TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 78
Clang! Clink!
Amid the resounding clash of swords.
From the mouth of Lakradiyon, who had been locked in combat with Nakcheon for quite some time, rough breaths escaped.
Perhaps it was because dedicating her entire life to a single sword was no lie.
Lakradiyon did not back down against Nakcheon and received his strikes head-on.
However, the wounds on her body continued to increase.
The reason lay in the nature of Rain Thunder Prime.
Each time their swords collided, the thunderous aura’s aftermath burst forth, inflicting injuries on Lakradiyon beyond her blade.
Because of this, Lakradiyon had to continuously envelop her body in aura, which was being consumed at a rapid pace.
If only she had an overflowing aura like Charlotte’s, no matter how much she used it.
Lakradiyon’s aura, which was slightly stronger than that of an average warrior, was no more than a stream compared to a lake.
Thus, her thin aura could not completely block the effects of Rain Thunder Prime.
And that was not the only problem.
Shing!
In a brief opening she aimed for, Lakradiyon succeeded in slashing Nakcheon’s arm.
But the severed arm of Nakcheon instantly regenerated.
This was precisely why Nakcheon was regarded as an indomitable monster.
Nakcheon, supported by the Demonic Bastion, possessed infinite regenerative power and could recover even if decapitated.
A monster that revived endlessly, wielding Rain Thunder Prime with unlimited aura.
It was inevitable that countless challengers despaired before him.
Just considering Nakcheon himself was already beyond the norm, but immortality?
It was natural for everyone to give up on reaching the 9th floor.
Yet, Lakradiyon stood before such a Nakcheon.
She, who had once been defeated, now faced him again.
Clink!
Following the resonance of swords, the aftermath of the aura burst forth, transforming into sharp blades that wounded Lakradiyon.
As if her lungs were tearing apart due to the lack of breath.
Lakradiyon gritted her teeth and firmly gripped her sword, enduring Nakcheon’s attack.
Perhaps because of the numerous minor injuries, though there were no major ones.
Her clothes, soaked in blood from countless wounds, made her feel the dizziness of blood loss and physical exhaustion.
‘Just a bit more.’
But she forcibly held onto her fading consciousness.
Once more, she blocked Nakcheon’s sword.
‘Just a bit more.’
Lakradiyon felt as though all sounds and sensations around her had vanished.
She focused entirely on Nakcheon before her, pouring all her concentration into him.
Perhaps because of this, her sword movements became faster than usual.
Where her sword should strike to fully convey its strength to her opponent.
And which form of swordsmanship would allow her to deflect and gain more time.
Various thoughts filled her entire being.
It was a moment of realization.
A step taken upwards, climbing over a wall.
Although many steps remained to reach the summit, this steady step elevated her once more.
“Ha.”
Lakradiyon let out a short laugh.
Yes, so this is what it was.
This is the world she had longed to see, the reason she had wielded her sword all this time.
She finally understood why she had yearned to grow through her relentless swordsmanship in the past.
Slash!
Chunks of flesh, severed by the aftermath of the blade, scattered onto the ground.
Even so, she was still not enough to defeat Nakcheon.
But the path became visible.
Steadily advancing step by step was her specialty.
This alone was a monumental achievement.
“So, Mr. Kraush.”
Amidst the black flames that had filled the surroundings, Lakradiyon spoke.
“You no longer need to worry about me.”
Crackle, crack!
At the moment the sound of flames flaring echoed once more.
Following the cracks, the black flames engulfed the entire carriage.
The carriage collapsed, revealing the plain grass beneath.
Nakcheon and Lakradiyon fell intertwined as they plummeted.
Lakradiyon, already bearing numerous wounds and lacking strength, could do nothing as she fell toward the ground.
Thus, when she closed her eyes.
She realized, instead of the impact of the fall, that someone had caught her.
Thud, crash!
It was none other than Kraush.
Though Kraush was slightly smaller than her.
He easily caught Lakradiyon, withstanding the carriage’s fall and standing firmly on the plain.
Kraush gently set her down.
Lakradiyon staggered and bowed her head.
“Thank you for waiting.”
She noticed that Kraush had already burned the entire carriage to ashes.
But Kraush had waited.
Because he realized that Lakradiyon was growing, here and now.
If she had been a prodigy, she would have seized this moment as an opportunity to soar, as if sprouting wings. But her skill level rested between that of the average and a genius.
