Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 317
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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 317
Episode 317. Legacy of the Ancients (3)
* * *
Pushhhhhhh-!
Steam violently erupted from Jeungmu’s body.
‘This is…’
His instincts were warning him.
The being before his eyes was on a completely different level from any expert he had faced so far.
‘…Strong.’
Jeungmu had faced countless transcendents.
He had clashed with Pean and had crossed swords with Balhwan.
However.
He had never felt such overwhelming pressure in any of those moments.
Seureu-reuk─.
Right at that moment.
The dark red eyes floating above the black sphere moved and turned toward Jeungmu.
“An iron spirit blessed by the Ancients…”
Pisik-.
Soon, mockery flowed from the Golem Knight’s mouth.
“…Then you must be the Sword Master of Jeungmu.”
The Golem Knight’s gaze slowly swept over Jeungmu’s body after briefly pausing his words.
It was a look that carefully examined him as if appraising an antique.
“Not bad.”
“…”
“You weren’t chosen as a Heretic for nothing.”
An attitude as if evaluating something far beneath him.
But Jeungmu felt to his bones that this wasn’t mere bluster.
Deoldeoldel-.
The Bifurcated Siblings couldn’t even draw their swords.
Pean was the same.
Gripping the handle of Seorineul, he stood without the slightest movement.
Three Sword Masters had been overwhelmed by the presence of just one Worshipper of Evil Gods.
Teobeok─.
However.
Only one person was different.
The Thirteenth Sword Master, Gaon.
He began walking toward the Golem Knight without hesitation.
“…!”
Jeungmu’s eyes widened.
All swordsmen have something called a ‘domain.’
The distance a sword can reach. Carelessly crossing that line was tantamount to declaring one’s willingness to forfeit their life.
Especially when the opponent was an expert like the Golem Knight, it went without saying.
Teobeok-.
However, Gaon fearlessly crossed that line.
One step.
And then another two steps.
‘That’s…’
There was no hesitation. A composed demeanor as if taking a leisurely stroll.
‘…How can he be so defenseless!’
Uttuk-.
Finally, Gaon stopped.
A distance of only three or four steps.
It was a gap where a Sword Master could sever a neck in a single instant.
Yet Gaon looked up at the Golem Knight as if he didn’t care at all.
“Stop the pointless chatter.”
“…”
“Reveal your reason for setting foot in the old grounds of Rashutku.”
Soon after, from his mouth.
A completely unexpected and shocking statement flowed out.
“First Heretic of the Previous Generation.”
* * *
“Interesting.”
Seureu-k-.
The red eyes floating above the black sphere stared at me piercingly.
“How did you know I was a Sword Master of the Previous Generation?”
“…”
“Since it’s the Ancients’ greatest shame, everyone would have tried to hide that truth thoroughly, wouldn’t they?”
How did I know, you bastard.
I naturally came to realize it while repeating 200 cycles.
While I was having such thoughts.
Seureu-k-.
The Golem Knight’s gaze began to look toward Pean.
“Don’t tell me.”
“…”
“Did you reveal this fact, Pean?”
Pean answered with a thoroughly stiff voice.
“I said nothing about you.”
“Then how does that guy know my identity?”
“There are ways for everything.”
“…?”
The Golem Knight showed a puzzled expression, then soon shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
“…”
“You asked why I came here?”
The Golem Knight continued speaking.
“It’s nothing special. It’s just that the Rashutku Empire is my old homeland.”
“…”
“There’s nothing strange about a Sword Master of the Previous Generation visiting his hometown.”
The Golem Knight paused briefly, then asked me in return.
“Rather, what’s strange is you people.”
“…”
“A land abandoned by the Ancients. A cursed foundation corrupted by deities of the other realm. What purpose could you have for seeking out such a place?”
It was a sharp question.
The Golem Knight subtly avoided the real reason for coming to Rashutku while conversely probing our purpose.
Through this, I was able to realize one fact.
‘He doesn’t want to fight immediately either.’
The Golem Knight was clearly curious about our purpose as well.
The reason he didn’t draw his sword first and attempted conversation like this was because of that.
‘More than anything…’
…Originally, the Golem Knight would want to persuade us, and furthermore, all Sword Masters.
So then.
‘Let’s leave it be for now.’
It was about time to reveal all the truth to the Seekers anyway.
I first confessed honestly why we had come to find the ruins of Rashutku.
“We came to this place to break the curse of the Imperial Palace.”
“…?”
“And we liberated the souls of Rashutku that had been bound to this place for thousands of years.”
In that moment, the Golem Knight’s eyes wavered greatly upon hearing my words.
“The souls of the Empire’s people… you sent them back to the Heavenly Realm…?”
“That’s right.”
I nodded and continued speaking.
“It was what the people of Rashutku had asked of me.”
“What nonsensical talk…!”
Kwang-!
The Golem Knight struck the wall.
With a heavy impact sound, the already cracked wall came crumbling down.
“How much resentment does this Empire hold toward the Ancients!”
“…”
“Don’t you know why Emperor Tarosk bound the souls of his people even while borrowing the power of Outer Gods!”
The Golem Knight’s anger exploded.
“Moreover, even my former comrade guarded the entrance to the Empire for thousands of years to prevent Rashutku from falling into the hands of the Ancients!”
