Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: The Final Insight
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Ju-ru-ruk!
"...Damn it."
Feeling the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Paon Lichtenauer spat out a coarse curse for the first time in ages.
Still... not enough.
It was a technique that had fallen just short of completion by a hair's breadth.
He had suppressed and subjugated countless weapons in the space of his mind.
But the master of chains had ultimately evaded perfect domination.
That tiny shortfall.
It had created a fatal gap in the Heavenly Sword, which demanded perfection.
That was why he had tried to end the fight before the specter of the past could notice.
Yet that tenaciously persistent dragon had exploited the sole flaw in his enlightenment.
Even if imperfect... it was the slightest crack, barely a hairline fracture.
To detect it in that fleeting instant and assume a perfect defensive stance.
'An enemy though you may be... I cannot deny it, Earth Dragon.'
Very well, then. No choice.
'Even if it means burning away this entire life... I will drive my blade into your heart...!!'
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!!
The moment Paon steeled his resolve and prepared to shatter even his vessel of life force to squeeze out every last drop of power.
Whiii...
"This is... the smell of blood?"
A single gust carrying the thick scent of blood tickled Paon's nose.
It was truly bizarre.
The battlefield was piled with countless corpses forming mountains, rivers of blood flowing freely.
In a place saturated with the stench of gore, for one scent to pierce through so vividly and strongly.
Unthinkingly, Paon turned toward the direction the wind carried from.
There.
Was Ian, wielding his four-section sword.
Chi-lit, chi-ri-lit...!
The Latent Dragon Squad members watching Ian anxiously could see it clearly.
The blood-red wind around Ian, faint at first beyond measure, slowly filling the space.
"What the hell is he doing now?"
"Even from a magical standpoint, it makes no sense..."
Of course, the squad members couldn't comprehend Ian's actions at all.
Why, out of nowhere in the midst of battle, was he flailing about with his sword?
Especially now, with his bones shattered all over, every step a torment—why perform such a sword dance?
"...Beats me."
But as always.
Since it was Ian doing it, there had to be a reason.
Trusting their captain, they kept watch around them while a common thought rose in their hearts.
That Ian's movements were so ferociously menacing, yet at the same time...
'...Beautiful.'
Profoundly radiant and elegant.
'...Behold me, Paon Lichtenauer.'
As the Latent Dragon Squad believed, Ian wasn't swinging his sword meaninglessly.
He was conveying his intent to Paon.
Ian had instantly grasped the flaw in the sword born from Paon's solitary enlightenment.
It was a piercing strike against the arrogant, domineering insight befitting the King of Weapons—standing above all arms in the world.
Not even most warriors, nor even the past Lucas Alexei, could claim to block it; it was of such exalted realm.
Had it been complete, it would have annihilated any foe, one of Agena's supreme arts.
But the poison of that enlightenment manifested precisely because it was incomplete.
Having reached the pinnacle with chains, Ian noticed immediately.
No other warrior could block Paon's strike.
Only he, Lucas Alexei in this Agena... could effortlessly parry it.
'Your understanding of chains... is not perfect.'
Indeed.
Sword, saber, spear, halberd, bow, shield, staff...
Countless weapons' pinnacles were etched into that supreme art, yet solely his insight into chains—Lucas Alexei's was unmistakably superior.
Thus, that sword failed to conquer all weapons of the world.
It had failed to perfectly define its own realm.
Of course, ordinary foes couldn't match Paon's enlightenment, so little consequence... but the Earth Dragon was no ordinary foe.
The most "complete" lifeform known in Agena: the dragon.
That was Karaktus.
When an imperfect supreme art clashed with a perfect being, the sword's fracture was inevitable.
Thus, Ian moved on instinct from his past life as a great warrior of the northern plains.
Believing the third form of his Blood Demon Iron Chain Art, Blood Wind, could fill Paon's missing piece.
Of course, the odds were infinitesimally low.
In this final gamble deciding the continent's fate, amid life-and-death.
For Paon to gain insight from this feeble Blood Wind, lacking even proper Blood Demon True Qi... harder than a camel threading a needle's eye.
But Ian was certain.
'Paon Lichtenauer. You... will surely realize it.'
No matter how impossible, how absurd to mortals who would shake their heads and abandon it—he could overcome it laughably.
That was the burden borne by one titled king.
"Ian, you little rascal...!!"
Ian's prediction was spot on.
'Your insight into the Blood Demon Iron Chain Art... has reached me clearly!'
Drawn by the blood scent assaulting his nose, Paon gazed at Ian unleashing the Blood Wind, entranced.
Whirl, rend, shatter, grasp.
Ian's weapon was the four-section sword, but his movements weren't those of swordplay.
That was... the epitome of perfect chain motion.
As a result, he was certain.
Ian had lied to him.
What Ian wielded wasn't some derivative of the Blood Demon Iron Chain Art.
