Extra in a Romance Fantasy

167 – The Swordsman (7)

Whooosh—

The sword was swung.

Silence descended upon the fields.

It wasn’t that no one spoke, nor that no one moved.

It was, quite literally, complete silence.

Not even the sound of grass rustling or the wind blowing could be heard; a perfect and serene stillness.

However.

That silence.

Soon shattered into pieces.

───────!!

With a deafening roar that felt as if the world was collapsing.

After the thunderous sound echoed across the fields for a while, what finally came into view was—

A field where parts had vanished without a trace.

—

—

Yes, it has vanished.

Not just faded away, or something of that sort.

It disappeared without a trace, quite literally.

As if it had evaporated.

It was far too bizarre to be considered a phenomenon created by a single human wielding a sword.

Even if a massive storm were to ravage the fields for a while, it wouldn’t be able to leave such destructive marks.

A result that transcended the realm of humanity, close to a miracle.

The one who created such a miracle, the swordsman, was gazing straight ahead, sword still poised.

Despite demonstrating a divine prowess unattainable by human means, there was no joy on his face.

With an utterly calm expression, the swordsman was looking forward.

At last.

“…This time, I am truly surprised.”

His lips parted, and a voice emerged, difficult to read in emotion.

“Who would have thought you could endure even this?”

As if someone were standing right before him, the swordsman spoke.

What lay before him was a field utterly devastated, its former appearance completely erased.

One might wonder who could possibly stand there unscathed, but astonishingly, someone truly was standing there.

Wade, still bleeding profusely, sword in one hand.

“Hmmm… How strange. Surely, with your skills, you shouldn’t have been able to withstand this…”

The swordsman narrowed his eyes and continued speaking.

In his gaze, in his voice, there was a clear question.

The swordsman had perfectly grasped Wade’s abilities as they clashed swords.

It was certain that Wade had stepped into the same realm as him.

However, despite that, a significant gap remained between them.

A considerable gap that could never be closed in an instant.

Thus, the swordsman had been convinced.

Wade would never survive an attack infused with his true intent.

Especially in such a wounded state.

Yet, defying such expectations, Wade had survived.

Of course, he was far from unscathed.

The wounds had widened, and perhaps due to the aftermath of the attack, new large and small injuries had appeared all over his body, a state that could hardly be called good, even as a joke.

Yet, despite that.

Wade had survived.

Though his wounds had deepened, he had faced the swordsman’s earnest strike head-on and lived.

That was something that greatly exceeded the swordsman’s expectations.

Because of that, the swordsman’s expression was far from bright.

However.

“…Well, it doesn’t matter.”

The swordsman quickly shook off that lingering thought.

“After all, the outcome won’t change.”

He believed that nothing would ultimately change.

It was true that Wade had survived against his expectations.

But that didn’t mean anything would change.

The ending would still be the same.

Wade would die, and he would survive.

It would simply take a little longer to reach that result.

“This time, I will bring it to an end.”

The swordsman raised his sword once more.

And then.

Whooosh—

His sword began to wail deeply again.

Yes, nothing changes.

It was just a matter of swinging the sword one more time.

As he thought that, the swordsman was preparing for another strike.

“Hmm…?”

The swordsman’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

It was because Wade had suddenly begun to move.

Wade, who had been standing still until now, suddenly started walking forward.

Towards none other than the swordsman himself.

“…Are you saying you won’t give up even in this situation?”

The swordsman viewed Wade’s actions as mere flailing.

No matter what Wade does now, the outcome will not change.

Thus, it is nothing more than a struggle.

“But in the end, it is merely a flailing.”

The swordsman looked at Wade with a sense of pity.

“No matter what you do, you cannot defeat me. Accept that fact.”

The swordsman urged Wade to give up.

To stop the flailing.

To calmly accept the sword poised at his neck, the death that awaited him.

But.

Wade’s legs showed no sign of stopping.

“…How unfortunate.”

Truly, it seemed unfortunate, the swordsman shook his head.

Then he spoke.

“This time, it must truly come to an end. So that you do not become any more grotesque.”

Whooosh—

The cry of the swordsman’s blade reached its limit.

And then, the swordsman swung his sword.

───────!!

Once again, a tremendous roar filled the field.

A storm, sharper than anything the world had ever known, swept across the plains once more, conjured by a single man.

Yet.

“……”

This time too, Wade did not die; he survived.

At that fact, the swordsman’s expression hardened slightly.

Since reuniting with Wade, the swordsman had never lost his composure.

Not when their blades clashed, nor when they aimed their swords at each other, had his calm ever faltered.

Yet, that composure was now wavering in this moment.

Whooosh—

This time, the swordsman said nothing at all.

—

He was simply preparing for the next attack.

Soon, the cry of the sword shook the field once more, and the swordsman swung his blade again.

──────!!

Once again, a storm raged.

Even though it was the third strike, its power showed no signs of waning—a devastating blow that could obliterate mountains in an instant.

Yet, once again, the outcome did not change.

Wade was still very much alive.

At that realization, the swordsman’s expression hardened even further.

“…….”

Wordlessly, the swordsman raised his sword.

──────!!

Another storm erupted.

───────!!

Once more, the storm surged.

However, no matter how many times he swung his sword, no matter how many times the tempest he conjured tore through the field.

The swordsman’s expression did not brighten.

For a simple reason.

