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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 110: The Stranger (2)
***
Damien faced off against the Sword Empress in the darkening forest.
“Milady…”
“Don’t worry, David. I’ll be finished soon.”
David looked at the Sword Empress with concern. In contrast, her face was brimming with confidence.
‘Soon? How arrogant.’
This was the problem with geniuses like Michael Ryanbloom and the Sword Empress. They were too arrogant, even for their own good.
‘They should learn to be humble, like me.’
Even a genius like himself would never let his guard down when facing an enemy, so it could be a problem later on if the Sword Empress, who was not as skilled as him, acted like this.
It wasn’t that they showed arrogance intentionally. They had probably always won every fight in their life at this point.
If they had only experienced such things, it was natural for them to become bored with everything like Michael, or arrogant like the Sword Empress.
‘I’ll show her just how vast the world is on this occasion.’
When Damien remained silent, the Sword Empress urged him.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get ready.”
“I’m already ready.”
The Sword Empress frowned at Damien’s words.
“You’re barehanded.”
“That’s why I said I’m ready.”
Damien said, showing his empty hands. At that attitude, a vein throbbed on the Sword Empress’s forehead.
“Do you think I’m a fool? You’re a swordsman!”
“There’s no law that says a swordsman can’t fight barehanded. Is there?”
In fact, Damien was also deeply skilled in martial arts.
Among the masters he had fought in his previous life, there were many martial artists, and he had absorbed all of their knowledge and skills.
Moreover, the reason Damien had accepted this duel was to test out a new technique.
The new technique that Damien had devised this time could only be used with bare hands, not with weapons.
“Stop playing around and get your weapon out.”
“Why? Are you worried that you’ll lose to me barehanded?”
More than anything, fighting barehanded was a good way to cure the Sword Empress’s arrogance.
This would be the first time she had ever been ignored like this in her life.
“…Is that so? Let’s see if you can still say that after seeing this.”
The Sword Empress, her face filled with anger, drew the sword from her waist.
The hilt was short and the blade was very narrow. It was a form that was more suitable for stabbing than slashing.
It was a weapon called a rapier.
The rapier was originally created as a weapon for self-defense in the city.
Therefore, it was known to be less suitable for use in combat than other weapons.
However, the story changed when it was held in the Sword Empress’s hand.
Just getting close to her made one feel a chill as if their throat would be cut in an instant.
“This is your last chance. Draw your sword.”
Damien stretched out his hands and shook them. Finally, the Sword Empress’s anger exploded.
“……If you get your wrist cut off after that, it’s not my fault!”
The Sword Empress pointed her rapier at Damien. The moment the tip of the rapier and Damien aligned, she shot forward.
She slid across the ground, closing the distance in an instant. It was like watching a human-shaped arrow.
“Hah!”
With a shout, the Sword Empress thrust her rapier forward. The tip of the rapier aimed to pierce Damien’s heart.
‘Excellent.’
The footwork that closed the distance in an instant, the swordsmanship that thrust the rapier, and the flow of mana that assisted all of it.
Everything was perfect. Any average middle-class swordsman would have had trouble even blocking this attack, let alone dodging it.
However, the person standing here now was Damien.
He had already read the move and tilted his head to the side. The rapier pierced through the air.
“Well dodged!”
The Sword Empress immediately pulled back her extended arm. She returned to her original position.
“Hoo.”
The Sword Empress took a deep breath. And then, the rapier disappeared.
A flurry of over twenty attacks erupted. It was almost as if the rapier had split into multiple blades.
It was an incredible speed, but it was all clear to Damien’s eyes. He dodged the incoming rapier by moving one step at a time.
“Tsk.”
When all of her attacks were rendered ineffective, the Sword Empress’s swordsmanship changed. She stopped thrusting the rapier and started swinging it.
As it was light, the speed of the slashes was also fast. She swung the rapier repeatedly, like a brush drawing lines in the air.
Damien dodged this as well with ease. And then, this time, the Sword Empress’s body disappeared.
Immediately afterward, attacks came from all directions. The Sword Empress was nowhere to be seen, but the attacks kept coming.
‘She may be young, but the Sword Empress is still the Sword Empress after all.’
The Sword Empress’s swordsmanship could be summarized in one word: ‘fast’.
A swordsmanship that quickly closes the shortest distance to the opponent and moves at extreme speed to pierce them.
With mediocre skills, one would not even be able to see the Sword Empress’s movements properly.
It was so fast that it was rather flashy. It was enough to make one’s eyes dizzy.
But in the end, there is only one blade.
Damien swung his palm in accordance with the movement of the rapier. Damien’s palm and the blade of the rapier met.
The rapier, which had been drawn in a straight line, was deflected to the side.
“……Huh?”
The Sword Empress was taken aback by the unexpected situation.
Damien did not miss this opportunity. He stepped forward and twisted his waist. He then swung his back heel and kicked the Sword Empress in the temple.
It was a very clean and powerful attack. However, just before Damien’s heel hit her head, something strange happened.
A golden aura gathered on the Sword Empress’s skin. And it spread wide, forming an armor.
As the heel and the armor collided, the Sword Empress’s body was pushed to the side with a loud noise.
“You can use this?”
