I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents
Chapter 41
The fifth-rank knight Kylas moved.
The sword energy stretching out.
The trajectory swinging toward me.
Every movement was thoroughly calculated to kill me.
A chilling sensation rang the alarm.
BOOM!
I blocked all of Kylas’s sword strikes, but in other words, it meant I hadn’t landed a single hit on him yet.
CLANG!
After another exchange of blows, Kylas stepped back and spoke.
“Third rank.”
Kylas’s low voice pierced my ears.
“Judgment, speed, strength… everything surpasses any third-rank knight I’ve faced so far. But still, third rank.”
I couldn’t help but question.
“How did you figure that out?”
Kylas answered politely.
“From the fifth rank onward, one gains the eyes to perceive the vessel of their opponent. You could call it the power to avoid unnecessary deaths.”
Kylas scanned my body again.
As if trying to see through something.
His words continued.
“By others’ standards, you’d be considered around the fourth rank. If that’s your best, you’ll soon die by my hand.”
A red sword energy gathered on Kylas’s blade.
“If you don’t want to die, devour it.”
Kylas’s figure blurred again.
“A swordsman grows by devouring the lives of other swordsmen.”
A red storm surged around the sword in Kylas’s right hand.
The air distorted under the ripple of sword energy.
An oppressive pressure I’d never felt before closed in.
Red sword energy rushed at me from all directions.
I took a breath.
I’ll block it all.
The trajectory bent at a right angle.
My thoughts moved swiftly.
Toward survival.
I stepped toward the path where I could live.
And swung my sword with killing intent.
I felt the mana spreading from my Mana Heart.
That mana extended through the aura circuit.
Dragon-Slaying Sword, 2nd Form: Thrust. Heart Roar.
1st Form: Horizontal Slash. Giant’s Strike.
3rd Form: Vertical Slash. Drakavani.
I unleashed every technique I could.
6th Form: Lamina Rabiei.
The furious blade that severs dragons.
A barrage of sword strikes from all directions.
I wove a dense net of white sword energy.
I felt the muscles in my arms swelling.
Kylas was undeniably stronger than me.
Attacks I couldn’t evade in my current state.
I had to face only those kinds of attacks.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
First, Kylas deflected all my sword strikes.
A comment left by the “Light’s Sword” senior flashed through my mind.
-Light’s Sword: Ascending hierarchies ultimately stems from realizations gained in the midst of battle.
In the end, you must stake your life.
Like now.
Kylas swung his red aura.
KWAANG!
The aura crashed down like a giant hammer.
I twisted my body to the right, performing an acrobatic maneuver.
Flowing Flame Space-Breaking Technique, Footwork 4th Form.
Moon-Shattering Step.
I extended white sword energy like a sickle, aiming for Kylas’s neck.
The attack was nullified by Kylas’s upward slash.
I’ll keep going until it works.
SWOOSH!
A searing pain erupted from my waist.
Next was my right shoulder.
After taking two direct hits, I was struck in the abdomen.
I looked at Kylas’s face.
The corner of his lips was faintly but unmistakably raised.
He was smiling.
This guy isn’t normal.
CLANG!
Our swords clashed.
The red light on Kylas’s blade flared violently.
Goosebumps rose on both my arms.
This is already the second time I’ve been exposed to this damn sensation.
A sword energy explosion, just like the attack from the fourth-tier knight Rainer.
The aura circuit was engulfed in a torrent of energy.
Vortex Flow Section.
The explosion of the Dragon-Slaying Sword’s energy.
KWAAAAANG!!
Kylas’s red flash and the white light erupting from my sword intertwined.
Our sword energy explosions detonated simultaneously.
Rocks were sent flying from the shaking ground.
Thick dust clouds obscured my vision.
My body was flung into the air by the explosion.
KWA-JIJIK!
I stabbed Mundum Exstinguit into the ground to steady myself.
Pain surged from my abdomen and right thigh.
Half my body was battered, but my mind grew clearer.
Unnaturally so.
The world felt like it was in third-person, not first.
THUD—
The ground shook.
Kylas, who had retreated, closed the distance again.
I saw his eyes flash red.
In the blink of an eye, sword strikes filled the space where I stood.
A dense web of red trajectories, covering every horizontal angle.
I channeled protective energy throughout my body and charged into the trajectories.
I didn’t have the strength to cut through all of them.
A gap.
I just needed to perfectly pierce the smallest gap.
I thrust my sword, honed like a needle, in a straight line.
SLASH—
I cut sword energy with sword energy.
Red fragments entered my vision.
Shards from severing Kylas’s red sword energy.
Mixed with my own blood.
Kylas’s intense aura found the gaps in my armor and protective energy, drawing blood.
I accelerated my mana circulation.
To add another layer of protective energy.
Another surge of energy flowed through the aura circuit.
I felt a new line forming beside the core of the circuit.
