The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 22

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Episode 22

King of Corpses (6)

With that, Yoo Seong-woo pushed off the ground with his foot.

In that instant, a sensation as if time had stopped washed over him.

Splitting one second, splitting it again, and splitting it once more.

In that infinitely brief moment, he accelerated repeatedly, slowly extending his sword in the slowed world.

Azaha raised his hand to cast a spell to block the sword, but his movements were far too slow.

Yuseong Sword – Instant Light (瞬光) [A sword technique focused on extreme speed].

A straight, red line etched itself into the air.

His sword advanced like a falling star, striking Azaha’s crown.

The sound of cracking echoed around Azaha and Yoo Seong-woo.

Soon, the magic contained within the crown erupted in all directions, pushing Yoo Seong-woo away.

While being forced back, he kept his eyes on Azaha.

Azaha’s face, once that of a handsome, golden-haired man, reverted to a skull.

The remaining half of his face wore a sorrowful expression, and the limbs with decaying flesh flailed about until all the flesh fell away.

“Kuh… !”

He endured the magical backlash by digging his heels into the ground.

Azaha’s entire body, at the center of the storm, was dismantled piece by piece and transformed into white bones.

Finally, the crown shattered, and the storm subsided.

With a thud, Azaha’s skull collapsed onto the floor.

As Yoo Seong-woo approached, a voice emanated from the faint light remaining in the skull.

“…How frustrating. To think that my long-cherished wish would crumble so miserably.”

“What wish? It’s a futile dream.”

Undead with strong egos usually cling to goals from their past lives.

Azaha was an Elder Lich, the highest form of undead.

During the fight, Yoo Seong-woo understood what Azaha was fixated on.

The revival of a fallen country.

An excessive obsession with trying to realize the impossible.

Those desires were subtly mixed into his magic and flowed out.

“Then, I’ll ask you before you go. What was the dragon that was bound here?”

“…Do you think I would tell you? By all means, endure what’s to come. An end that humans like you cannot comprehend…”

With those words, the light in Azaha’s white bones faded, and soon even the bones turned to ashes and scattered.

Yoo Seong-woo raised his head and looked at the ceiling that had been blown open.

“…Well, I’m not too late, am I?”

* * *

“These guys suddenly got stronger!”

“The weakening effect from Holy Power isn’t working either!”

S-Class Diver, Chae Mi-ryeong, had been maintaining the ‘Holy Zone,’ which weakened the undead by spraying Holy Power like a humidifier, just as Yoo Seong-woo had instructed since the battle began.

However, the Holy Zone stopped working when the undead suddenly took on human forms.

“No, what on earth is going on?!”

“I don’t know either! The gods aren’t telling me anything!”

Military-type Divers and magic-type Divers became agitated.

The world of the City of Eternal Night had changed drastically.

The dead earth turned green, and a bright, beautiful sun rose in the sky.

The world, once devoid of light, was now filled with it, and the undead gained vitality.

It was an absurd sight, but what was even more absurd was the strength of the undead.

From the moment they gained life, not only commander-level entities but also lower-level undead possessed strong egos and pushed the Divers back.

“Attack the right side of the fortress!”

“Break down the fortress and kill the enemies!”

A terrifying offensive continued.

Yoo Ji-woo was about to cut off a Lich’s escape when he was caught in a sudden burst of magic and thrown back.

The source of the storm was the Black Star, not far away.

Not only the Divers but also the undead in human form were caught in the magic storm and sent flying.

The front line collapsed in an instant.

Before they could recover, an enormous magical aftermath swept in from the Black Star.

The Divers quickly retreated into the fortress to begin their defense, and the undead struggled to break through.

“Hold on a little longer! If you hold on a little longer, he will take care of the enemy leader!”

“There’s no need to worry about whether we’ll hold out, but whether that guy’s life will run out first!”

Kwang-!! The sound reverberated across the land and sky.

Legion Commander, Beylon, swung his greatsword towards the fortress.

However, the fortress, made of magic and divine power, did not collapse easily, and the battle continued.

The battle was, of course, disadvantageous for the Divers.

They were undead. Even in human form, their essence remained, so they did not tire.

However, the Divers gradually became exhausted as their wounds increased, and the number of injured who could not fight also increased.

A precarious situation repeated itself.

Because they were composed of S-Class Divers and veterans, they overcame the crises several times, but now it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold on.

Chae Mi-ryeong was on the verge of collapsing from expending too much Holy Power.

Seong Un-ryong and Baek Woo-hyeon were also covered in wounds.

Yoo Ji-woo and Hong Seo-hwa were in a similar situation, struggling against the Lich while breaking through all kinds of magic.

“Damn it, what kind of fight is going on over there?!”

Hong Seo-hwa shouted loudly.

The people’s gazes turned to the Black Star, which had regained its former glory, and a series of intense magical bursts erupted.

Soon, the upper part of the Black Star was blown away entirely with light, and the sound of it collapsing was heard.

“What the hell is that?!”

Hong Seo-hwa shouted again, but quickly realized that it was not the time to worry about that and focused on the defense.

After several more injuries and the fortress was almost completely destroyed.

Once again, a powerful storm of magic blew from the Black Star.

At that moment, the Divers had to hold on to their minds, and the undead stopped moving.

As the storm of magic subsided, the sky, which had been filled with sunlight, turned dark.

At the same time, the forms of the undead and the earth returned to their original states.

