*
EP.480 Best Efforts, Trust, Power (5)
*
The earth that had risen, the rocks pulled up by reversed gravity, the piles of dirt — everything was suddenly suspended in place. In a world where all was frozen, only Death’s Blade moved.
The sword moves. Death moves.
Even without a place to step, even with balance shattered, even without an axis to rely on, the sword wielded by Death remains flawless as always. It is serene. The arc drawn by the swung sword becomes a perfect line.
As Death’s Blade draws a stroke, everything in the world is rewritten around that one sword he holds. Everything is realigned around the blade.
Galartric’s Formless.
Yeocheon.
When the sword is swung, no sound is heard.
In a world void of sound, Raniel watched. She witnessed with her own eyes the scenery flipping upside down. The landscape revolved around a single line that cut through the air.
Shlick.
The sound of slicing follows belatedly.
Following the serene slicing sound is the scream of a torn fabric of reality. The space twisted. A storm raged. The stones and dirt thrown into the sky all fell.
Boom, rumble, thud!
Sounds of falling. Sounds of crashing. Sounds of collapsing. Up became down, left, right — all perception flipped. The chains that had been fixed to the Tower ripped apart and trembled. Raniel, standing on the chains, experienced the same upheaval.
The situation was reversed.
Or perhaps, it had been from the very beginning…
Caught in the storm of chaos, Raniel gazed at the eye of the storm. There stood Ganikalt, as always, majestically gripping his sword. At its tip erupted the energy of Yeocheon’s blade.
“I’m going crazy, really.”
The energy of Yeocheon that devours all it touches.
Gritting her teeth as she faced the incoming death, Raniel bit down hard. She wasn’t facing the blade for the first time, so in this moment, she was able to react immediately.
Clap.
Raniel clapped her hands together.
At the moment, ten of the thirty-seven Towers burst into bright flashes. In that instant, ten Towers simultaneously collapsed. The spells integrated into the Towers stretched out through the ruins.
Chakra-chakra-chakra!
A circuit filled the sky, a current of mana, chains entwined with starlight filled the wilderness. The clash between the energy of Yeocheon and the Towers raised by the mage touched the heavens.
Boom—!
With a thunderous sound, the wilderness turned white.
“…Hoo.”
Upon entering the space where the Towers stood, Kalt witnessed the sky flipping. Looking up, Kalt exhaled deeply. What he saw was incomprehensible even to his eyes. A distant realm existed there.
Shlick.
With a slicing sound, the sky was cut at an angle. The clouds floating in the sky were severed. The cut and severed things interlocked at an angle… everything twisted. Amidst the chaos, one human stood to block the huge blade cutting through space.
Chakra-chakra-chakra-chakra!
Chains fixed to the twisted spaces caught the rushing branch of energy like a web. With each fleeting moment sliced into tiny instants, dozens and hundreds of strands broke, but they continued to cling to the energy.
Taking the opportunity of a mere second.
The fragments of broken chains blinked brightly as starlight surged forth. The overwhelming starlight. Countless circuits intertwined with the energy pressed it down. The chains that had held the energy wrapped around it.
Boom—!
With an ear-splitting roar, the energy was finally shattered. The shattered energy scattered in all directions. Those touched by the flying shards were obliterated, and with a whoosh, someone landed next to Kalt.
“…Senpai?”
It was Raniel.
Immediately after landing, she heaved, gagging. A blood-red mass spilled from her mouth as she pressed her shoulder tightly and gasped.
“Seriously, damn…”
Gasping, Raniel looked disgruntled. Since becoming a hero, she had refrained from cursing for the sake of dignity… but at this moment, she couldn’t help but spit it out.
“I should learn to wield a sword or something, damn…”
Raniel removed her hand from her shoulder.
A long trail of blood extended between her hands and shoulder. At first glance, it appeared as if she had offset Yeocheon’s energy, but her body was covered with wounds inflicted by the scattered energy.
“Hoo…”
She took a long breath, her gaze stretched far. Twelve of the thirty-seven Towers had crumbled. It had cost two Towers to create the opportunity, and ten to offset Yeocheon’s energy. Though consumed…
Raniel’s gaze turned forward.
From where the stones were crashing, the dust kicked up to the heavens. There, a light swish of a sword echoed. Immediately after, the dust that had risen high faded away.
There stood Death’s Blade, Ganikalt.
In the same form as before. Not a single scratch.
As if he had always been there, standing tall. Seeing that sight, Raniel gritted her teeth.
…Is he really a knight?
Wielding a blade more magical than magic, staring at the sword-mage, Raniel’s expression crumbled. Scrunching her face, she stomped her feet, creating a thud.
Chakra-chakra-chakra!
The surging chains spun webs across the wilderness.
As the chains linked the Towers, Ganikalt too landed firmly on the ground. The ground cracked. The flow of winds switched. As he swung his sword, Raniel jumped onto the rising chains.
She grabbed Kalt by the collar.
Carried by the chains up into the air, Raniel heaved Kalt downward. As if accustomed to this treatment, Kalt balanced himself mid-air with a disgruntled expression, lightly landing on the platinum chains stretched between the Towers.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka!
As soon as they landed, Kalt and Raniel dashed along the chains. The sword strikes that had swept past where they had stood moments ago severed the chains. As they raced, Kalt opened his mouth.
“Is the plan still the same?”
“Yes.”
Raniel answered shortly.
The initial plan remained unchanged. The greatest variable was Ganikalt’s swinging of the energy of Yeocheon… but having experienced it, Raniel internally affirmed.
It was more manageable than she thought.
