Chapter 270: Chapter 270
"Hell yeah!"
Somebody was exclaiming loud and clear from the fifth training ground's platform.
"Great! This is great! This is what I live for!"
Rimmer. He was grinning while having a solo drinking party on the platform, since he was the only one left in the fifth training ground.
"I'll take this shot for Raon! And the second shot is for Burren!"
He raised his glass towards the moon and kept drinking.
"They are both still alive!"
Tias shook his head from under the platform.
"Ah, I didn't mean their death. I was just wishing them good luck."
Rimmer smiled at him, then took a bite of the grilled pig he had gotten from the restaurant.
"Wow! This is utopia!"
He devoured the meat in an instant, rinsing his mouth with alcohol before patting his stomach.
"I haven't been able to eat properly because that damn Raon bastard even interfered with my diet. He really is the worst."
Rimmer sighed, murmuring that he needed to recover his strength as fast as possible.
"Aren't you worried about them as the Light Wind squad leader?"
Tias bit his lip while looking in the direction of the Central Martial Palace.
"The Severing Steads are powerful. They can't be compared to a division, but they are among the top three of the most powerful squads."
Even if the Severing Steads were the only ones that remained in the Central Martial Palace, he couldn't imagine the Light Wind squad's victory. He was worried that they might end up being defeated instead of saving Burren.
"Haa, my heart is pounding so hard that I feel like I'm going to die."
He would've already run to the Central Martial Palace if Raon hadn't ordered him to stay in the fifth training ground.
"You know, a novel's protagonist is brimming with power when they need to save their companions."
Rimmer drew a circle with his finger.
"That's not completely fake. You saw the overflowing confidence in my kids' eyes when they headed to the Central Martial Palace."
"Hmm, those eyes..."
Tias swallowed nervously. It was ferocity that was glowing in their eyes, not confidence. It almost felt like they were going to kidnap their companion instead of saving him.
"Anyway, you can just rest assured and wait. They will bring Burren back on their own."
"That would be nice, but..."
If both the Light Wind squad and Burren returned safely, that would've been the best outcome.
"Is there something else you are worried about?"
Rimmer laid flat on the platform and turned his head. He really was feeling at home up there.
"Gelmia has reached the intermediate level of Master as a swordsman. Because he has such a calm personality, I'm worried about whether Raon will be able to win against him..."
More than half of the Severing Steads' prowess came from Gelmia's might. He was worried that Raon wouldn't be able to face him.
"Ahaha! You don't need to worry about that monster. He's absolutely going to win."
Rimmer firmly predicted Raon's victory, looking up at the moon in the sky.
"But Gelmia is an intermediate Master..."
"He's only an intermediate Master. He won't be able to stop Raon with just that."
He grinned while tossing a peanut into his mouth.
"We just need to wait and look forward to what that monster is going to bring back this time."
* * *
Clang!
Raon and Gelmia's swords clashed against each other over ten times in an instant, spreading sparks into the air like a fountain.
Whoosh!
Gelmia's stab pierced through the extremely small pieces of cinders and rushed towards him.
Raon narrowed his eyes while taking half a step forward.
'He's almost mastered his technique.'
The harmony between speed, precision, and power in his strike had almost reached perfection. It was a flawless technique, and he couldn't see even the smallest opening.
Clang!
Raon stretched the Fangs of Insanity to smack the center of the thin sword Gelmia had thrust.
'Kuh...'
He almost groaned from the powerful aura affecting his bones. He was an ugly bastard who went as far as kidnapping his own brother to brainwash him, but his skills were the real deal.
"Try taking this one."
Gelmia lowered his elbow slightly and thrust his sword. Even though all he did was lower the starting point of his stab slightly, an intense vibration was created on his sword and made it impossible to read its trajectory.
"Bring it on."
Raon raised Heavenly Drive diagonally and to the left. He used the Fangs of Insanity's sharpness like a dragon's claw to strike the upper part of Gelmia's sword before it could gain momentum.
Clang!
His hand was trembling even though he'd managed to prevent the technique from reaching completion. The damage penetrating his astral energy was befitting a Master who had reached the extremity of stabs.
Clank!
He consecutively slashed with the Star Connecting Sword. The flow of his sword looked like a constellation as it deflected Gelmia's stab.
Tap!
He turned his right foot towards the left, spreading the energy of raging fire into Heavenly Drive's blade.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames.
Flame Spirit.
Countless flaming petals emerged from the sword's tip and fluttered into the secret room, eventually engulfing the entire space.
Whaap!
Every single one of those flame pieces were made of astral energy. They turned into a red storm to attack Gelmia.
"Hmph!"
Gelmia snorted, then pulled his shoulder back before thrusting his thin sword. The tip of his sword, surrounded by astral energy, multiplied into a hundred to sever the entire firestorm.
"Huh."
