C36: Talents Only I Can Recognize. Hidden gems (19)

[Fran Valdesca]

[Age: 28]

[Martial Force: 90]

[Intelligence: 96]

[Command: 90]

His ability values were all A’s. What the hell is this Musou thing!?

TLN: Dynasty Warriors reference

He can even use mana formation!? The power of a mana formation is usually much more powerful than a skill used with a weapon but it has the disadvantage of having a long charging time. However, the battle lasted a long time. He must have completed the mana formation during that time.

It meant that the battle at the north gate was a decoy, but of course, that was expected. That’s why I reduced the number of soldiers guarding the north gate and strengthened the entire Linon castle, trying to prevent the enemy’s plot.

“The final winner is Narja!”

He exclaimed confidently. Well, he was certainly right. It was unlikely that Ronen, who had been constantly defeated by him, would be able to defend Linon Castle under such circumstances.

When he raised his hand, the entire army behind him began to move in two groups. Their destinations were the east gate and the west gate.

It seemed that the only way to stop him was to break his mana formation. The problem was that the moment he used it, his martial force that was 90 went up to 99.

If I use the perk, my martial force would be 92 and if I use [Crush], my martial force would increase to 97.

“Givens, calm down the soldiers!”

After giving a hasty order to Given, I ran down to the castle gate, as Yusen and Zint had been put into other troops

Fran Valdesca’s mana formation. I felt like I was finally seeing a little of its true nature.

The game starts one year later with the great conquest of Narja. So right now, it was still before the game started. This is a part of the game that appears only in the summary, but for some reason Fran’s name did not appear there. He was described only as a strategist in the Narja Kingdom.

There was an ancient kingdom on the continent. The kingdom’s name was Aintorian, and it ruled over the entire continent. The large territory of the Aintorian Kingdom was divided and ruled by the Twelve Families and the Aintorian Royal Family.

Of course, there is no such thing as eternity. As the Aintorian Kingdom declined, the country was divided and the twelve families formed their own independent countries.

Narja, Lunan, and Mateen were from these twelve families. The Fran family was also from these twelve families, and together with Narja, they founded the Narja Kingdom.

The king of Narja, who possesses S-class martial force and the ten warlords who boast Class A martial force plus Fran Valdesca! That was the reason why the Narja Kingdom was the biggest and most powerful kingdom in the continent and played the final boss role in the game.

I knew who Fran was but I could never have predicted that the enemy strategist would be him because it was in the latter part of the game’s history that he made his presence felt. Well, that doesn’t matter now!

“Stop! Fran Valdesca!”

When I came down to the castle gate and shouted his name, Fran came up to me with a suspicious look on his face.

“How did you know my name? I don’t remember publishing it yet, even in Narja.”

Because I have a system.

“You know me, and that’s not fair, is it? I don’t want you to underestimate me.”

“I don’t know how good your information is, but it’s over anyway. I only know one person who can break this mana formation and that’s His Majesty!”

I shook my head at Fran, whose tone was full of confidence.

“Fran Valdesca, that’s just your presumption! It’s not over yet!”

The mana formation’s force value is 99; there is no way to destroy it right now. But I had a system. So, I turned to Fran, who was full of confidence.

“One on one!”

“Do you want to fight me alone?”

I invoked the system and used the command word “single combat”!

This is an element that has always been present in the game I’ve played, as well as in similar games. In the Warring States period, there were actually many [one on one] battles. The state of this world is no different from the Warring States period.

Of course, there were many cases where [single combat] was not possible in the game. This is because a strong warrior usually challenges a weaker warrior. Who would want to fight against someone stronger than himself?

However, the opposite is possible. If a weaker warrior is going to challenge a stronger warrior, it will definitely work, this was my strategy this time. My current martial force is 62 and Fran’s 90.

The system only applies to me. In other words, if the weaker person challenges the stronger person, then the system will be activated, that’s my theory!

Furthermore, [single combat] creates a space in which the two warriors are alone. A space where they can fight! If that space can appear in reality, then I can break the seal!

When I activated [single combat] the surroundings turned dark for a moment. At that moment, I broke through the golden wards in front of me and moved. Then, a blue wall formed around Fran and me. A space was created where Fran and I could confront each other alone!

“What?”

The expression on Fran’s face, which had remained unchanged until now, became distorted. With an astonished look on his face, Fran looked around.

“How come ……!”

Finally, he stuttered and looked at me. He seemed quite confused.

“I can’t believe you destroyed my formation. What the hell did you do?”

To people in this world, the power of the system looks exactly like the power of mana. I took another step closer to Fran, who had a stern look on her face, and said.

“The king of Narja is the king of destruction. He brings misfortune to this world. Are you going to follow him on that path?”

“That is the Fran Family mission!”

[Do you want to use the perk?]

Now all I have to do is win. The Frans had a close relationship with Narja, so he can’t be recruited anyway!

[Do you want to use Crush?]

I used [Crush]. Killing him here means eliminating an existence that’s equal to a third of the Narja Kingdom strength!

97 Martial Force [Crush] flew towards him. The effect of [Crush] was either an instant kill or stun. This time, of course, I chose the instant kill.  Daitouren penetrated Fran’s body! No, it was supposed to penetrate. When Daitouren touched Fran’s body, it sparked and a mana formation flew out from the pendant-like object and enveloped his body with a white light.

Then, as the light went out, Fran fell down and Daitouren stabbed into the ground. I quickly rushed to his side. The strange power saved his life, but he seemed to have fainted. The blue ward disappeared; the system decided that the battle was over. At the same time, the mana formation he had created disappeared as well since he fainted!

I pulled out Daitouren that was stuck in the ground to end it. But at that very moment!

“Master!”

Suddenly, three men appeared in front of him.

“Protect master!”

One of the men shouted this, and the other two jumped on me. They seemed to be vassals of the Fran family. As I had my sword drawn, I cut down the two men who jumped at me. At that moment Fran and the man next to him disappeared in a red mana formation.

A mana formation similar to the mana formation that stores the gold in the basement of Aintorian Castle, he must have used some kind of treasure. After all, the Fran’s are a family that has studied mana formations for over a thousand years.

It’s a shame, but if there’s no way, there’s no way. It’s just a matter of me getting stronger. The mana formation he uses has an armor value of 99 and [Crush] can only deal 97 damage. If I can raise my martial force by two more points, I won’t have to be afraid!

What helped me even more was that the effect of the stun that [Crush] brings is five hours. It was enough time to destroy the enemy without Fran.