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Chapter 448
Day 102 – Late Daytime, Dungeon, 96FNothing of note on the 60th floor, even the 70th floor wasn’t any trouble. From the 80th floor I started taking some hits, but none direct, so my HP never dropped below half, and thus I reached the 90th floor.
The forms of Taikyokuken help correct flaws in my coordination, and the footwork lets me smooth over disruptions in control, chaining into techniques. Bit by bit, I’m getting to move my body as I please. It was still chaos, but I’m starting to be able to predict the chaos and get used to adjusting to it.
And while I dropped my stance due to a lapse in control a few times during the boss fight on the 80th floor, the entire battle from beginning to the end went in my favor. This Dungeon is deep and formidable, but it’s a good match for me. There are plenty of hidden rooms with equipment, too, nice for the wallet, a good Dungeon overall. And even on the lowest floors, while I struggled somewhat, I managed to pull through with my body control that I was growing accustomed to. I didn’t master it yet, but there shouldn’t be a problem at the level of daily life movements. Even with intense action only some misalignments emerged, not complete loss of control. Feeling good about it, I reached the Dungeon Master battle on the final 96th floor. I thought I was done way faster than expected, only to end up dragged into a battle that wouldn’t end at the very last.
I have no time, but it is the time that keeps slipping by. Accelerated Thinking made the flow of time slow, sluggish, viscous, which stuck to my body. Shaking it off, I swing the Seven-Branched Sword, sweeping aside sword strikes and knocking aside the incoming large blades.
「Good grief, I’ve got to hurry back, the Idiots are probably getting lovely-dovey with the ladies at this very moment, and yet here you are, rattling and clattering away, bones with nothing better to do than getting in my way? I mean, you’re literally a skeleton so perhaps you do have nothing else to do? Well, they say even a dog won’t eat a couple’s quarrel, but bones are a different story a dog might bite those? If there were a passing dog or kobold, I’d slap a note on you, 『Help yourself』 but there is not a single kobolds around? Just how useless can they get? Though the Idiots might actually eat those too!」
As a black slash grazes me, my body turns heavy, my strength sapped. Even with the divine sword I can’t finish it off. It’s this damn darkness again. The sight of a skeleton shrouded in pitch-black ominous cursed darkness reminds me of Armored Pres-san, but it’s weak. It’s incredibly strong, skilled, fast, and with a finesse that even hints at intellect, yet far weaker. Even after being captured and gaining the power of darkness, it’s only at this level. Meanwhile, Armored Pres-san resisted, held that power back, and even then was stronger, faster, and far far greater than this.
So there’s no way I’m going to lose to something of this level. Losing to a mere weakling who couldn’t resist and was swallowed by darkness would be the worst possible disgrace for the master of Armored Pres-san. Still, the mastery, the polished swordsmanship, is worthy of praise, strong, fluid, and beautiful. Perhaps, if it wasn’t captured by the darkness in the dungeon depths it could’ve been a swordsman of some renown. But now, I can only drive away the darkness and cut it down. There’s no need to know the name of a swordsman who has already lost their spirit. I’ll end this so they can rest in peace.
(Jiggle-Jiggle!)
「No! Don’t!! You absolutely can’t touch that darkness, it’s dirty, so you can’t touch it or eat it. I’ll give you a snack later, so just wait, okay? Yeah, I’ll finish this quickly… Huh?! A blowgun after all that orthodox fencing? That’s so foul! Alright, fine, I’ll do my best! I don’t know if you’re a Skull Lord or whatever, but I’ll sell off your magic stone and make it part of my Magnate Road! …Though my Magnate Road always seems to hit a dead end, with no clear prospects of improvement? I wonder why?」
The tip of the dark sword turns, chaining endless strikes together, leaving no time to even breathe, but since it’s a skeleton, breathing is of no concern to it. So foul! Monsters are so scummy! As expected of monsters. The sword tip shifts direction as if in a dance, altering its trajectory as it flies around, and between those moments, again with the blowgun… Hey, if you don’t breathe, don’t blow blowdarts at me!
The hard to see blowgun darts are fired at point-blank range in an instant with no visible pre-motion, paired with the sword capable of freely changing its path in the most bizarre fashion to exploit any possible blind spot. And the depth of the darkness that isn’t affected no matter how much I cut or sweep it. The abyss-like void of its eye sockets has no hint of consciousness left, only darkness.
