Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 227
>Chapter Title: Heaven-Defying Strike
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Chapter 227
* * *
Swoooosh—
The moment the king's sword began its descent, Do-hyun thrust out his own blade in shock before it could fully fall.
'Crazy...!'
It felt like a massive blizzard was raging at the peak of a towering snow mountain.
It was vividly clear in his eyes, yet his feet refused to budge. No countermeasures came to mind.
It was the sensation of standing before a natural disaster.
Amid the swirling blizzard, a white lion with ferociously gleaming eyes targeted his nape.
In that instant, only one thought flashed through Do-hyun's mind.
'You want me to block this? System, are you insane?'
How was this the great Lion King's trial, supposedly scaled to his level?
This was nothing short of an invitation to die once and be done with it.
Even if Do-hyun had returned at max level, he wouldn't have been confident in blocking it cleanly.
Yet despite the thought, his body moved on instinct.
[Using Parry.]
If he couldn't block it, he'd deflect it.
His sword shot out closer to pure reflex than conscious thought, executing the deflection motion as always.
[This is a sword strike of an incomparably higher realm.]
[Parry impossible. Parry failed.]
'...What?'
He was simply swept away into the blizzard, vanishing futilely.
Do-hyun's face flushed with bewilderment—the first time he'd ever failed a parry since Godohseh.
A mere overhead strike that ignored even parry?
Grrrrowl—
As the stunned Do-hyun faltered, the white lion above him bared its fangs and snarled.
Then, in the split second the white lion pounced from overhead.
Time slowed for Do-hyun in that fleeting moment.
The world decelerated before death, like a slow-motion video unfolding before his eyes.
'What can I do right now?'
Rising Dragon Kick? His legs would be severed.
Sword Aura slash?
He had no doubt it would shred against that ferocious lion form.
His ice techniques hadn't impeded the strike in the slightest already.
[The Forgotten King's trial is in progress.]
[Cannot use the first effect of God's Tear.]
'Such bullshit...!'
In the end, Do-hyun opted for two seconds of invincibility, but even that was blocked by the system.
Of course—in a trial meant to receive the sword, using an invincibility skill would be the ultimate cheat, so it made sense.
Do-hyun, now in that exact spot, was the one going mad and jumping in frustration.
He racked his brain furiously,
but no answers came. Fleeing with Backstep would just fail the trial anyway.
'...Is this really the end?'
Before Do-hyun's eyes unfolded the white lion now right at his nose, the blizzard filling his peripheral vision.
And above it, a single sword plummeting down.
No options anyway. Accepting the strike like this would end it cleanly.
Crunch—
But Do-hyun had no intention of doing so.
'...No way in hell I'm letting that happen.'
If no teeth, then with gums. If not gums, then lips.
He had to thrash about somehow before the end.
Pushing aside the skills flooding his mind, Do-hyun recalled only the Sword Emperor's teachings.
The soft conquers the hard.
Willow Dance.
The technique that had just landed a hit on the king.
A flow-based swordsmanship that, like a willow, yielded to fierce winds without resistance, letting them pass.
It was the only desperate move Do-hyun could make now.
And it was the correct answer.
[Beginning the duel against the Forgotten King's sword strike.]
[Endure in the duel.]
[Counter with your own swordsmanship to shape your signature sword art.]
[Signature sword art completion: 20%.]
[Fill 100% in the duel against the Forgotten King to complete your signature sword art.]
This trial stemmed from the signature sword art quest to begin with.
Since swordsmanship recognition was the trigger condition, swordsmanship would decide passing it too.
Thus, a single willow clashed against the white lion.
---!
The willow shook violently in the fierce blizzard but never fell, while the lion climbed atop it, pressing to topple the tree.
The duel thus begun was brief.
A mere few seconds at most.
A blink of an eye to others, but an eternity to Do-hyun.
Kwaaaa—!
No matter how softly he tried to redirect it, the unyielding strike didn't budge an inch.
Even deflecting the devouring energy grew increasingly burdensome.
Yet for some reason...
'...I can see the flow of the strike.'
Was this a system opened by approaching it as swordsmanship?
Or due to his hyper-focused mind in this extreme situation, slowing the world?
The king's sword, once merely a natural disaster, now revealed its true form.
Somehow, it felt like he could imitate it, even just a little.
And...
[Imitating the Forgotten King's swordsmanship.]
[The challenger's signature sword art form sharpens.]
[Signature sword art completion: 45%.]
'It works?'
Swinging with the exact same feel skyrocketed the completion rate.
The percentage climbed rapidly, hitting 50% in moments.
[Accepting the Forgotten King's teachings.]
[Signature sword art completion surpasses 50%. A faint form imbues the sword.]
Fwaaa—!
Change rippled through the sword alongside the message.
Small and shabby compared to the king's, but unmistakably the same energy.
The beast form emanating cold yet resilient power, ringed by frost—precisely the Forgotten King's.
'Ah.'
This was the teaching.
Not just to take the sword and die, but to feel and accept it with his own blade.
A trial and a lesson.
