216
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 216
Tatiana resembled the pure moon.
Pure yet alluring, bright but not blinding, visible yet untouchable.
As a captivating woman who naturally evoked yearning emotions in those who beheld her, her swordsmanship was beautiful like herself.
However, what she held in her right hand was an axe far from alluring.
Since it contained the power of thunder far from tranquility, there was a very slight awkwardness in her movements.
The 'nameless' sword that Tatiana used was a sword with only a long blade and was structured to minimize air resistance, pursuing lightness over heaviness and speed over weight, using the 'Moonlight Sword Technique'.
But Thunder was designed by the blacksmith Pesson with a structure that received a lot of wind resistance from the beginning.
Tatiana had never used a short one-handed axe in her life, nor had she ever used a weapon that received so much wind resistance, so there was some awkwardness.
In a way, it was nothing.
Though it was no different from a tiny speck fallen on a clean silver plate, for a warrior worn down in battlefields like Caesar, it was enough to give an opening to exploit.
Caesar ducked his head and dove into Tatiana's form as she aimed for his neck in one strike.
Thunder grazed Caesar's red hair and passed by, spraying lightning horizontally.
Crash!
The lightning that bloomed from Thunder scattered in multiple directions, breaking and burning trees.
Caesar swung Lefty diagonally upward toward Tatiana's exposed side.
Whoosh!
Tatiana precisely stepped back one step to avoid Lefty that was ferociously lunging to bite her side.
However, Tatiana seemed unaware of the sharp 'Single Wind' wrapped around Lefty and exposed her stomach.
Clang!
Instead of the sound of flesh being cut, the sound of steel clashing came from Tatiana's stomach area.
The reason was simple.
Tatiana was fundamentally a holy knight.
Though she was a technique-type knight, she wore light metal armor.
So Tatiana asked the blacksmith of Shalibi to make armor that was as light as possible while not hindering her smooth and agile movements.
Tatiana was wearing armor named 'Full Moon' which used the world's lightest alloy 'Pluma' as its frame.
However, being light meant weak durability.
A long scratch remained from Tatiana's left side to her chest, and particularly the side area was shallowly torn.
"Raven!"
Raven immediately used Blink to get behind Caesar.
This was because it would be difficult for Caesar to protect Raven if they were far apart.
At the same time, Tatiana's merciless axe attack flew toward Caesar.
Caesar wasn't confident in fully receiving her clean and honest axe without Berserker.
When applying Tatiana's strength and skill to the Valent family's system, it was at the same level as Yan.
It was nonsensical to receive an axe being swung down with exactly the same physical specs as the current Yan.
Raven noticed what Caesar was trying to do from the magic waves emanating and covered her ears.
"Uriaaaaaaaaa!"
Caesar activated 4 stacks of Berserker.
Clash!
When the axes collided, wind and lightning whirled wildly with a terrible roar as if the world had momentarily stopped.
The lightning blooming from Thunder burned Caesar's body, and the sharp wind flowing from Lefty fiercely clawed at Tatiana's armor.
Caesar used Psychometry on Tatiana.
-It's rough and messy.
-It's not organized.
Tatiana immediately noticed the weakness in Caesar's axe technique.
The path of wind is powerful and destructive but equally rough and messy.
Being rough and messy means there's loss in the energy trying to spread out, and that techniques sometimes apply in ways that even Caesar doesn't understand.
That's not a complete technique.
A technique is weaving all acting forces into one work or phenomenon that the user desires.
As if to show what a true technique is, Tatiana swung her axe.
It was so magnificent it created an illusion of lightning moving horizontally.
At the same time, unlike when she tried to behead Caesar earlier, it extended very quickly and lightly.
555Moonlight Sword Technique
Form 3
Wavy Moon
Caesar barely blocked Thunder with Lefty.
However...
Boom!
Four streams of lightning extending from Thunder curved and flew to strike Caesar's stomach.
"Ugh!"
Caesar was momentarily paralyzed by the terrible pain that started from his stomach and numbed his entire body.
Caesar was astounded by Tatiana's organized axe technique.
Tatiana had properly swung an axe only twice in her life.
Moreover, she wasn't in her right mind due to Raum's brainwashing.
Nevertheless, Tatiana had incorporated her Moonlight Sword Technique into the axe.
Following that, Tatiana used a derivative technique she created by applying the Moonlight Sword Technique to Thunder.
555Moonlight Sword Technique
Form 1
Crescent Moon
Tatiana began to swing Thunder horizontally with weight, not fighting against the rough wind flowing through it.
Thunder, which should have been violently shaken by the fierce wind, extended like a boat floating on a calm lake to bite at Caesar's neck.
Caesar had absolutely no confidence in receiving that technique.
At that moment, Caesar and Raven suddenly disappeared from their spot.
