Chapter 54. A Glimmer of Azure Lightning
“L-Lord Danju…”
Aleion’s voice trembled.
The brainwave attack unleashed by the Eastern Chief just now was incredibly fast.
It was much faster than Sirius’s usual speed of movement.
This doesn’t merely imply that lightning travels fast. It means it’s fast, including the time it takes for the opponent to cast a spell.
So even if Sirius predicts an attack and moves, dodging might be difficult.
Aleion had followed Sirius through many fights, but facing an opponent with such swift attacks was a first for him.
“Lord Danju, I will join in…”
Thinking he should at least play a shielding role, Aleion stepped forward.
But Verdian raised his hand to stop him.
“No need, stay back.”
“What?”
Aleion frowned, but Verdian shook his head with a composed expression.
Earlier, he was startled by the strength of the chief’s brainwave magic, but now, seeing Sirius’s relaxed demeanor, he understood belatedly.
Sirius wasn’t exerting his full power.
“We’ll step back since we’re getting in the way.”
“Alright, hold on.”
Verdian led Alleion away.
Sensing his movement, Sirius realized Verdian had already caught on.
“Wait, Master Danju!”
“Step back with Verdian, Alleion.”
Not long ago, Verdian had thoroughly investigated Sirius’s abilities and revealed himself in front of Sirius.
However, just before that, Sirius had fully refined Valerion’s magic, reaching a level of two inner strengths.
Verdian was left helpless against the now stronger Sirius.
Having witnessed Sirius move using two inner strengths, Verdian realized that Sirius was not exerting his full power at the moment.
Furthermore, unbeknownst to Verdian, Sirius had absorbed Verdian’s magic as well, further enhancing his inner strength.
But here and now, the martial arts Sirius displayed only reflected about one inner strength.
“Foolish man, Sirius.”
The Chief mocked from the air with an arrogant tone.
“If you had put your pawns forward, you might have been able to block one or two attacks.”
“I’m different from you all, Chief.”
There was an act that the Heavenly Wolf, Sirius, detested.
It was the act of sacrificing subordinates to assess the opponent’s abilities or to deplete their stamina.
This behavior continued even after Sirius Kanisruth had become.
“The men sacrificed just now were loyal to you in their own way, aren’t you sorry?”
“Sorry? I don’t understand why one should hold such emotions towards those kinds of men.”
The Chief snorted.
“There are plenty of people who can replace those kinds of men.”
“….”
“Actually, I had hoped you would take on that role.”
Crackle!
As lightning crackled, the Chief laughed.
“I’ll ask you one last time, Sirius.”
“….”
“Do you have any intention of kneeling before the Alliance?”
In response to the Chief’s question, Sirius replied in a cold voice.
“That won’t happen, so don’t waste your time, Chief.”
“In a situation where every minute and second counts to survive, you’re hastening death.”
Chuckling, the Chief raised his hand.
“Fine. Kill as you wish.”
Crack!
The lightning that had cut off Shajalina’s breath earlier now struck Sirius.
According to the Chief’s calculations, Sirius wouldn’t be able to react to this attack.
He should have been electrocuted in one strike, his heart stopping.
However…
“……!”
Sirius was unscathed.
He swiftly dodged the lightning bolt.
The Division Commander scowled and launched another lightning bolt, but Sirius evaded that too.
“You….”
His movements were incomparably swift.
From the Division Commander’s perspective, the speed was hard to track.
“How dare you…!”
The Division Commander drew more power from the Circles.
Though not disclosed to others, he possessed the power of the 8th Circle.
He harnessed that power to conjure a massive storm of lightning bolts.
Even if Sirius was faster than the Division Commander had thought, he wouldn’t be able to escape if a wide range was engulfed in lightning bolts.
“…….”
Sirius was aware of how the Division Commander was planning to attack.
While using Light Steps to evade the Division Commander’s attack range was an option, he chose a different approach.
Sirius unfolded the White Energy and moved his sword.
“Pressure…!”
Boom! Boom! Crash!
A vast lightning magic swept the surroundings.
It was a thunderstorm so intense that visibility was impaired.
The moment the Division Commander smirked with confidence that he could finally overpower Sirius.
“……!”
As the lightning subsided, Sirius’s figure was revealed.
He had deployed a large white defensive barrier.
“W-What, what is this defensive magic…!”
Lightning magic is known for its penetrating power.
Hence, a considerably thick barrier is needed to block lightning magic.
However, the barrier Sirius unfolded was by no means thick.
“This is not a defensive magic.”
“What?”
“It’s called Sword Barrier.”
“……!”
Sword Barrier.
A technique that spreads a wide defensive barrier by unfolding sword energy along the trajectory of the sword.
When his Inner Energy was only at 1st Circle, he couldn’t use it.
But now, with his Inner Energy well beyond the 2nd Circle, Sirius could block even a wide-ranging lightning magic.
“Argh…!”
A bolt of lightning struck.
It hit Sirius directly, but it couldn’t pierce the Sword Barrier.
“Division Commander, is this all your power?”
“What did you say?”
“I asked if you couldn’t raise the power of your brainwaves any further.”
“…!”
A crack.
The Chief raised his mana as he gritted his teeth.
“You arrogant bastard…!”
Crackle!
This time, a lightning spear was formed.
It was a spell compressed into a single spear of brainwaves.
It was a magic imbued with the will to pierce through Sirius’s barrier this time.
