[ Chapter 18 ]


    “Krrrr…….”


    The Tagrel turned its head, breathing out a breath of mes. It seemed it’d finished dealing with the bothersome knights and was now aiming to dispose of Todd, Sin, and the remaining orc ves.


    “O, Phnence, with your light, obliterate this malevolent being!”


    In a state of terror, Sin desperately summoned his holy power. A pink holy radiance struck the Tagrel squarely, but the mes wrapping around its body soon swallowed up the holy light, burning even more fiercely.


    “Kaaa!”


    A demonic roar tore through the air, shaking the very ground. Sin trembled violently, his mind going nk as he stumbled backward until his back hit a wall.


    “Aaaaah…”


    As the demon approached, Sin’s eyes widened in terror, facing the imminent threat.


    Bang!


    A booming sound was followed by a gust of wind, causing Sin’s hair to flutter chaotically. He involuntarily closed his eyes.


    “Ugh!”


    When he opened his eyes again, a dark silhouette stood between him and the demon. Surprised, Sin blinked, and a vast entity shielded her like a rampart.


    ‘What, what is that?’


    It was the back of a huge, reliably sturdy man.


    “Hooo…….”


    Repenhardt caught his breath. He had rushed over so quickly that even his well-trained body was gasping for air. Trying to avoid traps and evade monsters’ gaze had required more movement than necessary.


    The Tagrel, caught off guard by his sudden appearance, retracted its attack and took a step back. In that short time, Repenhardt quickly assessed the condition of hispanions.


    Stefan and the other knights were scattered around like dented cans, and the elf womany limp like a broken doll. Todd, Sin, and the orc ves seemed unharmed, albeit half out of their senses.


    ‘Sigh, it’s as bad as I expected…’


    Sin’s surprised voice came from behind him.


    “A, are you the guide, sir?”


    Adding a title to simply calling him a guide turned it into a rather odd honorific.


    ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t given them my name. Well, no one asked.’


    Waving his hand dismissively to keep him back, Repenhardt then focused on the demon before him.


    An abyssal demon from another world, Tagrel.


    ‘How do I defeat this one again?’


    He quickly sifted through his memories. Normally, dealing with demons required the holy spells of a priest, or if not that, life-based magic or even necromancy would be most effective. Of course, Repenhardt, in his prime, had mastered both to the extreme, so a demon or two was nothing. But….


    Repenhardt, with a deliberate grip of his fist and stance, wasn’t exactly tense. Having seen other aura users easily handle beings like a Tagrel, he wasn’t worried about being overpowered.


    However, this was his first real test as a martial artist. Comcency was not an option.


    “Kaaaa!”


    The Tagrel, hesitating only momentarily, charged again to repel the intruder. Recalling his spar with Gerard, Repenhardt carefully deflected the demon’s punch with his right forearm. Just in case, he drew out his aura to execute the ultimate guard skill, Spiral Guard.


    Wooong!


    A golden aura swirled, blocking the demon’s punch, but it didn’t repel it.


    Crrrrick!


    “Kaaak!”


    With a desperate scream, the swirling aura shredded the Tagrel’s fist down to its forearm! Blood and flesh burst out in all directions, filling the air with a dense mist of blood.


    “Cough!?”


    Repenhardt was stunned. He had merely intended to block, but who would have imagined such a brutal oue? Had his master really taught him such a ferocious method under the guise of defense? Despite his shock, Repenhardt instinctivelynded a punch on the Tagrel’s vacant face. It was a reflex, honed over more than six years of grueling training, that responded to any vulnerability it detected.


    Boom!


    With a terrifying burst, the Tagrel’s upper body vanished into thin air.


    “… Eh?”


    It wasn’t just crushed; it was obliterated. Being his first time, Repenhardt had earnestly, with the mindset of hitting Gerard (who was simrly sized), thrown his punch with all his might, resulting in excessive destructive power.


