Chapter 243 : Chapter 243
Chapter 243. You Know Why I Called You, Right? (2)
The sins of the three were thus revealed.
If Ava had been there, she would have questioned what they had done to someone else’s precious son. Theirs was a crime shocking enough to warrant such a question.
Patrick looked at the three of them intently and said.
“Now what are you going to do?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked, what are you going to do?”
“Well, that’s….”
The three hesitated.
Towards the three of them, Patrick frowned deeply and said.
“Ah… so you’ve done everything you wanted and now you won’t take responsibility?”
“Huh?”
“Pardon?”
“Uh… uh….”
Patrick continued speaking without hesitation.
“You’re going to defile a person like this and not take responsibility? Just played around? Just gave it a poke? You’re going to use and discard me?”
“No, that’s….”
“Wait a minute, Patrick, that’s too….”
“Well, that is, that’s….”
How did they, who were second to none anywhere they went, end up in a position like young noblemen who had to take responsibility for touching an innocent lady?
Isn’t it usually the other way around?
Patrick looked at the three and said.
“Wow…. Right, so that’s how it is. Just use and discard. This must be why they say the only woman in the world to trust is your mother.”
The mouths of the three fell open simultaneously.
And Patrick continued….
“Alright. Alright. I’ll just consider myself dumped once. Instead, don’t think about seeing me from now on. Let’s just end it like this.”
At that, Isabella hurriedly said.
“W-wait a minute.”
“…What? Why? Is there still something you want to say?”
“Alright. I lose. Is it enough if I lose?”
“Hoh, how so?”
“Let’s… get married. We’ve been engaged for a long time anyway, so let’s just do it.”
“Hmm…. The other two.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll get married.”
Elione answered promptly. And April….
“Yo… Young Master. I….”
“You what?”
“I…. I dare not….”
“Ah. So you’re just going to throw me away?”
“……”
“Wow, what should I do about this emotional scar? First, I should consult with my mother….”
“I-I will do it. Ma… ma-ma…rry….”
“Marry?”
“Marriage, marriage.”
“Right. I see. Then it’s settled.”
Patrick’s face brightened again.
It was the fresh face of someone who had resolved a long-postponed problem.
“So all three of you are marrying me, right? Now all three of you are my women. All three of you.”
Patrick deliberately emphasized the words ‘three of them’.
The three women nodded their heads in a daze. Then Patrick said in a very gentle voice.
“Alright. Well, I’ll be a little busy for a while. So let’s get married later and just make a public announcement for now. And… uh, as for the three of you, figure out your own hierarchy.”
Then, as if he had no intention of continuing the conversation, Patrick quickly left.
The three left behind just watched him go with dazed expressions.
Did these young ladies even realize what they had just haphazardly agreed to?
***
In a deep, deserted forest.
Patrick stood there alone.
With his eyes half-closed and a profound gaze, Patrick slowly raised his sword and took a starting stance.
Unlike usual, he meticulously took his stance with great care, and then the next moment….
Fwip!
In an instant, Patrick’s body vanished.
[ Twin Dragons Eight Sword Forms: First Form: Black and White Twin Dragons Dance ]
Starting with the first form of the Twin Dragons Eight Sword Forms, he began to unfold the sword forms one by one.
[ Second Form: Great Dragon Cross Sword ]
[ Third Form: Flashing Dragon Strike ]
[ Fourth Form: Twin Dragons Wild Dance ]
[ Fifth Form: Dragon Scale Whirlwind ]
[ Sixth Form: Nine Dragons Under Heaven ]
[ Seventh Form: Moonlit Night’s Illusory Dragon ]
[ Eighth Form: Dragon God’s Reign Under Heaven ]
Having deployed all eight forms, Patrick quietly sheathed his sword and composed his breathing.
His surroundings were destroyed as if a ferocious dragon had raged.
It was hard to believe that a single human could display such terrifying destructive power.
But Patrick himself frowned and said.
“Tsk, as expected….”
Patrick let out a deep sigh and said.
“I should have controlled it for at least three years.”
In the battle with the White Tiger, Patrick had split his middle dantian in half, dividing it into two.
He hadn’t learned to do that from anyone.
He had judged that without doing so, he could not overcome the White Tiger’s trial, and had taken a gamble.
Thanks to that, he was able to win at the time. However, operating with the middle dantian split in two brought about serious side effects.
Although the Twin Dragons Heaven and Earth Primordial Heart Law was a heart law created to operate two dantians, that was only limited to the lower dantian.
Patrick was probably the only one in the entire history of Murim to have split the middle dantian in two.
[This isn’t my fault. I never told you to go that far.]
If the founder of the school had been there, he would have made this excuse to Patrick.
Anyway, Patrick’s condition at the time was serious.
It was a wonder he was alive, and he could have spent the rest of his life lying in bed.
So Patrick put his body into a state of suspended animation and focused solely on circulating his energy.
And on the other hand, he was creating a new heart law.
The Twin Dragons Heaven and Earth Primordial Heart Law could not control two middle dantians.
To control and handle this, a new heart law was needed.
A heart law that had evolved further from the Twin Dragons Heaven and Earth Primordial Heart Law.
Of course, it was not an easy task.
Creating a single heart law is not easy even for a grandmaster. If anyone could do it….
‘I did it.’
…those who are called geniuses.
Patrick, who had been lying down for a solid half-year, finally succeeded in creating a new heart law that suited his body.
In fact, the seed of the World Tree played a significant role in this.
