Makai Hongi

Chapter 175

A Vampire was lying on its side and patting his stomach, and so I kicked him in the ribs and held my Deepsea Dragon Sword ready.

The armor was made of hardened mana, but now that it was shriveled up, it looked very poor indeed.

“Now, it’s my turn.”

Even though it had been draining of so much mana, the Ghost General was still moving around.

It was not movement that came from training or swordsmanship, but the result of great physical ability.

Once I was in range, it swung its great sword like a violent wind, which was not something that would be effective against someone like me, who had learned to fight while being aware of the principles.

(Of course, I had not expected to be in deadly battles back then.)

I had been placed in the dojo master’s care at a young age. And unlike the students there, I was taught any strange trick that the master had come up with.

For instance, there was the two-step thrust.

In kendo, you only thrust once, not twice.

So why had he come up with such a move?

—Because it was fun.

That’s what he had told me as he laughed. But was it really the case?

“…Well, perhaps it was.”

After all, once I learned it, I started practicing other moves all by myself.

For instance…

“Take this! Three-step thrust!

Gouge with the first, plunge deep with the second, finish them off with the third.

That’s what the Three-step thrust did.

And so in the brief moment that I could look into the depth of the armor, I slid my sword in. Three times.

The Ghost General’s body began to shake.

Now there was a crack in the side of its stomach.

Without hesitation, I stabbed again.

I see. I thought with satisfaction.

The more the mana was hardened, the thicker and stronger the armor.

However, once that was taken away, the mana armor was hardly unbreakable.

“Oh? What did you do, Golan?”

Nehyor asked in a puzzled voice.

Was it really so strange that my attack had been effective?

Thanks to Vampires sucking out so much of the mana, my attacks had started to do damage.

This had all been thanks to Nehyor’s suggestion.

This Deepsea Dragon Sword suited me very well.

After unleashing more and more thrusts, the amount of black mist that rose began to increase.

The armor was no longer hard enough, and my sword carved away at it.

And the more the mist rose, the easier it was to hit it. And the more I hit, the weaker it became.

Mana drained by ten Vampires and my sword.

And then there was my skill with the weapon. It was all these things combined that now gave me the advantage over the Ghost General.

“Hey, Golan. That’s not right.”

I ignored the noise.

I focused on what was in front of me.

The Ghost General’s movements were slow.

Perhaps it had really run out of mana now, as its attacks had also decreased.

This was a good opportunity, and I waited for an opening.

—There!

When I started to unleash a low level thrust, the Ghost General’s attention moved downward.

At the same time, I could detect the movement of mana.

It had hardened its lower half in order to defend against my attack.

In that case…I moved my sword up…

–The headsplitter.

I had practiced this tens of thousands of times.

But then again, all it involved was swinging down with your sword.

I did it while imagining splitting my enemy’s brain in two.

The moment that it hit the Ghost General’s helmet, there was a metallic ring as it bounced off…but I preserved and struck again. Not just with the strength in my wrists or arms, but with my entire body weight.

This time, I felt as if it tore deep into the helmet.

It was just for a second. A hunch.

And it was just as I had imagined. The sword dug deep into the helmet as it made its straight descent.

Before I knew it, the Ghost General had been cleaved into two.

The thing inside was a stick-like mass of ‘something.’

Whatever it was, I had cut it in half.

The armor fell to the ground. And after losing its power, the ‘something’ turned into black mist and faded away.

“That’s not right. What was that move?”

Nehyor’s words reached my ears.

“Shut up! You’re next.”

I realized then that the battles to my right and left had also ended.

Dyle looked quite injured. However, he had fought alone and was victorious.

I hadn’t watched the last moments of Saifo and the others, but since they had won, it must mean that one of the fifty Reapers had finally succeeded with ‘One-hit Kill.’

Even if you were expecting it, it wasn’t an attack that could be dodged. And unless you had some way to counter it, your death was only a matter of time.

Nehyor’s other subordinates were about to move forward, but he stopped them with a raise of his hand.

“Hey, Golan. What was that? What happened?”

“I told you that we’re going to skip the tedious talk. You’re next.”

Nehyor was ten steps away from me.

So even if I ran to him and swung my sword, he would be able to dodge me easily.

However, that was still better than fighting with words.

And so I dashed forward and swung my sword down in an attempt to cut him in half.

I didn’t know why, but Nehyor’s movements had become sluggish.

But judging from his wide eyes and expression of surprise, he was not on his guard.

Still, it was almost too slow.

My blade was about to reach him, and yet he wasn’t guarding or attacking.

Then all I had to do was split him right open.

My arms felt the sensation of hitting something.

Before I knew it, I had passed Nehyor…

“Woah! Golan! You really did it now.”

Nehyor had been split in half.

Well, he immediately reconnected his body, but I had seen it for a second. His body had been in two pieces.

Had I cut him? I must have. I felt it.

But how?

When I turned around, I saw a streak of blood dripping down from Nehyor’s forehead.

Yes, I had cut him.

“Golan, Golan…uhhh…”

“Lord Nehyor, we should retreat for now.”

It must have been his Adjutant. He picked up Nehyor and jumped away.

And in the blink of an eye, they all vanished into the depths of the forest.

It was so quick. The entire Wild Hunt was now gone.

Even the ones who had been right in front of me.

They were known to appear out of nowhere and then vanish without a trace.

It was no wonder.

I knew that after witnessing it with my own eyes.

It would be impossible to detect people like them in advance.

And once they escaped, you could not chase after them.

As I thought about such things, my body suddenly stopped moving.

And I could hear a horrible ringing in my ears.

Damn it. I’m going to faint.

But by the time it occurred to me, my consciousness…was closed in darkness.