Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 113

Hippomenes was sent flying.And at the very moment Anagin revealed himself, as though a transparent shell had peeled away—

Meleager understood something, not with his head, but with his senses.

That Anagin had been eavesdropping on the conversation between him and Hippomenes using invisibility magic.

And that he had attacked because he knew Hippomenes belonged to the Barbaroi Cult.

How Anagin had come to suspect Hippomenes in the first place, Meleager didn’t know.

But that wasn’t important.

What mattered now was the fact that Anagin had attacked Hippomenes.

Something Meleager himself had not done.

The Anagin who had sent Hippomenes flying walked toward Meleager.

Step.

After saying, “How about pretending you got knocked out for a bit?”

Step.

His footsteps were neither fast nor slow. They moved exactly as they always did.

Step.

At a speed that Meleager, a member of the Argonaut Expedition Team, and a man called a Great Hero, could easily react to.

And yet Meleager stood frozen.

Thud.

Before he knew it, Anagin had come right up in front of him, raised his fist, and swung it.

It was nothing special—a perfectly ordinary punch.

Yet Meleager did not avoid it.

He took the punch and fell.

Understanding the meaning behind the words, ‘How about pretending you got knocked out for a bit?’, he had unconsciously decided to cooperate.

And so—

The Great Hero Meleager fell to the ground after being struck by a perfectly ordinary punch.

* * *

Anagin, who had knocked Meleager down in a single blow, silently looked down at the fallen man.

Then, after a brief moment had passed, he slightly turned his head to the side.

Hippomenes, who had been sent flying by Anagin’s punch, was rising through the cloud of dust.

“What kind of farce is this? Meleager.”

“You crazy bastard. Are your eyes bad? Why are you calling the guy who’s already down? The one who hit you is right here.”

With the very hand that had sent Hippomenes flying, Anagin confidently pointed at himself.

However, Hippomenes scoffed as if the idea were ridiculous.

“Do I look like an idiot? You expect me to believe that Meleager got knocked down by the fist of some brat whose name I don’t even know?”

“My punch is just that damn good. But more than that, I’m a little disappointed… I’d like to think I’m pretty famous, you know.”

Half a joke, but half sincere.

Anagin didn’t really care about fame, but hearing himself called some nobody did sting a little.

Wasn’t that only natural? After the kind of trouble he had gone through at Chiron Tower because of those damned newspapers. To still be treated like a nobody in a situation like this felt a little unfair.

“Hmph… There’s no shortage of fools who gain some worthless reputation and start thinking they’re heroes.”

Hippomenes brushed the dust off his body as if he had fully recovered from the damage.

If he just ran away now, it would be annoying… So Anagin decided to provoke him first.

“I don’t want to hear that from a guy who borrows power from a fake cult just to hit on women.”

Anagin had no idea what the Barbaroi Cult even was, but he decided to throw it out there anyway.

After overhearing the conversation between Meleager and Hippomenes, he simply followed his instincts. If it landed, great. If not, he lost nothing.

But what was this?

Hippomenes stiffened for a moment.

It was brief, but unmistakable.

“…Nonsense. You don’t even have proof.”

“My instincts are proof enough.”

Declaring that flatly, Anagin immediately charged forward and swung his right leg in a wide arc.

Hippomenes leaned back to dodge, while subtly looking for a path to escape.

“What, you planning to run back and tell the bride? Say you got beaten up and ask her to punish me for you?”

It was another casual taunt meant to keep him from escaping, but Hippomenes reacted more strongly than expected and launched a counterattack toward Anagin.

Anagin had clearly struck a sore spot.

Or perhaps Hippomenes simply thought it was worth trying his chances.

Either way, it didn’t matter. Now that the bastard had decided not to run, Anagin just needed to finish him.

After dodging the kick, Hippomenes adopted a precise stance just as he had learned at Chiron Tower, responding to Anagin’s attacks while waiting for an opening.

