Chapter 65
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Stone Bridges and Illusions
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65.
From one stone bridge to another, and from that one to the next.
Charlotte halted her steps after scaling several of these bridges in succession. There stood Isaac, his sword dangling loosely, his face alight with a joy bordering on madness.
She understood his feelings all too well.
‘I’m having the time of my life too.’
Isaac had long been seen as unbeatable, so even crossing blades with someone new, even briefly, had to feel exhilarating for him.
Charlotte drew her sword once more and fixed her gaze on him.
“Aren’t you getting a bit tired?”
Isaac let out a short chuckle, his eyes curving into thin crescents.
“I’m still scouring for someone who can wear me out. Care to give it a shot?”
“Then... mind if I take you up on that too?”
Neither gave the other a head start. They gripped their swords tight and charged.
Tak! Chaeng, chaeng! Buwoong! Buung! Chaeng!
The clash of aura-clad blades against sword-qi-wreathed steel rang out in dazzling splendor.
Charlotte flashed a grin and leaped back broadly to widen the gap, but Isaac refused to let her create that much distance.
His sword style wasn’t so different from hers.
‘Pretty similar overall. Quick-draw focused, adept at weaving in feints.’
But the real difference lay in their ages.
Compared to Charlotte’s shorter limbs, Isaac’s were considerably longer, granting him far greater reach. He also wielded precise muscle control honed by experience.
Rather than deem it unfair, though, she simply found it thrilling.
After all, she had her own ace up her sleeve.
Her mastery of qi manipulation.
Many participants, Isaac included, could wield aura. But they mostly coated their blades to boost cutting power and extend their reach.
A few unleashed sword beams now and then, but that was far too hazardous for a tournament like this.
It was invaluable against foes immune to standard strikes, as in the qualifiers—but in one-on-one bouts against fellow aura users, it lost much of its edge.
Of course, the sheer terror of aura-grazed wounds, far graver than mere blade cuts, still menaced opponents. To Charlotte, though, it was nothing.
‘Wielding a sword means steeling yourself for death anyway.’
Charlotte drew qi from heaven and earth into her body, circulating it freely through her meridians.
Her qi usage went far beyond mere blade coating. She could amplify her leg strength for higher leaps, channel it to her arms to compensate for raw power, or accelerate her strikes to spawn afterimages.
Isaac closed in tight, thrusting with his golden-aura sword. Charlotte parried it three times head-on, flat of her blade meeting point.
Reading the exact trajectory and blocking frontally with the flat at this speed was unthinkable.
Isaac’s smile grew ever wider.
Noticing it, Charlotte couldn’t help but curve her own lips into a broad arc.
“I knew it’d be like this.”
“Knew what’d be like?”
“I knew it’d be this fun.”
‘Sword nuts are incorrigible.’
Seeing Isaac’s unfeigned delight, Charlotte chuckled despite herself.
Chaeng, chaeng, chaeng!
Truth be told, she could’ve happily traded blows like this for an hour or two straight.
It wasn’t mere stamina. Full-throttle clashes without holding back were a rarity.
“You handle the sword far better than I expected, Brother Isaac.”
“...Never dreamed I’d hear that kind of praise from anyone.”
Chaeng, chaeng!
They traded two exchanges, then three more. Their bodies drifted apart, then snapped close again, shifting to the adjacent stone bridge.
Waaaaah—!
The spectators unleashed fervent cheers at the blistering, high-level exchange too swift for the eye to fully track.
The finals weren’t one-on-one, so from here on, participants’ voices were muted to the stands to avoid sowing chaos. But the visuals alone made for a riveting match.
Then, an eerie mist began seeping down from above.
Even amid the furious swordplay, Charlotte sensed it wasn’t natural.
Nothing here was real, but this fog carried a thick infusion of qi from some contrivance.
‘What’s that...?’
As if on cue, a downdraft swept in from above. The pale haze, like clouds hugging the mountainside, swiftly devoured their vision.
“...Hm?”
Isaac, who’d been pressing relentlessly, noticed too and eased his blade’s tempo.
He glanced around and clicked his tongue.
“Damn it. Already?”
Stunned by his halted sword and uncharacteristically anxious expression, Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“What’s ‘already’?”
“...Illusion. I figured Nightmare as the main event would trigger this, but I didn’t expect them to scatter illusion magic before we even hunt it down.”
“Illusion magic?”
“Yeah.”
Isaac clicked his tongue repeatedly, then hopped over to her. She startled aside to make way, and he jerked his chin for her to follow.
Charlotte trailed him to a broader, more stable stone bridge.
“What’s an illusion?”
“The magic tower bastards pull this crap in finals all the time... Like they think they’re hot stuff, forcing everyone through trials like this.”
“Then...”
“Nightmare’s a dream-manipulating beast. We’re probably in for some ugly visions. Goddamn magic tower.”
This was honestly the first time she’d seen him lose his cool and curse.
It felt alien, even recalling the novel where Isaac, as Setia House Lord, was ever composed and ruthless.
Charlotte blinked slowly, piecing it together—then remembered the original winner was Ricardo.
She’d assumed Isaac would yield victory to him. But what if not?
What if Isaac harbored some glaring weakness?
“...What in the—”
Before she could finish, darkness swallowed her surroundings.
“...So you’ve finally grasped the essence.”
A voice she never wanted to hear again echoed in the dream.
Charlotte turned, doubting her ears.
A pine tree loomed right behind her, and beneath it stood Hu, Mount Hua Sect’s top disciple.
The man she’d called Senior Brother. The one who’d ruthlessly shoved her aside.
He was there.
“...How are you here, you...”
As he advanced without hesitation, Dohwa realized her hair wasn’t pink—it was plain, long black.
Everything was utterly bewildering.
In that instant, Hu shoved her.
She leaped aside on reflex, but caught him channeling qi into his hand toward her leg.
Charlotte knew what came next.
Hu would hurl her off the cliff with an ecstatic grin. Then another year of hell.
Boundless despair crashed over her.
As she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut,
‘I’ll be by your side. Always. No matter if you believe me or not.’
Why did Joseph’s voice surface now?
‘So don’t go moping around defeated everywhere.’
Why did those throwaway words resurface?
Why now, of all times?
Charlotte clenched her teeth and snapped to attention.
‘Dohwa or Charlotte, who cares. Someone believes in me now. You think I’d just slink off defeated?’
Her eyes flew open. She bit her lip till it nearly bled and lashed out at empty air with her palm. Crimson-tinged palm force erupted—stronger than she’d intended.
‘Wha...?’
Back then, exhausted from solo training, Dohwa couldn’t have coped. Yet this force surged with unnatural potency.
It flew forth and shattered everything.
Hu’s repulsive smile, the pine tree, Mount Hua’s jagged cliffs—all vanished like a smashed mirror.