Chapter 651

Raon smiled peacefully as he watched Sylvia face off against the vice head of the elders.

‘She is in a good condition, at least.’

Even though she’d gone all out, she hadn’t spent that much aura and stamina because she’d easily defeated Krisen. On the other hand, the vice head of the elders was extremely agitated because he was laughed at in front of countless spectators. It was the best situation for Sylvia to face the vice head of the elders.

“It was surprising that Sylvia defeated Krisen easily, but this match is just too obvious.”

“Indeed. It’s a fight between a Master and a Grandmaster.”

“To be honest, she probably won’t even make him waste his aura and stamina.”

“You never know. It’s fully possible—look at how she overwhelmed Krisen!”

“It’s not possible, you dipshit. Stop with your nonsense.”

“It’s just wishful thinking because you bet on her team.”

While most of the spectators were still unsure about the sword duel’s results, they already considered the match between Sylvia and the vice head of the elders over.

Hey.

Wrath glared at the spectators, then he shifted his gaze at Raon.

Do you think Mom will be able to win?

‘My answer hasn’t changed.’

Raon calmly shook his head.

‘She will lose 999 times out of 1000. Unless that one occurrence happens today, she will definitely lose.’

Raon had taught the vice head’s sword technique to Sylvia, and he also taught her the martial art that could defeat it.

However, her opponent was a Grandmaster, a much higher realm than hers. Even though her energy center was made of a dragon heart and she completely understood his martial art, it was practically impossible for her to win.

In the King of Essence’s opinion, she would lose a thousand times out of a thousand matches.

Wrath briefly clicked his tongue while watching Sylvia’s back.

But you said how she loses is also important.

‘Yes.’

Then he will quietly watch the match, how Mom is going to lose, and what you were hoping to achieve.

He declared and landed on Raon’s shoulder.

‘Sure, but she isn’t your mom.’

Raon chuckled and took a step towards the arena.

“Mom.” 

He called her mom just like in the morning and waved his hand at her.

“Raon?”

Sylvia looked back. Her eyes were frozen stiff. She seemed extremely nervous because she was facing such a powerful opponent.

“Think about the training you’ve done so far.”

Raon gave her the best advice in the situation in order to help her relax.

“Yes, that’s true.” Sylvia bit her lip tightly and nodded her head. “I can’t experience that hellish time again.”

Sylvia’s gaze did not soften—it filled with madness instead.

“Err…”

Raon shook his head with a sour expression on his face.

‘That’s not what I meant, though.’

He wanted to help Sylvia relax, but that wasn’t the result he wanted.

“I’ll be back.”

Sylvia nodded at him to express her gratitude and headed towards the center of the arena.

‘Her gaze… she doesn’t crave victory, nor does she look worried about defeat.’

She should know better than anyone that she was most likely going to lose. However, she wasn’t even thinking about defeat. She was fully determined to show them.

“Are you ready?”

The master of ceremonies walked up to Sylvia and the vice head of the elders, catching his breath as if he were the most nervous one among them.

“Yes, I am,” Sylvia peacefully replied as she gripped the hilt of her sword.

“I’m ready.”

The vice head of the elders nodded. His red face suggested that he’d been continuously thinking about the humiliation Sylvia had given to him a moment ago. He was even grinding his teeth, urging him to start the match already.

Once the master of ceremonies heard that they were both ready, he looked up to the highest platform. Glenn closed his eyes, signaling to start the match.

“Then…”

The master of ceremonies went in between Sylvia and the vice head of the elders, then lifted his hand.

“Second match, begin!”

As soon as he lowered his hand and withdrew, the vice head of the elders took action. He charged at her fiercely, trying to defeat her as quickly as possible.

Cring!

His sword draw rushed toward Sylvia’s collarbone at an extreme speed… and Sylvia calmly turned her left ankle, as if she were expecting his movement.

She turned her body like the sloshing water of a lake, perfectly dodging the vice head’s blade.

“Tsk.”

