Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Sword Dragon
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Sword Aura condensed into a swinging sword was faster than a light sword but lighter in power. It wasn't feasible to use a decisive battle sword technique like light sword in a spar that wasn't a life-or-death duel, and with Sword Dragon's current attainment, even forming a light sword was still difficult. Melting sword aura into sword aura and infusing intent to condense it into one was originally impossible at the fifth tier.
Even in a match where light sword could be used, unleashing it against an opponent like Thunder Cloud in a one-on-one would be suicidal. That was why he had taken Sword Emperor's advice to perfect the swinging sword and trained it to form as quickly as sword aura.
'Here it comes.'
Before the spar began, his heart had pounded violently as if it might burst, but now it had quietly settled.
He knew Thunder Cloud's skill. How he fought. Why his moniker was 'Thunder Cloud'—he had seen it firsthand.
His eyes focused with such intensity that they tingled. The moment purple lightning flared, Thunder Cloud had already accelerated. That movement was among the fastest even for warriors of the same tier. Especially Thunder Cloud's initial acceleration rivaled the renowned quick-draw speed of swift swordsmen.
The spar had only just begun. Sword Dragon's eyes weren't yet accustomed to the 'speed.' He had visualized it dozens, hundreds of times, but experiences in his head sadly didn't meld into real sensations.
So he had to concentrate to not miss. Instead of widening the distance, Sword Dragon stepped forward. A flash of lightning. The moment he captured the blurry afterimage, Sword Dragon's sword moved.
Orsia's Sword Saint Style wasn't confined to any one thing. It could be swift sword, slow sword, soft, fierce, changing, or still. It encompassed mastery of everything a sword could hold, which was why Orsia's swordsmanship bore the name Sword Saint Style.
The sword Sword Dragon now swung embodied speed. The swinging sword, perfected over a month, cleaved straight ahead as he intended.
'It didn't connect.'
The sensation from the blade tip felt empty. Sword Dragon didn't doubt his judgment and twisted his body.
'Deep.'
Judgments continued in sequence. Sword Dragon didn't stop at twisting; he kicked off the ground entirely. Crunch! The foot dropping from midair slammed into the earth like a thunderbolt. The flowing seismic step shook the ground.
It wasn't a mere shake. Crackling lightning spread with the vibration. Even a slight brush could invade with lightning.
Sword Dragon, who had lightly leaped, instead planted his weight and stomped the ground. The seismic step responding from the front pushed back the lightning, creating a crackle of fissures. Firmly centering himself, Sword Dragon gripped his sword with both hands.
The swinging sword's light shone more brilliantly. The swung sword wasn't as fast as before. It was slower and heavier instead. The mana of this space itself was drawn to Sword Dragon's swinging sword.
It was a sword that compressed the space itself. Yuri felt the space itself pressing on his body and put strength into his feet. He had planned to burrow into Sword Dragon's sword with emphasis on speed, but instinct told him.
'If I approach, I'll be cut.'
That spot now was Sword Dragon's interval. Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art's red aura enveloped Yuri's entire body. Stopping wasn't the answer. Maintaining distance wouldn't favor him either. Waiting would let the space-compressing sword constrain him.
His feet stepped into footwork. Drifting Wind Cloud Step. His wavering body created dizzying changes.
Zzzt.
He had focused on the eyes from the start. Ultimately, there was only one real body—don't be deceived by changes. Rumble! The swinging sword laden with immense weight swept the tangled mana wholesale. Whoosh! The deceiving afterimages gained faint tremors.
'Nothing?'
All illusions. Sword Dragon didn't panic and leaned his body sideways. The judgment was correct. Swipe! Thunder Cloud, who had burrowed into close range unnoticed, aimed a kick at where Sword Dragon's head had been.
It didn't connect. Rather than relief, he swung his sword. The moment the swinging sword reached, Thunder Cloud's body spun like a top. Crackle! Golden light and red flames frictioned, scattering into the air.
Shallow. Less a cut and more a shave.
He had felt Thunder Cloud's aura like flickering flames, hence the need for swinging sword. A plain sword aura wouldn't have even shaved it. In other words, this side was sharper. A plain sword aura would have been overwhelmingly superior, but swinging sword held the edge in sharpness over Thunder Cloud.
'Crazy.'
It was so absurd he almost let out a hollow laugh. That Sword Emperor had personally taught him this sword. He had been directly instructed by the world's strongest swordsman, and what the greatest swordsmen over centuries had honed was Orsia's Sword Saint Style.
Yet even that sword could only shave, not cut through? He didn't know Thunder Cloud's martial art, but that flickering flame-like aura alone pressured Sword Dragon.
-Can he keep shaving indefinitely? He judged superiority in sharpness now, but durability was a whole other issue. Sword Dragon couldn't be confident in maintaining swinging sword's sharpness to cut down Thunder Cloud.