Pang—! Shaaa—
Thanks to it, the Forgotten King's strike, burdensome moments ago, now pushed back as matching energies collided.
With the ease, Do-hyun could purely marvel.
'So this is signature sword art... like this.'
He understood why people obsessed over creating them.
Not just crafting a skill with their own power, but the ecstasy of feeling the process intimately and evolving it.
'The Sword Emperor must've lost his mind over this.'
A system to drive even the Sword Emperor—who sought the sword's end—mad.
Somehow, he could empathize a bit with the man's obsession.
He could even picture his reaction.
'...One's own swordsmanship.'
Lost in the mystical experience, something brushed Do-hyun's dazed mind then.
'...I can create my own swordsmanship?'
Continuing like this might grant that sword art.
Not to such high completion, but he'd gain at least one technique from it.
But instinct told him otherwise.
It didn't suit his style. It fit Purple Uncle far better.
At the same time, another thought arose.
What if—just what if—
'What if I break that sword art? What would I gain?'
Insane idea. Breaking that monstrous strike.
Unthinkable if not for now, when he'd accepted the swordsmanship and caught his breath.
But conversely, only now was it possible.
When else would he dare challenge breaking such a mad strike, if not while receiving the Forgotten King's techniques?
Only now offered even a sliver of hope.
'It might be a crazy challenge, but...'
If he succeeded?
Gulp.
Do-hyun swallowed dryly, imagination failing at the potential reward, and gripped his sword tightly.
That alone was reason enough.
Do-hyun stopped imitating the Forgotten King's sword and stood firm.
The energy, calm like escaping a typhoon's eye, vanished completely.
----!
A far fiercer cold, immense power swirled like a blizzard anew.
Before this natural disaster, Do-hyun was no willow or cub lion.
Just a single man challenging nature.
Welcoming him was the massive white lion form roaring ferociously at him.
As if warning him to meekly return to the typhoon's eye.
'Let's see you try.'
Yet before the warning.
Do-hyun smirked instead and boldly leaped in.
The moment tear-shaped shadows formed beneath his eyes.
A dragon of black lightning plummeted from above, and their swords clashed simultaneously.
Kwagagagaga—!!
The surroundings were swept away, dust billowing.
This was the trial's climax the Guardians hadn't fully witnessed.
* * *
[The Forgotten King's sword strike has ended.]
[The trial has ended.]
……….
[Signature sword art quest ends.]
……….
-Oh my god...
-Wut...
As messages appeared and dust cleared, revealing the scene.
The silhouette shocking the three Guardians was none other than Do-hyun.
Pajijik—
Wreathed in black lightning, Do-hyun stood amid the charred ground, battered beyond recognition.
No, barely standing—clinging to his sword to maintain balance in a half-collapsed stance.
The king, meanwhile, was unscathed. Still in his striking pose.
The only change: his raised sword now fully swung down and halted.
-...No way the master lost?
-L, Lizard?
Any onlooker would see clear victor and loser.
Two voices trembled in disbelief, but Charlie, spotting something, widened his eyes.
Dust hadn't fully settled, but Charlie saw it clearly.
Heh—
Do-hyun, staggering yet slyly curling his lips.
The king, meanwhile, eyed Do-hyun and himself with dissatisfaction.
The reason didn't take long to reveal.
As dust fully cleared, a tiny wound marred the king's cheek.
Ding—
And the message above it.
[Passed the Forgotten King's trial with unbelievable performance.]
[Signature sword art completion reaches 100%.]
[Cleared signature sword art quest.]
[Absurd performance strengthens rewards.]
[Measuring rewards. Please wait.]
"I won. Me."
Proved by the victory message, Do-hyun grinned and collapsed.
Tension released post-trial left him unable to stand.
[HP below 1%.]
[Barrier destroyed.]
'Whew, barely made it.'
Indeed, success by a hair.
HP had long dipped below 1%, and the ring's barrier shattered too.
One more mistake or delay...
No—even without the Brain Dragon Descent borrowing black dragon power for physical enhancement, he'd have been diced already.
A single blow from decayed flesh like that—what must its prime form have been?
Unimaginable how strong the Sword Sovereign, ascended to supremacy, was.
'Chills just thinking back. No way I'd do it twice.'
But success nonetheless.
Not pure swordsmanship—borrowing skill power too.
Still, he'd pierced that monstrous strike and scarred the monster's cheek.
Battered to hell for just grazing the cheek.
[Signature sword art is set.]
[Manifesting a sword art befitting you, who faced an unbearable colossal disaster unflinchingly and cleaved through adversity alone.]
[Signature sword art skill, 'Heaven-Defying Strike', created.]
Yet that tiny result yielded immense achievement.
'Heaven-Defying Strike.'
A skill only he, among ten billion players, could use.
Unlike other signature sword arts with overlapping school similarities, this was uniquely his.
'...This is my signature skill.'
No other user wielded the Forgotten King's school.
And this one, born to break even that—utterly unique.
Worth all the suffering for this pride.
'What kind of skill is it? Legendary? Gotta be legendary.'
Impossible not to wonder.
Gulping, Do-hyun tremblingly opened the skill info window with shaky hands.