Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 24 : Sword That Slices Through Demons (2)

Sword That Slices Through Demons (2)

With sheer strength or skill alone, it's impossible to defeat an intermediate-rank demonkin.

That's why I had crouched in wait until now, biding my time until the moment I could take on my opponent arrived.

'Divine Blood is like deadly poison to them.'

The abilities of Divine Blood, as checked through the settings, weren't just about immunity to diseases or poisons.

If the opponent belonged to the demonic (魔) kind, it held enough power to annihilate their very existence.

Moreover, I had learned and understood blood magic.

I knew that if the blood sword in his hand—maintained by magic—was dispelled, the blood would return to his body.

That would mean the blood from my own wound, smeared on his sword, would flow back into his body as well.

On top of that, the blood that splattered from my torn flesh had already soaked him.

"Gah! Kahh! Damn it! Why isn't my magic power working properly?!"

He screamed in desperation, stretching out his arm.

The magic power gathering in his hand scattered, and his movement devolved into mere flailing.

Thanks to the opening, I drove my fist straight into him.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

With a sound like a hammer crashing down, Veil's head snapped backward.

Staggering, he looked at me with eyes full of disbelief.

"That ring, what the hell is it... And that punch, just what..."

He stared, panting, at the Eye of Shimosha.

Each time I struck with my ring-bearing fist, his skin melted and his armor crumbled apart.

But it wasn't just ordinary punching.

「Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art (聖天武極)」

Grancesia's signature ultimate technique, and fundamental martial art.

I was using it right now.

[Though it's just barely taking your first step with it.]

Grancesia spoke, voice brimming with pride.

[But even that's more than enough to take down an intermediate-rank demonkin.]

She sounded conceited, but I had to admit it, at least this time.

This martial art was superior to any technique I'd learned so far.

Lacking in time and with difficulty so high, the only thing I'd managed to master was the very basics—a mere step.

Even so, its power was nothing short of overwhelming.

Bang! Boom!

As I pounded Veil's face, chest, and abdomen with my fists, his body trembled under the onslaught.

Addicted to Divine Blood and battered repeatedly on the head, Veil could no longer properly resist my assault.

With just one step—what began as the flow of power and magic surged to my fist's end, unleashing unbelievable force upon impact.

"I... I'm losing? Me, Veil Gaber?"

Veil mumbled in a daze, swaying unsteadily.

He seemed utterly incapable of understanding the situation, nearly blank with shock.

"To a mere human? And a useless one who can't even control magic power properly?"

His once pristine clothes were now rags, and his face and flesh had melted into a hideous form.

Yet, Veil was not dead. Even after being poisoned by Divine Blood and pummeled by fists imbued with Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art's mysteries, he wouldn't die.

Intermediate-rank demonkin—especially vampires—had legendary vitality.

"Don't... you... dare!"

Crack!

As my punch hit and he fell, Veil rolled away to dodge my follow-up attack.

I tried to give chase, but rolling across the ground, he suddenly grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at my eyes.

"Argh!"

I'd never expected a demonkin to attack like that, so I faltered.

Opening my eyes again, I realized where he'd rolled to—and cursed.

He was headed toward the knight's corpse he'd killed earlier.

"Damn it!"

I hurriedly ran over and kicked him away from the corpse.

With the body still partly covering him, Veil's figure twisted and was sent flying.

"Kh, khkh, cough!"

He tumbled several meters, blood staining his lips.

Traces that he'd just sucked blood from the dead knight's body.

"Still... not enough..."

I saw some of his melted flesh had already regenerated.

Maybe he'd regained enough magic power as well, since Veil immediately vanished into the shadows.

[That guy's running away! Where's he going?]

'He's not running away.'

He'd merely retreated for now.

He'd realized there was no point stupidly fighting now without a chance of winning.

[Wait... then don't tell me... that guy's aiming for...]

'Yeah. He's planning to recover.'

Veil was heading to the battlefield right in front of us.

If he reached the corpse-littered area, he'd recover in no time.

I couldn't let that happen after everything I'd set up.

"Zelbin! I'll pursue him—get the prince out of here!"

Chasing the demonkin was important, but escorting the prince safely back to our base was equally vital.

"I wish you good fortune."

Understanding this, Zelbin nodded with grim resolve.

'Who would have thought an intermediate-rank demonkin would turn tail and run?'

I immediately gave chase, but catching up to Veil, who was moving through the shadows, was nearly impossible.

Having lost so much blood, my head was spinning and vision blurry.

'Damn it, if only I had a technique like that...'

[What about using that technique—Meteor? Wouldn't it let you catch up?]

'What? Sure, with Meteor I could close the distance, but what am I supposed to do when I catch him?'

In the second half of the Hidden Star Sword: Third Technique, Meteor.

It was a skill that closed the gap to the enemy and pierced them in a single leap.

But chasing down Veil from this distance would require me to go all out, not just use it moderately.

Even if I caught up, my stamina would run dry. If I couldn't finish him immediately after closing in, I'd just make things worse.

[What are you talking about? Just use the leap from the technique! Now I know why you haven't used it until now.]

Just the leap? There was nothing like that in the description of the Hidden Star Sword technique.

[Don't get bogged down by the settings.]

It was as if Grancesia had read my mind.

[Settings give you knowledge no one else has. But they're just one person's guidelines, right?]

It hit me—what she was trying to say.

