Chapter 225: The Knight Brood Over His Defeat (4)

Now that Lee Han thought about it, he might not have properly experienced fighting against Aura User up until now.

He was always well aware that they possessed strength that could be called superhuman. He also knew that they could do ridiculous things and that no matter how hard he struggled, he wouldn’t even come close to defeating them.

However, he still didn’t know why they were called Aura Users.

But now,

Wooong-!

He thought he knew why they were called Aura User.

“Using Aura is not difficult once you become an Aura User. Other knights use Mental Power to artificially use Aura, but for us, it’s just an energy that can be used naturally. Just like how easy the Magic Freaks use magic.”

“…”

“That means, bragging about it in front of us is meaningless. Well, it’s not that it’s not great and all. Using ‘Aura’ when you haven’t crossed the ‘boundary’ is definitely a great thing. I’ll praise you for that. You’re probably ranked in the top 5 amongst the young guys, hehe.”

“…I don’t think so.”

“Huh?”

“There’s Galahad’s annoying spearman and Lionel’s big guy who makes me sick.”

The two knights who were the most talented as far as he knew. And between the two of them, Lee Han simply couldn’t tell who was better than whom.

When Lee Han mentioned their names, Baltar looked thoughtful for a moment.

“…Ah, those guys. There were definitely those guys. They might have been more talented than me when I was younger, haha. Hoh? Have you met them already?”

Lee Han nodded as he remembered their face.

“We met a few times. But we hit and kicked each other and everything.”

“Who won?”

“…”

“Tsk tsk, you loser. How can you not win against those guys?”

“I didn’t lose…”

“Excuses. What good is having that kind of body if you can’t fight properly… It’s all because you don’t put in enough effort.”

“Fuck!”

Even though Lee Han was angry after he heard those words, he couldn’t bring himself to attack the old man in front of him.

Right now, his swordsmanship, which he usually thought was magnificent, was,

This is so weak.

It looked like he was waving some toothpick around rather than a sword.

The thirty beautiful sword spheres that were hovering around Baltar were dancing in the air as if they were ready to attack him at any moment. One shot of that sword sphere had enough overwhelming mass and destructive power that surpassed his swordsmanship, yet there were a whooping thirty of them.

Trickle-!

Lee Han’s body was soaked with cold sweat. The pressure that the Sword Sphere emitted was oppressing his body, and his stamina was draining away in real time. He had a thought of hitting the Sword Sphere with his Sword Force for a moment, but…

That won’t work. If the Sword Force and Sword Sphere collide, the Sword Force will definitely lose.

He was convinced after seeing the power that was the Sword Sphere emitted.

If the Sword Force collided with the Sword Sphere, his sword wouldn’t be the only one that broke. His arm would also disappear.

If that’s the case…

Thud-!

“Hmm? You don’t want to surrender now?”

“Why would I surrender?”

“Hm… Are you being reckless? Or do you think I won’t shoot these lumps at you? Either way, you are arrogant.”

“That’s not the case, so don’t interfere. Moreover, don’t call them lumps!”

Call them Sword Sphere or Powerful Sphere.

Whoosh-!

Lee Han moved his foot forward while keeping his sword raised.

A simple stabbing.

It was a straight movement without deceit, but it showed how much Lee Han had trained with the sword. However, just because it was just a mere stabbing didn’t mean that it was weak. The strength and sharpness behind it was more threatening than any other high-level swordsmanship.

“Look at this guy…”

Baltar was more surprised at the simple stabbing that Lee Han did than when he saw his swordsmanship.

This guy! He has put his willpower into his sword!

Whenever he saw him, Baltar thought he had grown, but he never thought he would put his willpower into the tip of his sword! Well, to condense it like that, he would need incredible concentration and willpower. So, It only made sense that he used his willpower in the process.

Bang-!

“It’s heavy. It’s still in a young tree-level of willpower, but if you cultivate it like that, you will gradually get closer to me, hehe.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

“…Seems like you still don’t know how to use it.”

However, it seems that the person in question was not consciously using it yet. Well, that guy was not a martial artist who fought with enlightenment or technique, but a beast-like guy who fought with instinct and sense, so it only makes sense.

