Ch.194An Unexpectedly Simple Solution

Valenstein’s sword, abandoning technique, strikes like lightning.

Though not possessing the inhuman strength of an Aishan-Gioro, Valenstein was still a master who had reached his limits. When using Karma as pure physical force, its power was not something even Haschal could dismiss.

‘Yes. Coming at me like this after all.’

Haschal gritted his teeth and countered Valenstein’s slash.

Red flashes scattered in all directions with each collision of blades. The black iron longsword was repeatedly deflected helplessly, only to be forcibly pulled back by the threads of Murder Karma, screaming endlessly.

Chaksan.

If not for this technique that twisted the direction of force to disperse impact, he would have lost his sword long ago.

He couldn’t even attempt망인—the Blade Net technique.

The essence of that technique was to unravel all the Murder Karma threads covering the blade and sweep them in all directions. In other words, the blade would be momentarily defenseless when activated.

Against an ordinary knight this wouldn’t matter, but Valenstein’s true silver sword would surely shatter the black iron blade in that moment of vulnerability.

“Your smile has stopped, Aishan-Gioro! Your severed chest must be hurting!”

Valenstein mocked her. He wasn’t wrong. If not for the injury where all her ribs had been cut away, she could have fought back at full strength.

But now it was impossible. She had merely forced the gaping flesh and dislocated bones back into place; the wound hadn’t actually healed. Additionally, she had expended much energy slaughtering the knights as quickly and cruelly as possible.

She might endure the brain-searing pain somehow, but if the wound reopened while fighting at full strength, death would be certain. The carefully realigned ribs were on the verge of shifting again, making it impossible to use techniques like “Nakgoe” that required twisting the sword path by bending her arms.

‘If only I could use Mother’s sword…!’

Haschal forcibly swallowed her rising irritation.

The Sword of Oath, Durandal, was it?

She hadn’t even known the sword’s name until hearing it from that middle-aged man, Ludwig. She knew nothing of its power to bless its owner.

It lent its power readily to that usurper, yet refused to reveal its abilities to her, its rightful owner. Instead, it would only vibrate disruptively whenever she tried to infuse the blade with Murder Karma.

Though she treasured it as her mother’s keepsake… if not for that, she would have thrown it into a furnace herself.

Even so, since its basic strength was incomparably superior to black iron, she had previously used it well as a sturdy and sharp sword. But now, she hesitated even to draw it.

Knut… that Dane she seemed to have briefly met as a child, and the battle with the usurper who had stolen her body—she remembered it all. Losing her mind to a mere snake’s thoughts was absurd enough, but that wasn’t the real issue.

The point was that the rampaging usurper regained his senses the moment he saw her mother’s sword.

Haschal could feel it too. Something intervening through the sword at that moment, restoring the usurper’s reason.

If she drew Durandal now, the same thing might happen again. Once more pulling the rightful owner into the unconscious and handing the body over to the usurper.

If that happened, everything would be over. The usurper, who couldn’t properly handle Murder Karma, would cause the suppressed wounds to reopen.

‘Still, I’m fine for now.’

Retrieving her deflected sword, Haschal revealed her blood-stained fangs in a smile. Though Orhan’s suggested countermeasure had shown its limits due to their difference in ability… that wasn’t the only solution.

While barely blocking Valenstein’s sword, she waited for him to activate his Ghost Sword again. It wouldn’t take long. Valenstein didn’t seem interested in prolonging a direct confrontation either.

Haschal had noticed from the beginning. Valenstein’s attacks, seemingly trying to overpower her with full strength, were merely deceptions to activate his Ghost Sword.

After all, instead of using techniques like before, Valenstein kept overwhelming her with raw power. Even though he could see that Haschal was blocking his attacks without injury, despite being pushed back slightly. He wasn’t using the technique that slammed opponents down using their own strength, nor his wave-like thrusting technique that could penetrate defenses.

‘Having nearly had his prized Ghost Sword neutralized by someone much younger, he probably wants to finish this with that technique.’

