13. Iris El Devhardt – 10
The first time I felt a sense of incongruity was when I had a duel with Lucian in the banquet hall.
In the last moment of the duel, I took some of the flow of the aura that he was emitting, and even gave it back to him after making it my own.
At the time of the duel, it was something that I hadn’t thought about, but after the duel, after cooling my head, I thought about it, and it was really strange.
According to Iris’ teachings, an aura is originally a human’s life force, and since it is connected to that person’s soul as one, even if a flowing star is used, the range in which it can interfere with other people’s auras is extremely limited.
Of course, as with everything in the world, this is not absolute, so there was one exception. It was explained that people who had mastered the same swordsmanship unconsciously had similar patterns of vitality, so there were times when their auras resonated, and it might be possible to seize that flow.
– In other words, it means that the two of us who have learned the same ‘Flowing Star’ can manipulate each other’s auras. Well, it doesn’t mean much since we’re the only two people learning ‘Flowing Star’ at the time.
Iris explained it insignificantly and overlooked it, but I couldn’t help but feel a great sense of incongruity when I remembered her explanation. Then, why was it possible for me to steal Lucian’s aura?
All questions seem to have started from that point. Faced with a problem that cannot be easily answered no matter what kind of guess, I came up with a hypothesis after much thought.
In fact, wouldn’t ‘Flowing Star’ and ‘Twilight Moon’ originally be a single swordsmanship? If not, wouldn’t it be twin-like swordsmanship with at least the same source?
The possibilities were sufficient. Whether it’s a flowing star or a twilight moon, both swordsmanship were used by Devhard, the first emperor, and the 4th duke who served him. Rather, the feeling that it was more strange that there was no connection between the two sword techniques made my hypothesis clearer.
As I thought about it, one more question arose.
A human named von Estel, who is Bondi Cain, does not have any talent related to swordsmanship. To be precise, he was just an ordinary human being who had the talent to become a master swordsman, but was not born with the talent to reach the level of a master like Iris.
…Perhaps, if it weren’t for the memory of ‘Cain’ of the moment I was with Iris, it would have been a long way for me to reach the level of Master.
– I don’t say anything. You have no talent. However, the rate at which you learn my lessons is bizarrely fast. Perhaps, you and ‘Flowing Star’ might be a good match.
However, when I was learning the flowing stars from Iris, I succeeded in learning the flowing stars to a fully mature state in only one year. Iris, who had asserted that I had no talent, had succeeded in mastering the swordsmanship in such a short amount of time that Iris questioned it.
Of course, at that time, I was full of desperation to be of some help, a swordsman who had reached the level of a master became my teacher, and a training process that could be said to be harsh supported him, but even taking all of that into consideration, my progress It’s so fast that it’s not easy to understand.
At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but now that I think about it, I noticed something. Like the flowing stars and the twilight moon since childhood, I had learned Myungsin, the swordsmanship of the Duke of Estelle, which boasts a thousand-year history.
Perhaps, the fact that I learned the Myungsin itself helped me learn the flowing stars smoothly, I guessed.
With the above clues, I was able to establish a hypothesis. Perhaps, the swordsmanship with a thousand-year history passed down to the imperial family and the four dukes has something to do with it, and it is easier and smoother to learn two or three swordsmanship together, rather than just one.
It was well worth a try. It was a deep feeling, but it was a situation where I was suspicious that Iris and Ariel were regressors like me. So, I also made the decision that I should develop my own strength to the fullest against them.
That’s why I instinctively sensed something in that duel and accepted a fool like Lucian, who had no pride and bowed his head toward me, into the Duke of Estelle. Actually, I didn’t want to accept such a bastard into the Duke’s family, but I had to experiment with it in many ways, so I accepted him after calculation.
So the experiment began. I taught him the Myungsin, and he taught me the twilight moon. My talent was far less than that of Lucian, so I had no choice but to get a lot of help from him to combine the two sword techniques into one.
