Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 206

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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 206

Episode 206. Order of the Holy Maiden (3)

“….”

Upapa gave no answer to my question.

No.

To be precise, it would be more accurate to say she couldn’t.

Rumble──!

Just by asking the question, the air in the Underground Shrine began to fluctuate.

The ancient patterns carved into the cave walls flickered irregularly.

At the same time, an eerie energy seeped in, as if invisible gazes were watching this place from somewhere.

It was already a signal that the Evil Gods were approaching.

“I’ll explain quickly within the permitted boundaries.”

Upapa’s voice became urgent.

“Don’t miss a single word I say. There won’t be another chance to explain.”

The Saintess’s body trembled slightly.

As soon as she began her story, a burden was placed upon her physical form.

Continuing to speak about matters related to the Heavenly Laws was that dangerous.

“The laws are absolute. There exists an iron rule of mutual non-interference between the Heavenly Realm and the Lower Realm.”

“….”

“Just as we cannot directly intervene in your world, beings from the Lower Realm also cannot carelessly set foot in the Heavenly Realm unless given ‘sufficient qualification.'”

“….”

“But you broke that taboo. Despite being a being with insufficient karma, you crossed the boundary into the Heavenly Realm.”

Upapa’s explanation continued.

“Some gods opposed this unprecedented situation. And through a vote, they decided on a penalty.”

“….”

“While erasing all memories from the Heavenly Realm, they also granted the Evil Gods’ side authority for direct intervention.”

〔Hidden Message: The First Apostle intervenes in the scenario.〕

〔Hidden Message: The Second Apostle 「#̷̢̑@̷̜̯̋̔&̷̼̐̔͆^̷̮̹̼̊̆!̶̝̓̂̈%̷̸̵̡̛̣̭͙̳̓̂̌̎̔̌̂#̵̍̌̕」 intervenes in the scenario.〕

I suddenly remembered the notification windows I had seen at Puppet Master Batu’s Hideout.

The Apostles’ intervention wasn’t mere coincidence.

It was the direct price for breaking the Heavenly Realm’s taboo.

‘What the Necromancer said was true.’

At the time, she had revealed that because I crossed the line first, they too could now intervene directly.

Since I had broken the laws first, they were also fairly given an opportunity, or something like that.

It was a one-sided claim from the enemy, so it was difficult to accept immediately, but now cross-verification was complete.

The Apostle’s explanation and Upapa’s words matched exactly.

‘But….’

There was one strange point.

─The gods opposed this unprecedented situation.

‘…Gods?’

The expression Upapa had used just before bothered me.

To use the comprehensive word ‘gods’ instead of Exterior Circle or Outer Gods.

The structure of the Heavenly Realm I had grasped so far was clear.

The basic axis was the opposition between the Elders and the Evil Gods.

‘But there must be a reason for choosing an expression that encompasses both sides.’

Suddenly, one possibility flashed through my mind.

‘Could it be that not all the Elders support me?’

If so, I could think about this possibility in reverse.

Not all the Evil Gods might be hostile toward me either.

It meant there might be factions on that side who think favorably of me too.

This would make the words of Dorico Shiro and Puppet Master Batu start to make sense.

─You know what? The Authorities told us to get along with you too!

─The Authorities said to never harm you in exchange for giving us power! They asked us to subdue you if possible!

Of course, all of this was nothing more than incomplete speculation.

However.

If both sides, whether Elders or Evil Gods, were truly internally divided….

‘It would mean the structure of the Heavenly Realm is entangled in much more complex political dynamics than I expected.’

Trickle-.

At that moment, the sand in the hourglass had almost reached the bottom.

Simultaneously, the air in the Underground Shrine began to change eerily. An ominous energy circulated as if some invisible presence was writhing in the darkness.

The Saintess’s face contorted.

A pained expression that could be felt even through the veil.

She continued her explanation while breathing heavily.

“Of course, there isn’t only a penalty.”

“….”

“Under the Pantheon’s leadership… additional compensation vote proceeding… passed… the ability you need most right now….”

At some point, the Saintess’s words became fragmented. Fragmentary keywords poured out instead of complete sentences.

“Reward details… Possession target. Time. Location specification possible… □͆̄͠■҇̐̎͂̃’s□̏̓͡ community features unlocked sequentially in proportion to their number…”

It might be due to lack of time, but it also seemed like there was an intentional purpose to reduce the amount of information.

The reason was simple.

In meetings with the Saintess, the more information exchanged, the faster time accelerated.

Trickle-!

The fact that the hourglass was pouring at an exponentially faster rate right now proved this.

“Be careful… Exterior Circle also wants freely moving chess pieces… covets the Possessed One… new types might be born….”

I concentrated on each and every word.

All I could do now was remember every keyword Upapa threw out without missing any.

While it would be difficult to draw a complete picture right now, I would have to piece together these fragments later to grasp the truth.

“That’s enough.”

“….”

“Now go. Quickly.”

Before long, the Saintess’s tone returned to normal.

But her voice was already trembling as if it had reached its limit.

Cough-!

When she coughed, bloody phlegm splattered onto the pure white veil.

Drip-.

Of course, I had reached my limit as well.

‘…Ugh.’

Hot blood flowing from my nose began to wet my philtrum.

The hourglass had long since reached the bottom.

I hurriedly quickened my steps toward the outside of the cave.

Crack──!

In an instant, a splitting headache crashed over me.

