Chapter 21 : This Time for Sure

Chapter 21: This Time for Sure

“Milo!”

Wooong-!

I drew out the Aura Blade in one swift motion and charged.

A fierce storm raged forward.

The ultimate form of aura swordsmanship that could destroy anything.

That was what I believed.

Jjeoong!

“Kugh...?!”

But the Aura Blade was blocked.

The creature, which looked like a naked werewolf, extended its ashen claws and intercepted my Aura Blade.

‘It didn’t cut...?’

This Aura Blade was even wrapped in ancient Sword Energy.

Even Count Kxias had no choice but to bare his neck before this sword, and yet some beast’s claws could block it?

Kwaaang!

Though I couldn’t cut it, that didn’t mean the destructive force of the Aura Blade had no effect.

With a violent shockwave, the ashen claws that had blocked me were flung backward.

I seized that gap and rushed in, aiming for the creature’s neck.

‘Fine. So what if it blocks? I just have to kill it...!’

Whoosh-!

Hee-juk-

The creature twisted its snout into a grin as it looked at me.

As if it knew I would aim for its throat, it simply pulled its neck back and effortlessly avoided my sword.

That dizzying sensation of cutting only through empty air.

‘What the...!’

I barely managed to calm the urge to go berserk from the excitement.

With focus sharp enough to make the tip of my nose sting, I swung the sword again with all my might.

Hwoong-!

It still didn’t connect.

All that came over me was the dizzying sense of missing a step on the stairs.

The creature’s reaction speed was absurdly fast, and grotesque.

Jjeong! Jjeo-eoong!

I flung aside its ashen claws with the Aura Blade, broke its stance, and unleashed several decisive strikes, but they all missed.

“Why!”

“Why the hell!”

“Why!”

It felt like fighting against untouchable mist.

Even with all the countless battles I had experienced, I couldn’t figure out how to deal with it.

In the end, after a desperate struggle, I managed to cut down only two of the creatures.

Then came the voice that woke me from my narrowing vision.

“What are you doing, Ransen! Don’t act alone!”

At some point, Iodin had rushed to my side.

“But Milo...!”

In truth, Milo was already nowhere to be seen.

All I could see was the swarm of creatures gathering and writhing.

Iodin spoke coldly.

“Give it up. It’s already too late.”

“...”

I knew it too. Those words were true.

‘It’s too late....’

Then why did my chest ache so much?

Perhaps I had projected too much of our children onto Milo.

I swallowed back the bitterness rising in my throat and forcibly cut off my lingering regret.

“Sorry. I lost my cool. Let’s just retreat together for now.”

“Good. Keep your head straight.”

I tried to pull back together with Iodin.

“Grrr!”

“Kraaagh!”

But this time, the creatures didn’t let us go.

Whether they had already devoured Milo, or ripped him apart... the creatures that had been swarming around him suddenly scattered like a swarm of hornets and, all at once, rushed straight at us.

The resilient claws that had even blocked the Aura Blade slashed wildly in all directions like a storm.

“Ransen, listen carefully!”

Even as death clawed in from every side, Iodin spoke.

“I’ll aim for their necks... you block the claws. You can do that, right?”

“Cut their necks? But their reaction speed is way too fast for that...!”

“You can do it. Can’t you?”

Instead of answering, I nodded.

I could do it.

If it was only defense, then it was no problem at all.

Huuuuh—

I inhaled deeply.

I drew up immense aura from my core and spread it throughout my body like a vast net.

On top of that, I blended in the principles of the Stage of Body-Sword.

A body that reduced air resistance, shifted its center of gravity, and carried elasticity.

Over that, I pushed out even more aura.

The Royal Swordsmanship of Banroa.

Acceleration Sword [Torrent]

Jjeojeojeojeojeojeojeong!

Dozens of strikes unleashed in an instant.

It might be hard to cut their necks, but swatting away already-extended claws was no trouble at all.

