“Hey, are you using a sword?”
“I’m not that good. Just the basics?”
“…Not a spear, but a sword? If you’re just trying to mess with me, do it properly… Ugh?!”
Whoosh!!
The holy blade contained in the Silver Purifier grazes past Aisha.
Startled by the sudden ambush, Aisha quickly grips her weapon, the Meteor Sword, and starts gathering her energy, countering with my sword.
Clang!! Clang-clang!!
The Meteor Sword adeptly blocks the Silver Purifier.
Aisha’s steps quicken, and a streak of starlight emits a fierce brilliance, as the tip of her sword sharpens and threatens my neck.
I dodge her Meteor Sword flying at a bizarre angle and then dive into the same attacking direction, cutting past Aisha’s side.
“…!”
The Silver Purifier is an exceptional weapon against non-living beings, but its performance is also quite impressive.
Even if the opponent wears Mythical Equipment, it was tough to fend off the Silver Purifier’s attack.
She frowns, but soon a pure white light radiates from her, healing her wounds.
The difference between Aisha and me is like heaven and earth.
Under normal circumstances, the battle should have ended with the attack just now.
But the ‘balance adjustment’ system was in effect for the rank match, and currently, Aisha and I are matched as closely in power as possible.
Of course, this adjustment system alone couldn’t make Aisha and me identical.
Even if stats, equipment, and titles were managed, my powers and knowledge couldn’t be touched.
Hoo.
“Not bad, huh? I thought you’d cut deeper.”
“……”
But I’m suppressing even that initial advantage myself.
It means we’re fighting on essentially the same level, relying only on technique.
Aisha glances at her cut side, takes a deep breath, and charges at me.
I swing my sword toward the charging Aisha, and several exchanges follow.
Aisha’s swordsmanship is quite good, and she’s not weak enough to be completely overpowered, but she couldn’t land a hit on me.
“Come on… do it right!”
“I am doing it right.”
Even if she moves quickly to slash or summons dozens of swords to shoot at me, it’s the same.
I only block ‘swords’ with ‘swords’, and any other class techniques or unique powers are countered with my powers.
The same goes for other weapons, skills, or unusual items.
This fight is solely a duel of swords.
Other techniques cannot interfere with the battle of swords.
Realizing she was being pushed back with ‘swords’, Aisha gritted her teeth and stomped the ground.
Aisha, realizing that she was late, ground her teeth and stomped on the earth.
In an instant, her energy surged dramatically.
She was so powerful that her strength, which had actually increased due to balancing adjustments, was somewhat trimmed.
“Is this a special move? Quite impressive…”
And then she vanished.
Swish!
With the starlight, she reappeared right above me.
‘Teleportation? Doesn’t seem like instant acceleration.’
Although her strength and cognitive abilities were somewhat restrained, her movement was so swift that even I almost missed it for a moment.
I didn’t know which of her two class types it was, but it was clear that she was preparing a powerful technique.
Aisha’s sword strike swept through the air like it was drawing constellations.
It was an attack comprised of dozens of slashes from a single sword path.
Moreover, the attack carried the power of the half-wing that was attached to Aisha’s shoulder.
The strength of her second job.
“Pseudo-Holy.”
Yet it was a near-perfect imitation of the holy power.
‘Just taking a hit seems a bit dangerous.’
The opponent wasn’t a non-living being, so I couldn’t use the Silver Purifier’s power.
But.
“Shooting Star Drop!”
‘I don’t remember, but…’
Wasn’t it something like this?
I grabbed my sword with both hands and slashed it towards the sky.
“Cutting the Sky.”
The constellation split apart.
■
One of the powers of the Silver Purifier, when dealing with non-living beings, consumes the “Soul of Purification” to invoke mythical-era swordsmanship.
I had only used this power twice: once as an experiment against the Demon King of the One and another time against the Celestial Being Ertarn.
Kugugugu…
And just now, what I used was the second one. The technique, “Cutting the Sky,” which emerged when facing Ertarn.
Literally an attack that cuts through the sky, it was a swordsmanship used by quite a famous being.
A technique employed by those who had reached ‘above.’
True to the characteristics of the Silver Purifier, I had completely forgotten how to use “Cutting the Sky,” but the sensation from when I used it lingered faintly.
Having seen it firsthand, I could replicate it, albeit very feebly.
I was skilled in weapon techniques and had an inexplicable confidence, but…
‘This is clearly over my head.’
It was impossible to properly execute a technique I had already forgotten.
