Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 310

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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 310

Episode 310. Imperial Palace Conquest (7)

“Pean.”

Swish-.

Before finally leaving the「Realm of the Dead」.

I turned around.

I saw the figure of an elf standing alone in the pale mist.

“I’m going to lift the curse now.”

“….”

“So wait just a little longer. I will definitely save you all.”

A moment of silence passed.

Eventually.

“Yes.”

Pean slowly bowed his head.

There wasn’t a trace of doubt on his face.

“I will trust and wait, The Protagonist.”

Nod-.

I briefly nodded my head, then turned my gaze forward.

〔Sword Qi : 32/40〕

As my proficiency rose from intermediate-low to intermediate, the maximum value of sword qi had increased to 40.

In the meantime, the sword qi already consumed was 8.

It was the cost of activating Form-Spirit Exchange and maintaining the avatar for about 3 seconds while being crushed inside the Abyssal Mound’s belly.

‘That’s enough.’

The remaining 32 was sufficient to proceed with the next steps.

I immediately activated the second enhancement.

Ding-!

〔Authority Skill : 【Avatar Manifestation – Sword Qi Transfusion】 has been used.〕

At that moment.

I felt something stirring somewhere in the Imperial Palace.

The body that had been devoured by the doppelganger.

That corpse, which had been left with its neck severed for days, began to slowly recover.

‘Normally, recovery would have been impossible.’

My sword carries a passive skill called 【True Eternal Slayer】.

An ability that nullifies all types of regeneration.

If I had manifested that skill when I cut down the doppelganger, no amount of sword qi transfusion would have worked now.

‘But I intentionally suppressed that skill.’

Skills are ultimately manifested according to one’s will.

This was a fact I could understand from recalling my sparring match with Jark von Haibrunn a few months ago.

At that time, I cut his forearm without manifesting 【True Eternal Slayer】, and thanks to that, he was able to get his arm back perfectly through the cleric’s healing.

It was the same when I cut the doppelganger. Because I intentionally suppressed 【True Eternal Slayer】, recovery through sword qi transfusion was possible.

Of course, the doppelganger would have been completely annihilated by the effect of 【Soul Slaying】, so control of that body would return entirely to me.

Swoooosh-.

As I was thinking this while activating sword qi transfusion, my sword qi was drained in an instant.

〔Sword Qi : 10/40〕

‘…That was instantaneous.’

In the blink of an eye, 22 sword qi had been consumed.

To be honest, normally this amount wouldn’t have been nearly enough.

Reviving a dead corpse requires that much enormous energy.

‘Under normal circumstances, it would have required 100, no, even more sword qi to barely make it possible.’

Such a measly amount of sword qi wouldn’t have been nearly enough.

Yet the reason I could so calmly attempt sword qi transfusion was….

〔Enhancement : ‘Tsunami Condenser’ has been selected.〕

〔The density of mana is dramatically compressed.〕

…precisely because of this trait.

‘Tsunami Condenser.’

An enhancement obtained through the strengthening of Dragon Heart.

Thanks to that effect, my mana and sword qi are compressed at a much higher density than others.

It means that even the same 1 point of sword qi or MP produces three to four times the effect when I use it.

‘In other words, while someone else would have needed to pour over 100 sword qi to barely revive the dead….’

Because I possessed Dragon Heart and Tsunami Condenser, I could revive a corpse with just 22 points.

‘It’s done.’

Eventually, the recovery was complete.

Of course, it wasn’t complete recovery.

I had merely pulled the dead body up to a state where it was barely clinging to life.

It probably couldn’t even move.

Just barely breathing while gasping?

But.

‘That’s enough for now.’

Anyway, that body was nothing more than a temporary measure to return to the Lower Realm.

Ding-!

〔Authority Skill : 【Avatar Manifestation – Form-Spirit Exchange】 has been used.〕

〔Sword Qi : 5/40〕

The moment I activated the skill.

