The Regressed Blood Knight’s Strategy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Lucky]

Chapter 86

Two figures emerged from the forest.

“Kane Rehinar?”

Kane and Mikhail blocked the Tegelo envoys.

As Kane pulled his bloodsky blade from the ground, he spoke.

“You came all the way to Rehinar to meet me. So why are you leaving without doing that?”

Alvin looked around, noticing Kane’s actions.

He spread his mana, checking for any additional personnel.

‘Those two… they’re it.’

The only ones detected by his mana were the two standing before him. There weren’t even any monsters around.

‘How much of our conversation did they hear?’

As Alvin quickly darted his eyes around, the corners of Kane’s mouth lifted.

“Do you really think you can destroy Rehinar?”

At Kane’s blatant words, Alvin’s pupils trembled slightly.

“So… you heard everything.”

With a resigned expression, Alvin drew his sword.

“Then I suppose you’ll have to die.”

The Tegelo envoys also let out sneering remarks, each with a twisted smile.

“Stupid dullard, you should’ve stayed in Rehinar~”

“Let’s take his head back to Tegelo as a trophy.”

Their anger was palpable as they looked at Kane, unable to conceal it. Memories of the poor treatment they received in Rehinar fueled their rage.

They encircled Kane and Mikhail, releasing their mana to pressure them.

They expected the two to fall to their knees immediately.

However, neither of them was intimidated by their overwhelming presence.

Instead, they scoffed and retorted.

“You’re gravely mistaken. We’re the hunters, not you.”

Kane unleashed the Blood Rune.

Explosive mana erupted from his body.

The Blood Rune was an extraordinary power, even the gods feared it. The power of the Blood Knight flowed through Kane.

“So, you were deceiving us all along!”

“The rumors were true—Rehinar’s dullard was a fake created by the Guardian lord!”

“What a treacherous family.”

The Tegelo envoys ground their teeth in frustration.

Seeing Kane’s astounding power firsthand, they realized they had been fooled by him all along. It felt like they had been deceived by Rehinar for over a decade.

“To deceive the world like this, unforgivable.”

Kane’s eyes turned crescent-shaped at the weak excuses from the Tegelo envoys.

“Just admit you want to destroy Rehinar. Stop with the pointless babbling.”

“Fine, we’ll kill you and use your death to assert Tegelo’s dominance!”

One of the envoys leaped forward.

Alvin quickly shouted in alarm.

“Don’t act on your own!”

But it was too late.

As expected from the Family of the Wind Fox, the envoy’s movements were swift.

In an instant, he was within striking distance of Kane.

Mikhail muttered under his breath.

“He must have a death wish.”

Mikhail merely watched, making no move to intervene.

Instead, it was Kane’s blood sky blades that moved.

His right blade swiftly deflected the opponent’s attack.

“It’s over.”

As his opponent’s stance faltered slightly,

Kane’s other blade moved.

[TL/N: As Rehinar’s signature style is 2 sword style, Kane keeps his blood sky blade as 2 blades most of the time.]

With a reverse grip, he thrust the blade straight into the opponent’s neck.

With a sickening squelch, the Tegelo envoy’s head rolled to the ground.

Contrary to expectations, he died far too easily.

This envoy was at least a High-Tier 4th-class Knight, not someone who should have fallen so quickly...

While everyone stood frozen in shock,

Kane finished the final task.

He plunged the blade into the dead envoy’s body, draining every drop of his blood.

“If you come at me one by one, you’ll end up like him.”

His demeanor was almost demonic.

Despite his innocent-looking face, his actions were ruthlessly brutal.

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in committing murder.

Alvin’s eyebrow twitched.

He wasn’t overly concerned about the death of the Tegelo envoy.

What bothered him was Kane’s mana.

That ominous, purple aura.

Rehinar’s mana was typically white or blue.

Even Duke Carl’s mana was blue, wasn’t it?

‘It feels completely different from the mana of blue tiger!’

This was a color of mana he had never seen before.

‘I need to investigate further. And I must report everything I’ve seen to the head of Tegelo.’

Alvin tightened his grip on his sword.

There had to be a reason Kane appeared here without any troops.

He believed the answer lay in that special mana.

“From now on, no one will act alone. Everyone, take up attack formation!”

With mana-infused authority in Alvin’s voice, the Tegelo envoys aligned themselves.

Each took up their designated position.

As they linked their mana,

a fierce wind began to blow around them.

The wind circled them, ready to strike at any moment.

