6. Proof of Existence (63)
With just one word, the crowd drains away like the ebb tide.
Even the paladins, who were groaning on their faces, supported each other and tried to avoid their seats somehow. After just a few seconds, the messy battlefield was cleaned up and soon I was the only one standing in the empty lot.
The rest of the onlookers had long since fled far away.
Then I sighed and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.
This series of actions meant one thing.
is it finally coming
It was right after that.
With a thump, an intangible pressure pressed down on his entire body. It was to the point where I fell on my knees and groaned.
It felt like the force of gravity had increased several times.
I had to get up, but it was difficult to lift a finger. As I grieved at this, my eyes naturally became bloody.
Maybe this is also one of the opponent’s abilities?
Assuming that kind of leverage, I managed to raise my head somehow.
In an instant, my eyes went blank.
jerk, jerk.
A boy with azure eyes was walking with his back to the sunlight. From that far-off summit, stepping on the air.
It was an unbelievable sight.
I have heard rumors that in the distant past one of the saints walked on water. This was a stage where unmanned soldiers who had reached the stage could be reproduced to some extent through sophisticated mana manipulation.
But to step on the air and come down.
Even the expression of the saint was calm as if he had gone for a walk.
It was as if there was a glass staircase installed only for the boy there. Kangja’s unique composure and grace were felt in the posture of walking without hindrance.
And with each step the boy took down the stairs, the pressure on my body grew stronger.
thump, thump, thump.
Only then did I realize
The saint did not intend this pain. He wanted to vomit what was in his stomach right away, but even this was not the saint’s original intention.
The presence was just too strong.
It was the same reason as white foam forming where a whale had passed.
With each step, the world hammered to the sound of it. Before I knew it, sky-blue eyes that I couldn’t look into were looking at me.
“Interesting. He is the rising star of the empire, so I wondered if he might be the disciple the old man had taken in his youth… … .”
It wasn’t until after the saint slightly stuttered that the gravitational pull that held me down completely disappeared.
It might have seemed pitiful to see myself lying flat on the ground.
In any case, freedom was finally regained. There was no reason to miss this opportunity.
I hurriedly raised my body, and my chest was repeating a steep up-and-down movement. While I was calming my rough breath, the saint stepped into the clearing where I was standing.
“Could it be that you were ‘her’ disciple?”
One step, two steps.
The saint’s feet stood on the ground without a sound. It was only then that I was able to take a closer look at the saint’s appearance.
He was a handsome boy with silver hair and sky blue eyes. The thin jawline and soft skin added to her neutral charm.
Shall we say that he looks like a boy whose secondary sexual characteristics have not yet arrived?
At first glance, the age group seemed to be only in the mid-to-late teens.
But I couldn’t be careless.
The opponent was an old monster who had protected the kingdom for hundreds of years. Not to mention, isn’t he a strong man who did not have the upper hand even in the empire’s strongest swordsman?
In any sense, he was an opponent worthy of respect.
I showed the utmost courtesy with my creaky body. My head bowed and a polite greeting followed.
“Meet the saint, the teacher of all martial artists.”
“It is a strange falsehood. In life, sometimes you become a teacher and sometimes you become a disciple.”
The saint raised his hand slightly without saying anything.
Then the armaments scattered around began to vibrate. It was an item left behind by the paladins I defeated, but the weapon chosen by the saint was unique.
Mace.
It was a blunt instrument with a blunt tip. No matter how you look at it, it’s not a weapon a martial artist would use, and my eyes went blank.
“Brother, I want to hear your determination. With what mind did you stand there? And what are you standing there to protect?”
“To not run away.”
Gritting my teeth, I aimed my sword at the saint.
All the senses in my body were on edge. Instinct was calling out. The opponent is a being that does not allow even an inch of hesitation.
I had no choice but to look forward to the description of Hae (解).
Even if it can’t completely dissipate the Saint’s Strike, at least it will help me survive a few times.
I said, moistening my parched lips with saliva.
“… … That’s all.”
Heh, the saint swallowed a faint smile and lowered his head.
