Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One-Strike Kill Swordmaster Episode 11

Episode 11. Revelation and Trial (2)

* * *

‘Damn…!’

Clang-!

The moment their swords first clashed, Adelia instinctively realized.

She couldn’t win. Absolutely not.

That monster was several times stronger than her.

All she could do was desperately block the opponent’s attacks. But even that was becoming increasingly difficult as the exchange of offense and defense continued.

‘Think calmly…! There must be a way…!’

Adelia gritted her teeth.

The Swordmaster wouldn’t have pushed her into this desperate situation without reason.

She would endure to the end and find a way out.

Through the enlightenment gained from this battle, she would advance to the next level.

“Urgh!”

But no matter how much she resolved herself.

There was nothing she could do about her body not following her mind.

An attack she failed to block grazed her shoulder. She felt a burning pain, but Adelia tried to ignore it and blocked the opponent’s next attack.

…No, to be precise, she ‘tried to’ block the next attack.

‘Ah.’

Swiiish-!

Before she knew it, the greatsword had approached right before her eyes.

It was already too late to defend or evade.

Sensing her end, Adelia squeezed her eyes shut.

Kwaaaaaaang─!

At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed through the dungeon.

Along with that ear-splitting sound, fierce wind wildly tossed Adelia’s hair.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

The monster’s roar abruptly stopped. And so did the sound of it swinging its greatsword.

“…?”

Sensing something strange, Adelia perked up her ears and focused all her attention on her hearing.

Drip, drop-.

The sound of water droplets falling from the dungeon’s stalactites.

Haa, ha-.

Her own rough breathing from moving her body intensely.

And…

Thud-.

Ruuuumble-!

…the sound of a large object losing its balance and collapsing.

“…?”

Adelia slowly opened her tightly shut eyes.

Her vision gradually brightened and the surrounding scenery began to come into view.

“I misjudged.”

About five steps ahead, where the monster should have been.

A man stood quietly holding a sword.

His utterly calm eyes were scanning the ground.

Adelia, who had been frozen in place, belatedly followed the man’s gaze and slowly shifted her eyes.

‘Ah…’

The monster’s massive corpse lay sprawled carelessly.

With its upper and lower body cleanly separated.

“It seems like it was a slightly overwhelming opponent for you.”

Shing-.

While Adelia stood with her mouth agape in shock.

The man who had wiped the blood from his sword simply muttered in an utterly calm tone.

“So. Did you gain any teachings?”

* * *

Ding-!

〔Dungarrd, the Dark City: You have defeated the boss of Hidden Dungeon Ⅱ.〕

Peterpan was dead.

The creature’s bisected corpse was rolling around at my feet.

One of the bosses with the most troublesome patterns in Lost Elder had been sliced to death in a single strike without being able to react at all.

‘What an absurdly overpowered skill…’

Souls of the Sword Masters.

This 12-star mythic grade skill possessed power that was practically an instant-kill cheat.

Just keeping it active for 0.01 seconds was enough to one-shot an 82-level boss. It was mind-boggling.

‘And there are no side effects either. No strain on the body at all.’

Considering Roel’s system, this was a truly strange situation.

As I mentioned before, for a player to perform certain actions, there had to be a corresponding ‘foundation’.

However, the movements I had just performed were impossible to handle with my current strength, stamina, and agility stats.

Normally, all the muscles and bones in my body should have been shattered from being unable to withstand the recoil.

Yet my body was perfectly fine, which meant…

‘…Could it be that only while using the skill, my physical ability stats also rise accordingly?’

Come to think of it.

According to the description, while the skill is active, one reaches the ultimate realm.

During that time, physical ability stats would also increase.

Well, thinking about it this way, it made sense that there was no backlash despite performing such intense movements.

‘Speaking of which…’

Swish-.

As I continued my various thoughts, I turned to look at Adelia.

She was still staring blankly into space with a dazed expression.

My single strike must have been quite shocking.

‘…She still hasn’t come to her senses.’

I don’t know.

If I leave her alone, she’ll probably snap out of it on her own.

I withdrew my gaze and looked down at Peterpan’s corpse again.

I couldn’t afford to worry about Adelia. First, I had to accomplish the purpose for coming here.

‘So it was hidden here.’

Squiiish-.

Rummaging through the inside of the corpse with my bare hands, I pulled something out from Peterpan’s torso.

Sticky mucus and blood, along with tangled blood vessels, came out together.

Having cut all of this away with the Feather Sword, I stared intently at the ominously colored crystal that fit in one hand.

Just then, Adelia, who had suddenly regained her senses, threw out a question.

“Th-that is…?”

“It’s a ‘trial’ prepared by the great Elders.”

Sacred Piece.

Remnants scattered across the continent by ancient gods who had now lost their power.

To obtain this power, I had to prove my qualifications by passing through the trials they had prepared.

“It’s also the most important mission from the revelation I received.”

Crack-!

Having finished speaking, I clenched my fist without a moment’s hesitation.

The crystal I was holding in my hand shattered completely and turned to powder.

A dark red aura began to envelop my body. Along with the chilling screams of children, my vision grew dark.

“…”

Before long, a cold silence descended.

Ding-!

〔You have entered the trial arranged by the ‘Master of Seconds and Moments’.〕

* * *

Lost Elder’s storytelling is never direct.

Players had to deduce NPCs’ pasts or the background of various factions’ origins through given clues.

It could truly be called a maniacal game style.

