The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 37

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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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Divine Spirit Sword Prodigy Chapter 37

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The Bigeomdae and Gangcheol Castle swordsmen who had descended into the valley below the cliff kept watch over their surroundings.
They were wary of the Empire stepping in.
Inside the valley, rusted and corroded blades lay scattered across the ground. Bloodstains of unknown origin covered the place here and there.
A graveyard known as the Tomb of Swords.
Walking through the valley, where a gloomy air hung heavy, Lucas murmured.

“Thankfully, it’s still quiet.”

While the swordsmen searched the tomb, Gangcheol Seongju and Lucas stood guard over the area.
They were worried about an unforeseen situation, but so far, fortunately, there had been no particular reaction.
They had expected the Empire to respond the moment Bishuken set foot in the Tomb of Swords, after all.

“Do you think they plan to just keep watching?”
“They wouldn’t have known you’d come, so I suppose that’s the case.”

The Bigeomdae had arrived at the Tomb of Swords only a moment ago.
The Bigeomdae was renowned far and wide. And with Lucas, who was likely to become the future heir of Bishuken, joining Gangcheol Castle, the Empire had no choice but to tread carefully.
However much they wanted the Demonic Sword, engaging Gangcheol Castle and the Bigeomdae at once would be a burden even for them.

“Surely that isn’t because of me? They must be intimidated by your reputation, Seongju-nim.”
“There’s no need to flatter me to my face. Only a few months ago, you came to see me and tried to scare me just like that.”
“Do you really think that would frighten you, Seongju-nim?”

Between the two of them stood an invisible line.
On the surface, they showed each other courtesy and respect, yet if one looked beneath it, they were always wary of one another.
And at the center of it all was Allen.

“Did this assignment seem more dangerous to you?”

At Gangcheol Seongju’s question, Lucas turned his head.
Seeing the look on his face, as if to ask what he meant, Gangcheol Seongju added an explanation.

“I mean separating the Second Squad’s leader from the rest.”
“That was the Second Squad Leader’s own request.”
“I know. But you could have refused it, couldn’t you?”
“Didn’t you agree too, Seongju-nim? That his argument had merit.”
“Even so, it didn’t have to be the Second Squad that went.”

Under the pretext of preparing for contingencies, the Second Squad was the only unit dispatched from the Bigeomdae.
What’s more, the Second Squad was the lowest-performing unit within the Bigeomdae. Allen, too, was a greenhorn who had only just taken on his first assignment with the Bigeomdae.
Worse still, Team Two had the worst record in the entire Bigeomdae. Allen himself was a greenhorn who had only just been given his first mission with the unit.

“Even if the Second Squad Leader’s judgment was right, what could they possibly accomplish on their own? Do you truly believe that squad can bring back the real Demonic Sword?”

Gangcheol Seongju spoke with near certainty.

“You didn’t want the Second Squad Leader here, in a place where a fight with the Empire might break out, did you? Isn’t that so?”
“No one can know the outcome yet.”
“Come now.”

With a faint sneer, Gangcheol Seongju said,

“Even if the Curse of Bima has been lifted, the Second Young Master is still a mere boy. Can’t know? Do you really think so?”

Gangcheol Seongju called Allen not the Second Squad Leader, but the Second Young Master. Moreover, he seemed to have noticed that the Curse of Bima had been lifted from Allen.

“When did you first notice?”
“Does it matter when? It’s something that will come out sooner or later, or rather, something that has to come out.”

The Gangcheol Seongju let out a faint sigh.

“Lucas. Let it go. The more you show affection for the second young master, the more danger he will be in.”
“You still haven’t given up, have you?”

Lucas’s eyes went cold.
The Gangcheol Seongju let out a dry laugh at the killing intent that clung to that gaze.

“We have no choice to begin with. If one of us must become the head of the family, there’s only you and the disciple of the Hyeolgeom Seongju… and that boy, tch.”

As he thought of the Hyeolgeom Seongju’s disciple, the Gangcheol Seongju clicked his tongue and creased his brow, a rare display of irritation.
A face came to mind, that of a man whose eyes had turned blood-red as he tore at a maid’s throat with his bare hands.
What would happen if that frenzied gaze were ever turned upon the world?