It was rising.
A pillar beside the aura circuit anchoring my body.
[You have entered the realm of the fourth rank.]
I saw Kylas’s eyes widen.
He must have realized I’d surpassed the third rank and reached the fourth.
My opponent was fifth rank.
Even as a fourth-rank knight, that didn’t guarantee victory.
I didn’t let up my killing intent.
A voice came from the front.
“Come.”
The faint smile had become a full grin.
Kylas charged.
Red lightning-like sword energy rushed at me from all sides.
SLASH!
The sound of tearing flesh reached my ears.
Even Phaeton’s Jet-Black Armor had gaps.
Even my protective energy had thin spots.
Kylas’s sword strikes carved that lesson into me.
Knowledge piled up.
Along with the brink of death.
DRIP—
Blood hit the ground.
[Status Effect – ‘Critical’ Bleeding activates Doombringer.]
[Skill ‘Doombringer’ has leveled up. Lv.4]
[Your body temporarily surpasses its limits.]
My body screamed.
If I stop, I die.
My mind was filled with only one technique.
The Dragon-Slaying Sword manual had additional notes written by the “Light’s Sword” senior.
– There are techniques you must attempt when reaching a new rank.
– I based this on my own rank, but I don’t believe your talent falls short of mine.
A fifth-rank swordsman lunged at me like a beast.
Kylas swung his sword, creating a giant moon.
The moon behind him slowly advanced toward me.
An overwhelming pressure enveloped my entire body.
The red moon contained countless blades.
SWOOSH!
My left shoulder was deeply cut.
My arm dangled.
Not yet.
I had to tear his throat out when he got close.
The strength in my right thigh drained.
Blood gushed from my left abdomen.
SWIIISH!
The sound of wind filled my ears.
A sword aiming for my neck.
Staring straight at Kylas’s horizontal slash, I adjusted my grip.
Fourth-rank swordsmanship.
Dragon-Slaying Sword, 8th Form.
Draco Scalpere.
A sword technique that scales like a dragon’s hide.
I couldn’t block the horizontal slash in one go.
Two flashes of lightning-like light streaked out.
A double strike to crush the horizontal slash.
I kept moving my sword.
20 strikes.
30 strikes.
Counting became meaningless as it surpassed double digits.
It was a technique closer to the name “flaying.”
Shallow and deep cuts were carved without pause.
I dismantled the red moon.
Kylas’s body, marked with countless red lines, came into view.
His armor was shattered.
The final move.
I stepped forward.
Brought my sword down vertically.
The last flash.
WHOOSH!
The shallow and deep wounds simultaneously erupted with white light.
Blood sprayed from every part of Kylas’s body.
DRIP—
A pool of blood formed on the ground.
“GHK.”
Kylas staggered, but a faint smile still lingered on his face.
The surroundings grew noisy.
Coincidentally, my body wouldn’t move.
I didn’t even have the strength to lift my head.
I sensed three people charging at me from different angles.
“Kill him now!”
“Finish him!”
“Sir Kylas!”
It seemed the bastards who hadn’t interfered during the fight were finally showing up.
SWIIISH!
Three flashes of light came at me simultaneously.
The fifth-rank swordsman Kylas, who seemed no longer sane, collapsed to the ground without another word.
[Level up!]
The three flashes aiming to kill me were closing in.
[Lv.27 → Lv.29]
My left arm, dangling just before hitting the ground, was restored.
All the wounds gushing blood healed completely.
The effect of leveling up.
What followed was pure instinct.
I channeled mana.
GRIT—
Clenched my teeth.
And swung my sword, wrapped in white sword energy, horizontally.
CLANG! KWAANG!
The sound of knights’ swords breaking echoed.
Blood splattered in a circular pattern.
Red lines appeared on the trees.
The three knights charging from the left, right, and center slowly collapsed to the ground.
I scanned the surroundings.
At least Lengel and Carmine had done their jobs as I’d expected.
The two of them had finished off three.
And killed those they had incapacitated.
[‘The Black Storm’s Sword Ghost’ applauds.]
[‘The Blood Demon’ furrows his brow.]
[‘The Judge with a Thousand Eyes’ bites his nails.]
[‘The Warrior Carrying Rage’ rechecks the difficulty and floor level.]
I dismissed the annoying notifications for now.
Lengel slowly approached me.
“…Just who are you?”
“Does it matter?”
“You killed a fifth-rank swordsman.”
I killed him because if I didn’t, he’d have killed me.
“I got lucky. Let’s go. Hurry and get on the carriage, Carmine.”
“Yes!”
I saw Carmine nodding frantically.
I could see Carmine nodding her head absentmindedly.
Literally, I was lucky. Seventy percent luck, thirty percent skill – that’s exactly what it was.
Killing Kylas too.
And leveling up just before dying to the three guys that came after.
I needed to become stronger.
