329 — Sword Ghost

Yu Seha floated through the air, only his head bobbing.
His body and soul had been transformed into an imperceptibly fine existence, invisible to the naked eye.

A virulent poison—so lethal that even a touch could mean death—had taken form: a mass of virus that adapted instantly, burrowing into the Sword Ghost’s body, literally tearing him apart and devouring him.

Even awakened ones of a certain rank couldn’t live more than a minute in that living hell. I can say with certainty that not only A-rank, but even S-rank would struggle to survive more than thirty minutes in this otherworldly nightmare.

And it gave Yu Seha no chance to recover.

—Kruaaaak!!!

Monsters charged the Sword Ghost. The leader specimens commonly called ‘alphas’ were no different from another incarnation of Yu Seha.

Ten alphas signaled each other, communicating faster than spoken syllables, trading information rapidly. They directed their attacks to strike the Sword Ghost efficiently and lethally—and the alphas themselves also entered the fight.

Domination and monstrification through subordinate creatures. Yu Seha, who housed countless transformations within his body, used the authority he’d developed: the <Category>.

It was the manifestation of the first series among them.

Shukwak-!

At its center, a menacing waltz of blades swirled. The Sword Ghost bared his teeth in a wild grin as black blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Good, very good!!!”

He hadn’t thought a petty trick like this would make him feel his life was in danger. That only made him flare up more.

Madness radiated from his body until it became a state of being, and he attained the Heart Sword every swordsman dreams of.

The smallest unseen things were torn and annihilated in futility; hundreds of murderous creatures that had split and multiplied were crushed whole.

-Kwuaaaak!!!

“Pathetic…!”

The roar of the last remaining ‘alpha’ specimen. All the remaining monsters latched onto the Sword Ghost and detonated themselves simultaneously. A blast so massive it could have swept the entire temple thundered through.

Clomp, clomp.

The Sword Ghost walked out from the wreckage at ease. The blood that had flowed over his body had already congealed and crumbled away like dust; there were no significant mortal wounds.

He looked up at the floating Yu Seha, raised the blade of the <Ghost Shadow Blade>, and pointed.

“I’ll give you advice, disciple.”
“……”
“From now on, no matter who you are…”

Sreung-!

“If you idle, your head will be taken off!”

The long blade swung like lightning. Lozenge- and square-shaped sword-qi formed at its tip—the Guiying Sword’s ultimate, the Dohyeongmu—manifested by the hand of the creator.

It revealed a frightening fact: the Sword Ghost had never once used the Guiying Sword until now. At the chilling sight of the shapes spinning and shifting, Yu Seha felt tension for the first time.

‘As expected…’

This was dangerous. Even Yu Seha had to brace for annihilation if he took that undefended. It was the certainty of a man who had taken every attack from the [Demonic Beast] Ma Hana and calmly restored himself—testimony to how absurdly powerful the Sword Ghost was.

“Huh…”

Yu Seha restored to his original body and dashed forward—an act close to suicide, but he trusted himself.

After all, this was about taking the blow unguarded, wasn’t it? When the attack struck, it shredded his body to pieces as if expected.

The Sword Ghost watching narrowed his eyes.

“…Regeneration?”

A body that returned beyond mere tearing. The Sword Ghost shook his head as if to deny it. How could this be—Blade Form Arts had even accounted for annoying restoration…

“Hmm…?”

He realized soon. The torn-away parts of Yu Seha’s body and the matter filling the gaps…

“Plants?”

Countless indistinguishable plants composed Yu Seha’s body, used for restoration and regeneration.

“Ha…!”

The Sword Ghost lunged forward with a dare.

He reached Yu Seha and assaulted him relentlessly, granting no leeway. Each strike was peerless, a supreme blow worthy of the title “the best in the world,” filled with transcendent insight.

As nearly ten seconds passed, the Sword Ghost noticed an anomaly: Yu Seha’s body began to resist being cut so easily, becoming like a tough, fibrous cord.

“So, adaptation?”
“……”

“You’re doing something interesting. Fine, I’ll play as much as you like.”

Thud-!

A fierce kick drove into Yu Seha’s abdomen. Immediately after, the Sword Ghost aimed at the flying man. As if everything so far had been a joke, his blade glowed blood-red.

A vast, straight scar opened; the ghostly lament and flicker of shadows filled the area.

The temple split in two—an authority-woven space of the Demon King was cut as if slicing a veil. Because the cut was so clean, the temple exercised its authority and snapped back to its original state as if nothing had happened.

“……”

The Sword Ghost lowered his gaze. Yu Seha’s body, cleft in two, lay coldly sprawled. He ignored that sight and looked only at the sky.

