Chapter 483: Duel on Deck (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 483: Duel on Deck (5)
Mary’s Viper was already lunging.
The target was set. Her blade, a single point of crackling lightning, shot forward—only for her blue-tinted vision to suddenly clear.
‘Damn it!’
Her youngest brother, who should have been right there in the heart of the lightning, was gone.
The “uselessly kind youngest brother” she’d imagined—the one who would drop his sword, unable to harm his beloved sister—had never existed.
‘Where is he?!’
She recoiled, gritting her teeth as a chilling sensation sliced through her body.
If she didn't pull back her sword, she would die.
Her instincts screamed it. The experience gained from a thousand battles signaled the same mortal danger.
Her aura would backflow, a crippling price to pay, but she had no choice. She had to retract the strike, pull back, and find him.
Light Speed Thrust—the sword that pierces the heavens. To halt such a technique mid-flight was to invite a colossal backlash.
Kuaaaah!
Mary let out an agonized scream as she wrenched her body into a new stance. With the scream came the sickening sensation of muscles and bones tearing and rattling through her grip, arm, shoulder, waist, and legs.
She had retracted it.
The forward momentum of the Light Speed Thrust, which had been tearing through the lightning, vanished as if it had been an illusion. The lightning surged back like a tide, and flashing lights disoriented her.
As she spun around, Mary realized in that split second that the energy permeating the air wasn't just lightning.
Black curtains.
The hemisphere of lightning was a smokescreen for spirit energy. From the very beginning, Jin had used the lightning to conceal a veil of shadows, all for the sake of performing Shadow Assault.
She swung Viper wildly, trying to clear her vision. Each time her blade parted the lightning, flickering black veils came into view.
‘Four... no, seven?!’
She expected a pitch-black sword aura to come flying at her any moment.
But the veils merely drifted, unmoving. Instead, it was from the side that the attack came. Mary whipped around.
‘There!’
Jin was charging. With every flash of lightning, with every blink, the distance between them shrank. He came at her with Bradamante, its blade stained an abyssal black.
Swaaaak!
Finally, Bradamante and Viper collided.
Or so it seemed. Even wracked with internal injuries, Mary displayed monstrous reflexes, reacting perfectly to Jin’s ambush.
But Viper slashed through empty air. A massive, fan-shaped wave of sword energy shot past Jin, pierced the dome of lightning, and soared into the sky before dissipating.
Mary couldn't help but feel flustered once again.
‘He was right in front of me...!’
Like a ghost. Like he had teleported.
Her brother, who had been right in front of her a moment ago, was now somehow behind her, his sword aimed at her back.
The veils of shadow were a series of “doors” that only Jin, the user of Shadow Assault, could pass through.
Just before their blades met, he had stepped through one of those veils, instantly appearing behind her.
‘My sister truly is a monster.’
Blood splattered.
It was Mary’s blood. Bradamante, aimed for her throat, only managed to graze her shoulder.
‘I thought I could at least cripple her shoulder.’
In the same instant, Viper grazed Jin’s cheek. Because of the swirling lightning and shadow veils, the fight was now completely invisible from the outside.
However, everyone could hear it: the thunderous roar of clashing swords and the pained shouts of the two siblings.
And everyone felt it instinctively: when the storm of lightning and shadow finally settled, only the victor would be left standing.
Kaaaaah!
Every time Mary roared, the hemisphere of lightning buckled as if about to burst. Jin unleashed a torrent of attacks, giving her no chance to rally her strength.
‘If I give her a single opening, there's no telling what kind of technique she'll unleash.’
Just before Mary had attempted her Light Speed Thrust, Jin had felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. Like Mary, his instincts had warned him of the danger.
He had to hound her relentlessly, giving her no room to even suspect he had one more trick up his sleeve.
Huff, huff!
Mary wasn't the only one breathing heavily. Jin’s stamina was also flagging.
He hadn't unleashed the true Pluto’s Sovereign Sword, but he had consumed a comparable amount of lightning energy. It was impossible not to feel exhausted. In fact, when it came to sheer physical endurance, Mary still had the upper hand.
Jin gritted his teeth and let out a roar.
‘The backlash should be setting in. How is she still standing?’
He was waiting for the recoil from her retracted technique to take its toll.
Keu-heok!
As if on cue, Mary coughed up a thick clot of blood and staggered, her body buckling.
The moment to end it had come.
Jin stepped in front of her and thrust Bradamante. Mary squeezed out her last reserves of concentration to read her brother’s attack path.
Swinging Bradamante in an upward diagonal arc, Jin aimed for Mary’s neck.
Mary nearly missed the trajectory, but she managed to raise her sword and block it.
Jin had predicted that much. He knew a superhuman of Mary’s caliber could manage at least that.
‘She’s counterattacking even in this state...!’
What he hadn't expected was for her to launch a counterattack in the same motion.
Of course, strictly speaking, Mary hadn't actually “blocked” his final strike at all.
