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EP.481 Best Effort, Trust, Full Power (6)
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BANG!
The lightning struck down. Since it fell from the sky to the earth, it was called a falling thunder. The old folks described the blue-white light slicing through the clouds as a punishment from the heavens.
Heaven’s punishment, heavenly wrath.
To the ancients, falling thunder symbolized sanctity and served as a means for heaven to express its anger. After a long time had passed, a certain mage read records of these accounts and chuckled.
Heaven’s punishment, an obvious fate falling from above, symbolic meaning, divinity.
Oh, what a delightful phrase for a flip side!
CRACK!
A crimson thunder soared from the ground towards the sky. It resembled an inverted cross, a tree turned upside down. This crimson thunder, which rooted itself in the earth while stretching its branches towards the sky, was truly a symbol of rebellion.
It wasn’t blue, nor was it white.
It didn’t strike down from above.
It was black and red, and it rose against the skies from the earth. Laughing in the face of fate, this crimson lightning was named Reverse Thunder by Raniel. A spell fundamentally different from the ones borrowed through deals with the stars, it utilized her very being as a medium.
If everything went according to plan, a part of me would have flown off…
But within this realm, there was no need for that.
This was a space created by 37 magic towers, for her alone. Inside this space, the standing towers become the offerings needed to bear the price of Reverse Thunder.
RUMBLE! The towers began to collapse one after another with a resounding noise. As dust rose into the air from the falling towers, Raniel tightened her grip on the chains.
ROAR!
A deafening noise pierced the eardrums. The sound of fate being torn apart. The thunder roared. The crimson lightning trembled violently. Ganikalt, engulfed in the crimson lightning, was no longer visible. Only the noise that shook heaven and earth filled the wilderness.
…This was the best blow Raniel could muster at this moment. Reverse Thunder was a spell that devoured all, be it shadows that swallowed spells or starlight; it chewed up and twisted the foundations of existence.
A spell to defy fate.
Fangs to bite at the neck of the ancient dragon.
She drew forth her blade, prepared to face the knight before her, the blade intended to stand against the god high above the skies. Originally, Raniel was meant to bear the burden of Reverse Thunder, but she shoved all that onto Ganikalt.
Let’s see if you can endure.
With that thought, Raniel clenched her teeth and twisted the chains. The output of the lightning surged higher. The magic towers began to crumble rapidly. As the offered towers were gobbled up hungrily, the lightning roared stronger than ever.
And in that very moment,
BOOM!
Ganikalt stepped forward, wrapped in lightning. The ground trembled the moment he set foot down. Raniel glared at the interior of the lightning with wide-open eyes. There stood death. A knight who dared to step into lightning that devoured his own flesh.
THUD!
Gripping the chains entwined around his body, he twisted, using his step to pivot his body. Raniel’s body, which had been holding the chains in the air, floated. KA-CHINK! The chains entwining Ganikalt’s body began to shatter. Suspended in mid-air, Raniel doubted her own eyes.
CRACK!
Enveloped in Reverse Thunder. Bearing an immense burden.
Despite his body burning away, despite his flesh twisting, he was still attempting to swing his sword.
This is absurd…
It’s impossible.
Yet, she knew. She knew that this man before her was called a hero because he could make the impossible possible. The one who bore the name of the most fearsome calamity.
GASP!
Raniel shattered the chains she had wrapped around her hands and twisted in mid-air. Her judgment was swift, and as a result, she survived.
SWISH!
A silent slicing sound. The strike that glided past where Raniel had just been aimed at the magic tower bearing the price of Reverse Thunder. The moment the strike hit the tower, a brilliant roar echoed.
CRASH!
Like a typhoon, the strike smashed the tower, collapsing it. The moment the tower fell, the vigor of the crimson lightning visibly weakened. Ganikalt, who would not miss that fleeting moment, attempted to swing his sword…but…
Ganikalt’s gaze narrowed as he swung his blade. Kalt and Raniel, aiming for Ganikalt, widened their eyes in unison.
Ganikalt’s sword— it wavered.
From the trembling tip of his sword burst forth a blade of energy that couldn’t slice through the tower. Instead of the tower, it scraped the ground.
…
Kalt and Raniel exchanged silent glances.
It worked.
The crimson lightning inflicted meaningful damage on Ganikalt’s body. Weighed down by the burden, his movements grew sluggish. His posture became incomplete. For the first time, a perfect being revealed a flaw.
This is our chance.
The same thought raced through both of their minds. The two rushed toward Ganikalt. The magic towers continued to collapse rapidly, and they had to finish things before all the towers crumbled.
…
As Ganikalt silently observed the two rushing toward him, he tightened his grip on his sword. He then let out a long breath. Steam wafted from his helmet. The glint in Ganikalt’s eyes shone through the visor.
Pain, the collapse of the flesh, dripping blood.
How long had it been since he felt such agony?
