Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: A Unique Breakthrough
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“As expected of the family's ultimate technique… This thing is incredible.”
I gripped the Black Dragon Sword, my eyes fixed on the empty space before me as I muttered with solemn gravity.
I was concentrating my mind to complete the head's secret sword art, the Nine-Ring Annihilation.
But then Deinox, stretching his arm like a rubber man, suddenly flicked me on the forehead.
*Thwack!*
“Ugh! I'm in the middle of training, why are you interrupting me?”
—Training? You're just spouting nonsense all day! Do it properly, you brat!
“Tch!”
At Deinox’s scolding, I clicked my tongue and corrected my posture.
It was true that I'd just been messing around.
I had been training the secret sword art with all my might, but at some point, I stopped making progress.
The reason was simple.
The Nine-Ring Annihilation was just too abstruse.
Even with the founding head personally giving me passionate instruction, it was difficult to advance.
—I can't understand how you can't do something this easy.
Deinox clicked his tongue as he looked at me.
‘No, that's because you're a once-in-a-millennium genius. I'm just an ordinary idler.’
The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to say them.
Because that damned founding head was just too powerful.
If I talked back, I'd just get beaten up.
Suppressing the lingering sting of the flick on my forehead, I was lost in thought.
How in the world can I master this difficult sword art?
‘Now, while I'm with the founding head, is the perfect time…’
If not now, I couldn't be sure when I'd be able to return to the Fairy Forest.
The vacation would be over soon, and I'd be busy with missions from the assassination guild and rebuilding Riverune.
It would be best to complete the Nine-Ring Annihilation during this opportunity.
“Wait a minute, opportunity?”
Then, a word that had been shimmering in my mind suddenly popped out.
It came to me suddenly as I was staring at Deinox with a deep frown.
Before I knew it, the formula 'founding head = opportunity' had formed in my mind.
Of course, the line of thinking that followed was far from rational.
‘Well, when have I ever thought normally?’
When an opportunity comes, you just have to grab it.
With a blank expression, I walked straight up to Deinox.
Deinox tilted his head and looked at me strangely.
—Did getting hit once make you lose your mind?
“...When an opportunity comes? You grab it.”
*Grab.*
I reached out my hand, following the thought that filled my head.
The moment I tried to grab his arm, he scattered like smoke.
It was only natural.
There was no way this monstrous being would be caught by such a slow move.
But I moved my body like a machine.
I followed in the direction Deinox dodged, repeatedly thrusting my arm out.
Before I knew it, my attempt to grab him had turned into a punch.
—Oho! Look at this one?
*Swish—!*
The third was a sharp sword strike.
Having stayed here for quite a long time, I had adapted considerably to this space.
Summoning the Black Dragon Sword was no problem at all.
*Whoosh!*
Of course, I couldn't hit Deinox this time either, but I managed to get extremely close.
He must have been slightly flustered by the sudden attack.
—Oh-ho. It seems you've finally lost your mind.
Now that he had an excuse to beat me up, my struggle would end here.
But that was what I wanted.
*Fwoosh—!*
An attack that rushed in with the speed of a beam of light.
It wasn't a sword technique or anything of the sort.
It was just a playful jab with his fingers.
But its power was fatal to a human like me.
A thrilling tension spread through my entire body, starting from my spine.
A tense situation reminiscent of a real battle.
It was the exact moment I had been waiting for.
‘It's here! Yes. Right here…!’
I swung my sword at Deinox's attack as it came for me.
With my Demonic Soul awakened and using all my strength.
*Skreee!*
A sword strike unleashed with a unique sound of tearing through the air.
The final evolution of the Heaven-Severing Nine Harmony Sword, the Nine-Ring Annihilation, was unleashed.
A blue-white aura pierced the air, followed by a golden ring.
This golden ring was a product born from the repulsive force between energy honed to its limit and the laws of dimensions.
‘In other words, it's a sword art powerful enough to tear through dimensions.’
The Nine-Ring Annihilation shot forward with the speed of light, attempting to pierce Deinox's body.
But just before it did, something strange happened.
*Fizz—!*
The golden ring, which had been shooting forward with fierce momentum, dissipated with a feeble sound.
At the same time, my face contorted helplessly.
*Crash!*
“Damn it!”
I failed here again.
There was no problem in bringing the Nine-Ring Annihilation to its peak stage.
Even Deinox had praised me, saying I was learning it very quickly.
But at the final moment, when it was about to hit the target, the sword strike would scatter into nothing.
A severe crack would form from within the aura, causing it to lose cohesion.
—The attempt was good. You must have wanted to feel like it was a real battle. But I still can't figure out the problem.
It seemed Deinox already knew my intentions.
But even the founding head, who created all of Riverune's secret arts, couldn't determine why there was no progress.
It was only natural.
In a thousand years, there had never been a case like this.
—I've lived a long time, but this is the first time I've seen such a strange one, and now this incomprehensible phenomenon… It's giving me a headache.
