〈 Chapter 304 〉 How to Face Death (3)
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Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade.
This monster, known as the most feared calamity, has always greeted humanity while wielding a single sword. Death does not possess flashy magic, countless armies, or the scorching flames that consume all.
What death has is only a single sword (？).
Yet, death is an existence more terrifying than anything else.
For centuries, Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade, has reigned as a calamity, and throughout those centuries, humanity has never inflicted any meaningful damage to death.
The first hero and the oldest hero.
As the infamous reputation of calamity wanes and paths for humans to challenge them open up… death will never allow that path to open.
Before death, any minor skills are meaningless.
Before death, superiority in numbers is worthless.
Before death, humans are endlessly lonely.
“Prove it.”
So, it must be proven.
“Your pride.”
The life you have built.
The skills honed through life.
“That you are a knight.”
Before death, all humans are equal.
Because they are equal, humans must face death with their own strength. They must answer death’s question with their own bodies and the sword they hold.
drumroll
Kyle exhales as he rushes over the chains.
His exhaled breath is hot. The blessings layered from Sarah and his body accelerated to its limits blaze with heat. With every step, the chain beneath melts away.
Acceleration (？？).
The trait of the star that Kyle possesses and all that he has. Starlight seeps into Kyle’s body. The holy sword shines brilliantly, drawing a mass of platinum light.
crack!
The ground, not even touched, splits open.
Cutting through the swirling snow, Kyle transforms into a ray of light and charges towards death. Swinging his sword against the imminent death, Kyle attacks.
Lacking skills turns into a warrior’s body.
Deficient intuition becomes extraordinary reflexes.
Thus, what Kyle unleashes is the valley swordsmanship personally taught by the sword master Kuntel.
First Sword, First Sight Slash.
A single swing to kill.
A sword technique that decapitates the enemy before they can even realize it. Kyle mimics this, accelerating his body to recreate Kuntel’s specialty.
clink, ding ding ding!
Things touched by the sword tip split apart.
The swirling snow parts, and even the flow of air is divided. It is a near-perfect imitation. However, it is not perfect.
swish.
As the blade approaches, death swings his sword leisurely. The movement appears as if time has stopped. On the accelerated timeline, Kyle sees.
clink, ding ding ding!
The stance death takes.
The trajectory the blade draws.
It is remarkably similar to Kyle’s swordsmanship. Indeed, it is even more refined. The sword swung without the slightest tremor slices the surrounding space.
First Sight Slash (？？？).
A technique more perfect than Kuntel’s.
Kyle, having no way of knowing, understands that the creator of that technique is Ganikalt. A knight tempered through the sword, capable of cutting anything in sight, launches a technique as unavoidable as death itself.
swish.
The moment he recognizes it, death approaches.
Kyle grits his teeth and swings his sword harder. Sword meets sword. Technique clashes with technique.
bang!
Naturally, Kyle is the one being pushed back.
The moment their blades meet, Kyle’s fingers snap. The sword is pushed back, and the gash fills, dragging Kyle forward.
boom!
Planting his foot to stabilize himself, Kyle angles the blade. Not the valley technique, but a swordsmanship developed solely by Kuntel.
crack crack crack!
Death flows down over the holy sword.
Kyle feels death brush overhead with a whoosh. Then with a boom, a part of the valley is diagonally sliced away.
shhhhh!
A beat too late, a moonlight arrow arrives.
Reaching for the shot arrow, Ganikalt simply stretches out his right hand. The hand of a beast. It grabs the moonlight arrow and crushes it with his bare hands.
Expecting an opening, but such a thing does not exist. Grabbing the arrow with his right hand, Ganikalt swings his sword immediately with his left.
whoosh!
The tip of the sword splits the air and, resembling a guillotine, falls towards Kyle. Kyle bursts forth the collected starlight, leaping to the side. He never retreats, not even a step.
‘There’s no point in retreating.’
Kyle knows this fact.
The moment he leaps sideways, the sword swung by death touches the ground. It makes no loud sound. Without any resistance, the tip of the sword digs into the earth.
Then, grind.
The blade extends in a straight line, slicing through everything in its path. The chains laid by Raniel, the residual heat on the ground, and the swirling snow are all cut apart.
thud!
The sword, embedded in the ground, bounces directly upwards, aiming for the leaping Kyle. Despite the usage of a great technique, there is no opening. As the blade pursues him, Kyle gulps dryly.
Speed, mastery of technique, and strength.
In all aspects, he is outmatched.
Naturally, he cannot win. Kyle bites down hard and grips the holy sword tightly. Drawing in the starlight, he thrusts the holy sword towards the trajectory of Ganikalt’s blade.
clang!
The fingers he had just healed snap with a loud noise. The incoming shock sends Kyle soaring into the air, crashing into the valley wall like an arrow.
thud thud thud.
