Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Lesson 28. Flower Viewing of Ruin - 5
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F-grade lower dimensions had clear limits when it came to the caliber of orcs born there.
Even by the Union System's level standards, they could at best reach level 10. If they were lucky enough to wield good weapons, survive, build up their horde, and hunt every monster in the area, maybe they'd hit level 20.
But that was the ceiling.
At level 20, there were limits to how much they could expand their horde, and without steadily hunting stronger monsters, orcs couldn't grow further.
—Until the stars fell from the sky, the orcs of Uraha were no different.
—Kwaaaang!
"Kweeek! What is it? A star fell!"
The orc named Atura Aikedelle—meaning "child of the star born in a hut"—had picked up a real "star" just a few days ago, living up to his name.
Amid the monster wave, where every beast in the area rampaged madly toward the nearest human kingdom, Papitar.
In the midst of an orc horde swept up in the wave without a clear leader.
Suddenly, a massive "star" plummeted from the sky, crushing hundreds of orcs with the shockwave and embedding itself deep into the ground.
"Run for your lives! The heavens are angry!"
"Kweeeee!"
As other orcs, briefly freed from the infection wave's influence by the shockwave, panicked and fled in terror.
Only Atura approached it.
"Atura! You'll die, stay back!"
"Atura!"
"Shut up! That's mine!"
The moment Atura saw the star fall, he instinctively knew his destiny had come knocking.
His name had been given for this very moment!
Shoving aside the orcs trying to stop him, he drew near the crater on the ground, feeling his heart pound harder and harder.
As if the star was resonating with his very heartbeat.
"A sword..."
The instant he saw it half-buried in the pit, Atura lost himself in admiration.
His heart throbbed as if it might burst right then.
Following his heart's command, Atura reached out, gripped the sword's hilt, and yanked it from the earth.
—Immense, overwhelming power.
"Kruk?!"
A mental image flooded in.
—Only it can set me free.
"Kuhak, kraaaaaah!"
Compared to Atura's pathetic, insignificant life, this image was several times denser, richer, and more destructive.
He couldn't even resist properly before it swallowed him whole.
The moment Atura's ego fully vanished.
In its place, an Orc Lord was born.
"Immense... overwhelming power."
His body swelled in an instant, destructive power surging through every muscle fiber, writhing.
His savagery exploded, thick demonic power rising to envelop his entire body and overflowing into the greatsword.
The deep crimson energy gathering at the blade's tip was unmistakably an aura!
"Only it can set me free...!"
Once smaller than the two-meter greatsword, Atura had grown into a three-meter giant who could casually sling it over his back. He turned to look behind him.
The moment Atura gripped the greatsword, the intense wave of energy it released halted every orc in the area, drawing their attention to him.
"A-Atura."
"Atura..."
"Immense, overwhelming power!"
No longer Atura, he flashed a vile sneer reminiscent of someone else and bellowed in a thunderous voice.
"I, Atura, will show you! Orcs, follow me!"
"Lord!"
"He's become the Lord!"
"The Lord is born! Our ruler!"
The orcs easily recognized his transformation from the spiritual power radiating from him and knelt, acknowledging him as their lord.
Soon, even the infection wave warped under Atura's spiritual power, mutating all other monsters into orcs.
An army of hundreds of thousands of orcs was born.
Having become an Orc Lord, Atura shattered the lower dimension's limits in one leap, reaching level 80 by Union System standards.
Of course, it was thanks to the relic, but his exceptional spiritual potential allowed him to wield its full power—in a sense, it was fated to end up in his hands.
The orcs influenced by his spiritual power also broke their limits, gaining at least level 30 strength each. No single kingdom in a lower dimension could stand against that, even in death.
No, with the mutated infection wave, every battle would only swell their numbers further in a nightmarish escalation.
Who exactly dropped the relic right into the heart of the orc horde was unknown, but as Yumina said, this was straight out of a textbook disaster origin story.
One slip, and the orc horde could devour a dimension, hijack a dimensional spaceship, and invade others.
Once an orc wave gained momentum, it wouldn't stop until the lord fell, and a grown, strengthened Orc Lord leading it held potential to threaten even higher dimensions...
"That greatsword... my hunch was right."
"Krrruk... Weakling, you're brave."
Atura bared his fangs in a grin at the human who suddenly descended from the sky and landed before him.
