Chapter 160 - Nekarion's Castle (4)
Swaaaaaak!
A sharp sound of the air being cut.
Just from the sound, I could feel it.
The years of perseverance and relentless training contained in that simple sword strike.
‘Amazing.’
A horizontal cut so concise yet so full was sothing I had never seen in my entire life.
The man's words that I might die.
Although I couldn't agree, I could fully understand.
Because although it was an extrely simple attack, that sword carried enough power to be difficult for even considerable masters to block.
The man's gaze was the very definition of indifference.
He seed to have no feelings for my life or death, nor for this match.
Just that he would pour his enlightennt and will into this one strike.
That was all that seed to be on his mind.
I raised the Holy Sword Bastian.
Chaaeeeng!
The two forces clashed, and once again, fierce sparks of mana flew up.
The energy I felt through the sword was no different from my expectations.
His sword was sufficiently excellent.
To the point where my hand holding the sword felt a tingling sensation, even if for a fleeting mont.
"Let's have one more."
I imdiately urged for the third exchange.
It wasn't just because of the quest condition.
I wanted to receive his sword one more ti.
He seed to think the sa as .
His sword did not stop and created a new sword path.
The trajectory of the sword, which had bent like a snake, began to draw a simple straight line again.
Swaaaaaak!
This ti, a thrust.
A single point. All the power he had poured out gathered at the tip of his sword.
This was also the culmination of 9 years of ti.
I, too, faced his sword with all my sincerity.
Kwaaaaaak!!!
The tips of the two swords t at a single point.
A quiet silence followed, and the two forces achieved a perfect balance of power.
Without being pushed to either side, we stood facing each other.
Beads of sweat ford on the man's forehead.
I thought he was a dry towel from which not a single drop of water could be squeezed.
‘In any case, he's incredible.’
Horizontal cut, vertical cut, thrust.
He had honed these three basic movents, which only young children learning the sword for the first ti would do, for a whopping 9 years to reach this level.
Sword Expert.
It wasn't an amazing level by my standards, but I couldn't help but pay my respects to the years of obsession he had spent.
[You have received all three exchanges.]
[Quest cleared.]
[As a reward, a Mana Rune and the key to the shackle will be given.]
The man still stood there, looking at .
Although his eyes were completely lifeless, I felt as if I could sense so kind of emotion.
This was sothing I couldn't find in the other old n here.
"I... need... to train... more."
Although it was like a speck of dust, a certain resonance could be felt in the man's laboriously spoken words.
Hwik.
I threw the key to the man.
He just stared blankly at the key that had fallen on the ground.
"Open it yourself. It's the key that can unlock the shackle."
But the man just looked at again with unfocused eyes.
"What are you doing. Not opening it."
"I have not yet... gained... enlightennt."
A hollow laugh escaped .
The Lord of Illusory Dreams. Just what had this guy done to people.
"I, who have received your three exchanges, guarantee it. That you have gained sufficient enlightennt. Of course, that has nothing to do with opening the shackle."
But he showed no reaction.
A slight hint of confusion. That was all he showed.
"Excuse , Unit Leader."
Yoon Joo-hee, who had been silent until now, spoke for the first ti.
"You must be curious about this situation."
"That's right. It's difficult to guess why you are showing special interest only in this man, Unit Leader."
"It's best to reveal this kind of thing dramatically."
Yoon Joo-hee looked as if she had no idea what was going on.
But because I was acting all serious, she too was sensing that the atmosphere was unusual.
"Please tell ."
I didn't drag it out and answered right away.
"The heir of the Jeongjin Sword Family, and the sole survivor of the tragedy 9 years ago."
"Pardon?"
"Ask him his na yourself. I don't know it either."
I slightly stepped aside for her.
***
The man's na was Lee Ji-gwang. Age thirty.
As I had been certain, he was a descendant of the Jeongjin Sword Family.
After the shackle was undone, a surprising change occurred in him.
His face, which had been like dry hay, regained its color, and his ntal state, which had been half-zombie-like, returned completely.
The Lord of Illusory Dreams had been influencing the people here through the shackles.
"Are you really Joo-hee? The Family Head's niece, Yoon Joo-hee?"
"...Yes."
Yoon Joo-hee looked dumbfounded.
Even though the mont she had so wished and longed for had co true, she still couldn't believe it.
Rather, it was Lee Ji-gwang who was shedding endless tears at this unexpected eting.
I decided to give these two a little more ti.
Because both Yoon Joo-hee and Lee Ji-gwang would have a lot to say to each other.
In truth, the two had nothing in common from 9 years ago to reminisce about, but the na Jeongjin Sword Family had the power to bind these two tightly.
Before long, the two had beco like fellow disciples who had known each other for a long ti.
"In the end, our Jeongjin Sword Family had to close its doors like that."
Lee Ji-gwang couldn't help but make a bitter expression at this news.
"That is why I intend to rebuild the Jeongjin Sword Family."
"From scratch, all by yourself, Joo-hee?"