The vice head of the elders clicked his tongue in displeasure, then rapidly altered the trajectory of his sword, which was advancing in a straight line. His blade sparkled in white and fell onto Sylvia’s head.

Thud!

Sylvia executed her footwork with only her right foot. Her body flowed to the right as if she were gliding on ice.

Whaam!

The vice head’s surprise attack came to a halt after destroying the floor instead of Sylvia.

“Haa…” Sylvia raised her sword to mid-height, letting out a slightly rough breath.

“Your movements aren’t too bad, at least.”

The vice head of the elders furrowed his brow and pulled on his sword, which was embedded in the training ground.

He dashed towards Sylvia with a frightening look in his eyes. He was executing swift and profound footwork at the same time. He was so fast that his afterimage could be seen even from a spectator’s perspective.

“Haap!”

Sylvia inhaled and withdrew to the left. She deflected the vice head’s sword strike, which felt like it was coming at the speed of light, and moved counterclockwise.

Taking advantage of the wideness of the training ground, she created a path to dodge her opponent’s onslaught.

“Kuh!”

The vice head of the elders bared his white teeth, irritated by Sylvia, who was focused on dodging.

“How slippery!”

With a clear radiance, three swords of light emerged from his blade. It was a manifestation of the Sword of Ten Forms. Three swords dazzled brilliantly, pressuring Sylvia from left and right.

Sylvia took a step back, looking at the vice head’s sword, which had multiplied into three. She gained a half-breath worth of time and incorporated her lowered sword with the flow of the river.

Swoosh!

The blade soared like a tidal wave, tilting the sword of light and cutting through the vice head’s shoulder. The wound wasn’t that deep because he was covered in a barrier of aura, but red blood flowed from his shoulder.

“Haa…”

Sylvia didn’t rejoice at all even though she managed to injure the vice head, lowering her posture to prepare for the next move instead.

“Huh…”

The vice head of the elders widened his eyes in disbelief, looking at his bloody shoulder. His eyes started to turn a bloody red.

It’s starting now.

‘No.’

Raon bit his lip, looking at the blood dripping from the tip of Sylvia’s blade.

‘It hasn’t even begun.’

* * *

The vice head of the elders, Killuane, furrowed his brow while executing the Sword of Ten Flows.

‘What’s going on?’

His plan was to defeat Sylvia as quickly as possible, and then proceed to the match against Raon. However, the damnable woman in front of him was ridiculously good at dodging.

His sword strike should’ve been impossible for even a highest-level Master to avoid, but she had deflected all his attacks as if she were reading his mind.

‘Is she hiding her strength? No, that’s definitely not the case.’

Sylvia’s face was pale, and her forehead was drenched in cold sweat. There was no trace of composure in her face.

The vice head of the elders twisted his lips, looking at the wound on his shoulder that was already closed.

‘Yes, I was just careless.’

He admitted that he’d been underestimating Sylvia so that he could focus on Raon. He believed he could win within ten moves if he started to fight properly.

‘But I still shouldn’t use the astral sphere.’

The astral sphere and the later techniques of the Sword of Ten Flows were extremely powerful but had a high aura consumption. Since the match against Raon Zieghart was going to follow, he had to save his strength as much as possible.

‘I’ll finish you off with a different technique.’

The Sword of Ten Flows had thirty-six techniques in total. He’d only been using the first twelve techniques so far, but he decided to start using the twelve middle techniques to quickly finish her off.

Cring!

Killuane’s eyes steadied themselves, and his sword multiplied into five swords of light that attacked his opponent.

Cring!

The blade of light leaped like a tiger, attacking Sylvia’s arms and legs at the same time. It was the Silvery Blade Dance, the Sword of Ten Forms’ technique that became faster if the opponent withdrew from it.

Judging from how Sylvia had been moving so far, she was definitely going to step back. That was why he believed it would be the worst technique for her to face.

Thud!

However, instead of stepping back, Sylvia charged at him while biting her lip.

