Chapter 5: A Sip
Ah, damn, I really can’t act worth a damn.
“Draw your sword.”
I told him to at least pretend to fight.
They’re already here, aren’t they?
“There he is……!”
“Were three already taken down?!”
“Help Ransen! We need to hold him here!”
Two more men in hoods were rushing over from behind.
This time, it was the group that had gone west for the search.
A prickling killing intent filled the air.
Sreung!
The sound of a blade cutting through the air. The sharp aura unique to ancient Aura made my spine tingle.
I locked eyes with the woman’s blue eyes until the very last moment, then turned my back.
Jjeojeojeong!
Jjeukeok!
“Keuk!”
“Gguhhuk……!”
One I cut, the other I stabbed.
They instinctively raised their swords to block my attack, but their Aura was even weaker than the woman’s.
Shattered fragments of steel scattered and fell, glinting.
Once again, my blade was nicked.
What a joke.
Weak as hell, yet their sharpness was insane.
“Gguhk…….”
“Keuk……. You…… betrayed…….”
The two men, one with his throat slashed and the other with his lungs pierced, died thrashing on the floor without even a scream.
“No matter how low-grade they were…… Experts taken down this easily?”
She seemed greatly shocked.
The woman glanced back and forth between my sword and the fallen men.
“Could it be…… are you really a Swordmaster? But if that were true…….”
The woman looked confused.
Well.
I was a Swordmaster.
By the standards of ten thousand years later.
I pulled out a rag and wiped the blood from my blade.
I didn’t answer her question; instead, I asked one of my own.
“The kids are held here?”
“Don’t you know that better than I do?”
“No. I didn’t know.”
“How could you not know…”
“Believe me. It’s the truth.”
“How could I, with just words…”
“You’ll have to believe me. Up until now, it hasn’t been that hard…”
Swiik.
I raised my sword.
Not toward her, but toward the torch-lit corridor ahead.
“That man, I can’t quite gauge. I want you to help.”
Step.
From the end of the corridor, a shadowy figure emerged.
A man cloaked in a deep black robe.
The leader of the cultists.
‘I had hoped to ambush him if possible…’
But it was clear I had already been discovered. There was no helping it.
The leader’s low, coarse voice echoed down the corridor.
“So. Ransen. You betrayed us?”
Step, step.
His gaze swept over the corpses of his scattered subordinates.
He showed no sense of crisis, only calm composure and leisure.
“Not bad at all. Five souls who died wretchedly from betrayal. The attribute of chaos inherent in betrayal itself. And on top of that, the soul of a noble knight…… the Lord will be all the more pleased.”
The leader’s eyes gleamed with the madness of a fanatic.
Creeeak.
I shuddered involuntarily.
What the hell was this?
* * *
When judging only by Aura, he was barely at the level of a Mid-grade Expert… yet, an unknown ominous energy kept brushing against my cheek.
Why did it feel so unsettling?
I wasn’t the only one who sensed it.
“A High-grade Expert… Why would such a skilled man be in a place like this...”
The woman’s low murmur sounded as if her throat was tightening with tension.
High-grade Expert. I pressed that word into my mind.
‘The ones I fought earlier were, by this era’s standards, Low-grade Experts, right? If this guy is High-grade, then sure, he’s fairly strong…….’
But still, shouldn’t it not be this nerve-wracking? If a Low-grade here is only at that level, then a High-grade shouldn’t be anything special either…
And yet, I couldn’t shake the discomfort.
‘He’s clearly human… but he doesn’t feel like one.’
Rather, he felt like a sword itself.
The sound, the scent, his movements.
From all of it, there was a faint sense of incongruity.
It felt as though the wind was being cut along the path he walked.
If one were to shape a sword into the form of a man, would it feel like this?
My instincts were warning me against him.
‘If I calculate everything logically, there’s no reason I should be at a disadvantage.’
Even so, I was reluctant to strike first.
It felt like shoving my head into an unknown demonic pit.
I glanced back at the woman behind me.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch?”
