Chapter 203: Vanessa Olson (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 203: Vanessa Olson (3)
The distorted lightning energy gathering around the sword transformed into blue rods and scattered into the air.
Dozens of small, lightning-infused pillars pulsed with a divine light in the middle of the dark wilderness. The unstable, writhing energy was gone; the pillars were now as orderly as if they had been sculpted.
His first choice was the Fighting God Technique, 4th Sword: Erosion.
Thump!
Jin plunged Sigmund into the ground. In that same instant, the floating rods of lightning all slammed into the earth in unison.
Vanessa had intended to swing her sword at that exact moment. The instant Jin buried Sigmund in the dirt, she had planned to teach this brilliant fledgling what happens when one foolishly grounds their weapon just to perform a technique.
However, instead of attacking, she was forced to retreat.
Sharp bolts of lightning were suddenly flowing across the entire floor. No, not just the floor. Even the air she inhaled was laced with lightning, stinging her throat like thorns.
The blue rods, arranged in a circle where Sigmund was planted, were saturating the ground between them with electricity.
For now, even Vanessa had no choice but to widen the distance.
While she felt it was entirely possible to break through, the fact that she couldn't predict what would happen inside that ‘Lightning Zone’ was bothersome. Since she had the option of firing sword energy from outside the zone, there was no need to play along with his trick just to flaunt the gap in their power.
‘This feels more like magic than swordsmanship.’
Though the lightning she inhaled was unusual, Vanessa had been expecting a destructive blow filled with fighting spirit, like a Runcandel Decisive Technique. After all, these were the sword arts of those who had ruled the world half a millennium ago. Yet this felt more like a mage’s trickery.
‘He said there were a few more, so I’ll watch a bit longer. If it continues like this, my disappointment will only grow—’
Vanessa’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt as her gaze fell to her feet.
Crackle, zap.
Tiny sparks, no larger than millet seeds, were moving erratically. They were clearly outside the range being corroded by Sigmund and the blue pillars. The lightning at her feet was as weak as dying embers, seemingly unrelated to the fierce, wild electricity of the eroded ground.
But her instincts were screaming. Move.
Step! Vanessa reflexively used her footwork. Ever since reaching her current realm, her intuition had never been wrong.
K-BOOM!
The lightning gathered near Jin suddenly poured toward those tiny sparks. It moved at the speed of lightning—an absolute velocity that not even a 10-star Knight could dodge without anticipation. A blackened hole appeared where Vanessa had been standing, as if a giant serpent had passed through.
‘Even if I had blocked it with my body, the power would have been negligible.’
Just as she had that thought and turned her head, a blue image of thunder seared itself into her vision. A literal thunderbolt fell from the sky, striking the pit once more. After the intense, ear-piercing roar subsided, even Vanessa couldn't help but flinch.
‘An earthquake…?’
Immediately after the thunder struck, a faint tremor rippled through the ground beneath them. And thanks to that tremor, Vanessa realized that the thumbnail-sized sparks that ‘called the thunder’ had actually spread across the entire area.
Such sparks were popping up everywhere. If every single one of those countless tiny sparks could call down a thunderbolt…
Imagining the scene, for the first time in a very long while, goosebumps rose on the back of her neck.
‘Of course, such an absurd technique couldn't possibly exist. That would make him no different from a god commanding thousands of thunderbolts. If that were the case, I would be the one challenging Jin.’
Meanwhile, Jin was thinking:
‘Both the Judgment I used last time and this Erosion are infinitely meager compared to what the Fighting God brothers showed me.’
The Erosion performed by Fighting God Ban was exactly what Vanessa had just imagined: thousands of thunderbolts raging incessantly according to his will, a storm that no one below 9-star could even dream of blocking or dodging. Although he couldn't yet summon thousands of bolts like Ban, summoning dozens was well within Jin’s reach.
Crackle, snap!
Lightning began to explode near Vanessa.
She was, indeed, someone Cyron could trust with his back. Despite the countless small sparks scattered around her, she accurately identified which ones were about to trigger a thunderbolt and reacted within a second. Her ability—what commoners called dynamic visual acuity and martial artists called the Mind’s Eye—was far beyond the realm of common sense.
Jin had expected as much.
‘Sir Vanessa will try to dodge the thunder of Erosion. She must have judged that parrying it is dangerous.’
So, the moment he stabbed Sigmund into the ground, he had prepared to summon Tess. If the flames of pressure suddenly poured down right after the lightning, even Vanessa would be flustered.
Screeech!
From the dimensional gate opening above Jin, Tess’s blue wings emerged. As soon as Tess was summoned, Jin retrieved Sigmund and charged toward Vanessa at full speed.
His plan was to attack while she was busy dodging the thunder. No matter how great a 10-star Knight was, openings were bound to appear when they moved in a hurry.
But the moment Jin approached…
Did you think I would dodge?
Vanessa didn't say the words aloud, but with a thunderbolt about to fall, there was no time. Jin could read it in her expression. She was telling him she would show him the true strength of a 10-star Knight.
RUMBLE!
