Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 318
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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 318
Episode 318. Legacy of the Ancients (4)
* * *
Swish—.
In the suffocating standoff.
I glanced at the notification window that appeared in the corner of my vision.
〔MP : 2/10〕
This was the mana remaining after finishing the Tarosk subjugation battle.
‘Actually….’
I could have poured everything into the Imperial Palace conquest process.
But I didn’t.
More precisely, I couldn’t.
‘I had saved it from the beginning in preparation for a clash with the Golem Knight.’
Of course, this alone wouldn’t be enough to kill the Golem Knight.
And.
Even if I could kill him by pouring everything into it, I still shouldn’t do that yet.
‘The Golem Knight must meet his end in a different place, in a different way.’
Still.
‘…Right now, it’s enough to achieve what I want.’
Kugugugugugu—!
The aura of the Evil Gods grew thicker and began to press down on the ruins.
In the midst of this, the Golem Knight, who had been emanating killing intent as if ready to charge at any moment, suddenly stopped moving.
“…?”
Thud—.
His crimson eyes stared intently at the Feather Sword in my hand.
“Ha.”
Soon after, a hollow laugh burst out.
A bitter chuckle tinged with both absurdity and somewhere bitter emotion.
“The scabbard changed, so I didn’t recognize it at first.”
Creak—.
The Golem Knight raised his great sword and pointed it at the Feather Sword.
“You found a new master, Yeonwoo.”
[…!]
A faint vibration was transmitted through the handle.
Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword was shaken.
A Sword Master of the previous generation.
From the moment I first heard those words, she must have guessed that the Golem Knight would have some connection with her past master.
But it seemed she hadn’t expected him to recognize her at a glance and call her name so casually.
[Wh, who is that person…?]
Yeonwoo’s voice trembled.
She seemed unable to recognize the Golem Knight, who had become completely different through his contract with the Evil Gods.
Of course, that voice, which only the contractor could hear, couldn’t possibly reach the Golem Knight’s ears.
‘Don’t waver.’
[…!]
I gripped the Feather Sword’s handle tightly and muttered inwardly.
‘You must have many questions. But for now, you need to focus on the battle before us.’
[….]
‘When everything is over, we’ll have that conversation then. The same goes for the story about the Intruder that I haven’t been able to tell you yet.’
Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword gave no response.
But the trembling of the handle subsiding was enough.
It meant she had calmed down.
‘Good.’
Swish—.
I slowly looked around.
Jeungmu had already reassembled the Heavenly Transformation into shield form, and the Bifurcated Siblings had completely drawn Heukya and Baekya.
Pean was also watching the Golem Knight while holding Seorineul drawn from its scabbard.
Battle preparations were complete.
Kugugugu—!
Just then.
The Golem Knight gripped his great sword.
An ominous aura began to writhe between the joints of his armor.
It seemed he intended to pour all his strength from the start.
Gooooo—!
All the light around us was sucked toward the sphere.
The faint light source seeping through the ceiling cracks bent and was absorbed.
Even.
“…!”
The aura burning from the Sword Masters’ blades was extinguished.
Wooooong—!
The sphere that had devoured all light vibrated violently.
Whaaaa—!
Light began to flow back in an instant.
The sphere’s surface cracked and brilliant radiance poured out through the gaps. Vision turning white in an instant.
“Kugh…!”
The Bifurcated Siblings covered their eyes with their arms.
A flash so intense that eyes couldn’t be opened.
When that light subsided.
“…?”
Something was standing beside the Golem Knight.
Swish—.
At first, only the outline was vaguely visible, but soon the ‘something’ began to take substantial form.
“That’s….”
It was an alluring woman.
Pale skin. Seductively curved eyes. Sharp fangs visible between red lips.
Swish—.
However, where hair should have been, hundreds of tentacles writhed.
“…The Tentacle Woman!”
Whoosh—.
Jeungmu, who recognized the opponent’s identity, shouted in a voice filled with horror.
“Damn it! When did another Worshipper of Evil Gods…!”
