Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 207

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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 207

Episode 207. Growing Misunderstandings (1)

Haa, ha-.

VIP Room of the Middle Temple Infirmary.

Gentle breathing sounds echoed through the private room finished with white marble.

Gaon’s face as he lay on the sickbed was deathly pale. Only his quiet breathing proved that he was still alive.

“Lord Gaon…”

Adelia, who had been watching him, murmured with a worried voice.

Wooong, woooong-.

Gaon receiving healing while surrounded by three or four healers.

Thud, thud-.

Then, a young man began approaching to explain the situation.

“Excuse me, Seekers.”

Amond von Goldhart.

Though he was the youngest in age, he was one of the most talented healers even within Middle Temple.

“How is Gaon’s condition?”

When Tyrant Dragon casually threw out the question, Amond wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and said.

“He’s passed the critical point for now.”

“…”

“But we can’t be relieved yet. The curse of the Evil Deities has accumulated abnormally in his body. His liver, heart, lungs. Most of his major organs have rotted away.”

Amond trailed off for a moment, then continued his explanation with a furrowed brow.

“But… I just can’t understand it.”

“What part?”

“Lord Gaon didn’t stay in the Order of the Holy Maiden for that long.”

“…”

“He’s paid too heavy a price compared to the time he exceeded. It doesn’t make sense for the curse to have accumulated this much.”

6 minutes and 4 seconds.

That was the time Gaon had stayed in the underground shrine.

He had only exceeded the permitted time by a mere 4 seconds or so.

It was close, but not within a range that would be life-threatening.

Even during the first meeting, Gaon had stayed in the underground shrine much longer than now.

But even then, he hadn’t suffered such serious aftereffects.

“Then…”

Pean, who had been quietly listening to Amond’s explanation, interjected.

“You’re saying this current situation wasn’t caused by simply exceeding the time limit.”

“Yes.”

Amond nodded.

“It’s abnormal for such a serious curse to accumulate from exceeding the time in the Order of the Holy Maiden by just 4 seconds. There must definitely be another factor at work.”

Everyone fell silent at those words.

How much more time passed like that?

Adelia, who had been thinking for a moment, carefully opened her mouth.

“Amond.”

“Yeah, sister.”

“What did you say when you checked Gaon’s physical condition last time?”

Amond, recalling his memory, gave an answer.

“At that time, excluding the curse, Lord Gaon’s physical condition was very healthy…”

“No.”

Adelia firmly cut off his words. She remembered the situation from that day more accurately than anyone.

“You said there were traces of Lord Gaon’s body structure changing drastically.”

“Ah.”

Amond thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Right. Though it was very subtle, there were definitely such traces. Traces as if his entire body had been reconstructed.”

“…”

“…”

The Sword Masters who heard those words each wore serious expressions and fell into thought.

‘The entire body being reconstructed…’

Pean muttered to himself.

Body reconstruction. Drastic changes. And the abnormal phenomenon happening now.

Various clues began to intertwine complexly in his mind.

And after a moment.

Pean was finally able to reach one conclusion.

“As you all know…”

Having finished his thoughts, he presented his hypothesis before everyone.

“The very concept of a physical body is meaningless to Gaon.”

“…?”

“…?”

Whoosh-.

The other Sword Masters’ gazes focused on Pean all at once.

As if asking what he meant by that.

“As you all saw in his duel with Bloodlust, Gaon possesses the ability to freely create and switch between ‘bodies’.”

Pean’s voice carried conviction as he continued his explanation.

Mukyeonjiju, the shell of an Outsider, and even Puppet Master Batu.

Having fought countless battles together and directly witnessed Gaon’s abilities, he could say this with certainty.

“Gaon can create multiple identical bodies and handle them freely as if they had existed from the beginning.”

Nod nod-.

The Sword Masters who heard this slowly nodded their heads.

That was certainly true.

The ability Gaon had shown in his duel with Bloodlust was on a completely different level from simple clone techniques or illusions.

It wasn’t an illusion, but literally the creation of another body with substance.

“…”

“…”

Meanwhile.

Tyrant Dragon and Heukgol suddenly recalled something Adelia had said in the past.

─Lord Gaon… is a transcendent being for whom even shells are meaningless.

