Chapter 558: Jealousy is My Power (58)
Chapter 558: Jealousy is My Power (58)
The clearing, draped in the shroud of night, was silent.
Until just a few minutes ago, this space had been isolated by a vampire’s barrier. Not even the chirping of a cricket could penetrate it; the clearing had been forced to receive its guests in utter emptiness.
But even this was merely the calm before the storm.
The gazes of the man and the girl standing opposite each other collided in midair. A tension so taut it felt as though a single spark would trigger an explosion hung in the air.
They were a pair that formed a contrast in every possible way.
First, the man was a robust male. He possessed a height superior to the average, a physique defined by solid muscle, and golden eyes that exuded a somber atmosphere.
In contrast, the girl standing before him looked young—childlike, even. With her petite frame, soft skin, and slender limbs, she did not look like a martial artist by any stretch of the imagination.
But how could the man not know?
He knew the true terror of the monster wearing that girl’s skin.
The swordsman, who had spent his life wandering in search of the strong, twisted his lips into a smirk.
"Even seeing you again, I cannot fathom your origins... Who was your master? And to which school do your roots belong? In my youth, I scoured the continent for hidden masters, but I have never heard of a method that could produce a monster like you."
By now, the girl wore an expression of deep intrigue.
Her tone suggested that the very idea of defeat had never crossed her mind. In fact, for her, such a reaction was only natural.
Though she wore the outward appearance of a lovely girl, her essence was anything but. She was one of only three Masters on the entire continent.
The Sword Duke.
The weight carried by that short title was inversely proportional to its length. It was the supreme position seized after countless legends and bloody battles, and there was only one being capable of contending with her for victory.
The Saint of the Holy Kingdom.
Unless the Great Witch of the Southern Kingdoms reclaimed her true body, it was only natural for the Sword Duke to be confident in her victory against anyone other than her lifelong nemesis.
Despite the girl’s leisurely attitude, the man remained silent for a while, unable to offer a proper answer.
He merely shifted his gaze slightly before letting out a faint sigh and tossing a question back at her.
His slightly crumbled expression betrayed his sheer absurdity.
"…I, too, have never heard of a Sword Duke who goes around playing the part of a little girl."
He had hit the nail on the head.
At the man’s dry remark, the girl suddenly let out a choked groan and stumbled backward. It didn't take long for her relaxed complexion to flush crimson.
The Sword Duke raised her voice and shrieked.
"Th-that’s because of circumstances… Yes, there are unavoidable circumstances for everything!"
"I am curious about those circumstances, but…."
The man’s voice trailed off as he subtly scanned his surroundings.
Elsie was already unconscious. The Great Witch hadn't shown any movement since being tossed aside, leaving only the Sword Duke.
This was troublesome.
The man couldn't help but think so. The personality that originally owned this body was trapped in the world of the unconscious, and to wake him forcibly, the man himself needed to get dead drunk and pass out.
But with a wild beast standing before him with its fur bristling.
No matter how much of a heavy drinker he was, there was no way he could stomach any alcohol now.
A voice devoid of even a shred of expectation leaked through the man’s lips.
"…Would you mind stepping aside? I’m a bit busy."
"Oho, is that so? Then I’m starting to feel sorry…."
The pure white blade in the Sword Duke’s hand pointed toward the man. As the situation unfolded exactly as expected, the man had no choice but to let out yet another sigh and adjust his grip on his sword.
Soon, a declaration of war was spat out along with a smirk.
"…Because I have plenty of time!"
That was the signal.
Snap. The lead feet of the two swordsmen shifted direction, claiming new positions. It happened before the trampled earth could even record their trajectories.
A Single Flash.
Flash and flash intersected.
Scenery and time suffered a malocclusion. The silver threads etched into the void without any precursor were perfectly parallel. For a moment, even the world seemed to hold its breath in silence, as if failing to register the event.
But a sword strike that has reached such a realm is no different from a natural disaster.
Boom! An explosion roared as a gale swept through. The ground rose along the silver lines, and the wildly swaying trees shrieked as they ground against each other.
It was more fitting to call it a typhoon.
Who would dare call this the aftermath of a single exchange?
And this was only the beginning.
The two, leaping without even leaving afterimages, were already clashing blades in midair. With a clack, the man twisted the trajectory of his sword, and the girl’s blade was drawn along, forming a slanted cross.
As they poured more strength into it, the two figures were repelled with a thunderous bang.
Skreeeeek!
The clashing blades left long tails as they carved through the innocent ground and space itself. From the rift in the air, starlight seeped out like blood before scattering.
Thump, thump, thump!
