Episode 430
The art of disappearing like smoke.
It’s Iskandar’s technique, and he calls it “Zukji”.
The art of moving through space.
A technique of teleportation that literally uses one’s spirit without having to jump from one’s original position or anything like that.
At first, I thought I was missing something as I was trying to adapt to this.
I couldn’t even sleep properly. I was afraid I’d scream to death while sleeping. I got into a good position.
“[Like the eons of time that burn an unquenchable flame]”
As soon as my words came out, the space in front of me shook.
Iskandar is the one who knows me better than anyone else, because we’ve been fighting for nearly eight years.
He knows what kind of technique this spell is.
A deadly will to clearly determine a target and split the target’s body in half. A culmination of a devastating attack that explodes the spirit of the target.
Iskandar’s body felt that and changed its destination.
The space that was rippling in front of my nose flies away into the distance. The sky of the Black Sea. Iskandar appears in the lightning-filled sky.
He spat out a final word towards the one who was guarding him. He swung the Heavenly Horse Sword. The slash, the flame that split the world, extended in a straight line.
Crunch-!
The sky splits. The black sky of the Black Sea suddenly clears, and the lightning created by the strange currents of mana explodes.
There, Iskandar was smiling brightly. As if his thoughts were right. His expression clearly showed his thoughts.
Two things happened next. One was that Iskandar was leisurely carrying his luggage.
The remaining one.
“According to the fragments of memory, you became a Death Knight. You became mana itself. I was wary of that appearance. I admit it. I was afraid of that appearance. But your appearance now… … is not much different from before I died.”
“okay?”
“No, to be exact, I’m stronger than ‘back then’. But I’m tired. Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
One of two things happened: he found some free time, and he was very happy with the situation.
“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an opportunity created by your arrogance, an opportunity you absolutely must not miss. Right now, to me, you… … seem very easygoing.”
It was a more interesting situation than I thought. Is it really possible for an attitude to change like that?
So you didn’t even think about fighting and just got on a boat and ran away?
I guess it’s quite different from the fragments of memory I saw?
It was just then that I was thinking that. It was just a moment.
It was only for a moment, but I felt a strange sense of discomfort.
A strange sense of discomfort in a strange situation.
There’s something flowing.
weird.
So I thought. And I figured it out.
“… …Why is your expression like that?”
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Iskandar asked. I’m probably looking at you with a weird expression right now.
“So, you were scared of my appearance in my past life and ran away?”
“… … .”
“You ran away without even thinking about fighting, using the entire nation and the zealots who would become your support base as bait? To the Eastern Continent?”
Iskandar’s eyes narrow. It’s proof that he realized what I was trying to say.
“Even though you didn’t see it with your own eyes, you were ‘convinced’ of what you heard and felt, and with that conviction, you headed to the Eastern Continent?”
This is the part. This part bothered me. The word discomfort was not enough to describe everything.
There is a saying that fate and inevitability are only a hair’s breadth apart.
I assure you, this is bullshit.
There is nothing in the world but necessity. Words like coincidence and fate are used when we do not notice or cannot explain necessity.
That is, all of this is inevitable now.
I ignored Iskandar in front of me and glanced back.
I see Beckerman and the two idiots with blank expressions. And behind them, the black sky, and the existence of the Eastern Continent that even I cannot properly sense right now.
The location was very hazy. It was still in the Black Sea, but this sea would soon end. If I crossed over there, I would definitely know the location of the Eastern Continent. I would like to go there. But not now.
What matters at this moment is the very existence of that thing.
Iskandar tried to go to the Eastern Continent because he saw fragments of his memories of becoming a Death Knight and felt fear from it.
A normal person would have just let it go. That could happen. That’s just how things are in this world. That kind of thing can happen.
And you would probably explain this whole situation away as a coincidence, but I know.
Iskandar is not an ordinary person.
He is transcendent.
A transcendent being beyond the Red Master, a monster that is weaker than me but qualified to stand at the top of the world.
A monster like that feels fear from something that he hasn’t even seen with his own eyes, something that is just a memory from his past life, and abandons everything and goes to the Eastern Continent?
This is not a coincidence or fate. It is destiny.
And the inevitable question.
Why do Iskandar and I remember our past lives?
Being Gunnar’s bloodline is something I can relate to, but it’s innate. It’s just something I realized too late.
The common denominator we are talking about now is nothing else.
Iskandar and I learned of memories from our past lives that even Arthur Gunnar and our Master did not know about.
And although our directions are different, Iskandar and I, who learned of our past life’s memories, have something in common: we want to go to the Eastern Continent.
How can we call this a coincidence? How can we express this as fate?
This is the flow.
The flow I felt in that moment was clear.
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The flow of necessity.
The flow of causality.
The Eastern Continent is pulling me and Iskandar.
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perhaps.
It really occurred to me that perhaps the reason Iskandar and I regained our memories of our past lives was ‘someone’s’ intention.
The reason for the regression.
The space between the eyebrows is narrowed.
My intuition and instinct also sensed this abnormal situation.
