This Bastard is Too Competent

It was clearly a place blocked by thick walls. 

Yet, from beyond those walls, Ian could sense the presence of something. 

‘A black dragon and a red bird?’ 

The two beings were crouching in their respective positions. 

Although they were at a distance, it felt as if they were resonating with the entities inside Ian’s body; the sensations were vivid. 

<Jealousy> was with the black dragon.  

<Patience> was with the red bird.  

What was troubling was that the black dragon, representing the Seven Sins, seemed unusually powerful compared to the red bird, which symbolized the Seven Virtues. 

However, there was no time to dwell on it. 

Given Nathan’s abilities, he would likely be back within an hour. 

Ian had to act before that. 

Despite Nathan being his knight, this was something he couldn’t reveal.

‘These will become my hidden cards.’ 

The formidable First Prince was Ian’s enemy. 

His talent had been famous since he was a child.

[At the age of ten, he surpassed the captain of the royal guard in swordsmanship.]  

[At twelve, he went on a military expedition with King Eloin and made immense contributions.]

[At sixteen, he became the only one recognized by the Guardians and Duke Lavaltor.]

He was the only genius who had ascended to the position of crown prince before even holding his coming-of-age ceremony. 

And such a genius was gathering the Seven Sins.

‘To defeat him, I must gather the Seven Sins.’

No, Ian intended to obtain everything, including the Seven Virtues. 

The foundations for that were already sufficiently prepared. 

But then, a problem arose.

[Only one thing can be obtained here.]

A choice demanding the sacrifice of one.

However, Ian had no intention of giving anything up. 

Instead, he recalled the events of his past life.

‘In this place, I obtained magical tools that could change the balance of the continent, along with supplies crucial for war.’

Garcia had obtained many things from this dungeon.

At that time, there was no mention of the Seven Virtues or the Seven Sins. 

But after that, someone suddenly appeared in the world.

[The Evil Dragon Knight, John Bartul]

He was a demon who had ridden a massive evil dragon, crushing everything in his path. Strangely enough, he served García and led the charge against all enemies of the duke, proclaiming himself as the vanguard captain.  Ṛ

Now Ian understood the reason for that.

‘He must have given the power he obtained from this dungeon to that knight.’

But what if he could not only create an evil dragon knight but also obtain a Seven Virtues that was as strong as him?

There was something clearly written in the notebook that Ceres had possessed.

The black dragon was the most powerful and the worst among the Seven Sins.  

The red bird was the weakest and the best among the Seven Virtues.

He absolutely could not afford to give up the remaining one. 

He still hadn’t properly obtained three relics of the First King that lay dormant in his space ring. He intended to gather them all eventually, but he did not want to lose what was right in front of him.

Walking towards the wall, Ian placed his hand on it.

‘The image is singular, but two buttons await.’

According to the sensation at his fingertips, there was some mechanism connected to the buttons. 

It was invisible to the eye due to the solid wall blocking it. 

But Ian wasn’t worried. 

Instead, he began to invoke one of his knights’ oaths with his body.

Woong! 

His body trembled violently.  

It was none other than Sir Nathan’s Oath of Swiftness.

Ian’s body shook as if it were vibrating due to the incredible speed.

‘In fact, Sir Nathan’s Swiftness increases the sensitivity of the nerves, allowing him to move at an incredible speed and in a different time from others.’

This ability came with derived techniques. 

Ian had learned one such technique from Nathan, which was particularly useful.

“It’s a technique I often used when stealing from my brother’s safe. It’s to locate the safe by vibration.”

Woong! 

The vibrations emanating from Ian’s hands spread out like a bat’s ultrasound. 

It appeared he had made contact with something, and some information was reflected back to him.

‘I can see it.’

Through the returning vibrations, Ian could visualize what lay beyond the wall. 

There was a mechanism connected to emblems of a dragon and a bird. 

It resembled a seesaw, with one end attached to a device that would unlock the door while the other end collapsed.

