Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Explosive Flow
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Stormflow.
Stormflow (爆流).
It was exactly as the name implied.
If the winds up until now had merely been blades...
This was those winds gathered into one place, transformed into a tempest.
Whooooosh!
The blade winds turned into a storm.
Kagagak!
The surrounding trees and earth were all shredded by the blades, crumbling to dust.
A storm of blades that devoured everything within its range.
Without distinguishing between enemy or ally, it simply gnawed away at anything caught inside.
Incomplete.
Silvern had boasted about it, but deep down, she harbored feelings of inferiority.
Unification.
This was the phenomenon that occurred because she hadn't fully achieved it.
She simply loved battle.
But it wasn't the kind where lives were truly on the line.
Crushing opponents with overwhelming power.
Her talent had brought her to this realm.
'......'
It was waning.
Silvern gazed at the Stormflow with lifeless blue eyes.
Originally.
This wasn't the wind she had desired.
A storm that greedily devoured everything to grow in size.
What she had wanted was a mere wisp of wind.
The divine gale that sliced through all.
But that was not permitted to her.
Just a storm that greedily swallowed everything to bulk up.
And so, it was called Stormflow.
An explosive wind even she couldn't control.
'......It's over.'
Letting out a sigh, Silvern turned away.
That wind wasn't something a mere level 6 could endure.
Even a level 7 trapped inside would struggle to survive.
Most would meet their end the moment they were caught.
Though without a corpse, the rewards would be meager.
"......!"
At that moment.
A chilling sensation gripped her throat.
She reflexively ducked her waist low.
Even so, puzzlement washed over her.
'Does she have another ally?'
Or had Cheong Yurang already killed Lucia and come chasing after her?
As stray thoughts flooded her mind.
"Hoo."
A voice that shouldn't have been heard rang out.
Silvern turned, her eyes trembling.
Disheveled hair.
And eyes shining vividly.
'Red glow?'
Red eyes began to pin her down.
"......"
Gulp.
He stood arrogantly, sword slung over his shoulder.
Looking down at her.
As if he were some peerless master.
'Not... wrong.'
Monstrous fighting spirit.
Refined, sparking with red lightning.
"If it's over."
Then die.
With those words, like a death sentence.
Darkness rose loftily.
*
Stormflow.
The moment he heard it, the wind sword became a storm.
'......'
Trapped.
This was like a prison made of wind, squeezing him tight.
And he realized there was no way to escape it.
In that case.
'Steal Strike.'
Stealing the thing called Stormflow itself.
That was possible.
'......But the mental drain would be insane.'
The newly evolved S-rank Steal Strike.
For some reason, the guy from the Demonic Cult had opened the Demonic Scripture Gate, and after leveling up there, its rank had changed.
Steal Strike (?).
The evolved version had various functions.
'......But my spirit won't hold.'
He could escape the Stormflow.
But he'd die to Silvern right after.
In that case.
'Another way.'
Suddenly, he saw the empty air.
Air with nothing visible.
The holy sword's words came to mind.
Beings moved by seeds of evil lose their coordinates and fall into imaginary space, dying on their own.
'Holy Sword.'
-What's up?
'What happens if I enter a space with nothing in it?'
-Space? Ah, I see. You're thinking of stealing space to hide and protect yourself there?
The holy sword pondered briefly before replying.
-Hiding itself is fine. It's the back side of space. The danger is in moving.
In that case.
He reached out to the empty air.
Something grabbed in his hand.
'Put me there.'
A new function of Steal Strike.
With that thought, he was suddenly in a dark space.
'Did it work?'
As anxiety trembled in him, the holy sword spoke.
-Success.
'Good.'
-That skill... it's grown even more while I wasn't looking?
'Yeah.'
He didn't know how it evolved.
Just that its rank became a question mark, and functions were added.
'No.'
Honestly, it felt like they were added.
Rather.
'It feels like I'm finally using its proper functions now.'
That's why Steal Strike felt strange.
It was his gift, but unlike others, it was heterogeneous.
The gift that evolved from Thief's Extremity to Divine Territory was heterogeneous too.
'Now I get it a bit.'
Obtaining those two as perks was luck.
Perks worthy of the name, true power.
And.