“…You want me to attack first? …And then stab me in the back?”
“The kids need rescuing. Can you beat him without my help?”
“…Damn it. I should have requested backup before coming here…”
She hesitated in conflict, but eventually stepped forward.
“I’m a Mid-grade Expert. …Alone, it’s impossible.”
“Go. I’ll cover you.”
“…I’ll trust you.”
Tadat!
The woman kicked off the ground as lightly as a feather.
Kagang! Kak! Kagagang!
Waves of ancient Aura clashed and collided in midair.
It was clear she was being pushed back.
She twisted her sword desperately to divert the leader’s attacks, but even so, her blade was shaved away as though whittled by a pencil sharpener.
There was a vast difference in sharpness of Aura.
I studied the enemy calmly.
Meanwhile, the woman was being thoroughly beaten.
Jjjeoeeok!
One kick from the leader caved in her breastplate, and—
Bbaak!
An overhead smash from his hilt split open the skin above her eye, blood spraying.
“Keuk! What are you doing, not helping!”
Frantically blocking, she called out to me in desperation.
But I didn’t answer and continued my observation in silence.
‘His strength is about the same as mine, and his speed is a little faster, huh?’
There was no anomaly.
The leader, supposedly a High-grade Expert, possessed power equivalent to a Mid-grade Expert of my era.
He didn’t seem like a mage either.
Still, there was something that bothered me.
‘But I can’t predict his sword paths.’
Maybe because his swordsmanship was completely different from what I knew in my era, it was hard to read the timing and trajectory of his attacks.
It was almost impressive that the woman was managing to block all of that and hang on.
‘…Alright. I’ll be cautious. Eliminate the variables, and end this in a single strike.’
Meanwhile, the woman grew more and more desperate.
“No, now! If you attacked now—!”
“So it really is betrayal?!”
“Hey!!!”
She was shredded in an instant.
Her once-glistening blonde hair was now a tangled mess, like a stray mutt that hadn’t been washed in three months, and her armor was slashed and torn all over.
“What the hell are you doing!!!”
Even the overly formal speech she had stubbornly clung to vanished as she screamed, and it was then that I finally caught the enemy’s opening.
Uuuuung—!
Dark blue Aura surged up from beneath my feet, climbing along my shoulders.
The Banroa royal family’s signature charge technique [Tempest].
I leaned my body forward, as if about to topple, and converted every ounce of energy into propulsion.
The condensed Aura strengthened my calves and thighs, then burst out from the soles of my feet.
A stream of Aura wrapped around my skin, shoving aside the resistance of the wind.
Kwaaaang—!
A dash that surpassed the limits of a Mid-grade Expert.
Dust exploded up from the shattered granite floor.
The outpouring of Aura and the displaced air left a storm raging behind me.
By the time I took a single step, I was already right in front of the enemy.
Even the woman, who had been screaming for my help, hadn’t sensed my movement at all.
A single stride that split the moment.
Kwajik!
As my foot slammed down once more, I wound that terrifying speed into the tip of my blade.
‘This ends here!’
The enemy gave me an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
So I went all out—perhaps excessively so.
There was no way this wouldn’t work.
That was what I firmly believed.
Bzzt!
Jjeooong!
Until a sudden light burst out before my eyes and swallowed the entire corridor.
‘Wh-what the hell……!’
An unbearable pain shot up my grip.
It wasn’t the smooth sensation of cutting through flesh.
Something had slammed into the tip of my sword.
The impact jolted through my hand, tingling across my entire body.
I hurriedly leapt back.
My vision, momentarily blinded by the dazzling flash, slowly returned.
Beside me, the woman had also stumbled back in shock, while in front of us, the hood had fallen from the man’s head, his face twisted in a grimace.
Chiiiiiiik—!
From his necklace, thick white smoke billowed upward.
He touched the scorching pendant lightly and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha? Did I just almost die?”
What the hell— that necklace.
Was it an artifact?
The woman muttered bitterly.
“Keuk…! The Necklace of Protection!”