“Haah…!”
Crackle!
With a thunderous sound, the lightning spear was launched.
It definitely seemed to have maximized its penetrating power compared to before.
But… there was no reason for Sirius to just stand there and take it.
“…!?”
Sirius leaped.
Avoiding the lightning spear with a swift movement, he countered the Chief with a sword wind.
Desperately moving through the air, the Chief tried to dodge Sirius’s attacks.
“Sirius…!”
This time, multiple lightning spears were created.
It was the Chief’s ultimate skill of consecutively firing a large number of brain spears.
It was difficult to evade, and if it hit properly, it would be fatal.
“….”
Watching the rain of lightning spears, a smile crept onto Sirius’s lips.
So, now you’re using a technique worth facing. With that thought in mind, he raised his inner strength.
Crackle!
Within the downpour of brain spears, Sirius unfolded his sword.
It wasn’t the power of the Baeknang, but the power of the Bukmyeong. Swinging the blade enveloped in black, Sirius began to intercept the brain spears.
Utilizing all senses of his body, he deflected every high-speed brain spear.
“…!”
The Chief was astonished.
Just now, the Chief realized Sirius was faster than he had thought.
But now, Sirius was even faster than that.
Faster than the brainwave magic, Sirius swung his sword and rushed through the rain of brain spears.
All the Chief could do was pour out the brain spears more aggressively.
Shoot, shoot, shoot. Giving himself orders, the Chief raised his mana until the circle exploded.
It was the first time he had cast magic so recklessly since he had been assigned to the East.
Blood dripped from the Chief’s nose.
His body was sending warning signals, but he couldn’t stop.
Sirius didn’t stop for a moment, as he couldn’t bring himself to stop.
“Ugh…!”
Hearing the branch manager’s groan, Sirius pounced.
The speed of his swordsmanship didn’t slow down in the slightest. No, rather, it was getting faster.
Why was that?
Was it because he was feeling good? Or was it because he was drawing out strength beyond his limits?
Neither. The answer lay in the sword qi currently being deployed on Sirius’s blade.
Originally, Sirius was in a state where he had formed sword qi with the force of the North Star.
The North Star possessed a unique suction force. It had aspects similar to the so-called Absorption Great Law, which sucked in the energy of others and made it its own.
However, Sirius was currently using a sword deployed with the force of the North Star to ward off countless thunderbolts.
What would happen if he did that?
Crack, crack.
Lightning bolts were crackling from Sirius’s black sword qi.
“You bastard…!”
The branch manager, who had realized it belatedly, was shocked.
“You’re absorbing my thunderbolts… and using them as magic swordsmanship!?”
Clang!
Every time Sirius swung his sword, the sound of thunder rang out.
The nature of the thunderbolts further increased the speed of his swordsmanship.
Each time he warded off the thunderbolts that the branch manager unleashed, the electrical energy on the blade became even stronger and its speed increased.
It seemed that the branch manager’s magic was making Sirius even stronger.
“Ugh…!”
However, that didn’t mean that the branch manager could stop attacking.
If he stopped attacking, Sirius would undoubtedly approach him in a straight line and cut off his breath.
All the branch manager could do now was continue to unleash thunderbolts while hoping that Sirius’s stamina would run out.
However… Sirius still had some energy left.
Since he was utilizing the electrical energy obtained from the branch manager’s thunderbolt magic, his internal energy consumption was lower than usual.
And the moment he reached a certain level…
“I guess this is enough.”
Muttering that, Sirius increased his speed even further.
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At the same time, he distributed the absorbed electrical energy throughout his body. Of course, he wasn’t using the thunderbolt magic as it was.
Right now, blue energy was being deployed around Sirius’s body.
“What on earth are you doing now!?”
The branch manager couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight of Sirius charging forward while deploying blue energy.
Up until now, the branch manager had conducted a lot of research on Sirius, but he had never received any information that he could use this kind of power.
“It’s not thunderbolt magic either… What the heck is it!?”
“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you.”
In fact, this was also Sky Wolf Divine Energy.
However, it was different from the North Star or White Wolf that he had used so far.
Up until now, Sirius had been using Sky Wolf Divine Energy based on the extremely Yin internal energy he had obtained from the White Ice Flower, but Sky Wolf Divine Energy wasn’t necessarily an extremely Yin martial art to begin with.
While the first stage, Beopmyeong, and the second stage, Baekrang, possess negative attributes, the third stage is different.
Cheonrang Shingong is a martial art that harmonizes yin and yang to embody the Taegeuk.
Therefore, in order to properly perform it, both extreme yin and extreme yang internal energy are necessary.
Up until now, only extreme yin internal energy was available, so only Beopmyeong and Baekrang could be performed.
However, now it is different.
Brain energy is yang energy.
Now that he has accumulated a lot of it… he can temporarily perform the third stage.
Sirius dashed through the air, creating a sound like a wall crying.
The target is the Electrostrategist, who cries out in astonishment.
He was frantically pouring out brain spears, but Sirius is now unleashing the Brain Sword, which devours all of them.
Just now, the branch manager asked Sirius.
What on earth are you doing now?
Sirius, rising towards the branch manager whose face was distorted, had the answer in his mouth.
“Cheonrang Shingong, Changloi (蒼雷).”
Sirius’s blade, which had become a single bolt of blue lightning, pierced the branch manager’s chest.