Chapter 223. The Fool of the Swordsmanship Family Hides His Sword (2)
The realm of unity.
Most martial artists believe that the realm of unity exists only for swordsmen, and that divine sword unity is the only form. But this is wrong.
*Tap!*
Keter, who had lightly leaped up, turned his body and naturally stood on the ceiling. Then, as he adjusted the angle so that his head faced the ground, aura erupted from his entire body.
The aura, without scattering, swirled around Keter’s body, and in the blink of an eye, it formed a distinct shape.
An arrow.
Keter had become an arrowhead.
*Drrrrrrr!*
Keter bent his knees. As he bent them as far as he could, the cave shook as if it were about to collapse.
“Six Hundred, you stay here and use your mana to stabilize the cave so it doesn’t collapse.”
Even for Keter, being buried hundreds of meters underground would take a considerable amount of time to return to the surface.
Understanding this, Decameron nodded.
“Understood.”
Six Hundred placed his palms on the ground and released his mana. A net-like mana enveloped the thousands of hectares of the mine.
With no worry of the mine collapsing, Keter’s knees straightened like springs. This wasn’t just a simple headbutt into the ground using propulsion.
Body-Bow Unity.
The arrow was Keter, and Keter had become the arrow.
This was a mine. The ground wasn’t soft. It was mostly rock, with some iron ore mixed in.
But in the face of Keter’s Body-Bow Unity, it was like ice meeting a heated iron rod.
*Kwaaaaaa!*
Keter pierced through the hard, thick rock layer at high speed. Occasionally, passages or rooms appeared, but since they weren’t the queen’s chamber, he ignored them and passed by.
*Squeak!*
An unfortunate Rock Soldier Ant standing in Keter’s path was crushed like a real ant.
In just three seconds, Keter traversed hundreds of meters of rock layer and arrived at his desired destination.
The queen’s chamber, where the dense mana of the Rock Queen Ant lingered.
*Thud!*
Keter, having dissolved his Body-Bow Unity, landed on the ground.
*Krrrrk!*
The Queen Ant, glaring at Keter who had suddenly dropped from the ceiling, was larger than a worker ant but smaller than a soldier ant.
However, in terms of hardness, she was superior to the soldier ants.
If the soldier ant’s carapace was Amantiir, the queen’s carapace was Orichalcon. Moreover, the queen’s carapace was triple-layered, equivalent to wearing three layers of Orichalcon armor. Additionally, her pincers and spear-like forelegs were of the same strength as Orichalcon.
But the Queen Ant’s terror didn’t end there.
*Sssss!*
Feeling a sense of caution towards Keter, the Queen Ant sprayed acidic fluid from her mouth. Keter dodged the fluid, which sprayed out like a mist.
For Keter, who could withstand an Aura Blade with his body, to dodge meant it wasn’t just because the fluid was dirty.
*Sssss!*
The acidic fluid that missed Keter melted the ground. Without any resistance.
That’s right.
The queen’s fluid was super-acidic, capable of melting even Orichalcon. Neither Aura Shields nor 5th-circle defensive magic could block it.
*Sssss!*
The Queen Ant relentlessly sprayed acidic fluid, attacking Keter from a distance. It was an un-ant-like caution.
“Let’s see, if I use Milky Way here, even if Six Hundred holds on, it’ll collapse.”
The tunnels made by Rock Ants are sturdy enough to withstand earthquakes, but even they are nothing but sandcastles in the face of a chain-exploding Milky Way.
“Aura Arrow won’t pierce your carapace, and if I use Milky Way, I’ll be buried alive. That seems appropriate.”
While dodging the queen’s acidic fluid, Keter flicked his finger.
*Click!*
“Celestial Infinity Technique No. 6, Tusk.”
Keter’s Celestial Infinity Technique was designed to handle various situations and all kinds of enemies.
Among them were opponents with tremendous defensive capabilities. Milky Way was powerful, but due to the nature of explosions dispersing force, it was ill-suited against enemies specialized in defense.