However, lacking confidence didn't mean he could retreat. Sword Dragon led his sword. A slight waver spread like ripples on water. The blade split into dozens, hundreds, spreading around Sword Dragon. The scattered thrusts transformed again, weaving complex sword paths.
Boom!
The thrusts nearly exploded outward. Due to counterattacks burrowing through every gap. A fist? Or a foot? He couldn't tell which.
'Both, probably.'
Fists where he could thrust with fists, feet where he could swing with feet. Thunder Cloud's movements were trickier than imagined. Fighting a grappler who freely moved both arms and legs felt like battling four warriors.
But it was enjoyable. Sword Dragon felt the thrilling buzz and regripped his two-handed sword with one hand.
The sound of swinging the sword didn't reach Sword Dragon's ears. Continuous refinements were added to the sword paths he envisioned first in his mind and executed.
It had to be that way. Thunder Cloud was a short distance ahead. With arms plus sword length, the reach advantage was Sword Dragon's.
Swordsmen inherently held a distance advantage over grapplers. All weapons did. Add entry into aura and free changes, and simply extending aura farther allowed masterful distance control.
But swinging sword couldn't do that. Swinging sword condensed aura solidly. At Sword Dragon's current level, extending or shortening it was impossible.
Thunder Cloud didn't project aura. His aura persisted at the body's extremities.
Ultimately, distance advantage lay with Sword Dragon. What he needed to focus on was preventing Thunder Cloud from closing in while cutting.
'Advantage?'
Even with superior reach, it was like this. Sword Dragon kept refining the sword paths in his mind. Offense required continuity. It had to flow without breaking. A diagonal downward slash left the upper body open, so raise the sword; a thrust opened the body wide, so pull back or connect to a slash from thrust.
Against Thunder Cloud, that was hard. Thrusts were no good. That opened the body, and Thunder Cloud wouldn't miss. Diagonals were bad too.
An incessant gut sense in his head of impossibilities. Compromising to choose feasible paths left sword paths unsatisfying. Like the flow kept cutting off...
'...!'
The spar between Thunder Cloud and Fist King two days ago. Thunder Cloud's movements now resembled Fist King somehow. Not fully severing like Fist King, but decisively cutting what could be cut. Thus subtly guiding Sword Dragon's sword as desired.
'It's different from underground.'
The martial art he saw then was fluid and free. Burrowing into hundreds of hands and dancing—that movement even evoked beauty. Like his moniker, Thunder Cloud was cloud-like, elusive yet seizing, deflecting attacks, stealing flow, and devouring instead.
Now was different. The once fluid, free movements were sharply like spear forest. Not deflecting but cleanly severing to guide this side.
'No way.'
He incorporated the duel from two days ago into himself. Did Thunder Cloud learn from defeat too? Thunder Cloud didn't strike the sword directly. Focused on evasion, waiting for the sword, precisely targeting after it moved.
In that instant, Sword Dragon realized. Thunder Cloud hadn't abandoned his prior freedom. He merely added directionality. Exclusive freedom that suppressed and constrained foes. Even Sword Dragon's repeated sword path refinements fell into Thunder Cloud's intent.
"Huh."
Sword Dragon unwittingly let out a laugh. What he thought optimal was ultimately manipulated—how delightful! Immediately, Sword Dragon changed his thinking. He discarded sword path refinements. Abandoned maintaining distance and 'safely' shaving cuts.
That was half-baked and weak. Wrong was wrong, right was right. Sword Dragon smiled fully and strode forward.
He swung to cut but missed. As a fist lunged as if anticipated, he twisted to evade—the extended toe grazed Sword Dragon's face by a hair.
Neither connected.
He read Thunder Cloud's body lean. Too late to retract the swung arm. So he released the sword entirely. His left hand, prepared below, instantly gripped and slashed at Thunder Cloud's body.
The moment it connected, Thunder Cloud leaped on one foot. The unstable posture gained stability and power with internal energy. Leaping over the thrust, Thunder Cloud kicked off the air again, slamming the foot that had already struck high down on Sword Dragon's head.
Instead of dodging, Sword Dragon raised his unarmed arm to block the foot. Crunch! Protective aura shook. Heavy impact buzzed through his arm; the foot dug into the ground. Without minding defense, that blow would have broken his arm.
The sword in his left hand spun. Reverse grip, the flashing swinging sword thrust like a drill at Thunder Cloud. It didn't pierce properly. It penetrated protective aura, but Thunder Cloud planted on Sword Dragon's forearm and flipped backward over his head.
'Arm...'
Not broken, but numb. Lightning had invaded from the blow. Internal energy promptly restored sensation. Sword Dragon switched back to right hand grip and spun his body.
