The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Swordsman Genius Blessed by a Spirit, Chapter 15

* * *

Bishuken Main Residence.
Iorga, the Lord’s guard, watched Akshion as he worked through a towering stack of documents.
It was a sight that could be seen any day in the Lord’s Hall. The papers spread before Akshion held reports on the family’s various weighty affairs and missions.
Then, all at once.

Flick.

Akshion’s eyes and hands, which had been moving briskly, came to a brief halt.
It was the look he wore whenever something caught the Lord’s interest.

“Is something the matter, my lord?”
“News about the second son.”
“You mean Lord Second?”

Akshion picked up a single sheet from the pile. The report recorded whether the family’s mission had succeeded, along with the finer details.

“Seems he completed the mission.”
“A great first step as a swordsman, then. His first successful mission, and his first kill, isn’t it?”

Allen had never killed anyone before. According to Lucas’s report, his heart had been too soft to kill even the bandits, so he had taken them alive instead.
For a swordsman like Allen, this was certainly a meaningful occasion.
Still, Iorga was puzzled.

‘Even so, is this really something the Lord would take such an interest in?’

Everyone had a first kill and a first mission.
Even if he was his son, the Lord was not usually the type to show interest in something of this scale.
And sure enough.

“The mission was to eliminate the Cheolswae Hoi’s leader, correct?”

Akshion’s interest lay not merely in whether the mission had succeeded.

“Not the annihilation of the Cheolswae Hoi?”
“…Pardon?”

Flutter.

The report Akshion had been reading came sailing across the desk toward the startled Iorga.
Iorga bowed his head quickly, took the report Akshion had passed to him, and began to read.

[Allen Bishuken, mission successful.]
[Leader of the Cheolswae Hoi eliminated.]
[Additional note. Annihilation of the Cheolswae Hoi complete. Fifty-one dead. Presumed to be a one-sided massacre.]

As Iorga read the report, his eyes trembled.
Fifty-one.
Killing that many on one’s first kill was no easy feat. Even for an outstanding swordsman, a first kill was hard for anyone, and yet.
On top of that, a one-sided massacre?

“Looks like he’s finally broken out of his shell.”

Akshion was curious.
Those warm, easygoing eyes that had asked whether he had eaten.
Did the boy slaughter dozens of people in a single stroke with eyes like that during his first kill?
I wanted to see what kind of venom had settled behind those eyes, which had seemed so clear.
Akshion, stirred by a curiosity he hadn’t felt in a long while, asked.

“Where is that boy now?”
“Judging by his last movements, it seems he headed north into the Owen Kingdom.”
“So he hasn’t gone very far.”

Akshion turned his gaze back to the remaining documents and spoke.

“Have him come to me the moment he returns. I have something to check with the second son.”

* * *

Thump, thump.

It was much like the feeling he’d had when he first found a Fragment in the Lord’s Hall.
His heart wasn’t pounding as hard as it had then, but there was no doubt another new Fragment lay here.

‘The eleventh, huh…’

The Fragment embedded in the Eunha Sword was the third, and the one he had just discovered was the eleventh.
That meant at least eleven Fragments were scattered across the continent.

‘Lucky me. I wasn’t even looking for this.’

To obtain the third Fragment, he’d had to earn the qualifications of the Young Lord. That path had been long and anything but easy.
By comparison, acquiring the Fragment here didn’t seem all that difficult.
All he had to do was get past the altar standing right in front of him.

‘The demons crossing over and the Fragments are certainly connected. Perhaps the Fragments themselves hold the power to stop the demons.’

A clue to why the demons had crossed into the continent.
A chance to obtain it was right within reach.

“…Sir, Sir Allen!”

Yusia’s voice reached him right after that.
Allen, who had been lost in deep thought, turned his head.

“Yes?”
“What is it? How can you be the most startled one of all?”
“Ah, I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

In the meantime, Mikel and Baudon had already started making their way into the dungeon.

“Just as I thought. Hahaha! A double dungeon!”

Baudon burst out laughing in the dungeon, which was brightly lit. His mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of treasure.

