Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 157

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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 157

Episode 157. The Reenactment of Annihilation (5)

The identity of the object I pulled from my chest.

It was none other than the 【Istereg (Easter-egg)】.

A reward obtained through a sacred covenant.

A mysterious egg containing infinite possibilities within its colorful shell.

“Upapapapa…!”

Upapa let out an exclamation upon seeing it.

Across his face, distinct emotions that had never been shown before began to emerge.

“S-such a pure life form with infinite possibilities exists! H-how did you come to obtain such a thing? Upapa!”

Upapa’s previously dead black eyes began to sparkle.

An Elder with the authority to create divine beasts, the master of potential and regeneration.

Even he could only burst forth with pure admiration like a child before the Istereg.

‘Well, this is thousands of years ago… the ancient era.’

According to Roel’s setting, the Istereg was a sacred artifact created long after the Heavenly Realm was established.

Therefore, an Elder encountering an Istereg at this point in time would naturally be shocked.

Especially if it was merely a ‘dummy’ imitation.

‘In other words…’

Now that I had captured Upapa’s interest with the Istereg, all that remained was persuading him.

Just like in the game, I could proceed to the next stage through this item.

Having finished that thought, I continued speaking in a respectful yet formal voice.

“I fully understand your feelings, 「Master of Potential and Regeneration」.”

“…”

“Having lived through eternal ages, you must have inevitably felt boredom with everything. As you said, day after day was the same, with no more new things to experience.”

Upapa was silently looking up at me. I slightly lifted the Istereg and asked.

“But what about this life form? Isn’t it interesting?”

“…”

“The infinite possibilities sleeping within this small egg. Don’t you want to witness with your own eyes the moment this life form hatches?”

I drove the point home slowly but with a voice full of conviction.

“If you perish right now, you’ll never see the moment this child hatches. Such an opportunity will never come again.”

“Th-that’s…”

Gulp-.

Upapa swallowed dryly.

His pupils began turning toward the Istereg once more.

With an expression as if looking at the most precious treasure in the world.

“Uuuu…”

Shake, shake-.

But before long, Upapa shook his head and said.

“N-no, it still won’t work, upapa…”

“What is the problem?”

“The moment I ascend to the Heavenly Realm, my connection with the spirit beasts will be completely severed.”

“…”

“Divine beasts like Haewolsumo or Cheongyeong that I created long ago are fine. Those children have already established their egos and stabilized their reason.”

Swoosh-.

Upapa’s gaze turned toward the fish swimming in the aquarium.

He gently placed his small hand against the glass.

“But the immature spirit beasts are different.”

“…”

“The spirit beasts I created are connected to me by invisible ‘threads’. Through that connection, they maintain stability and gradually grow into divine beasts.”

Upapa was right.

Growth into divine beasts wasn’t simply a stage of becoming stronger.

It involved a very delicate and complex process where not only the body but also the mind matured together.

“But if I ascend and this connection is severed, the spirit beasts still in an incomplete state will rampage without restraint. Their transformation into divine beasts will proceed at a rapid pace.”

“…”

“In that unstable growth, most will eventually lose their reason and transform into terrible monsters. Upapa.”

That was correct.

A state where they gained tremendous power but lacked the mental capacity to handle it.

As a result, the divine beasts would transform into monsters that relied only on instinct and destructive impulses without reason.

Like a child who suddenly gained an adult’s body but couldn’t control that power and was overwhelmed by it.

“Beings that become stronger without control are no longer qualified to be called divine beasts. They wouldn’t be agents of gods, but disasters.”

“…”

“The 「Beings from Another World」 rampaging outside the fortress will lose their power once the Heavenly Laws are established. But incompletely grown divine beasts are different. They will drive this continent to destruction, upapa.”

The crucial difference between Outer Gods and divine beasts.

Outer Gods were alien beings that didn’t belong to this world.

When the powerful constraints of the Heavenly Laws were applied, they would naturally weaken or be banished outside the Lower Realm.

But divine beasts were different.

They originally belonged to this world. Even if the Heavenly Laws were established, their power wouldn’t weaken.

Rather, as the Great Ones’ intervention became unclear, they would become even more active.

And the result would be…

‘…leading to the destruction of the entire continent.’

This was the reason Upapa perished in the real world.

He didn’t hastily flee to the Heavenly Realm like the other Great Ones.

Instead, he remained here until the end, trying to organize his connections with the spirit beasts he had created one by one.

Even at this moment, his observation of the fish was part of that ‘organization’.

He was checking the state of the immature spirit beasts and pondering until the end whether there was a way to safely sever his connection with them.

However, that sense of responsibility ultimately led Upapa to his death.

Though he succeeded in safely organizing his connections with the spirit beasts, he was discovered by Outer Gods who had invaded even the Imperial Palace and met his end.

‘He could have abandoned everything and fled…’

Upapa never abandoned his duty until the end.

And as the price, he accepted his final moments as a god.

‘But.’

Clench-.

I made a fist.

The empire that met destruction. I came here to prevent that tragedy.

The ancient era had already met its end. This trial was also just an illusion recreating the past. Even if I changed something here, reality wouldn’t change.

Nevertheless.

I would save Rashutku from destruction by the Outer Gods.

I would defy the predetermined fate. I would also prevent the tragic end of the Great One who made a noble sacrifice.

“You said the divine beasts would transform into monsters?”

There were those who fled, but there were also those who chose sacrifice for the greater good.

If not for their dedication, even the 「Four Great Cities」 wouldn’t have existed on this continent.

Because of the sacrifices made by a few Great Ones, humanity was able to protect the last seeds of civilization.

“You said those spirit beasts swimming in the water would fall into monsters that only know destruction and drive this continent to catastrophe?”

