[Trantor - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
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Chapter 323: The Grandmaster (1)
***
After Damien’s departure, the Imperial Supreme Sword focused on dealing with the remnants of Pandemonium.
It wasn''t a particrly difficult task. With its core forces gone, Pandemonium wasn''t even a match for the elves, let alone the Imperial Supreme Sword.
Just as everything seemed to be going smoothly, the Imperial Supreme Sword sensed an ominous shift in fate.
Fate whispered to the Imperial Supreme Sword—a great upheaval was soon to strike the Empire.
With Pandemonium''s power greatly diminished, the only beings capable of causing such chaos were the demons.
The Imperial Supreme Sword immediately used a relic to contact the Empire.
He told them to prepare knights in case the demons might attack.
The Imperial Supreme Sword also quickly returned to the Empire by borrowing the power of the World Tree.
And now, he found himself face-to-face with the demons.
The number of demons was much smaller than what had been seen in Alfheim.
But there was no room forcency. The aura emanating from the remaining demons was anything but ordinary.
"Oh? It''s that human from the ind, isn’t it?"
A voice came from the one standing at the center of the demon forces.
He looked like an ordinary human male, but the Imperial Supreme Sword couldn''t help but feel a chill.
That man''s name was Vahel.
He was a Duke ss demon.
"We didn''t get to exchange any wordsst time, did we? That was a real shame. But it''s good to see you again like this."
Despite Vahel''s greeting, the Imperial Supreme Sword remained silent. Vahel noticed this and asked with a puzzled expression.
"Hey, don''t tell me you don''t remember me?"
"I remember you."
"Then why aren''t you responding?"
"I''m not one to chat with enemies in front of me."
Vahel''s eyes widened in surprise, and then he burst intoughter, clutching his belly.
"Yeah, you''re right. An enemy is an enemy, not a friend."
With a flick of Vahel''s hand, a demon with a mosquito-like snout stepped forward.
"Laria, don''t hold back. We need to find Dorugo quickly."
- Understood.
Before the words had even finished, Laria''s body vanished. At the same moment, she appeared behind the Imperial Supreme Sword.
She was fast, but what was even more shocking was her stealth.
Not even the faintest sound had been heard when Laria moved behind the Imperial Supreme Sword.
She swung both fists, aiming to crush the Imperial Supreme Sword''s head.
But then, something strange happened.
The two hands, which had been flying toward the Imperial Supreme Sword''s head from both sides, suddenly mmed into Laria''s own chest.
Laria''s body was flung backward with a sound like the air being split open.
She stared at the Imperial Supreme Sword with a bewildered expression.
"Huh, are demons usually this fast?"
The one who spoke wasn''t the Imperial Supreme Sword. It was the Sword Saint standing beside them.
"I almost ended up watching my friend die right in front of me."
- Was that your doing?
Laria asked, ring at the Sword Saint. The Sword Saint responded with a wry smile.
"And what if it was?"
Laria''s eyes narrowed as she red at the Sword Saint.
In the next moment, Laria vanished. She reappeared right in front of the Sword Saint and swung her de.
But just like before, Laria''s hand struck the ground instead of the Sword Saint.
Laria wore a surprised expression and saw the Sword Saint''s sword sh towards her head.
The tip of the Sword Saint''s de struck Laria''s forehead, causing her head to snap back as her body was pushed backward.
"Disgusting, for something that looks like a mosquito, you''re tough."
The Sword Saint remarked with a grimace. As he said, only a small trickle of blood flowed from Laria''s forehead, leaving her otherwise unharmed.
"…How did you twist the angle of my attack?"
Laria was equally shocked.
Just moments ago, she had put all her strength into her strike, but it had veered off course, as if swept away by a powerful current, striking the ground instead of the Sword Saint.
"That’s just my realm."
The Sword Saint replied nonchntly.
The level he had reached as a realm was called ‘Ten Thousand Flow Perception.’
Ten Thousand Flow Perception was a state of perceiving all flows in the world and being able to alter them.