Funny guy.

Well, that’s the reason why it was fun to watch him.

Boom-!

Lee Han and Baltar’s swords clashed repeatedly.

Crackle-!

The sparks formed as the Sword Forces clashed.

However, for the two of them, those Sword Force were merely auxiliary means, they just repeatedly clashed their swords as if they were sharing a sword dance without being conscious of it.

However…

Bang-!

Intense thunder occurred when lightning collided with lightning. Because of that, the rare and terrifying phenomenon of lightning striking from the ground instead of the sky became a problem.

Even though they were just fighting hard, it became a showdown that felt like the end of the world.

A match between a dragon and a tiger. It was a match where the dragon and the tiger couldn’t determine who was superior. Their current showdown was truly the destruction caused by a dragon and a tiger fighting against each other.

Because of that, the royal castle seemed like it would truly collapse.

Whoosh-!

“Since the royal castle must not collapse, let’s end this now.”

The Sword Sphere moved and fell on Lee Han.

The sphere was only as big as a bowling ball, but if it touched him, a clean hole would be made in a body part.

But Lee Han,

Wooong-!

As if he had been waiting for the moment, he added variations to his Sword Force.

Willing-!

The condensed energy rippled and attempted to change.

It was not a simple act of condensing energy, but a Sword Power containing the enlightenment that a certain knight had obtained in the world beneath the surface.

Boundless Sword Technique.

The azure circle of sword energy which seemed to contain the sky itself split the Sword Sphere. It was acting as if it was an ultra-high pressure hydraulic cutter cutting through iron.

“Haaaah! Haaaaah!”

Even though he had accomplished the miraculous feat of cutting through a Sword Sphere, Lee Han’s face showed no sense of accomplishment. He just had a pale expression like someone who had just come back from the dead. His face was also filled with tension and cold sweat.

“D-damn… I’m so surprised…”

“…”

“O-old man, you are really planning to kill me!”

“…What, is that?”

“You are curious about that after trying to kill someone?”

“Rascal… Just how much fun are you planning to show my boring life? Hahahaha!”

“???”

As he heard Baltar’s words, Lee Han flinched for a moment and took a step back. It was not only because of the word he uttered, it was also because his eyes suddenly looked at him with mad gazes.

What is that expression?

It was like…

“So, what else are you going to show me? That’s not all you got, right? Show me more, more!”

“…”

…The face of a professor who flirted with his student?

He had seen that face on the Academy professor’s face when they looked at the student who was presenting their brilliant thesis at the academy discussion hall.

That student ended up becoming a graduate student, didn’t he?

Lee Han felt ominous foreboding creeping closer and closer to him, as if he had somehow become the student who presented the thesis.

Seems like, it would have been better to surrender earlier.

Wooong-!

After Lee Han showed his Boundless Sword Technique to Baltar, the movements of the Sword Sphere became more threatening. It was already threatening enough before, but now,  it felt like an organized movement that seemed determined to kill him.

Feeling dizzy as if he was standing on a cliff, Lee Han was forced to perform some acrobatics.

Whoosh-!

He dodged the incoming onslaught of Sword Sphere by the hairbreadth, but it still brushed past the armor on his shoulder and evaporated it. It was fairly thick armor, yet it disappeared like it was made of paper.

“!!?”

Lee Han cursed inwardly as he found that losing an armor was a waste, however, he still kept moving.

Avoiding and avoiding again.

That too, through instinct…!

Stab-!

He then swung his sword. His Boundless Sword Technique was the only thing he could trust right now.

However…

Flinch-!

“…!”

“Do you feel dizzy? That makes sense. A blade sharpened with will…. It’s only natural to feel tired when using something like that. The only reason you can hold on for so long is because you are you. If it were someone else, they might have lost consciousness or died after using it once, hehe.”

“Ugh!?”

Baltar’s words didn’t even reach his ears. All he could do was just blindly dodge and swing his sword.

A state of crisis where even his eyesight was blurry.

But for Lee Han,

I’ll hit that guy at least once!

