“What just happened?”
Blink.
It happened the moment Jill closed and opened her eyes.
Rex charged at incredible speed.
The moment Jill opened her eyes, he was rolling on the ground, his entire armor shattered.
“I definitely… cast strengthening magic on him, didn’t I…?”
It didn’t make sense.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand Rex losing.
She couldn’t understand how he lost.
The opponent was a great demon (presumably) exuding a terrifying amount of demonic energy in the form of a sword.
Jill had thought that since the great demon was not capable of direct confrontation, it would obviously resort to dirty tactics like taking hostages.
The opponent surprisingly stepped forward and took Rex’s charge head-on.
The opponent was a demon’s physical body surrounded by demonic energy.
So, it was only natural to think that its means of attack was also demonic energy.
He indeed wielded a sword made of demonic energy, but…
…Rex was hit not by demonic energy.
“What the hell just happened?”
Jill hurriedly manipulated the console to check the records.
Then she saw the phenomenon that occurred in that fleeting moment.
A sword made of demonic energy was swung.
In an instant, a black entity of unknown origin spread out from that sword.
The shape of it endlessly unfolded like a half-moon.
In a blink, it shattered Rex’s sword and pierced through his armor, sending him flying.
“Rex! Retreat!”
The opponent was not the great demon we knew.
A monster among monsters wielding superhuman fighting power even in close combat!
Jill urgently commanded Rex to fall back.
Rex was definitely strong.
Maybe not before, but now he boasted close combat capabilities that would never lose to any superhuman.
But that was only when his body was intact; with unexpected ambush wounds, it was clear he couldn’t unleash all his abilities.
So after recalling Rex, they would wait for the Frost Duchess to arrive…
“Ha! Ha ha! Aha! I survived! I have once again survived! Come at me, great demon! I, the legendary swordsman Yoo Jin, an elf who survived even after receiving the secrets of martial arts, shall never be broken until the day my lifespan ends! I will never forget the precious teachings from a mere human!!!”
“What the heck is that elf doing?!”
Things started to get tangled again.
…
“Later, I heard that Yoo Jin mastered the secrets of the swordsmanship known as Dakia-style. Not only that, but he also believed in the existence of an incomplete secret and honed his skills until he finally created it. Hearing that felt like getting a smack on the back of my head. In just over a decade of wielding a sword, a mere human reached the point of creating a new secret while I, with my hundreds of years of lifespan, have not even mastered an existing secret!”
“Hey… Can’t you at least stop the bleeding…?”
Rex, bleeding profusely from his abdomen and spitting blood, shouted.
But soon, his muscles bulged.
The wounded areas were compressed, and the bleeding stopped.
She was at a loss for words in utter disbelief.
“That day! I don’t regret pouring out all 800 years of my lifespan even a little! The realization I gained by confronting that human with all my power is something I could never attain even if I tried my hardest for 800 years! From now on, I will fight at full power, great demon!”
“Oh come on, he’s not a great demon, Rex!”
“Hahaha! That doesn’t matter anymore! I roughly understand! A great demon wouldn’t confront me head-on like this! But I can’t just back down before the threshold of enlightenment!”
…
Rex, laughing boisterously as he drew his second sword from behind him.
This guy.
He had long forgotten the purpose of the fight.
What he desired was the fight itself with me.
He wanted to gain enlightenment through fighting me?
I realized I had wrongfully bumped into a true weirdo.
“If you want it.”
“Ah, why is that old man trying to fight again?!”
Yet, I couldn’t back down.
Rex’s gaze.
That was the kind of gaze that no one could deter.
I, too, was the same.
If I could just escape the Demon World, I’d pay any cost and do whatever it takes.
Rex would likely not hesitate to erase his own existence if necessary, just like me.
“I understand that feeling. Come at me!”
“Ahhhhh!!!”
If my little involvement helps him gain the enlightenment he has chased for a lifetime, then I gladly will.
The elf, Rex, who was raving mad about his misguided revenge.
He was now charging at me with eyes fitting for an investment.
The spirit he carried was extraordinary.
It wasn’t merely a change in attitude.
Of course, that changed too.
But the real, significant change was that his focus had shifted.
‘He is looking at me?’
Rex might not see me at all.
Except for the bizarre girl in front of him and Mi Jeong, everyone else should be forgotten and could not recognize me.
