Ch.252Hersella’s Perspective

A crimson veil descends upon the world.

Killing intent spreads endlessly, covering the battlefield like fog.

Normally, spreading Karma of Murder this way would only instill fear without causing actual harm, making it little more than a waste of energy.

But now that Haschal’s rage had crossed the threshold, her murderous intent was displaying destructive power beyond a karmic storm for all to witness.

“Hgurk…!”

“Ugh, ughhh!”

Terror that felt like it would tear their souls apart.

Every soldier present forgot human language.

“Gerlk…”

Starting with those closest to Haschal, conscripts who gazed upon her began to foam at the mouth, groaning before losing consciousness one by one.

As if a dark red dragon had exhaled a breath full of poison.

An incarnation of murder karma.

In eastern language, a being called the Star of Death.

Before the killing intent emanating from the death star, neither the courage to face death nor the terrible memories Isabella had shown mattered.

Even paladins were barely holding on by casting blessings on themselves while trembling like aspen trees, so how could mere farmers resist?

The being before their eyes was a monster beyond defiance.

Dragon, giant, or demon.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t human, appearing as if it had spread its wings.

With each slow step forward, dozens and hundreds of people who had forgotten to breathe fell to their knees, pressing their foreheads to the ground.

Trembling and prostrating themselves as if offering worship to a deity.

Even those far enough to be outside the range of her killing intent couldn’t hide their shock. Friend and foe alike.

Archers forgot to draw their bowstrings, and regrouping cavalry didn’t even notice their mounts had stopped.

A divine presence unbelievable for a single warrior to create.

It was truly a scene straight from legend, where thousands fell just from someone walking.

—-

‘Indeed, her talent is extraordinary.’

Looking around through the Usurper’s vision, Hersella muttered to herself words no one else could hear.

Though she had maintained a deliberately composed appearance before the impostor, in truth she had been repeatedly shocked throughout this battle.

The power the impostor had displayed in this war exceeded even Hersella’s expectations.

This went beyond a leap in skill—it was closer to evolution.

The golden slash that tore through space.

It was literally an attack that cut away part of the world.

It was only a temporary power, and probably thanks to her mother’s sword, but…

Even so, it was a truly threatening power. Any defense would be meaningless before that blade.

No matter how solid a barrier one might put up, the golden blade would cut not the barrier itself, but the very space in which the barrier existed.

Could Orhan’s Unyielding Flesh block it? Even that wasn’t certain.

‘And that killing technique that inflicted a mortal wound on the Ghost Blade.’

That was undoubtedly a sign that the impostor was beginning to transcend the level of Master.

Like Ghost Blade or Orhan.

A realm that Hersella herself had glimpsed but not yet reached.

The incompetent girl who once couldn’t even swing a sword had surpassed Hersella herself.

For the time being, if they fought, Hersella would likely be the one to lose.

Though she would never admit it even if it killed her.

‘How is such a slash possible…?’

Even Hersella could only grasp the technique’s essence and effect, not how to implement it.

A strike that compressed time itself.

At first glance it might appear to be an acceleration-type power that simply increased attack speed, but in essence it was a completely different ability.

If it were merely the sword’s speed increasing, the power would naturally multiply.

Yet that slash only shortened the time to reach its target, while the attack’s power remained the same.

Thinking simply, it might seem like an inferior version of acceleration since the power didn’t increase.

But that was precisely the greatest strength of that technique—the so-called “Blade That Kills Without Fail.”

Certainly, if a sword’s speed doubles, the slash’s power increases nearly fourfold. That’s an immutable law.

But conversely, to make a sword twice as fast requires four times the strength!

It’s the wielder’s own arms swinging the blade, not the souls of ancestors doing it for them.

There was no need to increase the slash’s power anyway.

Even a normal swing could cut through black iron, and at full power it could now damage even true silver.

In that sense, the technique boasted overwhelming efficiency.

The power consumption wasn’t great, yet the attack’s result was not much different from one that consumed several times more power.

‘And that’s not all. The technique becomes more effective the stronger the opponent. Unless they understand the principle, most would die in a single strike.’

Warriors who have reached the level of Champion can read the momentum contained in a sword just by watching it swing, instinctively predicting its speed and power.

A kind of intuition, one might say. The stronger they become, the more accurate and detailed this sense grows.

To the point where they can foresee the outcome of a strike before it’s even launched.

How would such a technique appear to them?

The results proved it.

Even the old Ghost Blade could only attempt a defense belatedly with superhuman reaction speed, while other masters lost their lives without even thinking to defend.

Their intuition told them the blade was only halfway to them, when it was already piercing their necks.

A sword always one step ahead of expectations.

The more one relied on intuition, the more helplessly one would fall to this attack.

‘The name “Blade That Kills Without Fail” isn’t wrong. Though I have no intention of allowing such a name.’

Was it due to her background as a soldier that she lacked refinement? The name was excessively crude.

A slash of instantaneous killing that departed from the world’s time axis. For such swordsmanship to be named “Blade That Kills Without Fail.”

Hersella’s aesthetics couldn’t accept this.

‘A technique of that caliber should rightfully have a grandiose name. Something like “Time Compression” or “Chaos of the Primordial Time” or something. Or perhaps…’

Her own naming sense wasn’t particularly outstanding either… but at least she prided herself on being better than something like “Killing Blade.”

—-

Having experienced quite a lot since their first conversation, Hersella’s feelings toward the impostor had gradually become more complex.

What had initially been simple contempt and hatred had now transformed into something entirely different.

Was it because they had been forcibly together, watching and conversing with each other? Or because, unlike her previously frustrating demeanor, she now showed a warrior’s magnanimity in battle?

At the very least, the hatred from before had already disappeared.

Originally, Hersella disliked the impostor for forcibly taking her body, ruining her revenge plans, and behaving in a manner unbecoming of a warrior.

While she didn’t completely trust the impostor’s words…

At least she could accept that the forcible body-snatching was a misunderstanding, and that the impostor had also taken residence in her body without knowing why.

From what she had observed so far, this impostor girl didn’t seem intelligent enough to use sorcery to steal someone else’s body.

‘Given her lack of wisdom and refinement for a sorcerer. She must be just a common soldier as she claimed.’

And so, her greatest grudge had subsided for now.

The second reason, ruining her revenge plans, had somehow been resolved thanks to Amin’s foolishness.

Thanks to that idiot sacrificing himself by charging at the wall, Orhan had no choice but to attack the westerners’ empire with insufficient forces.

Of course, whether the current empire could stop Orhan was truly an ambiguous question.

Without quickly ending this pathetic civil war, the empire would also lack troops to deploy to the wall.

That’s why she had been more actively helping the impostor girl who was trying to end the civil war.

She even taught her the clumsy use of murder karma and offered advice whenever she was mentally conflicted.

This was unusual for her.

She hadn’t even taught Jahan this kindly.

‘…Still, it was satisfying to teach her.’

Is this what genius means? She learned too quickly.

Though Hersella herself was called an unparalleled genius within the Aishan, she differed from this impostor in direction.

Her strength lay in new ideas, flexible application of various techniques.

In contrast, the impostor was lacking in those areas, but…

‘With just one look, just one explanation, she reproduces everything.’

It was talent that amazed even Hersella.

Not only did she imitate the karma techniques Hersella used just by seeing them, but now she even understood the next level after seeing Ghost Blade’s technique.

A genius of learning, one might say.

Though she never mentioned it, Hersella had never seen anyone with this level of talent in her life.