As he bore the lightning that battered him, Ganikalt pressed down with his foot. He steadied himself. Now burdened with chaos, Ganikalt began to move.
THUD.
His foot planted on the ground, his sword now parallel to the earth.
He slowly raised his sword. The moment Raniel and Kalt caught sight of that movement, they both kicked off the ground and jumped up. Their judgment was ultimately correct. In a seemingly halted time, Ganikalt swung his sword.
The arc traced was the axis of the world.
However, that axis did not slice through the sky as usual. With a shaking sword, he could not slice through the heavens. He was aiming for the earth from the start.
SWISH!
The axis of Yeocheon pierced through the ground.
Space tore apart around the axis. Twisting. The burden of lightning, the imbalance of flesh, caused the tip of the sword to shake, and the strike was not peaceful.
CRASH!
A loud noise accompanied an explosion as the ground erupted. The world tilted along the axis drawn. Dirt poured down the steep slope. The towers crumbled, turning the world upside down.
WHOOSH!
In the upside-down world, Raniel and Kalt were already dashing along the chains. Kicking off the chains and leaping from the rising ground, they headed for the eye of the storm, toward Ganikalt standing there.
The slanted earth.
The crumbling towers.
Shattered fragments from the towers scattering around.
Gritting her teeth as she watched the scattered fragments, Raniel knew where she had to go, even if her sense of direction was all messed up. Knowing meant her steps had no hesitation.
Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade.
As she rushed forward, Raniel saw the center of the storm.
Engulfed in lightning, there stood a being swinging his sword, his flesh burning away. With each swing he made, the storm intensified. The chains snapped with a KA-CHINK!
He’s strong, truly strong.
A being that could be called humanity’s final trial. No matter how many superhumans existed, no matter how many spells were prepared, it was never enough. In the end, she would be pushed to this point where one had to gamble everything.
RUMBLE!
The tilted ground, caught in the storm of blade energy, caused the towers to crash down. The reddish lightning that battered Ganikalt gradually diminished. However, the scars left by the lightning could not be erased.
Blood flowed from Ganikalt’s flesh.
Black viscous blood dripped from his right arm.
This increasingly imperfect flesh served as proof of his condition, while the chaotic slicing energy was the evidence of his state. To devour the revealed flaw, Raniel dashed forward.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
She stepped on the swaying chains, the rising ground, and the shards spewing everywhere. Avoiding the incoming blade energies, she clapped her hands in mid-air.
FLASH!
The shattered tower fragments gleamed simultaneously. With all remaining spells unleashed, the wilderness was dyed white. Countless high-tier spells surged toward Ganikalt, yet they dispersed helplessly before his swinging sword.
THWACK!
Bursting through the scattering spells, Raniel emerged. Spells scattered toward her began to converge in her hand. Ganikalt swung his sword toward her. He swung and swung again.
Raniel’s skin tore against the tempest of sword energy. Even if she tried to parry with chains, twist, or block, she could merely avoid fatal wounds. Covered in blood, Raniel flicked her fingers.
WHOOSH!
The rising chains wrapped everything chaotic around her; the flying fragments and rocks, the tilted ground—everything was stabilized. Thus, a path was created, a way for Raniel to charge forward.
Accelerate, then accelerate.
In an instant, Raniel’s new form vanished. Only the sounds of CRACK, THUD echoed from the platforms fixed in mid-air by the chains.
And then, WHOOSH!
She landed behind Ganikalt, sliding as she pulled sharply on the chain that she had let go. The platinum chain flickered white.
BOOM!
With a great roar, golden plumes exploded from the sky.
As the golden plumes whirled toward Ganikalt, his sword descended towards Raniel. Biting her lip, Raniel threw her fist forward. The remnants of the spells she had grasped had now turned crimson.
Reverse Thunder.
Every fragment of the collapsed tower vanished into thin air.
As if that wasn’t enough, the crimson lightning gnawed at Raniel’s flesh. The flesh on her outstretched arm was completely skinned. The leaping lightning pierced into her collarbone.
Frowning, Raniel pressed her fist in.
SLAM!
Ganikalt’s swinging sword clashed with Raniel’s fist. The crimson lightning and blade’s energy wrestled with one another. The space where the sword and fist met twisted. However, slowly but surely, Raniel was losing ground.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
The sound of bones shattering. Gradually, Raniel’s body began to tilt. She was pushed back. As Ganikalt pressed down on the blade with the right arm of the beast, Raniel’s knees buckled, nearly burying themselves into the earth. Just at that moment when her whole posture seemed about to collapse…
THWACK!
Kalt shot through the cloud of dust, landing on Ganikalt’s shoulder. What Kalt witnessed was the distortion brought about by the imbalance of flesh. The flaw revealed by this perfect knight.
Here it is.
Kalt thrust his sword, gripped in reverse, into Ganikalt’s right collarbone—the junction between beastly and human flesh. The moment the sword embedded there, Ganikalt’s body twitched briefly.
“I return this to you.”
