Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: The Butcher of the Abyss
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Heavy.
That was the sensation I felt the moment I saw the opponent’s hulking silhouette.
It wasn’t that I was intimidated by the pressure of his energy.
The man who had suddenly spoken hadn’t done anything.
It was just that his aura felt heavy.
‘He’s no pushover.’
Right.
This is what you call presence.
The man standing in the shadow of the castle wall took a step forward, revealing his face.
Narrow, slanted eyes, eyebrows as thick as caterpillars, and large scars at both corners of his mouth.
The sight of him made the heavy atmosphere even thicker.
‘Wow! Look at that face. How savage.’
He’s twice my size, and with a face like that, you’d have to call him a monster.
Honestly, how could that be a human?
“So it’s you. The madman who came over alone, claiming he’d stop us.”
“I think your face is crazier than my mind.”
“Hoh? I like your wit.”
I tried a light provocation, but he didn’t take the bait.
He’d probably heard similar things often enough throughout his life.
In any case, his appearance and aura weren’t what mattered right now.
‘The biggest problem is that this man is Krol Karim.’
A formidable foe, not easily defeated in a head-on fight.
I would have needed to start the battle with a surprise attack just to buy time to escape.
But now, far from an assassination, I was surrounded by countless enemy soldiers.
The wise decision would be to fight another day rather than here.
‘But he’s alone, isn’t he?’
I extended my senses, but the Corint Kingdom’s army hadn’t reached this far yet.
What if I could cut him down quickly while he was off guard?
As I’d thought just a moment ago, this could also be a chance to successfully complete the mission.
Besides, that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t want to back down.
He had said something quite interesting.
“Ah, no need to run. My men won’t be coming here.”
“Why not?”
“Hehehe! Because I wanted to meet the madman myself and see just how crazy you are.”
*Shing.*
As Krol Karim spoke, he drew something large from behind his back.
It was a square, wide weapon, like a butcher’s knife.
Of course, it was so massive you’d have to call it an axe.
That unique weapon and his menacing face were likely the reasons he’d earned such a vicious moniker.
I glanced around and saw a group of soldiers at the edge of the castle wall.
They were watching us, but showed no sign of approaching.
‘Is he serious?’
Come to think of it, I could sense that no soldiers were even near this area.
I finally nodded and looked at Krol Karim with a new perspective.
“You’ve got guts.”
“You’re not so bad yourself. Not running away after seeing our army.”
“That’s because I’m confident.”
“Bwahahaha!”
The man threw his head back and let out a booming laugh.
Then, he lowered his head, a rotten smile on his face.
A piercing blue light was now pouring from Krol Karim’s eyes.
“Your confidence. I’d like to trample it to dust.”
“I think you’re the madman here, not me.”
“It doesn’t matter who’s mad. I just need to confirm something. For some reason, I think cutting you down will be a different kind of fun.”
“You crazy son of a…”
*Rumble!*
Just as I was about to curse, a subtle vibration ran through the ground.
The energy Krol Karim unleashed was so powerful it momentarily shook the earth.
It was a raw, ferocious killing intent, more savage than any I had ever faced.
‘I’ve felt something like this before… Ah, right. The Four-Armed Knight.’
How could I forget the bloody battle in the Forest of the Dead?
It was the fight where I found the clue to complete the final piece of the Heaven-Severing Supremacy.
*Thud!*
Krol Karim stomped his back foot hard, lowering his stance.
The tension instantly soared, taut as a drawn bowstring.
Then, he charged straight forward in a direct line.
It was as if he were shouting, what’s there to think about?
*Swoooosh—!*
‘…!’
A single, clean stroke, powerful enough to split the entire castle wall.
I couldn’t help but be shocked by the sheer force of the attack.
‘It’s much faster than I thought, and surprisingly, it holds immense variation.’
*Buzzzzz—!*
The blade vibrated with a sound like a swarm of bees taking flight.
It wavered intensely from side to side, implying it could change direction at any moment.
He had created variation with just his presence, without any large movements.
It was a strike worthy of one of Corint’s greatest masters.
*Clang!*
But Krol Karim’s blade was sent flying back with a deafening roar.
I had struck the side of his blade with the Black Dragon Sword at the perfect moment.
No matter how powerful an attack, it was always weak to a force applied from the side.
If its trajectory is altered significantly, any weapon will naturally miss.
“Hmph.”
I snorted lightly and lifted my chin.
It was my way of saying a trick like that was nowhere near enough.
But it was in that very moment.
*Zing!*
“Agh!”
A sudden pain made me frown.
I had blocked the attack perfectly; there was no reason for it to hurt. It was truly strange.
I glanced at my right hand with a bewildered expression and soon understood why.
‘The shock… it’s still there?’
To get this result without taking it head-on was a difficult phenomenon to comprehend.
There were roughly two possible reasons.
Either the power of his aura was far stronger than I imagined, or it possessed a unique quality.
