◈ 697. [STAGE 40] Man of La Mancha (2)
“What comes after ‘One Kill’?”
A long time ago.
After hearing from his teacher the keynote of Bigeom (祕劍) [Ilsal].
When Nobody asked, the teacher snorted and held the bottle in his mouth as if he was dumbfounded.
“There’s nothing, you bastard. “In the first place, there is only one sword technique I can teach you, so why?”
The teacher had never taught Nobody swordsmanship before.
All he did was take away Nobody, who was blind, and teach him how to sharpen his senses except for sight so that he could live his daily life.
We only trained him physically so he could handle a knife and corrected his basic posture. And I only trained the basics until I died.
10 years like that. The first and last swordsmanship taught to Nobody, who was now able to live as a single person even though he was blind, was [Ilshin].
“Isn’t this a very reckless swordsmanship? “In exchange for being able to cut down anything, you have to throw away your own life…”
“Don’t say anything strange, you stupid idiot.”
The teacher, who lost his eyesight during the war and was also blind, laughed and cursed.
“There is no prosecutor who doesn’t risk his or her life while wielding a sword.”
“…!”
“Your life is already out of your pocket. The moment you decide to live by eating cutlery, it’s like throwing your life away. All you can do is swing it as best you can.”
The teacher took a gulp from the bottle.
“Then whether you live or die is not up to you. “The strength of the enemy you face will determine it.”
“….”
“If you can cut down an opponent with your capabilities, they will die. Otherwise you die. “That’s the easy part.”
In the first place, it meant that a prosecutor should live every moment with the heart of Donggwijin.
This was especially true for a blind Nobody. If you swing your sword with a clumsy mind, you will only lose and die anyway.
In every fight, I must kill my opponent and draw my sword with the intention of dying to move forward.
“Always fight with the mindset of ‘killing one shot.’ Anyway, with your idiotic talent and poor body, you won’t be able to use this secret sword properly even if you die and wake up. “If you just grit your teeth and write it down, you will be able to do the job for one person.”
Nobody pouted his lips and grumbled.
“What if someday I complete this secret sword?”
“That would mean you’ve found the best place to die. “Because it means that you cut down an enemy that you normally cannot handle, using talents that you normally could not reach.”
widely!
The teacher slammed his old sheath on the floor and chanted in a serious voice.
“But keep in mind. A knife is a tool. “It was never the goal.”
“….”
“Don’t focus on how to cut with a knife. After cutting down, think about what you will protect as a result. “The money is okay, the people are okay, and even if it’s just a lame belief that can’t be replaced, it’s okay.”
Whip –
the teacher threw away the scabbard. Since Nobody was blind, he hesitantly took it and took it with just his presence.
It was an old long sword.
It was an item that my teacher, who was said to be a descendant of people from the East Continent, had not allowed me to touch, saying it was an heirloom.
“A knife is ultimately a murder weapon no matter how many words are used. But if you can protect what you need to protect with that sword…”
After casually handing over the secret sword and heirloom to his disciple, the teacher laughed.
“…Well, it would be okay to call it ‘Ilsaeng (一生)’ instead of ‘Ilsal’ anymore.”
***
Nobody suddenly came to his senses.
Had darkness infiltrated my weakened heart? The last day with my teacher passed before my eyes.
The world around was moving slowly.
It was a state of extreme concentration unique to Gigam users. It was also the reason why Nobody, who was blind, could move on the battlefield on an equal footing with others.
Nobody felt tentacles raining down from all directions and darkness surrounding the ship.
“….”
Nobody let go of the black sword he had been using – the Dragon Slayer made from Aipian.
I was so absorbed in the act of ‘cutting’ that I forgot my purpose and decided to stop borrowing the power of darkness.
Instead, he held in his hand the very old long sword that he always wore at his waist.
Since joining the front line here, Ash has continued to provide me with new equipment. Every time he broke his sword in battle, Ash would get a better one and give it to Nobody.
However, this old long sword was always at Nobody’s waist. Nobody always carried two long swords.
An unnamed sword passed down to me by my teacher.
The moment I grabbed this old knife, which had a lot of teeth and had completely lost its balance due to using it for too long, to use it.
“…!”
With a lightning bolt of enlightenment, I understood all the principles in the nine verses that the teacher had recited.
Nobody noticed.
‘iced coffee.’
Right now.
Nobody held the scabbard with his left hand and the handle of the old long sword with his right hand, slowly pulled out the sword all the way and then snapped it
.
I gently put the blade back into the sheath.
The next moment
flashes…!
A fleeting flash of light lit up the area, followed by a splitting of the darkness.
Not only all the tentacles and claws that were pouring out around the airship, but even the curtain that was drawn in front of the airship. They were all cut horizontally.
Strangely enough, none of the allies on that sword path were cut.
