Hero of Darkness

Total silence.. Whether it was the group of Noble heirs, the guests or even the security personnel.. Everyone stood rooted to their spot after Kahn's declaration.. 

All at once? Was he looking down on the opponents too much? Mainly the heirs of the noble clans who had years of training in fighting by professional teachers were not even worth his time? 

"Impudence!! This young man is acting too shamelessly. Acting as if he is the only strongest person in the room. This is an insult to our families and name!" shouted one of the enraged old noble snakekin who was part of the elderly crowd that was talking with the old magistrate previously. 

"There's a limit to how much one can be ignorant and not know their place." spoke another demonkin noble as he gave a disgusted look to Kahn. 

"Oh, Is that so? Then how about this.. You all attack me together and if I get injured or even die.. none of you will be held accountable. How does that sound?" spoke Kahn in his usual carefree tone. 

"Courting death!" shouted a young heir. 

"Yes.. What glory is there to gang up on an opponent?" asked the tigerkin young man.

"You lot truly overestimate yourselves, don't you? Compared to the type of monsters I've fought and killed.. I wouldn't even consider any of you a threat." 

Another insult! 

Kahn was outright insulting the group of Noble heirs.. Well, not just them but also their clans indirectly. 

"Do it! Teach this lowly baffoon some manners and show him his place! He's asking for it!" shouted an elderly nobleman. 

"Fine. Don't regret your words you lowly commoner. It was your fortune to even be allowed to enter this banquet.. But doesn't mean you can get away with insulting our noble clans." replied the round-faced young man and the group of young noble heirs took their attacking stands. 

Kahn didn't take any form of stand and remained aloof with the wooden sword in his right hand. 

"Prepare yourself!" shouted the guy in the front as the group of young noble heirs charged at Kahn together. 

"Power slash!" shouted the first guy. 

"Ripple stab!" shouted the second guy. 

"Tornado swing!" roared the third guy. 

One by one, the heirs shouted some preposterous names and swung their swords at him. 

Kahn rolled his eyes and quickly reacted in a nanosecond.. 

He sidestepped and slapped his wooden sword on the neck of the first guy, pointed and stabbed the second guy on the heart and simply parried the third guy's horizontal swing. 

Swish! Swish! Swish! 

Kahn quickly walked from his initial position to the end of this group and made swift attacks and incapacitated every single one of the heirs.. His movements were so fast that all everyone saw was a black streak passing through the group of young noble heirs and in just 5 seconds, he was already at the end of their side. 

Thud! Crack! Chink! 

The onlookers finally registered the sounds of slapping, stabbing, parrying, swinging, breaking, and clanging. 

"Argh!" groaned many of these young men in pain as they dropped on the ground one by one. 

"Ah!.. My neck!" spoke the tigerkin man as he almost felt like choking on his saliva from the swelling he had on his throat. 

Kahn who still had his left hand in the pocket was at the other end where the group previously stood, he gave out a bored and lifeless look on his face instead. 

He was thoroughly disappointed in these young men. Even though they were nearly as same age as him.. In his mind, he was still the 30 years old Elric from his previous life. 

"Amateurs!" shouted Kahn as he walked towards the young men who were now dirtied in the grass after they fell. Embarrassing themselves in front of dozens of these noble and influential figures. 

"Did you people even train properly till now? You, round face, you're full of openings! The demonkin, you're charging too fast without maintaining a proper footing." spoke Kahn. 

"The tigerkin, your attacks have force but no form. The elf, your build is not made for swords, use a spear or halberd instead!" he admonished the heirs and started pointing out their mistakes in stances, fighting techniques, forms and timing. 

"And most importantly.. Which idiot told you to shout the names of your attacks loudly?! Do you want to alert your enemies and help them counter you instead?!" roared Kahn as he was utterly stupefied by these morons in front of him. 

"Not a single one of you knows how to actually use a sword. It's nothing but fancy moves with no technique and skill behind it. If this was a real battle, all of you would be lying dead on the ground." his voice thundered and even gave a sense of fear to all the onlookers. 

The group of noble heirs however felt chills in their spine and felt like a giant predator was about to tear them alive. 

"If this is all the new generation of this city can offer.. Then I only see a bleak future for this city and our Empire!" complained Kahn as if he belonged to the upper class of society even above all the people present here. 

He slightly let out his aura and let everyone including the crowd feel this pressure of authority and dominance. 

As for why someone as calculative as Kahn was causing such a commotion, even going as far as directly insulting these noble heirs and their families.. 

It was because he wanted everyone to feel that he wasn't someone they could afford to mess with and should be dealt carefully. But at the end of the day, he was just one man.

But if a young, talented and strong person such as Kahn were to act as if he came from a bigger background.. People would at least try to investigate deep into it than having beef with him just because of few provocative words. That's why Kahn faked his background right on the spot and gave a sense of mysterious heritage through his words. 

They would naturally feel the need to know the extent of the power that stood behind this man. 

The nobles who played the power game in their sleep easily took this hint and stopped themselves from retorting despite his haughty and disrespectful words. 

Kahn put his wooden sword back in his space ring.. In reality, he didn't even use a single skill or ability when fighting this group. It was basically his physical strength, reaction speed and reflexes doing all the work along with the techniques that were now ingrained in his subconscious mind after raising their mastery to 100%. 

Kahn was indeed a bonafide peak master rank fighter now. And to take this bunch of amateurs.. He didn't even need to use half his strength or any skill. 

He picked up a glass of wine and walked away from the group lying on the ground and towards the old magistrate. 

"Apologies for my rude behavior, honorable magistrate. It's just that I lose my temper whenever I see someone making a joke out of swordsmanship with their faulty and meager mastery." said Kahn in a loud tone that reached the ears of all the guests. 

With those words alone, they could no longer retort as who would try to pick a fight with someone when their own offsprings were at fault.. That would look as nothing but incorrigible and unfitting conduct for someone belonging to the noble clans. 

If any of them did, it would be considered a petty behavior and others will use that to talk down on them. That's how the facade of the upper class worked. 

"It's understandable mister Kahn. And thank you for gracing us with your impeccable display of mastery." spoke the old magistrate. 

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

"Spoken like a true warrior!" 

Suddenly, a stoic and mature voice came from behind the old magistrate. 

It was none other than captain Nordak. 

Even Beatrice who was also a swordswoman was elated after watching Kahn's flawless techniques and how he single-handedly defeated 8 people in just 5 seconds. 

To many, it looked like swift movements but for someone like Nordak and Beatrice who spent years training their fighting skills and techniques.. It looked like they had witnessed a true master displaying their craft. 

This instantly earned their respect for Kahn. Now they even felt wrong for suspecting him to be Azrael. 

"In all my years so far.. I've never seen someone so young having reached such a level of expertise in swordsmanship. Mister Kahn, please allow me to thank you for sharing such a beautiful sight in front of us." spoke captain Nordak. 

"Unacceptable! He must have cheated!!" 

A roar came from one of the noble heirs who couldn't accept his defeat and charged at Kahn with his sword. 

Just as the guy was about to come 3 meters near him, Kahn finally used his one ability he never had a chance to use so far... 

Executioner's Gaze!