Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 326
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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 326
Episode 326. Outer Circle (2)
* * *
“Ha.”
Following Captain Yaakov into the interior of the Imperial Palace, an astounding scene unfolded before us.
Whoooosh—!
In the middle of the cloister.
Jeungmu was holding up his Metamorphic Device, transformed into a massive hammer.
The guy was eyeing a pillar of the Imperial Palace.
A pillar that had endured thousands of years was on the verge of being smashed to pieces by the hammer.
Pean and Balhwan stood with their arms crossed, watching the spectacle. Their expressions clearly showed they found it entertaining.
In contrast.
“Th-there…!”
“Meister Zengmu, please…!”
The Relic Expedition Members could only pace about restlessly in confusion.
They couldn’t dare restrain a Sword Master, so they could only stomp their feet helplessly.
“What in the world is all this commotion about?”
Pause—.
As I spoke up, Jeungmu’s movements stopped.
He slowly turned his head to look at me.
His eyes, visible through his monocle, were sparkling more than usual.
“Ah, you’ve arrived?”
Whoooosh—.
After releasing a puff of steam, he answered nonchalantly.
“Buildings of this scale typically use hard rare metals as the core material for their pillars.”
“…”
“While decorative stone may cover the exterior, there’s definitely something like Proteum embedded at the center. I was just trying to confirm this, just in case.”
I was slightly dumbfounded.
“Haven’t you already secured enough Proteum?”
As promised, I had guided Jeungmu to the warehouse where Proteum was stored as soon as we returned to the Imperial Palace.
The Rashutku Imperial Secret Vault.
There was a chunk of Proteum the size of a soccer ball stored there.
At first glance, it might not seem impressive.
But considering how rare a metal Proteum is, the story changes.
‘It was an amount equivalent to what Jeungmu had collected over hundreds of years.’
Yet even after obtaining that, he wasn’t satisfied and wanted to turn the Imperial Palace upside down.
I had no idea just how greedy he could be.
“I did obtain quite a lot, but…”
Then, Jeungmu said while shouldering his hammer.
“The more, the better with everything. I too was able to reach my current level by collecting bit by bit like this. So securing even a little more wouldn’t hurt.”
“Phew.”
I sighed and cut off his words.
“Stop this pointless activity. There’s no more Proteum left in the Imperial Palace.”
“…?”
Jeungmu tilted his head as if puzzled.
“What do you mean? While it’s certain I’ve secured most of the Proteum in the Imperial Palace, my ‘senses’ definitely detected a very small amount of Proteum…”
“I won’t say it twice. Stop it.”
“…”
I firmly restrained him.
If I gave him permission once, Jeungmu would run wild like an unbridled colt and destroy the entire Imperial Palace.
‘The disasters that have occurred from such incidents aren’t just once or twice.’
After looking at me for a moment, Jeungmu soon showed a dejected expression.
The Metamorphic Device returned from hammer form back to a cube. Perhaps feeling deflated, even its clicking sounds seemed quieter.
“Phew…”
“Th-thank goodness.”
The Relic Expedition Members all let out sighs of relief in unison.
They had avoided the disaster of a thousand-year-old relic being destroyed.
‘Anyway.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘His intuition is damn sharp, really.’
That’s right.
In fact, I had secretly taken some of the Proteum from the warehouse.
Just about the size of a fist.
What Jeungmu detected was probably that small amount of metal.
[Myu myu?]
When I turned my gaze, I could see Mukyoo floating around between the pillars and Muwolcha.
The Proteum I had taken was stored inside that creature’s body.
That’s why Jeungmu mistakenly thought Proteum was hidden inside the pillar.
‘Mukyoo and Proteum. And even the power of the Metamorphic Device stored in the Extractor.’
If I combine these three things.
What I’ve been hoping for will finally be completed.
‘Anyway.’
That was a problem to think about later.
Right now, there was another fire I urgently needed to put out.
“You’re free to explore the Imperial Palace as you wish.”
I said while looking around.
“However, if you’re thinking of destroying anything, you must get my permission first.”
I finished speaking while sending a warning glance toward Jeungmu.
Whoosh—.
Jeungmu shrank back slightly and nodded his head.
“Captain Yaakov. And Pean.”
“Yes.”
“Did you call for me?”
The two answered almost simultaneously.
“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be looking around outside the Imperial Palace. In the meantime, keep watch so the others don’t cause any trouble.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Captain Yaakov bowed his head, and Pean also quietly nodded.
Step, step—.
I walked toward the main entrance of the Imperial Palace.
I passed through the cloister, went down the stairs, and walked along the long corridor.
While doing so, I checked once more the notification window that had been floating at the edge of my vision.
Ding—!
〔Beings from Another World are attempting to make contact with you.〕
〔You have received an invitation to the Outer Circle.〕
Below that message.
A single rainbow-colored spear was shimmering.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【???’s Invitation】
(Disappears upon use)
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Having left the garden, I stared intently at that notification window.
And.
The moment my finger touched the system window.
Whoooosh—!
The world turned upside down.
* * *
Tap, tap tap—.
The Hooded Girl lightly drummed on the table.
Each time her black nails caressed the table’s surface, a crisp sound echoed through the space.
However.
To the Golem Knight’s ears, that sound seemed more ominous than usual.
“Hmm.”
A smile hung on the girl’s lips, but that laughter didn’t reach her eyes.
More importantly.
The humming that would normally be heard was absent.
“Now, let’s organize this once. So then….”
Swish—.
The girl slowly raised her head to look at the Golem Knight.
“To cut to the conclusion, you let Dorico Shiro escape?”
“…I have no excuse.”
“No. It’s fine.”
The First Apostle shrugged her shoulders as she continued speaking.
