This Bastard is Too Competent

Ian shouted, his eyes glinting sharply. 

“Fire! Launch them all out!”

The target was Bahara’s royal castle.

At his command, the soldiers in charge of siege weapons pulled the lever. 

Chii—iik! Bang!

Then, giant rocks flew toward Bahara’s palace. It wasn’t one or two; it was dozens of huge stones. They destroyed the royal palace in no time.

Boom! Boom!

The royal palace of Bahara could no longer even be called a palace. 

It looked like a tomb built of rocks. 

Yet Ian didn’t stop. 

Woong! 

Just as that bastard could feel him, he could feel him too. 

‘He is still alive? His life line is pretty tough.’

However, he still had many rocks in store. 

Ian once again shouted at the catapult soldiers. 

“Prepare the next rocks! Don’t stop until I order otherwise!”

“Yes, Supreme Commander!”

If it were any other day, they might stop at this point. But Ian was the supreme commander. In addition, he was the undefeated commander who had never lost a single battle. 

No soldiers questioned his seemingly unreasonable orders. 

Only Fiosen asked, his face filled with worry. 

“Your Highness, is it all right to do this? Still, isn’t it the royal palace of a country? How about stopping here? If we want to conquer Bahara, the royal palace should be in good condition first…”

His concern was understandable.

Usually, when one occupied another kingdom, the first thing to do was seize the royal family and the royal palace. And a ceremony to become the new lord would follow after.

But destroying the palace like this would pose a problem later.

Ian’s expression was as if saying it was no problem. 

“Have you forgotten that Bahara citizens are mountain people? They don’t hold much importance on this castle in the first place. It is better to tear it down and build a new one.”

“But…”

“Am I wrong, Prince Olak?”

“His Highness Ian is right.” 

Olak concurred with a calm face. As Ian said, the Bahara people did not have much attachment to the royal palace. That, too, was only built at the discretion of the previous king. No one practically cared about it.

Ian smiled at his reply. 

‘It is as he said. We didn’t know that, so we placed importance into occupying the palace. In the end, it provided the cause to rally Bahara’s resistance.’

This led Kaistein in Ian’s previous life to be attacked by the resistance despite succeeding in occupying the royal palace. It was because the king and other royals escaped and waged a guerrilla war. 

The important thing was the king and the royal family of Bahara. 

If they were in their hands, there was no need to worry about the Bahara people’s revolt. 

‘And I have Prince Olak and General Yamanta.’

Plus the five chieftains. 

He had every reason to succeed to the throne. Therefore, there should be no problem with handing over the throne or making it a vassal state.

The problem lay somewhere else. 

“However, the elders of the royal family won’t stand still. From the olden days, the symbolism of the royal palace is…”

Ian asked Fiosen, who was trying to stop him, with a hard face. 

“Did Sir Fiosen not see Brother Louis’s condition?”

“Th, that’s…”

Ian looked serious more than ever. 

The condition of the Third Prince, Louis, was grave. He was currently under treatment, but he still lingered between the line of life and death. Ripped wounds akin to an animal’s bite marks dotted every spot of his body. 

None of the soldiers who came with him were not unharmed. 

That was why Ian did this.

“Keep in mind that what we’re dealing with is such a monster. If we can win against such a monster without being harmed directly, I will choose that way without hesitation.”

Not to mention the words Louis whispered to him before losing consciousness, which Ian hadn’t told anyone else. He uttered in a faint, dying voice. 

“Seven, Seven…”

“Brother, you can relax now. Get treatment first…” 

“The Seven Sins…”

He passed out, leaving those words behind. He was unconscious due to excessive bleeding. He must have been holding on to his slipping consciousness to convey those words to Ian.  

This truly showed his great mental power. 

So, Ian couldn’t take the information Louis gave him lightly.

“If the opponent can’t get out of the castle, I’ll have to make full use of it.”

“However, Your Highness, if you don’t attack the enemy directly and only use the catapults, many will definitely point their fingers at you calling you not honorable…”

At that moment, Ian stopped Fiosen from speaking.  

