Ch.644The Outcome of the First Battle

# Layered Lightning

A barbed lightning that tears through the enemy’s flesh, compressed into a single force despite its repelling nature, approaches the power of severance that splits everything in half.

It was a heroic tale once wielded by Rotholandus of the Great’s Twelve Knights, and the first step toward the spatial severing strike—a technique engraved as power within Durandal.

Tearing apart. A destructive lightning perfected by pursuing that single purpose to its extreme.

Though the swinging blade had not yet reached the realm of cutting through the world itself, it carried enough power to cleave through a person’s soul.

Crimson lightning wrapped around the wrath of the flame dragon. The extreme killing intent contained within tore into Orhan’s soul, into his karma, splitting it in half.

The Unyielding Flesh shattered.

—-

“What…?!”

Orhan looked down at his left arm with a face drained of soul. His forearm below the elbow had vanished.

The severed surface was torn to shreds as if cut by thousands of needles, making it impossible for even the world’s greatest healer to reattach it.

‘How, why, why now of all times…!’

Orhan gritted his teeth as he channeled power into his left arm to suppress the bleeding. The first serious injury in decades brought him not pain but bewilderment.

Though he had hoped Haschal would someday surpass him and break through the Unyielding Flesh, he never wanted it to happen now, at this moment.

They say heaven’s will is capricious and enjoys toying with people—indeed, it was true. The Ka’har that had helped him break through Ludwig’s trap had now become a fang threatening his life.

His left arm torn away, his karma depleting, and his Unyielding Flesh now meaningless. If such a severing strike were repeated three or four more times, Orhan himself would leave his bones in this place.

With desperate urgency, Orhan grabbed the hilt of the Ka’har that had crushed Hersella’s thigh and stepped back. He used the broad, thick blade to shield his upper body like a shield.

However, the second severing strike he feared never came.

—-

“…How disappointing.”

Hersella, who had swung the Ka’har and cut off the Unyielding Flesh’s left arm.

Though she had achieved what no one in the current era could accomplish, her expression was colored not with joy but with frustration, regret, and resentment.

The severing strike that had shocked Orhan was, by Hersella’s standards, nothing short of a failed attack. What she had aimed to cut was Orhan’s neck and heart, not his left arm—a severing far from fatal.

Of course, now that she had proven her destructive technique could penetrate the Unyielding Flesh, she could end it all by swinging the Ka’har once more to sever Orhan’s neck or torso.

If only she could swing it again.

‘Damn it…’

Hersella looked down at the Ka’har in her hands with fading eyes. The blade had completely shattered, transformed into something resembling a cracked saw.

Even the dragon’s wrath, as sturdy as a true silver sword, couldn’t withstand the pressure of the five-layered lightning and the impact of clashing with the Unyielding Flesh.

Hersella realized that a space-cutting strike places tremendous strain on the wielded blade, and that only one weapon in this world could withstand such pressure.

The unbreakable sword. Durandal.

The reason Rotholandus’s weapon contained the power of indestructibility was because without such power, no weapon could withstand cutting through space.

If Hersella’s strike, which hadn’t yet reached the realm of cutting space, had already mangled the Ka’har’s blade, then if she had actually embodied space-cutting…

‘The sword would have shattered before I even swung it.’

It was fortunate, in a way, that Hersella’s technique hadn’t reached spatial severance. Thanks to that, the Ka’har had barely withstood that single strike.

In other words, one more swing would shatter the blade completely.

‘No… I don’t even have the strength to swing it again…’

Hersella bit her lip. The sensation of her entire body gradually losing feeling, reality drifting away. The limit of how long she could fight was approaching.

The severing strike just now had drawn upon nine-tenths of her remaining karma of murder—it was literally a final strike.

A strike delivered with the resolve to stake everything on this one blow. With its failure, only one outcome awaited her.

With her remaining strength, she could barely maintain consciousness, let alone attempt the same feat again.

[Hey, hey! You, what did you just do? No, more importantly, your consciousness is…!]

‘…Shut up. Just prepare to fight.’

The first step of revenge had just begun, yet she had to entrust the end to someone else.

For Hersella, it was truly infuriating.

With the sensation of her soul being pulled out and her strength failing, Hersella unconsciously half-closed her eyes—and in the next moment, her consciousness was pushed back as if bounced away.

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

A sensation like being stabbed awake from a dream.

The bodily sensations that had been as hazy as walking through a dream suddenly rushed in like a tidal wave. An intense sense of reality struck my entire body.

I opened my eyes wide and lifted my head.

The residual heat on the ceiling emitted a faint red light, dimly illuminating the underground cavern where even the embers had disappeared. The air I breathed in had cooled to the level of a midsummer sun, and the ground beneath my feet had already hardened.

My crushed thigh complained with pain. My torn palm burned as if scalded. A strange stench of blood, sweat, and oil mixed together brushed my nostrils, and a metallic taste lingered on my tongue.

All those sensations were incredibly vivid.

So this is how it ends. The battle fought with my body surrendered to Hersella according to her stubbornness. The conclusion was inevitably Hersella being pushed back into the recesses of consciousness as her strength failed, and me reclaiming this body.

A sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind. It was the same when we fought the Church of Grimnir. In the end, finishing the fight became my responsibility.

Just like then, with a body exhausted beyond measure.

The injury to my thigh made it impossible to walk or run properly, and the remaining karma of murder was so meager it couldn’t even compensate for the injured leg.