There were several crises during the process of creating the new heart law, but each time, the seed of the World Tree corrected the distorted energy and his breaking body.
Thanks to that, Patrick was able to make bold attempts with his own body several times.
If it weren’t for this, it would have been difficult even for Patrick to create a new heart law.
Anyway, he succeeded in creating it.
A heart law created by applying the Mind-Splitting Art, the basis of the Yin-Yang Heart Art that he had stolen from the Wudang Sect in his past life, to the existing Twin Dragons Heaven and Earth Primordial Heart Law. Its name….
New Twin Dragons Heaven and Earth Primordial Heart Law.
Though the naming method felt uninspired, it gave him a way to control his middle dantian.
All that remained was to govern his body with the new heart law. But….
“Hoo, it can’t be helped. Is it even in my destiny to comfortably practice martial arts?”
Although the prince of the Harbor Kingdom had delivered the final blow, there were many other variables.
Even while lying down, he could hear everything others said, and among the information he gathered, there were many unsettling things.
The entire continent was being swept up in war, and Prince Cierion’s movements were also unusual.
Although the flames of war had not yet spread to the Schneider fiefdom, it was not a situation where he could rest easy, watching the fire across the river.
It would have been better if he knew nothing at all.
But every piece of information that was relayed to him brought a sense of urgency to Patrick.
The emotions that are the biggest hindrances to cultivating a divine art had been steadily accumulating.
In the midst of that, the prince of the Harbor Kingdom delivered the final blow, and he had no choice but to wake up. And the result….
“About 3-star, I guess?”
Currently, Patrick’s divine art attainment was at the 3-star level.
It needed to be at least 5-star to show its true power, but it had only reached 3-star.
“With this, it’ll be hard to beat that cat bastard and get compensation for damages.”
He was determined to get compensation for damages.
A persistent bastard.
But there was something he gained.
Despite only having a 3-star attainment, he had at least become stronger than he was a year ago.
Compared to the Radiant Dragon Great Master of his past life, he was a bit lacking, but if he continued to cultivate this divine art, he would be able to surpass the level of his past life.
The path had become visible.
A path to go further than his past self.
“The problem is that it’s so far away.”
Patrick sighed.
Normally, when a martial artist gains such an insight, they should disregard everything else and focus solely on training.
But how easy is that?
There were more than a few problems that he had to step up and solve right now.
“Sigh…. My fate, what can I do….”
This fate of mine is what it is.
Even in his past life, how envious he had been of the elders of prestigious orthodox sects who just holed up in deep mountains and valleys to train.
They could train without any worries, and their disciples would bring them food, bring them drinks, and bring them gifts on their birthdays….
“Damn it, if I had been able to train so comfortably, I would have become ten times stronger. I would have swept away the Unorthodox Alliance by myself, and for good measure, I would have cleaned out the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult too.”
But what could he do?
In both his past and present lives, elegance was not fated for Patrick.
“Young Master, they say the preparations are complete.”
April approached Patrick and reported.
Hearing her words, Patrick sheathed his sword and said.
“Good. I’m going now, so get everyone ready.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Double Dragon Patrick Schneider.
He had returned to the world once again.
***
The Harbor Kingdom.
When one hears the name of this country located in the south of the continent, everyone thinks of dwarves.
That’s how inseparable the Harbor Kingdom and dwarves were.
Their connection goes all the way back to the birth of the Harbor Kingdom.
Long ago.
A dwarf passing by happened to find a newborn baby abandoned on a battlefield and took it in out of pity.
Although they were of different races, the dwarf raised the human boy with great care.
The boy grew up strong in the dwarf village, and when he later went out into the world, he became a renowned mercenary in an age of war.
And his mercenary band, supported by the dwarves’ weapons, gradually expanded its power and eventually came to be recognized as a nation.
That was the founding story of the Harbor Kingdom.
It was not a myth or a legend, but a historically recorded true story.
As such, the relationship between the Harbor Kingdom and the dwarves was extremely close.
Just by being a dwarf, one could visit the royal palace at any time and stay as a guest.
However, as time passed, the humans changed with each generation.
The royals who had intimately linked arms with the dwarves, drank beer, and called them brothers had all returned to the earth.
The descendants of the Harbor royal family began to distance themselves from the dwarves, and after several generations, some even began to frown at the mere sight of dwarves in the palace.
The long-lived dwarves accepted this fact with bitterness.
Even though their feelings were not the same as before, the Harbor Kingdom still served as a shield to protect the dwarves, and the dwarves, in turn, paid the price by providing them with weapons and works of art.
As long as they were in a symbiotic relationship where each needed the other, they thought their relationship would be fine.
The problem arose when the dwarves decided to migrate.
The iron veins of the Iron Mountains, which seemed as if they would never run dry, were not eternal in the face of time.
Eventually, the iron veins of the Iron Mountains also bottomed out, and the dwarves decided to leave in search of new land.
It was a perfectly natural decision for a race that could not live in a place without iron veins.
The problem was that the Harbor Kingdom was horrified when they heard this news.
For the Harbor Kingdom, whose main industry was trade with the dwarves, the migration of the dwarves was a matter of national survival.
The royal family personally tried to persuade them, but the dwarves’ position was firm.
For dwarves, being told to settle and live in a place without iron veins was like telling a fish to live out of water.
When persuasion failed, the Harbor Kingdom forcibly blocked the dwarves’ migration.
Naturally, the dwarves rebelled, and eventually, the two forces with conflicting interests entered into a war.
And that civil war has continued for a year to this day.
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