One
Sword God gritted his teeth against the ankle biting into him like a mad dog.
He should have been able to block it.
The moment the sword's seal was released, a monstrous wave of demonic energy had burst forth, and Sword God had been able to wield a portion of it.
'Until recently, anyway.'
The Release Sword that Sword God possessed was a weapon beyond Mythic Grade—even he, blessed with an extraordinary talent for the blade, had been unable to master it with any ease.
Merely gripping it scrambled the mind, and drawing on even a fraction of its power felt like having one's soul gnawed away.
In the year since he had finally obtained the weapon, Sword God had devoted himself to nothing but growth, all for the sake of taming the thing that raged like a beast unleashed. A year was hardly a short time, and he had made respectable progress—yet he still could not handle even half of the weapon's power.
No—even thirty percent was beyond him.
Then came the imperial order to return. He had refused the proposals of the Duke of Spirit Gods and the Duke of Magic and gone straight to Hwangyeolgong.
Following Hwangyeolgong's scheme, Sword God had approached the Duke of Magic, and from her he had heard a single offer.
'That power. Don't you want to use all of it?'
He had been tempted. But he had refused.
Someone like the Duke of Magic would surely demand something in return, and with her magic having reached its very pinnacle, she might well weave some magical binding into the bargain.
She had only smiled, a seductive curve of her lips.
'Oh, come now. You think I would?'
'You've proven enough.'
'Ha! Seems I've been underestimated. Fine.'
Zaaaang...
"...!"
"Dying, are you?"
'This once, I'll do it for free. But you'll have to show me results.'
Just before he was driven into the earth, a violet magic circle bloomed behind Sword God's back—and the demonic energy coiling around his blade began to amplify.
THRUM! The hammer that had been crushing him down shuddered, and through the gap, blazing violet eyes flashed.
'My magic is'quite'expensive, you see.'
KWAAAAANG!!!
The hammer was blasted away by the extreme-condensed sword strike.
Freed at last, Sword God looked down at the monster in his hand.
'The Release Sword, Berd.'
Perhaps enraged at having been pinned into the dirt, Berd spewed out a thick, murderous roar—and at Sword God's will, the blade moved on its own.
Its destination was—
"You're the one who dies."
FWOOOOSH!
Lily's left arm.
Lily's left arm was cleaved away in a single stroke, particles of blood scattering into the air.
Her eyes widened slightly—whether from genuine shock or something else, it was hard to say. But to Sword God, it looked a little different.
'...Disgust?'
Rather than anger or confusion, an instinctive revulsion had surfaced on Lily's face.
"Hnngh."
Whatever the reason—an opportunity was an opportunity.
Sword God scattered a wave of demonic energy toward the off-balance Lily and swung his blade in a single, merciless arc.
It was the same sluggish sword strike as before—and yet utterly different. A single swing became dozens, and every one of those swings came screaming down toward Lily.
Lily, having lost her left arm, murmured something under her breath—and a brilliant white radiance wrapped around her.
At last the hammer, too, was bathed in that light, and then—
KWAAAAAAAAANG!!!
It came slamming down into the earth.
"Wha—"
Before the word could even finish, the dozens of sword strikes were pulverized by the shockwave. The blades lost their form and dissolved, and the demonic energy that had choked the air was wiped away entirely by that distant, blinding light.
At some point, Lily had taken up the hammer once more—gripping it in her left arm—and was regarding Sword God with cool indifference.
"That magic circle."
"...?"
"Was it the Duke of Magic who granted you that power?"
Lily asked, still holding the hammer, and Sword God said nothing.
There was no reason to tell her, and besides—
'What in the world is that ability?'
An unknowable light that had erased even his demonic energy outright. It was certainly similar to Hwangyeolgong's power, and yet subtly different.
Hwangyeolgong's strength might well be superior—but this felt fundamentally, essentially other.
As if they belonged to entirely different dimensions of existence...
KUUNG!
"If you won't say—"
The hammer of incomprehensible weight readied itself to fall once more.
"—then I'll just have to ask it directly."