'I've been too obsessed with the settings.'

Sure, my "settings" ability let me know everything my father wrote about the world.

But it was limited to what was "set"—not everything possible.

Settings can be changed.

I'd done it several times already—like turning villains into extras, or modifying the Hidden Star Sword's settings.

I quickly listed every movement technique I'd learned.

The footwork from the House Vanhart's Dao Inscribed Sword, the basic and advanced footwork of the Hidden Star Sword, the footwork shown in Meteor, and lastly, the single step from Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

The key was not sticking to each set's boundaries, but instead thinking outside the box.

'I'm sure I can make something work, but...'

If I mixed those elements together, I felt I could create the technique I needed.

The problem was my own ability to use it.

Then, Grancesia whispered to me in a calm voice.

[Focus.]

At that moment, the world turned monochrome, and I began to see a certain "flow".

The Eye of Shimosha's true insight ability had activated.

Following the flow I now perceived, I slowly moved my magic power.

From my toes, magic began to course, spreading through my whole body.

'So this is what it means to control magic power?'

Since becoming a sword user, I'd thought I could control magic.

But I was mistaken.

I hadn't truly been controlling it—just using it.

Now, I finally understood what it really meant to move magic at will.

'Now...!'

Kicking off the ground, my form sliced through the air with speed.

Though not as fast as using Meteor itself, I'd created a footwork that overcame the brevity of "burst" movement with sustained acceleration—a "personalized" technique.

[Not bad for your first try. Have you named it yet?]

'A name?'

Through the Eye of Shimosha's insight, I could see magic flowing inside me.

A path opened up, connecting my internal flows like never before.

As I breathed, the amount of magic circulating grew; my body's vessel expanded noticeably.

That's when it dawned on me.

'Meteor Step.'

The barrier I thought was just ahead—I'd just crossed it.

"What the—what is that?!"

"Save me!"

The landscape flashed by, and I reached the heart of the battlefield where the armies were clashing.

Among the clangor of soldiers' weapons, something out of place stood out.

Veil was darting about in the shadows, attacking soldiers without rest.

The arrival of a demonkin with such overwhelming might plunged the battlefield into chaos.

"Knights, protect the soldiers and pull back! I'll handle him!"

Thanks to Tedric stepping up and restraining Veil, casualties were minimized.

But as Veil kept feeding on blood, his wounds healed and Tedric was barely holding his advance.

"Kehahahaha! I'll kill you all and feast on you!"

Even the flesh melted by the Eye of Shimosha and his tattered body were mending.

Though the influence of Divine Blood lingered, it was unclear how long it would last.

Searching for more prey, Veil's face twisted with a grimace when he spotted me.

"Tch! You got here faster than I thought. Doesn't matter. As soon as my magic power works again, I'll kill you!"

Despite his recovery, it seemed Veil still hesitated to face me head-on. He slipped into the shadows again.

'Where is he?'

Taking a deep breath, I picked up a sword lying on the ground.

'Which way is his flow going?'

Rivers of flow—so many energies were crossing the battlefield.

Only one was truly out of place, but with so many, it was hard to identify.

'Focus.'

Among the countless flows, I sought the single corrupted one.

Erasing, one by one, the flows emanating from each human on the field.

After endless repetition, at last, a single scarlet light stood out clearly.

I ran after it using Meteor Step.

"Damn it!"

Veil, emerging to attack a soldier, tried to hide in the shadows again.

If this dragged on and he kept feeding, he would recover fully.

It had to end here.

Reversing my grip on the sword, I aimed the blade behind me.

'Hidden Star Sword: First Technique of the Second Half—New Star.'

Magic energy gathered around the blade, then exploded outward.

Boom!

Propelled by the blast of magic, my body shot through the air at a terrifying speed.

"──Persistent bastard!"

Realizing he couldn't dodge, Veil thrust out his hands.

Blood streamed from nearby corpses, clustering around his arms.

Apparently, he'd recovered enough to invoke blood magic at last.

It trembled, incomplete, but was certainly deadly enough to kill a man.

"I'll tear you apart!"

Veil channeled all he had, swinging a gigantic blood-forged arm at me as I charged straight at him.

[Clay!]

Grancesia's scream rang in my ears.

A hair's breadth of an instant.

But my mind was calmer than ever before.

Staring at his trembling flow through the monochrome world, I tightened my grip on the sword.

Ssssh!

At that moment, the blade glowed scarlet, turning razor sharp.

Blood magic—"Blood Sword."

I'd gained this ability via demonkin Kalio's settings, but my magic supply made it hard to use.

But now that I'd reached sword expert level—

'And if I only coat an existing blade in blood, instead of conjuring a sword from scratch...!'

Instead of forming an entire sword, just painting over the blade with blood—this was something I could do.

"How do you know blood magic?!"

I heard Veil's voice, horrified.

Instead of replying, I swung the sword in one swift stroke.

A sword of red, covered in Divine Blood.

Slash!

The scarlet blade cut through the giant blood hand as if slicing butter.

It cleaved through the blood-armored hand, then Veil's forearm and wrist—reaching him in one motion.

Veil's eyes went wide, reflecting nothing but the crimson edge.

"No—!"

Slice!

With a clipped deathcry, Veil's head flew through the air.

And just like that—the noisy battlefield fell silent.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

It's only 25 chapters, but they've won the war...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】