Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 214



Only Krnovel

Episode 214. Beyond the Edge of the Sword (2)

Isaac was the first to use the Eye of Chaos.

The eyes turned purple, tentacles began to squirm out between the eyelids, and I had never used them to this extent except when I wanted to find out everything about the other person.

‘… … I’m dizzy.’

Only when Isaac looked at Elril with confused eyes did he begin to understand a little of what he had said.

Despite my gaze filled with confusion, I was unable to find out even a speck of information about Elril.

It’s not that it’s invisible. There’s too much of it. Elril was preparing to cut down Isaac with tens of thousands of movements. It means he has complete control of this place.

Isaac, on the other hand, could see that no matter how hard he attacked, he wouldn’t even be able to graze.

His confidence is not arrogance.

‘But that’s when he fights like I’m a normal swordmaster… … .’

Isaac still doesn’t know how far he can go when he unleashes the power of chaos to its limits. He has been cautious because he knows that the more he borrows the power of chaos, the further away he becomes from his original self.

Today may be the stage to test that limit.

Isaac turned up the heat of the Ruaddin Key to its maximum. The heat that merged with his sword energies burned with an ominous aura. He took a deep breath and kicked the ground.

Boom. The shockwave split the granite slabs on the floor. The sword energy flowed out from the sword and raced, leaving strange marks on the walls and floor.

Suga gaga gaga, bang!

Isaac slashed Ellil’s body horizontally in one breath. However, Ellil caught the sword with one hand without even looking at it. He just stared at Isaac.

It was nonsense. It was impossible to block the black energy with an ordinary sword.

But Ellie could do it.

The tip of his sword was striking the hilt of the Ruaddin Key.

No matter how strong a sword is, there are parts where the power is weakest and parts where the power is strongest. The weakest part is the part near the handle, and the strongest part is the tip of the sword. Even if you use sword skills, the distribution of power does not change.

Ellie received it at the most precise point in that brief moment.

‘You should use the sword instead, you crazy bastard… … !’

Understanding something and following it are two completely different things.

Isaac was sure that even if he died and came back to life, he would not be able to learn Elril’s technique. Isaac continued to attack. He attacked with utmost caution, keeping in mind Elril’s counterattack, but was blocked by Elril’s sword every time.

But no matter what, it was strange that the tip of the sword wasn’t damaged.

“… … That’s not an ordinary sword, is it?”

“It is the Holy Sword Aleval.”

“Holy Sword Aleval? It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

“It means ‘no name.’”

You say you won’t use any miracles, swordsmanship, or sword skills, but you will use holy relics?

Isaac was about to point that out, but decided against it because he felt he looked so miserable. However, Ellie seemed to be concerned about it too, so she added an explanation.

“The moment I hold it, any sword becomes a holy sword. However, if it doesn’t have a story attached to it, it’s just better than a normal sword, so don’t worry about it.”

It just means that any knife you pick up will do.

Isaac felt dumbfounded by Elril’s words that anything he picked up would turn into a holy sword.

It was not an angel, but a weapon written by a god. It was inevitable that it would become a holy sword. However, it was also true that Elril did not use the sword, and it was also true that no special energy was felt from the sword.

Isaac was convinced and continued his attack.

Kkakakakak, bang, bang, kkwak!

Isaac’s attack was rough and violent, but it was merely a trap to elicit a reaction from Elril.

Isaac’s trick was obvious to Ellil, so he didn’t seem to be thinking of making a move unless there was a ‘real’ opening. So Isaac violently grabbed Ellil’s sword with his sword and bit it, disrupting his movements.

After repeating the attack several times, Isaac was finally able to understand his movements through the eyes of chaos.

His body was like a machine, pursuing extreme efficiency and effectiveness. Every single muscle strand contracted and relaxed with a clear purpose.

Movements so beautiful that you can even feel the functional beauty.

‘Was this guy a monster from birth?’

Isaac was still dizzy from Elril’s tricks that were difficult to imitate, but he continued his offensive. Elril had declared that he would not use his sword. If he failed to strike the exact point where the strength and weakness intersect, even once, the sword would break.

Isaac aimed for it.

‘… … Honestly, I don’t know if Elril could win even with bare hands.’

Kkwadduk!

And Isaac succeeded in meeting Elril’s blades when their fourth attacks crossed. The moment their blades met, the teeth on Elril’s sword fell out and a crack appeared. Isaac did not miss that gap and immediately activated Isaac’s Sword Technique: Eight Prongs.

