Ch.621How to Grasp the Ghost Blade

After Orhan returned to the capital Ordos with only half of the six thousand Blue Banner troops he had led out, the city was in turmoil for days, filled with confusion and rage.

The warriors who had achieved the historic feat of conquering the Great Plains had suffered such massive losses that their hearts, once full of joy and pride, were now doused with cold water.

The death toll from the Empire’s forces and Haschal’s interference reached a staggering twelve thousand. Additionally, thirteen Champions had perished needlessly.

This was an unacceptable loss even for the unified Aishan, which had boasted a total force of seventy-five thousand troops with sixty thousand available for mobilization.

The civilian casualties couldn’t even be counted. While the western clans managed to save the lives of women, children, and the elderly, the southern clans had literally not a single child survive.

“How dare those stinking westerners…!”

“To think our Kagan couldn’t finish him off… is the traitor Haschal’s martial prowess truly that formidable?”

The losses inflicted by the Empire provoked fury, while Orhan’s retreat—a man they had considered invincible—caused bewilderment.

Amidst all this, rumors began spreading through the returning Blue Banner soldiers that the Aishan-Gioro were a clan of sorcerers.

With all these events happening in less than half a month, it was only natural that the confused warriors were in turmoil.

—-

Upon his return, Orhan dismissed the sorcery allegations as Ludwig’s propaganda and declared that the Blue Banner’s withdrawal wasn’t a retreat but a decoy strategy that the enemy had simply seen through. He managed to calm the warriors’ unrest.

Though his explanation was somewhat insufficient to dispel all doubts, the warriors accepted it without resistance.

In truth, they had no choice but to accept it. Who would dare contradict the supreme ruler of the plains who had now even begun to fly through the skies?

The martial prowess and achievements Orhan had built up over decades were not so easily shaken by a single retreat and unsubstantiated rumors.

If they were to suffer an irreversible defeat… then things might be different.

Anyway, after calming the restless warriors and restoring morale, Orhan ordered the mobilization of all available forces—except for Sahakal’s troops, who were busy eliminating the remnants of the Clan Union and stabilizing the occupied territories.

The Red, Blue, White, and Black Banner armies, along with the newly formed Green and Yellow Banner armies reorganized from the surrendered Clan Union troops—these were the total forces gathered at the expense of defense and security maintenance throughout the Great Plains.

“The last battle… I was too hasty. Trying to make up for losing thousands of troops by moving quickly, I only added three thousand more deaths. But there won’t be a second time.”

In the administrative council chamber where the warrior leaders and Champions had gathered.

Sitting askew on his throne, Orhan looked down at the three warrior leaders, fifteen Champions, and his eldest son Targiyan as he declared all-out war against the Empire.

“The law of the plains is to repay kindness twofold and grudges tenfold. Tens of thousands of plains people have lost their lives at the hands of the Empire, so we shall repay this with hundreds of thousands of lives to appease the vengeful spirits!”

“Long live Aishan-Gioro! Long live Kagan Orhan!”

Starting with the cheers of the three warrior leaders, everyone participating in the council meeting shouted hurrahs at the top of their lungs.

Warriors seeking to hone their martial prowess through war.

Generals hoping to elevate their status by achieving military merit.

Even murderers who simply enjoyed blood and slaughter.

They all praised Orhan’s decision with eyes gleaming with ambition and excitement.

Three days later, Aishan’s great army of forty-seven thousand marched toward the Wall.

A festival of blood and death.

That was the moment its prelude began.

======[ Haschal ]======

While the Imperial and Landenburg forces were busy day and night with defense preparations and combat training in anticipation of the Ka’har invasion, I wandered around the Wall area contemplating how to stop Orhan.

If Ludwig’s strategy succeeded, that would be the end of it, but if it failed, I needed to prepare an alternative plan.

Though no good ideas came to mind.

[ The swordsmanship that cuts through space. Unless you grasp its principles, all you can do is endure until his energy is depleted. ]

That was the correct theory.

The problem was that it was the same obvious point repeated over and over.

‘You should be the one to figure it out, not me. You’re the one who’s going to fight directly.’

[ …That’s true. A truly valid point. ]

After hesitating slightly, Hersella quickly agreed that it was obvious.

Judging by her brief hesitation… she probably planned to steal and learn the technique by copying the sensation once I figured out the spatial cutting technique.

How do I know?

