“When walking like a snake, what’s needed is to increase the range of motion in the joints.”
Enkrid had learned the snake walk from Audin, and on top of that, he added the Pixie Captain’s swordsmanship. He also combined the techniques from Ragna's sword style, alongside everything he had seen, learned, felt, and experienced.
The concept was simple.
‘The sword style of Yu Ken Shik is about blocking, flowing, and scattering.’
It’s a swordsmanship where the priority is to tire the opponent through their own efforts.
The original creator of the five sword styles, Leonecys Oniac, had defined it this way, and those who had mastered Yu Ken Shik followed the sa approach.
‘Do I have to follow this exactly?’
Though Enkrid may not have been the first to think of this, it was possible that he was the first to shape it, embed aning within it, and turn it into a sword style.
That’s what he had done.
The idea was simple: Use the flow to create an opening and strike simultaneously.
He would scatter the opponent’s attack while pushing his own sword forward.
The idea was simple, but to implent it, one needed sharp senses and years of sparring experience.
And Enkrid had that.
But if he just flowed and swung the sword like this, the strike wouldn’t be as powerful.
In fact, it was difficult to put even half the power into it.
So, what was the solution? If strength was lacking, it could be made up in other ways.
If the weapon were sharper, that would solve the issue.
Just a light graze would be enough to cut.
Enkrid placed his sword on a sharpening stone. He sharpened the blade.
The cursed sword, Tutor, which had been reforged into a legendary sword, was sharp enough to compensate for any lack of power.
That’s what he did. He made use of the weapon.
He deflected the opponent’s sword to the side, slipping in, landing a quick strike, and then pulling back.
The result was clear.
“You’ve beco one-eyed.”
Enkrid spoke, standing still as elun covered his remaining eye with his palm, blinking with confusion.
He had missed his sword strike and fell, his rear end touching the ground.
What kind of fool was this?
What was that move earlier?
A wave of complex thoughts rushed through his mind.
Instead of dwelling on it, elun pushed off the ground and charged forward.
It looked like he was kicking the ground with his rear, but in reality, he had used the spring of his knees to propel himself forward from the fall.
The loss of vision in one eye didn’t matter to him.
His combat instincts, honed over many years, guided his hands and helped him calculate the opponent’s position.
‘He flowed.’
anwhile, elun also noticed the trick his opponent’s sword had pulled. If that was the case, he would just strike hard enough to prevent Enkrid from flowing.
He only needed one step to close the distance, and in that ti, elun’s forearm appeared to swell twice in size.
At the sa ti, his forearm seed to bend unnaturally.
The heavy loop sword in his hand blurred like an illusion and ca crashing down.
Enkrid sensed the incoming strike. He opened all his senses. The new sixth sense he had developed helped him read the trajectory of the sword strike.
He brought his own sword in line with the attack. To the average person, the clash would have been invisible, but to Enkrid, the exchange was clear, as if the sword strikes were tangible.
The force in the loop sword felt weaker than before.
It was a feint.
Why was he trying to swell his muscles so foolishly?
As Enkrid attempted to deflect the blow, the trajectory of the loop sword shifted.
Enkrid quickly adjusted his stance, twisting his body around the ankle and applying the Balafian martial arts technique to his sword.
It was a flash of brilliance.
He added force to the rotation and t elun’s sword with his own.
The clang of tal eting tal rang out, the sound reverberating through the air.
The shockwave from the collision hit both of them, but neither was affected by it.
They endured it with their trained bodies.
elun was unfazed. He didn’t underestimate his opponent.
Using the rebound force, he twisted his body and swung his sword horizontally. Enkrid, like a dancer, drew a curve in the air with his sword and t elun’s blade once more.
The sound of friction accompanied the sparks flying between their blades.
Then, the clash was followed by the sickening sound of flesh being cut.
Enkrid stepped back and shook his sword, flicking the blood off the blade.
“...You.”
elun blinked as he stood across from Enkrid.
What was going on?
After fighting Enkrid before, elun had trained harder than ever to increase his strength.