Thus, the step she took was a barely noticeable, tiny one to others.
However, Kraush could see that step clearly.
Because he knew how much effort it took for him to achieve such a step himself.
“You did well.”
Leaving Lakradiyon behind, Kraush began walking across the plains.
This was outside the Demonic Bastion.
An unknown expanse of grassland.
Luckily, the Armed Princess was nowhere to be seen.
Since the carriage constantly moved and changed locations, it must have crashed far away from here.
Through the smoke created by the carriage’s destruction, an old man’s figure emerged on the plains.
The old man, dragging Rain Thunder Prime, had a sunken chest, his ribs visibly protruding.
With labored breaths, he appeared as though he might collapse at any moment.
It was only natural.
The old man, whose life had been prolonged by the Demonic Bastion, had begun using his own life force upon leaving it.
He no longer possessed infinite regeneration or vitality.
Outside the Demonic Bastion, Nakcheon was merely an old man skilled with a sword.
‘Had he been out here a few more years older, he would have crumbled immediately.’
According to Belorkin, Nakcheon had collapsed into a corpse the moment he exited the destroyed carriage.
By then, Nakcheon’s life force had been utterly depleted.
Thanks to that, Belorkin had easily obtained Rain Thunder Prime.
However, Nakcheon did not collapse this time.
This meant that a fragment of his life force still remained.
“It seems you have no need for conversation.”
Now free from the binds of the Demonic Bastion, Nakcheon stood.
Surely, his mind must have returned as well.
However, instead of speaking, he responded by pointing his sword at Kraush.
The crimson gleam in Nakcheon’s eyes as he stared at Kraush was unmistakable.
It burned fiercely, as if he intended to exhaust every last ounce of his life force in this battle.
A life that would end anyway.
To die fighting as a swordsman until the very end. Is that it?
Truly, he was a man who only thought of himself.
‘Perhaps.’
It might be that he simply wanted to confirm whether Kraush was worthy of Rain Thunder Prime one last time.
‘That’s just my guess, though.’
Kraush lowered his stance, preparing the Sword Demon’s ki-gathering technique.
If the other side wanted to fight, then all he had to do was respond.
Besides, there was something Kraush also wanted to test.
At that moment, Nakcheon kicked off the ground and charged.
The overwhelming presence of golden aura emanating from Rain Thunder Prime was staggering.
Yet, faced with the oncoming Nakcheon, Kraush did nothing but close his eyes.
Crackle—
In that instant, sparks coursed through Kraush’s body.
It was the moment when a brief spark flickered past.
Clang!
At some point, Kraush’s drawn sword collided with Nakcheon’s blade.
Nakcheon’s eyes narrowed faintly between his brows.
Then, maintaining their locked stance, he retrieved Rain Thunder Prime and swung his blade again.
Clang!
Clang, clang, clang!
And thus began Nakcheon’s sword dance.
True to his ghostly reputation, the blades unleashed by Nakcheon were like a torrential downpour.
Within that relentless storm,
Kraush, with his eyes calmly closed, deflected every one of Nakcheon’s strikes.
And that wasn’t all.
Even though the aura of Rain Thunder Prime should have inflicted damage by its very nature, Kraush’s body was left completely unscathed.
That was because Kraush was redirecting even the residual aura of Rain Thunder Prime entirely through his sword.
Nakcheon’s brow furrowed.
He was the one attacking, yet Kraush’s footsteps were inching ever closer.
An incomprehensible situation was unfolding before his eyes.
‘It’s happening.’
Despite Kraush’s closed eyes, he could feel an even more intense presence than before as he intercepted Nakcheon’s sword dance.
Crackle!
His Sixth Sense spread a thin filament of aura, and between its delicate threads,
the sparks riding along the Lioner continuously transmitted electrical signals to Kraush.
Those signals detected everything, even the invisible ripples of aura.
And, true to the nature of lightning, that detection relayed information to Kraush in an instant.
His Sixth Sense, enhanced through Lioner, had significantly improved its ability to convey information.
And the moment the Blunt Sword was added to this equation,
Kraush had stepped into a completely different realm than before.
‘One meter.’
The gap of a single stride.
This space, where his Sixth Sense and Lioner converged, created yet another dimension.
Thunderclap.
