Chapter 235

“I said stay back!”

Mesker hurriedly summoned bone spears and a bone shield.

The fact that he was resorting to a bone shield, something a maniac obsessed with killing wouldn’t normally use, showed how desperate he was.

He was intimidated, his confidence shaken.

But even so, his skills were real.

I had to stay sharp.

If I showed any weakness, he would regain his momentum.

Clang!

My blade clashed against Mesker’s bone shield.

The fact that it had withstood the impact of my Orichalcum sword meant that it wasn’t just ordinary bone, but a material infused with some kind of power.

But withstanding an attack and negating its force were two different things.

Mesker staggered back, his footing unsteady, as the full force of my downward strike, combined with the momentum of my fall, slammed into his shield.

I didn’t give him a chance to recover, pressing my attack relentlessly.

I couldn’t let him regain his composure.

I had to keep him on the back foot.

– Net Slash Form.

A dense web of steel enveloped Mesker.

Or rather, it trapped him.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

“Ugh, ugh…”

Mesker’s hands moved frantically, his panic evident.

But even as he struggled, he desperately protected his vital points with his bone shield.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

My blade grazed Mesker’s body, leaving a series of shallow cuts.

Red lines appeared, blood splattering.

Again and again.

His skin was stained with blood.

The pain, the increasing number of wounds, the flowing blood.

It was enough to send most people into a state of panic.

That was the power of pain, wounds, and blood.

But Mesker, after his initial panic, seemed to realize that my flurry of attacks, despite their speed and precision, lacked power.

They were difficult to block, but they weren’t strong enough to inflict serious damage.

It was the inherent limitation of a defensive swordsmanship style.

“Huh? Wh-What? What? What the hell? Damn it! They’re weak! Pathetic attacks! You bastard! You were trying to mock me with these pathetic attacks?!”

He had figured it out, and his confidence was returning.

He, who had been cowering behind his shield, finally launched a bone spear with all his might.

“Die! Die, you bastard!”

It was a powerful attack, filled with rage.

I couldn’t take it lightly.

But if I showed any sign of weakness, he would regain his momentum completely.

There was only one option.

‘Counterattack.’

The ultimate counterattack technique of Baker’s Swordsmanship.

I had been planning this ever since I had used Falling Slash Form and Net Slash Form consecutively.

– Rotating Slash Form.

I spun around, my body a blur of motion.

Whoosh!

Mesker’s bone spear tore through the air, narrowly missing me.

But I had already completed my spin, my sword slashing through the air in a powerful arc.

“D-Dodge?”

My blade slammed into Mesker’s exposed side, threatening to cleave him in half.

He barely managed to block the attack with his shield.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

Mesker’s body was lifted off the ground, his shield unable to withstand the force of my attack.

I didn’t hesitate, kicking him hard while he was still off-balance.

“Get lost, you bastard!”

Thwack!

“Aaaaaargh!”

It felt good.

Mesker flew backwards, crashing to the ground in a heap.

“What did you say? Pathetic attacks? You were going to kill me? You? Huh? You?”

I glared at him, my voice dripping with mockery.

Mesker’s expression wavered again, his confidence shattered once more.

“Eek! N-No! It wasn’t me! Someone else did it! Y-Yeah, someone else!”

His defense mechanisms kicked in, blaming a non-existent personality.

“R-Right? Right? Right?”

He wasn’t talking to me.

He was talking to the fairy that only existed in his mind.

His eyes weren’t even focused on me, but on the empty air.

He was a truly creepy bastard.

If we let him live, who knew how many more people he would kill?

For the sake of the world, he had to be eliminated.

“Ah, right. You deserve to die. Right?”

I swung my sword through the air.

– Desolation Form.

A wave of sword aura erupted from my blade, surging towards Mesker.

Whoosh!

“Ugh? S-Stop it! Stop it!”

Mesker cried out in alarm, throwing a bone spear.

The spear collided with the sword aura.

But even the bone shield, which had withstood the force of Falling Slash Form, couldn’t stop the sword aura.

Crack!

The spear shattered, and the sword aura continued its relentless advance, its sharp edge aimed at Mesker’s heart.

‘I’ll kill him!’

I was certain.

Booooooooom!

A deafening explosion.

The wall behind Mesker crumbled into dust.

It was a force that could obliterate a human body, leaving nothing but a bloody smear.

But.

A sense of unease washed over me.

The feeling in my hand wasn’t clean.

This was…

At that moment.

Stab!

A searing pain pierced through my back.

“Gah…”

It felt like a burning iron rod was being shoved into my insides.

I realized it was a bone spear, embedded deep in my abdomen.

