Chapter 11 : The Moment I Had Been Waiting For

Chapter 11: The Moment I Had Been Waiting For

The sound of an arrow ripping through the night air.

Swaeaeak!

When I heard that sound, the atmosphere changed.

“Kehk…!”

One of the vampires, who had been sneering at me unpleasantly, had his head pierced by an arrow.

A deep yellow aura flickered, and from the spot struck by the arrow, thin smoke began to rise.

“A silver arrow!”

“They imbued an arrow with aura?!”

The vampires were flustered.

No matter how resilient they were, there was no way they could regenerate from such a dense aura, especially when it came from a silver weapon.

‘But who shot a bow with such incredible skill?’

Imbuing aura into a ranged weapon wasn’t something just anyone could do.

The moment I turned my gaze, I saw him.

‘Rivera Pietro.’

Not a close acquaintance, but a familiar face.

One of the very few men in this lawless land who truly understood honor.

He came charging while sniping down vampires, leading warriors who were filled with excitement.

“Kill them all!”

“All the bastards I wanted dead are gathered here!”

The skilled warriors paired up, three or four in a group, and threw themselves at the vampires.

Of course, even so, it was overwhelming for them to face the highest-ranking vampires, the ones known as Noble-class.

The warriors compensated for the difference in ability with madness-fueled determination.

“You! Do you remember Edelina?! Edelina, the one you sucked dry and killed. She was my fiancée, you bastard!”

“So it’s you…! The one who massacred my hometown…!!!”

Foaming at the mouth like rabid dogs, the warriors charged with such ferocity that the vampires instinctively faltered and backed away.

Thanks to that, a path opened before me.

A path leading toward Count Kxias…!

But then,

“Tsk. Pathetic fools.”

The moment Count Kxias clicked his tongue once, the atmosphere shifted once more.

Kwaaa-!

From the bodies of the retreating vampires suddenly erupted a surge of red aura.

“Krurur…”

Their eyes turned blood-red, and steam spilled from their mouths.

Transformed into beasts, they lunged at the warriors.

“Kkyaaaak!”

“Ah… Edelina… I’m sorry…”

The warriors drove their swords and axes into the vampires’ bodies, but the vampires, as if feeling no pain, rushed on, snapping the warriors’ necks and tearing open their bellies.

The path that had opened before me slowly began to close again.

It was regrettable… but still, it was far better than before.

‘The situation’s much better than it was earlier.’

There was no time to whine.

It was time to do what had to be done.

The burning fervor of the warriors fighting with all their might heated my blood.

Kuuung-!

I drew up my aura. Forcing the surging aura down, I leaned my body forward.

To remove the vampires blocking my way as quickly as possible, using the charge skill [Tempest].

The moment I inhaled deeply,

“Hyung! I’m here!”

A bold voice rang out, echoing loudly.

“Zaltran?”

Why are you here?

And it wasn’t just him.

Seah, Mika, Gepetto, Asha, Daisy, Seklan, and so on.

All my younger siblings who had remained in Kushan City were gathered here.

To be precise, every one of them over seventeen and capable of wielding a sword had come.

No, what if they got hurt…!

But before I could say a word to stop them, they rushed straight into the battlefield.

“Hyung-nim, just focus on the Count!”

Kwaaaang!

Zaltran’s greatsword, one and a half times thicker and longer than an ordinary blade, sent a vampire flying with overwhelming force.

The vampire tried to block it, but it was useless. The weapon it raised shattered to pieces, and it went crashing away.

I couldn’t help but marvel.

‘When did he get that strong?’

He was completely different from the last time I had seen him.

The Count House of Juan, famous for its heavy greatsword techniques.

Zaltran Juan.

The last heir of a ruined Count House was properly inheriting his family’s swordsmanship.

And he wasn’t the only one.

“That one. That one. Target those two first.”

With an expressionless face, Seah charged into the battlefield, her navy-blue hair flying.

True to her heritage as the heir of the Marquis House of Milan—renowned more for military strategy than swordsmanship—her blade skills weren’t the strongest, but she more than pulled her weight.

“Seklan! Block properly!”

“Daisy! Are you insane, do you have a death wish?! If it weren’t for me just now, you’d be dead!”

“That’s exactly why I acted that way, because you’re here!”

Even the youngest of today’s group, Daisy and Seklan—both seventeen—were bickering as they fought, holding their own admirably.

“…They’re fighting well.”

Had I been thinking of my siblings as too young all this time…?

I’d only thought of bearing the burden all by myself. Not once had I thought about fighting together with them.

I hadn’t even considered they could be of help like this.

‘Well, back when I was their age, I too was bathing in blood every day…’

Seeing their clenched teeth and determined expressions as they fought, I realized anew that this battle wasn’t mine alone—it was ours.

Uuuung!

Woong—!

As if it understood my heart, Banroa cried out.

Yes.

Even you must think this battle…

…cannot be lost, right?

At the tip of my sword.

There stood Count Kxias.

The path the vampires had blocked was now wide open.

His face was twisted in rage.

He shouted toward my siblings.

“Don’t kill them! You must not kill members of the Ransen Family!”

“What?! But…”

“Didn’t you hear me?! Don’t you know they’re precious sacrifices?! Even if you have to cut off their limbs, don’t you dare kill them!”

“Ah, understood.”

Only then did Count Kxias turn his gaze, frowning as he looked at me.

“Ransen. Your whining has gone too far. I can’t tolerate it any longer.”

With every breath he took came a sound like a beast’s growl.

“You talk as if you ever tolerated me. But… sacrifices? My siblings?”

I leaned my upper body forward again, drawing up my aura.

