Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 285
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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 285
Episode 285. Ruins of Rashutku (4)
Jeungmu’s eyes were covered with shock.
This wasn’t simple prediction or anything like that.
The minute movements of his pupils. The angle his head was facing. All of it was telling one fact.
That Gaon was truly ‘seeing’ a few seconds into the future.
“Huh…”
The battle between the Intruder and Balhwan was now secondary.
Jeungmu followed Gaon’s gaze, trying to understand the world he was looking at.
‘…What on earth is that guy seeing?’
The moment he had such doubts.
Tsk-.
A small clicking sound was heard from beside him.
It was Gaon.
And his quiet muttering that followed.
“He’s going to die at this rate.”
“…?”
Jeungmu’s brow furrowed involuntarily upon hearing this.
Die? Surely not Balhwan?
‘That’s impossible.’
Although he was being pushed back by the Intruder, the battle situation hadn’t tilted to that degree yet.
Battles had their flow.
There were times when one side poured out attacks, and when that turn ended, the offense and defense could switch.
Right now, the Intruder was just holding the initiative. It couldn’t be seen as a situation where Balhwan was being unilaterally crushed.
‘I thought if he could just hold out a little longer, Balhwan would get his chance too…’
However.
Gaon’s thoughts seemed different.
His unpleasantly distorted expression looked as if he had already witnessed Balhwan’s death.
Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, Jeungmu asked Gaon beside him for the reason.
“Why do you think that, Gaon?”
But.
No matter how long he waited, no answer came back.
‘Huh?’
Only then did Jeungmu realize one fact. That Gaon had disappeared from that spot at some point.
‘When on earth did he…!’
It was enough to make a ghost cry.
There had been no warning signs. He hadn’t felt any wind from movement either.
It felt like his very existence had just vanished in the blink of an eye.
And.
Claaaaaang-!
A thunderous roar came belatedly.
It was a different metallic sound from Heukya and Baekya clashing with the Intruder’s greatsword.
Whoosh-!
Jeungmu quickly turned his head toward where the sound originated.
Before he knew it.
Gaon had inserted himself between the Intruder and Balhwan.
The Feather Sword blocking the Intruder’s greatsword.
Behind it, he could see the Boy in White Robe hastily retreating backward.
However.
“…!”
There was a thin red line drawn near the Boy in White Robe’s neck.
A mark where the skin had been torn.
‘If it had been just a little deeper…’
No.
Even if it had been just a moment later.
‘…Balhwan could have been in danger.’
Shiiiiver-!
Cold chills ran down Jeungmu’s spine.
If Gaon hadn’t intervened, Balhwan would have definitely suffered a fatal wound.
In other words.
Gaon had seen a future he couldn’t see, and based on that, intervened at the perfect timing.
‘Insane.’
Setting aside whether that ability belonged to another Sword Master or not…
Once again.
It was a moment when Gaon’s unparalleled ability was proven.
* * *
Having repeated hundreds of rounds.
The Valley Intruder’s patterns were now familiar to the point of being second nature.
What timing it attacked at. What moments created openings where damage could be dealt.
All of it was clear enough to grasp with his hands.
‘And the same goes for Balhwan.’
The dual attack using Heukya and Baekya. The pattern where one strikes the front while the other aims for the side.
Thanks to memorizing all of this perfectly, I could predict the battle dynamics between the Intruder and Balhwan to any extent.
In addition to that, my now high-level Sense stat allowed me to follow their battle with my eyes to some degree.
‘Most importantly.’
The most decisive factor was separate.
Namely, Super Intuition.
A passive skill born from the fusion of MAX Swordsmanship and MAX Sense. An absolute precognitive ability that showed what would happen a few seconds later.
Through the afterimages shown by that power, I could see battles a few seconds ahead of others.
‘Therefore.’
I could intervene whenever Balhwan seemed to be in danger.
Just like now.
“Phew…”
Having overcome the crisis, I let out a small sigh while observing the situation.
‘…That was close.’
The moment I saw the afterimage of Balhwan dying, I immediately took action.
I recovered my mana and sword energy with the pendant containing the Great Spirit’s Tear, then activated Avatar Manifestation to close the distance with instant movement.
Thanks to the Time Divider enhancement, I simultaneously utilized 【True Ritardando】 and 【Soul of the Sword Master】, which had one use remaining.
As a result.
〔MP : 9/10〕
MP 1.
I was able to deal a fatal blow to the Intruder by consuming literally an instant.
[…]
The Intruder froze in place.
He neither retreated nor attempted a counterattack.
He simply remained motionless with the feather sword embedded in his abdomen.
Creak—.
After a moment, his body slowly began to lose strength.
Thud—!
The creature lost its balance and fell to its knees.
However, the Intruder’s consciousness still remained.
The Intruder slowly lowered his gaze downward.
Soon, his eyes fixed on the feather sword embedded in his body.
[It’s been a long time.]
Still that tone like clashing steel,
But unlike before, there was a strange emotion mixed within it.
A feeling as if encountering something lost long ago.
The Intruder gazed at Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword for a long while.
Complex light flickered in the red eyes visible through the gaps of his helmet.
[….]
And.
Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword gave no response. No, she couldn’t bring herself to.
Slowly—.
After some silence passed, the Intruder slowly raised his head.
This time his gaze turned toward me.
[To be chosen by none other than ‘her’….]
The Intruder’s voice became even lower.
[…I suppose it’s safe to assume you are the greatest swordsman of this era.]
