Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 278
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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 278
Episode 278. Ravenhil (5)
* * *
‘Sacred covenant.’
The moment Balhwan first faced Gaon, she felt the aura of a powerful prohibition.
The mark of the Heavenly Realm carved into the soul and true name of a heretic. The sacred aura that proved a contract with The Great Ones.
It could not be false.
It meant there was no doubt that this man was the Thirteenth Sword Master.
However.
‘Why on earth was such a person chosen as a heretic…?’
Gaon appeared far too ordinary in Balhwan’s eyes.
Far from being a Sword Master, he hadn’t even reached the level of a proper swordsman.
His sword-holding posture, his stance, the aura he emanated – everything was ordinary.
Just a mercenary you could find anywhere. No, perhaps he looked even worse than that.
If she had to point out anything unique, it would be the faint aura of the Dragon Clan she could sense?
But even that was minimal.
Of course.
According to Pean, he had achieved victory against other Sword Masters…
‘…That must mean he has hidden power.’
Pean doesn’t lie. The fact that he stated it so definitively meant he had actually witnessed that scene.
In other words, though she didn’t know what methods he used, this man possessed something capable of making heretics submit.
‘Still.’
Balhwan’s eyes narrowed.
The Boy in White Robe and the Girl in Black Robe simultaneously raised the corners of their mouths slightly.
‘There’s no need to worry.’
Hundreds of years.
Balhwan had spent all that long time only in Ravenhil.
Every night she faced the threat of death while honing her sword. Even when sleeping, she never let down her guard, and not for a single moment did she stop training.
The skill built up that way.
Now there existed no Sword Master stronger than herself. At least she was convinced of that.
Pean? Mangnyeom?
They were strong too, but not as much as Balhwan.
Therefore…
‘I will win.’
With that conviction, Balhwan swung her sword.
Claaang-!
When the Boy in White Robe’s sword clashed with Gaon’s Feather Sword, a flash erupted.
The probing was over.
From now on, it was real.
Swoosh-.
While the Boy in White Robe engaged in a contest of strength with Gaon, the Girl in Black Robe moved like a shadow.
Gaon’s blind spot. The blade pierced in at an angle precisely outside his field of vision.
A definite effective strike. She planned to end the battle quickly with this blow.
But then.
Whooom-!
“Having two bodies.”
“…?”
“…?”
Claaaang-!
The twin siblings’ eyes widened simultaneously.
Because the Girl in Black Robe’s sword was blocked in midair.
A being with the same face as Gaon, possessing blue-green hair and golden eyes, had blocked her sword.
“Is not exclusive to you alone, Balhwan.”
“What is this…!”
Before Balhwan’s shocked words could even finish.
Swoosh-!
Gaon swung his sword in counterattack.
“…Ugh!”
The Girl in Black Robe quickly pulled back her body to evade.
It was an ordinary attack, but her reaction was delayed due to her confusion. The blade grazed right in front of her nose.
Tap-.
The girl who had retreated planted her foot on the ground.
Simultaneously, the Boy in White Robe also stepped back.
“…”
“…”
Swoosh-.
The two siblings stood side by side, looking at Gaon.
No.
Now they were looking at ‘two’ of them.
‘That is…’
Balhwan had witnessed all kinds of sorcery throughout her hundreds of years of life. Therefore, she could distinguish between illusions, afterimages, and all manner of phantoms.
She had to be able to do so in order to counter Dorico Shiro, the Golem Knight’s companion.
‘…It’s not some illusion technique.’
But that was different.
Balhwan could tell.
That the two entities were completely identical beings. That it wasn’t even a case like herself, where a soul was divided and contained.
‘Completely identical beings can exist simultaneously in two bodies? By what principle exactly…?’
Swoosh-.
Balhwan turned her gaze to the side.
However, for some reason, neither Pean nor Adelia showed any signs of surprise.
Their expressions seemed natural and their eyes familiar. It was as if they had witnessed this scene many times before.
‘So this is an ability already known to them.’
As her mind grew increasingly complex, Balhwan stared directly at Gaon and threw out a question.
“What kind of trick are you pulling exactly?”
