Chapter 507

The exchange came and went in the blink of an eye, extraordinarily fast.

The handaxe that had torn through the air was now idly spinning in the void, before long. By then, I had already risen and placed my hand on the hilt of my sword.

Still, the emperor uttered not a word. He merely stared at me vacantly the entire time.

In truth, the one I was targeting wasn’t the emperor at all. Wasn’t the lingering silver trajectory in my sight proof enough?

At the very end of that trail.

A man in black stood there.

An opponent whose presence alone evoked a sense of déjà vu. His cold eyes and nimble hand movements told the story of life, yet from his body, not even a breath or a heartbeat could be felt.

Whether he was alive or dead,

That too, was impossible to tell. A unique atmosphere possessed only by warriors who underwent long and rigorous training to specialize in stealth and guarding duties.

There was no point in engaging with him.

The man before me was clearly quite skilled.

The true elite of the Empire’s Intelligence Department.

The ‘Shadow,’ boasted by one of the five great noble families of the Empire, the Fendleston family, had revealed themselves.

Thinking back, it was only natural. I was meeting the emperor for the first time, and honestly, I wasn’t someone who could be trusted unconditionally. There was no way to completely rule out the possibility that I might harbor treachery.

Of course, they would assign their best guards, wouldn’t they?

Even if I were to attack the emperor, there would be experts capable of guaranteeing his safety for several minutes, at the very least.

Then what about after a few minutes?

That assumption was meaningless.

Because the sword technique would return.

The fact that the emperor didn’t show any disturbance in his features so quickly must have been related to the same. Also, the fact that I hadn’t yet revealed any murderous intent must have played a role.

Rather, the emperor merely sighed as if he were worried about me.

“Sir Ian, what is the meaning of this?”

“Should I demonstrate it here?”

A curt retort.

Nevertheless, his tone was solid, without even a hint of wavering, so the emperor’s gaze deepened.

As if trying to gauge my sincerity.

I calmly asked in return,

“If I am qualified to present a petition to the royal family?”

“That would be an overly burdensome mission for you.”

“Then, let’s test it out.”

Right after that, a clear sound of friction arose, and the snow-white blade was revealed before my eyes.

It was a blatant provocation.

Yet, the man in black showed no reaction at all. As if his emotions had been severed, he merely glanced at the emperor and waited for his orders.

The emperor didn’t deliberate for long.

A small sigh escaped him, and the old man turned his back.

“…..Do as you wish.”

An implicit approval.

Then, further conversation was unnecessary.

The two swordsmen lowered their stances amidst the stillness.

And, the rupture.

The atmosphere belatedly screamed. Torn air scattered wildly as an explosion erupted.

The man’s figure, which had silently pushed off the ground, was akin to a black lightning bolt.

In the blink of an eye, the man appeared with a dagger in each hand. The appearance of the blades, curved in a peculiar fashion, was far from ordinary.

One reason why it was difficult to face the Empire’s Intelligence Department was this.

Since childhood, the spies of the Empire undergo special training. In that process, many of them choose these peculiar weapons as their lifelong main arms.

The purpose of those daggers was impossible to guess.

However, I had no leisure to ponder needlessly.

A breath of air disturbed the tranquil space with a hush.

The scenery around me began to lose color, as if my sight was being drained. The world, like a machine poorly oiled, began to lose its momentum.

The moment the dagger was about to strike, the man’s movement came to a complete halt.

Even this brief pause felt like a mere flash.

A streak of silver light trailed behind, and a surge of crimson blood followed.

“…..Hmm?”

In the flow of time returning to normal, the man in black wore an expression of incomprehension.

My sword had already pierced through the front of his chest.

An attack so swift that describing it as a ‘lightning strike’ would fall short.

However, the one struck was not solely the man in black.

“Ugh…!”

Even though I gritted my teeth, it was impossible to fully suppress the groan rising from the back of my throat.

Silver aura was rampant within the meridians of my body, signifying that I still couldn’t fully control this power.