‘Err…’

Killuane’s eyes widened as he observed Sylvia’s approach.

‘What the hell?!’

She was charging at the swords instead of stepping back in panic. He wasn’t expecting that movement.

Sylvia nullified the Silvery Blade Dance with a single move before she unleashed a blue light.

Whaam!

The dazzling aura dwelling at the tip of her blade rushed towards Killuane’s waist.

‘Oh no!’

Killuane violently ground his teeth. It was too late to block because he wasn’t thinking about defense at all. He controlled his astral energy to create a wall of aura next to his waist.

Slash!

Sylvia’s sword cut through the wall of his aura and bit into his waist. The wound opened up and red blood splattered around. The bleeding quickly stopped, but the pain was irritating.

“Huff!”

Sylvia’s shoulders were shaking as if she were breathing with her entire body. Her entire face was drenched in cold sweat. He was even more irritated upon seeing her state.

“How dare you!”

Killuane bit his lip to the point of bleeding and executed his footwork. His body advanced like a ray of light, and he materialized in front of Sylvia.

Whaaam!

His five swords of light sparkled furiously, giving no time for his opponent to dodge. It was the fastest technique of the Sword of Ten Forms, the Phantom Weave.

Sylvia didn’t charge or withdraw. She stepped forward with her left foot and pulled her waist back.

The five blades of the Phantom Weave failed to cut Sylvia’s nose with a paper-thin difference. Her blonde hair, cut by the wind caused by the blades, fluttered beautifully.

“Fine! Let’s see how long you can keep dodging!”

Killuane unleashed the fifteenth technique of the Sword of Ten Forms, Lotus Wind Slash. Six blades gathered like a pinwheel and rushed towards Sylvia.

Zing!

The blades rotated together, but they separated from each other right before reaching Sylvia’s body to attack her arms, legs, and neck.

Claang!

Once again, Sylvia wasn’t surprised. She swung her sword in a circular shape, her lips tightly closed. Her undulating wave of aura shot down all of the blades of the Lotus Wind Slash.

“Huh…”

Killuane swallowed nervously as he watched his Lotus Wind Slash dissipate.

‘It’s just a coincidence. How could a coward like her manage to destroy the Sword of Ten Forms? This can’t be happening!’

He ground his teeth violently and unleashed the Ironclad Cleave, the strongest technique among the twelve middle techniques. The trajectories of his swords of light filled the entire space and rushed towards both of Sylvia’s shoulders.

Cring!

Sylvia slightly twisted her sword and lifted it like a soaring hawk. Just like a lightning rod transferring the lightning into the ground, Killuane’s strike rode along her blade, smacking the land.

Whaaam!

Since the power wasn’t reduced at all, the center of the training ground was devastated by the Ironclad Cleave.

“Ugh…”

Sylvia groaned while touching her chest, implying that she was internally injured from the exchange. However, the serious look in her eyes as she gripped her sword revealed her determination to continue the battle.

‘It was a paper-thin difference.’

Killuane clenched his fist, looking at Sylvia’s straight and serious eyes.

‘It’s been a paper-thin difference since earlier.’

It could be called a coincidence if it had only happened a few times, but since she could even dodge the twelve middle techniques with a paper-thin difference, it was definitely not a coincidence.

‘She knows my swordsmanship, the Sword of Ten Forms.’

It was the only way to explain the clashes so far.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Killuane looked at Raon, who was watching from behind Sylvia. His lips were curved into a relaxed smile.

‘When he requested a book of martial art from the head of house, did it ask for the Sword of Ten Forms?’

He could finally understand that what he wanted was none other than the Sword of Ten Forms, Killuane’s sword technique.

‘He’s insane. He’s completely out of his mind!’

The Sword of Ten Forms definitely wasn’t a bad martial art, but it wasn’t advanced enough to reach Transcendence. He couldn’t believe that Raon had planned all that by getting the Sword of Ten Forms when he could’ve gotten a much better martial art that was better suited to him.