The answer Adelia had given to the question of how Gaon’s racial characteristics could change every time.

At the time, they had thought it was just a simple metaphor or exaggerated expression.

But thinking about it again, Adelia had accurately grasped Gaon’s essence.

To Gaon, a physical body was merely a tool used temporarily.

Like a shell that could be discarded and remade at any time.

“Therefore…”

Pean’s explanation continued.

“I don’t think we should view this incident simply from the perspective of the ‘body’.”

“…?”

“…?”

The Sword Masters all looked puzzled at the suddenly academic explanation.

Their eyes showed they wanted a more detailed explanation.

In response, Pean summarized his hypothesis in a single sentence that everyone could understand.

“What if the Evil God’s curse is bound not to Gaon’s body, but to his soul itself?”

And.

As soon as those words ended.

Different thoughts began to accumulate in the minds of everyone in the hospital room.

‘Gaon is…’

Pean fell into contemplation for a moment. Images of Gaon that he had witnessed up until now flashed through his mind.

‘…a great being who chose to remain alone on this earth in a mortal body, bearing all kinds of restrictions, despite the establishment of the Heavenly Laws.’

Therefore, Gaon was inevitably in a position where he had no choice but to receive the hatred of the Evil Gods.

It was only natural that curses would follow him like a brand.

‘If that’s the case…’

Suddenly, one possibility came to mind.

‘…that ability to change bodies might not be a simple combat technique either.’

Perhaps it was a desperate means for survival, devised to escape from the Evil Gods’ brand that constantly followed him.

However.

Looking at the current situation, it seemed that such efforts were not a complete solution.

“Ah…”

Meanwhile, Adelia thought in a completely different direction.

Her face turned pale.

In a situation where the thought that Gaon didn’t have much life left had solidified.

If the curse was directly bound to his soul as Pean said, it would perfectly explain why Almond couldn’t find any serious abnormalities on the surface.

It meant that while he appeared fine on the outside, he was actually being slowly devoured from deep within his soul.

‘And yet…’

Adelia looked at Gaon lying on the bed.

‘…did you continue moving forward while burning your soul?’

That nobility of trying to protect others until the end, even knowing that his own life didn’t have much time left, felt quite sublime.

“…”

“…”

On the other hand.

Heukgol and Tyrant Dragon viewed the situation from yet another perspective.

These two knew that Gaon already had countless restrictions placed upon him.

‘Even in such a situation, he showed such overwhelming skill…’

And on top of that, an Evil God’s curse was bound to his soul?

‘…just what level has the original Gaon reached?’

It was dizzying just to imagine.

If he could display this level of martial prowess while suffering from all kinds of restrictions and curses, it meant that Gaon in his complete state had reached an unfathomable realm.

Though they were three different lines of reasoning that started from different points, all paths eventually converged to one conclusion.

Gaon was facing the worst possible situation.

A sacred covenant harsher than anyone else’s. An Evil God’s curse. And countless unknown restrictions and shackles were weighing him down.

Yet he did not give up.

He squeezed out all the power he possessed and never stopped his noble march to save this world.

That sublime will was something no one present could deny.

Rustle-.

Just then.

“Phew…”

The sound of a sigh coming from the sickbed.

At the same time, Gaon slowly began to raise his upper body.

Looking around the room, he asked with a slightly bewildered expression.

“…Why is everyone gathered here?”

* * *

Refreshing.

That was the first thought that came to mind the moment I regained consciousness.

My whole body felt light, like someone who had suddenly recovered from a long illness. It was probably thanks to sleeping so deeply and being carefully healed by several clerics.

‘…It looks like three or four healers worked on me at once.’

Ding, ding, ding-!

As I came to my senses, several System Messages appeared one after another in the corner of my vision.

A notification that my health recovery speed had increased thanks to my dragon body characteristics. A message that my pain resistance had increased by one level.

And…

‘What’s this?’

…There was one particularly concerning notification window, but right now there was a more serious problem than that.

“Lord Gaon.”

Pause-.

I felt gazes directed toward me.

When I looked up, I could see that all the Sword Masters were watching me with serious expressions.

Pean asked a question representing everyone.

“Are you feeling alright?”

