Ch.79Formless Flying Sword Technique

I don’t know how many exchanges they had in that brief moment. Dozens of slashes pushed against each other’s bodies, flashing white. The sound followed belatedly. Se-erin, Theo, and Flora were naturally pushed away from the fierce battle.

‘A strange sword technique…’

The techniques known as sword-drawing arts or focused-strike arts were attack methods created primarily for surprise attacks. Once a sword was drawn, if it failed to kill the opponent, the blade was never returned to its sheath.

The very act of drawing a sword from its scabbard was an unnecessary movement. At least, that’s what Sword Master Habaek believed.

‘Unnecessary movements…’

Yet his opponent was deliberately repeating these unnecessary movements. After unleashing a barrage of slashes using the focused-strike technique, he would return the sword to its sheath. This sequence was repeated dozens of times in mere moments.

Despite these seemingly unnecessary movements, he wasn’t losing in terms of speed. If anything, Habaek himself was being pushed back. He became aware of the red blood trickling down his cheek. His inner energy barrier had been penetrated.

Clang-!

A rough blast of air erupted from the two swords locked in midair. Hayato and Habaek naturally took two steps back, creating distance between them.

“Are you toying with me…?”

At Habaek’s question, Hayato’s face crumpled. He sheathed his drawn katana and brushed back his hair.

“That again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard it.”

“Fight me seriously.”

The moment Habaek finished speaking, Hayato’s stance changed. His legs spread to shoulder width, and both his lower and upper body lowered simultaneously. He turned his waist to position the katana behind him. Then he placed his hand on it.

Hayato spoke.

“I’m always serious.”

Swoosh-!

It was as if light had flown. In reality, it wasn’t far from the truth. As the slash Hayato released cut through space, a fierce light burst forth, splitting the ground.

Hiss-!

Habaek’s right sleeve was cut away, and blood welled up from beneath. Though it appeared to be a grand attack, its effect seemed minimal. Even the one who was attacked could only look down at his shoulder in confusion.

That’s when.

Hayato retrieved his drawn katana. With a smooth sound, the blue blade was sucked back into its scabbard.

Click-

“Hayato Style – Death of a Thousand Cuts.”

That was the signal for the technique’s completion. As Hayato finished speaking, thin fountains of blood erupted all over Habaek’s body.

Splash-!

The spraying blood formed a mist. Immediately after, Habaek moved. Though he had been hit by a strange attack beyond his perception, only his skin had been thinly cut. The muscles in his arms and legs were unharmed, and his inner energy remained intact.

There was no time to be surprised. He had to strike before taking any more damage.

The man who had once reached the pinnacle of an era began to fight in earnest. Inner energy burst forth from his entire body, forming a thick barrier, and a clear light of sword energy surrounded his blade.

And so once more.

The two swords clashed. It was a collision of immense forces. The ground beneath them crumbled, shaking both fighters. Hayato was the first to leave his position.

As he jumped up smoothly, Habaek followed. Countless lights flickered in the darkened sky.

A short distance from the battlefield.

Se-erin, Flora, and Theo were running. It was a perfect opportunity to escape, and the three wouldn’t miss it. The only downside was that they had no horses. They had fled in fear after the first clash between Hayato and Habaek.

“Th-they won’t follow us, right?”

Se-erin and Flora didn’t answer. They were running with all their might, with no energy to spare for conversation. Only Theo, who had an overwhelming amount of mana and had focused on training his lower body, could manage to speak.

It was the full-speed sprint of a mid-level Blue Wing knight. His momentary speed even surpassed that of a horse. The three were able to cover a considerable distance in a short time. The battlefield was now out of sight.

It was time to catch their ragged breath. As Se-erin slowed down, everyone naturally decelerated.

“Whew…”

“Haah…”

Though they didn’t speak, they all seemed to share the same thought as they looked back. Only a hazy cloud of dust swirled at the horizon where sky met earth. Neither Hayato’s nor Habaek’s energy could be felt.

A strange tension hung in the air along with the usual quiet stillness of the wilderness. A clash between masters should have sent thunderous sounds and vibrations throughout the entire plains.

The fact that nothing could be felt meant the fight was over.

“Surely not…”

“Surely not.” A phrase containing many implications. At Theo’s voice, Se-erin and Flora also thought:

Surely not.

That’s when it happened. With the slowly blowing wind, a man appeared not far away. His coat tails spread wide as they fluttered naturally. His appearance was no different from the night sky.

Hayato.

In the right hand of the transmigrator from Japan dangled the severed head of a man. It was Habaek’s head. The end of a transmigrator who had lost after a fierce battle. An eerie atmosphere stimulated the survival instincts of the three.

