Chapter 288: Decisive Battle (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 288: Decisive Battle (4)
Leon gripped Balmung tightly and stared ahead. Hair as black as spilled ink and pitch-black eyes—it felt like a blackout curtain, sealing away any glimpse of his innermost thoughts.
‘Kang Geomma, you and I were destined for this.’
When he first saw Kang Geomma. After being placed in the same group for the first semester's midterm exams and spending time with him, Leon became certain.
‘The entity lurking inside Kang Geomma.’
It was an existence Leon was inevitably fated to oppose, and at the same time, a colossal peak of evil capable of erasing everything in the world.
It was neither good nor evil. If one had to put it into words, it was a phenomenon born when technique was pushed to its absolute limit. It was the pinnacle of the sword. Assigning attributes like good or evil to such a concept was utterly pointless.
‘Though even a year ago, he didn't seem aware of it.’
A year is a long time for a growing teenager. During that period, Kang Geomma had approached the realm of Divine Might. Leon had also grown at an unbelievable rate during the same span, but compared to Kang Geomma, he couldn't even hold a candle to him. In fact, he almost looked left behind. What was more, even at this very moment, Kang Geomma was knocking on the door to what lay beyond.
‘Just one step left.’
Only a single step remained before Kang Geomma reached true Divine Might. Would he truly be able to reach that beyond?
He didn't know. For it was a mysterious realm that even Leon, the Hero, dared not judge.
Desperately, Leon wished for him to ascend to Divine Might.
Only then would everything he had done up until now be justified. Only then could he avenge his father, Metatron. Only then... would he finally be free.
‘To achieve that, I am capable of anything, prepared to pay any sacrifice.’
As part of that, he had killed the Archery Saint, Saki Kojima.
‘It was necessary.’
A bitter, astringent taste filled his mouth.
‘Saki Kojima was a bastard who deserved to die.’
Though he said it to himself, he knew it was a petty attempt at self-justification. In his final moments, the Archery Saint had prioritized others over himself. The Archery Saint, who had lived solely for his own personal gain, of all people.
In the first place, Leon hadn't even targeted only the Archery Saint. His onslaught had been indiscriminate to anyone looking on.
‘There is no turning back now.’
He had to look only ahead. Turn around for even a second, and it meant instant death. Confronting the Demon King meant precisely that.
‘...Though by now, I don't even know who is the Hero and who is the Demon King.’
He had already crossed the line. There was no turning back. So he would shake off any remaining lingering doubts. With all his might. Charging forward with the literal intent to kill.
‘No matter the means or methods, I will bridge the gap in power.’
Leon condensed air beneath the soles of his shoes. Kuarne's magic. The Hero making a contract with a Corps Commander—it was pure sophistry.
But hadn't he said it? He was prepared to do anything for his objective. Thus, the Hero abandoned his own identity.
KABOOM!
His foot stomped down heavily, unleashing an explosive leap. A perfectly straight path, as if drawn with a ruler. A single-minded charge stripped of all fluff—and precisely because of that, devastatingly powerful.
The sashimi sword twitched. A subtle movement he would have missed had he not been intensely focused. Leon instantly bent his body backward, supporting his entire weight using only his knees and the backs of his thighs.
Slash—
A gust of sword force grazed over the bridge of his handsome nose. The sheared strands of his bangs fluttered in midair a moment later before disintegrating down to the particle level.
Leon immediately flipped his body. Even before he could roll across the dirt ground, Kang Geomma's shoulders twitched again.
Slash—!
A vertical downward slash. A deep sword scar roughly a hundred meters long cleaved into the ground. The demon corpses blocking the sword path were sliced into pieces in all directions.
It was a hair's breadth. Leon slid far back, his fingers clawing a long streak into the ground. Two of his fingernails peeled off, leaving his fingertips stinging with pain.
‘Still, I barely managed to regain my balance.’
That was enough. Leon crouched low, pressing his chest against his left knee. He stretched his supporting right leg far back. He concentrated even the strength of his breathing into his lower body. The tremendous strength originating from his dantian and Spatial-Attribute Magic pooled in his legs.
