Chapter 194

Valenstein’s sword, unleashed with skill, strikes like lightning.

Though not at the level of Ai-shan Gi-or’s inhuman strength, Valenstein had also reached the limits of mastery. When the power of Life Force is harnessed as pure physical strength, even Ha-shal-leur couldn’t underestimate its might.

“Right. So this is how it’s going to be.”

Ha-shal-leur gritted her teeth and countered Valenstein’s slash.

Every time their swords clashed, red sparks scattered in all directions. The Black Iron Sword was helplessly deflected, repeatedly pulled back by the threads of Life Force, screaming endlessly.

If it weren’t for the skill of twisting the direction of force to disperse the impact, she would have lost her sword long ago.

The “Net of Blades” technique couldn’t even be attempted.

The essence of this skill was to unravel the threads of Life Force covering the sword, scattering them in all directions. In other words, the sword would be defenseless for a moment when activated.

For an ordinary knight, it wouldn’t matter, but if Valenstein wielded the Jin Sword, he wouldn’t miss the chance to shatter the Black Iron blade.

“Your laughter has stopped, Ai-shan Gi-or! Does your severed chest hurt?”

Valenstein mocked her.

He wasn’t wrong. If it weren’t for the injury of having her ribs completely sliced, she might have fought back with full strength.

But now, it was impossible.

The torn flesh and misaligned bones were forcibly held in place, but the wounds hadn’t healed. Moreover, she had expended much energy to slaughter the knights as quickly and brutally as possible.

She could endure the searing pain, but if the wounds reopened while exerting full strength, death would be certain.

With her ribs barely holding together, she couldn’t even use the “Falling Puppet” technique recklessly.

“If only I could use Mother’s sword…!”

Ha-shal-leur swallowed her boiling frustration.

The sword of oath, Durandal.

She hadn’t even known its name until she heard it from Ludwig, a middle-aged man.

She didn’t know about its blessing power.

The sword, which willingly lent its power to the usurper, refused to reveal its true abilities to her, its rightful owner. Instead, it vibrated and interfered whenever she tried to infuse it with Life Force.

Though she cherished it as her mother’s heirloom… if it weren’t for that, she would have thrown it into a furnace.

Still, its basic strength was incomparable to Black Iron, so she had used it as a sturdy and sharp sword in the past.

But now, she hesitated to even draw it.

She remembered the battle between Knut, a man she had briefly met in her childhood, and the usurper who had taken her body.

It was ridiculous to be possessed by a mere snake’s lingering thoughts, but that wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that the crazed usurper regained his sanity the moment he saw her mother’s sword.

Ha-shal-leur had felt it too.

At that moment, something had intervened through the sword, restoring the usurper’s sanity.

If she drew Durandal now, the same thing might happen.

Pulling her, the rightful owner, into unconsciousness and handing her body over to the usurper again.

If that happened, it would be the end.

If the usurper, who didn’t even know how to handle Life Force properly, regained control, the suppressed wounds would burst open.

“But for now, it’s fine.”

Retrieving her deflected sword, Ha-shal-leur bared her blood-stained fangs and smiled.

The plan Or-han had proposed had shown its limits due to the difference in their abilities… but it wasn’t the only solution.

She barely blocked Valenstein’s sword, waiting for him to activate the Ghost Sword again.

It wouldn’t take long.

Valenstein didn’t seem keen on prolonging the fight either.

Ha-shal-leur had noticed it from the start.

Valenstein’s attacks, trying to overwhelm her with brute force, were just a feint to activate the Ghost Sword.

After all, instead of using his usual techniques, he kept pushing with sheer destructive power.

Though Ha-shal-leur was slightly pushed back, she could still block without injury.

He didn’t use the technique to slam the opponent into the ground by leveraging their strength, nor the wave-like thrusting technique.

“His prized Ghost Sword was nearly neutralized by someone much younger, so he must be trying to end it with that technique.”

To protect his pride, having honed the Ghost Sword his entire life.

It was the stubbornness and pride of an old man.

– Clang!

