Chapter 48
Chapter 48
7. Things You Shouldn't Know -7
A blade flew in at a speed I couldn't even see and slashed past my shield in an instant⋯⋯ or not.
Literally, the attack was invisible to the eye.
-You were probably surprised, weren't you! Since you couldn't see the blade!
Yeah, I was surprised. How did he do that?
-I'll give you the chance to figure out the reason yourself, fated one! I'll show you two more times, so try to see through it! Sharpening your eye like this is a great help in its own way!
"⋯⋯Just tell me."
But there was no way a phantom of the past could hear my words. I took Elijah and backed out of the phantom's attack range to watch the demonstration.
The phantom returned to its original position and repeated the same motion as before. Watching from the side rather than head-on, I could see the stance clearly. His blade seemed to glint for a moment── then vanished.
The blade, the pommel, the grip, and even the hand and elbow of the Glass Sword Lord holding it.
Swish—!
Something seemed to graze through the empty air. An invisible sword strike had passed by, apparently. When the Glass Sword Lord's phantom returned to its ready stance, the blade that had turned transparent reappeared.
"⋯⋯How did he do that? Magic?"
"I don't know."
It did look like magic. After repeating the demonstration like that, the phantom raised its sword high toward the sky and revealed the secret of the transparent sword strike.
-Our vision depends on the brilliant light of that sky above. Once the radiance that illuminates all things is extinguished, no one can see the path before them. So then, what if one were to scatter that light?
"That's⋯⋯"
"⋯⋯It's optical camouflage!"
-Even with the sun high in the sky, you would not be able to see the blade. That is the Glass Sword.
It was a martial art that manipulated light to apply transparency. It wasn't that he'd cast a curse or anything on my eyes—it really was, purely, genuinely invisible to the eye.
"Huh."
What a disgustingly tricky technique.
I couldn't tell in detail because I couldn't see it, but judging from the stinging impact on my hands, the swordsmanship itself—its forms and power—was at an extremely high level. Earth was practically a wasteland when it came to martial arts, to the point where people had been shocked by Quick Flash, but this wasn't even comparable to Quick Flash.
So my heart was pounding.
Because if I could just learn that, all of it would be mine. And hadn't he made not just the blade but part of his arm transparent too? Which meant⋯⋯ anyone facing that would find it nearly impossible to read the trajectory of the attacks.
Even if you inferred the attack trajectory from the angle of the shoulders, there were too many possibilities. You'd have to either spend energy covering every direction, or refuse to give up distance altogether, or use some other means.
Then⋯⋯ I suddenly realized.
Just now.
Just before, when I'd blocked the first demonstration with my shield. Hadn't the Glass Sword been downloaded?
『Download -2』 seemed to have judged that even the Glass Sword demonstrated by the phantom could be copied.
If so, there were two things I could gain here.
The one-time-use skill Glass Sword obtained through Download -2. And the Glass Sword as a martial art obtained through the secret manual.
If you asked whether I really needed to get a copy when the original was right there⋯⋯ well, no. But what if I compared the two 『Glass Swords』 acquired through different methods?
It might turn out to be nothing much, but I had a hunch that I might gain valuable wisdom from it.
Even if I gained nothing, the experience of fighting the Glass Sword Lord of the past would itself be useful somewhere.
I drew my shield and dagger.
"Elijah, back up for a second. I'm going to spar with the phantom."
"Should I record this too?"
"Sure, that'd be good. Just don't distribute it anywhere."
"Fortunately, I don't have any friends besides you, Noah. Don't worry."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
I think she meant it to be reassuring, but it was way too much. How could a person have zero friends? Especially someone who looked like Elijah.
I filtered her words as best I could and stepped forward to face the Glass Sword Lord's phantom. Soon the invisible sword strike would⋯⋯
-Now I shall demonstrate the third form!
Here it comes!
Skrrrk—!
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 10%)]
A cross-shaped sword scar was left on the surface of the fine shield crafted by the combined minds of the Republic of Korea's greatest scholars. An attack as sharp as the cross-section of broken glass.
Tap—!
The Glass Sword Lord's phantom stepped lightly and charged in, gliding. His arm vanished again, and a sword strike that no one could predict the direction of was announced.
