Ch.75Full-Scale War (2)

Slash- Slaaash-!

The Snake Sword, made of multiple blade fragments, whipped toward me with movements like a lash.

I calmly defended against the attack while looking for an opening, but I found it difficult to transition from defense to offense.

‘The weapon itself is unusual, making it tricky to deal with.’

Due to the Snake Sword’s unique characteristics, simply blocking the enemy’s attacks wasn’t enough.

With whip-like properties, the Snake Sword would bend around my blocks and lash back toward me.

Because of this, even when I should have been able to close the distance, I couldn’t easily approach as I had to avoid the bending sword coming at me.

‘Forcefully knocking it away isn’t the answer either.’

Realizing that blocking wasn’t working, I tried to knock the Snake Sword away to create an opening and approach, but that wasn’t easy either.

Swish-slash-!!

When the Apostle channeled aura into the sword, the wire connecting the blade fragments tightened, instantly transforming the whip-like sword into a longsword.

‘This opponent is too tricky to handle with swordsmanship alone.’

I briefly considered asking for Lilly’s help to end this quickly, but soon abandoned that thought.

I hadn’t yet fully recovered the cost expended when facing the Titan earlier.

‘Nothing would be more foolish than using it recklessly when I don’t know what else might be waiting ahead.’

For similar reasons, I needed to restrain myself from using True Words, which had a limited number of uses.

‘So how do I deal with that thing using just my sword and magic…’

Taking a more defensive stance, I began to calmly consider my options.

As I continued defending while contemplating how to counter the Snake Sword, the Apostle spoke with apparent leisure.

“After all that big talk, do you plan to just keep defending?”

“Of course not.”

As soon as the enemy’s taunt began, I finished my calculations and immediately took action.

I wedged my sword between the blade fragments of the swinging Snake Sword and pulled it downward.

The Apostle tried to retrieve their sword by channeling aura into it, but my move was faster.

Crack-crackle-

The cold energy flowing through my sword and the ground froze the Snake Sword, firmly fixing it to the floor.

With their weapon suddenly rendered unusable, a look of confusion and dismay flashed across the Apostle’s face.

‘Now.’

With my concentration at its peak, I wouldn’t miss this opening. I closed the distance in an instant and swung my sword at them.

My blade moved cleanly and concisely, cutting from below through their legs and arms and up toward the neck.

But it wasn’t enough to finish my opponent.

“That was somewhat dangerous.”

“Indeed, your movements are impressive.”

Just as I had hidden cards, my opponent had their own, and one had just been revealed.

I hadn’t expected that each of the numerous blade fragments of the Snake Sword could be wrapped in rapidly rotating sword energy.

Drip- Drip-drip-

A few drops of blood fell to the ground from my thigh.

As the sword energy destroyed the ice and the Snake Sword was retrieved, it had grazed my thigh, causing a slight wound.

“Oh my, are you alright with that wound?”

“Of course I am.”

The wound on my thigh wasn’t large.

A scratch.

Literally just a graze, nothing serious. But an unpleasant pain spread from the wound.

‘A curse of decay.’

It was one of those troublesome curses that caused the wounded area to rot, inflicting continuous damage if not properly addressed.

I channeled cold energy into the wound, freezing the area completely to stop the decay.

This was a technique I could perform thanks to my reconstructed body from the Rebirth and the cold resistance I gained in the process.

As the first exchange ended and a battle of wits continued with the Apostle, I also assessed the current situation.

‘Overall, we’re in a stalemate.’

Kitsune, Lilly, and the dwarves who came with me were dealing with the approaching Apostles.

None of them seemed as strong as the Apostle before me, so they didn’t appear to have much difficulty holding them back.

But the number of Apostles was far from small, making it unlikely they could come help me.

For similar reasons, Leon’s group, who were breaking through the Apostle forces from far away, wouldn’t be able to push their way here in a short time.

‘Time is dragging on, but there’s no immediate urgency.’