Every time their swords clashed, the aftermath scattered in all directions, turning the chaotic surroundings into an open field.

The wall of people surrounding her collapsed and scattered, and the blood and guts that had stained the area with a foul stench were flung far away.

Just as Valenstein had planned.

Soon, again… now.

– Crash!

A slash, feigned as a miss, struck the ground.

With a loud explosion, shattered fragments rose—

And collided with Valenstein’s left arm, shooting toward Ha-shal-leur’s eyes.

Ha-shal-leur covered her face with her left hand to block the fragments.

For a moment, her vision was completely obscured.

It was the moment Valenstein was sure of his victory.

Ghost Sword.

Once again, the Empire’s greatest swordsman’s ultimate technique unfolded.

Valenstein’s presence vanished without a trace.

—

“Finally…!”

Ha-shal-leur grinned from ear to ear.

The opportunity she had been waiting for had arrived.

She closed her eyes as if in prayer and pulled her sword close to her chest.

It wasn’t a defensive stance, nor did it seem like she was preparing to attack. It was a strange movement, appearing as if she had given up the fight, completely defenseless.

“What is she thinking…?”

Valenstein furrowed his brow in suspicion, but he didn’t hesitate in his charge.

The blind spot behind her, his presence completely masked, the obstacles cleared away.

His perfectly executed ultimate technique couldn’t be broken by Or-han’s daughter, of all people.

With strong conviction, Valenstein charged at Ha-shal-leur’s back.

He planned to sever her spine, cripple her, and drag her to Isabella.

Three steps forward.

Just as Valenstein was about to take the final step,

A crimson mist exploded in all directions.

“Ugh…!”

It was too late to retreat, so Valenstein shielded his face and plunged into the mist.

He had seen Life Force materialize into physical force several times before, so he assumed this was another all-encompassing attack meant to block his approach.

But all he felt was a sticky killing intent and a strange discomfort. The expected impact never came.

In hindsight, it was obvious.

A sharp thread could cut through flesh, and a solid needle could pierce something, but what force could a spreading mist have?

Unlike the other techniques Ha-shal-leur had shown, the Life Force mist didn’t destroy anything. It simply emitted an overwhelming killing intent, enveloping everything.

“Gurgle…”

Knights touched by the mist foamed at the mouth and collapsed. Their exhausted minds couldn’t withstand the killing intent.

In other words, ordinary knights…

Even if Sadul had been in his right mind, it would have meant he could hold out for a while.

“Did I expect to be shaken even a little by the pressure of survival? Like them?”

Indeed, the Ghost Sword is a technique that requires extremely precise control of Life Force. If the mind is disturbed, there’s a chance it could unravel.

But this level of killing intent was nothing.

“Amateurish, Ai-shan Gi-or!”

The sword he swung didn’t carry even a hint of hesitation.

Marquis Valenstein’s slash flew towards Ha-shal-leur.

Jin aimed the blood-soaked blade at the back,

Only to slice through empty air.

“What…!”

The Ghost Sword missed too cleanly.

Just before the blade could touch, Ha-shal-leur bent her waist and dodged, then glared straight at Valenstein and swung her Black Iron Sword.

The crimson blade diagonally tore through Valenstein’s upper body.

The old man’s blood scattered into the air.

—-

“Ugh… How, how?”

Valenstein clutched his chest and hastily retreated.

Compared to Ha-shal-leur, it was a shallow wound.

But perhaps due to the intense pain he hadn’t felt in decades and the shock of the Ghost Sword being perfectly countered, his retreating steps were slightly unsteady.

It wasn’t a reaction to his voice.

Before Valenstein’s Ghost Sword could even reach, Ha-shal-leur had already sensed his presence.

Otherwise, she couldn’t have dodged so precisely.

“Haaa…”

Without answering his question, Ha-shal-leur exhaled red steam like breath and gathered the mist of Life Force.

In her mind, the joy of a prediction hitting the mark coexisted with the regret of failing to kill despite a perfect ambush.

The violent movement had dislocated her ribs again, causing her posture to slightly falter.

