Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 131

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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 131

 

Episode 131. Auction Preparations (5)

 

“Then I suppose our business is concluded.”

 

“…!”

 

I spoke with the intention of wrapping up my conversation with Puppet Master Batu.

 

In just a short time, thanks to Batu spilling everything, I had obtained all the necessary information.

 

The reason he came here. What he was after. And even the plan that the Five Nightmares were scheming.

 

There was no longer any reason to continue this conversation.

 

“N-no! Wait a moment!”

 

“…?”

 

At that moment, Batu, who had suddenly come to his senses, frantically began pouring out words.

 

His trembling voice was thoroughly soaked with desperation.

 

“I-I thought about it again, and that won’t work. If I do that, the other comrades won’t leave me alone. Es-especially….”

 

Gulp-.

 

Batu swallowed dry saliva as his words trailed off.

 

Just from the distorted expression visible beyond his hood, I could fully guess how terrified he was.

 

It seemed like just thinking of someone filled him with dread.

 

“Give me the brain core….”

 

Batu barely managed to open his mouth. His voice still trembled, but mixed within it was an intonation that was half threatening.

 

“…Th-then there won’t be any problems. Really. Both you and I, everyone can be comfortable. Right?”

 

Swoosh-.

 

I showed no reaction to his words.

 

Poke-.

 

Instead, I leisurely stabbed the food on the table with my fork.

 

The savory aroma of freshly grilled chicken brushed past my nose.

 

The moment I took a bite, juices spread throughout my mouth. It was the most excellent taste among all the food I had eaten in this world.

 

‘…They said it was the best restaurant according to the game settings, and it wasn’t just talk.’

 

Clatter-.

 

I deliberately delayed my answer and focused on eating.

 

Then Batu’s gaze began to shake with increasing anxiety.

 

My appearance of leisurely enjoying my meal must have been unbearably frustrating from his perspective.

 

“Um, excuse me…?”

 

Batu stared intently at me.

 

Trembling eyes. An impatient expression. Anxiety as if his heart was burning.

 

After dragging out the time, I confirmed his reaction and slowly opened my mouth.

 

“You know how precious the Celestial Dragon’s brain core is.”

 

Flinch-.

 

Batu jumped in surprise and flinched.

 

Though he seemed relieved and exhaled when I spoke, tension still lingered in his eyes.

 

I continued speaking without concern.

 

“The brain core is the most valuable part among all the body parts combined. It’s the source of power that allows it to control storms and thunder.”

 

“….”

 

“It will probably fetch whatever price is asked. No, perhaps I might receive something beyond money.”

 

Swoosh-.

 

I paused briefly and looked at Batu.

 

On his face, half-hidden by the hood, a complex expression mixing anticipation and anxiety had appeared.

 

“Of course.”

 

I turned my gaze back to the food and added.

 

“As long as I own the corpse, it’s not impossible to extract the brain core before the auction and hand it over to you.”

 

“What? Is that really…?”

 

Hope seeped into Batu’s voice.

 

“However.”

 

I looked back at Batu with a cold gaze.

 

“In exchange for that, what can you give me?”

 

“….”

 

Pause-.

 

For a moment, a chilling silence flowed.

 

Puppet Master Batu’s body suddenly stopped trembling completely.

 

His voice that followed was cold and eerie, unlike before.

 

“…Exchange?”

 

Rustle-.

 

From within his loose robe, his long sleeve was pushed back, and one emaciated arm slowly revealed itself.

 

Pale skin and gaunt bones.

 

With slight exaggeration, dark blue veins protruded grotesquely over his arm that seemed to have nothing but skin.

 

And soon, his hand began to writhe eerily.

 

Like a puppeteer controlling marionettes, a “Puppet-master.”

 

The next moment.

 

“Kahaha! Huh? What did the Tolong look like? That’s… Kuk, kuhuk…!”

 

Thud-.

 

The loud voice coming from one corner of the restaurant suddenly cut off.

 

When Batu moved his hand once more, the sound of creaking and a chair being pushed back could be heard.

 

Since it was happening behind me, I couldn’t see what was occurring. However, Adelia’s rigidly hardened expression told me everything.

