Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 72

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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 72

Episode 72. Haewolsumo (10)

* * *

Emotions surged at this long-awaited reunion.

Perhaps because of this, words wouldn’t come out properly.

The evening sunset painted the grasslands golden, and that light moved as if alive, following Adelia’s footsteps.

“….”

Thud-.

Adelia settled beside her father and rested her head on his shoulder.

How much time passed like this?

Adelia finally began to share the stories she had wanted to tell her father all this time.

“Brother is suffering a lot because of me.”

“….”

“My running away from home because I became disillusioned with the Noble Families, my inability to get involved in Middle Temple politics… I’m just a burden to brother in every way.”

The voice that had been confident through countless battles had returned to that of a child before her father.

“I wonder if my existence is just a hindrance to the family? I worry that brother might think I’m pathetic too.”

Father, who had been listening silently, offered words of comfort as he always did.

“Arwen will always be proud of you.”

Swoosh-.

Father reached out his hand. That large palm touched Adelia’s head.

It was a gentle touch, but it made her feel much more secure than when wearing solid armor.

“But what’s more important is whether you’re proud of yourself.”

“….”

The same warmth she had felt in childhood.

Hot moisture gathered in her eyes.

Adelia couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

“Father… I…”

There was so much she wanted to say. About her adventures, the people she’d met, the swordsmanship she’d learned, the truths she’d realized.

And most of all, how much she had missed him.

But there was no need to voice these things. Father already knew, as he held Adelia tightly in his embrace.

Just as Haewolsumo preserved all memories, Father had watched over his daughter’s entire journey from heaven.

“I have a gift prepared for you.”

Father took out a small orb glowing with blue light from his embrace. Inside it, blue waves rippled as if alive.

“This is…”

“Haewolsumo’s blessing. Since you’ve passed the trial, it’s now yours.”

“….”

Adelia stared at the orb silently.

Her expression, which had been soaked in overwhelming emotion, slowly began to settle.

Tears still flowed down her cheeks, but there was a change in her eyes.

“What are you doing not accepting it?”

Adelia’s lips trembled as she stared at the orb in silence for a long time. It was clear she was struggling to find her voice.

“I…”

Adelia swallowed and finally opened her mouth.

“I haven’t passed the trial yet.”

Pause-.

Father stopped moving momentarily upon hearing those words.

Adelia raised her head to look directly into her father’s eyes. The tears flowing from her eyes stopped.

Memories of the past flashed through Adelia’s mind.

‘The Protagonist.’

He always pushed himself to the limit.

Moments of falling countless times, bleeding, and getting back up again flashed by.

‘But…’

This trial was too ordinary.

She who had ultimately prevailed in real sword duels and life-or-death battles couldn’t kneel before the reunion with her father that she had so longed for.

The joy of meeting her father, whom she might never see again in her lifetime, was indescribably great, but something even greater was crying out from within Adelia’s heart.

The flame toward growth.

The yearning for higher places.

And even the pride as a swordsman that Gaon had instilled in her.

“Father.”

“….”

“Let’s begin the final trial now.”

Confusion briefly crossed Father’s expression. But soon a smile spread across his lips.

Father looked at Adelia with eyes mixed with pride and satisfaction, then slowly rose from his seat.

Adelia also rose from her seat. The moment she closed and opened her eyes, swords were already in both their hands.

“Truly…”

Father smiled with pride filling his expression.

“…truly, you’ve grown so much. And so admirably at that.”

Whooom-.

The sword in Adelia’s hand began to emit a blue-green light.

She recalled the words Haewolsumo had given when she first began the trial here.

[Face the past enemies who brought you defeat once more, and this time achieve victory.]

“I…”

Adelia closed her eyes.

“…have never once defeated Father.”

The first person to teach her the sword.

The person who taught her the meaning of conviction and honor.

Who made her realize love.

Who taught her about life.

And now.

The person who came as Haewolsumo’s final trial.

“Today will be different.”

Certainty filled the eyes of Adelia as she raised her brilliantly shining sword toward the dusky sky.

Shing-.

Father also raised his sword. Both their blades glinted magnificently in the golden sunset.

“Yes.”

Father nodded.

“Surpass me, Adelia.”

* * *

Thump, thump-.

The sound of her pulse echoing in her ears. Her breathing became rough, but strangely, her heart was incredibly calm.

Father’s sword cut through the air.

Movement as fast as light and as fluid as a stream of water.

When she was young, those movements had seemed like magic.

But the movements that were incomprehensible back then now began to be read with ease.

An opponent she had never once defeated.

A wall she couldn’t break through no matter what methods she employed.

However, the current Adelia was different.

Swish-!

The moment her father’s foot moved, she was already predicting the direction of the next attack.

A flow of thought faster than physical movement.

The techniques she learned from Gaon, the skills she had proven before the seeker. They were now blooming to their fullest in this very moment.

Clang clang clang clang-!

Sword met sword. Attack and defense swirled like a dance. The shadows of two people stretched long across the golden meadow.

And then…

‘…Now.’

Adelia moved according to instinct. There was no need to think anymore. Her body moved first, and her mind followed.

