Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 93

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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 93

Episode 93. Demarion’s Test (3)

* * *

The cramped space suddenly opened up wide.

Unlike the narrow and dark corridor, beyond the door stretched an endlessly vast space.

Bright light poured out, illuminating the entire corridor.

‘My, my goodness…’

Selena, witnessing this sight, wore an expression of shock.

‘…It, it really opened?’

Demarion, the 10th Rank Great Mage.

How many had come here seeking an audience with him?

But no one had ever been able to open that door.

Yet the door that had been firmly closed for hundreds of years opened at nothing more than a gesture.

Whoooosh─!

‘That place is…’

Selena’s eyes flashed.

The dazzling light pouring out from beyond the marble door.

It seemed like just one step forward would allow entry into Demarion the Great Sage’s chamber.

Step-.

As the space that had been like a dream to all mages appeared before her eyes, Selena unconsciously stepped forward.

It was when she was moving forward in a daze, entranced by the mysterious light.

At that very moment, Gaon’s firm voice rang out.

“Stop.”

Flinch-.

Selena’s movement froze.

Gaon commanded coldly without even looking back.

“This is a path permitted only for me.”

“…Ah.”

“The Great Sage opened the door to meet me, so you must not act rashly. If you do, the door might close again.”

Having finished speaking calmly, Gaon walked into the light.

His silhouette became increasingly faint as it was enveloped by the light.

Thud-!

Before long, the marble door closed again.

Adelia and Selena flinched and trembled at the sudden noise.

Where Gaon’s figure had been visible just moments before, now only the firmly closed door remained.

“…?”

Murmur murmur-.

It was at that very moment.

Urgent footsteps and noisy voices began to be heard from far away.

It was the sound of several people hurriedly climbing up the spiral staircase.

“Huff, haa…!”

Soon, numerous people arrived at the upper floor, out of breath.

They were the mages who had participated in the emergency strategy meeting.

Everyone was panting and looking at Selena with surprised eyes.

“Professor Servich!”

Professor Biyolf shouted with an urgent expression.

“What on earth is going on! The mana concentration around the Magic Tower has risen sharply! Moreover, the students who were in the outer plaza said a pillar of light shot up from the top of the Magic Tower…!”

All of this was a sign that appeared when Demarion the Great Sage’s door opened.

No one had actually seen it, but these were phenomena described only in the Magic Academy’s records.

Pause-.

It was then.

Professor Biyolf, who had been hastily looking around, suddenly saw the figure standing beside Selena and his eyes widened.

Adelia von Goldhart.

That retainer who always followed behind Gaon like his shadow was visible.

“Su, surely not.”

Professor Biyolf, witnessing this, muttered with a trembling voice.

Adelia always followed behind Gaon everywhere.

But at such a moment, the fact that only she and Selena remained here meant…

“…Did Lord Gaon enter Demarion the Great Sage’s chamber?”

Selena, who had been silent for a moment, nodded.

“Yes. That’s correct. He said he wanted to meet Demarion the Great Sage, so I guided him to the upper floor for now…”

“Wait a moment.”

One of the mages who heard this interjected.

“Why didn’t you report that the Sword Master was heading to the upper floor?”

“Is there a reason I should have?”

When Selena asked back with a cold expression, the mage who had asked the question flinched.

Professor Biyolf, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, nodded.

“That’s right. There’s no particular obligation to report every move.”

“Bu, but…”

“If we had to report every time the Sword Master visited every place in the Magic Academy, wouldn’t that be discourteous?”

“…”

The mage who was about to make some counterargument had no choice but to close his mouth in the end.

With the two most influential professors in Wintershield defending the Sword Master, there was nothing more he could say.

As silence fell for a moment, Selena stared blankly at the door, lost in thought.

‘Sigh.’

Selena sighed inwardly.

Actually, the reason she hadn’t informed anyone while guiding Gaon to the upper floor was simple.

She had naturally thought the meeting with the Great Sage would fail.

After all, this was something that even the Magic Academy’s most outstanding mages, and even various other seekers, had failed at.

‘But…’

Gaon had accomplished the meeting as if it were nothing.

From the moment he arrived at the Magic Academy, or perhaps from the moment he ‘planned’ all this through the dragon slaying quest.

The flow of this world might have begun to change.

And now.

Through his meeting with Demarion the Great Sage, an even greater change would surely begin.

“…”

Swish-.

Selena’s gaze changed.

She realized once again that Gaon was a more remarkable person than she had thought.

Having already committed various discourtesies, she hadn’t planned to end things just by guiding him to the upper floor.

‘I need to give him a greater reward.’

She hadn’t planned to end it with just guidance anyway.

Having seen Gaon’s abilities, she was becoming convinced that she needed to give him much more.

* * *

‘This place is….’

Swoosh—.

As the intense light gradually faded and my vision cleared, the scene that unfolded before me was a world completely removed from the eerie corridors of the Magic Tower.

An endlessly sprawling vast green forest.

Sunlight pouring down from the high ceiling filtered through the deep blue leaves, creating beautiful clusters of light.

Step—.

With each footstep, I could feel the soft grass being crushed underfoot, and the sound of birds chirping and water flowing could be heard tickling my ears from afar.