Soon the severed parts of Yu Seha’s body rotted and turned into maple leaves, soaring high.

The whipping wind transformed into a gargantuan creature so tall you had to crane your jaw to meet its gaze: a long eastern dragon wearing a dragon-like necklace. A colossal lifeform easily exceeding a hundred meters—a deity-class creature classified at least S-rank—the <Titan>.

Transformed into a <Titan>, Yu Seha drew his fist back and struck the Sword Ghost—so fast and precise it was hard to believe it came from such a massive form.

The blow that had once casually impaled the S-rank monster <Anubis> was recreated—and it did not end there.

The dragon draped around his neck unleashed a breath. A gigantic centipede, coiled like jewelry at his feet, sprang out and scattered a cloud of poison. The wind divine beast <Simurgh>, draped over his head like a wig, whipped up a savage storm.

The place overturned and shook under the power of each of these disaster-level monsters—a destructive force enough to wipe out a city, the concentrated essence of apex beings.

As he silently unleashed it, Yu Seha realized.

“…!”

He had, without noticing, reached a sphere the size of a fist at the Titan’s abdomen—it was undoubtedly the profound secret of the Ghost-Shadow Sword that the Sword Ghost had perceived and reached.

Bang-!

The attack’s sphere blew a massive hole clean through the Titan’s body and sliced its torso into cube-like chunks that cascaded through the wound.

The Titan’s huge, rugged body was cut away into flesh-cubes and fell like meteorites.

-Kugugugu!

From the crater formed by the punches, Sword Ghost So Hang-woo strode out with dignity. Each step carried the confidence only one who had ascended to the ‘Top’ could display.

Until a moment ago his eyes had shone with interest; now they wore boredom. Twirling the long blade in his hand, he rolled his neck here and there.

“You should be realizing it by now…”

That this alone won’t be enough…

“If your goal was just to stall for time, fine, but shouldn’t one of us end this soon? Or do you have more clowning about to show?”

Kwarrrung-!

Amid the rain of the Titan’s falling blood, the sound of a bird’s wings could be heard. One that had appeared without anyone noticing—a lone crow—watched the Sword Ghost.

The crow spread its wings, which swelled and transformed into Yu Seha again, wearing a combat coat.

Yu Seha met the Sword Ghost’s gaze with an expressionless face.

Yes, I admit it.

‘As expected, can I not win with just <Complete Devour> alone?’

Those who had reached the ‘Top’ could not decide victory or defeat by mere scale of power and physical force alone. Miscellaneous tricks were nothing more than stalling.

He had expected this to some degree. After all, the opponent was who he was.

The Sword Ghost looked at Yu Seha and bowed his waist, grasping the long blade with his only remaining right arm as if to break it, staring with his one remaining eye.

“You have served well enough.”
“……”
“Now, show me.”

Madness burst across the Sword Ghost’s entire body. He wanted to see.

“The manifestation of radiant talent that has reached the edge of the heavens!”

The soaring wings of a magnificent phoenix! I, Sword Ghost So Hang-woo, a swordsman befitting the phrase ‘the greatest under heaven,’ the symbol of the star Yu Seha, whom all must look up to!

Finally…

“Take my head, Yu Seha!!!”
“……”

Was it a silent acceptance? Yu Seha reached his hand into the air. [Slasla], acknowledged as his true master, emitted a light far more intense than before.

In the swirling space, when he reached in, what popped out was—a greatsword.

Graceful and beautiful, elegant in every line, a sword fit for celestial maidens, yet strangely familiar.

The blade’s length and sturdiness belonged to ‘Notung,’ its hilt and pommel were ‘[Black Iron],’ the wave patterns along the blade were ‘[Sturdy Wind],’ the compression of power was ‘[Red Scales],’ and finally, the aristocratic aura that suffused it was ‘Yu’s [Twin Dragon Sword].’

It was undoubtedly a form in which the wills of those met at the <Festival of Warriors> had converged.

Air Sword, Heavenly Sword. An Epic-grade weapon. For Yu Seha, rank no longer mattered, so it did not stand out much, but it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful weapons in this world.

The Sword Ghost recognized the value of that sword as soon as he saw it. He realized at last that a weapon befitting his disciple had been placed in his hand.

“Excellent.”

The Sword Ghost wore an ecstatic expression, took a step forward, which quickly turned into a run, then folded space.

Kang-!!!

Without either giving way, the strikes collided. At last, with Yu Seha’s sword drawn and the Sword Ghost’s momentum burning everything away, the final moment to decide victory or defeat drew near.