Into the Thick of the Battle
Yujun and his party were making for the place where the fighting raged at its fiercest.
"Shin Yujun. Have you always been this adept with a sword?"
The Black Sorceress Yenil put the question to him, but it was Manuela who answered in his place.
"You didn't know? Yujun's main weapon is the sword. Magic's basically just a hobby."
For some reason, she looked thoroughly pleased with herself. Magic was not a hobby. And yet.
"Magic is a hobby...?"
Yenil was thrown by the words Manuela had tossed off so carelessly.
"A hobby, at that level? Then what do you call it when he copied every one of my spells and used them?"
"Our Yujun is gifted in every direction. There's nothing he can't do, and whatever he tries, he does it well."
Our Yujun?
Yujun looked at her as if to ask what on earth she thought she was saying. Manuela met his eyes and broke into a bright, shameless little smile.
And why are you smiling.
"The magic I saw was not something one simply dismisses as talent. And I hear he uses New-Generation Magic as well? He goes that far for a hobby? Is that ordinary?"
"New-Generation? What is that—"
Yujun hurriedly clapped a hand over Manuela's mouth.
"Manuela. I believe you've already spent every line allotted to you today, so let's save the rest for tomorrow."
"Mmph—!"
"Why are you stopping her from speaking?"
Yenil asked, suspicion written plain across her face. Yujun waved it off.
"It's nothing. She spouts nonsense now and then."
"She did not look as though she knew of New-Generation Magic."
"......"
"Why will you not answer?"
Yenil pressed him without letting up.
"...Yenil."
"Speak."
"Who goes around calling the magic they use New-Generation Magic? You don't call what you cast Ancient Magic either, do you? Because to you, it isn't old magic."
"...Huh?"
"It's the same for us. Unless someone actually knows Ancient Magic, or can use it, they don't call their magic New-Generation Magic."
At that, Yenil tilted her head, then nodded. Now that she thought about it, it did seem to be so.
"I know Ancient Magic, though? Even if I can't cast it..."
"Hey. Read the room."
Manuela, who had once again misplaced every ounce of tact she possessed, shoved herself back into the conversation. Yujun glared at her, eyes blazing.
"I-I don't actually know."
"So she says."
"Hmph..."
Yenil remained unconvinced, but she did not dig any further. They had arrived, just then, at the battle itself — the place where the moderates were driving the hardline players back.
"See you later."
With only that, Yujun vanished first.
Where he had gone was immediately obvious. Moderate players were shouting, milling in panic, and beginning to scatter, and into the very center of them Yujun had plunged, swinging his sword without pause.
Sword Unity
Twenty ethereal blades materialized in the empty air.
There were more of them than before, and still he looked at ease. His Swordsmanship trait had climbed a full rank — not some modest step from B to A, but from EX++ all the way to GX. His swordsmanship had grown to a staggering degree. From GX onward, one could say the caliber itself was different, and this was no trait of middling or ordinary performance. A weapon-arts trait, at GX. What that implied was enormous.
Twenty blades, and it's nothing.
He had formed them because he thought he could, but this confirmed it: the number sat well within what he could handle without strain.
Shhk. Thud. Thud.
Swords that might come flying from anywhere. The players on the ground who had joined as mercenaries were no exception, and even the heaven-kin in the sky could not escape being run through like meat on a spit. Yujun's blades were not something one dodged merely by trying. They were fast, yes — but they also flew already accounting for every counter the opponent might attempt.
"Th-that lunatic..."
"Run!"
"Don't block them, dodge! Block one and you're dead!"
After a while, the moderate players came to understand that a blade so thick with killing intent was not to be stopped. Nothing, no matter what it was, could halt or turn those swords aside. All they could do was flee.
Bewildered as they were, the players on the hardline side seized the opening and began to strike at the moderates. Busy watching for swords that hung in the air and might appear from anywhere, the moderates gave up their lives with absurd ease.
"Guhk!"
"Aaaagh!"
"Now!"
"Just kill them all!"
"Ah, that feels so good! You bastards!"
The hardline players, who had been pushed back without pause until now, smiled.
Of course, not every stretch of the field yet had hardliners smiling. Ukria's influence still spread across the battlefield, and the difference Yujun had made was only a sliver of it.
Simple support won't be enough. Shall I just sweep the ground forces clean first?
A good idea occurred to him. There were more heaven-kin on the field at present, but the mercenaries of other races were hardly few. Far from few — by headcount, one could call them enormous. So he decided to deal with them first.
I don't bear them any ill will, but...
Every one of them would have joined the war in the Heavenly Realm prepared to die. Yujun stood at the rear of the moderate formation. The position carried risk, but it was also the best place from which to sweep those ranks. He set the twenty swords in twenty different places.
The magic he was preparing was Weapon Earthquake. The problem was that twenty swords meant casting it twenty times. It was not a skill with an especially heavy mana cost, but once this attack was done, there was a chance his mana would be drained to nothing.
