The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 25

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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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Sword Genius Blessed by a God, Chapter 25

Standing over 190 centimeters tall, he had silver-white hair that spoke of his years.
Hairen was, in every sense, the very picture of a swordsman in white.
Before Lucas could even process the unexpected sight and stammer out a word, Hairen pressed a finger to his lips.

“Shh.”
“…”
“I’ve only come to take a look, so try not to make a racket.”

Lucas hesitated at the playful response, then nodded.
He would obey, since it came from the Chong Geomdae’s leader, but his mind was still in a tangle.

‘Why is the Chong Geomdae’s leader here?’

Hairen, the leader of the Chong Geomdae.
He was one of the few monsters Lucas knew of.

The swordsmen belonging to the Main Household fell into two broad groups.
The Dan, which answered to the key posts within the family, and the Dae, which served the family and took on its missions.
Each Dan had a single defined role.
The Changryong Dan, which guarded the family.
The Hyeonggeom Dan, which upheld the family’s discipline.
The Geumryu Dan, which managed the finances, and so on.
Such Dan commanded far greater scale and strength than an ordinary Geomdae.

But the Chong Geomdae was different.
It was the force that drew every Geomdae together under one banner. The Bi Geomdae, the Baekho Corps, the Yeol Geomdae, and all the rest, every Geomdae took its orders from the Chong Geomdae.
If you regarded them as a single power, then in Bishuken the Chong Geomdae was second only to the Gaju’s hall itself.
In other words, Hairen was, for all intents and purposes, the second-in-command of the Main Household.

Why would a man like that come here?
Taking his cue from the request for silence, Lucas wove a barrier of mana around them so no sound would leak out, then asked.

“Have you come to see the Second Squad Leader?”

Lucas referred to Allen not by his name but as the Second Squad Leader.
Here and now, he meant to treat him and speak of him as a subordinate, not as a younger brother.
Hairen grinned at this and spoke.

“I was curious. What sort of fellow is the squad leader the Gaju appointed.”
“It’s an unusual thing, but I don’t think it’s a matter that warrants the Chong Geomdae leader’s interest.”
“Isn’t it you who’s interested as well?”

Lucas made no reply to Hairen’s words.
Hairen, reading the silence as a yes, grinned again and asked.

“Does it unsettle you that I’ve taken an interest in that boy?”
“In any case, he’s a squad leader under my command now.”
“Oh? Are you worried my little brother might get hurt, tangled up with me?”
“When a giant walks, people are bound to be crushed underfoot. And the giant himself never even notices who was flattened beneath his feet.”

The answer was thick with unease.
At that, Hairen burst out laughing.

“Isn’t that just as true of you?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I still can’t figure out why you’re stuck in the Bi Geomdae. You wouldn’t be out of place as a Dan leader, and give it a little more time and you could be trusted with a castle.”
“That’s far too generous an assessment.”
“Kukuku. It’s a relief for me, thanks to you, I suppose.”

Hairen stopped laughing all at once.
Somewhere along the way he had shed the spectator’s air and returned to being the Chong Geomdae’s commander as he spoke.

“Before long, a mission tied to the Demon Sword will come down to you.”

The Demon Sword.
At those words, Lucas turned his head.
The whereabouts of the Demon Sword had long been one of Bishuken’s chief concerns.

“When that time comes, I’m thinking of the Bi Geomdae as the right unit for the job.”
“The entire Bi Geomdae, sir?”

To mobilize a whole geomdae for a single mission.
Operations of this magnitude were rare. Their scale rivaled battles against the Empire, the Kuin Family, or the Amheuk Seong.
Besides, the Bi Geomdae was counted among the top three strongest geomdae in external operations.

“That’s how vital securing the Demon Sword is. So for the time being, any missions meant for the Bi Geomdae will be reassigned elsewhere.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to send the Baekho Corps instead?”

The Baekho Corps was, in name and in truth, the most formidable fighting unit in Bishuken. If securing the Demon Sword was that important, they were the obvious choice.

