Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Light Sword Hela (3)
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“……!”
Logan’s face, corroded and transformed by the Light Sword Hela, twisted even more monstrously.
“How… how in the world can a bastard like you use the Deolic family’s swordsmanship?!”
I charged at Logan, who had been blasted back by the power of New Star in one breath, without giving him a moment’s respite, but at that instant, Hela’s blade stretched long and moved like a whip.
Such an irregular attack, unlike the Silver Star Sword, was impossible to predict, so I had no choice but to retreat.
‘Hela’s corrosion is deepening.’
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before Logan completely lost his reason.
Before that happened, I had to destroy Hela with Genova, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
The Human Sword Genova could cut through things that couldn’t be cut, but only when backed by my own skill.
Piercing through Logan’s aura, now at Sword Master level, to slash Hela wasn’t simple.
“Clay Banheart……!”
I watched Logan’s sword as he swung it, screaming my name.
He had sacrificed everything of his own, tearing down the very walls he had once tried so desperately to climb.
That deep aura blade was proof of it.
“I am a Sword Master. Now I am the strongest in this kingdom!”
Madness gradually overflowed in his eyes.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why he had made this choice.
Compared to before, the Deolic family’s prestige had certainly fallen, but even so, it was still a central house in Talua.
Logan Deolic held power that few could even dream of coveting.
‘But why…….’
Recalling the Logan Deolic I had seen since childhood, it was utterly incomprehensible.
The Logan Deolic of the past had been a knight more honorable than anyone.
It was heartbreaking that such a man had fallen this far.
[It’s inferiority complex.]
Gransesia quietly spoke.
[The Deolics have always been compared to the Ribina family, right? I don’t know about at first, but once the Ribina Count pulled ahead, it must have been unbearable.]
Aldred Ribina, whom he saw as his rival, had surpassed Logan Deolic to become Talua Kingdom’s one and only Sword Master.
It might have started as mild resentment, but over time, that feeling had turned into sticky mud, morphing into an inescapable impatience.
And that impatience must have gradually eaten away at his heart, making him sick.
[Just like Rugal.]
The Light Sword Hela was the ‘Madness Disaster.’
It possessed a special power unlike any other demon sword.
When he gripped it, Logan must have found it hard to resist the temptation.
If he just borrowed a little of the sword’s power, he could climb those walls.
Just a little, if he borrowed just a bit more strength, he could shatter them.
After such thoughts repeated, he must have finally given in and made this choice.
Reaching Sword Master realm at the same time as becoming a monster.
[But…… look closely.]
Gransesia whispered to me as I continuously blocked and repelled Logan’s sword.
[He certainly gained the power of a Sword Master. But what does being a Sword Master truly mean?]
Compared to me, Logan right now was undoubtedly a level above.
If I hadn’t fully mastered the Silver Star Sword, I wouldn’t even have been allowed to exchange blows like this.
Logan’s eyes fixed solely on me, and even consumed by madness, he perfectly executed his forms, aiming for my throat.
However, Logan’s sword, which had reached Sword Master by borrowing Hela’s power, was clearly lacking compared to the Sword Masters and greater powerhouses I had seen before.
[Use Insight Eye. With your current level, you’ll clearly see what I mean.]
See it? See what?
‘Even if you say see…….’
As Gransesia said, when I used Insight Eye, I saw numerous flows moving chaotically.
Mana flowing from me to be absorbed by Logan.
And Hela’s power endlessly growing within Logan’s body.
‘Hm……?’
At the moment I noticed something, Logan let out a massive roar.
“Graaaaaargh!”
Hela, having drained considerable power from the Ribina Count and me, swelled Logan’s body even larger.
No trace of reason remained in his eyes, and he was transforming into a perfect disaster.
A incarnation of madness, a monster slaughtering every moving being.
A monster living only to steal lives was awakening.
Logan’s sword strikes had reached a point where they could no longer be called swordsmanship.
“Urgh!”
Even though it was just a simple swing, it felt heavy.
Silver Star Sword latter half, second form: Self-Rotation.
I tried to counter by redirecting his attack, but all I could do was deflect it.
‘It’s tremendous power, but…….’
The moment my sword clashed with Logan’s again, the doubt I felt earlier turned into certainty.
Staring at Logan as he panted like a beast, I gripped Genova even tighter.
“……Impressive, Count Banheart.”
Then, a rough voice came from behind me.
Turning my head, I saw the Ribina Count, covered in wounds here and there.
“Are you alright, Count?”
“This much is nothing.”
He said with a faint smile.