Spirit Sword 2nd Form: Scissors.
It was the final trick Jin had prepared. As Bradamante slashed upward, the ethereal black blade of Scissors formed along the opposite diagonal, closing in on her.
In the end, Mary couldn't block the second blade.
Shak...!
The blade of spirit energy sliced through the pirate eyepatch she wore. If he had aimed for her throat instead of the eyepatch, he could have easily cut it.
“It’s over, Sister.”
Jin had foreseen his victory the moment Mary retracted her Light Speed Thrust. Still, he hadn't let his guard down for even a second.
His opponent was Mary Runcandel, after all.
The fact that she had managed to counterattack at the very end would remain a chilling memory for him for a long time to come.
Mary Runcandel, the 7th Flagbearer of the family. Regardless of one’s own martial prowess, she was the one all the siblings agreed was the most troublesome opponent in a fight to the death.
As the fog of battle cleared, the lightning and spirit energy vanished in an instant.
Swaaaaa—!
And then, a deluge fell from the sky. It was the sea itself, crashing down from a massive wall of water that had been cleaved apart behind Jin.
That was the mark left by Mary’s final counterattack.
“What happened?”
“Did you see that?”
Cosmos, the pirates, the crowd, and even most of Jin’s companions—none of them understood why the wall of water had formed.
Only those who had reached the realm of superhumans had even perceived Mary swinging her sword.
“Hah, that Mary. How did she even manage a swing at the end there?”
“...I didn't see it clearly either, Lord Murakan.”
“I don't know what it was, but if she’d aimed it properly at the kid, the outcome might have changed.”
Murakan and Valkas murmured to each other as Jin swallowed hard.
‘I thought it was just a simple counter, but it was faster than Light Speed Thrust... No, even if I had known it was coming, I don't think I could have dodged it. It was a slash that bordered on an Authority.’
A Runcandel Profound Technique.
Jin was certain that the final vertical slash that had missed him was one of the family’s three Profound Techniques. He was also sure it was incomplete. If it had been a completed Profound Technique, he wouldn't be standing right now.
Swooooosh— The wall of water crumbled like a sandcastle and returned to the sea.
“B-both of them seem to be standing! But the fight is over...! Neither Lady Mary nor Lord Jin are moving!”
Cosmos raised his voice, his eyes wide with excitement.
The siblings made eye contact as they sheathed the swords they had pointed at each other.
Stagger!
When Mary dropped to one knee, groans of disappointment erupted from the crowd.
“Kuh! Dammit, I lost. Can't believe I fell for a trick like that...!”
Mary spat out a mouthful of blood and brushed her hair back from her forehead. Seeing this, Cosmos set off celebratory fireworks in all directions to announce the duel’s result.
“The winner is! Jiiin! Ruuun! Can! Del! It was a match as hot as lava, a clash of titans we won't see again in our lifetime! Everyone, please give them a round of applause!”
Amidst the thunderous applause, Jin approached Mary and offered her a hand.
“A Profound Technique... why did you try to end it with Light Speed Thrust when you could use a sword like that? If you had unleashed that Profound Technique then, I think I would have been the one to lose.”
“I thought you pulled back because you couldn't bear to kill me, so I figured it'd be a waste to use it on you. For a second, I forgot you weren't that soft-hearted. Dammit. To think I'd fall for such a simple ploy.”
“I used the same trick against the Guardian modeled after the Great Knight Sarah Runcandel. She couldn't break through because her body was incomplete. But if you had used a Profound Technique... I'm not sure my veil of shadows would have held, Sister.”
“Hmph, are you trying to spare my feelings by comparing me to one of the family's ancient saints?”
“You’re being a little cynical.”
“Heh, turns out I was the soft-hearted one.”
Mary took Jin’s hand and pulled herself up. Despite her words, she looked quite refreshed.
“...Jin, my brother.”
“Yes, Sister.”
“Today, you officially defeated the 7th Flagbearer of the family.”
“Weren't there too many restrictions on both of us to call it an official match?”
“True, I fought with an eyepatch, and you were forbidden from using magic. But what does that matter? You never let your guard down, and I misjudged you, which led to my defeat. That alone proves you're stronger than me.”
When Jin didn't answer, Mary let out a small chuckle.
“So, from today, you are 5th in the flagbearer rankings. Keep the seat warm; I’ll take it back after I’ve trained enough. And in that sense... Hey! Cosmos!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Hand that over.”
At Mary’s command, Cosmos pulled something from his chest and came running over. What he politely held out was a single book.
Jin's eyes widened when he saw the author's name on the book's cover. He stood there, mouth agape like a fool.
5th Secret Technique: Light Speed Thrust – Cyron Runcandel
It was the training manual for Light Speed Thrust, written by Cyron Runcandel himself, specifically for Mary.
“It wouldn't make sense for the new 5th-ranked flagbearer to not know a single one of the family's secret techniques, would it?”
Taking the manual, Jin could only stare, his mind reeling in a daze.