LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 155
155. There’s No Reason
For an S-Class adventurer, entering the service of a great nation is easily within reach.
Along with it comes vast wealth, power, and fame as a matter of course.
But none of that interested Rudolf in the slightest.
All he sought as an adventurer was battles against powerful foes.
To unleash his strength to the fullest and annihilate his enemies.
A simple—purely that simple—reason kept him adventuring.
He joined large-scale quests seeking battles with mighty demonic beings.
But now, something far beyond them had seized his attention—Haruto.
He had completely nullified Rudolf’s attacks, his destructive force, in which he had absolute confidence.
It was humiliating.
It was something he had to settle, no matter what.
However, in an ordinary situation, Haruto likely wouldn’t agree to fight him.
How could he arrange a rematch with Haruto…?
While pondering this, a man who seemed to be an acquaintance of his appeared.
Using him as a hostage, perhaps, Rudolf thought.
If it were Haruto—that soft-hearted boy—it would likely work.
He could provoke Haruto’s anger and force him into a real battle.
Just imagining it thrilled him.
Rumor had it that Haruto had even nullified the attacks of a legendary demon general.
Breaking through that invincible defense with his own power…
“…What’s the meaning of this?”
In the next instant, Jack appeared several meters ahead.
It was as if he had teleported.
“What the…!?”
Rudolf furrowed his brow slightly.
He hadn’t let his guard down.
Yet Jack had moved at an incredible speed, outpacing even Rudolf’s reflexes, to backstep out of his attack range.
It was an inhuman speed.
“Who are you?”
Rudolf fixed his gaze on Jack.
From an ordinary-looking middle-aged man emanated an unusual aura.
And somehow, the aura he exuded faintly resembled Haruto’s.
A powerful pressure and a dignified divinity.
An aura embodying both radiated from his entire being.
“Are you a renowned warrior?”
“I’m just an employee of a shipping company.”
At Jack’s words, Rudolf furrowed his brow again.
Extraordinary physical abilities.
Yet, an amateurish fighting stance that didn’t match.
(This isn’t martial arts. There’s no sign of magic. Then, what is this ‘power’ of his…?)
“This is getting interesting.”
Rudolf smirked.
“To think someone I considered a mere hostage would turn out to be a formidable warrior who feels the same as that boy.”
The boy adventurer who had defeated Rudolf with his ultimate spear technique, “Heavenly Spear,”
without leaving even a scratch.
Sensing the same presence as Haruto Reeva, who had inflicted that humiliating defeat,
Rudolf was overcome with elation.
“Before settling my score with him, I’ll test myself against you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I have no reason to fight you.”
Rudolf laughed at the bewildered Jack Jarse.
“Even if you don’t, I do. Pride as a warrior and the instinct of a destroyer!”
Rudolf roared, thrusting his spear.
The blow, already drawing on the power of “factors,” was twice as fast as before.
But—it didn’t land.
Jack easily evaded it.
His speed and reflexes were utterly unbelievable.
“I see. You just want to fight. Not to protect people or out of some sense of duty.”
Jack muttered with a bitter expression.
“You’re intoxicated by your own strength—is that it?”
“Of course. For people like you and me, who wield power beyond human limits,
the meaning of having that power is to wield it. What else is there?”
Rudolf charged with his spear in hand, unable to suppress his ecstatic smile.
The supernatural power—the “factors.”
The joy of meeting someone worthy of unleashing that power.
The delight of finding a target to destroy with it.
Rudolf, wrapped in euphoria, struck at Jack.
“Just a destroyer, huh?”
Jack muttered sadly, dodging the spear strike.
“Don’t think you can dodge forever!”
Rudolf roared, stepping in further.
He mixed in skillful feints, launching a barrage of strikes with complex trajectories
that couldn’t be evaded by mere reflexes.
But none of them landed.
This man, clearly a combat amateur, evaded purely on reflex.
“Inhuman reflex speed, huh? Then how about this…!”
While thrusting his spear with one hand, Rudolf hurled a knife from his pocket.
“…Tch.”
Even the surprise projectile, thrown without any motion, was dodged by Jack’s superhuman reflexes.
However, it disrupted his stance.
“Got you!”
Rudolf unleashed a carefully aimed spear strike.
A metallic clang resounded as it was deflected.
“What is that…!?”
Rudolf furrowed his brow.
Jack’s arm was now covered in something blue-black, reminiscent of a gauntlet.
No, it wasn’t just his arm.
The blue-black material covered his entire body like armor,
and his face was concealed by a mask shaped like a wolf.
A beastly, otherworldly warrior.
“Not a beastman. Not magic. Just what are you—”
“I just want to live a normal life.”
Jack groaned from beneath the wolf mask.
“Anyone who interferes with that, I’ll eliminate. That’s right, I—”
Red eyes locked onto Rudolf.
“…!”
A jolt like electricity ran down Rudolf’s spine.
The tension of facing a formidable enemy—and a faint sense of fear—rose simultaneously.
It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“Fascinating! You’re fascinating, Jack Jarse!”
Rudolf’s joy peaked.
To face someone who inspired such fear was his ultimate happiness.
Then,
“If you insist on fighting, I’ll—”
Jack’s voice changed.
“Destroy…kill…KILL…”
With a series of popping sounds, the blue-black armor swelled from within.
“What is this—”
The beastly warrior began transforming into something else.
“I’ll destroy whatever destroys. I’ll eliminate anything that disrupts my peace,
my happiness…to protect it, I’ll destroy…everything…”
Jack’s body radiated a dazzling red light as his form changed.
From an otherworldly beast warrior into something even more monstrous.
Wings sprouted from his back, the wolf mask morphed into that of a dragon.
A tail grew from his waist, striking the ground and carving deep fissures.
Surging energy formed a crimson aura around Jack.
“What is this…!?”
Rudolf exclaimed in astonishment.
“—Die.”
The monstrous dragon warrior declared coldly.