Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Five City Gates (1)
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Footsteps echoed through the pitch-black darkness.
A black shadow slowly emerged into the faint glow illuminating the area around the gate.
The guards standing watch on the watchtower, as usual, finally noticed someone approaching the gate.
"What the hell is that?"
"Who's coming?"
The wide avenue connecting the city center to the main gate of the Governor's Mansion.
Torches flickering intermittently along both sides.
At its center, a human figure strolled leisurely toward them.
At the appearance of some crazy bastard, the guards gripped their weapons and shouted.
"Halt!"
"Take one more step, and we'll shoot!"
Did the threat work?
The black shadow stopped.
"What is it? Some lunatic?"
"I don't know. Looks like he's wearing something over his face."
The distance made it hard to tell for sure, but his face seemed covered in something pale, like a mask.
"This is the Governor's Mansion! Get the hell—"
The guard cut off mid-sentence and sucked in a breath.
The figure, clearly far away just moments ago, had vanished like a candle flame snuffed out by the wind.
"What, what was that?"
"Did you see it too?"
The eerie phenomenon of a person disappearing in an instant sent chills racing up their spines.
Then came a deafening roar that tore through their eardrums.
Kwaaaaaang—!
A massive explosion shook the heavens, followed by a heavy vibration through their soles.
Sensing instinctively that something was wrong, they whipped around to check the inner keep.
And lost the ability to speak.
"......"
An unimaginable, completely unforeseen situation forced their minds to a halt.
Staring at the billowing dust clouds and flying debris, they doubted if this was even reality.
It felt more dreamlike than a dream.
And for good reason.
Someone had just blown the Governor's Mansion's main gate to smithereens.
* * *
Guoooooo.
The shattered remnants of the gate scattered widely. A cloud of dust settled quietly over where the sturdy gate had once stood.
The first gate had been breached.
It hadn't been entirely easy.
His right hand tingled from the recoil of smashing the gate.
The security magic layered on it had made it tougher than expected, forcing him to expend more internal energy than planned.
This truly was on another level, the Governor's Mansion.
Pat.
He kicked off lightly, slicing through the dust cloud.
At the same time, he drew the longsword from his waist.
Srrrring.
A white blade emerged with a chilling keen ring.
It was a suitable sword for rampaging today.
Ding-ding-ding-ding—!
Alarm bells clanged wildly from all directions. The once-quiet Governor's Mansion awoke in chaos.
Shiiiaaak!
He raced through the inner grounds, not yet filled with soldiers.
The Governor's Mansion was vast, even by straight-line distance alone.
It had once been Francia's royal palace, after all.
He dashed through the familiar yet alien landscape.
It had been ages since he'd set foot here, but this wasn't the time for nostalgia.
His first goal: punch through to the innermost keep before the enemy could pile up.
"Over there! Block him!"
Imperial soldiers poured out like swarms of ants from every corner.
Bwoooo—!
Horns blared, signaling the enemy's presence, echoing raucously everywhere.
The view quickly filled with troops.
But this much couldn't hold him even for a moment.
Without slowing, he wove through the soldiers blocking his path.
Shuaaaak!
His sword trailed behind, slicing the air and clearing a path. A silver arc flashed, and the blockers crumpled like scarecrows without resistance.
His serpent-smooth movements effortlessly pierced the hastily thrown encirclement.
Pishushushung!
Next came the whistle of arrows fletchings from all sides.
An arrow storm fell like a black downpour, blanketing every direction.
He didn't stop, stepping right into it.
Internal energy rose with his will, surging to his feet before exploding against the ground.
Kwaang!
In that instant, his body shot forward like a gust of wind.
Space swallowed him in a flash.
The arrows all landed behind his steps.
"Block him! Capture the bastard!"
Soldiers bellowed, rushing to bar his way.
They seemed desperate, but still sloppy.
He brushed past without lingering a second.
Pishut!
Crimson blood sprayed where he'd passed.
Throats slit, they collapsed a step too late.
The density of blocking forces was increasing, but they'd never anticipated a surprise attack.
No matter how quick their response, it was too crude to contain him.
He exploited the gaps, pressing forward relentlessly.
"Block him! Grab his pant leg if you have to—"
Puhak!
The bellowing commander's head flew.
Enemies floundered, unable to track him properly, and met their ends with severed necks.
They weren't complete idiots, though. By the time he reached the second gate, they'd formed a solid wall of flesh.
To advance, collision was inevitable.
He gripped his sword hilt.
His sword arm blurred.
Kwagwagwagwang!
Sword qi splintered outward, weaving a vast net that ravaged the front lines.
