank you for being my last sparring opponent. From now on, I’ll give it my all, everything I’ve learned… So, do your best to endure.”

“…Endure?”

Maturn’s expression contorted at that remark. It felt as if Sandrun was looking down on him.

Lifting his sword, Maturn spoke.

“I don’t know what kind of arrogance that is… but let’s see if you can back it up.”

Maturn’s eyes became more serious as he locked gazes with Sandrun.

“Then…”

Fwoosh!

Sandrun’s gaze turned cold.

The sudden shift in atmosphere caused Maturn’s eyes to waver.

Boom!

With a powerful step, Sandrun closed the distance between them at incredible speed.

His sword strikes came down on Maturn like lightning.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In the blink of an eye, a series of relentless strikes erupted.

The sheer speed and power behind the attacks forced Maturn to retreat unconsciously, blocking desperately.

‘W-what the…!’

It was as if Sandrun had transformed. Earlier, their exchanges had felt like a patient game, but now, it was like facing a wild beast unchained.

“Hah!”

Crash!

A standard overhead strike.

But the moment Maturn blocked it—

“Argh!”

Maturn screamed as he collapsed to the ground.

The instant he blocked the attack, a searing pain shot through his wrist, as if it had snapped.

Drip, drip.

Blood began to trickle from his palm, which had torn open from gripping the sword.

“Ugh!”

Maturn quickly tried to get back up.

But as he attempted to rise—

Whoosh!

“Ahhh!”

A sword thrust toward his face with the force of something immense crashing down on him. Instinctively, Maturn screamed in fear.

Thud!

Sandrun’s sword stopped just inches from Maturn’s face.

It was a flawless victory.

Having overpowered Maturn with sheer force, Sandrun exhaled slowly and withdrew his sword.

“…Hoo.”

After sheathing his blade, Sandrun looked at the still-frozen Maturn and bowed respectfully.

“It was a valuable experience.”

With a short farewell, Sandrun left the dueling platform and approached Damian.

Seeing him approach, Damian asked, looking somewhat curious, “What’s changed? Why do you seem so different?”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything—your way of speaking, your whole demeanor. You weren’t like this before. You didn’t have this… serious tone.”

“Haha, is that so?”

Sandrun laughed, his atmosphere brightening noticeably.

But just as he was showing a lighter side—

“Hmph… You’ve completely changed. What’s with this formal act? You’re not fooling anyone, you crazy bastard.”

Creon’s comment instantly caused Sandrun’s face to contort.

“If you don’t want to get beaten like a dog, I suggest you keep your mouth shut, cueball.”

“What did you just say?”

“Wanna try me?”

The two of them immediately started bickering as if no time had passed, causing Damian to laugh quietly.

“Enough. Let’s go grab a beer since it’s been a while. I want to hear what you’ve been up to.”

Finding both of them quicker than expected, Damian was satisfied.

But then Sandrun spoke.

“By the way, Damian.”

“What?”

“Are you gathering all the old members from Makstri?”

It seemed like that was the reason Damian had sought him out.

Damian nodded.

“Not all of them, but some.”

In truth, Damian wanted to bring everyone from Makstri with him, but—

‘With the current state of the Caion unit, it’d be too much for them.’

Bringing in too many at once could be dangerous, considering the current level of the Caion unit.

He had only planned to recruit Creon, Sandrun, the third squad leader Paul, and a group of archers.

Sandrun then asked, “In that case… could you also consider looking at some of the others?”

“Who else?”

At Damian’s question, Sandrun recalled the ones he had met recently in the city of Ekena.

“I ran into some of the old Makstri guys in Ekena. They all seemed eager to follow you again. I was wondering if you might give them a chance as well.”

“Hm… Is that so?”

Ekena.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far from here.

Damian nodded his head.

“Alright, let’s head there. We’ve still got time.”

He then flashed a grin and said, “But a beer before we go wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Of course,” Sandrun replied with a smile.

“Heh, is Damian buying?” Creon laughed heartily.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll eat until I’m stuffed! Hahaha!” Creon burst out with laughter, striding ahead confidently.

Sandrun clicked his tongue softly but followed.

“Lighten up,” Damian said with a smile as he walked alongside them.

—

The Caion Unit’s name had spread across the entire Baroque Kingdom, especially after they had wiped out half of the Empire’s Rose Knight Order.

Every soldier in the kingdom knew of the Caion Unit, and so, news of its expansion to 300 members brought a flood of applicants.

“…Two thousand people?”

“And we have to test all of them?”

On top of that, once it became known that Leonhark was one of the instructors, the number of applicants skyrocketed.

It was one of the largest recruitment drives in Baroque Kingdom history, a record-breaking number of applicants.

