“What happens when you receive Divine Power?”
I had asked that at some point.
Probably when I received Divine Power from Adrian down South.
My frail body, born weak, could not fully draw out the power of magic and was restricted in wielding a sword, unable to fight as I wished.
Yet, the reason I could touch the peak of the sword was that I had infinite time, unlike others.
What I couldn’t do with my original body, I managed to raise my level through repeated time.
Had I not received Divine Power, I wouldn’t have even reached my current state.
However, the reason I was able to regain it was that my body improved significantly after receiving Divine Power down South.
Boom.
The ground I lightly stepped on vibrated. Robert thought.
Perhaps this fight wouldn’t last long.
The power of the Minotaurus, weakened through necromancy, was surely at a level similar to his own.
He had to crash into it with all the power he could muster. The Divine Power dwelling in his body certainly wouldn’t last long.
He had no experience fighting a giant monster.
The beings he had faced with his sword had always been human, so truthfully, he had no idea how to fight right now.
That’s why he relied on instinct. In this moment, what he had to depend on was not experience but instinct; if he entrusted his body to the direction his sword moved.
That was bound to be his escape route.
‘It’s not faster than I expected.’
If that massive body were faster than him, it would be an entirely different problem.
However, the monster’s speed wasn’t that fast. It was quick enough to respond.
At this pace, he could surpass it and confuse it as much as he wanted.
It was slower than a human. Of course, if it was faster, he wouldn’t even be able to think about having an advantage.
He had to win based on this difference. Robert’s body soon burned with magic power.
The blue-hued magic ignited and split the air as it infused into his sword.
The air pressure created whenever the Minotaurus moved approached violence itself.
Crash. He threw himself amidst collapsing building debris.
As he kicked the ground to gain speed and pierced through its hide, he found the hardness to be even tougher than he anticipated.
At this rate, it would be hard to inflict any wounds.
Quickly assessing and detaching himself, a giant fist brushed past the place where Robert had been.
“You’re like a fly. Nothing has changed, back then or now.”
There was no reason to respond. If he felt like a fly, he planned to keep pressing on.
However, shouldn’t he inflict some definite damage instead of just creating confusion?
Thump. Placing a hand on his heart from which magic surged, Robert took a small breath.
Muscles gain strength from breathing.
What he realized while swinging the sword was that if he controlled this breath, he could unleash explosive power.
If you control this breath, you can unleash explosive power at will.
If the energy gained through breathing completely spreads throughout the body, it can be condensed to display explosive force in an instant.
Soon after, Robert’s figure, gripping the sword with both hands, vanished into thin air.
Bang!
The Minotaurus’s fist once again swiped through the air.
A hint of excitement flickered in its red-glowing eyes, even if just slightly.
If you were to ask if this was a good thing, it was certainly intentional. The increasing speed was unexpected, though.
“Give it more! Many have fought like you, but remember, I have always been the one victorious!”
“That may be true.”
The Minotaurus had only been defeated once—in its fight against the Moon God.
It had never lost to a human before.
Such a being wouldn’t dare entertain thoughts of defeat.
If someone else were to speculate about this battle, they’d likely bet on the Minotaurus’s victory.
However, I was confident that I would win. The reason was simple.
I was beginning to discern those movements.
The strength of humans and monsters was certainly different.
Their appearances were different, and the movements of those once known as demons were indeed tough to anticipate.
If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn’t understand anything until the fight was over.
But if one were to find a commonality, it was the ‘action’ visible before movement.
When a fist is about to strike, the shoulder twitches.
If one intends to step, the hips move, and ultimately, all those movements begin from the spine.
Even if not moving, merely entertaining the thought of movement allows for comprehension.
Boom! When the massive arm slammed the ground, raising a cloud of dust, the Minotaurus glanced at Robert with a mysterious expression.
The acute sensation just moments ago signified only one thing.
Unlike before, the movements were unnatural now, and the power had weakened.
As it looked at the arm that had lost its elbow, the Minotaurus smirked slightly.
It was so interesting it was almost delightful. It was the first time in its life that human hands had cut its hide, much like a reminder of its fight against the Moon God.
Crack—
With each swing of its arm, the wounds increased. Knees, heels, elbows were targeted to prevent movement.
Yet, the speed didn’t slow down.
Though the wounds multiplied on the grinding arm, the monster only seemed more frenzied.
It was the first fight in a thousand years, yet it was at a level that surpassed a millennium ago.
For a human’s sword to cut through its skin was unprecedented; the light in its eyes, swirling like blood, grew ever redder.
It began.
With a crunch, fragments of the broken ground soared up and covered my body.
As I swung my sword in a zigzag motion, it cleanly sliced through the rock, just as the Minotaurus’s fist came flying at me.