Kwadudududu! Isaac’s momentum exploded in an instant, creating the appearance of a beast crawling out of the abyss and pounced on him. The eight-tentacled monster swallowed Elril in one breath.

Swish, swish, swish!

However, Elril swung her sword, patting some of the trajectory of Isaac’s swing.

‘Eight Forks’ lost its flow and broke apart in an instant.

The beast-like form he had created with his sword disappeared in vain, and Isaac’s balance collapsed. Elril approached him as if taking a walk and placed the blade of his sword against Isaac’s neck.

“two.”

Elril whispered. He didn’t know how many times he would look at her, but Isaac was already moving on to his next attack before he could open his mouth.

The abyss’s grasp rose from beneath Isaac’s shadow.

The abyssal claws that jutted out from just beneath Elril’s feet swung as if to bite and tear him apart in one breath. However, Isaac realized through shared pain that they were not meant to finish off their prey, but to writhe in pain.

The Abyss’s Grasp, which had never been cut or wounded before, split vertically, revealing its internal organs and flesh. The Abyss’ Grasp quickly melted away and disappeared into the colors beyond.

Elril was not swallowed up by the abyss’ grasp. The moment he burst out, he quickly retreated and lowered his sword.

But it was a success. Elil stared at Isaac and tapped his sword. With a crack, the sword broke in half. The part where Isaac had worked so hard to create a crack had broken.

“It’s pretty good.”

Isaac took his position again.

Although Elil took Isaac’s life twice, Isaac broke Elil’s holy sword, Aleval. Breaking the sword of God is an encouraging achievement.

But instead of picking up a new sword, Ellil picked up the broken blade.

Then he took a dual-sword stance. What had been Aleval was now Al and Reval.

“Let’s try increasing the difficulty a little.”

With such an absurd weapon, more than now?

Isaac wanted to laugh, but the corners of his mouth wouldn’t move.

‘There’s a limit to how much you can make fun of.’

His eyes burned more intensely.

“Then let me try increasing the difficulty level.”

Isaac’s left hand finally began to move and change shape.

***

Despite his bluff, Isaac had never considered Elril to be ‘easy’ from the start.

The reason I haven’t used the tentacle on my left hand until now is because it would interfere with holding the sword, and I judged that it wouldn’t be able to properly exert its power in an unfamiliar state. The tentacle was only a tool that could be used irregularly in unexpected situations.

However, the opponent was one that had to find a breakthrough even through experimental attempts.

Bang. Isaac ran towards Ellie again.

This time, instead of facing straight ahead, he turned to the side to find his opening. Ellil countered Isaac’s attacks with minimal movement. This may be because performing elaborate movements requires a high level of concentration.

So, here we need flashy and varied techniques.

Crunch, crunch, crunch! The tentacles gripped the Ruaddin Key tightly. Having seen Elril cut off the Abyss’s grip, it would be foolish to swing the tentacles around recklessly. Instead, he decided to use the increased strength and flexible movements provided by the tentacles.

The hilt of the Ruaddin Key, which had become completely fused with his left hand, was nowhere to be seen. The blazing flames seemed to scream.

‘now!’

The moment Ellil took a step to face Isaac, who was circling around his body, Isaac immediately kicked off the wall and ran towards him. Wherever he ran, the colors of the abyss burst out and fell upon Ellil.

Not enough to inflict lethal force, but enough to obscure vision.

Isaac swung the Luaddin Key wrapped around his tentacles, mimicking Lyanna’s advanced swordsmanship. It would be impossible to completely imitate her swordsmanship without the Lumiad. However, the splendid trajectory changes in her swordsmanship could be somewhat imitated with the flexibility of his tentacles.

Kagagagagak! When he used the Elyon swordsmanship, dozens of beasts gaped at Ellil in the colors that spread out like ink. Ellil didn’t even blink and tried to calmly interrupt and destroy Isaac’s swordsmanship like he had done before.

At that moment, Isaac’s eyes flashed. With eyes of confusion, he tried to delve deep into Elil’s emotions in order to shake them.

“… … !”

But what was felt inside was only one thought: struggle.

He had no emotion to draw out.

bang!

Finally, Elril’s sword and Isaac’s sword clashed.