‘Now I’m rich!’

Most double dungeons existed to conceal precious treasure.
Baudon imagined himself swimming in a sea of treasure.

‘Mikel gets six parts, I get three, and that guy… well, he did save my skin earlier, so one part should do. The mage can take his fee and be sent on his way.’

Baudon ran toward the altar. His heart fluttered at the thought that treasure might be hidden on it.
The altar was a fairly large platform, about twenty pyeong across. Baudon examined every corner of it.
He half expected some mechanism or treasure to be concealed there, but…

“None?”

No monsters, no treasure.
The only things in this new dungeon were the torches lighting the space and this enormous altar of the demon statue.
That was when it happened.

“Looks like that’s it.”

Allen, who had followed close behind, pointed in one direction.
Above the altar, atop the head of the fearsome demon statue.
Something was written there in small, uneven letters.

『 Only one who offers a single life upon this place may obtain the treasure. 』

Baudon read it and muttered in a flustered voice.

“A single… life?”

He jerked his head around in alarm.
Mikel, Allen, and Yusia.
If the inscription was to be believed, it meant that someone here had to be killed before the treasure could be claimed.
And that included himself.
Kill, or be killed.
Only one of those two choices was left to him.

Thud.

It was then that Mikel stepped up onto the altar.
Startled, Baudon raised his dented shield and shouted.

“S-stay back!”

He was so frightened that he had forgotten even the polite speech he usually used.
Only the one who had killed someone could pass through? What was that supposed to mean?
In Baudon’s eyes, everyone present looked like an enemy out to get him. Mikel, whom he judged to be the most skilled of them all, frightened him the most.

“Mikel.”

Just then, Allen called out to Mikel, who was climbing onto the altar.
Mikel, who had been heading toward the altar, turned his head.
A faint killing intent lingered in his eyes.

“You don’t have to do that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Think about it carefully. The altar demands ‘a single life,’ not a single human being.”

At Allen’s words, Yusia clapped her hands and exclaimed.

“That’s right! If it’s a single life, it doesn’t have to be a human. It can be one of those monsters outside, or an animal, or even an insect.”
“Y-yes! We don’t need to fight each other. Let’s go out and find a monster or an animal to offer to the altar!”

In an instant, Baudon’s face brightened.
Only a moment ago, he had been certain Mikel meant to kill him, but now the situation had changed entirely.
Allen gazed up at the demon statue above the altar.
As if it were enjoying the spectacle, the statue was grinning cheerfully.

‘What a damned wretched dungeon.’

When you thought about it, the problem was almost laughably simple.
After all, a life isn’t only a human’s to lose.
But the inscription on this altar says it in a roundabout way, nudging the companions who came here together toward turning on each other.

‘Once they realize it, they’ll be left carrying the guilt of having killed a comrade who didn’t need to die.’

Allen shook his head as the thought ran its course.

‘No, wait. Someone who feels that kind of guilt wouldn’t have killed a comrade in the first place, would they?’

He’d rather fight the monsters. This dungeon was built to shake the human heart, after all.
Meanwhile.

“Why bother with all that?”

Despite Allen’s warning, Mikel didn’t stop.

Fwip.
Swhhk!

Sword already drawn, he launched himself at the altar.
Baudon, who had let his guard down, jolted and hoisted his shield overhead.

Shhnk.

“Gaaaah!”

Mikel’s blade punched through the holed shield. Baudon’s stomach was pierced, and he screamed.
His quick reaction spared his vital spots, but blood spilled from his mouth as he shouted.

“I told you, we don’t have to do this, why…!”
“I did tell you not to trust him.”

Crunch.

At the sound of someone close by, Mikel turned his head.
Allen had already climbed onto the altar.
Mikel grinned and twisted the sword in his grip.

Grrrnch.

“Gaaaaaah!”

Baudon shrieked as the blade wrenched around inside his gut. It was agony, as though his whole body were being set on fire.
When Mikel pulled the sword from Baudon’s body, Baudon thrashed in pain and collapsed to the floor.
Not that Mikel cared.
Blade still dripping, he turned toward Allen.

