novelraw Chapter 268
Chapter 268
The timing of the spear thrust was perfect.
At that moment, all of the Sword of the Sea's nerves were focused on the Sword of the Earth.
It was only natural.
In the Sword of the Sea's eyes, Lee Shin, collapsed on the ground and gasping for breath, must have looked like a scarecrow on the verge of breaking.
The Sword of the Sea was completely defenseless against Lee Shin's attack.
The act of feigning unconsciousness was also perfect.
Lee Shin had acted as if he were in despair that his attacks were ineffective, unleashed a chaotic barrage of attacks as if he had lost his reason, and then, as planned, was seriously injured by the Sword of the Earth and sent flying far away.
Seeing this, the Sword of the Sea had no doubts.
The Sword of the Sea had let his guard down completely around Lee Shin.
The moment the spear was thrust, everything Lee Shin had prepared clicked into place, creating a single, perfect flow.
Grin-
"What's this? I thought you'd be alive, but you look much more energetic than I expected."
Despite all that, the Sword of the Sea was not the least bit fazed by Lee Shin's surprise attack.
Rather, he smiled, the corners of his eyes curving slightly as if he were enjoying the current situation of Lee Shin aiming a spear at him.
Ssk-
The Sword of the Sea glanced at Lee Shin's spear thrusting toward him for a moment, then lightly dodged it as if toying with him.
"But aren't you overdoing it with such a serious injury?"
Sreureung-
"It's so slow it makes me want to yawn."
The Sword of the Sea said so, mocking Lee Shin, and at the same time, fully drew his sword from its scabbard.
Honestly, there was no need to even draw his sword to kill the current Lee Shin.
However, to give the Sword of the Earth a sense of complete defeat, the Sword of the Sea decided to use his sword to cut off Lee Shin's head.
'Capturing him alive would be better, but... with that boar-like fellow around, it'll be impossible.'
The reason the Sword of the Sea had been able to avoid the Sword of the Earth's senses was because the Sword of the Earth had not been aware of his presence from the beginning.
After having already revealed himself completely, picking up a person and escaping the Sword of the Earth's senses again was impossible even for the Sword of the Sea.
'But I can probably manage just one head.'
Thus, the Sword of the Sea planned to cut off Lee Shin's head and flee with it at the same time, and was about to swing his sword.
Grind-
'In a situation where capture is clearly the priority, did he change his course to killing him because of me?'
Seeing this and roughly guessing what the Sword of the Sea was thinking, the Sword of the Earth ground his teeth and put more strength into his legs as he kicked off the ground.
To block the sword the Sword of the Sea was swinging.
Grit-
And if he failed to block the sword, he would swing his own sword at the Sword of the Sea to prevent him from escaping.
Just as the Sword of the Sea and the Sword of the Earth were about to start a game of tag with Lee Shin's head as the ball.
'Good angle.'
Lee Shin, seeing that the Sword of the Sea and the Sword of the Earth were conveniently standing in a straight line, enjoyed the sensation of the viscous blood flowing from his chest and let out a deep laugh.
It was not a playful, teasing laugh with a grinning face.
At a glance, it was a laugh of someone intoxicated with pleasure, as if drunk.
Shudder-!
The moment Lee Shin looked at the two and laughed like that.
Slice-
The two simultaneously saw a single illusion in their minds.
Stab-
No, it wasn't just one.
Squeeze-
Hundreds.
Crunch-
Thousands.
Crack-
Tens of thousands.
Slice- Stab- Squeeze- Crunch- Crack-
Slice- Stab- Squeeze- Crunch- Crack-
Slice- Stab- Squeeze- Crunch- Crack-
In an instant, the two experienced a superposition of countless types of death illusions that they couldn't even properly perceive.
At that moment, the corners of the Sword of the Sea's mouth, which had been smiling continuously since he first appeared, turned downwards, and the Sword of the Earth's expression, which had been burning hot with anger toward the Sword of the Sea, instantly cooled and turned frigid.
Halt-
Simultaneously, the two, without realizing it, stopped all the movements they were about to make just a moment ago.
It was not an action done by their own will.
Nor was it their survival instinct reacting to the killing intent and stopping their bodies.
It was something that happened simply due to a mere misconception.
Faced with such a dense and thick killing intent and the countless illusions of death that poured into their minds in an instant, their bodies and minds momentarily mistook themselves for being dead and stopped moving.
Ssssk-
The Sword of the Sea's body, which was about to swing his sword, slowly fell forward.
The Sword of the Earth's body, due to the force of his legs kicking off the ground, was shot rapidly toward them as if launched.
