Ch.242Overwhelmed

Even among Masters, there were significant differences in skill.

Physical abilities, the quality of techniques honed and engraved in their bodies, and the weight of Karma they had accumulated all varied.

Therefore, it wasn’t impossible for someone with exceptional skill to cut down two mediocre Masters.

However, what was happening now couldn’t be explained by such common sense.

A divine presence that could cut down two people with a single strike while facing ten seasoned Masters. Yes, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it divine.

Even the Ghost Blade couldn’t create such a spectacle.

His swordplay was that of an assassin, striking at blind spots. It could certainly kill one target decisively, but it wasn’t the kind of strength that could overwhelm multiple opponents.

Valenstein, who was watching, swallowed hard.

Even to his eyes, the trajectory of that blade was incomparably strange.

There was no sound of collision that should have been heard, no streaks of light that should have scattered when metal struck metal.

So quietly, without any aftermath. Everything in the blade’s path was simply cut cleanly.

It was a sword strike as if the world itself split apart to avoid the blade.

A phenomenon that defied logic.

Yes. Just like his Ghost Blade.

‘Could it be that at such a young age, he’s already glimpsed beyond the wall…! Such talent…?’

His clenched molars trembled slightly. Was the rising emotion admiration or envy?

The aged knight looked at the young genius and reflected on the years he had lost.

===========

What is this sword?

There was no impact of cutting through metal, no sensation of digging into bone and flesh.

Only a strange feeling, as if digging through something incomprehensible, brushed against my fingertips.

What I cut down wasn’t just the monster. Something deeper, more fundamental was touched by my blade and severed.

Leaving a shimmer like a heat haze.

The space before me distorted and writhed along the exact trajectory my sword had traced.

As if someone had drawn a finger through wet oil paint.

– Shuuuu….

A thin, sharp wind sound echoed in my ears.

A gentle breeze from behind softly ruffled my hair.

The distorted space slowly healed itself, sucking in the air.

Like a healing miracle absorbing holy light to recover a wound.

…Was this some kind of vacuum?

“Uuugh…”

The eight monsters hesitated and retreated a few steps.

Ah. Right.

This wasn’t the time to be observing strange phenomena.

Straightening my sword, I look at the two corpses sprawled on the ground.

The fallen lower bodies lay motionless, spilling rotten blood and severed intestines, but their upper bodies were still twitching slightly despite being cut in half.

Parasitic monsters, Parachevaliers.

These creatures that grew by infesting the cervical spine and devouring the brain didn’t care about their host’s injuries.

Unless I crushed their heads and destroyed the monster’s body completely, I couldn’t say they were dead.

Perfect position to stomp on them.

Just as I raised my foot to crush them—

– Crunch.

With the sound of flesh being squashed, their heads swelled to twice their size.

—-

“Oh…!”

A sense of danger surged like lightning.

[Block it! No, dodge!]

‘I know!’

Even before Hersella could warn me urgently, my body was already reacting instinctively.

Heightened nerves stretched time.

A familiar sensation now. Everything captured by my retinas was slow and vivid.

The monster’s head continued to swell.

Like a rotten onion. Eyes bulging from pressure, weeping black bloody tears.

In the slowly flowing moment, my Mana Resistance detected the amplifying Dark Mana and sent a warning.

Thanks to this, I could clearly understand what was happening to those monsters.

I raised Durandal to block the space between the monster and myself.

Inside the enlarged skull, black Dark Mana swirled fiercely. As violent as a suppressed storm.

And finally.

– Booooom!

With a dull, drawn-out explosion, the monster’s body scattered in all directions.

Flesh and bone fragments soaked in Dark Mana, shooting out with the shockwave. Along with armor fragments.

It was, literally, a Dark Mana bomb.

An explosion powerful enough to tear a person to shreds.

Hersella told me to dodge, but given the nature of the explosion spreading in all directions, retreating to the side or back would be meaningless.

I didn’t want to back down from just this much anyway.

In a world that seemed to defy the flow of time, mine alone…

I drew another golden line.

A trajectory clearly engraved. The space distorts and tears along the flow of the sword.

It doesn’t end with one strike.

Horizontally, vertically, diagonally. I swing the sword without stopping.

Forgetting even to breathe, I slash at the empty space as if coloring a canvas.

With each additional line, my body grows heavier.

My right arm hurt as if it would break. This was familiar.

Gritting my teeth and enduring, I layered phantom upon phantom.

Like the sun rising to illuminate the dawn darkness, a brilliant radiance spread, brightening everything around.

The world was dyed golden.

The approaching black storm melted like snowflakes meeting flames.

Even the formless shockwave was cut by the sword and scattered into pieces.

Bone fragments that penetrated through the gaps were blocked by the veil of Karma of Murder and lost their power.

When the world regained its original speed, only traces of devastation remained before my eyes.

From where the monster’s head had been, several meters of ground in all directions had been completely torn up.

Like flour dough pressed flat with a disc.

The only intact places were where I stood and behind me.

—-

“Phew…”

I straighten my posture, releasing the breath I’d been holding.

A corpse explosion, that witch. She’s really pulling all kinds of stunts now.

I managed to block it, but it nearly scared me to death.

