Chapter 7
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Novel Revision (2)
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‘Why did it turn out like this?’
It started with the Deolic family.
The Silver Star Sword, which could be called the Deolic family’s famed ultimate technique, was divided into the first half and the second half.
Anyone from the Deolic family could learn the first half, but only the family head and heir could learn the second half’s forms.
So Byan had naturally assumed he would one day learn the Silver Star Sword’s second half. He was certain he would become the heir, superior to his brother.
But his father never taught him the Silver Star Sword’s second half. He always dodged the question with a troubled expression.
Why?
Everyone else called him the next family head, yet his father alone refused to acknowledge it.
His father always favored his eldest brother over his own capable self.
‘There’s no place for me in the family.’
His father would never acknowledge him.
‘Then, before the family discards me, I’ll discard it first.’
And so Byan became a spy for the Kainzel Kingdom. To bring down the Deolic family alongside the Talua Kingdom.
But.
‘Clay Banheart.’
That guy ruined everything.
With Duke Gail dead, the Talua Kingdom’s army would collapse soon.
And for that achievement, he expected to be granted a count’s title in the Kainzel Kingdom.
But it had all gone wrong.
Because of the idiot from the Banheart family, whom he thought was incompetent and stupid!
Whoosh!
“……!”
Something flew toward Byan as he panted for breath during his rest.
He reflexively swung his sword at it.
Clang!
“Guh?!”
It was a small glass vial.
The vial shattered against his sword, spilling its contents over Byan.
A pitch-black liquid soaked his face and arms.
“This is…….”
He quickly turned his gaze toward where the vial had come from.
“Huff, huff.”
And he saw it.
Clay Banheart, with a face pale enough to collapse at any moment.
‘Th, thought I was dead. Barely caught up.’
He had untied the ropes binding him and sprinted here at full speed, so even breathing properly was hard.
‘Lucky.’
It was all thanks to the last line in the synopsis.
「In the end, Byan’s treachery is exposed by Fabian, and he flees through a secret passage in the valley……」
That single line allowed him to catch Byan.
‘Good thing I caught him before he entered the passage.’
If he had already gone into the passage somewhere in the valley, finding him would have been impossible.
“Clay Banheart…… I never imagined you’d chase me this far.”
“……Honestly, I didn’t want to chase you either.”
Clay said, finally catching his breath.
He really hadn’t wanted to come. If Byan had been just a little more stupid and incompetent, he wouldn’t have bothered.
He had mocked him for overestimating himself, but Clay knew.
The guy was actually extremely capable, and he never forgot a grudge once wronged.
Byan looked around before letting out a sneer after a moment.
“You came after me alone? Do you really think you can beat me by yourself? You?”
“At least right now.”
Clay raised the hand he had been using to support his knee and pointed at Byan.
“With you wounded and poisoned.”
“With just this minor wound…….”
Byan shut his mouth mid-sentence.
‘Poisoned?’
Byan stared at the liquid soaking his body, his face paling in shock.
It felt familiar somehow. Both the shattered vial and the liquid on his skin.
“Figured it out now?”
Byan ground his teeth at Clay’s mocking words.
Half his face was already drenched in the liquid. Some had gotten into his eyes and wounds, so he was definitely poisoned. It was just a slow-acting poison, so the effects hadn’t shown yet.
Considerable time had passed during their talk, so it was highly likely the effects were already circulating bit by bit.
“You bastard……!”
Byan roared in fury, drew his sword, and charged at Clay.
The composed demeanor from before was gone from the mentally cornered Byan.
No, perhaps this was his true nature.
The impulsive, hot-blooded side hidden beneath the mask of a noble knight.
‘The guy’s true face I saw in his childhood.’
Now, only a beast soaked in even uglier madness remained.
Kakang!
“Urgh!”
Byan closed the ten-meter distance in an instant.
Clay had prepared in advance and barely blocked the sword, but a single blow tore at his hands and sent him skidding back several meters.
‘Monstrous bastard!’
Byan had sustained considerable wounds fleeing to this point.
On top of that, he was covered in poison, which was seeping into his wounds bit by bit. His one eye that took the poison head-on probably couldn’t see anymore.
Yet he was still this strong.
A genius swordsman who had reached advanced Sword Expert.
It was no empty title.
Shhh!
Silver sword light wove through the air.
It was the Deolic family’s secret swordsmanship, the Silver Star Sword.
Sword paths reminiscent of stars unfolded, and Clay was sent flying by the relentless assault.
His sword-holding arm trembled. He couldn’t even swing at Byan again, let alone block another attack.
‘Tch.’
Clay gritted his teeth against the pain and stood, clearly at his limit.
Byan didn’t pursue Clay.
No, he couldn’t. He too was battered and poisoned.
“You’ve always been like that since childhood.”
Byan said.
“Struggling despite being incompetent, clinging pointlessly. You were just annoying and a nuisance. Did you ever beat me like that?”
As he said, Byan had never seen Clay as a rival. Until this incident, he hadn’t even properly looked at him.
“You know it too, Clay Banheart. Even wounded, even poisoned, you have no chance against me. There’s an insurmountable gap between us.”
Clay let out a hollow laugh at those words.
Yeah, he was right.
The gap between Byan and him was enormous.
Advanced Sword Expert versus Sword User.
Byan was the villain, but Clay was just an extra.
He had the power and talent to match.
His limits were clear, and what he couldn’t do far outnumbered what he could.
‘And that was my role.’
In this world.
In this novel.
Clay was an extra, as the world—this story—had decreed.
