〈 Chapter 58 〉 Libero (4)
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Cloudy pupils.
And above all, his strength flows out uncontrollably.
That made it clear his condition was not normal.
‘How dreadful.’
The bodies of heroes are scattered all over the room.
As the corpses piled up since a week ago began to decay, a foul stench started to permeate the air.
Standing among them was Libero, which I still found hard to believe.
‘It must all be because of that guy.’
I shifted my gaze to another Demon King across from Libero.
Demon King Gineus.
He had a striking appearance just like the graphics from the game.
Though, in fairness, he had broken horns and wings, and his limbs were severed.
‘If I cut off that guy’s breath, Libero will surely come to his senses.’
Of course, Libero, who was under his control, wouldn’t let that happen easily.
I would somehow penetrate Libero and kill Gineus.
That was no easy task. I had to pour everything into it.
Before pouring everything, I decided to speak to Libero one last time.
“Can you at least give me some kind of response?”
But there was no answer.
Instead, the wretched Gineus behind him answered.
“It’s useless. I don’t know what your relationship is, but he’s already under my mental control.”
I obviously knew that much.
So what I was about to do was already decided.
‘In 30 minutes, I’ll either be dead, or that punk will be.’
I took an Awakening Pill from my inventory.
And swallowed it.
I could vividly feel my stats rising.
It was fascinating, but it was undoubtedly a rapid growth that was likely to put a strain on my body.
‘Stats.’
2. Stats
Health: E+
Strength: D+
Agility: C
Magic: F
The body I had used during the trial wasn’t my own, so my stats weren’t significantly different from when I left Libero.
However, those stats were quickly rising.
2. Stats
Health: D
Strength: C
Agility: C+
Magic: E
Good. My stats had definitely increased.
Although I still couldn’t catch up with agility, when it came to strength, I had already reached just below Gwen’s level.
Of course, it was thanks to the Awakening Pill, but now it was a level of stats that an ordinary person without Stigma couldn’t reach.
I raised my stats as high as possible.
Next, I pulled out the Relic Gravitas Replicant.
‘It’s been a while.’
The memories of my 100 playthroughs felt nostalgically like an incredibly long dream.
With the comfortable sensation in my hands, I couldn’t help but wonder how I would have managed without it.
‘Weight Seal.’
The weight of the sword diminished.
‘Wind’s Power.’
The Wind’s Power started swirling around me.
Compared to before the trial, the wind was raging much more fiercely now.
Of course, I could only enhance my Wind’s Power until the 13th playthrough when I challenged the first trial. After that, I had to focus solely on swordsmanship, so I couldn’t challenge the first trial again.
However, Wind’s Power seemed to suit my aptitude, allowing me to quickly raise its proficiency.
Thanks to that, my current Wind’s Power boasted a rank of B+.
Now it could be considered one of my true strengths.
I wrapped Wind’s Power around my feet. Then I stomped the ground.
Libero’s sword distorted space.
Thus, his range was actually longer than it appeared.
But the space he could distort was ultimately limited.
The moment I stepped into that range, his attack came flying at me.
‘It’s coming.’
My movement, wrapped in Wind’s Power, was instantaneous but equivalent to Agility B+.
Yet, even that couldn’t compare to the speed of Libero’s sword.
I hastily raised my sword.
‘I might not remember swordsmanship theories…’
But the years of training engrained in my body wouldn’t disappear.
I angled my sword and deflected Libero’s strike.
“What did you just…!”
Gineus’s eyes widened at the sight.
And rightfully so. No hero had ever succeeded in blocking Libero’s sword up until now.
But I was different.
Libero’s level of swordsmanship was not the issue.
However, I knew more about his swordsmanship than anyone else.
The swordsmanship I used closely mirrored his.
‘I might not win through swordplay, but I could certainly block him.’
Thanks to the rise in my stats from the Awakening Pill, I continued to batter Libero’s incoming attacks.
Realizing that I was different from previous opponents, Libero began to focus on me more intently.
‘This is the moment!’
A gap opened when I deflected Libero’s attack.
I pulled the Night’s Shadow from my inventory.
And threw it imbued with Wind’s Power.
But my target wasn’t Libero.
Taking advantage of his concentration on me, I aimed for Demon King Gineus.
‘If I can somehow break his mental control…!’
The Night’s Shadow, propelled at high speed by Wind’s Power, took flight.