That's when I'll be at my most vulnerable. Just in case, I'll save Chaos.
Against that possibility, he did not charge the swords with Chaos. The gaps between the twenty blades were very wide, because the range of Weapon Earthquake was that wide.
This should do.
Yujun let the swords hanging in the sky fall as they were. The moderate players tried once more to flee in alarm, but it was far too late to dodge. Those experiencing Weapon Earthquake for the first time, in particular, had no choice but to take it helplessly.
Weapon Earthquake
Twenty blades struck as one. Catastrophic shock tore through the ground.
A deep roar rolled out. The earth heaved in twenty places at once, and the upheaval spread.
"Aaaagh!"
"Wh-what is this!"
"An earthquake?"
The effect was greater than Yujun had expected. His mana had risen and the skill itself had grown stronger, but casting it with twenty swords at the same time had multiplied the shock driven into the ground by several times at the least. Every player with their feet still planted on the earth lost their life.
Limited as the skill is, once you're inside the range there's nothing to be done.
Even Yujun, struck while his feet were still on the ground, would have died on the spot. That was how dangerous an attack it was.
"......"
Most of the players he had killed were lower-level than he was, and still his level had risen by no fewer than four. The number he had slain had passed a thousand. The aftermath was so great that terror took hold not only of the moderates, but even of the hardline players watching from afar.
One of them, mouth hanging open as he tried to grasp what he was seeing, muttered.
"...What was all that? An earthquake?"
"No. That wasn't an earthquake. That was Earthquake."
At his companion's answer, his eyes went wide.
"Earthquake? I've heard of it."
"It's an attack skill that strikes the ground and sends the shockwave into whoever's standing on it."
"...It was this strong? Earthquake?"
"What Shin Yujun just used might be a slightly different skill, but if you follow the principle, I'd say it's Earthquake all right. The heaven-kin up in the sky didn't take any damage at all, did they?"
"This was Shin Yujun's doing...?"
"Who else would it have been."
"Fair enough. No way the Archangel stepped in personally. Wait — does that mean Shin Yujun is a powerhouse on the Archangel's level?"
"That, I wouldn't know."
"You're supposed to say he isn't. Do you have any idea how strong the Archangel is?"
"Can you presume to judge or measure the Archangel's strength? You've never even seen the Archangel in person."
"Well, yeah."
"Shin Yujun is the same. You don't know how strong he really is. Comparing them lightly is a stretch."
"Even so, Shin Yujun is human. Summoned humans have spent five years in the Tower of Infinity at the very most."
"Get your facts straight. Shin Yujun hasn't even been here half a year."
"Which only makes it more certain he's weaker than the Archangel. How strong can anyone get in half a year? At best, what he just showed is the limit of his power. Impressive as that is."
"Well. I have trouble believing it too. Half a year is an absurdly short time. Either the rumor got twisted, or if not, Shin Yujun is a god who changed form and descended."
"A god is going too far."
"Honestly, a god descending makes more sense to me."
"Why?"
"His growth is fast. Way too fast."
"Maybe he's one of those chosen players the gods back with everything they've got?"
"Oh. That actually has some logic to it."
His mana spent, Yujun did not bother taking out a mana potion. It refilled quickly even if he simply stood still, and unless he was in a hurry, he saw no need to waste one.
Shhk. Shhk.
He ran down a fleeing heaven-kin and took the head, then frowned.
They're running too much.
No one so much as thought of coming near him.
"I can't waste time like this on a hunting ground this good."
He realized that simply showing himself was not an unqualified advantage. The moment the thought struck, he drew on his transparent cloak and hid his presence.
His companions had moved to the rear of the hardline formation and were supporting them with a magical bombardment. He headed there. When he shed the cloak and showed himself, Kim Yohan, who had been resting quietly, spotted him.
"You're back? That earthquake just now was you too, right?"
"Yes."
"Then why come back? You don't look worn out."
"Chasing down fleeing heaven-kin one by one is far too inefficient. I mean to strike where they're gathered."
"Good thinking."
"And what are you doing here, Yohan?"
"Guarding the mages with Mister Dokgo Minsu."
"That's for the best."
"Yeah. No point charging out front to fight. That was never my role to begin with."
"Right."
"But Yujun, you didn't say why you stopped by..."
"Ah. I was going to get a blessing before I head out. Manuela!"
Yujun called for her. She had been laying buff after buff on the allied players without rest, and she was having quite a bit of fun with it. Absorbed in the work, she didn't hear him. With no other choice, he stepped around behind her and set a hand on her shoulder.
"Manuela."
"Eep!"
She sucked in a sharp breath and jumped. Yujun let out a short laugh.
"Why so startled?"
"...When did you get here?"
"Just now."
"Is it over?"
"No. I came for a blessing."
"Huh? You got one not long ago. There's still plenty of duration left, isn't there?"
"Just in case. I want it lasting as long as possible. And..."
He let the pause hang, then spoke again.