If not for his father’s letter, he would have lived and died that way.
‘But.’
The moment he grasped his father’s letter, opportunity came.
A chance to live without giving up, to seize what he wanted.
Clay steadied his breath and stared at Byan.
‘Now it’s different.’
If this world had no protagonist.
Then he would take that place.
“Yeah, just like you said, up until now.”
“Up until now? As if it’s different now.”
“Who knows what the future holds.”
“There is no future for you. I’ll end it here.”
Byan slowly approached Clay.
Clay, watching as if resigned, opened his mouth.
“Thank you.”
He smiled brightly.
“For moving just as I expected.”
Clay’s eyes were no longer on him.
[Plausibility has been achieved.]
Nothing could be more welcome than the text floating in the air.
==
[Silver Star Sword]
Required Plausibility
1. Witness Silver Star Sword 100+ times [Achieved]
2. Receive swordsmanship instruction 10 times from a swordsman with Silver Star Sword attainment 5 stars or higher [Achieved]
==
[Silver Star Sword has been added to settings.]
At that moment, silver light fell from the sky.
* * *
As silver radiance enveloped my body, I felt something unknown flood into my mind.
It didn’t take long to realize it was information on the Silver Star Sword.
All its forms and mana circulation methods.
And the relationship between the Deolic family head and Byan.
Even why he had done all this.
Because it was all part of the Silver Star Sword’s ‘settings.’
“What is this……?!”
Byan’s bewildered face gradually came into view amid the sudden event.
No wonder he was shocked—silver light had suddenly fallen from the sky.
‘Can’t add settings carelessly.’
If this happened every time, problems would arise immediately. It was a stroke of luck that only Byan and I were here.
“As expected, failing to become heir was the root cause. I didn’t expect it to be related to the Silver Star Sword, though.”
“What are you…….”
“The reason you became a Kainzel Kingdom spy. You thought Count Deolic would make your brother the head, right? Since he wouldn’t teach you the second half.”
Byan’s face, which had barely regained composure, crumbled at those words.
“……How the hell do you know that?”
“I know everything.”
“Did your brother tell you? Did he mock me by telling someone from another family?!”
“No way. Your brother wants you to be the head over him.”
“Shut up! Then why didn’t Father teach me the full Silver Star Sword?!”
The reason Count Deolic hadn’t taught Byan the Silver Star Sword’s second half.
It was simple.
“It doesn’t suit you.”
“……What?”
“He can’t teach someone who can’t control himself like you. In other words, you’re unqualified.”
The current Silver Star Sword is a defense-oriented swordsmanship.
It centers on deflecting enemy attacks and smoothly slipping into their openings, switching seamlessly between offense and defense.
But Byan swung his sword as if wielding a heavy greatsword, drawing paths of pure dominance.
The flow-based Silver Star Sword never suited his temperament from the start.
‘……If it hadn’t devolved in actual combat, this issue wouldn’t have arisen.’
Originally, the Silver Star Sword wasn’t defense-focused. Over generations, most of the second half was lost, leading to its current form.
In other words, the Silver Star Sword now was ‘incomplete.’
‘And yet it’s called the kingdom’s finest swordsmanship. Impressive.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Don’t mock me.”
Sensing mockery, Byan’s lips twisted as an enraged voice leaked out.
“I said don’t mock me!”
“See? No patience.”
As the beast-like Byan charged, I slowly lowered my upper body.
I stepped my right foot slightly ahead of my shoulder, gripped the scabbard tightly with my left hand, and lightly placed my right on the pommel.
“……!”
Byan’s eyes shook as he saw it.
He realized what stance I had taken.
Drdrdr!
My left hand trembled on the scabbard. No— the scabbard trembled, unable to withstand the gathering mana.
My body moved naturally, as if repeating the action thousands, tens of thousands of times.
As if I had trained in this swordsmanship for years.
In this moment, decades of insight dwelled in my body.
“Impossible……. This can’t be…….”
Unreasonable.
Truly an unreasonable ability.
Byan was feeling it now.
“How do you…….”
At first, he must have thought it mere imitation.
But soon, he had to accept the undeniable reality before his eyes.
Mana dyed silver.
The silver ring around my pupils.
They proved I was using the Silver Star Sword’s second half.
“Clay Banheart──!”
With a scream-like shout, Byan’s sword rushed over my head.
Blue-glowing aura approached to cleave my head in one stroke.
The old me would have had no way to overcome this.
Neither strength nor speed could match Byan’s.
There was an uncrossable gap between Sword Expert Byan and Sword User me.
But.
Now I had the perfect Silver Star Sword, existing only in settings.
“Silver Star Sword.”
Most think the ‘silver’ in Silver Star Sword refers to the color ‘silver (銀)’.
It’s natural, since mana turns silver when using ultimate forms.
But the ‘hidden (隱)’ in Silver Star Sword means stealth.
“Second Half.”
I said clearly enough for him to hear.
Look, this is the Silver Star Sword second half you so desperately wanted to see and obtain.
“First Form.”
The Silver Star Sword’s first half uses flashy forms to deceive the eye with thorough defense, but the second half is entirely different.
The second half consists of five ultimate forms centered on single, decisive strikes.
They are hidden within the first half’s flashy swordsmanship, unleashed in one perfect ultimate form at the critical moment.
That is the Silver Star Sword’s essence.
Legend says the Deolic ancestor who created it was called this for it.
──Invincible on First Sight.
Silver Star Sword second half, first form.
“New Star.”
The silver star shattered.