They naturally drew their weapons.

Shing-

“Didn’t I tell you? Draw that and you die.”

Hayato muttered as if disappointed. But everyone present knew. That those words were a lie. The eyes of the transmigrator wearing the katana overflowed with undisguised killing intent.

Cold sweat seemed to flow down their backs like a river. He was an opponent they couldn’t even guarantee survival against. Se-erin exchanged glances with her two friends, and they charged simultaneously.

Whoosh-!

They were a trio who had practiced together since joining. They could read each other’s thoughts just by breathing and moving together. Their precise movements interlocked like gears, performing both attack and defense simultaneously.

But after the first clash, they collapsed at once.

Crash-!

Flashing slashes overwhelmed their defense. The three had no choice but to scatter, each seeking their own survival.

“This is insane…!”

Theo was the one who received the concentrated attack. With each blink of his eyes, his wounds increased. When he exhaled a long breath, his chest was deeply cut. Dozens of slashes struck the sword he swung for a counterattack. Unable to withstand the impact, strength left Theo’s hand, and his sword flew away, embedding itself in the ground.

All these attacks happened in just two breaths. Se-erin and Flora didn’t even have time to react. The two couldn’t approach Theo as they were busy blocking the continuing onslaught.

‘The distance…’

The opponent’s attacks came regardless of distance and time. It was unreasonable. This wasn’t ordinary swordsmanship. It was not much different from continuously firing powerful magic.

No matter how hard they stretched their arms, Se-erin and Flora’s swords couldn’t reach the distance.

If this continued, they would only face meaningless death. They had to try something. After deflecting an incoming slash, Se-erin took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Hiss-!

Even in that brief moment, an attack flew by, grazing her skin. There was no fatal wound. The opponent was enjoying the fight itself. It meant he was holding back, wanting this situation to last longer.

Crack-!

With no one watching, there was no hesitation in showing everything she had. Se-erin took a long breath and changed the nature of the mana spreading throughout her body.

Thunder Lightning Flash.

A sword technique she had learned through her friend’s sword. Blue lightning swirled around the small girl’s body.

Rumble-

She calculated her chances against the opponent using every skill she had. But she couldn’t see a path forward. Could the tip of her sword even reach him?

It was a sword technique that made speed and distance meaningless. Unless she could maintain Thunder Lightning Flash’s one-hit-kill state constantly.

The Formless Flying Sword technique was meaningless in the current situation. It was obvious that even if she manipulated the sword from a distance, it would be shot down by the opponent’s slashes. The legendary Sword of Will might be different, but the Formless Flying Sword was not such a martial art.

Crash-!

The moment she kicked off the ground, Se-erin’s form turned into lightning. A bolt of lightning rose in her mental world. After reaching the opponent, she unleashed a strike filled with lightning.

Swoosh-!

Suddenly, Se-erin realized that the world had slowed down. This wasn’t like the thought acceleration one sometimes experiences in urgent situations. She was frozen in the posture of swinging her sword.

In the slowed time, only Hayato was free to move. A smile filled the face of the hateful man. Se-erin moved her gums to bite her lip. Even that was slow.

At that moment.

Rumble-

Another bolt of lightning flew in from outside the slowed time. It was Theo’s strike after retrieving his sword. The lightning flashed red due to the blood flowing all over his body.

But this too didn’t reach. It would be more accurate to say it couldn’t reach. The moment the distance closed, Theo’s time also slowed. Se-erin and Theo simultaneously sensed their end. In the slowed time, a sharply honed blade slowly flew toward them.

It was a strike they couldn’t even avoid. Skin would split and blood would gush from beneath. Just as they thought this, a thick mana barrier rose before the two.

The nature of the mana was familiar. The beautifully sparkling black mana was the power of the artifact Flora possessed, the Night Veil.

The mana barrier created by the Night Veil wasn’t very sturdy. But just once, it could block Hayato’s attack. The impact sent Theo and Se-erin flying backward.

They couldn’t reach him. It was impossible to reach. He was like all the world’s unreasonableness gathered into one being. Se-erin took a rough breath and stood beside Theo and Flora.

That’s when it happened. The direction of the blowing wind changed. The moment light flashed in the dark night sky, a sword flew down and embedded itself in front of Se-erin.

Boom-!

That was the signal. The stars floating in the night sky began to fall. Those falling starlight transformed into swords and embedded themselves in a circle around Se-erin, as if protecting her.

Crash-!

Suddenly, Se-erin looked up at the sky. Through the thousands of swords covering the sky, a man appeared. Standing on a giant sword, he gazed down at the ground, his black robe fluttering.

It was the arrival of the Master of Ten Thousand Swords.