Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Sword Saint's Pursuit
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A forest a short distance from Sahā Village.
Broadleaf trees with wide, flat leaves formed a dense canopy overhead.
A lone Half Dark Elf raced through the woods.
Kaboom!
In that instant, a deafening explosion echoed from afar, shaking the entire forest.
Crack-crack-craaaack!
Birds, startled by the blast, shot up into the sky all at once.
Soon after, the sound of crashing trees reverberated through the air.
The Half Dark Elf knew exactly what had caused the noise.
Leyzon snapped his head up.
Beyond the thick cluster of trees, he could hear the clash between Vampire Queen Syria and Sword Saint Begriss.
The ground trembled from their collision.
Even Leyzon struggled to keep running on the quaking earth.
"Bone Broom."
He immediately activated his magic.
A bone broom materialized beneath Leyzon and sped through the forest in a flash.
Leyzon somehow avoided smashing into trees and pressed forward.
Whoosh!
Before long, he burst through the trees and underbrush.
There, at the base of a cliff, lay a riverbank strewn with pebbles and boulders.
Syria soared above it, shadows trailing her.
Hot on her heels came the Sword Saint.
His long red hair whipped wildly as he bared his ferocious eyes.
'Good thing I took the shortcut.'
He'd barely caught up.
Vmmm!
Just then, a pure white, formless energy enveloped Begriss's sword.
A slash erupted from his swing.
The pristine white crescent sliced through the river and bore down on Syria.
Kaboom!
Syria's shadow repelled the slash.
But her shadow's power was weaker than usual.
Leyzon realized what the energy cloaking his blade truly was.
'Holy power.'
His eyes widened.
Now he understood why Syria hadn't ended it quickly.
'Sword Saint, so that's why your Bluebird Knights got wiped out and you vanished without a trace.'
During his absence, he'd mastered holy power.
Holy swordsman.
That was his class now.
And holy swordsmen had extreme advantages against undead.
'And that sword.'
Leyzon even identified the blade he wielded.
[Faded Dream of Divinity]
A legendary weapon that drastically amplifies the holy power of its user. The ultimate gear for a holy swordsman.
'And Sword Saint's at 18 Ascensions.'
Leyzon's face twisted in disbelief.
18 Ascensions meant he was on par with Dragon Lord Estelle.
Sword Saint, indeed.
'What kind of monster is this guy?'
Rumors said he'd been quietly working at the Pioneer Exchange lately, hiding this insane strength.
'No wonder he took the guild management position.'
Even major guild masters would tuck tail before him.
Disobey, and guilds, everything—gone in a flash.
And now, he faced Syria.
'But Syria won't lose.'
From hero-tier and up, a single level difference was overwhelming.
No matter his holy swordsman class or [Faded Dream of Divinity].
The longer the fight dragged, the more it favored Syria.
But time was on his side.
Without a quick resolution.
Reinforcements would surely arrive here.
And given the matchup, Syria couldn't shake him easily.
"Fierce Poison Spread."
Leyzon raised his staff.
Thanks to Poison Fragrance [SS], the fierce poison took on a black hue.
"Attribute Fusion, Hemorrhage Restoration."
A sphere of blood materialized before him.
Mana regenerated rapidly to replace what was spent.
The effect of Poison Recovery [B], acquired in the Sahā Realm dungeon.
At the same time, Leyzon gripped the ring on his finger.
"I was saving this for the next dungeon."
But here it was in play.
The ring was called [Ring of Harmony].
A secret weapon he'd snapped up at the black market.
The key was its special effect, 'Harmony'.
For every 50 mana spent casting, magic attack power rose 10%.
A typical B-rank spell cost around 25 mana on average.
Charging increased costs, but Harmony only applied on initial cast.
So charging didn't trigger it.
To see real value, you needed SSS-rank spells with massive mana costs.
Low-rank spells gained little from the ring.
But the Ring of Harmony had one obscure trigger.
Tied to Attribute Fusion.