Killuane bit his lip, meeting Raon’s eyes that seemed to be asking him, ‘Did you finally realize it?’

‘It was a trap from the beginning.’

Making him angry and forcing him to save his strength for the next battle were all planned by Raon Zieghart and Sylvia.

‘It was humiliating, but it’s still not too late.’

He caught his breath and calmed his agitated mind.

‘I’ll make sure to finish her off.’

He had the feeling that he would end up wasting more strength if he tried to save it. He decided that it was necessary to drag Sylvia down from the arena as fast as possible, even if he had to use the last twelve techniques or even the astral sphere.

“That was a smart move, but…” Killuane’s frightening eyes reflected Sylvia’s form. “Your chance is over.”

Astral energy spiraled into his blade, concentrating before erupting in an explosion of light.

* * *

‘Astral sphere…’

Sylvia bit her lip, looking at the huge astral sphere blazing from the vice head’s sword.

‘Is he finally getting serious?’

The vice head of the elders had been saving his strength in preparation for the next battle against Raon. However, she could guess that he’d decided to finish the match quickly, noticing that she had a deep understanding of the Sword of Ten Forms.

Rumble.

The sword of light that used to be made of astral energy had become a blazing astral sphere instead. Her heart tightened, and she found herself unable to breathe just from looking at it.

To be honest, her body already felt heavy—like a cotton drenched in water—just from fighting up to that point. She even had an internal injury, making her feel an intense pain in her abdomen and chest.

However, she couldn’t collapse yet. She hadn’t been able to see the end of the fight with her own eyes.

Slash!

The vice head of the elders dashed at her with no warning at all. His blade rushed at her at least twice as fast as before.

‘The Whirling Phantom Strike!’

The Whirling Phantom Strike from the Sword of Ten Forms was a technique that consisted of targeting the waist and the lower body at the same time. It was an extremely fast attack that also incorporated the principles of illusion and variation, making the opponent unable to figure out the precise location of the attack.

Sylvia’s hand trembled as she held her sword while she watched the vice head’s blade rush toward her fiercely.

‘Focus.’

The outcome of the battle could be decided with a single mistake. It was necessary to focus until the very end to figure out where he was targeting.

Cring!

Once the vice head’s blade was right under her nose, it fell sharply, like a thundercloud. His eyes were directed at her right waist.

Thud!

Sylvia stomped the ground with her left foot. She pulled her right upper body backward, using her left ankle as the axis.

Cring!

The vice head’s strike brushed past her waist. The intense pain she felt was similar to her flesh being torn off, but she just ignored it. She brought her right foot forward to advance and stabbed her sword towards the vice head’s thigh.

Swoosh!

The vice head must’ve been focused on the astral sphere—his aura barrier was weaker than before. Her blade could reach a bit further than the wounds on his shoulder or waist.

However, her wound was a lot more severe. Her internal injury was further intensified as well, making her feel a burning pain all over her body.

There was no time to recover. The vice head ignored his wound and charged at her, showing his intention to finish the match with that move. His astral sphere blade multiplied into eight. That implied that he was using the last twelve techniques.

Whaaap!

The shining white astral sphere descended in an elegant trajectory, like a dancer’s finger. She could guess that her body would be shattered if she took the blow.

She executed the Wandering Flow Footwork that she’d learned from Raon. She dodged the five astral spheres by twisting her body and deflected the astral spheres rushing toward her head and chest by concentrating her astral energy.

Whaaam!

Even though she was only deflecting the astral sphere without confronting them head-on, she felt nauseated as her wrist snapped. The internal injury she was suppressing had worsened.

‘Not yet…’

Sylvia didn’t step back even though the pain was filling her brain.

‘I’m not done yet.’

She pushed through the wave of astral sphere—filled with bloodlust and malice—to proceed with a counterattack. Her blade pierced through the gap in a split second and cut through the vice head’s forearm.

“Cough…”

Sylvia landed the attack, yet it was she who coughed up blood. The black lifeless blood was covering her mouth.

