Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 228

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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 228

Episode 228. The Ancient Dragon’s Spring (1)

Whoooosh—.

Underground of the Middle Temple Cathedral.

The air in the hidden chamber was cold and heavy.

In the eerie atmosphere where the aura of death seemed to have settled, a pure white cloth was spread over a stone platform.

Five priests surrounded it.

They were the core of Middle Temple and the most influential figures in the Holy City.

“…”

“…”

“…”

No one could speak first.

Everyone just maintained silence while staring at the corpse covered by the cloth.

Swish—.

Then, Arwen von Goldhart carefully lifted one side of the cloth.

As the pure white cloth was pulled back, something was revealed.

Human bones.

The skull-shaped black helmet was miserably shattered, and beneath it, a cracked skull was exposed. His signature black iron armor decorated with bones was partially destroyed in various places.

Traces of torn and crushed steel.

Clear cut surfaces as if sliced by something sharp were mixed with dented marks from blunt impacts.

‘This is quite serious…’

Arwen’s eyes darkened.

He couldn’t believe that a Sword Master like Heukgol had been so brutally defeated.

Rustle—.

Arwen, who had been examining the corpse, covered it with the cloth again.

He let out a deep sigh and looked around, seeing the tense faces of the priests. Everyone had serious expressions.

Then Arwen slowly opened his mouth.

“Count of Heukgol is a Death Knight. His Life Vessel is safely kept by the Sword Master of Solitude, so he will resurrect someday.”

Nod—.

The priests slowly nodded their heads.

It was a fact everyone knew.

Heukgol had already faced death once before in the past.

Records remained in Middle Temple’s archives that he had died in battle against Camillo von Taribas hundreds of years ago.

Even then, he had been resurrected thanks to his Life Vessel, and after several years of recovery, he had regained his original power.

Due to the immortal nature of Death Knights, Heukgol would resurrect this time as well.

‘So there’s no need to worry excessively.’

However.

The problem lay elsewhere.

‘Who on earth, and how, drove Count of Heukgol to this state…’

Swish—.

Arwen slowly turned his head.

Where his gaze landed, a Sword Master stood with a blank expression.

Bloodlust.

She was the one who had brought Heukgol’s corpse to this place.

Her face, which would normally be filled with rough and fierce energy, contained no emotion whatsoever.

Arwen carefully approached and asked.

“Bloodlust.”

“…”

“What on earth happened to Count of Heukgol?”

Scratch scratch—.

Bloodlust began scratching her neck with her long nails. It seemed like an unconscious habit.

Huu—.

After letting out a short sigh, she finally opened her mouth.

“I don’t know exactly either.”

“…”

“I was traveling through the Abyss after the gathering ended, when I received a revelation from The Great Ones. They said Heukgol was in danger and to go help him immediately.”

Bloodlust continued speaking.

“So I moved to the location the revelation told me about… and he was already like that. Defeated by some mysterious person.”

Arwen’s expression hardened.

“A mysterious person?”

“Yeah.”

Bloodlust nodded expressionlessly.

Scratch scratch—.

Red blood began to seep from her fingertips as she continued scratching her neck. Thin streams of blood flowed down her pale skin.

But Bloodlust seemed unaware of this fact and kept scratching her neck.

Swish—.

Bloodlust looked straight at Arwen and continued speaking.

“He was about as tall as Tyrant Dragon, wearing a loose robe so I couldn’t see his build well. I couldn’t confirm his race or appearance either.”

“Was that mysterious person unharmed?”

“Well, he ran away as soon as he encountered me… but judging by how fast he moved, he didn’t seem seriously injured.”

Scratch scratch—.

Bloodlust paused for a moment.

More blood seeped between her fingernails. The wound on her neck was getting deeper.

“I tried to chase him, but the monsters of the Abyss heard the commotion and came swarming. It seemed like recovering Heukgol’s body was the priority, so I couldn’t pursue.”

Drip—.

Silence filled the chamber.

The priests’ expressions became even more serious. Someone furrowed their brow, while someone else bit their lips tightly.

‘A skilled fighter capable of killing a Sword Master without major injuries…’

Arwen’s brow furrowed.

‘And if he’s a swordsman…?’

There were few people who came to mind.

The Golem Knight, known as one of the Five Nightmares.

