Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Flower Breaking Path
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Fast.
Too fast.
By the time he thought of the enemy's attack, it was already right in front of him.
A strength different from Keltuk's.
But it didn't carry the same sense of despair as back then. There was no leisure, but no hopelessness either.
Fleeting moments of danger followed one after another, yet as the exchange of blows continued, a single thought rose in his mind.
'I can take him.'
No, he was even starting to get used to it. He was adapting to the enemy's speed bit by bit.
Kaang!!
He blocked the axe swinging down diagonally.
The moment he blocked it, kikiik! He deflected the blade and struck the enemy's chin upward with the pommel.
Thud!
The enemy's head snapped back.
At the same moment, Kallias's body spun swiftly.
His red cape fluttered dramatically, and from within it, his sword came slashing down.
Chwaak!
Whooong! Kwoong!
The Great Warrior's massive frame flew through the air before crashing into the ground.
He muttered something while licking the wound on his left cheek.
From the accent, Kallias twisted his lips, interpreting it as a trait.
"You must know Keltuk, then."
All the better.
Kallias's sword brimmed with the sword aura of Silver Flower Sword Wave.
A bizarre sword aura that looked as if flower petals were densely packed onto it. The wonder of Silver Flower Sword Wave began to manifest from his blade.
"If you're his comrade, let's skip the half-hearted probing."
The Great Warrior seemed to grasp it roughly and raised his momentum even higher.
Soon, an exchange of blows began that was incomparably faster and sharper than before. Kallias circulated all his holy power through his body without reserve, blooming the second bud equivalent to the second stage of Myriad Flower Bone Nourishment to push his physical abilities to the limit.
Orc Great Warrior.
An opponent worthy of pouring everything into.
Kaaang! Chwaak!
The Great Warrior nimbly dodged or blocked Kallias's storm-like flurry of strikes.
But he couldn't block them all.
Silver petals poured out like waves, adorning the area in all directions.
And then they surged toward the Great Warrior like a furious bull.
Up until then, the Great Warrior had thought it was manageable. He hadn't even noticed the petals multiplying.
Along with Kallias's quiet murmur, the Great Warrior's eyes beheld the silver petals that embroidered the night sky.
"Flower Breaking Path."
Silver Flower Sword Wave - Flower Breaking Path.
In that instant.
The silver petals' length surged like a massive tsunami, engulfing him.
Kallias's scattered silver petals formed a single path.
Silver Flower Sword Wave, First Form - Flower Breaking Path.
Its true nature was an extremely swift quick-draw slash.
The essence of quick-draw swordsmanship, pushing the sword's accelerating speed to its limit.
Precise holy power manipulation.
It scraped away the enemy's sword aura while blending it with his own holy power to overwhelm like a wave—a swift and variable single-stroke kill.
Following it fluidly like flowing water was the second form.
Silver Flower Sword Wave - White Mist.
Chwajajajajak!
Pure white White Mist bloomed like a snowy landscape, ice crystal-like shapes covering the area.
A kind of sword formation where, beneath the enemy's domain, covert sword auras rising from the ground dealt fatal wounds.
The naturally connected Flower Breaking Path and White Mist threatened the Great Warrior's life in an instant.
In a single moment, he was covered in blood, green orc blood splattering into the air.
Kruk!
However, he was a Great Warrior.
He proved he was no mere orc with his agile movements.
He dodged and deflected the sword auras shaped like scattering petals and Kallias's wave-like slashes.
The enemy's speed accelerating further.
Already fast, his speed increased even more with every wound he took.
The bizarrely bent axe, arms larger and longer than a human's, supported by springy muscles and sturdy bones, formed attack patterns impossible for others.
'Insane.'
The only word for it was insane—the grotesquely twisted trajectory of the axe.
Backed by that speed.
Before he could even blink, the axe's blade reached Kallias, severing the tips of his hair.
"Yes, that's more like it!"
But as the enemy changed, so did Kallias's sword speed.
Faster. Faster! Even faster!
Without even taking a breath, he unleashed swift sword strikes again and again.
Accelerating speed? Exactly what he wanted. Flower Breaking Path disrupted the enemy's sword aura, flung it into the air, claimed it as his own, and struck back.
The more he blocked the enemy's attacks.
The larger Flower Breaking Path grew.
'A bit more.'
A little more! He circulated every last drop of holy power remaining in his body.
He squeezed his concentration to the limit, gathering the scattering sword aura fragments.
Into Flower Breaking Path, forming a wave.
Kaaang-!
His hand gripping Roas went numb.
A stinging pain pierced the blood-soaked hand, nerves protesting, while his creaking body screamed from exhausted bones.
Yet even so.
Kallias gritted his teeth and swung his sword even faster.
"What is...?"
"Can you see that, sir?"
"Shut up and watch. Might not get to see it again."
The battlefield of the two fighting at speeds invisible to the eye set the watching knights ablaze with tension. Dizzying moments that gripped their hands in sweat.
Hundreds of clashes where a single inch deeper would have been fatal.
And finally, the victor was decided.
Whooong. Scattering wind settled between them.
Sand dust dispersed, and falling droplets of blood and sweat soaked the ground.
