“…”
Oh my god.
There were no words that better expressed the current situation.
Who was Joshua Lindsay?
He was the youngest among the five Sword Masters in the western continent and was known to have the most outstanding skills among the strongest.
And this person in front of them had exchanged dozens of strikes with that Joshua Lindsay.
And moreover it was a young man who was a little over 20!
“Headmaster.”
“… go on.”
“That young man… Airn Pareira’s skills were they of that level?”
“… haha.”
Joseph burst into laughter.
No.
Never.
Airn a year ago was great too but he had barely become a Sword Master in the past.
Defeating Ilya Lindsay was in fact the result of luck or at least that was what Joseph had thought.
Then what about now?
The density of the aura sword that Airn had was absurd. The smoothness of the aura operation couldn’t be compared to the past at all.
In all other respects he has shown insane growth to make up a strong swordsmanship.
Like..
“… it’s like looking at someone else.”
Next to the shocked Joseph the others too were in disbelief.
All the geniuses they had known about till then had been completely erased from their minds. Right in front of them was the dazzling name ‘Airn Pareira’.
“…”
But there was another person who was more shocked than they were.
It was Joshua Lindsay.
Unlike those who hadn’t seen Airn till then he had seen this man just three months ago.
And of course he was great back then.
He had the ability to triumph over his daughter whom he thought was the greatest genius on the continent so no one had to tell him how hard Airn had worked to achieve it.
‘… Airn back then.’
Compared to the current Airn the past one seemed so lacking.
It wasn’t just the swordsmanship or aura.
‘As I thought. His attitude… it has completely changed.’
Unlike Ian who was known to have a good eye for seeing people or Quincy Myers who knew about it after a while Joshua wasn’t like them.
But the more he shared swords with this person the more he felt it.
It meant that he found his own pace after getting out of the shadow of Ignet.
His passion was still burning hot.
But there was no impatience. There was a calmness which controlled the flames.
And there were no signs of overdoing it and no signs of fear either.
All because of one move.
Joshua Lindsay almost unwittingly uttered words of praise. But the words that came out were the exact opposite.
“… it isn’t a perfected technique.”
The Lord had a hard time being honest.
The pain in his heart was still fresh to praise this man openly.
He remembered what had happened 3 months ago.
The day he thought he gave pretty good advice to his daughter.
He witnessed her running suddenly somewhere…and then saw his daughter sharing swords with the man affectionately!
Heat rose to Joshua’s head at the thought and the words that came out of his mouth turned colder.
And he spoke with sharp eyes.
“The flow of the attack was good. But the response after that is messed up. You didn’t think that you’d be able to subdue me in one hit right? Considering the follow up situation you should have paid attention to balance after the clash trying to escape the moment without thinking and it pushed you 20 steps back. If it was a real battle you would have been dead.”
‘No…’
‘He did extremely well… so why is he being so tough?’
‘He is known to be tough but isn’t he being too harsh?’
The swordsmen of Joseph swordsmanship school were shocked.
This young man was going against the head of one of the 5 best swordsmen families.
It deserved praise but Joshua Lindsay was being too strict.
It made it seem like the Lord hated Airn. However the blonde kid didn’t seem upset.
Rather he nodded his head as if it made sense.
“The Lord is right. Sorry. I will work harder.”
“… Hm.”
‘This is why I hate him even more!’
Joshua thought this young man was really kind and good.
So he hated him even more. Since he couldn’t see any part of the young man which was bad.
In the end he brushed off his thoughts with a sigh and raised his energy again.
Woong the silvery aura turned stronger.
Seeing that he turned to see Airn Pareira who took the stance again and softly said.
“I’ll give you some time.”
Huh?
“I heard something…that the blow you can pull off when enough time is given… is on a different level.”
“Hm”
Airn made an expression that he could understand.
He must have heard it from Quincy Myers.
A fatal one-hit attack that cannot be used in actual combat but can only be demonstrated with sufficient time was given.
‘…come to think of It I’ve always been confident in that direction.’
One by one he recalled the past.
It reminded him of the final evaluation in Krono. The time he visited Ian after 5 years and used the slash.
The time when Jet Frost accepted defeat in face of the slash. It was the same even after becoming the Sword Master.
When he was tested by Quincy Myers and when he fought with Khun too. He had won their approval with his best move.
‘Then how about now?’
Airn nodded his head.
There was nothing to worry about.
As Joshua said given enough time he could display the most powerful and destructive swordsmanship when compared to the other strikes.
He wasn’t confident but he was quite certain.
The three great swordsmen Ian Khun and Julius Hul… and Quincy Myers.