“Go ahead, continue with your desperate struggle!”

The vice head’s sword sparkled, turning into a dazzling light. Eight blades incorporating his will surrounded Sylvia from all directions.

Sylvia bit her tongue. Despite the extreme situation, she didn’t lose her calm and separated the astral spheres that could be dodged and those that had to be deflected.

Thud!

She finished the difficult calculation in the blink of an eye and executed the Wandering Flow Footwork to unleash a sword barrier to the right and front.

Whaam!

However, she ended up getting a cut on her collarbone and thigh because she didn’t have enough time and lost in terms of power.

Since she was hit by an astral sphere, a handful of flesh was torn off from both parts even though she was protecting herself with an aura barrier. Even the aura couldn’t stop the blood from gushing out, soaking into her hair and clothes.

“Your desperate struggle is over.”

The vice head of the elders twisted his lips, believing that the match was already decided, and swung down his sword diagonally.

It was the Elegant Fan Sweep, a special technique of the Sword of Ten Forms. Alongside the descending blade, the astral sphere spread around in a fan shape, giving the impression that it was filling the entire arena.

“Huff…”

Sylvia gave up on stopping the bleeding. She even brought the aura she’d been using for hemostasis and incorporated it on her blade.

‘The Elegant Fan Sweep has an opening because it’s a wide-ranged attack.’

Time flowed slowly for her because of her extreme focus. The aura perception that she didn’t retrieve until the very last moment managed to find the Elegant Fan Sweep’s opening.

“Aaaaah!”

Along with a desperate shout of concentration, Sylvia struck the opening she’d perceived through her aura with her astral energy. Blue radiance cascaded down like a majestic waterfall.

Crack!

The Elegant Fan Sweep’s right wing was shattered like thin glass.

Wham!

Sylvia escaped through that gap and rushed towards the vice head of the elders from the right side to swing her sword. The blue light sparkling from the tip of her blade broke through his aura barrier and cut into his abdomen. A small hole was made and blood started to gush from his stomach.

“Kuaaah!”

The vice head of the elders screamed loudly and flailed his sword. Astral spheres were falling down like a bombardment.

“Huff…”

Sylvia leaped, but she was unable to completely escape from the bombarding astral spheres. Her waist and thigh were violently torn.

“You persistent bitch!” The vice head of the elders glared at Sylvia with a disgusted look.

“Haa…”

Sylvia smiled faintly while watching the vice head’s distorted expression. Even though her vision was blurry, she could clearly tell what kind of expression he was making.

‘I finally feel better.’

She’d wanted to force an expression like that on him ever since he bullied the maids in the annex building. She was delighted that it wasn’t Raon but herself who’d created that expression.

It would’ve been impossible without Raon’s teachings and her energy center made of a dragon heart. She felt extremely thankful to her son at that moment.

“Thank you for mistaking me as an easy opponent.”

Sylvia smiled, swallowing the blood that had risen in her throat due to the intensified internal injury. Her hair, which used to be tied back, was hanging loose instead, and her entire body was covered in blood as if she had been showered in red ink.

But the hand holding her sword was never lowered. She lifted it to the very end, even if it meant her hand would tear in the process.

“Shut up. I told you to shut up!”

The vice head of the elders charged at her while roaring. He almost looked like an angry bull. His composure was completely gone from his sword. He was solely focused on winning with everything he had.

Psssh!

Even though Sylvia managed to defend, blood splashed from her shoulder. The vice head’s blade had brushed past her deeply.

‘It’s different…’

Once the vice head of the elders started to go all out, the Sword of Ten Forms’ techniques became a lot faster and more complicated, making it difficult to figure them out.

Sylvia bit her lip while dodging the astral sphere falling towards her head with a hair’s breadth. It really was an extreme situation. She felt like a split-second mistake would lead to her death instead of a defeat.

Psh!

She got cut in the abdomen. It hurt so much that she wanted to just collapse, but she bit her lip and slashed the vice head’s waist.

