Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The Successor
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...
It was a wind-swept hill.
The Knight King still stood with his back to me, and the northern lands blanketed in white snow formed a breathtaking vista.
When was this memory from?
Right—after every war, the King would stand on this hill overlooking the capital.
Whether to honor those who had departed first, or to reflect on a life that always left only questions behind, he was always right here on this spot.
It was a lonely silhouette.
The Knight King, who had to appear solemn before the people and dignified before his vassals, was in this moment nothing more than a tormented human, more so than anyone else.
And I had been happiest in those moments when I could protect the Knight King and his reverse scale.
Here on this hill, at least, I could set aside the heavy burdens of honor and duty for a time.
"What a long time it has been."
"Indeed, Your Majesty."
"Only this hill remains unchanged."
We dreamed an eternal dream.
An everlasting spring dream, where humanity would flourish with dignity and beauty beneath the northern skies.
But as the struggle dragged on, our bodies grew numb, and wrinkles deepened like scars.
The only things unchanged from the beginning were this wind-swept hill and our longing for that ideal.
So many dreams left to fulfill,
yet time would not permit it.
I sensed the end of an era in the Knight King's silhouette, on the eve of his final battlefield.
Like winter following autumn, the vessel holding our dreams could not last forever.
"There will be one to inherit it."
Yet the Knight King did not grieve.
As if peering into the future I would forge, he vanished into the endless flurry of butterflies.
"Leave the rest to you."
Chaeeng!
The sound of clashing swords jolted my eyes open.
The first sensations were the dampness wetting my wrist and the rocking saddle beneath me.
A warm touch.
I turned my stiff eyes to find the cause.
Purruk!
The White-Horned Deer, recognizing its master, was quietly licking the blood from my wrist.
Then, as if relieved that I was coming to, it turned its head away and snorted indifferently once more.
Yes, it must have fled desperately here to keep me safe while I was unconscious.
I stroked its neck with my limp right hand, and it whinnied happily.
Purruk!
"Hoo..."
My mind was slowly clearing.
I straightened my posture with effort, gripped the reins it had fetched in its mouth, and caught my breath.
There was no time to linger.
I spurred the deer swiftly toward the heart of the battlefield, where the fight still raged.
Dakak, dakak, dakak.
Chaeeng! Chaeng!
Tszzzzzzzt!
In the center of the battlefield, the clash of swords sent sharp shards of aura flying in all directions.
The intensity was such that even I, not yet arrived, could feel the fierce currents and the raging flows of blades.
White aura blazing like fire against red aura.
Snow-Covered, teeth gritted, was locked in a desperate blood feud against the furious Golden Dawn.
"Die! Die!"
Golden Dawn unleashed killing blows relentlessly.
But Snow-Covered couldn't even counter; she was barely managing to defend against the incoming serrated blade.
No matter how steep her realm of skill, there was a fundamental gap in their training.
Golden Dawn, once hailed as a genius, pressed the child without mercy.
When the gray wolf comes, it's too late.
Still holding the reins, I swiftly snatched an abandoned sword from the ground.
Then I wheeled the deer back toward the fray, squeezing out my last reserves of presence and fighting spirit in bold display.
Dakak! Dakak! Dakak!
"M-Master?"
It was a sudden arrival.
Snow-Covered, who had faced him with a cool expression until now, cried out in panic for the first time.
Chaeeng!
But instead of answering, I instinctively dodged the serrated blade aimed at my throat.
No time for explanations.
As I dismounted and stood beside Snow-Covered, the disadvantageous situation seeped through my skin.
This was the only way.
I envisioned one clever ploy to overturn the tilted battle in my mind.
Tzaaaaaak!
Chaeeng!
"Eeeeek!"
My battered body could no longer swing a sword.
Snow-Covered, knowing this better than anyone, blocked the incoming attack and shouted desperately.
"Why! Why did you come?!"
Her steadfast reason had shattered long ago.
The fear that her master might die was shaking the once-cool Snow-Covered.
But I, having steeled myself for everything, whispered softly from behind her trembling sword tip.
"Don't waver. Breathe steadily and clear your narrowed vision."
"Ah..."
"Focus slowly on my voice."
Chaeeng! Chaeng!
Kwajik! Tszzzzzzzt!
Golden Dawn had already lost his reason.
Swinging his sword with eyes showing only whites, he was no different from a vengeful spirit.
But Snow-Covered, barely parrying the assault, attuned her ears to my voice.
The child's greatest strength—her concentration—began absorbing my whispers.
"His sword lacks flexibility. It sticks to fixed stances and rigid paths. That's the greatest flaw of imperial swordsmanship."
Orcs worship only strength.
It seems like it can cleave and destroy everything, yet its honest flow is plain to see.
She must see it.
I licked my dry lips and fell silent, letting her focus.
Chaeeng! Chaeng!
Slowly, she blocked, deflected, blocked, and let the strikes slide away.
Trance-like, her mind sucked into the flow! Plunged into it, Snow-Covered shed her clumsy stance and began glancing off his attacks.
Yes, that's it.
The disciple of the Sword Saint, no one else.
I smiled faintly and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Snow-Covered, on the cusp of her breakthrough.
Wuuuuuung...
Nothing must be heard.
Beneath the fierce battlefield din, I resonated my sword and gladly aligned my shoulder with hers.
My lips moved.
"First, the 1st Form."