“You’re completely different from before. You really do have the makings of a hero merchant. Well, maybe you already are one.”
“I’m still far from it.”
“Far? Haven’t you noticed something in Logan’s changed movements just now?”
“That is…….”
He was right.
I had felt something odd in Logan’s transformed movements.
“Well, stories later. For now, let’s focus on the enemy in front of us.”
The Ribina Count aimed his sword at Logan.
Realizing his intent, I widened my eyes for a moment. He meant to fight alongside me in sync.
“You’d better keep up.”
Kwaaaang!
With those words, he kicked off the ground.
He stomped so hard that the earth shattered massively, sending up a cloud of dust.
“Logan!”
A red aura surged over the Ribina Count’s—no, the Red Lion’s—entire body. It didn’t look like the aura of someone who had just had his strength stolen by Hela.
His muscles swelled across his body, and his hair flowed like a lion’s mane.
“Al… dred……!”
As the Ribina Count’s figure reflected in his pupils, a faint glimmer of reason seemed to return to Logan’s eyes.
The massive greatsword of red aura blade clashed with the Light Sword Hela in midair.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
The ground cracked like a spiderweb, dust billowing up.
At that moment, Hela’s pitch-black blade pierced through the hazy dust, bending languidly like a scorpion’s tail, aiming for the Ribina Count’s throat.
“Not on my watch!”
The Ribina Count seized the fiercely shooting Hela with his bare hand. Red mana blazed like flames in his grip.
“Raaaaargh!”
A lion-like roar burst from the Ribina Count’s mouth.
He lifted Logan, gripped by Hela, as if he were a child, and slammed him into the ground. It was a ferocious movement unimaginable from his usually endlessly benevolent appearance.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Aldred Ribina was a born knight.
He loved the battlefield and enjoyed combat.
His true nature was as fierce and wild as a lion.
He had merely suppressed that nature in daily life.
And now, the Ribina Count was unleashing his true nature without restraint.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At this point, who was the real monster?
Seeing him, the title of Continental Seven Heroes didn’t feel undeserved.
‘But…….’
Logan was gradually losing his reason, being dominated by the Light Sword Hela.
He too had undoubtedly gained power reaching Sword Master.
Yet there was a clear difference in his sword compared to the Ribina Count’s.
‘He can’t properly wield his own power.’
Logan had gained at least ten times his previous strength through Hela. It was power that could overwhelm any Sword Master, including the Ribina Count, in an instant.
Yet the Ribina Count was holding his own against such a Logan.
‘……He’s lost not just his reason, but his very identity.’
What Logan Deolic had lost to the Light Sword Hela wasn’t just his reason.
Deolic.
Under that name, he had lost even the Deolic family swordsmanship, Silver Star Sword, built up over long years.
In such a state, there was no way he could fully utilize the power he possessed.
On the other hand, what of the Ribina Count?
A body tempered to the limits of humanity.
And the technique backing it.
His steel-like mentality perfectly controlled the given body.
‘That’s it… Five Skandhas.’
What Gransesia had spoken of finally resonated with me.
Unconsciously, I slipped between the two.
Two swords crossed, and a third intruded, leaving gashes on the monster’s body.
“Grraaaaaargh! Graaaaaah!”
Logan Deolic… no, the Light Sword Hela’s roar echoed.
The monster with its mighty body was being pushed back.
The Ribina Count confronting it head-on, and my sword exploiting the gaps in their clash to continuously wound Logan’s body.
“Power… I lack power! Power… I lack power!”
Logan—no, the monster now called Hela—turned its gaze toward the knights forming a formation. It seemed intent on breaking out and absorbing the life force of others.
‘If it were before, that might have worked.’
If it focused solely on escape, even the Ribina Count alone couldn’t stop it.
But now, I was here.
Fwooooosh!
“Keeeaak!”
Flames surged from my sword, scorching Hela’s calf as it tried to pull away.
No matter its powerful regeneration, being burned by flames significantly slowed it.
“Haaap!”
The Ribina Count’s full-force sword struck at the off-balance Hela.
Then, the pitch-black aura blade shattered like glass and scattered.
It was a split-second moment.
An instant I could never have reached before.
‘Now!’
But I took a large step forward.
My body moved as I thought. It was a step faster than ever before.
Woooong!
The gathered wishes of the numerous knights watching me condensed into Genova as human aspiration, spewing golden fervor.
‘Silver Star Sword latter half, third form……!’
The fastest strike I could unleash.
Meteor.
The golden meteor pierced through the Light Sword Hela’s blade.