Survival Story of a Sword King

Decisive Battle (4)

“Gasp… Gasp…”

Gasping for breath, Kibie glared at the Ancient Black Dragon in front of her.

Grrrr…

Manakiras’s cheeks puffed up like a balloon and shot off blasts of darkness like a blowgun.

Thud!

‘Oh, is that it again?’

Dozens of black spears flew in a row like machine guns.

She avoided everything desperately, but she could neither stop nor dodge it.

“Ugh!”

Instead of spewing out her Breath at once, she fired multiple projectiles like the natives in the southern jungle that blew poisonous darts and needles at their targets.

As a result, the power of each attack was overwhelmingly high. Its number had also increased enormously.

The biggest problem was that all attacks were completely unpredictable.

Staring at Manakiras, Kibie clicked her tongue.

‘You’ve been working on anti-human skills, haven’t you?’

She insisted on a long-ranged battle. Whenever Kibie approached, Manakiras kept her in check with a cautious ‘cat punch.’

Tatatak!

Even if she managed to avoid it, she swung her wings like a fly swatter to prevent her approach.

Her way of fighting was strictly geared toward dealing with small-sized enemies.

‘If I were alone, I wouldn’t have lasted a few minutes…’

Fortunately, Plater’s skills were higher than imagined.

He was physically weak and had zero sense of combat. All he had ever done was study spiritual arts and stack Prana.

In other words, his Prana reserves were higher than Leon Hart’s!

His engine and frame were old, but his car had an extremely colossal gas tank.

“Don’t worry, incarnation! This old man still has room for more!”

Spiritual light surrounded her whole body and restored energy. Manakiras frowned.

“That annoying bastard again!”

He stood tall like a lone monk in place and just held on.

If it was one-on-one, she could have just focused on the attack and smashed her opponent in a few minutes. However, since the incarnation of darkness was running wild, it was impossible to focus on Plater alone.

In that gap, Kibie’s eyes glowed as she caught her breath.

‘Thanks to you, I can hold on somehow.’

She became a pitch-black flash and split the air again.

“Ahhhhh!”

* * *

Effir continued to invoke her Polymorph Necklace.

‘Wyvern form!’

She skipped through the attacking monsters and, at the same time, avoided all of Genovia’s magic.

What if she couldn’t get away with it?

‘Human form!’

She transformed into a silver-haired girl and grabbed her double swords.

In preparation for returning to her original state, she attached a short string to the handle of the double swords and tied it to her wrist. Hence, she could fly with her weapons on her front wings, and she could hold them again once she reverted.

She pulled up Force.

-Magic Swordsmanship: Roar of The Thunder Dragon!

Like a dark cloud of lightning, she hit and ran from Genovia.

It was the same tactic she used against Hollien.

If there was anything different, it was that she wasn’t completely naked now.

In her human form, Effir’s chest and lower body were covered by black air currents. It was a magic tool, a ‘mosaic ring’ that covered parts of the body with fogs of darkness.

However, it wasn’t right for a young girl to fight naked, and Ryu Han-bin asked the Church to make it for them.

“But why is it called mosaic?”

“I don’t know. Han-bin named it.”

Leon Hart shrugged at Artis’s question.

It was a naming sense that was hard to understand with Latna’s sensibility.

Things got a little better only after Effir distracted Genovia.

‘Now we have a chance!

‘If I keep fighting like this…’

Genovia flicked her finger up.

“From bottom to top.”

The earth quaked.

The shattered bodies of monsters across the place rose in unison. Their bones, blood, and flesh headed for the Effir in the air, enchanted by destruction.

Hundreds, even thousands, of attacks flew in unison.

It was a massive carpet bombing going against gravity.

Boom!

In an instant, holes were drilled through her pitch-black wings.

“Argh!”

Screaming, the silver-maned Wyvern returned as a silver-haired girl.

They only wanted to mislead her through a new method by a few moments, but the Archmage had already found a way to cope.

Effir trembled with her bloodied arms hanging down.

‘Oh, as expected, you quickly saw through it…’

With the power gap so large, it was clear that enduring through skills was limited. That was why she couldn’t dare fly around.

Artis quickly opened up a defensive barrier.

“Let the flames of the Fire Dragon King emerge and bring forth a curtain of ashes!”

Leon Hart shouted while healing Effir.

“Beware! There’s a follow-up!”

There was no follow-up.

After Effir dropped, Genovia quietly lifted her fingers.

With a grin, she looked at the party.

“… Are you happy?”

Leon Hart frowned.

“Why would that matter?”

“I’m curious if you’re proud of yourselves for holding out this long.”

The black beauty continued talking.

“Well, it’s true you’re doing great.”

Despite the apparent level gap, the trio had been fighting efficiently.

They had faithfully practiced setting up a place to buy time, using strategies to hold the absolute back, and working together.

Even the most powerful Mage on Latna couldn’t kill them easily in a short amount of time.

Of course, the outcome wouldn’t be different because they would eventually burn out in the long run. Their goal in the first place wasn’t to win.

“By the way…”

Shaking her head, Genovia pointed across the basin.

“Your hope doesn’t seem to be okay, does he?”

* * *

Ryu Han-bin flew into the air, emitting a red Aura.

-Sword King Swordsmanship, Dog-Beating Style First Form: Random Cut!

Countless offensives hit the land.

The blood-hued waves filled the sights of the Thunder King, chopping away all the enmeshed monsters.

“Not enough.”

Garhan relaxedly swung his sword, its lightning blade striking the center of the red storm, penetrating through the Sword King’s attacks.

