13. The Ultimate Swordsmanship (2)
There was a boy.
Born an orphan, he was given the name Chronos by a knight.
From the age of 10, a boy who spent all day swinging his sword.
Initially, it was a weapon to protect himself and those around him. He swung to protect for ten years.
And at the early age of 20, he rose to the position of deputy commander of the knighthood, with praises from around him.
Indeed, aside from leadership, his martial abilities were virtually recognized as the foremost in the imperial knights.
Defeating men and monsters with a sword.
That act itself led to pride and, at the end, desire.
A desire for a better path of the Sword. A desire to wield a more perfect sword.
He continued swinging the sword for another 20 years.
The man began to be called the Sword God.
That was after he single-handedly made the Sword Masters of enemy nations scream for mercy.
Now, he felt no worth in killing or slaughtering.
It was only the result.
The result of swinging a sword.
For the man, the most important thing had become wielding the sword in itself.
To defeat.
Breaking his own limits that lay before his eyes.
A beautiful slice. A perfect slice.
A Sword for the sake of the Sword.
So Chronos spent 30 years, 40 years –
60 years swinging his sword.
From the moment he turned 10, he never stopped swinging, yet he still couldn’t fully deconstruct its mystery.
It was eight years ago.
With one single stroke, he annihilated a kingdom.
The Sword Master.
He grabbed the reins of those so-called swordsmen claiming to be masters.
Their Sword Qi (sword energy) was far too shallow.
He could slaughter their protective Qi that covered their entire bodies like leafing through a book.
Did I reach the limit where humankind’s Swordsmanship could climb?
Chronos, thinking as such, quit his position and began to travel.
It was a journey to experience the swords of the world.
Most creatures could not withstand Chronos’s sword.
However, a few of a minority were different.
“….”
Chronos’ knees had bent. There was a clear scratch by his left eye.
Chronos opened his right eye wide as he faced the entity that granted him defeat.
An elf with shut eyes.
A blind elf knight.
The elf who had looked down at Chronos.
A soft, beautiful voice flowed from the elf’s lips, a murmur.
“Do you think you have reached the human limits and set off on this journey, seeking a worthy foe amongst the non-humans?”
Chronos could not help but answer to that whisper.
“…Yes.”
“How arrogant and ignorant.”
The elf, with white hair, spoke while looking at Chronos with closed eyes.
“I have seen more than thirty humans stronger than you, even with their mortal bodies.”
Chronos furrowed his brows deeply.
It was unbelievable, but he had no choice but to admit it because the elf right in front of him said he had lived for over 500 years.
“You have reached your limits, not human limits. Your capacity is just that much.”
The blind elf did not kill Chronos.
“Flounder about, rebel against your limits. I shattered my own limits in such a way.”
A man who only knew the sword.
An old man, who spent his relatively short life dedicated entirely to swordplay.
He saw in Chronos, a reflection of his own youth.
Having lost his left side vision, the man yelled out as he swung his sword
The narrowed view did not affect his swordplay. Rather, his senses were heightened when he thrusts down his sword.
The man swung his sword.
He did so for another five years.
He severed the vampire’s waist with his footwork, impressive with the sword.
He took the vampire’s blood serum to the alchemist and threatened him to make some valuable medicine out of it.
The result was similar to a drug.
And Chronos liked that drug.
The sword splitting the air.
It showed a glimpse of the time as it opens. It shared a subtle sensation of the atmosphere being split by the sword.
“Benda.”
From then on, Chronos went in search of the drug.
A drug that could clearly show the world the moment he draws his sword.
A drug to show how to swing the sword that can split the world.
It didn’t matter if it was a misguided desire.
It didn’t matter if the effect was an illusion.
As long as it gave him the power to break the vessel that is his limit, Chronos was willing to accept anything.
As long as he wouldn’t sell his body to the demon.
***
Chronos injected the drug and slumped in the chair.
Swinging the sword and taking the drug.
That was the way to keep his aging body in an optimal state.
His breathing became coarse.
His spirits momentarily wandered and then returned.
Kronos fiddled with the handle of his sword.
He slowly lifted his body and moved forward.
As if thunder and lightning were striking, a roaring explosion covered the entire battlefield.
Kronos’ eyes shone.
Fervently.
Kronos’s right eye was clearly staring at one man.
A man who had perfectly deflected the eight magic Railgun shots with a short sword, directed towards him.
“…Hmm.”
The being who had deflected the magic Railgun, which he himself couldn’t possibly block.
The ultimate meaning of the sword.
That man might have it.
Kronos’ eyes were colored with greed.
I must compete with him and his sword.
That desire drove Kronos’s old body to move.
“Oh, old man! You have to help! There’s someone strangely strong!!”
The cry of Belek, the piglet who ran from the side, was heard.
The sword in Kronos’s hand dropped diagonally.
Thud!
“aaaRGH!”
“Shut up.”
The sword strike deeply embedded in Belek’s shoulder. Belek writhed on the ground, his entire body convulsing, his eyes covered in white.
Step by step─
Kronos walked alone, towards the side where 34 members of the Akan Guard stood.
No, precisely towards Yuma.
***
Completely neutralized by Yuma’s ＜Absolute Counterattack＞ skill, the magic railgun was worthless.
And with the collapse of the building annihilating Belek’s forces who were guarding the Railgun, the members of Akan Guard could move unhesitatingly.
They broke into Belek’s hiding place in an instant.