“Cough, hack…”
His arm bone shatters.
The shockwave from the clash disturbs his insides. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Kyle rises. The blessings replenish his injuries immediately.
spit.
As Kyle spits out blood, he glares fiercely.
There is no time for leisure. If death holds the sword in its left hand, there’s no hope for mercy. As Kyle glares, he holds his breath.
boom!
Closing the distance of dozens of steps in an instant, death swings the sword at Kyle. Reflexively, Kyle lowers his head and rolls on the ground.
crack crack crack crack!
The wall Kyle had leaned against is noisily sliced away. The valley crumbles. From the falling dirt, Kyle recalls.
“I know you can’t hold on.”
“I know you can’t swing your sword like you used to.”
“So, this is the plan.”
What that girl said.
“■■, so the sword is sewage.”
“Make me use that. Draw the starlight as much as you can, and make me use it. Then, the opportunity will come.”
Following that advice.
Kyle grips the holy sword. The holy sword emits a brilliant light. For a brief moment, the pupil of the Death’s Blade narrows.
shh!
Bursting through the dust, Kyle swings his sword at death. With his body accelerated even more, Kyle unfolds a series of slashes. The brilliantly blooming starlight fills the area while the particles of light scatter as Kyle’s sword moves.
From above to below, below to diagonally.
Swings and swings connect.
The raging blizzard veers past Kyle. An area of swordplay is created around him. While it is a net of swords tearing through the area, Ganikalt can tear the net with just one swing.
However, Kyle does not stop.
Rather, he digs in deeper.
For an instant, a platinum light ring appears in Kyle’s eyes. It is something that had not appeared for the past few years, and at that moment, Kyle’s sword draws an unusual trajectory.
clang!
Kyle’s sword first intercepts Ganikalt’s slash, slicing through the net of swords. The moment Kyle rallies his sword with the starlight, Ganikalt’s pupil narrows even more.
Ganikalt adjusts his stance for the first time.
With his fingers gripping the hilt tighter, a sound emerges as the sword’s grip strengthens. At that moment, black sewage gushes from the hole in the great sword.
What death creates is a black trajectory.
What Kyle creates is a platinum trajectory.
The moment the blades clash, the starlight that enveloped Kyle vanishes. Blood flows from Kyle’s eyes. Nevertheless, Kyle does not let go of the sword.
crunching.
The pressure builds.
Kyle’s knees bend further. Ganikalt’s sword grazes Kyle’s shoulder. With a thud, blood bursts from Kyle’s shoulder, but he grits his teeth and endures.
Enduring, he shouts.
“Now!”
Even before that shout, a human was already moving.
With a kick, someone leaps out of the valley. In Kyle’s line of sight, which was focused on deflecting the sword, he sees ashen hair floating in the sky.
Cursed Mana.
A whoosh spreads a dread aura through the air. It is the answer learned by a single mage from defeat, a technique to confront fragments of a god.
“Ashes to Ashes.”
Ash particles scatter everywhere.
Kyle grits his teeth, slowly moving the hilt, causing the blade to scrape against Ganikalt’s sword with a tick tick sound, as it pushes downwards.
“Curses to Ashes.”
The spell is complete.
As she drops down from the sky, Raniel throws ash-colored flames towards the ground. Kyle watches the falling ash flames without thinking of dodging. He had heard that it only consumes black sewage.
The ash flames engulf both Ganikalt and Kyle.
Surely a spell that nullifies all spells, but it cannot make Ganikalt’s black sewage disappear as well. The ash flames burn away all the black sewage dripping from Ganikalt’s blade.
boom!
Barely shoving Ganikalt’s sword aside, Kyle rolls on the ground, throwing himself backward. Only then does Raniel prepare another spell.
drip drip!
Standing on the chain connecting the valleys, Raniel meets her palms. The circuits left on the ground react to her mana. Ganikalt, burning in flames, does not respond immediately. He slowly raises his head to gaze at the sky.
In that gaze, Raniel feels a moment of dread.
Ceasing all incantations to be unleashed, Raniel turns her head aside and leaps off the chain. It is an instinctive move, yet ultimately, it is the correct one.
swish.
The blade emerges from the flames.
If it is a spell created from mimicking curses… it should not be able to cut if it does not understand its foundation. Raniel thinks so, but that is an illusion. Ganikalt is a swordsman who has cut even the flesh of a complete god.
Even without knowing the foundation…
Even without knowing its essence…
If it exists, Ganikalt can cut it all away. The swinging blade slices through the ash flames created by Raniel. It cleaves through space, making a crackling sound as a massive rift forms.
The rift quickly repairs.
In the blink of an eye, Raniel finds herself drawn right in front of Ganikalt. The distance that existed between them has been slashed away by Ganikalt. There is no time to be surprised.
