Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 73

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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 73

Episode 73. The Beginning of Upheaval (1)

Whoooosh—.

All around was quiet.

Drift—. Drift—.

After Haewolsumo’s trial ended, young jellyfish swam around the lake.

The small larvae emitting blue light floated through the air, sparkling like stars in the night sky.

“This is…”

Adelia looked around with a slightly bewildered expression.

The young jellyfish had begun circling around her.

The small creatures repeatedly touched Adelia’s body lightly before drifting away. As if they held special affection for her.

“Wooooah! They’re so cute!”

Dorico Shiro, who had been watching with envious eyes, couldn’t contain her impulse and jumped up from her spot.

“Me too! Let me touch them too… Kyaaaah!”

Zap—.

A scream burst out.

One of the small jellyfish’s tentacles had stung Dorico Shiro’s palm.

“That’s so mean! Why are you only being mean to me!”

“…”

I looked at her with an absurd feeling and thought to myself.

‘Why do you think, you idiot.’

It’s because you took the lead in torturing and corrupting Haewolsumo’s mother body.

When I reminded her of that fact with my gaze, Dorico Shiro momentarily showed a guilty expression.

“…Ah.”

Flinch—.

Dorico Shiro, who had been pursing her lips, quickly became dejected.

She looked at her swollen red palm and muttered in a sad voice.

“It’s, it’s unfair… I, I only did what ‘they’ told me to do…”

What?

She only did what they told her to do?

I wondered if Dorico Shiro truly believed that and asked back.

“Really?”

“No, actually that’s a lie.”

“…”

“Honestly, torturing and corrupting the divine beast was kind of fun too. It’s not an experience you can easily have anywhere, right?”

“…”

“But, but my love for our Jelly was sincere!”

Sigh—.

Watching her spout ridiculous excuses, I let out a sigh.

It seemed meaningless to continue the conversation any further.

‘Anyway.’

I had accomplished all my purposes for visiting this place.

First, I had restored the polluted Forest of the Heavenly Sea to its original state.

Thanks to Adelia’s efforts and the 【Easter Egg】 I obtained early, I was even able to hatch over ten Haewolsumo larvae.

‘And…’

━━━━━━━━━━━━

【Eternal Slayer True】

(Available for use)

━━━━━━━━━━━━

‘…I even obtained the skill I wanted.’

The technique I absolutely had to acquire before meeting the Crimson Empress.

The main purpose of visiting the Forest of the Heavenly Sea before heading to Wintershield Magic Academy was precisely for this.

‘Plus, Adelia finally acquired that ability too.’

The special skill, 【Surface of Reflection】.

This was a blessing given to those who passed Haewolsumo’s trial.

It allows one to perfectly review their own battles.

As if they could rewind past moments and experience them again.

‘It’s an unnecessary technique for me.’

I didn’t even need to review battles.

After all, with my overwhelming sword talent through 【Soul of the Sword Master】, the best choice was always visible to me.

‘But Adelia’s case is different.’

This ability would help her achieve explosive growth by combining with her genius talent.

Thus, Adelia would undergo growth close to evolution, perfectly absorbing the lessons from each battle.

‘Ah, right.’

And I can’t forget this either.

‘The alliance with Dorico Shiro.’

As I’ve said many times, this relationship would serve as a useful tool until the latter part of the story.

‘Perfect.’

Everything had flowed exactly as I wanted.

Therefore, this Abyssal Forest Dungeon conquest could be called nothing short of successful.

However…

‘…There’s still one last purpose for coming here remaining.’

Right.

Now it was time to fulfill that final purpose.

“Dorico Shiro.”

“Hm?”

Hearing my voice, Dorico Shiro quickly turned her head.

“I have something I want to ask.”

“Gasp! Really?”

Dorico Shiro’s expression brightened considerably.

“Ask me anything! I’ll answer everything…”

“Before we came, was there someone who visited the Forest of the Heavenly Sea first?”

“…Huh? Uh, umm.”

Dorico Shiro suddenly made a troubled expression and began avoiding eye contact.

“Well, I wonder? I don’t really know…”

Anyway.

Just like in the game, she’s really bad at lying.

Well, it didn’t matter anyway.

Even without Dorico Shiro’s direct testimony, there were more than enough ways for me to obtain the ‘physical evidence’ I needed.

‘For example…’

─Here are the items you requested. I couldn’t bring both… but one should be sufficient.

‘Like the sacred relic Arwen prepared for me before leaving Middle Temple.’

Swish—.

I reached into my chest.

Then he took out the sacred relic that had been carefully stored in his coat’s inner pocket.

“Huh?”

In that moment, Adelia, who witnessed this, widened her eyes and cried out in a startled voice.

“Th-that is…”

“Your brother gave it to me.”

“…!”

Adelia gasped.

She tried to calm her surprised heart and asked another question.

“Did you borrow the sacred relic through proper procedures?”

“No.”

“…”

There hadn’t been time for that.

‘Even if I had followed proper procedures, it would have been rejected by the Traditionalist Faction for political reasons anyway.’

【Aiter’s Eye of Retrospection】

That was the name of the sacred relic in my hand.

This orb, which looked like a blue eyeball at first glance, was one of Middletemple’s most precious sacred relics.

Whoosh-!

I threw the Eye of Retrospection up into the sky.

Then the blue eyeball began floating in mid-air.

Wooong, woooong-!

Aiter, the goddess who governs truth and justice.

