Chapter 563: God and Devil, and the Human Between Them (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 563: God and Devil, and the Human Between Them (2)
When facing an unknown enemy, the first and most crucial step is reconnaissance.
What are the opponent's strengths, and what are their weaknesses?
To figure this out, I began with a light spell.
「Lightning Storm」
An advanced lightning-attribute spell.
Though I call it light, it was by no means a weak spell.
Every advanced magic spell possessed enough destructive power to easily demolish several buildings.
And there was one more thing.
The power of magic is relative.
Meaning, the same spell could vary in power depending on who cast it.
The Lightning Storm cast by Kim Do-jin was powerful enough that it was no exaggeration to say it had transcended the realm of advanced magic.
Crackle!
KWWAAAAAA!
A storm of lightning reminiscent of a small-scale cataclysm.
Yet Dantalion remained unfazed before it.
No, he was actually smiling.
“Magnificent. Casting speed, power, velocity… it’s near-perfect in every aspect.”
High praise poured forth.
At the same time, he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
And then, something incredible happened.
KWUUUUU!
The Lightning Storm, which had been surging relentlessly toward Dantalion, changed direction.
It completely reversed its course.
“……!”
Kim Do-jin was horrified.
It wasn’t just that the direction had changed.
So many processes were intertwined in that single, brief snap of his fingers.
First, an understanding of the spell formula.
‘He dissected every last detail of my spell formula.’
The basic structure of the magic circle.
The unique formulas I had added to it.
And even the amount of mana consumed for the spell.
His understanding was so precise it was as if he had seen through the spell’s composition from beginning to end.
Next, reverse-engineering.
‘He completely reversed the formula of the fiercely approaching spell to dismantle it.’
Finally, seizure.
‘He inserted his own formula into the dismantled spell and hijacked its ownership.’
It was an astonishing process.
Kim Do-jin could do it too.
However, he couldn't guarantee he could perform all those steps in the time it took to snap a finger.
This single exchange taught him everything he needed to know.
The opponent's strength.
‘Magic won’t work.’
No matter what spell he used, the attack would be returned to him in its entirety.
And not as a reflection, but as a hostile takeover.
‘In that case.’
He decisively abandoned magic.
It wasn't the only tool he had.
As he thought this and drew his sword, a change occurred on the other side as well.
“If it’s swords, then I suppose I should step in.”
The head changed.
From the middle-aged man wearing a crown to a handsome man in his late twenties with sharp eyes.
The moment their eyes met, he knew.
‘A swordsman.’
A swordsman who had reached a realm so high that even he couldn't easily gauge it.
“Bleeegh—”
From the old man’s wide-open mouth, the hilt of a sword squelched its way out.
As the man grasped it and pulled it out without hesitation, a chillingly sharp blade was revealed.
It was a masterwork sword that any swordsman would covet with burning eyes.
Held in the hands of a master, it let out a low hum.
Woooong—
Woooooong—
There is no such thing as a state where the sword and I become one.
If I had to describe it, it would be the level at which one can draw any desired sword path with the blade.
A fire ignited within him.
Embracing his boiling competitive spirit, Kim Do-jin kicked off the ground.
The swords of the two men, who had closed the distance in an instant, clashed.
KAAANG!
SKAKAKAKAK!
Dozens of times in a fleeting moment.
Despite weaving complex sword paths, his attacks were easily blocked by his opponent.
They clashed again.
CHAAENG!
Pssssst!
Shushushuk—
Advancing, retreating.
Switching from thrust-focused attacks to slash-focused ones, constantly changing his form.
All manner of techniques were unleashed in a single clash.
It was a duel so magnificent that any swordsman watching would have lamented the blink of an eye in which it passed.
In this deadly clash where the slightest mistake would cost a limb, Kim Do-jin did not lose.
But he didn't win, either.
‘What is this?’
The more they exchanged blows, the stranger it felt.
His opponent was reading all of his sword paths.
No, it was more than that. It was as if he knew what path the sword would take before it was even drawn.
But that was impossible.
How could he possibly know in advance a sword path that even he himself was creating and modifying on the fly?
That thought lasted only a moment.
“…Ah.”
He belatedly remembered.
His opponent’s ridiculously overpowered ability.
Even while swinging his sword, the tip of Kim Do-jin’s blade pointed toward the massive book he had never lost sight of.
“I’m guessing that book tells you my sword paths, too?”
At that, the faces that repeatedly vanished and reappeared above the neck began to laugh in unison.
“Kilkilkil…! Correct.”
Said the foul-tempered old man.
“Neither magic nor swordsmanship can touch me.”
Said the voluptuous woman who made you want to call her Unnie.
“Not only that, but the same applies to every art and technique that exists in this world.”
Said the crowned, middle-aged man.
“As long as it exists in this world, nothing can escape my insight.”
The handsome man finished the sentence.
If that was true, it was nothing short of cheating.
How was that any different from one person using cheat codes while everyone else played fair?
But this was all assuming the opponent's words were entirely true.
‘There’s no way that’s true.’
It probably wasn't a complete lie.
That book was a treasure acknowledged by Gula.
It likely contained countless techniques from humanity's past, present, and future.
But he was certain it didn't contain everything.
That was obvious.
‘If it did, that bastard would have taken Gula’s head long ago.’
But she was still alive.
Furthermore, hadn't Dantalion been defeated in the past when he vied for a seat among the Seven Deadly Sins?
That meant there was a loophole.
In Dantalion's book, and in the man himself.
So, what was that loophole?
Kim Do-jin found the answer.
‘A difference in class.’
To humans, he was a great demon who reigned as an absolute terror.
But Gula had merely laughed upon sensing his presence, not feeling threatened at all.
