Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Sanctuary Deployment
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Forming one's own domain.
That is the knight's sanctuary.
A divine realm usable only by warriors of high attainment wielding fitting armaments.
The ability to draw out the full potential of one's armament and dominate a certain area as one's own.
Originally a supreme realm accessible only to those who have reached the master's rank—a domain impossible for Kallias.
Yet Storm Sword—Callis enables even Kallias to deploy a sanctuary.
'Because it bears Jerban blood.'
A sword forged from the flesh of an ancestral figure. A blade infused with the conviction to remain as a sword after death, guarding the North.
『Storm Sword—Callis』
This phantom sword specializes in sanctuaries, unlocking all its potential solely for Jerban and solely as a means to defend the North.
A sword for the North and Jerban.
It is Callis.
A sword strong enough just by wielding the wind, but its true power manifests upon deploying the sanctuary.
No one can escape the sanctuary forged from the storm. That is the nature of a sanctuary.
Even those bearing the same phantom sword would find it difficult to easily shatter it.
To begin with, the Storm Sword is a blade weighted more toward creating sanctuaries.
In the eye of the storm, the one grasping Callis receives the wind's protection.
The North's biting gales become armor to wear and hands to wield once Callis is in hand.
"Are you afraid?"
"I will kill you!"
But the response was nothing but murderous intent vowing to kill him.
A single exchange turned the storm's calm into dead silence.
Yet even now, the swirling storm sanctuary turned the surroundings into a sea of blood and corpses.
The northern earth stained with green blood.
The warlord's gaze upon Kallias, standing amid their blood, was far from ordinary.
Thud.
The beast charged.
Ignoring wounds across its body and the flowing blood.
As Kallias thrust his sword to counter—
'Red.'
In an instant, the ground beneath his feet turned entirely red.
Chills ran up his spine in that moment.
No killing intent, no presence—precisely because of that, he dodged desperately.
Right then, thud!
The iron swords scattered on the ground twisted like living tentacles, attacking Kallias.
"Damn it."
But in the storm sanctuary, the wind was on his side. The north wind enveloped him.
Wings sprouted from Kallias's back.
Vortices gathered in an instant, forming wings that granted buoyancy.
Boom!
As he evaded the eerie tentacles, dozens of rocky hands erupted from the earth, grasping for Kallias.
Kallias's eyes narrowed.
Orcs worshiping the Axe God possessed no armament capable of such manipulation.
Even their warlord leader received no such favor from the Axe God.
Their axes granted only bodily enhancement.
So this was not the beast's doing.
'Elbton said it.'
To beware the one behind it.
Elbton was not so weak as to fall easily to the warlord.
By the setup, Elbton was supposed to be stronger than the warlord.
Yet he had lost so pitifully—likely because a cowardly rat had interfered in the battle.
Seeing phenomena akin to magic, Kallias was certain.
'Crasion's Ramatu.'
The forgotten god.
The last worshiper of the staff-wielding deity.
Ramatu was behind the warlord.
'Right, Crasion had you.'
Kallias raised the Storm Sword in midair, infusing it with holy power.
Whoooosh!!
With raging sword aura, the subtleties of Silver Flower Sword Wave merged with the storm.
A massive storm gathered in the sword of the airborne Kallias.
With a single swing—
Kwaaaaah!!
It unleashed swirling tempests.
His blade, empowered by Spirit Sword and whipped into a typhoon by Storm Sword.
One swing sent the vortex raging fiercely.
Clang! Boom!
The sharp storm blasts shattered every one of Ramatu's rocky hands.
'Damn.'
But the orc warlord charged, stepping on the scattering debris, its mighty axe flying in.
'Damn...!'
Boom—!
He parried with Spirit Sword.
Even with a troll's strength, the warlord's power matched it.
Bang! Boom! Clang! Kwagagagak!!
The air trembled from the ferocity of Kallias's twin blades and the warlord's axe, sparks flying brilliantly.
Thwack!
"Urk."
Amid it, flying stone shards targeted Kallias's openings.
Not lethal wounds, but they created tiny gaps.
And the orc warlord's axe never missed those gaps.
Kwaaang!!
The warlord's axe slammed the ground.
From the spiderweb cracks, Ramatu's tentacles burst forth.
Kallias immediately wrapped himself in wind to block the tentacles.
But he couldn't dodge the warlord's follow-up kick.
Thwack!
His chest took the hit.
The beast's power was so immense that even with the wind barrier, his ribs cracked.
"Ptoo."
Kallias spat sticky blood and wiped his mouth.
"Ha...."
No longer hiding it. Dozens of tentacles writhed around the axe-wielding orc warlord.
"You know nothing of honor, you bastard."
A sharp rebuke, but the warlord paid it no mind.
It charged again, swinging its axe.
The tattoos etched across its body glowed faintly.
It seemed to grow stronger the longer they fought. Unlike the warlord, Kallias's sword grew lighter.
'Am I slowing down?'
Even without Ramatu's interference, Kallias felt the gap.
Strength, speed, technique.
Momentary judgment.
All fell short compared to the beast.
Strength bolstered by Spirit Sword's troll might, speed heightened by Storm Sword's winds.
Yet the gap was exposed.
He held the edge in power and speed.
But the warlord's judgment filled it, turning Kallias's force against him with counters impossible to withstand.
And any slight opening brought Ramatu's tentacles—victory seemed distant.
'Can't break through with swordsmanship alone.'
Though empowered by phantom swords, Kallias fought alone while they had warlord and Ramatu together.
The clear gap between Kallias and the orc warlord influenced it too.
He began to feel it gradually.
Battle is a war of attrition.