I opened my eyes wide. If I couldn't read the trajectory, I'd read the range.
I calculated the sword lord's attack range. The reach of his arm and the length of the longsword. Including one step of footwork, assuming his arm fully extended to the maximum, the range was about a 2.2-meter radius from the center of his body.
If I moved to just barely stay within that range, I could narrow down the attack trajectory.
Clang—!!
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 15%)]
I blocked it. Barely.
There was a brief stillness. Soon the Glass Sword Lord's phantom straightened its stance and adopted a more practical, sharper posture.
-From now on, I'll show you applied variations of the forms! Take away as much as you can!
The phantom began to move again.
Clang—! Skrrrrk—!! Fwish!
I relied half on instinct to barely receive the invisible sword strikes. My thighs and calves, which the shield couldn't cover, were cut, leaving shallow wounds.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 25%)]
"You really train seriously, Noah? It's nice to see."
Watching that, Elijah smiled and seemed pleased. She was shooting me a look that felt like a sense of kinship, I suppose. If I hadn't been the one to suggest sparring with the phantom, she might have stepped up and offered to fight it herself.
I shrugged and set my stance.
With visual information restricted, this was disgustingly tricky. The tactical battle itself couldn't even be established—it just hit a wall. I couldn't tell whether the opponent was trying to block, deflect and counterattack, or give up flesh to take bone.
Because I couldn't tell, I was losing the initiative in the fight. It was even harder for me since I was the type to fight with my head rather than raw specs.
Could I detect it with the wind of 『Azure Wind Wanderer』? No, reading an object moving that fast with wind was beyond my current level.
But at this rate, I'd just keep getting hit until it ended. Of course, I'd still achieve my objective that way, but if I was going to do this, I wanted to fight back properly. I reached out my hand.
Toward the wall where the 『Forget-Me-Not』 had bloomed.
"『Azure Wind Wanderer』."
Whoooosh——!!
I tore off the petals with wind and scattered them across the area. Blue petals piled up thick enough to half-cover my field of vision.
The phantom's arm flickered and vanished again. A transparent blade came for me. But now, I could see it. Because the drifting petals were fluttering in the air.
A petal floating near my flank split apart naturally. There. The blade was coming along that trajectory. I shoved my shield forward as if swatting and blocked it once.
Thunk—!!
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 35%)]
It works.
Whether it's sand, petals, or paper—if I scatter things that can float in the air, I can detect the 『Glass Sword』. Reading the attack trajectory was still tricky, but at least the difficulty had dropped to a manageable level.
I responded methodically with shield and dagger. Every time steel met phantom, the progress went up.
Scrape.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 40%)]
An attack I'd thought was a simple slash. But the way the petals split suggested the blade had come in with a fine vibration.
So was it a type of technique that momentarily twisted the refractive index of light?
Clang!
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 60%)]
As if showing off, the phantom's movements sped up. This time, a thrust driving straight in. The petals seemed to split in a straight line, but just before the attack landed, the petals scattered again half a step to the side.
The trajectory visible to the eye was, as expected, glass. An illusion.
CLANG—!!
I twisted my shield and blocked it with instinct rather than prediction. My arm rang with numbness.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 80%)]
Almost there.
Even as I thought that, the phantom—like a living master—was testing me as I deciphered this martial art, gradually revealing deeper levels of mastery.
The last thing that came flying was a truly invisible sword.
Fssss—
The petals turned transparent and soon vanished from sight. The Glass Sword's power had begun to affect the surrounding area, extending beyond the arm and sword. I opened my eyes wide. I had to read everything visible and block what was invisible.
From all the sword paths I'd faced so far, the sound of footsteps, the faintly glinting petals, and the subtle spreading reflections—from all of it, I read the single true trajectory──
It was an overhead slash.
Thud—!!
The descending sword strike was blocked by my shield. The reverberation was dull and deep, but the sound itself was small. That meant I'd blocked it properly.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 100%)]
With that attack, the phantom's movements ceased. At the same time, blue light slowly began to drain out of it. Like adding water to thick paint until the color thins. Its form also naturally crumbled. The Glass Sword Lord's phantom became nothing more than a lump of light.
I pulled at the corner of my mouth and smiled. I'd won.
Elijah, who had been watching, joined me with light applause.