“Those fools are tied up with the Amheuk Seong bastards these days. Besides, the Baekho Corps’ commander falls a fair bit short of you.”

It was a remark that openly acknowledged Lucas’s ability.
Yet the man himself took little pleasure in it.
A mission involving the Demon Sword.
Already, he felt a headache coming on.

“Does the Demon Sword actually exist?”
“Intelligence Department seems to believe there’s a one-in-ten chance.”
“A one-in-ten chance, and you’re moving the entire Bi Geomdae for it?”

Hairen nodded.
From the way he spoke this far, it seemed the Bi Geomdae’s deployment was already settled.
So then, on a mere one-in-ten chance, one of the family’s principal geomdae was really going to move as a whole.

‘So they take the Demon Sword that seriously.’

Decades had already passed since Bishuken began hunting the Demon Sword.
Securing it had been the wish of the previous Gaju for as long as anyone could remember.
Measured by importance, this was a first-class mission.
And such a mission was being handed to the Bi Geomdae.
Lucas’s thoughts were growing heavier around the Demon Sword when it happened.

Crack!

A striking sound rang out from the center of the Training Ground.
In that instant, Lucas and Hairen both fixed their attention on the sparring, as if by prior agreement.

* * *

Bikra was bursting with fighting spirit.
Facing Allen, wooden sword leveled, he burned with resolve.

‘How dare he insult our squad.’

The reason his anger had risen this high was what Allen had said at the very end.
That he only lacked results, not skill, and that Hairen should prove it.
This was exactly what Bikra had been hoping for.

“I’ll prove it to you.”

His grip tightened around the wooden sword.
He had decided not to use mana, but apart from that, he meant to give it everything he had.
He was confident.
Even if Second Squad’s record had slipped, being a member of the Bi Geomdae alone meant he was a swordsman Bishuken recognized well enough.

‘I can’t lose to some brat who just came of age.’

He had no intention of playing by the terms Allen had laid out.
Since the man meant to humiliate him in front of everyone, Bikra planned to break Allen in the very first exchange.
Watching Bikra burn with fighting spirit, Allen grinned easily.

“Be my guest. I’d rather not have my men look like fools, either.”
“Just now, you said that-”

Unable to hold back any longer, Bikra lunged forward.

“You’ll regret this!”

Crack!

Allen’s and Bikra’s wooden swords collided.
Perhaps he didn’t believe it would end on the first strike, because Bikra immediately pressed on with the next attack.

Whssh-whssh-whssh.
Thwack, thwack-thwack-thwack!

There was no sword qi, not even the reinforcement of the body through mana. It was a purely physical assault.
Still, Bikra’s wooden sword was undeniably fast and sharp.

‘So this is what makes a Bi Geomdae man.’

His fundamentals were solid, there was no doubt about it.
He swung with his legs firmly anchored, and even while attacking, he left room for defense.
On top of that, feints meant to deceive the eye were woven naturally between his strikes.
Judging by swordsmanship alone, he was better than the fake demon they had encountered before.
They were only looked down on within their own Bi Geomdae; each one of them was a skilled fighter recognized anywhere.

Clang!

Knocking aside a sword aimed at his throat, Allen smiled with satisfaction.

“Not bad.”
“You’re not half bad yourself, Second Young Master.”

Bikra called Allen “Second Young Master,” not “Squad Leader.”
It meant he still didn’t accept him as their squad leader.
Yet setting that aside, Bikra was privately taken aback.

‘Why is he blocking so well?’

Allen had been doing nothing but defending.
At first, Bikra assumed it was only because he was scrambling to keep up with his blade.
But by the tenth exchange, then the twentieth, he could no longer ignore the truth.
Allen’s swordsmanship was outstanding.
Though Bikra had mixed in feints again and again, Allen never took the bait, and his defense still had room to spare.

‘But how long are you going to keep just blocking…?’

That was when it happened.

Swish-ah.
Thwack!

“……!”

A wooden sword, thrust in with sudden force, struck Bikra squarely in the chest.
Right over the heart.
The blow sent a jolt of pain through his chest, and Bikra staggered back a step.

