Chapter 154: A Far Away Tale. The Sword And The Spear - Finale
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154: A Far Away Tale. The Sword And The Spear - Finale
“Good. Good. Very good.”
Patraxion gripped his spear, now broken in half, and shot to his feet. He must have rolled across the ground several times, as his entire body was caked in dirt.
Despite this, his face was filled with the pure, innocent smile of a child—a smile of uncontrollable joy.
“It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this. Your senses might lag behind the power of your weapon, but that’s something you can learn over time. I… I like it very much. Senses can be honed, but power like that isn’t so easily obtained.”
The spear shaft was snapped in two. Patraxion looked down at it, then brought the two pieces together. His qi seeped into the fractured gap, binding it more tightly than before.
For those whose Qi Art is stronger than steel, even a blade of grass can become a weapon. The fact that his weapon—which wasn't even a relic—was broken meant no loss to Sunderspear’s full strength.
No, in fact…
“Since you used one of your techniques, I’ll show you one of my peerless techniques in return.”
Patraxion spun the spear shaft.
The broken point in the middle acted as a joint, causing the spear to whirl like a windmill. It looked less like a spear and more like a giant steel flail.
A broken spear, a joint born from its fracture. A spearhead wobbling precariously on its axis.
The spear, snapped in half, looked more dangerous than ever before.
“A spear is straight and rigid. It draws a simple line to take an enemy’s life. But a person must be soft and flexible. For true strength is born from softness.”
In the past, Patraxion had fought a hundred duels and been left a wreck.
On the verge of death, he had taken his blood-soaked spear and walked to the Royal Palace. At the castle gates, the Guardian, the kingdom’s last bastion, stood before him like a great mountain.
The Guardian, said to be the strongest of his time, was more powerful than anyone. A single swing of his spear could split mountains and sweep across the land. Patraxion was caught in the storm and sent tumbling across the ground several times. His spear was shattered, his armor was in tatters, and it seemed the Guardian’s massive halberd would claim his life at any moment.
As his vision blurred, Patraxion swung his broken, dangling spear. And in that moment, he saw its tip moving faster than ever before.
“A straight line is short. But it isn’t always the fastest. Because we exist in these bodies, standing on this earth. The fastest trajectory is a curve that approaches a straight line.”
For a brief moment then, Patraxion had touched upon the axiom. He hadn't grasped it fully, only brushed it with his fingertips.
But that alone had been enough to take the Guardian’s life.
“Take this.”
“…Tch!”
Shei drew Jizan and used her Earth Art to overturn the ground.
Rocky thorns shot up like bamboo shoots. The earth rose into a massive wall, blocking Patraxion. Above the shattered ground, which looked as if someone had been playing in the dirt, the elongated form of Chun-aeng fell.
But Patraxion evaded it all with a series of bizarre steps.
He rode smoothly over the waves flowing through the ground and dodged the slash falling from the sky by a paper-thin margin.
He, who could perceive attacks with his Qi Sense.
Who could naturally push and pull the earth.
Who had reached a state where he could command his entire body at will.
It was a masterful feat, performed as if he were balancing on the edge of a blade.
When he had overcome every obstacle and closed the distance to within his spear’s reach, Sunderspear gripped the broken weapon with both hands. The tip of the spear swayed gently, like a leaf in the wind.
Amidst a space where the earth roiled and the heavens collapsed, Patraxion unleashed the peerless technique upon which his life depended.
Ultimate Technique, Sunderspear.
The broken spear drew a trajectory.
It was a curve, yet one that was infinitesimally close to a straight line.
From his legs, waist, shoulders, arms, and hands, to the joint of the sundered spear shaft—every single joint was loaded with an immense amount of force, each one unleashing power.
This was the axiom Sunderspear had awakened to.
It drew a straight line, but it was the sum of countless curves existing within his spear and his body.
It was impossible to dodge. Impossible to block. The trajectory that had touched upon the axiom flew past Jizan and aimed for Shei’s face. The straight line he drew was one of the few perfect answers a tool like a spear could achieve in this world.
The secret technique that had earned Sunderspear his name.
The only way to deflect it was…
“Chun-aeng!”
…to twist space itself.
Shei fully unleashed Chun-aeng’s power. The Arcane peeked through the gap, and space itself swelled.
Sunderspear’s peerless technique, which had never been blocked nor missed its mark, grazed narrowly past Shei’s hair. Strands of severed black hair scattered into the darkness.
“Hmm. I was hoping to at least scratch your skin.”
A strange light flickered in Patraxion’s eyes. He had aimed the trajectory to just graze her cheek, but it had gone much wider than he’d anticipated.
At the center of it was the invisible sword Shei held, but that wasn't all.
“You’re sharp. Good weapon, good skill. Especially when it comes to defense.”
As if by agreement, the two created distance between them. Shei muttered with a deeply unpleasant expression.
“…You were holding back.”
“It’s common to hold back in a duel. Weren’t we both doing the same?”
Neither had used their full strength. Perhaps it was more like they had exchanged one technique each.
Still, Shei was dissatisfied with the result. It wasn't that winning was impossible, but she felt as if she had been completely overwhelmed in the fight itself.
“I see why you seem weak. The Qi Art you’ve learned is extremely defensive.”
Patraxion, who had just been clashing weapons with her, felt the same. He slung the half-broken spear over his shoulder and spoke.