He had even killed a few rogue nobles along the way and fought beasts and monsters, all to prepare for this mont.
Everything had been for today.
To crush the human who had interfered with his mission and fulfill his desires.
elun’s desires were as straightforward and relentless as they ca.
But now, after all his efforts, he found himself facing soone stronger than he had ever imagined.
It didn’t make sense.
He had faced soone weaker than him and had barely scraped by with a narrow victory. Yet, in a single strike, Enkrid had taken his eye.
And now?
“Where’s my arm?”
The absurd words escaped from his mouth.
He had once had it, but now it was gone.
They had exchanged swords twice, and the first ti, he lost an eye. This ti, he lost his arm.
His arm had been cut off at the elbow, and the severed limb lay in a bloody heap.
The arm holding the loop sword was twitching and leaking blood.
elun’s regeneration was remarkable, and the severed flesh was already beginning to heal, but for now, he had lost both his weapon and his arm.
He was in a daze, his desire betrayed, and his sanity slipping away.
His eyes spun wildly as his long tongue dangled from his mouth.
“Do you want to continue?”
Enkrid asked, having already confird that Kraiss was safe. He hadn’t been tied up and was curled up in a corner of the hall.
That ant the rcenary hadn’t killed anyone.
Enkrid had other questions.
Who had ordered the collection?
Would more like him co? Was this the work of the Black Blades or perhaps so sche from the Count within the estate?
There were many doubts.
The answer was simple. He would ask the rcenary.
He would wait and watch.
“Enki.”
The Fairy Commander called out to him by his nickna. He found it more endearing than being called his full na.
He understood why when he saw elun reach into his breastplate and pull sothing out.
It was a small leather pouch, flat and perfectly sized to fit inside his armor.
elun opened it and poured a powder into his mouth.
“Be careful.”
The fairy warned as elun’s eyes began to glow red.
Lost in his desire for victory, the rcenary made a choice he would soon regret.
He had taken the drug, and soon, its effects would take hold.
“Aaaaahhh!”
The rcenary scread and charged forward, much faster than before.
Enkrid had already positioned himself, pulling his right foot back while setting his stance the mont the rcenary had taken the powder.
Watching the charging rcenary, Kraiss's eyes widened. The Fairy Commander stepped forward from behind.
Gilpin, who had been outside guiding them, seed startled and fell on his backside.
Enkrid’s sixth sense had beco sharper than ever, and he was aware of everything around him.
As the "Concentrate One" triggered, his focus intensified, and everything around him seed to slow down.
It felt like the air itself had beco heavy and solid, surrounding him.
The powder scattered in the air, reflecting light, and the rcenary was suddenly much closer, practically at arm’s reach.
Enkrid held his sword diagonally.
The rcenary closed the distance, stepping forward.
‘Slash.’
The body that ca crashing in was like a boulder, a strategy unique to the rcenary.
Boom! Thud!
With a loud sound, one of them was sent flying into the wall after the collision.
“Commander!”
Kraiss finally shouted. He hadn’t noticed the process of the fight, but the sudden frenzy of the rcenary, enhanced by the drug, was visible even to him.
As the two collided, the wooden floor of the estate cracked, and the dust clouded Kraiss's vision for a mont.
Beyond the dust, a blurred figure waved their hand from side to side and spoke.
“Why are you calling ?”
‘Oh, shit. I thought we were done for.’
Kraiss let out a sigh of relief.
The Fairy Commander, who had been startled, unknowingly opened her mouth, caught off guard and standing in a sowhat awkward stance with her hand still on her sword.
“What was that just now?”
She replayed in her mind what she had just witnessed.
A kick was coming. Enkrid deflected the opponent's strike, flowing it along the opponent’s shin.
The rcenary’s skin was slippery.
It was a flow move, using that very characteristic. Of course, it was no easy feat.
A small misstep would result in a skull shattering from a kick or a broken shoulder from the force.
So even deflecting was a kind of trick in itself, but it didn’t end there.