I grabbed the Heavenly Horse Sword and held it tightly.
I’ll think about this later.
“First, let’s get it right.”
* * *
Let’s get it right first?
A burst of laughter comes out.
Iskandar truly thought of this situation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
No matter how much of a transcendent being he is, no matter how much of a pinnacle he is in the world, he is still fundamentally a human being. Human beings have limitations. He has killed millions of people. He has advanced without even sleeping.
The amount of energy and soul energy consumed is indescribable. Did you come this far in that state?
If it had been the original, if it had been ‘Death Knight Jack Valantier’ that I had seen in my past life’s memories, I might have run away in this situation as well.
But no.
The guy now is different.
When he was a Death Knight, he had a really untouchable feel to him. It was so creepy that it made my bones tingle.
That’s why I didn’t think about confronting him directly. I wonder why I didn’t even think about going to see him and tried to hide myself as much as possible.
It was the same when I saw him with my clairvoyant eyes. His appearance was no different from his appearance in his previous life.
I thought he was hiding his strength. I was fooled by his leisure, his characteristic leisure.
But when I look at it this way, it seems strange.
This is not it.
I don’t feel at all like I did when I was a Death Knight, that unapproachable feeling.
It was easy.
The last fight I had with that guy before I died in my previous life. It was a slightly higher level than that. That was it.
Even if you can’t eat this, it’s still delicious.
I should have led the troops and attacked him a long time ago. I should have launched a preemptive strike, launched a surprise attack, captured all the people around him, tortured them, and then thrown them at the soldiers.
Regret was a luxury.
It was just postponed.
Yeah, it was just simply postponed.
Iskandar raised his spirits.
Kukugugu-!!
For about a week, the bastard was exhausted and Iskandar recovered.
The gap between the two was certainly large, but it has narrowed.
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The opportunity was clear.
The sky is exploding.
Iskandar, dyed pure white.
His appearance was like that of a god, an angel descending from heaven.
“Sword Ghost, that was your nickname.”
Iskandar’s voice was calm. It was as if the joy and sense of opportunity he had felt just moments ago had been completely eliminated.
“I’m possessed by a ghost who uses a sword… … I didn’t know at first. I didn’t know until just now. I feel like an idiot.”
“I know. But fool is too refined an expression, and if you’re going to use refined expressions, you should say a bastard.”
I couldn’t finish my speech because Iskandar moved through space.
Iskandar appears in front of Jack and extends his hook-like hand.
Jack reacted. The Heavenly Horse Sword rose. But then, it was caught in Iskandar’s hand.
The corners of Iskandar’s mouth twitched as if he had expected this. At the same time, Iskandar’s other fist extended out.
A blinding white light. It was an attack beyond the perception of ordinary people, as if it could pierce through the air, through mana, and through space.
Jack’s left arm moved. He brought his elbow up. Defensive stance.
Iskandar’s fist meets Jack’s elbow.
Kwaaaaaaaang-!!
The waves spread out in all directions.
The two men, who were very close together, exchanged glances. It was a natural exchange.
Iskandar’s feet move. Jack’s body twists.
Iskandar’s feet split the air and shattered space.
Jeez-!
Jack dropped his sword. He turned around. His right fist, filled with centrifugal force, extended toward Iskandar’s head.
Iskandar, who was holding the blade of the Heavenly Demon Sword, quickly changed the direction of the sword. He brought the blade of the Heavenly Demon Sword to the expected path and supported it.
If Jack’s fist were to extend like this, it would split open.
Iskandar thought. What move will he make here?
Should I really extend it like that, or should I make that attack a dud and aim for somewhere else?
The former is something a madman would do. The latter is rational. But is he a normal person?
Iskandar did not change his posture.
I prepared the next number. As expected.
Crunch-!
The Heavenly Horse Sword dug straight into Jack’s right fist. It dug almost all the way to his wrist.
Iskandar extended his fist again. The timing was such that it was bound to hit. But was he aiming for it?
Blood bursting from Jack’s hand covered Iskandar’s face. His vision blurred. He opened his eyes. His vision was red. His fist continued to advance without losing sight of its target.
Iskandar’s fist stopped mid-air just as it was about to touch Jack’s abdomen. At the same time.
Damn it-!!
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An eerie sound rings out.
I gritted my teeth. My head rang. It felt like I had been hit in the back of my head with a hammer a thousand times.
I quickly lowered my gaze.
I don’t know when it happened. Jack’s right foot was buried deep in his heart. Thanks to the elastic mithril armor, his heart didn’t burst.
That was it. The mithril armor shattered and fell down with a thud. It wasn’t without a hit.
Cool, blood is rising. I swallowed it. I gritted my teeth.
I put energy into my legs and opened up the space.
A contraction.
Iskandar, who had moved behind Jack, took out the dagger he had tucked into his waistband.
As expected, Jack turned around. Our eyes met.
The Heavenly Horse Sword, which seemed to have changed hands for a moment, was in Jack’s hands. He must have grabbed it in the meantime.
A thousand thoughts race through my head. Should I swing my dagger? Or should I fake it one more time?