And soon.
Tuk.
The Great Warrior's head fell, its vision filled with silver flower petals and twinkling stars against the night sky before going dark.
The orc's face, without even a scream, was that of a true warrior.
"Wooooh!!"
"Kallias has taken down the Great Warrior!"
"Our victory!!"
"Long live Kallias!!"
"Long live!!"
The moment the Great Warrior's head hit the ground, the knights who had been holding their breath erupted in cheers that shook the forest.
"Haa...."
Finally able to relax, Kallias let out a small sigh and exhaled roughly. His hot breath turned to white vapor and vanished.
Just like the Great Warrior's fading soul.
'It was doable.'
There had been no leisure.
Every moment was threatening, dancing on the edge of death by a mere handspan.
A warrior in a different vein from Keltuk.
But their strength was comparable.
Before, this nameless Great Warrior wouldn't have been his match.
Among the strong, he would have prioritized flight over facing such a foe.
However.
'Not anymore.'
Not anymore.
With Myriad Flower Bone Nourishment at the second stage, his sword reaching Spirit grade despite dissatisfaction.
Now possessing the Spirit Sword - Roas.
To Kallias, a Great Warrior was no longer an enemy to flee from.
Now, a worthy opponent.
Yes, a worthy rival.
That was how much stronger Kallias had become.
With the Three-Color Eyes correcting his sword path, dismantling or evading enemy attacks, utilizing all his abilities in diverse ways to unleash one-flash-one-kill swordsmanship.
Purer holy power elevating all his physical capabilities.
'I can get even stronger.'
This wasn't the end.
He could grow stronger still.
He couldn't be satisfied with this.
He had to grow even more from here.
He had felt the potential. He had sensed it in his bones during that battle just now.
He would grow stronger ahead.
That was enough.
[Wheel of Patalite]
<Reward> S-
"Ah."
The Wheel's reward had become S-.
Killing the Great Warrior had unlocked it.
He didn't know if he could make a full S before this quest ended, but it was satisfying enough.
'Getting subsumed by Kallias's ego isn't ideal, but....'
Still, coming north had been the right choice.
If he hadn't come north, he wouldn't have achieved this much growth in such a short time.
Finishing his thoughts, Kallias reached toward the Great Warrior's corpse.
Inferior to the previous Great Warrior, Keltuk, but still a Great Warrior.
A body that could become a Spirit Sword if made into a Corpse Sword.
Not a formal Corpse Sword ritual, so he couldn't expect top quality, but still a Great Warrior.
As the one who had directly clashed with him, he was confident the resulting Corpse Sword would be Spirit grade.
Spirit Swords had grades too, so not the highest quality, but anticipation swelled anyway.
Wooong-
His hand shimmered silver.
The noble holy power borrowed the miracle of god, enveloping the cooling corpse and soon transforming its form.
A lifetime of honed body and noble soul forged into a single sword.
A sword unique in the world....
Saruk.
"Uh?"
"The Great Warrior's body...."
But a sight unfolded that shattered Kallias's expectations.
The Great Warrior's body began drying up like a mummy.
Pussek! Then, with a thud, it crumbled to dust.
Kallias glared irritably at the Predatory Sword - Roas in his hand.
"You...."
The Predatory Sword gleamed sharply with its bloodstained blade, as if satisfied.
[Predatory Sword - Roas]
Grade – Spirit.
Indwelling Soul – Mixed Soul.
Unique Ability – Predation.
Noble Predation - 1.
Noble Predation had been added below the unique ability.
Now a Spirit Sword, it no longer found satisfaction in mere monsters or ordinary humans. Until now, other orcs had elicited no reaction, but taking the Great Warrior's head triggered this change.
If this continued, the Predatory Sword might ascend beyond Spirit to Illusion grade.
But when?
After a hundred? A thousand? Or ten thousand noble predations?
Impossible to know. Rather than strange anticipation, deep frustration pounded Kallias's head.
"Tch. Damn it."
Clicking his tongue, Kallias irritably sheathed the Predatory Sword as if he couldn't stand the sight of it.
With a clank, his sharp voice called out.
"Brans. Clean up."
"Yes, sir!"
As he surveyed the situation briefly, Emily approached and asked.
"Now we head back to the main camp?"
Their original goal was to seize supplies.
Isolate them.
Frankly, an absurd plan.
Failure meant death, and even success would make transporting supplies to the fortress tricky.
A detachment from the defending army raiding enemy supplies for gain—what nonsense.
"No, we don't."
"Why?"
"We can't pierce the orc horde with supplies in tow to return to the fortress. Even if possible, the losses would outweigh the gains."
Much blood would flow.
With the orc army blocking the fortress, how could they move them?
Impossible.
"Then what?"
"We'll erode their numbers and supplies from outside like this."
Slowly, bit by bit.
Isolate them—that was the goal.
Who starves first.
That would seize the advantage.
'The north is full of harsh weather anyway.'
Besides.
"If it's in small amounts, even they have ways to move it, so it's fine."
The north's hidden paths filled Kallias's mind.
"Paths aren't only on the ground, after all."
Kallias turned away, gazing quietly underground with calm eyes.