“…Ah.”
Ganikalt reaches out.
As if there is no need to swing a sword at one who isn’t a swordsman, the beast’s hand extends. The enormous paw obscures Raniel’s vision.
“Ugh!”
The paw grips Raniel.
A hand woven from the bodies of the kings of beasts. Raniel’s body is crushed under the overwhelmingly superior grip. Blood pours from Raniel’s mouth.
She attempts to muster an incantation, but the spell doesn’t come forth. In the shadow, incantations are meaningless. Vision blurs, and breath quickens.
In that moment.
thunk, Kyle stomps the ground.
2.
In the ongoing evacuation line.
Suddenly, a sense of unease causes Chloe to glance back.
Though it’s a distance away, the impact is felt. The ground shakes, and the sound of something collapsing repeatedly echoes.
Chloe cannot ascertain what battle unfolds there.
She can only pray for safety.
At that moment when Chloe prays for Rania’s safety, chills run down her spine.
“…”
Every sense tingles.
Chloe feels something approach.
“Just now.”
It is not only Chloe who feels it.
Beside her, Belnoa experiences the same. Narrowing his eyes, Belnoa turns to look back, slowly raising his gaze to the sky.
A black object floats in the sky.
It draws nearer. What appeared as a small dot now grows into an undeniable size.
whoosh!
The sound of the wind tearing apart fills the air.
The massive object approaches, slicing through the atmosphere. Soon, a shadow begins to cast upon the ground. The fleeing people, their guarding knights, and even the holy knights all look up at the sky.
thud, thud, thud!
Something falls.
plop, plop, plop.
What falls is black sewage.
Someone gazing up at the sky murmurs in despair.
“…A dragon?”
A creature with gigantic wings floats in the sky.
It is a dragon; however, its form is unlike any ordinary dragon. Wings made of human bones, a slimy black membrane coated in sludge. From that membrane, black sewage endlessly drips.
groan, gurgle.
The sludge hitting the ground makes an eerie sound.
As if it were alive.
“Oh, oh no…”
The flustered knights take a step back.
The commander leading them simply stares blankly at the sky, muttering.
“It was definitely taken care of back then…”
The silhouette of the dragon hanging in the sky.
It is the summoned beast of the heretic, which was supposedly dealt with earlier at Rodimel Fortress. To completely bury the summoned beast, numerous knights had fallen.
The hatchling of the Black Dragon.
It is a cursed dragon created from it.
【■■——— ■■■■■■■■■■■—— ■■■■■■■!!!】
It lets out a horrific roar.
The sludge pours down like rain.
Upon landing, the sludge transforms into ghouls, coming to life.
Another calamity appears in the north.
3.
【Fulfill the contract.】
In an instant, Kyle’s body moves automatically.
Part of the starlight accumulated in the holy sword embeds itself into Kyle’s body. The starlight that shadows cannot erase pushes Kyle’s body beyond its limits.
bang!
Kyle kicks the ground and leaps forth.
For an instant, even Ganikalt loses sight of that motion. Standing on the beast’s paw, Kyle strikes down with all his strength.
thwack!
The spine coiling around the beast’s arm writhes.
Unable to withstand the shock, the grip loosens. Raniel, who had been trapped, falls to the ground, gasping for breath as she holds her neck.
snick!
Then, while atop the beast’s arm, Kyle swings his sword again. That movement is unrefined. It encompasses no skill. It is a sword swung solely with power… yet it is more powerful than ever.
bzzt!
At the moment their blades clash, Kyle does not get pushed back as before. Floating in the air, he twists his body and impales the sword into the ground upon landing.
“…”
In that moment, Ganikalt’s pupil narrows while observing Kyle.
In that gaze, Raniel catches a glimpse of emotion for the first time.
“What I wanted to see.”
It is rage.
“Your pride as a knight, slave of the stars.”
The shadow roils within the flesh of the Death’s Blade.
Pointing beyond the evaporating sewage, Ganikalt indicates Kyle’s eyes. There are no rings of platinum light. No will is sensed.
“It is an insult.”
Pointing at Kyle’s empty gaze, Ganikalt speaks with a voice boiling with resentment.
“There is no pride in a will-less sword. I did not come here to face a puppet.”
Ganikalt throws away the sword.
Instead of his left hand, he grips the sword with his right. The moment he does, the shadow that had been receding surges up wildly. The surging shadow completely fills the hole in the sword, reforming its perfect shape.
Ganikalt no longer looks at Kyle.
His chilling gaze instead focuses on the stars glimmering in the sky. Reflecting the verdant sky, Ganikalt swings his sword toward those stars.
“Get lost.”
Ganikalt swings his sword.
crack!
The blue sky splits apart.
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