I nodded and answered.

“Thanks to the healers, I’m actually in better condition than before.”

At my polite words, the healers bowed their heads deeply, expressing their gratitude.

However, Pean’s brow was still furrowed.

“It was a really dangerous situation. If we had been just a little later…”

“It’s fine. My body is really perfectly fine.”

“…”

“I just pushed myself a little too hard at the Order of the Holy Maiden. I apologize for not managing my time properly.”

I finished speaking and glanced at Almond.

Sure enough, he was making a sulky expression.

Well, what could I do.

It’s not like I wanted to exceed the time limit either.

‘But…’

Was this really something to create such a serious atmosphere over?

In this dark fantasy world setting, what’s the big deal about a few organs rotting.

Rustle-.

I slowly got up from the bed while thinking such thoughts.

Seeing this, Adelia began trying to stop me with wide eyes.

“Lord Gaon, you should still take some rest…!”

“Time is of the essence.”

I cut off Adelia’s words.

“Let’s move to the meeting room now. I need to convey the reason why The Great Ones summoned the Sword Masters.”

“B-but…”

Step-.

I ignored Adelia and took a step forward.

After hesitating for a moment, the others began walking behind me as if they had no choice.

‘Let’s see.’

While moving toward the meeting room, I carefully examined the notification windows.

Ding-!

〔Additional Reward: ̶̱͌͝!̵̞̈́$̸̘̫̃$̶͛͊͜*̶̸̨̛͖͔̮̒͛ ability 【Player $̸̧͖̻͍̻̳̪̗͂ͅ&̵̖̳̝̱̙̯̻͍͗̋͂̇́̆@̸͚͙̠͈̮̫̱̭̠̔͛̈́̐̄̈́̑̓̾͘ͅ#Search @̷̲͓̘̎͛͌͂̎͐̿̐̃%̸͙́!̷̨̹̉́̕Function】 has been activated.〕

〔Muwolcha has started the 199th cycle.〕

〔Cycles remaining until World Entry: ‘1’〕

This must have been the additional reward Upapa mentioned.

Some of the text was corrupted, but I could grasp the essence.

‘Player Search Function.’

In the past, I would only learn about Strawberry Latte’s possession through notification windows after the fact, but now I had time to prepare in advance for the Possessed One.

Not only that…

〔Spawn Time: Approximately one week from now〕

〔Spawn Location: Villopoze, the Dungeon Town〕

‘…To think they’d provide such specific details about time and location.’

It was far more detailed information than I had expected.

With this level of detail, future contact with other Possessed Ones would be much easier.

From now on, I could approach them systematically rather than leaving it to chance.

‘Not a bad situation.’

Villopoze, the Dungeon Town (Below-forge).

It was the spawn area where Martial Arts characters first set foot.

At the same time, it was also land that the Sisterhood of the Forsaken had long used as their stronghold.

Since I had originally planned to visit that place anyway, there was no need to create additional schedules.

To accomplish both objectives with a single journey.

It couldn’t be more efficient than this.

‘Of course, the dangers and trials I’ll face in the process won’t be trivial…’

Swoosh-.

I glanced back over my shoulder at the Sword Master following behind me.

‘…If I can properly utilize them, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.’

The Strongest Characters in the World were lined up behind me.

Six of them, no less.

It was enough force to adequately respond to whatever threat might come.

‘Before long, my every word will be accepted as Elder’s revelation.’

Under the pretext of being the will of The Great Ones received from the Order of the Holy Maiden.

The Sword Masters would have no choice but to follow the direction I presented.

Even if…

‘All of it was a lie.’

* * *

Ding-!

〔Hidden Message: Some gods belonging to the Hall of Ten Thousand Gods express concern about whether this is acceptable.〕

〔Hidden Message: ‘Master of Life and Earth’ argues that we should trust the middle finger.〕

〔Hidden Message: ‘The Owner of the Forge and the Flame’ restrains them, saying the middle finger must have its reasons.〕

〔Hidden Message: ‘Master of Latent Potential and Rebirth’ gives the middle finger to those who don’t trust the middle finger…〕

Ding-!

〔Hidden Message: The meeting minutes are censored by consensus of the Pantheon.〕

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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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