The explosion that was like a grenade going off left me with only a dull pain and sagging fatigue.

Even that was improving rapidly thanks to the vitality transmitted from the sword.

[…You blocked that…?]

Hersella muttered in disbelief.

Yes. Cutting through an explosion with a sword—even I find it absurd.

I tried it because I believed it was possible, but now that I’ve actually done it, I too wonder, ‘Why did this work?’

But anyway—

‘I thought you weren’t going to get involved in this fight?’

I’m pretty sure you just advised me to dodge.

[…Well, that is…]

Hersella, apparently caught off guard by her own unintended words, stammered in embarrassment.

[…Hmm. Yes, that’s it. It was an explosion powerful enough to tear through steel. If you foolishly got caught up in it and ended up not just injured but suddenly dead…that would be disconcerting for me too, wouldn’t it?]

An excuse that anyone could tell was just made up.

If I pointed it out, she’d probably deny it vehemently, shouting in a fit.

[I too don’t know the art of reviving a lifeless body, so I would perish pathetically along with you. So consider it a word spoken out of concern for my own body, not for you. Understand? Anyway, your reaction was faster than my advice, so strictly speaking, I didn’t really intervene.]

‘…Right. I understand.’

Let’s leave it at that.

So Hersella speaks faster when she’s flustered.

With a wry smile, I turned my attention back to the enemies before me.

Eight monsters approaching with increased distance between them. Unlike their initial charge, they were now extremely cautious.

They too must have been outside the explosion’s range, as they were only covered in a bit of dust without a single wound.

So they backed away earlier to avoid getting caught in the explosion…

These monsters will probably explode too when I cut them down?

Well, if I know about it, I can deal with it somehow.

At the point where the first explosion failed to kill me, Isabella’s scheme had already essentially failed.

“You maggots born from a whore’s thighs, are you scared now?”

A crimson energy entwined around the black iron spear gripped in my left hand.

Durandal still shone like the sun.

A fierce fighting spirit rose like it would pierce the sky.

“Graaaah!”

“If you’re vermin, then crawl on the ground like vermin!”

Responding to my momentum, they all charged at once.

—-

From then on, it was nothing short of a melee.

A missed slash cuts through the air, and an axe blade grazes my hair.

A heavy two-handed hammer leaves a fierce sound as it crushes the ground to pieces.

“Ooooooh!”

Four swords. Two halberds. A two-handed axe and a war hammer.

Eight weapons dance without rest.

“Is this all you’ve got!”

The oath sword tears through the air, leaving heat haze.

Wary of Durandal’s blade, the monsters quickly dodge whenever it comes near, even in the middle of swinging their weapons.

Perhaps because of that.

Despite being eight against one, I was actually at an advantage.

“You look just like senile old men, fleeing so pathetically! How do you expect to win like that!”

The spear of Karma of Murder, shot like a bullet, rotates in a spiral with a wailing sound.

A lightning-fast strike toward a Parachevalier that had rolled sideways to avoid Durandal, before it could regain its posture.

The crimson-stained spear tip pierced through the steel breastplate and lodged deep inside.

The whirlwind of Karma of Murder that erupted tore the monster’s insides to shreds.

“Kuuugh…!”

Intestines turned to porridge flowed down the monster’s mouth.

Dark Mana rose from inside its head. It would probably explode soon. Not my problem anymore.

Let it explode or not.

As long as it’s not next to me, I don’t care.

“Get out of my way!”

With the spear shaft firmly gripped, I thrust my right foot forward as if pushing.

With a sensation like pulling out a skewer, the monster’s body flew backward as if hit by a truck.

– KABOOM!

A crimson firework decorated the sky.

Flesh scattered in all directions, and rotten blood poured down like a shower. Far away, that is.

Once I know it’s a bomb, I can just send it flying before it explodes.

It’s actually convenient that they kill themselves without me having to confirm the kill.

– Whoosh!

While glancing in that direction, three weapons came flying at me.

I deflect a longsword aimed at my face with the spear shaft. The blade grazes my cheek as it passes.

The spear tip I thrust in counterattack crushed the monster’s collarbone and lodged inside. That’s one down.

Next, I look down at a two-handed axe swung in a low stance, seemingly aiming for my ankle.

Good attempt… but a bit slow.

I stomped down like lightning.

With a crunch, the crushed axe blade was deeply embedded in the ground.

The monster that had swung the axe lost balance and tilted forward. Right in a perfect position, its crown was there.

– Splat!

The kicked skull burst like a balloon.

The worm writhing inside was also scattered into pieces, beyond recognition.

Whether it can still explode in that state… I’m not sure.

The weapon the last monster swung was an incredibly heavy two-handed hammer.

A chunk of iron digging into my side with a dull sound.

– THUD!

My left hand, having released the spear shaft, grabbed the hammer head.

From palm to elbow, an impact like nails being driven in spread.

“Kugh…!”

My body, unable to withstand the momentum, slid sideways.

A groan escaped from the tingling sensation.

But I blocked it. Now, it’s my turn.

The firmly held hammer head crumpled under the pressure of Frosting.

So much that the monster couldn’t budge it no matter how hard it tried to retrieve the hammer.

“…You should have dropped your weapon and retreated.”

Durandal vertically split the monster’s body.