Cheok-
"Good angle."
Watching them, Lee Shin, who was now wearing his usual grinning smile instead of the one from a moment ago, slightly pulled back the spear he had extended forward.
Pshsht-
And once again, he thrust it forward.
The target was the necks of the two men.
The moment Lee Shin swung his spear, the image reflected in the dazed retinas of the two men carved a new image of death into their minds.
An image of their necks being pierced by the spear like a skewer, then their heads being completely severed by the sideways swing of the spear, and their round heads falling to the ground.
Gnash-
Grind-
At that moment, the Sword of the Sea and the Sword of the Earth escaped from the wave of death that filled their minds and forcibly moved their frozen bodies.
What greeted them was the sharp tip of a spear that was literally right in front of their noses.
At that, the Sword of the Sea urgently moved his sword to parry the spear and twist its trajectory, and the Sword of the Earth, who was flying with inertia, blocked the spear with his sword and stopped his body, which had been moving out of control.
What saved the two from the brink of death by a hair's breadth was not some grand technique imbued with profound principles like a late-strike counter.
It was simply the difference in physical specs between Lee Shin and the two of them.
Because it was an attack from a seriously injured Lee Shin, the two, who were in perfect condition, were able to react instinctively and survive.
The two knew this as well, which was why small beads of cold sweat were now trickling down their jawlines.
'If this guy had just a little more power, he would have taken an eye from both me and the Sword of the Earth.'
As the Sword of the Sea was thinking that, he slightly lowered his eyes to look at Lee Shin's face.
At that moment, the Sword of the Sea's pupils widened again.
On Lee Shin's face, which he had expected to be contorted in disappointment, a smile still lingered.
Gagagagak-
Lee Shin's spear scraped against the two's swords, spewing brilliant sparks like a bomb with a lit fuse, and watching the sight, Lee Shin muttered quietly.
"Exploding Spear, 100 Stacks."
Pooooong--!!!
The moment Lee Shin's words ended, a huge explosion erupted from the tip of the spear he was holding.
The explosion burst brilliantly like a blooming flower, and the fragments of the broken spear, hiding themselves in the black smoke, engulfed the two who were close to the spear.
Woooong-
At that, the two urgently raised their energy to protect their entire bodies.
The two defended against the force of the explosion and at the same time used that force to retreat and create distance from Lee Shin.
The two of them could have, with a little strain, broken through that huge explosion and swung their swords to cut off Lee Shin's head.
However, they judged it would be better to retreat once and take some time to think and adapt.
The Sword of the Sea lightly clenched and unclenched the hand opposite to the one holding his sword.
His body was stiff and hard, as if it had gone through rigor mortis and then been released.
"...Hey, what kind of guy did you find?"
The Sword of the Sea asked the Sword of the Earth in a voice mixed with a hollow laugh.
As he spoke, a look of disbelief was clearly visible on his face.
"I don't know. I was just about to capture him to find that out, but you interfered and messed everything up."
The Sword of the Earth clicked his tongue at the Sword of the Sea, but his eyes remained fixed on the center of the black smoke where Lee Shin was.
Right now, both the Sword of the Sea and the Sword of the Earth had directed only the minimum senses necessary for vigilance toward each other, while focusing all their remaining senses on Lee Shin.
"Haa, I don't know what's what, but I don't think that guy is Gaia's hero."
The Sword of the Sea said in a tone of disbelief, tracing the wound on his cheek, which had been created by a spear fragment he couldn't dodge, with his finger.
"No matter how I look at it... that guy's position isn't the hero of justice chosen by God, but the demon king who opposes the hero."
"Isn't calling me a demon king a bit harsh?"
Lee Shin, who was in the center of the smoke, said so and slowly emerged from it.
Lee Shin's chest was slick with red blood, but since he was drinking a potion through the [Guest's Mask] to heal the wound, his clothes were not getting any dirtier.
"I don't want to hear that from someone who's been hiding since the fight started, just waiting for an opportunity."
"Oh, what, you knew I was hiding from the beginning?"
At Lee Shin's words, the Sword of the Sea said with an exaggeratedly surprised expression.
"And from the way you're talking, it seems you noticed from the very beginning?"
"Well, yeah."
Lee Shin readily nodded, affirming the Sword of the Sea's words.
"This is strange. When I really decide to hide, even that guy can't notice me."
"I was just born with a constitution sensitive to killing intent."
Lee Shin said so and raised his palm, waving it lightly at the Sword of the Sea.
"Thanks to that, whether it's my killing intent or someone else's, I can know it as easily as if it were in the palm of my hand."
