Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: You Are Already Dead
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The hawk-nosed middle-aged man's face twisted subtly.
Publicly, the Shadow Knight was known only as the Felton family's fixer.
So how would he react when some unheard-of nobody brought up his internal evaluation?
*'He must be wondering what in the world is going on.'*
For a moment, a strange light flickered in the opponent's eyes.
He noticed something was amiss but didn't perceive the situation as dangerous.
After all, the name "Shadow Knight" carried too much weight for that.
The opponent lifted his chin and asked arrogantly.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know. Just offer up your neck quietly. I need to finish this quickly and get going."
"Kukuku! The little brat has gone mad with excessive bravado. This is perfect. I was just in need of someone to vent my frustrations on."
The Shadow Knight seemed quite displeased with this assignment.
Did it make any sense to send one of the Felton family's highest-ranking members to such a remote place?
It wasn't as if he had physical injuries like Brooks that prevented him from serving on the front lines.
Being told to do the same fixer missions he did in his youth would certainly be infuriating.
*'I don't care about the internal affairs of my enemy's family.'*
They were a family I was going to grind to dust anyway, so what was the point of knowing the details?
I slowly drew upon the power of the Demonic Soul and stared at the Shadow Knight.
My opponent stood with a relaxed posture, his sword casually slung over his shoulder.
It was as if he was contemplating how to toy with me.
*'That arrogance will be your downfall.'*
*Step! Step!*
Each step I took to close the distance with the Shadow Knight felt as heavy as lead.
But I pressed forward in silence.
"Hyaah!"
*Swoosh—!*
The stragglers from Felton and Wolf Fang who had broken away from the melee occasionally charged at me.
But without even a glance, I sent their heads flying.
My gaze remained fixed on the Shadow Knight, who was posturing on the second-floor railing.
After this happened a few times, the look in my opponent's eyes changed.
"Hoh... So you're not just some crazy bastard, are you?"
*Swoosh. Thud.*
The Shadow Knight leaped over the railing and landed on the first floor.
Despite wearing considerably heavy armor, he made little sound.
His presence was also nearly nonexistent.
The reason was that he too had mastered the arts of assassination.
*'In a way, is he similar to me?'*
A duel between swordsmen who have mastered the secret arts of assassins.
An interesting combination.
Just as the curve on my lips deepened, the Shadow Knight vanished in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared from my sight.
But I remained unshaken and thrust the Black Dragon Sword to my right.
*Claaaang!*
And from the empty air, a large blade emerged.
Soon after, the vanished Shadow Knight abruptly reappeared.
"You... blocked this?"
My opponent's face was contorted in disbelief.
He must have never dreamed his attack would be intercepted.
And for good reason. What the Shadow Knight had just used was the Black Star Hidden Dragon Sword.
It was an assassination art that could hold its own anywhere.
While somewhat different from the family's mainstream sword style, it was a secret technique of the great Felton family.
It was by no means a technique that could be blocked by a mere young upstart.
However, the one who crossed swords with the Shadow Knight was me.
The problem was that I was a direct descendant of Rantzverger.
*'It focuses more on power than stealth.'*
If you don't fall for it, the effectiveness of an assassination art plummets.
With a triumphant smile, I swung the Black Dragon Sword.
*Skang!*
The grayish-white aura of Heaven-Severing Flash pushed his sword away.
At the same time, an opening in the Shadow Knight's defense was exposed.
It was a perfect, momentarily tempting opportunity, but I didn't press the attack.
Instead, I struck a well-defended spot and slightly increased the distance between us.
*Claaaaang!*
"Ugh..."
My opponent grunted with a look of discomfort.
Right.
That's the only reaction he could have.
That opening just now must have been nothing but a feint.
"Uahahahat!"
But then, the Shadow Knight suddenly burst into manic laughter.
Though it was drowned out by the noise of the battlefield, being so close, I could hear his laughter clearly.
Soon, he stopped his shaking shoulders and his expression hardened completely.
*'Wow... he seems like a real lunatic.'*
The thought crossed my mind, but I couldn't say it out loud.
Because the Shadow Knight, who had been laughing like a madman, was now unleashing a storm of attacks.
*Shriiiik—! Clang-clang-clang!*
A translucent aura flew at me with a faint sound of tearing air.
The sword strike, which split into six in an instant, aimed for my vital points almost simultaneously.
It was a sharp illusionary sword technique, as if his previous strike had been mere child's play.
*'This is... the Line-Drawing Sword Technique.'*
A perfect sword strike, making it impossible to tell where the real target was.
But the sound of impact that followed came only once.
*Kwachang!*
It was fast enough to deceive the human eye with afterimages, but in the end, there was only one sword.
As long as you could pinpoint the real one, the illusionary sword could be broken.
I completely neutralized his technique by thrusting my sword at his wrist.
*Smirk.*
But even though his Line-Drawing Sword Technique was blocked, the Shadow Knight was smiling.
In that moment, I felt a tremendous sense of dread wash over me.
*Kwajik! Pshooo—!*
I realized something was wrong, but it was too late to react.
His sword was already piercing my side.
The Shadow Knight had used the Line-Drawing Sword Technique as a feint to land the Black Star Hidden Dragon Sword.
