Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Blue Lotus Klana
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Blue Lotus Klana
All the Swordmasters of the era had trained under him.
The great origin of the sword.
"You're not what the rumors say."
The elderly swordsman, hailed as the Origin Sword, remarked.
He was facing one swordsman now.
According to rumors, she was a madwoman consumed by the frenzy of slaughter.
However, in the eyes of the Origin Sword, who had seen countless swordsmen including youths, she appeared different.
"Child. You're no madwoman gripped by frenzy, are you?"
"..."
"Those unwavering, steadfast eyes. Even among my disciples, few had such eyes. All of them were children born with qualities that would etch their names into history."
Child.
The Origin Sword spoke with lamentation.
"Born with such upright and resolute will, how did you fall to become an apostle like this?"
It was a voice full of affection, as if addressing his own disciple.
Yet even to such a voice, she—
The Blue Lotus merely wore a sharp sneer.
As if it were a foolish question not worth answering.
Haa.
Haa.
Ragged breaths leaked from the corners of her mouth, sharp as hooks.
Drip.
Blood dripped from her sword.
Drip.
Blood dripped from the wounds on her body.
She drew in a deep breath, holding it for a long while before exhaling.
As if savoring the thick scent of blood around her.
"..."
A rare expression of astonishment appeared on the weathered face of the veteran swordsman.
Before he knew it, her breathing had stabilized.
In contrast—
"Huff...! Huff...!"
The other Swordmaster, the Sword Heir, who had just dueled her moments ago, was still struggling to catch his breath.
"It's miraculous..."
The Origin Sword forgot for a moment that the Blue Lotus was a murderous demon who had committed countless killings and felt pure admiration.
The control and breathing technique she displayed had reached a realm even he had never encountered.
"How could such a monster..."
Thus, she was in a state of perfect control right now.
Amid the blood and iron, in this moment painting death, she felt a profound sense of happiness.
Her ragged breaths were not from excitement but the overflow of that fullness.
She was no beast dominated by instinct and savagery, as the world believed.
She was a monster that craved slaughter and blood through reason and intellect.
"Argon. Correct your stance."
At his master's words, the Sword Heir thought he might step in.
"From now on, we attack together."
"...Master?"
The Sword Heir doubted his ears.
He knew what joint assault meant to Swordmasters whose pride in their own swordsmanship bordered on stubbornness.
The Sword Heir felt a momentary dissatisfaction—
"We must. Stop 'that thing' here."
But seeing his master's expression, he had no choice but to yield his stubbornness.
"...Understood."
The joint assault of the greatest Swordmaster and his disciple.
For the first time, the murderer demon's face twisted in apparent distress.
"Haa..."
At the same time, her breath carried an even deeper fullness.
Even in this moment, she felt anticipation for the battle and slaughter to come.
"..."
An overwhelming difference in power.
The roles of hunter and prey were already set.
Yet why?
A hint of fear mingled briefly in the aura of the two hunters.
That day.
On a nameless plain, a fierce battle unfolded that would not be recorded in history.
In that battle, the Origin Sword lost one arm.
And the Origin Sword and Sword Heir lost their most cherished ego swords.
During the fight, the egos within their ego swords were eroded by the murderer's ego.
One murderer's ego had overwhelmed four egos.
The Origin Sword described that battle, in which he lost so much, as heavenly fortune.
For it was clear that the murderer demon would never be satisfied.
Blue Lotus.
She was a monster who could feel happiness only through battles and slaughter strewn with blood and flesh.
"Ow."
A shrill sound burst from somewhere.
It leaked from Klana's mouth as she steadied her disrupted breathing from the unexpected sensation.
"…!"
Her already flushed face grew even hotter.
With negative emotions utterly different from the previous happiness: shame, humiliation, anger, and the like.
Soon, a venomous malice that encompassed all those negative emotions settled on Klana's face.
She devoted all her nerves to controlling her breathing.
There was no bewitchment.
Breathing and control were her most powerful weapons.
It wasn't for nothing that countless powerhouses allowed the Blue Lotus the first move, only to end up as mere prey.
