Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 67

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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 67

Episode 67. Haewolsumo (5)

Illusion magic.

A terrifying technique that invades the opponent’s spiritual realm.

Dorico Shiro’s illusion magic was particularly notorious for its viciousness.

She would ransack the opponent’s memories, then persistently dig into their trauma to slowly break down their mind.

‘This is why the Sword Masters consider Dorico Shiro their most troublesome opponent.’

Having lived for hundreds of years, each of them carried terrible traumas.

And these became Dorico Shiro’s ‘materials.’

─You’re just as helpless once caught in illusion magic, aren’t you?

There was a reason why Dorico Shiro acted so arrogantly like this.

Well, even that was only possible because she was a Sword Master who could endure it.

If it had been anyone else, just being trapped in Dorico Shiro’s illusion magic would have caused their mind to collapse and die.

However…

“Wh-what!”

…Unlike others, her shallow tricks don’t work on me.

Ding-!

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ nullifies mental interference.〕

“Why…! Why can’t I read your mind…?”

Mythic-grade skill, 【Soul of the Sword Master】.

Thanks to that passive effect, with my mental power stat at maximum, I could nullify any mental attack.

Not only illusion magic, but even the ‘mental interference’ she used to read opponents’ memories could be blocked.

That’s right.

I was Dorico Shiro’s perfect counter… in other words, her complete weakness.

Therefore, no matter what she tried, she couldn’t defeat me.

“Grrr…!”

Dorico Shiro gritted her teeth.

Before long, the world began to flip upside down once again.

Whoooosh-!

The world before my eyes twisted endlessly. Every time Dorico Shiro’s fingers moved, the laws of reality crumbled.

Surreal scenes filled my vision.

The night sky and lake once again switched places with each other.

Gravity disappeared as water droplets floated in mid-air, and time began flowing backward. Fully bloomed flowers returned to buds, and the sun rapidly traced back eastward.

Space repeatedly folded and stretched.

The distance before my eyes instantly expanded dozens of times, making Dorico Shiro seem infinitely far away, then the next moment she was close enough for her breath to touch my cheek.

Stars fell from the sky and rolled across the lake surface. Massive celestial bodies swept past overhead, and planetary orbits were drawn beneath my feet.

Insects crawled under my skin. Flesh swelled up and burst. Dark red liquid spurted out like a fountain. Bones and flesh twisted and deformed in all directions.

Crash crash crash crash crash──!

Dizzying.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of pieces of information… were tearing through my nerves every second, every moment.

A situation where my mind couldn’t endure and would collapse wouldn’t be strange.

However.

Ding, ding, ding-!

〔Resisting supreme-level illusion magic.〕

〔Resisting supreme-level illusion magic.〕

〔Resisting supreme-level illusion mag─〕

‘…It doesn’t affect me at all.’

Step-.

Even amidst the frantically crashing waves of hallucinations, I simply continued forward silently.

One step.

And another step.

The more I moved forward, the closer I got to Dorico Shiro, who was backing away.

“Th-this is insane…!”

Dorico Shiro made her final desperate struggle.

“…G-get away!”

Space itself shattered like glass, and I was divided into multiple pieces and endlessly destroyed.

My consciousness scattered into thousands of fragments before reassembling.

However…

“I’m sure I told you.”

“…!”

“These childish tricks don’t work on me.”

The moment my voice echoed.

Crash-!

With the sound of layered illusions shattering…

Thud──.

…All the commotion subsided.

“…”

“…”

Cold silence.

The world became quiet. When I closed and opened my eyes, I was standing on the surface of the lake.

The very place where I first encountered Dorico Shiro.

The water surface was calm. There were no waves, no whirlpools.

A full moon hung quietly in the sky.

Its silver radiance reflected on the mirror-smooth lake surface, creating another night sky.

The surrounding trees stood motionlessly in their places. As if the chaos from moments ago had been just a dream.

“Ah, ahhh…”

Thud-.

Dorico Shiro despaired. The color drained from her face.

Looking down at her hands, she began trembling violently.

With an expression of disbelief that her illusion magic, which had been perfect for hundreds of years, could crumble so easily.

‘Good.’

Success.

Having already experienced neutralizing mental realm attacks several times, I was confident I could block Dorico Shiro’s illusion magic as well…

But when the moment actually came, a thrilling pleasure coursed through my entire body.

‘She was really troublesome to face in the game.’

Back then, I had to respond to each surreal illusion individually.

Unless one had exceptionally good control, overcoming this wasn’t easy.

Anyway.

Once again, I overcame the most difficult pattern through the 【Soul of the Sword Master】.

‘Now all that remains is to directly face Dorico Shiro’s main body.’

Fortunately, Dorico Shiro’s main body didn’t have very high combat power.

If we’re talking purely about actual combat ability, her martial prowess was even lower than Peterpan’s, whom I met in Dungarrd, the Dark City.

She had only reached the ranks of the strongest through illusion arts and necromancy alone…

From the moment those techniques stopped working, Dorico Shiro became so powerless that the title “Five Nightmares” seemed meaningless.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

“Eeeeeek…!”

Of course, I couldn’t let my guard down.

After all, Dorico Shiro was one chosen by the Evil Deities.

Even excluding her illusion arts, her pure combat ability was still much stronger than mine at only level 33.