He acutely felt that only those two abilities could break this situation.
'What to do.'
-There's a simple way.
'......Yeah.'
Handing his body to the holy sword.
However.
Would this happen only once?
And if he relied on the holy sword's power every time?
He could overcome the immediate crisis.
But could he keep doing that?
Impossible.
He closed his eyes. He had to resolve this himself.
How?
[Pathetic.]
Holy Sword?
No, not the holy sword's voice.
Different from before.
Not ringing in his head.
A voice from within him.
-Hm? What's wrong?
With a hunch, he asked.
"No...... I just heard a voice inside me saying 'Pathetic'......"
-......?
He spoke aloud on purpose, but no voice came.
Just, somehow, from within.
'......Talking to me?'
-What are you saying?
'Quiet, Holy Sword.'
He closed his eyes.
But it wasn't speaking, nor saying anything.
Just.
'......'
Throwing a tantrum, as if demanding to be used properly.
That gift's name was.
'Overlord.'
Overlord (S+).
*
A very short time passed.
Feeling the outside grow quieter.
He sensed the Stormflow ending.
And.
'......I think I get something.'
Red currents flowed through his body.
The holy sword had said unification required body, mana, and spirit linked as one.
-Achieving that realm right now is impossible for you.
'What's lacking?'
-......Your spirit is devouring your body and mana.
The holy sword had said as much.
But it was puzzling.
He'd thought his spirit was the weakest.
His body had even grown tougher after gaining the Storm Giant's Heart recently.
'Now I feel like I've surpassed human limits, reaching monster-level defense.'
Yet the holy sword said the opposite.
That body and mana couldn't keep up with his spirit.
Which led to one deduction: the Overlord gift.
Suddenly, the thought struck him.
Will.
To wield that power required unification.
And that power was above mana and ki.
On the same level as divine power.
'Then maybe spirit can too.'
Woooong.
As if affirming, the Thunder Dragon Sword trembled.
Pazik.
Pazizik.
Temperatures that could melt iron in an instant.
Red currents and purple currents began to flow.
Currents of sword ki.
And as they merged into one.
'Huh.'
He emerged from the space.
What he saw was the subsiding Stormflow and Silvern turning away.
'Chance......!'
Using the bow wasn't ideal.
It had the highest power among his skills, but reloading took time. Plus, it guzzled mana, alerting her.
'With that sensation from before.'
Pazizik!!
Purple electricity and red electricity intertwined.
The hero's orthodox swordsmanship.
And binding thirty strands of sword ki into one.
Currents made of ki by Overlord's power.
And purple electricity from Extreme Thunder God.
And thirty sword techniques from the hero's orthodox style.
Combining them all.
Flash!
His vision shifted.
He'd experienced this a few times.
First, with the elves.
Clashing with Rishiel, learning their sword art, Dark Moon.
Then sparring Volkan, learning Black Sea.
Sparring Diago, learning Phantom Sky.
'......But not elves this time?'
A scene unfolded.
Darkness descending.
Slicing through that darkness.
Darkness rising loftily again.
And within it.
Again.
Flash!
His vision cleared.
He opened his eyes.
The combined sword art had been dodged by Silvern.
But oddly, he didn't feel bad.
-......Did you find a way?
'Hm?'
-Looks like it. You're smiling.
Smiling?
He realized he was grinning.
"Unbelievable. A once-in-a-lifetime chance, and you throw it away."
Silvern assumed her stance.
"Curious how you survived, but it doesn't matter. I'll just kill you over and over."
Vicious.
He gripped his sword.
The Thunder Dragon Sword and holy sword trembled.
Red lightning of ki.
Purple lightning from Extreme Thunder God.
All mixed together.
'The hero's orthodox swordsmanship is too flashy.'
-What?!
Ignoring the raging holy sword, he thought.
He didn't know why this swordsmanship reacted to Silvern.
But this swordsmanship.
'It's on another level.'
Dark Moon, Black Sea, Phantom Sky.
Those three were powerful indeed.
But merely clues to the next sword art.
Silvern leaped with full force.
A terrifying speed unlike before.
Dead set on killing him for real.
He steadied his breath.
And swung his sword.
And.
Dark Thunder (冥雷).
"......!"
Darkness struck down.