He still wanted to hit that guy who was looking at him while laughing.

So…

I’ll go all the way!

Step-!

Lee Han overcame his fatigue with his venomous feeling and moved forward like that.

Stabbing,

Cutting,

Smashing,

Stabbing again.

Lee Han’s blade gradually got closer to Baltar as he smashed everything that was blocking his path.

When he no longer had Sword Spheres blocking his way, Lee Han moved forward. However, Lee Han knew. Even without the Sword Spheres around, he couldn’t do anything to Baltar.

So…

I’m sorry, sword!

He vowed to use a new technique that would surprise the superhuman.

Lee Han gave an apology to his Nth sword and activated the Sword Resonance.

Wooong-!

The iron sword, which resonated as if telling him it was okay, vibrated rapidly.

It might be his first attempt. He was already using the sword technique called Boundless Sword Technique, yet now, he was also trying to use a new sword technique. Perhaps it was an attempt made possible because it was a situation where it was impossible for him to judge correctly.

When he tried something because he ignorantly went down a path that no one had tried before.

Whoosh-!

There were times when new ‘possibilities’ would bloom!

Crackle-!

Suddenly, plum blossoms bloomed around the sword.

Swish-!

Swish-!

Swish-!

One flower.

Two flowers.

Four flowers.

Eight flowers.

The blooming plum blossoms were bigger than any plum blossom Lee Han had bloomed before, and at the same time…

Whoosh-!

It was ever-changing.

It was difficult to even read the flow of the plum blossoms, and it held a grand sense of foreboding as if it had inherited the strength of the Boundless Sword Technique.

The moment when the Plum Blossom Sword, which had been considered unfinished in the past acquired the function of a sword technique close to perfection by chance, the ever-changing nature of the completed Plum Blossom Sword…

Crunch-!

“…”

It created a change that even a superhuman could not react to and cut the sleeves of Baltar’s sleeve.

“This is nice…! To be able to see such a ‘wonderful flower’ in this season and even take a blow from it! Hahaha, it seems like I was the one who showed arrogance!”

Baltar did not spare his praise. When the Sword God raised his sword, no one dared to strike him with their sword, yet the beast in front of him dared to cut the sleeve of his clothes…

“…In return, I’ll also show you something good.”

Baltar stopped.

Then, he lowered himself and took a stabbing stance.

If the stabbing that Lee Han took showed the spirit of a general with great power, Baltar’s stabbing stance reminded him of a Taoist.

And Baltar’s stabbing, as befitting a Taoist swordsman.

Whoosh-!

It showed off a mysterious stabbing that seemed to be using Taoist Technique..

In an instant, a hole appeared in the plum blossom. It wasn’t strange at all. After all, It was natural for a hole to appear when something was stabbed.

But…

“…What the?”

What is the principle of a stab that could cause holes appearing in the petals that cover all 360 degrees around him?

Lee Han doubted his eyes and blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating, but reality did not change at all.

All the plum blossoms around him still had holes in them.

Thankfully, Baltar was generous.

“I think it’s called [Thirty-Six Sword Technique].”

Then, he proceeded to explain directly how the phenomenon occurred.

“It is a sword technique that strikes thirty-six times with a single swing. It’s that guy, Albert’s specialty. Though, that guy used an awl instead of a sword.”

“…”

“Well, if I put my mind to it, I could strike 72 or 144 times in one breath, haha. If dozens of blades cover my entire body, I can block or pierce them with my sword faster than that.”

Lee Han’s blood pressure rose for a moment as he watched Baltar spouting out the greatest nonsense he ever heard.

“Shit… Why is it the Thirty-Six sword of all things? W-what the fu…”

Baltar’s attack reminded him of the technique of the Zhongnan Sect, the mortal enemy of the Mount Hua Sect. Because of that, Lee Han felt the feelings of the Mount Hua Sect’s swordsman who lost to the Zhongnan Sect’s swordsman in martial arts novels.

Then,

“Ugh…!?”

He lost consciousness.

It wasn’t from fatigue, but from his blood pressure rising.

I lost again, damn it…

Then, I also had to reflect on this Nth defeat.