Dizzying changes were no good. That would let him get cut off and devoured. Faster, sharper. Even shallow entries deep enough to cut. Keening! Swinging sword's light intensified.
'Soon.'
Sword Dragon's instinct told him. Victory or defeat in this tightrope spar was imminent. Thunder Cloud, landing nearby, clenched a fist. Planning to close in?
'Come.'
This time, Sword Dragon intended it. He demonstratively gripped with both hands. Cut the moment he came. Abandoned changes. Sword Dragon was confident in swift sword too.
The instant Thunder Cloud's form blurred slightly, the distance vanished. Sword Dragon instantly swung. A sword swung thousands, tens of thousands of times in imagination. Among all swings so far, this was the fastest and sharpest—he was certain.
'It connected...!'
The next instant's certainty: Thunder Cloud's body flashed like a streak of lightning, and something scattered.
"Aw..."
Sword Dragon blurted unwittingly.
"Shii~t."
Cheap profanity unfit for the Western Clan Alliance's Cartel elite, heir to the Orsian family, martial sovereign even among Prides.
He couldn't help cursing. He truly thought that swing was perfect. Something scattered with a puff—did he sever Thunder Cloud's neck?! He even thought that.
Illusion. What scattered was Thunder Cloud's lush hair. Sword Dragon's sword cut through protective aura and the hair tips but not flesh.
The moment he thought it cut, he lost Thunder Cloud's movement.
By the time he saw again, it was over.
Thunder Cloud's fist hovered before Sword Dragon's face. If it hadn't stopped—
"Yuri."
Sword Dragon, face scrunching, spoke. He didn't call Yuri 'Thunder Cloud' as usual.
Yuri kept his extended fist steady, stared squarely at Estor's face, then nodded.
"Why, Estor."
Yuri called Sword Dragon by name too.
"Isn't my sword cool?"
An out-of-left-field question. Unclear intent, but Yuri answered straightforwardly.
"It's cool."
"It's called swinging sword. I trained hard for a month to beat you."
"Cool name too."
"What do you call what you just did."
"Purple Lightning Flash."
"What's that. A technique from your aura art?"
"Inspiration from magic, implemented as a martial art."
Haiderga magic formula's third spell,
Lightning implemented as martial technique.
"You didn't use it underground?"
"You didn't use swinging sword."
"I couldn't then."
Estor grumbled and pulled his head back slightly.
"You did some weird stuff mid-way. Learned from Fist King?"
"Yeah."
"Fist King probably doesn't think he taught you."
"Said he taught me one move."
Yuri glanced at Fist King for confirmation. Outside the barrier, Fist King with half-open mouth burst into hearty laughter and nodded.
"Why'd I lose?"
Estor asked with a sullen face.
"You abandoned changes and went for a single simple slash."
"Feels like I'd lose even without abandoning changes?"
"Not like this. If you'd focused on changes, I couldn't have used Purple Lightning Flash."
"You kept cutting me off with pokes, so I put power into the single slash?"
"That's what I hoped you'd do."
"So it was your intent?"
No need to answer. Yuri withdrew his fist and shrugged lightly.
"Shii~t."
Estor cursed again. He'd anticipated defeat before the spar, but this mood—what was it? Losing pissed him off. Even expecting defeat, it was inevitable.
Beyond frustration, though... at the moment defeat sealed, he unwittingly cursed. Pondering the feeling, Estor grumbled his simple impression.
"Spar was dogshit..."
"Thanks."
Hearing that, Yuri reflexively replied. Word and curse differed, but to Yuri, that was highest praise.
"What's to thank?"
"First time incorporating Fist King's teachings into real combat. Estor, you were an excellent opponent, so I could grow stronger."
Couldn't say the true reason for thanks, so he gave another.
Estor's face flushed red. The victor Yuri had responded respectfully, but he'd let defeat's frustration make him reply shamefully.
"Sorry."
"Now what's to be sorry for?"
"Couldn't accept defeat gracefully and insulted you shamefully."
Estor stepped back a few paces and bowed deeply.
"Yuri. I've never once gained the upper hand against you. Your movements were that admirable."
He spoke with respect, then raised eyes burning with passion.
"But today's defeat isn't my end. I, Estor Orsia, grow stronger every moment."
"Hmm... yeah. I look forward to your growth too."
In the warm atmosphere, Yuri nodded seriously. Satisfied with the reply, Estor spun around.
"I."
His expectant eyes turned to the spectators.
"Believe Thunder Cloud Yuri worthy of the 'Dragon' moniker. Who will bestow the Dragon title on Yuri?"
Sword Emperor. Fist King. Wind Calamity.
All were figures more than qualified to grant the Dragon title.
'Can't they do this when I'm not here...'
Just standing there was embarrassing, so Yuri thought.