The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 216

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully – Episode 220

Guild Training (2)

The barrier designed to contain monsters was built to be incredibly strong, as its integrity was always a primary concern.

The Magic Tower invested considerable resources to ensure the barrier could withstand both internal and external impacts.

Yet, in an instant, with a single swing of Yoosungwoo’s sword, the barrier shattered, and the monsters within surged out.

As if on cue, Hong Seohwa exploded into action, her entire body wreathed in flames.

She unleashed the magnificent Red Dragon Flame Dance Sword.

The Red Dragon Sword, a technique taught by Yoosungwoo, blazed fiercely, sweeping across the battlefield.

“Wow! That’s the Red Dragon…!”

The very picture of splendor.

She wielded her sword like a dance, each movement resulting in enemies either incinerated or cleaved in two.

Yoosungwoo muttered, watching Hong Seohwa, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

“I told her to correct that bad habit, but she still hasn’t… I’ll have to drill it out of her when we get back.”

A Red Dragon guild member who overheard his muttering subtly backed away.

While Hong Seohwa and the Red Dragon divers engaged the monsters, Yoosungwoo sensed something unusual.

He glanced upward and saw a piece of paper fluttering down.

With incredible speed, he snatched it from the air and immediately read its message.

Sehyun City

Rank 4 Abyss

Expansion Warning

It was clearly a message from Dantalian. Despite being under contract for only a short time, he was already providing assistance.

However, there was a significant problem: the Rank 4 Abyss in Sehyun City.

It was highly likely to be the very Abyss they were currently exploring.

“Nothing ever goes smoothly. Well, it never does.”

He crumpled the paper and incinerated it with his aura, then shouted.

“The mana flow is unstable! Guards, stay close to the students!”

At Yoosungwoo’s command, the students, who had been observing the battle, huddled together, and the guards moved with practiced precision.

In an Abyss exploration, the students’ safety was the top priority.

The students had also undergone extensive safety training, so they moved without panicking.

The first virtue of a diver was composure.

“Hong Seohwa! Form a defensive line!”

“What’s happening?!”

“Just stick together, all four of you!”

“Yes!”

As Hong Seohwa and the three top divers converged, the entire abandoned mine began to shake violently.

“This isn’t shaking because of what Master did earlier, is it?!”

“If we get out of here, you’re dead.”

“Why?!”

Then, a desperate scream echoed from the depths of the mine.

It was the death cry of the Abyss’s boss monster.

With that, the mana flow within the Abyss began to twist erratically, and the distance between Yoosungwoo and Hong Seohwa’s group rapidly increased.

Following that, the space around the students also began to distort, tearing them apart in different directions.

As Dantalian had warned, the Rank 4 Abyss had begun to expand.

“Hmm.”

Yoosungwoo maintained his footing in the violently shaking abandoned mine, waiting for the expansion to cease.

Rumble—

After a prolonged period of tremors, the expansion subsided, and Yoosungwoo extended his aura to assess the surrounding situation.

It appeared he had been separated from everyone else.

If it was possible to artificially trigger the expansion of the Abyss, then it was also possible to manipulate the space and isolate individuals.

“…Good.”

Yoosungwoo began searching for the path leading to the deepest part of the Abyss.

Whoever was responsible for this was undoubtedly located there.

He had confirmed that Red Dragon divers had been assigned to each student group as they were being separated.

If he could eliminate the primary threat, the students’ chances of survival would increase.

“I don’t know who it is, but when I catch them, I’ll tear them limb from limb.”

***

“Oh, what do we do?”

“We need to stay calm and follow the procedures we learned at the Academy.”

The students had been scattered to various locations due to the sudden expansion of the Abyss, but they calmly evaluated their situation.

While ordinary people would have panicked, these were students of the Academy who had received extensive Abyss training.

“Let’s focus on holding out here until the rescue team arrives. It doesn’t seem like there are any monsters nearby…”

Unfortunately, the Red Dragon divers who had been with them were gone.

The Red Dragon diver who had been escorting them had been caught in the spatial distortion during the separation and vanished.

The students were lightly armed for emergencies, and with a B-rank diver among them, they were capable of defending themselves.

Kwon Soohyun stepped forward and said.

“I agree. If the Abyss has expanded, dimensional waves must have been detected outside, so rescue will arrive soon.”

She actually saw this as an opportunity.

Successfully navigating this crisis would be a way to earn Yoosungwoo’s recognition, wouldn’t it?

She wanted to become stronger.

Stronger and stronger.

She wanted to ensure that no one could ever look down on her again.

“Sungwon, you take command. That includes future strategy. You got a perfect score in tactics class, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Good. Our goal is for everyone to survive. From now on, no one dies.”

When Kwon Soohyun suddenly displayed such intense fighting spirit, the other students reacted with surprise.

Every student at Seoul Academy knew of her.

But this was the first time they had seen her, who always maintained a cool demeanor, display such enthusiasm.

Lee Sungwon, who had been unexpectedly placed in charge, said.

“The current terrain isn’t ideal for defense. If we get surrounded, it’s over, so let’s move towards the wall.”

Lee Sungwon calmly led the students, applying what he had learned.