“You know as well as I do. If a man like that becomes head of the Bishuken, the world will be in ruins. It won’t just be the family that falls apart. The continent will be drenched in blood.”
“There’s no need to worry.”

Lucas, too, knew about the Hyeolgeom Seongju’s disciple.
The son of his uncle, Bael Bishuken. The disciple of the Hyeolgeom Seongju, and the one closest to the family headship after Lucas himself.
It wasn’t as though Lucas hadn’t given him any thought.

“I’ll be the one to deal with that madman.”
“Easier said than done…”

The heads of the Gangcheol Seongju and Lucas turned at the same instant, cutting off his words.
Up along the ravine.
A group of presences was approaching.

“They’ve started moving.”
“Of course they won’t just sit back and watch.”
“Those Empire bastards. They don’t know the meaning of fear.”

The Gangcheol Seongju scoffed and started forward.
He intended to step out himself and block the Empire’s swordsmen.
Just then.

“Found it!!!”

At the shout that rang out from afar, both men’s gazes swung around.
Deep inside the ravine, where light spilled in.
At last, Bishuken had found the Demonic Sword.

* * *

What tipped Renard off to the Demonic Sword was a trivial detail.

‘Why a sword on the wall?’

Renard picked up the sword hanging on the wall.
It wasn’t as though he had chosen the finest blade. He had simply taken the one nearest at hand.
But if that were all it was, he could have drawn the sword at his waist instead.
Given that he was a skilled smith, he surely wouldn’t have carried just any blade.

‘So that’s it.’

Allen knew Renard had been carrying the Demonic Sword, but he had no idea where Renard had hidden it.
Yet even under the lamp, the darkest spot is right beside the light, and the Demonic Sword had been placed closest to Renard.
How it had managed to conceal even its aura, I have no idea.

-“Pick that up, and you’re dead.”

It wasn’t for nothing that the Demonic Sword was called demonic.
Renard, who had guarded it for generations, knew its danger better than anyone.

-“An ordinary person can’t wield the Demonic Sword. You won’t last ten seconds.”
-“Listen carefully. I’m Allen Bishuken, son of Axion Bishuken.”

At Allen’s transmitted voice, Renard’s eyes went wide.
Axion Bishuken.
He could feel the man’s unease at the sudden mention of the continent’s foremost swordsman.

Allen had deliberately invoked his father’s name.
He needed to give Renard some reason to trust him.
However fearsome a Demonic Sword might be, before the name of Axion Bishuken, the continent’s foremost swordsman, it was just a blade.

-“You’re Axion’s son?”
-“Yes. And I won’t lose to some cursed blade. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten seconds or one. Right now, I need that sword.”

The transmission couldn’t continue any further.
The demon had sensed that the two of them were talking, and it lunged at them at once.

“How dare you!”

Allen pushed his mana to its absolute limit.
The demon’s Demonic Qi grew denser than before.
Through his Spirit Eye, Allen saw the trajectory of the demon’s movement. He thrust his sword along that line.

Seongsin Style, First Form.
Behold.

Clang!
Shiiing.

The sword energy that burst from the clash of their blades sliced across the ceiling. Allen’s weaker blade trembled finely in his grip.
After a few more exchanges, his wrists throbbed as if they might snap. The gap was wide, not only in strength but in the mana coursing through the sword energy.

“Renard!”

Allen shouted, barely holding his blade against the demon’s.

“Now!”
“So you two were plotting together.”

The demon’s eyes gleamed wildly.
His gaze swung toward Renard, who hesitated where he stood.

“Where is the Demonic Sword!?”

The demon’s roar rang through the ruined forge.
Demonic Qi came whirling off him. As his power surged, the demon’s eyes turned bloodshot red.
In that instant, Allen saw the demon’s Demonic Qi swelling around his body.

‘Something’s coming.’

Matching the demon’s preparation, Allen silently recited the formula of his technique.
And then, the next moment.
The technique manifested from the demon’s sword.

Dangong: Severing the Void.