“No.”
I quickly cut off his words.
“That’s the Golem Knight’s power. He can store those he’s killed and summon them at any time.”
“…?”
Jeungmu’s movement stopped.
Whoosh-.
The gazes of Balhwan and Pean also turned toward me.
A moment of silence.
I could read two questions that flashed across their expressions.
The first was how I knew the Golem Knight’s abilities in such detail.
And the second.
If what I said was true…
─Why did he kill the Tentacle Woman, who was supposed to be on the same side?
Of course.
I knew the answer to that as well.
‘Just as I expected.’
The collapse of the Five Nightmares had begun.
But I would have to think more deeply about that fact later.
Swish-.
When I looked at the Golem Knight again, he burst into laughter as if finding it absurd.
“Ha.”
“…”
“I don’t understand. How do you know all these things from earlier?”
There was no need to give the same answer to the same question.
The Golem Knight didn’t seem to particularly want an answer either.
Because.
Kwaaaaang-!
With that conversation ended, we clashed.
* * *
Kugugugugugu-!
Unpleasant energy surged from all directions.
Even though no more forbidden information was being exchanged, ‘they’ were still watching this place.
It couldn’t be helped.
Rashutku was originally a land destroyed by the Outer Gods.
Since their remnants still lingered everywhere, their “countless gazes” felt particularly thick.
‘It seems they want to watch our battle more closely…’
…Well, it didn’t matter.
They weren’t directly casting curses.
Rather, it was a good situation.
It was an opportunity to show them my abilities more clearly.
As I’d repeated many times, what I should prioritize most right now was survival.
Just because I walked the path of a Heretic didn’t mean I had to be loyal to the Pantheon.
Constantly walking a tightrope between the two factions was the best strategy.
‘To do that, I need to prove my abilities to both sides.’
Kagagagang-!
Meanwhile.
The battle between the Tentacle Woman and the three Sword Masters was reaching its climax.
Flash-!
The Tentacle Woman’s eyes gleamed.
Blood-red light spread in all directions, and The Girl in the Black Robe’s body, exposed to that light, hardened like stone.
“Kugh!”
Petrification.
It was one of the abilities the Tentacle Woman had possessed in life.
Kwagwagwa-!
Dozens of tentacles rushed toward the paralyzed Balhwan.
However.
Slash-.
Baekya cut through the air.
The moment the black girl’s body stiffened, another body immediately leaped in and cut down the tentacles.
“…!”
The Tentacle Woman’s expression twisted.
Her eyes gleamed again. This time it was an attack aimed at the White Boy.
Kuwong-!
Jeungmu’s shield blocked in front of him.
Pushiiiiik-!
He was completely blocking his vision, grasping the battlefield only through the reflection of his proteum.
Reading the faint images reflected on the shield’s surface to respond to the Tentacle Woman’s movements.
“Now, Pean!”
“Yes!”
Buwong-!
Pean pierced through that gap.
Seorineul spewed cold air as it aimed for the Tentacle Woman’s side.
To him, who couldn’t see in the first place, the petrifying gaze meant nothing.
Slash-!
Kieeeek-!
The Tentacle Woman let out a sharp scream and hastily retreated backward.
“Whew…”
Sling-.
In the meantime, Balhwan, freed from petrification, raised her sword again.
The three Sword Masters began to move like interlocking gears.
‘…They really fight ridiculously well.’
I was watching that scene from a step away.
The Golem Knight was the same.
He couldn’t easily jump into the battlefield and was sending wary glances toward me.
‘He’s conscious of me.’
The moment I moved, the Golem Knight would move too.
Conversely, as long as I stayed still, he couldn’t intervene carelessly either.
Right.
For now, I just needed to wait for the right timing like this.
【Soul Offering 】
The Golem Knight’s ability.
As I had explained to Jeungmu earlier, it was the power to store targets he had killed and summon them as minions.
Naturally, the Golem Knight was a tremendously skilled fighter. Those he had killed while living for thousands of years were inevitably all strong individuals.