And they successfully rescued the trapped mayor of the City of Akan, along with his brother who had been lying on the floor.
Mayor Gelmore of Akan’s blue hair was a mess.
“…Yuma…”
Gelmore bowed to Yuma in what almost seemed like a prayer.
“How can I repay you… you’ve saved my life twice now.”
The blue eyes through Yuma’s ash grey hair stared at Gelmore.
“Stand up, Gelmore.”
“Understood.”
It was a word said out of irritation, not out of consideration for Gelmore, but to Gelmore who had already entirely misunderstood Yuma, his words sounded like a command he must faithfully follow.
Thud─
The sound of Chronos’s footsteps echoed.
Gelmore swallowed his saliva.
…It was an old man who sliced my knights, who were senior sword experts, in one swing. According to Belek, he was the second swordmaster of the previous empire. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but he’s definitely a formidable person.
Yuma stared at the level window floating above the white-haired old man, Chronos.
[Lv.152]
The first current Empire’s decemvirate, Cain Gal, I had ever met was level 103. The highest level of all the enemies I had met so far.
But, with just a glimpse at the man who is walking toward me with an extraordinary momentum, his level is much higher at 152.
The words that came out of Gelmore’s mouth now seemed likely to be all true.
Thud
Chronos approached slowly.
Swallow.
Sounds of a guard swallowing saliva were heard.
Momentum.
The momentum of the king of defeat.
In front of the momentum of swordmaster Chronos, who had cut off the heads of thousands on the battlefield, the 34 Akan guards lost their spirit.
The old man opened his mouth slowly.
The climax of the sword. I just saw that in your sword.
Chronos’s gaze was solely on Yuma.
…The climax of the sword?
What’s that.
Yuma couldn’t understand what Chronos was saying.
A high-ranking sword that deflects eight magic railguns without putting a single qi into the sword.
Squeak…
Chronos drew his sword.
The sword was wrapped in a brilliant red light. It was an Aura blade.
Will we test with that sword?
Yuma gripped the dagger, the Tooth of Black Dragon Vernac.
And used the search function.
[Lv.152] Chronos
Race: Human
Attribute: Evil
Class: Swordsman
State: Grand Sword Master
Grand Sword Master?
Regardless.
The moment to use ＜Bullet Time＞ is not the magic railgun, but the old man in front of my eyes right now.
Chronos looked at Yuma’s dagger and smiled bitterly.
That dagger is undoubtedly a famous sword… Don’t you plan on holding a different weapon? There are many weapons in my space pocket, from long swords to two-handed swords.
Even if you give me such a thing, I can’t hold it.
“Due to the sh*tty power stats, even a parry would be difficult if one was carrying a sword too heavy to handle.”
Yuma slowly shook his head.
“No need.”
Cronos twisted his lips. It was not mockery. It was a smile born of self-loathing.
“Indeed… In the eyes of those who truly mastered the sword, I am sufficient with just this short sword.”
That’s not what I mean.
“I’ll go.”
Thud
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Cronos stepped into realization.
His right arm holding the sword swirled horizontally.
A silent flash shrank in.
A crimson full moon covered the world.
It was not a metaphor.
It covers.
Taken aback, like a thick brushstroke on a white paper.
A sword descended into the world.
The sword of a boy who spent his whole life running towards it.
A man’s sword.
The old man’s sword.
Creeeak…
A strange light flickered in Yuma’s blue eyes.
It was not Qi or anything else.
Just a moment.
It was an eye to seize that moment.
He took a light step.
Found a gap. Before the large sword could slice his body.
The momentary gap to counter first.
All his muscles screamed out.
‘I’m going to hit.’
That was the only obsession.
Rumble!!
A golden light indicating a successful parry bloomed.
A light shimmered from the tip of the dagger.
＜Counterstrike Absolute＞
It counters.
The massive sword that Sword God Cronos had accumulated throughout his life.
To Cronos himself.
With an attack 10 times stronger.
With a pressure 10 times higher.
Only Yuma and Cronos could see the sword with the naked eye.
A sword that transcends human limits.
A majestic sword capable of crushing even the blade of the blind elf swordsman.
The swords were clashing.
“hahahaha!”
Laughter burst from Kronos’ mouth.
Indeed.
Was this what they meant by the zenith of swordsmanship?
It was silence.
A sword at its peak was terrifyingly still.
Like the death approaching oneself.
“Beautiful!”
Kronos truly felt pleasure.
He felt a sensation greater than any other moment in his seventy years of life.
Zing ────── streak!!
A flash of white light brushed past Kronos’ body.
The majestic sword that Kronos had adopted more than unusual, until now.
Kronos’ body tilted slowly to the ground.
Bloody froth gushed from his mouth.
Uma dragged his screaming body towards Kronos.
“…Thank you.”
Kronos said as such, gazing at Umar with his one eye.
“For letting me experience the zenith of the sword…Thank you sincerely.”
Uma silently watched Kronos as he drifted closer to death.
“No one…will raise an objection to you being referred to as the God of Swords. Oh, great swordsman.”
Kronos spoke, as if surrendering his title.
As if relaying the path of the sword he had walked until now.
Kronos’ remaining eye slowly closed, and soon after, his breath stopped completely.
‘Dammit.’
Uma narrowed his eyes.
And you call that the pinnacle of your swordsmanship?
And that your magnificent path was your swordsmanship?
Just returned your swordsmanship. How are you going to word that?
