Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: The Former Alliance Leader (5)
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"From what I can see, you're just stepping into the realm of Swordmaster."
The Sword Sage spoke as she drew her weathered sword.
I met her assessment with a calm expression of my own.
"Meanwhile, you've already reached the level of Grand Master."
"That's what they call me in the Western Regions."
A faint smile faded from the noble woman's face as she spoke with hollow eyes.
"Though I think all such titles are meaningless."
"I've heard that in the Eastern Continent, rank is determined by strength. Isn't that a good thing?"
The woman with soft lavender hair nodded at my rational question.
"You're right. Strength rules everything. But I've learned there are many kinds of strength."
The Sword Sage gazed intently at the sword in her hand.
Its blade was nicked and dull, barely reflecting her face.
"A person's tongue, a hand offered in friendship—they can all become invisible, potent forces. I realized that far too late."
From what I remembered, she had been the greatest in martial arts but inept at politics.
She had strived to protect everyone, only to be betrayed by those she shielded and cast aside.
That must have left deep scars, sealing away her heart.
"I've spent eons staring only at this sword. No wonder I've ended up like this."
The tip of her battered blade pointed squarely at me.
Very firmly, as if sensing in me the same vibe as the enemy who had driven her out.
"You, on the other hand, seem to have many talents. To reach the position of 'black curtain' without being the strongest in the Empire."
"Spare me the 'black curtain' talk. I'm just an ordinary warden."
Even at my curt reply, she kept her icy gaze fixed on me.
"The current Alliance Leader said much the same when we first met. That he was just a humble martial artist who admired me."
Sure enough, she viewed me as just another scheming politician.
She showed no sign of backing down.
"Myoran is a child bound by the same oath as I. If you're as cunning as the current Leader, you'll wound her the same way."
The way to gauge a person's true heart is to corner them.
The Sword Sage intended to test if I was as treacherous as the Leader who betrayed her.
"So please, do your best to endure. Give me a chance to see your true intentions."
Compared to her legendary fame, the Sword Sage's sword was utterly ordinary.
Just a slim blade like a rapier, lacking the poise of a famed sword or any notable sturdiness.
But I soon realized why she didn't wield a legendary blade.
"Let's begin. Land even one strike on me, and you win."
The moment she infused her sword with purple energy.
That plain weapon brimmed with murderous intent in an instant.
A mere tool transformed into a demonic sword by the wielder's power alone.
'For true masters, the tool doesn't matter...'
The Sword Sage raised her weapon high into the air.
Then she brought it down in a swift arc.
Shrieeeek――――――!!
A blade of purple sword energy slammed toward me with full force.
'From above, a diagonal downward slash!'
I assumed a defensive stance against the incoming strike.
But her sword energy veered irregularly, grazing past my blade.
It then sliced across my leg in one swift motion.
Like a butterfly flitting freely on its own whim.
"Ngh...!!"
Without my past life's experience, that leg would have been deeply gashed.
Thanks to my quick reaction, it ended as just a graze.
"Impressive indeed. No ordinary Swordmaster could have reacted to that strike so easily."
The Sword Sage slowly blinked her silver-lidded eyes.
Her expression intrigued, as if she'd encountered a rare entertaining foe after so long.
"Did you truly borrow some bizarre power like the Heavenly Jade?"
"I didn't borrow it. These are strengths I've forged myself."
She gazed at me fondly, like an older sister indulging a boy's bravado.
"Everyone deludes themselves that way. They think the power they've sold their soul to the Heavenly Jade for is their own achievement."
Then her eyes turned cold again, like a sister determined to correct the boy.
"If it's truly a power born of pure effort, then try blocking this."
She glided barefoot across the water's surface with effortless poise.
She closed the distance in a breath, light as air.
Leaping lightly, she twisted her body midair.
Like a butterfly turning with the wind.
'This erratic strike is absurd every time I see it.'
Dodge clumsily, and my body would be cleaved in two.
I had to keep my eyes wide open and watch.
Spot the true strike hidden in that irregular motion!
'The side this time!'
I widened my eyes and raised my sword.
As she landed, I precisely parried the flying sword energy.
Claaang!!
"......!!"
The Sword Sage seemed startled by my skilled defense, unlike the first clash.
But the skill I was about to show was only just beginning.
The moment she followed up with a barrage of thrusts at my torso.
I slipped my sword under my arm and gripped it tight.
Like a snake coiling around its prey's body.
'Spin and disarm her.'
When swordplay fails, subdue with body techniques. That's the fundamentals.
This was my second weapon.
But...
The Sword Sage let go of her caught sword without hesitation.
'A swordswoman abandoning her blade...?'
I thought she might switch to a dagger or bare hands.
Instead, she retreated and reached into the air.
Shoooosh―――.
Countless purple butterflies gathered from the sky.
They took form, transforming into dozens of swords.
Famed blades from the Eastern Continent, harvested from those who had challenged—and died to—her.
'What the hell.'
"Surprised? In duels, men like you occasionally charge in headlong."
A being truly worthy of the title immortal.
She looked down at me with a relaxed expression.
"I quite admire that conviction to protect something, even at the cost of your body."
She picked up the sword of the former Demonic Cult Leader she had slain.
The moment she swung it at me.
Hundreds of sword energies fluttered like butterflies and rained down.
Like a purple downpour.
"Urgh..."
