Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Threefold (1)
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Faced with Yuri's bold declaration aimed straight at him, Muchi floundered, at a complete loss for what to do.
"Ah... um......"
Seeing this, the corners of Yuri's mouth curled up wickedly.
In the next instant, his figure shot forward at blinding speed.
*Thwack-*.
In just a few steps, the six-meter gap closed.
*Shing-*.
A blade of silver sword energy hurtled toward Muchi's neck.
"......?!"
The ambush happened in the blink of an eye.
Ralph stood right beside Muchi, but even with his grandson in peril, he showed no particular reaction.
Instead, he simply watched Yuri with faintly intrigued eyes.
It was possible only because he trusted the grandson he had trained.
And as if repaying that trust, Muchi reacted to Yuri's attack as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"W-Wait a second!"
Contrary to his panicked shout, Muchi reflexively swung the wooden spear gripped in his hand.
Yuri, of course, scoffed.
"What do you mean, 'wait a second'?"
The blade heading for Muchi's neck suddenly veered off course midway.
A direction change executed in a flash.
*Slash-*.
The wooden spear sliced clean through, and Yuri swiftly withdrew, sheathing his sword.
As if the spear had been his target all along.
He now gazed at Muchi with eyes that asked what he would do next.
Watching this, Ralph chuckled softly and extended his hand.
The smithy's door shattered, and something flew straight into Ralph's grasp.
*Boom-*.
What coiled around Ralph's hand like it belonged there was a massive halberd gleaming with a faint reddish hue.
It was at least four meters long.
With its jagged blade protruding, it almost looked like a guillotine blade attached to a pole—an eerie weapon indeed.
It was Halcyon, his beloved weapon that had accompanied him through countless battlefields alongside Ralph.
Ralph tossed it in front of his grandson.
*Thud!*
Halcyon stabbed into the ground before Muchi.
"Grandfather?"
Even at his grandson's call, Ralph gave no reply and shuffled over to Johan's side.
Now facing Muchi alone in the wide open space, Yuri wiggled his sword teasingly.
"What're you doing? Gonna pick it up or what? Fight me barehanded?"
"Why......"
Muchi couldn't fathom why Yuri was going this far.
That bewilderment reached Yuri.
His lips twisted into a smirk.
"Curious? About why I'm doing this?"
*Nod-*
"Want me to tell you?"
*Nod nod-*
As Muchi nodded repeatedly, Yuri flashed an infuriating grin and yelled.
"Nope! Not telling!"
While Muchi stood there stunned by the childish taunt, Yuri launched forward again.
The charge resumed.
This time, his movements were far swifter than before.
Seeing Yuri close in instantly, Muchi hesitated.
Should he grab the Halcyon in front of him or not?
But such deliberation was a luxury he couldn't afford.
"Get your head in the game!"
Spotting Muchi's hesitation, Yuri swung his sword without a shred of doubt.
The blade flew at him with ferocious momentum, laced with killing intent.
In that split second, Muchi's eyes shook wildly.
'This guy's... serious!'
The killing intent directed at him was real.
The realization that he might die triggered Muchi's survival instincts.
And finally.
*Grab-*.
Muchi seized Halcyon.
*Clang-*.
Halcyon's shaft whipped through the air like a lash, batting away Yuri's sword.
It then immediately thrust toward Yuri's upper body.
Yuri's deflected sword used that momentum to arc back around in a circle.
*Clang-*.
This time, Yuri's sword parried Muchi's halberd.
*Whoosh-*.
As the shaft grazed overhead, whipping up a gust, Yuri shouted excitedly.
"What the? You're pretty good when you try!"
At Yuri's cry, Muchi gritted his teeth and tried to create distance.
But Yuri wasn't about to let him.
"Heh, where do you think you're going?"
A four-meter halberd.
A 1.2-meter sword.
At this close range, the odds were overwhelmingly in Yuri's favor.
He had no intention of giving up that advantage.
Yuri swung his sword with a bright smile.
*Scraaang!- Tang-*
Sharp metallic clashes rang out in succession.
Sparks flew between the two weapons as they traded blows.
*Clang- Claaang!*
Yuri and Muchi struck and parried at astonishing speeds.
It was a far cry from half a year ago, when Yuri had been knocked out in one blow.
This was the result of Yuri's muscles and bones, honed through grueling training.
Of course, it was still only six months.
No amount of training could match the nearly ten years Muchi had spent building his foundation, inheriting Ralph's physical prowess.
What bridged that gap in training time was...
"...Incredible battle sense."
Yuri's innate combat intuition.
Evasions that minimized movement to the razor-thin edge.
Perfect distance maintenance, measured to a T.
Anticipating the opponent's next move and acting a step ahead.
This was not the skill of someone who had held a sword for a mere six months.
Ralph watched Yuri in astonishment.
'It's like a completely different person.'
Back in their first spar, Yuri had misjudged Muchi as too timid to attack and charged recklessly, only to get floored.
Was this really the same guy?
'He just didn't know how to use his talent back then.'
In other words, he'd elevated his senses to this level in just six months.
'Compared to Muchi... no, it's not even close. Overwhelming.'
Even if he doted on his grandson, Ralph had to acknowledge the truth.
Yuri's combat sense and learning ability utterly surpassed Muchi's.
But that admiration didn't last long.
"Hey! Is that all you got? Skip breakfast or something? Why're you so weak? Put some real power into it!"