I turned my head sharply.

And saw…

Mesker, his left side, from his shoulder down, completely gone.

“Aaaaaargh! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”

He screamed, blood gushing from his wound.

‘Damn it, I missed.’

My face contorted in frustration.

He should have been a corpse, his entire upper body obliterated.

But it wasn’t enough.

I had been a hair’s breadth away.

I realized why.

The bone shield he had thrown at the last moment.

The impact had slightly altered the trajectory of my attack.

That slight deviation had given him enough time to use a healing spell before my attack could fully connect.

Damn it.

He wouldn’t die easily.

This mad necromancer.

“Aaaaaargh! It hurts! I said it hurts! It hurts!”

Mesker, his eyes filled with rage and madness, grabbed the bone spear embedded in my abdomen and twisted it, trying to tear me apart from the inside.

Thwack!

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the spear.

“Stop it! You bastard!”

I pulled the spear out with all my might.

Blood gushed from the gaping wound, a crimson fountain.

The massive blood loss sent chills down my spine, and my vision swam.

I stumbled, my legs weak.

But the excruciating pain kept me conscious.

‘I can’t die!’

I didn’t know if it was a fatal wound or not.

But one thing was certain.

If I collapsed now, I would definitely die.

I had to finish off the mad necromancer.

No matter what.

‘His wound is definitely fatal!’

I might have missed the killing blow, but half of his body was gone.

He would definitely die if we just left him alone.

I saw him, staggering like a zombie, blood pouring from his wound.

But the mad necromancer wouldn’t just die.

He wasn’t the type to go down so easily.

He was fueled by desperation, his madness turning into pure venom and killing intent.

“Aaaaaargh! My body! You bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

He charged at me, wielding a bone spear in his remaining hand.

He had abandoned all defense, driven solely by the desire to kill me.

“You die first!”

I roared back, trying to counterattack.

– Rotating Slash Form.

Thwack.

But as I planted my foot to initiate the spin,

I realized how badly I was injured.

“Ugh?”

Pain shot through my abdomen as I put weight on my foot, a fresh wave of blood gushing from the wound.

I couldn’t put any strength into my leg.

My vital point had been hit.

And it was worse than I had thought.

“Ugh.”

Blood rose in my throat, and I realized the severity of my situation.

“Die!”

Mesker thrust his bone spear towards my heart.

It was slow.

Too slow.

Compared to his previous attacks, it was pathetically weak.

He was also a walking corpse, his body riddled with wounds.

But.

I was slow too.

My sword felt heavy in my hand.

It was a battle between two dying men.

Clang.

A weak clash.

But both Mesker and I staggered, our bodies unable to withstand even that feeble impact.

He stabbed.

I slashed.

We clashed.

He stabbed again.

I slashed again.

We clashed again.

It was a pathetic, yet desperate struggle for survival, a bloody dance on the edge of life and death.

There was no swordsmanship, no spear technique.

We slashed, stabbed, and clashed, driven by pure instinct.

Our ragged breaths were those of amateurs.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

“Gasp, gasp, gasp…”

But it was a desperate fight.

There was no fight more desperate than this.

The brutal exchange drained our remaining stamina.

My legs gave out as my already depleted energy reached its limit.

It was the same for him.

I gathered my remaining strength and attacked him.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

A series of clashes.

I saw his legs wobble.

Now!

I lunged at him with all my might.

“Ugh?!”

Thud!

He fell.

I landed on top of him, pinning him down.

I had gained the upper hand.

I thrust my sword towards his chest.

Die!

Die!

But.

He also made a last-ditch effort, stabbing his bone spear towards me.

But I had two hands.

He only had one.

Thud!

Grab!

I grabbed his remaining hand with my left hand, holding it tight.

His hand trembled.

But I held on.

I had restrained him.

It was over.

My blade descended, aiming for his heart.

At that moment, he suddenly opened his mouth wide, his bloodstained teeth bared in a final act of defiance.

My eyes widened.

A sense of danger pierced through my mind.

“Gah!”

A sharp bone spike shot out from his mouth, aimed at my head.

Instinct.

I dodged instinctively.

The instinct to survive.

I jerked my head back, narrowly avoiding the spike.

It grazed my neck, a sharp pain followed by the feeling of blood trickling down my skin.

But it didn’t matter.

Because I was alive.

Stab!

“Aaaaaargh!”

My sword pierced through him.

Again and again.

Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

“Ugh… Ugh…”

His death rattle faded into silence.

He was dead.

I was alive.

I had survived.

The tension drained from my body, and my consciousness faded.

Darkness enveloped me.