Chapter 155: The Higher the Mountain, the Deeper the Valley (5)
Slash!
KIIEEEEK?!
After cutting down the fifth charging Beast, Francia imdiately turned her gaze toward the next enemy.
She was the closest existence to the Sword Saint in the current era.
She had only experienced real combat once before, but tens of thousands of training sessions had amplified that experience dozens of tis over.
It wasn’t that she lacked hesitation.
Which was why she spent such long periods agonizing over her choices.
Is it truly alright to do this?—
But once she reached a conclusion after all that contemplation, she never hesitated again.
The mont she resolved herself to kill every enemy before her—
There no longer existed anyone here capable of stopping Francia Brida.
After severing the neck of the thirteenth Beast to charge at her in only two strikes, I turned my gaze elsewhere.
‘The only real variable is that guy.’
Among all the experintal subjects—
The only one who had fully succeeded in Beastification.
Despite having completely lost his consciousness due to the berserk order, the creature rely stared at us without making any particular move.
‘…He’s watching.’
Watching our fighting styles.
‘Well, feel free to observe all you want.’
The more troubleso the opponent, the more it would help Francia’s growth.
---
It took roughly thirty minutes to tear apart all thirty-nine rampaging Beasts.
By this point, even the reporters—who had initially maintained rigid defensive stances in tension—had beco busy carrying out their own tasks.
Ignoring the scattered corpses entirely, Francia slowly steadied her breathing.
“…Is it because they were forcibly driven berserk?”
Her expression looked much stiffer than before.
“They feel far simpler than the Beasts from before sohow.”
“…That one was an SS-Rank Beast.”
Still, even considering the difference in rank and experience, the outco had indeed felt sowhat anticlimactic.
‘Though the Gate Beast being that powerful was certainly part of it….’
The agility and raw strength the enemies displayed were closer to B-Rank Beasts.
The Werebeast that Belfor, Walter, and I had defeated together before had been exactly that rank.
And it was also true those creatures had demonstrated combat ability completely unsuited for that level.
— Their Beast instincts were probably erased by the berserk state itself.
At Clina’s sudden voice, I silently nodded.
If they had been ordinary Beasts, berserkization wouldn’t have suppressed their instincts.
But these were forced Beastification cases created through drugs.
Neither fully Beast nor fully human.
Which made the berserk state poison instead.
‘…And there’s no way Ernst considered that before triggering it.’
I slowly pointed my sword toward the approaching enemy.
“I’ll handle this one, Instructor.”
“…….”
Watching Francia step forward, two thoughts crossed my mind simultaneously.
To stand against the catastrophe ahead, her existence was essential.
To bloom beyond awakening, she would require countless experiences.
And this too was part of that process.
Which also ant sothing else—
That Eugene Carter’s current capabilities only extended this far.
That without everyone’s help, I could never overco the trials before alone.
Even though I already understood better than anyone that humanity was a species built upon mutual reliance—
I still couldn’t help but feel it deeply.
Gratitude.
And guilt.
“Don’t think of this as the sa kind of enemy as before. Fight at full strength. If it gets dangerous, I’ll pull you back imdiately.”
“…Understood.”
After giving a slight nod, she skillfully distributed the vast mana overflowing through her body into her vital points.
Then she kicked off the ground with all her strength and instantly closed in on the enemy’s core.
---
It was true that Francia Brida had grown imnsely after her special training with Eugene Carter.
She had cast off the shackles that once bound her.
But even so, her combat style remained almost unchanged.
Using the countless sword arts she had mastered through overwhelming training, she disrupted her opponent—
Then drove Illusion Swordsmanship into the opening she created.
Illusion Swordsmanship was rely one useful ability.
How it was utilized in battle depended entirely on the wielder.
The reason she stood closest to the Sword Saint wasn’t because she possessed a special power.
A sword rely cuts.
And because she understood that truth better than anyone—
She was strong.
That was the essence of swordsn as taught by her father.
