< 102. The Vision of Those Who Have Reached the Pinnacle >
*
The sword swings. Reflecting the blazing sunset of the wasteland, it traces a beautiful arc toward the enemy’s throat. Soon, a spear is hurled. It pierces through the flow of power, precisely targeting the gap.
-Whack!!
The spearhead strikes the sword, twisting and deflecting it upward. But Fernandez, of course, had no expectation that the first strike would land a decisive blow.
‘It’s Daryan Schryke, after all.’
Daryan Schryke, the Sun Spear. That renowned knight of the wild. Though now merely the Emperor’s hunting dog, he would later rise to become one of the strongest in civilized society.
Having never imagined he would be wandering the wastelands at this time, this encounter was quite thrilling for him as well.
Regardless of how the events unfolded, Fernandez deflected the spearhead aimed at his vitals without a moment to breathe, thinking:
‘First, win, then think later!’
If he could break him with the sword. If only he could!
-Crash!
The greatsword of King Dain descends upon him like a dark flash. The sword, deflected by the spearhead, is swung back in a clean, powerful strike. A brutal slash that doesn’t even consider the strain on his wrist.
He could feel his ligaments tearing with every moment. As a mage, he always took care to avoid wrist injuries, but now, he was Diemonica!
-Thump, thump, thump.
His heart, racing from the intense swordplay, pumped divine energy through his veins. A wrist injury? No, even if his heart were pierced and burst, it wouldn’t stop him!
‘I can win!’
The thrill, the pleasure, was releasing endorphins in his brain. Defeating mages in magical combat was second nature to him. In his prime, he had never lost a magical duel.
At least among combat mages or wildcast (wandering mages), he had reached the pinnacle. But swordsmanship, this kind of swordplay, was entirely different.
“Impressive strength!”
Daryan laughed, sweating profusely. By now, he had cast aside any pretense of restraint or analysis expected of the Emperor’s eyes. He was fully enjoying this fight as a warrior against a warrior.
-Swish!
“Huh!”
The spear, accelerating in an instant, shot toward Fernandez’s head. The sound of air tearing came only after the spearhead had grazed his cheek. A spear faster than sound! A technique so astonishing it was hard to believe it was crafted by a human body.
“Ugh!”
His head buzzed from the force of the spearhead. Through his blurred vision, he saw Daryan’s next attack. The spear danced through the air like a wave.
-Flutter…
Even as his vision distorted, Diemonica’s hearing caught the sound of the spear cutting through the wind. The sound grew closer, now aiming for his solar plexus!
-Crack!
“You blocked that?!”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“Haha!”
Daryan swiftly pulled back his spear, spinning it gracefully in a full circle before retreating. The spear’s movements scattered in the wind, making him look like a scene straight out of a heroic epic.
Fernandez chuckled and steadied his stance. He had waited for his condition to recover. Truly, the behavior of a noble hero.
Of course, since this wasn’t a life-or-death battle, they were likely holding back, testing each other’s strength. The outcome was still anyone’s guess.
And he was glad for it.
“Impressive. Truly. No need for a handicap. You seem around my age, what’s your name?”
“I’ll tell you if I win.”
“Isn’t that cheating? You already seem to know me.”
Daryan laughed, then spun his spear and took a stance. His lips curled into a clear smile.
“Let’s get serious now.”
-Whoosh.
His hair lifted slightly into the air. Regardless of the wind’s direction, the movement of his collar and hair was clearly visible.
A warrior who has reached the pinnacle is imbued with magical energy. When one can burn the accumulated magical energy along with their fighting spirit, the battles of such warriors unfold on an entirely different plane.
Though Fernandez couldn’t use such techniques, as a mage more skilled than anyone in handling magical energy, he could share the battlefield perspective of warriors like Daryan.
Time flowed slowly. Divided into seconds, each moment was enough to cry, laugh, or chatter. The time it took to blink was divided into ten.
Thinking and acting in fragmented moments, in a strange sense of time and exhilaration that seemed to defy physical laws, the gazes of Daryan and Fernandez crossed.
And then.
-Crash!!!
The spear and sword clashed like lightning. Sparks flew between them. Fernandez, lightly shrugging off the strain on his wrist and arm, swung the greatsword in a wide counterclockwise arc.
The essence of greatsword technique lies not in strength but in rotational force. How smoothly one deflects the enemy’s attacks within that rotational radius is the core of greatsword mastery.
And the greatsword is, after all, a weapon of war designed to break spears!
-Screech!
The sword, tracing a massive semicircle, entangled with the spear shaft, sending sparks flying. Daryan’s eyes gleamed with joy. Fernandez, as if ignoring the spear entirely, looked into his eyes and swung the sword.
Like a salmon leaping up a waterfall, the spearhead twisted and surged with immense force. The spear shaft rebounded elastically, the spearhead aiming like an awl for his heart.
The sun stabbed through.
Once again!
-Whack! Clang!
Again, one more time!
-Clang! Clang! Clang!
At least for this moment, the time between them became a dotted line. Between sword clashes and sword clashes, the gaps between actions. It was as if the actions and postures that distinguished them were omitted, a lightning-fast movement.