It was a prediction of an unspeakably terrible disaster. It might be an epic of collapse heralding the end of the world.

Even so.

“It’s alright.”

I was prepared to accept all of it.

“Don’t worry, and ascend.”

Hadn’t I made up my mind from the very moment I decided to challenge this trial?

In this trial where merely surviving was considered success in the game, I would achieve a ‘perfect clear’.

“I will stop all of that calamity.”

“…?”

Hesitate-.

For a moment, Upapa looked up at me with a bewildered expression.

Then, not long after, he scrunched up his round eyes and made an angry expression.

“Upapa! What kind of nonsense are you talking about!”

Even Pean looked at me with a perplexed expression. He too couldn’t understand what I meant.

Upapa shouted loudly.

“When the spirits go berserk, no one can stop them! There will even be a terrible war where the divine beasts kill each other…!”

“I know.”

But I didn’t care.

Because….

‘…That catastrophe is exactly what I wanted.’

The belief that has penetrated all my actions until now.

High risk, high return.

When others chose the safe path, I always chose dangerous gambles.

Every choice was close to madness. Even Strawberry Latte, who was also a Possessed One, called me crazy.

But thanks to that.

The current me could exist.

‘With ordinary methods, you can only get ordinary results.’

Chaos and destruction.

There’s a plan that can only be realized in that gap.

The moment all order collapses, in that gap when the world falls into chaos.

Feather Sword will finally regain her true power.

【True Name Release】

A realm that can never be achieved in a peaceful world.

The ultimate power that can only manifest in extreme situations filled with despair and destruction.

To obtain that ability, this world had to collapse once more.

The invasion of the Outer Gods alone wasn’t enough.

The rampage of divine beasts.

True destruction that even the Heavenly Laws cannot control.

The moment the invasion of the Outer Gods and that calamity explode simultaneously, only then will this continent transform into complete hell.

‘And in the midst of that despair….’

I will achieve dramatic growth, feeding off all that chaos.

When others are desperate just to survive, I will turn that crisis into opportunity.

Using each fragment of the collapsing world as a stepping stone, I will leap to a realm no one else has reached.

Calculating every variable.

Controlling every risk.

Until I can predict every outcome.

I will never stop.

I will perfectly foresee even the moment the world collapses, and obtain only the results I want even in that chaos.

The more uncontrollable a situation seems, the more meticulously I will move. And just as I have until now, I will put everything in my grasp.

That was my way.

And it will continue to be my way.

“Please trust me.”

“….”

“I have a method. Not simply cutting down berserk divine beasts, but saving them and returning them to a stable state.”

Restoring corrupted divine beasts was something I had done before.

Swoosh-.

I lifted up Istereg and finished speaking.

“With this child’s power… I can definitely do it.”

* * *

Though it wasn’t visible to my eyes.

When I defeated the Celestial Dragon, this hidden message must have appeared.

〔Hidden Message: @̴̻̕͜?̴̗̭͑&̶̙͖͒%̵̯͑ successful.〕

〔Hidden Message: $̶͛͊͜*̶͖͔̒͛@̴̻̕͜?̴̗̭͑Achievement unlocked (1/12)〕

Similarly, when I defeated the Aquamancer, the same message would have appeared.

〔Hidden Message: @̴̻̕͜?̴̗̭͑&̶̙͖͒%̵̯͑ successful.〕

〔Hidden Message: $̶͛͊͜*̶͖͔̒͛@̴̻̕͜?̴̗̭͑Achievement unlocked (2/12)〕

Right.

Those with quick wits would have already realized….

The condition for Feather Sword’s True Name Release was defeating the twelve corrupted divine beasts.

No, actually there’s no need to go all the way to twelve. Feather Sword’s ego begins to awaken from the sixth one.

‘But there’s one problem here.’

Defeating six divine beasts was generally only possible in the very late game.

Feather Sword wasn’t called an extreme late-bloomer weapon for nothing.

“….”

However.

What if I could forcibly ‘create’ corrupted divine beasts?

And thus artificially fill the stack?

[Kongiabum]: Rashutku? There are no divine beasts there in the first place, right?

No divine beasts in Rashutku?

That was said out of ignorance.

Kongiabum simply failed to discover the divine beasts because he visited this place without Istereg.

Because Upapa fulfilled his responsibility to the end and safely severed the connection with the spirits.

As a result, the spirits quietly disappeared without even having a chance to become divine beasts.

But now?

Once I take Istereg and convince Upapa to go to the Heavenly Realm, all the berserk spirits will transform into divine beasts.

‘And from that moment….’

I will mercilessly hunt the corrupted divine beasts for Feather Sword’s True Name Release.

After that, I planned to restore them again using Istereg’s life force.

Just like I did with the Aquamancer.

“….”

Suddenly, a memory from the past flashed by.

The day I defeated the Aquamancer.

Back then, there was something I had said to Adelia.

The situation where a single divine beast is trying to kill us is nothing significant at all.

─It’s nothing much. It’s just trying to kill us, that’s all.

Those weren’t empty words.

Any player who’s played Lost Elder around 200 times would know.

A situation where a single divine beast is targeting me really is ‘nothing much.’

Because….

─There are even shitty situations where you have to face five divine beasts at once.

…Because there were situations where five divine beasts attacked the player simultaneously.

“….”

Right.

That ‘shitty situation’ was about to unfold right now.

This wasn’t coincidence.

All of this was a thoroughly calculated plan from the very beginning.

From when I killed the Celestial Dragon in the Uncharted Wilderness and defeated Haewolsumo.

I had laid the groundwork for this moment in advance.

‘Four stacks remaining.’

So….

Now it’s time to fit the final puzzle piece.

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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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