Enkrid pulled a short sword from his left hand and used it as a blunt instrunt to strike the rcenary’s breastplate.
The strike hit precisely in the heart area, shattering the armor and delivering a shock inside.
Was this impressive? Yes. The speed of reaction and the way he handled it was extraordinary.
“You’ve co a long way.”
The Fairy Commander realized that she could no longer easily predict the outco of a fight with Enkrid.
Of course, in an all-out battle, things might be different, but in a simple sparring match, victory wasn’t sothing she could claim so easily.
‘He might be trickier than a barbarian.’
Looking at the startled fairy, Enkrid just shrugged.
“You seem to know sothing.”
He then asked. Enkrid had heard the Fairy Commander’s earlier exclamation when she noticed the powder. She had a tone of soone who knew.
“I saw sothing like that recently.”
“Let’s clean up the surroundings first.”
Kraiss, now recovered, spoke as he approached.
Enkrid nodded.
He looked over at the rcenary, now stuck in the wall of the estate, halfway buried in the bricks.
His heart hadn’t exploded, but the shock had knocked him unconscious.
Regardless of the drug’s effects, the rcenary’s weakness was his heart. Enkrid had aid for that.
So the difference in skill was clear.
“But, commander, you’re really strong.”
It was surprising, even though Kraiss had already known. He had witnessed everything and still couldn’t speak.
He remained sitting there, unable to rise after falling earlier.
Were they not just monsters with no concern for him?
What had he truly seen? He hadn’t seen much of it, after all. If he told people what had happened, would they even believe it?
‘Would they even believe it?’
Was this man really supposed to be so knight?
No, he was just a squad commander, right?
But how could he fight like this?
“We should head back now.”
Enkrid said, as he captured the rcenary alive. If he didn’t die, he would regenerate, so capturing him was the right move.
This also served to satisfy so of his questions and curiosity.
Enkrid slung the rcenary over his shoulder, and the Fairy Commander and Kraiss followed him.
As they stepped outside the estate, the cold wind brushed against their faces.
It had been a short fight, but sweat had already started to form. The wind that swept across his face felt refreshing.
As the sweat trickled down his temples, the Fairy Commander reached out and wiped it away.
Then she said.
“Are you an onion?”
Enkrid was confused.
“What do you an by that?”
“You keep showing new sides of yourself, like an onion that keeps peeling to reveal new layers.”
Enkrid was intrigued.
What did humor an in the fairy world?
Was this the normal kind of fairy humor?
Or had the Fairy Commander been cast out for this kind of joke?
Kraiss had heard it too, but he pretended not to notice.
“Oh, you really have a lot.”
He said, rummaging through the bag that the rcenary had brought.
“Didn’t you hear ?”
Enkrid asked. Kraiss raised his head from the bag as if he had been about to hide in it.
“Hmm?”
He hadn’t heard. Or perhaps he had, but chose to ignore it. Enkrid had learned to imitate his behavior.
“You heard about the powder?”
Kraiss, who had avoided answering, shifted the topic.
“There’s sothing annoying here. Onion fiancée.”
The Fairy Commander continued with her teasing, giving Enkrid a new nickna.
Should Enkrid retaliate?
He thought for a mont but remained silent.
He could always ask Kraiss about the drugs later.
“Onion fiancée, did you just speak with your eyes? It’s like seeing an apple from the swamp,”
she teased.
“...Swamp apple?”
“Swamp apples are the ones that rot and get diseased.”
She had translated it into an insult.
Enkrid noticed the Fairy Commander seed a little too excited.
He didn’t ask why, just acted like Kraiss.
He had heard it, but he chose to ignore it.
“Hey, fiancée. You don’t seem like you want to answer right now.”
“Esther ca out to greet us.”
Enkrid said, spotting the leopard standing in front of the barracks.
Just as he had said, Esther had co out to greet them.
Enkrid’s steps were light.
It had been a hard fight against elun before, but now, it was a completely different situation.
It had ended like a light walk.
He thought this as he looked at Esther.
User Comments
0 comments from readers