"...Your confidence pierces the heavens. But you will never reach me."
At his words, Lily simply soared upward, raising the hammer for another descent.
Sword God lifted his blade as if in contempt.
'Doesn't she realize it won't work?'
He would grant that the brute force was impressive—but with the Release Sword's power flowing through him in full, Sword God had grown strong enough to cross blades with the Three Great Dukes themselves. Unless she possessed some singular technique, such a crude, straightforward smash could never break through.
And she didn't seem like someone ignorant of that fact.
'What a disappoint—'
"Blunt Weapon Technique, Wind Dragon."
The hammer, imbued with the power of the wind, hurled his sword away—and then crushed Sword God flat.
"Uh...?"
The entire broadcast had frozen solid. The commentators were frozen, and the chat window was wallpapered with question marks and disbelief.
It had been a brutal, desperate battle. The clash of the very strongest had given viewers a rush of exhilaration, and every time a technique was countered, the tension ratcheted higher.
Especially when Sword God cut off Lily's left arm, that tension had spiked sharply, drawing in so many viewers that the concurrent audience climbed into the millions. Everyone had been leaning forward, wondering how this fight would end.
And that ending arrived far, far too abruptly.
The moment Sword God was blasted apart by a single blow from Lily.
Caster Kim Yong-woo steadied himself and gripped the microphone.
"Th-the moment I speak, Sword God has been knocked straight into retirement by a single strike from player Lily! Incredible, absolutely incredible, player Lily!"
"Clearly player Lily's single strike unleashed monstrous destructive power. Player Sword God showed real strength himself, cutting off player Lily's left arm—but that arm has already regenerated, hasn't it?"
"One of player Lily's recovery abilities, yes. Whew... seeing it laid out like this, she really is an impregnable player."
She possessed overwhelming power, excelled with polearm-type weapons, and could recover from any wound.
She could even use magic, letting her handle irregular situations with ease.
For anyone facing her, she was enough to drive you out of your mind.
Because in the end, the only way to beat her was to kill her in one hit, just as you'd have to with Lily herself.
"...In any case, the Empire's invasion of the Angel guild has been temporarily delayed. Looking at the situation alone, player Lily has halted the Empire for the moment, but she appears woefully insufficient to stop the forces spreading across the entire continent."
"That's right! What are your thoughts, commentator Aisha?"
"......"
"Commentator Aisha?"
"...That's impossib— I mean—yes?!"
Aisha jolted upright out of her seat, startled half to death. Still wearing an expression of pure astonishment, she took a moment to get her bearings before sliding quietly back down into her chair.
"S-sorry, what was the question?"
"With Sword God defeated, the Empire's advance has been temporarily stopped. How do you see things developing from here?"
"Uh..."
At Kim Yong-woo's question, Aisha closed the mouth that had been hanging open.
It's still unbelievable. I don't understand why Sword God lost... but calm down. Stay calm.
"Ah... personally, I'd say the Empire still has the advantage."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Sword God he... um. Sword God he... somewhat."
AHEM!
"...did get pushed back, but Leo is still out there, and looking at the continent as a whole, nothing about the situation has actually changed."
As Aisha forced the words out through gritted teeth, the chat window erupted in a storm of "LOL"s—but she wasn't wrong.
In less than a single hour, the Empire had captured thirty percent of the continent's castles, and even at this very moment they were swallowing strongholds at a blistering pace.
On top of that, the players resurrecting and returning to the field were being thoroughly bottled up by the Empire's forces. If things continued like this, the Empire's conquest of the continent was all but assured.
"Even for Lily, unless she strikes at the Empire itself, it's imposs—"
"Ah! The moment I speak, player Lily has moved somewhere—!"
This place is...
"Huh?"
Before anyone knew it, Lily was standing at the entrance of a castle so vast it stole the breath just to look at it, gazing up at the golden banner of the sun.
She transformed the hammer back into her spear in one fluid motion, settled into a throwing stance—and then—
KWAJIK!
🏰 Idra Castle has been captured!
She had blown the core apart.
─One.