 

She called my name in a low, sunken voice.

 

“…The Protagonist.”

 

Though it sounded calm at first glance, urgency was clearly hidden within.

 

A warning to be careful.

 

An intuition that something was not right.

 

Adelia gripped the handle of her meteor sword tightly.

 

This time with the real intention of drawing her weapon.

 

“D-don’t move.”

 

“…!”

 

At that moment, Batu suddenly raised his head that had been deeply bowed.

 

His hood came off, revealing his face that had been half-hidden.

 

Pale and gaunt skin. Deeply sunken eye sockets and the mad gleam flickering within them. Cheeks that seemed to have only bone left and parched lips.

 

An expression where you couldn’t tell if he was crying or smiling with joy.

 

The face mixed with contradictory emotions evoked deep disgust.

 

“If you so much as twitch a finger there….”

 

Swoosh-.

 

Batu’s hazy pupils glared at Adelia.

 

“…you’ll die. I’ll tear you apart and kill you. I’ll peel off your flesh and sew it with thread, hang your bones like decorations, then control you to my heart’s content until you break.”

 

Right.

 

This was Puppet Master Batu’s true nature.

 

The malice that emerged the moment he felt his opponent was weaker than himself.

 

His terrified, cowering attitude was nowhere to be found, and his cruel nature was fully revealed.

 

A typical coward who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

 

But the power hidden within that cowardice was by no means at a level to be ignored.

 

Ding-!

 

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s intimidating aura.〕

 

Kuguuuuuu-!

 

An tremendous killing intent began to press down on the entire building.

 

The killing intent that Camillo von Taribas had exuded, perhaps even greater than that.

 

“…!”

 

Gulp-.

 

In an instant, Adelia’s eyes widened in shock.

 

Though she had certainly become much stronger than before, even so, the pure malice emanating from the Five Nightmares still seemed overwhelming for her.

 

If even Adelia was in this state, how much worse must it be for the ordinary customers?

 

Thud-!

 

People began collapsing to the floor one by one.

 

Some lost consciousness while vomiting, others convulsed with their eyes rolled back.

 

The innkeeper had dropped his plate and was trembling against the wall. Hot liquid was already streaming down from beneath his pants.

 

Fear.

 

Pure, primal fear devoured everyone’s reason.

 

The instinctive warning that the human species had carried since the beginning of time. The awareness of terror that prey feels before a predator.

 

“…De, decapitation.”

 

At the weak voice suddenly heard from behind, I slowly turned my head.

 

The impostor who had been causing trouble while drunk was standing there, gripping an axe with both hands.

 

Amidst the chaos around him, his lone composed stance was eerily grotesque.

 

“I am… the decapitator… Tolong… decapitation….”

 

His eyes were somewhere beyond sanity.

 

Empty pupils without focus.

 

Every time Batu’s hand moved, his body jerked like a broken puppet.

 

“Decapitation, decapitation, decapitation, decapitation.”

 

Mechanically repeated muttering. But the axe blade was aimed not at Tolong, but at The Mysterious Man’s neck.

 

Creak, creak-.

 

The sound of joints bending unnaturally. Like a puppet made of rusted wire, The Mysterious Man’s arm twisted as it moved.

 

Blood trickled down. As the axe blade touched his neck, the skin began to split.

 

Yet The Mysterious Man didn’t stop. No, he couldn’t stop.

 

Every time Batu’s fingers moved minutely as if manipulating strings, The Mysterious Man’s body moved accordingly.

 

And….

 

Stop-.

 

Just before suffering an irreversible fatal wound, The Mysterious Man’s movement ceased.

 

The blade was already deeply embedded in his neck, just short of touching the artery.

 

“See, you saw that?”

 

Batu slowly turned to look at me as if showing off his ability.

 

“I, I control people.”

 

A hideous smile crept across his lips.

 

“I can manipulate the living like marionettes. Your companion, your disciple beside you, even you, Gaon, I can brainwash and control at will.”

 

“….”

 

“I can make them take their own lives, make them fight each other, or even make them commit more terrible acts.”

 

Batu swayed his body while forcibly swallowing the laughter rising within him.