Cuts began appearing all over my body.
If my focus slipped even slightly and my mana shield faltered, I'd lose an arm or leg.
"Why endure so much? Don't you have a match tomorrow where your life is on the line?"
The Sword Sage relentlessly swung and unleashed more sword energy.
"Just hand over one little girl, and it's over. So why...?"
"If I don't show my sincerity, who would trust me and stay quietly in the prison?"
Bloodied all over, I answered humbly.
Just like in my days as Knight Commander, standing tall alone against any trial.
"I have many people I must protect."
"Who will appreciate that mindset? Others aren't as kind as you think."
The Sword Sage looked down at me coldly.
As if recalling her own futile struggles trusting others, only to be betrayed.
"Even I failed. How could a less seasoned man like you succeed? Let me make you realize it properly."
She deemed it reckless for someone barely dipping into Swordmaster to walk her same path.
She intended to break that stubbornness with her own hands.
――――――.
She condensed her endless barrage of sword energy into one.
With a vortex of energy swirling around her blade, she charged at me.
With enough force to cleave both my mana shield and body.
"Convictions like that are utterly worthless!!"
The Eastern Continent's greatest swordswoman unleashed her ultimate strike, her long hair whipping wildly.
Yet I didn't miss the near-sonic trajectory and countered precisely.
Kagagagak!!
The clash of our powers warped the surrounding air currents.
The stream behind me tore apart, its surface churning violently.
The distant dense woods trembled greatly, leaves raining down.
Finally, our locked blades slid apart at the last moment.
In that instant as our swords parted.
The Sword Sage aimed to shatter my momentum completely, slashing fiercely at my chest.
"......!!"
I saw red blood spurting from my body.
Strength drained rapidly from my limbs.
'She's ridiculously strong.'
I staggered and collapsed into the stream.
The clear water began turning red.
"Hoo... I told you. If you'd yielded sooner, it wouldn't have come to this."
The Sword Sage dropped the formal speech.
She brushed back her disheveled hair and wiped the cold sweat from her brow.
Her eyes mixed joy from the rare fierce battle with fatigue.
She chided herself for using too much strength, with Myoran still to subdue next.
"This is on you, Derek Minster... Huh?"
But in truth.
She had no spare thought for Myoran.
A sharp pain suddenly stabbed her side.
As she slowly looked down.
Her torn robes revealed a dagger embedded in her side.
Precisely avoiding vital points.
A merciful strike that wouldn't leave lasting effects.
"When did you..."
She too had exposed an opening in her final strike.
But what flustered her more wasn't the mere wound.
She could have dealt a fatal blow but deliberately pulled aside to stab instead.
That mercy filled the Eastern Sword Supreme with surging shame.
"You... why on earth?"
Floating in the stream, I glanced up at her.
With eyes still devoid of any fear.
"Because you're important too."
"What?"
"Didn't hear me? You're the East's last hope. The only one uncorrupted by politics."
"......"
I barely lifted a finger to point at her face.
At the beauty bloomed from a lifetime of pure, selfless cultivation.
"If you took a serious wound here, the current Leader would eliminate you along with Myoran. He sent you here intending for you to die with the Heavenly Jade from the start."
"........."
The Sword Sage stared down at me blankly, unable to comprehend.
How could a mere hunch make him sacrifice his body for her?
"Were you really planning to stupidly die with the Heavenly Jade?"
I didn't need her answer to know.
In the previous loop, she had shown almost no attachment to life.
The current Leader deploying her against the uncontrollable Heavenly Jade.
Without any support.
She knew it meant go die with it.
Yet the Sword Sage didn't resist.
She entered the mission willingly, solely to save countless lives.
Even if it destroyed her body.
"Don't talk nonsense. Take care of your own wounds. With that strength, you won't die easily."
She had to live.
Live and check the current greedy Eastern Alliance Leader...
So war wouldn't erupt between East and West Continents.
"............"
The Sword Sage stared down at me blankly for a moment.
Whether she did or not, drained of strength, I surrendered to the stream.
'But I landed a hit, so I guess I win.'
I did it.
I protected Myoran.
Though these wounds make fighting the Tutton Grand Duke's daughter impossible, but... whatever.
Things will work out somehow now.
I quietly closed my eyes.
Drifting off to the sound of the flowing stream.
――――――.
In Berryhill's deep forest, filled only with the sound of water.
The Sword Sage stood alone, silent for several minutes.
Since the dagger missed vitals, blood flowed little from her side.
"What kind of man is this?"
Perhaps because this was the first time in her life someone respected her enough to risk his own life for hers. Her pale cheeks flushed red.
All the men she'd met before were either seeking to learn martial arts from her.
Or leeches clinging to her influence.
Yet this silver-haired man from a distant land understood her heart, saved her life—even worried for the Eastern Continent's fate at the cost of his own.
'Just how grand are this man's ambitions?'
Biting her lip, the Sword Sage decided to save Derek first.
She waded willingly into the water to support his collapsed form.
Her white robes soaked through, revealing her beautiful curves.
But she paid it no mind.
With a body burning too hot for the cold water to cool, she embraced and lifted him.
And in that moment.
".........?"
The Sword Sage sensed something ominous.
Tremendous powers converging from all around the forest.
"...What is it?"
Forces that chilled even the Eastern Continent's strongest.
And they approached in towering rage.
"One, two... No, six of them?"