Chapter 49: Mission Complete! A Massive Windfall!
"Pa."
Moen landed firmly on the shattered floor, feet steady.
He turned his gaze toward Erigor, who was sprawled out on the ground, coughing up blood.
The man tried to get up, body trembling, but collapsed back down on his knees, completely unable to support himself.
[Ding! Constellation: Equuleus (Little Horse) activated!]
[Ding! Equuleus Bronze Cloth exclusive skill unlocked!]
[Ding! Mission 'Wrath of the Reaper' complete!]
Objective: Defeat "Reaper" Erigor (✔ Completed)
→ Claim reward now?
The moment Erigor lost his ability to fight, a string of system prompts from the Saint Seiya System rang in Moen's head—
Chimes of success echoing like a chorus of victory bells.
He had successfully defeated Erigor—the "Reaper" of Iron Forest—
And best of all, he didn't even need to use that precious Royal Magic Palace Rose.
A huge win.
Claim reward, Moen thought immediately.
[Congratulations! Skill Unlocked: Barehanded Blade Catch!]
Unlike when unlocking a Saint Cloth, the skill acquisition UI was very plain—just a simple pop-up window.
But once it appeared, all the related knowledge flooded straight into Moen's brain, making his head throb sharply from the overload.
"Barehanded Blade Catch"… one of the signature moves of Dragon Saint Shiryu…
It came from ancient Chinese martial arts.
This technique allowed the user to disarm and steal any weapon from their opponent while unarmed.
Wait a sec—this is that skill Shiryu used when he was already on his knees but still caught the holy sword of Capricorn Shura with his bare hands?!
Realizing this, Moen couldn't help but get hyped.
The "Sacred Sword"—
A weapon said to be capable of cutting through all things once trained to its highest level.
But here's the kicker:
The "Sword" isn't even a real sword—
It's a hand-chop—a physical extension of one's own body!
So yes—this skill called Barehanded Blade Catch could even counter something like that!
It wasn't just a parry technique—
It was a conceptual power move, one worthy of being called "the pinnacle of martial arts."
If mastered to perfection, it didn't just stop weapons—
It reversed the very concept of "you're guaranteed to be disarmed."
[Skill: Barehanded Blade Catch (Level 1)]
Proficiency: 0/500
Of course, the version Moen just acquired was the basic level.
To reach Shiryu-tier godhood, he'd have to train hard and grind that proficiency.
But if he could master this—
Then against anyone who relied on weapons, Moen would basically be invincible.
Start of the fight? Cool—how about I just yoink your sword first?
No one could stay calm after that.
Even someone like Erza would be left sweating.
Erza: "...Oh no. He's coming for me next."
Because truth be told, this skill felt custom-built to counter her.
And at the moment, most enemies Moen had encountered didn't even use physical weapons much.
Take Erigor for example—
Despite lugging around that giant scythe, his real power came from elemental wind magic.
The scythe was mostly for his cosplay as a "Reaper."
Still, Moen didn't care.
A trump card doesn't have to be used every time.
But when it is, it must be game-changing.
And that's exactly what Barehanded Blade Catch was.
Satisfied, Moen then turned his attention to the Equuleus Bronze Cloth.
After all—
He had finally established a stable link with the constellation in the sky.
That connection had given him the explosive power he needed to crush Erigor head-on, despite the latter's strength.
After establishing a stable connection with the constellation Equuleus,
Moen had gained a slew of new abilities—enhancements that touched every aspect of his combat and magic.
Now, with each passing moment, he could continuously absorb the starlight emitted by Equuleus—
restoring and enhancing his magical power without even needing to meditate.
Even in battle, he could channel stellar energy far more easily than before,
and the amount he could harness was now directly tied to his emotions and fighting spirit.
But the most significant gain was this—
A brand new exclusive skill, unlocked by the Equuleus Bronze Cloth.
This was a move that could only be used while wearing the Equuleus Cloth—
At least until Moen managed to integrate and internalize the ability on his own.
That skill was called… Supernova Burst.
It was a devastating move—one that embodied the spirit of "do or die."
It required massive magical energy to execute, and if it failed to take out the enemy in one blow,
the caster would be completely drained and left vulnerable.
"Basically, it's a last-stand ultimate move—life for life."
Moen understood exactly where this belonged in his arsenal.
Definitely not something to lead with—but as a finishing move?
It was perfect.
"Smack! Stay still, you bastard!"
While Moen was still mentally sorting through all his newfound rewards,
Macao and Wakaba had already moved in—one on each side—
restraining Erigor and pinning him down.
To be fair, Erigor wasn't exactly weak.
His wind-based magic had excellent mechanics and creative execution,
making him a tough opponent to beat—
and even tougher to capture alive.
But unfortunately for him,
he ran into Moen, who was dead-set on completing this mission.
Moen's desire to finish the task—and protect the rewards—
pushed his magic output to explosive heights.
It was a miracle Erigor wasn't killed on the spot.
With the defeat of its leader Erigor,
the recently-rising dark guild Iron Forest had now been officially wiped out.
"That was amazing, Moen!"
A shirtless, muscle-bound Joy Fullborn ran up to him, eyes shining with excitement.
"That last hit was badass! I'm fired up just watching it! That's how a real man fights—with his fists!"
As a self-declared "ultra-muscle-type mage," Joy absolutely loved Moen's fighting style.
Beating the enemy into submission with nothing but fists—
Now that was manly.
But Moen wasn't paying attention to Joy right now.
Because just as Iron Forest's members were all rounded up—
[Ding! Hidden Mission Completed!]
A system prompt popped into view—
but it wasn't a normal one. It was a hidden mission result screen.
Mission Name: "LULLABY"
Mission Objective:
The leader of the dark guild Iron Forest—Erigor, known as the "Reaper"—
had concocted a sinister plot.
He intended to use a mass curse magic called "LULLABY"
to assassinate the guild masters of Fiore!
Stop him. His plan must not succeed.
Mission Progress:
→ Prevent Erigor from executing the assassination (✔ Completed)
Reward: Skill Experience Book
→ Claim reward now?
"Mass assassination magic? Lullaby?! Targeting all the guild masters?!"
Moen's eyes widened.
He hadn't realized it before,
but it turned out that Erigor had been plotting something truly vile—
a large-scale, multi-target magical massacre.
This guy wasn't just edgy—he was actually dangerous.
And yet…
he'd been taken down before the plan even started.