Chapter 183: The Kingdom's Guard (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 183: The Kingdom's Guard (8)
Señor unleashed an aura as crimson as his complexion. Perhaps trying to show off his status as a top-rank aura user, the manifestation was as large as a full-grown man.
The aura wrapped around his greatsword flickered like a roaring blaze. The heat was so intense that even Sma, standing some distance away, felt his skin prickle.
Combined with Señor’s murderous intent, the pressure was overwhelming. The soldiers fighting nearby retreated in terror.
In the middle of the battlefield, a space for just the two of them was carved out. Though shouts and screams echoed from all directions and countless lives were being snuffed out, this spot remained an exception.
"I finally get to see your face."
Señor growled. Curiously, the atmosphere vibrated every time he spoke. Some of the lower-ranking soldiers clutched their ears in agony.
If the mere aftershocks were that powerful, one could only imagine the pressure Sma was facing directly. It felt as if his internal organs were about to be squeezed out of his body. Facing a murderous intent several times thicker and more feral than what he experienced during sparring sessions with Rainie made his spine tingle.
However, Sma was a man who had withstood Erwi’s momentum even before he had awakened his aura. He also possessed the mental fortitude to endure a Mandrake’s scream back when he was still adjusting to this world with the sensibilities of a modern man.
"You're even uglier than I thought."
"What?"
As Señor’s rage flared, the surrounding temperature spiked. It felt sweltering, like the aftermath of a heavy bout of sex. As the heat intensified, the humidity vanished, leaving his entire body stinging.
"Guard of the Kingdom. Consider this an honor. I, Señor of the Yohatz family, shall personally harvest your head."
The man making this declaration no longer looked like the ruffian who had been shouting provocations earlier. Sma noticed that the man's eyes had grown calm and settled.
So that wild act was all a performance.
Señor was a top-rank aura user. Sma was a High-Rank aura user. Could he win? He sensed the surroundings to see if Rainie could provide support, but he felt two other top-rank aura users locked in combat elsewhere.
They had set the stage this way from the start. In the end, Sma had to face Señor alone. He chanted a spell to bolster his courage.
"Señor, you little scrub."
The moment he spat the insult, his tension vanished, and courage surged within him. Truly, a man needs to vent to live. There’s a reason modern people get banned for swearing in games.
A "yo mama" joke might have been more effective, but he had to restrain himself since there were so many eyes watching. The Kingdom’s army and the Imperial army had moved apart as if by unspoken agreement, surrounding the two of them.
Why aren't you guys fighting? Just standing there enjoying the show?
This was a phenomenon that never happened in the war histories he’d studied back on Earth. Apparently, even in this world, there was some kind of "game logic" that prevented others from interfering in a duel between knights.
"Wh-what? Scrub?"
Taken aback, Señor paused for a moment. Just as Sma was about to lunge at the opening he’d created, he saw the eyes watching him.
That was an act too?
But he couldn't pull back the sword he’d already committed. If a man draws his blade, he must at least cut a radish. Gritting his teeth, he manifested a Sword Curtain.
"Hurling insults and launching a surprise attack without even introducing yourself! Do you even call yourself a knight?!"
Nope, I'm a guard.
Winning the mental battle, Sma expanded the Sword Curtain to its limit. The shroud of aura, large enough to cover four or five grown men, flew forward.
The Sword Curtain—a mass of aura spread wide like a cloth—was opaque, obscuring their vision of each other. However, Sma could tell how Señor was reacting.
It was an ocular technique he had mastered while fighting ninjas. Sma jokingly called it his "Copy Eyes." While he couldn't see every aura road because Señor’s level was so high, he could at least discern his movements.
He’s planning to tear right through the front?
He certainly had confidence in his strength. Sma tilted his vertically held sword at an angle. At that moment, a flaming aura melted through the Sword Curtain and appeared.
Even though he hadn't been hit directly, just being near it made his hands feel like they were burning. If his body, reinforced by aura, felt like this, a standard-issue sword would have melted regardless of how much aura he poured into it.
He briefly felt grateful to Bucom for gifting him this sword, but the thought was cut short as the greatsword—the source of the flaming aura—swung down to split him in two.
Normally, great strength is suppressed by a soft touch.
"This is what they call 'Softness Overcomes Hardness.'"
He had learned it from Wuxia novels. Señor looked at him with absurdity.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Is your IQ too low to understand?"
Señor gnashed his teeth and poured power into his greatsword. Just before the mountain-like force could connect, Sma brought the flat of his longsword against the side of the greatsword.
