Jacques von Heibrun (3)
"Ugh..."
Hum, hummm!
Adelia grimaced.
Every time the healer's hand touched her, a searing heat seeped into her swollen wrist.
She bit the inside of her lip, desperately holding back a scream.
It was then that Almond, who was administering the treatment, spoke to her.
"It's going to hurt a bit. The bone is completely shattered, so I have to piece it back together one by one."
Hearing Almond's words, Adelia nodded silently.
It hurts.
Her broken bones throbbed, but the pain in her heart was far worse.
Jacques von Heibrun's strength was truly overwhelming.
Even if her opponent was a giant of Midtemple, she felt deeply ashamed that she had been toyed with without even being allowed to swing her sword once.
But the most humiliating part of all was...
Is this really the skill of a Sword Master's disciple?
...the fact that she had dragged Sir Gaon's name through the mud.
Adelia grit her teeth, unable to suppress the rising anger.
"Sigh."
Almond let out a deep sigh.
"Like master, like disciple. Both of you are incredibly reckless."
"...?"
"First, Sir Gaon returns in tatters after holding out until the end at the Holy Maiden's Association. Now, you come back severely injured after sparring with Lord Heibrun..."
"W-Wait a minute."
Adelia froze, staring at Almond with wide eyes.
The moment she heard her brother had treated Sir Gaon, a thought flashed through her mind.
"Did you... notice anything strange when you were treating Sir Gaon?"
It was a few weeks ago.
Adelia recalled the day they headed to the free city of Vertas.
She remembered Gaon suddenly coughing up blood inside the carriage crossing the Silk Road.
"A-Are you alright?"
"It is nothing, so pay it no mind."
A body that was strangely weak despite possessing overwhelming power.
And his sudden appearance to take Adelia as his disciple.
Putting all these clues together, Adelia had reached the conclusion that Sir Gaon did not have much time left to live.
But that was merely a guess. Adelia wanted to know the exact state of Sir Gaon's body.
Almond might have noticed something.
Despite his attitude, her brother was the most promising healer in Midtemple.
Having examined Sir Gaon's body in detail, he would know the situation better than anyone else.
"Hmm."
Sure enough, Almond pondered for a moment before giving his answer.
"His body seemed perfectly healthy, though?"
"...?"
Of course, that answer was the exact opposite of what Adelia had expected.
"W-What do you mean? Sir Gaon's body was healthy?"
"Yeah. Completely healthy. But..."
Almond tilted his head slightly.
"There was one unusual thing."
"An unusual thing?"
"There were traces of his physical structure having changed rapidly. It was so subtle that even I barely noticed it."
Hearing that, Adelia looked confused for a moment.
But soon, as if realizing something, she let out a soft gasp.
"Ah."
A scene flashed through her mind.
The day they returned after defeating Camilo.
The exact moment Gaon had asked her to guard his door.
After that, Sir Gaon's weak body had improved to some extent, and the aura he exuded had changed completely.
Then, could the reason Sir Gaon went to the Corpse Exhibition be...
Was that why he had insisted on going despite Sikan's protests? To defeat Camilo von Taribas, and at the same time, find a 'way' to overcome his illness?
While all sorts of speculations swirled in Adelia's head, Almond shrugged and continued.
"Well, it's not that strange anyway."
"You know it too, Sister. To transcendents, the physical body doesn't really matter."
"...!"
Hearing those words, Adelia's eyes widened. It felt as if lightning had struck her mind.
Right.
How could she have forgotten such an obvious fact?
Transcendents were, quite literally, beings who transcended everything.
Common sense did not apply to them.
Her doubts about Sir Gaon were completely unnecessary to begin with.
"Be quiet again. I need to concentrate on healing."
As soon as Almond finished speaking, Adelia shut her mouth. No further words were exchanged.
Hum, hummm!
Even as the holy power coursed through her body, Adelia's mind was filled entirely with thoughts of Sir Gaon.
While she was suffering from physical pain like this...
...Sir Gaon is a transcendent who has surpassed even the concept of a physical body.
She was dying of curiosity.
Just what kind of monster was asleep inside that ordinary shell?
...
I looked down with a cold gaze.
A sharp blade had stopped right before slicing my throat. A bluish-green aura was shimmering over it like a haze.
Turning my gaze to Jacques, I spoke in a dry, flat voice.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Bwahaha...!"
Jacques burst into a hearty laugh. My reaction must have been unexpected.
"You certainly have guts."
"..."
"I didn't expect you wouldn't even blink."
To be clear, it was simply because I couldn't react to his attack.
The gap between Level 30 and Level 99 was just that massive.
Anyone else would have lost all strength in their legs and collapsed.
It wasn't just because of Jacques's threatening attack.
Rumble!
A tingling sensation pricked the surface of my skin.
Right now, Jacques was trying to crush me by releasing his bloodlust.
The pressure was beyond imagination.
The proof was that everyone on the training ground, including Arwen, had frozen solid.
But...
[Your 'MAX' Willpower resists the opponent's overwhelming pressure.]
...at least to me, this kind of trick doesn't work.
Jacques had no intention of killing me in the first place.
This meant the threatening bloodlust he exuded was entirely a bluff.
If he had swung his sword with genuine intent to kill?
Then Ultimate Auto-parrying would have automatically activated, just like when I faced the Fire Dragon Sword Master, Pokryong.
But what a pity.
Unlike Jacques von Heibrun, who only wanted to scare me...
I was genuinely planning to kill him.
To normalize Midtemple, and to ensure my future plans wouldn't be disrupted.
However, now is not the right time for a life-or-death battle.
A simple provocation like this didn't give me enough justification.
