Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Unforgettable Training Camp (6)
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Watching Ban stand guard in front of them, Cheon gritted his teeth. What a pathetic sight this was. Hesitating over whether to flee behind someone who wasn't even from one of the Nine Great Clans, and in front of the first-years, no less.
Cheon glanced at the others. Hay. Anya. Hazelrek. Lungil. Macdead. Millet. And even Serifa, who had died so pointlessly.
“Step back, Ban.”
“Sunbae...!”
“I’m not saying run. Just change the plan.”
Cheon ran through every possible scenario in his mind. Then he calmly assessed the situation.
*The guy’s strike was too fast to react to.*
*But is that even possible? Moving at a speed we can’t even perceive?*
*There’s some kind of trick.*
*When did he move?*
*...Right, when he spoke to us, and I let my foresight lapse for a moment.*
*To disrupt my foresight? If it was truly a speed we couldn’t react to, he wouldn’t need to worry about my foresight... And no attack since. Why?*
*No way...*
Cheon composed his expression. He pushed his foresight to its limit and opened his mouth. Every time a drop of sweat trickled into it, a salty taste spread.
“...Ban, Hay. I’m going to pour everything into my foresight from now on. You’ll have to be my sword and shield. Can you do that?”
“We have to. No other choice.”
Hay growled. His sword had grown a shade darker since Serifa’s death, crackling with an even more intimidating qi. Cheon spoke.
“I’m staking everything on foresight now. Ban, you’ll be the shield. Hay, you’ll be the sword. Anya, you handle the small fry. If he’s really after you... those guys won’t be able to touch you.”
“...Got it, sunbae.”
Anya nodded, gripping her staff ablaze with White Flame.
“Lungil, Millet, Macdead—you support Anya. Hazelrek, you head out now and call for backup. Personally. Don’t worry about that boss bastard. The three of us will hold out.”
“...Understood, sunbae.”
Cheon ground his teeth, glaring at the Wraith Leader. He muttered quietly through clenched teeth.
“You were acting like you could kill us all in an instant a moment ago, but now you’re awfully quiet.”
[...Iseo’s prophecies have always tripped me up.]
The Wraith Leader murmured softly.
[But that’s all it is. You can trip me, but you can’t sever my ankle. Not ever...]
“Hay, above!”
Cheon cut off the Wraith Leader and shouted. And in that instant, the Wraith Leader’s sword—who had clearly been speaking moments ago—was slashing down right above Hay. A strike that skipped the entire process. The same swordsmanship that had finished Serifa.
But Hay deflected it.
*What the hell is this?*
His fingertips tingled. It was fast and powerful. But the strangest part was how both the body and sword seemed to drop out of thin air.
“Ban, upper right!”
As soon as Hay parried the Wraith Leader’s sword, Cheon shouted again. Another attack already? That didn’t make sense.
That’s when Hay saw the Wraith Leader’s form blur faintly before reappearing right in front of Ban.
Only then did he realize he was fighting not a man, but a wraith.
*...Wraiths normally have no form, damn it—that’s it.*
Hay’s eyes flicked to Ban. It was a heavy, swift strike. Just knowing the direction in advance—could Ban really deflect that? Ban was thinking the same.
The Wraith Leader materialized in midair, sword and all, swinging from upper right to cleave into his neck. Ban gripped his sword tightly.
Even now, Yuri’s memories flowed into him. Among all the Seeds of the Night or knights she had faced... there was none as strong as this Wraith Leader.
And she had deflected their attacks too. Whether fire, lightning, or fists. No sword appearing from nowhere, but still.
He swung his sword. He trusted Yuri’s sword. Her will that had deflected everything. The life of a knight who had devoted her soul to the North. And that trust allowed Ban to draw a cleaner line than ever before.
A sharp *clang* rang out, impossible to believe it was sword on sword. The Wraith Leader’s swing retained its momentum. It simply never reached Ban.
*Please hold, Ban.*
It was too heavy a burden for a first-year. But they had no choice. Not even a path to victory was clear right now. All they could do was survive. As long as his foresight could grasp...
*Eventually, the White Flame Squad will come. Or if not them... the professors will.*
His foresight only reached ten minutes at best. But that also meant they could arrive in eleven.
Anya and the other four first-years were giving their all to keep the lesser wraiths away. Anya was practically throwing herself into the fray. Partly because she trusted they wouldn’t kill her if she was the target, and partly from rage at the situation.
*He said he wanted me.*
*I’m why they came here.*
*...Then Serifa sunbae died because of me?*
Useless guilt bred useless self-recrimination. And that turned into greater fury, fueling her flames.
“Get off us already!”
White Flame scorched the wraiths’ pallid flesh with every staff swing. Those soul-burning flames wouldn’t heal no matter what—at least Anya’s front was turning decisively positive.
*All that’s left... is to trust.*
That Ban and Hay would show their best. And that reinforcements would arrive before they hit their limit.
His nose already bled from overusing foresight. He couldn’t relax for a second, weighing every possibility. Even directing them required care. Warn too early, and the Wraith Leader’s sword would veer elsewhere, shredding Hay and Ban.