Whoooosh-!

The world flipped upside down.

The exact same sensation as when I first used Form-Spirit Exchange to escape to the「Realm of the Dead」.

My vision went dark and then….

Blink-.

When I opened my eyes again.

I was lying in that room where I had fought the final battle with the doppelganger.

‘…I’m back.’

My entire body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Even moving a single finger was difficult, and every time I inhaled, pain like my lungs were tearing surged through me.

It was as I had expected. Since it was a body that had died and been forcibly revived, there was no way it could move properly.

Moreover, the fact that it was a body that had housed a doppelganger was unsettling beyond measure.

‘But it doesn’t matter.’

As I said before, this body was merely a temporary measure to return to the Lower Realm.

〔Sword Energy: 5/40〕

Remaining sword energy was 5.

I squeezed out every last bit of it and activated my final authority.

Ding-!

〔Authority Skill: 【Avatar Manifestation 】 has been used.〕

Whoooosh-!

The sensation of my soul separating from my body enveloped me completely.

At the same time, the ‘original body’ that the doppelganger had devoured was reduced to an avatar.

“Phew.”

And so.

I was reborn with a completely intact body.

When I clenched and unclenched my fist, the pain from moments ago had vanished like a lie.

My movements felt much lighter.

The sensation of being alive spread to every corner of my body.

‘It worked.’

And then…

[…]

…Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword, who had witnessed that entire process, fell silent once again.

* * *

‘This is…’

…impossible.

That was the honest impression Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword felt after watching Gaon’s use of authority.

Even she, who had lived for thousands of years possessing this very authority, had never thought of using it this way.

No. Even if she had thought of it, she wouldn’t have dared to attempt it.

It was such a precarious and dangerous tightrope walk. A gamble where a single mistake could bring everything crashing down.

[…]

In fact, just looking at the skill usage itself, there was nothing particularly special about it.

Use Sword Energy Transfusion to minimally restore the spare body, then activate Body Swap, and obtain a new body in perfect condition with Avatar Manifestation.

Objectively speaking, there wasn’t anyone who couldn’t come up with this idea.

However.

The problem was the time it took for that idea to occur.

The moment Gaon calculated and executed all of this was during that urgent instant when the monster’s teeth were crushing flesh and bone.

The timing of Body Swap’s activation.

Calculating the amount of sword energy needed for Sword Energy Transfusion.

Securing the remaining sword energy to activate Avatar Manifestation again.

Plus the optimal distribution considering even the density correction of the Tsunami Condenser.

He combined all those variables in his head, derived the optimal sequence, and executed it without a single error.

What if the sequence had been even slightly mixed up?

What if the sword energy distribution had been even slightly off?

Forget returning to the Lower Realm, he would have become a ghost wandering the「Realm of the Dead」forever.

In the worst case, he might have met his end inside the monster’s mouth.

‘And yet…’

Gaon had done it.

He had perfectly succeeded in that breathtakingly precise sequence of processes without a single mistake.

As if he had known from the beginning that it would work out that way.

─Watch closely. I’ll show you a method of utilization that past masters couldn’t even imagine.

‘So that’s why.’

Now she understood why Gaon had been so confident.

This wasn’t something that could be done through thinking.

Every process had to be carved deep into his bones to be executed in such an extreme situation.

A realm that couldn’t be reached without an overwhelmingly high level of understanding, utilization, and mastery of Avatar Manifestation.

Gaon understood this authority more deeply than she did, despite her thousands of years of life.

And that was…

─199 times… You saw the future…?

…truly because he had delved deeper into the authority than she had, grinding away eons of time.

Ha-.

A chuckle unconsciously escaped from Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword’s lips.

Awe.

Yes,

There was no other word to describe the emotion she was feeling right now.

Before Gaon’s overwhelming use of authority, all she could do was tremble.

But…

[…Wait a moment.]