Attribute Fusion counted as a single spell on activation.
Using the full mana cost of the fused spells.
For Harmony's calculation.
"Attribute Fusion, Fierce Poison Spread."
Fierce poison seeped into the fierce poison blood sphere once more.
"Attribute Fusion, Hemorrhage Restoration."
The added blood swelled the sphere larger.
"Attribute Fusion, Fierce Poison Spread."
And he repeated the process endlessly.
Leyzon opened his bag with his free hand.
He pulled out a vial of poison.
And downed it without hesitation.
Gulp-gulp—
Bitter taste flooded his mouth.
Poisonous Constitution [C] blocked the pain.
Instead, the poison's power surged stronger through his body.
'Poison Recovery.'
Poison Recovery [B] converted it all into mana regeneration.
Mana swelled anew.
A grin crept across Leyzon's lips.
Fierce Poison Spread and Hemorrhage Restoration.
Drink poison.
Poison Recovery restores mana.
An infinite loop of three beats kicked off.
In Dungeon Replay, mana potions were limited to under five uses.
Regen weakened, plus drug addiction debuff.
'But Poison Necromancers have a workaround.'
Poisonous Constitution [C] and Poison Recovery [B].
Infinite mana via these two skills.
'Why Poison Necromancers excel at mob grinding.'
With just these, their mana was near endless.
So now.
Leyzon used the skills and poison.
To endlessly refill mana and spam spells.
In this absurd loop.
The fierce poison blood sphere grew without bound.
The Ring of Harmony blazed fiercely.
Mana poured out, filled by Poison Recovery.
But Leyzon realized one thing too late.
The gap between reality and game systems.
Systems weren't always like real life.
"Grk-grk-grrrk."
Foam bubbled from Leyzon's mouth.
Beneath the grotesquely swollen fierce poison blood sphere.
His mana circuits burned.
No matter how infinitely mana regenerated, he was spending it.
Empty, fill, empty, fill—endlessly.
His circuits couldn't stay intact.
Real body, full strain.
His flesh quaked like it might shatter.
Circuits screamed, muscles and bones around them wailed.
His heart raced in response.
A groan escaped Leyzon's lips.
"Hng, heh-heh."
But soon, he was laughing.
Blood trickled from his nose.
Mixed with blood in his mouth, his eyes gleamed madly.
In agony, he laughed like a maniac.
"W-Worthy... of the name!"
Leyzon's staff moved.
"This... insane setup... will birth absurd results."
Body breaking, spell power soaring.
Simple as that.
"Attribute Fusion, Shadow Citadel! Attribute Fusion, Morale Burst!"
Then amp the power even more!
Shadow Citadel and Morale Burst added attack boosts.
Suddenly, the fierce poison blood sphere filled the sky like it might burst.
Air warped and trembled.
The landscape distorted around the massive energy.
The fierce poison blood sphere asserted its ridiculous presence.
"Attribute Fusion, Dragon Scales!"
Air currents mixed into the fierce poison blood sphere.
Gravity twisted by the giant orb whipped up gales.
Rumble-rumble-rumblerumble!
Trees toppled away from the sphere.
Thud!
At that moment, the Sword Saint pursuing Syria finally sensed it.
He saw the massive sphere that had eclipsed the setting sun.
'What the hell is that?'
A sudden energy mass.
Dangerous.
If it fell, the whole area would vaporize.
Begriss's eyes bulged.
At the same time, they locked onto the figure below the sphere.
A man unfolding the colossal fierce poison blood sphere.
Grinning with mad glee.
A lunatic mage, plain and simple.
Screeeeech!
Begriss halted his pursuit of Syria.
His gaze left her.
His instincts screamed.
Right now, that mad mage was the greater threat.
He rocketed up the riverbank at blinding speed.
Holy light surged fiercer on Begriss's sword.
His form blurred.
In that instant, red lightning moved.
Lightning [SS]
Move at lightning speed in an instant. Paired with 18-Ascension Silver Hero-tier Sword Saint, guarantees instant kills on hit.