    Silence filled the dark corridor. The Tagrel’s body, now missing its upper half, teetered and then copsed to the floor. Repenhardt looked down at his fist with a dazed expression.


    “Ha ha…….”


    He was appalled. He had be a monster beyond his own understanding. The realization dawned on him that he must be exceedingly careful when dealing with humans in the future. It was a relief that his opponent was a creature from another world; otherwise, he might have identally earned a reputation as a legendary murderer.


    ‘So, this is why I nearly died from a single punch by Teslon…’


    Recalling his past death, Repenhardt shook his head. As he did so, he sensed movement from the other end of the corridor. Other monsters from the dungeon, alerted by the presence of an intruder, were converging on their location.


    ‘It’s time to move them to safety.’


    Repenhardt nced at the orc ve and then positioned himself again. Soon, demons began to emerge and attack. Wrapped in a golden aura, Repenhardt also began to fight back.


    Sin just stared nkly at Repenhardt’s battle.


    He couldn’t believe his eyes. The young man brutally crushing numerous demons before him was undoubtedly the nameless traveler who had volunteered to guide them. He was someone he had barely spoken to and hadn’t paid much attention to.


    But to think he was such a formidable warrior!


    A demon bared its teeth and charged viciously. Grabbing the oing opponent by the neck, Repenhardt effortlessly twisted it and tore it off.


    Leaping through the fountain of blood, he struck down on the next demon’s corbone. The steel body, which remained unflinching even as the knights stabbed at it, crumbled like cheese and split in two.


    “Kraaaak!”


    A demon roared, emitting mes. Yet, those infernal mes could not scorch Repenhardt’s flesh. As if the ze were merely an illusion, he effortlessly moved through the mes. Naturally, his shirt, being mere fabric, caught fire. Repenhardt, thinking it was a good decision toe without his coat, tore off the burning garment and threw it away, revealing his well-toned, tanned muscles.


    “Hyup!”


    With a short yell, Repenhardt delivered a simple front kick to the demon’s abdomen. The demon was sent flying backward, crashing into the wall as if it had been hit by a battering ram. The corridor shook, and dust filled the air.


    “Wow…”


    Sin watched the battle unfold before his eyes with admiration, awe, and longing. Another demon grabbed Repenhardt’s arm with its thick forearms. At that moment, his biceps and triceps bulged like steel, and he lifted the demon with one arm. Then, he mmed it to the ground with force! With a firm stomp on the head of the defeated demon, its skull burst open, filling with pools of blood.


    Truly, there was no other way to describe it than astonishing. It was like watching a god of war, valiant and brutal in battle. And that massive muscture, honed without a hint of faltering!


    “Wow…!”


    Even those distinct six-pack abs seemed capable of chewing up a de. This was not a figurative expression, but literally what Repenhardt did, grabbing a demon’s de between his abs and snapping it in two. It was a technique he had picked up when he was tightly bound and thrown into a pit of bones. Among the teachings of Gym Unbreakable, there truly was a method to crush teeth with muscles.


    “Wow!”


    Perhaps due to a sudden rxation of tension, the admiration that Sin had only felt internally slipped out. However, Sin didn’t realize his own mistake. The boy was simply too captivated by the muscr young man before him.


    Pulsating muscles, delicate tendons, broad shoulders, and a physique as solid as a spire.


    Sin muttered with a dazed face.


    “So big………… and beautiful………….”


    ‘Huh?’


    Suddenly feeling a chill, Repenhardt turned around in surprise. He had felt all sorts of presences since he began to train his body, but this was the first time he felt something so peculiar. What kind of monstrous creature appeared to give off such a sensation?


    But when he actually turned around, there was no demon, only a boy with a flushed face making a strange expression.


    ‘Ugh! Why does that kid look like that?’


    In an instant, Repenhardt shuddered as if ants were crawling all over his body. He didn’t know why, but somehow, he felt unpleasantly disturbed. Maybe, it was the innocent-looking boy with flushed cheeks who seemed more terrifying than the demons he was used to facing?