My inherent power, the achievements I had built up, were also largely consumed.

While surrendering control of my body, I had been using my achievements to enhance physical abilities throughout the battle.

Do I have to capture Orhan in this condition?

…Not going to be easy.

I sighed faintly in my heart as I forcibly steadied my right leg that refused to bear weight.

I had no way to break through the Unyielding Flesh.

The five-layered lightning Hersella had cast was a technique I couldn’t replicate now, and the fire and lava that had been the countermeasure against the Unyielding Flesh had been neutralized by a heaven-sent weapon.

He said it wasn’t a weapon meant to face me, but that was as red a lie as this blade. A sword that absorbs fire—clearly a countermeasure against karma flames.

“…Your aura has changed.”

Orhan muttered questioningly. He had retreated a couple of steps and taken a defensive stance, looking at me with puzzlement as I didn’t charge at him.

My aura changed? Of course it did.

The being fighting you until just now was a filial yet unfilial wolf, but the being standing before you now is no longer your daughter.

“So what? Think you can’t beat a one-armed cripple just because your karma power is depleted?”

I carefully dragged my foot backward to increase the distance from Orhan.

My retreating steps were directed toward Durandal. The true silver longsword that had been knocked from Hersella’s fingertips and was now stuck upside down in the ground.

Just as Hersella needed the Ka’har to exert her full power, I too needed Durandal to exert mine.

The Ka’har isn’t a bad weapon either, but seeing the shattered blade, it feels like it would break in half after five or six swings.

“Until just now you were charging like a wolf starved for ten days, but now you retreat naturally like a snake. That means your strength is exhausted.”

Orhan’s eyes flashed with an unusual light.

He was remarkably calm for someone whose Unyielding Flesh had been broken and who had lost an arm. Perhaps losing an arm had restored his composure.

“Well, why don’t you test it? I’ll slice off your right arm too and leave you unable to do anything by yourself.”

Four steps to Durandal. I kept moving toward my beloved sword without stopping. The shattered thigh made my approach painfully slow.

“Hmm…”

Orhan let out a contemplative sound as he readjusted his grip on the Ka’har and lowered his stance. Was he going to charge at me?

Would he reach me first, or would I grab Durandal first? Either way, what would follow would be nothing but a clash of blades.

“No, there’s no need for that. If you retreat because your strength is exhausted, that’s fine. This arm… I’ll consider it the price for raising a child incorrectly.”

Orhan seemed to have no intention of continuing the fight. As if the severed part wasn’t actually an arm but his middle leg, his face was the very picture of a middle-aged man with his head bowed.

With me increasing the distance and the immediate threat gone, the mental shock he had experienced throughout the battle seemed to newly pervade his mind.

Perhaps he too was just covering up his depleted strength with bravado.

But what to do about this? I only retreated to reclaim Durandal, but I intend to keep fighting until your karma is exhausted.

“Isn’t that too light a price? You should at least leave your neck behind.”

– Thud.

Good. I’ve reached it.

As soon as Durandal’s blade touched my heel, I stretched my right arm behind me, grabbed Durandal’s hilt, and pulled it out.

– Woong!

The true silver blade vibrated lightly as if welcoming me, and a cool autumn breeze-like energy permeated my entire body. Vitality began to return to my tired body.

Even so, it wouldn’t heal my shattered calf or replenish my consumed karma.

“I no longer… intend to die by your hand, Haschal.”

As if you ever did.

“That’s not for you to decide!”

I used the Ka’har in my left hand as a cane and launched myself toward Orhan, pushing off the ground with one leg.

“You may find it regrettable… but with that leg, you can no longer chase me. This fight ends here.”

Orhan raised the Ka’har he was holding and pointed it at the ceiling.

“As I said earlier, the Ka’har contains the power of the flame dragon. Do you think a dragon’s power is limited to just devouring fire?”

– Guuuung!

The dragon’s wrath in his hand trembled with an even redder glow. Like a dragon awakening from sleep and growling.

“Cry out, Ka’har!”

In the next moment, all the heat absorbed by the red scales erupted toward the ceiling as a pillar of flame. Like the breath of a flame dragon. Like that absolute destructive flame.

– Kwaaaaa!

Molten lava poured down like a waterfall. The concentrated heat shot out like a beam, penetrating the bedrock that sealed the ceiling of the underground cavern.

A hole opened in the ceiling of the underground cavern. A towering hole that seemed to reach the sky. A massive hole large enough for a person to escape through with room to spare.

“Where do you think you’re going—!”

I roared fiercely and swung Durandal toward him. Perhaps wary of being cut again, Orhan dodged by leaping away rather than blocking my sword.

Orhan was trying to escape through the ceiling. I clung to him tenaciously, trying somehow to stop him, but with a broken leg and depleted karma of murder, it was no easy task.

There were also unexpected interferences.

“My Kagan—!”

War Chief Ivamay.

Having located Orhan’s position thanks to the pillar of fire that had burst through the bedrock, Ivamay had thrown himself toward us, even giving up his two legs to Joshua. He unleashed his heroic tale, Heaven-Piercing Ice Peak.

– Kwadududuk!

An ice barrier as high and thick as an iceberg blocked my way.

“Damn it…! Kenaz!”

Though feeling intense frustration, I stretched my arm toward the ice wall and summoned flames of mana. However, I couldn’t avoid being delayed momentarily.

Ten seconds later. When I melted the ice wall and broke through, Orhan was already retreating far away.

These cripples sure move fast.