Anagin, meanwhile, pretended to grow even more heated and unleashed a fierce barrage.

None of the blows landed cleanly. Most were blocked or merely grazed him.

He wasn’t on the level of Meleager or Atalanta, but he did have some skill. Especially noticeable was the sense of repeated training.

However…

“You let your guard dow— Huh?!”

The moment Hippomenes, who had been waiting for an opening, tried to counterattack—

Anagin struck back with a completely different speed and attack pattern than before.

The fist flying toward him suddenly opened, grabbing Hippomenes instead.

Hippomenes, who had been preparing to deliver a counter, lost his balance the instant Anagin caught him.

Anagin didn’t miss that moment.

He punched Hippomenes in the stomach, then drove his knee into his side, and finally smashed his fist into his face.

Struck by the three consecutive attacks, Hippomenes dropped to one knee.

Anagin drew the Beast Devourer and—

—Crunch!

Just as he was about to bring the Beast Devourer down, Hippomenes clenched his teeth with a grinding crack. Not merely grinding them, he bit down hard enough to break them.

At that moment, a gemstone hidden between Hippomenes’ teeth shattered, activating the magic sealed inside it.

And with that, Hippomenes was instantly teleported to the after-party venue.

“Whoa—!”

Appearing in midair in a flash of intense light, Hippomenes dropped to the ground, startling the people who had been leisurely enjoying themselves.

Some jumped to their feet, others screamed and fell backward, and a few knocked over their wine cups. A small commotion broke out.

‘Damn it…!’

Standing amid the noisy after-party venue, Hippomenes cursed inwardly as he listened to the surrounding uproar.

It had not even been a full day since he returned with enormous amounts of gold to show off his success, and now he had appeared in such a disgraceful state.

Worse, the fact that his identity as a member of the Barbaroi Cult had been discovered left him utterly shaken.

Meleager was one thing, but now even some nameless bastard…

And that bastard had even attacked him.

A situation he had never expected.

Which made it all the more shocking.

For a moment, he wondered if the man had somehow obtained proof that he had become a ‘retainer (立臣)’ of the Babaroi Cult. Otherwise, there was no way such madness would be possible.

‘…No! That can’t be!’

Though the sudden situation and pain left him disoriented, Hippomenes quickly cooled his head.

Proving a retainer was realistically impossible. He had never even heard of such a thing being done.

Most likely, the guy was simply a gambler.

Among powerful Gigants, there were many with that kind of temperament—people who relied solely on their strength and acted recklessly.

That had to be it.

He must have thought there would be no problem killing him in the empty forest.

At that moment, someone approached Hippomenes.

One of the nobles of the Kingdom of Arcadia.

“I say… are you alright?”

The noble asked, seemingly unable to grasp the situation.

Which was understandable. Hippomenes clearly looked like someone who had been beaten up.

“I-I was attacked! Some strange blond bastard…!!”

Hippomenes had been about to say Meleager’s name, but changed it to “blond bastard.”

If he claimed that the Great Hero Meleager had attacked him in the middle of the Arcadian royal palace, no one would believe it. And even if they did, the situation would only grow more complicated.

For now, escaping this situation came first.

Yes, he was shaken and furious, but he needed to remember why he had come here.

“A- attacked? Are you drunk? Who—”

“I’m telling you it’s true! He suddenly started spouting nonsense and attacked me!!”

Hippomenes shouted angrily at the disbelieving noble.

He had to quickly establish the blond man as the attacker to avoid any possible suspicion. If Meleager happened to mention the Barbaroi Cult, things could become messy.

‘It’s fine. Since the attack failed, he must have run away. Actually, this is better. After this, for me…’

Despite the sudden situation, Hippomenes was already turning things to his advantage.

But his thoughts stopped midway.

Because the blond man he thought had run away, Anagin, was walking toward them from afar, step by step.

“This crazy bastard…”

Seeing Anagin appear instead of fleeing, Hippomenes was horrified.