Even if he couldn’t overwhelm them with force.
He had a belief that he had sufficient odds against the strong ones.
Such emotions flowed from his eyes.
“Such provocative eyes.”
“…”
“Not bad. I’ll be honest. I like that look.”
“You will be pretty nervous.”
“I get it so get ready.”
“Yes.”
Airn answered and closed his eyes.
Limiting the most important point of view in the five senses was an action which couldn’t be imagined in real life.
But at that moment it didn’t matter.
What you have to do is something one can’t even dream of… to gather the power.
To merge it and then complete it and pour out everything that one is capable of exerting in one single slash.
‘This one thing… I call it my best blow!’
Woong!
As he finished it the Aura Sword covering Airn’s sword soared louder.
The onlookers saw the Aura being manifested in the best way; it was an energy which had accumulated by overcoming numerous trials.
The Aura of metal flame water of the five elements.
In addition to that the strength of mind he learned from Ignet as well as the swordsmanship passed from the paladins of the Holy Kingdom.
Combining all those into one was difficult but little by little progress was beginning to be made with his sharpened senses.
Wooooong…!
The air shook. He could have been mistaken but it looked that way to Joseph. It was the same for the others.
As they watched Airn’s sword which continued to shine brighter they had no idea that their mouths were open.
They didn’t care.
Rather they couldn’t care about it.
At this moment their entire focus was on Airn.
Joshua Lindsay one of the top 10 swordsmen.
‘Since you gave me enough time to prepare… even I have no idea what might happen!’
Blink!
Airn’s eyes finally opened and an intense gaze was directed at the head of the Lindsay family.
They weren’t the eyes of a junior who wanted to be recognized by his senior.
They were the eyes which wanted to defeat the opponent like a swordsman!
… but.
“….!”
He saw Joshua Lindsay floating in the sky.
As he saw that he became aware of how arrogant the thoughts he had inside were.
Woong!
Woooong!
A typhoon was coming his way.
No the aura of the storm was even more fearful than a typhoon. An unrelenting gust of wind which danced around.
Airn raised his head and looked at the sky. The wind was ripping apart everything.
Joshua Lindsay who reigned over him looked down at Airn and the scene was like the daunting return of Dion Lindsay who struck down the Demon Dragon King 400 years back.
‘Heaven’s… Sword.’
“Airn.”
The Lord opened his mouth.
Airn couldn’t answer. But it felt like his mind was burning by holding his attention praying that his attack wouldn’t collapse.
And then Joshua Lindsay shouted.
“Believe!”
What?
What is that supposed to mean?
What was he even saying in this situation?
All of those thoughts soon disappeared without a trace.
In the blink of an eye the moment when the two swords clashed;
Clash!
A loud roar resounded throughout the hall.
“Kuak!”
“…!”
Wheik!
Woong!
Shhh!
There was a powerful shock wave.
The people there couldn’t respond.
But it was good. Joseph had pulled out his sword and saved everyone from the attacks which fell onto them.
Lulu and Kirill summoned their sorcerer barrier and shield to block the shock as well.
Tuk!
Tuk!
Stones fell all around. And then the larger stones started to fall down like hail.
Joseph couldn’t stop that so the stones fell down on several people’s heads. But nobody complained.
What had just occurred was like a mythical battle which would come out in a history book.
Seeing Joshua Lindsay standing tall at the end everyone was at a loss of words.
‘… did I overdo it?’
The Lord was slightly regretting what he had done.
He hadn’t thought of it. But seeing the energy of Airn growing stronger and stronger without stopping he thought that it would be difficult to receive it.
It was for that reason that he had to use the final technique of the Sky Sword.
Airn wasn’t the only one who concentrated on his growth during his spare time
‘But well… I managed to counter that power so it is fine.’
Joshua nodded.
Airn was down but that was all.
Thanks to the gentle wind at the end there were no wounds on Airn’s body.
Of course it didn’t matter even if they were wounds. He even felt a bit bad that he was unhurt.
“Well this is good.”
He mumbled.
This could make up for the pain he felt 3 months ago which kept weighing on his heart.
Then wasn’t this a good thing?
Joshua who rationalized it took the sword and it was the time when felt slightly refreshed that he heard a voice coming from behind him.
“Dad.”
Flinch.
It was a familiar and beautiful voice.
His body trembled.
He felt it right away.
What kind of emotions were in the owner of the voice and with what expression she was looking at him.
“… daughter.”
Still he had to look back.
When Joshua Lindsay’s turned. Standing there was the one he loved more than anyone Ilya Lindsay.
Her gaze on him was colder than the wind of the northern continent.