"Looks like the time ran out, Noah."
"⋯⋯Seems like it."
It had been worthwhile. I'd learned how to deal with the Glass Sword, and from that, inversely—I'd learned how to use it. If an enemy tries to scatter something into the air, I should block that first.
Or I could bypass it by constantly generating wind with Azure Wind Wanderer to keep the air clear. I relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.
-So, has your resolve to forcibly remain at D-rank still not changed?
-No.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
From the lump of light that still lingered, two people's voices rang out like an echo.
It was the voice of the Glass Sword Lord and the friend who had been beside him. The man who walked the Hungry Ghost Path. I shut my mouth and listened closely.
-A shame. I was excited at the thought of becoming a C-rank hunter with you and roaming a new world.
-We only became acquainted because our intentions to save the world were the same. You and I have hobbies that simply don't match. Even if we'd gone up, we would have parted ways within a few months.
-Haha! You still haven't broken that sour-grapes habit.
After the brief jest passed, the sword lord asked his friend gravely, with concern.
-Lowering your realm by discarding even your skills with your own hands—that must mean you intend to uphold the one noble person you serve, even if it takes that. Do you truly believe that person is a pillar of iron sturdy and great enough to save this entire universe?
-Yes. There is no other.
The voice of the large middle-aged man carried, at the last, the name of the one he served.
-『Master Binder (主縛)』, that person will save this world.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
If that record was accurate.
It meant the Glass Sword Lord's friend had remained at D-rank even at the cost of giving up promotion to C-rank hunter. For the sake of the higher-ranked hunter called 『Master Binder (主縛)』.
I knew that name. Hadn't that been the very first thing I'd asked the Glass Sword Lord about? Master Binder was a being who bestowed skills upon Hunter Alliance personnel, so if one served him.
The sword lord's friend was most likely⋯⋯ still with the [Hunter Alliance] even now.
I wrapped up the incident and came out to the cave entrance. The slowly setting sun cast the world in a warm shade of crimson, but the scenery was nothing short of eerie.
Here, there, everywhere—all forest.
Dense greenery was devouring the planet. The refreshing scent of phytoncides was the smell of defeat. Looking down at the sea of trees, I felt as though I were adrift on a vast ocean.
If we lost the war against the plants, Earth would end up like this too. Not a trace of human habitation would remain, swept away by the blue-green waves until only plants were left.
And then what?
If they were normal plants, a new ecosystem would be born within them, but what kind of ending awaited this planet covered in monsters? There was no way to know, since everyone who had witnessed it was dead, but probably── whatever came after would be close to 『annihilation』 in every sense.
Elijah, sitting at the cave entrance, suddenly spoke up.
"This stage was a dungeon, right? A dungeon, and a held stage."
"Yeah."
"Then⋯⋯ even if the hunters died, the terminal would still remain, which means people are still living somewhere on this planet, right? Since someone would be needed to manage the terminal."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Elijah still didn't know that the terminal's identity was a human named 'Eve.'
But she wasn't wrong. Since it would be hard for Eve to survive alone, there must be people around her in some form. They were probably surviving day by day, wearily, on a planet without hunters.
But I had no practical way to help them.
Even if I poured all my strength into helping, even if I devoted my entire life, how much of this planet could I actually restore? Probably 1% would be a job well done.
A B-rank hunter who could plow up the planet's surface might be able to save it as easily as breathing. I let out a shallow sigh and said.
"⋯⋯I'll contact you next time, Elijah."
"Yes. See you next time."
The Glass Sword, and even information about the higher-ranked hunters—the sword lord and Master Binder.
I'd gained a hefty haul and handled the unexpected situation cleanly, but I couldn't be purely happy about it, because it felt like there was still a long way to go. My tangled thoughts about the [Hunter Alliance] played a part in that too.
"Return."
"Return."
Flash—!
We parted ways, promising to meet again.
One week later.
Having successfully mastered the 『Glass Sword (琉璃劍)』, I called Elijah via messenger.
[Noah Won : Elijah]
[Noah Won : You free?]
[Noah Won : I'd like to set up a time as soon as possible if we can]
[Noah Won: If it's not urgent, make some time for me]
But⋯⋯
There was no reply.
On the third day with no response, I moved to find Elijah.