[345] Divine Transcendence (2)
“Equip yourself with four sides!”
40 crew members united in a circle. In a situation where the enemy could not be identified, the most important thing was not to be defeated individually.
Kuan finally captured the enemy.
From 20 meters away, a dark curtain shimmered, and one after another, white masks flipped over to reveal themselves.
“what?”
At some point, those wearing owl-like masks swirled around and stood up in a triangular formation.
Sureureung!
Thirty people drew their swords at the same time, but there was only one sound. Seeing them standing in the same posture aiming at the line of sight reminded me of a certain group’s information I had heard during the commander’s training.
“No way…”
Poongjang, the strongest swordsmanship group on earth.
‘Why is Pungjang here?’
Fengzhang is an escort knight for Theraze, the empress of the Kashan Empire. If such people appeared, there was one reason. Cointra, the leader of the Dark Church, is under the protection of Thera.
“What are you up to, Kashan?”
“If you go to the underworld…”
Poongjang’s monopoly on collective killing was fired.
“You will find out.”
“Aaaagh!”
I heard the screams of the 2nd company. Even for Kuan, it was a tremendous life. No matter how veteran it was, it wasn’t the level of energy that a normal soldier could fight back.
“Sheesh!”
As Quan kicked off the ground and charged, the Fengzhang scattered like the wind and gathered again. Dozens of swords created thousands of afterimages, and Quan’s body moved as if ignoring gravity.
‘shit. How many points of external gravity are there?’
The skill of the fan was truly astounding. Those who implement fluid mechanics with the human body. It felt like we were losing our sense of direction and sharing swords in the middle of zero gravity.
But it was Fengzhang who was really surprised.
‘It takes a long time. How many times have you swung it?
‘Approximately 23,000 times.’
There are very few people who can withstand Fengzhang’s swordsmanship more than 1000 times. In other words, it meant that it could grind any being in one second.
‘How naughty God is.’
If this world were 100% perfect, all creatures would be happy as microbes. But always nature makes 0.1 percent mutations. The existence of that 0.1% lowers the remaining 99.9% to insignificance.
‘Born as a product of chance… a specially chosen being.’
That was the impression Fengzhang felt for Quan.
Technology Skills Body balance Ability to handle gravity Ideas to create new routes.
‘This man is a genius.’
At the same time as he thought, the Fengjang staff spread out like wings. Then it became a gale again and coiled around Quan like a snake.
‘Kill the genius.’
Fengzhang’s sword engulfed all space. It was so fast that it felt like it was coming rather slowly.
“Wow! rush! Rush!”
At that moment, the company members rushed in. As soon as it entered the radius of the wind field, its flesh was ground like a piece of meat caught in a mechanism. Quan’s escape from the sword was almost instinctive.
‘This crazy…!’
An old man named Kobe, the oldest in the company, passed Quan for the last time. He didn’t even have time to say goodbye, but his smiling eyes said a thousand words instead.
‘Live. Company commander.’
Looking at the company members being slaughtered in an instant, Kuan realized why they had to die.
‘I see. At least one person has to get out.’
Kashan’s involvement needs to be reported to the superiors. Otherwise, more members of the search party will fall into the trap of Poongjang.
‘This is the best. Because if someone has to live, I’m the most likely.’
Kuan, who was driven away by the force of external gravity, indifferently looked at the dark storm that raged in the darkness. All the crew members whom I had not known for a day, or who had never even met eyes with, passed away.
I felt something hot in ‘Why…’ .
A huge flame burned in a place that was thought to have been extinguished and left nothing but ashes.
“Why the hell! damn it!”
As Quan flew away, bursting with external gravity, the scattered wind fields gathered like feathers in a triangular formation 20 meters away.
“All of you… don’t think about going back alive.”
Fengzhang didn’t answer. In an unexpected situation, their heads were running complicatedly.
‘Mission failed.’
No, it almost failed.
If Quan had made up his mind to run away, Fengzhang would not have been able to catch him. The lives of 40 insignificant people set an irreversible precedent for the world’s strongest Fengzhang.
Fengzhang, who stood in the lead, slowly lifted his hand and took off his mask, and Quan’s forehead twitched. A woman’s face with thin, slanted corners of her eyes was revealed beneath her thick, pale eyes, as if she had no eyebrows.
“This is the first time a living person has seen the face of Fengzhang.”
“So what? Do you want me to be thrilled?”
“Come into the wind farm. We will lead you.”
It was an unconventional proposal even for Kuan, who is acknowledged by the world. Above all, they are the direct subordinates of Terase, the third emperor. If he accepted the offer, he would rise vertically to the highest possible position for a prosecutor.
Quan finally withdrew the sword and slung it over his shoulder.
“refuse.”
The woman’s head tilted gently. Which swordsman in the world refuses Fengzhang’s proposal? It was clear that he had lost his sense of reality due to the death of his comrades.
“The death of a subordinate is regrettable. But a new future awaits you. Don’t bury your talent in the past.”
Quan snorted. No matter how great the Fengzhang is, there can’t be two of the best under the sky.
“Don’t be mistaken. My men only fulfilled their mission as soldiers. The fool is the commander who can’t control his emotions.”
“Then why are you refusing?”
Quan’s sword aimed again at the woman’s forehead.
“I’ve been curious since before, isn’t it embarrassing? What do you call the strongest among those who gather in groups and slash?”
“…a breakdown.”
At the same time as the woman put on the owl mask, the 30 Fengzhi scattered like the wind and flew towards Quan.