“Your responses are perfect. You followed my every attack. You even managed to react to my peerless technique, which you saw for the first time today. Excellent. But, as you know, you can’t win with defense alone.”
“…I know that!”
“It’s extremely difficult to overhaul one’s Qi Art. You’ll have to find your own way around that.”
The Heavenly Counter Domain was the ultimate defensive Qi Art.
By definition, that meant its offense fell far short.
By recalling the experiences of her regressions and engraving them one by one onto her body, Shei’s survivability and responsiveness had increased with each timeline. Thanks to that, Shei had been able to see more and do more.
But at no point had Shei ever been able to overwhelm an enemy of a similar level.
“It seems you can’t do it alone. Seeing as you haven’t changed much even inside the Abyss.”
Shei’s skill was mostly a result of the Heavenly Counter Domain. She had overcome the attacks she had watched kill her by engraving them onto her body in the next timeline.
However, compared to her ever-improving mastery of the Heavenly Counter Domain…
Her offense still relied on simple strength.
“Become a General. My student—no. I will show you my insight as an equal. You can gain experience, and I can introduce you to other powerful individuals. It will be helpful.”
Despite Sunderspear’s offer, Shei felt no joy at being acknowledged.
Because she had already experienced this in a previous timeline.
Back when Shei was wandering the Military State trying to gather information about the Abyss, she had once received Sunderspear’s teachings.
At the time, Shei hadn't been disguised as a man. She knew that Sunderspear doted on his daughter and was lenient with children her age.
But Sunderspear had been overly lenient with her then. He had vehemently opposed her going to Tantalus, which had caused a significant delay.
She had received his teachings during that time, but…
While her defensive aspects had improved, her offensive side hadn't gotten any better.
“…I refuse.”
Having already failed once, there was no need to hesitate. Patraxion clicked his tongue.
“Is that so? A shame.”
“I’m not disappointed at all.”
“What? Hey. This isn’t an opportunity that comes easily. Just a few days ago, someone was begging me for my teachings.”
Just as the two reached a brief lull and readjusted their grips on their weapons…
“That is enough.”
A gentle voice echoed from the darkness. The inky blackness, as if ink had been spilled into the air, dispersed, and from it, a silver-haired vampire strode forward with regal confidence.
And dangling from Tyrkanzyaka’s hand was a person.
Patraxion’s eyes widened.
“Huh. Hey, Gand. What are you doing over there?”
Colonel Gand, Patraxion’s student and adjutant who had been guarding the perimeter, was caught by the scruff of his neck in Tyrkanzyaka’s grasp. Unable to shake off her slender arm, he struggled and shouted.
“…I am… deeply ashamed! But, Master, retreat! The Progenitor…! We cannot defeat her!”
“What?”
Patraxion looked at the vampire’s hand. He immediately realized what had happened.
Tyrkanzyaka’s right arm, from palm to elbow, had been pierced through by a spear. It was undoubtedly Gand’s work.
However, to Tyrkanzyaka, a piercing wound was as trivial as a needle prick. With her arm still impaled, Tyrkanzyaka had simply walked over and grabbed Gand by the collar.
“Your skill is quite impressive. There are not many who have wounded my body to this extent.”
Patraxion asked, his face a mask of disbelief.
“Seriously, you’re not even bleeding after being stabbed?”
“My… life…! Get away! The matchup is…!”
Even for Sunderspear, his essence was to draw a trajectory that could pierce anything.
But the Progenitor of vampires wouldn't die even if she was pierced. In other words…
“You cannot kill me. It has always been so, and so it shall always be.”
Tyrkanzyaka murmured languidly.
She wasn't called the Knight Killer for nothing. Because Tyrkanzyaka does not die, because she cannot be worn down, she was the natural enemy of knights who wielded swords and spears.
Tyrkanzyaka pulled the spear out. In the process, not a single drop of the blood that constituted her being was spilled. Pulling a stick out of a mud doll would have produced a more tragic sight.
Grasping the situation, Patraxion muttered.
“Whoa. Wait a minute. She’s that strong? No wonder they told us to practice ‘Active Engagement Avoidance.’”
“I, too, wish you would do so. If you insist on resisting, I will have to turn this one in my hand into one of my shadows.”
“Okay!”
Patraxion immediately threw down his broken spear. At the same time, Tyrkanzyaka released Colonel Gand. Gand stumbled back.
As soon as Colonel Gand returned, Patraxion playfully smacked him on the head.
“Hey, why do you have to act up for no reason? If you think you’re outmatched, you should know when to back off.”
“…I have no excuse, even if I had a hundred mouths.”
“Look at this punk, all his confidence is gone. Do you get it now? Just how many weird things there are in this world?”
Meanwhile, Tyrkanzyaka approached Shei and chided her with slightly cooled eyes.
“Enjoy yourself in moderation. Do we not have the objective of finding Hu? If you were to die here by some mischance, what would become of me?”
“…I know. I’m sorry.”
“Oh? How obedient of you. Very well. I have seen men forge bonds in this manner many times.”
“…Men…”
“However, should something like this happen again, you must call for me. I missed a good show, did I not…?”
And just like that, they turned and headed in opposite directions as if nothing had happened.
The duel of the century had ended, but there was no audience. The night deepened over Falkaris, consigning the day’s events to the far side of oblivion.