The “Cutting the Sky” I just cast didn’t even replicate 1% of the original. Not even 0.1%.
Rather than the technique I first used, ‘True Slash’, I had confidence that I could implement it to some extent, but ‘Cutting the Sky’ was definitely beyond my reach.
It’s no surprise, considering it’s a sword, not a spear or a hammer.
As I retrieved the sword and turned to face Aisha, I found her kneeling, staring blankly up at the sky.
If it had been a perfect moment, my swordsmanship would have at least matched Aisha’s, but my lack of implementation meant I had to cut the technique short instead.
“What… is that?”
“It’s the tip of the sword.”
“The tip of the sword…?”
“Yes.”
If ‘he’ who taught me was the god of the spear, then the entity that created Cutting the Sky was the ‘god of the sword.’
He was the existence known as ‘Impossible Being’ who drew the attention of both gods and demons, and the technique I used just moments ago was the swordsmanship crafted by that god of the sword.
A being who has reached the pinnacle of what a sword can achieve.
“It’s a technique that cuts through the concept of ‘sky’ by simply surpassing space and dimensions. Of course, as I mentioned before, I’m not particularly confident in my swordsmanship, so it might look a bit messy, but it’s still somewhat useful…”
“Ah, please tell me! Right now!”
Boom!
Aisha, having crawled over at lightning speed, clutched my legs.
She clung on with both hands as if she were holding on for dear life, refusing to let go.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before. How can such a sword exist…? It’s absurd! How can you reach such a ridiculous level with a ‘sword’…!!”
“Calm down. This isn’t something you can easily master.”
“But you did it! You used it directly! So, doesn’t that mean you can teach me? No, wait, that was rude of me. I apologize. I’m sorry.”
Bowing repeatedly, Aisha earnestly pleaded.
Even though Cutting the Sky was exceptional swordsmanship, her reaction was a bit over the top.
She had a deep fascination with swords, but ultimately she was a user, and we weren’t exactly the closest of friends.
We had grown even more distant due to matters concerning the Sword Saint.
However, after witnessing Cutting the Sky, Aisha seemed completely unfazed by our ties to the Sword Saint, bowing her head low.
“Um…”
“Please…”
It suddenly struck me that Aisha had just gained a new class, one that I already knew about.
The altar Aisha and the Sword Saint cleared was the ‘Altar of the Impossible.’
From there, they obtained new classes, and the ability Aisha gained was the power known as ‘Gemelynus’ from the Impossible.
“Gemelynus.”
“Uh, eh?”
“That’s right? The name of your class?”
“Um… yes. But how…”
“That’s right. But how…?”
Aisha blankly looked up at me, seemingly starting to calm down.
‘Impossible Being, Gemelynus.’
Gemelynus was created to mimic impossibility and was not a Celestial.
Like Lasty, Gemelynus was a twin experiment born from the experiments of the Celestial and Demon Races.
And the target of that imitation was none other than the founder of the sword technique I just used, ‘Cutting the Sky.’
“Since that power has been inherited, I guess it’s a natural response.”
“Uh… I don’t know what you’re talking about, but please…”
Thud.
I placed my hand on Aisha’s forehead.
She had a look full of expectation, thinking I was about to teach her a technique, but what I actually intended was the opposite.
I painted a picture of a pure white birdcage.
“Seal.”
“Huh?”
Clang!
■
“…Huh?”
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“Uh… yes.”
Aisha rubbed her forehead where something was engraved and stood up.
She had done her best in the fight against Lily, but ultimately winning was impossible.
After getting pushed back and back, she had used a deadly move that called upon both of her Hidden Jobs, but the result was a loss to the sword from Lily.
She had claimed the sword was a mess, but Aisha, having handled swords for a long time, knew.
‘Perfect…’
Lily’s final strike was nearly perfect.
She felt like she had done something strange in the middle, but that didn’t matter right now.
“Ah…”
It was regrettable.
If only she had a little more wisdom about swords.
If she could ascend to a high level with the sword and broaden her ‘vision,’ then maybe she could see much more.
That thought was so frustrating.
‘If only I could master that…’
“Aisha.”
“But the Sword Saint brother… yes?”
“If you ever need me, come to the academy. I might not teach well, but I can at least show you.”
“…Do you think I would go?”
“Maybe?”
“Hmph. You messed up, but I still won’t go. No matter how amazing it is.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I was just a bit weird because of my job earlier; there’s no way I would.”
■
The next day.
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