To protect his pride in the technique he had spent his life perfecting. The stubbornness and obstinacy of an old man.

– KAANG!

With each collision of swords, the shockwaves transformed the chaotic surroundings into an empty space.

The wall of people surrounding her collapsed and retreated, and the blood and entrails that had stained everything with their foul colors scattered far away. Just as Valenstein had planned.

Soon, again… now.

– KWAANG!

A slash, seemingly misdirected, struck the ground.

With a thunderous sound, shattered fragments rose up—and were deflected by Valenstein’s left arm toward Haschal’s eyes.

Haschal covered her face with her left hand to block the fragments. For an instant, her vision was completely obscured.

It was the moment Valenstein was certain of victory.

Ghost Sword.

Once more, the Empire’s First Sword’s ultimate technique unfolded. Valenstein’s presence vanished without a trace.

—-

‘Finally…!’

Haschal smiled so widely her mouth nearly split. The opportunity she had been waiting for had arrived.

Closing her eyes as if in prayer, she pulled her gripped sword toward her chest.

A strange movement, neither defensive nor seemingly offensive. She appeared vulnerable, as if giving up the fight.

‘What is she thinking…?’

Though Valenstein frowned with suspicion, his advancing steps showed no hesitation. The blind spot behind her, his perfectly concealed presence, the obstacles neatly cleared away. There was no way the daughter of Orhan could break his perfectly executed ultimate technique.

With strong conviction, Valenstein rushed toward Haschal’s back. He planned to sever her spine, paralyzing her before dragging her to Isabella.

Three steps forward. As Valenstein was about to take the final step,

A crimson mist erupted in all directions.

‘What…!’

Too late to retreat, Valenstein covered only his face as he plunged into the mist.

He had already seen several times that materialized Murder Karma could exert physical force, so he made this judgment. It seemed like an omnidirectional attack meant to prevent his approach, like when she had stomped the ground.

However, all he felt was a sticky killing intent and a subtle sense of incongruity. There was no impact as he had expected.

Thinking about it, this made sense. Sharp threads might cut flesh, and solid needles might pierce something, but what force could mere spreading mist exert? Unlike Haschal’s other techniques, the Murder Karma mist simply enveloped the surroundings, emitting massive killing intent without destroying anything.

“Grrrr….”

Knights touched by the mist collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Their exhausted minds couldn’t withstand the killing intent. In other words, even ordinary knights could have endured for a while if their minds had been sound.

‘Does she expect me to falter even slightly under this killing intent? Like them?’

Indeed, Ghost Sword required extremely precise Karma manipulation. If his mind wavered, the technique might dissolve. But this level of killing intent was far from enough.

‘How amateurish, Aishan-Gioro!’

There wasn’t the slightest tremor in his swinging sword. Valenstein’s slash flew toward Haschal.

The true silver blade aimed for her blood-soaked back,

And cut through empty air.

“What…!”

The Ghost Sword missed completely. Just before the sword’s tip could reach her, Haschal ducked sharply and thrust her black iron longsword straight at Valenstein.

The reddened blade tore diagonally across Valenstein’s upper body. The old man’s blood sprayed into the air.

—-

“Kugh… How on earth?”

Valenstein clutched his chest and hastily retreated.

The wound was shallow compared to Haschal’s. However, perhaps due to the shock of feeling such pain for the first time in decades and having his Ghost Sword completely countered, his retreating steps were slightly unsteady.

She hadn’t reacted to his voice. Even before Valenstein’s Ghost Sword could reach her, Haschal had already detected his presence.

Otherwise, she couldn’t have dodged so precisely.

“Haaah….”

Without answering his question, Haschal exhaled red vapor like breath and withdrew the Murder Karma mist. In her mind, joy at her prediction being correct coexisted with regret at failing to kill him despite the perfect surprise attack.

Her ribs had shifted again with the violent movement, causing her sword path to deviate slightly.

