Ch.191Utilization

“To eat people! Have you finally revealed your true nature, you hideous murderer!”

While ordinary knights were pathetically flinching at the horrific sight, Valenstein felt not a trace of fear.

He could clearly see the enemy’s condition with his own eyes.

‘Just puffing up with bluster, but the wound is already near fatal.’

Though she had avoided instant death… it was a deep sword wound that could claim her life within minutes if left untreated.

She was using materialized Karma of Murder to press against the wound and stop the bleeding, but that was merely a temporary measure—it wouldn’t restore the blood she had already lost.

It was surprising that she had regained consciousness so quickly after passing out, but it was obvious she would collapse again soon.

That’s why he had chosen a normal thrust instead of the Ghost Sword.

He believed it would be sufficient to subdue what was essentially a half-corpse on the verge of death.

Valenstein’s true sword shot toward Haschal, drawing a long trajectory.

—-

“Haaaa…!”

Instead of answering, Haschal exhaled a heated breath and laughed.

The iron rule of terror.

Never speak human words.

Fear stems from otherness, and when dialogue is established, it gradually fades.

An incomprehensible monstrosity.

That’s what she needed to become to them.

Her gaze quickly swept her surroundings.

The gazes directed at her were still stained with fear, while only a few knights looked at the pathetic old man with expectant eyes.

A senile fool who had either gone senile in his old age or been corrupted by falling for a middle-aged whore.

Haschal’s assessment of Valenstein was utterly scathing.

She had no reason to view him favorably from the beginning.

Haschal picked up the black iron longsword of the knight she had been devouring and slowly rose to her feet.

The sword she had inherited from her mother had already been taken… far away, held by some worm of a man.

‘How dare…!’

Blue-green ghostly fire erupted from her eyes.

Her mother, Imelia de Median, whom she had never forgotten for a moment, had left behind only this one legacy.

It was not a sword that trash like them should touch carelessly.

She had to get it back.

Suppressing the excruciating pain that threatened to make her faint with hatred and fighting spirit, Haschal released all her Karma at once.

The crimson energy of Karma of Murder, which had been flickering with a blood-red light, bared its claws in response to its master’s passion.

‘Are you watching? Or have you fallen asleep again, like before?’

Haschal addressed her inner self.

Hoping to be heard by the usurper who had not only stolen her body but had also reduced her to this state by repeatedly doing stupid things.

The actions she had been watching from her unconscious.

The one who seemed to ignore her no matter how much she advised, and whenever her voice seemed about to reach him, blocked it with something called Mana Herb or whatever.

Watching his combat and strategy had been so frustrating she could have gone mad.

If he had been her subordinate, she would have torn him to pieces and fed him to the dogs.

Hesitating and calculating too much, he had squandered every opportunity and ended up like this.

His fighting style was pathetic too.

His swordsmanship wasn’t bad… no, in fact, his sword talent alone was superior to hers, but his method of wielding power was far too crude.

Despite stealing her Karma completely, all he did with that power was crudely increase destructive force.

It was like putting a peerless sword in the hands of a child.

Materialized Karma of Murder was not a power to be handled in such a manner.

‘If you’re awake, watch carefully. How foolishly you’ve been fighting!’

Haschal extended her sword forward.

The released Karma of Murder scattered like threads, then embedded itself throughout her body.

The red threads densely covered the black iron blade like a wrapping.

The incredibly sturdy black iron trembled, unable to withstand the enormous burden weighing on it.

“I’ll cut you down with that very sword!”

“Kyaaaah!”

The blue-silver true sword and the black iron sword stained with Karma of Murder tore at each other.

—-

– Kagagagagak!

The moment the two swords met, what followed was a noise unlike any other.

A series of bursting sounds, like a saw scraping against an iron plate.

Yet the two swords remained locked together, not moving an inch.

“What…!”

For the first time, Valenstein showed his shock.

His hands gripping the hilt trembled as vibrations traveled through the blade.

It felt as if hundreds of awls were hammering at his blade.

Not an inaccurate description.

“Heh….”

Haschal smiled, revealing her canines.

The threads of Karma of Murder wrapping around her blade had transformed into hundreds of needles, stabbing at Valenstein’s sword.

Vertically, horizontally, diagonally.

Under the countless impacts striking from all directions, the power carried in the true silver sword scattered helplessly.