The technique designed to pierce the strongest defenses in place of Milky Way was Celestial Infinity Technique No. 6, ‘Tusk.’
*Thud.*
Keter, who had been only dodging, drew out Amaranth and pulled the bowstring. Aura and mana condensed on the empty bowstring, forming an arrow.
Compared to the dazzling, lightning-spewing Milky Way, Tusk lacked intimidation. The arrowhead wasn’t sharp but round and oval-shaped.
*Whoooosh.*
But upon closer inspection, Tusk’s round arrowhead was constantly rotating. The sound was like a swarm of tens of thousands of bees flying.
*Krrrrk!*
Seeing Keter’s ‘Tusk,’ the Queen Ant made a sound as if mocking him.
Indeed, compared to the Queen Ant’s size, the Tusk Keter created was like a twig, worthy of mockery.
The next moment, the Queen Ant did something unbelievable. She thrust her head forward, as if daring him to shoot.
It was a cunning move. For Rock Ants, the head is the hardest part of their body.
Keter didn’t refuse the queen’s provocation. A head-on confrontation was something Keter welcomed.
“Tusk is hard for even me to control, so aiming is tricky. Thanks.”
*Ting.*
Tusk was shot, seemingly no different from other arrows. However, its speed was beyond imagination.
*Rumble!*
Five shockwaves spread out like ribbons. The moment the thunderous explosion was heard, Tusk had already reached the queen’s head.
*Crashhhhh!*
The rotating arrowhead of Tusk, accelerated five times, mercilessly struck the queen’s carapace.
*Crackkkkk!*
The Rock Queen Ant’s carapace had three layers. But the head had five layers, with the same strength as Orichalcon.
Yet, even that shattered like glass upon being hit by Tusk.
One layer, two layers, three layers… The Queen Ant, regretting too late, twisted her head, but it was futile.
*Sssssss!*
The high-speed rotating arrow pierced through the fourth layer but ran out of strength at the final layer.
The arrow, now completely stopped. The queen felt relieved that her final layer hadn’t been pierced.
But-
“Did you think it was over?”
At that moment, Keter smirked and spoke. The Queen Ant tilted her head as if understanding.
“Tusk strikes twice.”
The Queen Ant ignored Keter’s words and tried to attack him with her pincers.
But she couldn’t. The excruciating pain in her head prevented her.
*Squeak?*
*Sploosh!*
The arrow, thought to have stopped, suddenly regained propulsion and pierced through the final layer, penetrating the soft, tender part of her head.
*Drip drip.*
Green liquid flowed from the queen’s pierced head.
Keter, while dismissing Amaranth, said:
“Tusk has two arrowheads. When the outer arrowhead is blocked and stops, the inner, awl-like arrowhead appears. It absorbs the force that stopped the arrow and releases it as propulsion for another attack.”
*Click!*
Keter flicked his finger and winked.
“Tusk has pierced through a 30-centimeter-thick Orichalcon wall. Consider it an honor to die by this arrow.”
Historically, to subjugate a Rock Queen Ant, thousands of troops and hundreds of knights were mobilized, and even a 6-star Grandmaster was needed to kill the queen.
Even with such a war-like force and full preparation, hundreds of casualties were inevitable, and even Masters would fall. That’s the reality of attacking a Rock Ant colony.
But at this moment. A single person, with a single arrow, brought down the Rock Queen Ant. Slowly but surely.
*Crashhh!*
Keter approached the fallen Queen Ant.
And then he patted her head.
Though he had killed her, it was Keter’s way of acknowledging a formidable opponent-
*Thud!*
…or so one might think.
* * *
Keter, having reached into the Queen Ant’s head, rummaged around and pulled out his arm. In his hand was a gem-like core.
“Nice! There really is an inner core!”
In the case of high-level monsters, there exists a condensed form of natural energy. It’s called the inner core, and it possesses effects more mystical than any elixir.
*Gulp.*
Keter, without hesitation, popped it into his mouth.