It wasn't for nothing that they spilled blood and groans, delighting the murderer demon.
Nothing could disrupt her breathing and control.
"Ow..."
...It should have been that way.
A nasal whine kept mixing into her steadying breaths.
Klana's once aloof expression began to染 with bewitchment.
At this moment.
What confused her most was not the unruly breathing.
It was the emotion at the root of that breathing.
'Damn, damn, damn... What is it, what the hell...!'
Klana vaguely realized.
That the emotion dominating her body now was happiness.
And that its magnitude rivaled the happiness she felt during slaughter.
'Don't make me laugh...'
Klana denied it with all her might.
For only slaughter gave vivid meaning to her life.
"Haa... Haa..."
But it wasn't as easy as words.
How long had it been since she met death at the hands of those two Swordmasters and lost her body, becoming a ghost?
For that long span, she hadn't experienced direct slaughter even once.
Her soul was parched like cracked wasteland.
In such circumstances, this sudden happiness was like rain in a drought.
Wandering in the absence of a body as her soul dried up, she felt the vividness of life for the first time in ages.
It was a fullness she wanted to surrender to and savor.
But she couldn't—
Because of the situation.
'Rishir...!!!'
This happiness had come after showing him sword forms.
Like a reward for fulfilling the bastard's request to witness sword teachings.
If she yielded to this rewarding sensation, what difference was there from a slave craving its master's approval?
In truth, her actual plight wasn't much different, doubling her humiliation.
That was why.
Klana had no intention of accepting or craving this happiness.
'You vermin. No matter how long it takes, I'll escape this place and kill you.'
Klana burned her hatred toward him to push away the happiness.
Then the happiness gradually subsided.
Of course, there was no way to confirm if it was simply the limited happiness depleting or if her struggle had worked.
'Good.'
Having fully shaken off the happiness at last, Klana steadied her breathing once more.
It was serene, like the stillness of a moonlit night—her true breathing.
That perfectly controlled breath brought peace to Klana's mind and body.
"..."
Yet something was off.
Within that peace, she felt an indescribable impatience.
Like being on tenterhooks.
Her throat itched, and she couldn't keep still.
With a frustrated mind, Klana irritably rose to her feet.
Her gaze unconsciously chased Rishir.
He had left his inner world to assimilate the movements she had shown.
"Hoo..."
Realizing that, Klana felt relieved.
What she had learned while trying to overwhelm him.
The bastard knew nothing of martial arts; he was a complete novice.
His body was trained, but that was all.
The movements she had shown him were basic to her sword yet the core foundation of all her motions.
For a swordsmanship beginner to grasp the essence within would require an enormous amount of time.
In other words, that vast time guaranteed freedom from him.
There was a chance he might command 'teach in more detail' using his control over this inner world—but even then, no issue.
It would clearly exceed her discretion.
Her sword was not a systematic swordsmanship.
It was the totality of sensations and movement principles honed on the path of slaughter.
That was the essence of her 'Klana Style' sword.
Detailed guidance—
I.e., transmission based on systematic forms—was practically impossible.
Only transmission through sensation was possible.
Repeating 'again' until it clicked.
Her sword was so complex and formless that even master swordsmen struggled to cope.
The bastard would soon realize this and give up on his own.
"..."
Klana smugly imagined Rishir despondent at his failure.
Afterward, she spent time contemplating various scenarios and situations involving Rishir.
His mere existence made her blood boil with rage, but what could she do?
In this quiet, empty inner world, that was all there was to do.
He was the only being connected to her now.
Thus, it was inevitable.
Klana ended up thinking only of Rishir.
"Klana. Could you come out for a moment?"
It wasn't long after the inner world contact.
Rishir called her to review his movements.
To possess the ego sword and watch from outside.
Klana not only refused to possess the ego sword but ignored Rishir's words entirely.
Even if inevitably dominated by your control, I will never follow you of my own will—
A silent protest.
Klana wore a satisfied smile.
She no longer heard the bastard's calls.
He must have realized it.
That the only way to get what he wanted from her was to enter the inner world directly and exert control.
Klana steeled herself, preparing for the decisive confrontation soon to come.