Cutting into their necks required two motions, but fending off attacks coming at me only took one.

Just from the angle of their swinging claws, I could predict their trajectory, and the long reach of my Aura Blade could cover a wide range.

The dark blue aura flared like massive wings, wrapping around Iodin in all directions and exploding outward.

The claws of the beasts, which had been storming from every side, were flung backward, and in their place, a circular empty space was revealed.

“Nice.”

Iodin leapt into that opening and began to dance.

Seokeok!

Seugeok!

With every sweep of her dance-like movements, a beast’s neck fell.

When I had aimed, I hadn’t even been able to touch them, but before Iodin’s sword, their necks fell off easily, like rotten fruit.

‘So this is the Stage of Sword Support....’

It was my first time seeing it in real combat,

And it was even greater than I had expected.

The quantity and quality of information received through the sword, as well as the reaction speed, were completely different.

Where even my accumulated experience dulled before enemies I had never faced before, Iodin, wielding Sword Support, revealed her true worth like a fish returned to water.

“This is pretty good?!”

Iodin spoke brightly.

Of course it was.

Because I was shielding her, breaking the enemies’ stances, and holding the line.

If she had been alone, Iodin wouldn’t have avoided struggling either.

But together, we were well-matched.

I, who could crush the wolf-beasts with sheer strength, and Iodin, who could cut their necks even faster than their reaction speed.

We swiftly cut through the beasts and broke through the encirclement.

Iodin shouted.

“We’re almost there! We just need to break through and regroup with the knights! What those monsters are after is definitely the treasure Master brought! We must stop them!”

Just as we were about to escape the encirclement,

“Grrrrr!”

Three monsters that had chased us to the end blocked our path.

With sparkling sweat scattering, Iodin shouted.

“Last ones! One more time!”

When I deflected the claws, Iodin would cut their necks.

Uwoong—

As I once again imbued Banroa’s aura into my blade,

Kururuk!

Kwarururuk!

Something completely unexpected happened.

Without any warning, the monsters’ abdomens and chests burst open, and from within, dozens of tentacles spewed forth at terrifying speed.

Tadatadatang!

It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t react at all.

The one who did react was Iodin.

Leaping like lightning in front of me, she shielded me and scattered her sword in every direction.

Like sparks scattering from fireworks.

It was a divine feat, made possible only because she was using Sword Support, which reduced reaction speed to nearly zero.

But,

There were simply too many tentacles.

Puhbuhbuhbuhbuk!

The sharp tentacles finally pierced past her sword and skewered Iodin’s body.

Even after thoroughly perforating her, they still had enough reach left to stab toward me, but because I had my Aura Shield, all I suffered were a few scratches.

“Iodin!”

Which meant,

there had been no reason for Iodin to cover me.

Even if I had taken that attack head-on, I might have been injured, but I would not have died.

“Why…?”

Why did you shield me? You could have just dodged. You could have avoided it.

With dimming eyes, Iodin strained to look at me.

“Sorry…. Make sure… you survive…. Now you are… Master’s only… disciple….”

I could not respond.

Because unlike Iodin, I had not yet awakened Sword Support.

I could only stare blankly as her body, pierced through in countless places, was tossed through the air.

“Iodin!!!!”

After that, my memory was hazy.

I only knew that I had fought like a madman, drawing out my aura to the limit.

Their claws could not easily pierce my Aura Shield, my sword could not break their claws, and the fight dragged on in frustrating parallel, without me cutting down more than a few.

Perhaps that was why?

The monsters did not fight me for long.

One by one, they slipped out of the grand banquet hall.

In the end, I was left alone.

Standing dazed amidst countless corpses.

From the neck of a beast I had thought dead—cut by Iodin—tentacles squirmed out, crawling back to rejoin its body.

Truly abominable creatures.

Even after reattaching their severed necks, the beasts growled at me for a moment before casually leaving the hall.

Just as Iodin had said, their objective lay elsewhere.