He had practically memorized the manuals based on the records of previous generations, so he efficiently assigned roles, directed movement, and established a battle line.

“Yeah, they had to show up…”

Lee Sungwon stared with a cold sweat at the undead shambling toward them from the shadows.

The horde of skeleton monsters wielded dilapidated weapons.

“They’re skeleton remnants. Their intelligence is low, and their equipment is basic – just their bare bones and a single weapon. Their estimated rank isn’t high, so we should be able to handle them…”

He said, glancing at Kwon Soohyun.

She drew her sword and said.

“I can handle that many alone.”

“Yujeong, buff Soohyun.”

“Okay.”

A support-type student cast speed and strength buffs on Kwon Soohyun.

They were just two simple buffs, but for Kwon Soohyun, they were incredibly reassuring.

“Then, I’m going.”

Kwon Soohyun launched herself forward.

Even without awakened abilities, her speed surpassed that of most speed-type divers.

She instantly plunged into the skeleton horde and unleashed a rapid series of sword strikes.

Before the skeletons could react, the lightning-fast sword shattered their bones.

She quickly decimated a portion of the horde and returned to the students, saying.

“…Everyone, take up your weapons. Those were just scouts.”

Things never went smoothly.

***

Yoosungwoo, having ventured into the Abyss alone, managed to reunite with Hong Seohwa’s group.

They had been forced deeper into the Abyss than Yoosungwoo and were struggling against a swarm of monsters.

“No matter how many we kill, they just keep coming!”

“An undead wave! With this many, the boss monster must have transformed into a lich!”

The original boss monster of the Rank 4 Abyss, ‘The Abandoned Mine of Deep Darkness,’ was the Great Cave Spider, a higher-ranked species of Cave Spider.

But with the Abyss’s expansion, it was as if the core’s ownership had been transferred to another monster.

The number of undead monsters, previously scarce in the abandoned mine, had drastically increased.

“Get out of the way!”

Yoosungwoo shouted and leaped over Hong Seohwa’s group, wielding the green greatsword, Samjeong.

The green flames erupting from Samjeong swept across the area, incinerating the undead.

He eliminated the undead horde that Hong Seohwa’s group was struggling against and casually rested Samjeong on his shoulder, saying.

“You guys turn around and focus on searching for the students. I’ll go ahead.”

“Ah, understood!”

Hong Seohwa barely had time to express her relief at Yoosungwoo’s sudden appearance before turning to follow his instructions.

Yoosungwoo left them behind and began to walk, carrying Samjeong on his shoulder.

The burning undead spread the flames to others, creating a massive inferno.

The flames of Samjeong were specifically designed to burn the impure.

He walked into the flames, which only consumed the impure undead, and headed deeper into the mine, passing through the wall of fire.

‘I can feel it getting closer.’

Yoosungwoo contemplated the implications of expanding the Abyss.

The Abyss was a unique world in itself.

Expanding it was akin to expanding the world’s fundamental concept.

Lower-rank Abyss levels only possessed a ‘theme,’ lacking a true concept.

‘So, expanding the Abyss means imbuing a world with only a theme with a concept, elevating it to a unique world.’

If so, how was it accomplished?

The Abyss was a form of dimensional distortion, so naturally occurring expansions combined with dimensional waves flowing from dimensional rifts to create a new unique world.

Intentional expansion involved forcibly expanding the world through magic or concepts brought in from the outside.

Dantalian’s warning suggested the latter.

Yoosungwoo incinerated the undead swarming him and began to analyze the type of world this Abyss had become.

‘It was an Abyss primarily populated by cave spiders, but the number of undead has increased.’

Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that an undead-related concept had merged with the abandoned mine theme.

The constant increase in undead suggested the presence of a being capable of raising them.

‘At least a black magician, or perhaps even a lich.’

He made a rough estimate and increased his pace.

A lich wasn’t a significant threat. He had dealt with many liches before.

Shortly after returning to Earth, he had even hunted an Elder Lich, a demigod.

A foe whose name he couldn’t even recall now.

“It’s here.”

He had been setting fires along the way, so it wasn’t long before he reached the deepest part of the abandoned mine.

There, a large iron gate stood, designed to prevent intruders.

Yoosungwoo knocked on the iron gate a few times and then kicked it with his foot.

He channeled a significant amount of aura into the kick, tearing the gate from the wall.

Kwaaaang—!!

The flying iron gate soared in the opposite direction with a deafening roar and crashed.

Those inside had reacted to the sight of the gate flying toward them.

“It’s you guys.”

Two figures emerged from within.

One was sitting on a throne made of bones, radiating arrogance.

The other, clad in a dark robe, stood beside him, exuding a gloomy aura.

‘The core is that guy.’

Judging by the intense vibrations emanating from the one on the throne, he possessed the Abyss’s core.

That meant the robed figure was the mastermind behind this.

He sent Samjeong back to his inventory and drew Ilsaeng, aiming the blade.

“You filthy maggots who feed on corpses.”

Then, he frowned, recognizing the appearance of the one on the throne.

A blonde pretty boy.

The crown he wore was also familiar, prompting him to search his memory and exclaim.

“Is that Azaha, the one who ruined his country with his terrible politics and became undead?”