“Yes. Precious sacrifices… I suppose I’d better finish this quickly. I can’t trust those fools.”

Kuuuu—!

Those words weren’t empty. A terrifying surge of aura burst forth from Count Kxias’s body.

My vision reeled.

It was as though the entire sky had been dyed in the crimson of an ominous sunset.

I forced my tightening breath to loosen, relaxing it deliberately.

‘I finally made it here.’

This very moment.

Now that Kxias had revealed the last of the power he’d been hiding—

—this was exactly the moment I had long awaited, over and over again.

Now,

It was time to make my decisive move.

Kwaaaang!

The instant I poured aura into my footing, a storm raged behind my back.

Banroa Royal Swordsmanship.

Charge skill [Tempest].

Huuk!

The whole world blurred as though smeared with ink, and only the face of Kxias—once distant—sharpened as if magnified.

It was a lightning-fast charge, the kind that no ordinary opponent could ever hope to react to, and yet…

“Shall I tear off your arm first…?”

Kxias’s eyes followed me precisely.

And then—

Kururuk!

Like a balloon filled with air, his arm grotesquely swelled, then shot forward at a ridiculous speed toward my arm.

It was as if he meant to rip it off with just his claws.

With Kxias’s sudden burst of speed combined with my own charging momentum, evasion was utterly impossible.

…Not that I had ever intended to dodge.

Bzzt!

At the very moment I pulled up all my aura and wrapped it tightly around the point of impact, a blinding flash swallowed the world.

Jjeoong!

A heavy impact struck my chest, and the necklace I had been wearing burst apart.

A scorching heat washed over me, and thick steam rose.

The necklace I had found in the ruins.

It seemed to have shattered in that single clash… but that was enough. It had fulfilled its purpose.

My arm was intact, and instead, Kxias’s hand was hurled far away.

“What…?!”

The Count wore a dumbfounded expression.

Utterly unfitting words came to mind.

Bastard.

Adorable.

“It’s called the [Necklace of Protection], you bastard!”

The necklace I had discovered in the Ilneon Dungeon. It was the same necklace worn by the leader of those cultists.

The very artifact that had so effortlessly nullified even my most decisive strike.

Of course, even that alone wouldn’t have been enough to block Kxias’s blow.

Another reason my arm had remained intact was the thin, black armor revealed through the torn sleeve.

The magical armor I had discovered together with the Necklace of Protection.

An incredible artifact that could easily block even Aura Threads.

On top of that was the aura shield I had wrapped around my arm.

Necklace, magic armor, and aura. With this trinity, I had managed to deflect Kxias’s strike.

But at the same time, a great opening was revealed.

After unleashing a full-powered attack, there was always a weakness that could not be concealed.

No matter how skilled you are, in this very moment, you won’t be able to defend against the death closing in.

‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!’

If out of a hundred battles I could win just once…

That one time was now.

Uuuuung—!

The Heart of the Sword and my own heart became one.

I desired Kxias’s neck.

And the King’s Sword, Banroa, desired the same.

The instant our wills aligned, a heat shimmer rose at the tip of the blade, before being dyed in a deep blue aura.

The trump card I had concealed all throughout today’s fight, never once revealing.

A destructive Aura Blade that stirred up a tempest, combined with a razor edge so sharp that even the passing wind was sliced apart.

Kung!

With a single step, I poured all my strength into my sword, mustered absolute focus, and swung with everything I had.

The target.

The neck of Kxias—the spot I had hammered at again and again.

Saaak!

The result of the Aura Blade fused with ancient Sword Energy was astonishing.

Before Banroa’s strike, all obstacles parted of their own accord.

Even the dense aura that had shielded Kxias so many times was shredded to pieces, scattering like autumn leaves.

Realizing that his final defense, the aura shield, was collapsing helplessly, Kxias widened his eyes and desperately tried to summon his aura more fiercely—but it was useless.

Because after countless blows in our earlier exchanges, the flow of aura around his neck was already unstable.

Aura burst from Kxias’s shoulders and hands like wings unfurling, but his neck remained a vulnerable weak point.

Banroa slipped effortlessly into that gap.

Kxias’s carelessness, the unexpected counterattack made possible by artifacts, and the new Aura Blade infused with ancient Sword Energy.

All of these combined in a single instant,

and struck the Count’s neck.

Seogeok!

His head spun upward and fell.

Thud.

The body, now headless, collapsed, while the Count’s severed head cast me a dumbfounded stare of disbelief.

Thunk, thunk, thunk…

Rolling along the ramparts, the head finally came to a stop, its eyes still turning to fix on me.

Whooosh—!

His head was engulfed in white flames and began to burn.

No matter that he was a Pure-blood Vampire, there was no possibility of resurrection.

Not when he had been struck by an Aura Blade wielding the Starsilver Sword.

Within the flames, Kxias’s lips moved.

His voice, full of shock.

“You… that… Soul Blade…?”

Well?

I didn’t know either.

The Soul Blade was the very symbol of a Grandmaster.

A power belonging only to true transcendents, beyond even Swordmasters.

Had what I just used truly been that Soul Blade?

I had no idea.

All I had done was mix ancient Sword Energy with an Aura Blade.

There were countless rumors about the Soul Blade, but no one truly knew what it was.

To know for sure, I’d have to face a Grandmaster.

So I answered honestly.

“No idea, man.”

“Don’t… know… you…”

So empty, wasn’t it?

That single phrase—“Don’t know”—

was the last set of words left behind in this world by the ruler of Kushan City,

The Vampire Swordmaster who made the entire region tremble—Count Kxias.

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