Raon exclaimed.
'Interesting.'
Despite the extreme speed in his stab, the power hadn't decreased at all, and it was capable of drawing a precise trajectory. It was an exemplary swordplay worthy of admiration.
'He's compressing the wind to burst it.'
It was to be expected from Burren's brother to have a high wind affinity. He was exploding the energy of wind, which he'd compressed beforehand, the moment he was stabbing in order to maximize the power and speed. It was rumored that Gelmia could use the Wind Master Swordplay, which was a swordsmanship at the highest rank, and it was definitely worthy of the reputation.
"Are you dumbfounded? It's too early to regret it, since I'm only getting started!"
Gelmia declared in a cold voice, piercing through the distance. The stab he'd used a moment ago was unleashed one more time from his hand.
Whoosh!
Raon couldn't find an escape. His entire vision was filled with the silver tips of Gelmia's sword.
"Where did your arrogance go?"
Gelmia thrust his sword while showing his teeth as he laughed. He must've believed that his victory was guaranteed. The moment hundreds of blades surrounded with astral energy were about to pierce through Raon's body, he slashed Heavenly Drive upwards.
Whaam!
A wall of ice emerged according to the trajectory of his sword to block every single one of Gelmia's astral energies.
Rumble!
The ice wall melted down soon enough, like a spring's snow, but not even the smallest astral blade was allowed to pass.
'This is also pretty useful.'
He'd tried creating a wall by using the application of Glacier that he'd learned from Lohengreen's knowledge, and its defensive capabilities were even better than the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation when he considered that it was capable of blocking an intermediate Master's astral blade.
"Arrogance? I've never been arrogant."
Raon's lips rolled up into a smile as he watched Gelmia's trembling eyes.
"Because it's true that you kidnapped your own brother and tried to brainwash him because you were so afraid of me."
"Shut up!"
Gelmia thrust his sword in an effort to hide his panic. Instead of using astral energy, he was trying to directly stab him with a huge amount of power concentrated on the blade. It was incomparably faster and more powerful than before.
Whir!
Raon increased his focus by maximizing the resonance of the Ring of Fire.
'The principles are the same.'
The astral energy with extreme penetration and the extremely fast and powerful stab using the explosive wind utilized the same method despite having a difference in power and speed.
Cring!
The powerful energy spreading from his thin blade caused him intense pain, feeling like it was tearing at his skin even though it hadn't even reached it.
Thud!
Raon used the Supreme Harmony Steps after observing Gelmia's stab until the last moment.
Whoosh!
His hair was cut by Gelmia's sword and fluttered above it. He could only laugh as he saw the stab follow him like a guiding missile even when he used footwork.
'He's certainly strong, but...'
It wouldn't be too difficult to win.
It was clear that Gelmia was far stronger than Tyler, but since he'd already finished analyzing his technique, using his full power would've been more than enough to win against him.
'However... I want to learn.'
Despite his personality, his stab had almost reached perfection. He wouldn't be able to copy the exact technique because he had a different attribute, but he wanted to be the owner of that perfection.
Raon licked his lip while looking at Gelmia's confident eyes.
'Thank you for your swordsmanship.'
Gelmia smiled coldly as Raon couldn't do anything but continuously withdraw from his assault.
'It was my mistake.'
He never needed to fear someone like him in the first place.
Warriors were capable of reading their opponent's mindset and their thoughts from the simple clash of their swords.
Raon Zieghart was completely focused on running away from his Wind Master Swordplay because he was terrified by its technique.
"How pathetic. How could you run your mouth when all you can do is run away from me?"
"Do you not know the strategy of taking a step back in order to take two steps forward in the future? You are so stupid."
Raon shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile on his face.
"Y-You bastard..."
Instead of yielding to his provocation, Raon provoked him instead, completely focused on dodging the stabs.
Gelmia's irritation intensified as he watched him dodge the sword at the very last moment—after watching it until the end.
'Do you really believe that I don't know what you are trying?'
When it came to a fight between masters, focus was even more important. Raon must've been trying to create an opening by agitating him psychologically.
'I've done countless battles like that before.'
Gelmia chewed inside of his cheek. He focused his mind to maintain his composure and swung his sword.
'A trick like that is never going to work against me!'
He inhaled deeply and unleashed the Wind Master Swordplay's techniques one after the other. Raon's aura was shredded apart by his stabs, which used the explosive power of the wind.
"It's too late to apologize now. I'm going to kill you and change the whole situation!"
"You can say that again after actually doing it."
"You dare to keep that attitude, you bastard!"
His blabbering mouth would float on the water even if he drowned. He wanted to tear his mouth off so that he would finally stop talking.
Whoosh!
Gemia clenched his teeth and unleashed the Wind Master Swordplay's special technique, Explosive Stinger. The strike aimed at Raon's shoulder had the maximized speed and sharpness.