In the blink of an eye, her sword struck precisely toward her opponent’s blade.

Claaang-!

The sword flew from her father’s hand, sailing far away.

Adelia could only stare in a daze at the sight of that sword spinning through the air before embedding itself in the meadow.

‘…I won.’

That sensation began rising from deep within her heart. Surprise, joy, pride, and even a touch of melancholy. Complex emotions tangled together, filling Adelia’s chest.

Swoosh-.

Her father raised both hands, acknowledging defeat.

There was no sense of disappointment on his expression. Rather, only satisfaction dwelt there, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Take this.”

Whoosh-.

The blue orb he threw rose into the air.

Adelia lowered her sword and carefully caught the orb.

Only now had she finally earned the right to receive that gift.

Woom, wooooom-.

The orb seeped into Adelia’s body.

A warm sensation spread throughout her entire body.

At the same time, Adelia felt her consciousness expanding.

All memories of the past rose vividly to the surface, then settled back down like gentle ripples on a lake.

“A part of Haewolsumo now dwells within you.”

Her father began to explain.

“The moment you awaken from the trial, you will gain the ability to handle memories and use them as power.”

Her father’s smile grew increasingly bright. His form was gradually transforming into particles of light.

“Unfortunately, it’s time for me to go.”

Adelia instinctively reached out her hand. She wanted to cry out like a child. To ask him to stay longer, to say more, to hold her more.

But she was no longer a child.

She was the disciple of the thirteenth seeker, a swordsman who had passed Haewolsumo’s trial, and… just like the future she had dreamed of, someone who would surely ascend to the position of Sword Master someday.

“Father.”

Just before his form completely transformed into light, Adelia bowed deeply toward her father.

“Thank you until the very end.”

Light spread brilliantly as her father’s form completely disappeared. That light was forever etched in Adelia’s memories and in her heart.

* * *

Ding-!

〔Hidden Message: Party member ‘Adelia von Goldhart’ has cleared the trial.〕

〔Hidden Message: Perfect clear.〕

〔Hidden Message: The Pantheon’s voting begins.〕

…

〔Hidden Message: Additional rewards will be granted.〕

* * *

“…?”

Wooooom-!

Suddenly, the entire lake began to shine brightly.

Haewolsumo’s body glowed intensely, and that radiance swallowed everything around it.

Soon after, the entire forest began to surge with majestic wave sounds.

‘What’s this?’

The lake’s waves rose up, shooting toward the sky. Water columns that danced and spun like living creatures. Soon, the entire field of vision was dyed in brilliant blue light.

‘This is a cutscene I’ve never seen before.’

I had played Lost Elder 200 times, but I had never once seen a scene like this.

‘Then…’

I fell deep into thought.

Only one thing had changed. My very existence. A player who wasn’t originally part of Lost Elder’s world had been incorporated into it.

Due to that butterfly effect, had Adelia achieved better results within the trial than before?

Ding-!

〔You have perfectly cleared the Heavenly Sea Forest dungeon for the first time.〕

‘…Ah.’

As expected, my prediction was correct. Adelia had achieved a ‘perfect clear’ in Haewolsumo’s trial.

Thump-.

At that very moment, I felt warm energy from the Easter egg I kept close to my chest.

The egg that had been rainbow-colored turned blue, and the sound of life’s pulse spread from within it.

Ding-!

〔The power dwelling in the ‘Easter Egg’ helps the birth of new life.〕

Dorico Shiro pointed somewhere and raised her voice.

“Huh? Je, Jelly is…!”

Haewolsumo’s dead body began to crumble into fragments of light. Those remains rose toward the sky and then scattered in all directions.

Peeeek-!

Soon after, dozens of small lights began circling above the lake like fireflies. Those lights gathered together, forming round shapes.

Witnessing this, Dorico Shiro shouted in an extremely excited voice.

“Je, Jelly got smaller! And, and… there are so many of them!”

They were young jellyfish. More precisely, numerous planula larvae born from Haewolsumo’s death.

‘According to the original story’s flow, at most only one would be born…’

Was it thanks to Adelia’s perfect clear and the Easter Egg’s ability? The number of Haewolsumo’s larvae had doubled.

‘…Once again, the future has changed.’

And in a very positive direction at that.

Whoooosh-.

The blue light faded, and finally Adelia revealed herself.

She slowly opened her eyes. Those eyes had grown even deeper than before entering the trial.

“The Protagonist.”

As the lake’s waves quietly settled, she approached with slow steps.

【Lv. 85】

‘My level has increased in the meantime.’

As soon as I passed the trial, my level rose by 4.

It was an achievement that would normally take decades, accomplished in an instant within a short trial.

Whooom, whooooom-!

But an even more distinct change was Adelia’s aura.

An energy I couldn’t feel before.

It must be traces of the reward obtained from passing Haewolsumo’s trial.

The very technique that would elevate Adelia to the ranks of the world’s strongest.

Having finished that thought, I looked at Adelia and spoke.

“How was the trial?”

At my question, Adelia fell into thought for a moment. Then she smiled and answered.

“I overcame everything. And….”

Deep conviction permeated Adelia’s voice.

“Thanks to that, I found the path I must take.”

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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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