The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

‘As expected, a frontal confrontation is difficult.’

Raul’s sharp, awl-like Aura Blade pierced through the blood-colored barrier. However, as the veil, which seemed to have been pushed back for a moment, surrounded the aura and squeezed it, the shape of the aura distorted.

Raul retracted his extended sword and this time struck the barrier like a whip. The long-drawn aura struck the barrier, but it seemed to absorb it as it became limp and eventually disappeared.

「You’re using quite an interesting technique.」

Caldenas, Raul’s master who was sharing his vision, voiced his thoughts.

「This barrier is created by compressing demonic energy using blood as a medium. The compressed demonic energy matches the strength of your aura, so it’s not easy to break through. Furthermore, upon contact…」

「It makes it look as if it’s absorbing the aura by causing a conflict between the demonic energy mixed with the blood and the aura. I am aware.」

It appeared to be absorbing the aura on the surface, but in reality, both were being burned away. He was replenishing the lost portion through the blood spread on the battlefield floor, making it less noticeable.

「Then why are you continuing to waste your aura meaninglessly? No matter how much the power armor supports your mana, wasting it would not be advisable.」

Caldenas, who pursued perfect and clean swordsmanship, might not understand Raul’s reckless combat style.

‘The perspective of the strong is different. Not that he’s wrong. However….’

「It’s a kind of deception tactic. Simply put, it’s a baiting strategy.」

「You intend to deceive that demon?」

「Yes. The outcome of a battle is not determined by skill alone.」

The weak have their own methods of battle.

In his past life, Bae Dohyun had maintained the top ranking for a long time. But that didn’t mean he was always strong. While he might have held his own against other players, when fighting NPC superhumans, Bae Dohyun always found himself in the position of the weak.

‘No matter how much I broke free from the system’s support and paved my own way, I couldn’t compare to the NPCs.’

Masters who had honed their swordsmanship over decades. Mages who had studied the essence of mana and reached the 7th circle after decades. Superhuman priests, fighters, summoners, and others who achieved their positions through decades of training and asceticism.

In Connect, a superhuman meant such a master in a specific field. Players who became superhuman through the system’s support and experience points were fundamentally different.

In the end, NPCs that Bae Dohyun considered fellow superhumans were always above him, and to defeat them, he needed more than just skill. In other words, whether you call it strategy or cunning, Raul’s seemingly meaningless attacks were actually part of a greater plan.

“Click, click. You seemed like an interesting toy, but you’re no different after all. If only your skills matched your mouth, this might have been more exciting.”

Demon Forsis yawned as if truly bored.

The battle itself was fierce, but since Raul appeared, Forsis had not felt any threat. His attitude, with one arm behind his back and sipping wine with the other, proved it.

He expected some fresh attacks, but at some point, Raul made the same mistakes as other humans.

‘Foolish human. Strike as much as you want. Let’s see if you can break through my 『Force of Blood』.’

As long as there was blood, his barrier would never be pierced. Most opponents wrongly believed that if they just kept hitting, they would break it.

‘Or at least they think I will tire….’

Anyway, he hadn’t met an interesting opponent on earth for a while. Forsis began to believe Raul was no different from others. And that misconception soon led to arrogance, and arrogance would lead to neglect.

Raul was aiming for that very moment.

***

Bang! Bababang!

A powerful, destructive sound erupted. However, Forsis’ expression held boredom rather than surprise.

‘It’s over.’

Since a while ago, the human’s aura had begun to weaken, and the number of weapons in the air had noticeably dwindled. The tedious exchange had already lasted more than 20 minutes, which was about the time a human master’s aura would start running dry.

The powerful, continuous attack just now must have been the human’s last desperate attempt. As Forsis predicted, the aura emanating from Raul’s sword had reduced to less than half of its original size.

‘What happens next is obvious.’

When Forsis waved his palm and pointed somewhere, the puddles of blood on the floor moved quickly as if alive. Splat. The blood covered all exits and windows in the arena, blocking any escape routes.

The barrier in front of him thinned slightly as a result, but what did it matter? The human wouldn’t be able to break through either way.

As he blocked off the escape routes and momentarily turned his attention to refill his empty wine glass, Raul’s eyes began to burn with a golden hue.

—

‘Now!’

Raul quickly activated the ‘Awakening’ switch on his Power Armor Regnator. Simultaneously, he activated his Radiant Aura and switched his psychokinesis from auto-control to manual while shouting inwardly.

「Rabel, now!」

Boom!

A tremendous amount of holy power erupted from Raul’s body and sword, and the weapon legion was enveloped with both aura and holy power.

Crack! Shatter.

At that moment, Rabel’s 『Rapid Freezing』 spell covered the entire arena.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

A thunderous noise and fragments of force filled the air, and a mist of blood obscured the vision of the arena. And shortly after,

“You! You were hiding your power!”

There was a fist-sized hole in the chest of the demon Forsis.

‘Too shallow.’

The blood leaking from the hole wriggled, slowly filling in the gap.

Shiver.

Raul’s aura blade, now imbued with holy power and turned platinum, was gripped in Forsis’ left hand, which had transformed into pincers made of clumped blood.

