Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 244

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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 244

Episode 244. Battle of Vilopozy (2)

* * *

Ever since becoming a Sword Master.

Tyrant Dragon had never once missed anyone’s movements.

Having lived for hundreds of years and experienced countless battlefields, his dynamic vision honed through that process was close to instinct.

A transcendent being is one who has surpassed the limits possessed by mortals.

Therefore, it was impossible for Tyrant Dragon to fail to react to someone else’s movements.

‘But…’

Just one person.

Yes.

There was exactly one exception.

The man before his eyes, holding a sword and facing the chimeras alone.

The Thirteenth Sword Master, Gaon.

He was that one and only ‘exception’.

Just like right now.

Swish-!

Rumble rumble rumble rumble-!

‘What?’

In an instant, Tyrant Dragon’s eyes widened.

‘When did he swing his sword?’

Tyrant Dragon had tried not to miss any of Gaon’s movements.

He had opened his eyes as wide as possible and stared intently to ensure Gaon never left his field of vision, yet he still couldn’t understand the moment when Gaon moved.

That split second.

The chimeras that had been rushing toward Vilopozy also collapsed in an instant.

‘What the hell…!’

Murmur murmur-.

At the same time, bewildered voices erupted from among the dwarves.

Without any warning, the enemies had suddenly been split apart. As if the intermediate process had disappeared entirely.

Of course, Tyrant Dragon could tell immediately. That Gaon was the one who had done all this.

Though he maintained the same posture as before, his Feather Sword glowing hot was proof of that.

‘How on earth…’

It was astounding.

Gaon’s skill had always been like this.

From when they first met in Labyrinth Village, to defeating Corrupted Zack von Haibrunn, to slaying Tyrant Dragon’s doppelganger at the Forge of the Single Flame. It had all been like this.

Mysterious swordsmanship that was impossible to analyze no matter how many times he watched.

Despite being fellow transcendents, there was an insurmountable wall between Gaon and himself. He didn’t know what it was, but that gap definitely existed.

Right then.

“Follow behind me.”

Gaon turned around and gave a concise command.

“It’ll be over in an instant, so stay sharp.”

“What? What do you mean…”

ROOOOOOOOOOOAR──!

There was no time to react.

With an ear-splitting roar, Gaon’s figure disappeared like lightning.

“…!”

The next moment, a miraculous scene unfolded.

The horde of monsters rushing forward like a black wave suddenly split left and right.

Riiiiip-!

A pure white passage appeared. Through the gap between the monster hordes, the desolate earth of the Uncharted Wilderness revealed itself along with light.

A strange sight, as if someone had slashed through a pitch-black curtain with a blade.

The bodies of monsters at the boundary of the split path were torn away. From the cleanly severed cross-sections, dark red fountains began spraying in all directions.

Kieeeeeeeek-!

Chimeras screaming and thrashing in pain.

Witnessing that scene, Tyrant Dragon felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

‘This is…’

That strike Gaon had used at the Forge of the Single Flame to cut down his doppelganger and the transcendent spirit in one blow.

This time too, with that swordsmanship, he had sliced through dozens of chimera monsters at once, creating a perfect path.

“Hey, Tyrant Dragon!”

Right then.

Mangnyeom shouted with a slightly irritated voice.

“Hurry up and follow! What are you doing!”

Clatter clatter clatter-!

While Tyrant Dragon was staring blankly at Gaon’s strike, Mangnyeom had already begun sprinting along the passage Gaon had opened.

Her movements were fast and decisive.

The path carved through the chimeras gradually narrowed. The surviving monsters on both sides filled the gap.

“I said hurry up and follow, you lizard bastard!”

“Damn it…!”

Tyrant Dragon snapped to attention and hurriedly gave chase, shouting.

“Only at times like this do you call me by my proper name! You fake dementia patient!”

Clatter clatter-!

Tyrant Dragon and Mangnyeom.

These two charged deep into enemy lines along the path Gaon had created.

“Phew…”

Meanwhile.

At Vilopozy’s defensive line, where the two Sword Masters had departed.

Adelia exhaled deeply and gazed at the remaining chimeras.

Her eyes held a solemn resolve.

Whooom, whooooom-!

Shadow swords began rising one by one behind her back. The meteor-like blades glinted coldly in the sunlight.

Thanks to Gaon opening a path, the number of chimeras had decreased by nearly half. The monsters that would have originally trampled the defensive line with overwhelming numbers had been significantly reduced.

‘This much help is more than enough.’

Now that her assigned role was clear, it was finally time to fully display the skills she had honed.

