Chapter 252

A crimson veil descends upon the world.

The aura of death spreads endlessly, covering the battlefield like a fog.

Normally, spreading life force like this would only instill fear and be a waste of energy, as it couldn’t cause any real damage.

But now, with Ha-shal-leur’s rage surpassing its limit, her killing intent unleashed destructive power beyond the storm of Up-hwa.

“Ughhh…!”

“Ahh, ahhhh!”

The terror of having one’s soul torn apart.

Every soldier present forgot human language.

“Gurgle…”

Starting with those closest to Ha-shal-leur, the conscript soldiers who saw her began foaming at the mouth, groaning, and collapsing one by one.

It was as if a blood-red dragon had exhaled a breath full of venom.

The embodiment of life force.

A being called the Thousand-Killing Star in the language of the East.

Before the killing intent of this death star, even the courage of those prepared to die and the horrific memories shown by Isabella were meaningless.

Even the holy knights trembled like aspen leaves, barely holding on by blessing themselves. How could mere farmers resist?

To their eyes, the being before them was an unstoppable monster.

A dragon, a giant, or a demon.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t human, with a form that seemed to spread its wings.

With each step forward, dozens, hundreds of people forgot to breathe and knelt, pressing their foreheads to the ground.

As if trembling and prostrating themselves in worship to a god.

Even those far enough to escape the range of her killing intent were stunned, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.

Archers forgot to draw their bows, and cavalry regrouping didn’t even notice their horses had stopped.

The divine authority unleashed by a single warrior was unbelievable.

A scene straight out of legend, where thousands fell just from her walking.

—

‘Truly, her talent is immense.’

Looking around with the eyes of a plunderer, Hersela muttered to herself, unheard by anyone.

Though she had feigned composure in front of the impostor, she had already been shocked multiple times during this battle.

The power the impostor had revealed in this war surpassed even Hersela’s expectations.

This wasn’t just a leap in skill—it was closer to evolution.

A golden slash that tore through space.

It was literally an attack that cut away a part of the world.

It was only a temporary power, and even that was thanks to her mother’s sword…

But it was still a terrifying force. Any defense would be meaningless before that slash.

No matter how strong a barrier you put up, the golden blade would cut through not the barrier, but the space itself where the barrier existed.

Could Or-han’s Indestructible Divine Body block it? Even that was uncertain.

‘The technique that dealt a fatal blow to the Ghost Sword was the same.’

That was undoubtedly a sign that the impostor had begun to surpass the realm of masters.

Like the Ghost Sword or Or-han.

Hersela herself had grasped a clue but hadn’t yet reached that level.

The moment when a girl who once couldn’t even swing a sword had surpassed Hersela herself.

For now, even if they fought, Hersela would likely lose.

Though it was something she would never admit, even in death.

‘How is such a slash even possible…?’

Even Hersela could only grasp the essence and effect of the technique, not how it was executed.

A strike that compressed time itself.

At first glance, it might seem like a speed-enhancing ability, but it was fundamentally a different kind of power.

If the speed of the sword increased, its power would naturally multiply.

But this slash only shortened the time it took to reach the target, while the power remained the same.

At first glance, it might seem like a weaker version of a speed-enhancing ability.

But in fact, that was the greatest strength of this technique—the so-called “Sword That Surely Kills.”

If the speed of the sword doubled, the power of the slash would increase nearly fourfold. That’s an immutable law.

But conversely, to double the speed of the sword, you’d need four times the strength!

After all, it’s the wielder’s own arms swinging the sword, not the souls of their ancestors doing it for them.

There’s no need to increase the power of the slash.

Even a casual swing could cut through black iron, and a full-powered strike could damage even Jin’s demonic armor.

In that sense, this technique boasted overwhelming efficiency.

The energy consumption was minimal, yet the result was comparable to expending several times the energy.

‘That’s not all. The stronger the opponent, the more effective this technique becomes. Unless you understand its principle, most who face it for the first time… will die in one strike.’

Even for a grand warrior…

The warriors who arrived could read the momentum in the sword just by seeing it swing, and instinctively predict its speed and power.

It’s like a kind of intuition, you could say. The stronger you become, the more accurate and precise that sense gets.

To the point where you can foresee the outcome of a slash even before it’s fully unleashed.

So, how would that technique look to such people?

The results were already proving it.

Even the old man of the Ghost Sword, with his superhuman reaction speed, only managed to defend belatedly, while other masters didn’t even think to defend and lost their lives on the spot.

To their senses, the blade should’ve only been halfway there, but it was already piercing their necks.

A sword that’s always one step ahead of expectations.

The more you relied on intuition, the more helpless you became against such an attack.

“The name ‘Sword That Surely Kills’ isn’t wrong, I guess. But I’d never allow such a lame name.”

Maybe it’s because he came from a soldier’s background and lacked refinement, but the name was just too rustic, even for a rustic name.

A slash that deviates from the world’s timeline, a technique of such swordsmanship being called “Sword That Surely Kills”?

Hersela’s aesthetic sense couldn’t tolerate it.

“A technique of that level deserves a grand name, don’t you think? Something like ‘Axis of Time’ or ‘Chaos of the Primordial Abyss,’ or something like that. Or maybe…”

Her naming sense wasn’t exactly stellar either… but at least she prided herself on being better than something like “Killing Sword.”

—

Given all they’d been through since their first conversation, Hersela’s feelings toward the imposter were becoming increasingly complicated.

What started as simple contempt and disgust had now transformed into something entirely different.

Was it because they were forced to stick together, constantly watching and talking to each other? Or was it because, unlike her previous frustrating self, she at least showed a warrior’s boldness during battle?

At the very least, the level of disgust she once felt had already faded.

Originally, Hersela disliked the imposter for forcibly taking over her body, ruining her plans for revenge, and acting in a way unbecoming of a warrior.

Though she didn’t fully trust the imposter’s words…

The part about forcibly taking over her body turned out to be a misunderstanding, and it was understandable that the imposter had ended up in her body without knowing why.

From what she’d seen so far, this imposter girl didn’t seem intelligent enough to use some kind of body-snatching sorcery.

“Given her lack of wisdom and refinement, she’s probably just a soldier, as she claims.”

And so, the biggest grudge had settled down.

As for the second reason—ruining her revenge plan—thanks to that fool Amin’s blunder, things had somehow worked out.

Because that idiot crashed into the barrier and got himself killed, Or-han was forced to attack the westerners’ empire with a weakened army.

Of course, whether the current empire could stop Or-han was still a questionable matter.

But unless this pathetic civil war ended soon, the empire wouldn’t have enough troops to spare for the barrier either.

So, she began to help the imposter girl more actively than before to end the civil war.

She taught her the immature ways of using Life Force and even offered advice whenever she was mentally conflicted.

For Hersela, this was unusual.

She’d never been this friendly even when teaching Ja-han.

“…But it was kind of fun to teach her, I guess.”

Is this what a genius is like? She learned way too fast.

Hersela was also called a once-in-a-generation genius among the Ai-shan, but this imposter was different.

Hersela’s strength lay in her flexible ability to come up with new ideas and diverse techniques.

On the other hand, this imposter was lacking in that area, but…

“She replicates everything after just one look or explanation.”

Even Hersela found her talent astonishing.

She’d mimic Hersela’s Life Force techniques after just seeing them, and now she was even understanding the next level after witnessing the Ghost Sword’s techniques.

A genius of learning, you could say.

Though she never said it out loud, Hersela had never seen anyone with this level of talent in her life.