The undead who had been human became skeletons again, and the lush green land flowing with milk and honey died once more.

The Divers shouted as they watched the scenery suddenly change.

“The, the Elder Lich is dead! Is that why the magic was released!”

“Did we succeed?!”

An enormous amount of magic was rising from the Black Star.

The magic, which was incomparable to anything before, was scattering into the air.

It was not gathering somewhere to form magic, and the undead they had been fighting were gradually turning to ashes from the ends.

Among them, the commander-level entities with strong egos conversed as they watched their bodies slowly disappear.

“…Did the King lose?”

“It seems so, Beylon.”

“Hmph, I thought it was a long-awaited expedition. Do I have to throw myself back into eternal rest once more?”

“That is the order of things. The immortal army is not immortal, and corpses must rot and return to the earth.”

The high-ranking Death Knight lamented the long-awaited expedition.

The Lich spoke of the order of life.

Beylon, with almost half of his body gone, shouted loudly.

“Was this long-awaited trip to the mortal realm enjoyable! My comrades!”

“It wasn’t entirely pleasant, but it was enjoyable.”

“It was enjoyable. The air of the mortal realm after a long time wasn’t bad, and we were able to see the King’s face.”

“That’s right! It can’t be helped! Hey, old swordsman on the fortress! Thank you for being my opponent!”

Beylon waved his hand towards Seong Un-ryong on the fortress with a good-natured laugh.

Then, he added one more word.

“There are too many unnecessary movements in your swordsmanship! How about taking some strength out of your shoulders? Then you’ll become a better swordsman!”

“What is that undead saying…”

“Think of it as advice from a senior who has walked the path before you! Well then, goodbye!”

With the end of the word ‘goodbye,’ all the undead turned to ashes and disappeared.

Under the dark night, the nearly three-hour-long raid was coming to an end.

The people turned their heads and looked at the Black Star.

A man, with the Black Star behind him, was walking towards them.

His appearance was extremely shabby.

His hair, which seemed to have grown a bit longer, was disheveled in the wind.

His top was torn to shreds, and his pants were also torn in places.

His well-trained, muscular body was covered in all sorts of scars, but they were old.

In one hand, he held an unusual, cracked crown.

He came out of the Black Star at a leisurely pace and approached the fortress, nodding his head and saying.

“It’s over. Let’s go home.”

* * *

-At 0:25 AM today, the Abyss, which had been upgraded to Level 1, was successfully raided.

-The Divers who raided the Abyss are remaining silent about what happened inside.

-It was a raid that lasted for several hours, but it is reported that there were no deaths…

He had a long dream.

A very long dream that deserved to be called a nightmare.

His entire body was caught in chains and unable to move, and it was a nightmare where someone was stabbing his back with an awl and digging into it.

An endless nightmare.

He shouted several times, looking for someone to save him, but all that returned was an empty echo.

There was no answer, and only tears filled the floor, drowning him.

He was sucked into the abyss of the deep sea, and when he opened his eyes, it was back to the beginning.

Alone, he wept sadly in the repeating nightmare that was like hell.

But at some point, in the continuing nightmare, the chains that had been binding his entire body rusted and broke one by one, and his ears, which had only heard his own voice for a long time, opened.

He perked up his ears.

What echoed in his ears was a language he had never heard before, a voice he had never heard before.

A flash of light.

Subsequently, when he opened his eyes, which must have been swollen with tears, what he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

There were dazzling lights, and a soft sensation touched his skin.

He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had felt ‘sensation’ in his body.

His mind was hazy, and normal thinking was impossible.

“Kkeueu…”

What flowed out of his barely opened mouth was a parched, metallic sound.

“Oppa [Korean term for older brother, used by females], is he groaning?”

“Leave him alone. He’ll wake up on his own.”

“He opened his eyes too?”

“What color are his eyes?”

“Um, purple? A deep amethyst. That kind of feeling.”

“Do we kill it? Or save it?”

Hair as black as the night sky, and eyes of purple like amethyst.

The moment when the fate of the young dragon, who was the heart of the City of Eternal Night, was at stake.

“Sa, save me.”

“Oppa, he speaks Korean?”

“Seeing as that skull guy also spoke Korean, it seems like the Abyss has an automatic translation function. They say you can even communicate with other races?”

“Yeah. That’s true. I don’t know why we can communicate, but I just accept it now.”

“Then he’ll be the same.”

The newly awakened young dragon turned his eyes and glanced at those standing around him.

One man with a scary impression.

One woman with equally charismatic long hair.

The man, Yoo Seong-woo, sat down on the edge of the bed and said.

“Say it again. What was it?”

“Save me…”

“Again.”

“Save me.”

“Again.”

“…Please save me?”

“Yes. A dragon who knows manners. If you come to the Land of Eastern Etiquette, you have to use honorifics to adults.”

Even for other races, the Korean honorific patch was absolutely necessary.

At least, that’s what Yoo Seong-woo thought.

“What is your name?”

“…My name is Nox.”

“Are you the only one of your kind?”

“As far as I remember… Ugh.”

The dragon who revealed his name as Nox tried to recall his memories but complained of a headache.

It was as if someone had artificially locked his memories, a pain that his instincts refused to approach.

Nox, clutching his head and shaking it violently, bit his lip tightly.

“Hmm, seems like there’s a problem with his head. First, let’s cut off his horns a bit…”

“W-wait a minute!”