Chapter 27
A large explosion erupted with a flash. The blast was so powerful that it caused the clothes of the examiners and Erzsebet to flutter in the aftershock.
Boom!
The arena was filled with dust like a thick fog.
As a result, it was impossible to see with the naked eye what was happening.
Something was moving violently inside.
Although they couldn't visually confirm what was happening inside, Gael and all the examiners could feel it.
That a monstrous mass of mana was rampaging inside.
The examiners seemed tense as they all adjusted their postures.
A light flashed inside the dust cloud, and a wave of light rushed toward the third line at a terrifying speed.
Bang!
It immediately exploded, raising a massive cloud of dust.
Another wave burst through the dust and struck the fifth line ground in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The arena instantly became chaotic, with dust covering everything from the first to the fifth line.
Despite the blocked view, Gael and all the examiners couldn't take their eyes off that place.
The sound of wooden swords swinging could be heard several times from inside. The Planteras, at their peak aggressiveness, would try to kill Damian by any means.
Suddenly, light flashed a few times, and something flew towards the examiners in a long arc over the dust cloud.
A tense Gael momentarily placed her hand on the sword at her waist.
The round object fell to the ground, bounced a few times, and finally rolled slowly to stop in front of Erzsebet's feet.
It was the severed head of a Plantera.
The cut surface was as smooth as if a boiled egg had been sliced.
No one knew where this power had suddenly come from.
But in the battle taking place inside, Damian was overwhelmingly dominant.
Had he not been using his full strength until now?
Gael let out a small sigh.
"Hmph, cutting off the head won't be enough."
Planteras weren’t human. They didn't die from having their heads cut off.
Therefore, cutting off the head, which seemed like a weak point but was poorly defended, was useless.
No sooner had Gael finished speaking another explosion occurred with a roar.
Thud, thud, thud.
Soon after, the upper body of a Plantera rolled out of the dust cloud, skipping across the ground like a stone on water.
This time, the cut surface was grotesquely twisted as if a dragon had appeared and slashed it with its claws.
"..."
Erzsebet laughed softly.
"Hehe, excellent showmanship."
***
Flynn frowned when he first saw Damian's swordsmanship skills.
He could tell just from the initial swing. He wasn't using his waist and shoulders properly, so no power was being put into it.
This is ridiculous.
He couldn't understand how someone who had never properly held a sword was taking the “Trial by Sword”.
As expected, Damian was hit by a Plantera and knocked back to the starting point in one blow.
Seeing this, Flynn shook his head.
He got up again and rushed at the Planteras.
Contrary to the expectation that the evaluation would end absurdly, his unique movements in the next attempt piqued Flynn's interest.
It seemed like he would be knocked down again after taking one hit, but he was finding ways to exploit the Planteras one by one while maneuvering through them.
What's this?
Damian advanced to the middle before being knocked back to the starting point again.
And he got up again and rushed at the Planteras.
Flynn was momentarily speechless as he watched the third attempt.
After two trials and errors, he had found a strategy and was even managing to take down the Planteras one by one.
His movements were meticulous and calculated, yet extremely aggressive. They seemed closer to the movements of a beast or magic creature with highly developed instincts rather than a human.
And he was penetrating deeper than before.
Was I at this level when I was sixteen?
No, he wasn't. Even with his current skills, such movements were impossible.
Realizing that it was impossible to cut them down in a conventional way, he resorted to any means necessary to tear off the Planteras' ankles.
It seemed impossible to break through all of them within 10 minutes, but given enough time, it felt like he could eventually reach Flynn.
It was like a mad hunting dog charging through a thorny path to catch him.
Even if it was bleeding from thorns and being beaten with clubs, this dog seemed like it would keep charging until its last breath to tear at his neck.
The hair on his arms stood on end.
And when he finally deflected the sword thrown by Damian, who had reached his limit, Flynn felt relieved.
Although Flynn was clearly superior in strength, the fact that he felt relief hurt his pride.
It seemed like if given enough time, that guy would find a way to cut down the flag somehow.
Damian, who had thrown his sword, closed his eyes as if giving up everything.
And when he realized that it wasn't over after throwing the sword, that there was a 4th attempt left.
Flynn began to feel afraid.
Strange waves of light. Massive explosions and dust thick as fog.
Whenever light flashed a few times inside, a Plantera, twisted like a rag, would burst out of the dust cloud with an explosive sound.
What... what on earth is happening?
Flynn couldn't see it, but he could feel it with his body.
At first, it was just a slight tingling in his arms and legs, then it gradually became hard to breathe, and after that, the magical pressure pressed down on him as if a weight had been placed on his heart.
It was approaching.
Had a demon suddenly sprung out from underground?
After the light flashed a few more times, the inside of the dust cloud fell silent.
Flynn could sense it.
There were no more Planteras left.
The remaining time was 1 minute.
Soon, breaking through the silence, footsteps approached steadily as a dark silhouette emerged.
His eyes gleamed like those of a beast, and he held a long sword of light.
Now it's my turn.
