Beyond the Domain of Time
His clouded pupils, and above all, the raw, unbridled power radiating from him without restraint, made it clear his condition was far from normal.
How gruesome.
The corpses of heroes lay scattered across the room. Having piled up over the past week, they had begun to rot, filling the air with a sickening stench of decay. It was still hard to believe that the man standing in the center of this carnage was Libero.
It must be because of her.
I shifted my gaze to the other Demon King standing opposite Libero. Demon King Guineus. She possessed the same captivating beauty I remembered from the game's graphics—though her horns and wings were broken, and her limbs were severed.
If I cut her throat, Libero should snap out of it.
Of course, Libero, under her thrall, wouldn't just stand by and watch. I had to somehow bypass Libero and kill Guineus. It was no simple task. I would have to pour absolutely everything I had into this fight.
Before committing everything, I tried speaking to Libero one last time.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
But there was no answer. Instead, the wretched figure of Guineus behind him spoke.
"It's useless. I don't know what you are to him, but he is already under my mental domination."
I already knew that much. Which meant my next move was already decided.
Thirty minutes is more than enough time for either me or that bitch to end up dead.
I pulled an Awakening Pill from my inventory and swallowed it. Instantly, I felt a vivid surge of power as my stats began to climb. It was an incredible sensation, but the sheer speed of this growth was bound to place a heavy toll on my body.
Status.
Because the body I had used during the Trial was not my own, my actual stats weren't much different from when I had first parted ways with Libero. But now, those stats were rapidly climbing.
Good. My stats had definitely increased. Though my Agility still lagged behind, my Strength alone had risen to just below Gwen's level. It was entirely thanks to the Awakening Pill, but these were now stats that no ordinary person without a Stigma could ever hope to match.
Having pushed my stats as high as they could go, I drew the Gravitus Replicant.
It's been a while.
The memories of my hundredth run felt like a dream from a lifetime ago, making the weapon feel incredibly nostalgic. Feeling its familiar grip in my hand, I wondered what I would have done without it.
Weight Seal.
The weight of the sword vanished.
Wind Authority.
The Wind Authority began to swirl around me as well. Compared to before the Trial, the wind whipped and howled with far greater ferocity. Of course, unlike my swordsmanship, I had only been able to raise my proficiency with the Wind Authority up until my thirteenth run, when I challenged the first Trial. After that, I had to dedicate myself entirely to swordsmanship, meaning I couldn't attempt the first Trial again. However, perhaps because the Wind Authority naturally suited my aptitude, its proficiency had risen surprisingly fast. Thanks to that, my Wind Authority now boasted a rank of B+. I could finally consider it one of my core strengths.
I wrapped the Wind Authority around my feet and lunged forward, kicking off the ground.
Libero's sword distorted Space. Because of this, his reach was far longer than it appeared. Yet, even the space he could warp had its limits. The moment I crossed into his range, his strike flashed toward me.
Here it comes.
Enhanced by the Wind Authority, my instantaneous movement was equivalent to an Agility rank of B+. Yet Libero's sword was so fast it made that speed look like a joke. I hurriedly raised my blade.
I might not remember the theoretical concepts of his swordsmanship, but...
...the swordsmanship carved into my flesh through hundreds of years of training could not be forgotten. I angled my blade and deflected Libero's strike.
"What did he just...!"
Guineus's eyes widened as she watched the exchange. It made sense. No hero before me had ever succeeded in blocking Libero's sword. But I was different. My swordsmanship wasn't on Libero's level yet, but I knew his style better than anyone else. After all, the swordsmanship I used was his very own.
I might not be able to defeat him in a pure duel of blades, but I can certainly defend myself.
The stat boost from the Awakening Pill certainly helped. I kept moving, parrying Libero's incoming strikes as I ran. Sensing that I was different from the opponents he had faced so far, Libero began to focus more of his attention on me.
Now!
An opening presented itself right after I deflected his strike. I pulled Amyah from my inventory and, in one fluid motion, threw it with all the force of my Wind Authority. But my target wasn't Libero. Taking advantage of the moment his focus was locked on me, I aimed for the Demon King, Guineus.
If I can just break her mental domination somehow...!
Accelerated by the Wind Authority, Amyah tore through the air. But in that exact instant, a sensation washed over me—as if time itself had suddenly ground to a crawl.
This is...!