Light imbued with her divine power poured down, and scenes from the past began to emerge like holograms.

Soon, the phantoms of two people appeared over the lake.

“…!”

Adelia’s eyes widened.

One of them was Dorico Shiro, who was now beside us.

And the other person standing next to her was…

“…Jark von Haibrunn?”

Adelia muttered in a voice that seemed unable to believe it.

Wooong, woooong-.

The phantom continued.

Dorico Shiro made gestures as if explaining something, and Jark von Haibrunn silently nodded his head.

A sinister aura surrounded his expression.

Whooosh-!

After a moment, the scene changed.

Jark von Haibrunn stood alone over the lake, and before him, Haewolsumo writhed, having turned a dark red color.

Kieeeeeek-!

Haewolsumo’s screams echoed, but Jark von Haibrunn merely watched the scene without any change in expression.

After observing this for a while, he turned around and left the place.

That was the end of the phantom.

“…”

Adelia’s face turned pale.

After a long silence, she spoke with difficulty.

“Th-this… must surely be a misunderstanding.”

“…”

“Lord Jark von Haibrunn may have different political views, but he is someone who truly cares for Middletemple.”

She turned to look at me and continued speaking.

“H-he must have been deceived by Dorico Shiro. Though it appears he was condoning Haewolsumo’s corruption, perhaps Lord Haibrunn was actually under an illusion?”

Adelia’s voice trembled slightly.

Though she was trying to deny reality, she too knew this was nonsense.

‘Aiter’s Eye of Retrospection does not lie.’

If Jark von Haibrunn had tried to protect Haewolsumo, there should have been at least one scene showing him clashing with Dorico Shiro, but…

‘There was nothing like that.’

It was natural. Even in the original story, Jark von Haibrunn had already fallen for the Evil Deities’ temptation.

“Dorico Shiro.”

I turned my head.

“Tell the truth.”

“Th-that is…”

Dorico Shiro bit her lips and avoided my gaze. She only kept rubbing her palm that was swollen red from being stung by jellyfish tentacles.

Unable to watch this any longer, I added a word.

“Friends should only tell the truth to each other.”

“…!”

“If you trust me, answer honestly.”

Dorico Shiro looked at me with a confused expression.

“Fr-friend… you said?”

Twitch-.

Even while hesitating, the corners of her mouth began to twitch little by little.

I could see irrepressible joy flowing through her entire body.

Dorico Shiro, who barely suppressed her emotions, soon began to confess everything.

“I-I didn’t cast any illusions.”

“…”

“And that old man directly accepted ‘their’ proposal. He agreed to condone the divine beast’s corruption in exchange for getting the power he wanted, you know?”

“…”

“Of course, the contract fell through in the end… But ‘they’ are confident that old man will return soon. Really.”

Dorico Shiro’s definitive testimony was finished.

Her statement was also completely recorded in Aiter’s Eye of Retrospection.

‘…That’s enough.’

With this, I had obtained everything I needed.

In the future, Middletemple would have legitimate grounds to execute Jark von Haibrunn.

Swoosh-.

I put the Eye of Retrospection floating in the air back into my chest. Then I expressed my gratitude to Dorico Shiro.

“Thank you for speaking honestly.”

Dorico Shiro stared at me intently. Her appearance of swallowing dry saliva looked like an expression of desperately wanting something.

“Friend.”

“…!”

When I belatedly added that word, Dorico Shiro’s expression brightened. Her body instantly melted away.

“Heh, hehe… friend…”

Goooooo-!

Right at that moment, I felt an eerie killing intent from somewhere.

When I turned around, I could see Adelia grinding her teeth with a face flushed red.

“How dare… How dare someone bearing the name of Middletemple’s great castle commit such disgraceful acts…!”

She turned to face me and shouted.

“Lord Gaon! We must immediately return to Middletemple, the Holy City, and reveal this truth! We must hold a Holy Judgment to make Jark von Haibrunn, who walked the path of heresy, pay the appropriate price…”

“Calm down.”

I restrained Adelia.

“It’s not time yet.”

“But…!”

“I’ve told you repeatedly. There is an order to all things.”

“….”

While Jark von Haibrunn’s punishment was certainly necessary, it wasn’t an urgent matter that needed to be executed immediately.

The timing and method of his execution had all been calculated separately.

‘If we return to Middletemple right now, it will only add to the political chaos.’

On the other hand, the evidence we had secured became a card we could use at any time.

Exposing Jark’s betrayal had to be done at the moment I wanted, in the way I wanted.

Every action has its optimal timing. If that order is disrupted, the situation inevitably becomes complicated.

So….

“Trust my words, Adelia. There are things that must be done before exposing Jark von Haibrunn’s crimes. Right now, we must move according to plan.”

“….”

I couldn’t keep the Crimson Empress waiting any longer. Considering the Shadow Sanctuary’s ‘ritual,’ timing-wise, going to Wintershield now was perfect.

‘Most importantly.’

Ding-!

The message that had appeared before my eyes just moments ago.

〔Strawberry Latte has started their 200th playthrough.〕

〔A second player is entering the world.〕

“….”

The worst possibility I had feared had become reality.

Another player had possessed someone in this world.

Therefore.

‘I must head to Wintershield as quickly as possible.’

* * *

Ding-!

〔Function: ‘Community’ has been activated.〕

〔The blessing granted by the ‘Master of Life and Earth’ has been unlocked.〕

〔Congratulations. You have been appointed as the 1st Administrator.〕

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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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