“Gah…”
“A strike to the heart. That would have been instant death.”

Allen gave a slight nod and glanced over the others.
But Bikra didn’t back down. He stepped forward again.

“A duel of insurye is decided when one side loses consciousness.”
“Consciousness?”
“Yes. I’m still perfectly fine.”

His chest throbbed where he’d been hit, but Bikra could still move well enough.
He still couldn’t accept what had just happened.

‘I didn’t see it properly. I let my guard down.’

That much was true. He had let his guard down.
He had watched Allen do nothing but defend, and he had been certain of victory.

‘If I had just focused a little more…’

Just then.

Whish.

“Hup!”

Bikra hurriedly raised his guard against a wooden sword coming at him.

Thwack, crack!

Another blade came in right after from a different angle.
The next thing Bikra saw was Allen’s face, still smiling.

“Your front is open.”

Crack!

The last thing Bikra heard was the sound from his head, and then his eyes rolled back.
The wooden sword Allen brought down had struck Bikra’s head with precision.
It was a single blow meant to knock him out without injuring him.

The match had been decided in an instant, and the squad members watching murmured among themselves.
One of them ran forward and dragged Bikra’s limp body away.
Mary was impressed by Allen’s swordsmanship.

‘The attacks from the left and right were feints to break his guard. He wasn’t thinking about the move right in front of him. He swung his sword with the move two steps ahead already planned.’

Setting the Curse of the Bima aside, as a swordsman his skill was truly admirable.
Allen crooked a finger.
With one man down, it was now the turn of two more.
Two of the squad members, who had been watching for their chance, stepped forward.
They were the two youngest of the Second Squad.

“My name is Blanc.”
“Flandre.”

The two bowed to Allen and raised their wooden swords.
Having watched the fight between Bikra and Allen, neither of them dared to let their guard down for a moment.

‘We circle around to the sides and attack together.’
‘If we lose too, we’ll be an absolute disgrace.’

The squad leader was watching them.
They had gone so far as to double-team the Second Young Master, whom they had looked down on so openly. If they lost now, they’d become the laughingstock of the other squads.
Blanc and Flandre spread apart, one to each side.
They meant to strike at Allen from both blind spots at once.
Just then.

Whoosh.

Unlike before, it was Allen who kicked off the ground first and lunged in.

“…!”

Blanc swung his wooden sword in a panic at Allen, who had closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
He was treated as the youngest of the Geomdae, but his blade was sharp. To keep Allen from closing any further, he aimed for the waist, attacking and defending in a single motion.
But.

Swish.

‘He vanished?’

It was as if the ground had swallowed him whole. Allen’s figure was simply gone.

“Below!”

Only after Flandre’s shout did they realize where Allen had gone.
Still charging forward, Allen dropped his body low and slipped beneath the blade.
He was so low that for an instant he looked as though he had vanished from sight altogether.
And in that brief moment, when Blanc lost track of Allen’s movement.

Crack!

A wooden sword swept up from below and struck Blanc’s jaw.
Blanc’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he crumpled backward.
Watching Blanc go down in an instant, Flandre cried out in shock.

“Blanc!”
“If you’re going to double-team someone, you should have kept a proper distance.”

Despite his leisurely tone, Allen’s movements were swift.

“Isn’t this basically just one-on-one fighting, one after another?”
“…!”

Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Crack!

Allen’s wooden sword struck Flandre’s arm.
He had raised his left arm to block the blow that was aimed at his head.

“Gah…”

Since it was only a wooden sword, the arm wasn’t cut through, but Flandre felt a pain as if the bone were about to snap.

“Nice reflexes.”

The voice sounded as if it came from right beside him.
Allen had closed in without a sound, and now he stood right beneath Flandre’s chin.

Crack!
Swish…

His jaw snapped sideways, and Flandre’s body pitched forward.

Thud—

Silence settled over the Training Ground.
Not a single breath out of place, Allen looked over the remaining squad members and spoke.

“Next, four.”

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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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