But Rex was certainly looking not at Belphegor but at me, holding Belphegor.
That meaning was clear.
Though invisible to the naked eye.
He firmly believed that there was a transparent entity wielding that sword there.
Not a demonic sword flailingaround, but a transparent entity wielding exactly that.
“You’re getting close to the answer!”
Kaboom!
With Belphegor’s spiritual essence, the sword aura spread out like a half-moon.
But as if stating that he wouldn’t be hit by the same technique twice, Rex slid flat on the ground to evade.
The distance was already under 100 meters now.
If I allowed any closer, he would definitely have the advantage.
Ignoring Belphegor’s voice screaming that he was dizzy, I unleashed a blow.
From every direction.
“This is…?!”
In an instant, countless swords adorned my vision.
My will contained in the sword aura was scattering.
This time, it formed an intricate net that Rex could absolutely not evade.
Rex’s eyes widened.
He definitely couldn’t miss this recognition.
This was that very technique, the Iron Blood Storm Slash, that he had lost to.
“Are you still not aware of this?!”
If it was Rex, he had no choice but to realize it.
No matter how invisibility and silence shrouded me,
Once he saw this sword blow, it was only natural that…!
“Ahhhhh!!!”
Kuwaaaang!
Breaking some of the Iron Blood Storm Slash with his sword and taking some damage on his body, Rex fought through.
Thanks to his naturally tough body, he didn’t suffer major damage from the widely spread Iron Blood Storm Slash.
But he gained something bigger with this.
He must have realized my presence.
At the very least, he would have acknowledged that I was still alive.
“What just happened a moment ago?”
“Ah…”
Suddenly, his face went blank, and turning back, he looked confused.
From the way he reacted, it seemed he had briefly lost a memory.
Both the memory of the Iron Blood Storm Slash and the memory of being hit by it.
Suddenly, a wave of lethargy washed over him.
“Sigh… So that won’t do either…”
It was useless.
No matter what I did, I could never be seen by someone who could not recognize my existence.
I already knew that.
But seeing this kind of force acting right before my eyes only made me feel even more powerless.
No matter what I did, it was unlikely to work.
As long as I couldn’t erase my existence from this world, I would rewrite and distort others’ memories as much as I wanted, like some crazy trick.
However, despite that, I couldn’t give up.
If the path doesn’t show itself.
If all I see is walls.
I just have to break through and carve a path.
“Then how about this!”
“Old man?!”
Thwack!
I plunged Belphegor into the ground and approached empty-handed.
Then I saw Rex’s eyes tremble with disturbance.
If all he can see is Belphegor made of demonic energy…
What if I step forward empty-handed?
“Though I can’t feel it with my senses or magic at all… something is approaching.”
He couldn’t see it.
But his instincts must be telling him something was coming.
So, with eyes closed, Rex raised his sword.
The direction that sword pointed towards was chillingly where I was.
Though he couldn’t recognize it, somehow there was interaction happening.
An opening existed.
Although his recognition of me was dulled.
“The sword speaks to each other!”
Fssss.
A transparent energy gathered in my hand.
Perhaps because there was no medium of a sword, it wasn’t as dense as when I wielded the Iron Blood Storm Slash, but it was gathering nonetheless.
Before long, a transparent energy stretching out of my hand began to take on a sword-like shape.
This sword, purely forged by my will alone.
It wasn’t yet solid or formed well enough to even be called a sword, wavering in the wind.
But it was undoubtedly my own sword that could neither be broken nor lost.
“Ahhhh… It’s been a while! This eerie energy! The overwhelming presence of death looming before me! It feels reminiscent of the first time I faced Yoo Jin’s Iron Blood Storm Slash! Come at me, invisible ghost! I have a feeling this fight will be a turning point in my life!!!”
This guy.
Is he seeing my ‘will’?
Even though he couldn’t pinpoint me, his sword’s tip, which once wavered, now directly aimed at my brow.
The tips of the swords faced each other.
Finally, the conversation had begun to flow.
Rex sought enlightenment towards a higher realm.
And I wanted to master the art of wielding a sword made of this will.
Also… what was it again?
There seemed to be some other reason we were fighting.
But anyway, we both forgot all that and dashed towards each other.
With one-handed swords tracing irregular trajectories, Rex muttered.
“Merida-style secrets.”
“…!”
Something formidable was approaching.