    Well, it was clear that Sin had uttered something that could easily be misunderstood. That didn’t mean he had a different sexual preference. It was purely, genuinely, just admiration for Repenhardt’s overwhelmingly masculine physique.


    Sin Phil Marcis.


    This boy, a high priest of the Phnence Order, lost his parents at a young age and was fortunately taken in by the order’s orphanage where he spent his childhood. Due to his frail and feminine appearance from a young age, he was often teased by the other orphans.


    However, contrary to his appearance, young Sin was quite the tough character. If hit once, he would strike back twice; if hit twice, he would bite and cling on three times, possessing the nature of a venomous snake.


    Thanks to his temperament, Sin was able to spend a rtively peaceful childhood. And then, he entered his teens, a time when everyone harbors dreams for their future. Like most orphans in the order, Sin dreamed of bing a priest serving Phnence. However, his dream was slightly different from that of other boys.


    Having grown up constantly being told he looked like a girl, Sin dreamed of bing a monk within the order, demonstrating faith through physical strength.


    A masculine physique, heartyughter, a deep voice—all of which he did not possess. Indeed, within the love and beauty-oriented Phnence Order, the status of monks was quite low (for they were not considered beautiful!), but to young Sin, they were the epitome of his ideals.


    However, everyone faces challenges during their growth spurt.


    Entering puberty, it is natural for boys to grow taller, their skeletons to erge, and their bodies to be more robust. Some even start to grow facial hair a bit earlier.


    But even when all the other children became men and went through puberty, Sin remained the same. With a slender and soft physique, a high-pitched voice, he still looked just like a beautiful maiden.


    Eventually, at the age of 12, Sin demonstrated his aptitude for divine power and was admitted to the Phnence Order as an apprentice priest. Having received the hierarchy’s blessing, he became the envy of all the orphans. While everyone else was celebrating and happy for him, Sin felt despondent and cried in secret. The path to bing a monk, which he had long dreamed of, seemed impossibly distant.


    However, despite his young age, Sin did not dwell in despair. Hadn’t the goddess herself said? The world rewards those who strive.


    He had a proactive personality. He believed that if he worked hard enough, he would eventually transform into the muscr, manly physique he desired.


    Whenever he had the chance, he secretly watched the monks train. He diligently observed and learned their muscle training routines.


    And he followed what he learned. Despite his frail body, he devoted himself to muscle training with all his might. Every day, he trained his muscles, and whenever his body broke down, he healed himself with divine power and continued to overtrain.


    After five years, indeed, the goddess had not spoken in vain. His efforts were rewarded, albeit not in the way he had hoped.


    Instead of the muscles he so desired, it was his divine power, honed desperately every day, that had grown immensely. This was the not-so-secret secret behind Sin bing a high-ranking clergyman at the tender age of a teenager.


    Then, Sin’s eyes caught sight of a physique that surpassed even the monks he had observed until now, a perfect body that dwarfed all others. Sin, who had always gazed enviously upon others’ muscles,cked muscles himself but had developed an eye for recognizing strength and perfection. He immediately recognized how powerful and perfect Repenhardt’s physique was. It was impossible not to be captivated.


    Of course, Repenhardt was entirely unaware of Sin’s long history. Naturally, it left him feeling somewhat uneasy.


    “Ugh…”


    Repenhardt had been engrossed in testing the might of the martial arts he had been refining, lost in the excitement of honing his skills. The fact that he had been somewhat recklessly exuberant was true. But upon catching that gaze, he felt a chill run down his spine, cooling his head.


    He clicked his tongue.


    “Ugh, a mage must always remain calm. What a disgrace this is.”


    Although unintentional, Sin ended up assisting Repenhardt. With hisposure regained, Repenhardt began to decisively eliminate the remaining demons with efficient movements.