Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 276

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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 276

Episode 276. Ravenhil (3)

* * *

“….”

Silence flowed.

The Boy in White Robe stared quietly at Pean. The gaze that appeared on his expressionless face was cold and indifferent.

The Girl in Black Robe standing beside him was the same.

The two children stood in identical poses like reflections in a mirror. Even the angle at which they tilted their heads matched perfectly.

I looked at them and muttered inwardly.

‘Sword Masters of the Divided Soul.’

Numerous races appear in Lost Elder.

Elves, dwarves, dragons, and so on.

Not only were there the usual suspects of fantasy worldbuilding, but also races with unique settings like the Iron Spirit Tribe.

Among them, the Diviner belonged to the most peculiar category of races.

The Divided Soul Tribe.

Every individual of this race was born as twins. They were always siblings, and they were always two.

But their most important characteristic was something else entirely…

‘…These two are bound by a single soul.’

The siblings each possessed their own bodies, but they shared only one soul.

Though the soul was divided between a female body and a male body, they were fundamentally a single being.

Therefore, they shared consciousness.

They didn’t even need to converse. What one saw, the other saw, and what one thought, the other thought as well.

From the beginning, it would be more accurate to recognize them not as siblings but as a single entity.

‘Of course, they still had to handle bodily functions separately.’

For the soul-bound Divided Soul Tribe, when one died, the other died too.

Though only one might be cut by a sword, death would come to both. That was both the curse and fate of the Divided Soul Tribe.

‘And…’

These siblings standing before us.

They were the only remaining members of the Divided Soul Tribe in this world.

After their entire race went extinct, only these two survived.

Therefore, the alias ‘Diviner’ transcended their racial name to become a unique name referring to this individual Sword Master.

“….”

Isn’t it quite peculiar just from the description?

A single soul living divided between two bodies.

‘But well…’

This was nothing compared to other things.

The worldview of Lost Elder was teeming with bizarre creatures from the start.

There was a reason Pean mistook Mukyoo for my child.

This world was full of beings so beyond common sense that such misunderstandings were understandable.

“Pean.”

Just then.

The Boy in White Robe, who had been staring intently at Pean, spoke again.

“Why aren’t you giving any answer?”

“….”

“I asked why you invaded our ‘territory.'”

Diviner’s voice remained dry and emotionless. But the pressure contained within it was anything but light.

Domineering.

That tone and gaze held a cold intimidation.

Far too much for a child’s appearance.

Yes.

Diviner’s manner of speaking was very similar to when I acted as ‘Gaon.’

…Because I had referenced Diviner’s speech patterns extensively.

“….”

Swish-.

Having that thought, I turned my gaze to the side and saw Adelia.

Her body was completely rigid.

Her fingertips had turned white from clenching her fists too tightly, and her shoulders were trembling slightly.

‘Her old trauma must have resurfaced.’

The horrific memory of Goldheart members being massacred.

That nightmare seemed to overlap with the siblings before her eyes.

Meanwhile, Pean stepped forward leisurely and smiled gently.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve greeted you, Diviner. First, I’d like to apologize for visiting Ravenhil without notice.”

“State your business first.”

“Ahaha, well… do you happen to know about the Rashutku Empire?”

At those words, the siblings, who had been silent for a moment, nodded simultaneously. Once again, their movements were perfectly synchronized.

“Of course we know. If you’re referring to the civilization that prospered most in ancient times.”

Swish-.

The Boy in White Robe who had finished answering tilted his head slightly.

Simultaneously, the Girl in Black Robe tilted her head at exactly the same angle.

“But.”

“….”

“What does that have to do with you invading our territory, Pean?”

Pean answered with a gentle smile.

“We obtained the ‘Opener.’ An ancient key that reveals the location of the Rashutku Empire.”

“….”

“The place that map pointed to was right here, Ravenhil. That’s why we came here with the Relic Exploration Team.”

Diviner fell silent for a moment.

The siblings’ eyes narrowed simultaneously. Like an expression of mulling something over.

Soon they opened their mouths again and answered.

“While that’s certainly an interesting fact, you still haven’t given a proper answer to our question.”

“….”

“The existence of the Rashutku Empire and you people trespassing here at will. What’s the relationship between those two things?”

Their voice had an edge to it.

That tone was clearly a warning and a rejection.

What Diviner was truly curious about wasn’t the correlation between the Rashutku Empire and our visit.

The problem lay elsewhere.

‘That we didn’t get their permission.’

Whether the Rashutku Empire was buried in Ravenhil or not didn’t matter.

What went against Diviner’s feelings was the very fact that we had set foot here without permission.

‘Just as there are settled and wandering types among divine beasts, some Sword Masters are particularly sensitive about territory.’

The type who regard their dwelling as inviolable territory and treat anyone who trespasses as an enemy.

And.

Diviner, who claimed ownership of Ravenhil, was one such Sword Master.

‘I never expected this conversation to go smoothly from the start.’

As I’ve said many times, Sword Masters generally weren’t mentally sound.

People who had ground their lives into the sword. Since they spent most of their time locked away in solitary spaces training, it was natural that their social skills would suffer.

Among them, Diviner was particularly difficult to communicate with.

Her nature was prickly and arrogant. On top of that, being recognized as one of the most skilled among the Sword Masters, she had strong pride in herself.

‘A cat.’

Yes.

If a cat were to transform into human form, it would feel exactly like that.

Turn away when bothered, scratch when annoyed, turn their back when displeased.