‘Chiksan (Needle Scatter)’

A technique she had devised to block unstoppable sword strikes by using thinly condensed Karma of Murder energy to stab and disturb the colliding blade.

– Kak!

Unable to withstand the disturbance, the connected blades separated, creating a tiny gap.

Haschal’s eyes gleamed as she spotted the opportunity.

The black iron sword knocked aside the true silver sword and burrowed in like a snake.

“What bizarre technique…!”

Valenstein hastily twisted his head to avoid the thrust aimed at it.

Or rather, it seemed he had avoided it.

“Kyah!”

With a beast-like cry, Haschal’s arm bent strangely.

The trajectory of the thrust twisted sharply.

“Huh…!”

A startled Valenstein retreated urgently.

His nape was grazed by the black iron sword, tearing open and drawing blood.

It was only a light wound, but… it was the first injury he had sustained since passing his fifties.

—-

“Kyaah!”

The red blade chased after him.

Just as the true silver sword swung diagonally to parry Haschal’s blade, her arm bent again, twisting the sword’s path.

Valenstein twisted his upper body to avoid it.

And once more, the sword’s trajectory twisted.

From a thrust aimed at a single point to a slash cutting across the flank.

As Valenstein retreated to avoid it, the red arc broke midway and transformed into a thrust targeting his heart.

‘What is this…!’

Valenstein inwardly exclaimed in shock.

To continuously twist the path of a sword swung with full force—unless it was a light attack delivered with minimal strength from the start, how was this possible?

He could manage it once himself, if he were willing to bear the tremendous strain on his arm and wrist.

The undulating sword that had just pierced and torn Haschal’s shoulder was a technique based on a similar principle.

But even he couldn’t execute such unreasonable sword paths one after another like this.

The thrust that should have been straight approached with a changing trajectory, as if alive.

Like a viper lunging with writhing movements.

It was clearly an impossible movement.

“So materialized Karma makes even this possible…!”

Only after shifting his gaze from the approaching sword to Haschal’s arm could Valenstein guess the principle behind it.

The Karma of Murder energy embedded in her body like threads was forcibly pulling and twisting her outstretched arm.

Like pulling the strings of a puppet.

With her body’s muscle strength and the physical force of the Karma of Murder acting in completely different directions, the sword’s path was greatly distorted as a result.

Each attack carried less power than before, but this was actually more troublesome.

At this rate, predicting the sword’s path to deflect or counter it would be meaningless.

Haschal could twist her sword’s path at any moment.

It was obvious that her forcibly pulled bones and muscles were screaming in protest, but the awakened princess either couldn’t feel the pain or simply didn’t care.

‘Well, no matter how painful a broken arm might be, it can’t compare to a severed breast.’

Valenstein let out a bitter smile as he threw himself backward in a roll.

Abandoning all dignity, he covered himself in dirt as he burrowed between the knights.

Having realized the principle too late, this was his only way to avoid Haschal’s thrust.

Humiliation covered his aging body, but it was a small price to pay for his carelessness.

Having escaped, the advantage had returned to him.

Such tricks would only work once or twice.

Now that he understood the principle, it would no longer be a problem.

‘An impressive technique… but ultimately only meaningful in a direct confrontation.’

Could a bending sword cut a ghost?

Valenstein smiled coldly as he prepared his ultimate technique once more.

—-

‘Finally, the Ghost Sword.’

Feeling Valenstein’s presence disappear like a mirage, Haschal also smiled.

The moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

The countermeasure against the Ghost Sword that Orhan had devised in her memories.

And… the method to break the Ghost Sword that she herself had conceived.

It was time to test them.

– The Ghost Sword? That pathetic old man? Yes, I was certainly pushed back a bit then. It was the first time I’d encountered such a gloomy technique.

Orhan’s words flashed through her mind.

– By the time I finally figured out a solution, the tide of battle had already turned, so I had no choice but to retreat. But if we fought again…

Valenstein seemed to think he had won, but had the war lasted just a little longer, he would have been the one to lose.

That’s what Orhan had said.

– From the beginning, I should have found it strange that a man who prefers to hide and attack one-sidedly would challenge me to a fair one-on-one duel.

In those words lay the first method to break the Ghost Sword.

“Kyaaaah!”

Haschal let out a fierce roar and leaped among the knights.

Something the usurper would never have done out of concern for others’ gazes.

But for her, it was of no concern as she set out to do what needed to be done.