EP.488 Sword of Yeocheon (4)
*
My sword cuts through everything.
No matter if it’s the sky for someone or a god, it doesn’t matter. To me, the sky is merely what must be severed—a wall to be surpassed.
Thus, what I slice with my single sword is the sky, my limit, and your entirety.
Come forth, Master of the Demon Lord.
Please, my lord.
Today, I will strike you down.
*
My sword is my everything.
My life, the path I have walked, is the path where the sword must swing. Only when the sword is swung does my time flow. The trajectory drawn by the sword is my life.
Therefore, I will connect my life with a single sword and cut you down. I will strike you and take one more step forward.
Behold, Demon Lord.
I will no longer run away.
Today, I will slice you down and correct the mistakes of my past.
*
Faced with the same enemy, seeking to sever the same target, two different answers born from deep contemplation. The two knights showcased the extreme limits of their swords towards each other. Two sword strikes, two lives, two axes collided.
Two swords drew a line.
Scrape, a sound of silent slicing.
Immediately afterward, everything inverted along the drawn line in the air. From above to below. From left to right. From inside to outside. The landscape revolved around the trajectory of the swung sword, and everything entering my vision began to crumble.
What lay on the ground resisted the flow, reverse.
Having finally reached the sky, it became heaven.
Everything severed by the Sword of Yeocheon was thrown to the heavens. The sky and the earth were turned upside down. Normally, it would have ended there, but at this moment, the sword swung to cut the sky was not just one.
Two swords, two reversals.
The inverted land and sky flipped again.
The interlocking strikes of the Sword of Yeocheon bit into each other, twisting together. Thus, the earth and sky began to spin. From above to below, from below to above, from outside to inside, from inside to outside…
The ground that was thrown into the sky had no idea where to head amidst the constantly flipping land and sky. The swirling dust mixed with the churning landscape and spiraled fiercely.
Ka, gaga, gagagagagak!
The entangled strikes of the Sword of Yeocheon bent, twisted, and began to rotate. What the slicing attacks created in this rotation was a massive circle.
While the outside of the circle continued to spin.
The inside of the circle was eerily calm like the eye of a hurricane.
Within the circle, the boulders floating in the air could not determine where to go, suspended between land and sky. The thrown-up ground crumbled with a crunch. Someone was springing forth from the rising ground.
Thwack!
Cutting through the swirling dust, Kyle burst forth. Having leapt from the rising ground, Kyle swung his sword downward. Where the descending and swung sword aimed was none other than Ganikalt, who had already taken his stance.
Kaahhhhhhh!
The swords crashed together.
The two knights, having pushed back the same distance, charged toward each other without hesitation. The speed of the swinging sword, due to the recoil of the Sword of Yeocheon, felt infinitely slower than just moments before, but its sharpness was in no way dulled.
Clang, kaang, kaahh!
Inside the circle, the two warriors clashing swords suddenly realized. At the very moment one side gave way even a little, the balance would collapse, and the interlocking Sword of Yeocheon would shatter… devouring one side entirely.
Thus, thus even more.
Neither retreated even a bit.
In order to end this duel, the two swords merely accelerated toward each other.
The space entirely isolated from the world created by the Sword of Yeocheon. Inside the circle, Kyle swung his sword. As he did, he let out a casual smile.
‘Even from this Sword of Yeocheon, a conclusion hasn’t been drawn.’
This was the sword that struck down the Demon Lord, a blow defying providence, yet even so, it did not yield a conclusion. The opponent wielded the same technique as well; while the responses differed, and the paths of the swords diverged… both had achieved the Sword of Yeocheon.
Kaahhhhh!
What does this mean?
Clang, kaang, clang!
Due to the recoil of the Sword of Yeocheon, his arms felt heavy.
The blade carried no intent.
Even the vision into the future seemed hazy through the eyes of a superhuman.
Clang!
Thus, at this moment, what determines the conclusion is pure swordsmanship. Swinging his sword, Kyle laughed. In this sword duel, no one could interfere, nor could they depend on the variables of luck and chance.
‘Therefore, I must surpass him.’
I must prove it purely with skill.
‘Ganikalt van Galatrick.’
Surpass Ganikalt van Galatrick.
It is not merely about reaching equilibrium… I must overwhelm, surpass, and only then can victory be claimed.
‘I thought I was already at the end of the road…’
The knight in front cried out.
He urged to move forward.
Only by advancing beyond himself could he reach the conclusion that the past him could not attain.
Kaahhhhh!
Blood splattered with every clash of swords.
His vision wavered. Both warriors were clearly at their limits. The recoil of the Sword of Yeocheon. Accumulated injuries. Dragging their heavy bodies, the two lightly swung their swords. Blades devoid of any intent, nor life, just mere metal.
Iron clanged against iron.
At that moment, as the lightweight blades collided, paradoxically, Kyle felt he was finally facing the unmasked truth of the knight before him. What he faced was a man who achieved everything with a single sword.
He erected Kirmelt Canyon.
He cut down the flawed god descending from the sky.
The knight who had stepped into a realm unreachable by anyone.
This knight before him was indeed Kyle’s idol, the figure he had set as a benchmark. Kyle grew through Ganikalt. Only because he faced him, because he demonstrated the limits of the sword to him, could he reach that point.
If so, he thought absentmindedly.
‘What did that person set as his benchmark?’
Ganikalt, hailed as the strongest knight of his time. No one could follow him in swordsmanship. Thus, Ganikalt always stood at the forefront.
Clang!
No one could teach him.
No one told him there was a wall to overcome, nor that there were further realms awaiting him.
Clang, kaahhhhhhhhh!
Even so, Ganikalt steadily moved forward. He prodded through the unseen darkness. He forged a path none had walked before. Time and time again.