And yet—
The enemy’s response completely bewildered her.
Tiiing!
Watching Test Subject 1966 effortlessly block her strike, Francia frowned in confusion.
‘…I definitely targeted an opening.’
From a downward slash, she instantly changed the trajectory into a thrust.
Then, when the enemy instinctively guarded the upper body and vital areas—
She activated Illusion Swordsmanship and swung upward.
The enemy should’ve lost its judgnt from the pain, allowing her to overwhelm it with continuous strikes.
It had been a perfect sequence.
And yet—
The enemy moved as though it had already anticipated the upward attack.
As if it had known from the very beginning that she was an Illusion Swordsmanship user.
‘…I can’t completely rule it out.’
Though its appearance was monstrous, judging from its previous actions and speech, it likely possessed human-level intelligence before entering its berserk state.
Whether the researcher inford it beforehand or it deduced things from records and articles—
If it knew, then naturally it would’ve prepared counterasures too.
‘…I thought the berserk state erased its consciousness entirely.’
She had already fought more than ten Beasts.
The commotion had grown far larger than originally planned, but this was still supposed to be a guerrilla operation.
The evidence collection was complete.
We needed to retreat quickly.
A prolonged battle brought no benefits whatsoever.
Speed and decisiveness.
Before the enemy adapted further—
End it with the strongest strike possible.
Having made her decision, her movents sharpened even further.
The pattern remained identical to before.
This ti, the upward slash and thrust acted as feints.
The true attack was a diagonal slash descending from above.
In that instant, she wove together an Aura Blade.
Countless image training sessions.
Fifty-six repeated training cycles.
And two real combat experiences.
The probability of failure was less than two percent.
After completing the simulation in her mind, Francia imdiately charged forward and executed the exact sequence she had envisioned.
The mont she saw the enemy bend both arms defensively—
She activated Illusion Swordsmanship.
Blocking was aningless.
The Aura Blade would easily pierce even Beast skin reinforced with mana.
And then—
Between the crimson mana and the blade erging once again—
She saw sothing unnatural.
The enemy’s right hand, which should have been firmly guarding with both arms—
Was instead thrusting toward her chest like a spear.
Yes.
Almost… like Illusion Swordsmanship itself.
‘How…?!’
She imdiately attempted to deploy Barrier Blade, but the timing failed.
Francia twisted her body with all her strength to avoid a fatal wound.
At the sa mont—
A familiar armor of mana unfolded between them.
Kiiiik, kiiik!
The enemy’s hand strike slamd directly into the Mana Armor and rebounded with an unbearable tallic shriek.
The shockwave launched her backward—
And Eugene instantly rushed forward to catch her.
“Huff… huff….”
“Are you alright?”
“…Thanks to you.”
The three others who arrived monts later helped support her.
“You did well, Francia. Rest now. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Be careful! I can’t believe it myself, but that thing…!”
“Mm. I saw it too. Why that bastard can use Illusion Swordsmanship… we’ll ask after subduing him.”
That was all Eugene said before lightly swinging his sword and walking forward.
The second round had begun.
---
Francia’s tactics had been excellent.
The mont she realized Illusion Swordsmanship had been countered during the first exchange, she imdiately escalated by incorporating Aura Blade to finish things decisively.
But what happened afterward—
Even she could never have anticipated.
Who would expect the enemy to use Illusion Swordsmanship?
Truthfully, I was just as surprised.
Illusion Swordsmanship had vanished from practical use for over 140 years.
Its very existence was scarcely known anymore.
Even I had only acquired the ability itself through Copy Slot.
That alone shouldn’t have been enough.
Obtaining a license didn’t instantly make soone a skilled driver, after all.
And yet the enemy moved as though it understood Illusion Swordsmanship perfectly.
Moreover, it used its right hand like a blade and struck faster than Francia herself.
If I hadn’t deployed Mana Armor in ti while watching from nearby—
She wouldn’t have avoided a piercing wound.
