Chapter 547: 547

The fly fiend has taken off in pursuit of Irushia, who is in turn chasing the Saint. But, Irushia can probably fight both of them easily. In a battle of pure strength, none can stand up to the overwhelming power of the oneiros.

However… The small old man in front of me is different, and not an opponent that can ever be beaten with pure power. I must be the one to face him.

I reach out and grasp the handle of a sword with an ultrathin blade. It’s the second sword I kept in my [Dimension], the [Destruction God Dordina]. Despite its fearful name, its primary strength lies in its extreme lightness for its reach, and so highly delicate swordsmanship is required to make good use of it. It’s the complete opposite of the brutish Leral or Bandersnatch.

Bandersnatch is a better fit for me generally, but… This time, I don’t think it’d help. The powerful curse of a monster dwelling within [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch] turns the bearer into a berserker. That makes it a poor match against my opponent this time… Even with a little more speed or power, there’s no way I could force my way to a victory. After all, even Irushia couldn’t overwhelm him.

No, petty tricks will not work in this battle. And so, I choose this sword, which grants me versatility and affords me opportunities to read my opponent.

“The first time I showed mercy. But, there will be no second. Doing so again would go against my ethos, and would be an insult to you.”

The legendary master fencer… Probably the strongest in history, Howgrey the Ascetic, points his shortsword towards me. Now that I have crossed swords with him once and witnessed him fighting Irushia, I can say for certain. For a swordsman to unilaterally attack an onerios… No feat in any legend or myth are an equal. Howgrey’s strength is too unprecedented.

Even the rumours of his strength that I spend my life yearning for despite thinking them exaggerations pale in comparison now that I have seen the real person. I understand why the rumours did not convey his strength accurately. The tale of this conflict might end up being passed down for thousands of years in the Holy Country. However, I doubt Howgrey’s feats will be well known. Upon hearing the truth, the populace at large would never believe Howgrey’s strength, no matter what else they accept.

That is because his strength lies beyond the normal range of understanding. Irushia didn’t seem to understand why he was falling behind Howgrey either, and fought while confused.

As a fellow swordsman, I’m able to catch a faint glimpse… That is probably why, to me, this small old man seems like a giant whose head pierces the clouds. It is because of my partial understanding that I find him so terrifying. I didn’t feel any fear like this when I challenged a stronger swordsman when I was young, or when I fought against dragons far larger than myself.

I don’t fear death. This terror is no doubt the result of my overwhelming premonition that I will die a pointless death without being able to do anything to resist.

When Howgrey said that I had reached the ‘same domain’ as him, he was appraising me too highly. His strength no doubt stems from his swordsmanship that he has honed to the utmost extreme and his battle intuition, but that alone is not enough to explain the incomprehensible abilities that he has displayed multiple times.

A sword technique that delivers a second sword strike to the cut opponent. A sudden movement that lets him avoid his opponents attacks even while middair. A defence that allows him to cancel out an attack that should have directly hit. 

…At the very least, from what I have seen, Howgrey possesses these three abilities.

I was on the receiving end of the second sword slash in our first clash. I clearly felt the impact of two strikes despite him only swinging his sword once. The first didn’t do much damage. But, the second was much worse. I couldn’t grasp what it was exactly, but it felt as though it was tearing apart my body from the inside. That one blow caused me to fall down to the bottom of the cliff.

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I still haven’t understood the true natures of these abilities. There is something that I am faintly grasping at, but I still have yet to connect the dots. If I had only seen one of these abilities, I would have dismissed it as the product of a skill, but given that he can fight Irushia so one-sidedly, it can’t be so simple.

There is one thing I understand. With his additional strike, distorted movement, and absolute defence, no matter how powerful his opponent, he can gain victory by reading them. At least from how it looked, the evasion and defence techniques go into effect immediately when he decides to use them. As long as I’m unable to read him, then no matter how much more powerful I am in theory, it will be impossible for me to get a single hit in.

In that sense, Howgrey is a perfected swordsman. He is able to deal with any and every attack, and his attacks can land against any opponent. But, what makes him most terrifying of is his battlefield intuition which is probably the best in the world.

“Come, young swordsman.”

Howgrey is coming towards me.

There is one thing I have learned to be able to see as a swordsman. That is, I can see which spaces are dangerous. The spaces that, if I move into, I may receive an attack for which I cannot react in time, appear slightly darker than the spaces for which that is not the case. Of course, the more I understand my opponent, the greater the effect is.

I believe this ability is something more or less every swordsman is capable of. By avoiding the dangerous spaces, I can avoid a lethal hit. However, by occasionally jumping in intentionally, I can act contrary to my opponent’s expectations and so create openings, or else invite a hasty attack that could potentially allow me to counterattack.

However, to my eyes… The entire area around Howgrey appears to be covered in a black fog. No matter where I jump, death awaits. My intuition is shouting that at me. Is Howgrey the Ascetic really an opponent I can do something about…?

…No, now that I’ve come this far, whining isn’t like me. Irushia believed in me and entrusted Howgrey to me.

“Here I come, Ascetic! I will defeat you and become the world’s strongest swordsman!”

I rush towards Howgrey.

AN: Doratama has exceeded 200,000 points! Before I knew it, the cumulative total became 55th rank! Thank you to all my readers. I will soon be able to post the volume 10 cover and character sketches, so please look forward to it! (2019-06-26)

TN: As of 2022-03-20, Doratama is at 283,570 points, but has fallen to 78th place in the Syosetu cumulative rankings. As of late, the author has been transferring from Syosetu to Kakuyomu.

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