Excruciating pain as if someone was swinging a sledgehammer deep inside my brain.

‘Damn it….’

If it was this severe even with my intermediate-level pain resistance, it meant a truly serious curse was accumulating.

My vision began to distort. Tinnitus rang in my ears, and every blood vessel in my body throbbed as if about to burst.

Just then.

“Thank you.”

The Saintess’s voice whispered in my ear.

“For protecting my children even in the midst of trials. And on top of that, showing me the hatching of a life with infinite possibilities, just as you promised.”

“….”

“I didn’t look favorably upon beings from another world. But you changed my mind, so I cast a vote in favor this time.”

Pause-.

My eyes widened.

The moment I heard Upapa’s words, a chill ran down my spine.

“You should be grateful, Upapa, since you received your reward by that one vote difference.”

“Wait…!”

There were mountains of things I wanted to ask.

But unfortunately, the time allotted to me had already passed.

I wanted to turn around immediately and continue the conversation even at the risk of my life.

But my body had already sustained damage beyond what it could endure.

Whoooosh-!

The moment I stepped outside the dungeon, The Saintess’s voice disappeared instantly.

It felt like suddenly surfacing from deep underwater. My muffled ears cleared, and breath burst from my oxygen-starved lungs all at once.

The air felt cool.

Hah, hah-.

But the sense of liberation was brief.

As the pressure crushing my chest disappeared, even more excruciating pain washed over me.

My head felt like it was splitting, and my entire body screamed in agony.

“…Damn it! The Protagonist! What are we going to do if you keep doing this!”

Almond’s voice reached me from far away.

I staggered and pressed my hand against the wall. My legs gave out and my knees trembled.

The world beyond my increasingly blurry vision swayed dizzily.

Retch-.

Something surged up from within.

I could see Almond shouting something and running toward me, but I could barely hear his voice now.

And.

Drop-.

My consciousness cut out, and everything was sucked into darkness.

* * *

Ding-!

〔Hidden Message: Additional rewards will be given.〕

〔Hidden Message: ̶̱͌͝!̵̞̈́$̸̘̫̃$̶͛͊͜*̶̸̨̛͖͔̮̒͛ability 【Player $̸̧͖̻͍̻̳̪̗͂ͅ&̵̖̳̝̱̙̯̻͍͗̋͂̇́̆@̸͚͙̠͈̮̫̱̭̠̔͛̈́̐̄̈́̑̓̾͘ͅ#Search @̷̲͓̘̎͛͌͂̎͐̿̐̃%̸͙́!̷̨̹̉́̕Function】 has been acquired.〕

…

〔Hidden Message: The forgotten Harmonizers are watching your movements.〕

〔Hidden Message: The invaders from another world are watching your movements.〕

* * *

Middle Temple’s conference room.

Six Sword Masters sat around a long table.

“Tsk….”

Bloodlust clicked her tongue irritably and looked up at the clock on the wall.

“…Why isn’t he coming?”

6 AM.

The meeting with The Saintess had been scheduled for 4 AM, so the schedule should have ended long ago.

But Gaon still hadn’t appeared.

Creeeeak-!

Just then, the conference room door opened and the High Priest appeared.

The old priest’s face bore a more serious expression than usual.

“Heretics, I’m truly sorry.”

“What’s the matter?”

Pean asked politely.

The High Priest hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a heavy expression.

“The Protagonist is… in critical condition.”

“…?”

“…?”

The conference room froze instantly.

* * *

Everything was black.

I was floating on a deep, dark sea of unconsciousness.

Countless thoughts passed through my mind.

‘I mustn’t forget.’

I reviewed each keyword Upapa had thrown out until the very end.

Possession target. Time. Location specification. Sequential unlocking of community functions. Oeyeonhoe also wants freely moving chess pieces. New type of Possessed One.

Through all these processes, one fact became clear.

‘The Elders and Evil Gods held a meeting together.’

Until now, I had thought both sides were in complete opposition.

But in reality, they were capable of negotiation.

‘What’s more interesting is the voting result.’

The fact that it barely passed by Upapa’s one vote meant the number of deities wary of me and those viewing me favorably was evenly matched.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced from deep in my unconscious. It was Upapa’s words I had heard in Rashutku’s Nightmare.

─You know what? The other guys are really full of greed. Even though I warned them so many times, they still ended up bringing in 「beings from another world」 and created this mess!

It was dialogue I had heard many times in the game.

Through this, players could speculate that it was The Elders who brought in the Evil Gods.

However.

Upapa’s last words I had just heard made a new interpretation possible.

─I didn’t look favorably upon beings from another world. But you changed my mind, so I cast a vote in favor this time.

Beings from another world.

I had simply thought that word only referred to the Evil Deities…

But a greater meaning was hidden within it.

“….”

Why hadn’t I realized it until now?

Why had I only thought those words meant the Evil Deities and their minions?

Even I, who had fallen into this world after playing the game for 200 cycles.

To them, I was no different from a being that had crossed over from another world.

Swoosh-.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.

Murals of patients receiving divine healing. And golden patterns drawn along the walls.

It was a hospital room in the Middle Temple.

“Phew….”

I slowly raised my upper body and let out a sigh.

My head was complicated with various thoughts.

Pause-.

But then.

The scene unfolding before my eyes completely wiped away all my distracting thoughts.

“Have you awakened?”

“…?”

What’s this?

Why are the Sword Masters gathered here?

And…

‘…Why is Adelia making that expression again?’

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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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