Sword That Slices Through Demons (2)
With sheer strength or skill alone, it's impossible to defeat an interdiate-rank demonkin.
That's why I had crouched in wait until now, biding my ti until the mont I could take on my opponent arrived.
'Divine Blood is like deadly poison to them.'
The abilities of Divine Blood, as checked through the settings, weren't just about immunity to diseases or poisons.
If the opponent belonged to the demonic (魔) kind, it held enough power to annihilate their very existence.
Moreover, I had learned and understood blood magic.
I knew that if the blood sword in his hand—maintained by magic—was dispelled, the blood would return to his body.
That would an the blood from my own wound, sared on his sword, would flow back into his body as well.
On top of that, the blood that splattered from my torn flesh had already soaked him.
"Gah! Kahh! Damn it! Why isn't my magic power working properly?!"
He scread in desperation, stretching out his arm.
The magic power gathering in his hand scattered, and his movent devolved into re flailing.
Thanks to the opening, I drove my fist straight into him.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
With a sound like a hamr crashing down, Veil's head snapped backward.
Staggering, he looked at
with eyes full of disbelief.
"That ring, what the hell is it... And that punch, just what..."
He stared, panting, at the Eye of Shimosha.
Each ti I struck with my ring-bearing fist, his skin lted and his armor crumbled apart.
But it wasn't just ordinary punching.
「Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art (聖天武極)」
Grancesia's signature ultimate technique, and fundantal martial art.
I was using it right now.
[Though it's just barely taking your first step with it.]
Grancesia spoke, voice brimming with pride.
[But even that's more than enough to take down an interdiate-rank demonkin.]
She sounded conceited, but I had to admit it, at least this ti.
This martial art was superior to any technique I'd learned so far.
Lacking in ti and with difficulty so high, the only thing I'd managed to master was the very basics—a re step.
Even so, its power was nothing short of overwhelming.
Bang! Boom!
As I pounded Veil's face, chest, and abdon with my fists, his body trembled under the onslaught.
Addicted to Divine Blood and battered repeatedly on the head, Veil could no longer properly resist my assault.
With just one step—what began as the flow of power and magic surged to my fist's end, unleashing unbelievable force upon impact.
"I... I'm losing? , Veil Gaber?"
Veil mumbled in a daze, swaying unsteadily.
He seed utterly incapable of understanding the situation, nearly blank with shock.
"To a re human? And a useless one who can't even control magic power properly?"
His once pristine clothes were now rags, and his face and flesh had lted into a hideous form.
Yet, Veil was not dead. Even after being poisoned by Divine Blood and pumled by fists imbued with Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art's mysteries, he wouldn't die.
Interdiate-rank demonkin—especially vampires—had legendary vitality.
"Don't... you... dare!"
Crack!
As my punch hit and he fell, Veil rolled away to dodge my follow-up attack.
I tried to give chase, but rolling across the ground, he suddenly grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at my eyes.
"Argh!"
I'd never expected a demonkin to attack like that, so I faltered.
Opening my eyes again, I realized where he'd rolled to—and cursed.
He was headed toward the knight's corpse he'd killed earlier.
"Damn it!"
I hurriedly ran over and kicked him away from the corpse.
With the body still partly covering him, Veil's figure twisted and was sent flying.
"Kh, khkh, cough!"
He tumbled several ters, blood staining his lips.
Traces that he'd just sucked blood from the dead knight's body.
"Still... not enough..."
I saw so of his lted flesh had already regenerated.
Maybe he'd regained enough magic power as well, since Veil imdiately vanished into the shadows.
[That guy's running away! Where's he going?]
'He's not running away.'
He'd rely retreated for now.
He'd realized there was no point stupidly fighting now without a chance of winning.
[Wait... then don't tell ... that guy's aiming for...]
'Yeah. He's planning to recover.'
Veil was heading to the battlefield right in front of us.
If he reached the corpse-littered area, he'd recover in no ti.
I couldn't let that happen after everything I'd set up.
"Zelbin! I'll pursue him—get the prince out of here!"
Chasing the demonkin was important, but escorting the prince safely back to our base was equally vital.
"I wish you good fortune."
Understanding this, Zelbin nodded with grim resolve.
'Who would have thought an interdiate-rank demonkin would turn tail and run?'
I imdiately gave chase, but catching up to Veil, who was moving through the shadows, was nearly impossible.
Having lost so much blood, my head was spinning and vision blurry.
'Damn it, if only I had a technique like that...'
[What about using that technique—teor? Wouldn't it let you catch up?]
'What? Sure, with teor I could close the distance, but what am I supposed to do when I catch him?'
In the second half of the Hidden Star Sword: Third Technique, teor.
It was a skill that closed the gap to the enemy and pierced them in a single leap.
But chasing down Veil from this distance would require
to go all out, not just use it moderately.
Even if I caught up, my stamina would run dry. If I couldn't finish him imdiately after closing in, I'd just make things worse.
[What are you talking about? Just use the leap from the technique! Now I know why you haven't used it until now.]
Just the leap? There was nothing like that in the description of the Hidden Star Sword technique.
[Don't get bogged down by the settings.]
It was as if Grancesia had read my mind.
[Settings give you knowledge no one else has. But they're just one person's guidelines, right?]
It hit —what she was trying to say.
'I've been too obsessed with the settings.'