A technique that stopped time.

This wasn’t the kind of imagery one could master merely by glimpsing the ‘boundary’ a few times. In fact, it even required a few seconds of gap to enter the frozen flow of time.

Had I not prepared myself beforehand, it would’ve been impossible to respond to the man in black.

But it was a skill worth using.

Spitting blood trickled down the man’s lips. Taking a couple of staggering steps back, he released his grip on the daggers, letting the twin knives clatter to the ground.

A single exchange.

That was the number of attacks shared with the elite agent of the Empire’s Intelligence Department before he knelt down.

This match should have concluded here.

Yet, an unexpected pain grazed my skin. Now, it was my turn to look dumbfounded.

I shifted my gaze towards the source of the pain.

There lay the dagger that had fallen earlier. However, the curved blade had already straightened and was now tearing through my skin, much like an uncoiling snake.

What… kind of weapon is this…?

Before I could even finish this thought, the man who had knelt down rushed forward like a ricocheting bullet.

His posture was completely unbalanced, almost defenseless. To the point that, if I swung my sword again, he wouldn’t be able to survive.

Yet his charge didn’t halt.

As if a part of his brain in charge of survival instincts had been severed. After all, there was no chance they would assign a guard who would fall to just a single strike, knowing well my capabilities.

Hence, I needed to prove it even further.

With a heavy noise, the man’s upper body leaned forward sharply.

His eyes silently turned towards his back. There, the handaxe I had initially thrown was floating in the air once again.

The principle of equilibrium.

The emperor’s gaze, who had witnessed this vision technique of the Sword Circle, reflected a faint glimmer.

However, my opponent wasn’t just one.

A subtle flicker of movement teased my senses. The total count was two, yet their precise locations were uncertain.

The best course of action was to use this narrow time wisely.

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing once again.

And, it’s coming.

Suddenly, an arm stretched out of the void. The imagery was still not fully manifested, and it seemed unlikely that the time would completely stop before the arm reached me.

Still, his movements were noticeably slower.

This was the true terror of my imagery. Even without time stopping, just the slowing of the flow gave me countless advantages.

For example, sinking deeper into the subconscious.

My hand caught the arm reaching toward me. The opponent, unable to react properly, was gradually pulled towards me.

Soon, another figure appeared within the void.

A faint metallic sound could be felt. It seemed like another enemy was wielding a blade.

Irrelevant.

Just focusing on the deeper rhythm of my breathing.

I recalled a scenery I had once seen.

At the peak of Siendel Mountain, what did I witness?

The saint was like Mount Tai. His techniques which I couldn’t even fathom challenging had shattered me countless times.

In that process, there was a teaching engraved deep into my subconscious.

The saint’s every movement while floating within frozen time hovered heavily in the oppressive silence.

Right before the flying blade and the arm intersected with me.

My body dove into the man stretching his arm out. The indifferent gaze of the man above, aiming his blade at me, swept down.

The eyes of a beast locking its target.

A futile effort.

In an instant, the world tilted.

I hurled a body towards the sky within the upside-down world.

The holy kingdom’s esoteric martial art, ‘Moon Reversal.’

A technique the saint had demonstrated to me personally.

The essence of ‘Moon Reversal’ wasn’t in the throwing.

It was about reversing gravity, slamming indiscriminate mass into the opponent’s body.

The weight of stars.

My mastery was yet insufficient, but I managed to collide the two men in the air.

An eerie creak echoed, chilling the bones.

The sound of bones cracking as the two bodies collided. Though they wouldn’t die, they wouldn’t be able to maintain their stance for a while.

As the two bodies groaned and fell, another shadow blocked my path.

He had an exceedingly calm expression on his face.

“… Enough.”

A weighty command.

I tried to ignore it and swing my sword, but my body wavered unexpectedly and didn’t respond.

My steps eventually ceased.

Silently crossing his arms, the man sighed. In his gaze observing me leaning on the sword, there was an expression of annoyance.

I realized instinctively.

This person was the commander of the guards.