Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 301

303

Car. Car window.

Clashing sounds continued to erupt, scattering small metal fragments in all directions. The relentless attacks, packed with immense power, were beginning to damage their swords, unable to withstand the force.

Despite being crafted from special metal, the swords couldn’t endure the combined strength of Beomseok and Zakid, whose physical abilities surpassed even the World League level. Nevertheless, their forms remained intact, posing no immediate obstacle to continuing the duel.

“Take this!”

Zakid’s powerful strike flew swiftly towards his waist. Beomseok hastily returned his sword to block, but misjudged the angle, causing him to lose balance and lean to the side. Seizing the opportunity, Zakid disregarded the recoil and slashed his sword fiercely at a diagonal. He had to seize this chance, no matter the cost.

However, Beomseok was not to be underestimated. He quickly widened his stance with his right foot, regaining stability and responding appropriately.

“Heh heh. That trick won’t work.”

Zakid chuckled in response.

“Heh heh. Of course not. Anyone who falls for that wouldn’t be worthy of facing me one-on-one.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m honored then. In that case, I’ll go next.”

Beomseok’s sword wavered, then shot towards Zakid like a snake. It was ‘Snake Sword,’ the ultimate technique of his subordinate elf, Remi. Startled, Zakid twisted his body to deflect the attack and retreated a good distance. Although it wasn’t particularly powerful, its form reminded him of Amelie’s ‘Tornadoes Impact.’

“W-what is that! Don’t tell me you learned a special move from Amelie?”

Beomseok smirked and approached him.

“Don’t say ridiculous things. Why would she teach me her techniques?”

Zakid pondered for a moment and realized he was right. Amelie’s strength came from ‘Tornadoes Impact,’ and it made no sense for her to teach it to her rival, Beomseok. If he analyzed and exploited her weakness, she would lose a significant advantage.

“I see. Then what was that technique just now?”

“Ah, I learned it from Remi, who is a coach on our team. Amelie’s technique is so famous that there are quite a few swordsmen who clumsily imitate it.”

Zakid’s face flushed with embarrassment. Even though he had struggled against Amelie, he was ashamed that he had overreacted to such a crude technique. His master would be watching today’s match, and he would surely scold him later.

Fueled by frustration, he gripped his sword tightly and charged straight at Beomseok.

“Here I come! Prepare yourself!”

Zakid’s sword flew straight forward like a runaway train. The air was filled with bizarre tearing sounds. Beomseok dared not confront his heavy attack head-on, sidestepping to evade the line of fire.

‘Tch. How do I deal with this bison-like guy?’

Beomseok grimaced as he deflected the next attack with his sword. He could easily handle a swordsman who only relied on brute strength, but Zakid had honed his swordsmanship to the extreme.

Each strike was imbued with power and profound essence, making him a formidable opponent. Beomseok retreated repeatedly, barely managing to fend off his attacks.

“Amazing! Just as I expected. I’m glad I came to see this.”

“This is no joke! What an incredible showdown!”

Although a fierce battle was unfolding between the God’s Knights and Dark Hyenas’ bases on the iron bridge, the eyes of the spectators filling the stands were fixed on Beomseok and Zakid. The high-level duel between the two swordsmen had captured their attention.

Even though Beomseok was being pushed back, the fact that he could contend with Zakid at all was remarkable. After all, he was the exceptional swordsman who had fought Amelie to a draw after her recent improvements.

The fans cheered loudly, hoping for Beomseok’s success.

“Oh Beomseok, you must win! We believe in you!”

Beomseok and Zakid’s swords collided in the air like interlocking gears. Although it seemed rhythmic, at times it showed a dazzling irregularity. The flowing swordsmanship, like a dance, converged on one point in a strange pattern, then repeatedly separated. The back-and-forth was so intense that it made the viewers dizzy.

However, unlike the audience, Zakid’s face remained tense. Although he was gaining an advantage, he was bothered by Beomseok’s peculiar swordsmanship. His strikes still contained unnecessary force. These erratic movements might work once or twice, but their persistence was infuriating.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Zakid shouted while their swords were locked together.

“Stop it! That kind of trickery won’t work on me!”

Beomseok, who had been briefly engaged in a test of strength, looked bewildered by his sudden outburst.

“What are you talking about! Trickery, you say!”

“Don’t play dumb! You’ve been making excessive movements since earlier! Why aren’t you maintaining the optimal posture!”

“What? How can I do any better than this?”

Zakid was taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that the pointless actions he had been witnessing were not intentional or a gimmick.

While not all assassination techniques were the same, the swordsmanship Beomseok had learned had several flaws.

First, his attacks incorporated excessive movements. In ancient warfare, generals and soldiers wore armor to defend against enemy attacks, so they added immense force to their swords to cleave through flesh and bone. This tendency was clearly evident in Beomseok’s swordsmanship.

The way he unraveled and parried attacks was perfect, but when he struck to cut down his opponent, he tensed his entire body, as if intending to slice through even their suit.

Second, his attacks were too focused on vital points. Humans may seem weak, but they are actually quite resilient.

Even when cut with a sword, they didn’t die easily and often launched counterattacks. However, the attacker’s sword was stuck in the opponent’s body, leaving them vulnerable. Therefore, skilled combat swordsmen aimed for the opponent’s vital points to secure a one-hit kill. Beomseok was one such case.

This was an effective method on the battlefield, but not in a swordsmanship match. All he needed was a solid strike to the head or torso, without having to aim for a vital point. Or rather, it became a major weakness against someone like Zakid, who had recognized his tendencies. Knowing where the human vital points were, he couldn’t possibly not know where Beomseok’s sword would aim.