At this position that The Protagonist had entrusted to her with faith, so she could live up to those expectations.

* * *

“…?”

Pause-.

Zahhar’s face, who had been looking down at the battlefield from the hilltop, hardened in an instant.

Gaon had swept away the chimera formation and broken through the encirclement. Mangnyeom and Tyrant Dragon were following behind at terrifying speed.

Zahhar was momentarily speechless.

He could feel the countless scenarios he had calculated in his head crumbling in an instant.

His plan to drag the Sword Masters into a war of attrition with chimera numbers and strike when their stamina dropped was being shaken to its core.

“No, what the hell is that…”

“I told you so!”

Dorico Shiro shouted as if frustrated.

“He’s incredibly strong, you know? Camillo and Puppet Master Batu also got taken out in one go because they let their guard down!”

She placed both hands on her hips and shouted confidently.

“You can’t be fooled by appearances! I also underestimated him at first and got beaten up!”

“…What?”

Zahhar’s eyes widened.

To think that Dorico Shiro, who could be called the natural enemy of Sword Masters, had been subdued by Gaon.

The fact that illusions didn’t work on him meant that Gaon’s mental strength was also considerable.

Of course, he had already expected this.

Yesterday, Gaon had shown an indifferent attitude even to his killing intent.

But there was a clear difference between knowing something through hearsay and actually seeing it.

‘Damn it….’

Gaon’s abilities were far more overwhelming than Zahhar had anticipated.

Despite his ordinary appearance, he knew Gaon was quite skilled, but he never imagined he would be this strong.

The sight of him sweeping away dozens of chimeras in an instant and creating a perfect breakthrough was on a completely different level from what he had heard.

“Huh? Wait a minute.”

Just then.

Hodupayi cautiously interjected.

Looking at Dorico Shiro, he asked with a puzzled expression.

“Y-you were also subdued by Gaon?”

“Yeah.”

“But how are you still alive and well? You said fellow Worshippers of Evil Gods Camillo von Taribas and Puppet Master Batu died, right?”

“Oh, that?”

Dorico Shiro answered nonchalantly.

“I became friends with Gaon! So he spared me, you know?”

“…?”

Hodupayi, who wore a blank expression for a moment, scratched his head with a complicated look.

Soon after, he muttered as if genuinely troubled.

“Ah shit, then should I just surrender and ask to be friends too?”

“Wow! That’s good too! Gaon would definitely be happy!”

While Dorico Shiro suddenly changed and smiled brightly, Hodupayi continued his monologue, lost in his own world.

“Looking at this, we seem properly fucked. So it wasn’t about fighting three Sword Masters after all. Shit. I joined because I could make a Thunder Zombie Dragon. At this rate, all the chimeras and Bone Dragons will get sliced up, and we’ll die too. I really wanted to properly make a Thunder Zombie Dragon at least once in my lifetime….”

“Hodupayi.”

“…Yes?”

“Stop talking nonsense and go stitch together those sliced chimeras right now. Right now.”

Snap-.

Zahhar cut him off with a cold voice.

The chimeras weren’t finished just because they died.

Using black magic, corpses could be woven together to synthesize new chimeras on the spot.

It meant that once Hodupayi assembled them, Zahhar and Dorico Shiro could resurrect them as undead.

This was one of the most powerful advantages that chimeras possessed.

However.

“Uh. That won’t work though?”

“…?”

For some reason, Hodupayi flatly refused.

Crack-.

Wrinkles formed on Zahhar’s brow.

He, who had been endlessly calm with his teammates, bared his teeth and growled at Hodupayi with an angry voice.

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

“Eek.”

“Are you really planning to become friends with Gaon like that bastard Dorico Shiro said and preserve your life! Can you still call yourself a member of Ataraxy after doing that…!”

“No! No! No! Wait!”

Hodupayi frantically waved his hands.

“C-calm down! Please listen to me until the end! Please!”

He pleaded almost desperately.

“It’s not that I’m refusing to obey Zahhar-nim’s orders, but they really can’t be revived! Really!”

“…?”

“I don’t know what trick those bastards pulled, but the link with the chimeras has been completely severed, you know?”

Pause-.

Zahhar showed a flustered expression upon hearing those words.

The next moment, Dorico Shiro raised her hand high and interjected with a bright voice.

“I know the reason! Gaon can eliminate immortality, you know!”

“…?”

“It doesn’t matter if they’re high-level undead, chimeras, or Worshippers of Evil Gods! The ones Gaon kills can’t even revive and die instantly with a gulp!”

Silence flowed.

