Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 246

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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 246

Episode 246. Battle of Vilopozy (4)

Whoosh-.

Dorico Shiro turned her head with a sulky expression.

Zahhar, who had lost his composure, tried to retort but couldn’t manage to continue his words.

“Die!”

Whooom-!

Because Tyrant Dragon suddenly swung Pokryeomdo and attacked fiercely.

[This damn half-wit bastard…!]

Zahhar flapped his wings and dodged into the air. His voice contained anger mixed with a bit of panic.

It was natural. After all, the situation where Dorico Shiro suddenly surrendered was an enormous variable for him.

“Hmph!”

Dorico Shiro snorted as if she found it satisfying.

An inwardly happy expression.

The sulky expression from moments before was nowhere to be found, and a bright smile spread across her face once again.

“My friendship with Zahhar is over! Now you’re my only friend!”

“I, I’m also a friend…!”

Hodupayi, who had been cowering in the corner, desperately tried to interject.

From earlier, he kept glancing at me, seemingly wanting to become ‘friends’ with me like Dorico Shiro to preserve his life.

“I also want to become friends…!”

“Gaon.”

Stop-.

But Hodupayi couldn’t finish his words this time either.

Because Mangnyeom interrupted the conversation.

“Since Dorico Shiro surrendered, our role is finished, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then shouldn’t we go help Tyrant Dragon now?”

Mangnyeom tilted her head and looked toward where the battle was taking place. I also turned my gaze following her.

Crash-!

Craaash-!

Loud explosions echoing through the ravine.

Zahhar was floating high in the sky, firing breath attacks indiscriminately.

Tyrant Dragon, barely dodging those attacks, couldn’t even find a chance to counterattack. He was completely on the defensive.

Each time a blue fireball struck the ground, massive craters formed, and dust and rock fragments scattered in all directions.

“Ugh!”

Tyrant Dragon, who barely dodged another attack, clutched one of his arms.

By now, patches of his skin were charred black here and there.

[How’s that, you half-wit! This is the power of the pure-blooded Dragon Clan!]

Zahhar’s mocking voice echoed.

The very next moment.

Whoooosh-!

Zahhar spread his wings wide and deployed something.

A magic circle was drawn in the air, and flames instantly spread in all directions.

Rumble rumble rumble-!

Blue flames completely surrounded the space where Tyrant Dragon and Zahhar were.

A massive circular arena created by walls of fire that soared high into the sky.

‘Barrier magic.’

An 8-star skill, Flame-wall.

It was a type of isolation magic.

A technique that blocked external interference and forcibly created a dueling space for just the two of them.

Because of the towering flames, it was impossible to see clearly what was happening inside.

Of course, a Sword Master could break through that level of barrier…

“There’s no need to help.”

Thud-.

I sat down right where I was.

The sensation of the cold stone floor was transmitted through my buttocks.

Having taken a comfortable position, I finished speaking in a calm voice.

“Let Tyrant Dragon handle Zahhar on his own.”

“…?”

Mangnyeom looked down at me as if she couldn’t understand.

A silent question was contained in her eyes, asking why I was staying still when a comrade was in danger.

But what was happening between Zahhar and Tyrant Dragon right now wasn’t a simple battle.

“That’s the mountain Tyrant Dragon needs to overcome.”

“…”

The complex that had weighed him down for hundreds of years.

Fear and inferiority toward pure-blooded dragons.

And even endless questions about his own identity.

Until now, Tyrant Dragon had avoided all of it. He had evaded direct confrontation with Zahhar and postponed opportunities to prove himself.

However.

‘Now it’s different.’

A situation where only the two of them were left inside the barrier. A stage where the outcome could only be decided by skill alone.

This was a trial that Tyrant Dragon absolutely had to go through to be reborn as a true Sword Master.

“…”

Mangnyeom, who had been silent for a moment, soon nodded as if she understood.

“Yeah. Got it.”

Plop-.

Mangnyeom sat down on a rock following my example.

“Gaon, if you say so, then that’s how it is.”

“Hahaha, then I’ll sit next to you and watch too!”

Dorico Shiro laughed brightly and plopped down next to us. Her voice was excited like a child on a picnic.

“Uh, then I’ll also…”

Black Mage Hodupayi, who had been cautiously reading the mood, also slowly took a seat following us.

Craaaaaash──!

“Ahhh! That scared me!”

Right at that moment.

Hodupayi was startled by the sudden explosive sound.

We all looked straight ahead in unison.

Crash crash crash-!

Craaack-!

The landscape of the ravine began to twist and change.

The barren earth cracked like a spider web, and something writhed deep beneath the ground.

Soon, dark red lava began to erupt.