A sword appeared as if flickering for a moment, and a spear blade wedged through to block it. A moment of silence, and then the same thing happened again from a different direction.
It was a moment when the sense of time lost meaning. Fernandez’s heightened spirit pushed aside reason and replaced it with instinct. The instinct of a warrior, or a knight!
The instinct of warriors who rely on a single sword to navigate the crossroads of life and death!
-Whack-thud!
‘Dain, Dain!’
Whenever reason returned, he found himself performing movements he didn’t know, blocking attacks, and shifting his offense. The legacy of King Dain, mixed into his soul, pulsed within his swordsmanship.
During the battle with King Dain, he had taken on the king’s corruption to share the burden. To restore reason to the dead king. And now, the spirit and sanctity, the soul and essence that had mixed then were fully becoming one within his body.
‘Was this how you felt!’
-Thud, thud, thud, thud!
His heart pounded. Like crazy! Cold steel flashed before his eyes, and his survival instinct reached its peak, burning fiercely. The fatigue in his muscles, the pulsation of his heated blood vessels. And this,
The desire to win!
It was exhilarating. So exhilarating. Magic battles were like logical puzzles based on reason, rationality, knowledge, and sense. But swordsmanship, the clash of swordsmanship that reaches its limits and looks beyond, is purely instinct!
-Wham!
“Whew!”
“Ha, hahaha!”
The two heroes laughed. Their sweat and blood scattered in the intense movements. They stepped back, creating distance, and took deep breaths.
Daryan lowered his spear slightly and smiled deeply.
“Truly, impressive.”
“Not yet.”
“What?”
“Isn’t there still something you haven’t shown?”
“Same goes for you. But let’s stop here. No need to take each other’s lives, right?”
“No, I insist.”
-Fernandez!
At Fernandez’s words, Faijashi shouted in surprise. What was he saying? To reveal his full strength to a warrior of the empire who might become a future rival?
-Regain your senses! Foolish man!
‘Reason?’
-Yes, this is foolish. Why bother with him? Didn’t you just want to test him? This is enough! If you fought like a warrior to gain his favor, that’s also enough!
‘Faijashi. Why did we learn magic?’
-What?
Fernandez slowly raised his sword. Seeing this, Daryan laughed heartily and raised his spear, taking a stance.
“Good. Young hero! Let’s see you take this. And don’t you dare die!”
“You too.”
“After this, let’s have a drink!”
-Whoosh.
Mana flowed through his body, mixing with his fighting spirit and bursting forth. The body of a warrior who has reached the pinnacle flows with mana. Daryan’s spear shaft ignited with mana, beginning to emit light like the sun.
Daryan Schryke of the Sun Spear. His ultimate technique was fully charged under his hand. Few have survived this technique. But at this moment, Daryan was certain Fernandez would not die from it.
Then he should live up to that expectation. Fernandez’s dark sword cut through the evening sunset, standing tall. Unlike Daryan’s dazzling attack, his sword showed no movement.
An eerily perfect stillness. Not just his gaze, but time itself seemed frozen in perfect stillness, fully prepared under Fernandez’s hand.
‘The reason we learned magic, to survive? Because we had talent? Because we were lucky? No, no. The reason we studied magic until death, constantly learning. The reason we were so greedy for magic wasn’t that.’
-…
‘It was the desire to see the essence of magic. Faijashi. I’ll do as I say now.’
I want to see the essence. Fernandez’s heart trembled with excitement. It seemed possible with that man. Beyond Diemonica’s muscles, the divine blood of the saint, transcending those physical aspects!
-Do as you wish. You’ve always been like that.
‘Sorry.’
Fernandez’s closed eyes opened. Amidst the sweat-soaked black curls, his blue eyes burned fiercely.
That was the signal. The tip of the still sword trembled slightly.
-Crackle!
His sword split the sky. The atmosphere tore and crumbled violently. When its trajectory reached some kind of peak, space began to split.
-Whack-thud!
The dark greatsword drew a long arc above Daryan’s head. Fernandez’s wrist holding the sword was being destroyed moment by moment. But, but without stopping!
-Sssss!
The sun swallowed the gap. Brilliantly, blindingly white. Into the darkness carved by the dark greatsword, like a sunrise. Like a meteor!
-Wham!
The two colors mixed, and a shockwave erupted.
*
“Is that man an apostle of God?”
“…Huh?”
Ignoring Batras’ admiration, Partak looked at Fernandez with a terrified expression. The lord was clearly… not a mage…?
*
“Your Excellency…”
Kirhas always had Fernandez at the center of her vision. Her world, its core, beat with Fernandez as its heart.
In Altberth, she had sworn not to follow behind Fernandez but to walk beside him. But watching Fernandez’s swordsmanship, Kirhas simply stood quietly and sighed.
Too far. Too far. Kirhas bit her lip as she looked at the blue path between herself and Fernandez.
Could she reach it? That distance. That height.
“No.”
She had to reach it. Kirhas silently placed her hand on the sword hilt and clenched it tightly.
*
“Impressive, Fernandez.”
And on the hill, Abel smiled with trembling lips.