"But that's called foolhardiness, human. I'll rip you to shreds for blocking our advance."
The greatsword linked to his soul vibrated intensely, whispering to him.
You are the strongest here.
Tear apart these worthless insects unworthy to bar your path.
"But you... female, you're to my liking. I'll spare you and make you my wife."
"..."
Atura eyed the pink-haired human woman, then gripped his greatsword and aimed it at the men.
Ban Yu-won, the human man blocking his path, sighed in disbelief at the response.
"Do orcs who pick up relics even take after their original owner's tastes?"
"Original owner?"
"Ryu Cheol-myeong."
Ban Yu-won kindly provided the answer to Light, who hadn't caught on yet.
"That greatsword's Ryu Cheol-myeong's. He never showed it to us, obviously, but I'm sure."
"No way?!"
"The brute, oversized energy is a dead ringer."
Unlike Light, Lucelle had noticed it too.
Ban Yu-won sighed in exasperation at the enemy before him, like Ryu Cheol-myeong's sword superheated and coated in orc skin.
How the hell did Ryu Cheol-myeong's greatsword end up with an orc...? No point dwelling on it seriously.
Could he report it to the Academy if he recovered it?
As if—Ryu Cheol-myeong wasn't stupid; he'd have an out.
He probably didn't bring it here himself, and if he claimed it was lost ages ago, what then?
"Ban, you sure you're okay? The guy's a prick, but his skills are real. That aura he's emitting... Even I wouldn't be confident without drawing my holy sword."
"I'm not confident either. That's why we've gotta fight."
Ban Yu-won drew the Executioner's Longsword.
His inventory opened naturally, two rain lines shooting out to orbit around him.
"Light, Lucelle, cover me. Don't jump in unless I ask, even if I look in trouble."
"Ban..."
"Got it, Yu-won. Give it your all."
Lucelle nodded firmly, trusting him, then backed off to engage other orcs. Light, failing to dissuade him, drew his spear and moved away.
Just three of them holding back a legion of hundreds of thousands was like plugging a bursting hose—orcs surged from all sides in a frenzy.
At least Dokgo Yeon was rampaging across the battlefield, crushing orc packs under her golem, thinning their numbers.
"Krrruk! Who dares block our advance?!"
"Humans! Kill the males, capture the females!"
"Hah."
"Where do you think...!"
Each orc boasted Life 300—enough to crush entrance-exam Irecto with ease.
It showed just how absurd an Orc Lord was, how nightmarish an orc wave could be... but luckily, to Lucelle unleashing lightning from her body and Light awakening to his dragonkin power, orcs were ants to trample.
Still, a million ants could overwhelm a human—they had to take down the Orc Lord fast.
"Female, where do you think you're going?!"
"Fight me instead."
Ban Yu-won blocked the Orc Lord's path again as it chased Lucelle.
"Interfering again, you pest!"
"Hup—!"
The frenzied orc kicked off the ground in a flash, slashing down vertically to cleave him in two, but Ban Yu-won urgently angled his blade to parry.
—Kwang!
As swords clashed, rain lines from both sides struck the orc's blade, dispersing the force.
Damn, he's no joke...!
Raw power was hopeless.
Ban Yu-won unleashed the essence of Flow with all three swords.
Using Martial Arts with the Executioner's Longsword was natural, but manifesting the same technique instantly with the two rain lines in a pinch proved how attuned he was to wielding swords as martial arts.
"Insolent fly, I'll crush you!"
Kwang! Kwaang!
The Orc Lord hammered down relentlessly with brute force.
Crimson aura now coated the greatsword's edge.
Ryu Cheol-myeong's aura, disgusting!
Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaaang!
In a crisis where his sword might snap, Ban Yu-won gritted his teeth, focused his vital energy into his blade, and repeatedly deflected the assaults.
Each clash boomed horrifically, but deflecting most of the impact meant the noise outdid the actual shock he took.
Keep deflecting, and he'll show an opening eventually. Strike then!
The clash of Strength and Flow persisted because Ban Yu-won knew the origins of the orc's swordsmanship and aura.
Ryu Cheol-myeong, under the pretext of teaching him aura through Strength, had wildly swung at him during spars.
Ban Yu-won remembered every swing's intensity and path perfectly.
Left-to-right rising diagonal of Strength (strong) and Rise (ascend). Then pivoting into Press (suppress) and Heaven (sky)! Next in this flow... yes!