Of course, I could just instantly kill Jacques with Soul of the Sword Master and then cite the terms of the Sacred Covenant.
I could claim that Jacques was someone who abetted the apocalypse, and that his existence would only hasten the end of the world.
Which was actually true.
In all my previous playthroughs, Jacques had never once helped prevent the apocalypse.
...If anything, he only made it worse.
I could play the shameless card and tell them to take it up with the Elder they worship if they had a problem, claiming I was merely upholding the Sacred Covenant.
But doing that would surely trigger a massive backlash from the Traditionalist faction.
There was also a high chance that the trust I had painstakingly built up in Midtemple would crumble.
So... let's wait for now.
A better opportunity would present itself if I just waited a little longer.
More than anything, I knew exactly how to make good use of Jacques von Heibrun before that time came.
Therefore, giving him a warning right now would suffice.
Having reached that conclusion, I looked at Jacques.
"You said you wanted guidance?"
"..."
"Unfortunately, a Sword Master's guidance is precious. It is not something just anyone can receive."
Jacques let out a scoffing laugh.
"Ha! Are you trying to dodge a duel with such a pathetic excuse?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"I am saying that if you want my guidance, you should become my disciple. If you do, I am more than willing to teach you."
"...What?"
"Of course, you would have to show a fittingly respectful attitude."
Jacques's face contorted furiously. But a moment later, he burst into incredulous laughter.
"Bwahaha...!"
Jacques's shoulders shook.
"Me? You want me to become your disciple?"
His laughter, echoing across the training ground, was filled with mockery and ridicule. It was as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Hey, Lord Sword Master."
Jacques spat out my title, deliberately emphasizing it.
"Stop mocking me with such ridiculous nonsense. Everyone knows you don't have the skills to teach me—"
"Jacques von Heibrun."
I cut him off.
A brief silence fell over the training ground.
"Adelia risked her life to receive my teachings."
"..."
"She said she didn't care if she lost an arm or had a leg severed..."
I drew the Feather Sword from my waist.
Screeech!
The ring of the blade, now completely familiar, echoed across the training ground.
"I wonder if you possess that level of resolve."
Seeing me grip the Feather Sword, the corner of Jacques's mouth twitched.
"Are you not underestimating this old man too much?"
Jacques also gripped his executioner's sword properly. He took a stance as if he would charge at me at any moment.
"I have already dedicated my entire life to the sword. I am more than prepared to risk my life."
"Is that so?"
I chuckled inwardly.
You know what?
Some skeleton bastard said the exact same thing to me not long ago.
But the moment he faced actual death, his will to fight vanished instantly.
So...
Authority Skill: Ritardando Jin
...let's see if you're telling the truth this time.
Jacques's provocation of Gaon was purely political.
The Sword Master who claimed to be Adelia's mentor had bolstered the Reformist faction's standing.
Moreover, having emerged as a savior through the Sacred Covenant, Gaon's support within Midtemple was skyrocketing.
I must crush his influence by any means necessary.
Gaon's influence would translate directly into the Reformists' strength.
He had to diminish Gaon's authority during this opportunity.
Hmm...?
But what was this?
Upon actually seeing Gaon, Jacques could not hide his bewilderment.
...What? That guy is really a Sword Master?
He looked no different from an ordinary mercenary.
Seeing someone who had supposedly reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship look so weak made Jacques doubt the truth of the rumors.
At this rate, he suspected the Reformists had pulled a dirty trick while he was away.
Screeech!
A suffocating silence hung over the training ground. Even as they stood facing each other with drawn swords, that thought remained unchanged.
How could someone with such a terrible stance even be a Sword Master...
BOOM—!
Jacques flinched.
At that exact moment, an indescribable, colossal terror washed over him.
His entire body pricked as if stabbed by needles, and a chill so cold it felt like his blood was freezing swept through him.
An unknown pressure crushed down on him. It felt as if the shadow of death was closing in from all sides, strangling him.
"...!"
Whoosh!
It was not an intentional attack.
It was an instinctive reaction, like closing one's eyes when something flies toward them.
Paralyzed with fear, Jacques's hand swung the executioner's sword on its own.
...Huh?
But Gaon showed no intention of blocking the attack.
Rather than following the path of the sword, his eyes merely wandered indifferently through the air.
In the illusion of time slowing down.
Just before the executioner's sword could crush the opponent's head like a watermelon...
Ah.
...Jacques realized too late.
The fact that Gaon hadn't even 'perceived' his attack.
W-What is this...!
It was too late.
Even if he tried to alter the trajectory of the sword now, Gaon's life was over.
He had only wanted to humiliate him, he never intended to kill him...
Everything was about to go horribly wrong.
Damn it!
What if Gaon died like this?
Would he become a criminal who murdered a Sword Master?
But how could a seeker of the sword fail to block a single attack like this?
No, besides that...
...What on earth was that spine-chilling terror from just a moment ago?
It was at the very moment Jacques's mind was about to burst with a flurry of thoughts.
Splat!
...A sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed across the training ground.
"Huh?"
The next moment, Jacques's face contorted in bewilderment.
Gaon was still staring blankly into the air, his expression completely unchanged from before.
And the executioner's sword that had been flying toward his head suddenly floated up into the air.
What...?
It was clearly an unavoidable trajectory.
How was that bastard completely unharmed?
Before he could even comprehend what was happening.
Thud.
He heard the sound of something heavy dropping at his feet.
Thud, clatter.
At the consecutive noises, Jacques slowly lowered his gaze.
The executioner's sword lay on the ground, clattering loudly.
And right next to it...
"..."
A severed arm was twitching, spurting blood.