Good thing I’ve practiced Taikyokuken, it gives me solid defense, and with a single instantaneous strike I can counterattack, turning defense into offense, and vice-versa. I might be facing a swordsmanship refined and perfected for human-vs-human combat passed down from generation to generation, but compared to the history of Taikyokuken, it’s basically just one of those trivial passing fads. Before the techniques honed and sublimated over thousands of years, each movement etched with history and refinement, this opponent’s swordsmanship is just shallow trickery. Or to be frank, the blowgun is actually the bloody annoying part!
As we trade blows, cut for cut, sweep for sweep, the darkness is gradually vanishing. I do have a divine sword that drives away evil after all. But even if I dodge or block the dark sword, I’m still wounded. Those wounds sap strength, drain willpower, and burn mana. Regeneration doesn’t work well on those wounds being tainted by darkness so I’m also getting gradually worn out. Or so was the problem, but while it does take a while to heal injuries, my mana and energy circulate and build up with my breathing through the cycle of internal Qi cultivation and refinement. And I work hard on my stamina every night too! That’s the power of the divine beast Hydra, ruler and symbol of regeneration, And now I’ve even got the chicken on the side too! Well, I can’t bring them out because the darkness is dangerous, and Magic Hands-san who are also mana entities aren’t a good option either, so it’s down to physical, but I’m actually pretty good at that.
I knock away the sword strikes that come along my centerline, while evading and deflecting with my shoulder guard the strikes to the right and left. Even so, the wounds keep piling up, and blood begins to flow… Since regeneration is slow, I have to be careful about blood loss, but I can’t stop the blood flow itself, and if I could, that would be another crisis for me as a human. As a human I have to show my hot and passionate blood flowing.
The boss is fast, but I’m fast too. I have less than half of its SpE, but my body movement is accelerated with instantaneous movement from 『Teleportation』and I also have ultra-rapid reaction times from neural acceleration via 『Body Refinement』and combining that with the time slow from Thought Acceleration, I can bridge the status gap, even catch up even from behind, parry, and even overtake and cut through.
I’m losing in skill, but in trickery I win. And most importantly, while that fluid swordsmanship with dazzling and everchanging attacks is hard to dodge, it involves wide swings, so if I attack with Kyojitsu which just pierce through in the shortest direct line I can strike it even if I move late.
However, as I’m currently going all out with every buff applied, that speed and power that Kyojitsu offers would be at the price of heavily damaging my body, despite now being reinforced by refinement and Qi cultivation. And above all, the enemy doesn’t miss even the most momentary lapse in control immediately coming to cut me down, so I have to keep healing and fighting all while munching on mushrooms, which creates quite a surreal sight despite the dead seriousness of this battle. Naturally, they are grilled and drizzled with soy sauce, my preparations are perfect!
My entire field of vision is filled with sparks of magic power scattering from our swords clashing with each other in the world of slow motion. As if following a predetermined sequence, I parry, sweep, and deflect with utmost speed and precision.
Without stopping our steps, we trade positions again and again, each seeking the more advantageous position at the more advantageous timing, suppressing each other’s gains, striving for the slightest upper hand. Reading each other’s hands, using every possible method, exhausting every option. Yeah, that blowgun is nasty! It’s the thing that’s subtly forcing me into a disadvantage.
I welcome a war of attrition, but it’s turning into my slow loss, my disrupted body control is making my body waver. Even a slight shift in my axis or center of gravity slows my movement and throws my sword off.
Resigned to inflict some damage upon myself, I also started applying external body control via 『Muppet』 at the same time, adding corrections even as my body is breaking, but in a prolonged high-speed battle with non-stop barrage of attacks where even the slightest disruption is unacceptable, slips inevitably occur, and those openings pile up as accumulated damage.
I read, predict, and foresee the destination of the swordtip as it dances and shifts trajectory, swinging the Seven-Branched Sword to meet it, to dance with it, to deflect it. My 『Rajingan』 mind’s eye has not only 『God Eye』『Future Sight』 『Magic Eye』 『Wisdom Eye 』 and 『Dōjutsu』 but also 『Imitation』 which reads, nullifies, and steals techniques.Even if I can’t master it, I can at the very least mimic and catch the opponent off-guard with an unexpected move to break their form. I use this time to repair my body.
A skeleton from another world, and from the distant past, wouldn’t be familiar with stage magic, techniques perfected to manipulate perception and sight, to lead the gaze and thoughts, to deceive, mislead, and trick. Suddenly having one’s own techniques used against it, handled as if read in advance, it suddenly was thrown into a doubt. It has gotten more cautious, probing; started using meaningless feints excessively, which only made them easier to handle, easier to read. Fallen into paranoia, chasing shadows of ghosts that aren’t even there, its heart disturbed by suspicions it shouldn’t trust. There are so many upright and honest types among the monsters, it’s crazy?
