Chapter 232
Chapter 232
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 232
Chapter Title: The Shooting Star That Follows
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In the midst of the battlefield where Charlotte and Sigrin clashed.
Charlotte's sword began to grow ever sharper.
At the same time, her footwork shifted into a completely different rhythm.
Amid those eerie steps,
Charlotte danced past the incoming shadow pillars as if performing a waltz.
But this movement was on another level entirely compared to before.
It was just a change in footwork, yet she glided forward across the ground like it was ice.
And her target was none other than Zodiac.
Zodiac, seeing Charlotte close in at a speed beyond imagination, hurriedly summoned pillar after pillar.
Yet Charlotte dodged them all, narrowing the distance to Zodiac.
Zodiac's eyes widened in shock at the sight.
Charlotte's gaze pierced straight through the flow of Zodiac's aura.
The shadow pillars ultimately moved according to his will.
Knowing this, she read his intentions completely, anticipating every direction the pillars would surge from.
"What the—"
As Zodiac realized this, feeling as if he'd spotted an absurd monster,
Hizen blocked Charlotte's path.
Hizen had matched her pace perfectly, using the exact same footwork.
In that instant, a vivid blue energy flowed from Charlotte's sword.
The energy connected precisely to Hizen's neck, and her blade erupted in light, thrusting toward him.
In response, the same blue energy poured from Hizen's sword.
It was a perfect copy of Charlotte's original technique, Martial Heaven Solitary.
He couldn't harm her with it, but he could at least block her with equal power.
Seizing that advantage, Hizen immediately swung down at Charlotte.
And just as their swords were about to clash—
Tung!
For some reason, Charlotte's sword was effortlessly repelled backward upon impact.
As doubt flickered in Hizen's eyes at the scene,
He belatedly realized that Charlotte had released the sword's hilt mid-swing.
Hizen's sword's force spun Charlotte's blade half a turn.
She slammed her right elbow into the hilt.
In that moment, the blade, struck by her elbow, spun again, its edge flying toward the underside of Hizen's armpit, aiming for his ribs.
It was an acrobatic feat bordering on circus antics.
Yet even Hizen, with Exigo active, couldn't track it.
His Exigo only mimicked Charlotte's technique.
It couldn't perfectly replicate her movements.
Thus, Hizen endured the strain, disrupting Charlotte's technique and pulling his sword back.
He barely blocked her blade with his sword guard.
But that was a mistake.
Charlotte had already reclaimed the hilt of her spinning sword.
"Insane."
As Hizen's crude grin vanished, replaced by a look of despair,
Blue light connected to Charlotte's sword once more.
By the time Hizen sensed the power surging within, it was too late.
Kuguk!
Charlotte's sword warped Hizen's guard and blade alike, then swung through, sending him flying.
Launched by absurd force, Hizen soared into the sky in an instant.
Zodiac tried to catch him with a shadow wall, but Hizen smashed through it and tumbled across the ground.
Kudangtang! Degururur—
The crumpled sword rolled to a stop on the ground.
Beyond it lay Hizen, his left arm shattered, ribs exposed, eyes rolled back.
Charlotte's azure hair rippled.
"Ugh!"
Zodiac had no time to check on Hizen; he realized he was Charlotte's next target.
He slammed his scythe into the ground with a thud, and shadows writhed upward, surging to the edge of the shadow space.
A massive shadow wall formed in an instant, toppling directly toward Charlotte.
The plan was to crush her flat beneath it.
"Zodiac, get out of the way."
In that moment, Zodiac froze at Sigrin's voice from beside him.
Sigrin had appeared at his side, her pure white sword rippling with white dragon aura as she advanced.
"Lady Sigrin."
The instant he called out to her—
Jjeok!
Cracks spiderwebbed through the shadow pillars.
Along those simultaneous fissures, Zodiac saw blue light erupting.
Kwagagagagagagagagagagak!
The shattered shadow wall unleashed a slashing blow that cleaved Zodiac's shadow space in half.
As Zodiac instinctively screamed at the sight, Sigrin's sword followed suit.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!
The white slash and blue slash collided, devastating the surroundings.
As Zodiac rolled across the ground clutching his scythe,
Sigrin peered at Charlotte through the smoke.
Sunlight poured in through the split shadow space.
She had sliced through the shadow space—immune to physical attacks—with a single aura-infused sword strike.
'What a monster.'
She had planned to wear Charlotte down with Hizen and Zodiac's combo, dragging it out for a sure win.
But they couldn't hold back and went all-out, leading to this mess.
Sigrin saw Hizen retired and Zodiac in a daze.
Pity, but they couldn't fulfill their roles anymore.
'Fine.'
She'd brought them along from the start just to buy time anyway.
White energy surged even fiercer from her sword.
Since clashing with Charlotte's slash moments ago, her power had grown stronger.
The source of this power was the legacy of the former Heavenly Sword Sovereign, the Sword Emperor—her secret technique.
Sword Radiance
Absorbs the opponent's power continuously into the blade—a technique unique to the Sword Emperor.
The overflowing white energy from her sword was the result of absorbing Charlotte's power through Sword Radiance.
'I wanted to gather more,'
but this would suffice.