Zahhar looked at Dorico Shiro with an expression that truly seemed frustrated and exasperated.

After staring at her like that for a while, he opened his mouth with a deep sigh.

“Dorico Shiro.”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me things like that in advance from now on…. Please….”

Deep fatigue was evident in Zahhar’s voice.

“Yeah! Got it!”

Dorico Shiro answered brightly.

‘Sigh.’

Hodupayi, who watched this scene, sighed inwardly.

‘As expected, she’s unreliable.’

From the first time he saw her, Dorico Shiro seemed utterly untrustworthy.

It was good that they requested help from Ataraxy headquarters. Really.

If it hadn’t been for Zahhar, this whole affair would have gone completely wrong. It was a situation that Hodupayi and Dorico Shiro alone could never handle.

“….”

Of course.

From Zahhar’s perspective, this entire situation was frustrating beyond measure.

“Whew.”

Zahhar let out a deep sigh.

Originally, he had planned to finish things simply while in polymorph state.

He intended to face the dogs of the Old Ones while maintaining human form.

After all, Dorico Shiro was the natural enemy of Sword Masters, and with the chimera legion and Bone Dragons present, it seemed he wouldn’t need to step forward himself.

But looking at the situation now, such complacent thinking wouldn’t work.

‘This guy called Gaon is much stronger than expected.’

To think he could sweep away dozens of chimeras in an instant and even neutralize immortality. On top of that, his mental strength was outstanding enough to subdue even Dorico Shiro.

Zahhar’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“This won’t do.”

He made his decision. To unleash all his power.

Kugugugugugu-!

Instantly, tremendous magical power erupted from Zahhar’s body.

Zzzzzzzt-!

The atmosphere vibrated, and the surrounding rocks began to crack under the pressure. Dorico Shiro and Hodupayi quickly stepped back.

Crack, crack-!

His skeleton creaked as it stretched. The body that had maintained human form began to regain its original appearance.

His muscles swelled, and his skin transformed into hard scales. Massive wings spread from his back, his neck elongated, and his head shifted into the form of a dragon.

And finally.

A white dragon as massive as a mountain range appeared in that spot.

Kuooooooo-!

A roar that tore through the sky shook all of Vilopozy. In the distance, the dwarves who had been fighting chimeras at the defense line looked up with terror-stricken expressions.

“Wh-what is that now…!”

“It’s a dragon! A real dragon!”

Voices filled with shock erupted from all directions.

Zahhar raised his massive head and looked down at the battlefield. His gaze turned toward the direction where Gaon and the two Sword Masters stood.

[Now.]

The low, deep voice emerging from the dragon’s mouth made the earth tremble.

[Come at me, you worms.]

* * *

“…!”

The moment the white dragon Zahhar’s voice echoed.

Flinch-.

Tyrant Dragon’s body stiffened.

Memories buried deep in his heart for hundreds of years all came flooding back at once. Nightmare-like moments that wouldn’t fade no matter how hard he tried to shake them off.

“You handle Zahhar, Tyrant Dragon.”

Gaon’s voice reached him.

“This is already the third time.”

The third time.

Yes. It was exactly the third time.

The first was hundreds of years ago, the day that became the most horrific memory for Tyrant Dragon.

That moment of humiliation when the village that had embraced him was annihilated, and he was completely subjugated before the pureblooded Dragon Clan. The day he painfully realized he was a half-breed existence.

The second was at the Spring of the Ancient Dragon.

Even then, he was helplessly defeated before Zahhar. The nightmare of the past where he could do nothing. He could only be trampled endlessly.

And now.

This moment was the third time.

‘Again…’

Tyrant Dragon’s fists trembled.

Would the same situation repeat itself again? Would he have to face his limitations once more, suffer humiliation, and be consumed by helplessness?

‘No.’

Tyrant Dragon slowly raised his head.

─Face your mistakes, acknowledge your limits, and rise above them.

Just because he had knelt in the past didn’t mean he had to live that way forever. Just because he had hit a wall didn’t mean he could never cross that line.

What mattered was falling down and getting back up again.

He couldn’t run away. He shouldn’t run away. If he turned his back this time too, he would never be able to escape that shackle for the rest of his life.

‘This time at least…’

Tyrant Dragon’s eyes changed.

It wasn’t a desire for revenge to repay past humiliations. It wasn’t arrogance to prove himself either. There was only pure will—the desire to take one more step forward.

“I leave my back to you, Gaon.”

Firm resolve settled in the eyes of Tyrant Dragon as he drew Pokryeomdo. A determination to no longer run away was embedded in his voice.

“I will take that bastard’s head.”

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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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