Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 316

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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 316

Episode 316. Ancient Legacy (2)

* * *

The threat of Rashutku Imperial Palace had disappeared.

With Emperor Tarosk’s fall, ownership of the curse had transferred to me, and there was no longer any existence here that threatened our lives.

‘Which means.’

There was no longer any reason to hide the existence of the Golem Knight.

If I had revealed this fact during the palace conquest, it would have only caused unnecessary confusion, but now the situation was different.

‘That said, there’s no need to broadcast it to everyone either.’

If word spread that one of the Five Nightmares was in this vicinity, it would only add to unnecessary fear.

“Captain Yaakov.”

“…Yes.”

“Follow me. I have something to tell you.”

Having finished my thoughts, I called out only Captain Yaakov separately.

Taking advantage of the moment when the other members were busy looking around the interior of the palace.

“Wh-what is it…?”

Captain Yaakov tilted his head.

He seemed curious about why I had called him aside when everything was over.

After confirming that no one else was around, I spoke in a low, subdued voice.

“The Golem Knight has infiltrated the ruins of Rashutku.”

“…?”

Pause-.

Captain Yaakov’s complexion turned pale instantly.

“G-Golem Knight…? You don’t mean one of the Five Nightmares…?”

“That’s right.”

“No, what on earth does that mean…”

Tremble, tremble-.

His voice began to shake.

It was a natural reaction. To ordinary people, the Five Nightmares were objects of terror by name alone.

“Wh-why would one of the Five Nightmares suddenly appear in Rashutku?”

“…”

To be honest.

‘…I don’t really know either.’

This was the first time the Golem Knight had infiltrated the ruins of Rashutku.

Its purpose was unknown.

All I could do now was speculate based on various circumstances.

‘Well, still…’

Unlike the other members of the Five Nightmares, the Golem Knight was someone I could communicate with.

If I encountered it, I planned to try talking first.

Then I might be able to understand not only its actions, but also the Evil Gods’ purpose, right?

“Don’t worry.”

I spoke as if to reassure Captain Yaakov.

“I’m planning to gather the Sword Masters now and go deal with the Golem Knight. There shouldn’t be any major problems.”

“…”

Gulp-.

Captain Yaakov fell silent.

After making an expression as if pondering something for a moment, he cautiously spoke up.

“Then… what should I do?”

“…”

“You called me aside because you don’t want the members to know about this, isn’t that right?”

As expected of the leader of the Relic Exploration Society, he was quick to catch on.

“That’s right.”

I briefly affirmed and continued speaking.

“Don’t tell the members for now. Since I’ve opened all areas of the palace, have them explore this place first before investigating the Rashutku site. In the meantime, we’ll go out and deal with the Golem Knight.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Captain Yaakov nodded.

But I didn’t stop there.

“And be careful of one more thing.”

“…?”

“Ownership of the palace has transferred to me, but there will still be remnants of the curse scattered throughout.”

I continued.

“After 10 PM, act according to the palace’s original rules.”

“According to the original rules means…”

“Stay five people to a room, and absolutely do not leave the room during those hours.”

“…!”

Captain Yaakov gulped.

The terror he had experienced over the past few days seemed still vivid.

Including the memory of nearly losing a colleague due to the curse’s rules.

“Then should we be careful before 10 PM as well?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

I shook my head.

“You can move around freely during normal times. Just be careful after 10 PM.”

“…”

“And I’ll say it again, don’t worry about the Golem Knight. We Heretics will handle it.”

Captain Yaakov looked at me without being able to completely erase his anxious expression.

But soon he took a deep breath and bowed his head with a resolute expression.

“Yes. I understand, The Protagonist.”

His voice carried determination.

“I’ll handle everything on my end to ensure the members aren’t affected as much as possible.”

It was exactly the clean answer I wanted to hear.

* * *

I left the Relic Expedition Members, Muwolcha, and Adelia in the palace.

Nothing would happen inside the palace anyway.

