The Imperial Guards of the Duke were the cream of the five hundred billion Centaurians.
Each of them had to go through dozens of screenings, spent decades serving in the regular army, finishing tough missions, and even then, had to fight against a hundred people for their spot.
It'd be an understatement to say that they're geniuses. Every single imperial guard was elite of the elite.
Even the weakest of them was a rank 1. There were even several peak rank 2s.
There were a few rank 3s as well. Not too many, but each one was an out-and-out genius.
Even if all the Provinces under Centaurus rebelled, the Imperial Guards headed by twelve rank 3s were enough to crush them. Such a force naturally had its own pride and dignity.
Even if it's the guest of Duke Cassius, Imperial Guard refused to be insulted.
Anyway, they're not going to kill him, just break a few bones here and there. They'd heal him with the best facilities later. At most, the Duke would condemn their actions a bit and cut their salaries for a month.
But that's it. Instead, if they allowed an outsider to trample them, their reputation would plummet and it'd be hard for them to raise their heads outside.
So, just teach this guy a lesson and settle this issue.
…Or that's what they thought.
KACHA! CRACK! BOOM!
The sounds of bones breaking, men wailing and women crying reverberated across the training hall.
Inside a bubble spanning a few miles, bodies were sprawled throughout the floor.
The proud imperial guards lay twitching, arms twisted and back broken. Some of the womenfolk had their hair missing. Some menfolk went bald directly.
All of them had one thing in common. Their eyes were all staring in one direction even as they shed tears of shame.
A young man was fighting against dozens of imperial guards. Every time, his fist or kick connected, the wind would explode and a shockwave would sweep the bubble, blasting away the collapsed guards.
The one on the receiving end of the punch or kick would add to the collapsed guards and lament on his broken back or twisted hand.
Initially, there were hundreds of audience watching the dozens fight Varian. Now, there were dozens watching Varian. The rest were all on the ground, incapacitated.
"I told you this won't work!" Varian sighed and his arm suddenly accelerated.
Before the man in front of him could react, he grabbed him by the collar and used him as a large bat.
Moving the bat at a high speed, Varian knocked out the remaining guards even as the 'bat' screamed in fear.
"Play clever this time, alright?" Varian clapped his hands and hundreds of potions flew over the injured guards.
In a few minutes, they were back on their feet.
They all looked at each other and went ahead begrudgingly. When Varian said the same words last time, they ignored him and just sent a dozen.
The result was clear for everyone to see.
So, this time. If they couldn't win him in small numbers, big numbers should work.
As for pride, dignity, and honor?
Haha! Victory is the highest source of pride!
"Come on!" Varian raised his hands with a bright smile as a crowd of hundred guards jumped onto him.
In an instant, he was surrounded by the mob. Forget wind, even light couldn't reach him as they practically crushed him inside the humanoid wall.
"Hahaha!" Varian looked around with a smile.
The guards stood next to each other and formed a very practiced formation.
They formed something akin to a human wall, but this wasn't just a wall but also a dome above. And even the floor! So, the guards were around Varian, above him and even below him.
The formation bore a resemblance to ants crowding on a prey airtight to kill it off.
Varian's mobility was extremely limited and he had to face attacks from all directions.
"Come on, fight!" But he merely laughed it off and clenched his fists.
Endless punches and kicks assaulted him from all directions. Even with all his strength, Varian could barely make a dent in the humanoid wall formation.
If he knocked a dozen soldiers out, a dozen more waiting outside would instantly fill them up.
As a result, he was trapped in the formation, fighting against the seemingly endless attacks.
Just the soldiers attacking him numbered at least a hundred. The ones outside were at least two hundred.
As a result, Varian was drenched in blood in just ten minutes. After twenty minutes, his bones were broken like dry twigs. Post the thirty-minute mark, he was kneeling on the ground, slamming his head into the soldiers below him and punching his way up to the ones above him.
At one hour mark, Varian forgot everything else and was in a flow-like state.
All the blood that flowed out of him dried up and formed a light red layer enveloping him.
"If you admit defeat now, this battle will stop." Raix, the peak rank 1 captain said for the tenth time.
Saying those words embarrassed him to no end. A single man fought against a hundred guards simultaneously for a whole hour and didn't fall.
Even peak rank 2s wouldn't survive this onslaught for thirty minutes. But this man did.
If the Imperial Guards still treated this as a victory, they were delusional.
But for the so-called pride, they still had to 'win'.
"Admit defeat and this will e—mfff." Raix couldn't even finish his words as a fist broke into his mouth and knocked out his remaining teeth.
Raix fainted on the spot and was blown out of the formation. Someone else replaced him instantly and the ones outside ran to heal Raix.
By now, even the rank 2s had stopped fighting and watched the battle with shocked expressions. The rank 4 Admiral also brought the rank 3s to watch this ridiculous spectacle.
As the battle went on, their surprise faded and they had an expression of realization.
That mysterious man, Constantine was definitely not a rank 1 like his aura showed. Maybe a strong rank 2, but still, fighting these many for so long...
The battle went on for another hour.
Raix got all broken teeth fixed and joined the battle. Once again, he took the lead and asked in a commanding voice.
"You have gained my respect, but you can go on no more. Accept your def—mfff!"
Raix fainted and woke up after an hour.
"Oh great warrior, this is enough! One must know their limits! Just say you're defe—effff!"
Raix fainted again and after waking up, he started sobbing. Despite insisting on escape, his superiors sent him in again.
"P-Please, admit it already! Admit it and w-we'll be best frie—pppfff!"
In the end, Raix didn't even bother to get his broken teeth fixed.
On the other hand, the soldiers were slowly growing tired. Even though they were given healing potions, their bodies were no longer able to support a fight of this intensity.
Slowly, one by one, the soldiers began to collapse. The floor inside the bubble was already filled with blood and reached the height of everyone's calves.
After a numbing ten hours, the last soldier collapsed.
One man remained standing, drenched in blood that was mostly not his own.
Just a breath from him caused ripples in the blood lake and swayed the collapsed soldiers.
Just a glance from him caused the rank 2s sitting in the audience to tense up.
Just a step from him shook the entire bubble.
Varian looked up with tired eyes and slowly sat down in the blood. His lips moved slowly but his voice was clear. "A-As I said, you guys are trash. Since rank 1s are done, get me rank 2s!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
The Admiral and the rank 3s looked at each other. This guy really had a screw loose. He wants to be beaten up!
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