Due to the nature of the Survival of the Fittest cultivation method, he hardly received any effects from elixirs, but with an inner core, it was a different story.
*Groan…!*
The natural energy accumulated by monsters is a different kind of power from the aura and mana humans accumulate. It’s the purest form of power.
The main effect is usually just increasing aura or mana, but rare inner cores can strengthen the body or expand the soul’s capacity.
In some very rare cases, they grant unique abilities—and this was one of those times.
As Keter closed his eyes and absorbed the inner core, he felt a change in his body.
‘I thought I’d just gain some aura and mana. What’s this?’
His aura and mana did increase—by five and three years’ worth, respectively.
But that wasn’t all. He could feel his skeletal strength increasing. It was already as hard as steel, but after consuming the Queen Ant’s inner core, it became as strong as Amantiir.
And that wasn’t the end. The next effect was the real deal.
*Swish.*
Keter suddenly picked up a pebble at his feet and put it in his mouth.
*Crunch crunch.*
Keter chewed the stone as if it were an apple.
No matter how strong one’s teeth and jaw are, chewing a stone is absurd. Even if one could chew and swallow it, humans can’t digest stones.
That’s common sense, but—
*Squish squish.*
As Keter chewed the hard stone, saliva that could melt the stone began to secrete from his gums. The once hard stone became soft like jelly.
“Haha, my saliva has turned acidic? I can use this for sneak attacks.”
Normally, it’s just ordinary saliva, but Keter quickly understood the mechanism: it turns acidic under certain conditions or with conscious effort.
“I bet I can make my blood acidic too.”
Not wanting to waste blood on experiments, Keter decided to test it in actual combat later.
“This life is lucky. I’ve only heard about getting special effects from consuming inner cores.”
In his past lives, Keter had consumed a few inner cores, but never had he gained such a unique effect.
But in this life, he got an effect from the very first inner core.
He’d have to see how practical it was in real combat, but having something new to use was a good feeling.
“The good stuff isn’t over yet.”
Keter thoroughly searched the queen’s chamber. In the center was a grotesque egg-laying site, and on one side of the room, shiny gems were piled up.
Most were raw ore and gold nuggets, but there were also quite a few coins and jeweled accessories.
Rock Ants, like crows, love shiny things and have a habit of collecting them. So while digging tunnels, they occasionally find gold or raw ore and store them, offering the largest and most beautiful gems to the queen.
“Somewhere here is the ‘Death Pact’ I’m looking for.”
How an artifact like the Death Pact ended up with the Rock Ants was beyond him.
“Searching through all this would be stupid.”
Artifacts emit mana even when inactive. As long as he was aware of that, finding it among the numerous accessories wouldn’t be hard.
“Let’s see, around here. Huh?”
*Clatter clatter.*
Keter felt something strange at his fingertips.
It wasn’t hard, but something soft and thread-like was caught in his hand.
“What’s this?”
Keter pulled up what was in his hand.
*Rustle rustle!*
What came out from among the gems was a human head. It belonged to a sturdy man, and it wasn’t from a decapitated corpse.
“……”
“You, what are you?”
Keter was dumbfounded. This was completely unexpected.
The man buried in the gems blinked his pearl-like eyes and spoke calmly.
“I am the spirit of the gems. You’ve saved me. Thank you. In return, I’ll give you all these gems.”
*Slap.*
The man’s head suddenly turned. Keter had slapped him.
Normally, a slap is meant to insult the other person. The recipient feels more humiliation than pain.
But Keter’s slap was different. Its terrifying force could make even an unyielding old man scream like a girl.
The moment it hits, it feels like your face is on fire, and an electric shock-like pain courses through your body.
But the man’s endurance was remarkable.
“Even spirits feel pain. Please don’t hit me.”
Though clearly human, the man stubbornly insisted he was a spirit.
“Pfft, you’re an interesting guy.”
Anyone else would have dismissed him as crazy, but Keter found him intriguing.