Exchanging blow for blow, inevitably measuring each other's prowess.
Thus, Kallias could only sense the depth's difference in his duel with the warlord.
His Spirit Sword and Storm Sword danced with endless variation, but the warlord's axe was steadfast.
Fast and heavy.
It blocked and dismantled Kallias's swift changes with solid stability.
It looked like dominance on the surface, but in truth, no damage landed.
The initial strike had caught it off-guard.
All after were null.
Thus, desperation gripped not the beast, but Kallias.
Even without Vivi’s Bracelet, Spirit Sword and Storm Sword drained holy power to the limit.
Tick, slash.
Scratches began appearing on Kallias's body.
Troll regeneration from Spirit Sword activated, but the burden mounted.
Kwaang!
The warlord's axe clashed in midair, sending Kallias plummeting.
As he hurtled toward the ground, the Biara clan's artifact activated.
[Leteti]'s wings unfurled.
Flutter!
Leteti's wings and Storm Sword's winds caught his fall.
Puke!
Yet he couldn't stop the blood surging from his body. His head spun, bones rattling.
"Cough."
Spirit Sword's power was fading.
"Damn you bastards."
Seeing Kallias vomit blood, the warlord's lips curled.
"Don't grin, you monster spawn."
The warlord descending from the sky raised a brow, flinching as it glanced ground and sky, then hugged its massive axe close.
Countless silver petals now danced in the air.
First Form—Flower Breaking Path.
Beneath the earth sprawled an indescribable chaos of sword scars.
Second Form—White Mist.
Empowered by Spirit Sword and Storm Sword, Silver Flower Sword Wave unfolded on an extraordinary scale.
'This won't be enough.'
But he knew from clashes with the beast.
Flower Breaking Path and White Mist wouldn't suffice.
Sword auras from the ground and petal essence Flower Breaking Path surged like a storm toward it.
Yet the beast, as if anticipating, hugged its axe in a defensive stance.
But Flower Breaking Path and White Mist were feints.
Merely buying time.
"This one will hurt."
Silver Flower Sword Wave, Third Form.
'Whirling Flower Breaking Path.'
White Mist unfurled in ascent.
Silver Flower Sword Wave's ultimate technique, requiring both.
Amid petals drawing the sword like a dance and sword auras—
Kallias kicked off the ground, charging the foe.
He pierced the whirling Flower Breaking Path and White Mist onto his blade.
Flower Breaking Path was originally a swift sword art batting away his and the enemy's sword fragments like waves.
Infusing variation for subtle strikes within.
With Storm Sword, winds carried it, enabling what was once impossible.
He gathered Spirit Sword and Storm Sword.
'Flawed technique? Tri-Color Eyes.'
He focused.
Navigating gold, blue, red with minute differences. Tri-Color Eyes aided completion of the sword.
Flawed technique via traits.
Flawed power via Spirit.
Flawed reach via storm.
Into one blade piercing all variations.
He thrust sword and self.
Scattering petals converged back to sword. Raging waves of Flower Breaking Path gathered on Kallias's blade, gleaming brilliantly.
White Mist's sword auras from below.
He struck the gap.
Then anomaly struck.
Flower Breaking Path and White Mist.
They began intertwining.
A thrust in a flash.
Fwaaaah!
A thrust like a beam of light hurtled toward the warlord's heart.
Sensing peril, the warlord's face paled.
As it tried rolling aside with axe in hand—
Slash!
It grazed the orc's forearm.
"What?"
It uttered, mocking.
No matter how grand the attack, if it misses, it's meaningless.
Relieved from tension, having suffered mere scratches, the warlord laughed.
Kallias, locked in thrust, drenched in cold sweat, replied.
"Other Shore Transformation."
That instant.
The warlord's minor scratch tore open.
Crack.
Then exploded.
Raaaaagh!!
Its scream held bewilderment, soon turning to terror.
It had merely grazed.
Just a scratch.
How did its arm explode!
The warlord, losing its right arm, knelt moaning in agony.
'Success.'
Silver Flower Sword Wave, Third Form.
Other Shore Transformation.
A single thrust piercing the gap between Flower Breaking Path and White Mist.
In an instant, petals and sword auras intertwined for astonishing speed.
Yet inherent in that thrust: the fused dual techniques.
Any foe grazed by it suffers fatal damage from the exploding blade.
Tiny fragments burrowing inside erupt, birthing flowers from the enemy's blood—Other Shore Transformation.
"Urk."
But Kallias who unleashed it looked far from fine.
Cold sweat beaded across his body, blood repeatedly surging as if refluxing within. Forced technique had tangled his sacred blood.
Already damaged from expending the bracelet's vast holy power, the overexertion of Other Shore Transformation inflicted internal wounds.
'Still, finish it...!'
He hadn't severed the warlord's breath.
He'd severed its arm, but it lived. He needed to decapitate now.
"Gah...!"
Blood from his mouth bent his waist. Storm Sword's glow, devouring holy power to the limit, began fading.
Whish.
Exhausted holy power crumbled the storm sanctuary.
Ramatu's tentacles flew toward the kneeling Kallias, seizing the opening.
"Damn...!"
Kallias mustered all strength to raise Storm Sword—Callis.
Holy power was depleted.
Spirit Sword released; troll regeneration and strength long gone.
Clang!
Barely blocking the tentacle, Kallias vomited blood again, staggering.
Then a shadow loomed over him. The orc warlord.
Face twisted in rage, it raised its remaining arm's axe and approached.
Too late to raise Storm Sword for defense.
Kallias drew Spirit Sword.
But then—
Slash!!
His sword shattered.