“Well. You irritate me a lot more than he does.”
“Likewise. Of all the names to fake, you had to go and pick Bishuken’s.”
“So you knew all along?”

Allen nodded.

“The Yeolgeom Corps has no swordsmanship that crude. And we make a point of going for vital spots when we hunt demons.”
“…We?”

Mikel’s face fell into a look of surprise. Yusia, who had been listening to the exchange, and Baudon, lying crumpled on the floor, looked the same.
Baudon in particular, who had firmly believed Mikel was a swordsman from Bishuken, began to tremble as if seized by a fit.

“W-wait, could you be…?”

Baudon’s face drained of color.
The man who’d just stepped up to help him was Allen, and he was a swordsman from Bishuken?

‘No way!’

Memories flashed through Baudon’s mind, of all the times he’d brushed Allen off and treated him like dirt. Even when Allen had saved his life, Baudon hadn’t so much as thanked him. All he’d thought about was the share of the spoils.
Looking back now, the way Allen had moved back then was anything but ordinary.
What he’d taken for luck had been skill all along.

‘I’m dead.’

Meanwhile, Allen could tell from Mikel’s behavior why he’d so recklessly pretended to be from Bishuken.

“So you borrowed Bishuken’s name because you meant to kill everyone from the start.”

What good was impersonating anyone if there were no witnesses?
From the very beginning, he hadn’t intended to let a single person leave this dungeon alive.
Mikel nodded without hesitation at Allen’s guess.

“There’s no name that terrifies adventurers quite like this one.”
“Figures. You do look the part.”

Baudon, who lay bleeding from his stomach, flinched.
The “look the part” Allen had said was aimed at him.
Baudon pressed his palms together and turned to Allen.

“P-please spare me, sir! I was wrong, all of it!”
“Wrong about what, exactly?”
“Well, that’s all of it, really…”

Shwiik!

That was when Mikel’s blade came flying toward Baudon’s neck.
A single stroke, aimed to take his head clean off.
And then.

Seongsin Style, First Form.
Behold.

Allen’s sword came through like the wind.

Clang!

Steel met steel, and sparks scattered.
Mikel’s blade, which had been bound for Baudon’s throat, was knocked upward.
On instinct, Mikel stepped back with a footwork shift, the tip of his sword trembling faintly.
Realizing he’d narrowly escaped death, Baudon blurted out.

“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”
“We agreed the treasure would be split according to contribution, didn’t we?”
“Huh?”
“You found the second dungeon, you unraveled the altar’s secret, and you saved my life twice. What do you think?”

What Allen was saying was that he wanted the entire share handed over.
Baudon, who only moments ago had been daydreaming about swimming in a sea of treasure, screwed up his face in misery.
But refusing meant dying right here, and that was no option either.

“O-of course the treasure’s all yours, sir.”
“Right?”

Allen grinned and tilted his chin toward the area below the altar.

“Go over there and get treated. Stop the bleeding properly. If you lose too much blood, you’ll die.”
“Th-thank you!”

Baudon let out a pained groan and began crawling away. Yusia, who had been watching his expression, rushed over and helped him up.
Meanwhile, Mikel, who had been standing a little apart from Allen, felt surprise flicker in his eyes.

“You’re quick. Were you hiding not just your status, but your skill as well?”
“If anyone’s been hiding things, I’d say it’s you, wouldn’t you agree?”

A loaded remark.
Allen spoke as though there was still more Mikel was keeping back.
And sure enough.

“You really know a lot, don’t you?”

A slow smirk spread across Mikel’s lips.

“You’re the first one to notice even this.”

Sseuuuuu.

The aura flowing from Mikel’s body gradually turned red.
It was no ordinary aura.
A blood-red, menacing, ominous, and unholy energy.
Veins bulged across Mikel’s face. His eyes flushed until they were not merely red but blood-crimson, turning into the wicked eyes of a beast.
The man he had been a moment ago and the man standing there now were completely different people.
And then.
At the sight of Mikel’s transformation, Yusia gasped and cried out.

“Ma-in?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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