Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: A Slightly Strong Rookie (3)
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My senses twisted. The sky began falling like a waterfall, and the ground rounded like a ball. The man was four one moment, then one the next, vanishing from sight in flickers. The sensation that the earth might crumble any second kept my feet rooted.
'......Is this the attack?'
—.......Hold your mind firm. Ban.
Yuri's voice echoed in my head. Amid the bizarre sound of the ground folding, hers was the only thing anchoring me to reality. I crouched low and expanded my qi sense.
'Reality can't really be changing like this.'
Someone with the power to shake the heavens and fold the earth wouldn't be targeted with academy trainees. There had to be some way to overcome it.
And the Shiraz Clan ruled over the mind.
It was obvious this was all an illusion. The problem was how to break free from it......
I unleashed all the qi pulsing within me. The sword intent of a swordsman prickled my skin as it surged out, sharpening its edge against the illusions assailing me.
'......It's been a while since I've seen one like that.'
Shiraz Kane raised an eyebrow as he watched me. It was a ferocious sword intent. Even as up and down flipped, left and right tangled, senses in chaos beyond distinction...... the sword in my grip and my momentum battered his illusions, on the verge of shattering them.
Jeo, meanwhile, flailed his limbs on the ground, utterly overwhelmed. For someone from the Eustaine Clan, famed for sharp senses, crumbling before his illusions wasn't surprising.
Yeoryeong fared no better than Jeo. She gripped her sword, frozen stiff like stone. She was clever enough to know swinging it might only harm her allies.
And amid it all, Anya alone glared straight at Kane.
"You."
"Hmm. The Nahar Clan's White Flame can't be swayed by mere illusions. But do you plan to keep it blazing like that? You won't last long."
White Flame roared around Anya's body, poised to devour everything. Since her last rampage, its size and duration had grown considerably. This level of control wasn't too taxing.
Anya thought.
'Everyone's caught.'
'Should I face him alone?'
'Can my White Flame dispel the illusions cloaking them?'
'......Even if I do, can we win?'
'No choice.'
The White Flame erupted, spreading over Jeo, over Yeoryeong, over me—and clung to our bodies, unquenching. Kane's eyes narrowed.
'To wield White Flame like that at her age.'
Even in the Nahar Clan of slackers, geniuses were born. But that wasn't the priority now. Jeo's flailing limbs stilled. Anya's eyes locked on Kane, and I......
"Urk!"
Kane swallowed a groan and retreated. My blade descended before him, poised to cleave him in two. The flames had cloaked it mere moments ago—had he judged and acted in that instant?
The Nahar Clan's kid was the problem. Kane sharpened his gaze and drew up his mental power.
My sword, Jeo's claws and nails, Yeoryeong's broadsword—all plummeted toward Kane, ready to tear him apart. But when their strikes ended, all that remained was an afterimage in his likeness.
"......Huh?"
Yeoryeong frowned. Had he dodged in that split second? Then it came—from behind, from underground, from above—Kane's voice resounding.
"Hey. Kids. Instead of chasing this poor old uncle, why not catch some real villains?"
"I haven't done anything wrong. I just left home. Chasing me all the way here's a bit much, no?"
"......No?"
Honestly, there was no good retort. In a way, Kane was pitiful. Born into the Shiraz Clan, forced into 'that' without choice.
I recalled the Shiraz men I'd met. Neither had any spark of personality, nor any sense of life. It made sense. If dozens, hundreds of minds linked under one will...... could Kane even call himself 'I' then? Was it even human?
Then I slung my broadsword over my shoulder and spoke.
"Hey, sir. Like meat?"
"......Not particularly against it. Why?"
"Pigs, cows, sheep—up close, they're all so cute. Slaughtering them tugs at the heart. But we can't live on grass alone, right?"
"......Am I meat?"
"Not meat, but a mission."
I aimed my broadsword. Anya's White Flame blazed over my body and blade, yet my skin bore no scorch.
"Sorry, but this isn't the time for hesitation."
Anya could barely move now. That meant it was taxing. No telling how long it'd hold.
So, end it quick.
Second Sword.
Devouring Strike.
Kane's underlings charged before him. Futile. Clubs or shields—they were too feeble against my blade.
The sword infused with Anya's White Flame slashed, tore, incinerated anything. I held no mercy, yet none took fatal wounds. They had fearsome reputations in the slums, enough to hush crying children, but my blade outmatched their infamy.