With Emperor Tarosk fallen, no more threats existed, and even if something did happen, it wouldn’t be a problem.

This place was now my domain.

It also meant I could immediately sense if anything happened, and if necessary, Muwolcha could inform me in real-time through personal messages, so there was nothing to worry about.

Step, step-.

Thus, the Sword Masters including myself left the palace.

Pean.

Jeungmu.

Balhwan.

This level of force should be sufficient to stop the Golem Knight.

Yes. Sufficient to ‘stop’ it.

〔MP : 2/10〕

‘Besides, I still have 2 MP left…’

…If push came to shove, I could just activate the 【Soul of the Sword Master】.

Pshhhk-.

The sound of steam could be heard just then.

Even as Jeungmu walked, he kept looking back toward the Imperial Palace.

It was difficult to read his expression due to the iron mask, but now I could roughly understand his inner thoughts.

The amount of steam.

The look in his eyes visible through the monocle.

And even his slightly sluggish footsteps.

“Regretful?”

“…”

Flinch-.

Jeungmu’s shoulders twitched at my words.

Pshk-.

Steam leaked out once more.

He was clearly startled.

After hesitating for a moment, Jeungmu slowly nodded his head.

“That’s right. Actually, I wanted to explore the Imperial Palace too.”

“…”

“Somewhere in there must be the imperial treasure room. And there, surely…”

Pshhhhhk-.

Steam more intense than usual burst forth.

“…plenty of Proteum must be sleeping.”

Jeungmu speaking like this was quite different from what I usually knew of him.

The calm and composed him was now showing an impatience that seemed obsessed with something.

As I’d mentioned before, Jeungmu had an extraordinary obsession with rare metals.

And for good reason, since his body had a structure that grew stronger the more rare metals it absorbed.

‘Well, that’s also why I brought Jeungmu out of the Imperial Palace.’

If I had left Jeungmu in the Imperial Palace?

He would have turned every corner of the ruins upside down trying to find Proteum somehow.

In that process, he wouldn’t have cared about damaging the Imperial Palace.

“Don’t worry.”

I said calmly.

“The ownership of the Imperial Palace has been completely transferred to me.”

“…?”

Swish-.

Jeungmu turned his head to look at me.

“That means…”

“It means the locations of all the treasure rooms have been identified.”

“…!”

Jeungmu’s eyes visible through the monocle flashed.

“I’ll guide you there as soon as this matter is finished.”

Pshhhhhhhk-!

The most intense steam yet burst forth.

It was a reaction that revealed Jeungmu’s emotions directly.

“Leave it to me, Lord Gaon.”

Jeungmu’s voice became much more spirited.

“A mere Golem Knight – I will definitely bring it down.”

“…”

Chuckle-.

A laugh escaped me without realizing it.

‘A mere Golem Knight, he says…’

If he knew how powerful that being was, such words wouldn’t have come out so easily.

As I mentioned earlier, even bringing three Sword Masters would only be enough to ‘stop’ him at best.

Right.

Stop, not defeat.

The Golem Knight was that powerful an enemy.

Pean, who knew this fact better than anyone, also looked toward me with a bitter smile.

“By the way…”

Pean asked a question.

“If I’m not mistaken, it seems the curse of the Imperial Palace still remains, Lord Gaon?”

Nod-.

I nodded my head.

Pean was right.

Since the ownership of the Imperial Palace had been transferred to me, I also had the authority to completely eliminate the curse.

But I didn’t do that. I deliberately left some curses behind.

That was also why I had warned Captain Yaakov before leaving the Imperial Palace.

“Is there a particular reason for that?”

Pean asked carefully.

But I didn’t answer.

There was no reason to go on and on explaining something complicated.

And most importantly.

“We’ve arrived.”

Just then, our desired destination appeared before our eyes.

“…”

Stop-.

Pean’s footsteps halted.

The moment he saw the building, a tension that hadn’t been there before crossed his face.