The supreme swordsmanship it put so much trust in and honed now crumbles, a heart gripped by doubt clouds the sword, makes it untrustworthy, and destroys the technique refined over the ages. In simpler terms, they were tricked, and trusted the doubts they should’ve never trusted.
My regeneration is starting to catch up, meanwhile the darkness is gradually fading. What to do about the lack of blood? Well, I’ll munch on some mushrooms for nourishment. I do have concentrated potions ready, but holding a glass test tube in my mouth mid-fight is dangerous.
「Speaking of which, doesn’t Chicken-san(Cockatrice) have something like an osteoporosis curse? That should be super effective against skeletons? Like, for something dead, this guy got some pretty healthy-looking stout bones? A monster with a lot of backbone, and nothing but bone. (Cluck-cluck!) No? Damn.」
Skeleton-san and swords don’t have good chemistry. Not only because swords are made to cut flesh, but also because sometimes when you cut or thrust, the blow passes right through, which is dangerous. For problems like that, the handy 『Seven-Branched Sword』. With all its protrusions, it’s very versatile, you can even assign different attributes to each one! Yeah, I only just noticed that recently?
And thinking about it seriously, logically, and while observing closely and earnestly, it would appear like the second protrusion from the left is quite effective? Yup, I forgot I also have an option of Holy Magic now! Yeah, of course it’s effective, that’s the most standard of standards? Well, but in the middle of a kill-or-be-killed fight, it’s not like I’d think of using recovery magic against my opponent? I’m way too busy healing myself! Yeah, cliches are important.
So, I switch the Seven-Branched Sword to Holy Magic, load the Magic Wrap with a generous helping of Holy, add on 『Purification』 for good measure and give it another go. The boss is faltering now, its technique getting rough. This is where I’d like to finish it, but if I get too eager, my control will break down too. I can’t interrupt this flow, this is my chance, while the opponent is still in this state of paranoia, acting erratic like a troubled skeleton.
As its sword arcs and shifts like in a dance, I mix in the Forty-Two Form Taiji Sword of Taikyokuken to disrupt its movements, swordplay that’s said to be 『As fierce as a tiger』 sharp and fast yet compact, aligning the sword with the flow of the body, leaning more toward body technique in execution. I can only use it at a casual level, but it’s enough, the opponent’s blade can’t keep up with the variety of attacks and is losing its way. The enemy is already dead; even if they had great skill and experience in life, the moment they were swallowed by darkness, their heart died. That’s why it can’t adapt to new swordplay, can’t change. Growth is the privilege of the living. Dungeon Emperor-san, who never lost their heart, is now learning Qi techniques and beating up their master, but it’s impossible for you, okay? So be free now, and rest, your darkness is already gone.
「Good night~. Good work, Skeleton? Well, you did your best.」
The skeleton’s final strike, after the darkness had been finally dispelled, was a blazing straightforward downward slash with the sword of utmost beauty. This must’ve been what its real sword was supposed to look like, its strongest strike. But the skeleton no longer had false life, no power of darkness or dark magic, only a beautifully refined, fleeting final blow, perfected in life. Meeting the attack head-on I brought an end to the skeleton. It’s fine now, you know?
「Yeah, I’m spent! No, you gotta take that attack you know? I knew I wouldn’t be able to block it, but it had no strength left anymore? That was the final proof of its life. If I’d let them just crumble and perish like that, it’s like nothing at all would have remained? Yeah, I got cut, but I made sure to see it properly. Kinda hurt?」
(Jiggle-Jiggle!)
Especially that final blow, even with no strength left, even as just one swing as the bones crumbled and shattered, it left a graceful slash before collapsing and disappearing. That’s why I took it. Even when knocked away and cut down, the powerless swing of the battered skeleton still left behind a beautiful cut. Well, I got cut?
It had no power left to kill me. The bones started to weather and crumble, and it shouldn’t even have been able to swing a sword. And yet, freed from the darkness, the skull delivered that strike, showing it to me. Surely it meant something. Surely it wanted me to see it.
「Alright, I have to hurry back and ruin, destroy, and sabotage the Idiots’ rom-com developments! If I don’t hurry, they might start going『lovey-dovey~❤』! Okay, I’ll cut them! And burn them! Ahhh, seriously irritating, just imagining it is making my killing intent boil up… but I feel like I’ll get scolded if I go before my body heals up!?」
(Bounce-Bounce)
Still angry, but Slime-san is now level 50. Which means my level should be 25, and Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san must have passed the level 50 wall too. See? Safety is important after all? Well… I’ll just sleep for a bit… That was rough.
(Jiggle-Jiggle)