Extra in a Romance Fantasy

164 – Sword Master (4)

Crash!

The swords clashed.

This had happened dozens of times since the duel between the two warriors began on this field.

The thunderous sound echoed, and a powerful shockwave surged forth as well.

However, this clash was different from the previous ones.

Bang! Bang!

It was merely the collision of two swords, yet the sound was enough to shake the heavens and the earth, and the resulting force swept through the surroundings like a tempest.

Indeed, that thunderous noise and fierce wind showed no signs of abating.

With every clash of the two warriors’ swords, the ground trembled, the air vibrated, and the sky roared.

Each strike was imbued with a tremendous power capable of splitting mountains and seas.

Such attacks were exchanged in the blink of an eye, dozens of times over.

In the midst of this situation.

‘…This isn’t good.’

Wade thought.

The flow was not favorable.

On the surface, it appeared that the two were evenly matched in their fight.

Yet, Wade, the one involved, knew better.

He was aware that the Sword Master still had plenty of leeway left.

Of course, Wade was not exerting himself to the fullest either.

He too was in a state where he had some reserves remaining.

Even so.

Wade had no room to spare.

‘It’s not good if this drags on.’

After stepping into a new realm, Wade’s mana efficiency had improved dramatically.

The mana consumed by every action involving mana had noticeably decreased compared to before.

The same was true for his sword techniques.

What had once been difficult to wield, requiring all his strength, he could now use naturally and freely, unlike before.

However, that didn’t mean he was completely free from the destructive consumption of sword energy.

For now, and for a while, it would be fine, but if it turned into a prolonged battle, the resource depletion of sword energy would undoubtedly become Wade’s Achilles’ heel.

Thus, Wade thought this situation was not good.

He suspected that his opponent, the Sword Master, would at least be freer in that regard than he was.

The realm of a martial artist does not necessarily correlate with the passage of time.

Depending on talent and the life one has lived, it was quite common for someone younger to surpass the level of someone older.

Take Wade, for instance.

At not even twenty years of age, he had most of the continent’s martial artists beneath his feet.

However, magic power was a different story.

While there are exceptions, generally, the amount of magic power correlates with the years one has lived.

There are differences depending on the person and their level, but with few exceptions, everyone is bound by this rule.

And the Sword Master, simply in terms of years lived, would have several times more than Wade, having reigned at the pinnacle of the empire for a long time and consumed elixirs as if drinking water.

If one were to compare solely by the amount of magic power, Wade anticipated an enormous difference.

Of course, since Wade wielded a hero’s sword with no loss of magic power, it could be said that he was superior in terms of efficiency.

However, there was a difference between them that could not be bridged by that alone.

Knowing this, Wade concluded that continuing the fight as it was would not be wise.

And at the very moment he reached that conclusion—

Thud!

He changed his stance and charged forward in an instant.

“Oh.”

In a heartbeat, the distance between them shrank, and the Sword Master let out a brief exclamation of admiration.

It was because Wade’s speed had momentarily exceeded the Sword Master’s expectations.

Of course, Wade hadn’t simply leaped forward to elicit such a reaction.

Swish!

Wade’s already swift sword accelerated even further.

In that moment, Wade’s sword moved at a speed that transcended the realm of perception.

No one, not even a martial artist of the Ten Swords, could react to it—a strike that surpassed mere pleasure and entered the realm of extreme ecstasy.

However.

Clang!

—

The black blade was simply intercepted by the swordsman’s sword.

Yet, Wade did not feel disheartened by this fact.

He immediately retrieved his sword and swung it again.

Quickly, faster and faster.

Like light, at a speed beyond perception, a flurry of strikes, easily numbering in the hundreds, poured forth toward the swordsman.

But.

That assault was frequently blocked by the swordsman’s blade.

“Fast.”

With a voice tinged with light admiration, the swordsman spoke.

In that voice, there was not a hint of confusion or impatience.

It was due to his composure.

Even while parrying the sword swung at a speed beyond perception, the swordsman remained at ease.

With the sword of extreme pleasure, one could not sever the swordsman’s neck.

Realizing this, Wade’s sword underwent a transformation.

The blade, which had solely pursued speed, like a flash, suddenly slowed down.

Yes, it was slow.

