Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 188

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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 188

Episode 188. Apostle (5)

─Kkeuk, kkeaaaak…!

Sasasasak-.

Batu let out a pained scream and quickly retreated backward.

From where the sword had been pulled out, dark blue mucus spurted forth.

From the gaps in his spider-transformed body. Black fluid continuously flowed from the wound that had pierced precisely near his heart.

─F-first, I need to heal…

Batu gasped while covering the wounded area with his hands. His eyes looking at me in disbelief were filled with a mixture of fear and confusion.

Sasak, sak-.

He frantically picked up the needle and thread that had fallen to the floor.

The basic tools of a puppet master.

Normally, he would be able to stitch up wounds and recover instantly with these.

‘In the actual game, this was a fairly common self-healing pattern.’

But…

─Wh-what…?

Chalkak, chalkak-!

…no matter how much he tried to stitch up the wound with the needle, it was useless.

Rather, wherever the thread touched, the wound only opened wider.

─What, what is this…! Why won’t the pierced area heal…!

In that situation, Puppet Master Batu began to panic severely.

Of course…

Ttiring-!

〔Authority Skill: 【True Eternal Slayer】 has been used.〕

〔All types of immortality/regeneration abilities possessed by the opponent are nullified.〕

…as long as my authority was activated, it was only natural that no healing methods would work.

Dalgeureuk-!

Chaeng, chaechaechaeng-!

Batu’s panicked hands began to fumble.

With his trembling hands, he couldn’t even perform proper stitching.

Tools scattered across the floor. Needles, thread, even scissors. Tools he would normally handle skillfully had now become useless.

─Ah, ahhh…!

“…”

Teobeok, teobeok-.

Meanwhile, I silently walked slowly toward Batu.

My gait was leisurely.

There was nothing to rush about, nothing to hurry for.

All initiative had already completely fallen into my hands.

─What the hell did you do! Why won’t my wound heal…!

Batu shouted at me with eyes full of fear.

─And what was that earlier! I definitely killed you! I pierced your heart with your companion’s sword! I clearly confirmed that you stopped breathing…!

“…”

─Is it an illusion? Since you said you completely subdued Dorico Shiro, can you use abilities from that field? Or… does it have something to do with the ‘puppet arts’ you mentioned earlier?

“…”

─Shit, shit! Explain! Don’t just keep your mouth shut like that, say something! What the hell did you do, you bastard…!

Batu’s words increased.

It was a typical reaction of someone paralyzed by fear.

He was probably trying to buy time somehow by running his mouth.

There was no need to play along with such a guy’s rhythm.

〔Sword Energy: 10/20〕

Checking the numbers that appeared in the corner of my vision, I smiled with satisfaction inwardly.

Thanks to the increased bond with Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword, my sword energy had roughly doubled. Just from the proficiency rising from lowest to low, there was this much change.

‘The increased respawn distance is good, but…’

What was most satisfying was that as sword energy increased to 20, the duration of Avatar Manifestation had extended.

‘Even after maintaining the avatar for quite a while, I can still use it once more.’

Previously, using the avatar just once would have depleted all my sword energy, but now I had room to spare.

And best of all…

Ttiring-!

〔Authority Skill: 【Avatar Manifestation】 has been used.〕

…controlling the avatar body had become much easier than before.

─What the…!

Huuuuuk-!

Having newly created an avatar, I immediately escaped the untargetable state and respawned on the opposite side.

At that moment, there were two ‘me’s walking toward Batu.

Two versions of me slowly surrounded Batu from both flanks.

Teobeok, teobeok-.

Same face. Same outfit. Even the same aura – two beings began walking toward him with steady steps.

─Ah, ahhh…

Pulssuk-.

Seeing this, Batu completely lost his fighting spirit.

The creature bleeding blue fluid crawled across the floor to escape to a corner of the wall. The way he desperately struggled while making sasasasak sounds was no different from a terrified puppy.

─This is completely different from puppet arts! How can two identical entities exist! What kind of ability is this nonsense…!

Teobeok, teobeok-.

Calm but threatening footsteps.

Batu was completely surrounded by me.

But I absolutely couldn’t let my guard down. In situations like this, I needed to be even more careful and thorough in finishing things.

Batu was a coward, but at the same time, he was one of the Five Nightmares.

And since ancient times, cornered rats were more dangerous.

─Shit, shit…

Sure enough.

Realizing he had no other options, Batu began his final struggle.

Being driven into a dead end, it was now time for him to come out with a do-or-die attitude.

─If you’re going to act like that… I have no choice but to fully unleash the new power ‘The Authorities’ gave me…!

Kwagwagwagwagwa-!

Suddenly, the energy bursting from Batu’s body became more intense.

The same atmosphere as when Jark von Haibrunn had fallen.

Indeed, it seemed that transforming into a spider and gaining increased physical stats wasn’t everything.

‘Good.’

With this, all my objectives were achieved.

I had used Puppet Master Batu in reverse to release Pean’s seal, and through my avatar, I had driven Batu into a corner.

I had even drawn out all the new power he had been hiding.

─The Authorities gave me power but told me never to harm you! They asked me to subdue you if possible!

“…?”

─But I can’t do that! Even if it means going against the Authorities’ orders… I’ve already sworn to kill you!

For a moment, I heard something that caught my attention.

But there was no time to be distracted by it.

─Prepare yourself, Gaon! I’ll show you my new power…!

Aside from the cliché lines that a third-rate villain would spout, the aura itself was nothing short of chilling.

