Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 38

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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 38

Episode 38. Corpse Exhibition (4)

* * *

Sikan Bauer recalled what had happened a few minutes ago.

─Nice to meet you, everyone.

When he first encountered the lich.

Sikan Bauer had no choice but to freeze in place.

It wasn’t without reason, as he knew the identity of that immortal better than anyone else.

‘…Camillo von Taribas.’

There was no way he, as a heretic inquisitor, wouldn’t recognize Camillo.

When he was young, during his training days as an apprentice investigator for the Middle Temple investigation team.

The records about Camillo that he had read in Middle Temple’s archive were deeply engraved in Sikan’s mind.

『Class 1 Extermination Target』

『Being who gained eternal life through contract with the First Apostle』

『Mad mage who committed terrible massacres for hundreds of years』

『Disappeared from sight 30 years ago』

“…”

How could he forget?

Among the “Five Nightmares” that Middle Temple was wary of, Camillo was the most notorious existence.

Records and illustrations of how he had turned countless villages into ruins and subjected their residents to terrible torture.

This was enough to leave a great shock on young Sikan Bauer.

‘Who would have thought this building was Camillo’s dungeon.’

Only now did all the puzzle pieces fit together.

The reason why Merirose’s barrier suddenly collapsed, and why an unidentified building appeared overnight the very next day.

And even the reason why the investigation team couldn’t enter the building despite trying every method.

All these questions converged into one answer: ‘Camillo von Taribas.’

‘But…’

Sikan Bauer looked at Gaon with a bewildered expression.

“…What did you just say?”

Because what Gaon had said was far too absurd.

“I must have heard wrong, right? That you’ll kill that guy in an hour… Mmph! Mmph!”

“Lord Bauer!”

Right then.

Adelia was startled and covered Sikan’s mouth.

“Watch your words! Have you forgotten what Lord Gaon said earlier?”

“Mmph, mmph!”

“He said all the corpses here are connected to Camillo! What if the enemy hears those words…!”

Sikan Bauer struggled.

He could have escaped from the restraint if he wanted to, but he couldn’t properly resist for fear that Adelia might get hurt.

Fortunately, just before he collapsed from suffocation, Adelia loosened her grip.

It was thanks to Gaon grabbing her arm and shaking his head as if telling her to stop.

“It’s fine, Adelia. That won’t happen.”

“Ah…”

“It’s only the souls that are connected, not the corpses’ senses being shared.”

Gaon continued his explanation step by step.

Hearing this, Adelia kept bowing her head with a reddened face.

“I, I apologize, Lord Bauer.”

“…It’s fine.”

Sikan, who had been breathing heavily with a displeased expression, looked at Gaon.

“Please finish answering my question.”

“…”

“You said you’ll kill Camillo in an hour?”

Gaon answered in his usual indifferent voice.

“I can’t tell you the details. However, let me make one thing clear.”

Swish-.

Gaon turned around.

In his eyes as he faced the space where countless corpses were displayed like chunks of meat, an indescribable emotion lingered.

After staring at this for a while, he muttered in a coldly sunken voice.

“I have never told a lie. You two should know this well enough.”

Adelia and Sikan Bauer nodded silently.

They couldn’t deny that statement. Gaon had never uttered a single falsehood until now.

Rather, his words and actions had been far too accurate.

“So there’s no need to doubt this time either.”

Thud-.

Gaon took the lead and walked.

The sound of his footsteps echoed through the Special Gallery.

“I will definitely take that immortal’s life.”

“…”

“…”

Silence flowed.

It was a statement without any basis or proof.

How could he possibly kill an immortal that Middle Temple hadn’t been able to touch even a hair of for hundreds of years?

But hearing Gaon’s declaration, Sikan Bauer couldn’t bring himself to voice any objection.

He didn’t know the exact reason, but he kept thinking that maybe that man could make it possible.

* * *

Just trust me and follow, okay?

That could be said to be the entirety of what I had just said.

I didn’t give any detailed explanations or evidence. It was obvious they wouldn’t believe it even if I spoke it out loud anyway.

But…

‘…This actually works.’

That alone was enough to steel the hearts of Adelia and Sikan Bauer.

Did my sincerity get through?

Unlike before, I couldn’t feel even a hint of hesitation in the footsteps of the party following behind me.

‘Anyway.’

Thud, thud-.

I moved my steps while looking around.

The stench and rotting smell felt everywhere, and even the chilling cold.

Not only human corpses, but also carcasses of various animals including cattle and pigs were hanging at cramped intervals.

‘The first floor’s concept is a slaughterhouse.’

Numerous iron hooks were lined up along the rails installed on the ceiling.

Complex passages were formed between the corpses hanging on those hooks.

If there were a maze made of flesh and bone, would it feel like this?

Creak creak creak─!

Right then, the rails hanging from the ceiling began to move.

With creaking sounds, the corpses swayed back and forth, and the structure of the passages changed completely accordingly.

The maze’s structure was changing moment by moment as if it were alive and breathing.

‘Ugh.’

…For a moment, chills ran up my spine.

It was because a corpse moving along the rails had brushed past the back of my neck.

That unpleasantness was indescribable.

Adelia and Sikan Bauer seemed to feel the same sensation as me, as I could see them flinching.

“Phew.”

However, I deliberately didn’t show any signs of panic.

“…Follow me. This way.”

Thud, thud-.

Every time the ceiling rails moved, I would stop briefly, then move again once new passages were formed.

My steps showed not a hint of hesitation, as if I could see through all the changes in this maze.

“We’re almost there.”

How long had we been moving like this?

