episode_0155

At first I thought it was an illusion.

Then, I wondered if the sparks that bounced off the sword as they clashed touched my wrist.

It wasn’t.

This becomes more evident as the battle continues.

Getting darker and hotter.

Burning heat was escaping from my right wrist.

A power I can’t handle. With horsepower.

Memories of what I experienced in Carmine Dungeon flashed through my mind.

[ᚲ]

I don’t know what it reads, but anyway.

An ancient engraving engraved on the right wrist.

Heat was rising from that imprint.

Then, as the ghost knight showed at that time… Is this like a sign that some unknown magic is about to be activated?

I thought it was a reasonable guess.

Otherwise, I couldn’t explain the magical power circling my wrist.

… So, how do you write it? This imprint.

Feeling like a blind man who had lost his cane, I looked at my right wrist, which was burning like it was on fire.

—-

Perhaps they thought my hesitation was an opportunity, but the Black Iron Knights charged in again.

I put aside my unanswered concerns and continue the battle.

Now that I think about it, was this the first time I had to fight to the death with a proper expert since realizing the power of karma?

I’ve dealt with quite a few master-level enemies, but they were all just strange monsters.

It’s different from these guys.

He counters the swinging long sword and kicks away the tip of the sword with frost.

Slashes aimed at the legs are deflected through the armor.

It was quite a valuable experience.

Unlike monsters who swing their weapons at random, each of their attacks contained the techniques of perfect swordsmanship.

From defense and attack to counterattack and evasion.

I see it all, experience it, and engrave it in my memory.

Put the memorized movements together in your head and analyze their fundamental principles.

The brain, heated by the excitement of battle, finished the work in an instant.

And, I incorporate the movements I understand into my attacks.

The roaring Durandal draws a strange trajectory, tearing apart the black iron armor.

With each fight, my sword became sharper and more threatening.

I have to thank Claire.

I never thought they would prepare such great teaching materials.

– Kagang! Kaang! Kagagaga River!

Every time sword and sword collide, a flash of light illuminates each other.

As if dozens of lightning bolts were falling one after another, rays of light and roars penetrated everywhere.

Slowly, but surely.

The scales of victory began to tip.

The burning reed field spreads the heat of the sunset.

Durandal’s sword body becomes soaked in blood.

Crushed pieces of black iron are scattered on the ground.

Black iron armor torn into pieces like rags. Black long swords whose teeth were starting to fall out and cracks.

Even the body was cut and torn to the point of tatters.

Anyone could see that he looked very defeated.

“Do you think this is reaching its limit?”

No answer came back… I’m sure you understand my ridicule.

If you look at the way he came out right away when Claire told him to come out.

Swing the sword again.

The enemy’s movements were noticeably slower than before.

The swordsmanship that had grown by devouring all of their skills began to cut through the teachers who had become useless.

The arm that had been bitten by the blue line flew into the air.

It was a moment when victory was certain.

and,

Finally, the fuse was lit.

—-

– Hwareuk.

An omen that blooms softly.

The magic power concentrated to the limit in the imprint of the wrist cannot withstand the pressure and finally explodes like a volcano.

Magical power flows through the fingertips and seeps into the sword.

Fierce flames surge, engulfing the sword body and burning.

sword of fire.

It was a wonderful sight that was awe-inspiring just to look at.

I still don’t know the name of the imprint, but I can at least understand that the magic being manifested is the power of fire.

– Ugh!

After a moment of admiration, Durandal trembled violently.

The rising flames suddenly died down and dispersed in an instant.

… okay. True silver was a metal that rejected magic.

I guess it’s the same with my master’s magic.

Really, what are we going to do?

Feeling a little despondent, I looked down at Jinyun’s long sword vibrating low.

All of my strengths are like this. Each rejects the other.

Thanks to this, each risk is delicately balanced.

The Black Iron Knights, who were wary of the suddenly rising flames, also looked in my direction as if embarrassed by the flames that were immediately extinguished.

He didn’t say a word and didn’t even show any facial expressions… It was clearly an absurd reaction.

“… Don’t look at me like that. Because I’m dumbfounded right now.”

My cheeks, which were flushed with shame, became itchy.

—-

However, the surprise did not end there.

The magic power that had been scattered along with the flames gathers again.

It’s not a right hand that rejects magical power… Toward the left arm that emits cold air.

A thick heat seeps into my left arm, which had been hardened by the frosty cold.

The coldness of the curse that had penetrated deep into my bones dissipated.

There was no fire.

With just a wisp of smoke, the silver gauntlet burned black.

uh… ? Is this okay?

I was worried that it would be ruined like this, so I wondered if I should throw away the frost, but… .

Without any time to hesitate, the frost that had been scorched in an instant revealed a black sheen.

It’s black frost.

I’ve never seen anything like this, even in the original.

It was a very unfamiliar feeling.

So much so that I was twitching the fingers on my left hand without even realizing it.

The blackened frost was still emitting the cold air of a curse, but it never reached me.

Because the heat of the magic power in my left arm was offsetting the coldness of the frost.

I didn’t know what caused this phenomenon, but it was a good thing in the end.

At least now, at this moment, it was as if the frost’s time limit had disappeared.

—-

At this point, I had a rough guess.

This engraving probably gathers magic power at will and turns it into fire and heat… It looks like some kind of magic imprint.

I’m not sure about the exact activation conditions or control method yet.

I need to find out properly.

This means that if you can control this power, you can use frostbite without any restrictions in the future.

Oh, maybe something like this will happen?

An idea that suddenly occurred to me.

He moved Durandal to his left hand for a moment and held it, then pulled out a dagger in his empty right hand.