‘…More precisely, it’s probably because of the presence of the one inside.’

It wasn’t a common sight to see the expression of an ancient elf who had lived for thousands of years harden like that.

Swish-.

Pean turned to look at me.

An expression as if he wanted to say something.

But I paid no mind and stepped into that building.

The other Sword Masters, who had hesitated for a moment, also began to move following behind me.

* * *

Direct information about the ancient era didn’t appear often even in Roel.

Therefore, all I could do was combine various clues from the game to make educated guesses.

‘Among those, the most important difference that separates the ancient era from the present is…’

It was the way gods existed.

Now, gods remain in the Heavenly Realm and only indirectly influence the Lower Realm.

But in the past, it was different.

An era when gods directly descended to the Lower Realm and interacted with humans.

And this place we had just entered was also one of those traces.

“…”

A massive space spread out before our eyes.

The ceiling had collapsed, revealing the sky clearly, and moss and cracks filled the walls everywhere, proving the weight of time.

But even within those ruins, the original form could be sufficiently discerned.

A blackened furnace.

A massive anvil.

The remains of tongs and hammers lined along the walls.

At a glance, it was a forge. And not one of ordinary scale either.

A massive furnace occupied the center, and the anvil beside it was easily three to four times the height of a person.

“This place is…?”

Jeungmu looked around with apparent curiosity.

His pupils moved busily behind his monocle. He had clearly sensed something.

His sensitivity to metals was sharper than anyone’s. He was undoubtedly reading the lingering traces of how many precious metals had passed through this place.

Just as I was about to speak.

“This is where divine artifacts were born.”

Thud, thud-.

An alien voice came from the opposite side.

“…!”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward that direction at once.

And.

From beyond the ruined furnace, a figure revealed itself.

A knight in dark red armor.

However, the knight had no head above its neck.

In its place was only a pitch-black sphere floating in the air.

Whooooo-.

Tension filled the space completely.

Pean’s hand moved to his sword hilt, and the Bifurcated Siblings had already half-drawn Heukya and Baekya.

But the Golem Knight paid no heed to such hostility.

“Many mistakenly believe that divine artifacts are only born at the Forge of the Single Flame.”

The Golem Knight slowly moved forward, continuing to speak in a somewhat bitter voice.

“But before the ancient era came to an end, ‘The Owner of the Flame and the Blacksmith’ personally forged weapons here.”

“…”

“Metal touched by divine hands became divine artifacts in itself, and the weapons born in this forge were passed on to the Seekers.”

Swoosh-.

The Golem Knight’s hand swept over the broken furnace.

“Of course…”

The Golem Knight paused briefly, its gaze turning toward the anvil.

“Just before the gods abandoned the Lower Realm, its purpose changed.”

“…”

“A dismantling facility that broke down divine artifacts to extract only their authorities. Some succeeded, others ended in failure.”

Scrape-.

The Golem Knight’s finger slowly traced the surface of the anvil.

Tense silence pressed down on the air.

Then.

The dark red eyes that appeared on the sphere slowly moved and stopped on Pean.

“It’s been a long time.”

A calm voice.

“We couldn’t even exchange proper greetings at Dawnguard.”

Pean gripped Seorineul tightly. But the Golem Knight didn’t stop there and shifted its gaze. This time toward the Bifurcated Siblings.

“And.”

The surface of the pitch-black sphere split wide open.

What was revealed through that gap was a hideous mouth. A grotesque form lined with dark red fangs formed a sinister smile.

“It’s been quite a while for you two as well. Seeing that you still have those eyes, it seems you haven’t given up on revenge.”

Crunch-.

The sound of the Bifurcated Siblings grinding their teeth could be heard.

Uncontrollable killing intent had been rippling in their eyes since earlier.

“Finally.”

Soon.

Slide-.

The Golem Knight’s gaze fixed on me.

“The Thirteenth Sword Master, Gaon.”

“…”

“How pleasant. The one who killed two of my precious comrades.”

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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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