She didn’t expect an answer. It was just a question thrown out to buy time.
However.
Gaon wouldn’t tolerate even that sliver of leisure.
“…!”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Gaon, who had been standing far away, suddenly appeared right before her eyes.
There was no warning, and she couldn’t even sense any movement. The air simply rippled once, and the next moment he was already right in front of her.
Swoosh-!
The sword flashed.
The Girl in Black Robe quickly raised her blade to block, but her instincts told her it was already too late.
Claaaang-!
Sparks flew in all directions.
And the next moment.
Clang-.
“…?”
The sword slipped from her hand.
Whirrrr-.
The Girl in Black Robe’s sword flew into the air, spinning round and round before disappearing far into the darkness.
“What!”
Balhwan had never once dropped a sword in her entire life. She had never lacked grip strength, nor had she ever been overpowered by anyone.
But what just happened was neither of those things.
It wasn’t simply being overpowered by force. The principle was incomprehensible… it just felt like the sword suddenly slipped out of her hand.
Though bewildering, there was no time to think further. A follow-up attack came immediately.
Swoosh-!
Gaon’s sword thrust toward the Girl in Black Robe’s neck. In that brief moment as the blade cut through the air, Balhwan activated her divine artifact’s ability.
Swish-.
The sword held in The Boy in the White Robe’s hand disappeared.
Simultaneously.
Clang-!
A sword was gripped in the Girl in Black Robe’s hand.
White Night, Black Night.
This was one of the divine artifact abilities Balhwan had received from Danhwa’s Anvil.
Clang clang clang-!
The sword gripped in the girl’s hand blocked Gaon’s strike. The metallic sound shook the forest once again.
Swish-.
Balhwan quickly created distance while organizing the situation.
‘It was a series of abilities I’d never seen before.’
It was true that she had been flustered. But even in that instant, Balhwan didn’t lose her composure. Rather, in that brief exchange, she had completed a certain assessment of her opponent.
‘First, there are two bodies.’
Both have substance, and both can attack.
‘High-speed movement.’
Closing distance instantaneously without warning. Movement without even a trace of presence.
‘And…’
Most importantly.
‘If possible, swords shouldn’t clash directly.’
She could be suddenly disarmed like just now. Perhaps that too was a special divine artifact ability.
‘…Now I understand why the Sword Masters were defeated.’
Huu-.
Haa-.
Small sighs escaped between the lips of the boy and girl.
It was a bundle of variables beyond common sense. Because they were abilities of a type completely unexpected, it was doubly bewildering.
However.
‘There’s no need to worry.’
Balhwan’s eyes grew coldly calm.
She had successfully overcome all the variables for now. Though she momentarily lost her sword, she immediately retrieved White Night Black Night and safely blocked the following attack.
The problem was what came next.
There was no knowing how many more abilities Gaon had hidden. In that case, she needed to approach the battle cautiously.
‘For now, I’ll extend the probing battle longer…’
Having finished her assessment, Balhwan lightly swung her sword.
Whooom-!
It was a strike thrown as a test.
The irregular abilities were threatening, but one thing was certain. Gaon’s actual physical capabilities weren’t particularly high.
Earlier she simply couldn’t respond properly because she was flustered. If she approached calmly from now on, she could certainly conduct a smooth probing battle.
After that.
‘Once I figure out all his abilities and find a way to counter them…’
Crack-!
“…?”
“…?”
Suddenly, Balhwan’s thoughts froze.
The twin siblings’ eyes widened simultaneously.
“Wh, wh, what…”
Balhwan had resolved not to be flustered anymore, to approach the battle calmly.
But now.
They couldn’t help but be most greatly flustered.
Because with a truly ordinary strike, thrown lightly without any thought.
Gaon’s neck had been cleanly severed.
* * *
‘Even I think…’
Though unintentional, my abilities were truly specialized for creating variables.
All abilities that made opponents’ expectations go awry. They were very advantageous for toying with and flustering enemies.
However.
Among all those abilities, the deception tactic that boasted the greatest effect was…
Crack-!
Precisely, the fake death created using Avatar Manifestation.
“…?”
“…?”