Lightning-like flashes streaked across the battlefield.
"Kraaak!"
Screams filled the air in an instant.
He pushed past them.
But Imperial soldiers swarmed from all sides.
Fwoosh.
Azure flames, cold as ice, ignited along the blade.
Slicing one by one would never breach this place.
Celestial Spirit Divine Technique: Sword Chapter.
Chapter 4: Radiant Explosion Sword.
Explosive flashes erupted from him, lancing in all directions.
Sword qi devoured a wide radius in a blast.
The orb of light shoved space itself aside.
The area-of-effect wipeout plunged the Imperials into near-panic.
Survivors, out of range, stood dazed, not even thinking to grab him.
By then, the second gate loomed before him.
* * *
Croa, company commander of the 3rd Company, 1st Governor's Guard Battalion, stared dumbfounded at his men being swept away helplessly.
Countless troops were swept off like driftwood in a flood, departing this world without meaningful resistance.
'How the hell do we stop... that?'
He couldn't believe his eyes, even seeing it firsthand.
Endless waves of soldiers parted like a river before raw, monstrous power.
Was that bastard the incarnation of the Leonir Lancers?
A different league entirely.
Like a giant trampling ants, he crushed Imperial soldiers mercilessly.
"Block him!"
"Hold the front!"
"Don't run! I'll cut down anyone who flees!"
"Maintain formation!"
Commanders' furious shouts echoed everywhere. Yet no one halted his advance even briefly.
'Is this a Sword Master?'
He'd seen peak Expert-level fighters before.
The Guard Battalion's commander and head of the Special Task Force 'Steel Wall', Hirten, was one such.
But neither he nor anyone else could display such overwhelming dominance.
The pinnacle of swordsmanship incarnate.
Croa easily saw he far transcended human limits.
But,
'Even so, does this make any sense?'
It was too much.
He knew a Sword Master equaled a legion.
Yet now he truly grasped it.
What did it mean for 60,000 troops to match one man?
Numbers meant nothing before him.
No matter how many ranks blocked, the white lion cleaved through effortlessly.
Could the might of an army, forged into a single blade, achieve that?
A Sword Master was the condensed, forged essence of countless warriors' power into sword form.
The world's ultimate weapon.
No mere soldiers could stop it.
It wasn't a matter of headcount alone.
Kwarurung!
Earth-shaking roars continued to echo through the Governor's Mansion.
Deep furrows scarred by sword qi marked his path, pooling with blood.
Croa, watching with a wretched expression, called to a subordinate equally entranced by the white lion's charge.
"Platoon leader."
Everyone, not just him, had lost the will to fight, staring at his receding back.
The man's lips parted with effort.
"Report to command. The white lion..."
Deep despair shadowed his eyes.
"...cannot be stopped."
* * *
Kwaaaaaang—!
Not long after the first gate's destruction, another exploded.
He stepped through.
Beyond lay a fully prepared formation, unlike before.
They'd rallied while he broke through.
Naturally, troop density and defenses were far thicker now.
Each gate would thicken further.
The Governor's Mansion was Francia's heart.
Storming it alone was suicide.
For anyone but him.
"You dare invade this place!"
"Die!"
Troops surged like waves toward him.
Those yet to taste his full power glared differently from those behind.
Not despair, but fury.
He faced them alone.
No hesitation.
Be they hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands.
Irrelevant.
Enemy positions and space were finite, after all.
Even if they filled the mansion, no more than ten sword strikes could land at once.
It came down to endurance.
Kwagwagwang!
His wrist flicked, unleashing blasts.
Silver torrents whipped along his arm's path.
He cleaved through the ceaseless soldier waves like a current, advancing.
Like swimming upstream.
But this way dragged on forever.
Gripping the hilt, vast internal energy poured from his ocean-like dantian like a waterfall.
Kwaa—.
The massive energy coiled through his body per the incantation, flowing to his fingertips along his motion before erupting from the blade tip.
Celestial Spirit Divine Technique: Sword Chapter.
Chapter 2: Black Piercing Flash.
The strike that once pierced to Stis City's gate in one blow recreated itself in the Governor's Mansion.
Kwagwagwagwang!
The explosive sword qi pierced even blocking space, shooting straight ahead.
An overwhelming thrust penetrating the front in one blow.
A massive beam from a single point vertically bisected the ranks.
Guoooooo.
The flash's path was devastation incarnate.
Survivors stood speechless. Fury no longer burned in their eyes.
Indescribable emotions tangled, distancing them from reality.
Small wonder.
A single thrust had rent the human wall asunder in a long gash.