There was no time to remain lost in admiration forever.

No matter how miraculous Gaon’s return had been, nothing had improved regarding the Imperial Palace conquest.

[So what are you going to do now?]

Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword asked coldly.

Right now, Gaon was essentially back to square one.

No.

Perhaps it was even worse than square one.

What he had to accomplish from now on was virtually impossible.

[You have to break through the foul-smelling drainage channel to reach where Mukyeonjiju is, defeat that monster which is the core of the trial to obtain the essence, then return to the passage blocked by iron bars and insert the essence into the slot.]

The problem was time.

All of this had to be accomplished within 3 minutes.

No.

Since considerable time had already been wasted, it would be much more pressing than that.

2 minutes.

Perhaps only about 1 minute would be left.

[…]

No matter how much of a Sword Master who had reached the realm of transcendence, this was physically close to impossible.

Just running through the drainage channel at full speed would take a full minute.

And what about the battle with Mukyeonjiju?

Even if he defeated it with a single sword strike, considering the time to return to the iron bars, it was impossible to make it in time.

This wasn’t a realm that could be twisted by willpower alone.

Rationally, physically, bodily, and considering all the given time…

‘It’s impossible.’

This was clearly an impossible task.

But.

Grin-.

[…?]

Gaon was smiling.

With an endlessly relaxed and confident smile.

As if he had foreseen this entire situation from the very beginning.

* * *

Right.

I know it too.

This is impossible.

Just as Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword said, handling all of this within the time limit was truly absurd.

〔MP : 9/10〕

〔Sword Energy : 0/40〕

The MP I have left now is 9.

My sword energy is completely depleted at 0.

If I activate the “Pendant Containing the Great Spirit’s Tears” here, I could secure an additional 40 sword energy and 10 MP.

‘Combined, that’s 19 MP and 40 sword energy.’

However…

I had to consider the existence of the Abyss Devotees and Golem Knights as well.

In a situation where those two could pop out and interfere at any moment, pouring out all my resources would be tantamount to suicide.

‘To secure minimum safety, I need to keep 2 MP and one use of True Ritardando in reserve.’

In other words.

‘The resources I can actually use are 17 MP, 40 sword energy, and one use of 【True Ritardando】.’

With this, I need to pass through the drainage channel, eliminate Mukgyeon Lord, return to the iron cage, and insert the essence.

Is it even possible?

‘Not a chance.’

Based on the experience accumulated over 199 cycles.

To complete all those processes, I would need three to four times the resources I currently have.

Around 70 MP. And 60 sword energy.

At least that much would be needed to barely make it possible.

‘But…’

What I have now is merely a quarter of that.

‘There’s no answer.’

It was an impossible situation by anyone’s standards.

A structure where success was impossible no matter how you calculated it.

‘That would be the case if this were an ordinary situation, anyway.’

And…

〔Enhancement : You have selected ‘Tsunami Condenser’.〕

〔The density of mana is dramatically compressed.〕

…As I mentioned before, my efficiency is three to four times that of others.

Even using the same 1 MP.

Even consuming the same 1 sword energy.

I can extract far greater power than others.

‘In other words.’

The 17 MP and 40 sword energy given to me.

Are equivalent to someone else’s 68 MP and 160 sword energy.

“…”

Didn’t I say it?

That the route and build I’m currently following is optimal.

That there’s no better growth method anywhere else.

It’s not mere bravado.

An unwavering conclusion reached through the 200th cycle.

Right now.

In this extreme situation.

The groundwork laid in advance to turn the impossible into possible.

Tiiiiik─.

“Whew.”

Along with a quietly echoing sigh.

The now all-too-familiar activation sound of 【Soul of the Sword Master】 rang in my eardrums.

Thump, thump, thump-!

The world slowed down.

The fleeting gaps flowing between heartbeats became clearly perceptible.

And so I…

Began to overturn what this world had defined as impossible.

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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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