The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 69

Chapter 69: True Nature

The residential area of Heinlberie, once filled with light, had turned into a mountain of rubble.

Standing up while pushing aside the debris on top of myself, I was met with a sight of the city that had changed beyond recognition.

How many lives were lost? How many tomorrows vanished? Before me, all that remained was a sea of ruins, welcoming nothing but destruction.

The sound of armor clanking echoed as Roud, casually walking over the debris, appeared.

“Do you understand? What you upheld is meaningless in the face of the true nature and power without deception,” Roud declared, and I stood frozen before his words and the scene in front of me. Everything I had sought to embrace as the admired figure had been denied.

Is this what it means to wield power? Is it weakness to think about lives that should have been spared even without death?

Is imposing such irrationality considered strength?

“…”

Facing Roud, I thrust my sword into the ground and assumed a fighting stance.

“If you fight barehanded, can you defeat me? Hmph, interesting,” Roud dropped his sword to the ground, and silence fell between us.

Charging towards each other, our fists clashed. I swung fists enveloped in a turbulent darkness, as if my raging heart had taken physical form, knocking Roud away.

“Mmm!?”

Roud, readjusting his posture while scraping the ground, approached again. Grabbing the right arm he thrust forward, I forcefully slammed him onto the ground and rained down punches from a straddling position.

“Ooooooh!”

Repeatedly slamming my clenched fist with all my strength, the sound of hitting the helmet echoed. Roud laughed amidst the blows.

“That’s your true nature! Good, more! Expose more of your true self! Only then… will you be a worthy opponent for me!”

“Shut up! Noisy bastard!”

Despite being hit, Roud continued to laugh. My emotions became even more turbulent. Grabbing Roud with an arm covered in dark flames, I threw him into the pile of debris.

Chasing after Roud with a trailing tail of darkness, I ran towards him, punching him as he emerged through the dust cloud.

Roud countered, hitting my face while I endured, then we exchanged blows with crossed arms, sending each other flying.

After readjusting my posture, I received several punches, but at the end, I grabbed the arm aimed at my face, kicked him in the gut, and threw him into the rubble.

“Ooooooh!”

Matching the emotions, darkness enveloped me, and strength surged. The pain and impact of being hit transformed into the will to defeat the enemy in front of me.

Jumping towards the thrown Roud, I slammed my full-force fist into his face. Red drops trickled down from Roud’s cheek as he stood still.

“I had forgotten for a long time… this pain, the taste of blood. Yes, my blood tasted like this.”

Approaching Roud, who confirmed the flowing blood with his fingers, I clenched my fist covered in what seemed like burning darkness and struck with all my might.

A thunderous sound echoed, and dust filled the air. When the dust settled, all that remained was a torn ground.

“I look forward to it… Berg. Polish and bring out that power of yours even more. This time, I’ll stop here, but when the time comes that you’ve become even stronger… I’ll come to kill you with all my might.”

Only Roud’s voice reverberated in the surroundings. With Roud’s presence gone, I released the armor, and rain began to fall.

Looking up at the sky in the rain, the emotions swirling within me still couldn’t be calmed.

“Ha… Ha… Damn…”

Denied, spared, and overlooked.

The fact overshadowed my heart like the current sky.