The training ground swept by wind, snow falling like flowers, the novel thrill of the hilt in hand.
Remember the day you first gripped a sword—you were small, dreaming big.
Let's dance together.
Just like that day.
Sapak, sapak.
Sasak, chaeng!
The 1st Form unfolded, serene as first snow.
Shoulder-to-shoulder, we began our swordplay—mirrors facing each other, shadows etched in perfect harmony.
Swing, thrust, parry.
The 1st Form holds the simplest yet most profound philosophy.
Jjaeeng!
"...!!"
Imperial swordsmanship falters against the perfect union.
Golden Dawn, momentarily flustered, instinctively reset his stance to unleash offense.
But it was too late to respond.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Snow-Covered's face relaxed, eyes closed.
"Next, the 5th Form."
The form shifts.
The attack that had frozen him morphed into a ferocious blade-wind, tearing at his flesh.
"Gahhhh!"
How can one block the wind with bare hands?
Foolishly trying to defend, his arm was sliced as my blade slipped through the sword gap.
Golden Dawn, already missing his left arm, became mere prey to the 5th Form's whirlwind assault.
Regaining his wits at last, he staggered back, bellowing savagely.
"What... what did you do to your sword?!"
Golden Dawn vehemently denied it.
It wasn't feeble northern swordsmanship pressing him, but sorcery-infused blades, he claimed.
Finding no value in replying, I now followed my disciple's rhythm.
Snow-Covered perfectly executed the swordsmanship I had pursued my whole life.
The 5th Form crests to its peak.
Chaeeng!
The sharp edge pierces through the hilt.
Raising it upward simultaneously, his pinky gripping the end severs clean.
Seogeok!
"Gaaaaahhh!"
Blood streams down.
Screaming in agony, Golden Dawn began retreating step by step.
"Cavalry! Help me! Bring horses! You worthless scum, aaagh!"
Before death, arrogance crumbles.
With fortunes reversed in an instant, Golden Dawn couldn't think rationally.
But even his last hope, the orc cavalry, was mostly pinned down on the field.
With his vaunted might collapsed, no path of retreat remained.
Cough.
Time was short.
Wiping blood from my lips, I urged Snow-Covered toward the realm she had stagnated in for so long.
"Finally, the 10th Form."
She knew the stance and movements.
Now, it was time to wield the principles and power within to finish the foe.
Sapak.
We regripped our swords.
Abandoning the fight, he tried to retreat using the belatedly arriving cavalry as bait, but we did not mount up.
Sapak, sapak.
The 10th Form: eighteen steps, eighteen exchanges.
One of the most demanding realms, linking intricate motions fluid as flowing water.
But she could do it.
Like flowing water taking high guard, I closed my eyes watching Snow-Covered.
Dakak, dakak, dakak!
"Hya! Hya!"
"Pierce them dead!"
The orc cavalry, thrown in to buy Golden Dawn time to flee, charged us.
Their numbers and momentum seemed a bit much for us with only swords.
No—they would think that.
True principles are invisible.
Sususu.
Sapak.
We inhaled deeply.
Without time to prepare, we stepped forward, weaving one step, two steps deep into the charging cavalry.
Tzaaaaaak!
Spears target our brows.
The horses' savage snorts loomed right before us, heralding collision.
But no clash came.
Seogeok! Sagak!
Hihihihiiing...!!
The 10th Form was born from witnessing an avalanche.
As if to prove it, every spear thrusting at Snow-Covered was severed, and the massive warhorses and riders fell as mangled flesh.
The northern swordsmanship subtlety that would take me a hundred swords to barely unfold—she executed with one blade and aura.
And I, dancing the sword forms in unison with her, had only the final exchange left.
Our target was, naturally, Golden Dawn—his face twisted in horror and terror.
Like an avalanche sweeping down,
sever the neck in one breath.
The final exchange.
Chaeeng!
A sharp overhead slash descends.
Golden Dawn hastily blocked my strike with his serrated sword drawn in aura.
Jijijik!
Kyaaangrang!
In that instant, my sword shattered, cracking the enemy's supposedly eternal aura.
Regrettably, this was my limit.
The aura I longed to cleave my whole life blocked me again today, breaking my blade.
Haha.
But I laughed freely.
For Snow-Covered's following blade was neither frail nor breaking.
"Impossible..."
Seogeok! Kwajik!
The red aura severed.
The serrated sword cleaved as well.
Golden Dawn muttered in disbelief, and simultaneously, his head flew.
Seogeok!
Tuk.
The battlefield froze cold.
Golden Dawn's aura and presence, crushing the space, vanished in an instant, scattering away.
Was this a victory truly possible?
Only then did Snow-Covered open her eyes and gasp the breath she had held.
"Hahk, heuk!"
The severed aura scattered like butterflies, filling the world.
And in Snow-Covered's silhouette, I saw the Knight King I had so longed for.
"There will be one to inherit it."
"Leave the rest to you."
Dingrang!
I released the broken sword.
As my vision faded, I praised Snow-Covered, who had grown a step further.
"Splendid."
Strength drained from my body in that moment.
I collapsed then and there, and Snow-Covered screamed, rushing over in a panic.
"M-Master!"
Don't fuss—I'm just sleepy.
Seeing tears streaming down Snow-Covered's face, I wore a relieved smile.
Today, I wanted to sleep the whole day.
The overwhelming sleepiness from laying down my heavy burden finally closed my eyes.