Previously on Farmboy becomes King with the Lust System...
Elise continues to heal amidst fierce fighting while Jae bravely defends their flank. Lord Veynar mocks the soldiers, but Jae's unit holds strong under heavy assault. Suddenly, a monstrous captain emerges from a fissure in the earth, challenging Jae directly. Their fierce battle begins, with both warriors displaying incredible power.
"Jae!" Elise’s voice cut through the din, a soft yet urgent plea. Her hands began to glow, her body poised to rush forward – but then Sun’s arm shot out, as unyielding as iron.
"Remain here," the crown prince commanded, his tone sharp and laced with disdain. "He does not require your aid yet."
Elise halted, biting her lip. Her gaze, filled with trepidation, remained fixed on Jae, torn between her obligations and her instinct to intervene.
The captain intensified his assault, his fists impacting the earth with brutal force. Each blow sent tremors through the ground, jarring the shields of the surrounding cadets and sending the weaker ones to their knees. His strikes gouged out craters, yet he pressed on, unyielding as the very land.
Jae weaved through the attacks, his Ember Step igniting in flashes, streaks of fire trailing in his wake. However, his injured thigh began to impede him; his dodges grew slower, his movements more restricted. He knew he couldn’t evade forever.
Another fist descended like a falling mountain. Jae narrowly sidestepped, the edge of the stone shield grazing his ribs and tearing his tunic. He retaliated with a swift strike, flames searing across the captain’s shoulder, but the captain merely grunted, the wound sealing over with stone almost instantaneously.
"Not bad," the captain growled, his eyes narrowing. "But you will break eventually."
Jae spat a spray of blood onto the dirt, a grim smirk playing on his lips despite the crimson. "You talk too much."
With a thunderous clap, the captain brought his fists together. The ground beneath them convulsed, and massive stone plates erupted, forming a jagged cage around Jae, cutting him off from the other cadets. The walls ascended rapidly, trapping the two combatants in a confined arena of rock and flame.
Elise cried out, stumbling forward despite Sun’s firm grip on her arm. "No—"
Byun’s grin tightened, a restless shadow flickering behind him. "He is sealing the battle arena."
Tirel idly toyed with a flame between her fingers, her smirk failing to conceal the flicker of unease in her eyes. "It appears the farmboy has earned himself a one-on-one duel."
Within the confines of the stone cage, the air shimmered with intense heat. Jae winced as he rolled his injured leg, then resolutely planted his feet. The Dragonfire Blade in his hand blazed with a fiercer light, its flames coiling around his arm like incandescent veins.
The captain cracked his neck audibly, his gauntlets grinding together as the stone walls thickened, growing more jagged and menacing. A faint earthen mana emanated from his eyes. "Let us conclude this."
The two fighters charged simultaneously – a furious collision of flame and stone that echoed with a deafening roar, shaking the very cage. Fire erupted outwards, casting dancing shadows upon the rock walls, while the sharp crack of breaking stone punctuated the distant sounds of screams and combat.
Outside the cage, the cadets could only watch, their breaths held captive, as their strongest warrior faced the enemy captain, blow for unforgiving blow, within that earthen prison.
With each exchange, the precarious balance seemed to teeter.
The captain’s grin widened, his teeth glinting menacingly in the fiery light. "You possess strength. But stone does not burn, boy. It crushes."
Jae’s smirk returned, a sliver of defiance. "Let us discover that."
The next punch came with immense force, aimed directly at his head. Jae did not evade. He stepped directly into it.
The impact landed, but instead of shattering him, flames surged across his skin. A torrent of molten heat coursed through his body, his flesh hardening like iron, fire licking across his arms and chest. The captain’s gauntlet hissed and smoked as if plunged into a blazing forge.
With a guttural snarl, Jae twisted, trapping the man’s arm against his superheated torso. His free fist shot forward, imbued with the pull of gravity, striking with accelerating speed until it landed with the force of a falling star.
The staggering impact cracked the captain’s chest plate. The man recoiled, spitting blood, his stone gauntlets crumbling under the sheer force of the shockwave.
Byun emitted a low chuckle, his eyes never leaving Jae. "Remind me never to accept a handshake from him."
Tirel tilted her head, the firelight catching the gleam in her crimson eyes. "Mm. You might survive it. Perhaps."
The captain roared once more, drawing upon a final surge of earthen power. The ground beneath Jae convulsed, sharp spikes of stone erupting upwards. For a terrifying moment, it seemed the very earth would consume him.
Flames exploded outwards. Jae burst through the ascending stone, embers scattering from his feet, his blade held aloft. He drove the Dragonfire Blade across the captain’s chest in a searing arc. Fire met flesh and stone alike, cleaving through both.
The captain crumpled to the ground, his body smoldering, his gauntlets disintegrating into dust.
A beat of profound silence followed. Then, the cadets collectively gasped – not in cheers, but in stunned exhalations of relief mingled with dawning awe.
Jae stood over the fallen warrior, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. Blood trickled from his thigh, yet his stance remained unwavering. He willed the Dragonfire Blade to dim, its brilliant light fading, leaving only the flickering glow of nearby flames.
He ran a hand through his sweat-matted hair, a faint smirk on his lips despite the blood streaked across his cheek. "Stone burns just fine."
Elise finally moved, rushing to his side and kneeling, her hands glowing as she gently pressed them against his wounded thigh. "You are reckless," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly, yet steady with the focused intent of her healing magic. "Do not pretend you are unharmed."
Jae looked down at her, his smirk softening. "And yet, you still follow me into battles that you shouldn't be in."
Her cheeks turned red, but she did not avert her gaze.
Byun ambled closer, hands tucked into his pockets, with shadows still lazily coiling around him. "Well, that was quite frightening. Also, impressive. Mostly frightening, though. But hey—one less enemy captain to fret over."
Sun remained quiet, his arms folded. His eyes were burning as he watched Jae, who was surrounded by their comrades. His jaw clenched, but he uttered no words.
The battlefield was thick with the stench of iron and smoke. The air vibrated with the clamor of hundreds of voices shouting and perishing simultaneously. Mud swirled underfoot, made slick by the pooling blood. Arrows whistled through the sky, disappearing into the dense fog.
And then, as if the storm itself parted for him, Lord Veynar made his appearance.
The opposing general's armor shimmered with a dark, black luster, etched with fiery red runes that pulsed like living veins. His spear, a formidable weapon at least one and a half times the height of a man, hummed with latent power as he casually dragged its tip through the dirt. A grin stretched unnaturally wide across his face, his lips pulled back to reveal an excessive number of teeth.
"Farmboy," he crooned, his voice laced with gleeful delight. "I had hoped you hadn't met your end already. What joy is there in a war if the only adversary worth eliminating lurks within the masses?"
Jae stood at the vanguard of his troop, the Dragonfire Blade alight in his grasp. Flames spiraled up the length of the blade, their heat searing the nearby air.