As he pressed the assault, Yuri's mouth never stopped moving.
Ralph sighed and turned to the side.
"...Did you teach him that too?"
"Teach him what?"
"Taunting the enemy with your mouth while fighting. He's the spitting image of his senior."
"You little... That's just the kid's nature! Teach him what?"
Johan glared furiously.
Ignoring him effortlessly, Ralph eyed Yuri with an odd look.
'Not bad at all.'
Though the real-sword duel had started abruptly, Ralph wasn't displeased.
In fact, he was grateful to Yuri.
'Muchi's first real-sword duel too.'
They'd trained with live blades before, but never sparred with them against a proper opponent.
A duel with a peer like Yuri would be valuable experience.
But Ralph worried about his grandson's temperament.
'How will a kid who shies away even from spars react to Yuri charging in recklessly with a real blade?'
Moreover, the Yuri who'd grown over the past half-year was no longer someone Muchi could just "suppress" like before.
If it wasn't a situation he could control, how would Muchi respond?
Curious about that, Ralph had even brought out Halcyon and played along with Yuri's pace.
'And it looks like Yuri's got something in mind too.'
Wondering what that was, Ralph watched the duel with a somewhat serious expression.
*Clang- Twing-*
Sparks continued flying as their weapons clashed.
Five minutes, ten, fifteen, twenty.
Their fierce battle showed no signs of tiring.
*Drip- Plip plip-*
Meanwhile, small raindrops began falling from the darkening sky.
*Clang- Tang!*
*Plip- Patter patter-*
The sharp ring of metal.
The patter of drizzle on the roof.
The hurtling blades of deadly intent.
Yuri clinging like a leech.
The desperation to somehow break free.
All of it began to wear on Muchi's psyche.
'Why... why is this happening......?'
All I wanted was to live peacefully.
I don't want to fight anyone.
If I hurt someone... they'll call me a monster again, right?
I hate that.
Why is Yuri going this far?
Can't we just get along?
A torrent of thoughts drove Muchi further into a corner.
His chest filled with something swelling inside.
Finally, unable to hold back, Muchi spat out his frustration.
"Uwaaaah, stop it!"
With a massive roar, crimson mana erupted from Muchi's entire body.
'......?!'
Sensing the sudden threat, Yuri instantly leaped back.
For the first time since the duel began, he created distance from Muchi.
In that moment, surging red light flowed along Muchi's arms, making the long shaft sway languidly.
Left, right.
Ripple.
Up, down.
Surge.
The massive halberd whipped around like it defied physics, like a living whip, tracing red lines with every swing.
Schnell Halberd Arts.
Frenzy.
One of the signature techniques that had earned Ralph Schnell the moniker "Butcher" revealed itself.
A chill ran down Yuri's spine at the eerie red glow.
One, two, three, four.
The red energies multiplied exponentially, gradually dominating the surroundings, each one brimming with devastating power.
The moment he realized this, Johan's words flashed through Yuri's mind.
[People see Ralph's build and assume he uses brute-force spearwork that crushes everything with raw power. Sure, he's got stupid strength, but... what that bastard actually pursues is spearwork centered on flashy techniques.]
Back then, he'd only understood it intellectually.
But witnessing the feast of red lines Muchi created, Yuri truly felt the "flashy technique-centered spearwork."
*Swish swish-*
The trajectories carved by Muchi's mana and blade contained not just power, but perfect calculation.
'Even those wild swings of the halberd... they're actually meticulously laid traps?'
Flashy techniques drawn upon a foundation of strength.
That was the driving force behind Ralph becoming a master of the halberd today.
And that force had been fully passed down to Muchi.
Yuri smirked at the layered red net enveloping him.
'Telling me to stay back?'
Muchi's mana had completely seized a certain area.
It felt like a warning directed at him.
Don't come closer.
Stop harassing me!
Feeling it clearly, Yuri sneered.
'Already? But we're just getting started.'
The problem was how to break through it.
"Hmm......"
The tangled red trajectories weren't easy to touch carelessly, and even if he did, who knew how they'd shift.
Outmatched in power, and too complex to read and counter.
Only one option remained.
'Dodge everything and punch through.'
Yuri's eyes gleamed.
He believed.
In Johan's stories.
[Ralph's halberd arts are undoubtedly supreme martial body techniques. Power, skill—nothing lacking. But there's one person that brute never beat. Who? Who else? Me, obviously!]
And in his own efforts!
[Ah, sure, the biggest reason is that I'm a genius incomparable to that muscle pig... but the real key was compatibility.]
The past half-year.
Without missing a day, he'd run until his legs were on the verge of bursting.
Rain or shine.
Rain or wind.
Falling, tumbling, tearing skin, bleeding—he ran every day.
[His weapon's a heavy one, and his martial body arts maximize destructive power, so every motion has to be big. Sure, he polishes the flaws with technique... but Redner house martial body arts aren't slow enough to get hit by that sluggish worm-crawl.]
The reason he'd run every day until he vomited his guts and teetered on death's door was simple.
[Rejoice in the honor. You've learned the world's fastest, freest martial body art.]
Because...
"Someday... I'll walk on clouds."
*Step-*
The instant Yuri's foot powerfully pushed off the ground.
Redner House secret martial body art.
Cloud Step.
*Humm-*
His mana core pulsed, vigorously pumping mana into the mana circuits etched into his flesh.