Normally, using Ten Thousand Flow Perception required direct contact with a de.
But after reaching the level of a Grandmaster, even that limitation had vanished.
"…Now I understand why my seniors warned me to be cautious of Grandmasters."
Laria''s entire body twitched.
Her muscr limbs began to shrink rapidly, and wing-like structures emerged from her back.
"So, you weren''t just mosquito-like, you''re an actual mosquito."
The Sword Saint muttered as Laria pped her wings once, releasing pinkish powder in all directions.
Seeing this, the Sword Saint instinctively moved back, but the moment his feet touched the ground, a wave of intense dizziness and a throbbing headache struck him.
"Did you really think simply moving away would save you? How foolish."
Laria’s voice echoed from above.
"My power is ''Contamination.'' Any living creature near me will be tainted and rot away."
The Sword Saint looked down at the ground beneath him.
Weeds that were once sparsely growing onnd had turned yellow and were melting into a liquid state.
"It doesn''t matter if physical attacks don''t work. I''ll kill you like this."
Laria pped her wings powerfully, sending a gust of wind imbued with the power of contamination toward the Sword Saint.
* * *
"Looks like they''re already fighting over there."
Vahel nced at the battle between the Sword Saint and Laria.
"Guess it’s about time we start too, huh?"
As Vahel spoke, the Imperial Supreme Sword raised his sword. Migmag, who stood behind Vahel, spoke.
"Your Excellency, allow me to handle this."
"You''re not exactly good at fighting, are you? Stay back and watch."
"But…"
"Besides, I’d be bored just standing around."
Vahel stretched his arms and began walking toward the Imperial Supreme Sword.
"Alright then, let’s see what you’ve got…"
Before he could finish his sentence, an invisible sh cut toward Vahel''s neck.
The Imperial Supreme Sword had used his ‘Heart Sword’ to materialize a sh.
But the strike didn''t even graze Vahel''s skin. It was blocked by a translucent barrier covering Vahel''s body.
"Oh, I almost got cut there."
The Imperial Supreme Sword showed no disappointment. Considering Vahel was a Duke ss demon, even if the sh had seeded, it was unlikely it would have killed him.
The Imperial Supreme Sword pushed off the ground, dashing toward Vahel while unleashing more Heart Sword attacks.
The manifested shes cut across Vahel''s body in the Imperial Supreme Sword''s mind. But Vahel immediately used his power of Istion to shield himself.
"Such light attacks won''t work on me."
As soon as the distance closed, the Imperial Supreme Sword swung his sword. Yet again, it was deflected by Vahel''s power without making a dent.
"I told you, it won''t work."
Despite Vahel''s mocking, the Imperial Supreme Sword didn’t stop and continued his relentless attacks.
He shed with his Heart Sword and struck directly with his sword. Vahel’s body was assaulted from every angle by the Imperial Supreme Sword''s strikes.
"You’re more stubborn than I thought."
Vahel stood in ce. He was not lifting even a finger and effortlessly deflecting the Imperial Supreme Sword’s relentless barrage.
No matter how much the Imperial Supreme Sword attacked, Vahel didn’t even lose a strand of hair. The gap between their powers was that significant.
Even so, the Imperial Supreme Sword did not cease his assault.
He wasn’t attacking mindlessly. He was gauging the strength of Vahel’s power.
‘There’s no difference in intensity. Every part of his defense is equally strong.’
His n to target a weak spot had failed.
Now, only one option remained to overwhelm him with brute force.
The Imperial Supreme Sword conjured a single image in his mind. He imagined countless des raining down on Vahel.
"...Hmm?"
Vahel''s expression shifted as he noticed something was off.
"What are you trying to do…?"
The Imperial Supreme Sword materialized his vision. A torrent of countless shes poured down on Vahel.
The number of strikes was infinite.
So numerous that they couldn’t be counted or even tracked, the shes surged forward like a tidal wave.
"Urgh!"