“Don’t… underestimate me…!”

Swoooosh-!

Just then, Dorico Shiro began her final desperate struggle.

She tore off all the talismans that had been stuck all over her forehead.

Wooooong-.

Dozens of talismans began floating in the air.

The yellow paper scraps gradually spread out as if they had consciousness, surrounding me, and mystical characters that glowed softly in the moonlight moved alive on the paper.

Halt-!

At that moment, the talismans circling in the air suddenly stopped. Like a predator catching its breath just before pouncing on its prey.

Dorico Shiro’s eyes flashed as she took a short breath. She growled and gave orders to the talismans.

“Bind that bastard! Right now…!”

Pababababak-!

The talismans that had been circling around flew toward me like arrows.

Snicker-.

At that moment, a chuckle escaped me without realizing it.

‘…I can see them.’

Was it thanks to my increased physical stats and gaining the Dragon Body trait?

Just a few weeks ago, I couldn’t keep up with opponents’ fast movements, but now I could react to enemy attacks to some degree.

It was a very good situation.

It meant I could cast the appropriate skill at exactly the timing I wanted.

〔You have used the Authority Skill: 【True Ritardando】.〕

Tick, tick, tick-!

The world slowed down.

The flow of time slowly sank as if submerged in water.

I looked at the slowly moving talismans and cast another skill.

…The 【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】 that had evolved to 10 stars.

Buuuuuuung──!

The Feather Sword drew a round arc.

Unlike the previous auto-parrying that automatically deflected attacks regardless of my will, the skill’s ‘correction’ began to perfectly mesh with my intention.

Blue-green sword light crossed through the air. The talismans flying at arrow-like speed danced to the rhythm of my sword’s flow.

Like fallen leaves scattering in the wind, the talismans’ trajectories were subtly twisted by the torrent created by my sword.

That’s right.

The Feather Sword didn’t cut the talismans. Instead, it simply created wind and completely changed the talismans’ direction.

The sword wind became a storm that swept up the paper scraps. The talismans, their directions changed one by one, began to alter their course.

“…!”

Dorico Shiro’s eyes widened.

The several talismans she had thrown rushed toward her like a reversing tide…

Stick-! Stick-! Stick-!

…and soon began clinging to her entire body.

First her wrists and ankles.

Then her arms and legs, followed by her waist and chest, and finally her face.

The yellow paper scraps became a perfect straitjacket, binding Dorico Shiro’s entire body.

“Mmph, mmmmph…!”

Dorico Shiro tried to struggle somehow, but soon became quiet as if she realized it was meaningless.

Saaaaaaa-.

Before long, the slowly flowing time returned to normal.

The duration of 【True Ritardando】 had finally ended.

I approached Dorico Shiro, who couldn’t move a muscle. Then I roughly grabbed the talisman covering her mouth.

Rip-!

The sensation was like tearing off tape that had been firmly stuck to skin in one go.

Dorico Shiro screamed as if in pain.

“Kyaaaah! It stings!”

I could see the area around her lips had turned red and swollen, but I ignored it and brought up my business in a calm voice.

“Where is Haewolsumo.”

“Th-that’s…!”

Dorico Shiro’s lips trembled.

After hesitating for a long time, she whined pleadingly.

“Sorry, but Jelly is really off-limits! Please! I worked so hard to tame her!”

“…Jelly?”

“It’s a nickname I gave her! She’s squishy like jelly!”

“…”

…She still can’t get her head straight, this one.

“Choose one of two options. Either you die, or you call Haewolsumo.”

“No way! You’re going to kill me no matter what anyway…”

“No.”

“…?”

“If you obediently hand over Haewolsumo, I have no intention of killing you.”

“Wh-whaaaat…?”

Upon hearing my words, Dorico Shiro began moving her lips again.

“D-don’t lie. You think I’ll fall for such words…”

“I swear on the name of The Great Ones.”

“…!”

Flinch-!

Surprise filled Dorico Shiro’s eyes.

The Great Ones—that is, swearing by the name of the ancient deity Elder.

This was an oath that could never be broken from a Sword Master’s standpoint.

Of course, since I don’t truly worship Elder, I could break the oath anytime like flipping my palm, but…

‘This time, I’m truly sincere.’

…If I had intended to kill Dorico Shiro from the start, I would have used 【Soul of the Sword Master】 immediately upon encountering her.

‘I must not kill her yet.’

In Camillo von Taribas’s case, he barely affects the main scenario. That guy stays holed up in the 「Corpse Exhibition」 from beginning to end.

In contrast, Dorico Shiro was a central figure in various scenarios. If I killed her now… the future I know would become uncontrollably twisted.

There was even less reason to eliminate Dorico Shiro unless I intended to create variables with my own hands.

‘Above all…’

Dorico Shiro still had many useful aspects remaining.

Therefore, she must stay alive.

At least until ‘that moment’ I have in mind.

“I won’t say it twice. Hurry up and call Haewolsumo here.”

“Ugh, uuugh….”

Dorico Shiro, unable to withstand my threat, pleaded with a sobbing voice.

“Please… our Jelly, you have to let her go with as little pain as possible. Understood…?”

I stared intently at the sniffling Dorico Shiro and replied.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“…?”

“I never said I was going to kill Haewolsumo.”

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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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