…Of course, I couldn’t tell him anything about the flowing stars. There was no need to buy and create unnecessary trouble anywhere. Studying the flowing stars was always my own responsibility.
Several months passed like that, and as a result, I was able to succeed in obtaining quite encouraging results.
That guy, Lucian, was able to overcome the wall that was blocking him and succeed in growing to the next level as a swordsman just by learning the skills that emphasized the basic skills to the extreme, and I, too, was able to overcome the twilight moon in real combat in only a few months at most. Although the use of is unreasonable, I succeeded in learning enough to manage the degree of imitation.
In this way, certainty was obtained. The four swordsmanships handed down from a thousand years ago were originally derived from one swordsmanship, and if I learn them together, I can become twice as strong as I am now.
…and that, in a real sense, surpassing my mentor is not impossible either.
After that, a year passed.
Perhaps it was because of my lack of talent, the other two swordsmanship, except Myungsin and the Flowing Star, did not progress easily no matter how hard I tried. It was unreasonable to use the two sword techniques alone in actual combat, and it was only at the level of barely imitating them that they had to combine and coordinate the opposing currents of the flowing stars with Myungsin as the basis.
However, even if it was a swordsmanship that was merely an imitation, that was enough. Even if my talent wasn’t enough, and I couldn’t properly draw out half of half of half of my original power, that was fine.
Sun Moon Star God.
The moment I swing the sword with the goal of capturing the three celestial bodies that make up the sky in a single sword, even if it’s an imitation, even if it’s only a fleeting moment, I’ve pushed myself far beyond my limits. Because I was able to use superpowers.
…Yes, just like now.
****
It was a beautiful sword dance between a man and a woman with the moonlight as their snack.
There is no further embellishment to be found, and all blows directed at the opponent are lethal.
The only thing that comes and goes between a man and a woman who are sharing swords as if they had agreed in advance is a steely will to persevere with their own convictions.
It was a discordant prophecy that, while both shouted that they could not acknowledge each other, ultimately resulted in one will.
Kirik-
The steel shifts and there is the sound of sparks flying.
For some reason, the energy of the person from before and the person of the present was so different that it would be safe to say that he was a different person.
The swordsmanship he used was also incomparably stronger than before, and he was also running his own sword with strong momentum.
“…Ugh, oops…!”
Once again, when she received his sword, she involuntarily let out a sound of rapid breathing.
I can no longer find the composure that I had before.
In the same way, carelessness towards the other person can no longer be found. She was swinging her sword with sincerity, but he was not enough to easily block her sword, and even launched a counterattack.
He knew very well why the situation suddenly turned around and he was put on the defensive.
It’s because of the sword he uses.
The reason for this was unknown, but the flowing star he was using was continuously disturbing the trajectory of the sword he wielded.
This causes confusion in the senses. Her attacks against him go awry, and her defenses are consistently one step behind. It was an extremely minor difference, but in a head-to-head match like now, it works as a fatal flaw.
…Of course, there are countermeasures. The swordsmanship he wields is strong enough to overwhelm the flowing stars from the front, but upon closer inspection, he cannot fully control his own sword. It even appears as if the user is being dragged around by his own swordsmanship.
So the answer is simple.
If you don’t respond properly to the sword he wields, and take a few steps back from here, the enemy will self-destruct.
…However.
Will he be able to proudly call the victory he has won in that way?
“…..”
grit it I feel ashamed of myself for thinking like that even for a moment.
This was a duel. It was also an extremely honorable duel, risking each other’s everything.
In other words, it was a duel to make a resolution of lingering regrets that could not be fulfilled in the past life.
Do you mean turning your back on the enemy, citing the disadvantages of the moment at most, when this might be the brightest moment in your life?
He who now stands up to himself, has entered this duel knowing that he will never be able to win?
How could he endure such humiliation when the feelings he harbored touched him so much?
More at noblemtl com
More than anyone else in the world, he himself could not tolerate such behavior.
So don’t back down. Rather, I will face him head-on, and after dealing with him, I will subdue him. That was her lofty pride in claiming to be his teacher.