Anyone seeing it for the first time would have panicked. But I still held faint memories of it from the Trial. I had also witnessed him demonstrate it in reality. Even so...
As expected, it wasn't going to be that easy.
Moving alone within the slowed flow of Time, Libero extended his sword aura in a flash, swatting the flying dagger aside. Amyah was deflected, embedding itself deep into the wall.
Is he telling me not to take my eyes off him?
I swallowed hard as Libero effortlessly deflected the dagger and turned his gaze back to me. It seemed bypassing him to strike down Guineus was out of the question. The only path forward was to defeat Libero himself.
Is that even possible?
Though it was never officially confirmed, players estimated Libero's swordsmanship skill rank to be at least SS. Some even argued that if an Ex-rank existed, he deserved it. In contrast, my swordsmanship rank after training with him for hundreds of years inside the Trial was...
...a mere A+.
Of course, "mere" was an understatement. My swordsmanship had previously hit a hard wall at A- rank, even with the help of Precocious, the Blessing of the God of Regret, and Libero's direct guidance. I had broken through that limit twice. But that didn't mean I wasn't disappointed. Before leaving the Trial, I had checked my status. Back then, my swordsmanship was clearly S-rank—the same rank Gwen currently held. The reason it had degraded to A+ was likely because I had forgotten the theoretical principles Libero taught me. In fact, the strikes that occasionally flowed from pure muscle memory felt far too advanced to belong to a mere A+ rank.
It was impossible to relearn those theories from Libero right now. Therefore, I had to sharpen my instincts to their absolute limit. If I combined that with my Wind Authority and the Gravitus Replicant...
I have a fighting chance.
If Libero had been in his right mind, I wouldn't have stood a ghost of a chance. But currently, he was under Guineus's mental domination. Perhaps because of that, his movements were slightly slower than usual. Now I finally understood why Libero had warned me that the half-beat delay of my Absolute Obedience was a fatal flaw. Once swordsmanship reached a certain level, a delay of just half a beat was a massive weakness—one large enough to bridge the gap between A+ and SS ranks.
Let's see what we can do.
I abandoned all thoughts of trying to slip past him. Instead, I charged straight at Libero. My attack range was shorter than his. If I stayed at a distance, I would be forced to do nothing but defend.
I can't just keep blocking forever.
To win, I had to go on the offensive. I closed the distance rapidly, parrying his strikes, which were delayed by that crucial half-beat. Even with the delay, Libero's swordsmanship remained incredibly lethal, but as long as I knew his style inside and out, it wouldn't be enough to stop me.
Finally, I stepped into my own striking range. It was still slightly beyond the physical reach of my blade, but I, too, could employ Libero's swordsmanship.
From Line to Space.
I expanded the Wind Authority wrapped around the Gravitus Replicant. It stretched outward, forming a long blade of wind aura that closely mirrored Libero's own. With a sound like compressed air exploding, our swords clashed.
My attack was blocked, but it wasn't without effect.
He's shaken.
It was undoubtedly because I had used his own swordsmanship. His pupils dilated. I couldn't stop here.
Wind Authority.
I channeled the Wind Authority into my right foot and left arm. Spinning diagonally, I brought my sword down in a sweeping slash. I accelerated, and then accelerated again. I refused to let the momentum die. Using the Wind Authority, I piled speed upon speed onto my already blistering movements. Gradually, a familiar sensation washed over me—the world around me began to slow down.
From Space to Time.
Within this slowed space, only Libero and I moved at normal speed. Our exchanges grew faster and faster, spiraling toward an unimaginable velocity. Amidst this endless acceleration, a sudden certainty took root in my mind.
"Is this your limit?"
Why would I declare a limit out loud? Because it wasn't my limit. I was referring to the limit of Libero while under Guineus's control. I could still go faster.
In that instant, Libero's time finally ground to a halt. His sword was frozen mid-swing, coming down from the right. But my blade was still moving. Thrusting straight forward, my sword lunged toward his chest. There was no way for him to block it—unless he broke free of the mental domination on his own.
I did it.
Not me, of course. That damn master of mine had done it again. His sword began to move once more. He had broken free of the mind control.
"You've grown strong, Alan."
"Of course I have."
"But you need to rotate your upper body more to keep it parallel with your blade. Thrust deeper."
He offered a satisfied smile.
"Had you done that, the tip of your blade might have actually grazed me."