Chapter 325: The Guardian (3) (1/2)
The sword’s inner essence.
The sword horizon.
It was both the source and the ultimate.
Seeing the horizon was possible.
But reaching it was impossible.
Since the horizon was the same as the ideal, it made sense that it could not be reached.
But there were those who made their way towards the horizon.
There were those who struggled to reach the unreachable state of fantasies.
Countless efforts and numerous attempts.
The genealogy of the sword which began with the first swordsman had been passed on to many people, and numerous roads leading to the horizon were born.
All roads lead to Rome.
There were different roads, but all eventually lead into one.
Numerous swordsmen walked their own paths.
There were those who were far from the horizon and hurriedly chased the backs of those who had gone before them, and there were others who cried and resented the horizon they could not reach no matter how much they walked. There were also many people who eventually gave up and stopped.
However, miracles were bound to happen.
In the long history of the sword, those who reached the horizon appeared.
There were only a few of them.
Only a few among the countless swordsmen.
The inner essence of the sword.
The horizon of the sword.
Those who created a miracle by reaching something that could not be reached.
Those who had been enlightened with the inner essence of the sword and arrived at the horizon.
People referred to them by a name.
The Sword of the Sky.
***
Black energy covered the sky.
It pressed the ground and devoured the place.
Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
The arena was engulfed in darkness.
The temple disappeared.
Only those who stood clearly in the dark filled their vision.
Jude could not breathe.
Just facing his opponent was suffocating and made him unable to move.
It was a pressure he had never experienced before.
First Sword whom he faced in the royal capital and Malekith who had terrorized the south did not exert the same pressure as it was now.
A swordsman who reached the inner essence of the sword.
The Sword of the Sky.
“Hyuuk….hyuk…”
He forced himself to breathe.
With poor breaths, he let out the power of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors in the same way.
The seventh door.
A state that neared the level of transcendence that the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors pursued.
In terms of the inner essence of the sword, it was like one had just began to see the horizon.
So Jude could tell.
The Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors of the Jude in front of him was still at a low level.
Fifth door.
But in the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, levels did not determine everything.
In simple terms, the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was a buff-type technique.
It doubled all the abilities of its user.
Therefore, the user’s own capabilities were also important.
Just like how Jude’s seventh door and Landius’ seventh door were the same seventh door but also different.
Because there was a huge gap in their abilities in the pure state, when the doors were not opened.
It was like the difference between multiplying 10 by 100 and 20 by 100.
The same was true of the Jude in front of him.
Although it was only the fifth door, the energy that he let out surpassed that of Jude who had opened the seventh door.
[My successor! Calm down! My successor!]
Valencia’s voice shook the mind of Jude.
She could do it because she was a swordsman who had reached the inner essence of the sword.
Only her soul was left as she had become a sword spirit, but the strength of her soul did not disappear.
[My successor!]
It worked.
At Valencia’s repeated cries, Jude came to his senses. He forced himself to calm his breathing.
He was dripping with sweat.
Chills ran down his spine and he felt thirsty at the same time.
And he thought.
Who was the Jude in front of him?
Gallus said that he was the strongest swordsman in Jude’s memories.
Memory.
Jude’s own memories.
[Here I go!]
Valencia moved first.
Ascalon rushed at the other Jude with a brilliant golden glow.
It was fast and powerful.
Like a beam of light.
But the other Jude was someone who knew the inner essence.
He read Valencia’s sword.
Although they had both reached the horizon, the gap between those who had a body and those who did not was clear.
The wind blew.
It was a rough gale.
The Sword of Wind.
A sword created by the progenitor of the Bayer family and handed down for hundreds of years.
Jude could tell.
It was the ultimate of the Sword of Wind.
A genuine Sword of Wind that no one could reach was now unfolding in front of his eyes.
[AAAAH!]
Valencia screamed in pain.
It was not a simple exchange of sword strikes.
The energy of the other Jude was too strong.
The darkness and threatening aura originating from the soul were enough to destroy the surroundings from just a touch, so Valencia felt a burning pain in her soul every time their swords crossed.
“AAAAAAH!”
Jude shouted.
He clenched his teeth and concentrated. He had already forgotten that this current fight was a test. He flew from the ground to avoid each destructive wave.
Black Lightning Covers the Sky.
Lightning struck.
Jude entered the striking range of the other Jude while Valencia flew again. She barely blocked the sword with a black aura that was going to cut Jude into two, and Jude did not miss that gap. He charged and penetrated in that instant.
But it was read.
The other Jude swung his sword in the air as if he already knew everything, and Jude was swept away by the attack as if he was being sucked in.
One would almost question if Jude himself had thrown his body towards the sword.
Thud!
Jude who was swept away by the sword attack was thrown to the ground. Valencia cried out in surprise and tried to protect Jude, but it was impossible. The other Jude moved. A black gale violently surrounded Ascalon and the other Jude’s feet trampled the sword. With his terrifying energy, he pressured Valencia’s soul itself.
[UGH!]
In the end, Valencia was forced to withdraw from Ascalon.
He was strong.
She might be strong, but he was too strong.
Even if Valencia herself had a body, he was such a powerful swordsman that she doubted if she could win against him.
But she could not help but admire him.
The other Jude was seriously threatening.
It was arrogant to think that there would be no worst-case scenario during a test.
“Haa… haa…”
Jude staggered as he stood up.
The other Jude who had completely killed Ascalon’s momentum turned towards such a Jude.
His white face was cast with deep fatigue.
His dark green eyes were as dark as the abyss.
The wind blew again.
A gale rose and swallowed everything around them.
[My successor!]
They had to resist that.
Even if they had to struggle, they had to face the gale.
Jude gritted his teeth. He rushed against the raging wind. He desperately resisted the barrage of sword attacks.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sword attacks of the other Jude were simple.
There was no tricks or techniques in it.
But it was always in front of Jude.
Jude could not avoid the sword of the other Jude.
He was exposed to the other Jude’s sword as if cause and effect were reversed.
Because Sword Origin was not invincible.
Jude’s body was broken every time a sword strike came and went.
Fortunately, the power of the seventh door made it impossible to be broken all at once.
Valencia was nervous.
If this continued, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated, or rather, destroyed.
She had to protect Jude somehow.
She had to overexert herself even though she knew that it would be too much.
Sword Origin’s second form.
The last form that existed after its sealed form and its current first form.
Valencia exerted her power as a sword spirit.
Despite knowing that it was too much not only for Sword Origin but also for Jude, she forcibly activated the second form.
Become one with the sword.
A state where one truly became one with the sword!
Bang!
A golden flash of light drove away the black energy in that short moment.
No, it was not just a moment.
A golden flame rose and devoured the darkness.
Sword Spirit Valencia.
The Elf Sword who had reached the horizon.