Chapter 220
Chapter 220
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: Thunderclap Net
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He was clad in aura, but it wasn't particularly strong. The pressure from his approaching mana wasn't overwhelming either.
It was an attack with a clearly visible path, like a diligent student demonstrating his hard-practiced swordsmanship to his master.
Impossible to tell what other tricks he had up his sleeve, what hidden moves lay in wait.
No, it was a straightforward and direct sword path, as if he hadn't even considered a feint.
“Hah...”
Grint let out a short sigh and turned his sword sideways to block Loan's.
He had no choice. It was an attack that made one instinctively want to meet it head-on.
The force of their swords clashed, letting out a sharp *clang*.
That, too, was strange.
In a direct clash of swords, he should have had the clear advantage, yet the impact was different from what he'd expected.
The aura was faint, but it felt as if it were layered multiple times.
As Grint pondered this, he spun and swung his sword at Loan's waist.
In the instant a blue flash reflected on his closed eyelids.
Loan loosened the Convection that was tightly gripping Sheville.
The sword slid down.
Instantly, the lower part of the hilt slid down, becoming the blade, while the former tip became the new hilt.
Having successfully switched to a reverse grip, Loan blocked Grint's attack without changing his stance—then he suddenly let go of the sword and threw a punch at Grint's unguarded chest.
The powerful rotational force of Convection was imbued in his fist.
“Hmm?”
Grint suddenly felt the illusion that his body was being pulled toward the fist.
No, it wasn't an illusion.
For a brief moment, he felt a distinct suction.
Realizing he couldn't dodge, Grint enveloped his entire body in mana, manifesting a powerful aura shield.
Loan's fist struck Grint's chest.
*Craaack!*
From the sound alone, it seemed natural that he would be knocked back by the tremendous impact, but Grint was not.
The fist was stuck to his chest.
The earlier pulling force intensified, making him feel as if his body was about to be sucked into the fist.
Grint reflexively whipped his wrist. Loan's wrist was within the arc of his sword.
In the instant before his fist was severed—
He reversed the rotation of the pulling Convection, pushing Grint far away.
An exchange of offense and defense in the blink of an eye.
Grint suddenly lowered his head and burst into laughter.
“Well, now. This is the first time I've met a swordsman like you. Your first move was so honest it was strange, then you switched to a reverse grip and suddenly threw an odd punch. And seeing how the impact stacks, there's something else besides aura. You're truly unpredictable.”
His voice was filled with admiration.
He was purely expressing his feelings as a swordsman.
But Loan didn't answer.
He had no mind to listen to his opponent.
He had to process what he had seen, heard, and felt during their short clash so as not to forget it.
He'd had an important realization, a discovery that was almost shocking.
Grint had a similar circulation path to the one that had formed the basis of Loan's first Circle, but it was distinctly different.
*‘It’s not circulating through a single path.’*
In short, until the second, third, and fourth paths were created to form intersections, the first circulation path was, to put it bluntly, just a single channel forming the body's core.
The mana absorbed through that channel would swirl in the lower abdomen and then travel back the way it came.
It was a round trip through a single path.
But Grint was different.
Of course, he didn't circulate his breath directly like Loan.
The mana stored in his lower abdomen passed through his perineum, traveled up the path of his spine, and rose to the very top of his head.
Then it came back down, passing his forehead and following the centerline of his face.
After that, it followed the same path as Loan's first circulation path down to the lower abdomen, then passed through the perineum again to circulate.
In other words, there were two interconnected circulation paths on the front and back of the body.
*‘Is that even possible...?’*
It was something he hadn't felt from Sienna, but he couldn't be sure.
He had never tried to look inside her or feel it in such detail.
*‘This is a huge gain.’*
Loan wanted to observe and examine what he had vaguely seen and confirmed in more detail, and if possible, learn it by clashing with his opponent.
The best way to establish a path in the early stages is to pinpoint the locations while observing them directly.
He gripped Sheville, which hovered beside him.
He felt the urge to cross swords, to clash, to make contact and draw out more from him.
His heart fluttered, and excitement bloomed on his face.
Therefore, the people approaching the square one by one were nothing but a hindrance to Loan's enlightenment.
There were no survivors among those who appeared.
Only those who coexisted with demons.
Loan watched the soldiers of Ledong run through the downpour—he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, creating a spark—and sent a blue current toward the raindrops falling between him and them.
The thin current met a raindrop and jumped to the next, spreading its range. Its power grew along with it.
A dazzling flash that lit up the darkness.
A net of blue electricity swept over the square.
An attack like lightning striking horizontally.
“Aaargh!”
“Gaaack!”
Those caught in the net let out short screams and collapsed to the ground.
Acrid smoke, caught in the rain, hung low to the ground.
It all happened in an instant.
At the screams coming from all directions, Grint's head snapped from side to side.
It didn't take him long to realize his subordinates were dead.
“What the...”
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Because Loan charged forward, swinging his sword like a whip.
His momentum was the same as before.
Honest, proper, and straight.
A strange attack that felt less like an all-or-nothing strike and more like an invitation to spar.