No way— even an artifact from the Age of Magic shouldn’t be able to block Sword Aura this easily…?
But I didn’t have the luxury of being shocked.
Skeok!
Seugeogeok!
Kakak!
The man, his face twisted like a demon, began a true dance of blades.
‘What the hell? Why’s he like this?’
At first glance, his sword was no different from his underlings’.
Just a transparent shimmer, warping the air.
But once our blades clashed, it was entirely different.
Kak!
Seukak!
‘At this rate… my sword will break, won’t it?’
This time, it wasn’t just my blade chipping.
The leader’s sword held against my Aura Blade and, instead, sank deeply into my weapon.
I had to concentrate Aura on every impact point just to barely hold him off.
Jjeong!
Jjeojeong!
I couldn’t withstand his momentum and was forced to retreat again and again.
‘This is bad…’
The woman shouted out.
“What are you doing! Your sword energy is colored, so why are you this weak!”
No… that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. The “sword energy” you’re talking about and the Sword Aura I know are completely different things, aren’t they……?
Can’t you tell by looking?
That transparent shimmer is what you call sword energy.
The color that dyes the blade— that’s Sword Aura.
Huh?
The man sneered.
“Can’t you see? He’s just a fraud. So what if his sword energy is colored? He’s nothing but a half-baked swordsman who can’t even read the heart of the sword.”
I’d lived through countless battles rolling under Count Kxias.
I’d even reached the heights of being called a strategic weapon— a Swordmaster.
And yet… fraud, half-baked?
I wanted to refute him, but the reality was my pathetic retreat, step after step.
‘What kind of swordsmanship is this….’
It wasn’t just the sharp force of his blade cutting through Aura that was the problem.
His sword was profound.
Yes. Profound.
That was the only word for it.
Every swing seemed to reap three or four benefits, as if he could foresee dozens of moves ahead.
It was like he was unleashing divine strokes one after another— the kind one might witness only once or twice in a lifetime.
Before ten exchanges passed, my stance was already collapsing.
My prosthetic hand and leg tangled awkwardly.
Cold sweat soaked my back.
‘That woman…… how the hell did she last this long……?!’
I swung with all I had, but disaster crept closer with each clash.
“Keuk……!”
The wounds Nagi had inflicted on me earlier throbbed, and the reckless use of Aura sent sharp pain tingling through my entire body.
Pik! Piit!
Even when I dodged, his blade reached out slyly and cut me, new wounds piling up across my body. The droplets of blood scattering in the air belonged to both me and the woman.
‘…He’s too strong.’
At this rate, I couldn’t win.
“Farewell, Ransen.”
Mockery brushed the man’s lips.
Despair welled on the woman’s face.
Fine. I made up my mind.
A fraud, was I?
“Then let’s see if this is a fraud too. Take it…!”
Bbaduk.
I couldn’t win unless I risked my life.
Uuuuuuung—!
I clenched my teeth.
I squeezed the cracked Aura Core dry.
Chchchch—!
Dark blue Aura, thickly dyed, surged beyond the blade.
Aura Threads, pulled out strand by strand, like threads.
The last flame I could kindle, fueled by my life itself, from this body that was already broken beyond repair.
Bbadik!
Bbadijik!
The fractures in the core spread wider and wider, and unbearable agony pounded through my body.
What awaited me afterward would be a devastating price. But for a brief moment, I could regain at least part of the might I once had.
‘I just need to win. If I win and get the Elixir……! That’s enough!’
It was like riding on the back of a dragon.
Enduring the pain, I slammed down with the Aura overflowing through my body.
Jjjeoooong!
“Keuk……! You?!”
The man, who had been so composed while facing me until just now, showed a flicker of bewilderment on his face.
Jjjeoeeong!
Jjeong!
I didn’t know how the hell it was possible, but even when I struck with Peak Sword Aura, the force within his blade didn’t break.
No— my blade was still the one getting chipped.
His sharpness was so insane that it cut through even Peak Aura.