He detonated it. A roar twice as loud as before echoed out. The speed was beyond that. Easily surpassing the speed of sound, the Hero's rapid charge bore down on the Demon King.
This time, Kang Geomma adopted a different stance. He shifted his grip on the sashimi sword to a reverse grip. At the warning signs of this unusual move, Leon's pupils narrowed to pinpricks.
‘Is he going to clash head-on?’
If it was a contest of brute strength, he was confident. Leon was Metatron's own blood. His father had wiped out Grigori, the group of fallen angels, with physical strength alone.
And recently, he had awakened that power. Kuarne had helped him—certainly not out of love for a nephew, but simply because their goals aligned. The details didn't matter.
Closing the distance in giant strides, Leon slashed Balmung upward diagonally. The air currents grew violent. His plan was to throw a feint with aura and then launch a surprise thrust.
Kang Geomma took the strike head-on with his body. Blood burst violently from the sword wound etched across his upper torso.
Leon's narrowed pupils widened. In the span it took for the distance to close from thirty paces to ten, Kang Geomma's scar vanished.
[Manifested True Blessing of Regeneration.]
Naturally, washing away wounds inflicted by aura was impossible. That was why it was a realm coveted by swordsmen. Yet Kang Geomma healed it effortlessly.
Bewilderment lasted only a split second. The sashimi sword and Balmung collided. A flash exploded at the point where steel met steel.
In a world bleached white, the residual shadows of Kang Geomma and Leon formed faint, massless lines. For a moment, the world transformed from three dimensions to two. Three-dimensional form lost its presence as dots and lines drew shapes and trajectories on a blank sheet of paper. Their battle transcended dimensional boundaries.
The true clash began. The pattern of exchange was mostly Leon pouring out attacks while Kang Geomma lightly deflected them. Occasionally, counterattacks thrust forward by Geomma cut into Leon's limbs.
Every single strike from Kang Geomma sent chills down his spine. They contained insights that Leon could hardly begin to fathom.
He couldn't succumb to fear. He was the Hero because his spirit was valiant. No matter how endlessly corrupted he had become, that essence did not change.
Leon pushed his strength and speed to their absolute limits. He overexerted mind, spirit, and body. Furthermore, he released his inner taboos. Near his ear, someone whispered a dying gasp.
—More.
He struck back against the sashimi sword. Leon's muscles defied his brain's commands. Action came before the flow of thought.
—More.
Reason dissolved, and savagery reared its head. The battle, expected to be one-sided, now looked fiercely competitive at a glance.
—More.
A disconnect formed between their movements and reality. To onlookers, the two were appearing where they had been two or three seconds ago.
‘Maybe...’
Leon surprised himself. It felt as though the gap he had thought overwhelming was gradually narrowing. He wasn't excited or triumphant. As long as it worked, nothing else mattered. Balmung moved with a single purpose: to trade as many blows as possible.
Balmung spun aura out like thread, weaving a net. Each strand was equivalent to a fatal blow, yet Leon sprayed them indiscriminately without holding back.
Instead of deliberating on where to strike, he swung his sword once more. A ruthless style of combat that squandered physical strength and stamina without reserve. This was the essence of the discipline called fighting. Yet human beings were far too feeble creatures to reach such a profound truth.
—More.
Dregs settled in layers inside his body. He knew what this was. The gods—the very beings he hated so deeply. As the desperate struggle dragged on, demonic traits seized control of every corner of Leon's body.
His breathing grew ragged. His muscles twitched violently out of control. The more they did, the more Leon mustered his willpower. A superhuman mental strength held his consciousness together.
‘Not yet.’
Leon snapped his eyes open wide. His gaze gleamed dangerously with obsession. Blood vessels burst around his rims as if squeezing his pupils tight.
The sashimi sword was lightning-fast yet heavy. Not a single strike could be easily deflected. The aura making contact dissolved into dust instead.
Though Leon managed to keep up the exchange using various tricks, Kang Geomma was on a completely different level regarding his fundamental understanding of the blade. Even without the power of the Demon King, he possessed top-tier skill. Kang Geomma was a born swordsman.
For the first time since the intense fight began, Leon met his opponent's eyes. Instantly, his heart shrank.