“…”
“Foolish ones! Have you truly been deceived by the schemes of the Ancients! There’s no way the Empire’s people would have wanted to return to the Heavenly Realm! Such nonsense can only be spoken because you don’t know how the Ancient Era ended…!”
“No.”
I cut off his words.
“I did it knowing everything.”
“…What?”
“How the Ancient Era came to an end. How the Great Ones abandoned this land.”
“…”
“I’m saying I did it knowing all of that.”
Drip-.
Quiet silence filled the ruins completely.
After a long silence, the Golem Knight muttered in a voice that seemed unable to understand.
“Ha, so… you knew everything…”
The sphere’s surface slowly contorted. Dark red fangs began grinding together as if suppressing anger.
“And yet you bastards still chose to continue following those damn Ancients?”
* * *
The Great Ones are not absolute good.
Incompetent beings who caused the invasion from another realm and then irresponsibly abandoned this world when the situation became serious.
Those who lost the Ancient Era because of them called the Elders ‘Ancients’ and resented them.
The Golem Knight, a Sword Master of the previous generation, was also one such figure.
“Don’t you bastards know it too.”
The Golem Knight growled in a sunken voice.
Though he had become calmer, emotions filled with resentment lingered within.
“That Seekers are merely puppets of the Heavenly Realm. That mortals have no free will, and everything is determined according to the gods’ arrangements.”
His dark red eyes contorted with anger.
“How long will you live as the Ancients’ dogs? How long do you plan to continue the life of blindly following their commands while revering them as sacred revelations?”
His voice grew louder.
“When the Ancients themselves fled to the Heavenly Realm in fear of their own mistakes, hiding behind puppets and waging proxy wars.”
Grind-.
The Golem Knight, who had been shouting in a voice full of anger, looked at Pean and cried out.
“Pean!”
It was an intense howl that shook the entire forge that had become ruins.
Pean’s shoulders flinched slightly at that cry.
“Answer me! Don’t you remember the first summoning of the Seekers!”
“…”
“All the Sword Masters of the previous generation responded to the summons! But why would everyone who was there have been annihilated!”
A few months ago.
When Middle Temple summoned the thirteen Sword Masters.
The soliloquy Pean had muttered.
─This is the second summoning I’ve experienced in my life.
─…
─It was thousands of years ago. When I had just begun walking the path of a Seeker, there was something similar to this.
─…
─At that time, I didn’t respond to the summons. But… when I finished my secluded training and came out into the world, all the Sword Masters except me had died.
The fall of the Ancient Era.
And the turning point where previous generation and new generation Sword Masters became divided.
“Don’t you still understand!”
The Golem Knight began exposing the disaster of that day.
“The culprits were the Ancients! They were the ones who drove the Sword Masters into the pit of death!”
“…?”
“Because if the fact that Outer Gods were born because of them became known, it was obvious that the Seekers would be disappointed!”
The Golem Knight shouted.
“The Ancients struck first and made plans to massacre us all!”
“…!”
“…!”
* * *
Since conquering the Imperial Palace of Rashutku, the Sword Masters had been inwardly shaken.
Emperor Tarosk’s rage. The Empire’s downfall. And how the Ancient Era had met its end.
Having faced all those truths, it would have been stranger not to be confused.
But…
After hearing the shocking fact that the previous generation Sword Masters had been massacred by the Great Ones, that turmoil began to grow uncontrollably.
Pean turned to look at me and asked.
“Is it true, The Protagonist?”
His voice was trembling.
Swish-.
Balhwan and Jeungmu’s gazes also turned toward me. Everyone was waiting for an answer.
“Is what that worshipper of evil gods said the truth?”
Pean asked once more.
“The reason Emperor Tarosk was so enraged, the reason he said that blindly believing in the Ancients would only lead to a miserable end… was it all because of that…?”
Silence flowed.
I slowly nodded my head.
“It’s not wrong.”
Yes.
It was about time to reveal the facts I had kept hidden from the other heretics.
“Of course, it’s their own doing. There were those among the previous generation’s Sword Masters who betrayed first.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…!”
“Why.”
Thud-.
The Golem Knight burst into anger, but I didn’t give him a chance and continued speaking.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to deny my words when you’ve become a living witness?”
“…!”
Kuguugugugu──!
Right at that moment.
The air began to freeze cold.
At the same time, a thunderous roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth echoed.
─They’re already coming. Go back quickly. Hurry.
It was a familiar presence.
─…To think that ‘they’ would react to just this much #̸̦̼̠̞̳̈́̉͌̄̈́@̸͈͙̞͖̇̉́!̸̡͔̥̮͓̩̾̅$̸̘͋!̸̣̙͍̩͐͋̀.
The meeting with the Saintess. And the exact same situation as when Emperor Tarosk revealed the truth about the Empire’s destruction at the Ruins of Rashutku.
Kurrrr-!
The Evil Gods had begun swarming in response to our conversation.
“You…”
Grind-.
The Golem Knight glared at me and growled.
“…How do you know that fact when you’ve only just become a Sword Master?”
Shing-!
The conversation allowed to us ended right there.
Drawing the Feather Sword, I stared at the Golem Knight and answered.
“Ask that question to your two comrades who fell to hell.”
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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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