‘Among them, Dungard’s Abandoned Factory holds a particularly cruel story.’

Dungarrd, the Dark City.

This place was a lawless zone where all kinds of illegal experiments were conducted.

One day, a mad wizard joined hands with the continent’s top pharmaceutical company. Together with the absurd goal of creating an elixir of immortality.

They set up a factory in Dungarrd and forced their experiments.

‘Hundreds of spirits and thousands of children were meaninglessly sacrificed.’

The Tinkerbells who witnessed those horrific experiments were enraged.

Peterpan, who had given dreams and fantasies to children, also lost his reason.

Eventually, those who made contracts with ‘those beings’ for revenge…

Became monsters that mercilessly slaughtered the adults who had conducted the experiments.

『Kyaaaaaaak──!』

The corrupted Tinkerbells attacked the factory.

They let out sharp screams while destroying the factory or turning machinery into useless chunks of scrap metal.

All the employees in the pharmaceutical factory became chunks of meat by Peterpan’s greatsword.

Thus, Dungard’s Abandoned Factory, having lost its owners, became the new dwelling of the corrupted Tinkerbells and Peterpan.

[Too much.]

“…”

I was the one who had killed such Peterpan and Tinkerbells.

I had killed the monsters who had carried out revenge on behalf of those who had died unjustly.

[Tinkerbell and Peterpan only returned the same pain we received… why did you kill them…?]

Well, by now I should be able to grasp the content of this ‘trial’.

[Hate.]

[Hate.]

[Hate.]

[Hate.]

A space where only darkness was visible.

Voices filled with resentment echoed chaotically from all directions.

Blood-red ghosts began to reveal themselves one by one.

Before long, the number of ghosts had grown so large that they dyed the previously pitch-black space entirely red.

[…So, you too must pay the price with death.]

Ding-!

〔The trial begins.〕

Right.

Finally, the trial of this Hidden Dungeon II had begun.

…I had to face the vengeful spirits of experimental subjects who had been unjustly sacrificed in this ‘Spiritual Realm’.

‘It is quite frightening.’

Kyaaaaaaak-!

The ghosts began screaming and rushing toward me.

Because their number reached thousands? It was like a crimson mountain charging straight at me.

‘Inside the Game, you have to dodge each of their attacks individually.’

Physical attacks don’t work.

Since I was dragged into the spiritual realm, magic and divine power types were also ineffective against the enemies.

The only thing a player could do was dodge.

It was like having to endure a high-difficulty bullet hell game until the trial ended.

‘Of course…’

━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Passive Effect]

The ‘Mental Power’ stat value becomes permanently ‘MAX’.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

‘…their attacks don’t work on me.’

Kyaaaaaaak-!

One vengeful spirit grazed past my body.

It was a fatal attack that would reduce 25 percent of total HP regardless of the player’s health stat.

Meaning that just being grazed three or four times would leave you in critical condition.

‘I don’t feel anything at all.’

But it was a completely irrelevant story for me.

All damage received in the spiritual realm is considered ‘mental attacks’.

In other words, thanks to the passive effect of Soul of the Sword Master, with my mental power stat at maximum, I…

Ding-!

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ nullifies the vengeful spirits’ attacks.〕

…In this 「Spiritual Realm」 at least, I could become an invincible existence.

‘This was what I was aiming for when I entered 【Hidden Dungeon II】 in the first place.’

Leave all the dungeon mobs to Adelia.

Defeat the boss monster Peterpan with my active skill.

Then breeze through the following mental trials with my passive skill.

Considering the rewards that would follow, this place was truly the perfect dungeon made just for me.

Kwaaaaaa──!

The vengeful spirits swept in like a storm.

Blood-red whirlwinds attacked me from all directions.

My ears felt muffled. My clothes and hair whipped wildly in the wind.

The gale kept forcing my eyelids shut, blurring my vision.

…This was getting tedious. If I’d endured this much, wouldn’t the master of this trial acknowledge my qualifications?

Having finished that thought, I slowly opened my mouth.

“That’s enough. Such crude illusions won’t work on me.”

Snap-!

Instantly, the world fell silent.

The crimson vengeful spirits that had been surging from all sides vanished in the blink of an eye.

As if it had all been a lie, the same silence that had greeted me when I first set foot in this place descended once more.

[I acknowledge you.]

Someone’s voice began echoing from all directions in the very next moment.

[You are sufficiently qualified to receive the ‘remnant.’]

Whoooosh-!

As soon as those words ended, the darkness lifted and the original world began to reveal itself.

“….”

I raised my head.

The Underground Courtyard of the Abandoned Factory. Peterpan’s corpse that had been sprawled at my feet was turning to dust and slowly rising toward the sky.

The starlight visible through the half-collapsed ceiling was hauntingly beautiful.

And….

Ding-!

〔You have cleared the trial arranged by the ‘Master of Seconds and Moments.’〕

…A familiar notification window began covering my vision.

〔Reward: You have acquired the Authority Skill 【Ritardando】.〕

Confirming this, I broke into a bright smile.

‘Perfect.’

The reward I had so desperately wanted had finally come into my hands.

* * *

‘This is impossible.’

Trembling-.

Adelia simply couldn’t believe her own eyes.

As a member of the sacred Goldhart Family, she had been educated about everything concerning the Elder since childhood.

That’s why she knew all too well just how incredible an achievement that man had accomplished.

‘To pass through an ancient god’s trial so nonchalantly like that…?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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