“Even without Corel, I knew killing Dorico Shiro wouldn’t be that easy. She’s more cunning than she looks.”
The girl’s eyelids drooped halfway.
“However, what I find absurd is… the fact that you suddenly entered the Ruins of the Old Empire.”
“…!”
The Golem Knight’s shoulders flinched.
“This is essentially slacking off, isn’t it? You neglected The Authorities’ orders and suddenly attended to your personal business.”
Though it was a low voice, the chill contained within was enough to make one’s spine run cold.
“It was fortunate that you coincidentally met Gaon there. If that hadn’t been the case….”
A brief silence.
“I would have been incredibly disappointed in you.”
Flinch—.
The moment those words fell, the red eyes floating above the sphere trembled greatly once.
Disappointment.
That wasn’t just a simple scolding.
The First Apostle being disappointed meant she was questioning the Golem Knight’s very worth.
At that ominous statement, the Golem Knight could only keep his mouth tightly shut.
“That aside, what you mentioned earlier was quite interesting….”
Right then.
The girl’s tone changed.
The cold atmosphere lifted and playful curiosity seeped in its place.
“You think Gaon has some kind of restriction?”
“…Yes.”
The Golem Knight carefully nodded his head.
“I already knew he was skilled enough to defeat Camillo von Taribas and Puppet Master Batu.”
“….”
“But when I faced him directly, his skill was beyond imagination.”
Over thousands of years, he had crossed swords with countless strong opponents.
Comrades from ancient times. Even the Heretics he faced after contracting with the Evil Gods. He remembered all their blade tips.
Therefore, the Golem Knight could be certain of one fact.
“If Gaon had been truly serious, I would have died without being able to move a muscle.”
The Golem Knight’s voice lowered.
“Yet Gaon didn’t kill me. This is a cautious speculation, but it can’t be explained unless there’s some restriction on his abilities.”
“Hmm.”
As soon as those words ended, the corners of the girl’s mouth began to twitch.
“Hmm, heh, ahem!”
Her shoulders shook lightly. She seemed to be desperately holding back laughter.
After shaking for quite a while, the girl stood up from her seat.
Swish—.
The First Apostle slowly approached the Golem Knight. Her small hand crossed through the air and reached toward his face, precisely toward the sphere’s surface.
Soon the girl began to gently caress the Golem Knight.
“Restriction… restriction, you say….”
Her fingers slid along the sphere’s surface. A cold and smooth sensation was transmitted to her fingertips.
“Well, I suppose you could think of it that way.”
Snicker—.
A smile of unknown meaning spread across her face.
“It’s not wrong. Being unable to kill indiscriminately for fear of twisting the future he knows is indeed a kind of restriction.”
“…?”
“If it were others, they would have relied solely on that ability and caused chaos recklessly, then self-destructed in an uncontrollably tangled situation, but he’s really smart and methodical… yes, yes.”
The girl kept nodding as she muttered to herself.
And hearing this, the Golem Knight could only keep his mouth tightly shut.
He couldn’t understand what the First Apostle was talking about at all.
But the girl seemed to have no intention of making the Golem Knight understand.
She suddenly brought up a different topic.
“You did well to escape. Gaon isn’t our opponent to begin with.”
Pause—.
The Golem Knight’s body froze once again.
‘Not… our opponent…?’
Those words weren’t referring to just the Golem Knight alone.
The girl had said ‘our.’
This was tantamount to saying that even the First Apostle couldn’t face Gaon.
“Then who exactly can face Gaon…?”
The Golem Knight carefully posed the question.
The girl, wearing a slight smile, slowly raised her finger.
Swish—.
Toward the ceiling. As if pointing to something beyond the sky.
“The Authorities.”
“….”
“The Thirteenth Sword Master can only be faced by The Authorities directly.”
Hearing those words, the Golem Knight couldn’t even move for a long while.
It was shocking.
I already knew that Gaon was strong.
However, I had never once imagined he was a transcendent being to the extent that a divine entity would have to step in personally.
In the first place, how could such a being still remain in the Lower Realm?
“Don’t worry too much.”
“…?”
At that moment, The Girl looked at the flustered Golem Knight and smiled brightly.
“The Authorities said they would make direct contact with Gaon.”
Hehe—.
The Girl’s lips curved into an even deeper arc.
That smile looked innocent yet somehow eerie.
“If we’re lucky… he might become our ally.”
* * *
In the game, players are given choices.
Whether to take the hand of the Outer Gods and hasten the world’s end.
Or stand with the Elders and prevent destruction.
‘Of course, having become an Immortal by the First Apostle, seeing the true ending with the latter choice is virtually impossible….’
Regardless of that, Oeyeonhoe was a crucial event that determined the direction of that playthrough.
The game’s progression would change completely depending on which divine entity you allied with.
‘In that sense.’
Perhaps this very moment might be the most important point since I opened my eyes in this world.
“….”
Slowly—.
I slowly opened my eyes.
What I saw was an entirely black space.
There was no up, down, left, or right. The Void where nothing existed.
However.
Right in the center stood the form of a human.
The silhouette of The Hooded Girl.
Noise was distorting her outline.
Like an old video crackling, her entire form was subtly warping.
I couldn’t make out her face or detailed appearance.
However.
I could definitely feel that being looking at me.
[Nice to meet you, Middle Finger.]
“….”
[Representing all of Oeyeonhoe, I am ̷̡̛̯̯͕̇͝@̸̦̜̞͌̕̕ṋ̵̀̏!̵̖͖͈̉̉̔̏@̸͎̟̪̀&̵̲́ǹ̷̩̺̫̋̚#̵̟̗̗̏j̷̨̤͓͒f̷̷̢̡̨̛̺̦̯̩͐͑̽&̷̪̲̈̽͆̅k̵̤̙̺̾̔̾.]
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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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