Her flesh was cut from her thigh, making her almost faint from the intense bleeding. A chill ran down her spine, but she bit her tongue and slashed the vice head’s ankle.

She kept suffering losses, flesh being cut and bones broken.

The vice head of the elders was in a lot better shape in comparison with only superficial wounds, but she felt like her life was being reduced at every clash.

It was painful. It was an extremely intense pain.

However, she could still endure it. After all, physical pain couldn’t surpass mental pain.

The pain of being unable to protect her family… It was nothing compared to the pain of being unable to protect the maids, whom she cherished as her own children.

Sylvia smiled, covered in blood. An affectionate smile surfaced from her bloody appearance. It was beautiful and frightening at the same time.

“Y-you crazy bitch!”

The vice head of the elders stepped back, teeth chattering.

“Wh-what are you even doing?! Are you really not going to stop her after seeing what she’s doing?!” He shouted at Raon to stop Sylvia already.

However, Raon remained immobile, his arms crossed. He was staring at the training ground without the slightest change in his expression, showing how much he believed in Sylvia.

“Kuh! Alright! I’ll finish her off completely!”

The vice head of the elders broke out into a cold sweat and executed the Tempest of Demonic Blades, the special technique of the Sword of Ten Forms. Ten swords of light circled into the sky, creating a huge storm of blades.

The storming astral spheres spread across the arena, their fragments of light stretching outward in order to engulf Sylvia at once.

Sylvia bit her lip, facing the storm of light tightening its grip on her body.

‘The Tempest of Demonic Blades.’

The Tempest of Demonic Blades was a special technique of the Sword of Ten Forms, one that Raon had taught her with the utmost care.

It was a deadly technique that drove the opponent into a corner to finish them off in an instant. She had to go for the split second of the aura’s gathering in order to defend against it.

She closed her eyes as if she were waiting for the moment of her death and sharpened her senses. Her aura perception, polished to the extreme by the pain, managed to entirely read the flow of the Tempest of Demonic Blades.

Whaaam!

The blades of light stirring the sky and land started to be compressed on Sylvia’s head… and Sylvia raised her sword at that moment. Her blurry eyes sparked red.

A blue radiance arose through her blade, unfolding into an elegant dance. The blue blade penetrated in between the blades of light, piercing the center of the Tempest of Demonic Blades.

Whaaam!

The sword strike exploded before it was completed, creating a huge shockwave that spread throughout the great training ground.

“Ah…”

The vice head of the elders was unable to move because he had to take the full brunt of the impact while executing his technique.

“Uhh…”

Sylvia advanced with faltering steps. Blood seeped into the ground every time she took a step.

She raised her sword with her spasming hand and swung it down onto her opponent’s head.

However, she was out of strength. The blade was unable to cut through the vice head’s skull and weakly tapped it before it fell toward the ground.

Cling!

Sylvia’s sword dropped to the floor. Her lips curved into a smile as she looked at the vice head of the elders, realizing that she was at her limits.

“…It was my loss. The Spiral Light Style didn’t lose.”

That was the last thing she said before she collapsed onto her back. However, her back never reached the ground.

Raon had appeared at some point and was supporting her back.

“Wh-what’s wrong with you all…?”

Raon wasn’t looking at the vice head of the elders. He wiped Sylvia’s bloody face and brought her out of the arena. Not a single person among the countless spectators could open their mouths because of how noble his touch was. It almost felt like time had stopped flowing.

“You’ve done well.”

Raon smiled faintly, looking at Sylvia, who’d kept her word. The victor and loser were decided. However, the victor’s face was distorted, and the loser was smiling brightly. It almost looked like the result was reversed.

“Wh-what is the Spiral Light Style?”

The vice head of the elders shouted painfully, wiping a line of blood flowing down from his forehead.

“It’s the annex building’s martial art, and…”

Raon answered his question while sweeping Sylvia's hair back. Red lightning sparked from his eyes as he turned around.

“The martial art that is about to defeat you.”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]