A half-dozen warriors crumpled like mice before a cat. Just as my blade arced for Kane's legs.
Kane vanished again.
'What?'
Thinking back, he hadn't been there during our combined assault either. Wasn't Anya's White Flame nullifying mental attacks? If so, this wasn't illusion......
"It's an illusion."
"......Reading my mind?"
Kane now perched atop a building. The earlier fluster from the White Flame seemed a lie; a leisurely smile graced his face.
"......It's not cast on us."
Anya muttered through gritted teeth. She peered at Kane with half-lidded eyes. Her flames still burned over us all, yet failed to block his illusions. Of course. He hadn't deceived our senses.
As her words landed, we all glared at Kane with hardened expressions. He flickered in and out like magic, but we weren't the fooled ones.
Then who? Or what?
The answer lay in our lessons.
— They say 'qi' starts with 'deception.' In the end, you endlessly deceive. Cutting what can't be cut. Running what can't be run. Someday...... you'll achieve the impossible.
Professors' words swirled in my mind. Right. Then this was no surprise.
"......Deceiving the world?"
"More precisely, the laws. Kids."
Kane smiled.
"I wasn't actually here. I actually stepped backward. I'm actually underground."
Hands erupted from the ground, seizing our legs.
"I'm actually behind you."
His voice came from our backs.
"And in front at the same time."
His smiling face loomed right before our eyes.
"Nowhere at all."
Then he vanished in an instant.
A strange moment. Not the overwhelming might of Urong, nor the unfathomable attacks of the Drampo Clan's Gerik...... yet we all sensed defeat in unison. A quiet strength. All the more chilling for its silence.
My blood raced. Every bristled hair felt his gaze. No matter what, we'd stay in his palm—utter helplessness.
The feeling I hated most.
"Stand down, brats. I don't enjoy spilling young blood."
"......Not kids enough for 'brats'......"
"Even that bravado is childish."
Kane laughed. He now sat kinglike behind his guarding warriors. Slum king. Beneath worn stone walls, his shabby tunic couldn't hide his innate nobility.
"......What now?"
Yeoryeong approached me. The call was mine. We could retreat. He seemed strong yet offered mercy—no need to push. A mission failure stung, but more awaited.
'Think, Ban.'
'Think. What to do?'
'Everything's on you. What you bear...... isn't just your sword.'
Yeoryeong, Anya, Jeo—all awaited my choice. Victory meant one mission win; defeat...... wouldn't end at mere failure.
As a swordsman, I craved battle. Retreat once, and twice would follow; flight might become my specialty. But as leader, caution ruled.
'Is this adult warfare?'
Not just clashing blades. Calculations before starting, ending. Still too hard for me. Bearing others' lives—who finds that easy?
Breath grew heavy. Illusion? Air felt thicker.
In my mind, I swung my sword repeatedly. Futile. Against the firm, strike harder. Against speed, match with swifter, subtler technique. But if they left only afterimages......
Had to admit it. My heart screamed fight. Fear not facing the strong. If uncuttable, swing till it yields.
But if allies' safety hung on that sword.
Serifa's face from the north flashed by. Hot conflict welled and faded in my eyes. As I faced Kane, ready to spit it out.
"Everyone, fall......"
— Don't be swayed. Ban.
Then Yuri's voice rang. Calm. Before I could question, she spoke again.
— Look at the situation properly. Quietly, slowly, retrace. Where did it go wrong.
'Look properly?'
I didn't argue. Yuri was always right. Memories incomplete, but she remained my senior...... my master.
Examine all. Sky, ground, the hands gripping our feet. Then it hit me.
Why? Why?
When directly showing illusions, he rounded the ground, bent the sky, defied logic.
But now, deceiving the world...... what did he show? Sudden vanishes and appears. Hands seizing feet.
Seemed impossibly grand at a glance...... but calmly considered, not enough to instill true fear, was it......?
My eyes darted. Before others drew a breath, they pierced every lit corner. Then a faint smile curled my lips.
"......Anya. How long can you hold White Flame?"
"Dunno. ......Longest, time for a meal."
We ate fast. But that sufficed.
I sheathed my broadsword and dagger. Then gripped ironwood longswords in both hands. I eyed Kane. So confident in skill—why hide behind so many underlings? Why give us escape? Mere kindness? Or......
"You're sweating a lot."
I said quietly. Kane's face glistened with sweat beyond mere heat. Anya's limit seemed short...... but she could last a meal.
What about Kane?
Did he eat fast?
Or slow.