Knowing each fluid concept and motion from the original allowed him to predict the degraded orc's swings effortlessly.
And predictable blades, no matter the power, could always be deflected.
"Kuh?!"
The moment arrived.
He deflected the overhead slash with Edge's essence, leaving the orc's chest wide open.
Ban Yu-won instinctively activated Acceleration, speeding up his thoughts and movements.
Pierce!
Language magic activated.
Pure thought power mobilized his vital energy, completing and manifesting the concept.
The Executioner's Longsword in hand, followed by the two rain lines—all three blades surged forward, infused with piercing might!
"Kuhyeok!"
—Kaaaang!
Metal screamed in violent collision.
In its unbalanced stance, the orc desperately swung its greatsword, its broad blade blocking all three.
The hasty, sloppy block ground its arm joints with crunching sounds, but it was far better than holes in its chest.
"You bastard...!"
"Not easy, huh."
Ban Yu-won clicked his tongue and retreated.
Still, the piercing force had wrecked its arm joints—from now on, it'd be easier to...
"How dare youuuu!"
He thought.
The clash had humiliated it so deeply that the Orc Lord roared, swelling even larger.
Injured joints regenerated under hideous muscles and carapace.
The greatsword vibrated ominously, growing over 1.5 times bigger.
As its green eyes turned red, Ban Yu-won recalled Lucelle's core path.
Berserk? So it's not just Ryu Cheol-myeong's downgrade.
This new form fused Ryu Cheol-myeong's techniques with orc savagery and madness—an unknown foe.
Yeah, too easy so far.
Tension filled Ban Yu-won's eyes.
"Kraaaah!"
The orc charged.
Its explosive savagery-infused greatsword had evolved beyond Ryu Cheol-myeong's style—depth sacrificed for overwhelming killing intent and pressure.
Yet those blended well with the original techniques, pressuring Ban Yu-won.
"I'll kill you! Right now!"
—Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Each word laced with power as it smashed down.
No patterns left in its swings, but the violent sword intent remained, making deflection harder.
Brutally strong...! Call Living Armor? No, not yet. I can do more.
Ban Yu-won dodged frantically, accelerating his thoughts again.
At impact moments, it still mimicked Ryu Cheol-myeong.
Read the fluid concepts' flow in its motions.
Time the exact attack instants!
Yes—
Engraving every enemy motion in his mind, swinging desperately while controlling the rain lines, Ban Yu-won suddenly realized.
In the end, everything—from sword swings to the slightest motion—can be expressed as language concepts.
Not just the foe—his own movements too.
Obvious, yet newly wondrous.
Then why?
Why, when he could interpret, create, and control all languages, had he handled his body so inefficiently until now?
I can conceptualize every motion as language, so why focus on single instants like Pierce or Slash?
Thanks to analyzing Ryu Cheol-myeong's swordsmanship as sequential concept flows.
Thanks to reading the orc's degraded version.
Finally, Ban Yu-won found his swordsmanship's true path.
Dokgo Yeon valued the intent in the sword. For her, death. But I don't need the same. Intent matters, but no need to limit to one.
Why?
Because he could wield all concepts.
Thus, his task was crafting not plausible content, but a perfect vessel for any.
That would be his swordsmanship, his martial art.
Read the foe's concepts, generate flows to counter—simple. Craft swordsmanship enabling that anytime, and it's invincible.
His swordsmanship transformed instantly.
Breaking from familiar habits,
freer, more powerful.
Hyper-accelerated thought fine-tuned every motion at concept level, efficiently countering the orc's blade.
—Chaeng! Chaechaeng! Chiiiing!
Controlling the two rain lines became even easier.
No need to think swordsmanship—just infuse optimal concepts per instant.
Like ceaseless minor language magic; without entry into it, he couldn't mimic this system.
And at last, in the gap where fluid concepts weakened most.
"Kuh?!"
One rain line struck ghost-like, batting the greatsword aside.
The next followed seamlessly, piercing the orc's free hand, halting it.
"——!"
The instant all fluid concepts vanished from the orc.
Ban Yu-won's sword, not black but radiant golden aura-clad, severed its thick neck in one stroke.
The concepts were Slaughter (slash-kill) and Judgment, but even changed, the aura's (vessel's) color and power remained unchanged.
The moment Ban Yu-won awakened his unique aura.