Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 164

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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 164

Episode 164. Hunting Outer Gods (1)

[Th, this is…]

Rumble-!

Amidst the sound of the fake shrine collapsing.

I could hear Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword muttering in a trembling voice.

[What… this is impossible…]

Her voice was deeply tinged with bewilderment.

Actually, considering her personality, this was an unbelievable situation.

Normally, she would have already thrown a fit from the moment she cut the tentacles.

‘She would have complained about getting dirty, sticky fluids on her and whined about having to fight such disgusting monsters.’

But not now.

She kept her mouth tightly shut, looking dazed. She seemed to doubt whether what she had witnessed was reality or a dream.

Come to think of it, it was a natural reaction.

Because…

━━━━━━━━━━━━

You are the one with the most outstanding talent among tens of millions, no… hundreds of millions of Sword Masters.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

…【Soul of the Sword Master】 was truly a skill that had reached the ultimate limits of swordsmanship.

‘Even Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword, who had met all kinds of geniuses through hundreds of owners, must have never encountered such overwhelming talent before.’

That’s why, no matter how arrogant and picky her personality was, she had no choice but to be speechless in this situation.

Anyway.

I spoke to Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword before she could complain about anything.

‘Don’t worry.’

[Huh?]

‘I’ll clean off all the filth on your blade later.’

I continued.

‘Once this trial is over, I’ll carefully wipe you down with microfiber cloth. I won’t forget to apply the premium mineral oil you love either.’

[…!]

‘Why, weren’t those your favorite things?’

Continuing with only a forceful approach would only backfire.

This was especially true for someone with high self-esteem like Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword.

Mixing carrot and stick appropriately like this was much more effective.

‘As long as I’m alive, you’ll always receive the best care. The finest sword deserves treatment befitting its status.’

[N, no… w, wait a minute…]

Of course, hearing my words, the Feathered Sword couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

[How do you even know I like that kind of care? We just met, but you’ve been so skillful from the start…]

How do I know?

I’ve already handled you hundreds of times, so I know everything from your preferences to your personality.

‘I’ll explain everything later, so cooperate with me for now.’

[…]

Gulp-.

I could hear the Feathered Sword swallowing.

She seemed to be already filled with anticipation.

For her, who hadn’t received proper care for thousands of years, how wonderful would it be to receive premium care without even asking for it?

In human terms, it was like offering a luxury spa treatment with a full body massage.

There was absolutely no reason to refuse.

[…Alright. I’ll wait quietly, so call me when you need me.]

Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword’s voice became much softer. Her fussy attitude from moments ago had mellowed.

[Ah! But don’t put me in that creepy scabbard! I’ll stay quiet…!]

Thud-.

With those words, Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword said nothing more.

‘…Could she already be tamed?’

I thought it would take more time, but her attitude changed much faster than expected.

Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible. I had deliberately dropped plenty of hints to give the Feathered Sword the impression that I was extraordinary.

Things like having used her abilities hundreds of times. Or receiving a new scabbard directly from 「The Owner of the Flame and the Blacksmith」.

‘All stories that can’t be understood by common sense.’

On top of that, she had directly confirmed my skills through 【Soul of the Sword Master】, so it wasn’t unreasonable that her perception of me had completely changed in that situation.

She must have recognized me as an existence on a different dimension from ordinary swordsmen. That’s why she immediately turned cooperative.

‘This is a good situation all around.’

Maintaining a forceful relationship through coercion was only a second-best option.

It was much more efficient to maintain a relationship of mutual respect and trust like now. Especially since the Feathered Sword was a weapon that only showed its true value when she cooperated voluntarily.

Forcing her would damage the Feathered Sword’s self-esteem and actually reduce her abilities. But if you took a low stance and pampered her, she would look down on the contractor and try to climb over them.

‘Maintaining just the right balance like now is the best.’

Showing respect while firmly maintaining control. Appropriately using carrot and stick. That way, both the Feathered Sword would be satisfied and I could use her comfortably.

‘Anyway.’

Rumble-!

That was enough thinking about the Feathered Sword.

Now it was time to focus on the current situation again.

Thunderous sounds from all directions.

The massive body of the Mukyeon Lord had begun collapsing in earnest.

Rumble-!

The head part… that is, this floor that Pean and I were standing on was no exception.

It was precarious.

The ground beneath our feet shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.

It seemed like the floor would cave in at any moment and we’d fall into the endless abyss below.

Rumble-!

Massive vibrations shook my entire body.

I could see Pean struggling to maintain his balance.

“Gaon.”

He asked me in a calm voice.

“Is there a way to escape from here?”

Swoosh-.

I slowly pointed upward.

Far above on the ceiling, a faint light was visible. It was the entrance to the pit that led to the broken aquarium.

In other words, we had to climb all the way back up that path.

“Phew…”

Pean sighed and slowly nodded.

“Then we’ll have to climb up by stepping on the falling debris.”

His voice was calm.

He had a relaxed air as if this level of escape was easy.

“I’ll open the path first. Follow right behind me.”

Crack-!

The ground beneath his feet caved in deeply.

Pean lowered his stance and prepared to leap. Power began concentrating in his leg muscles.

Movement without a moment’s hesitation.

For a Sword Master who had lived for thousands of years, this much was nothing.

Of course….

‘…It’s impossible for me.’

No matter how much my physical stats had increased, I couldn’t jump dozens of meters up by stepping on those collapsing debris. If I made a wrong move, I might slip and fall to my death.