Flynn pushed his sword aura to the maximum into the dwarf treasure sword he held. His arms were trembling without him realizing it.
Despite time running out, Damian was walking slowly.
It was as if he was saying it wouldn't even take a minute to deal with Flynn.
He shouted loudly, trying to hide his fear, "Just come at me, damn it!"
The silhouette moved, and the sword of light slashed diagonally upward through the air.
Then light flashed along its trajectory, and a dazzling sword wave rushed forth.
Swish, swish, swish
The sword wave immediately grazed Flynn's left arm, missing by a hand's width. The sword wave that flew past hit the shallow earthen wall of the arena and exploded.
It sent chills down his spine.
Did it miss?
Soon after, light flashed, and another sword wave rushed towards Flynn.
It was too fast to even react to.
And that sword wave narrowly missed Flynn's right side.
Only then did Flynn realize why the sword waves had missed him.
Because he was standing in front of the flag, blocking it.
If I don't move, I'll die.
These two sword waves were a warning to Flynn.
No, perhaps it was closer to mockery.
Flynn felt his blood boil.
If he stepped aside here because he didn't want to die, it would remain the greatest humiliation since he first held a sword.
Damian's sword flickered a few times. Then, the light dimmed slightly.
Along with this, the magical pressure pressing down on Flynn also weakened considerably.
He seemed to be clearly tiring from recklessly using sword waves.
Whatever it is, his strength is running out.
Given this situation, he had no intention of stepping aside.
Sensing that he wouldn't move, Damian started sprinting towards Flynn.
The remaining time was 30 seconds.
Flynn gritted his teeth.
"Come on, come on, come on!"
Flynn amplified his sword aura to the maximum and let out a battle cry.
He didn't care if he ended up bedridden for days from exhausting all his energy. He had to settle this with all his might.
Damian's figure appeared through the dust cloud. He leaped with his sword of light.
And Damian immediately brought his sword down on Flynn's forehead.
Flynn also swung upward with all his might, parrying with the dwarf treasure sword.
Whoosh!
The air at the point where the swords met was instantly compressed and then burst, exploding in every direction.
Damian landed on the ground while their swords were locked in opposition.
And Flynn, who had been pressed down by Damian's weight, slowly raised his body.
Both Flynn and Damian pushed against each other's swords without taking a step back.
Damian's sword, which had become semi-transparent, cut through Flynn's sword aura and pushed in deeply.
Screech, screech.
This can't be happening.
Soon after, the sword of light tore into Flynn's sword blade.
Flynn could hardly believe what he was seeing.
The dwarf sword that could cut even steel was being pushed back.
And then something unexpected happened to both of them.
The rune letters engraved on the treasure sword began to overheat, turning red-hot.
Soon after, all the sword aura was sucked into the rune letters, and the sword began to vibrate violently on its own.
Due to the sword blade being torn, a problem had occurred with the enchantment residing within it.
Rumble, rumble, rumble
The destabilized dwarf treasure sword finally caused a blue magical explosion.
Bang!
The two were caught in the explosion and were flung far away.
Flynn, thrown like this, rolled before stopping in front of the flag.
And Damian flew into the dust cloud.
Flynn got up, hurriedly picked up his treasure sword again, and took a defensive stance.
There was no time to check the condition of the sword.
He glared fiercely at the dust cloud where Damian had flown, not letting his guard down.
The remaining time was 20 seconds.
Damian was nowhere to be seen.
But his trace could be found.
At the edge of the dust cloud, the sword of light lay strewn on the ground.
The sword flickered with a faint light. It had almost lost all its power.
Flynn swallowed hard.
The sword flickered like that a few times, and after a few seconds, it finally disappeared.
The dust cloud was still silent.
Is it, is it finally over?
Flynn's heart was still pounding.
He briefly turned around.
The flag was half-fallen due to the impact of the battle, but it was safe.
The examiners, judging that it was over, were all walking into the arena.
Remaining time: 10 seconds.
But the evaluation was over.
If Damian had fired the sword wave directly at Flynn, he would have won.
If Flynn had taken that head-on, he would have ended up like the shattered Planteras.
But he didn't do that.
In any case, Flynn had succeeded in stopping Damian.
Flynn, his tension finally released, lowered his sword and half-sat down.
He muttered to himself while catching his breath, "It's over."
And at the moment when no one expected anything to happen.
Something flew out of the dust cloud, cutting through the air.
And it immediately grazed past Flynn's ear.
It was too sudden for him to react.
By the time Flynn fixed his gaze on the flying object, it had already rushed towards the flag and shattered the flagpole with a cracking sound.
What had flown from the dust cloud was a Plantera's wooden sword.
Damian had been waiting for an opportunity until the very end.
"This... what..."
Flynn, shocked by this, couldn't finish his sentence.
Flynn froze, unable to even blink, his gaze fixed on the broken flagpole.
The world was silent as if time had stopped.
As time passed, the dust gradually began to settle.
And from the chaotic arena, the shattered Planteras gradually came into view.
Damian lay unconscious at the center, face down.