Chapter 147 – The Alternative (5)

The title ‘Northern Beast’ came from one incident.
He had a conflict with the nobles around him, and when they were arguing for a cause, he didn’t think twice and challenged his opponents to a duel and cut off their heads at once.
And the people who witnessed them bleeding to death could not keep their mouths shut.

From that point on, rumors circulated that Count Douglas was fiery, and for him, it was a good title.
Even if he frowned a little or showed signs of irritation, the other party would immediately back down.

And as time passed, Count Douglas enjoyed a lot of things with the title he was given.
He was a true warrior and he had armed troops, so he had no problem living in the northern part of the kingdom.

And this case wasn’t different.

The Northeast Alliance.
As the Central Government’s protection disappeared due to Barco’s downfall, he no longer had to suppress his desires.

Dmitry’s presence wasn’t a concern.
He had no issues with them at all.
He believed there was no chance of Dmitry intervening if the Northeast Alliance was attacked.
It was a perfect plan, as usual.

And he thought he could just act angry, and the other person would tremble and plead with him.

Drip.

Blood was dripping on the ground.
The twin swordsmen of the Douglas family no longer moved as the blood continued to flow.

His head began to spin at this.
He was sure they could take down Roman Dmitry, seeing how they rushed in, but what came next was shocking.

Just a single hit.
They were unable to block one attack, and the twins died.
Knowing just how bothersome things were, Count Douglas was confident the twins would win, only to be shocked by the result.

‘Is this what it means to be a ranker of the continent?’

This was out of this world.

He looked up.

Roman Dmitry was someone he couldn’t dare touch.

“Even now, I will give you a chance to end the battle of great warriors.
It seems that the war ended too blandly to be called a war that is being observed even by people from the Central Government.
So what do we do now?”

Roman’s words and the absurd proposal.
Even after winning the battle, this man didn’t stop attacking him.

He got goosebumps.
Not only did this prove his confidence, but he was also punishing the lords of the north who crossed into the northeast.

How strong was the Dmitry family? He ignored the inevitable reality and thought he could beat this man.

Count Douglas should have turned red and yelled in rage based on his reputation, but instead, meeting this strong person right here, he averted his gaze.

‘… many soldiers would have died in combat.
Rather than that, losing just five here is better.’

He ignored the corpses in front and the three trembling swordsmen.
They looked at him, hoping he would help them out, but Count Douglas didn’t even make eye contact.

“Rules are rules.
Since we decided to fight in this way, we’ll keep going until the end.”

Smile.

Roman smiled.

The people who were there didn’t understand what Douglas truly meant.
Even if he pushed them to fight, this was like raising a white flag, and that meant their ‘rank’ too.

The Dmitry family pressured the north.

Roman withdrew his gaze and looked at the terrified men.

“If you put it that way.
We will proceed with the battle of great warriors as planned.”

It was a death sentence, and two men had already died.
The remaining swordsmen representing the north were unable to hold back their fear of death.

“Do we really have to do this?”

“The fight has ended.
How about we end this like this?”

They put up a white flag.
Surrendering without even clashing with swords was a disgrace equal to lowering the honor of the North.

Yet the lords of the north couldn’t blame them.
They could understand how the warriors felt because the corpses lying in front of them showed how big the difference was.

Roman said,

“From the moment both sides put their lives at risk, no one knows what will happen until the end.
One of us has to bleed.
Naturally, the result will be brutal.
And if you don’t want to fight, then you can finish it by saying you quit and raising the white flag like cowards.
But if you don’t like what I said just now, then come.”

Tik.

His sword touched the ground.
And the sound of his sword clanking against the ground made the swordsmen shake.

“From now on, I will not be using a sword.
Even against me like this, if you don’t fight because of fear, then I will let you go back to your pathetic lives like a dog crawling in fear.
Choose.
Will you risk your life for an honorable victory, or will you throw away your pride as a swordsman and live a disgusting life?”

At that moment, those watching felt scared.
After Roman made the suggestion of continuing the fight, he said he wouldn’t use a sword.
His words made no sense to many.
They would acknowledge that Roman Dmitry was strong, but he was being arrogant.

‘There is hope.
Only when I do this will the existence of Dmitry gets known.’

‘An alternative choice.’

This wasn’t just a message for the North.
He wanted to show the reality to both the northeast and the north.
How the existence of the Dmitry family is going to change in the future is being projected through the war now.

“… what do we do?”

“Fuck, as if I know.’

The northern swordsmen looked at each other.

Roman is strong, but hearing his words, ‘crawl like a dog in fear and not use a sword,’ their senses were shaken.
Roman is surely an overwhelmingly strong being, but they didn’t want to step back from this like cowards.
After all, a swordsman without a sword is a good target.

“This decides it all.”

“Do not regret what you just said.”

Finally, they decided to do it.
Knowing that they could not handle what would happen if they backed out, they chose to fight for their lives.

Then everyone looked at the Central Government noble who came to observe.
As he nodded, the northern swordsmen rushed forward.

“Kill him!”

Tatatat!

Rumble!

They had no plan.
They just knew that the opponent didn’t hold a sword.
Since there was no way to stop them, no matter how they attacked, they all chose to attack Roman at the same time.