Perhaps it was both.
‘I can figure out why by testing it one more time. Come on, you brute.’
I followed the trajectory of his blade with a serious gaze and took a light step.
But the butcher knife, which was about to swing again, stopped dead in the air.
Then, Krol Karim’s head peeked out from beside the blade.
He had extended the weapon straight out and craned his neck to look at me.
“Pfft! You look confused. I guess it’s surprising to feel extreme pain even after a proper block.”
He knew my condition with relative accuracy.
Of course he did.
How many victims must he have created with that bizarre technique?
Enough to earn the name Butcher of the Abyss.
But I shrugged with a nonchalant expression and replied.
“What are you talking about? It doesn’t hurt at all.”
I was a professional at bluffing, so I could hide the pain.
However, from Krol Karim’s expression, it seemed he didn’t believe a word I said.
A sly smile still hung on his lips.
“Oh really? Then try taking this! Bwahahaha!”
The man let out a crazed laugh and raised his sword high into the sky.
A pillar of blue flame immediately shot upward.
“You’ve got to be…”
Even I, who had been through countless battles, had never seen such a massive aura.
A curse naturally escaped my lips.
Besides, drawing out an aura tens of meters long was an incredibly difficult feat in the first place.
Yet this man had created a pillar thicker than his own torso.
Seriously, how could a person be capable of that?
‘I’ll worry about the plausibility later. For now, I need to figure out how to deal with that.’
I was surprised, it was true, but I recovered quickly.
I instantly composed my scattered thoughts.
Then, I glared at Krol Karim with a cold gaze.
*Whoooosh!*
The aura pillar swung, obliterating everything in its path.
It was certainly a tricky attack to deal with.
Its range was so wide that dodging was not easy.
I was inevitably going to have to clash with that monstrous mass of aura.
There was only one way.
‘If his strength is the size of his power, then I’ll bet everything on focus.’
An aura that massive would likely have a relatively low energy density.
The best approach was to penetrate a single point and break the balance of the whole.
I awakened the Demonic Soul and poured a massive amount of aura into my sword.
A normal weapon would have shattered instantly from such immense power, but this was a masterwork blade.
*Flash!*
Filled to the brim with aura, the Black Dragon Sword let out a gleaming light.
In that state, I used Soul Shadow Evasion and blurred my body.
*Ssk.*
Krol Karim was an ultimate master, rated at Tier 2 or higher.
My stealth technique likely wouldn’t fool him in the slightest.
It wasn’t like I was sneaking up on him from a distance; we were in the middle of a battle.
But it wasn’t entirely without effect.
‘This way, I can hide the trajectory of my attack, if only for a moment.’
Of course, I couldn’t use this trick often.
It might be startling the first time, but it wouldn’t work twice.
Moreover, it had the drawback of consuming a tremendous amount of aura.
Still, for now, it was a very useful method.
“This is how it’s done.”
*Craaaack!*
The furiously swinging blade was deflected sideways with a tremendous roar.
And this was despite him being wary of a side attack and paying close attention.
This was the result of him momentarily losing sight of my sword’s trajectory.
“Dammit!”
Krol Karim cursed and yanked his arm back hard.
No matter how monstrously he had trained his body, controlling an aura pillar that large was difficult.
Even if there was no direct damage, it was a blow in another sense.
It was the perfect timing for a triumphant smile and a counterattack.
But despite successfully deflecting the butcher knife, I couldn’t do it.
‘Ugh! That hurts like hell!’
The aftershock from colliding with the aura pillar was shaking my entire body.
It seemed the best way was to avoid contact in any way and aim for his body.
Either that, or risk the damage and try to shatter that annoying weapon.
The latter seemed to have a much higher chance of success.
Krol Karim’s aura pillar was not only massive but also fast.
‘Alright. Let’s do it.’
Taking a deep breath, I stood still and waited for his attack.
The distance was his to command, anyway.
Struggling to gain an advantageous position would only drain my strength.
The wise choice was to aim for a single counter.
“All that size and not much else. This is manageable. Bring it on. I’ll knock every one of them away.”
I shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.
Acting was a necessary part of swordsmanship.
You had to deceive your opponent with your gaze, your presence, and every single action to hide your true intentions.
In that respect, I was practically born with a heaven-sent talent.
“Oh? Is that so? Fine. Let’s see how long you can last.”
*Swoooosh!*
Krol Karim corrected his stance and, without any suspicion, swung the aura pillar.
A ferocious strike came crashing down with a roar that tore through the air.
Just like before, it was a very simple trajectory.
*Wooooong—!*
Wary of another hit to the side, the weapon’s vibration was much stronger this time.
The moment I struck it, immense pain would follow.
‘But this time will be different.’
I had already grasped the weaknesses of that aura pillar to some extent.
I smiled confidently and thrust the Black Dragon Sword forward.
With a secret art of Riverune that focused all my power into a single point.
*Spit!*