That’s why….

“There’s no need for that.”

…I stopped Pean.

“We’ll go up a different way.”

“Pardon?”

Hesitation-.

Pean turned to look at me with a bewildered expression.

Right at that moment.

Crack, crackle─!

With a sound like something breaking, ‘it’ began to awaken from within my chest.

Ding-!

〔’Istereg’ has successfully hatched.〕

* * *

“What is this…?”

As something emerged from the Istereg, Pean’s voice trembled with confusion.

For him who had already lost his sight, this situation was bound to be even more bewildering.

Even I, who was directly looking at the creature born from the Istereg, couldn’t clearly define its form, so how much more difficult must it be for him who had to rely only on his supernatural senses?

“….”

I carefully examined ‘it’.

Its form was somewhat like a mosaic mass. More precisely, it felt like a pixelated Rubik’s cube.

Something that glowed with the same iridescent rainbow colors as the eggshell was tangled up in a jumbled mess.

Click click-!

Floating through the air, constantly changing shape… it looked as if cube pieces were rotating on their own, endlessly rearranging themselves.

[Myu myu. Myueeek.]

It even let out strange cries.

Despite its bizarre appearance, it had a surprisingly cute-sounding voice.

Should I say it had a tone full of affection, like a newborn animal looking for its mother?

“What on earth is this….”

Pean slightly furrowed his brow as if trying to read that being with his supernatural senses.

However, he couldn’t properly detect the creature. It was because the energy emanating from the unidentified life form was too chaotic and irregular.

Most importantly, that creature had resistance to 【Supernatural Senses】. That characteristic would make it even harder to understand.

Well, that aside….

“…Can you lift us up there?”

I spoke to the rainbow-colored mass.

As soon as it heard those words, the creature began moving more actively as if it understood.

Click, click, click-!

Its rapidly rotating body. The rainbow-colored pieces spun and transformed into a new shape.

Pop, pop pop pop-!

Before long, with cute sound effects, translucent wings suddenly sprouted from that mass.

Whoosh-!

And its body instantly changed as well. Into soft jelly like Haewolsumo.

It was just the right size for Pean and me to ride side by side.

[Myueeek!]

The Mysterious Creature cried out in satisfaction.

It seemed quite pleased with its own transformation skills.

Swish-.

Pean turned toward me with an extremely bewildered expression.

Although his eyes were hidden by bandages, his face was filled with indescribable confusion.

“Why are you standing there so dazed?”

Squish-.

I climbed onto the Mysterious Creature’s body as if it were nothing.

It felt like sitting on soft jelly.

“Hurry up. We need to escape before this place collapses.”

“That’s….”

Rumble-!

Just as Pean was about to continue speaking, another roar echoed.

After hesitating briefly, Pean seemed to make up his mind and followed me onto the Mysterious Creature’s soft body.

[Myuek! Myueeeeek!]

Once all preparations were complete, the Mysterious Creature cried out joyfully.

As its translucent wings flapped gracefully, we began floating up into the sky.

A smooth ascent.

There was almost no shaking, like floating above clouds.

Rumble-!

Debris continued to collapse from above.

From fist-sized stone fragments to pieces as tall as a person. Various sizes of debris poured down like rain.

Slash-! Clang-! Clank-!

Each time, Pean swiftly struck down the flying stones with Seorineul. It was clean and restrained swordsmanship.

Without a single unnecessary movement, he moved exactly as much as needed to eliminate the dangerous elements.

‘This is really convenient.’

Being able to escape safely without having to move my body directly couldn’t be better than this.

‘I’ve been thinking this for a while….’

…Am I taking it too easy?

‘Anyway.’

Glance-.

I looked down at the Mysterious Creature carrying us and fell into thought.

As I’ve said many times, Istereg is like a blank slate.

It hatches into completely different forms depending on the player’s actions.

And this current form is….

‘…The form I wanted most.’

Rainbow Cube.

Among players, it was also called ‘Mucube’.

An S-tier pet with excellent versatility that could truly be called all-purpose.

The Istereg itself already had fairly high base stats, and by absorbing a large amount of life force from divine beasts, it had evolved into Mucube.

Accordingly, its potential was also tremendous.

─I agonized greatly over choosing this reward. It should go well with that cute divine artifact you have, right?

─….

─Since you’re wise, you know well what to do with this excellent reward, don’t you?

‘That’s what the Master of Life and Earth meant.’

To begin with, liberating the Feather Sword’s Jinmyeong Geopbang required defeating the corrupted divine beast.

But what if Istereg was also nearby?

The creature that absorbed life force would naturally have no choice but to evolve into Mukyu.

Anyway.

Just like me, the Elder in the Heavenly Realm was also calculating.

“Gaon.”

It was then that Pean cautiously asked a question.

“So… what exactly is this child…?”

He trailed off his words.

He seemed curious about the identity of this strange creature, but appeared hesitant to pry carelessly.

For him who couldn’t finish his words properly, I answered honestly.

“It’s a life form that the Great Beings poured their heart and soul into creating.”

“…?”

Pean looked at me with a strange expression.

Despite not being able to see, his face showed signs that something seemed off.

“Poured their heart and soul… you say…?”

“That’s right.”

“…”

A moment of silence passed.

Pean seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

Soon he opened his mouth after much contemplation.

“Gaon.”

“…?”

“Was the process of making a second child that difficult?”

Huh?

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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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