The reason the Golem Knight was classified as the most troublesome opponent among the Five Nightmares.
While his main body’s combat power exceeded that of Sword Masters, the real threat lay in those sealed souls.
‘Of course…’
As fraudulent as the ability was, it had its limitations too.
Souls could only be summoned in the order of most recent kills, and once a soul was used, it would disappear completely.
‘…It’s nothing more than a one-time ability.’
From now on, the Golem Knight cannot resummon the Tentacle Woman.
In other words.
The more souls the Golem Knight uses in this battle, the weaker its overall strength becomes.
Having finished that thought, I muttered to myself.
“Phew…”
The Vilopozy Great Migration.
And the Wintershield Defense Battle.
In the two great battles to come, the Golem Knight will surely reveal itself.
I had to prepare for that time.
To drive that thing toward the ‘end’ I had planned.
‘Today.’
I thought as I looked at the Golem Knight beyond the battlefield.
‘I need to force out as many of its trump cards as possible.’
* * *
The Golem Knight couldn’t move.
The three Sword Masters were being held back by the Tentacle Woman.
Normally, it should have jumped in directly to subdue them instantly. It was a clear fact that none of them could match it.
However.
‘…I can’t move carelessly.’
Swoosh-.
The Golem Knight’s gaze turned toward a distant spot.
A man casually observing the battle situation.
Yet constantly watching it with cold eyes.
The Thirteenth Sword Master, Gaon.
To the Golem Knight, his existence was the greatest variable.
‘I can’t gauge the abilities that man possesses at all.’
Dorico Shiro was subdued by him without being able to do anything, and Camillo von Taribas and Puppet Master Batu died by his hand.
An existence so beyond normal parameters that even the First Apostle had to step in personally.
Was that all?
‘He knows far too many “forbidden things.”‘
His own authority.
Knowledge about the ancient times.
Even the truth about the annihilation of the old generation Sword Masters.
At first, I wondered if Yeonwoo the Feathered Sword had told him.
But I soon dismissed that possibility. Considering the seals and restrictions plastered all over her, it would be impossible.
‘Whatever the case…’
Gaon was an enigmatic existence.
‘…If I attack carelessly, there’s no telling what might happen.’
Just then.
Kuuuuuung-!
“…!”
A sensation suddenly rushing in.
At first, I couldn’t recognize what it was.
Just a feeling of my spine going cold and my heart shrinking.
‘This is…!’
The next moment.
The world was plunged into darkness.
My vision turned black. My hearing disappeared. Even my sense of touch became faint.
As my five senses went out one by one, only one sensation remained vividly alive.
Fear.
Pure, absolute fear.
‘…I’m going to die!’
It was certainty.
Right now, at this moment, I am going to die.
How? Why? I couldn’t know that.
But my instincts, the survival instincts honed over thousands of years, were sending frantic warnings.
“…!”
The manifestation of a primal urge to live. Not consciousness, but instinct reacted first.
Hwaaaak-!
The sphere absorbed light once again.
“…Ah.”
Without realizing it, a second [Soul Offering] had been used.
* * *
The Golem Knight didn’t use additional Soul Offerings until the very end.
It was clearly being cautious, having summoned only the Tentacle Woman.
So I provoked it.
By using a skill I had carefully saved all this time.
Ding-!
[Active Skill: [Ultimate Killing Intent] has been used.]
“…!”
The reaction was immediate.
Hwaaaak-!
The sphere’s surface cracked open once again, and a new form emerged through the gap.
‘…It took the bait.’
Exactly the dead soul I wanted was summoned.
If I eliminate this one, the Golem Knight’s side will suffer considerable loss of strength.
Now, there was no reason to hesitate.
Ding-!
[Authority Skill: [True Ritardando] has been used.]
Tick, tick, tick, tick-!
The clock’s second hand sound I’d grown so familiar with.
And…
[MP: 2/10]
Tiiiiiiiiiiik-.
[MP: 1/10]
Crack-.
A new horizon opened.
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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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