Just as this sword had distinguished the Fia…
the darkness shattered around the ship, letting out a miserable scream. The airship La Mancha pierced the veil and entered the next darkness.
“omg?!”
Warlock Chain was in a shallow nightmare and woke up, swallowing his breath, from the flash of light caused by Nobody.
“Nobody?! Hey, are you okay?!”
Chain urgently crawled across the deck and approached Nobody.
Nobody, kneeling on the floor, had gray hair. The blind swordsman smiled faintly, bleeding from his nose and mouth.
“On the day of the fall festival when I first ate cotton candy with my teacher when I was young.”
“….”
“It was so delicious that I asked what it resembled and he said it resembled a cloud in the sky.”
After completing the secret sword, Chain cried in front of his dying old friend. Nobody mumbled in a weak voice.
“But since I didn’t know what clouds looked like, I used to imagine things as I wanted. The high sky will be full of cotton candy. “Someday, I want to go up very high in the sky.”
“….”
“How is it that you’ve climbed this high? “Is the whole place a cotton candy field…?”
In the still dark sky, Chain stopped laughing.
“Yes, you idiot. It’s very sweet and vibrates. “There’s colorful cotton candy everywhere.”
“haha. “This has fulfilled my lifelong wish…”
Nobody’s breathing became weak.
“I think a sky full of cotton candy of all colors would be prettier than a sky that is always dark and pitch-black.”
“….”
“That kind of sky… even people like me can protect it….”
The words were cut off.
Nobody was breathing anymore.
Chain grabbed his dead friend’s shoulder tightly while holding the knife, and then looked back, gritting his teeth.
After barely overcoming one hurdle, the next darkness was pouring down like a waterfall.
Just like his old friend, he also helped the rest of his comrades… to protect the world.
Chain shouted and activated his ultimate ability, turning into a huge dark giant and catching the waterfall with his body.
***
Kuilan patted his swollen belly with his hand.
“Oh, stop eating, bro! “I can’t eat because my stomach is full.”
“What does he mean? “There was nothing left but bones and skin.”
One sunny fall day. A valley with clear water.
Kuilan’s older brother, Kureha, was constantly cooking in a hut built next to the valley.
“If you’re coming to see your brother after a long time, you should gain some weight. Hang in there. “Because I’m baking dessert pies.”
“Take it in moderation, bro… I’m going to turn into a real pig if I keep doing this…”
Kuilan yawned profusely, holding his full stomach. I felt sleepy because I ate too much.
The sun is warm and the wind is cool.
What could be more pleasant than lying down on the mat like this and taking a nap?…
It was at that time that Kuilan was starting to doze off.
Flashing…!
A flash of light flashed in the distance.
It was a beautiful color produced by a sword that risked someone’s life.
Kuilan’s eyes, which had been drowsy after eating a lot, opened wide. Kuilan quickly got up from his seat.
“I have to go.”
“huh? Where? “What are you doing?”
“To save you.”
Kuilan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
“To save Yoon.”
Then Kureha laughed.
“This guy finally finds someone he likes?”
“…huh.”
“What kind of person are you?”
“It’s a human woman. He’s very confident and clear-headed and, well… he likes me. a lot.”
Kuilan, who hesitated, spoke honestly.
“I was actually afraid. Getting close to someone. “Being connected to someone.”
“….”
“I’m afraid I’ll lose that person just like I lost my brother. “I’m afraid that I, who am already weak, will develop another weakness…”
I was afraid of experiencing the same pain again after losing someone precious to me.
I didn’t want to love anyone.
However, in the face of Yun’s unyielding barrage of affection, Kuilan eventually opened his heart.
“Actually, I missed you too.”
Kureha smiled as she brought out a freshly baked pie from the hut oven.
“The future where you get married, have children, and live happily ever after…”
“…Hyung.”
“But it’s okay. Even though I couldn’t see it in person, I just heard that there was someone you wanted to save by sacrificing yourself… body and soul. happy.”
Kureha picked up the pie and stuffed it into Kuilan’s mouth.
“You’re doing well on your own now, my little brother. Now then, go quickly!”
“….”
“Leaving the woman you like to someone else to save…”
Kureha slyly winked.
“Isn’t it so cool?”
Kuilan swallowed the pie in his mouth in one go and smiled.
“That’s really true, bro.”
Kureha raised her fist. Kuilan raised his fists and his brothers’ fists met in the air.
“I will live happily until my stomach explodes, even doing my brother’s part.”
“Of course you should. “It’s my miracle.”
The older brother in my memories smiled brightly.
“Now…be a miracle for the person you love.”
Kuilan nodded loudly and turned back.
And….
***
《Pfft…!》
Lunared, who had barely come to his senses from the flash of light caused by Nobody, stood up shakily.
《I was completely out of shape, in the dark… I lost consciousness…》
I was in absolutely not my condition. Lunared couldn’t understand.
