Wild Hunt (3)
A holy sword lends its power to a hero.
In simpler terms, it grants a buff.
“….”
Ha-eun looked down at the holy sword she had drawn free.
A blade brilliantly alight, honed to a razor edge—and with it, the sensation of tremendous force circulating through her body.
But every power comes at a price. For a holy sword, that price is divine energy.
And the amount Goldy had loaned her was not particularly large.
Which meant she had to wrap this up fast.
Flame Swordsmanship — Resonance
KWAANG!—
The moment Ha-eun shot forward, divine energy detonated and rolled outward in every direction. She was caked in the dust and grime of a hard-fought battle, but nothing could smother that light—and every eye present locked onto her.
Seogeogeogeogeok!—
The blade she swept out became dozens of cutting edges, all of them flying. The monsters charging in from every side were butchered outright, a display so fierce it called a Sword Saint to mind. Even Ha-eun herself was startled that she had just performed such swordsmanship.
But she could not afford to stand there marvelling. She had already burned through a considerable amount of power.
Kwaduk!—
Before she knew it she was standing in front of the giant. She shifted her grip, then aimed for the ankle of the leg the giant was about to plant for another step.
Improved Swordsmanship — Overpaint
Chwaak!—
She swung, and divine energy mixed with flame painted itself across empty air. Kung!— The giant’s leg, caught in the stroke, came clean off. As it lost its footing and began to topple, Ha-eun let her sword hang long at her side.
“Huu…”
She let out a long breath. She set fire to her blade and to her heart, praying that the flames would burn a little deeper, a little rougher, than usual.
Hwareuk—
From the pure white tip of the sword, dark crimson fire unfurled. Tak—
A stance she had practiced thousands upon tens of thousands of times and never once succeeded in landing. She didn’t know why, but right now it felt possible. Of course, that might have been nothing more than a hollow wish…
Seureung—
As a child she had heard her father say it until she was sick of the words: enlightenment only comes when coincidence stacks on coincidence and becomes inevitability. Wasn’t this exactly that kind of moment?
Kwaaak—
She clamped both hands around the hilt. Stance wide and unflinching. Gaze and tip of the blade sharp as a needle. Sacred power loaned by the holy sword gathered in her legs, answering her as if ready to launch at any second—and just as she was about to leap—
“…That isn’t it.”
“!”
“Bend lower. Drop the blade. Focus through the ankle.”
Na Su-han’s voice from behind her.
“You’re off. Jump like that and you’ll snap your leg.”
In a fraction of a second Ha-eun reviewed her own form. …Had she gotten too worked up? The misalignment was minute, but it was real. Correct it. This would not do.
The one mercy was that, for as long as the sword permitted, she could slice time thinner and thinner and recalibrate her technique inside those fragments. A capability exclusive to the holy sword, more or less. Accelerated judgment… that was as good a name as any.
“Do not drown in instruction. Swing the way you have been—in your own style.”
She re-settled her grip. The sword bound to her by everything she had lived through, and by her bond with Goldy. Two fates tied into one inevitability. As if answering, the scales that formed the hilt flared with light.
Tat—
This time she would mix in her own color, and swing rough. She carved time down and down, and at last took that one step—
Suuuung—
The sword swept through the air. And then—
Hwareureuk!—
Dark crimson flame that had begun at the tip raced back along the blade and swallowed it whole. Then—
Hwaaaaak!—
A colossal pillar of fire burst free of the steel, no longer content merely to coat it. Like a dam collapsing, the flame poured out, and Ha-eun seized it with both hands and guided it. It was similar to the power that had erupted when she faced the spider last time—except that this time the fire was under her control.
She seemed to think that was the holy sword’s doing. But a holy sword only lends power. It does not help you master it. She simply didn’t know that yet.
Hellfire Carnage_Revised
業火亂殺_改
The blade was flung at the giant.
Seogeogeogeogeogeok!—
KWAANG!—
The hunters nearby saw what happened and still could not comprehend it. From tiny Ha-eun a single stroke set out, rode the world itself, and carved through everything. And the result—
“Holy shit… was that woman S-class?”