A new domain of the Blunt Sword that reacted like a lightning strike to all things.
“Grrk!”
As Kraush closed in step by step, Nakcheon let out a blood-curdling sound from his throat.
He realized that this approach would not be enough to pierce Kraush.
Thus, Nakcheon decided to change tactics.
Bang!
When Kraush’s sword clashed with Nakcheon’s, a violent shockwave erupted.
Even though the Thunderclap dispersed the force, the impact still came through.
“Ha, you crazy old man.”
Even Kraush, who received the blow, reacted with incredulity.
The wrinkles on Nakcheon’s face deepened in an instant.
But in exchange, Rain Thunder Prime, which he swung towards Kraush, burned far more fiercely than before.
The innate energy, known as the source of life.
He was now burning that innate energy to ignite the final spark of his life with even greater intensity.
“A life that would end anyway, huh? Is that it!”
With a shout, Kraush unleashed Annihilation Erosion.
If the other side was willing to use their innate energy, then all he had to do was respond in earnest.
The heat of Annihilation Erosion, which permeated every corner of Kraush’s body, reached its second stage, changing the movement of his sword.
Bang!
The consecutive explosions made it impossible to believe their clashes were the result of mere swords.
A battle of sheer power against power.
With crimson eyes blazing and smoke billowing, Kraush began to collide with Nakcheon.
Bang, bang, bang!
Sweat droplets scattered.
Even with Annihilation Erosion in play, his bones trembled, and his muscles screamed as if they were tearing apart.
The heat of Annihilation Erosion made it feel as though his insides would soon be cooked.
And Nakcheon was no different.
The vitality he had burned away was fading by the second, draining the life from his body as his skin rapidly aged to a sallow hue.
The muscles clinging to his arms continued to wither, exposing his gaunt frame.
Yet, Rain Thunder Prime, infused with Nakcheon’s aura, blazed with an even more brilliant golden light.
And upon Kraush’s Dark Sword, an intense black flame roared as if it would devour everything.
The golden light and black flame clashed once more, setting the surroundings ablaze.
From a distance, Lakradiyon could only stare in a trance at the scene.
She understood that both had pushed themselves to their absolute limits to transcend humanity.
Bang!
Amid the resounding explosion,
Kraush gripped his sword until his hands threatened to burst.
‘One second ahead.’
That was the time his body accelerated by Annihilation Erosion had granted him.
Simultaneously, Kraush sensed that Nakcheon, too, had reached his limit.
The next exchange would be the final one.
When both Nakcheon and Kraush realized this fact,
Nakcheon’s sword moved first.
His blade, surpassing gold, reached a pure white brilliance.
The blade, imbued with his singular will to cut through anything, embodied all of Nakcheon’s remaining life force.
The ominous glow, distorting the very air, made it seem as though he had momentarily transcended the realm of humanity.
Watching this sight, Lakradiyon’s hair stood on end.
Even though she wasn’t directly confronting it, she knew.
If one were to face that, death would be inevitable.
“Mr. Kraush!”
She screamed his name in desperation.
Kraush was engulfed in an unmatched stillness.
Deep within Kraush’s mind.
A single drop fell onto the endlessly stretching lake, creating ripples.
It was the process Kraush underwent to reach the pinnacle of the Sword and Spirit Fusion.
However, this process was unlike anything before.
Only flames fiercely roared above it.
Because a streak of lightning surged upward from within.
Atop the Dark Sword.
The Thunder Energy wrapped around it, taking the shape of a scabbard.
Simultaneously, inside that Thunder Energy scabbard, Kraush’s Black Flame began to recklessly weave through it, like the Sword Demon’s ki-gathering technique.
It was the moment when the Sword Demon’s ki-gathering technique merged inside the Thunder Energy scabbard.
The power grew stronger and soon reached the magnitude of a storm.
The sword he held felt as if it would burst from its weight.
Even so, Kraush gritted his teeth and stubbornly endured the force.
Finally, when the storm reached its peak.
It was the moment the Thunder Energy scabbard split apart with Kraush’s sharp, glinting eyes.
Flash!
In an instant, the burst of light swallowed everything.
The storm of Black Flame, at last, revealed itself to the world.
[Annihilation Erosion.]
[Third Form.]
[Sky-Thundering Annihilation.]
It was the moment when the storm of Black Flame and Electric Charge devoured all light.