At this moment, she sincerely wants to defeat the one and only disciple who surpassed her.
Caan-!
As if he had read it beforehand, he deflected the blow with all his might, which was thrown at the left side.
But that was enough. Even though it was less than a second, I was able to create a momentary gap.
“It’s still incomplete, though.”
woo woo woo-
The space around Iris’s sword begins to shake greatly.
An unrealistic sight as if paint had been poured into the space.
It is not a phenomenon caused by flowing stars. With only one sword, she was able to reach out to a time and space where even the magic of the present era could never intervene.
“…!”
Space itself begins to compress. The distance apart from each other has become meaningless. Looking at her sword, which shimmered in space like a haze, he had a hunch.
that sword is dangerous So, you have to do everything you can.
It captures the sharpest technique, the reverse moon in ‘The Dusk Moon’, and the quickest four days in ‘The Fading Sun’ at the same time.
The two conflicting images of destruction embody the image of absolute destruction at the end contained in one starlight.
The name of the technology is Pacheon (破天).
The strongest blow, created with the desire to defeat his one and only teacher, who is the sky itself for him.
Kwaang-!
Just as petals wither away, the surrounding space itself shatters and fragments.
In the aftermath of the clash of the two swords, the surrounding land turns upside down, and a huge storm rages in all directions.
The destructive power of the two swords clashed against each other. However, he twisted his brow. As a reward for forcibly swinging the previous blow, all the tendons in his arms were gone.
Probably his own master.
It seemed to be still high up in the sky.
And as if seeing this as an opportunity, she rushes towards him.
In her sword, there was still a shimmer of space.
At this moment, the sword she wanted to wield was not the ‘Sword of the Sky’.
In the past, Iris took the sky that embraces everyone as her image.
After seeing the one and only star that came down to the ground, her image also changed greatly.
The image she captured in her own sword was a very small starlight.
Although the last time it was unfinished, this time it will be very different.
“Goes.”
The thoughts she emits connect heaven and earth. The will of one human being distorts the laws of the world.
The name of the sword she wanted to wield was Baro.
“Tears of the Stars.”
the sword is thrown focused light. Along with a small whisper, waves of light made of aura hit him.
aang-!
It seems that there is no way that there is anything that can match the sword that gathers starlight and spreads while burning space itself.
His sword against this felt too small and shabby.
However.
At the last moment, she thought that she had seen a very small and slender sword slashing down from above.
“…ah.”
Unknowingly, I exclaimed.
In an instant, I saw something very beautiful in his sword.
Yes. The one from a while ago, obviously that time-
“…..”
“…..”
The waves of light faded and disappeared.
There is no trace of the fierce current that has turned all over the place before I know it. The only thing left in this place is the sound of the bleak wind.
Both the man and the woman were feeling the afterglow of victory and defeat with their bodies without saying anything.
Cain’s sword stopped in front of Iris’ neck with a gap of about a piece of paper.
However, it only seemed to me that it was very lingering to talk about victory and defeat.
Because just now, she saw something very beautiful.
“…Just now, what was the name of that technique?”
At the last moment, she wanted to know the name of the sword that split the light wave in two.
“It’s unfinished, so I don’t have a name yet.”
“…Unfinished?”
“And it’s also a blow I shouldn’t name. Because that is the sword of ‘Cain’ that was with you.”
No matter how much you say you are the same person as me, you shouldn’t invade the territory of the man you truly loved.
“…sorry. If it wasn’t for this expedient, I couldn’t have beaten you. I am still a man who is not really good enough to stand by your side.”
In response to his self-deprecating words, she gently shakes her head from side to side.
“it is not so. You are as dazzling now as you were then. You must be a really nice guy now.”
Iris raised one hand and lightly caressed his cheek with her hand. His cheek was so warm, only the thought filled her mind.
With a trembling sound, she puts the sword she was holding in her other hand to the floor.
What that meant, everyone here knew very well.
“…I lost. it’s my loss Cain.”