How many futures had he seen where a single second killed them?
The more he foresaw, the more Cheon noticed something unexpected.
*Ban’s doing better than expected.*
The Wraith Leader’s sword swung, cloaked in blatant darkness visible to the eye. Yet Ban was deflecting it surprisingly well. Deflection was a technique to counter greater force with less, but it shouldn’t work this theoretically smooth.
Why, then, did Ban seem not just enduring but growing accustomed as time passed?
*It’s the same.*
Ban thought. Even before learning Deflection, he’d had to stand against Yeoryeong’s sword. In a different way, her invisible blade was fast and strong, just like this Wraith Leader’s.
So he’d poured all his strength into learning to deflect her sword away.
The gap in power was something Ban always faced. Even with this immense blessing called ‘Voice of the Sword,’ he constantly met stronger foes.
And that was saving him now.
Ban now had Yuri’s Deflection. All her experiences. Deflecting swords was familiar. Even if it appeared suddenly without warning.
Moreover,
[You are sharing synergy with a possessor of far greater skill!]
[Analyzing opponent’s swordsmanship!]
[The sword path you use matches the opponent’s in significant portions.]
Such messages kept floating in one corner of his vision. Of course, it hadn’t fully analyzed the swordsmanship in that short time. He’d seen the message the instant their swords clashed.
And upon seeing it, Ban realized what the opponent’s swordsmanship was.
*Cho... Swordsmanship.*
The omitted preparation had distracted from its essence. But the path traced by the sword bursting from thin air clearly resembled Cho Swordsmanship.
He didn’t know why a swordsman trained in Cho Swordsmanship had become a northern wraith trying to kidnap Nahar clansmen. But one thing was clear: Cho Swordsmanship was the one he could deflect better than any. He’d always been Yeoryeong’s sparring partner.
Even without preparation, it was Cho Swordsmanship. As someone who understood how Cho swordsmen moved better than anyone, Ban sometimes anticipated the Wraith Leader’s swings even without Cheon’s call.
—Ease up on the power.
A familiar voice echoed in his ear—or seemed to. Yuri’s voice. The sword whispering to him. What Deflection was. How much power to use. How to approach one with greater strength...
Ban’s sword path softened bit by bit. Not from weakness. He moved without hesitation whenever Cheon called, and the Wraith Leader’s sword fell powerless each time.
Even in battle, Hay felt an odd sensation watching Ban. Growing even here? What kind of monster was he?
And then, the Wraith Leader’s sword halted. Complicated emotions filled his gaze toward Ban.
[You, could it be...]
His words never finished.
*Boom!* A massive beam of light stabbed down from the sky. Pure white like the sun piercing the earth, purifying flames. Blinding brightness, yet eyes didn’t squint. Nothing was harmed—not them, not the trees.
Only the wraiths burned.
[Gaaaah... N-no...]
Even their screams burned away before fully manifesting. Facing that holy fire, Cheon finally lifted his blood-smeared face and smiled faintly.
“We... held out.”
Reinforcements had arrived.
§
The fierce battle with the wraiths—and their leader—ended so anticlimactically it was laughable. That was the moment he understood why White Flame was absolute against wraiths. Neither wraiths nor leader left even dust after the sun of White Flame struck.
“Is that... so. One student lost.”
“Yes. From the Houton family... Serifa. Can we recover the body?”
“...Just a second-year, and such a cruel end. For her, and for you all.”
White Flame Captain Nahar Dein murmured gloomily at Serifa’s corpse. The professors and original support team arrived soon after. They stared at the body for a long while before speaking.
“...To encounter things like this in the borderlands.”
“Don’t blame yourself. No one saw it coming.”
“My student died while I sucked my thumb. How could I not?”
“We should’ve anticipated it when the kids went missing. Wraiths brazenly wandering under the lighthouse’s blessing... What’s brewing?”
“...It’s already happened. Three missing, one dead.”
“Are the rebels really in league with the wraiths...?”
“No idea. But whoever it is, they’ll pay soon.”
Only their group had been attacked that day, they said. The white smoke shells that filled the sky hinted at something dire, but obscured the exact location.
Ban quietly looked around. Dein was gently stroking Anya’s head as she sobbed.
“...Told you to train harder. Dying to some wraith.”
“That’s... hng...”
“Enough. You did well.”
Various murmurs followed. How the wraiths used white smoke shells unknown even to most outside border patrols. Hunt traitors. Probe rebel involvement.
But none reached Ban’s ears. He gazed at Serifa’s recovering body. They’d barely been close. Just seeing her fist turn to stone in training, thinking *that’s a blessing too*.
No tears came.
Just the feeling of something lost.
“Ban! Hazelrek! You okay? Hurt anywhere!?”
Yeoryeong arrived late, panting as she checked them. Her face flushed from sprinting. Ban and Hazelrek exchanged looks. Inevitable sorrow settled on their faces.
“...We’re fine.”
It was a short training camp.
Even so, Ban felt he’d never forget it for the rest of his life.