Chapter 57: Triple Quad. Sword Emperor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: Triple Quad. Sword Emperor
He sprinted through the thicket of thorny vines.
His old robe, snagged and pierced in countless places, had been reduced to tattered rags, and his body was covered in a map of minor scratches. But stopping wasn't an option.
— Thwack!
The moment he showed even the slightest opening, an arrow would whistle through the air with uncanny precision. A stinging red line formed across his thigh where a shaft grazed him, and blood began to seep into the fabric.
He couldn't just keep taking it.
With movements he had long since mastered, he fired a short arrow back. He immediately sensed the enemy’s startled intake of breath.
The distance between them was roughly fifty meters.
He had one short arrow left.
Though the dense thorns blocked their sight, they were close enough that their heightened senses allowed them to track each other’s faint, ragged breathing. At this range, with short arrows flying back and forth, they had no choice but to stay in constant motion. To stand still and try to react was to invite death.
Suddenly, Seo-un furrowed his brow and leaped backward.
'Kaier's Barrier.'
That damn arrow—slow, but imbued with an ominous, heavy energy. It doggedly pursued him before detonating right in front of his face.
As he threw himself back through the thorns, spikes dug into his back and his robe tore further, sending waves of stinging pain through his nerves. Seo-un ignored the sensation, focusing his internal qi into his arms and crossing them to brace for the blast.
— BOOM!
A high-pitched ringing echoed in his muffled ears as the shockwave sent him tumbling through the thorns. He didn't wait to recover; he rolled and sprang back to his feet instantly.
As expected, two short arrows thudded into the dirt where he had just been lying.
Without pausing to recover the arrows, he dashed forward, nocking his final short arrow into his tong-a.
'This is it.'
The enemy possessed techniques he didn't: arrows that exploded, carried gale-force winds, or generated repulsive force to knock targets back. There were even arrows that curved along impossible, logic-defying trajectories.
However, as long as they were in this dense forest, those trick shots were neutralized. The only thing left to worry about was the arrows imbued with that mysterious power.
Whenever the enemy fired one of those special arrows, there was always a cooldown period where they couldn't fire another of the same type. That was the opening he needed.
'Besides, he just fired two short arrows in rapid succession.'
He caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flitting through the vines in the distance. Seo-un almost let his arrow fly but forced himself to restrain the impulse at the last second.
'Not yet.'
He needed the perfect moment—an absolute opening that the enemy couldn't possibly evade. He would end this in a single blow.
— Whish!
Instead of a short arrow, a long arrow flew toward him, a clear warning to stay back.
However, after engaging in a high-speed sniper duel using short arrows, the relatively slower long arrow looked like it was moving in slow motion through his enhanced vision. He tilted his head slightly to let it pass, then wove through a rapid volley of follow-up shots with ease.
'Twenty meters to go.'
He was closing the gap faster than the enemy could retreat while firing. Just as Seo-un’s eyes flashed with anticipation—
— KABOOM!
Gi-chan’s voice crackled through the team voice chat, punctuated by the sound of a massive explosion.
At that same moment, Seo-un and his opponent came face-to-face at point-blank range, bows drawn and aimed at each other's hearts. The enemy seemed to have received some information as well, as a flicker of hesitation crossed his features.
For five tense seconds, they stood frozen with their bows leveled, thorns cleverly obscuring their legs and faces.
"You've changed beyond recognition," the man said. "You were strong back then, but now... you're a completely different person. To think you're matching me in archery."
Though the vines hid their faces, they knew exactly who the other was.
"I've been practicing specifically so I could put an arrow through your forehead," Seo-un replied coldly.
"I thought I had mastered a secret technique. I never imagined you would have learned the exact same one. I was told it was the secret weapon of a fallen kingdom, so I thought it was unique."
"The pyeonjeon? I’m a descendant of that 'fallen kingdom.' Archery is a racial trait for my people."
"I see. No wonder the coin price was so suspiciously cheap."