Clench.
Raon slightly turned the hand that was holding his sword and thrust it forward. His stab was somewhat similar to the Explosive Stinger.
Whaam!
The clash between Explosive Stinger and Raon's strike created an explosion powerful enough to shake the entire underground room.
Rumble!
Obviously, Raon was the one who was pushed back from that powerful clash.
"You are like a goby trying to copy a jumping mullet."
Gelmia's mouth twisted upon seeing Raon take five steps back.
"Did you really believe that you could copy the Wind Master Swordplay with your meager skills?"
A huge amount of aura wasn't the only requirement for the highest-class swordsmanship Wind Master Swordplay, and utilizing the wind element was also necessary for it.
Never mind the compression, Raon wasn't even capable of using the wind. Gelmia could only snort at the way he tried to copy the Wind Master Swordplay.
"We won't know until I try."
Raon regained his posture and bobbed his finger. The way he was pretending to take it easy despite having gotten an internal injury from the previous clash made Gelmia boil with anger.
"Try doing it again."
"You bastard!"
It wasn't exactly the case with his sword, but he was certainly good with provocation.
"I'll finish you off in an instant!"
Gelmia gritted his teeth and unleashed the Condensed Stab of a Thousand Winds, which was one of the Wind Master Swordplay's special techniques. The compressed energy of wind exploded from his shoulder to attack Raon's heart.
Whaam!
The extreme power and speed gave the illusion of the space itself being cracked.
Raon looked like he was trying to copy the Condensed Stab of a Thousand Winds, as he lowered his shoulder slightly before gathering his crimson aura to unleash it towards him.
Claang!
The two swords intertwined with each other like rose vines to create an explosive sound similar to a collapsing mountain.
"Hmm..."
"Kuh!"
Gelmia didn't move at all from where he was standing, but Raon had to take four steps back as he groaned.
"I told you, you can't!"
Gelmia ground his teeth and pierced into Raon's left side. He slammed down his sword, which was raised from the previous strike. It was the Wind Master Swordplay's Hundred Rain of Lightnings. It was an extremely fast attack, consisting of stabbing a hundred times in an instant.
"Haa!"
Apparently Raon had no intention of withdrawing, as he turned the direction of his wrist slightly to copy the Hundred Rain of Lightning.
Whaam!
The endless clash between the swords created a wave of astral energy, soaring into the sky. Everything around them collapsed under the red tidal wave.
"It's meaningless. I'll turn you into a skewer right awa... Huh?"
Gelmia swallowed nervously as he noticed Raon's sword.
'What is happening?'
Raon's stabs were changing little by little as he kept unleashing the Hundred Rain of Lightning.
They were getting faster, stronger, and more precise.
The stabs that used to be nothing more than decent were transforming into perfection.
Raon was taking to his swordsmanship just like a baby that tried to walk like their mother.
'I-Impossible...'
He couldn't believe that he was gaining his stab's proficiency during such an intense battle. He was unable to stop his trembling chin.
'In that case!'
Gelmia stopped the Hundred Rain of Lightning and turned around midair. He kicked a collapsed pillar and smashed at him with his sword. It was the Wind Master Swordplay's special technique, Metal Wolf's Dive.
Whoosh!
The strike was aimed at Raon's head, like a wolf's fangs diving on its prey.
Raon lowered his posture. He slightly raised his elbow just like when Gelmia used the Metal Wolf's Dive and thrust his sword into the air.
'You will never be able to copy this one!'
The Metal Wolf's Dive was the Wind Master Swordplay technique that utilized the wind the most. It was impossible for Raon to copy that one, since he was only capable of using fire and ice.
'I'll make a hole in your head!'
As he was about to smash Raon's head with Metal Wolf's Dive, an ominous light sparkled from his eyes. The power of wind emerged from his thrusting wrist, and the flame from the tip of his sword exploded out.
'H-How is this happening?'
While the trajectory and speed were similar, it was even more powerful than Metal Wolf's Dive. He couldn't believe his eyes as he witnessed the strike.
Slaam!
A flame pillar huge enough to even shake the ground above soared into the sky, and both Raon and Gelmia took two steps back.
"Wh-What the hell are you?"
Gelmia's eyes were wavering like a sailboat in the middle of a turbulent ocean.
"How do you even have the energy of wind?"
* * *
Raon snickered while watching Gelmia's eyes widen even more than when he'd arrived to save Burren.
'Energy of wind...'
Raon was also surprised.
He noticed it when he was trying to learn Gelmia's stab. It was impossible to perfectly copy his techniques with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, which had the fire attribute.
When he was about to stop while convincing himself that raising the stab's proficiency was good enough, clear energy surged from his energy center.
It was mixed into the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, but it didn't originally have the fire attribute. It was the aura of wind that Rimmer had given to him previously.