“You want to walk the hard road.”
“Then, how about conceding just once for a distant junior?”
“No.”
Slowly lowering the hand holding the mace, the saint smiled benevolently.
“If you are called out by the law, shouldn’t you do your duty? Also, sometimes you have to have the taste of accepting the challenge of your juniors.”
It was the answer as expected. I didn’t even expect it anyway, so I lowered my posture holding my breath.
The weak against the strong had to be like this.
The posture of only holding on, the saint must have noticed that intention.
The saint’s face with a slight smile turned toward the sky.
The sun was still hanging in mid-heaven.
“… … then.”
It was a brief signal.
The saint corrected his posture with a slow motion that made him wonder if this was okay.
Raise your mace, lower your stance, and bend your knees.
and the next moment.
Sky blue eyes turned to the front, and a ferocious smile formed on the boy’s lips.
The atmosphere changes at once.
Kwajik, a sense of cracks forming in the world centered on one being.
come.
I focused all my strength on the sword, feeling a tingling sensation running down my spine. The silvery aura that gleamed and burned began to spread like fog.
Right after that, lightning strikes.
It was a speed comparable to that of light. The afterimage left by the rough run formed a rumbling tail like a fantasy. However, thanks to the saint’s end, my posture was already complete.
You just have to scatter them somehow.
Thinking so, the moment my gaze turned to the saint’s mace.
time stops
There was no glimmer of light in the thick steel mace. Not only the sight, but even using all the senses, I couldn’t feel even a fragment of the aura.
what the hell are you thinking
My lost eyes drifted in the frozen time. Then, all of a sudden, the moment when the blue eyes of the sky caught my retina.
Suddenly, the space screams while walking away.
The world of jeong (停), where nothing moves, was being torn apart. The boy’s arm broke all the flow and laws and started to accelerate.
Above all, sky-blue eyes staring at me.
In those eyes, there was joy that could not be hidden.
And at first glance, the greeting seemed to pass my ear.
“… … Emmanuel!”
Pak, and the skull shattered.
My body tilted. No, are you leaning?
That was the final feeling.
after dark.
*
Huh, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
My hands were shaking. My body was lying on the ground before I knew it, and my brain was constantly replaying memories from the previous moment.
The skull is broken.
deserved to die Even so, why am I still breathing in?
Was it a fantasy?
It didn’t take even a few seconds for that reasoning to break.
My eyes blankly looked around. A radius of several tens of meters was hollowed out.
A bloody landscape as if struck by a meteorite.
And most of all, the traces of blood that poured down around me left harsh marks on my retinas.
I’m already dead.
Instinct, not the body, was crying out. You already died once and came back to life.
It didn’t even compare to the time I almost died. A wave of fear surged through his entire body.
My body was still shaking to the point where I couldn’t lift my arm.
jerk, jerk.
Through the thick clouds of dust, someone was taking a step.
“… … How was the underworld?”
My frightened eyes slowly turned upward.
The boy’s sky-blue eyes shone even in the thick fog. Even if you don’t want to see it, it was a clear and clear color that you can’t help but notice.
It was a ‘saint’.
A mace was in his hand. The area around the weight that had been shattered in half by the impact was empty.
The boy tapped his palm with the messy weapon.
“I know your determination well. Also, the life of a young knight who will lead the future cannot be taken here.”
Kkeuk, while moaning.
I tried my best to get myself up. The involuntarily spasming muscles were begging incessantly.
run away, now.
“So don’t worry.”
Tak, the sound of Mace tapping his palm echoed.
“You don’t die. No, it dies, but it just comes back to life.”
As I staggered, my body fell over again.
I sat down and the saint’s eyes met in the air.
The saint had an extremely calm expression on his face. As if the madness from earlier could have been a lie.
“… … As long as I don’t allow death.”
Only then did I recall the saint’s nickname.
‘Disciple of Heaven’.
‘The teacher of all martial artists’.
And, ‘the ruler of life and death’ and ‘the gatekeeper of heaven’.
He was a monster who controlled even life and death.