As he finished speaking, the man released his bowstring. Simultaneously, Seo-un released his.
The two arrows collided in mid-air with a sharp clack, knocking each other off course and flying wide into the brush.
"This is as far as we go today."
They both felt a formidable, crushing presence approaching nearby. Seo-un nodded in agreement but didn't forget to leave a parting word.
"The next time we meet, I won't let you go. Not until I've planted an arrow in that forehead of yours."
Though he couldn't see the man's face, he felt the phantom sensation of a smile. They turned their backs on each other and vanished into the foliage.
— Rumble!
Gi-chan’s voice cut off as the ground began to shake from an impact nearby. Seo-un sprinted toward the source, his form resembling the madman he had once fought. He leaned forward, his face thrust out excessively and his arms hanging loose, a posture of pure aggression. Thorns brushed against his face, leaving fresh cuts, but Seo-un didn't care. His gaze was locked onto a single point.
"Lyle! Just run!"
"I can't!"
— Clang! Shatter!
Lyle gritted his teeth and pushed forward even as his Iron Barrier was shattered in a single blow from a sleek, silver longsword. The thorns that had once filled the area were now broken and scattered, a testament to the ferocity of the battle.
In the clearing, Gi-chan and Lyle stood against a knight clad in black armor. Unlike other knights who looked bulky in thick plate, this knight wore a compact set of armor that gave him a slender, lethal silhouette. He wore a rounded helmet that completely concealed his face, watching them with his sword held low.
'Hyung! Please, don't come here.'
Ignoring Seo-un’s frantic check-ins over the voice chat, Gi-chan focused on the enemy. Even if he couldn't stop the stubborn Lyle, he had to buy time for Seo-un to escape. He couldn't let the enemy's aggro be drawn to Seo-un while he was already dealing with a rival archer.
He pulled a small glass bottle from his subspace. The knight simply watched, seemingly curious.
Gi-chan downed the potion.
His pupils dilated, and the mana circles in his heart began to throb. His heart raced, his thoughts accelerated, and his nerves came alive with newfound sensitivity to the flow of mana.
An Awakening Potion. It was like liquid caffeine for mages.
As Gi-chan’s specialty, lightning magic, began to crackle around his staff and a ball of fire formed in his other hand, the knight moved.
— Step!
Reaching top speed instantly, the knight lunged and swung.
— Screech! Zap!
Gi-chan raised his staff to block. Sparks cascaded over the black armor, but the knight didn't flinch. He shattered Gi-chan’s staff and sent him flying with a brutal follow-through.
As Gi-chan fell, he hurled the fireball. Just as Lyle deployed a shield to cover him, Gi-chan closed his eyes.
'This is it.'
The enemy was too strong. He never dreamed he would encounter a Sword Emperor in a game like this.
— Clang!
The sharp sound of clashing metal forced Gi-chan’s eyes open.
— Clank!
The moment he saw a man in a tattered robe, face covered in scratches, standing before him, a strange sense of relief washed over him. Even amidst the agitated senses of the Awakening Potion, he found himself smiling.
"Honestly. I told you to run far away," Seo-un muttered.
"You guys didn't listen to me either," Gi-chan retorted.
In all his time playing Cloyd Survival, through all the teammates he had cycled through, had there ever been someone he shared this kind of trust with? A man who made him rush into danger without a second thought; a man he was willing to die for. A man he could rely on, who showed him hope instead of disappointment.
Gi-chan pushed himself up, clutching his broken hand and shattered staff. Beside him, Lyle was already casting Heal to mend his own broken wrist.
Seo-un kept his eyes fixed on the knight. "What is that? It seems different from the knights I know."
"It's a Sword Emperor. Probably."
'Sword Emperor? I guess it's like a Sword Master.'
Seo-un didn't bother arguing with Hamit’s sudden lore dump. He could feel the opponent's strength from that single clash. It had been a perfect surprise attack that would have been fatal to any ordinary enemy, but this knight had avoided a mortal wound simply by shifting his weight and redirecting his swing.