 

Kek, kekek, keheuk-!

 

His disgusting voice began to mix with growing excitement.

 

“You, you asked what I could give in exchange for the brain core?”

 

“….”

 

“Simple. I’ll spare you from having to experience… the terrible things you’ll face ahead.”

 

Though his tone was gentle, the meaning contained within was chillingly clear.

 

A warning that if he didn’t hand over the brain core, the ‘terrible things’ he mentioned would actually come to pass.

 

Given that this threat came from someone who could control living people like marionettes, it felt all the more unpleasant and realistic.

 

“The choice is yours. You never know when the people around you might turn and try to kill you. So if you don’t want to live trembling in anxiety every day, hand over the brain core right now….”

 

“I don’t need to hear any more.”

 

Cut-.

 

I interrupted Batu’s words with a cold voice.

 

I had waited briefly, hoping he might slip some useful information if he kept talking.

 

It was a pointless expectation. I had only wasted precious time.

 

Shing-!

 

I stood up and drew the Feather Sword.

 

The blade emerging from its scabbard, Mukgwe, gleamed coldly in the dim lighting.

 

“Wha, what…!”

 

Scurry-!

 

Batu jumped in surprise and hastily stepped backward.

 

Perhaps due to his cowardly nature, he reflexively retreated the moment I drew my sword.

 

However, that didn’t mean Batu’s momentum was completely broken.

 

The snorting bastard. Though his expression was terrified, he still seemed to have something to rely on.

 

“Are, are you going to fight me here? Do you think that would be meaningful?”

 

“….”

 

“Su, surely you don’t think what’s in front of you is really my main body? This is just one of the ‘puppets’ I’ve been using well for decades!”

 

Batu raised his voice and began barking even more noisily.

 

But why was it?

 

All of this felt to me like the desperate struggle of someone trying to hide their fear.

 

“Do, do you think anything will change if you kill me now? I’ll be perfectly fine! I’m hidden somewhere safe!”

 

“….”

 

“Ra, rather, only the appearance of the puppet you’ll face will change! Ha, haha…! You’ll become even more troubled than now….”

 

“Enough, the choice is yours.”

 

I interrupted Batu’s words once again with a cold voice.

 

“Whatever form you appear in.”

 

Step-.

 

I moved forward while staring into Batu’s eyes.

 

He also stepped backward, but due to the difference in stride, the distance gradually closed.

 

“Even if you wear the ‘shell’ of someone close to me and perform the most cunning act.”

 

Step-.

 

One step.

 

And another step.

 

The gap between Puppet Master Batu and me gradually narrowed.

 

“I will notice everything.”

 

“Wa, wait a moment….”

 

“And I will trace back the strings connected to that shell, all the way to the pit where your main body hides.”

 

When the distance between us had completely closed.

 

I swung the Feather Sword while returning Batu’s own words back to him.

 

“So if you don’t want to live trembling in anxiety every day, never knowing when I might storm into your hideout.”

 

Slash─!

 

“Never, ever show your face before me again.”

 

Batu didn’t dodge my sword. He didn’t even show any intention to do so.

 

He just stood there blankly, as if one puppet shell meant nothing to him.

 

Drip-.

 

Batu’s head, which had been slowly tilting, slid down along the cut surface.

 

Thud-!

 

And in the final moment, a faint muttering leaked from the head that touched the floor.

 

“See, fuck. I said this kind of thing didn’t matter….”

 

“….”

 

No.

 

It does matter.

 

If it had been someone else, merely killing a ‘shell’ wouldn’t have been able to inflict any damage on you….

 

Ding-!

 

〔You have used the Authority Skill: 【True Eternal Slayer】.〕

 

〔The effect of the sub-skill 【Soul Kill】 is activated.〕

 

‘…At least, I’m different.’

 

* * *

 

A dark room.

 

A gloomy space where various dolls hung in rows, and bizarre threads were woven like spider webs across the walls.

 

A basement vibrating with a mixture of rotting and moldy odors.

 

“…!”

 

Suddenly, the man’s eyes widened.

 

Soon after, a terrible scream began to burst from the mouth of him who had been crouched in the corner.

—————
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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