* * *

The Tegelo attack formation.

The empire called it the Wind Blade Formation.

It was a formation that granted buffs to those who mastered wind mana.

At the same time, it inflicted a debuff that slowed the opponent.

From the enemy's perspective, it was a particularly troublesome formation to deal with.

---

[The enemy has activated ‘Wind Blade Formation (B)’.]

[Warning! You are affected by a debuff.]

[Wind attribute attack resistance -60%]

[Wind attribute magic resistance -40%]

[You are slowed.]

---

In response to the effects of the Wind Blade Formation, Kane adjusted his mana.

---

[Breath of the Blood Phoenix (SR-) has been activated.]

---

The purple aura flickered like flames.

---

[The effects of ‘Wind Blade Formation (B)’ have been nullified.]

[All debuffs have been removed.]

---

Fire triumphs over wind.

No matter how much the wind’s mana tried to debuff him, it was useless against the mana of fire.

Mikhail, lowering his spear, spoke to Kane.

“Let’s finish this quickly and head back.”

“Agreed.”

The two charged at the Wind Blade Formation.

Flames surged along the spear and sword.

The fiery spear and sword strikes collided with the Wind Blade Formation.

---

Boom!

---

A shockwave swept the area.

Nearby trees and shrubs were blown away.

But that wasn’t all.

The ground where they clashed was deeply cratered.

“Ugh!”

“My… my god.”

“Sir Alvin, are you alright?”

The Tegelo envoys maintaining the Wind Blade Formation worried about Alvin.

His upper garments had been entirely torn apart by the previous attack.

Moreover, nearly half of his upper body’s skin was charred black.

“I’m… fine.”

Thanks to Alvin, who was at the forefront and took the brunt of Kane and Mikhail’s attack, the Wind Blade Formation remained intact and unbroken.

However—

“They’re coming again!”

Kane and Mikhail's attack was far from over.

Their weapons were still enveloped in the flames as they launched another assault.

“This time, we will block them,” one of the Tegelo envoys declared.

“Hold your ground!” another commanded.

This time, Alvin also unleashed his mana to counter the attack.

---

Boom!

---

The deafening sound echoed once more as another shockwave rippled through the area.

“Ugh!”

The members of the Wind Blade Formation were thrown backward, crashing into the ground. Only Alvin remained standing, barely holding his ground.

With trembling eyes, he stared ahead.

“How can someone from the Guardian’s bloodline use the Fire Rune?!”

It even seemed as if Kane was familiar with it.

Noticing Alvin’s shock, Mikhail glanced at Kane and spoke.

“He seems quite rattled by you, young master..”

“I’ve seen that reaction more times than I care to count,” Kane replied.

“Despite your words, you seem to enjoy it,” Mikhail teased.

“Not at all.”

“Denying it so strongly only makes it seem true.”

“Stop talking nonsense and finish this.”

With that, Kane surged forward, leaving Mikhail behind.

“You really are a peculiar person,” Mikhail muttered, before following Kane and charging at Alvin.

---

Thud

---

The third collision.

Alvin used all his strength to block their attack.

Even though wind and fire were opposing elements, he believed that the difference in power between them couldn’t be overcomed.

Alvin was a 6th-class knight.

No matter how those two coordinated their attacks, they shouldn’t be able to defeat him.

But reality proved him wrong.

“Urgh,” Alvin groaned.

His torso felt oddly light.

Both of his shoulders were gone.

His severed arms lay on the ground, detached from his body.

At that moment, he heard a voice, cold and final.

“Where are you looking?”

It was the last sound he’ll ever hear in his life.

---

Slash!

---

Alvin’s head was cleanly severed.

With his death, the Tegelo envoys were thrown into a panic, unsure of what to do.

“Sir Alvin was completely overpowered…”

“I saw it too.”

“How could just two men defeat Sir Alvin…?”

“Are they at least High-tier 5th-class knights?!”

It was an unbelievable event. If Alvin had fought them fiercely, it wouldn’t have been as shocking.

But Alvin had only defended himself, managing to attack only once. And the result?

He lost his head.

One attack led to an overwhelming outcome.

The Tegelo envoys, faced with something they never anticipated, were now in complete disarray.

“We need to kill them all.”

Knowing Kane’s next command before he even uttered it, Mikhail was already moving before the words left Kane’s mouth.

---

* * *

---

“S-spare me!”

Despite the desperate pleas of the Tegelo envoy, Mikhail did not hesitate to plunge his spear into the man’s heart.

Thud.

