Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Gale Road
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The blade, already tinged with blue light, began to slowly take on a chilling aura.
“Then, shall we begin?”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Senia charged straight at me.
Hey, I didn’t even say I was ready to start.
Creeeang!!
The moment my sword crossed with Qingya, a blue gem appeared above my head.
My turn.
Chronodive activated.
“Hmm? The atmosphere around you feels different from before.”
“This is Valhillar mode for Louidel’s blade.”
“Hahaha. You’ve got some surprisingly fun sides to you. But seeing the sword energy pouring out on a whole other level, it doesn’t seem like a joke.”
She must have noticed the effect of Chronodive.
Up until now, the only one who’d figured it out was Adelin. So this meant she had talent on Adelin’s level too.
I slashed straight across Senia’s chest with Corner Slash.
[Weak!]
“As expected… It’s definitely hard to dodge.”
“Yes. The next one will hurt even more.”
Return Light.
KABOOM!!
An ash-gray flash condensed at the sword tip shot toward her in an X-shaped scar.
Senia, struck directly by Return Light, was pushed back a good distance before stopping in place, her eyes wide open.
“Could this be… our family’s Shatter Light?”
“No. It’s Halibal Style.”
“You’ve got some nerve.”
Gotta do what’s gotta be done.
Yeah, I knew Senia was strong.
I knew she was a crazy bitch too.
So, could she dodge the Break?
Unlike with the Avenger, Lapis Lazuli didn’t have a counter effect. No human could survive the combo that took down Barhatan after two hits.
“Halibal Break.”
The thrusting sword strike burrowed into Senia’s entire body.
The shock sent dust billowing everywhere, slowly engulfing her form.
‘If possible, I’d like this to end it.’
But my hopes were betrayed immediately.
“You’re too much. Doing this to a lady.”
“……”
“Still, it’s impressive. You’ve gotten much stronger since we first met.”
I was impressed too.
Why wasn’t this girl dead?
“Fufu, I’m suddenly curious about Halibal’s expression right now. Are you perhaps thinking, ‘Huh, why isn’t it over?’ and feeling a bit panicked?”
“Do you use mind reading too?”
“It’s nothing special.”
Senia pulled out a Lapis Lazuli shard socket from her bosom.
“I’m on the weaker side physically… so I usually carry shards equipped like this.”
The sight of the socket made me let out a hollow laugh.
Right. Of course, the characters from here on out would have cores and shards. I’d overlooked that.
If she reinforced her body with shards, she could probably withstand attacks that would kill a normal human.
‘But isn’t that a bit excessive?’
15 yellow shards and 1 blue shard.
What the hell, rice cake bitch.
“Then, it’s my turn now, right?”
With those words, a red gem appeared above Senia’s head.
Senia’s turn.
Maybe this girl understood the concept of turns too. Or perhaps intuitively grasping something like that was proof of her genius.
I shook off stray thoughts and assumed a defensive stance.
I knew all of Cecilia’s arts, but I knew nothing about Senia’s arts, which weren’t in the original story.
In other words, Just Guarding her attacks would rely solely on my senses.
Still, since it was based on Ren Sword Style, I hoped she’d use arts I knew.
At that moment, a pair of ice wings unfurled behind Senia.
Shaaa—
The frost on the blade began to melt bit by bit, sending up mist into the air.
“Ren Sword Style Secret Sword. Ice White Sword Dance…”
‘What the hell is that, otaku?’
Unfortunately, it was an art I’d never heard of.
I had no choice but to steel myself.
To brace for getting hit.
Senia raised Qingya straight up and glided toward me across the ice like a skater.
Just before the sword reached me, I swung mine as well.
‘Now!’
Creeeang!!
[Just Guard!]
Fortunately, Just Guard succeeded.
But why was the damage like this?
My wrist throbbed.
Still, now it was my turn…
“Six Links.”
Creeeang!
Creeeang!
Creeeang!
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
Qingya, infused with cold energy, came at me relentlessly without a moment’s breath.
‘Shit.’
