Chapter 56: Finding A Craftsman: Sammanri (4)

The cursed sword is single-use.

That means there’s only one chance.

‘The method of use isn’t difficult. Just in case, I even had Helena verify it.’

When the magic contained in the blade is released, the spell automatically surges forth.

No need to control the power.

It will have served its purpose with this one use.

Scorching heat, enough to melt everything around?

Just freeze it.

The cursed sword vibrated, scattering frost as cold as a midwinter storm.

A high-grade magical sword imbued with ice magic.

I don’t know how much power it will unleash, but it should be enough to create an opening, even for a moment.

The moment I grasped the sword, an icy chill spread from my fingertips, coursing through my entire arm.

As I infused it with magic, it slowly began to glow, and frost—like the breath of a frozen wasteland—crept along its surface.

“Eat this.”

Swish!

The moment I swung the sword, an eerie chill spread as if even the air itself was freezing over.

Cold frost particles scattered, enveloping the surroundings like a blizzard.

The ice shot toward Narvane, spreading from the tip of the blade like creeping frost, forming crystalline patterns over his skin.

‘Now…!’

As the wave of ice exploded outward, cold energy spread in all directions, and his movements gradually slowed.

I didn’t miss that opening.

I immediately grabbed a steel sword.

Compressed my magic and spun it rapidly.

Then, I struck at the frozen Narvane with all my might.

Boom!

A deafening shockwave erupted, and the intense clash of heat and cold filled the air with thick steam.

A normal person wouldn’t have survived.

The sheer destruction around us was proof of the sword’s overwhelming power.

“Oh, my friend, did you take him down?”

But he was an officer of Amcheon.

A warrior so powerful that even Bakal hesitated before him.

“…I told you to stop saying that line, you idiot.”

Even if he wasn’t at full power, he wouldn’t go down so easily.

“Impressive. Not just you, but that cursed sword as well—it’s truly fascinating.”

“Still feeling smug even after losing both arms?”

“This is fantastic… I suppose it’s time to stop playing around.”

Narvane’s puppet was on the verge of collapse.

His arms were severed, and his body staggered—his physical form had reached its limit.

Yet, he smiled.

As if it were nothing.

“You’ll have to die now.”

“…Damn, you creepy bastard.”

In the blink of an eye, new arms formed.

It wasn’t regeneration. It was as if he had compressed flames to shape his limbs.

The sight of his ruined body replaced by fire was nothing short of grotesque.

“The cursed sword is gone. What will you do now?”

Narvane smirked, approaching leisurely, melting the ice shards covering his body with his heat, his aura radiating as if he would strike at any moment.

‘The concentration of his magic is insane.’

Well, I never expected it to end in one go.

Even if he wasn’t at full power, Narvane was still an officer of Amcheon.

“Have you given up already? If so, that would be rather disapp—huh? What’s that?”

“What do you think? Did you really think I only had one?”

The two swords Gray had thrown to me.

I had deliberately let one drop to the ground.

And I had just used the other one.

‘It’s a damn good thing there were exactly two.’

When I saw the ‘5’ engraved on Narvane’s forehead, I felt relieved.

Because if he wasn’t the fifth puppet, the one who wielded flames, this plan wouldn’t have worked.

Tsssss!

“T-That is…”

“I’ll make this real shocking for you.”

I had used the cursed sword infused with ice magic to freeze his flames.

And in response, he had raised his heat to melt it.

As a result, his entire body was now damp with moisture.

‘I have to act before he evaporates the water.’

I couldn’t give him a chance.

For him, drying off would take no effort at all.

Pretending to pick up a steel sword, I—

He picked up the demonic sword he had dropped earlier and charged toward him.

Chzzzz!

As he infused the demonic sword with magic, the lightning embedded within it surged wildly along the blade.

With a deafening roar that split the sky, a massive bolt of lightning was unleashed.

Electric currents scattered in all directions, consuming Narvane.

The electricity seeped into his body in an instant, traveling through the droplets of water on the ground.

A golden flash shone so brightly that it was blinding.

By the time the light gradually faded, the tattered form of Narvane was revealed.

“This…was…unexpected…”

“I don’t have time to listen. Be gone.”

He couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.

Beyond merely protecting the power source, there was significance in destroying one of Narvane’s puppets, a key force of Dark Heaven.