I’ve battled against a sword mage before.
Yeocheon’s blade, Kyle Toven.
Raniel had become seasoned in her duels against knights, an unfortunate twist—unlike with Kyle, she couldn’t shake Ganikalt’s sword that shook the ground, but… she had discovered something.
It’s not an unstoppable strike.
From the memories in the North.
The memories showcased by Cardi.
At the end of that memory, Ganikalt’s energy of Yeocheon was… something that could be faced. Compared to the strikes that had slain the Demon Lord, the one he had unleashed moments ago was imperfect.
Because he had fallen from human to calamity.
Because he lost his conviction.
Because half of his body no longer belonged to him.
Therefore, the energy Ganikalt wielded now was merely half a measure. Even so, the sheer power it instilled was absurd… but at least it was something she could “stop,” and in this, Raniel found potential.
“Here it comes, the opportunity.”
Raniel narrowed her eyes.
As Death’s Blade swung his sword, she warned Kalt — can’t you see it too?
“…I do see it.”
Every time he swings his sword.
Every time his foot steps down.
In those fleeting instants, the distortions arise. As half of his body belonged to the beast, the difference in length between his arms created distortions.
Though he hides it all with skill…
The more perfect the being, the more prominent the small gaps appear. Glancing at the slightly enlarged openings right after he swung the energy of Yeocheon, Raniel smiled. Supported by the Towers, striking into that gap wasn’t impossible.
That was when the thought crossed her mind.
Ganikalt tossed the sword he held in his left hand into the air. Grabbing it was not his left hand, but his right. With the beast’s hand, Ganikalt gripped the sword.
*
Standing Towers. Chains linking the Towers.
The strange energy spilling from the Towers was visible to Ganikalt’s eyes. Twisting providence, rewriting the rules of this space. Remembering the time he faced the First Light, Ganikalt thought.
It’s annoying.
The energy flowing from the Towers weakens his sword energy. It obstructs his movements. The towering spires and the chains stretching between them block his view.
It’s bothersome.
Ganikalt tossed the sword he held in his left hand into the sky. As the tossed sword fell to the ground, Ganikalt’s stance was different from before. Using his half — the beast’s part as an axis, Ganikalt extended his right hand.
It has to go.
Holding the sword with the beast’s hand, Ganikalt swung the sword horizontally. The ensuing sword strike was never serene, nor dignified. It was a sword unlike a human’s, more akin to the fangs of a beast.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka!
The fierce storm accompanying the swirling sword strike smashed into the Tower. It forcibly severed the pillars of the Towers. One Tower fell, causing the ground to tremble with a thud. The web of chains trembled violently.
And Ganikalt…
He swung his sword again, not stopping at a single strike. Every time he swung the sword, a gale roared. The raging winds shook and toppled the Towers.
Come down.
He seemed to say, if you won’t come down, I shall topple all.
Holding that thought, Raniel gritted her teeth and leaped down. Eyes wide open. The massive mana oscillating from her grasp. The luminous platinum chains coiling around her hands surged with starlight.
Ashes to Ashes.
She unleashed all the remnants left by the supreme spell. Raniel aimed her punch at Ganikalt’s swinging blade. With a thunderous roar, for the first time, Ganikalt’s sword was pushed back.
Thud.
With the explosion propelling the sword backward, Ganikalt caught it with his left hand. Immediately shifting his stance, he swung his sword once more. As the serene energy drew up the rising blade, Raniel would not back down.
Chakra-chakra!
With the platinum shining chains wrapped around her fist, Raniel took a step forward. She punched toward Ganikalt’s sword swung with his left hand.
Ka-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ng!
As the sword and fist collided, the ground where Raniel had planted her feet cracked. But she wouldn’t yield. Gritting her teeth, she endured the weight of the sword, her eyes burning.
Kang, ka-kang! The chains snapping made each layer of the chains entwined around Raniel’s hand receive Ganikalt’s sword. The broken chains exploded as they forced Ganikalt’s sword back.
Pushing back…
Raniel stepped forward once more. The moment she stepped, ashes swarmed madly above her body. Accel. The Towers shone brilliantly, propelling Raniel’s body beyond its limits.
For a moment, she evaded Ganikalt’s sight. Raniel moved quicker than Ganikalt could turn. The chains filled Ganikalt’s view with Chakra-chakra!
Recalling the tactics she had used when facing the energy of Yeocheon.
In exchange for a fleeting acceleration, her whole body burned as Raniel inscribed one spell onto the chains she held. The spell inscribed onto the chains entwining Ganikalt was the strongest spell she could wield.
Judgment.
Not from the sky to the ground, but from the ground below unto the sky, a massive current surged. The azure-white lightning struck Ganikalt’s body. The resonating Towers amplified the potency of Judgment, supporting it. No matter how much Ganikalt’s shadow dampened the spell…
He cannot shake this off without swinging his sword.
Thud.
Even so, Ganikalt moved.
Wrapped in blue lightning, he swung his sword fiercely. He aimed to slice through the defenseless Raniel, just as the blade was about to cleave her in two.
Kang-kang-kang-kang!
Kalt intervened, twisting the sword’s trajectory. And in that brief moment of opportunity, Raniel, who held the chained threads imbued with blue lightning, called out sharply.
“Reverse Thunder.”
As she shouted, she twisted the chains.
In that instant, the blue lightning wrapped around Ganikalt turned crimson. The flow of mana disrupted. All remaining Towers began to blink.
Boom.
From the ground rather than the sky, the red lightning surged up, striking Ganikalt’s body.
