Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: The Wraith
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122
The Wraith. When had he started being called that?
Ron Arfold thought this as his wooden sword clashed against Havel's blade.
It was after the day his interest in the sword had vanished.
He had spent his days in peace.
'That was probably around...'
The time when Havel ended the Unification War.
But the world was a strange beast, after all.
As if it couldn't stand seeing things peaceful.
Just a few years after Arhan became an empire, the Demonic Palace appeared.
Then Labyrinth Island and the Tower followed one after another.
The world plunged into an era of great calamities.
No matter how much Ron had lost interest in the sword, he was born a swordmaster.
He challenged all sorts of calamities.
Before he knew it, he had devoured quite a few.
And then the Armed King made him an offer.
Why not become the heart of Memento Mori and teach the kids a thing or two?
'Teach...'
Unfortunately, he had no great talent for it.
He had tried raising a few promising ones he came across.
But they all died or fled, worn out on their own.
It was the same in Memento Mori.
Those who received his teachings all feared him.
There was virtually no one who could digest them.
'At least that Lidak kid had some potential.'
He held on pretty well, but even he had his limits.
"It's fine. Just staying in Memento Mori is more than enough for you."
The Armed King stopped urging him to teach after that.
Instead, in Memento Mori, he became a terror known as the Wraith.
Even if they harbored other thoughts.
It was all meaningless if they couldn't deal with the Wraith.
But there was one exception.
The only one Ron would acknowledge as a true disciple.
Havel Banpellyon.
The hero of the Unification War, called the Sword Saint.
Despite Ron's half-baked teachings.
He absorbed it all and climbed to the top.
"Does leeching off your master like this feel good, you parasite?"
Like petals dancing in the sky.
Each swing of Havel's sword sent dozens of dawn lights hammering Ron's wooden blade.
As if a downpour was pounding his entire body.
Dawn Afterimages.
A secret technique where dozens of dawn afterimages followed the sword for additional strikes.
And he couldn't ignore the downpour-like dawn lights either.
Each one carried the full might of Havel's dawn power.
Ron's body creaked and groaned all over from blocking them all.
"You never taught me properly, so I had to steal it."
Havel shouted calmly even as he pressed the attack.
Ron clicked his tongue.
Truly, his disciple had no redeeming qualities, even on a second look.
But Havel's skill was the real deal.
'His physical foundation has completely changed since back then.'
Clang!
As he deflected Havel's Dawn Afterimages, Ron gauged his state.
As if the very components of his body had been remade.
The Havel before him now was far sturdier than even during his Sword Saint days.
'To the point where he doesn't even feel human anymore.'
What had happened to him in the Demonic Palace?
"Havel, did you return alone?"
Havel faltered at Ron's question.
"......Yes."
"I see."
Ron decided not to pry further.
He could guess what had happened from the fact that he'd come back alone.
So here, like a proper master.
Ron exploited the opening from Havel's hesitation.
The moment Havel reacted, Ron's sword drew a clean line.
Clang, clang!
Double Strike.
A secret technique packing two impacts into one attack.
Havel winced at the shock rippling through his blade.
This old man's calamities had pierced even his diamond-hard body.
"Aren't you ashamed in front of your disciple?"
"All talk in battle is deception and provocation."
"I hate getting old."
"Whether you or I, past a hundred, we look the same to the young ones. You brat."
Was that true?
Strangely, Havel felt young again after so long.
After leaving the Demonic Palace.
The people in his eyes were all of a new generation.
'No hellish Unification War, no mission to win the war.'
A world that seemed utterly peaceful somehow.
Sure, countless shadows lurked beneath.
But on the surface, it was profoundly at peace.
Havel was a man dropped alone into that serene world.
'A gearless clockwork mechanism.'
That's how he felt.
No one in this world to share his past and memories with.
His era had ended a full century ago.
'No one in this world remembers my past anymore.'
The talents who could have learned calamities in his time had all entered the Demonic Palace.
And perished there.