The result he desired did not come to pass.

Wade was not dead.

Now, the swordsman’s expression had become utterly rigid.

As if he had realized that something was amiss.

“…Why.”

Watching Wade, who still did not falter even after facing a storm of at least double digits, the swordsman suddenly asked.

“Why do you not die?”

His voice carried a multitude of emotions, but the most prominent among them was confusion.

The swordsman was genuinely curious.

Why Wade did not die.

How he remained unscathed after enduring his attacks time and again.

And.

“Why do you not bear a single wound?”

—

Why is it that he doesn’t even get hurt?

Unlike the first time he sustained additional injuries, at some point, Wade was no longer getting hurt at all.

Without a single scratch, as if nothing had happened, Wade withstood the attacks of the Sword Master.

And, as if it were nothing, he continued to approach the Sword Master.

“Why…”

The Sword Master’s voice trembled for the first time.

The strongest man, who seemed unshakeable no matter what, was now wavering.

Witnessing an incomprehensible phenomenon with his own eyes, his world was shaking.

“Why…!”

The Sword Master’s voice had now turned into a full-blown shout.

With trembling eyes and voice, he demanded an answer from Wade.

What on earth had happened?

What kind of act had he committed?

To the Sword Master, Wade offered no response.

He simply gazed at him with calm eyes.

*

After the full-scale battle with the Sword Master began, Wade realized.

That there was a significant gap between him and the Sword Master.

Even his most powerful attacks, every ounce of skill he displayed, were ineffective against the Sword Master.

However, Wade did not despair at this fact.

No, to be more precise, he didn’t have the luxury to despair.

An undeniable sense of alienation had been tormenting him all along.

The first time he felt this alienation was the moment he faced the Sword Master.

At first, it was at a minimal level.

It was not that it was unnoticeable, but it was easy enough to ignore.

Yet, as time passed, that alienation grew larger.

The more he mixed swords with the Sword Master, the more they exchanged blows.

This growing alienation eventually filled Wade’s mind completely.

So much so that he could hardly focus on what was right in front of him.

Losing concentration in a fight where his life could be lost at any moment was no different from death.

—

Thus, Wade sought to uncover the identity of the discomfort as quickly as possible and resolve it.

However, contrary to Wade’s determination, he was utterly unable to discern its nature.

In the end, Wade had no choice but to engage in battle with the Sword Master while his focus was scattered due to the discomfort, and he ended up sustaining serious injuries.

It didn’t stop there; he found himself facing a storm that he could neither evade nor block in that state.

A situation that could only be described as truly hopeless, with no chance of survival.

Yet, ironically, it was only when death loomed before him that Wade was able to recognize the identity of the discomfort.

‘Ah.’

The moment he realized the nature of the discomfort, a soundless gasp escaped Wade’s lips.

And then, memories of the past began to resurface one by one in his mind.

When he first encountered the Sword Master, Wade was defeated.

It was the first genuine defeat he had ever experienced in his life, and it was overwhelming.

He was completely at the mercy of his opponent, unable to fight back at all.

He felt a profound sense of powerlessness for the very first time.

However, it wasn’t as if he gained nothing from that experience.

Through that battle, Wade obtained a clue that would lead him to the next level.

After being rescued by Bella and lying in bed, unable to move properly, Wade continued to reflect on that fight with the Sword Master, contemplating the clue he had gained.

While he hadn’t unraveled all the clues at that stage, it had helped him make some progress, and thanks to that, he was able to defeat Hamel.

But after that, he rarely had time to focus on training.

Being pursued by the Empire and uncertain of what the Order might do, he had no leisure to engage in training.

As a result, Wade’s progress stagnated for a while.

It was only after meeting Cheryl that Wade’s progress began to advance once more.

In the space that Cheryl had prepared for him, Wade forgot all distractions and concentrated solely on his training.

As a result, he was able to unravel all the clues he had gained from the battle with the Sword Master and step into a new realm.

A new realm that lay beyond the realm of intention.

If the realm of intention was about projecting one’s will outward to influence the world, the new realm was about changing the world with one’s will.

By entering this new realm, Wade’s intention became significantly stronger, and everything changed as a result.

His physical abilities, senses, efficiency—everything transformed.

He felt as if he had become an entirely different person.

He became capable of wielding the Sword Force, which he had originally struggled to use, with ease.

Tasks that had once been impossible for him became achievable through his enhanced intention.

—

It was, without a doubt, a new realm.

At least, that’s what Wade had thought.

And when he faced the Sword Master once more, that thought transformed into certainty.

Though there might be differences in degree, he immediately recognized that the Sword Master stood on the same plane as he did.

However.

In that moment, when he finally grasped the identity of the alienation that had been tormenting him, Wade understood.

‘It wasn’t a new realm after all.’

The place he had stepped into, and the place the Sword Master had entered, was not a new realm.

It was merely a waypoint.

The alienation was not something that sought to torment him.

All along, it had been trying to reveal itself.

The essence of the alienation was ‘realization.’

The moment he recognized that, something changed.

What exactly changed, Wade himself could not say for certain.

Yet, amidst it all, he noticed one change distinctly.

The storm approaching him, a desperate storm that seemed ready to swallow everything, no longer felt hopeless.

With a swift motion—

Wade slowly raised his sword.

And then.

With a gentle swing, he cleaved through the storm.