Using the Ring of Fire to control the energy of wind mixed into the flame made it possible to copy everything from the Wind Master Swordplay.
'It was worth working on the basics.'
The basic techniques that he still practiced every day, the energy of wind that he got from Rimmer, and the Ring of Fire being at the peak of six-stars allowed him to accomplish what he did.
"I-Impossible! This can't be happening!"
Gelmia charged at him while screaming. He mustered all of his aura and physical strength to stab. It was even more powerful and faster than before, and even the trajectory was twisted.
"Haa..."
Raon caught his breath and fixed his grip on Heavenly Drive.
'I can advance even further now.'
A smile appeared on his face from realizing that his swordsmanship would be able to move closer to completion.
Whir!
He used the Ring of Fire to read the flow of Gelmia's stab, then thrust Heavenly Drive according to it.
Clang!
Even though Raon's stab started later than Gelmia's, he wasn't getting pushed back at all.
Rumble!
Crimson sparks appeared, distorting the space where the two swords were clashing against each other at their extremities.
"Wh-Who the hell are you?"
"Raon Zieghart."
"No one asked your name! I'm asking how the hell you managed to copy my technique!"
"With skills."
"Kuaaah!"
Gelmia looked like he was losing his mind as he unleashed his stabs, his eyes turned red. Even though he was enraged, there were no openings in his stabs.
'This is a great opportunity to learn.'
Raon didn't miss the opportunity and absorbed all of the principles of stabs that Gelmia was displaying for him.
The movements of his wrist and shoulder depending on the direction of the stab, the way he controlled his aura to add penetration and explosive power to the strike, and the sharpness that resulted in a change of trajectory from noticing an opening in an instant.
Raon absorbed all of the strengths of what Gelmia had learned up to that moment, throwing away the weaknesses.
"Haah..."
Raon caught his breath and incorporated the principles of stabs that he'd learned into the Fangs of Insanity. The Twin Bloody Strike of the Fangs of Insanity clashing against Gelmia's Wind Master Swordplay was on a different level in terms of speed and power than in the beginning.
Whoosh!
The clash between the extremities of the two swords created a fearsome shockwave... and Gelmia was the one who ended up being pushed back after the huge clash of powers.
"Ah..."
His chin was trembling in disbelief.
"H-How..."
"I hope you aren't done yet."
Raon bobbed his finger.
"You can do better."
"You son of a bitch!"
Gelmia rushed at him. A fearsome amount of murderous intent could be felt from him. His thin sword unleashed the Wind Master Swordplay's special techniques one after the other, but it wasn't too difficult for Raon to fend them off because he'd already read their flow.
'Just a little bit more.'
Raon kept polishing his stab while deflecting all of Gelmia's strikes.
The penetration and explosive power of his aura was making him nauseous, and his bones were aching, but he was perfectly fine with enduring it because he was overjoyed with his growth.
"Aah..."
Gelmia's hand holding the sword was trembling.
'I can't lose like this!'
It was necessary to kill that monstrous bastard and Burren in order to survive. If he ended up losing the fight, his life was going to be worse than death in the future.
'Stabs aren't going to work anymore.'
Judging from what happened so far, the Wind Master Swordplay didn't work against Raon. It was necessary to change the technique.
'I need to bait him out.'
There was only one solution left for him. He needed to use the Wind Master Swordplay's special technique as bait and target his back with a new swordsmanship he'd learned.
"Haa..."
Gelmia caught his breath. He increased his aura to the point where his energy center started to ache and kicked the ground.
Azure Dragon's Blade of Wind.
The ultimate technique of the Wind Master Swordplay rode the wind flowing down from the ceiling to stretch towards Raon. It was a single stab, yet it was a thousand stabs at the same time. The endless barrage was enough to make any opponent lose their fighting spirit.
'This is a fake.'
However, he didn't incorporate that much aura into the Azure Dragon's Blade of Wind. The real attack was the Silent Demonic Blade hiding behind its flashy performance. The blade of darkness contained a tremendous amount of power as it assaulted Raon's neck.
"This..."
Gelmia could see the frown on Raon's face as he faced the spreading wave of astral energy. He looked like he was completely focused on the Azure Dragon's Blade of Wind.
'It worked!'
Gelmia clenched his fist. It was impossible for anyone to fend off the Silent Demonic Blade hiding behind the Azure Dragon's Blade of Wind. Even though Raon was a monster, it was a perfect combination that left him no choice but to lose his head.
"You didn't believe in yourself."
Just as Gelmia was confident about his victory while he unleashed the Silent Demonic Blade, Raon's cold voice echoed throughout the space.
"You shouldn't have given up on your stabs."
A dragon followed his words. The red dragon looked like it came straight from Raon's eyes as its jaw became wide open, devouring the Silent Demonic Blade.
Rumble!
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m