The guests at the after-party, who had doubted the story about an attacker, also began noticing Anagin one by one and started murmuring.

Bwooo—!

The first to react were the royal guards.

Already on alert, they blew their sharp horn to warn of an enemy attack.

Most of the soldiers knew that Anagin was a guest of Princess Irida, but even so, they could not ignore someone who had attacked the winner of the Groom Tournament.

Click! Shffk—!

The royal guards, closer to organized hunters than ordinary soldiers, simultaneously drew arrows, nocked them, and fired.

Tat-tat-tat—!

The sound of arrows launching rang out from all directions.

Even with arrows flying at him from every side, Anagin didn’t flinch—instead, he ran forward.

It wasn’t a bad decision. If he froze in fear of the arrows, he would become a perfect target. Running and dodging was the smarter choice.

However…

Whoosh—!

The arrows of Arcadia were made with wind-eagle feathers, allowing them to adjust their trajectory.

The arrows didn’t just chase the running Anagin—they attacked him from all directions.

‘No way…’

—Slash!

Anagin swung the Beast Devourer, its blade thick like an axe, and cut every arrow out of the air.

“What the hell? Fuck!!”

Only then did the surrounding people begin sobering up and realizing what was happening.

Unbelievable as it seemed, a madman had appeared in the middle of the royal palace, swinging a blade.

“Wait, that guy…!”

“Princess Irida! Isn’t that the man Princess Irida brought?! What the hell is going on?!”

Several people recognized Anagin.

Some, such as the man who had been accompanying Princess Irida.

Others, such as the one they had read about in the newspapers for fighting Erysichthon.

But their reactions were mostly the same.

Those without combat ability stepped back.

But the attendants—practitioners—moved to stop Anagin.

They didn’t know the full story, but as attendants, they couldn’t ignore a disaster unfolding in the royal palace.

Besides, saving Hippomenes and putting him in their debt didn’t seem like a bad idea.

‘But why did he run from someone like that? Isn’t he supposed to be the Conqueror of Barbarland?’

One of the practitioners thought this while preparing to block Anagin. Though there wasn’t much time to think deeply.

Deflecting arrows, Anagin drew closer.

One practitioner gathered strength in his arm and fired a shockwave using the power of a blessing.

Running forward, Anagin swung his fist and shattered the shockwave.

Seeing that, the practitioners raised their guard even higher.

“This way.”

Some of the royal guards approached Hippomenes and helped support him.

Even ordinary soldiers knew that Hippomenes was the winner of the Groom Tournament, so they prioritized him first.

Numerous practitioners surrounded Anagin and fought to stop him.

Watching that scene, Hippomenes felt the last trace of worry in his chest fade away.

He had wondered, just in case, that the blond bastard might somehow have a way to uncover his true identity.

But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Otherwise, there was no way he would be fighting like this.

He was just a madman.

A madman who didn’t even know his place!

True to that reputation, the bastard was fighting while surrounded by countless practitioners.

Perhaps because of their numbers, he couldn’t counterattack and could only dodge and run.

But it was useless.

Though his movements were fairly quick, he was slowly being subdued—pierced in the back by arrows, halted by multiple spears and blades, struck by hammers, and having chains wrapped around his neck.

At this rate, he would be completely subdued before long.

‘But… where did his sword go?’

Hippomenes frowned in confusion as he looked at the now empty-handed Anagin.

Where had that thick, ominous blade gone? The one he had clearly seen earlier—

“Lord Hippomenes!”

Just as his thoughts slowed from confusion, someone shouted.

Feeling a surge of instinctive dread, Hippomenes looked up.

And locked eyes with the Beast Devourer, spinning as it fell from the sky.

The Beast Devourer…

Slice!

It lightly cut across one of Hippomenes’ eyes.

Perhaps because the injury was so unexpected, the pain that followed was far more intense than anticipated.

But it was still manageable.

Squeeeeeeeal—!

At least, it was manageable.

Until Hippomenes let out a pig-like squeal.