“Ah.”
Kyle sighed.
Sighing, a smile escaped him.
‘Is that so.’
You see.
Ganikalt van Galatrick was.
‘Always standing at the end of the road.’
Standing at the end of the path, unaware if this was his end, if this was the ultimate limit he could reach, he blindly pressed forward. And, Kyle walked the path paved by Ganikalt as his benchmark.
At that end, he could achieve a similar realm as him.
However, to surpass him, Kyle had to take a step forward while gazing into the darkness, just like Ganikalt.
Kaang!
Swinging his sword, Kyle faced the road he had traveled. Before Kyle, at the end of his sword’s path, was nothing but a pitch-black darkness. As if the darkness were shouting that where you have reached is the end.
“…Ha.”
Facing that darkness, Kyle smiled.
This was the feeling you must have felt.
It’s frightening. One can’t know what lies beyond the darkness. One doubts if there’s a path at all. Still, Kyle moved his feet toward the darkness. He had accumulated enough experience. He had earned the qualifications. What he needed to move forward was only determination and courage.
Thud.
Kyle stepped forward.
The ground he stepped on creaked, splitting with a cry.
“…!”
Ganikalt’s eyes widened.
Kyle, who had equaled him, shifted his movement. The change was slight. Merely a single step. Yet, with that one step, the balance began to collapse.
The swords that had achieved equilibrium swayed slightly more.
Ganikalt looked at the knight before him, chuckling. There stood a cocky kid genuinely striving to surpass him. For the first time, a knight who surpassed him appeared.
Thump.
For the first time, Ganikalt took a step forward.
For the first time, he walked while gazing at someone’s back. He had thought there was no need to go any further, that nothing lay beyond, but now… he advances following his worthy rival.
Thwack.
With a step forward, Ganikalt planted his feet firmly on the ground, chasing after Kyle. Swinging his sword as he stepped into the darkness.
The tilted sword regained balance.
As stability was regained, Kyle too stepped forward. This time, Ganikalt stood one step ahead of Kyle. The two knights moved ahead, mirroring each other. Chasing, surpassing, catching up, moving onwards, again and again…
Kaang.
What seemed like an endless chase abruptly came to an end. The moment Ganikalt’s sword, swung in a wide arc, collided with Kyle’s sword.
Kakakakakakakak!
The blades scraped against each other, drawing a line.
In that instant, Ganikalt’s sword aimed for Kyle’s throat, while Kyle’s sword sought Ganikalt’s heart. Kyle took a wide step forward. Lowering his posture, he dragged his sword down low. Ganikalt had seen this movement before.
Once, it had reached him.
This was reminiscent of the movement of Kuntel, Kyle’s master.
Swish.
Ganikalt’s sword brushed just over Kyle’s head. Kyle’s sword carved through Ganikalt’s sternum, coming out the other side. A mere inch apart, just one step’s difference.
Scrape.
With the slicing sound, the balance shattered.
At that moment, Ganikalt’s stance wavered slightly, and the perfectly balanced strike of the Sword of Yeocheon crumbled. The ring of Yeocheon creaked softly, then fell into a line directed at Ganikalt.
Chaaaaaaaak!
Slicing through the sky, the descending strike of the Sword of Yeocheon.
The overlapping strikes engulfed Ganikalt’s body. The boulders that had been suspended in mid-air were drawn down to the ground by the force of the strike.
Crash.
Even as he plummeted into Yeocheon, Ganikalt fought back, refusing to part with his sword… But Kyle too would not let go until the very end.
Thwack.
Kicking off the falling stones, Kyle leaped. Aiming his own sword at the descending Ganikalt, Kyle plunged his weapon deep. Thunk, and Kyle’s sword sank deep into Ganikalt’s heart.
———————!
In an instant, accompanied by a roaring sound, the two knights fell to the ground.
Boom, rumble, rumble!
The ground that had been thrown into the sky, the boulders, the fragments of towers fell successively. Among the falling objects, a colossal line connected heaven and earth. The sword strike that had formed a ring in the sky pierced down like a line.
Kaahhhhhhhhh!
Falling alongside was the two knights.
With an explosive sound, dust shot up high into the air. The trembling earth. The rising dust.
Gulps, cough!
With his sword planted in the earth, Kalt gasped, choking on the swirling dust.
‘What kind of sword were they swinging to make the world spin like this…’
Feeling the ground beneath him come to a halt, Kalt groaned. His stomach churned. His sense of balance was a mess, and his vision was spinning.
Uuuugh…
Even the senior who was chained down beside him seemed to be feeling the same, as he heard Raniel’s groaning voice close by, muttering “Crazy bastards.”
“Ugh, urgh… Hey, Kalt.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gasping, Raniel struggled to catch his breath, gazing earnestly at Kalt, speaking in a serious tone.
“If we go back, teach me about swords too. Isn’t there still no class for Sword Mages? Just… I’ll create it. I think I could do it, seriously.”
There was a hint of longing in her voice.
Normally, Kalt would have shouted, “What kind of Sword Mage? That class is baseless, doesn’t make sense!”… But he could not do so right now.
Not in the presence of the knights who had just spun the earth and sky dozens of times with their blades.
“I’ll think about it.”
Just as Kalt muttered that.
The high-flying dust began to settle. As it cleared, the silhouettes of the two knights emerged.
Thud.
Standing there, bleeding, was Kyle.
The sword he held with both hands was embedded in Ganikalt’s heart. Ganikalt’s blade froze in front of Kyle.
Instantly, with a bang,
Ganikalt’s released sword fell to the ground.
As he dropped his weapon, black blood burst forth from Ganikalt’s battered body.