‘…Demarion the Great Sage’s Chamber.’

A space I had only encountered exactly ten times even inside the game.

I instinctively began walking, searching for the path.

As I slowly advanced toward the center of the forest, I could feel the surrounding trees gradually growing thicker and taller with age.

“….”

Pause—.

The place I finally arrived at was the very center of the forest.

A single giant ancient tree towering upward.

Its size overwhelmed the other trees, and deep wrinkles that seemed to have lived for hundreds of years were carved into its trunk.

And….

Right beneath that tree, an old man was sitting.

With his eyes closed, breathing steadily, he appeared to be an ordinary old man at first glance, but I could sense an tremendous presence from him.

His long white hair flowed softly down over his shoulders, and noble dignity overflowed across his face wrinkled with age.

Particularly, his slightly pointed ears revealed that he was an elf, not a human.

【Lv. 100】

The second transcendent I was encountering after the Tyrant Dragon.

The founder of Wintershield Magic Academy and a 10th Rank Great Mage.

Demarion the Great Sage.

As the gentle breeze lightly tousled his hair, he slowly opened his mouth.

[What a remarkable child. It couldn’t have been easy to pass my ‘test.’]

“….”

A voice that seemed to resonate throughout the entire space reached my ears.

It felt as if his will was embedded in all the objects around here.

This alone was enough to realize that Demarion was not a simple mage but a transcendent.

The possessor of abilities so outstanding that he could transform an ordinary room into such a vast forest.

This place wasn’t part of the Magic Tower, but a parallel world he had created. It meant this entire space was essentially his domain.

[For over three hundred years, no one has been able to open that door.]

Demarion continued speaking slowly.

[My test consists of three layers. First is seeing through cognitive distortion. Second is reading the patterns of overlapping barriers. Third is possessing the ability to break through all those obstacles.]

The elf who had lived for thousands of years slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils were deep and mysterious, as if they contained stars.

[Most were blocked at the stage of cognitive distortion. They became trapped in the thought that ‘the door won’t open’ and could never see the truth.]

“….”

[A few exceptional ones broke through the illusion and reached the second stage, but they were overwhelmed by the complexity of the barriers.]

Demarion paused for a moment and looked at me intently.

[But child, you passed all three stages. And in such a short time too. Truly remarkable.]

He wore a smile. The smile at the corners of his mouth carried a meaningful depth, as if he knew something.

[So… what is it you seek that brought you to find this old man.]

I brought out the answer I had prepared without a moment’s hesitation.

Since I was before the Great Sage, I spoke with as much formality as possible.

“I wish to know the ancient knowledge you possess.”

[Knowledge, you say.]

Demarion chuckled softly upon hearing my words.

His two eyes were deep and wise, as if they encompassed thousands of years.

[I have lived for thousands of years since opening my eyes to this world. Though I have confined myself to this place for the past few hundred years, even here I could hear the whispers of the World Tree.]

“….”

[Thanks to that, I can say I know all the secrets and knowledge of this world. Especially when it comes to the knowledge of the ‘ancient’ times when I was actively wandering the continent.]

His voice carried pride mixed with an inexplicable loneliness.

[But to obtain that knowledge….]

Rustle—.

Demarion slowly stood up.

His height was even greater than mine.

Looking down at me, he continued with a serious expression.

[You must pass one more of my ‘tests.’ No, more precisely, you need to fulfill my request.]

“….”

[Child, I believe you can carry out this plea.]

Demarion let out a faint sigh.

That breath made the surrounding leaves rustle gently.

Even though I knew exactly what he would request, I asked him the question.

“What is that request?”

[….]

After pausing briefly, Demarion opened his mouth with an expression as if he had made some resolution.

[Please erase my transgression.]

* * *

Even those who have lived for thousands of years and ascended to transcendence don’t live wisely every moment.

Everyone makes mistakes.

Naturally, Demarion the Great Sage was no exception.

The old man gazing into the void confessed his transgression with a lonely voice.

[I too had a time when I dreamed vain dreams.]

Demarion the Great Sage.

He wanted to transcend beyond transcendence and stand shoulder to shoulder with The Great Ones.

Ascension.

The great mage who desired that great achievement conducted all manner of experiments.

[Child, the Adversary you killed was also a product of my greed.]

“….”

Swish—.

Demarion looked at me as he spoke.

Everything that happens in the Magic Tower reaches his ears.

Naturally, he would know the fact that I had killed the Adversary.

‘…Right.’

Demarion the Great Sage had tempted the Adversary.

Before conducting the ritual himself, he intended to experiment by putting forward a mage of outstanding talent.

And as everyone knows the result, the Adversary’s ascension ritual ended in failure.

The birth of the Shadow Sect and the Adversary’s corruption.

The mastermind behind all of this was, in fact, Demarion.

[But child. I don’t feel responsible for the Adversary incident.]

“….”

[That man would have forcibly conducted the ascension ritual on his own even without my temptation.]

Demarion, who had been silent for a moment, spoke with difficulty.

[My real transgression was….]

His face was filled with guilt.

[…joining hands with a Pharmaceutical Guild in Dawnguard to obtain the elixir of immortality.]

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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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