“Ugh!”

The shock shook Han-bin’s giant body.

Garhan stepped forward.

“Though the fighting spirit is a great weapon…”

Blue bolts of lightning spread in all directions like webs. Wild monsters burned all over the place, giving off an ashen scent.

Pazizik!

Spreading death just by moving, the Thunder King narrowed the distance by several meters.

“I have similar skills.”

The lightning blade had grown by nearly 10 meters.

Garhan swung his weapon immediately.

At first glance, it looked simple, but the blade multiplied by the dozens soon, drawing irregular straight lines and dancing in all directions.

Each attack aimed for his vital points.

‘You can’t stop this!’

Han-bin clenched his teeth.

“Ahhhhh!”

He used his fighting spirit to increase his defense as much as possible. In that state, he swung the Gigant and drew a circle.

-Sword King Swordsmanship, Dog-Beating Style Second Form: Whirlwind!

Their attacks collided, but the Sword King’s attack was canceled away.

“Still not enough.”

Garhan’s offensive mercilessly damaged Ryu Han-bin.

His body, which could tank even Nakterion’s Breath, had been cracked, torn, and sprinkled blood.

Bursting out a scream, Han-bin rolled around the floor frantically.

“Ugh!”

He raised his head, staring at Garhan as he exhaled sharp breaths.

“Gasp, gasp…”

Not long ago, he could fight well.

Awakening the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit made him equal to Garhan.

He didn’t know why, but Garhan’s moves were a little awkward. Hence, he could fill the skill gap to some extent.

But now, it was different.

“You haven’t reached your master’s level yet, young Valtara warrior.”

Garhan was smiling coldly, sparks flying from his physique.

“There’s nothing for me to fear.”

Dozens of lightning storms hovered around him, burning the looming monsters. It was simply a form of defense close to perfection.

‘That’s the Descent of The Thunder God…’

Han-bin had heard it from Kibie, but he couldn’t understand it. That was the ultimate skill of the Thunder King Garhan.

‘I didn’t expect you to be so strong…’

* * *

Garhan approached Ryu Han-bin with a relaxed expression.

His ultimate skill that converged the differentiation of time and space, the Descent of Thunder God.

It was a difficult technique that shouldn’t be used recklessly.

It had to be executed using a vast Force, so the duration was short once it started. He used to be exhausted in just a few minutes after its activation.

Well, it wasn’t a big problem because it could destroy all enemies in seconds, let alone a few minutes, but it wasn’t a negligible risk.

But now, it could be maintained much longer.

Unlike back then, his physical specifications had gone up considerably.

‘I’m glad I prepared.’

He had been praised for being one of the Top Four, but he was particularly low in basic ability.

His physical prowess and possession of the four powers also fell significantly behind compared to the other Top Three.

He had filled that gap with excellent combat instincts and sophisticated skills.

Hence, he could reach level 150s even though his stats were considerably lower.

But now he was level 156.

He had taken a great deal of experience using the Omphalos’s Blessing.

And that was achieved solely by physical stat increase. The guidelines from the devil didn’t usually strengthen the skills.

It might not be very helpful to others, but it adequately filled the missing parts for Garhan.

“Now I can maintain the Descent of The Thunder God for more than half an hour.”

Along with a cold voice, the Thunder King continued to attack.

The sky cracked, the lightning danced, the land and the monsters burned.

Ryu Han-bin couldn’t even hold out properly against his overwhelming power.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

It was inevitable. Han-bin got cut by Garhan before he could avoid it.

‘I can’t cut him. He’s dodging before he even sees it.’

Every time they swung their swords at each other, his muscles twisted, got engulfed by lightning, and got torn. Blade Aura was scattered, and blood spilled across the battlefield.

“Argh!”

Pulling up his fighting spirit, Ryu Han-bin burst into desperation.

At the same time, a red beam shot forward like a cannon.

-Valtara’s Pierce!

He was trying to find a breakthrough somehow with the Valtara’s Three Swords.

But Garhan didn’t even condone it.

“Amazing skills have big loopholes.”

The Thunder King became a ray of lightning and penetrated through his defenses like a shock.

A straight blue line divided the skies in half.

Han-bin barely avoided it, but his movements were still a little late.

Ugh!

Blood spurted up as a wound burst open on his chest.

“Ugh!”

Staggering, Ryu Han-bin stepped back.

It was an injury deep enough to make him dizzy.

“Usually, that would drill a hole through the heart…”

In admiration, Garhan clicked his tongue.

“Your muscle is so thick that it only cut the flesh. That reminded me of someone.”

“Gasp… gasp…”

Han-bin was gasping with a grim look.

‘There’s no openings…’

Garhan laughed as if he had read his thoughts.

“Do you want to take a break? I’m afraid there won’t be any.”

He leisurely spoke, holding a huge blade of lightning.

“Baotolt’s Heavenly Sword is scary. I still don’t know how to handle it.”

For Garhan, the Descent of The Thunder God was the strongest technique he could use. After using it, there was no plan B.

But Baotolt was different.

For him, the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit was just a process for the Heavenly Sword Diastima.

It was an interim procedure to launch a skill that could neither be avoided nor prevented.

“So I did something stupid for a second.”

But he didn’t need to worry.

What he feared was Baotolt’s Heavenly Sword. His young disciple hadn’t mastered it yet.

He could prevent anything Han-bin could do in that case.

“I don’t know if you can use Diastima or not, but…”

The strongest Magic Swordsman on Latna burst into arrogant laughter.

“If I eliminate the opportunity to use it, what does it matter if it’s powerful or not?”