“What a shame. It must’ve been a trump card of yours.”

On the opposite side of Raul, Forsis’ right arm grasped the blue aura blade of Caldenas, who had manifested as a ghost armor.

“Well, you don’t seem to have much room for comfortable talk yourself.”

The barrier that had been protecting him until now was nowhere to be seen.

Just moments ago, when Rabel’s spell took effect, Raul used the holy power and his weapon legion to destroy the barrier.

Forsis instinctively tried to restore the barrier using blood, but alas, Rabel’s spell had frozen all the blood scattered across the arena.

Then what was the blood pincers (or gloves) gripping Raul and Caldenas’ swords? It was Forsis’ own blood.

Naturally, the demon had higher control and purity over his own blood compared to external sources, allowing him to hold onto the aura blades of an awakened Raul and master-class Caldenas.

“Now that your cards are all revealed, what will you do? If you have any hidden tricks left, show them.”

Forsis spoke as if he had the leisure, but he too was squeezing out all his strength. He had to deal with both holding onto the two superhuman aura blades and healing his wounds.

Meanwhile, the remaining blood…

Bang! Slice!

…was transforming into a long tail to fend off Raul’s weapon legion.

The situation devolved into a struggle of strength—a game of chicken. The victor would be the one whose strength lasted longer. And Forsis was certain of his victory.

‘Human, I can feel it this time – your desperate struggle. Heh heh.’

The awakening effect of Regnator: its maintenance time had increased with multiple enhancements and Raul’s elevated level, but it was still limited to a maximum of five minutes.

After that, all the reserved mana would be exhausted, and Regnator would cease functioning. Forsis had figured this out. But Raul’s lips curled up instead.

“You want me to show you my hidden card? Fine, if you wish. Now!”

As soon as Raul finished speaking, a figure dropped from the ceiling of the arena. The figure held a seemingly ordinary longsword, but a bright white mana blade extended from its tip.

Slash!

Forsis’ laughter burst out. Sending just a regular knight at this point, not even a superhuman?

What difference could it possibly make?

Frankly, the human warrior seemed even less valuable than one of the weapons in the legion. Forsis leisurely swung his red tail and shouted.

“This is all…!?”

Splat!

Forsis’ body was completely split in two.

Slice! Crush!

Following that, Raul, Caldenas, and the weapon legion shattered his body into pieces.

“Haa!”

As if that wasn’t enough, Raul maximized his psychokinesis and dominated the space.

Whoosh!

“Rabel!”

“Burn it!”

As Raul gathered every last piece of blood dispersed in the air, Rabel incinerated it with a fire spell.

“Triiiing.”

The system message rang out, and Raul opened a subspace to cover the burning area.

‘Alright, jackpot!’

He was not sure what it was, but Raul quickly stashed away the item coughed up by the demon into his subspace, avoiding the notice of the hero party.

“Phew.”

Only then did Raul sigh in relief and collapse to the ground. Regnator had already been deactivated.

“…Is it over?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

As soon as Raul responded, ‘Hero’ Asher’s legs also gave out, causing him to collapse to the floor. It was none other than Hero Asher who had delivered the final blow to Forsis.

Asher’s swordsmanship skill and level were at best high-expert, but the reason he was a ‘Hero’ was due to the special power bestowed upon him by the gods.

‘To think he can deliver an absolute strike that ignores attributes and defenses against the gods’ enemies. That’s total cheat material, isn’t it?’

His naive appearance and unrefined skills made it easy to let one’s guard down, but one could be taken out in a single hit. Just like how Forsis was obliterated moments ago without understanding why.

Of course, there were numerous harsh conditions attached for its practical use. Honestly, without Raul, would Asher have even been able to swing his sword once at Forsis?

‘He would have turned into a chunk of meat before even getting close.’

This is why heroes in the world of Connect were called ‘half-baked fools’.

Swish.

A gentle healing light enveloped Raul’s entire body.

‘Feels nice.’

It was the Saintess’s healing skill. The other members of the hero party who had been hiding throughout the arena gathered near Raul.

“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable? Please let me know if you’re injured,” Kiera inquired worriedly, even while bestowing the maximum blessings and healing she could.

“Thank you. I’m just a bit tired.”

“Wow! You are truly amazing! This is the first time I’ve seen such a majestic battle in my life. How have you managed to hide such skills all this time?”

Shimar asked with admiration.

‘Hide? I only reached the master level a few days ago.’

But there was no need to correct their misconception. Raul merely smiled lightly and stayed silent.

“Truly… truly admirable! How can I become as strong as you, lord Raul?”

Asher, who was two years older than Raul at eighteen, looked at Raul with sparkling eyes, as if gazing at an idol.

‘…That’s awkward.’

Raul scratched his head and gave a textbook response.

“You just need to work hard.”

“…….”

For reference, Raul was now sixteen years old and would turn seventeen in the next year.

Anyway, with this, they had defeated the greatest threat, Count Forsis from the demon realm. Now, they had to find and destroy the core of this cursed Demon Temple and wrap up the external battle.

“Let’s hurry.”

Raul said energetically, striding toward the throne.

(To be continued)