She had amassed enough to shatter Charlotte.
"You're enjoying this too, aren't you?"
She stepped toward Charlotte, curling her lips into a smirk.
"So am I."
Today was the day to dethrone the Sword Saint.
Pelei, the hero of the common folk.
The man who constantly reminded himself that he was a hero.
And now, he faced the one person standing before him.
A figure who, before he knew it, had become a hero hailed by the entire world—surpassing even him.
Krash Valheim.
The aura emanating from Krash was enough to choke Pelei's breath.
Krash was strong.
Pelei had known this ever since the Empire's martial tournament long ago.
That's why, despite his relentless training and growth, Pelei never grew arrogant.
Every time, he'd remind himself that he was still far behind Krash and grip his sword anew.
Perhaps that's why.
By now,
Pelei had grown strong enough to rank in the top tier of the Martial Department.
He'd always brimmed with raw talent as an unpolished gem.
Far from slacking, he'd layered effort upon effort, allowing his talent to fully bloom.
Yet Pelei wasn't satisfied with his current level.
Facing Krash now made him realize it once again.
He still had so much further to go.
And that fact wasn't so bad.
"Krash."
Calling his name, Pelei drew his sword.
The aura rippling from Pelei now properly took the form of sword ki, unlike before.
Proof that he was a master.
"When will I ever catch up to you?"
Krash chuckled softly at Pelei's question.
"Chase my dust forever, punk."
The playful words drew a laugh from Pelei too.
He knew Krash treated him simply as Pelei the person, regardless of status or fame.
That quality of Krash's was what drew countless people to his side, transcending nations and ranks.
"Just don't get caught."
So Pelei fired back.
In that instant, Pelei's figure blurred away.
Before he knew it, he was right in Krash's face.
Krash tilted his head back, barely dodging the blade aimed at his chin.
Fast.
Even with Sixth Sense active, Krash could scarcely keep up—Pelei's Thousand-Li Ten Steps had advanced far beyond its former state.
'He's grown unrecognizable.'
As Krash evaded, Pelei's sword flowed like water, pursuing relentlessly.
The descending blade traced an eerie trajectory.
Dozens of afterimages trailed from the tip, toying with Krash's eyes.
But they weren't mere illusions.
Kagagagagang!
The moment Krash's blunt sword reacted to Pelei's, it felt like dozens of blades assailed it at once.
The barrage was like a downpour of rain.
Clear Rain Oddity - Three Forms: Plum Rain
Afterimages persist like relentless rainy-season downpours.
Pelei's sword afterimages continued without end.
Kagagagagang!
Each clash with Krash's Thunderclap shook it violently.
Deflecting dozens of blades at once made absorbing the shock impossible.
Moreover, Pelei's Thousand-Li Ten Steps kept him within an inch of Krash.
He gave Krash no respite, pressing the assault ceaselessly.
'A technique designed to counter my blunt sword, huh.'
The blunt sword was meant to dominate space slowly in the opponent's eyes, leaving them no room to swing.
But Pelei's Plum Rain afterimages denied Krash any chance to seize control.
Even when he thrust Thunderclap to claim space, afterimages lingered, interfering.
The blunt sword couldn't fully deploy.
[You've met your match.]
Crimson Garden's giggling voice echoed briefly.
As she said, Pelei had apparently refined this technique relentlessly since losing to the blunt sword at the last tournament, solely to break it.
Kagagagagang!
Once more, their swords clashed with a resounding echo.
But Pelei knew it too.
This alone wouldn't defeat Krash.
And so,
Pelei's sword began to flow differently.
The afterimages from his strikes no longer vanished—they lingered in place.
As Pelei danced his blade, the number of residual afterimages steadily increased.
By the time Krash noticed the glass-like remnants—
Jjanggrang!
The afterimages shattered in unison.
And the fragments poured straight toward Krash.
Clear Rain Oddity - Four Forms: Wind, Frost, Snow, Rain
Shattered afterimage shards rain down like a blizzard.
The afterimage fragments pelted Krash like blinding snow and hail.
Krash swung his sword to bat them away.
Seizing the opening, Pelei lunged in ambush.
Afterimage shards plus Pelei's phantom blades.
Krash felt like he was forging through a storm.
Kagagagagang!
Sword cries rang out as fragments swarmed.
So sharp were the shards that they tore nearby buildings to shreds.
Fit, pitpit!
Their numbers overwhelmed even Krash's blunt sword.
Proof lay in the shallow cuts accumulating on his body from grazing shards.
'Each one infused with aura.'
Krash's body was hyper-reinforced by Durandal's secret art, Dragon Fall Prison.
Yet Pelei had embedded aura in every shard, enough to mark that flesh.
Thanks to Dragon Fall Prison, no serious wounds, but the minor gashes kept mounting.
He'd grown strong.
Pelei had truly become unrecognizable.
Smoke trailed from Krash's mouth.
Second-stage Annihilation Erosion wouldn't suffice against Pelei.
"Haha."
Amid it all, a laugh escaped Krash's lips.
Pelei had grown this strong chasing him.
So he had to show Pelei.
Just how much stronger the man he chased had become.