The sky was instantly dyed red. Scorching heat covered everything as rivers of lava flowed across the earth.

‘This is…’

It was a sight all too familiar to me.

I had seen it in the game, and also at the Forge of the Single Flame a few weeks ago.

“What, what’s that!”

Dorico Shiro exclaimed in alarm.

“Don’t tell me Mount Vilopoze has started erupting again!”

“No.”

I shook my head and answered.

“That’s Tyrant Dragon’s ‘Transcendent Realm.'”

“…What?”

The ultimate technique that only Sword Masters could manifest. The ability to project one’s lifelong sword philosophy and combat principles into reality.

Transcendent Realm.

The fact that Tyrant Dragon had deployed it meant he had finally resolved to stake everything against Zahhar.

“Wo, woooooah!”

At that moment, Hodupayi’s eyes sparkled as he cried out in wonder, his dejected expression from moments before completely gone.

“I know what this is! It’s the Mountain Range Where the Primordial Dragons Were Born!”

“…How do you know that again?”

When Dorico Shiro asked back incredulously, Hodupayi answered with an excited voice.

“Well, I’m a dragon enthusiast!”

“…?”

“I’ve read every ancient text related to the Primordial Dragons! This volcanic terrain, this lava eruption pattern!”

“….”

“I’m certain! This is exactly the mountain range where the legendary Primordial Dragons were born! Wow, it’s like a dream! I never thought I’d see this in person….”

“This kid seems crazy too.”

Shake shake-.

Dorico Shiro muttered while looking at Hodupayi with pitying eyes.

‘I wonder who’s criticizing whom….’

Swoosh-.

With that thought, I turned my gaze back toward where the battle was unfolding.

Though the wall of flames obscured the details, Tyrant Dragon’s movements had definitely changed.

Should I say they were much more agile and aggressive than before.

Dorico Shiro must have felt that change too, as she murmured in admiration.

“Hmm, his movements are definitely different now that he’s deployed his Transcendent Realm.”

“Right.”

I explained while watching the lava flow down.

“It’s the optimal environment for the Dragon Clan. That heat and volcanic terrain awakens their instincts.”

The Mountain Range Where the Primordial Dragons Were Born.

In other words, it was the most comfortable and familiar environment for dragons.

Tyrant Dragon’s Transcendent Realm had the effect of greatly enhancing the Dragon Clan’s physical abilities.

Like a fish meeting water, it drew out their inherent power.

“Huh? Wait a minute.”

But hearing my explanation, Dorico Shiro frowned as if realizing something strange.

“But according to what you’re saying, wouldn’t Zahhar get stronger too?”

“Correct.”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Dorico Shiro, Hodupayi, and even Mangnyeom—all three looked at me with bewildered expressions.

“No way.”

Dorico Shiro tilted her head.

“Then why the hell did that stupid bastard deploy his Transcendent Realm…?”

* * *

[Foolish child.]

Zahhar let out a scornful laugh.

[Did you truly not know that I too would grow stronger within your Transcendent Realm?]

“Haa, ha….”

Tyrant Dragon breathed heavily as he looked up at Zahhar. He was exhausted. His body was gradually reaching its limits.

Of course, Tyrant Dragon knew everything.

His Transcendent Realm was an environment optimized for dragons. Naturally, he had expected that Zahhar would also benefit from it.

Yet the reason he deployed his Transcendent Realm was….

Simply pure obstinacy.

Baseless confidence and recklessness that he could overcome even deploying such a Transcendent Realm before a pure-blooded dragon.

Naturally, the result was disastrous.

Tyrant Dragon had certainly grown stronger within his Transcendent Realm. In the boiling heat of the lava, the dragon blood flowing through his veins seethed, and his strength and reflexes greatly improved.

But.

The same was true for Zahhar.

No, rather, as a pure-blooded dragon, he had become even stronger than Tyrant Dragon. The gap between the hybrid human-dragon and pure-blooded dragon widened even further on the stage of the Transcendent Realm.

As time passed, the battle only became more disadvantageous.

[Pathetic.]

Zahhar muttered with contempt in his voice.

[For the likes of you to use this sacred land as your Transcendent Realm. Did you truly think yourself equal to a pure-blooded dragon?]

“Haa, ha…!”

[I don’t understand how the mountain range where Primordial Dragons were born became your mental image. You’re nothing but a filthy half-breed, yet your arrogance knows no bounds.]

“….”

Half-breed.

That word pierced Tyrant Dragon’s heart like a dagger.

A symbol of contempt and mockery that had followed him for hundreds of years.

A brand that wouldn’t disappear no matter how strong he became, no matter how much he achieved.

Slowly-.

Tyrant Dragon slowly lowered his head.

Zahhar was right.