Even Vahel couldn’t hide his shock. The relentless barrage of shes struck his entire body.
"Stop it already!"
Vahel shouted, summoning crystals of istion around him.
The crystals expanded, their spikes shooting out in every direction. They destroyed buildings and shattered the ground.
"Kraah!"
And yet, the shes did not stop. As long as the Imperial Supreme Sword maintained his mental image, the Heart Sword would continue to strike.
Then, suddenly, the barrage of shes came to an abrupt halt. Vahel looked around in shock.
"What? Why did it suddenly stop…?"
At that moment, he saw the Imperial Supreme Sword standing directly in front of him, gathering an immense amount of mana.
The Imperial Supreme Sword’s de was now enveloped in a massive aura, the condensed mana forming a devastating aurade.
The Imperial Supreme Sword envisioned a new image.
He visualized the most powerful strike his body could muster. A single blow that would cut Vahel’s body in half.
As soon as that image took shape, the Imperial Supreme Sword swung his sword.
In that instant, the entire capital shook.
***
“Fucking hell.”
Damien cursed and sprinted. His face was full of urgency.
Suddenly, an aurade shot towards him from a distance.
Damien threw himself on the ground and rolled just in time as the sh swept through the space where he had been running moments before.
The ground was split open, revealing smooth and polished surfaces that didn’t resemble earth at all.
"Huuh... huuh..."
Damien stood still for a moment to catch his breath. From experience, he knew Ruin would pause briefly after swinging his sword. He had to recover his stamina in that short window.
"How is he still so strong, despite being past his prime?"
Damien had already died thirty times in this ce.
Thankfully, it was a mental space, so not much real time had passed.
“Damn it.”
Ruin lifted his sword again. Damien stopped resting and started moving again.
"How on earth did hebine all those different energies?"
Mana, dark mana, and even divine power.
Ruin had effortlessly fused what were known to be ipatible energies and woven them into one.
The resulting aurade''s power was beyond imagination. It was capable of cutting through Damien''s aurade like a hot knife through tofu.
“Shit..”
Another sh flew towards him. Damien ducked low as he felt the crescent-shaped aurade graze his hair as it whizzed past.
Of course, Damien wasn’t just running away the entire time.
His eyes never left Ruin, watching his every move. He was analyzing the aurades Ruin was creating.
“I''m starting to understand it.”
Damien called upon his dark mana and mana.
Blue energy shed violently with ck energy. Damien forcibly suppressed the resulting bacsh.
Gray smoke coiled around his de. Unfortunately, unlike Ruin’s, it wasn’t colorless.
That was expected. While Ruin had used divine power, Damien had only managed tobine mana and dark mana.
"Still, this should be enough!"
Damien gripped his aurade and charged at Ruin.
Ruin responded immediately with a sh. Despite his vacant expression, his movements were razor-sharp.
Damien swung his sword to counter the strike. The two aurades collided.
But Damien’s aurade only held for a brief moment.
Ruin''s de pierced through Damien''s aurade, cutting it apart.
“Hah!”
At that moment, Damien let out augh as he twisted his longsword. He used the realm of Sword Saint ‘Ten Thousand Flow Perception’.
He redirected Ruin''s aurade in a different direction.
“This is the end!”
Damien shed at Ruin’s neck with his longsword. Ruin’s head separated from his body and both fell to the ground.
“Phew, that was exhausting.”
Damien wiped the sweat from his forehead. This battle had been even more grueling than the fight against Vahel.
Then, Ruin''s corpse vanished.
Momentster, a new Ruin appeared in the distance. Damien turned to him and spoke.
"What are you nning to show me this time...?"
“Wow, you’re really something. You’ve managed to kill me twice now.”
Ruin’s voice rang out.
Damien was too shocked to respond.
“Haha, it looks like what I said really surprised you.”
Ruinughed cheerfully as he spoke.
“By the way, my name is Ruin. Since fate has brought us together, how about I teach you some swordsmanship?”
***
[Trantor - Kie]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]