Or.

“Bloodlust.”

Arwen carefully spoke up.

“Could there be a possibility that he’s a fellow Sword Master…”

“Absolutely not.”

Thud—.

Before Arwen could even finish speaking, Bloodlust firmly denied that possibility.

“If he were a Heretic, I would have recognized him at a glance even with the robe on. But he was really someone I’d never seen before. He didn’t give off the distinctive aura of Worshippers of Evil Gods either.”

Bloodlust’s voice carried conviction.

Hearing those words, Arwen von Goldhart fell silent for a moment.

The fact that Bloodlust spoke with such certainty meant…

‘…Could it mean that a completely new third enemy has appeared?’

Swish—.

Arwen looked around at the other priests.

Everyone was looking at each other with serious expressions.

Their gazes met.

One priest nodded slightly, while another priest pressed his lips together and showed a sign of agreement.

There was no need for lengthy words. These were people who had worked together for a long time. They could tell what each other wanted just by looking at their expressions.

Arwen let out a short breath.

It seemed a decision had been made.

“Lord Bloodlust, please guide us to the scene.”

“…?”

“We will search for traces of the attacker using the sacred relic ‘Aiter’s Mirror of Recollection.'”

* * *

Wintershield Magic Academy.

Teaching assistant dormitory located in one corner of the research building.

“Mmph.”

Strawberry Latte tossed and turned on the bed before opening his eyes.

‘What time is it…?’

His body felt heavy.

After staying up for several nights, he had finally gotten proper sleep for the first time last night, but it seemed his fatigue hadn’t completely lifted.

Research on breaking through the 4th tier in one go. The barrage of questions that Professor Biyolf and Professor Selena took turns firing at him.

The thesis draft he had to write all night with Isaac Beriloff. And all sorts of experiments and verification processes on top of that.

“Phew….”

Strawberry Latte sighed and raised his upper body, reaching his hand toward the air.

‘…Let me check my messages first.’

Ding-!

Messages he hadn’t been able to check were piled up.

His finger scrolling down paused for a moment.

[MiddleFinger] : Made contact with the Mute Sisters.

[MiddleFinger] : Ended the conversation well, so we’ll probably move our base to the Holy City after this scenario ends.

[MiddleFinger] : I’ll rescue Sister Muwolcha safely too.

[MiddleFinger] : No wait, Tyrant Dragon keeps messing up and his disciple’s affection is dropping… What if they don’t become master and disciple?

It was a simple update.

Gaon and Strawberry Latte were always like this.

They briefly shared what they were doing in their respective positions, and informed each other when something important happened.

‘The chat restriction was just lifted too….’

He wanted to send a reply.

He wanted to respond appropriately while talking about his own situation, and complain about how difficult the research had been.

But.

‘…Not right now.’

Strawberry Latte turned his gaze to the message window that appeared on the side.

Messages he had sent to Muwolcha were densely packed. These were messages he had sent in the most compressed form possible whenever the message restriction lifted, starting right after she possessed into this world.

Current situation. Key figures. Things to be careful about.

He had poured all his messages into delivering only essential information so that the new possessed one could adapt without confusion.

Because of that, he didn’t have the luxury to reply to Gaon.

Swish-.

He returned to the message window with Gaon and scrolled down.

Another message appeared.

[MiddleFinger] : You’re preparing well for the Wintershield defense battle in your spare time, right?

The Wintershield defense battle.

It was the most important episode in the middle part of Lost Elder.

If they failed to protect Wintershield Magic Academy here, the apocalypse would accelerate rapidly.

Though it was still a scenario far in the future, it was the most important preparation task for Strawberry Latte, who had to be tied to the Magic Academy unlike Gaon who traveled around the continent.

Of course, there was nothing to worry about. Since they had played together for 12 years and shared strategies, Strawberry Latte thoroughly understood what Gaon wanted.

‘Sigh, I have a mountain of work to do too….’

Strawberry Latte slowly exhaled and began organizing his future schedule in his head.

It wasn’t just the Wintershield defense battle. Major scenarios that would determine the fate of this world came to mind one after another.

Each one was a turning point that would lead to irreversible catastrophe if failed.

Ding-!

Just then.

[MiddleFinger] : Hey.

[MiddleFinger] : The Intruder scenario has started.