It was Raven's spatial movement magic.
"Caesar! Are you alright?"
Cesar nodded slightly and looked at Tatiana.
Tatiana stood nobly like the moon pushing away starlight and night.
Caesar couldn't take his eyes off the unprecedented power condensed in that nobility, finding it too beautiful.
'That is technique.'
In his life, Caesar had only seen axe techniques from Besum, who had created the 'Path of the Wind.'
Even that was seen through psychometry, not actually witnessed with his own eyes.
However, Tatiana had completely incorporated the Moonlight Sword technique into his axe.
This was possible because it was based on Tatiana's complete understanding of the Moonlight Sword technique.
That's why she could recreate her Moonlight Sword technique regardless of whether the weapon became shorter or longer, heavier or lighter.
'I thought Yan was the greatest genius in the world...'
Tatiana was a different kind of genius from Yan.
While Yan was a genius with great observational skills who could easily learn any sword technique and notice weaknesses, Tatiana was an artist-like genius who could perfectly understand her inner self and express her sword technique with any weapon.
Caesar organized his thoughts while taking a deep breath.
The problem was that such a noble and powerful knight was swinging an axe at Caesar.
How would he block Tatiana?
Caesar tried to think calmly but couldn't see an answer.
Tatiana is an extremely difficult knight to handle in the Valent Saga.
When facing Tatiana as a knight, you need to maximize your physical specs and equipment to the highest level.
The Moonlight Sword technique she mastered has no proper counter, and in terms of combat sense and overall aspects, she's similar to or slightly below Yan, making her extremely difficult for a boss appearing in the middle to late parts of Valent Saga.
Instead, if you target Raum who controls her, Tatiana has a gimmick where she stops attacking and switches to defensive stance to protect Raum, and using that gimmick to catch Tatiana was the standard strategy.
However...
'This isn't a game.'
Caesar glanced at Raum.
Judging by the lack of even breathing sounds from Raum, he seemed to be already dead.
The fact that Tatiana was still moving according to Raum's orders didn't make sense 'game-wise.'
This meant he had to face Tatiana head-on, which was impossible with Caesar's body.
Caesar took a deep breath.
He usually tried not to choose the easy way.
Because if he kept following the easy path, Caesar wouldn't improve.
But forget improvement, he was about to die right now.
Tatiana was gradually adapting to Thunder and had reached the level of applying new sword techniques to it.
It was impossible to tell if they could win even with Raven using One-Man Support magic.
Tatiana charged toward Caesar.
555Moonlight Sword Technique
Form 5
Moon Riding
Tatiana moved behind Caesar, drawing a long arc.
Lightning remained where she had passed, and its end was aimed not at Caesar but at Raven.
As Raven was about to use defensive magic in shock...
Thud!
Caesar's hand grasped Tatiana's axe handle.
Tatiana looked at the owner of the rough and thick hand holding the axe handle.
There stood a large barbarian with bronze skin, black eyes, and black pupils.
"Uriyaaaaaa!"
Barre instantly raised Berserker to 7 stacks in front of Tatiana.
Steam erupted from his body as overwhelming power condensed in his muscles, waiting to burst forth in whatever direction Barre desired.
Barre swung Lefty in his right hand down at Tatiana.
Though it seemed there was no escape with his left hand firmly gripping Thunder, Tatiana avoided it as gracefully as silk fluttering in a dancer's hands.
Not stopping there, Tatiana took one step closer to Raven and delivered a side kick.
Barre pulled Thunder toward his body to draw Tatiana in, and Tatiana allowed herself to be pulled without resistance.
However...
Crack!
Tatiana's solid knee struck Barre's chin directly.
It was a clean hit that could have shattered his head, but Barre endured without even flinching.
-...Solid.
Barre swung Leftie at Tatiana.
Tatiana easily avoided Barre's axe, which was clearly much faster than Caesar's.
She even succeeded in striking up his wrist and reclaiming Thunder.
The reason was quite simple.
-Just fast.
-All movements are readable.
The reason Barre could never surpass Yan.
Yan could predict all of Barre's movements just from his gaze and movements and swing his sword accordingly.
At Tatiana and Barre's level, speed and power aren't that important.
The higher the level, the more important prediction and technique become.
It was nearly impossible to catch a technical knight showing quick and light movements like Tatiana with a simple weapon like an axe that hardly shows big changes.
Tatiana swung the reclaimed Thunder.
She handled Thunder like an experienced trainer taming a wild bull.
The aura contained in Thunder spread out gently and smoothly, wrapping around Thunder, and the wrapped aura polished Thunder's rough edges to minimize wind resistance.
As a result, Tatiana began drawing her own moon with Thunder, which had always only made loud noises, now tamed like a gentle lamb.
Barre found it difficult to take his eyes off Thunder's elegant yet beautiful movements.
