Chapter 197
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: The Elder's Fall
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"Oh, Big Brother."
"Close your eyes and cover your ears."
Arsha squeezed her eyes shut at his utterly serious tone, and the hatchling immediately reached out with its tiny hand to cover her ears.
Even though it had just been born, it was an intelligent being that understood words and acted accordingly.
That was the essence of a dragon.
Leon, who had spoken those words, crooked a finger on the hand not gripping his sword.
The iron swords embedded in the floor trembled faintly before slowly rising into the air.
"Th... those are flying swords!"
"The... the realm of the heart."
Terror and utter loss of fighting spirit washed over the faces of the living Sacheon Clan warriors.
It was undoubtedly a feat possible only in realms beyond Sword Master—controlling swords with sheer will and cladding them in aura.
Afterward, Leon silently gazed at the ghost sword in his hand before tossing it into his subspace and drawing a plain iron sword instead.
The floating swords all turned their tips toward the elder in unison.
If it had merely been levitating and manipulating the swords, they might not have been so wary.
But each and every one of those blades brimmed with power comparable to a Sword Master's strike.
The elder hurriedly swatted away the incoming swords, but even a single clash shattered his stance dramatically.
"Urk?! Graaah!!"
Thud! Thud-thud!!!
In an instant, five iron swords pierced his shoulder, abdomen, and legs.
And this was the result of him barely dodging them.
In truth, out of the dozens aimed at him, most had embedded around him.
At the same time, the auras cloaking the swords erupted outward.
Black streams spread like ink splattered on pristine white paper.
Like the sprawling branches of a massive tree, the elder's eyes widened as he watched the aura expand around him.
That was...
It resembled the Sacheon Clan's swordsmanship.
Yet it was startlingly deeper, more profound than anything from the Sacheon Clan.
Though the structures differed, it even gave the illusion that the pinnacle the Sacheon Clan pursued was embodied there.
"Ahh..."
He let the sword in his hand drop limply with a clunk!.
After learning the Sacheon sword arts, which had been his path to advancement, could they ever be this beautiful?
If he'd known sooner, would he have prioritized the sword over personal ambition?
Could he have reached even greater heights?
Leon's sword was so breathtaking it evoked thoughts he'd never entertained before.
BOOM!!!!
Suddenly, the black ink branches exploded outward all at once.
The aura scattered like bursting ink, laden with intense energy.
All the iron swords Leon had unleashed crumbled into powder and dispersed.
But the aftermath he created rippled across the entire surroundings.
And after the chained explosions of aura faded, what emerged was a massive ink painting on the floor, drawn in black aura.
At its center stood the elder, drenched in blood.
Unlike previous battles, his state was so gruesome it would turn the faint-hearted blue.
The elder's eyes bulged wide, but he couldn't move an inch.
His injuries had surpassed the point where movement was possible.
It was only his Sword Master's formidable vitality keeping him upright; any ordinary Expert would have needed dozens of lives.
"Young Master Cheonryeong, Lady Hwaryeong."
At Leon's quiet call, the dazed siblings jolted back to reality.
Just like the elder, Cheonryeong and Hwaryeong had been entranced by the brief glimpse of Leon's heart realm—the Mind Master level.
It wasn't mere talent.
A genius? No... Leon was already a fully realized powerhouse.
How could someone not yet twenty be this strong?
Hwaryeong, on the other hand, felt hollow despair.
Not just an Expert or Master, but beyond...
Recalling how she'd begged him for an inner pill to help her, her face burned with shame.
He could have resolved their issues without something like an inner pill.
Even when he'd claimed to have dealt with Corral's Sword Master, Basen, she'd doubted it was possible—but with this level of skill, it must have been effortless.
Corral...
They'd been fighting an impossible battle from the start.
Having witnessed a realm surpassing even strategic weapon-level Masters, such was her sentiment.
The clan's warriors had already lost all will to fight, and Macheon—who knew when he'd been subdued—was pinned to the floor by Luna's fist, unable to rise.
Maocheon's power was indeed great, but not yet on the elder's level.
"Finish it yourselves."
With that, Leon turned away without lingering, and Cheonryeong slowly approached the elder.
The elder merely gasped ragged breaths, staring silently.
"...I believed you hadn't fallen that far, Elder."
"..."
The elder gave no reply.
But Cheonryeong had to ask.
"Who exactly was it?"
"..."