Third, one of the characteristics of assassination techniques was that they were too defensive. Many mistakenly believed that killing techniques were aggressive because they were meant to kill, but that was far from the truth.

Unless the goal was assassination, all killing techniques prioritized protecting one’s own life first. In a battlefield where one of the combatants had to die, the most important thing was to protect one’s own life. This tendency, though not severe, was present in Beomseok’s swordsmanship.

He often gave up on somewhat ambiguous opportunities and maintained a defensive posture. However, in a typical sparring match or swordsmanship competition, there was always a next chance if one lost. A skilled fighter like him would have been better off taking some risks and seizing opportunities to attack.

‘What is this monster! How does someone like this even come to be!’

He decided to increase the intensity of his attacks. The current excessive weight might still be a feint, but he couldn’t properly eat dinner tonight unless he resolved this question. If it was true, he would be facing the greatest mystery of his life.

“Celestial Divine Overlord!”

Zakid unleashed his full power, even activating his trait, and relentlessly assaulted Beomseok with a series of powerful strikes. The attacks were almost berserk, and Beomseok could only barely parry with his sword. The significant difference in their abilities was pushing him into a crisis.

“Damn it, isn’t this going too far?”

“What’s too far! Just show me your true skills!”

Beomseok glanced at the clock on the scoreboard, considering whether to unleash ‘Berserker of Fighting Spirit.’ However, when he looked at the situation at their base, it seemed he didn’t need to worry about the time.

The God’s Knights’ base was being significantly pushed back by the Dark Hyenas’ base and was falling apart. It seemed like it would end soon, so there was no need to worry about the later part of the round.

“Alright! I’ll show you for sure! Berserker of Fighting Spirit!”

The moment Beomseok unleashed it, Zakid’s eyes widened at the unexpected recoil. His sword, blocked by Beomseok’s, had bounced back significantly. This level of power meant that he was either on par with his current level or slightly superior. Zakid briefly dodged to the left and thrust his sword towards Beomseok’s chest.

Clang. Clang! Clang!

Zakid maintained his sword, which was being blocked without fail, and pushed forward, intending to test how much Beomseok’s strength had increased by engaging in a power struggle.

And a moment later, Zakid’s face was filled with horror as he saw his sword being pushed back without fail. It was the moment when it was clearly proven that Beomseok possessed greater strength than him.

‘What the hell is going on? His match footage clearly didn’t show him displaying this kind of monstrous power?’

This was the first time Beomseok had activated ‘Berserker of Fighting Spirit’ during a match, so naturally, there would be no data on it. However, Zakid realized that he was now exerting his full strength. He had been hiding his strength all along, so if it was intentional, he would have corrected his heavy stance by now.

Zakid twisted his wrist, deflecting Beomseok’s sword to the side, and immediately launched an offensive. Now that he had obtained some information about the sudden increase in strength, he intended to fully grasp the true nature of his swordsmanship. And after a few more clashes, his face contorted without fail. Beomseok was still maintaining the same stance as before.

‘Seriously. Does that mean that unbelievable thing is really true?’

There was no other way to judge it at this point. Considering his desperate efforts to extend his sword and the importance of today’s match, he couldn’t think that he was joking. And when he thought about it carefully, there were many problems with his record.

He possessed a level of skill and experience that even he was surprised by, but in reality, his performance was not very good compared to his abilities. He couldn’t have recorded such poor results unless there was something wrong somewhere.

Zakid, who had just deflected a sword flying towards his chest, quickly retreated and lowered his sword. He needed his honest answer to unravel the tangled threads in his confused mind.

“You! Where did you learn your swordsmanship?”

Seeing his lack of fighting spirit, Beomseok stopped his sword.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“Tell me honestly! Where on earth do they teach that kind of murderous swordsmanship! Your swordsmanship is optimized for killing opponents!”

Beomseok blinked and stared at him intently, wondering how he knew that. From the first time he played an online virtual reality game, he had learned swordsmanship by killing monsters in the game. Naturally, all his techniques had no choice but to evolve into killing techniques.

However, unable to say this, Beomseok made up an excuse.

“I learned it on my own.”

“Self-taught?”

“When I was young, I happened to watch a documentary about Eastern medieval warfare techniques and started learning them. It had relatively detailed information about the swordsmanship of generals and personal tactics in battle. I filled in the gaps with other swordsmanship techniques.”

His expectations were spot on, but Zakid’s expression was quite a sight to behold. He couldn’t understand how he had managed to raise his self-taught killing sword to this extreme level.

Zakid shook his head and said.

“Then our match ends here.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have several major weaknesses that are not suitable for a normal sparring match. As long as I know them and you don’t, you can never beat me.”

Beomseok looked dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why he was saying such things now, after fighting so well.

“Are you trying to mess with me right now?”

“Hmph. Messing around? You’ll know whether I’m messing around or not from now on. Come on! I’ll be sure to cut you down!”

“Alright. Be prepared!”

Enraged by his disregard, Beomseok’s eyes flickered as he stepped forward.

‘He’s coming. He’ll probably start by exchanging a few light strikes as a feint.’

As Zakid expected, Beomseok began to unleash light strikes, gradually unraveling his swordplay. Normally, he would have launched a daring attack with extreme movements, but his opponent was Zakid. Doing so would likely result in him being cut down and incapacitated in an instant.

However, this was a clear mistake. Like Sun Wukong [a legendary figure in Chinese mythology] in the Buddha’s palm, he was being played by Zakid’s intentions. He had anticipated that Beomseok would act this way from the start.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Have a great day, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.