Chapter 555: 555

I desperately get my breathing under control as I raise my sword. My heart is pounding in my chest.

Just now… My sword pierced Howgrey’s chest. I’m certain that my eyes weren’t mistaken. My sword made it in time while he was starting to dash away with [Protective Shellfish].

It’s possible that he’s able to overlay [Protective Shellfish] on another [Protective Shellfish], but… My attack came from outside his perception. I wasn’t sure my attack would reach him, either. All I knew was that, if he got away, I would have no hope remaining. It was an attack made with all my might from that certainty.

But, I don’t know how deep it was. His body was hidden in his loose clothes, and the tactile response was faint. I don’t think it was shallow, but…

If somehow he’s still unharmed, I’ll have no way to resist him any more. All he would have to do would be to keep attacking me with [Blissful Spinner], and he’ll wear away at my health and eventually force me to show an opening.

“…Truly, you are a fearsome swordsman. I never thought you’d be able to catch the start of my [Protective Shellfish] like that. If it had gone just a little differently, my life would have been lost. This battle would have been forfeit. But, that cannot be allowed.”

Far away, Howgrey walks towards me. Blood is dripping not just from his chest, but from his mouth. It must be a fairly serious wound. But it’s not enough.

…The battle’s over. There’s nothing more I can do. In the end, I wasn’t able to reach him…

“Dragon Hunter Volk. You were too young to face me. If you had known more of me beforehand, or if you had just a little more experience in sword matches, the result would have been the other way around. But, this time, the victory leans towards me…”

Howgrey’s hand trembles. He thins his eyes, staring at the arm holding his longsword.

“…I see, it won’t accept me as its master.”

Howgrey gently places [Frumious Fang Bandernatch] on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“With my current vitality, I cannot hold the sword’s madness at bay. I’m also not great at fighting by abandoning myself to my instincts.”

The curse of [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch] urges its wielder into madness. Howgrey is clearly close to his limit. He must have judged that, in his current state, he wouldn’t be able to control himself with [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch].

I’m glad the sword he took was [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch]. As a result… I can still win. Without a second sword, he can’t completely control the battlefield with [Blissful Spinner].

Howgrey’s body trembles, and he stops walking. He places a hand to his chest. The wound might be unexpectedly deep. There’s no doubt that he’s on the verge of death.

“Let’s end this, Howgrey.”

Howgrey looks up, as though shocked back to consciousness by my voice.

“That’s right. We should end this.”

Suppressing the shaking of his body, he readies his shortsword and lowers his stance. He’s clearly pushed harder than me now. In a match of reading each other, I now have a good chance of beating him.

“I haven’t shown it to you yet. My trump card.”

“What…?”

[Dream Wolf], [Shadow Fox], [Protective Shellfish], and [Blissful Spinner]. Did he still have another hidden technique? No, that would surely be too much.

“It’s not something I would normally use against a human opponent. I no longer have the energy to face you in a match of swordsmanship, after all.”

“It’s not like you to bluff…”

“Here I come, Volk. Let’s see if you can endure this! The special move that only I can use, [God-Felling Myriad Slash]!”

The next moment, he disappears from view. Sensing danger, I jump backwards. In the span of an instant, a nearby trree explodes into a cloud of wood chips.

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Th-that was done by a human!?

I wasn’t able to follow him with my eyes, but from the remains of the tree, I can tell what happened. He spun his body around at incredible speed to release an incredible number of slashes. If I’m caught in that , I’ll be minced in an instant.

But, I also know why he hadn’t used it until now. Keeping up with that much speed would no doubt place a heavy load on his body. From what he said, he probably doesn’t have much fine control with it. Unlike with [Blissful Spinner], he can’t make use of his ability to read me, which leaves his own body defenceless. While moving, he also can’t use techniques that require a high level of precision like [Protective Shellfish].

If he had used it at the start, I would have no doubt been killed without any recourse. However, my ability to read him and my battlefield intuition have been drawn out and improved throughout this battle. Only now can I deal with this [God-Felling Myriad Slash].

My eyes can’t follow him. So, I close my eyes and sharpen my intuition.

It shouldn’t be impossible. I’ll slip through the storm of blades and stab him. If I can’t do that, I can’t win. I’ll do it.

The next moment, I feel my body being torn apart by a thousand blades. But, I am still intact.

I wasn’t cut by Howgrey. It was simply my heightened intuition telling me the line of his sword. I know when he will come.

Right, I’ve been keeping up with Howgrey’s monstrous reading ability all this time. There’s no reason I should lose to the [God-Felling Myriad Slash] which discards all subtlety.

I slowly push out [Laevateinn of Life-Cutting]. That is all I have to do. By stretching out my arm like this, I’ll slip through [God-Felling Myriad Slash]. I am certain of that.

My blade precisely pierces Howgrey in the air.

“Marvellous… Volk, you have completely surpassed me. From today on, you are the world’s strongest swordsman.”

I pull out my sword and gently lower him to the ground in my arms.

“…That’s not true. I just happened to be blessed with a high upper level. No human of the same level could ever beat you, Howgrey.”

“What are you saying? What significance do you think that limit has…? You won. The victor…shouldn’t be making…a face like that.”

A smile of satisfaction on his face, he speaks between ragged breaths… What sort of face am I making now?

“I feel…sorry for Saint-sama. She was counting on me…so much, and yet…”

“…I have one question. Did you really agree to help Lilixira out of a desire to dispel your mistaken beliefs about the world? No matter what the world is, it shouldn’t change everything your lifetime of things you’ve seen, felt, and experienced.”

Howgrey is silent in response. I know my words are needlessly assertive. I’m not even entirely sure exactly what it was he discovered about the world. But, it is what I believe.

“…Volk, a cruel fate lies in store for you, but you must never break. Believe in yourself and keep walking forwards.”

“Howgrey…? What do you mean?”

He doesn’t reply. I see that his expression has frozen in a gentle smile and realise that he has died.

I try to put my sword away on my back, but I can’t put strength into my arm. Unable to stay up, I collapse to the ground.

…Aah, I pushed my body too far. More than the loss to vitality from [Laevateinn of Life-Cutting] or the physical damage I’ve taken, the exhaustion from the mental strain of pushing myself to read him feels worse.

I defeated Howgrey, Irushia… It doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to move for a while. I’ll have to leave the rest to you.

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