The pinnacle of technique that Barre... No, Caesar pursued was contained within that.
Barre used psychometry to absorb Tatiana's movements with his whole body.
She was creating her own new Moonlight Sword technique by combining how to wrap aura around Thunder, the changes in Thunder's center of gravity when wrapped in aura, and the differences between Thunder and Flawless.
As Tatiana perfected her Moonlight Sword technique, Barre found it increasingly difficult to handle her.
The lightning Tatiana created continuously struck Barre's body, and small cuts began appearing on his body.
Then, a green light enveloped Barre's body.
Thanks to Raven's 'One-Man Support' magic taking effect, the cuts on Barre's body began healing quickly along with unprecedented power.
Tatiana swung Thunder toward Barre's side.
But Barre didn't block Tatiana's Thunder.
Tung!
A hollow sound that was neither steel clashing against steel nor flesh being pierced echoed with thunder.
The lightning that bloomed from the thunder discharged in all directions, unable to penetrate Barre's skin.
"Have you gotten tougher?"
Tatiana had no time to be bewildered.
She saw Lefty coming towards her as if to split her head.
Tatiana tried to twist her body to avoid Lefty, but...
Crack!
Tatiana's left hand holding Thunder was brutally chopped off by the axe.
"Ah!"
Tatiana retreated backward, letting out only a short groan despite the searing pain.
Barre couldn't pursue immediately.
Because he was too saddened by cutting off the noble knight's left arm.
And he knew.
That Tatiana would charge again.
Tatiana picked up any sword the puppets had used and charged in.
Barre looked at the approaching Tatiana with sad eyes.
Tatiana is left-handed.
There was no way she could properly use the Moonlight Sword technique with just her right hand after losing her left arm.
Clang!
As soon as Barre's Lefty clashed with Tatiana's sword, her sword completely shattered.
Barre's Lefty went through the sword and struck Tatiana's armor.
Thud!
The armor crumbled into rags in an instant.
Tatiana collapsed, coughing blood from the heavy impact that drove into her chest.
When Tatiana tried to escape again, Barre grabbed her right hand and throat.
"Kuk!"
And slowly began to squeeze.
Tatiana struggled, but there was no way she could withstand Barre's strength enhanced by Berserker 7 stacks and One Man Support.
-Must kill everyone...
-Must kill them all...
-That's what I was told...
Tatiana's eyes were filled with just hollow killing intent.
For Barre, it was too painful to watch her become a puppet struggling to kill simply because Raum told her to.
"Tatiana. Remember your younger sister."
Tatiana's gaze wavered.
-My... younger sister...
-Lebelia...
"Yes. Lebelia. Please come to your senses, if only for Lebelia's sake."
-Ah...
Tatiana's purple pupils flickered blue.
Barre continued speaking to Tatiana.
"Didn't you vow revenge against the Royder Order? I will fulfill that dream. I will severely punish the Royder Order who tormented and tortured your sister. So please... Don't make me kill someone as righteous as you."
-Lebelia...
Tatiana's eyes started gradually turning blue.
Was it because Raum wasn't visible?
Or was it because of Tatiana's strong will?
Whatever the influence, Tatiana was gradually improving and her resistance was lessening.
Accordingly, Barre's grip was also loosening.
"Tatiana, please...!"
"So you're trying to steal my masterpiece after all."
Barre turned towards the chilling sound of scraping metal.
There stood Raum.
Raum stretched his hand toward Tatiana.
"If you cannot be mine..."
"No!"
"Die remaining as my masterpiece."
When Raum clenched his fist strongly, there was a thud sound from Tatiana's heart.
"Ah..."
Tatiana's pupils dilated as her final thoughts were heard.
-Lebelia...
"You son of a bitch!"
Barre immediately lunged forward and grabbed Raum's neck.
It was faster than Raum could even cast magic.
Raum gave a hollow laugh as he watched the wailing Barre.
"Why are you sad, Barre? When my artwork has died?"
"You bastard! Where are the pieces of your heart?! I'll grind your entire heart to give you true death...!"
Barre stopped.
The pulse flowing through Barre's palm was quite strong.
"You... Don't tell me?"
"Yes. This is my last life, Barre."
Raum placed his hand on his chest.
"The Beast people destroyed all my heart pieces, so only this one remains."
"Why did you do this? Raum? What was your reason for coming back again?"
Raum looked at the dead Tatiana with empty eyes.
"...Tatiana is my artwork. And at the same time, my only companion."
Raum's hand slowly dug into his chest.
"Who would allow their artwork to become another's possession and their companion to leave?"
Raum gripped his heart.
It pulsed quickly and strongly.
"I curse you, Barre. I will curse you even in death."
"Aaaaargh!"
Raum crushed his final heart fragment.