Balhwan’s face became seriously distorted. The twin siblings simultaneously wore rigid expressions as they looked toward me.
More precisely, at the ‘avatar’ whose neck had been severed.
Having converted to an untargetable state, I was already watching all of this from a third-person perspective.
…Incidentally, Adelia and Pean watched this scene silently without even showing signs of surprise.
‘Now they don’t even look surprised when I die.’
Why did I feel somewhat hurt by that?
Anyway.
I could move to the rear from here and end the battle immediately, but…
‘It would be better to properly break Balhwan’s spirit while I’m at it.’
Imprinting that I held overwhelming superiority would be more convenient going forward.
Fortunately, I still had plenty of unused cards.
All I had consumed in this battle was merely 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 and 【Avatar Manifestation】.
“Gasp!”
Whooosh-!
Right at that moment, the Girl in Black Robe moved.
Shaking off her flustered state, she immediately rushed to eliminate the other avatar standing far away.
The girl’s sword flashed as it thrust toward my avatar.
Of course, I had no intention of just watching this happen.
Ding-!
〔Authority Skill: 【Avatar Manifestation】 has been deactivated.〕
The avatar disappeared like smoke.
“…!”
The Girl in Black Robe who had been charging toward me hesitated. Her target had suddenly evaporated into thin air.
Swoosh-.
And I, who had moved in front of the boy in the white robe, immediately escaped from the “Untargetable” state and respawned.
“…!”
The boy’s eyes widened in shock.
His expression clearly showed his bewilderment.
But this time, he didn’t try to clash swords with me.
Instead, he quickly stepped backward, trying to create distance.
‘It’s because of the Ultimate Auto-Parry.’
It seemed he was afraid to directly cross swords after being disarmed once.
However.
That was exactly what I had been aiming for.
Ding-!
〔Active Skill: Formless Sword has been used.〕
Thud-.
The heel of the retreating boy caught on something.
It was a formless sword summoned in mid-air.
“…?!”
Wobble-.
The boy’s body, having lost his balance, staggered backward.
“Damn it, just how many fucking dirty tricks do you have…!”
Rough curses burst from Balhwan’s mouth as he lost his composure. It was the first time his emotions had been revealed so unfiltered.
‘High praise indeed.’
I chuckled inwardly.
It was like being told I was playing the game like shit, after all.
Right.
I instinctively felt that it was about time to end this battle.
Tap tap tap-!
Though his balance was broken, that alone wasn’t enough to bring down a Sword Master.
The boy in the white robe immediately twisted his body to regain his posture and quickly created distance.
Swoosh-.
One step, two steps.
Balhwan’s face was filled with rage as he retreated.
“How dare you…!”
His voice trembled.
“If you can’t compete fairly as a swordsman, then at least don’t resort to such cowardly and despicable tricks! Can a battle filled with deception and trickery truly be called that of a Sword Master!”
Balhwan’s eyes blazed with fury.
“You are desecrating the sword! You are defiling the very title of Heretic!”
His voice was filled with indignation.
However.
Hearing those words, I instead smiled as if finding it rather amusing.
“Finally, you acknowledge me as a Sword Master.”
“That’s…!”
“By the way, a fair and square battle.”
Swoosh-.
Taking a step forward, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Fine. I understand.”
“….”
“Don’t resent me, Balhwan.”
I lowered my voice even further.
Then I pointed my sword tip toward the original Sword Master who had greatly helped form my chuunibyou speech pattern.
“This is what you people wanted, after all.”
And so, to end this battle….
Ding-!
〔Authority Skill: 【True Ritardando】 has been used.〕
…I brought out the final trump card I had been saving.
〔MP 10/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 9/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 8/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 7/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 6/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 5/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 4/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 3/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 2/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP 1/10〕
Tick-.
〔MP : 0/10〕
* * *
Thud-.
A moment later.
The two siblings, who had simultaneously fallen to their knees, gazed into the air with hollow eyes and muttered.
“After using… such cowardly… tricks… continuously….”
“In the end, we fought fair and square, sword against sword. Surely you won’t pathetically deny even that?”
“….”
The siblings, left speechless, remained silent for a moment before hanging their heads low.
“We… have lost….”
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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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