Because I had the same thought myself. If Hersella mastered spatial cutting before me, I planned to copy her technique. Of course, both of us were still at a standstill.

I thought understanding the principle wouldn’t be too difficult since it was a technique I’d already succeeded with once… but this is proving quite challenging.

Well, when you think about it, I’m trying to replicate someone else’s heroic tale using only karma manipulation and swordsmanship. It’s no wonder it’s not easy.

—-

For several days after that, I devoted myself to improving my skills. I wasn’t training all day long, of course—I did meet with other heroes and masters in between.

Landenburg’s hero, Joshua Blake, was like a gender-swapped version of Nigel with a couple spoonfuls of experience and flexibility added in.

In other words, he was a typical knight.

Perhaps because I was his lord’s successor, he greeted me with utmost respect, calling me “my lady,” so formally that I felt uncomfortable.

After brief greetings, he asked me how I had defeated the Ghost Sword.

Had it not been for Valenstein, he would have been called the Empire’s First Sword, but he remained second because he could never defeat the Ghost Sword.

“Ghost Sword? To defeat it, you need to be able to project karma power outside your body rather than keeping it within. Like this.”

I created tendrils of murder karma at my fingertips and waved them from side to side.

“The Ghost Sword can hide its sound, smell, and even its presence, but it cannot eliminate the sensation of karma colliding with karma. So like this, if you spread your extracted karma power all around, you can detect its movements no matter what.”

“That… is impossible for me.”

Joshua immediately grasped the key point after hearing my explanation.

“Right. I have a unique constitution—karma power isn’t normally something that can be projected outward like this.”

Karma power is a blessing that dwells in one’s soul and body to protect its owner.

Projecting karma power outside the body would be like forcibly expelling one’s blood or muscles beyond the skin through sheer will.

It’s generally impossible.

Of course, there were exceptions. Either you were born with the ability to handle materialized karma power like me… or like the Ka’har Champions’ technique of human-horse unity.

If you could recognize a being other than your body as part of your own body, it was possible to infuse that being with karma power.

It was impossible for me, but other Champions did it well.

To recognize the horse they’re riding as their own body—as expected of a horse-obsessed people, they must be mentally one with horses.

Perhaps one of their parents wasn’t human but a horse. Or maybe they were centaurs in a past life. Something like that, I suppose.

Yes, that must be it.

Either they were half-horse or had been merged with horses, or they were completely one with horses in a previous life. Otherwise, how could they possibly recognize a mere horse as part of their body?

[ …I suddenly feel uncomfortable… did you just insult me in your thoughts? ]

‘Of course not. It must be your imagination.’

Hersella made nonsensical accusations with a suspicious tone. I denied her groundless slander, shaking my head internally.

I merely speculated that Ka’har bloodlines might contain horse blood—I wasn’t specifically insulting Hersella.

[ This is strange…. ]

What’s strange is your ancestors.

—-

Anyway, if you can’t handle materialized karma and aren’t a byproduct of horse-human crossbreeding like the Ka’har, there were only two exceptions left.

Either possess a sacred object that uses karma power as fuel, like Durandal, or reach the realm of heroes and cause anomalies in the world with your karma.

Like Joshua’s heroic tale, the Giant-Hunting Sword.

Though his explanation was vague and abstract, according to Joshua, the Giant-Hunting Sword was a technique that infused his beloved sword with karma.

A hero’s karma, pouring all of his soul and spirit into the blade, enlarging it with a sensation similar to inhaling deeply to expand one’s chest.

Though it was an incredibly strange technique, it was still one that transferred karma from the body into the sword.

The problem was that even with this, he couldn’t catch the Ghost Sword. It wasn’t a matter of power difference but of compatibility.

Unlike me, Joshua couldn’t spread his karma power in all directions—he could only infuse it into his enlarged sword.

This meant that if Valenstein avoided contact with his sword and kept his distance, Joshua had no way to detect the Ghost Sword.

Of course, I wondered if a man wielding a sword over ten meters long really needed to detect the Ghost Sword’s whereabouts.

“Couldn’t you just swing it around everywhere and let him get hit and die on his own?”

A proper hero might be able to block the Giant-Hunting Sword, but Valenstein died before becoming a hero. It would probably be too much for someone of his level.

“Hmm… indeed, that might work.”

Joshua nodded while stroking his chin, as if agreeing it was a brilliant idea.