Even the great star named Havel vanished.
New stars rose, claiming calamities and dominating the current age.
Havel had always felt that disconnect across eras.
But now.
Clang!
As he parried Ron's sword, he felt it.
That time, that era.
When he'd lived most humanly.
In that instant, Ron's sword traced a bizarre arc.
'A feint.'
Attacks lunging simultaneously at his side and head.
But one was a feint.
With Dawn Afterimages on his side.
Blocking both was all it took.
Havel swung his sword in a graceful arc.
The following Dawn Afterimages then covered his neck and waist simultaneously.
"As always, you..."
At that moment, Ron's front foot shot forward, slipping between Havel's legs.
"...have instincts that are too sharp for your own good."
Only then did Havel freeze.
Ron stood stock-still, mid-swing.
Havel's battle senses had read the opponent's attack first, leading to the mistake.
As Havel made a stunned face.
Ron's pitch-black wooden sword thrust straight forward.
Boom!
Havel's body lifted into the air.
Moments later, the ground around him erupted like spewing earth.
In an instant, the airborne Havel smashed through trees in the forest.
Boom!
But it didn't end there.
The Double Strike activated, blasting Havel out of the forest to skid across the ground.
Screeech!
The smell of burning shoe soles echoed.
Havel had reached the forest's center before he knew it.
Thud, thud—.
The sound of dragging worn-out slippers followed.
Ron walked down the path Havel had cleared.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue the moment he saw Havel.
He'd deliberately mixed feints into both attacks to create an opening, and it worked.
"Always a monster."
Havel's sword was already guarding his chest.
Faint smoke rose from his blade.
He had blocked both Double Strikes.
Havel slowly lowered his sword.
Sword-conversed words.
The long-overdue talk with his master was quite enjoyable.
"If you're going to do it, do it right."
Ron lowered his wooden sword following Havel's lead.
Then, vicious calamity oozed thickly from it once more.
"I saw something interesting recently."
In response, Havel slashed, and the Dawn Afterimages followed.
"Glasis swordsmanship. From the vassal family we had back then."
Havel realized who the Glasis had modeled their style after.
Dawn Afterimages, which he'd used often during the Unification War.
He'd stopped after entering the Demonic Palace.
But the Glasis Meteor Sword resembled it.
If it was similar, he could adapt it.
Havel raised his sword overhead.
Lights gathered above his head like a halo.
The surrounding air began to flow backward.
Ron felt sweat beading on his skin for the first time in ages.
He sensed his disciple was about to show something absurd again.
In that moment, the lights rising to the sky illuminated it entirely.
The light was so intense it seemed to pierce beyond the heavens.
"I just didn't have a reason to use it."
A disciple must show his achievements to his master.
Then, the bright sky began to dim.
A quiet space somewhere, moist and dewy.
A sky draped in dawn light.
The Dawn Sky.
And across that Dawn Sky.
Dawn swords began filling every spot.
All extended from the Dawn Afterimages.
The moment they filled it like a wall of light.
Havel stood tall at their center.
As if a star of swords had descended itself.
The dawn swords arrayed behind him overwhelmed any who beheld them.
In contrast, Ron, holding just a single wooden sword, looked up at the sky.
It was a ridiculous sight in every way.
His disciple knew no moderation.
Havel aimed his sword at Ron.
The swords filling the sky moved in unison.
Amid the spectacular scene.
Ron gripped his wooden sword tightly. ⚔ SKILL NAME ⚔ Banpellyon Style Dawn Swordsmanship Dawn Meteor Sword The dawn swords in the sky began raining down.
Before they could all fall, Havel at the center dropped first.
Havel, sword dyed in dawn light, reached the ground in an instant.
The moment his figure scattered.
Havel arrived before Ron and thrust straight forward.
Clang!
Ron parried the sword chasing Havel's afterimage.
But now it wasn't just Havel's sword.
Countless dawn swords trailed behind him, overwhelming Ron.
Clang, clang-clang, clang, clang!