‘It’s advantageous that it’s an enclosed space underground; this makes it easier to decipher.’

Had it been in an open space, it might have presented more of a challenge. 

After all, Ian had not yet fully mastered this technique from Nathan. 

But perfection wasn’t the concern at the moment.

‘So, this mechanism was designed to ensure that only one item can be taken at a time?’

Certainly, finding a solution wasn’t impossible. 

If he could simultaneously strike both ends of the hidden seesaw between the thick walls, he could open both doors at once.

‘The issue is how to breach them.’

If he attempted to break them with Patience, everything would collapse. 

Using Faith, he could penetrate through, but not precisely enough to strike both spots without error.

‘Jealousy is completely useless too.’

At this stage, Jealousy had not yet developed to its full potential. 

With the current fragment of power he possessed, he could only sense others’ emotions or amplify jealousy’s power. 

It wasn’t very practical in this scenario. 

Thus, only one option remained.

“What do you do once you find the safe? Naturally, you break it.”

This was the subsequent technique derived from Swiftness – a method of disassembling objects using vibrations.

However, Nathan had not shared this technique with Ian.

“I’ll teach you that after you complete your coming-of-age ceremony. It’s quite taxing on the body.”

It was a technique deemed inappropriate for Ian, who was still in the process of growing. Nevertheless, he could make guesses about the technique.

‘It’s likely something that utilizes vibrations in a similar manner.’

What Ian had just used was a technique that created vibrations and emitted them like a bat’s ultrasound to detect objects. 

Nathan’s secret, the vibration destruction technique, likely involved creating precise vibrations to destroy objects at a specific speed and intensity. 

With this technique, he could accurately target and break the desired point.

The problem was that Ian had never attempted it even once, nor had he practiced it separately. Yet, suddenly, he felt an inexplicable confidence.

‘I think I can do it.’

Perhaps it was because he had seen Nathan’s movements many times or maybe it was a talent from his past life that Ian had been unaware of. 

He recalled the way Nathan attacked the enemy’s thick armor, as if vibrating the armor to rupture it. 

Without even realizing it, he placed his hand against the wall.

Woong.

The vibrations extended gradually outward, and their impact began to swirl around the ends of the mechanism.

The vibrations concentrated at both ends of the seesaw.

At that moment, Ian clenched his fist.

“Here it is.”

A sharp sound echoed from beyond the wall.

Crack!

Along with it, the noise of the chain falling became distinctly audible.

Grrrr.

The hidden wall in front of Ian opened, revealing two orbs.

*** 

Two orbs. 

But Ian’s expression was grim.

“One problem after another.”

This was due to the situation he faced with the two doors in front of him. 

Beyond each door lay a cliff. 

The only passage and path was a narrow, precarious path precariously balanced on the edge of the cliff.

“So the structure is such that I need to cross that path to obtain the item on the altar at the end.”

On the altar, the items known as the Seven Sins and Seven Virtues emitted both dark and bright light. 

It was clear that obtaining one would mean losing another.

“As soon as I seize one, there’s a high probability this place will collapse.”

No matter how swift Ian was, it seemed impossible to dart back and forth between two locations at the same time. 

Nor did he want to settle for just getting one.

‘Whoever set this up was quite clever.’

It was certain that someone believed it would be possible to open both doors simultaneously. Thus, they must have designed a trap to collapse this place along with the narrow, dangerous path, forcing a choice to be made.

“There’s not no way to do this at all.”

There was exactly one way. 

He still had a method to obtain both. 

But time was running short. 

Rumble!

The underground cavity was shaking. 

It was clear that a change in the ground was due to an earthquake. 

He had to hurry and get those things. 

So Ian focused.

‘There’s only one chance. I must succeed.’

Ian’s body began to glow. 

It was a completely different light than when he had used the knights’ oaths until now. 

What he was recalling now was none other than…

‘The answer lies with His Majesty the King.’

It was King Eloin. 

He was thinking of the secret technique that the king had shown him. 