Sma’s white aura quelled the surrounding flames. The fire that had been trying to incinerate his guard uniform was pushed back, leaving only a slight singe on the surface.
Then, the direction of the heavy greatsword shifted slightly. Señor was horrified.
He used my own strength to push it aside?
It was easy to say, but incredibly difficult to execute. While Señor hadn't become a Sword Master, he was a man worthy of being called a master of swordsmanship.
He had crushed Orcs who tried to match him in strength, split Elves who tried to parry him with rapiers, and shattered the vain techniques of knights more famous than himself with sheer brute force.
The swordsmanship he had polished his entire life made that possible. Yet, Sma had accurately identified and exploited the exact moment Señor’s strength was concentrated.
But it won't go your way.
Señor reinforced his body with aura. His wrists became flexible, twisting at an angle impossible for a normal human.
Normally, one shouldn't be able to exert proper force from such a posture, but his aura provided the support, imbuing the strike with a monstrous strength unattainable by human power alone.
Realizing that "Softness Overcomes Hardness" had failed, Sma retreated. Simultaneously, the greatsword swept through the space where he had just been standing.
Embers, flying like sparks from a campfire, blurred his vision.
"This is the pride of my family, the Fire Sword."
A haze, like the shimmering heat of a midsummer afternoon, distorted his sight. Señor, flickering like a mirage, proudly announced the name of his technique.
"My swordsmanship is..."
Sma initiated the "How to Annoy People" technique. Taking advantage of the moment Señor perked up his ears to listen, Sma corrected his posture and lunged.
"Is what?!"
Señor shouted as he responded. The greatsword feigned a straightforward strike at Sma's upper body before attempting to snap his longsword in half.
Sma quickly moved his blade in a semi-circle to avoid the greatsword, but Señor charged forward. It was a dash that carried all the weight, acceleration, and monstrous power of the greatsword.
Sma used the Substitution Technique to move behind Señor.
"A ninja secret technique?"
Señor quickly spun around to block Sma’s attack. However, Sma’s sword was faster, grazing the man's shoulder.
A few drops of blood tried to splatter but evaporated instantly. Sma’s expression, however, was grim.
It was too shallow.
It was a technique he had intended to save for a finishing blow, but Señor’s charge had been so threatening that he’d used it right out of the gate.
Now that he’d shown it once, it wouldn't work a second time.
Since it’s come to this, I won't show any more half-baked moves.
He still had ninjutsu like the Clone Technique or a knock-off Breath, but he felt they would only waste his aura. In the end, he had to settle this with his sword.
Sma exerted the highest level of concentration he’d had since his reincarnation. Señor was strong and fast. For a man of that massive build and monstrous strength to also have superior speed... what kind of unfair human being was this?
But the body Sma inhabited was also a genius. He was growing in real-time as he fought. His growth rate had been insane even when being tutored by Rainie, but in a life-or-death struggle, his talent shone even brighter.
Still, for now, Señor held the upper hand. Wounds were accumulating all over Sma’s body, while Señor’s only injury was the graze on his shoulder from earlier.
This can't continue.
Señor felt a sense of crisis. Sma, who couldn't properly block his charges at first, was now showcasing expert evasions.
Señor’s Fire Sword relied on illusions. It was a style that used the heat haze to create artificial mirages, making it look like the sword had multiplied or deceiving the opponent about the direction of the attack.
After being hit a few times, Sma had begun to see through the true nature of the strikes. Once Sma saw a feint—like shifting weight to the left before switching—none of the derivative techniques from that movement worked anymore.
I intended to finish this quickly, but it’s dragging on longer than expected. Time is not on my side. I need to clear a path while the Commander deals with the Sword Master.
Sharpening his hearing for a moment, he sensed a fierce battle erupting near the castle gate. Had they made it down to the gate as planned?
If they opened the gate, the Imperial army could pour in. Señor blocked an incoming sword strike with his greatsword and attempted a kick.
"Taekwondo has the best kicks!"
Sma spouted his umpteenth bit of nonsense, trying to rattle Señor. But Señor unleashed a secret technique of the Fire Sword.
His form split into two, as if he were using a Clone Technique. As the shimmering figures doubled, Sma’s eyes grew confused.
They both have aura. Was this bastard a ninja too?
Because of that split-second lapse in judgment, he allowed a kick to his abdomen. Sma was sent flying several meters, tumbling across the ground.
Just as he was about to prepare for a follow-up attack, he saw Señor leap off the castle wall.
"Are you running away?!"
"If you want to save your master, follow me!"