The Swordmaster Wants to Fall in Love! 89. Whoever It May Be (3)
Dozens of airships soared through the sky. Aboard them, the Kingdom’s forces unleashed magic and bomb potions.
The Elves, caught off guard by the Kingdom’s surprise attack, first recoiled in shock, then erupted into fury.
“How dare you—do you even know where you are!”
They had never imagined an assault would follow so swiftly after the declaration of war. It was a perfectly reasonable assumption, grounded in common sense.
Though now broken and bent, this was the Elves’ homeland, where the World Tree had taken root. Here, they drew upon the World Tree’s power, receiving overwhelming advantages in combat and warfare.
“Fall and die!”
The first to react was Ausolrate. Bearing the epithet “Moonless Sky,” he lived up to his name—there was no archer beneath the heavens who could surpass him. The World Tree, impressed by his skill, had personally gifted him a bow carved from its own wood. He nocked an arrow fashioned from the Tree’s branches and loosed it.
The arrow flew like a beam of light, striking toward the airships with blinding speed—but lightning struck it down first, sending it plummeting.
Ku-rung!
“—So the one beside him was the Spear King!”
Only then did Erzsebet realize the identity of the man falling alongside Evan, and she spat out her rage. His appearance differed from the Spear King’s, so he must have manifested here using that unique ability of his.
If that was the case, it wasn’t the Spear King’s true form—and he couldn’t wield the full extent of his power. Realizing this, Erzsebet immediately summoned a spirit and shouted.
“Mirinae! Ausolrate! Hold them off! I’ll take care of the airships!”
“Hoo—what a hassle, right from the start.”
“We obey your command, Great Mother.”
The two Guardians, receiving Erzsebet’s order, drew their weapons and faced the two Transcendents descending from the sky.
Though hundreds of meters apart, their gazes locked onto each other with the precision of being mere inches away.
“What’ll you do? I’ll take the swordsman?”
“I don’t mind. Do as you please.”
“Alright—then I’ll handle the swordsman. Let’s have a rematch.”
Mirinae said this and summoned her spirits. She felt sorry for Evan, who hovered above, but in battle, there was such a thing as compatibility.
As a Spirit Swordsman, she excelled at long-range attacks using spirits rather than drawing her sword close. This distance was within her and Ausolrate’s effective range.
“Come, Minerva.”
Mirinae called forth the Wind Spirit and infused it into her blade, then swung her sword to recreate a storm—a killing blow even the Spear King’s lightning couldn’t block.
Just as she thought this would end it, Evan swung his sword before the storm.
What is he trying to do…
Mirinae, who had thought that, witnessed nine dragons swallowing the storm and plunging toward the ground—his Nine-Headed Dragon Flash.
The dragons smashed through anything in their path, crushing the storm and descending straight toward her.
“What the hell is that, you lunatic!”
It was a technique she hadn’t seen when fighting Evan before. Caught off guard, she hastily summoned Fire and Ice spirits, mixing the two elements and swinging wildly.
She managed to halt the nine dragons and let her guard down—only for another dragon to reappear.
“No, what is that…”
And only then did Mirinae see it: every time Evan swung his sword, a dragon burst forth.
That they would keep pouring out until his sword stopped.
She realized too late.
“Y-you crazy—!”
What about the hostages!?
Mirinae cursed, flustered by Evan’s inhumane barrage, and moments later, the dragons he unleashed struck the ground.
***
Evan hadn’t planned this aerial assault from the start. After he declared war, the Kingdom’s military officers had offered various suggestions.
“War must be brutal. That’s how it ends faster.”
“If we use the Kingdom’s secret weapons, we could reach the World Tree Alliance in half a day…”
“This is a challenge not just to the Swordmaster, but to the Kingdom itself! We must make an example so this never happens again…”
Combining practical tests of new weapons and various political reasons, Evan arrived at the World Tree Alliance aboard the Kingdom’s secret weapon: the airships.
Upon arrival, they executed the pre-planned strategy—unleashing a torrent of firepower in an instant while Evan and the Spear King infiltrated the enemy’s stronghold to deal heavy damage. This guerrilla tactic proved highly effective, giving the Kingdom’s forces the upper hand despite having one fewer Transcendent than the enemy.
No, not yet.
Evan looked at Mirinae before him. Though she bore injuries from his Nine-Headed Dragon Flash, they were minor for a Transcendent.
That meant she could still draw on her full power—and at this distance, she could match or exceed Evan’s firepower, blocking his path without issue.
If time passed, Erzsebet would finish off the airships and join them. Facing two Transcendents at once was still too much for Evan.