And naturally…

‘…There’s only one way to handle these socially inept types.’

Exactly, establishing hierarchy.

Pushing through with the logic of strength.

‘If words don’t work, then I have no choice but to make them understand through force.’

That’s right.

I didn’t carefully save my precious skills while climbing Ravenhil for nothing.

* * *

In fact, Pean had planned to follow Gaon no matter what. Even if he had declared he would break through Ravenhil alone.

‘Because I know the Diviner’s personality.’

Difficult, sensitive, and easily twisted nature.

The possibility of such a Diviner cooperating obediently in their first meeting with Gaon was almost zero. Rather, it was obvious they would find fault, pick fights, and refuse with all sorts of excuses.

‘At least it would be a bit better if I were there with him.’

Pean had built trust with the Heretics over many years, and the Diviner wouldn’t ignore that either.

Therefore.

‘This difficult attitude was all expected.’

Pean wasn’t flustered at all.

Rather, he tried to persuade the Diviner calmly. With a gentle tone, maintaining courtesy, without touching their pride.

“Diviner, we are…”

“How utterly ridiculous.”

“…?”

But then.

Thud-.

Before Pean could even finish speaking, a cold voice interrupted from the side.

It was Gaon.

He who had been silently listening to the Diviner’s words until now opened his mouth with a chilling sneer.

“Do you dare to claim yourself as the master of this place?”

A voice that sank low.

It contained mockery.

“What a truly amusing notion. All the lands and skies of this continent, the rivers flowing beneath and the forests taking root… all of it was created by the Great Ones.”

Gaon slowly looked around.

The dark forest of Ravenhil. The hill made of corpses. His gaze swept over all of it.

“Yet you dare claim ownership of this place? It’s like a tenant acting as the landlord in a rented room. No, it’s worse than that. At least tenants pay rent.”

“…?”

“Foolish, stupid, and even laughable.”

Instantly, the air froze.

The Diviner, who had been looking only at Pean until now, slowly turned their head.

Swoosh-.

The gazes of both siblings simultaneously turned toward Gaon.

Cold.

Eyes looking down at an insect. Two pupils without any emotion stared intently at Gaon.

The surrounding air sank heavily.

Even the wind seeping through the tree branches seemed to stop, and the cawing of ravens echoing all around was momentarily cut off.

A suffocating cold silence.

What broke that stillness was the Diviner’s dry voice.

“What are you?”

“Diviner, this person is…”

It was when Pean quickly intervened to try to salvage the situation.

“The Thirteenth Sword Master.”

Thud-.

But once again, Gaon cut off the words and interjected.

“Gaon.”

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence flowed.

Gaon slowly looked down at his feet and continued speaking.

“And.”

Swoosh-.

His gaze turned toward the Diviner again.

“This land you stand upon. I am also the former master of the Rashutku Empire that was established on this territory.”

A short exclamation escaped from the Diviner’s mouth.

“Ha.”

That was clearly a sneer.

* * *

All Sword Masters were arrogant and belligerent.

Of course, there were exceptions like Pean and Jeungmu who had acquired social skills after living long years and experiencing countless hardships…

‘…But those are just exceptions.’

Most Sword Masters were different.

They had lived their entire lives as beings of a different class from other mortals since birth.

So it was natural that their personalities were twisted.

No matter how kind a human might be, they don’t feel pity or mercy for ants crawling on the ground.

They’re just indifferent.

And in the eyes of Sword Masters, ordinary mortals without talent looked just the same.

‘In the Diviner’s eyes, I must be the same.’

It was natural.

My apparent physical level was only 52.

An existence worse than an insect that a Sword Master could crush to death anytime they wanted.

But.

Such an insect was claiming to be the Thirteenth Sword Master, so naturally the Diviner would be dumbfounded.

“You expect me to believe that?”

The Diviner spoke.

“We also received the revelation that the thirteenth had been born.”

The boy’s gaze slowly examined Gaon.

From top to bottom. As if examining an uninteresting object.

“But I don’t sense even a speck of a Heretic’s aura from you. Excluding the traces of the ‘Sacred Covenant,’ you seem like just an ordinary mortal… no, even worse than that.”

The girl in black robes turned her head.

Her gaze turned toward Adelia.

“Rather.”

The girl continued.

“That Goldhart brat over there is more worth looking at. At least her obsession with the sword resembles that of a Heretic. Though her level is still far lacking.”

Twitch-.

In that instant, Adelia’s shoulders flinched.

Eyes that showed no interest whatsoever, despite instantly recognizing that she was from the Goldhart Family.

It was a gaze that simply passed by, as if looking at a pebble on the roadside.

“Wait, please listen to what I’m—”

It was the moment when Pean quickly interjected, trying to salvage the situation.

However.

“There have been many who doubted me.”

I spoke first. After all, I had wanted this confrontation from the beginning.

“Tyrant Dragon, Heukgol, Pean, Bloodlust, Jeungmu…”

I recited their names one by one slowly while staring intently at Balhwan.

“When I first met them, they all looked at me with suspicious eyes. They questioned my qualifications, doubted my realm, and denied the birth of the thirteenth Heretic until the very end.”

A moment of silence passed.

I looked straight at Balhwan and continued speaking.

“But in the end, every single one of them bowed their heads before me.”

Shing—!

I slowly drew Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword from its sheath.

The silver blade gleamed as it reflected the faint moonlight.

“Today.”

The sword’s tip pointed toward Balhwan.

“Another name will be carved onto that list.”

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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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