The sound of Ron desperately blocking the pouring dawn swords rang out.
But the real problem was Havel.
Amid the cascade, Havel swung directly at Ron.
Boom!
The moment he barely blocked Havel's sword, thousands of swords stabbed into the spot.
Ron, having deflected them all in a flash, heaved his swollen lungs.
'What the hell...'
Wounds began appearing all over Ron's body as his eyes flashed.
'This is hopeless.'
And so.
Vitality surged through Ron's body more and more.
The calamity flowing from his jet-black wooden sword poured into him.
The wrinkles on his face gradually smoothed away.
Muscles filled his previously gaunt arms and legs.
His skin regained its former vigor.
Clang, crash!
His swung sword now shattered dawn swords, unlike before.
Havel's eyes widened.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Ron was smashing every falling Dawn Meteor Sword.
His sword extended in all directions, near-divine.
Their eyes met amid it all.
Come on, you damned disciple.
His mouth clearly said as much.
Havel kicked off the ground again.
His body left a tail of light, becoming a single meteor.
Boom!
The moment their swords clashed.
The shock scattered the raining Dawn Meteor Swords, spinning in place.
But Ron's sword wasn't done.
The technique he unleashed with his swing was Double Strike.
Boom!
Another explosion, and the spinning Dawn Meteor Swords shattered at once.
Whoosh!
Shards of dawn light scattered everywhere.
But there were still countless swords left.
The Dawn Meteor Swords refilled the space instantly.
Amid them, Ron and Havel exchanged blows like madmen.
Havel felt his breath growing short for the first time in ages.
Ron's Double Strike swordsmanship was deviously tricky.
Even Havel permitted several strikes, his diamond body pierced by the impacts.
Thud!
He felt a blow to his ribs.
Through his torn clothes, a deep blue bruise was visible.
'This guy's swallowed a ridiculous number of calamities.'
Probably on par with the family heads.
The Demonic Palace Havel devoured had given him an infinite vessel for calamities.
But it hadn't granted massive ones from the start.
Other calamities were different.
They granted calamities immediately, not vessels.
'Already had a huge vessel, and then...'
Meeting Memento Mori's calamity armament let him devour even more.
Havel slashed Ron's chest as deeply as he'd been cut.
How many calamities had he devoured?
His skin was tough as leather.
Yet it tore, blood and flesh spraying.
Havel's own calamity outmatched even Ron's.
Boom!
Another clash turned Dawn Meteor Swords to light shards.
Thud!
But people have limits.
A Dawn Meteor Sword pierced Ron's shoulder, unable to shatter them all.
But Ron wasn't sane either.
He yanked it out and hurled it at Havel.
Havel deflected even that, diving into Ron's guard.
Both had devoted lifetimes over a century to battle.
Pain was no hindrance.
Swords tracing countless arcs, sounds following a beat late.
Each time, blood sprayed from Ron's body.
Meanwhile, Havel's body healed even amid it.
His Immortal flesh compensated for Ron's blows.
Before long, dozens of Dawn Meteor Swords impaled Ron.
Excessive bleeding made his body stagger.
Before him.
Havel's sword thrust again.
The moment Ron's sluggish sword met it.
Thud!
Unable to withstand Havel's power, Ron collapsed.
Holes riddling his body, he gasped for air.
His muscles began draining away.
Fine wrinkles spread across his face.
Returning to his true age.
The old man stared blankly at the Dawn Sky.
"Broke about half."
Fortunately, the number of Dawn Meteor Swords in the sky had dwindled.
But only half.
He let out a hollow chuckle at the fact.
Meanwhile, Havel stood with his sword raised.
The dawn light on his blade shone fiercely.
In any battle, against any foe, give your all.
True to his master's teaching, his sword gleamed clearly in dawn light.
"Ha, no-good disciple without a pretty bone in his body."
Ron exhaled long at the sight.
"Still."
A slow, bright smile crept onto his lips.
"Welcome back."
And then, Havel's sword descended with the dawn.