Just as he thought to quickly eliminate Mirinae, she shouted first.
“You lunatic—! You don’t care if the hostages die or not, do you!?”
“…Hostages?”
“Yes! You heartless bastard! If you act like this, the hostages will all die!”
“…Were they alive? Both of them?”
“No, you—didn’t know!?”
“Well, you didn’t tell me…”
Hearing Evan’s words, Mirinae recalled she hadn’t mentioned holding hostages.
But she had her own justification: they’d demanded he come alone, but the declaration of war and assault came before she could even state their terms!
Logically, they should’ve given time for demands to be met, not rushed to arrest the instigator the moment the attack began.
“They’re both alive, you idiot!”
“…Even in this chaos?”
“Um… I can’t guarantee that.”
Mirinae gave Evan a gloomy look. They’d imprisoned the two in the World Tree’s root prison—but could they really survive this chaos?
In this battlefield where spirits exploded wildly and Elves bled and died, even she, who had lived for thousands of years, doubted whether mere humans could endure.
“Well—now that I know they’re alive, my mission is clear.”
“…What is it?”
“Subdue you quickly and rescue them.”
Saying this, Evan began breaking through with his Nine-Headed Dragon Flash. Mirinae dodged sideways upon seeing the dragons approaching head-on.
They’re not real dragons, so dodging like this should be enough…
[KWA-AAAAANG!]
But contrary to Mirinae’s thoughts, the dragons had their own will. The sword, plated with Meteornium, was a Dragon Slayer Lv.2.
As an Ego Sword, it possessed the ability to wield the blade freely, which meant guiding the Nine-Headed Dragon Flash.
“What is this! Why is the sword aura chasing me!?”
Mirinae, belatedly cutting down the dragons with her Spirit Sword, couldn’t stop Evan from closing the distance in that brief gap.
And as she’d experienced before—up close, she couldn’t defeat him. She was a swordsman who wielded Spirit Swords, not one who mastered the blade itself.
“Kuh—!”
Mirinae fought to the best of her ability, but ultimately couldn’t avoid falling to Evan.
Her dual swords flew from her hands, and Evan’s blade aimed straight for her neck.
“—Surrender.”
“Ow ow—despite how I look, I’ve got thousands of years of experience… and I lose to you?”
“…I’m not in the mood for jokes. Since you saved two people, I’ll spare you—”
“But what about this.”
Mirinae, with a blade at her neck, chuckled and pointed behind Evan.
Turning his head where she pointed, Evan saw the airships crumbling and falling, the Spear King’s corpse with a hole in his head, and countless Elves aiming weapons at him.
“I lost the fight—but I think I won the war?”
As she said, Evan instinctively knew he couldn’t escape this situation and slowly raised his hands.
Slurp— Feeling Mirinae’s arm wrap around his neck, Evan slowly lost consciousness.
“Good—let’s throw him in prison and negotiate with the Kingdom…”
“No, I’m thinking of torturing him right away. We can’t let the one who destroyed the World Tree go unpunished.”
“Hey hey! Take it slow! Let’s negotiate first! Do you want to see the Spear King furious if something happens to him!?”
“Hmph. I didn’t think someone who brought all this power and still got caught like this would be scary…”
***
“…Van! Evan!”
When he came to, he was inside a prison.
Looking around, Evan spotted Seolhyang and Anya locked in the back.
“Ah! You two! You were here!”
“Evan! Why on earth are you here!? What was that huge noise outside!?”
“Yes! Swordmaster! It’ll be bad if you stay here, so escape quickly…!”
“I just—came to rescue you two, I guess.”
Evan chuckled and realized his hands were bound. The shackles were too sturdy to break with force.
But if force wouldn’t work, there were other ways.
“—Human. Are you awake?”
Just as Evan regained his senses, an Elf slowly approached him, spear in hand.
The Elf, trusting the shackles binding his hands, showed no caution whatsoever.
“I’ll make you regret what you’ve done for the rest of your life.”
“Oh? What did I do?”
“The crime of destroying the World Tree. From now on, you’ll suffer for the rest of your—”
The Elf stopped, seeing Evan’s shackles snap apart.
Huh? Why is it shattering…
But unfortunately, the Elf’s thoughts didn’t continue. Evan, freed, swiftly struck the Elf’s jaw.
“Hoo! That’s one problem solved!”
“…What was that just now?”
“No, his hands were clearly bare…?”
“What. You two. Still don’t get it?”
After cutting off their handcuffs too, Evan chuckled and tapped his chest.
“A swordsman always has one more sword in his heart!”
“…Usually, they don’t.”
Anya’s bewildered voice echoed through the prison.