But Isaac’s sword did not shake as easily as before. Elril’s eyebrows twitched. The absurd strength and flexibility created by the tentacles absorbed and deflected Elril’s attacks. Elril had no choice but to start blocking the attacks pouring down on him one by one.

It was like catching the raindrops one by one. It was a ridiculous movement, but to Ellie it seemed as simple as taking a walk.

“three.”

It was clearly Isaac who was hiding in the colors beyond and pushing forward, and Elril was busy blocking the attack. However, it was Isaac who was pushed back.

My breathing became increasingly difficult, my vision became dizzy, and I was slowly starting to feel hungry.

“four.”

In the meantime, Isaac’s life was taken twice more.

But Isaac kept pushing him without stopping.

Just one mistake, just one moment of carelessness can break you.

Isaac was already using the ‘Broken Crystal Stone Fragment’.

‘This is an opponent that no one can even talk to.’

The future of battle, illuminated by the broken crystal shards, pushes Isaac’s concentration to the limit. In the intense concentration that almost burns his brain, Isaac feels the world slowing down. Just like Elril, he cannot afford a single mistake, a single failure.

‘Only a head-on confrontation can elicit a reaction!’

Isaac jumped in with the intention of killing Elril, but he had no intention of winning.

When such a fighting spirit triggers some emotion or reaction in Elil, victory will finally come. With that single-minded determination, Isaac brings out the maximum potential he has.

Pick, gulp… … As I grasped Elril’s intentions and actions with my eyes of intense concentration and confusion, which had been drawn up by the broken crystal stone, my eyes became bloodshot and tears of blood welled up.

But Isaac didn’t even notice the bloody tears coming out. Before the bloody tears could obscure his vision, the tentacles were sucking them up.

Advanced swordsmanship techniques implemented with high concentration also burst out without stopping. Eight-pronged, Drowning Hand, Avalanche swordsmanship, Rottenhammer swordsmanship, Cidric, Aldeon Knights, and Elyon Knights swordsmanship. The swordsmanship techniques that Isaac had seen, heard, and swallowed were implemented in detail and poured out.

Thanks to this, there was no part of his body that was not overworked.

At the same time, Isaac was finally able to imitate Elil’s movements.

His muscles, bones, blood flow, and nerves were forcibly fitted together like a machine, screaming under the strain. It was the result of a violent will that threatened to burst if he didn’t move as he wanted. In fact, his body was bursting.

Even the tentacles holding the Ruaddin Key burst and split open, bleeding as they could not withstand the pressure. However, Isaac did not stop and pushed himself forward. He was so focused that he did not even realize that his body was splitting and bursting all over, caught up in his own sword energy.

It was just a whirlpool that swallowed everything, gaping open and trying to swallow Ellil.

Shh, Isaac’s blood scattered like mist, like steam.

The blood mist mixed with the colors beyond, becoming a true monster, a monster conceived and born of chaos, swinging its sword.

A true beast of disaster.

Now it was impossible to distinguish Isaac from the colors beyond.

Only then did Elil begin to move.

***

Elril quickly stepped on the ground and continued to attack and defend to avoid being caught in Isaac’s swordsmanship.

A fighting spirit that does not spare one’s own body.

But Ellie felt that it was done not out of resignation but out of conviction.

And I was thrilled by that fighting spirit.

It was a struggle enough to awaken old feelings.

“five.”

Elril’s sword cut near Isaac’s heart again. But he secretly doubted whether Isaac would have stopped beating even if he had stabbed him in the heart like that.

Isaac’s fighting spirit would have certainly made him give up his heart and strike down his own body. And it was becoming increasingly difficult for Elril to strike Isaac’s weak points.

Minor doubts.

Pulling it out was enough for Isaac.

If only Elr could be reminded that his odds of winning this fight might not be 100%.

Only then did Eliel realize what was happening.

Isaac was fighting with everything he had, even risking his life, but he was forcing something on Elil.

Use your sword and show me your sword skills.

Put what you have before me.

Isaac was growing fiercely in the meantime. By studying and devouring every single movement of Elril, he felt the sword energy taking shape according to his will. No, the sword energy was guiding and leading him.

It gave Isaac some insight.

‘The black magic, surely… … .’

And the moment Isaac surpassed a certain limit, he stopped pouring out all his sword skills.

I forgot all about it. I threw away all the miracles, all the holy relics, all the blessings, all the wonders.

All that was left for him to do was one action.

He followed Ellie’s movements exactly.