The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 71

Swordmaster Seijak

A Swordmaster is one who has reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

Who sets such standards?

In the old days, there weren’t any specific rules.

A guy good with a sword, one who went to war with only a sword and came back alive several times, one who was good at slaying monsters…

They were all collectively called Swordmasters as a sign of respect.

But at some point, those who were called ‘real’ Swordmasters were born.

They were able to materialize their energy—magic, mana, karma, inner strength, etc.—which were called by various names, and imbue it into their swords.

Only those who could create the miracle of invoking a power called ‘Aura’ in their swords began to be called Swordmasters.

They were walking disasters.

With a single strike, they could split mountains and seas, and just being affiliated with a certain country made that nation’s power infinitely greater.

They were the ultimate asymmetric force.

Along with great mages who could annihilate armies single-handedly, Swordmasters were always associated with death.

Even tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers couldn’t kill a Swordmaster.

The soldiers’ spears and swords were ineffective against Swordmasters, and a Swordmaster could kill up to thousands with a single blow.

That was what a Swordmaster was.

A living calamity, a walking disaster.

Do you know what happens when such Swordmasters fight each other?

The aftermath of their clashing swords devastates the surroundings.

It’s like natural disasters colliding with each other.

That’s why Swordmasters rarely fought each other.

The leaders of each country didn’t want to lose their greatest asset, and the Swordmasters themselves didn’t want to fight, even if it meant revealing their power.

Unless it was a truly unavoidable situation.

In that regard, Yoo Seong-woo was an exceptional Swordmaster.

He didn’t belong to any country, and he roamed around, never avoiding combat even with other Swordmasters.

He was truly a battlefield demon.

It seemed like his only purpose in life was to fight, like a madman looking for a place to die.

“I am Swordmaster Seijak. Born in the Grand Lotus, I became a Swordmaster after six hundred and forty-eight years of training.”

Seijak introduced himself, standing face to face with Yoo Seong-woo.

Yoo Seong-woo replied curtly.

“Yoo Seong-woo.”

Where he was born, how many years he trained—such explanations were unnecessary.

The only word needed here was just one.

“Swordmaster.”

Swordsmen fight with their swords, not their mouths. They prove their strength by clashing with each other.

As great warriors, Seijak and Yoo Seong-woo only had to do that.

Seijak chuckled at his short reply.

It seemed he didn’t think so.

It was unclear whether he was angry that he didn’t reveal himself before the sacred battle, or angry that they brought such a human to face him.

“The duel of great warriors is sacred; the loser shall swear to submit to the victor and obey his words.”

“I will obey in the name of the Great Sephirot [a concept in Kabbalah, referring to the ten attributes/emanations in Kabbalah].”

“I swear in the name of the Grand Lotus.”

After the two brief oaths, the battle began with the signal of the flames in the brazier rising even higher.

Seijak drew his sword and took the initiative.

It was a thin, long sword with a sharp edge.

The fiercely sharp sword cut through the air and approached with the speed of a ray of light.

Yoo Seong-woo had already drawn Samjeong and held it up like a wall, deflecting Seijak’s sword.

Even now that he knew his opponent was a Swordmaster, Yoo Seong-woo’s mind hadn’t changed.

He was determined to defeat his opponent using only the Spirit Sword Technique.

Therefore, he didn’t counterattack immediately but stepped back to assess the situation.

It was a battle between Swordmasters.

Slowly, they had to exchange blows, figure out what kind of sword the opponent specialized in, and unravel the fight.

Yoo Seong-woo took a deep breath, held Samjeong, and solidified his defensive stance.

“Are you ignoring me!”

Seijak stretched out his long sword again.

Still, no Aura was imbued.

Whether it was to see Yoo Seong-woo’s skills or because he didn’t want to reveal his cards first.

He swung his long, thin sword.

The sword, fiercely cutting through the air, approached Yoo Seong-woo’s neck.

Yoo Seong-woo once again raised Samjeong high to block it.

The power itself in the elf’s sword was inferior to Yoo Seong-woo’s, so Seijak’s sword was bounced away by the reaction force.

But Seijak didn’t stop there; he spun around to the opposite side and aimed for his neck again.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Yoo Seong-woo also blocked that with his sword and stretched Samjeong forward.

The first form of the Spirit Sword Technique.

Seijak saw it as a stab and retreated.

It was a good time to chase and attack, but Yoo Seong-woo didn’t pursue.

He simply retrieved his sword in place and took a stance.

It was a posture that showed his will not to go first.

Seijak, feeling mocked, frowned deeply and gnashed his teeth.

“I’ll stop probing.”

Seijak muttered and took a deep breath, then unleashed his Aura.

The elf’s green Aura was overlaid on the long sword and began to flicker like a flame.

It was a green flame.

Not something made to burn, but an aggregate of violence formed to cut.

Seijak kicked off the ground.

The Aura of his entire body flowed through the engraved circuits, strengthening his body.

Yoo Seong-woo frowned and swung his sword at the speed that was twice as fast as before.

The sword swung horizontally cuts Seijak in half.

However, Seijak’s figure soon flickered and disappeared, then appeared above Yoo Seong-woo.

“Even if you’re a Swordmaster, you’re just a human after all.”

Seijak fell.