"If only the Jeongjin Sword Style is intact, it will be possible soday. If it's sothing I can't do, then perhaps the next generation can. That's why there's sothing I'd like to ask."
Now, the most important part.
Whether Lee Ji-gwang knew the latter half of the Jeongjin Sword Style.
9 years ago, the still young Yoon Joo-hee had only learned up to the first half of the Jeongjin Sword Style.
Lee Ji-gwang, who had heard Yoon Joo-hee's words, opened his mouth with a grim expression.
"I know it."
"Is that really true?"
Yoon Joo-hee's voice trembled slightly with emotion.
Because her long-cherished wish was right here.
But Lee Ji-gwang couldn't continue speaking with confidence.
"...I'm sorry."
"Pardon? Why are you sorry?"
His expression suddenly darkened.
"I know it, but I can't be sure if I know it correctly."
"W-what do you an by that..."
"I learned all the forms of the Jeongjin Sword Style after coming here."
Lee Ji-gwang continued in a heavy voice.
The Family Head, who had foreseen the annihilation of the Jeongjin Sword Family, and his direct descendants, just before eting their end, had guided Lee Ji-gwang through all the oral secrets and forms of the Jeongjin Sword Style.
"After my survival was decided, everything happened too quickly. What should have been learned over several years, I only learned through my eyes and ears in a short period of ti."
Lee Ji-gwang recalled the mory of that day and gave a bitter smile.
"For the past 9 years, I have fiercely repeated and repeated it in my mind so as not to forget the mory of that ti. But I still can't be sure. Whether this is right or wrong."
He was carrying a huge burden.
A burden that was suddenly thrust upon him, without any warning.
"You look very tornted."
"Because the Jeongjin Sword Style might be lost forever due to my inadequacy."
"Please share that burden with now."
The two continued their conversation.
Since no quest had been generated yet, I watched the two of them leisurely.
Yoon Joo-hee conveyed her plans and ambitions to Lee Ji-gwang.
"Amazing. So in the end, you entered the Haewon Sword Family, Joo-hee?"
Lee Ji-gwang's gaze turned to for the first ti.
Seeing his normal gaze head-on felt a little different.
"You, you were an incredible person. To know all of Joo-hee's plans and still accept her."
"Well, I have that much magnanimity."
I'm not the type to be petty by nature.
I accepted Yoon Joo-hee because I judged that she would be useful in raising the Chamryongdan.
I was also curious to see how far she would go.
"And if you want, I'm thinking of helping you restore the Jeongjin Sword Style. I'm a bit confident when it cos to putting puzzle pieces together."
Of course, at my words, Lee Ji-gwang flinched.
Because in order to receive my help, there was the problem of having to pass on the forms and oral secrets of the Jeongjin Sword Style to .
"You can think about that later. For now, getting out of here is the priority."
"Are you saying you'll take to Earth?"
"Then, are you planning to just keep striking the steel stake here?"
"That's not it, but whether it's really possible for to get out of here is..."
"Speaking of which, let's collect the remains first. We don't know when another quest might be generated."
At my words, the two nodded.
Yoon Joo-hee paid her respects to the burial mounds of the Jeongjin Sword Family warriors.
And not long after I had spoken, a reaction ca from the Abyss.
[A quest has been generated.]
[Escape Nekarion's Castle with Lee Ji-gwang. The escape route is the rear gate of the castle.]
[Reward: ???]
At that mont, mana flickered from the undone shackle.
This shackle was a dium between the lord and the slave.
The fact that Lee Ji-gwang had been freed from his restraints had now been conveyed to the Lord of Illusory Dreams.
"Yoon Joo-hee. Hurry."
"Understood, Unit Leader."
The two busily collected the remains.
A surprising change occurred inside the castle walls.
The aura of monsters began to be felt.
This, of course, must be a machination caused by the Lord of Illusory Dreams.
‘An interesting ability.’
The ability to plant illusory dreams in the slaves, and now, summoning a large number of monsters like this.
This was sothing that no archmage could ever do.
‘Demon King.’
It was a word that suddenly ca to mind.
Demon Kings were beings that only appeared in legends.
But the authority shown by the lords here was close to that of a demon king.
The Mad Lord was like that, and now the Lord of Illusory Dreams was the sa.
Of course, compared to the demon kings of legend, they were far from it, but I thought that if their abilities evolved to the extre, it wouldn't be out of place to call them demon kings.
"It's done, Unit Leader."
"Then let's go."
We ran along the path.
The increasingly strong aura of monsters and their growing numbers.
And far away, near the rear gate, I could feel a single powerful aura.
‘That must be the Lord of Illusory Dreams.’
If he hadn't shown himself by the ti the quest ended, I would have been disappointed.
Because he was a worse guy than the Mad Lord.
‘Rather than dealing with the monsters and him at the sa ti...’
I thought it would be better to clear the surroundings and then face the lord.
Because he might have more power than what I was feeling now.
"Yoon Joo-hee."
"Yes, Unit Leader."
"Let's do so cleaning before we go."
Of course, the cleaning duty would be happily shared by the two fellow disciples of the Jeongjin Sword Family.
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