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand his concern, being the heir to Duke Lavaltor, and his pride and desire for fame as a knight. Kaistein was the kingdom of knights. As he said, he certainly didn’t know what people would say later.

‘I’ve been on a winning streak until now, but there might be someone who will bring up my honor.’

Nevertheless, Ian shouted with all seriousness. 

“My people’s lives are at stake at every word of my command. So, if people say the honor built at the cost of my people’s lives is what I should be honorable for, I will be the first to reject anything like that!”

His declaration settled their unease.

Fiosen looked deeply moved.

He didn’t know Ian would think that. 

It wasn’t just Fiosen. 

“Prince Ian…”

“Supreme Commander…”

All the soldiers around him were also looking at Ian, their gazes solemn. No, it was unmistakably a look of respect. 

Right at that very moment. 

Bang! 

Graaaahh!

Along with a great explosion, a huge roar erupted from Bahara castle. To be exact, it was from the royal palace. Uncontained fury could be sensed in the voice. 

Black energy engulfed the royal palace and soon the entire castle. 

Ian took in the sight before him. 

‘You finally showed up.’

Ian knew he wouldn’t die from this attack in the first place. 

Woong!

His Faith was also telling him he was alive. But the attacks so far had not been in vain. 

Grrrrr…

A groan of pain was certainly noticeable in the angry voice. His body was destroyed in several places, seemingly bursting open from the barrage of big rocks.

The catapult attacks were definitely working for him.  

‘As expected, this amount of physical force works.’ 

Ian didn’t hesitate. 

“What are you looking at! Don’t stop! Take down the enemy!”

“Yes, sir!”

Twang! 

At his command, the catapults flung the rocks into the sky again. Seeing the rocks shooting down his way, the black figure winced. 

Bang! Bang!

As another barrage of rocks crashed onto him again, he finally stopped holding back. Soon, the figure began to take on the form of a giant doll, one resembling a giant. 

Prince Olak exclaimed in surprise at the sight. 

“D-don’t tell me it’s Brother Arak?”

Arak, the First Warrior and at the same time the person who ousted the previous king and his subjects and usurped the throne, had the appearance of a giant.

Ian’s eyes flashed. 

‘He’s related to the Seven Sins.’ 

Only one person throughout the kingdom could become the First Warrior. It was a position reserved only for those who had proven their loyalty to the kingdom. That must have been the reason for such a drastic change.

But it wasn’t time for him to just sit by and watch.

GRAAAAAAH!

With the monster’s screech, something fell off his body. They were shadows with animal figures. And the next moment, they slithered into the discarded human bodies and transformed. 

These were creatures Ian knew well.

‘Is that how they’re made?’ 

They were the black-eyed monsters. 

But they were smaller than the opponents Ian faced when he saved the First Princess. It was about the same size as the small one who chased the First Princess.

Right then. 

Woong! 

A voice came into Ian’s ears through Faith. 

[You nasty rat!! How dare you do such dirty tricks!] 

His voice seethed with wrath so intense it made Ian’s ears ring. It’s the voice of the giant in front of him. Only Ian could hear it. 

[Come here!! Today shall be the end of my long fight with you!] 

“What?”

[It doesn’t matter if you don’t come. I will shred everyone that follows you into bits and make them my dinner. This place will be the grave of you and all who follow you!] 

He was staring straight at Ian. And when he pointed to Ian, the monsters he had created dashed. 

The soldiers next to Ian shouted. 

“Your Highness, they’re coming! Unlike that monster, they can come out of the castle!”

They were the soldiers with fairly less injuries among the Third Prince’s men. But neither Ian nor his knights had any worries. 

‘This much is within my assumptions.’

Ian never expected the monster would talk to him, but it didn’t matter. 

They only needed to deal with it, that’s all. 

“Sir Fiosen. Get started.”

“Put down the rocks! Take them out!”

At Ian’s command, Fiosen moved quickly. He removed the rocks from the catapults and placed another object on top. It’s a jar full of oil.

It wasn’t just any oil jar.

Plunk! 

A strange-looking object was put into the oil jar. 

It’s something Ian collected from the Fourth Prince, one of the things that would be called massacre weapons in the future. It was the perfect item for the current situation. 