I said nothing.
However, the Intruder continued speaking calmly without waiting for my answer.
It seemed he hadn’t expected a response from me in the first place.
[A single exchange.]
The Intruder paused briefly before continuing slowly.
[That alone was sufficient. I realized that with my current state, I could never defeat you no matter what I tried.]
“….”
0.01 seconds.
The Intruder seemed to have grasped everything from that one strike.
[I am an immortal being.]
The Intruder continued his explanation calmly.
[For me, death is no different from merely losing consciousness. I will revive again with time. That is both my essence and my curse.]
That’s right.
Hadn’t I already mentioned this?
Even if you succeeded in raiding the Valley Corrupted One, temporarily neutralizing it was the most you could achieve.
While the Bunhon Clan died together when one half perished, the Intruder was different.
Complete death was only possible by killing both the Valley and Abyss entities simultaneously.
It wasn’t for nothing that the raid difficulty was set at the highest level.
[However, you are different.]
“….”
[Your sword can grant even immortals eternal rest.]
The Intruder paused his words.
The red eyes visible through the helmet gaps began to grow dim.
Like a burning flame being extinguished, the light gradually faded.
Was it because he stood at the boundary between death and life?
The creature’s gaze no longer looked at the surface.
Instead, it saw something inherent within me.
It pierced through the ‘essence’ sleeping in a deeper place.
[You are….]
After a long while, the Intruder opened his mouth.
[…not a being of the Lower Realm like us.]
“…?”
Freeze—.
In that moment, I couldn’t help but freeze completely.
Because a completely unexpected statement flowed from the Intruder’s mouth.
[To summon a being who has accumulated such karma back to this world.]
The Intruder let out a hollow laugh.
It wasn’t mockery or ridicule, just a laugh filled with nothing but emptiness.
[Those damned Ancients….]
His voice grew smaller and smaller.
[Even after committing such atrocities… still making the same mistakes….]
Thud—.
Unable to finish his words, the Intruder’s helmet slipped down, pulled by gravity.
Soon after, the red light between the helmet gaps was completely extinguished.
Only the sound of the waterfall filled the silence.
Whoooooosh——!
Balhwan breathed heavily.
The Boy in White Robe and Girl in Black Robe both shrugged their shoulders simultaneously.
Heukya and Baekya held in both hands were trembling slightly.
Confused expressions.
Faces that couldn’t properly understand what had happened, what the Intruder had said at the end.
And Adelia and Pean were equally confused.
They stared at me with tightly pressed lips. They seemed to have mountains of questions but couldn’t bring themselves to speak.
And.
“….”
Hissssss—!
Jeungmu.
He was looking at me with an expression of deeper shock than ever before.
The light in his eyes visible through his monocle shook violently.
Silence.
The endless silence continued.
Whoooosh—.
The waterfall poured down unchanged, and the valley water flowed indifferently.
* * *
“Let’s move now.”
Though the confusion from the battle with the Intruder hadn’t subsided yet, we couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
Gaon, who had been silently looking down at the monster’s corpse, forced the exploration to continue.
Whoooooosh—!
Moving behind the waterfall, a massive cave hidden by the water stream revealed itself.
Humid air filled our lungs.
Water droplets dripped from the moss-covered rock surfaces, and the stone floor beneath our feet was slippery.
“Over there… there’s a door.”
Swoosh-.
Markus Koshate raised his hand and pointed ahead.
As he said, deep within the cave stood a massive door.
The traces of time were evident.
Though the surface was rusted and cracked, it still emanated an overwhelming majesty.
Ancient characters were densely carved across the entire door.
“Wait a moment, Diviner.”
Witnessing this, Pean turned to Balhwan with an incredulous expression.
“You mean to tell me that during the hundreds of years you’ve stayed in Ravenhil, you didn’t even know of such a suspicious door’s existence?”
“I didn’t know.”
“But how could you…”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? This area was guarded by monsters, so I never came near it.”
“So that’s why… Huu, no. I expected too much from you.”
“…?”
“…?”
Balhwan tilted his head with an expression that genuinely didn’t understand what the problem was.
Pean let out a sigh as if frustrated and looked straight ahead.
“Well, fortunately we managed to find the entrance safely.”
Swoosh-.
As he took out the opener, the ancient key glowed faintly.
The characters carved on the door responded one by one, emitting the same light.
Creak-!
Soon the door slowly opened.
Beyond it, a spiral staircase leading underground came into view.
The Expedition Members all held their breath in unison.
Yakov, the Captain held up a torch and stepped forward first, with the rest following behind.
Thud, thud-.
Only footsteps echoed quietly.
The deeper they descended the stairs, the drier the air became. The humidity disappeared, and instead the smell of old stone dust brushed their nostrils.
How long had they been descending like this?
Just as their sense of time was becoming dulled, an open space appeared.
“…!”
Yakov, the Captain’s footsteps stopped.
The hand holding the torch trembled slightly.
“This place is…”
He opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
Looking at the scene spread before his eyes with an expression of disbelief.
“…the Rashutku Empire?”
* * *
“I don’t understand.”
Pause-.
Dorico Shiro muttered with a serious expression.
Having heard the new information, she began scratching her head with a displeased look.
“Something feels fishy, don’t you think, Hodupayi?”
“…What do you mean?”
“No matter how much I think about it, there’s no reason for the Golem Knight to want to see me.”
“…”
“But why do they keep contacting me asking to meet?”
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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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