The green flame flickered and grew larger to pierce Yoo Seong-woo.

However, Seijak’s sword cut through the air.

Feeling the presence coming from above, Yoo Seong-woo quickly rolled on the ground to avoid it.

But that wasn’t the end.

The moment Seijak’s sword stuck into the ground, his Aura flowed along the ground and surged up from the earth like an explosion.

Yoo Seong-woo frowned and rolled his Jingeok [armor] to block the explosion, but the center of the storm was Seijak.

The storm pushed away the stone fragments and dust, covering Yoo Seong-woo.

“Oppa!” [Korean term for older brother, used by females]

Yoo Ji-woo, who was watching their battle, shouted.

The aftermath was enormous.

Every time the two swords collided, her whole body tingled.

It was difficult to understand even a tenth of what was happening before her eyes.

It was quite a long time for Yoo Seong-woo and Seijak, but it was only a few blinks for Yoo Ji-woo.

Then the overturned dust and soil split.

What split it was Yoo Seong-woo’s blunt green sword.

But at the same time, green Aura sprang out from the opposite side and scraped down his sword.

Unpleasant metallic sounds continued in succession, covering the battlefield.

Seijak continued his offensive.

His light movements were reminiscent of a bee.

His almost weightless footwork allowed him to move at a terrifying speed, and his sharp stabs and cuts created sonic booms several times.

Yoo Seong-woo endured it.

By wielding a sword that was thicker than Seijak’s and didn’t even have an edge, like an olivine [a type of mineral].

And he wasn’t just swinging it.

He was still thoroughly defending himself, adhering to the sword forms of the Spirit Sword Technique.

Sword and sword collide.

The green Aura and the sword that seemed to be made of olivine clashed, sparking flames.

Seijak felt puzzled as he clashed his sword several times.

What on earth was that sword made of that it wouldn’t break?

If it were a normal sword, it should have been cut in half already, unless it was Aura against Aura.

But Yoo Seong-woo’s sword was not only uncut but also without a scratch.

‘Then……!’

All he had to do was hammer it until it broke.

Seijak moved even faster, as if he had shifted up a gear.

True to his name as a Spirit Swordsman, all sorts of spirits began to assist him.

The spirit of wind lightened his steps.

The spirit of fire granted him great explosive power.

The spirit of earth bound the enemy’s feet.

The spirit of water increased the cutting power of his sword.

The four major spirits of nature created a stepping stone for Seijak to lead him to victory.

Seijak’s body became a streak of light and went forward.

But Yoo Seong-woo didn’t avoid it.

He simply grabbed Samjeong with both hands from the front and unfolded the sword form of the Spirit Sword Technique again.

Kwaaaang─!!

A roar shook the heavens and the earth.

The vibrations and roars didn’t escape out of the forest because of the barrier, but it was just as hard on everyone in this place.

The elves around him writhed in the roar and the spreading energy.

Shua-nel quickly put up a barrier to protect himself and the two behind him.

He was fine, but he didn’t know if the two of them would be okay.

“No way!”

Seijak’s voice was heard from the middle of the battlefield.

A voice of disbelief.

Seijak swung his sword with the momentum to cut Yoo Seong-woo with the sword.

But the result was the opposite of what he wanted.

Yoo Seong-woo had wounds all over his body, but they weren’t deep.

Besides, his sword only had a small scratch and was fine.

He was receiving the sword of a Swordmaster who used Aura without even using Aura himself.

‘……What the hell is this guy?!’

Seijak couldn’t believe it.

He had unleashed the attack just now, even restricting Yoo Seong-woo’s movements.

It was an attack that should have been a mess and flown away if he hadn’t received it in the right posture.

Or his body would have been cut in half.

But Yoo Seong-woo was standing so perfectly that he couldn’t help but doubt his eyes.

Yoo Seong-woo swung Samjeong to clear the surrounding dust and said.

A very arrogant word.

“Do that again.”

* * *

Bayolgan didn’t like the situation in front of him.

He ordered Seijak.

To fight as a great warrior to establish the prestige of the Grand Lotus.

And to crush the humans with all his might, overwhelmingly, to show them the gap.

But Seijak failed to overwhelm Yoo Seong-woo as he had hoped.

Swordmasters are just humans.

There is an innate racial gap between elves and humans that cannot be narrowed.

Unlike elves, who are long-lived species that live for hundreds of years, humans are short-lived species.

The time for training is the same, and they are inferior in magic and spirits, so they can never surpass elves, he thought.

However, the great warrior of the high elf Shua-nel, the human Swordmaster Yoo Seong-woo, did not push Seijak with an offensive but stubbornly confronted him.

“Seijak! What are you doing!”

Eventually, Bayolgan couldn’t stand it and shouted.

To think he couldn’t even defeat one human.

But Seijak couldn’t move rashly even though he heard Bayolgan’s cry.

It was because he had finally recognized that the human in front of him was strong.

Everything so far was not a fluke.

The Swordmaster’s intuition said so. The opponent was a formidable enemy that should not be underestimated.

That’s why Seijak carefully raised the spirits again.

All sorts of spirits assisted him, shaking the space.

According to Seijak’s will, the spirits stepped up to help him.

And at the same time, the fires in the braziers that filled the battlefield went out.

A sudden blackout.