People who were watching this gulped upon seeing their auras rise.
Their eyes told them that Roman’s situation was bad, but Roman’s confident face made it hard to be shocked.

Tak.

He reached right out to all three of them in front of him.

They attacked from different sides.
Their swords with auras attacked his head, torso, and legs at the same time, showing their determination to kill him.

At that moment…

Wheik.

Roman’s hair fluttered.

He made a surprising move.
He sidestepped to avoid the attack on his legs, and the sword passed next to his torso, and he caught the sword that was aimed at his head with his hand.

A sword with an aura was caught with just a hand.
His hand should have been ripped apart, but he had no problem holding onto the blade with a thin aura.

And…

Crack.

The sword broke, and the swordsman’s heart sank the moment his shocked eyes turned to Roman.

Pak!

His face was crushed.

The swordsman who was aiming for his head fell down like a doll with its thread broken, and Roman used his leg to crush the lower body of the swordsman aiming for his legs.

They should have been able to protect their bodies with auras.
But their fragile human bodies shattered, and two people lost their lives in an instant.

And the last person remaining…

He hurriedly stepped back, trying to say he surrendered.

“I have no ill feelings towards you.
However, where you are standing now is what matters.”

Swish.

Roman grabbed his hair, dragged him by his head, and punched him in the face.

Crack.

There was a sound of a face being crushed.
When he let go, thick blood dripped down the man’s head like water, and his body fell to the ground.

The battle ended, but no one cheered.
People were too dumbfounded at what they saw, unable to accept it.

Roman looked at Count Douglas.

“I will finish this work here.
Do you have any objections?”

Hearing his words, Count Douglas only shook his head with a pale face.

The case was closed.
Count Douglas admitted defeat and took a step toward this new reality that he didn’t expect.

The result was good.
The Northeast Alliance should be celebrating their victory, but no one could hide their white faces.

“Uh.”

Viscount Conrad groaned, and his heart raced wildly as he saw Roman approaching him.

“Uh, uh.”

His hands and feet trembled in fear.

The problem with Count Douglas.
The northeast was certain of their outcome when they chose to seek the assistance of the Dmitry family.
It was a sure win.
They believed it was possible to defeat the enemy with power.

But this was way too overwhelming.
His hiccups wouldn’t stop when he thought of how Roman’s sword, which killed the swordsmen of the north, was going to attack him as well.

“Huh, hic—”

‘Roman Dmitry is a monster.
Defeating Hector wasn’t some fluke, but it was a possible result because this monster was there on the Southern Front.
If we had chosen to go to an all-out war with Dmitry, just like those men, we would have been slaughtered.’

This was not a theory but a fact.

They couldn’t handle the lords of the north, so they had to bring in Dmitry, but this man was more dangerous.

The other nobles of the northeast weren’t much different from Viscount Conrad.
They couldn’t even look into Roman’s eyes, and they tried not to show their trembling bodies.

Dmitry and the northeast.
Even though they hadn’t gone into an all-out war, this felt like an indirect war of nerves.

And now…

“… you worked really hard for us.”

Viscount Conrad bowed his head.
Seeing his quick response, the other nobles rushed and bowed to Roman as well.

The northeast.
This was the moment when the ranking in their area was clearly organized.

A few days later, Roman summoned the nobles of the northeast.
In the past, most would have expressed their intention not to attend, but they flocked over immediately.

“Viscount Conrad has arrived!”

“Baron Rollow has arrived!”

The Northeast Alliance came running.
People who used to sneer at Dmitry’s words when Barco was still alive now act like scared children.

It was quite an unbelievable sight.
Jonathan, the Knights’ commander in charge of the castle, was particularly taken aback by the nobles’ shift in attitude.

‘The nobles of the northeast came to attend? Is something changing?’

He was sure that the nobles in the northeast area were not polite to Dmitry.
And knowing that all of these changes were brought about by Roman Dmitry’s accomplishment, the commander’s heart beat loudly.

When he came to Dmitry, he had no regrets about choosing to be loyal to Baron Romero, and no swordsman would not wish to live the same life as him.

He stood tall.
He raised his voice and greeted the nobles with a proud face.

The sun wasn’t even in the middle of the sky, but all the nobles had already gathered.
The spacious room was filled with nobles, and the nobles’ reactions were divided.

“Hahaha, that happened?”

“Next time, please invite me too.
Shouldn’t joy be shared?”

The nobles who followed Dmitry were friendly, and they could smile and talk with one another.

On the other hand…

“…”

Viscount Conrad and the northeastern nobles were silent, like criminals caught in the act.
They looked around with nervous faces, but they tried to keep their heads up.

And it was then…

“Young Master Roman Dmitry enters.”

Everyone stopped, even the pro-Dmitry.
All of them stopped talking and bowed to Roman.

Roman Dmitry, a being who raised Dmitry’s status and who could no longer be treated as a simple young master.

Kik.

Step.

Roman took a step and sat on the highest chair.

“For this meeting.
I was given full authority by my father.
Is there anyone who doesn’t like this?”

Nobody dared to open their mouths.
All the nobles acknowledged Roman’s existence.

“Then, from now on, I will be talking about the new changes in the northeast area.”

As if a new king sat on the throne.

From now on, he was going to introduce a new rule.