《Why? “I took away such a perfect body, but why isn’t it going the way
I want it to?” Lunared, who was trembling, belatedly noticed that her body was moving beyond its will.
The right arm was raised upward, above the clenched right fist… A dark red energy was swirling around.
That dark red energy is….
《What?》
The curse of the wolf.
It was the curse itself that turned Luna Red into a werewolf and the Maple Lang tribe into beastmen.
A virtual ‘vessel’ pulsating like a heart was created in the air, and the wolf’s curse that escaped from Kuilan’s body was swirling and flowing into it.
《What on earth is this?!》
Starting from the right arm closest to the bowl, the silver-red hair and hypertrophied muscles fell out and began to change into the appearance of an ordinary human.
In an instant, the right half of the body changed from a wolf to a human.
And with the right side of his face completely restored to human form – Kuilan said.
“I learned something while fighting on the front lines, my ancestor.”
《…?!》
“The martial law you passed down is powerful and subversive, but it is a little different from the direction I pursue.”
Kuilan chuckled. Luna Red was shocked.
“After all, I’m a bit of a delicate type. Should I say that I felt the need to lower the power a bit and increase the detail?”
《No way, you from the beginning…!》
“In order to grow further as a martial artist and complete the martial arts form I want, I needed you… if possible, I needed to completely learn all of the Wolf’s Curse and then cleanly remove it.”
Now, not only the right half of the body but most of the body has changed into that of a human. Luna Red was rapidly losing control of his body to his original owner.
“That’s why I gave it a try on purpose.”
《You bastard! How dare you use me?! Don’t be funny! I think I’ll just quietly disappear like this-》
“I’m sorry, but my brother already taught me how to get you out completely.”
Kuilan has inherited the power of a tribal god.
I was able to apply the ‘vessel of curse’ spell that Kureha showed me.
From the beginning, Kuilan created a small ‘vessel’ to prevent it from being completely eaten by Lunared, and used the part where the curse escapes as a breathing hole, looking for an opportunity to take over the body again.
Quaaaaa!
A ‘vessel’ pulsated above Kuilan’s right fist, condensing all the curses that had been placed on Kuilan there.
《Stop, descendants! “Once the wolf curse is removed from you, what is left?!”
Lunared shouted urgently.
《You… become nothing more than an ordinary human being with a weak, glass-like body! You will never again be able to unleash the same beastly destructive power as before! Then what value is left to you?”
“What makes me who I am is what thoughts I have and what actions I take.”
Now, except for part of the face, there is no trace of the wolf left anywhere.
Kuilan clenched his right fist.
“I am still a member of the Danpunglang tribe, a representative of all beastmen, and a member of the World Defense Front…” A
shy smile appeared on Kuilan’s lips.
“Yoon’s man.”
《You…!》
“Thank you all. “Thank you for working hard for future generations until the very end.”
《You bastard-!》
Lunared was speechless.
The stance of the Maple Fist that Kuilan slowly prepared was significantly different from the one he had created. No….
‘Has it improved?’
Not that of a wolf, but that of a human – everything had been trimmed appropriately.
So that you can use it without having to borrow the power of the wolf anymore.
So that anyone, not just beastmen, can learn and practice without relying on curses… without losing the basic principles. However, it had a gentle and peaceful red color.
《What is this…?》
“A maple ticket.”
Kuilan answered, going through the postures one by one and reaching Oh’s single-minded wind-ranging posture.
“Of a new generation.”
《…Hahahahahaha!》
Little Lunared roared.
“Now you are no longer a 44-year-old scholar!”
Kuilan wondered if this evil ancestor was going to declare excommunication.
But no.
“You are the new master of your martial art!”
Lunared acknowledged Kuilan in an unexpectedly refreshing voice.
《Go. Damn descendants. Surpass me, surpass my clan…!》
Luna Red’s final words flowed into Kuilan’s ears as he blinked in surprise.
《Go wherever you want to go in the new era!》
Eventually, even the last curse was removed from Kuilan’s body and transferred to the ‘vessel’.
“after.”
Kuilan took a short breath and looked straight ahead with his golden eyes flashing.
Next, a curtain of darkness was approaching right in front of the airship. Kuilan took his stance and prepared.
It is the most powerful weapon that can be used only once in a lifetime, burning all the curse and grace contained within one’s body.
“Super.”
No longer bound by the first form determined in the past,
overcome all past resentments and past sorrows –
“Single-hearted wind and blow!”
He pushed forward with a new sense of wisdom that he had pioneered through his own path that changed according to his own will.
On top of Kuilan’s improved martial arts, all the wolf curses taken from his body and Nightmare Slayer burned like fuel, adding to his power.
Hahahaha-!
The dazzling red fall foliage exploded, creating a huge hole in the veil of darkness.
“Wake up, Yoon.”
Kuilan whispered, filling the dark sky with his colors.
“It’s morning.”