‘This damned ancient swordsmanship……!’
Still, thankfully, I had the clear advantage in strength.
Each clash of our blades forced him stumbling back.
He couldn’t react in time to my speed and power.
“How……! How is this possible?! You can’t even read the heart of the sword, you’re just a half-baked fraud, so how can you have this kind of power!”
The man’s face turned paler by the second.
The heart of the sword?
I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.
But this— this was the sword of the future.
Shurreuk!
As he desperately tried to parry my blade, the Aura Threads spread like spiderwebs and grazed his forearm and chest.
That was why a Peak Expert was considered outside the norm.
Even if the blade was blocked, the branching Aura Threads couldn’t be stopped.
And yet—
Kang! Kakang!
‘…It’s not cutting?’
The chest and arm struck by the Aura Threads remained intact.
From the man’s black armor, a faint light pulsed. It wasn’t ordinary armor, that much was clear.
‘Damn this Age of Magic. What kind of armor can block Aura Threads….’
There was no time.
The glow of my Aura was dimming.
Soon, it would shatter.
My Aura Core.
So—
‘I’ll stake everything on this strike.’
Drawing out even the last dregs of strength, I swung a great slash from left to right.
The straight thrust of my blade and the whip-like Aura Threads simultaneously targeted the man’s neck.
Jjjeong!
Skeok!
My sword split in two, spinning through the air.
“Gggh…”
The cultist leader’s sword quivered right beside my neck.
It couldn’t advance any further.
Even though my sword was broken, my Aura had landed.
The supple, curving Aura Thread had cleanly carved through the man’s neck.
‘Haa…’
I swallowed a sigh of relief.
I hadn’t expected my sword to snap even after pouring that much Aura into it.
‘This is insane. How can something be that sharp….’
I let out a breath and looked down at the cultist leader as he died.
“Ggh… uh…”
His dying gasp was nothing more than air leaking from his throat.
Unable to hold in the blood spurting out, he slowly collapsed to the floor, sinking into a spreading pool of red.
And then—
Bbadik!
My Aura Core shattered completely.
“Urgh…”
I collapsed on the spot, sick to my stomach.
Paseuseu…
As the unpleasant sensation of my Aura Core disintegrating spread, the strength drained from my entire body.
‘At this rate, I might actually die…’
Something was seriously wrong.
Head pounding, nausea rising, blood spilling uncontrollably from my mouth.
My vision darkened.
Not yet…
At the very least, I had to get the kids out of Kushan City…
‘Please. Please let it be here.’
On my knees, I crawled clumsily to the dead man’s body and searched his robes.
A small wooden box.
I opened it…… and there it was!
A gray key and a finger-sized Elixir!
“It’s here…!”
Of course. It was valuable, so he kept it close to him!
He must have thought it would be safest at his side!
As expected! I trusted you, cultist leader!
I was saved. I was saved now!
With trembling hands, I hastily pulled out the stopper and threw the Elixir into my mouth.
If I didn’t drink it now, I’d die. I was sure of it.
Gulp.
The moment I managed a single sip of the Elixir—
“Just who are you…?”
The woman asked.
At the same time—
Ddalgurang!
The Elixir slipped from my hand, rolling across the floor.
Half of its contents still remaining.
“Huh? Wh-what?”
The woman looked around in confusion, her figure growing more and more distant.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
The sound of clock hands filled every direction.
The river of time wrapped around me, and once again, I was pulled away from the flow, sucked into somewhere else.
My mind went completely dark.
* * *
Thung!
Thud!
Ransen’s body appeared as if dropping out of thin air.
Tanggurang—
A metallic book fell beside him.
The children happened to spot him just then.
“Teacher!”
“It’s our teacher!”
They rushed over like little chicks flocking to their mother.
They shook Ransen’s body, but he didn’t respond. Blood soaked his mouth.
“What do we do? What do we do?!”
“Quick, call Seklan!”
The children panicked in chaos.
Amid them, Ransen lay as if dead.
In his hand, he still clutched a small wooden box tightly.