The death throes of the severed giant trees echoed through the silent forest. The vibration of dozens of logs striking the earth traveled up through the soles of their feet.
At the end of that momentary intersection, the girl flashed a bright smile.
Her ragged breathing revealed her peak excitement without filter.
"A sword path without waste, a posture without wavering…. You’ve learned the sword well. Who is your master?"
"The continent’s greatest swordsman."
"Ahaha! Now I’m curious. A swordsman who dares speak of the continent’s best in front of me… But combat isn't just about the Way of the Sword…!"
Whew. The man exhaled.
He quietly closed his eyes. Had he not known this already?
The first clash was merely a warm-up.
A taste of pure sword against sword; the true world of the blade began now.
The more he closed his eyes, the sharper his senses became, and the slower the flow of time felt.
Deeper, and deeper still.
There were things that could only be seen by sinking this deep.
Yes, just like now.
It’s coming.
The speed of thought could not keep up with the phenomenon. The moment he felt that, the entire world had already been sliced to pieces.
The spacetime that had been moving so sluggishly was instantly shattered into tens of trillions of fragments. Among the facets of spacetime, which looked like broken glass, only one scene was reflected.
The girl’s sword, aiming for the man with fierce eyes.
It was a strike that transcended up, down, left, right, front, and back—even time itself. The images formed on the shattered mirror shards poured out hundreds of sword strikes simultaneously.
The man still showed no reaction. He merely held his breath and kept his sword upright.
Starting with a spark that flew with a clang.
The blades raining down like a torrential downpour began to burst apart. The man’s sword, responding to each strike like a firework display, was so fast it almost appeared stationary.
But there were hundreds of slashes.
Even if the man could endure, the ground he stood on could not. When the strikes poured out in stopped time exceeded several dozen, the ground exploded miserably, and the man’s body tilted slightly.
Immediately, the remaining sword strikes cascaded down.
Boom! With a thunderous roar, the man’s body completely collapsed. Above him, the girl was swinging her sword down with a savage smile.
"Ahahahat! You were decent, but in the end, this is your limit—!"
It was then.
Time stopped once more.
A Master is a type of superhuman, relatively free from the constraints of spacetime. Thus, this wasn't particularly surprising.
There was only one reason the girl’s expression froze.
The man’s lead foot was unwavering.
How on earth?
The ground had already collapsed. It was only normal for the man’s foot, which should have been resting upon it, to fall as well.
But the man’s foot didn't even budge. It was as if the empty air were solid ground.
Suddenly, a memory flashed through the Sword Duke’s mind.
A long time ago, she had seen such a bizarre sight….
Her contemplation didn't last long.
Before the flickering old scenery could even form on her retinas, the man’s movement began.
And then, the girl realized.
It wasn't a sword.
The man’s sword point had long since ceased to face her. Using the foot he had pulled back while pretending to retreat as a stepping stone, the man’s lowered body finished its preparation to spring forth like a coil.
And then, steam.
The beads of sweat flowing over the man’s entire body were rising as mist. In the abruptly inverted atmosphere, the presence of the sword vanished.
Rather, was it not the tempered physical body that was the true weapon?
The moment this thought occurred to her.
The man took a single step, and using the hand holding the sword as a counterweight, his fist flew forward, tearing through the frozen spacetime.
The Sword Duke could only let out a hollow laugh.
Had she seen such a sight before?
Of course she had. It was a memory she would never forget as long as she lived.
On the day she met her lifelong nemesis, she had once asked which was stronger: the sword or the fist.
This was the answer.
A miracle that reshaped the terrain using nothing but the human body.
How could she ever forget the nightmare of that day, when a single punch had leveled an entire mountain?
Those three syllables were still clearly etched between the folds of her brain.
'Mountain-Crushing Strike.'
"Oh, for f—"
That was the end.
The man took a step and twisted his waist, and his fist, packed with all his might, wove through the faltering blades and struck the girl’s abdomen.
With a thud, the girl’s body folded at a right angle.
And with a deafening explosion, soil and trees soared high into the sky.
It was a literal tsunami of raw strength.
The strike meant to collapse a mountain hit the girl’s body directly.
As soon as I saw the crying girl, I ran toward her in a panic.
I didn't know why. Only a sense of duty that I had to do so dominated my thought process.
Soon, arriving before the girl, I slowly lowered myself onto my knees.
The voice that came out of my mouth was plain.
"Senior Elsie...?"
And the girl, hearing my voice, slowly lifted her head and sobbed.
Without withdrawing her gaze, which was still brimming with tears.
"…Who are you?"
It was a haughty tone I hadn't heard in a very long time.