“That mist, wasn’t it just to suppress with killing intent…!”

Ha-shal-leur laughed through the pain.

As Valenstein had said.

It wasn’t just to scatter mere killing intent at great cost.

Spreading killing intent had its uses, but… it was merely a disguise.

The mist of Life Force.

This was the countermeasure she had devised to counter the Ghost Sword.

—-

Ha-shal-leur had come up with this idea thanks to Or-han’s experience.

It was the story of when he was cut by the Ghost Sword.

Just before the blade cut his skin, in a moment too short to even call a blink.

He could sense that he was being attacked before the blade even touched him.

Though by then, it was too late to dodge, and he had no choice but to be cut.

Hearing that, the young Ha-shal-leur formed a hypothesis.

The Ghost Sword must be an ability similar to Or-han’s Indestructible Spirit.

A technique where, upon reaching the limits of mastery, the Life Force transforms into a strange power and coats the skin.

Just as Or-han’s Life Force granted him defense stronger than steel, Valenstein’s Life Force must erase his presence… that kind of power.

And when Or-han’s Life Force clashed with Valenstein’s, Or-han felt the touch of the Ghost Sword before being wounded.

In other words, when their Life Forces touched, the owners could sense it.

Normally, this wouldn’t happen.

Even emitting Life Force externally isn’t easy unless you’re at their level.

But she was different.

From the moment she awakened her Life Force, she could emit it outside her body at will.

Not only that, she could also give physical influence to the emitted Life Force.

Even Or-han marveled at this peculiarity.

If she had reached the limits of mastery, she might have considered it her own power like the Indestructible Spirit or the Ghost Sword… but it wasn’t quite that.

Was it a characteristic of those who reached mastery through Life Force, or was there another reason?

Even Ha-shal-leur herself didn’t know.

What mattered was that if clashing Life Forces could detect the Ghost Sword, it was too simple for her.

And it was true.

From the moment Valenstein, hiding his presence, entered the mist of Life Force, Ha-shal-leur could clearly sense his presence.

The widely spread Life Force conveyed a subtle anomaly in only one place.

‘That much went according to plan…. Damn that plunderer, it’s all because of you. Are you listening!’

Ha-shal-leur cursed inwardly.

In the end, that guy tripped her up.

If not for this wound, she could have split Valenstein’s heart.

Originally, she planned to use the chaos from Valenstein’s death to escape with that prince.

But now that things have turned out this way, she had no choice but to fight head-on.

…Though the odds weren’t high.

Valenstein was seriously injured, but he still had cards to play.

“Marquis Valenstein! Are you alright!”

“Protect the Marquis!”

Perhaps shocked by the sight of the Empire’s greatest swordsman bleeding, the knights outside rushed towards him.

The three insect knights, who had been watching the situation, also approached Valenstein.

Watching this, Ha-shal-leur swallowed dryly.

Yes. Those were the problem. Three master-level monsters.

The plunderer had easily defeated them thanks to Durandal… but that sword wouldn’t lend her its power.

The wound on her chest was reopening, and blood was flowing.

She had to defeat those three and the injured Valenstein in this state.

Ha-shal-leur gritted her teeth and raised her cracked longsword.

Now that it had come to this, she had to take down at least one.

If the other knights realized their allies were monsters, they would fall into chaos.

…She might be able to incite infighting.

‘That prince. He seemed quite eloquent.’

Ha-shal-leur glanced at the Empire’s prince, who had been vomiting earlier.

To her, he was an infuriating human, but his eloquence was all she could rely on.

The insect knights supported Valenstein as if shielding him.

Valenstein, clutching his chest and groaning, straightened his back and readied his sword.

The insect knights drew their swords.

Black Iron Swords tinged with darkness. At least they weren’t Jin’s.

Ha-shal-leur gathered her Life Force again.

Then.

– Thud!

Everyone was speechless.

A black longsword had pierced through Valenstein’s abdomen and protruded out.

The Empire’s greatest swordsman vomited blood in shock.

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