The Fourth Prince shouted upon seeing it. 

“You have to be very careful with this stuff! If you use it recklessly, everything will be doomed!”

“I know.”

“But you put it in there now, though? What if it explodes! If the oil jar explodes, the whole area will turn into a sea of flames!”

“That’s precisely why, Brother.”

“What?”

What Ian wanted. 

It was to burn the monster to death along with the palace.  

‘I don’t want to die in vain for acting like a hero. Better I strike and kill him with a surefire way.’

And thus, Ian swung his hands down. 

“Fire!”

Twang!

Through the catapult, the gigantic oil jar soared into the sky. And soon it exploded in the sky with a thunderous sound. 

BOOM! 

Inside the oil jar was an exploding bullet. 

It was made by applying magic tools and contained fireballs that would scatter around with a powerful explosion. But if it was put inside an oil jar.

Blaarrrrrr!

It would turn into a disaster. 

It descended with power as devastating as an inferno ready to set the world aflame.

The weaknesses of the black-eyed monster were attacks with fire and Oath. They probably wouldn’t have been much different from the one who seemed to be the main body. 

Sure enough. 

Graaaahh!

The monsters about to escape the castle shrieked as the flames engulfed them. They weren’t the only ones. 

[You, you lowly bastard! Can’t we fight fair and square?!]

Even the Seven Sins who created them was screaming with flames all over his body. He looked very weak compared to the Seven Sins Ian had imagined.

Ian simply smirked.

“Fair and square? What’s that?”

He couldn’t believe he would hear the creature with unknown powers demanding a “fair and square” fight in the first place. 

“If you want to, take off that husk and come out.”

And if that one was the Seven Sins, this was one of the Seven Virtues, Faith.

Did good need to shy away from erasing evil?

So, Ian had only one thing to do. 

“You can use up all the oil jars! Those monsters must be our slain brother’s foe! Don’t leave a single one alive, burn them all! We will make them pay with their blood!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Ian’s command, numerous jars were flung up, covering the sky. 

And. 

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They turned into a rain of flames and burned Balrog, leaving no trace behind. 

*** 

Groooo…

The Seven Sins.  

The monster, which was bigger than the castle just now, had shrunk. Everything in the castle, including himself, was already half melted by the intense heat.

He couldn’t even move properly. 

Grrrr.

His lungs had melted, and he had difficulty breathing.

But his eyes had yet to die.

“Ce, Ceres….”

He was looking for the person who gave this body to him, the fragment of the Seven Sins. No, he couldn’t even be called a human anymore. 

‘Only the restrictions, if only I get rid of the restrictions on me, I can defeat him.’

Finally, he had the chance to kill Faith he hated all his life. He needed one thing to do so. A fragment of the Seven Virtues left in Bahara. 

He had to absorb the power that had permeated the castle for a long time.

The power that Ceres had converted so far so that he could absorb. 

But no matter how much he searched, Ceres was nowhere to be found. 

‘Could he be dead…’

It couldn’t be helped if that was the case.

He had no choice but to directly absorb the fragment of the Seven Virtues hidden in the throne of the king of Bahara, which he protected even at the cost of his body.

This was obviously an extremely dangerous thing to do.

‘I never thought I would break a taboo.’

But there was no way to avoid it, given the circumstances.

He would surely live and take revenge on Faith—that was his life mission.

Srrrkk.

He slowly crawled toward the throne. 

And when the throne was finally within his reach. 

Shiiing!

A sword zipped through the air and got stuck. His hand, which was only a reach away from the throne, was impaled to the ground. 

“Aaaaaagh!”

His scream of agony soon changed into a roar of anger. 

It was for no other reason.

[Faith! You bastard!] 

It was Ian Kaisten, the owner of the sword. 

However, Ian, who made a wreck of his arm, said with a smile. 

“Well, then. I came here to fight fair and square. So, let’s fight.”

[What?] 

Now? 

After making him like this? 

But Ian seemed to be serious. 

“Come out, Faith.”

A surge of energy overflowed from his body.  

Following Ian’s energy, the First King’s cloak fluttered, and his red hair rose into the sky.