It was because those black eyes looked dull and lifeless. Though his arms and legs moved with mechanical precision, the look in his eyes seemed endlessly bored.
‘Don't tell me... is he holding back?’
A stray thought as small as a speck of dust—that was an opening. The sashimi sword, moving at a moderate pace, accelerated in an instant.
BZZZZT!
The electric blade thrust into his left shoulder blade. Though it was a mere sword prick, his entire upper arm was enveloped in searing heat. It felt as if lightning were scorching his whole body.
"...Khh!"
Spittle flew from Leon's mouth along with his groan. Kang Geomma slashed the sashimi sword diagonally.
Crrrack-crunch.
The blade severed collarbone and ribs. The tip gouged into the lungs and viscera beneath.
Leon reached out and shoved Kang Geomma away. Bone fragments and pink debris pulled out along with the sashimi sword.
BOOOOM!
It was at that moment. A massive explosion split the two apart. In an instant, the distance widened to two hundred meters. Kang Geomma somersaulted gracefully a few times before landing lightly.
In contrast, Leon tumbled ignominiously. He lay face down, wheezing heavily. Magic and the power of the gods stitched his wounds together, but the healing rate was slow.
Leon merely raised his eyes. Kuarne alighted as lightly as a feather directly between Kang Geomma and himself.
Silence settled for a short moment. Kuarne glanced down at Leon with dry eyes before shifting his gaze to Kang Geomma.
"It seems my nephew isn't quite ready yet, so I was wondering if I might step in instead. Would that be alright?"
"No."
Kang Geomma twirled Murasame. The blade spewed out various impurities like a belch.
"Come at me together. You're wasting my time."
Kang Geomma spoke, rubbing his brow. Though he looked fine on the outside, his insides were festering as well.
The time limit for the 'Blessing of Painlessness' had long since expired. Although his pain was mitigated due to his elevated 'Armament Rank', he couldn't hold out much longer. At this rate, putting physical destruction aside, his mind would shatter.
"Aren't you pushing yourself a bit too hard?"
Kuarne smiled brightly. It wasn't a mockingly condescending smile; his tone genuinely sounded worried. Kang Geomma let out a short, dry chuckle.
"Worrying about your enemy? Crazy bastard."
Meanwhile, Leon rose stumblingly to his feet. A pale face completely drained of blood, and lips turned blue. He looked like a walking corpse.
Even so, what was remarkable was that he stood on his two feet—even as his viscera spilled out continuously from his open wounds.
"For the sake of our grand scheme, leave this to me," Kuarne said to Leon with a sigh. "My dear nephew must not die just yet."
"......"
Leon twisted his bloodless lips. In the end, however, he backed down. Using his sword like a crutch, he stepped back and devoted himself to recovery.
"Now then, the time for just the two of us has finally arrived. Shall we enjoy ourselves?"
Kuarne rubbed his palms together like a fly. He wore an innocent, delighted expression, like a child visiting an amusement park. Kang Geomma tore his eyes away from that sickening face.
In the sky where the thunderstorm had subsided before anyone realized, a crimson sun hung like the dawn. Looking up at the sunlight that felt almost holy, he recalled the sensation from moments ago.
Clashing swords with Leon had given him a strange sense of liberation. That was why he had bothered playing along. Out of affection? Bullshit. His personality wasn't soft, and he cut down enemies regardless of the reason.
Regardless. The experience moments ago was a sensation rooted in the God of Sword rather than Kang Geomma as an individual. Using the recent battle as a catalyst, he perceived the realm beyond.
‘The sworn enemies of the Sword God, the False Gods.’
While other animals looked at the ground, chasing prey, humanity looked at the sky, mapping the constellations.
The curiosity of ancient humans was passed down through the Middle Ages and the early modern era all the way to the present day. It was there that the lords of all creation diverged.
Using the legacy of their predecessors as a stepping stone, humanity escaped the confined Earth and headed into space, and further onto the moon to tread upon its surface.
Do not stop at mere fantasy. Advance one day further than the self of yesterday.
To leap across realms deemed impossible to reach, unlock the constraints of time and space, and expand the bounds of perception.
...When those accumulate, finally.
[Awakened the Blessing of the Sword God.]
Humanity evolves.