Why was there such a difference?
Was it simply because Gula, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, was strong?
That couldn't be the only reason.
And so, he surmised.
‘The Book of Dantalion does not contain information on beings of a higher class than Dantalion himself.’
Not their past, present, or future.
That was the only way it made sense.
The reason his magic and sword paths were blocked?
The magic of a human mage, whose class was lower than his.
And Son Si-woo's swordsmanship.
Both were human creations.
So, how should he fight him?
‘I just have to use the power of Gluttony.’
With no special techniques, just pure power.
He could simply crush his opponent with a difference in class.
But he didn't much like that idea.
The appearance of a formidable enemy—one who surpassed humans, but was not an entirely insurmountable wall—had ignited a fire in him. He saw another path.
The path of crushing his opponent with the Magic Sword Art he had created himself.
He, too, was human.
So it was obvious his moves would be blocked by his opponent's tricks.
But what if he thought about it the other way around?
‘In other words, the moment a technique works on him, doesn't that mean it has surpassed the class of a human?’
An art created by a human, yet one that far transcended the human class.
Wasn't that the ideal?
A smile spreading across his face, he looked up at the triumphant Dantalion and said.
“It seems you’re going to be some good nourishment for me.”
At the provocation of a mere human, Dantalion's face twisted violently.
* * *
[Activating the Domain of the Ruler.]
“Hmm…?!”
The opponent, who had stepped into my domain, reacted.
“How did the flow of the surroundings suddenly change…?”
His tone was one of bewilderment.
This told me everything.
The Book of Dantalion may be close to omniscient, but it could never be truly omniscient.
And at the same time, it proved that the Domain of the Ruler was a trait of an exceptionally high class.
With steps that felt much lighter, I moved forward and swung my sword.
The sword paths were completely different from when we had clashed moments before.
Every downward slash and upward cut was stored as a spell formula within the Domain of the Ruler.
“I’m just curious, but…”
I asked the fiend.
“What does the Book of Dantalion say about Magic Swordsmen?”
The man, who was effortlessly parrying my sword, sneered.
“Half-assed fools who are mediocre at both swordsmanship and magic.”
Another face let out a ferocious roar.
“Every Magic Swordsman, save for myself who has grasped all the principles of this world, is nothing but a half-assed fool!”
“Ah, is that so.”
His shouts, his arrogant confidence, now looked different to me.
At first, I thought his words and actions stemmed from overflowing pride, but not anymore.
It felt more like… a bluff to keep from revealing his weakness.
Empty vessels make the most sound, and he was a perfect example.
CHAAENG!
THWACK!
Swords flew back and forth.
The fact that I hadn't landed a single effective blow remained unchanged.
But something was different.
The opponent's sword, which blocked my paths, had grown slower.
Was it simply because my style was unfamiliar?
Or was it because this sword had slightly surpassed the human class?
I silently continued to fill the air with spell formulas using my sword, then activated them.
「Frozen Spear」
Spears of ice formed naturally in the wake of my blade and shot forward.
Startled by the sudden piercing attack, Dantalion stepped back.
KAANG!
CLANG!
“Kuh…! Wh-where did that magic suddenly come from…!”
Where else?
“Well, where do you think?”
“You bastard……?”
Once more, I wove my sword through the domain.
It wasn't just the sword.
With the steps I took to evade his attacks.
With the waves of mana generated by the clash of our swords.
From within it all, I plucked out the necessary elements and drew the spell formulas I desired.
After my thrust, it was the opponent's turn to counter.
SWOOOSH!
As if waiting for it, a translucent barrier materialized in front of his incoming attack.
「Barrier」
KAANG!
“What…?!”
Dantalion retreated again, surprised by another unexpected obstacle.
Every time he did, I felt it.
This Magic Sword Art, born in my mind and manifested through my body…
“What, is this not written in that precious book of yours?”
…was something that surpassed even the class of that arrogant great demon.
Once perfected, it would become an art remembered and used for ages, a part of history.
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
A refreshing sensation, as if a hole had been blown clean through my head, swept over my entire body.
Then, messages began to pop up one after another.
[The art ‘Magic Sword Art (魔劍術)’, which far transcends the human class, is born.]
[Creating the sub-trait ‘Magic Sword Art (魔劍術)’.]
[To the user, sword and magic are not two, but one.]
[Future upgrades to a higher-tier trait will be determined by the art’s degree of completion.]
My heart pounded fiercely.
A newly acquired sub-trait.
And it wasn't acquired, but created.
In other words, my Magic Sword Art had been acknowledged by the system itself.
The messages didn't end there.
[As a reward for trait creation, all stats increase by 1.]
[Stamina has reached 100!]
[Acquiring the sub-trait ‘Two Hearts’.]
[The sub-trait ‘Two Hearts’ is being absorbed by the trait ‘Body of Ultimate Effort (勞極之體)’.]
[Strength has reached 100!]
[Acquiring the sub-trait ‘Giant’s Strength’.]
[The sub-trait ‘Giant’s Strength’ is being absorbed by the trait ‘Body of Ultimate Effort (勞極之體)’.]
[Agility has reached 100!]
[Acquiring the sub-trait ‘Phantom Step (移形換位)’.]
[The sub-trait ‘Phantom Step (移形換位)’ is being absorbed by ‘Body of Ultimate Effort (勞極之體)’.]
“……”
Why are you eating everything…?
My bewilderment was brief.
[Having devoured three sub-traits, ‘Body of Ultimate Effort (勞極之體)’ evolves.]
[Acquiring the trait ‘Body of Extreme Refinement (鍊極之體)’.]
The body that had reached the end of effort had now reached the pinnacle of refinement.