"That state of Maocheon's... it's completely unlike the techniques our Sacheon Clan has researched and refined all these years. It's more like black magic from the central regions or the Western Continent."
Though the East Continent's Sacheon Clan dealt with exorcisms, spirits, and the dead, their hidden techniques diverged sharply from tradition.
"Who gave the elder council such forbidden arts?"
At the question, the elder let out a scoff.
A sneer laced with refusal to answer—but Leon clicked his tongue and gave a rough reply.
"Obvious, isn't it? Not just turning into wraiths, but elder zombies? You think that's simple tech? They implanted cores forged with necromantic magic. Only those bastards on this continent pull that crap now."
"Those bastards?"
"The heretics. They rampage across the continent, hoarding dangerous powers."
Though the Moon Watchers' relentless assaults had them on the back foot, their scale was vast—who knew what mischief they were up to.
In that light, the Moon Watchers were commendably tracking and eliminating them.
"Heretics... No way. Elder, you... you've joined hands with the Blood Cult!?"
At Cheonryeong's horrified shout, the elder scoffed again.
It was the final clarity before death.
"No matter how arduous the process or rewarding the outcome—none of that matters. Results speak for themselves. Cheonryeong, do you know why the Death Beast Alliance halted their purge of the Blood Cult?"
Cheonryeong scowled at the question.
Leon, meanwhile, wondered what nonsense these people were spouting.
"Because their techniques proved that superior. Regardless of how many died in the process."
"Does that mean you endorse their ideology!?"
"That's why you're still a naive boy chasing ideals."
His fading eyes slowly scanned the surroundings.
Then he glanced at Leon and laughed hollowly.
"Look around even now. No matter the process, that monster exists, and you won. That's the end of the story."
"..."
Cheonryeong's fists trembled.
At that moment, the elder's gaze locked onto Arsha.
His eyes flew wide.
"That... no, it can't be!"
To be precise, not Arsha, but the bundle in her arms.
The hatchling.
"Ah... aah... Why is that in the hands of that child...?"
"You know what it is?"
"...That's what we've been searching for. With that, we could have turned Macheon into a weapon of limitless growth..."
Corral had sought the ruin rift's reward, but the East Continent Sacheon Clan desired something else.
That something was this.
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"Kill him. Even if you don't, he'll die soon anyway. All you can do is one vengeful slash in the end."
The elder closed his eyes with a hollow laugh, and Cheonryeong raised his sword without hesitation.
His lips parted briefly before he swung, severing the elder's neck.
As crimson blood sprayed and the body collapsed, Cheonryeong ground his teeth and turned away.
"I hated you so much, yet all I could do was end your breath... How frustrating."
That was when Leon strode over and reached toward the elder's corpse.
Hummm...
Black streams flowed from Leon's hand, enveloping the body.
Then it ripped out the elder's soul, which hadn't yet departed.
-Wh... what is this?! Graaaah!!!
The siblings flinched at the soul's anguished, bewildered scream.
"People have a lot of misconceptions."
That death ends it all.
"Who said it's over?"
-Gah! Ack!?
The elder's soul groaned in agony.
"One slash and done? After sending that kraken spawn off so anticlimactically, I realized something."
Leon grinned ferociously.
"Revenge is best done like when I thrashed Tibel."
-St... stop! What are you doing?! Don't you have even a shred of basic human decency!?
"Plenty of talk from the guy who played around with wraiths. If it'd been Luna instead of me, you'd be dragged to real hell by now."
He was oblivious to how murderously Luna had been glaring at him earlier.
Leon grabbed the soul's "hair" and shook it like a rag, proposing to the siblings.
"Chance of a lifetime—last one ever. What'll it be? Oh, and if you're doing it, do it where Arsha can't see."
The Sacheon Clan warriors had lost all will and surrendered. Their leader, the elder, was dead.
But even in this situation, one being refused to accept surrender fully.
Macheon.
Many clan warriors were half-turned into jiangshi, but they were failures— their egos no different from regular fighters, so they'd all been slain by the wraith knight Basen.
But Macheon was different.
Unable even to speak, driven by beastly instinct alone, he strained against Luna's chains of light, roaring and lunging at her.
-Grrrr... GRAAAAAH!!!
As Leon approached Luna, who was suppressing the bellowing beast, she stared at him blankly.
"How?"
"What do you mean, how? At least give his corpse some peace."
"Purify?"
"Wait just a bit first. Then I'll handle it."
Luna's purification left no trace, so sometimes it was better for him to do it.