As the knight leveled his sword, a staggering pressure radiated from him. It was a level of intimidation comparable to that lunatic, Gwang-gun. And from the knight, an alien energy—neither internal qi nor mana—began to pour out.
— Whoosh!
The knight’s sword was wreathed in crimson flames, making his figure shimmer behind a heat haze.
"Whew."
Seo-un took a long breath and crossed his arms, taking the peculiar stance of the Blood Bone Claw. At that moment, the knight charged.
— Flash!
It was a perfectly honest strike. But within that honesty lay an intense, overwhelming power—a movement honed through thousands of repetitions. It couldn't be easily blocked or evaded.
Seo-un narrowly twisted his body to dodge the blow—a strike that embodied a simple yet powerful aesthetic—and furrowed his brow. Even though he had dodged, the intense heat made his skin sting.
He channeled his internal power into his fingertips, but the knight naturally turned his blade and slashed horizontally.
'Does he not know the laws of physics?'
The knight had swung a two-handed sword with all his might, yet he was able to instantly change the trajectory for a follow-up. It was unnatural.
Seo-un was forced to retreat. Since learning the Boundless Fist, he couldn't remember ever being pushed back in close combat like this.
— Grit!
Gritting his teeth, he kicked out at the knight as the sword swung toward him.
— Clang!
When Seo-un blocked the sword with his bare hands, the knight flinched, showing a flicker of emotion for the first time.
— Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the relentless exchange that followed, where neither side gave an inch, Seo-un’s concentration reached its peak. One mistake would mean the end.
— Swoosh!
Meanwhile, Gi-chan fired an Ice Snake at the knight. Seeing the knight's sword wreathed in flames, Gi-chan and Lyle changed their strategy to support Seo-un with ice-attribute magic.
— Slice!
The knight effortlessly severed the head of the massive Ice Snake, his movements continuing into his next strike against Seo-un with terrifying fluidity. As the snake collapsed, a wave of frigid air washed over them, only to be instantly replaced by hot steam.
Through the mist, Gi-chan saw a crimson blade tracing arcs like a beam of light, and Seo-un parrying those strikes with nothing but his hands.
'Dammit!'
Gi-chan felt a surge of shame. He felt pathetic for ever thinking he and Seo-un were in a win-win relationship where he was actually helpful.
'What the hell have I been doing?!'
It wasn't as if Seo-un had hogged the items. If anything, Seo-un had given him the best gear.
'Then why is there such a massive gap?!'
Even when faced with an insurmountable foe, Seo-un charged in, growing stronger by the second. On the other hand, Gi-chan’s first instinct was always to run. It was a habit ingrained in him through a dozen survival games.
'But why is the gap only getting wider...?'
Mana began to gather around Gi-chan’s clenched fists. To Lyle, who was watching him with concern, Gi-chan spoke.
"Soon, the distance between them will open up. That's the moment. We pour everything we have into a single burst."
Lyle nodded, his expression hardening.
— Clang!
The moment he felt he was getting used to the knight's rhythm, Seo-un took half a step forward.
'Half a step more.'
That was all it took to move past the sword's reach and into his own. At that moment, the knight swung his sword horizontally with the intent to cleave him in two.
Incorporating the principles of the Spinning Strike into his Blood Bone Claw, Seo-un neutralized the power of the sword and finally caught the blade with his bare hands.
— Grip!
The startled knight tried to wrench his sword back, but Seo-un held fast. As he pushed in another half-step, the knight leaped back forcefully, tearing his sword free.
Blood sprayed from Seo-un’s hands, and the cloth Hamit had transformed into to wrap his palms was sliced.
'I might have lost the sword, but I'm not giving up the distance!'
"Now!" Gi-chan roared.
Behind the retreating knight, Fire Burst and Earth Strike were cast simultaneously. A stone pillar struck the knight's back, and the explosive force of the Fire Burst pushed him forward. Unable to retreat and momentarily off-balance, the knight was met by Seo-un’s incoming strike.