Since the turn wasn’t switching, this combo itself must be one single art. And with “Six Links,” that meant six consecutive attacks.
‘Total bullshit.’
I desperately parried the onslaught of sword strikes pouring like a flood.
[Just Guard!]
Maybe because I’d gotten used to Just Guard.
I managed to deflect up to the fifth.
But the moment I raised my sword for the sixth and final one, Senia spun in midair and instantly dove toward my side.
“Did you predict this too?”
How the hell was I supposed to predict a stagger beat?
KABOOm!!
With the final blow, one side of my armor shattered to pieces, and the tip of Qingya dug deep into my side.
‘No way, even with rice cake, it’s this much?’
And it didn’t end there.
[Weak!]
‘Weak point popped up? But it didn’t hit a vital?’
I glanced at my side, where frost was spreading from the wound, slowly encroaching on the area.
‘Of course. There’s frost too, huh.’
Actually, before fighting Lapis Lazuli, this was what I’d been most wary of.
I’d realized it while fighting Barhatan and getting afflicted with Fear.
That this world had status effects.
In the game, it was just “elemental bonus damage,” but in reality, prolonged contact with ice on the skin would lead to frostbite eventually.
Senia, now right in my face, gave a soft smile.
“But you’ve seen this once, so it should feel familiar, right?”
Qingya glowed with a deep blue light filled with cold.
“Ren Sword Style, my first strike. Shatter Light.”
KABOOM!!
With a dazzling flash, Senia’s sword strike came down.
It targeted the abdomen area where my armor had been torn off in the fight with Lan.
Senia had unhesitatingly struck what was obviously my weak point.
Its power was incomparable to what Cecilia had done to me years ago.
A pain like flesh tearing and bones searing hit me, slamming my body into the ground.
A heavy pressure on my left arm.
I looked up to see Senia pinning my arm with her foot.
“Is this the end?”
The blade of Qingya pressed against my throat.
“If it’s not too rude, may I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“What is Halibal’s goal?”
Quite an awkward question in this situation.
But her clear eyes seemed to threaten that I’d regret dodging the answer, so I racked my brain for a moment.
My goal? Adelin?
Aren, who’d become the strongest later?
Duke Ren was strong too, and there was the founder of Extreme Divine Sword Style who appeared at the very end.
Who could I name to get a safe “correct” from this crazy woman?
“Lady.”
But I realized something soon enough.
Ever since falling into this world, I’d never once targeted a person.
“My question seems off.”
“…Pardon?”
“Do people even make other people their goals?”
My goal had never changed.
Survival.
There were small goals along the way, but those were just milestones.
I’d run toward the finish line, never once thinking about who might be waiting there.
“Does that answer it?”
My response didn’t seem satisfactory, as Senia’s eyes darkened for the first time.
She still wore a smile on her lips, but her eyes held only coldness.
Whatever. I pushed myself up.
“Then, my turn.”
“With that body, aren’t you having trouble moving anymore?”
Arrogant words declaring victory.
“To me, it looks like Halibal’s stamina has reached its limit.”
Hearing that actually put me at ease. It confirmed she knew nothing about me.
“What is your goal, Lady?”
“…Pardon?”
“If you have one, are you looking straight at it?”
I casually pushed her sword aside and quickly stood up.
Then, in an instant, I threw myself backward to create distance.
“Eh?”
Senia showed signs of genuine surprise for the first time.
“…What happened? By my calculations, Halibal shouldn’t be able to stand.”
That would’ve been true before I beat Barhatan.
But not now.
Because I had Adamant.
Adamant’s effect was +3 Vitality, +3 Defense. Modest numbers, but at this point, it was equivalent to six shards on its own.
Plus, unlike Black Cloud, no one else knew I had Adamant.
“It seems your calculations were off, Lady.”
A blue gem appeared above my head.
My turn.
My goal from the entrance exam hadn’t changed.
Victory over every examinee.
“Lady, do you remember the names of everyone you took down on your way here, excluding Lady Cecilia?”
“How could I remember them all? I took down thirty examinees. Probably Halibal too…”
“Richard Dayne.”
Whether Senia was among them or not.