The last remaining life was snuffed out.

Every single envoy of Tegelo had been killed.

“Well done,” Kane remarked as he threw his Bloodsky blade toward the corpses.

As the sword hovered in the air, blood flowed from the dead bodies and was absorbed into the sword.

“If anyone saw you now, they’d think you were a villain.”

“My actions do resemble those of a dark sorcerer, don’t they?”

Dark sorcerers were known for using forbidden magic, drawing power from human blood and life to perform stronger spells.

Kane’s actions were not much different from theirs.

“Be more cautious, then.”

“I suppose I’ll have to be from now on.”

Kane retrieved the Bloodsky blade, which returned to its sheath, disappearing from sight.

He turned toward the forest and shouted, “You can come out now.”

There was no response from the bushes despite Kane’s call.

Mikhail was ready to throw his spear imbued with fire mana, when—

“P-please, stop!” a voice cried out.

---

With both arms raised, the figure appeared.

One person stepped forward.

Then, one after another, others followed suit.

Mikhail frowned.

“Of all people, they had to catch us.”

The ones who appeared were the cadets from the Royal Military Academy.

Hundreds of students followed closely behind them.

Their expressions were stern and serious.

Despite seeing their grim faces, Kane appeared unfazed.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Is there anyone here connected to Tegelo?”

At Mikhail’s question, Kane glanced around at the cadets.

Then he shook his head.

“No one. It seems the Crown Prince has already dealt with anyone related to Tegelo.”

All the cadets present were allies of the Imperial Family and Rehinar.

“You explain… as you see fit.”

Mikhail subtly stepped back.

At times like this, the bear seemed as cunning as a fox.

Kane was about to explain the current situation to the cadets, but a blonde woman stepped forward first.

“You’re Kane Rehinar, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“No explanation is needed.”

The blonde woman, Charlotte, examined the dead.

‘If it’s Wind Mana, it must be Tegelo. The weakest here is at mid-tier-4th Class… and they were all killed one-sidedly.’

Charlotte inspected the traces of mana and then looked at Kane.

‘He’s even more impressive than what my brother told me.’

There was even someone among the dead with the power of a 6th Class Knight.

Yet Kane’s side had overwhelmingly prevailed.

Which meant that these two were stronger than someone with 6th Class mana.

If they had taken down the opponent in a joint attack, then it meant that both of them were at least at the high-tier 5th-class level.

‘I can’t even clearly see Kane Rehinar’s mana with my Moon Eyes.’

Charlotte von Presia was known as the “Princess with the Moon Eyes.”

Her eyes could see all the mana in the world.

Even someone with stronger mana couldn’t escape her gaze.

But Kane Rehinar’s mana was hazy, as if shrouded in mist.

It was as though a force similar to her Moon Eyes was obstructing her.

Whenever she tried to approach its essence, her Moon Eyes lost their power.

‘This must be why my brother sent me to Rehinar.’

Charlotte stared intently at Kane with a curious expression.

Her interest was solely in Kane.

She didn’t care whether the Tegelo members were dead or alive.

“I’ve heard from my brother that Rehinar is going to war with Tegelo. These people were Tegelo’s envoys, right?”

“Something like that.”

“It’s self-defense, so let’s move on.”

The 2nd Princess was as cool as could be.

It even justified the Bloodsky blade's absorption of blood.

“I’ve heard that the Guardian Lord uses the ‘Void of Water’ to absorb all moisture from his opponents. What you used was also the ‘Void of Water.’ Though it may look like a brutal sword technique, that alone doesn’t make one a demon.”

She presented an argument that no one could refute.

“And if we were to call you a demon, then we’d have to call the Guardian Lord a demon as well… But this is clearly a sword technique, isn’t it?”

She directed her question to the captain leading the cadets.

The captain had no choice but to agree with her.

Otherwise, it would mean considering the Guardian Lord a demon.

“O-of course, Your Highness, the Second Princess.”

“Well, that settles it. Let’s continue on to Rehinar.”

With her confident tone, the leader urged the students to pick up their pace.

Just as Charlotte was about to start walking again, she heard a cute voice from below.

“Your judgment is pretty sharp! I like it. I’ll make you my maid.”

Blata was tapping at Charlotte’s leg as he spoke.

Charlotte looked down at Blata, wondering what was going on.

A chubby baby tiger.

Its bright smile was nothing short of angelic.

But Charlotte couldn’t help but scream.

“Kyaaa!”

She had a massive fear of cats.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Lucky]