‘He’ll probably make another one, but at least I can buy some time.’

Training with Drakan had focused on elevating his physical abilities to increase his rank.

But that didn’t mean he had neglected swordsmanship training.

The War God, Drakan, once said—

That I have a dormant talent of unknown origin.

That it is specialized in swordsmanship, though he didn’t know why.

And that, in time, I would come to understand it on my own.

‘I think I’m starting to get what he meant.’

Back then, I had scoffed at his words during our training.

But after battling Narvane, I could feel it—he was right.

‘Ever since that day, my body moves on its own.’

After being struck down by Bakal and losing consciousness, I had a strange dream.

In it, I witnessed the life of Theonar, someone I had never experienced before.

‘I don’t know if what was inside me was truly me or not.’

But as I watched his swordsmanship, I never once thought it was difficult.

Even though, apart from Alteia’s swordsmanship, I had always been clumsy and uncoordinated.

Sometimes, when I swing my sword, my body moves in ways I never intended.

It’s not just random flailing.

It’s not relying on experience to predict movements.

It’s as if my subconscious takes control and guides me.

As if scolding me—telling me that’s not how it’s done, that I shouldn’t wield my sword like that.

‘Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. As long as I can get stronger.’

I still don’t know the reason.

Even Drakan couldn’t fully explain it, so how could I?

But one thing was certain.

‘I don’t feel like I can lose right now.’

A 5th-rank warrior—truthfully, it’s not that high of a rank.

That’s around the average for an Arcane Knight.

But as I’ve said before, rank isn’t everything.

‘Benda.’

As I thrust my sword forward, no other thoughts entered my mind.

Only the unwavering will to cut down my enemy.

I poured that single resolve into the tip of my blade.

‘Magic is only a supplement. Without proper swordsmanship, I can’t cut anything.’

Until now, I had relied on my vast reserves of magic to overcome situations.

Because I thought that was the answer.

‘How foolish I was.’

If magic was everything, what about Ian? What about the heroines?

They wouldn’t have survived.

I needed to understand my essence.

To recognize my specialty and refine it.

This first step I take now—it may not be satisfactory.

There will be flaws, deficiencies, and many things to improve.

But even so, the fact that I’m advancing is what matters.

‘I will cut down everything in the path of my sword.’

Narvane is my target, but it won’t end with just him.

I must cleave the ground, split the trees—

And sever all the threads of dark magic he has sown.

“What… is this… I can’t… let…”

His muttered words didn’t reach me.

With eyes wide open, I swung my sword downward, slowly yet decisively, carrying the intent to cut through everything in a straight line.

1000. There was no sharp slicing sound, no deafening boom.

Only one thing happened—

Everything along the path of my sword was cleaved in two.

“Guaaaahhh!”

Narvane’s puppet was split perfectly in half, and all the threads of dark magic that had surrounded the area were severed as well.

It seemed like he was about to say something.

But as the flow of magic was cut off—

The doll had already returned to being an ordinary corpse.

“Phew… That was tough.”

.

.

.

.

The ones wearing veils were easily subdued.

The dolls Narvane had been controlling all lost their connection at once.

The remaining enemies couldn’t withstand the power of Sylvia and El.

Before long, as the power source began functioning normally again, the Empire’s support arrived, bringing the situation under control.

Exhausted, I collapsed onto the ground, and Gray approached me.

“Wow, impressive. You’ve changed a lot in just two months.”

“But Gray, why are you here?”

“Haha, well, something happened.”

Gray avoided the question and turned his gaze toward Sylvia.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Alright, I’ll explain when we get back to Arcane. For now, we need to focus on wrapping things up.”

Helena was safe.

Her health wasn’t great to begin with, so recovery would take some time, but at least her life wasn’t in danger.

‘More people died than I expected.’

The citizens inside the barrier were mostly unharmed.

But the real problem was the others who had remained in the city.

It was impossible to estimate just how many had perished.

Hundreds, perhaps.

‘They’re getting bolder.’

And it wasn’t just Amcheon.

There were the black magicians and the veiled ones from this incident.

Who knows what other forces might appear alongside Amcheon in the future?

‘I need to strengthen our defenses even more.’

It felt like there would be an overwhelming amount of work waiting for me once I returned to Arcane.