But contrary to his expectations, I didn't collapse.
I simply swung my sword upward in a perfectly natural motion.
*Swoosh—!*
"Gah!"
A gray aura shot up before his eyes.
The startled Shadow Knight quickly let go of his sword and threw himself backward.
His judgment was correct.
If he hadn't abandoned his weapon, his body would have been split in two.
After rolling on the floor, the Shadow Knight drew a spare sword from his waist.
*Chaaang!*
"You must be some kind of undead, aren't you? To be fine after taking that hit."
He seemed to find it unbelievable that his attack had failed.
Then again, if he knew about the Black Dragon Divine Armor, he would have tried a stronger attack.
Or aimed for a different vital point from the start.
"..."
I didn't answer his question.
Letting my opponent operate on false information could give me a slight advantage.
*'Still, his skill level is high.'*
The Shadow Knight had immediately realized from our first clash that his stealth was lacking.
That's why he employed the tactic of hiding the Black Star Hidden Dragon Sword within the Line-Drawing Sword Technique.
He was certainly a master on the level of an elder.
To the point where I couldn't be confident of victory even with the Heaven-Severing Ultimate Conquest.
*Shriiiik!*
Just as I expected, my opponent persistently struck at the areas unprotected by the Black Dragon Divine Armor.
He particularly focused on my neck, which could be fatal in a single blow.
"Khahahaha! Let's see if you can stay unscathed before this, you undead bastard!"
The Shadow Knight laughed maniacally as he unleashed a countless barrage of sword strikes.
*Claaaaang! Clang!*
Shockwaves spread out with every clash of our swords.
The powerful storm of aura sweeping the area made it difficult to even keep my balance.
*'He can't keep this up forever.'*
Staggering, I tenaciously endured the Shadow Knight's onslaught.
Hoping that this relentless feast of sword strikes would eventually end.
But my opponent's swordplay continued endlessly.
It felt as if he could draw out his whirlwind-like aura infinitely.
For a moment, I felt a pang of extreme despair.
I couldn't find a way to escape, and it felt like I would collapse soon.
But then, a sinister voice suddenly echoed in my mind.
—Huhu! You seem to be in a bind. Draw Calipe. Then all your problems will be solved.
*Wooooong!*
It was Alkheim's sweet temptation.
At the same time, I felt a sudden vibration at my waist.
The legendary treasured sword, Calipe, said to have been used by the first emperor, Troike, was humming.
It seemed to be saying that if I used it, the enemy before me could be annihilated in an instant.
—Shut up! I will forge my own path.
I roared back using the Whispering Voice Technique, and the thought that had been clouding my mind shattered and dispersed.
I've met an enemy I want to grind into dust, and you want me to borrow someone else's power?
What utter nonsense.
Alkheim's voice only fueled my fighting spirit further.
*Wooooong!*
As my burning fighting spirit surged, this time, the Black Dragon Sword let out a cry.
Stimulated by my will, the Demonic Soul unleashed an even more powerful aura.
*'I don't care if my body burns. I'll draw out an aura beyond my limits.'*
As if reading my thoughts, a transcendent power flowed through my right arm and into the Black Dragon Sword.
*Tzzzzzzzt!*
Uncontrolled aura leaked out around me, but I paid it no mind.
Whether there were losses or not, I intended to pour everything into this one strike.
Perhaps because the nature of the aura was so subtle, the Shadow Knight didn't seem to notice the change.
He just continued to pour on his relentless, infinite assault.
He would probably keep it up until an exhausted me was torn to shreds and scattered.
*Kagang! Claaaaang!*
I blocked the countless sword strikes pouring down on me and waited for the right moment.
*'There's... no opening.'*
But there wasn't even the slightest gap in my opponent's swordsmanship.
If there were even a small crack, I would have tried to force my way in, but the situation didn't allow for it.
Of course, I couldn't back down now either.
*'What choice do I have? If there's no opening, I'll have to make one.'*
*Clang-clang! Chareureuk!*
While deflecting the storm-like aura, I created a gray sphere in the air.
It was a sword spirit created by the power of the Demonic Soul.
Under the downpour of immense physical force, the sword spirit was swept away by the whirlwind.
But I paid it no mind and continued to use the Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits.
Soon, as hundreds, then thousands of gray orbs were generated, a change finally occurred in the storm of aura.
*Clang-clang! Clang-clang-clang!*
The sword spirits caught in the whirlwind and the Shadow Knight's aura began to repel each other.
*'The reaction is starting... Now!'*
I precisely seized the opening created by the Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits.
*Thump! Thump!*
In that very moment, the sound of my heart pounding as if it would burst filled my entire body.
It was proof that the aura I had drawn out beyond my limits was overloading my body.
But I couldn't stop here.
The sword spirits had only created a small dissonance in the storm of aura.
The real show started now.
Heaven-Severing Ultimate Conquest
*Swoosh!*
With a faint sound of tearing air, the Black Dragon Sword pierced a single point in space.
At that, the Shadow Knight, who had just shaken off all the Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits, burst out laughing.
"Uahahaha! What a crude sword technique. To go through all that trouble for such a pathetic..."
But his words were cut short.
Because the organs that produced his voice had vanished entirely.
I murmured softly to the Shadow Knight.
"You are already dead."