Excessively slow.

So slow that it seemed even an ordinary person, untrained in the art of combat, could easily evade it; Wade’s sword was incredibly sluggish.

Could it even sever the neck of a person, let alone the swordsman, or even a mere creature?

However.

“Oh? This time, you intend to show me weight, do you?”

The swordsman recognized its true value.

That Wade’s sword was not merely a slow blade.

The slowed sword, having lost its speed, now bore weight.

A weight that could crush even a mountain.

With such immense weight, Wade’s sword swung toward the swordsman.

A sword imbued with the power to cleave any object in two finally made contact with the swordsman’s blade.

Yet.

Swish—

The swordsman simply swept away that exceedingly heavy sword with a single horizontal swing.

—

The movement, the expression, was so relaxed and serene, as if accomplishing something trivial.

Of course, Wade’s attack was not over yet.

The black blade of Wade, having strayed from its path, sought its way again, attempting once more to press down on the swordsman.

However, the outcome remained unchanged.

Wade’s sword, despite its weight, ultimately failed to overwhelm the swordsman.

Confirming that even its heaviness was ineffective, Wade’s sword underwent another transformation.

What had appeared heavy and dull began to move in all directions, painting a dazzling display.

The tip of the sword trembled dozens of times in an instant, and with every movement of Wade’s wrist, the sword danced.

It was so splendid that it could be described not as the trajectory of a sword, but as a flower drawn by the sword, captivating and enchanting.

Anyone who faced it would be so entranced by the beauty it created that they would not notice their life slipping away in the process—a swordsmanship of unparalleled splendor.

Before such a painfully beautiful flower of the sword stood an old man.

“Beautiful.”

Instead, he smiled.

And then, his sword moved.

In stark contrast to Wade’s extraordinarily flamboyant sword, the swordsman’s blade traced an utterly simple trajectory.

At last.

Thud—

With a dull sound, the flower of the sword that Wade had drawn vanished in an instant.

The reason was simple. The swordsman’s blade had halted Wade’s sword mid-air.

In a manner so dazzling that anyone would be entranced, the swordsman effortlessly dismantled it.

“Truly, you’ve grown unrecognizably.”

The swordsman, having easily deflected all of Wade’s attacks, looked at him with a gentle smile.

“To grow this much in such a short time… It’s almost beyond words. It seems my eyes were not mistaken after all.”

The swordsman continued with a voice filled with admiration.

“You possess a talent that is unparalleled in this world.”

It was a compliment.

A tribute to the boundless talent that the human named Wade possessed.

“It’s such an absurd talent that I wonder if it can even be called talent. What should I say… It feels like a talent that transcends the laws of the world.”

Though it might sound like sarcasm coming from one who had so easily deflected the attack, the swordsman’s words were, at least, not false.

He genuinely assessed that Wade’s talent was more special than anyone else’s.

—

“If time had flowed like this, the strongest position on the continent would surely have been yours. And yet, your growth does not stop; someday, the title of the greatest warrior in history would have been yours as well.”

Thus.

“How regrettable.”

With a truly sorrowful air, the swordsman shook his head.

“To think that I must end that talent with my own hands.”

The swordsman’s expression was one of deep regret, but it was merely a well-crafted mask.

Contrary to that expression, his gaze was cold and settled.

Regret, sorrow, sadness—such emotions did not exist in his eyes at all.

It was not just now.

Even when he reunited with Wade, even when he smiled softly while receiving Wade’s attack.

From the very beginning to this moment.

The swordsman’s eyes had never revealed a hint of emotion.

To be precise, it wasn’t that there were no emotions in those eyes.

In a place so deep and secret that no one could detect it, one clear emotion had taken root.

A base and filthy emotion that the hero of the empire had never once revealed before the masses.

At last, the swordsman’s sword moved gently.

It was a sword that seemed so weak and slow that one might wonder if it could even cut through reeds.

Clang!

That sword simply sent Wade flying backward.

And it did so with a speed that was anything but ordinary.

Wade, due to the shock, flew back for quite a distance before he could finally regain his posture and come to a stop.

And as he looked at Wade with an utterly cold gaze.

“Now, it’s time to bring this to an end.”

The greatest warrior decided to conclude it.