It was something he had sensed since witnessing King Eloin as Cain and his alter ego.

‘I think I can somehow imitate it.’

It was just at that moment. 

Ian’s body erupted with light.

Buzzing! Pop!

His form appeared to shatter, almost as if splitting. 

And then—

Boom! 

With a resounding bang, the underground cavity collapsed.

***

Nathan was very tired, which was uncharacteristic of a knight. 

It couldn’t be helped.

“It’s unbelievably heavy,” he muttered, referring to the fountain he had just transported, weighing tens of kilograms. 

Nathan had securely placed the object in Helgaia as per Prince Ian’s instructions.

‘I hope nothing else has gone wrong in the meantime…’ 

As the exhausted Nathan trudged toward the abandoned mine, a massive tremor shook beneath his feet. 

Rumble! 

This vibration differed from what he typically experienced; it was a natural earthquake.

‘Could it be coming from that direction?’ 

The tremors were clearly emanating from the direction of the mine where Ian was. 

Nathan instinctively sensed that Ian was in danger. 

He began to sprint, using his oath to enhance his speed. 

But at that moment—

“Everyone, take cover! It’s collapsing!” 

The mine was about to collapse again, this time due to the earthquake. 

The ruins that had been revealed thanks to the earthquake were about to disappear as well. 

Yet, Ian, their lord, remained inside.

“Has Prince Ian come out? What? He’s still inside?” 

“Find the prince! Hurry!” 

“Bring a pickaxe—let’s dig!”

It was only natural for Nathan’s face to turn pale along with the mercenaries’ urgency. 

But what was going on? 

The mercenaries, who had been frantically trying to dig, suddenly started shouting in shock.

“W-what’s happening?”

“Wh-what is that?” 

Of course, Nathan felt the same way.

‘W-What is that?’ 

The reactions were understandable.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Boom!

Something was surging up from the collapsed mine due to the earthquake. 

People recognized it at a glance and began to shout.

“Is that a dragon?? It’s a dragon!!”  

“Someone is riding on its back! It’s Prince Ian!”  

“Could it be true that Ian is the dragon’s contractor? Oh my gosh!”  

A black dragon soared into the sky. 

And on its back was clearly a man who looked like Ian. 

Of course, Nathan noticed immediately.

“That’s not a dragon.”  

“Huh? If that’s not a dragon, then what is it?”  

“That’s right, Sir. A creature flying like that is indeed a dragon. But don’t you think it’s too large to be a wyvern?”  

“Surely, it must be the dragon that contracted with the prince coming to rescue him!”  

But Nathan shook his head. 

He knew for certain that the dragon contracted with Ian was the green dragon, Rio Banzaim. Furthermore, the creature Ian rode now was clearly black. 

And its appearance was different from a typical dragon.

‘It resembles those creatures labeled as dragons in the Kingdom of Magicians?’

Following the dragon, a pinnacle magical creature known as a dragon soared. 

What had the prince gotten himself into now? 

As Nathan gazed up at the dragon soaring above, he suddenly heard—

“Whoa, whoa?”  n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Um… Sir? That dragon is heading this way!”

“Hmm?”  

Nathan’s eyes widened in realization. 

The black dragon Ian rode was charging directly towards him.

Roarrr!

It opened its huge mouth as if to swallow him whole.

“Run… run away!”

Instinctively, Nathan threw himself to the ground to evade the dragon’s jaws. 

Yet, in that moment—

Kieeeek!  

Crash!

The huge black dragon was thrown to the ground. 

And behind it, Ian, covered in dust, landed on the ground.

“You damn beast. It’s so vicious.”

“???”  

Speechless, Nathan sought answers from Ian through his eyes. 

What kind of dragon was that? And what had Ian done to provoke it? 

Ian, however, shrugged nonchalantly.

“I asked it to give me a lift because it’s convenient.”

“Huh?”  

“It’s far more comfortable than riding a dragon.”

“?”  

Ian was brightening up, clearly pleased with his new mount.