Compressed demonic qi came flying at them like a wall. It wasn’t meant to cut Allen down with a blade, but to crush him beneath it, as if burying him under a barrier of force.
Thankfully, Allen’s technique manifested without any delay.

Seongsin Style, Third Form.
Neoul.

Whoosh!

A swell of sword energy, like a rolling wave, collided with the advancing wall.

Splaaash!

Where the two techniques clashed, the currents of demonic qi and mana erupted into a violent gale.
Neoul failed to fully cancel out every technique the demon had unleashed.
Caught in the scattered gust of sword energy, Allen was flung clean out of the forge. The ground, churned up by the sword energy, sent a cloud of pale dust billowing into the air.

“No!”

Renard cried out.
He lunged toward the direction Allen had been thrown, but the demon stepped squarely into his path.

“Now it’s quiet enough.”

Demonic qi spilled from the demon’s eyes and clamped down on Renard’s body.
Alone at last before him, Renard’s body stiffened.
He felt like a fragile herbivore standing before a colossal beast. His lips trembled as his frozen body refused to move.

“Where is the demonic sword?”
“Do you really think I’d answer that…?”
“My promise to spare your life still stands, should you hand over the demonic sword. But if I have to ask the same question again, that promise will mean nothing.”

Thud.

The demon drew closer to Renard.

“Where is the demonic sword?”
“…”

Renard bit down hard on his lip.
The pain of his lip, crushed until it bled, slowly brought his mind back to him.
After a moment, Renard nodded.

“You’ll keep your promise, won’t you?”
“I was a swordsman before I was a demon. I pledge my honor on it.”
“You won’t even tell me your name, and you expect me to trust that?”
“If you learned that, I couldn’t let you live.”
“Fair enough.”

Renard walked toward the corner of the wrecked forge.
Inside the hearth, ruined by the battle.
Rummaging through the inside of the dead embers, Renard pulled out a single sword.
The demon’s eyes gleamed as he spotted a blade that, unlike the others, had been carefully hidden away.

“Is that the demonic sword?”
“It is.”
“I don’t sense anything special about it.”
“That’s because we sealed it away.”

Renard gripped the Demonic Sword by its scabbard.

“The Maximus Family has been charged, generation after generation, with hiding and sealing the Demonic Sword. To do that, we needed a scabbard that could contain its energy.”
“A mere scabbard, you say?”
“Don’t underestimate the Maximus Family. Didn’t my father forge the fake Demonic Sword you were so desperate for?”

Was it because the talk had turned to the fake sword and his father?
Ma-in belatedly began to wonder.

“Strange. You seemed to harbor a deep grudge against your father.”
“Don’t mistake me.”

Venom seeped into Renard’s eyes.

“I will kill you, no matter what. If I can’t do it myself, I’ll borrow someone else’s hand to do it. I don’t care what means I use. I’ll kill you.”
“So this choice is one you’re making only because you have no choice if you want to survive?”
“Didn’t you say you’d keep your promise?”

Renard thrust the Demonic Sword forward, as if to say, take it and go.
Seeing the blazing glint in his eyes, Ma-in let out a short laugh.
He reached out and seized the Demonic Sword.

“Good. I’ll be waiting for you…”

At that very moment.

Swish-shaaak!

Sensing a presence behind him, Ma-in turned his body.

Shunk—!

“…!”

Ma-in’s eyes, pierced through the chest, widened until they looked ready to tear.
A spot that had narrowly missed his heart.
But it did not end there.

Bu-uuuk.

“Gwaaaaah!”

From chest to belly, Ma-in’s body split open.
Despite the agony, Ma-in swung his sword. The sword aura he hurled with all his strength forced his opponent to draw back, stepping away.
Renard put distance between himself and Ma-in at the same moment.

Tu-du-duk.

Blood gushed from the split wound and spilled onto the floor. Staggering, Ma-in braced himself against the wall.
His gaze drifted to what lay before him.

“You…!”

Allen, whom he had been certain had collapsed, was standing there.
And not merely standing.
In his hand was a crimson blade of a familiar shape.

“Demon… Sword…!”

The sword Main had been searching for all this time was now in Allen’s hand.

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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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