Watching the influx of recruits, Terka commented, “Unlike other knight orders, there aren’t any restrictions on status. Anyone who’s skilled enough can make it in, which explains the massive turnout.”

Dianal nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. No wonder the Caion Unit’s reputation is spreading even beyond the knight orders.”

Jerka, observing the recruits, added, “Looks like there are even groups coming over from other units. A few packs of five or six sticking together.”

Thankfully, the testing would be done in batches. Testing that many people all at once would be impossible.

At that moment, Homen, one of the squad leaders, approached Dianal.

“Vice-Captain, the instructor asked us to assist in guiding the recruits for the tests.”

“What’s the first test?”

“The first test… is a stamina test. They’ll be carrying full gear while climbing up and down the mountain.”

“…To the summit?”

“Yes.”

Homen nodded. Climbing the mountain with full gear was one of the Caion Unit’s mandatory weekly training exercises.

Kyle, standing nearby, asked, “Please tell me there isn’t a one-hour time limit.”

“There is.”

“Oh, shit!”

Kyle exclaimed, grimacing as Terka looked just as daunted.

“That’s tough even for us,” Terka muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Seeing their reactions, Homen chuckled mischievously.

“Well, it’s not us doing it today, right? Let’s just enjoy watching those poor bastards suffer.”

Homen’s wicked grin made everyone’s lips curl in amusement.

“It could be fun to see how they look when they come back down,” Kyle laughed.

Dianal, now smiling as well, added, “Alright then, let’s get to guiding these recruits.”

It was suddenly shaping up to be an enjoyable day.

As Dianal led the group, the team began enthusiastically guiding the eager recruits.

—

In the city of Ekena, located in the western part of the Baroque Kingdom, the scale was relatively small, but it was a unique hub for mercenaries, filled with interesting characters and strange customs.

“Fight! Keep it intense!”

“Hey, don’t back up, throw a punch! Come on! Punch! Ah, damn it!”

In a dimly lit tavern, a square ring occupied the center of the room, where two men were locked in a brutal fistfight.

“Hyaaaah!”

One man, with his right cheek heavily swollen, swung his fists wildly. His opponent, however, was huddled up, protecting his face with both arms raised.

Whoosh!

The man defending himself twisted his body just enough to avoid the punch. As the other man’s fist missed its target, slicing through the air—

Thud!

A quick one-two punch landed on the man’s face.

“Ugh!”

The punches connected almost simultaneously, causing the man to stagger backward, struggling to maintain his balance.

And at that moment—

“Now, Tesl! Finish him!”

Someone from the crowd shouted at the fighter who had just delivered the combo, apparently named Tesl. With a gleam in his eyes, Tesl rushed toward the staggering man.

“Just go down already,” Tesl muttered under his breath, landing a punch on the man’s right side.

It was a liver shot.

A well-placed punch to the liver can instantly halt someone’s breathing, inflicting intense pain and damage.

Thud!

Following the liver shot, Tesl expertly swung his fists again, targeting the man’s torso like a seasoned boxer.

“Argh!”

The man groaned in agony, the impact of the hit clearly severe.

Several people from the back of the crowd shouted sympathetically.

“Hold on, Norman!”

“Hang in there, Norman! Fall back!”

The man, now known as Norman, staggered back, his face pale from the pain. He felt like he was about to collapse, his breathing becoming labored.

‘How did I survive that hell…!’

Clenching his teeth, Norman straightened his posture.

But just as he did—

“Been waiting for this.”

Whoosh!

Tesl saw his chance and threw a powerful right hook aimed squarely at Norman’s face.

This blow would be the end.

Tesl was certain of victory. But at that moment—

*Whoosh!*

“…!”

Norman vanished from Tesl’s sight.

Surprised and confused, Tesl’s eyes widened in shock as Norman suddenly disappeared from his line of sight.

But then—

Grab!

Norman ducked low, wrapping his arms tightly around Tesl’s waist.

“Raaahhh!”

With an enormous shout, Norman lifted Tesl clean off the ground.

Tesl frantically tried to push down on Norman’s shoulders, but the world around him began to spin. The next thing he saw was darkness.

Crash!

Norman slammed Tesl onto the ground with tremendous force.

“Stop the fight!”

With Tesl knocked out cold from that one move, the referee rushed in to separate the two fighters and declared the match over.

“The winner is Norman!”

“Woohooo!”

“Norman did it! Yaaah!”

The tavern exploded with cheers, but there were also groans of disappointment from those who had bet against Norman.

And at that moment, a stranger entered the tavern. The man pointed toward Norman, still standing in the ring.

“There he is.”

“Looks like those guys are having some fun,” said another man standing by the entrance.

Damian, standing near the back, looked at the scene and grinned widely.