While Jin’s Heart of Light of the Fighting God burned as if it would explode and the flames of pressure swallowed Vanessa whole, the sky seemed to tear apart. Dozens of thunderbolts poured down toward a single point: Vanessa.
She could have easily dodged. While she might not have evaded every bolt while being weighed down by the flames of pressure, she could have parried the ones that remained.
Instead, Vanessa put strength into her sword.
‘Is she really going to parry all of this?’
Jin unconsciously swallowed hard.
A single streak of sword light shone white amidst the Azure Fire and lightning. But it only appeared as a single streak to those who had not reached her realm. Within that light, dozens, hundreds of sword energies were dancing. Some caught the Azure Fire, some tore the lightning apart, and some tightened their grip around Jin.
This time, goosebumps spread down Jin’s spine. Though the sword light flared, he didn't blink, for he already saw the future a moment away.
‘Sir Vanessa will parry every single one of them, perfectly…!’
Neither the thunder of Erosion nor Tess’s Azure Fire would so much as touch her hem before being swept away by her sword energy.
In other words, his calculation was wrong. He had to admit he had underestimated a martial artist who could have shaken the world if she had wished.
“Haaah!”
As Vanessa let out a roar, a shockwave spread through the air.
Before he knew it, the Azure Fire and thunder were extinguished, suppressed by her sword energy, and Tess was breathing a new plume of flame just to protect Jin. The remaining sword energy, having shattered everything else, was now flying toward him.
Fortunately, its momentum had waned slightly, but Tess couldn't block forever. Moreover, Jin had yet to land a single blow on Vanessa.
Even if his calculation was wrong, he had no intention of backing down.
‘If even this fails, I will admit my defeat.’
Shring…
As Bradamante left its scabbard, spirit energy flowed. In the wilderness that had been filled only with blue and white energy, the pitch-black spirit energy spread, creating a stark dissonance.
Spirit Sword 1st Form.
Jin lowered his body and took a stance.
Soul Slash—the technique he had been perfecting even before his time in Laprarosa.
As always, Jin chanted a mantra in his mind. Cut her. I will cut Sir Vanessa. I will cut that monster… The spirit energy, awakened by the mantra, stained the blade dark.
“This truly is the last one.”
“Did you enjoy the previous ones?”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Vanessa said.
Her iron sword was chipped. Though it had been imbued with the aura of a 10-star Knight, this was the limit for a cheap blade.
‘Maybe I should have brought a better sword. This is absurd, haha.’
In her heart, Vanessa had already admitted defeat. With such a sword, she couldn't even take Jin’s final blow head-on, and this was a spar, not a duel to the death.
Even without a sword, killing Jin wouldn't be difficult, but she had already judged that he had passed the test. Her clothes were intact, and no blade had touched her body, but while blocking his thunder and Azure Fire, she had far exceeded the limit she had intended to place on her power.
In a way, taking Jin’s final attack head-on now was her way of giving him extra credit, like an examiner. Or perhaps it was a tribute to the young Runcandel who was growing so splendidly—a man worthy of being enshrined in the Runcandel Mausoleum.
Jin’s body moved forward.
Although he hadn't reached the realm of ‘directly cutting the soul,’ the Spirit Sword 1st Form he had refined in Laprarosa was silent. The ghost-like blade simply pierced through and cut the opponent. If one’s belief was strong enough, there was nothing in the world it could not cut.
And once again, Vanessa intuitively saw through the nature of the Spirit Sword.
She was not Solderet’s contractor and hadn't experienced spirit energy often, but to those who stand at the pinnacle of the sword, the depth of all sword-related arts becomes visible.
‘Splendid.’
Bradamante, stained with spirit energy, grazed Vanessa’s cheek. Slash. A single red droplet of blood bloomed as Jin passed by her, savoring the joy of victory.
As a martial artist, he felt a twinge of regret when evaluating his own place in the vast sea of swordsmanship, but as Cyron’s son, he was proud to have exceeded his father’s expectations. With this test, Jin had essentially been recognized as being able to ‘exchange a single blow’ with Cyron.
Clatter!
Vanessa’s iron sword shattered. It didn't just break; it completely disintegrated, showering the ground in fragments.
It was the most thrilling sound Jin had ever heard, beautiful enough to be called the best.
“Jin Runcandel, I have one thing to ask.”
“Please speak, Sir Vanessa.”
Vanessa shrugged and looked back at Jin.
“If I had used just a little more power, do you think you could have achieved the same result?”
In Vanessa’s eyes, Jin was more than capable of exchanging a blow with Cyron. Thus, a pure curiosity arose within her, a question from one martial artist to another. Would a second blow even be possible?
“...Well, actually, there is one thing left.”
“What? You mean there’s another, besides what you’ve shown so far?”
“But since it can't be called a sword or magic, it’s meaningless.”
“Can’t be called a sword or magic?”
Jin didn't answer and simply smiled.
It was clear he couldn't give her the details. Vanessa could only shrug as she looked at the audacious young Runcandel.
“Anyway, it’s my complete defeat. Your father certainly told me to punish you, but since it’s turned out like this, I have no choice but to give you a reward.”