‘wait. I’ll take at least one.’
How would you raise your face in the afterlife if you betrayed the expectations of your subordinates and did not even make a companion on the other side of the world?
Kuan fell into the storm of Fengzhang, spreading external gravity in all directions. The movements made by masters of external gravity went beyond combat and approached art.
‘Right. The answer was surprisingly easy.’
Kuan jumped over the wall. It was a certain level that I was able to overcome because I did not want to live. This time, Fungjang couldn’t help but be nervous. The forest of ghosts trembled at the deafening wails of dozens of swords.
‘Is a sword really beautiful?’
At the end of the joy, Quan’s sword cut the trajectory. Fengzhang’s neck was separated from the body, and at the same time, another heart stopped stuck in the blade.
‘two people. That’s enough to pay for the meal.’
Whoo oh oh oh!
Realizing the death of his colleague, the flow of wind exploded like a turbulent stream. The killing of two people at the same time was an extremely rare event in the entire history of Fengzhang.
Quan calmly watched as their anger raged in the form of a frenzy. But they didn’t kill Quan. Instead, he took off his Achilles tendon like fish meat.
“Aaaaaaa!”
Quan screamed. It wasn’t because it was painful. Everything that made him up, including the realization from a moment ago, disappeared as 30 grams of flesh fell off.
The nickname “magician on the battlefield” came from his magical swordsmanship, which decapitated opponents anytime, anywhere, but it was possible thanks to his genius activity and mobility.
There is no genius without an Achilles heel. He was no longer a battlefield mage.
“Geuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…!”
Kuan couldn’t stand up. I couldn’t get up. Still, he stretched out his arms and crawled up the hillside. I could hear the deafening wails of the wind that circled around me. The voices uttered by 28 people, one syllable at a time, would be unforgettable even after a lifetime.
– You have become a mere insignificant thing.
Kuan continued to crawl. I was not afraid of death because I had lost everything. However, he could not abandon his 40 members and give up his life.
– Struggling like a bug.
“Aww! shut up!”
– Bark like a dog.
“Kill! I mean kill!”
– Report to your master. He said that the windmill saved his life. wag your tail and tell me
As the wind gusted from Fengzhang, the sound of fireworks could be heard. For Quan, it was like the world was burning.
He fell facedown on the ground and clenched his fists. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I couldn’t stop the belief that I had dedicated my life to from falling into the abyss.
“Aaaaaaaaaaa!”
Quan’s scream echoed in the forest of ghosts where Fengzhang disappeared.
“…”
Quan opened his eyes. His face was still indifferent, but cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Damn it.”
I couldn’t lift a single finger as if I was being pressed by scissors. It was always like that after I had a dream of Fengzhang. Ten minutes should be as stiff as a corpse. Just like the day 10 years ago when the Achilles tendon was cut.
After crawling out of the Haunted Forest, Quan lost consciousness upon returning and was urgently evacuated to Tormia.
Theraze reported that he was protecting the Dark Church, but as expected, it did not affect the situation.
The search battalion was disbanded after continuing sluggish local warfare while encircling the mountain range for about a month.
It seems that there was some kind of agreement with the Kashan Empire, but from there, it was a matter of politicians, so Kuan did not intervene.
Quan couldn’t be a hero. The incident of that day disappeared into history without even mentioning the name of Poongjang.
The military had offered him the position of battalion commander in the cavalry. It was like a second-class special promotion, but there was no way he didn’t know that it was for silence.
Kuan chose to be discharged. His mind had already been destroyed to the point where he could no longer hold the sword.
For a while, I lived like an idiot. Thinking of the members, he had never dreamed of committing suicide, and he had no suitable helpers.
Then one day, at the suggestion of his only friend, Kiyora Ellis, he was assigned to Kaizen Swordsmanship Academy.
‘It’s moving now.’
Kuan got out of bed and walked to the window with a limp on his right leg. The curtains were pulled back, and the morning sun was shining on the old desk.
Numerous papers were messed up.
Although the titles were different, the themes were similar, such as ‘Psychoanalytic view on the phenomenon of mental transcendence’, ‘Incarnation art’, and ‘Correlation between will and phenomenon’.
At the corner of the desk, memo pads on which he recorded his thoughts were stuck to them.
Quan looked down at them with dry eyes, then swept them all away with his hand.
He collected all the data on transcending the mind, but still he could not reach it. Let’s just say that moving the body with the power of the will. But what is an alternative will? Even now, he is lame. No matter how hard you try, it won’t work.
‘Ogent Lian.’
who could have predicted?
The fact that a boy with no talent to be found will do what Kuan, a recognized genius, could not do.
‘Couldn’t it be that I’m just an idiot?’
Quan shook his head. I knew the truth. That his sword had already been broken. The moment his Achilles tendon fell off, the sword god also turned his attention away from him.
‘Another year is over.’
Today was the last day of the second half of the swordsmanship school. The measurement subject of the cadets he was in charge of was wrestling, even among bactu.
Even if Lian could use divine transcendence, he wouldn’t be able to withstand the augmented strength of schema users.
Perhaps today will be another miserable day for him, but on the other hand, I was curious about the results of the past half year.
* * *
Tess entered the locker room with the female cadets in her group.
Wrestling is an evaluation item that requires close contact with the body, but since there is no meaning in separating men and women in a swordsmanship school, everyone had to take off their tops during evaluation.
However, women were allowed to wear tank tops.
Tess was having a hard time putting on a tank top. Although the original body was large, the volume was so good that it almost had to be squeezed in.
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