He struck at the man's neck with lightning speed.
Up close, the mage's power seemed mismatched to his low level.
At that level, his head would fly the moment the blade touched.
Begriss was certain—in that split second.
Then he saw the man's body shrink, hair lengthen.
Just before the sword connected.
Red shadows erupted around him, blocking the blade's path.
Clang-clang-claaang!
Lightning arced from the sword.
Begriss's eyes slowly widened.
Leyzon's lips curled into a savage grin.
A ploy from the start—to lure Begriss straight to him.
And Begriss fell for it beautifully.
Leyzon's grin filled Begriss's vision.
His max-charged fusion spell.
Now boosted by Undead Union.
The fusion magic's power had surpassed grand mage territory.
Fully charged.
"Fierce Poison Explosion."
Dig in.
And the world ignited.
Kraka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-boom!
The explosion's flash engulfed the entire mountain.
Whipping gales and storms ravaged the air.
Trees caught in the blast snapped like twigs.
Thick poison mist and heavy blood scent filled the forest.
At the epicenter.
Tss-tss-tsss!
The one who'd activated Lightning [SS].
Sword Saint Begriss Fernando skidded to a halt, carving a long scar into the ground.
He'd been hurled far from his original spot, gasping raggedly.
"Hoo, haa."
Drip-drip—
Blood oozed from his mangled skin.
Hack—
He barely swallowed something rising in his throat.
Beneath his red hair.
Blood streamed from his forehead.
His jade eyes assessed his condition.
Not strikingly handsome.
But his unique, distinctive face was contorted.
'Both arms broken, one leg too.'
He stood somehow now, but knew he was a wreck.
Just before the blast.
He'd desperately pulled back with Lightning.
Had he failed, even he wouldn't have survived unscathed.
'That mage... what was he?'
The lunatic grinning with near-madness.
His spell had inflicted critical damage on an 18-Ascension Silver Hero-tier like him.
'Never seen that kind before.'
And judging by the type, no ordinary magic.
Darkness itself.
He knew wielders of such magic.
'Necromancer.'
He recalled the one he'd chased moments ago.
A being who'd appeared only three times in the empire's history.
Vampire Queen.
Syria Nosferatu.
His jade eyes boiled with quiet rage and hatred.
'Karis.'
Sword Saint's friend, Bluebird Knights' captain.
Publicly, the knights disbanded.
But he and the order's annihilation tied to the Vampire Queen.
'For this day.'
He'd learned unused holy power.
Scoured empire deserts for legendary [Faded Dream of Divinity].
Yet even searching nationwide, no trace of Syria.
Finally found her.
Only to lose her so futilely.
Bam!
He slammed his broken leg down.
Pain flared, but greater fury swept him.
'Finally, finally found her.'
Pure chance spotting her.
Inspecting Sahā Village due to Steel Wolf Guild issues.
Never dreamed of facing the white demon there.
But now, no sign of her anywhere.
Vanished with the explosion, no doubt.
'Lost her.'
His usual stoic face twisted in long-buried anguish.
Sword Saint ground his teeth silently.
'That necromancer.'
His jade eyes blazed fiercely.
'Certain.'
Vampire Queen.
That necromancer was her master.
The Abyss.
"...I'll take up the sword again."
In boiling rage, he quietly gripped his blade.
His friend's death held too many questions.
Truths even Sword Saint couldn't reach.
He had no choice but to cling to the Vampire Queen who knew.
But she'd evaded empire-wide hunts.
Despair gripped him; he dropped the sword.
Unable to avenge his friend.
Thus, Sword Saint wasted years at the Pioneer Exchange.
15 years since Bluebird Knights fell.
The Vampire Queen he'd hunted endlessly appeared at last.
The sword, long discarded.
"Next time we meet."
He swung silently through the poison mist.
Even with broken arms, driven by vengeance, he slashed.
"I won't let you escape."
The moment Sword Saint took up his sword again.