But at that moment.
Time felt like it slowed down instantaneously.
‘What the…!’
Anyone unfamiliar with this would’ve panicked.
But I vaguely remembered from inside the trial.
I had also seen his demonstration in reality.
However…
‘Not a chance.’
In the slowed time, Libero moved alone.
His blade, momentarily extended, swatted away the incoming Night’s Shadow.
The Night’s Shadow was ultimately deflected and embedded into the wall.
‘Is he warning me not to lose focus?’
As Libero nonchalantly deflected Night’s Shadow and redirected his gaze to me, I swallowed hard.
It seemed impossible to simply bypass Libero and defeat Demon King Gineus.
The only remaining option was to take down Libero.
‘Is that even possible?’
It wasn’t exact, but people’s speculation was that Libero’s swordsmanship skill rank was over SS.
Some even claimed he deserved Ex rank if it existed.
In contrast, my swordsmanship rank, after hundreds of years of training alongside him in the trial, was…
‘Only A+.’
Of course, it wasn’t so shabby after all.
My swordsmanship had been capped at A- even with the help of being precocious, the Blessing of the God of Regret, and Libero’s training.
I had exceeded that limit twice.
But that didn’t mean I was content.
Before exiting the trial, I had already seen my stats once.
In that stat sheet, my swordsmanship was clearly S rank.
Identical to Gwen’s current rank.
The fact that it dropped to A+ must have been largely due to forgetting the theories I learned from Libero.
In reality, the swordsmanship I sometimes executed based on sensation hardly qualified as A+ rank.
It was impossible to retrain under Libero now.
So I had to sharpen that sense to the maximum.
Adding Wind’s Power and the Relic Gravitas Replicant into the mix…
‘There’s a chance.’
If Libero were in perfect condition, it would have been an impossible feat.
But Libero now was in a state of mental control by Gineus.
And perhaps because of that, his movements were slightly slower than usual.
Now I understood why Libero said the slight delay in my Absolute Obedience’s weakness was fatal.
Once a certain level of swordsmanship was attained, that weakness could bridge the gap between A+ and SS.
‘Then let’s give it a shot.’
I tossed aside thoughts of evading Libero.
I charged directly at Libero.
My attack range was smaller than Libero’s. So if I stayed back, all I could do was block.
‘I can’t keep blocking forever.’
To achieve victory, I’d need to attack.
I swiftly approached him while parrying his slightly slower strikes.
Even if he was a threat due to his swordplay, as long as I understood his techniques, it could pose no problem.
Finally entering my attacking range.
I was a bit farther than my sword tip.
But I could also use Libero’s swordsmanship.
‘From the line to the space.’
I extended the Wind’s Power I had wrapped around the Relic Gravitas Replicant.
It manifested into a blade of energy, long like Libero’s.
It sounded as though condensed air was about to explode.
Libero’s sword met mine.
The attack was blocked.
But I had achieved some success.
‘He’s flustered.’
Perhaps because I was using his swordplay, his eyes widened.
I couldn’t afford to stop here.
‘Wind’s Power.’
I wrapped Wind’s Power around my right leg and left arm.
Then I quickly spun and struck down diagonally.
I accelerated, and accelerated again.
I didn’t stop my acceleration.
With the speed I had acquired, I continued to boost my velocity using Wind’s Power.
Gradually, I was engulfed in a sensation where the surrounding time seemed to slow down.
‘From space to time.’
In that frozen space, only Libero and I moved at the same rate.
Thus, our combination continued to speed up.
In a blur of motion that knew no bounds, I reached a certainty.
“Is this where your limit lies?”
Why would I say it was a limit?
Because it wasn’t my limit.
What I meant was…
Libero’s limit, being controlled by Gineus.
I could still accelerate further.
In that moment, Libero’s time finally stopped.
His sword was coming down from the right.
But only my sword was in motion.
With my sword piercing straight at him, there was no way for him to block it.
Unless he broke free from the mental control.
‘I did it.’
Not just me.
Once again, it was the damn teacher who did it.
His sword began to move again.
He broke free from the mental control.
“You’ve become quite strong, Allen.”
“Of course.”
“But you should rotate your upper body more so that the sword is parallel. Push the sword in deeper.”
He smiled with satisfaction.
“If you had done that, you might have touched my blade’s tip.”
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