“Who’s th—”
“By the way, I remember all of them.”
It had never mattered to me from the start.
“Alex Luker. Ron Klaus…”
“……!”
“…Yujin Reigal.”
‘This is how it’s done, right?’
I raised my sword diagonally and pulled my right foot back slightly.
Yujin’s Noble Cross was an art similar to yet different from Corner Slash.
If Corner Slash used the turn system to slash twice almost simultaneously, Noble Cross was an honest art that swung the sword twice to unleash a cross-shaped strike.
And from clashing with Yujin, I’d learned its power source was the Abyss Core Aegis.
So, couldn’t I do it too?
Even without using my Unique Ability since this wasn’t a boss fight, Rene was a special core, not a standard one.
If I could borrow that power—
Composing myself, energy surged from Rene, wrapping around my entire body.
Like the wind. Like back in the days before earning the grand title of Funeral Sword, when I was just the Gray Wind.
“…Lan Fan.”
I rolled on the ground and planted my foot firmly.
Thud!!
The principle of waves I’d confirmed in my clash with Lan.
That power grew in size over time, eventually expanding to a wide area.
It inspired me. The idea that I could create a new art using waves.
Wooong.
The vibration rippling across the ground spread rapidly, soon drumming the entire earth like a drum.
“Senia Ren.”
“I haven’t fallen. And I don’t plan to.”
“Just calling you.”
Looking at her, I thought.
I clearly had the first turn, so why was she faster?
Why use a solo six-link art?
Total bullshit, right?
But that wasn’t it.
She wasn’t faster—I’d been limiting myself.
The gem above my head proved I was faster than Senia.
So all I had to do was move.
As fast as I possibly could.
‘May your new choice be filled with the blessings of time.’
A young voice filled my mind.
Senia’s eyes hardened for the first time.
“That’s… no way…?”
“By the way, I’ve been looking straight at you the whole time, Lady.”
A genius like her had probably already figured out what I was about to do.
Wind wrapped around the blade and my body.
Ash-gray currents filled my muscles, making my arms and legs spring up light as coiled springs.
The moment my eyes locked on Senia, before thought finished, my brain issued the command first.
Move. Slash. Tear.
An art that reinterpreted Senia’s Ice White Sword Dance principle my way, borrowing Rene’s power and loading waves into my toes.
[New art unlocked through growth.]
The instant I became a single gale and charged across the ground, the raging wind swallowed the space.
KABOOM!!
“Gale Road.”
The wind’s blades sliced across Senia’s body one after another.
Shoulder, left arm, chest, back. Like a storm butchering her, wounds etched onto her body in succession.
“Seven Links.”
When I came to, I was already behind Senia’s neck.
Puhbubbubang!!
In the silence as if time had stopped, seven ash-gray sword strikes exploded out at once.
Senia’s body staggered greatly from the seven consecutive thrusts.
Gale Road was an art one step above Return Light.
Normally, taking that hit would mean falling.
Yet she endured without collapsing.
“Too bad… This isn’t enough to end it. You didn’t hit my vitals.”
“To say it again, I’ve been looking straight at you the whole time, Lady.”
Since she entered this room, I hadn’t taken my eyes off her for a second.
That’s why I saw it.
Her left arm wasn’t moving properly.
Her breathing wasn’t as steady as it should be.
Her legs had trembled right after the Break.
She’d desperately hidden it, but I knew.
‘Injured. And pretty badly.’
Judging by her movements, it was a recent wound.
What could have hurt a woman who soloed thirty-one examinees this badly?
The answer was obvious.
“Lady Cecilia must have gotten quite strong.”
“…How did you…?”
The wound on Senia’s left arm wasn’t one I’d made.
It was probably inflicted by Cecilia in their fight just before.
[Weak!]
Gale Road hitting that wound granted an extra turn.
“I don’t think siblings fighting is a good idea.”
“What do you—”
“So let’s make it fair.”
I clenched my fist and stared straight into her eyes.
As always.
Then I smashed my fist into Senia’s face.
Crack!!
Die, you crazy bitch.