Damien said, putting down his outstretched leg. A strange smile spread across his lips.
“I didn’t know you could use an Aura armor in the middle-class?”
Any knight can use mana to block an enemy’s attack.
It is a technique of concentrating mana on the part where the shock is applied to minimize the damage.
Aura armor is an advanced form of this.
It was a technique that used aura to form armor to block enemy attacks.
It was very useful, but it was also very difficult.
It was known that one had to be at least high-class to use it.
However, the Sword Empress was using it at the middle-class level.
Of course, there were many shortcomings compared to a high-class aura armor.
It was much weaker, and the structure was not as solid.
It also took longer to implement.
However, it was still a great feat to be able to use it at all.
She was truly a gifted individual.
“……I don’t feel good hearing that from you.”
The Sword Empress said with a stony face.
“You’re the one who not only dodged all my attacks but also created an opening and landed an attack.”
If Damien felt surprised, the Sword Empress felt shocked.
This was the first time she had ever felt so helpless in her life.
“I thought it would be over quickly…… This won’t do. I have to do this properly.”
A golden aura enveloped the Sword Empress’s body.
She was trying to protect her entire body by using the aura armor in real-time, rather than activating it instantaneously.
“That’s amazing. It’s really amazing.”
Aura armor had the disadvantage of consuming a large amount of mana.
However, the Sword Empress was using aura armor to cover her entire body.
This meant that she not only had a large amount of mana, but she was also skilled in using aura.
“Aura armor…… Good. It’s perfect for using my new technique.”
Damien activated the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation.
His body temperature skyrocketed.
His mana raged wildly, and his physical abilities and senses were extremely amplified.
Originally, Damien would not have gone beyond this point.
The Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation was a powerful mana cultivation technique, but it was also dangerous, as it could turn one into a cripple if one crossed the line.
However, things were different now.
He had found a way to prevent the side effects of the technique.
Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle technique.
A mana cultivation technique that Damien had obtained at an auction house in the black market.
The Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle had the ability to manipulate the blood vessels, which are the channels through which mana flows.
With the Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle, one could strengthen or expand the blood vessels.
In addition, one could also destroy or twist the opponent’s blood vessels, as in the previous incident, to cause them pain.
Damien used the Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle to strengthen his blood vessels.
As a result, the burden on his body was rapidly reduced.
‘Now I can go one step further.’
He used the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation to further enhance his body and senses.
This increased the burden on his blood vessels.
However, thanks to the Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle, his blood vessels were not destroyed.
“What are you doing……?”
The Sword Empress’s face hardened.
She could now instinctively feel that something was happening to Damien’s body.
“I don’t know what you’re preparing for…… but I don’t plan to just sit back and take it.”
Aura armor surrounding the Sword Empress’s body became even thicker.
It seemed that she was trying to strengthen her defense in case the enemy attacked.
“Good decision.”
Damien smiled and said.
And then he kicked the ground.
Something exploded from his entire body.
The ground shattered even though he had only lightly kicked it.
The recoil propelled his body forward.
It was incomparable to the previous time he had used the Art of Sacrificial Raging Demon Manifestation.
When the world finally returned to normal, Damien was within the Sword Empress’s attack range.
“Wha… ?”
The Sword Empress realized this belatedly.
The one who used the fast swordsmanship had missed the enemy’s movement.
“This is ridiculous…”
The Sword Empress hurriedly tried to get out of range, but Damien struck her abdomen with his palm first.
The moment the aura armor tried to block the blow, Damien released his mana.
The released mana spread throughout the Sword Empress’s body.
At the same time, it blocked her blood vessels.
With her blood vessels blocked, the Sword Empress could no longer maintain the aura armor.
Damien’s blow dug into the Sword Empress’s abdomen.
“Ugh… !”
A gasp escaped from the Sword Empress’s lips.
This time, she was unable to resist and flew backward.
She crashed into a wooden pillar and hung her head limply.
‘It’s still a work in progress, but it’s not a bad technique.’
The technique Damien had just used was one that used the Cotton-Lined Forbidden Needle to block the enemy’s blood vessels while attacking.
He had created it because he judged that it would be easy to subdue the enemy if he could use it properly.
‘As I thought, I can easily penetrate the aura armor as well.’
Aura armor was a great technique, but it was not invincible.
It could not block the Internal Injury Technique, which infused mana into the enemy’s body to cause internal injuries.
That was why the Sword Empress was also unable to block the mana that Damien had released.
“Milady!”
Just then, David rushed over and supported the Sword Empress.
The Sword Empress was unconscious.
David turned to Damien and protested.
“Aren’t you going too far? How can you beat up a delicate lady like Milady so mercilessly!”
Delicate?
Damien made a dumbfounded expression.
Who in the world would call a woman like the Sword Empress delicate?
“You’re being too overprotective. You should know, don’t you? That she’s not as badly injured as she looks.”
The moment he struck her abdomen, Damien had pulled back most of the mana.
Thanks to this, the Sword Empress did not suffer great injuries.
“How am I supposed to know that!”
“If even a Master Class like you didn’t know about it, what should I do?”
At Damien’s words, David’s body froze.
The expression on his face disappeared.
“Since when did you know?”
When David raised his voice, Damien said nonchalantly.
“From the beginning.”
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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