“That mist, it wasn’t just to press down with killing intent…!”

Haschal smiled through the intense pain.

It was as Valenstein said. Would she spread Murder Karma at such great cost merely to spray killing intent? Though spreading killing intent had its uses… that was merely a disguise.

Murder Karma Mist.

This was the countermeasure she had devised to break the Ghost Sword.

—-

Haschal had come up with this idea thanks to Orhan’s account.

It was the story of when he was cut by the Ghost Sword.

Just before the sword’s tip cut his skin, in a moment too brief to even call an instant. Though it might have been an illusion, he said he could intuitively sense he was being attacked before the sword even touched him.

Even so, it was already far too late to dodge, so he was cut despite knowing.

Hearing this, young Haschal had formed a hypothesis.

The Ghost Sword must work on a principle similar to Orhan’s Unyielding Flesh. A technique where Karma, having reached a master’s limit, transforms into a mysterious power that is emitted and overlaid on the skin.

Just as Orhan’s Karma gave him defense harder than steel, Valenstein’s Karma must have granted him the ability to erase his presence.

And when Orhan’s Karma and Valenstein’s Karma collided, Orhan felt the Ghost Sword’s touch even before being wounded. In other words, when their Karma met, the owners could sense this fact.

This was a phenomenon most would never experience. Even emitting Karma’s power externally was difficult for anyone below their level of skill.

But she was different.

From the moment she awakened Karma’s power, she could emit materialized Karma outside her body at will. Not only that, she could also give physical influence to the Murder Karma she emitted.

It was a characteristic that even Orhan had marveled at as strange. If she had reached a master’s limit, she would have considered it her own power like Unyielding Flesh or Ghost Sword… but it wasn’t quite that.

Was it a characteristic of those who mastered Murder Karma, or was there another reason? Even Haschal herself didn’t know.

What mattered was that if Karma could detect Ghost Sword by clashing with it, this was an extremely simple matter for her.

And indeed it was.

From the moment Valenstein, his presence concealed, plunged into the Murder Karma mist, Haschal could clearly sense his presence. The widely spread Murder Karma transmitted a subtle incongruity from only one location.

‘That much went according to plan… Damn you, usurper, this is all your fault! Are you listening?’

Haschal cursed inwardly.

In the end, she was hindered because of him. If not for this wound, she could have split Valenstein’s heart.

Originally, she had planned to use the confusion from Valenstein’s death to escape with that prince.

But given how things had turned out, she now had no choice but to fight head-on. …Though her chances weren’t high.

Valenstein was significantly injured too, but he still had cards to play.

“Lord Valenstein! Are you alright?”

“Protect the Lord!”

Perhaps shocked back to their senses by the sight of the Empire’s First Sword bleeding, knights from the outer area ran toward him.

The three insect knights who had been observing the situation also approached Valenstein. Watching them, Haschal swallowed dryly.

Yes. They were the problem. Three master-level monsters. The usurper had easily defeated them thanks to Durandal… but that sword wouldn’t lend her its power.

The chest wound had reopened and was bleeding again. She had to defeat those three and the injured Valenstein in this condition.

Haschal gritted her teeth and raised her cracking longsword. At this point, she needed to behead at least one of them.

If the other knights realized their allies were monsters, they would fall into confusion. …She might even be able to incite internal conflict.

‘That prince. He seemed quite eloquent.’

Haschal glanced at the Imperial prince who had been vomiting until recently. Though he was just as frustrating to her as anyone else, his eloquence was all she could rely on now.

The insect knights supported Valenstein protectively. Valenstein, who had been groaning while clutching his chest, straightened his back and readied his sword.

Then the insect knights drew their swords. Black iron longswords with a dark gleam. Should she be grateful they weren’t true silver at least?

Haschal raised her Murder Karma power again.

Then.

– THUNK!

Everyone fell silent. A black longsword had pierced through Valenstein’s abdomen and protruded out.

The Empire’s First Sword coughed blood in shock.