“No—more than that, something like that is…”
Slash cut through slash, and that slash was cut by another still. In roughly a single second the successive waves of cutting force swelled into something massive, engulfed the giant, and tore it to shreds.
Tuhwaaak!—
Flame erupted from inside the cuts and swallowed the giant whole. Not a single mote of ash remained. The enemy had been excised from the world completely. While everyone stood gasping at the sight—
Seureung!—
As if its time was up, the holy sword returned itself to its scabbard. Ha-eun dragged in the breath she had been holding.
“Cough!— Ugh…”
The backlash hit late and drove her to her knees.
“Superb.”
Na Su-han’s voice came from behind her—and with it,
Seogeogeogeogeogeok!—
A single sweep of his blade evaporated every monster in the area.
And there was one more person who had felt that erupting flame.
“…So she finally did.”
Park Sang-hyeok, still fighting on the battlefield right beside them.
Pabababak!—
Kwajik!—
“Huu. So where’s that guy who said he’d donate five million if I killed fifty thousand of them?”
Meanwhile, still on the front line beating monsters flat, was Goldy. She was literally at the head of the column, slaughtering the procession as she marched and cutting the numbers that slipped past her by an enormous margin. The share that managed to get around her was maybe one-fifth. She was a little sorry she couldn’t stop them all—but what could you do? The scale of the march was that huge.
Tzzzt—
“Hm?”
A sharp little jolt ran through her. Just enough to twitch the tip of her tail. I smirked.
“So she pulled it off after all.”
A kind of message from the scale I’d wound around the holy sword’s hilt. Looks like she managed to break the dam.
Kkwak—
Tat!—
“You think a dragon gets tired from this? Just donate already.”
“More. Give more. Do you know how much I’ve already spent holding this line? I’ll have you know I’m fighting for humanity here.”
I said it playfully as I drove my fist into the monsters pouring in ahead of me.
Taaang!—
“Ugh, finally—I can see the end of it.”
About two hours since the march began. The darkness was starting to lift. A signal that the First Army’s procession was winding down. I let out a long breath and rolled my wrists this way and that.
“Terra, you holding up?”
“Thanks to the contract, I’m perfectly fine!”
He stood there with both arms planted on his hips, all confidence, and I ruffled his hair.
“What? I can do cute too, you know.”
Unbelievable.
“Thanks for the million. Alright—time for a break.”
I said, steering Terra with me toward the rear. I needed to get a look at the situation first…
“Hey! Nobody said anything about a place like this!”
“That’s right! We came because they told us it was a gate collapse!”
Things were not looking great.
“We’re leaving.”
“Are our party members safe?!”
“P-please, everyone, one at a time—”
“One at a time my ass—the guy next to me got dragged over that way!”
Well, I couldn’t exactly blame them. This was a first for Earth. Nobody had expected a procession on this kind of scale. But running away was no longer an option.
Tak—
“Huh? Who the hell are you!”
I walked up beside Lee Su-yeon, who was standing on the platform with the flag in her hands.
“Hi. I’ll take questions in her place.”
Then I started talking—with the faintest thread of Draconic mixed into my voice.
“What? Who do you think you—”
“Hey! Looking at you earlier, you seemed like you knew something!”
“I know plenty. I’ve seen this a few times. But… I can’t just hand out the answers for free, can I?”
I rubbed my fingers together as I said it.
“A little cash ought to make things friendlier.”
“What…?”
“I can’t just do business for nothing either~”
The hunters and Lee Su-yeon both went blank. Every gaze locked on me, and I smiled as I went on.
“The gap between the First Army and the Second is about two hours. After that, a march even bigger than this one is coming.”
“What?!”
“H-how…”
“We should run while we still—”
“Exactly. So invest in me!”
Everyone looked like they had no idea what I meant. But it was simple, wasn’t it?
“Anyone who watched me fight earlier already knows. I held almost the entire force by myself. I’ll hold the next one too.”
If I was going to fight for them, there had to be compensation.
“All the byproducts that drop are mine.”