"Aha! No wonder the fight felt a bit strange at first. It was because you found me out, huh?"
The Sword of the Sea said so and pointed at the [Yagong] embedded in the ground far away with his finger.
"Sticking your own spear in the ground and fighting with your bare hands, pretending to be flustered at the end, and getting seriously injured—it was all a plan to lure me in and make me let my guard down, wasn't it?"
"Well, yeah. I was born with a nature that makes my stomach ache when I see others get the fisherman's profit. I did think of a few things to do if things didn't go well, but..."
Lee Shin said, looking at the Sword of the Earth.
"Thanks to him playing along with me better than I thought, it succeeded splendidly like this."
-Do you think I will play along with your tune?
-But is there any reason you can't?
Through that short conversation, the two, having guessed each other's intentions, began a play created beneath the script.
The Sword of the Earth would grasp information about Lee Shin while being wary of the Sword of the Sea's possible presence, and Lee Shin would drag an unknown third party onto the stage while simultaneously giving a small lesson to Mio and Rwen through his play with the Sword of the Earth.
However, this was also a play that could be broken at any time if the Sword of the Earth wished.
If the Sword of the Earth didn't believe Lee Shin's words and went all out, Lee Shin couldn't just die quietly, so he would have to break from the play.
But the image the Sword of the Earth had of the Sword of the Sea allowed this play to proceed smoothly.
"Ah, no wonder you kept dragging out the fight when there were several chances to end it. Was that why? I just thought that cowardly fellow was observing the enemy."
The Sword of the Sea said so and laughed, looking at the Sword of the Earth.
"To think you'd even team up with an enemy you just met and set a trap just for me. You've become quite flexible, haven't you? I don't think this is the time to be blaming me."
"...Do not compare me to the likes of you. I simply judged that it would be better to capture the enemy after fully grasping his capabilities."
At that, the Sword of the Sea smiled and said to the distant Sword of the Earth.
"But from your reaction, it seems you knew I was coming?"
"I just thought that a snake-like fellow like you would surely show up."
"Aha, no wonder~ I thought it was strange that you were dragging out the time to deploy here. So it was a trap to lure me out!"
The Sword of the Sea said so and smiled like a cunning serpent.
"But to let your own subordinates die for that, and two Holy Knight Commanders at that, isn't that too much?"
"Hmph, ridiculous."
The Sword of the Earth snorted at the Sword of the Sea's words.
"You must have misspoken my subordinates for your subordinates. I was just wondering how to deal with the ones who were constantly leaking information to you, and I just dealt with them today."
With the Sword of the Earth's words, the two briefly faced each other head-on.
"What's with you today, you're so unfamiliar? I'm starting to miss your usual gentle self."
"I had anticipated it from the reports, but seeing you here in person to snatch my prey just makes my blood boil."
At the Sword of the Earth's words, the Sword of the Sea said with a smile.
"But isn't a dragon too delicious a meal for beasts that can only crawl on the ground?"
"For inferior fish that can't even breathe properly once they're out of the water, you talk big."
Just as the two were about to rush at each other.
"Ah, ah, wait. You two can't be fighting each other like that."
Lee Shin, who had been quiet for a moment, cut into their conversation.
"You're both my prey. If one of you dies fighting the other, it's my loss."
At Lee Shin's following words, the two looked at him as if in disbelief.
"Hey, I admit it's impressive that you got one over on us, but you're weaker than us. What are you trusting in to be so arrogant?"
Lee Shin's current state was somewhat deformed.
He had gained enlightenment through a short period of closed-door training and reached the end of LV. 6, but that was merely his overflowing enlightenment forcibly dragging his body along; Lee Shin's body was still at the highest level of LV. 5.
An incomplete half.
That was how Lee Shin thought of his own state, and that appearance was clearly visible to the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea as well.
The reason the two had lowered their guard against Lee Shin the moment he came out of the smoke was also for that reason.
"Yeah, you two are definitely stronger than me... but you can't beat me."
"What is this? Are you expecting help from Gaia because you're the hero? If so, that's a foolish expectation."
The Sword of the Earth said in a low voice.
"This world is our God's domain. It is not a space where Gaia's care can reach."
"I wasn't expecting anything like that from the start."
At the Sword of the Earth's words, Lee Shin said in a light voice.
"I'm just saying this, trusting purely in my own skills."
"Just that?"
"Yeah, this."
Lee Shin smiled at the Sword of the Sea's words.
"It's true that you're stronger than me in every way, but..."
Grin-
"I'm just much better at killing things than you guys.”
(End of Chapter)