Despite his subordinates falling, Grint once again met Loan's sword strike plainly.
Within him, a swordsman's curiosity and competitive spirit welled up together.
*Clang— Claaang!*
Loan swung and thrust his sword, and when his attacks were blocked, he used his fists and feet.
He drew a Narrow Path to get right up close to Grint, and didn't hesitate to reverse his Domain to hold his opponent in place.
In a fleeting moment, as he struck Grint's lower back with his elbow, he tried to more clearly observe the path the mana was taking.
*Baaam?!*
An impact sound unfitting for a clash of bodies erupted from Grint's entire form.
But Grint was enjoying it.
Because he had never met such a haphazard swordsman.
Every strike was akin to an acrobatic feat, and reacting to them to unfold his next move was a fresh experience for him.
The excitement elevated his physical abilities.
He used his mana generously to block Loan's attacks and immediately pressed forward.
How will he react to this? Can he dodge this? Is there a way to break through when all escape routes are closed? Why does his energy not wane?
Their ultimate goal was to harm each other, but they both also wished to learn from their opponent.
As time went on, their combat power synchronized and rose.
Loan's Domain, Narrow Path, and Convection.
Met with Grint's aura blade and mana emission, clashing against each other.
The water pooled in the square flowed backward into the air, and the paving stones cracked and burst, scattering in all directions.
Even the falling raindrops were enveloped in the intense heat and vaporized—in a world thick with rain and steam, only the sounds of clashing swords, fists, and feet filled the air.
After countless such clashes.
Suddenly, Grint knew it was time to end this fight.
Because he felt that even if he exhausted all his remaining mana, Loan would somehow still be standing in the same condition.
Shaking off the attack, Grint instantly created distance and spoke.
“You truly are the wind.”
His voice held both admiration and a thrill. For him, it was the highest praise.
Loan couldn't hide his discomfort at Grint's praise.
This was the man who had turned people like Pauline into human trees across the continent and sacrificed children like Theo and Lily as offerings for the fruit.
Of course, he had learned a great deal from clashing with him.
He had even succeeded in mentally mapping out the circulation path.
It was only a mental image of making the drawn-in mana flow deeper and longer, through the front and back of his body along the central axis.
He still needed to slowly explore the exact location of each point that would become the pathway.
But it was an undeniable fact that he had gained a groundbreaking clue.
However, that was no reason to treat Grint as human.
“Let's end this.”
Perhaps thinking his goodwill had been ignored, an unpleasant emotion flickered across Grint's face for the first time.
At the same time, a blue sword light extended from his blade, longer and thicker than before.
It was almost as bright as when Loan had used his lightning magic to illuminate the surroundings a moment ago.
Truly a magnificent level of achievement.
Having drawn up his mana and prepared for a finishing blow, Grint slowly caught his breath and tilted his head.
His posture held the resolve to perceive everything Loan was trying to do, and could possibly do, through synesthesia based on his hearing.
Watching Grint, who looked ready to explode at any moment in the relentless downpour.
Loan lightly waved his hand.
Convection imbued with electricity spread out around Grint.
*Crackle— Crackle?*
The net of lightning that had dealt with the remnants earlier now filled the area.
But it didn't work on Grint.
The mana radiating from him was blocking the path of the lightning, much like Loan's Convection.
“That won't work on me.”
Just as Grint muttered lowly and was about to take his first step.
Loan replied.
“I wasn't expecting it to.”
And then, explosions erupted from all directions.
*BOOOOM?!*
*Rumble?*
*CRASH—!*
The mana in the atmosphere, suddenly imbued with energy, began to collide and explode.
Along with the [Thunderclap Net].
The sound waves generated in an instant rushed toward Grint.
Grint's heightened synesthesia was overwhelmed by a flood of powerful sound he had never experienced before.
The moment his eardrums lost control under the onslaught of vibrations.
Grint's spatial awareness blurred along with it.
In that instant, he could no longer discern Loan's position, nor even the ground he was standing on.
*Swish?*
Sheville passed under his chin.
That he had been able to fight on even terms until now was only because Loan had allowed him to get close.
Grint was able to realize this in the very moment before he died.
“Hoo...”
Having finished the fruitful battle, Loan took a long, deep breath.
Darkness returned to the square.
The only sound now was the falling rain.
Amidst it, Loan searched for any potential survivors.
Whether villagers or remnants of Grave, no one was left.
Loan now set out to discover how they had managed to massacre the people.
Having experienced the dark magic tower before, he could easily confirm that small magic towers were hidden at four points around the village.
Because it was a small village, the towers were also smaller than the one in Felsina.
The tower that served to manifest the magic at the very center was built atop a giant larch tree standing tall in the middle of the village.
*CRASH?!*
After destroying the magic tower in a single blow, Loan stood atop the larch tree and surveyed the entire village.
Similar incidents that had occurred across the continent must have all been based on this kind of magic circle.
Even now, somewhere, magic towers might be being erected or magic circles activated, costing people their lives.
After sending a message, Loan hurried back to the carriage where Sienna and Bertolu were waiting.