It must have been the cultist’s treasure that the Grand Duke had brought back as spoils.

“Why did it suddenly become this tough….”

I had never even imagined such an ending.

Compared to last time, the gap was just too vast.

Last time, all I managed to do was barely take down a single High-grade Sword Expert…?

I caught a glimpse.

Iodin’s golden hair, trampled like a discarded doll among the corpses.

Milo’s light-green body, torn to shreds.

I shut my eyes tightly and stepped out of the grand banquet hall.

“Arghhhh!”

“Kkuaghhh!”

Hell itself had unfolded.

The monsters that had swarmed toward the central mansion were devouring the servants as they trampled the estate.

The knights were resisting, but with so many monsters, and with them being so strong, it looked like it would take quite some time to drive them back.

Of all times, the Captain of the Horizon Knights and Swordmaster, Sir Brook Dunar, was nowhere to be seen.

“What in the world is that….”

From the south, in the very heart of the city, a sinister fluorescent radiance was surging upward.

A bizarre color, just like the moonlight of the Psychedelic Moon.

I couldn’t explain why, but I instinctively knew.

That light was the cause behind everything that had happened today.

Crkk.

I had thought I’d grown stronger….

Yet I couldn’t protect anyone.

I could do nothing but stand feebly, barely holding on, as I took in a sight like the end of the world.

[You have failed to alter history.]

Then suddenly, a woman’s voice rang out.

[Expending broken causality, time shall now be rewound.]

Rewind time?

[Broken causality is not infinite, and failure will mean complete defeat. Please act with utmost caution.]

I was… being given another chance!?

[We wish you fortune.]

After the detached voice faded,

Parararak!

The Book of Fate burst out of subspace on its own and opened wide.

[Ruceras Calendar Year 4673. November 21. Clear skies. Master has returned after seizing the cultists’ treasure…]

The very same page that had opened when I first crossed into this place was now being erased from the back.

…seized and returned….

…seized and re….

…seized….

….

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.

Along with the loud ticking of a clock hand, my body once again broke away from the present timeline.

And when I suddenly came to,

it was a morning bathed in bright sunshine.

Dagak dagak.

I was riding a horse, and next to me, a sturdy man with black hair was riding alongside.

He glanced at me and suddenly spoke.

“Yes, Ransen. By chance, I met you and made you my disciple.”

Grand Duke Laitena Celsius.

I had returned to the moment I first met him.

*         *         *

Ruceras Calendar Year 4673. November 21.

Everything was the same as at the very beginning.

By rewinding time, the Book of Fate had made its will perfectly clear.

On the last day of the Exchange Tournament,

I was to stop the monsters.

I still didn’t know what exactly the Book of Fate was, or what it wanted from me… but right now, I was nothing but overwhelmingly grateful.

Grateful enough that tears nearly burst out.

Grateful that I had been given another chance.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Had I stared for too long? Grand Duke Laitena reacted differently than before.

So did I.

“Master.”

“Hm?”

“What exactly is the treasure you brought back?”

Grand Duke Laitena’s eyes narrowed.

I knew too.

That without having built a bond of trust, asking such a question was reckless.

Even so….

Even so, if it could stop that catastrophe.

The Grand Duke studied me carefully, then unexpectedly answered without hesitation.

“It is a relic of the cultists.”

“A relic… Master. The truth is…!”

I was about to say it. That because of it, a disaster would break out. That he must not leave his post.

But—

“Enough.”

The Grand Duke didn’t look at me.

It was as if he were listening to some unseen voice, gazing up at the sky.

“I don’t know what it is about….”

Then he lowered his gaze again and looked straight at me as he spoke.

“But it seems this is something for you to shoulder, not me.”

What…?

What did he mean?

What did he know?

I wanted to grab him by the collar and demand an answer, but….

“I do not know. Only, somehow… I feel you are both pitiful, and… worthy of gratitude.”

That was all the Grand Duke said.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.