Francia’s father, Onte Brida, hadn’t been soone who awakened Illusion Swordsmanship either.
He had rely passed down the teachings inherited through generations to his daughter without distortion.
And as far as I knew—
Francia was the only one who successfully comprehended and awakened it fully.
‘…The only way to learn the full truth is to ask him directly.’
Through the earlier battle, I had roughly grasped his movents.
Though his instincts had completely tilted toward the Beast side due to berserkization, his combat style remained strangely human.
Normally, layering a double feint would’ve been enough to suppress him.
But if he truly was an Illusion Swordsmanship user, then that changed everything.
“…Annoying, but I guess this is the only option.”
Grinding my teeth, I charged toward the enemy’s right flank.
Perhaps believing I would imdiately target his vitals, the enemy’s movents turned defensive.
But my target wasn’t his weak point.
KWAANG!
I simply unleashed strike after strike packed with maximum mana directly at his arms.
KWAANG!
Lukezax.
The single-edged demon sword with the highest mana efficiency among all existing demonic blades.
Even after becoming a Demon Human, a human’s mana capacity remained far inferior to a Beast’s.
anwhile, my current mana reserves ranked among the Empire’s top ten.
I already possessed imnse mana originally.
Then Devour increased it even further.
And with the curse lifted, the shackles limiting had vanished too.
Compressing that overflowing mana at maximum efficiency—
I relentlessly continued attacking.
Until both of his arms completely shattered.
KWAANG! KWAANG!
With every accumulating strike, the enemy’s expression twisted further and further.
It didn’t take him long to realize my intention.
KEAAAH!
As though refusing to continue playing along, he finally launched his own attack.
And that—
Was the timing I had been waiting for.
The enemy swung both arms toward as I briefly shifted into a defensive stance.
Kiiiik…!
I blocked the right arm with Lukezax.
And the left with Barrier Blade.
As if he had expected exactly that—
His upper arm twisted unnaturally.
The signal that Illusion Swordsmanship had activated.
Using the exact sa thod he’d used against Francia, his hand strike pierced toward like a spear.
“Ghk!”
I barely neutralized the attack by layering Mana Armor on top of my defense.
And with that—
Checkmate.
Stab! Stab!
The Spears of Darkness I hadn’t used even once during the previous battle pierced through his entire body.
The mont the enemy’s gaze dropped toward his body in shock from the sudden agony—
I imdiately unleashed a slash.
The strike severed his right arm and half his upper body cleanly apart.
And yet, before I could even draw my Wand again—
The enemy spoke first.
“It’s over now, Eugene Carter.”
The murderous mana filling the air around him had already disappeared completely.
Looking down at his own body as blood poured endlessly from it, he nodded with apparent satisfaction.
“Now… I can finally die.”
Staring at the massive body collapsing to the floor, I hurriedly asked,
“Who are you? How were you able to use Illusion Swordsmanship?!”
The Demon Human alternated his gaze between and Francia before chuckling faintly.
“I thought you looked familiar… what a strange coincidence. Or perhaps this was fate all along.”
Then, pointing not at but at Francia, he added,
“My na is Rick Vergel. I was the second son of the Vergel Family.”
“Vergel…!”
At the familiar family na, Francia hurriedly rushed over as well.
The life within his eyes was steadily fading.
“When the family collapsed, I refused adoption. Instead, I accepted certain conditions. They promised not to touch the rest of my siblings if I sacrificed myself.”
I learned Illusion Swordsmanship from so old man during that process.
“He said I possessed talent second only to his daughter… taught all sorts of things… though that was already over six years ago.”
“Wait! Where is that old man now…?!”
“He’s dead.”
“…….”
“Though he volunteered for the sacrifice himself… he said this wasn’t the kind of treatnt he wanted… openly rebelled against the Bernhardts… and then…….”
Those were the man’s final words.
Rick Vergel’s head lost all strength and dropped to the floor.
And at that exact sa mont—
A horrified voice echoed from the distance.
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