Sure, my "settings" ability let
know everything my father wrote about the world.
But it was limited to what was "set"—not everything possible.
Settings can be changed.
I'd done it several tis already—like turning villains into extras, or modifying the Hidden Star Sword's settings.
I quickly listed every movent technique I'd learned.
The footwork from the House Vanhart's Dao Inscribed Sword, the basic and advanced footwork of the Hidden Star Sword, the footwork shown in teor, and lastly, the single step from Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.
The key was not sticking to each set's boundaries, but instead thinking outside the box.
'I'm sure I can make sothing work, but...'
If I mixed those elents together, I felt I could create the technique I needed.
The problem was my own ability to use it.
Then, Grancesia whispered to
in a calm voice.
[Focus.]
At that mont, the world turned monochro, and I began to see a certain "flow".
The Eye of Shimosha's true insight ability had activated.
Following the flow I now perceived, I slowly moved my magic power.
From my toes, magic began to course, spreading through my whole body.
'So this is what it ans to control magic power?'
Since becoming a sword user, I'd thought I could control magic.
But I was mistaken.
I hadn't truly been controlling it—just using it.
Now, I finally understood what it really ant to move magic at will.
'Now...!'
Kicking off the ground, my form sliced through the air with speed.
Though not as fast as using teor itself, I'd created a footwork that overca the brevity of "burst" movent with sustained acceleration—a "personalized" technique.
[Not bad for your first try. Have you nad it yet?]
'A na?'
Through the Eye of Shimosha's insight, I could see magic flowing inside .
A path opened up, connecting my internal flows like never before.
As I breathed, the amount of magic circulating grew; my body's vessel expanded noticeably.
That's when it dawned on .
'teor Step.'
The barrier I thought was just ahead—I'd just crossed it.
"What the—what is that?!"
"Save !"
The landscape flashed by, and I reached the heart of the battlefield where the armies were clashing.
Among the clangor of soldiers' weapons, sothing out of place stood out.
Veil was darting about in the shadows, attacking soldiers without rest.
The arrival of a demonkin with such overwhelming might plunged the battlefield into chaos.
"Knights, protect the soldiers and pull back! I'll handle him!"
Thanks to Tedric stepping up and restraining Veil, casualties were minimized.
But as Veil kept feeding on blood, his wounds healed and Tedric was barely holding his advance.
"Kehahahaha! I'll kill you all and feast on you!"
Even the flesh lted by the Eye of Shimosha and his tattered body were nding.
Though the influence of Divine Blood lingered, it was unclear how long it would last.
Searching for more prey, Veil's face twisted with a grimace when he spotted .
"Tch! You got here faster than I thought. Doesn't matter. As soon as my magic power works again, I'll kill you!"
Despite his recovery, it seed Veil still hesitated to face
head-on. He slipped into the shadows again.
'Where is he?'
Taking a deep breath, I picked up a sword lying on the ground.
'Which way is his flow going?'
Rivers of flow—so many energies were crossing the battlefield.
Only one was truly out of place, but with so many, it was hard to identify.
'Focus.'
Among the countless flows, I sought the single corrupted one.
Erasing, one by one, the flows emanating from each human on the field.
After endless repetition, at last, a single scarlet light stood out clearly.
I ran after it using teor Step.
"Damn it!"
Veil, erging to attack a soldier, tried to hide in the shadows again.
If this dragged on and he kept feeding, he would recover fully.
It had to end here.
Reversing my grip on the sword, I aid the blade behind .
'Hidden Star Sword: First Technique of the Second Half—New Star.'
Magic energy gathered around the blade, then exploded outward.
Boom!
Propelled by the blast of magic, my body shot through the air at a terrifying speed.
"──Persistent bastard!"
Realizing he couldn't dodge, Veil thrust out his hands.
Blood stread from nearby corpses, clustering around his arms.
Apparently, he'd recovered enough to invoke blood magic at last.
It trembled, incomplete, but was certainly deadly enough to kill a man.
"I'll tear you apart!"
Veil channeled all he had, swinging a gigantic blood-forged arm at
as I charged straight at him.
[Clay!]
Grancesia's scream rang in my ears.
A hair's breadth of an instant.
But my mind was calr than ever before.
Staring at his trembling flow through the monochro world, I tightened my grip on the sword.
Ssssh!
At that mont, the blade glowed scarlet, turning razor sharp.
Blood magic—"Blood Sword."
I'd gained this ability via demonkin Kalio's settings, but my magic supply made it hard to use.
But now that I'd reached sword expert level—
'And if I only coat an existing blade in blood, instead of conjuring a sword from scratch...!'
Instead of forming an entire sword, just painting over the blade with blood—this was sothing I could do.
"How do you know blood magic?!"
I heard Veil's voice, horrified.
Instead of replying, I swung the sword in one swift stroke.
A sword of red, covered in Divine Blood.
Slash!
The scarlet blade cut through the giant blood hand as if slicing butter.
It cleaved through the blood-armored hand, then Veil's forearm and wrist—reaching him in one motion.
Veil's eyes went wide, reflecting nothing but the crimson edge.
"No—!"
Slice!
With a clipped deathcry, Veil's head flew through the air.
And just like that—the noisy battlefield fell silent.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
It's only 25 chapters, but they've won the war...
【????????(??????)】
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