A blacksmith’s work isn’t something that can be finished in an instant.

If it could be completed so simply, I would already be holding the sword made by Arges.

So as long as there were obstacles to overcome, the dwarf prince wouldn’t suddenly complete his work and succeed to the throne.

For now, I needed to continue the battle steadily.

Having assessed the current situation, I raised my sword and pointed it at the Apostle before me.

“Shall we begin round two?”

“You seem sufficiently rested.”

“My, I was waiting to let you rest.”

A brief battle of nerves.

In that exchange, I was the first to move.

Due to the Snake Sword’s long range, I needed to close as much distance as possible.

In response to my movement, the Apostle swung their Snake Sword wrapped in that peculiar sword energy.

Slash! Swish-slash-!

The Snake Sword, wrapped in rapidly rotating sword energy, had different blades with energy that began to interlock like gears.

The Snake Sword had become a weapon that couldn’t be countered by simply considering physical direction or movement.

‘Left… no, it bends from right to down.’

The Apostle’s swordsmanship perfectly embodied the name of the Snake Sword, which meant “resembling a snake’s belly,” with movements like those of a serpent.

But it wasn’t impossible to counter.

‘From bottom left upward, then from top to bottom right.’

Since it was a technique deployed with sword energy, if one could read the flow of the energy, countering became several times easier.

And the wound I had inflicted on the Apostle’s body earlier limited their movement.

Their gait was awkward due to the cut on their leg, and their arm, also cut, couldn’t properly put strength into wielding the weapon.

Thanks to this, the longer the battle continued, the more the advantage tilted in my favor.

At the point when my victory seemed certain barring any unexpected developments, the Apostle began to speak as if impressed by me.

“Well… your swordsmanship is truly exceptional. I wonder how much effort it took to reach such a level.”

“What are you suddenly trying to say?”

I spoke without stopping my attacks, trying to understand their intention, and perhaps because that was what they wanted, they smiled.

“How many years of training did it take you to reach this level? 10 years? 20 years? I don’t know, but surely a very long time.

But we Apostles, who receive our god’s blessing, don’t need such a long time. We can become stronger much faster.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“Our god never discriminates against people. Don’t you want to reach a higher level? Come join us.”

The Apostle’s words were nothing but nonsense.

If one could become so easily powerful by receiving the evil god’s blessing, there wouldn’t be so many being swept away outside.

So I was keenly aware that her words were nonsense. Yet somehow my gaze was drawn to her, and my consciousness focused on her words.

From my perspective, having only held a sword for barely a year, such words shouldn’t have affected me at all.

So I could clearly recognize this as an abnormal symptom.

‘A mental attack?’

Just as that thought crossed my mind, an Apostle—presumably an assassin—appeared behind me, almost impossible to detect.

The assassin immediately tried to stab a dagger into my heart from behind.

Having noticed the assassin’s presence too late, I saw no way to avoid it, and the Snake Sword-wielding Apostle smiled in victory.

‘If I can’t dodge… then I won’t dodge.’

I hadn’t allowed the Snake Sword-wielding Apostle to land any effective hits on me so far.

The Snake Sword had grazed my thigh, but that was all. I hadn’t given them a chance to realize what my armor was capable of.

That’s why they were so quick to predict their victory.

Abandoning any defense against the dagger aimed at my heart, I accelerated toward the Apostle with the Snake Sword.

The assassin thrust the dagger to prevent me from doing anything reckless, both of them believing without doubt that I would die from this strike.

Thunk-

And as a result, the dagger aimed at my heart collided with my armor and shattered without penetrating.

“Wh-what!”

“You thought my armor wouldn’t be very effective since I was focusing on defense. That seems to be what you thought.”

I tried to cut off her neck, but as the surprise attack failed, she immediately pulled back, making it unlikely I could behead her.

With no other choice, I rotated my blade from the side downward and cut off one of her arms.

“Are you alright with that wound?”