She would not yield to his will like before, no matter what.
Then suddenly, Klana noticed herself feeling anticipation.
Why?
It must be anticipation for revenge.
Klana convinced herself and dispelled her bewilderment.
Was his intention working more effectively than expected?
No matter how long she waited, the bastard didn't enter the inner world.
Klana celebrated alone.
In the silent, empty inner world with no one else.
"..."
Something was strange.
This quiet and emptiness, which she had dismissed lightly, suddenly felt suffocating.
Klana felt an inexplicable anxiety.
Two days had passed since Rishir stayed at Lan's mansion.
During that time, Rishir holed up in the garden attached to his room, devoting himself to sword training to assimilate Klana's movements.
He performed the motions before the mirror he had set up in the garden.
Surprisingly convincing movements unfolded.
Thus, contrary to Klana's expectations or wishes, Rishir had grasped the essence within the motions.
He was surprised himself.
Did he have such talent for the sword?
'No way.'
If so, he would have shone back in the Bendel Family.
'Probably thanks to the power of the ego sword I just acquired.'
The imagery Rishir absorbed from the Blue Lotus was Klana's imagery as well.
Having taken in the entirety of that imagery.
Rishir gained profound understanding of the Klana Style performed through that imagery.
If only Klana fully cooperated on top of that, inheriting the Klana Style would progress at an astonishing speed.
"Hm..."
Nevertheless, Rishir was currently floundering without Klana's cooperation.
Because the memory of exerting control over her had left a bad impression.
She called herself a murderer demon.
In the inner world, she had ambushed him to seize initiative and deceived Rodan, whom she respected as her master.
Rishir thought he felt no guilt exploiting such a villainess, and indeed he didn't.
The repulsion came from an unexpected quarter.
Rishir recalled.
Klana submitting to commands against her will.
The subtle aversion from manipulating another's ego at will.
'If I'd just threatened her, it wouldn't feel this uncomfortable—'
Thus, Rishir had been avoiding contact with Klana in the inner world.
As much as possible, that is.
Rishir performed the motion before the mirror once more.
"It's about time..."
No more insights came from the countless repetitions and analyses.
'Is this the limit of self-study?'
It was time for further instruction.
'Avoid forcing actions as much as possible...'
Rishir set his policy and closed his eyes.
Soon the inner world unfolded before him, and the familiar scene played out.
The charging murderer demon.
For some reason, the demon's movements were more explosive than before.
As if thirsting for something.
The power gap was clear.
Rishir couldn't do anything before being pinned under Klana.
The weight on his pelvis perfectly restricted his lower body.
The pressure on his upper body thoroughly controlled both arms.
'If I meet this woman in reality, how the hell do I deal with her?'
Rishir let out a wry chuckle at the thought.
He had just resolved to avoid forcing actions as much as possible, only to end up in a situation inescapable without it.
Well, it was only natural.
She was domineering enough to call herself a murderer demon, with strength enough for a Swordmaster as her master.
Moreover, cornered in another's inner world.
Handling such a being without inner world control was sheer arrogance.
'No helping it.'
As Rishir moved to exert inner world control—
"..."
Klana's aloof expression looking down at him twisted.
"Damn..."
She released his arm and stood up.
In an unnatural motion, as if forced by invisible power.
"Cowardly bastard..."
"?"
Did I use action compulsion?
No?
As Rishir felt confused—
Klana spoke.
"As I've said countless times, I have no teachings to bestow on vermin like you. Get out."
"...!"
In that instant, Rishir was overwhelmed by her aura.
Her appearance, as if about to pounce any second, was like a starving beast.
If she hungered for something, it was surely killing intent toward him.
'She's in an especially bad mood today.'
Using action compulsion now would only heighten the discrepancy in her actions.
The resulting aversion would grow.
'No helping it.'
Let's wait just one more day.
As Rishir turned to leave the inner world—
"W-Wait...!"
"?"
Klana desperately grabbed his sleeve.
"Damn, this again... No helping it..."
Her muttering seemed like self-persuasion.
Rishir tilted his head at Klana awkwardly trying to perform the motion.
'The control isn't working, right?'