He wasn’t a pure-blooded dragon. He had never had the right to make the Dragon Clan’s sanctuary his Transcendent Realm in the first place.

But it was strange.

This should have been the moment he acknowledged defeat….

Yet somehow.

Some other emotion was stirring in the depths of his heart.

‘Dragon.’

What is a dragon?

─Dragons are creatures of obsession.

Dragons are creatures of obsession.

The first dragon who was obsessed with magic grew beyond becoming a superior archmage to finally become a celestial being.

Dragons obsessed with gold and treasure amassed more wealth than anyone and used that economic power to treat the heads of numerous nations like servants.

Those obsessed with wisdom became the greatest sages of their time, and those obsessed with art left immortal works.

‘Then what about me?’

Tyrant Dragon was obsessed with fighting strong opponents.

He felt the sensation of truly being alive in fierce duels where life and death hung in the balance.

For him, martial arts was more important than anything else.

When he became too strong to feel the thrill of struggle anymore, he traveled the Continent searching for strong opponents. He bestowed his scales upon those he acknowledged.

Thus the epithet that followed him.

Tyrant Dragon . A fierce dragon.

As long years passed, that became his name.

“I am….”

The Tyrant Dragon slowly raised his head.

“…I am undoubtedly a dragon.”

His eyes widened. Vertically slit pupils. Those were eyes that only the Dragon Clan could possess.

“At the same time, I’m also a disgusting half-breed that defiles pure bloodlines.”

[…?]

“But what’s the problem with that?”

The Tyrant Dragon’s voice carried a different conviction than before.

Dragons are creatures of obsession.

They become obsessed with the first thing that interests them, and dedicate their entire lives to it.

The Tyrant Dragon had inherited dragon blood.

Blood could not be deceived. In the end, the Tyrant Dragon had also lived a life obsessed with one thing.

He had thought that obsession was combat.

He believed he had dedicated his entire life to it.

However.

Only now did he realize.

That for him, combat was not an obsession or life’s purpose.

It was merely a means to gain recognition as a member of the Dragon Clan.

‘I.’

The Tyrant Dragon’s true obsession lay elsewhere.

Being recognized as a true dragon. Washing away the disgraceful stigma of being a disgusting half-breed.

It had truly been a miserable life.

All other dragons’ obsessions were directed outward.

They were for achieving something, obtaining something, realizing something.

But the Tyrant Dragon was different.

He had obsessed over his own identity. He lived a life trying to prove his membership in the Dragon Clan. He poured everything into receiving others’ recognition, to meet others’ standards.

The compulsion to act like a member of the Dragon Clan.

The burden of having to maintain dignity like pure-blooded dragons.

The impatience to remove the label of half-breed.

Born as a dragon, yet he lived a life trying to prove that he was indeed a dragon.

All of that bound his identity even tighter. A dragon who should walk his own path freely had trapped himself in a framework set by others.

─Get it together, Tyrant Dragon.

Why.

Why had he realized this fact so late?

─You know yourself best. Don’t seek answers from others and try to conform to their standards.

Gaon’s words echoed in his ears.

In that moment, it felt like the heavy fog that had been weighing down his mind for so long was finally lifting.

What the Tyrant Dragon needed to do was not pursue perfection as a member of the Dragon Clan.

He needed to achieve completion as himself.

Whether pure-blooded or hybrid human-dragon. That didn’t matter at all.

If he was a dragon.

If he had defined his identity as such.

Then what the Tyrant Dragon needed to do now was walk only his own path, not one set by others’ standards.

“Right.”

Swoosh-.

The Tyrant Dragon slowly rose from his position.

With that movement, the world began to shake gradually.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble-!

The entire Transcendent Realm vibrated.

As if a massive earthquake was about to occur.

“Now I understand.”

[What….]

Zahhar let out a flustered voice, but the change had already begun.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble-!

The Transcendent Realm began to collapse.

The volcano where lava had been boiling sank, and the red-stained sky cracked. The mindscape world built up over hundreds of years shattered into pieces and scattered into the void.

A change of heart was enough to shake the world one person had built over a lifetime.

Snap-.

Blackout.

As the world completely collapsed, his vision darkened in an instant.

But that did not mean the end.

What originally followed a blackout was a new act, after all.

“….”

[….]

A moment of silence.

And.

The world was reconstructed once again.

This time in a completely different form than before.

As a new mindscape reflecting the Tyrant Dragon’s true inner self.

Roooooooar──.

In that new Transcendent Realm.

Born as a half-dragon, the Sword Master chosen by the gods faced his old nightmare head-on.

“Come at me.”

While speaking the derogatory term he had considered most insulting his entire life.

“You lizard bastard.”

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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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