It was the undisputed original.
How else could he display such beauty!
No derivative could yield such enlightenment.
Paon couldn't help but wonder how he'd obtained it.
'...Haha! Ian, you brat. Hiding the truth even from your father.'
Even in this hair-trigger standoff with the Earth Dragon, Paon let out an incredulous chuckle.
Though concealing one's full abilities was a warrior's creed...
He never dreamed Ian would hide so thoroughly until the Gate Opening Ceremony, even deceiving the patriarch himself.
'Insolent... but we'll settle that later.'
What else could explain Ian wielding his four-section sword so recklessly with his battered body?
He had seen through it.
That his Heavenly Sword would be dismantled by the Earth Dragon as is.
So he strained to fill its gap.
How could Paon not understand that resolve?
Thus, priority now: complete his own enlightenment as Ian willed.
...Huu-wook!
Paon's aura, raised to the limit to shatter his life vessel, subsided in an instant.
-Hah, hahahaha!! You've finally given up!!
The Earth Dragon, with Dragon Demon Eyes deployed, caught it and bellowed in triumph.
He had won.
Triumphed.
After centuries of endurance and revival, he had finally crushed the Lichtenauer Martial Clan, guardians of the mortal world.
Otherwise, why would the human preparing his final assault by breaking his life vessel suddenly douse his power?
-......?!
But it didn't take long for the Earth Dragon to realize his assumption was wrong.
...Something had changed.
Paon's energy had indeed receded, yet the flame within burned more steadily.
Like a flame blazing brightest before extinguishing... reborn as a stable candle.
Suuu...!!
As if proving the Earth Dragon's thought, the Heavenly Sword—halted midair, crumbling faintly—grew solid once more.
Most gathered at this dragon's tomb hadn't noticed the shift, but the Earth Dragon discerned it clearly.
The sword's surface, flawed with a hairline crack moments ago... was completing itself even now.
-No human can self-correct such a discrepancy...!!
If such impossibility existed, the Great Veil would have been extinguished from Agena long before seeing light.
Thus, the Earth Dragon sought.
There had to be one.
Someone feeding real-time answers to the human's sole flaw.
-Where are you...!!
The Earth Dragon's yellow eyes swept the battlefield rapidly.
And finally, Ian unleashing Blood Wind burned into its eyes like a brand.
-It was you!!
He hadn't imagined such a young human possessed skill to guide the Lichtenauer patriarch.
'No, it matters not.'
Further interference was intolerable.
-Right here, I shall erase you soul and all...!!
Hwarururuk!!
Black flames gathered in the Earth Dragon's gaping maw.
Black Flame would reduce that puny human to ash in an instant.
The very moment before Black Flame erupted.
-Kraaaang!
A battered golden wolf bit into the Earth Dragon's jaw.
-Kuh...?!
Shaking its head in shock to dislodge the golden wolf, the Earth Dragon saw Golden Eye... grinning faintly, life's flame flickering weakly.
"Golden... Wolf... exists even... without an axe... Though its power... is scant... I don't... like it much..."
But who could hold back in this crucial moment?
It was the ultimate strike, burning his life.
With that, Golden Eye slowly closed his eyes.
As if not even a finger could twitch anymore.
-You lowly cur...!!
To survive Black Flame head-on and still live.
But that ended now.
Paon's sword incomplete still.
A brief delay from the golden wolf, but ample time to unleash Black Flame.
-Die!!
Kwa-u-u-u-u!!
Black flames shot straight at Ian.
"B-block it!!"
Quick-witted ones realized Ian's vital task and tried blocking, but a dragon was a dragon, wounds or no.
Defense from a few small fry was negligible.
"Kaaaaak!!"
They crumbled without resistance.
Puuuung...!!
-!!!!
The Earth Dragon's Black Flame shattered midair.
"Keruk...!! No teeth? Then gums will do...!!"
Confronting the Black Flame for Ian was the Sea King.
Too weak to wield his twin scimitars, arms extended in hand-blade stance.
As if his arms were swords themselves.
-You inferior vermin to the end...!!
The Earth Dragon's eyes reddened with rage.
Mere lowly creatures claiming kingship, obstructing to their last—unbearable.
Of course, the price...
...Tu-uk!
The Sea King's shoulders shed arms as ash fluttering in air.
Pasususu...
"Damn it... No proper meals from now on."
The Sea King grumbled at his shattered arms, collapsing limply.
Then moved no more.
"Chwiik!!"
"Keruk!!"
Takryu and Geumcheon monsters shrieked shrilly at their spiritual pillars' ends.
Too pathetic for legends who divided the Great Calamity.
Yet their ends... held meaning.
"...Well done. Golden Eye, Sea King."
While they stalled the Earth Dragon.
Paon's sword, having completed its final insight piece watching Ian, slowly descended toward the Earth Dragon.