“Please be quiet. I'm the one whose head feels like it's about to split open.”
—Look at this disrespectful attitude. That Lucas fellow was so dependable. Where on earth did someone like this come from?
“It's all because I take after you, Founding Head. Who was it that said my father was an oddball?”
—From the fair and upright me, a loafer like this? Impossible. The blood must have been mixed incorrectly.
“Why are you suddenly dissing my mother's side of the family? No matter how great an ancestor you are, insulting my parents… Huh? Mixed?”
Bickering with Deinox, I shot upright.
The words 'the blood must have been mixed incorrectly' kept circling in my mind.
It felt as if my head had been struck by a large hammer.
‘That's right. It's mixed. It's mixed!’
Looking back, I was someone who had made a more radical attempt than anyone else.
Hadn't I been forging a new path by combining the secret arts of Riverune and Rantzverger?
The Demonic Soul was based on the Wheel Energy Arts, but strictly speaking, it was completely different.
From the way the aura rotated to the way it manifested, everything!
I hadn't mixed the assassination arts into the Nine-Ring Annihilation yet, but the subtlety of Rantzverger was already imbued in it.
‘The Konntraeger Energy Arts, that is.’
When the sword art reached its peak, the aura was bound to collapse from within.
Because the method of deployment was wrong from the start.
“Hoo…”
Getting up, I stared blankly into the air and raised my arm.
The Black Dragon Sword formed on its own and was grasped in my hand.
It was proof that a powerful will was at work.
Then, I began to deploy the Nine-Ring Annihilation very slowly.
‘Normally, it's as fast as lightning, but there's no need for that now.’
It was to capture the single moment the aura collapsed.
*Skreee!*
A powerful golden ring, repelling the laws of dimensions, appeared and tore space apart.
After a very brief moment, the golden ring began to shake violently.
*Fshooo…!*
But unlike before, it only distorted.
It didn't completely disappear.
‘Just a little more.’
Clenching my teeth, I maintained that state and paid attention not to the Nine-Ring Annihilation, but to the movements of my Demonic Soul.
*Twitch!*
Then, I felt a repulsive force that rejected the normal path of the aura.
‘Where do you want to go?’
I gave up on maintaining the Nine-Ring Annihilation and let my Demonic Soul loose.
But surprisingly, the less I controlled it, the clearer the golden ring remained.
This was the answer.
Letting the Demonic Soul find the optimal path on its own, and remembering that path.
As if telling me to follow the path it had shown me, the beast within my chest soon quieted down.
“Hoo…”
I let out a long sigh and snapped my eyes open.
Then, Deinox, who had been standing nearby, appeared before me.
He beckoned with his finger, as if to say he would take me on anytime.
‘Alright. Let's do this.’
Remembering the path my Demonic Soul had shown me, I guided my aura in a completely different direction.
It was completely different from the true formula of the Nine-Ring Annihilation, but the result was very similar.
*Skreee!*
Behind the furiously charging blue-white aura, a golden ring formed.
‘It worked!’
In that state, I unleashed a sword strike at Deinox.
It was the first successful Nine-Ring Annihilation.
*Spheeeen—!*
The sword strike, flying with a tremendous shockwave, pierced through his body in an instant.
No, it just looked that way.
Unfortunately, I didn't feel the sensation of impact in my hand.
The founding head, who had achieved such an immense level, must have blocked my strike in some extraordinary way.
*Shuk!*
Just as I thought, Deinox, who had scattered like smoke, reappeared nearby, perfectly fine.
Then, he smirked and stretched out his arm.
“Damn it, again!”
He was probably doing that to give me another one of his damn forehead flicks.
Having just used the Nine-Ring Annihilation, I had no strength left to respond.
With no other choice, I gave up and closed my eyes.
*Tap! Pat. Pat.*
But the excruciating pain I expected to feel on my forehead never came.
There was only a gentle hand stroking my head.
When I snapped my eyes open, I saw Deinox with a pleased look on his face.
—You've worked hard. Now, get some rest.
“Uh…”
For a moment, my head felt dizzy.
It seemed he had used some special technique on me.
I slowly collapsed to the ground and quietly closed my eyes.
Then, Deinox's muttering came to me as if in a dream.
—Heh heh! An ordinary idler, my foot… He's a genius to the point of giving me chills. I intentionally didn't tell him, but to think he'd break through it in just a few days.
What is this nonsense?
So he knew all along and made me suffer like that?
I fought against my fading consciousness and struggled to lift my head.
I'm the type who has to say what's on my mind, even if I'm on my way out.
“Foun-Founding Head… You're… you're ugly as hell.”
Honestly, the only thing I had over Deinox was my natural good looks.
It was true in my past life, and luckily, in this life too, I was confident in my appearance.
*Thud!*
With those words, the back of my head slammed onto the ground.
I had no strength left in my neck to hold myself up and collapsed.
Immediately, Deinox's furious voice rang out.
—…Should I just end the family line here?