Chapter 184

Meanwhile, the person facing Glacia was an old swordsman. At first glance, he seemed like a frail, unimpressive old man who could barely walk. However, Glacia, with her years of combat experience, could tell. The old man before her was no ordinary fighter.

The old man was tapping the ground with his cane-like sword as he approached.

“From what I see, the one before me is a fellow swordsman. The scent of blood suggests you’ve slain quite a few. Yet, the way your heartbeat quickens in my presence… you’re no ally. Moreover, your stride and footsteps… you must be a woman… in your early to mid-20s… If my guess is correct, you’re likely a half-elf or half-vampire. Am I right?”

The old man was blind.

“Quite the accurate deduction. Perhaps you should consider a different line of work with that skill.”

Glacia drew her sword, its tip pointing at the old man’s head. Yet, he chuckled and replied.

“In this world, the sin of pointing a blade cannot be erased so easily. Glacia Winterheart of the Winterheart family.”

“…How do you know my name?”

“That swordsmanship is unmistakably of the Winterheart family… and at your age, with mixed blood, it can only be you. Heh heh…”

Glacia began to tense up. Behind the old man, whom she had initially judged as merely skilled, a massive tiger began to appear.

“Why would someone of your caliber ally with the Black Round Table, wielding your sword against the world?”

“Foolish talk. If a swordsman wishes to rise higher, it’s more efficient to cut down the many rather than the few… The thrill of the blade is greater, and the efficiency is better, no?”

The old man was obsessed with the sword. A man who had devoted his eyes, past, present, and future to the sword. He had no peculiar constitution that tormented him. The only thing that set him apart was one thing.

“A swordsman needs endless savagery. After cutting down sheaves of wheat, you want to cut trees. After trees, rocks. After rocks, people. After people, armies. After armies, the earth. After the earth, the sky. After the sky, the sun. Isn’t that the instinct of a swordsman?”

“You’re completely insane.”

“Madness is the only way to reach certain heights. Do you think it’s wrong to be obsessed with something?”

Glacia began to feel fear. Before her stood a man who had discarded everything but the sword, without regret.

“What a swordsman should seek is not wealth, honor, justice, or revenge, but the transcendence of realms. Compared to that, everything else is worse than trash. A sword to protect? A sword for justice? A sword to fulfill a mission? A sword for revenge? All are just the nonsense of stagnant trash trapped within their purposes. A sword has no purpose. Only the instinct to reach higher realms remains!”

Glacia sighed and drew her twin swords. These two swords were clearly of a different quality compared to the old man’s shabby sword. One was a demon-slaying sword that had absorbed countless demon souls, and the other was a sword of extreme cold bestowed by the highest god. In contrast, the old man’s sword, though well-sharpened, was old and unimpressive.

“This isn’t a fair match in terms of sword quality. Would you like to borrow one? Or should I use a regular sword?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Preparing a superior sword is also part of a swordsman’s skill. Taming a fine sword is also a swordsman’s ability. To disregard that is to say you won’t fight with your full power.”

He was different from the others at the Round Table. He purely sought battles with the strong. Moreover, for a man whose only goal was to reach higher realms, concepts like justice were worthless.

“Too much talk. Between swordsmen, what should be exchanged is not words of good and evil…”

Glacia suddenly blocked the old man’s strike. It was a precise, swift, and fierce blow. Only by blocking with both swords did she manage to hold her ground. Otherwise, the match would have ended in a single strike.

“The sound of our swords cutting through the wind!”

They both stepped back and readied their stances. However, thinking it proper to exchange names before the duel, Glacia introduced herself.

“Glacia Winterheart of the Winterheart family, fiancée of Werner Altan. I humbly request your guidance.”

The old man, not one to be outdone, responded in kind.

“Percival of the Black Round Table, a humble swordsman known as the Phantom Sword… Bi-ryeong. I hope for a meaningful duel.”

A humble swordsman of unknown origin clashed with a warrior of noble lineage from the north. Countless sword strikes, without a single gap, aimed for each other’s necks. Defenses, counters, and unseen feints began a conversation of swords.

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Meanwhile, Airi and Camellia wandered through the forest, starting their search for their comrades before meeting the Spirit King. The presence of the Black Round Table’s minions roaming about made it clear that the forest was no safe zone. Moreover, there was no telling what kind of monster might leap out from the shadows.

“We should hurry and meet up with Master.”

“Yeah, Werner has always been terrible with directions since he was a kid. He’s probably lost somewhere.”

In fact, Camellia was no exception, and Zick’s entire party was notoriously bad with directions. There was even a time when it took them over a week to reach the next village.

“What was Master like when he was young?”

“How should I put it… He acted like a cute little kid, but he had no qualms about taking lives. He’d be grossed out by fish or animal heads, though. So, the annoying prep work always fell to us.”

“He was like that when he lived with me too. That’s why I always ended up handling the fish or chicken heads…”

At that moment, a strange sense of unease passed through both their minds. A peculiar feeling that they might have been deceived.

“And he was really dependent on your mother, Media. She taught him a lot and always took care of things behind the scenes.”

“My mother…”

“Well, he was closest to your mother… but he was also close to me, got a castle from Squar, called Melissa a rotten old hag and got turned into a bear once, followed Zick like an older brother, learned manners from Ricardo, raided bandit storerooms with Melchior, and with the Heavenly Demon Old Man…”

As they reminisced and hurried along, both Camellia and Airi noticed something strange.

“…Airi, this forest ahead… doesn’t it feel unnatural… no, blatantly strange?”

“Yes, anyone who isn’t blind would notice.”

The plants around Airi and Camellia were all withered and dead. Especially where footprints were left, not a single blade of grass remained. Airi recalled the culprit who had killed Werner in her past life.

‘No, there’s no way those two are here… there’s no way…’

The enemy who had first brought her despair, the one Werner had to sacrifice his life to take down, couldn’t possibly be here.

“This smell…”

Camellia seemed to catch a strange scent. But she quickly dismissed the possibility. It was too absurd even for her.

“No, that can’t be. Besides, these footprints are barefoot, not from shoes. It must be some monkey-like monster.”

“If that’s the case, we’re in big trouble. If just moving through the area causes plants to wither and die, this monster is on another level.”

“Hmm… We’ll just have to be careful and move forward. And if the kids encounter that monster, it’s game over, so we need to pick up the pace.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Who was truly blind? The one who, even without sight, could accurately gauge an enemy’s strength and charge in, or those who, denying the obvious truth, rushed headlong into hell with their eyes wide open.