An energy that felt like an awl scraping against skin covered the open field.

A pattern that had never once appeared in the original work.

Puppet Master Batu’s new phase had begun.

However….

“No.”

─…?

“I have no particular desire to see your new power.”

Thud, thud-.

In fact, there had been a calculation behind pushing Batu to such extremes.

The expectation that if I pushed the boss to a stronger stage, there might be additional rewards to match.

Threatening Batu with Avatar Manifestation and drawing out the true power he had been saving was precisely for that reason.

‘But that aside….’

Actually fighting him was a separate matter.

When Batu transformed into an eight-legged spider form, I could reasonably infer those patterns.

More needles and threads, slightly more complex attacks. It was merely an extension of patterns I’d seen in the game.

But the ‘new power’ Batu was about to unleash was different.

An unknown ability directly granted by the Evil Deities. There was a high possibility that completely new territory of patterns would unfold.

‘Accepting variables and making reckless gambles are different things.’

I had always only taken calculated risks. I enjoyed variables within predictable ranges, but had no intention of stepping into completely unknown territory.

Especially not in life-threatening situations like this.

‘The correct answer is to quickly move past unpredictable levels of danger.’

Therefore.

─What bullshit! You think you can avoid seeing it just because you don’t want to? It’s already too late! Tremble before my new power….

Ding-!

〔The effect of ‘Pendant Containing Great Spirit’s Tears’ activates.〕

〔Bound equipment and user’s mana are restored to 100%.〕

I intended to use, as always.

The most reliable and clean ‘method.’

〔MP : 0/1〕

Tick-.

〔MP : 1/1〕

My mana and sword energy filled up instantly thanks to the Great Spirit’s pendant effect.

Confirming this, I looked down at Batu with an indifferent yet infinitely calm expression.

“While the drugs those Ataraxy bastards gave you might have been able to erase pain.”

─What? H-how do you know that….

“It seems they couldn’t do anything about the fear deeply engraved within you.”

I continued in a calm yet cynical tone.

“No matter how ferociously you pretend on the surface, your essence remains the same. You’re nothing but a coward trembling while hiding in the shadows.”

─T-that’s….

Gulp-.

Batu swallowed as if struck by my words.

But he soon steeled himself and gritted his teeth.

─You bastard! Acting so leisurely until the very end…!

Kwaaaaaa-!

Batu charged at me with terrifying speed.

The creature transformed into a giant spider climbed up the wall like lightning, then leaped across the ceiling to the opposite wall in an instant.

Speed that grew faster and faster as he bounced around like a pinball.

As stone dust fell from all directions, Batu’s massive silhouette circled around me, leaving afterimages.

However….

〔MP : 1/1〕

Tick-.

〔MP : 0/1〕

Kwaaaaang-!

The world exploded in white.

A flash that tore through my vision.

Following the trajectory of my body’s movement, a single straight line was drawn in the air.

─…Huh?

A bewildered moan flowed from Batu’s mouth.

He still couldn’t even grasp what had happened.

He only felt that the moment he tried to attack, the sensation in his body suddenly became strange.

Splurt, splurrrrt-!

Batu’s body began to split diagonally along the line.

Soon blue fluid gushed up like a fountain, and the spider’s body, split into two pieces, fell to the floor with a wet thud.

A perfectly straight cut surface.

I lightly shook off the black slime on Feather Sword and looked down at Batu’s corpse.

‘It’s over.’

Just then.

Ding-!

〔Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword is quite dissatisfied with the opponent’s flesh quality.〕

“…?”

A message appeared in the corner of my vision along with the notification sound.

‘This has been popping up repeatedly since earlier….’

Why does she dislike Batu so much?

[That was a truly disgusting opponent.]

Yeonwoo’s voice contained genuine revulsion.

[At first it was in human form, but it got mixed up with strange things and became a monster that was neither this nor that, didn’t it? I prefer cutting beings that maintain their original purity.]

“….”

[The blood of such mongrels has no taste. It’s only murky and fishy. Above all, that blue slime feels like it’s defiling my blade. Hot, rich crimson blood at least has the fun of tasting….]

Chatter chatter-.

Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword began voicing her complaints as if she’d been waiting for the battle to end.

I let her words flow in one ear and out the other as I thought.

‘Hmm.’

It was something I’d felt countless times while playing the game too, but….

‘…No matter how I look at it, this guy should be classified as a demonic sword rather than a divine weapon.’

* * *

“Hehehe!”

Dungard’s Alley.

The Girl holding the Celestial Dragon’s Brain Core in her hand jumped up and down in celebration.

Like a child who had finally gotten their hands on a toy they’d wanted for so long, her face was filled with pure joy.

“As expected, it’s so easy and nice when I take action myself! You think so too, don’t you, Black Star?”

Wriggle wriggle-.

The ‘Black Star’ held in her other hand also writhed as if excited.

The Girl grinned and continued talking to herself.

“Hehe, not having to worry about annoying restrictions like the Heavenly Laws is so convenient and wonderful that I can’t even describe it…”

Stop-.

Right then, The Girl’s words were cut off.

Her gaze turned toward the Street Corner in the distance.

Swoosh-.

Through the dim Streetlamp Light, the silhouette of a man appeared.

A Young Man with dark blue hair and golden eyes, exuding a somehow mystical atmosphere.

“Ah…”

The Girl’s lips began to curve upward more and more.

“…Finally, we meet.”

The ‘first one’ she had so desperately wanted to see was right there.

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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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