As Kalt twisted the hilt deeper, the technique being displayed was Moonlight. However, it was different from the one applied moments earlier.
Recalling the sixth technique that Ganikalt himself had showcased, Kalt carved the sword energy more intricately. The overflowing blade energy of moonlight shattered into numerous afterimages, converging into one form in an instant.
And then, THWACK!
The writhing blade energy scratched Ganikalt’s collarbone. For an instant, Ganikalt staggered, his posture breaking, and the path of the sword aimed at Raniel twisted. The twisted strike sank beside her.
A gap was created. There was no longer anything blocking Raniel. Gritting her teeth, she took another step forward. Advancing, she thrust her fist out.
Ashes to Ashes.
The ashes do not rise.
The countless remnants left behind by high-tier spells, the mana remaining in the collapsed towers, the mana of Reverse Thunder—all of it became sustenance for her.
CRASH!
The lightning of Yeocheon that swallowed everything crashed into Ganikalt’s body. As Ganikalt swung his sword and severed half of the Reverse Thunder embedded in him, a flash erupted. Immediately after, a deafening roar that seemed to tear through eardrums followed as Reverse Thunder exploded.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion shaking heaven and earth, Reverse Thunder detonated. Along with the blast, both Raniel and Kalt were thrown back, rolling on the ground. The two, tumbling awkwardly, eventually coughed up blood.
Kalt, who hadn’t let go of his sword until the very end, chuckled as he glanced down at the hilt in his hand.
The blade called Indestructible was snapped clean in half. It was a relief that the sword had broken, rather than having his arm ruined.
“Ugh, cough.”
Coughing, Kalt barely managed to raise his body. With his eyes narrowed, he watched his senior slowly rising from the opposite side.
Both of them were in shambles.
Their bodies, cut up from rushing into the storm of blade energy, were drenched in blood, with no intact parts remaining. With a bitter smile, Kalt let his gaze slide across the colossal dust cloud lying between them and Raniel.
The dust from the explosion was gradually settling.
What emerged from there was Ganikalt, the Death’s Blade, still standing on both feet as a calamity. Gripping his teeth, Kalt pondered how until now, despite the assault, there was still no significant damage.
…No, wait.
Kalt narrowed his eyes.
From the figure of Ganikalt revealed in the dust, black blood dripped down, thud, thud. His right arm was horrifically twisted… THUMP! some ribs fell from his body onto the ground.
A meaningful injury.
Death was bleeding.
Kalt gripped his broken sword.
Raniel gritted her teeth, summoning her mana. As the two gathered their breath, they were poised to charge at Ganikalt again. At that moment, Ganikalt moved.
THUD, THUD, THUD!
As he moved, crimson blood dripped down. It fell, but he raised his left hand, clutching his sword, seemingly unbothered by it. Toward his helmet.
And then, CRUNCH!
Ganikalt bit down on the hilt of his sword.
While biting the hilt, he gradually moved his now empty left hand toward his right arm. The twisted right arm, which was never truly his, the arm of the King of Beasts. Grasping the spine bones of the beasts entwined in that arm with his left hand.
CRUNCH!
And then—
SNAP, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!
Ganikalt tore off his right arm.
As if to say it was hindrance. As if it was unnecessary, he ripped off his own half. Black viscous liquid gushed forth from everywhere. The ground became stained with the black blood splashing down.
He discarded the severed arm.
As if a knight would toss away his sheathed sword.
The severed arm, attached to the spine, dangled from his now drooping right shoulder. Ganikalt grasped his sword with his left hand. Drawing the sword back, he assumed the posture to wield Yeocheon’s blade.
However, it was different.
Something was inherently different.
The moment Raniel confronted Ganikalt, now devoid of his right arm, alarm bells rang in her senses. Her eyes trembled. Although she was not well-versed in swords nor had proper knowledge of posture…
Even she could feel it.
She could not block it. Even if all 37 towers stood intact, she could not stop the strike unfolding before her.
Paradoxically, his posture, which should become unstable by ripping off his right arm, had instead become perfect. By tearing off part of the Beast, the knight before her had become whole. The flaws visible just moments ago were now completely absent.
She felt like she had seen that stance somewhere before.
A form so perfect…
It didn’t take her long to retrace her memories.
“…Ah.”
It was the scene she had witnessed at the northern tower.
The sight of the Hero slaying the Demon Lord.
SWISH!
The instant Raniel realized that fact, the sound of a tranquil slicing echoed across the wilderness.
Barta sheathed his sword.
At the end of his gaze stood Lac, who was in tatters. Covered in blood, the young man simply stood there, arms drooping.
“You’ve lost.”
Barta pointed toward Lac’s hands.
“Your pride as a swordsman.”
What Lac held in his hands was the First Holy Sword.
“The broken sword of yours means your defeat.”
The blade of the holy sword was shattered into countless pieces.
Lac’s body, gripping the broken hilt, slowly tilted.