The pure white fur on my head whipped around wildly.
A horn that soared to the sky appears. And alongside that, a gigantic fist as big as its head.
When Robert’s body oddly twisted to evade the punch, the monster waited patiently and lifted its fist to bring it down, letting out a small laugh.
But Robert didn’t bother to dodge.
Before that attack, divine power had formed like a shield, and when I glanced back, I saw Adrian with his hands gathered, channeling divine power.
‘…3 minutes?’
The remaining time until my divine power was completely depleted.
Just swinging my sword consumed energy recklessly, so using it as efficiently as possible was the task at hand.
My body felt light. Perhaps I had completely regained the state I reached when I received the title of Sword Master.
Shall I give it a try? If this works, then there’s no need to calculate that 3 minutes— the fight will end right away.
There was no harm in trying. Not even a moment wasted on my breath.
I cut it short; simply feeling the awareness of my breathing was enough.
With each step, I moved lightly, careful not to crush the leaves beneath my feet.
I took soft steps that left not a single small trace on the ground.
For a moment, it felt like the Minotaurus’s fist had stopped.
In reality, it was still coming towards me, but Robert, feeling this sensation for the first time in a long while, realized that he had finally regained his level.
Even if it was just for a brief moment, it was fine.
The sensation I felt back in the days when I gazed at the tip of my sword was so long-awaited that, with the energy that slipped away in an instant, the Minotaurus’s expression began to change little by little.
“It has changed.”
It was a level I had never felt even during my days as a demon.
With each step I took, it felt like my strikes were cutting through the air, and seeing a human who rivaled a well-forged sword made me let out a laugh.
How could it not be enjoyable? I thought the world would remain unchanged after a thousand years.
But if something like this had appeared that I hadn’t seen back then, how could it not bring joy?
To the Minotaurus, battle was everything.
Perhaps it could also mean nothing, but the purpose of living might just be to achieve victory over an insurmountable opponent.
The Minotaurus, breathing hotter than ever, quietly smiled.
The enormous muscles began to twitch. Veins expanded, and from its body, thick, dark blood started to coagulate.
“Do you know why I once called it violence?”
When the Minotaurus spoke, Robert, with his energy gathered, quietly shook his head.
I didn’t know, but I had a feeling I understood. If that massive body were to show up, wouldn’t it feel like an overwhelming presence to the knights?
It meant horns extended towards the sky.
The head of a cow solely signifies aggressive charging, and a massive, robust body signifies the strength to endure that charge.
Thus, he was a warrior who did not retreat, yet the Minotaurus was a demon who had never tasted defeat.
So this is violence. It cannot be stopped, nor can it be resisted. Simply facing it is enough to crush one’s will.
“You’ll understand now. I hope you survive even after realizing that.”
As the Minotaurus’s mouth stretched wide, Robert clutched his sword and gently closed his eyes.
In this situation, sight was of little help. His senses had returned, but it was merely the power of those days.
What mattered first was awakening his still-dull senses.
Giving up sight was what that meant.
After all, it would be too late to react once he saw it; he had to feel the approaching sound and presence to strike.
Thud, the ground cracked. To stop the debris from collapsing due to the monster’s thunderous roar, Berod shielded Adrian with divine power.
The falling fragments made a thud but did not reach Robert.
Before they could touch him, they had already been cleanly sliced, and Robert realized he had instinctively swung his sword, giving a small smile.
He heard it. The beating heart of the gigantic monster rushing towards him.
He felt the muscles writhing and suppressing the surroundings, and simultaneously, the explosive force trying to propel the ground.
It was his first time fighting a monster.
He had never felt the extent of that strength, and it was a reality he couldn’t even gauge.
However, if asked whether he couldn’t strike, Robert would quietly shake his head.
It was fundamentally a wrong question.
As long as he held the sword, there was nothing he couldn’t strike.
Due to his own arrogance born of possessing it, he could claim he could strike everything in this world.
When the sword, lightly gripped in one hand instead of both, soared into the sky,
the massive figure of the Minotaurus vanished from the air. It was fast enough to momentarily catch Berod off guard.
Thud-!
When he heard the sound that erupted significantly later than the movement, Robert slowly traced a line in the air within the slowing world.
Once was enough. Just one strike would suffice to cleave that giant.
The light stroke, akin to wielding a brush, was the very pinnacle of the sword.
When the Minotaurus’s body completed the collision, blood gushed from the severed massive arm.
Not a single small wound existed on Robert’s body.
That was the very essence of a sword master.
Known as a lofty star that no one could touch, it received that name simply because no one could lay a hand on its body.
“…Haha.”
From the still-diminishing light, a faint red glow now swirled around.
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