“…?”

Freeze-.

In an instant, Strawberry Latte’s body stiffened.

His eyes widened at the completely unexpected situation.

[Strawberry Latte(Me)] : No way wtf

[Strawberry Latte(Me)] : Why is that starting already?

One of the ‘turning points’ of the apocalypse….

Had begun without any warning.

* * *

─The aunts urgently called for The Protagonists. They said the disaster that Gaon oppa worries about most is about to begin.

The disasters I worry about number over ten.

Well, Roel was originally a game where endless incidents and accidents came rushing in.

But.

If I had to pick what I worry about ‘most’ in the current situation?

Only one name came to mind.

【Intruder】

The one who hunts Sword Masters. A transcendent being from the Abyss who eliminates The Protagonists one by one and collapses the world’s defenses.

“….”

Actually, there hadn’t been no warning signs at all.

A few days ago, the full assembly of all Sword Masters at Middle Temple.

That too was one of the important turning points.

It was the very starting point of that event where Pean loses his life and becomes unable to appear in the latter half.

At that time, I had fallen into contemplation.

‘Is this assembly really the trigger for that event?’

Then, some time later.

Through my meeting with Upapa, I became certain.

That it wasn’t yet time for the Intruder scenario to begin.

I had concluded that the purpose of the assembly was solely for the conversation between me and the Elders, and had nothing to do with the Intruder.

But….

“The aunts are saying that an Intruder has appeared.”

Thud-.

At the girl’s words, my thoughts came to a complete halt.

The Abode of the Soulless Sisters. More than ten clones were staring at me intently with emotionless eyes.

A creaking sound came from the old wooden chair. I had unconsciously gripped the armrest tightly.

That’s right.

The previous heretic assembly was indeed the starting point of the Intruder scenario.

‘Shit….’

I almost let a curse slip out of my mouth.

Although I had encountered various variables as causality twisted, this scenario was the most serious among them all.

In terms of difficulty alone, it was a much more troublesome opponent than facing the Outer Gods in Rashutku’s Nightmare.

‘…Why didn’t Upapa tell me about this?’

There was no mention of the Intruder whatsoever during my meeting with Upapa.

He had rambled on about the Possessed One and the Heavenly Realm, but completely omitted the most important information.

What was particularly concerning was.

‘Right now, I have a mountain of things to do….’

Just the tasks I needed to handle immediately were too numerous to count.

But if I had to worry about the Intruder too?

I would need to completely revise multiple plans.

‘…The real danger of the Intruder lies elsewhere.’

Once it appears, it can show up anywhere, anytime, intertwined with other scenarios.

It was something I had experienced countless times in the game.

When I had struggled, really struggled to defeat a boss of a particular scenario. Right at that moment when all recovery items were depleted and party members’ HP and MP were nearly exhausted.

There were countless cases where the Intruder would suddenly appear and wipe out the entire party.

‘From now on, I can’t let my guard down for even a single moment.’

Even if I achieve a clean victory in a boss battle, all calculations crumble the moment the Intruder appears.

Should I conserve my strength in preparation for the Intruder that could appear at any time? Then I can’t defeat the boss.

Should I pour out all my strength? Then I’ll be caught off guard by the suddenly appearing Intruder.

A perfect dilemma.

For someone like me who relies on the single skill 【Soul of the Sword Master】 for most boss battles, this was nothing short of the worst possible situation.

Whew-.

I slowly exhaled and organized my thoughts.

‘In that case….’

Swoosh-.

I slowly raised my head.

The plan I had been considering since the past. Now was the time to put it into action.

The Mandrake I had obtained from Torong Village. Quite some time had passed since I acquired that item, but I still hadn’t consumed it.

Of course, I was dying to devour it immediately.

But I had endured and held back.

Only by consuming it when my constitution was completely stabilized and my mana flow was optimized could I fully enjoy the true value of the Mandrake.

─If I visit the Sisterhood of the Forsaken soon, such an opportunity will come.

And now….

‘I can’t wait any longer.’

…Having made my decision, I clenched my fist tightly.

〔MP : 0/1〕

I had delayed it as much as possible due to the terrible growth efficiency.

But now that the Intruder had appeared, breaking through my greatest limitation was the only solution to this situation.

…It was time to increase my mana.

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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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