And again, focus your awareness on the imprint on your wrist.

– Grumble.

The prediction was correct.

The dagger in his right hand was imbued with magic and began to burn fiercely.

The steel engulfed in flames glows bright red.

This is quite… It might be useful.

The Black Iron Knights hesitated for a moment at the sight of the dagger that had turned into a torch.

Congratulating himself on being able to use magic now, he threw the flaming dagger at the enemy.

A dagger that shoots out like a red ray.

The targeted Black Iron Knight swung the long sword he was holding to the side.

With the sound of “Kaaang,” the flaming dagger bounces in vain.

Does not matter. It wasn’t an attack meant to be hit in the first place.

All it took was a moment to create a gap.

Before he could even return the tip of his sword, I was already close to his eyes.

“You should have avoided what you just did.”

The reflexive, clumsy attack is waved away with the left hand holding the Durandal.

A sword swung in an unstable position is no longer a threat.

I stretched out my right hand and grabbed the guy’s helmet.

I didn’t mean to crush it.

If you put in a little effort, you might be able to collapse it… Because I thought of a better way than that.

fire.

It’s the same as a dagger.

As I focus my attention on the engraving, the head of the guy held in my right hand begins to burn.

The guy started having seizures.

He doesn’t care about the minor injuries, but it seems like he can’t bear the burning pain in his head.

I let go of the head I was holding and stepped back.

Even though I had already let go of my hand, the flame that once arose consumed the surrounding magic power and burned more and more fiercely.

It burns better than I thought. It’s firewood, not people.

The flames spread throughout his body.

Black smoke leaked out from the eye sockets of the helmet that had begun to melt.

The knight, who has become a huge torch, dances passionately, lighting up the night sky.

As the heat reached here, beads of sweat ran down the tip of my chin.

After the flames from a little while ago, the engraving on my right wrist had completely quieted down.

It seems that there is a limit to the number of times and output… I’ll have a chance to try it again later.

This guy was already dead anyway, and swordplay was enough to defeat the other two.

So, now… After killing those guys and cutting off Claire’s head, it will be over.

No, did they have to be captured alive?

Unlike the original, Ophelia wanted to keep Claire alive.

I don’t know why.

I heard the part where they were swearing at each other hard, but after that I couldn’t really hear what they were talking about because they were so focused on the battle.

Well, I think Ophelia will be able to handle it on her own even without my help.

When I glanced at Claire, I saw that she couldn’t use any magic and was just shaking, which seemed to indicate that the poisonous stew operation had worked very well.

Sure enough, Claire fell helpless after being hit by the shock wave released by Ophelia.

It doesn’t seem like he killed him, he just knocked him unconscious.

—-

Again, I turned my gaze towards the burning knight.

If I were to swing my fist in that state, the fire would catch on me too.

The sight that caught my eye was truly bizarre.

The knight’s head, which was glowing, is suddenly pulled out.

Bong, I said. Like a vigorously shaken champagne cork.

There was a minor difference in that what followed was a solid rather than a liquid.

“Keee!”

A tearing scream. The bastard finally opened his mouth.

No, I should say that I opened my throat, not my mouth.

A huge bug resembling a maggot pops out from the pulled out neck.

The reddish-brown leather was wrinkled with wrinkles, and hair like caterpillars sprouted between the wrinkles.

A huge maggot that looked to be 60cm long and had a body thicker than my forearm.

The knight’s head was dangling from the tip of a snout with hundreds of teeth sprouting from it.

At first glance, the inside of the head was empty.

I could guess just by looking at it. It looks like that bug ate it all up.

It was probably sitting near the spine, eating all the way up the neck and rolling around inside the skull.

The moment the maggots left the body, the knight stopped moving and collapsed helplessly and burned to the ground.

A bug pops out and rolls around on the dirt floor.

It was the right decision to abandon the host and run away… One step too late.

Because the fire had already spread to him.

“Key profit! Kiiig!”

The golden-brown insect screamed and wriggled.

It spits out yellow bodily fluid through its snout.

Oh really. It’s so disgusting.

My eyebrows suddenly furrow.

The sour smell of rot and roasting insects permeated my nose.

I could tolerate everything else in this world, but… .

Really, it was hard to bear the fact that every enemy I encountered was so disgusting that I felt nauseous.

After a while, the well-baked maggots stopped moving.

The demonic energy that flowed from the grilled bugs colored the ground.

It was a sight that made me want to ask Durandal. What on earth did he look at to judge that thing to be a human being?

Even if a bug eats your head and controls it, if you still have breath, you’re still a human, right?

The blue long sword vibrated slightly, and its golden engraving shined.

It was as if he was protesting against injustice, so I burst into laughter.

The golden glow becomes more and more vivid as if apologizing to me.

As before, blessed power flowed through the hilt of the sword.

The other two knights hesitated and retreated.

There must be maggots in their heads too. Just kill it and it will be over.

I rushed towards them.

He wraps around the sword that is stretched out as if struggling, and strikes it out with his fingertips raised.

Black frost shattered the helmet and penetrated the skull.

The feeling of a squishy lump bursting open.

The left hand that was pulled out was soaked with black blood and yellow bodily fluids.

That’s disgusting.

I waved my left hand roughly and brushed off the debris from the frost.

The last remaining knight attacked with all his might.

A powerful sound that tears through the air. Secretly twisted orbit.

The slash aimed at the waist leaps up and digs in, aiming for the neck.

I was surprised when I first saw it… It was a sword technique that he had already experienced dozens of times while fighting.

Frost grabbed the long sword.

A final blow that was blocked in vain.

Before the Maggot Knight could react, the back-handed Durandal stuck in his skull.

That was the end of it.