Finally, we were able to escape the cramped maze and arrive at a spacious corridor.

The hallway, lit at regular intervals with cold blue lanterns, reminded me of a hospital morgue.

Under that lighting, corpses draped in white cloth were lined up in rows, and dark red bloodstains could be seen splattered in all directions on the walls on both sides.

“Haa, ha…”

“Urgh!”

Thud-!

Adelia and Sikan Bauer collapsed simultaneously, gasping for breath.

Having arrived at an open space, their bodies went limp as the suffocating feeling they’d endured was finally relieved.

It was understandable.

The maze we had been trapped in until just moments ago was so cramped that a person could barely squeeze through.

Add to that the terrible stench and continuous visual torture? I guarantee enduring that was by no means an easy task.

Ding-!

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ resists terrible panic.〕

…If I hadn’t been a 【Soul of the Sword Master】, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to escape this place safely.

‘Fortunately, we escaped without major problems.’

Special Gallery 1st Floor, Slaughterhouse Maze.

Originally, this place was absolutely not somewhere you could escape from so easily.

It required a long time to figure out the patterns of the constantly changing maze.

‘You have to solve puzzles using traces and hints left on some of the corpses.’

What if you failed to escape the maze within the time limit?

Need I say more? Your mind would collapse and you’d die on the spot.

‘Of course, not for me.’

I had long since memorized this labyrinth’s patterns through dozens of Corpse Exhibition clears.

Thanks to that, we were able to escape from here in less than 30 minutes.

“Haa, ha…”

Of course, no one was relaxing just because we’d escaped the labyrinth.

Both Adelia and Sikan Bauer were looking around with wary eyes.

They instinctively knew the ordeal wasn’t over yet.

‘As expected, they’re quick to catch on.’

Naturally, the Special Gallery couldn’t end with just this.

As Camillo had said, this dungeon consisted of a total of 4 themes.

We had only just passed the first stage among them.

【Lv. 80】

…No, let me correct that.

Strictly speaking, we hadn’t even passed that first stage yet.

At the end of that corridor, the first stage’s mid-boss was waiting for us, armed with all sorts of vicious patterns and gimmicks.

‘Still, there’s nothing to worry about.’

Beside me were the powerful forces of Adelia and Sikan Bauer.

Not only that, but I also knew all of that mid-boss’s patterns and gimmicks.

‘One hour.’

The time I had promised Adelia and Sikan Bauer was approaching.

Now only 30 minutes remained.

‘That’s enough.’

It was more than enough time to break through three more stages and eliminate Camillo.

* * *

“Haa, how interesting…”

Camillo was quietly sitting with his eyes closed in the final room.

Though he was an immortal who had lived for ages, this was the first time his heart had raced like this.

He still couldn’t forget the sculpture he’d seen in the courtyard.

It truly was a miraculous work that had instantly satisfied his artistic desires.

‘…That was a masterpiece that only a true artist could create.’

What was even more surprising was something else.

The reaction when he showed the ambitious work he’d intentionally placed on the first floor.

Those sharp eyes that saw through all intentions with just a single glance.

He was certain. The man possessed the same artistic talent as himself… no, perhaps even greater.

Middle Temple’s dog? The Elders’ subordinate? What did such things matter?

For the first time in hundreds of years, someone who understood his art had appeared.

‘That person should be able to reach the final floor of the Special Gallery.’

The Special Gallery wasn’t just a simple exhibition hall.

It was a space where visitors directly became part of the artwork to complete the art.

It was a sacred place where one realized the true value of art through hardships and trials that crossed the boundaries of death.

An artist of that caliber would surely be able to reach the final room.

‘But the process won’t be entirely easy.’

Just passing through the slaughterhouse on the first floor alone would take at least half a day.

No matter how outstanding someone was, reading the constantly changing maze patterns and finding the exit required that much time.

Even he himself, who had directly created the labyrinth, would need at least an hour to pass through the first room, so that said it all.

‘Moreover, one of my masterpieces is waiting at the very end…’

Brute the Flesh Dissector.

It was a corpse chimera that Camillo von Taribas had painstakingly created.

Breaking through that creature armed with all sorts of bizarre gimmicks and advancing to the next floor was by no means an easy task.

‘I wonder how long it will take?’

Kuk kuk kuk-.

It was just as Camillo, thinking this, was bursting into laughter.

“…Huh?”

At that very moment.

“That’s impossible.”

Camillo shot up from his seat.

Snap─.

…The connection with the artwork guarding the first floor exit, “Brute the Flesh Dissector,” had been severed.

“How…?”

It had only been 30 minutes since the opponent entered the Special Gallery.

But what on earth had happened in that time?

Not only had they passed through the labyrinth in just 30 minutes, but they had also broken through the final barrier, “Brute the Flesh Dissector”?

“What the hell is this…”

Kwaaaaang─!

“…!”

At that moment, with a thunderous roar of the ceiling collapsing, the top floor of the Special Gallery shattered into pieces.

Stone debris and dust poured down like a waterfall.

Three silhouettes descended through the collapsed ceiling.

The Man with Dark Blue Hair standing at the front with his hair flowing, and The Man and Woman Accompanying Him flanking his sides.

Camillo’s face hardened as he witnessed this scene, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“One hour.”

At that moment, The Mysterious Man’s indifferent voice echoed through the room.

“Even that seemed like a waste of time, so I took a shortcut.”

The fragments and dust that had been dancing through the air slowly settled.

Soon, The Mysterious Man’s sharply honed eyes revealed themselves from the opposite side.

“What a pathetic gallery.”

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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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