Chapter 140: The Old Swordsman Kasnar (2)

After finding my separated personality, I was able to return to being human.

Humans possess a conscience.

We know how to feel shame, and we must take responsibility for our actions.

That is why, right now, I intend to take responsibility for my past actions.

The settlement of that past, where I had been gratefully passed down the Sword of Will but returned to the Demon King’s Legion without doing anything.

Even if it is nothing more than an illusion created by the Tower, I must accomplish this.

“Step.”

The moment I took two steps forward.

“Thump, thump, thump, thump!”

Hundreds of members of the Demon King’s Legion entered the village through the valley like shadows.

Before I knew it, I was faced with fire-breathing monsters, lizardmen holding spears, and even dark spirits moving like the wind.

Looking at that sight I gripped the hilt of the rusty sword at my waist.

At that moment, a knight of the Demon King’s Legion crossed the entrance of the village.

Instantly.

-Swish!

A blade flashed past him like the wind.

No one saw it.

The knight’s head flew into the air, and the Demon Clan members stopped with shocked faces.

“Exhale.”

I took a breath.

One step and another step.

The stride was short and slow, but the trajectory of the sword was perfect.

“How dare you!” One of the officers leading the Demon King’s Legion, a Death Knight, gave an order, “Kill the enemy before them, that insignificant old man.”

At that moment.

“Rumble!”

The Demon King’s Legion surged forward like a crashing black wave.

The death of a single knight?

It was merely an unexpected display of competence.

In the end, as if there were no change to the fact that I would die, they rushed forward to create that inevitable conclusion.

Looking briefly at that sight.

“Step.”

I advanced one step.

-Creak.

My muscles and bones twisted from the single strike.

An aged body.

However, it was also a well-trained body.

The old swordsman, Kasnar, had trained while moving from one battlefield to another for a long time.

I did not know if he realized it, but the Karma accumulated in that body was no simple thing.

And I possessed the qualification to handle the Karma of that body.

Of course, it was something that could be called a glass cannon, or a glass sword.

A dangerous state that could break from even a small impact or movement.

But.

‘Cut them down.’

My will was speaking.

To cut the enemy.

Like that.

“Step.”

Moving my feet again, I narrowed the gap with the rushing Demon King’s Legion.

The first strike.

-Whoosh!

The rusty sword sliced through the air and spun.

Three monsters in the front.

Before they could even draw a breath, their heads fell.

The sprayed red blood erupted in the air, scattering in the wind like red flower petals.

There was no sound.

Only the result remained.

“Die, human!”

The second charge.

Five demon spearmen leapt forward simultaneously.

-Vwoom!

Spears thrusting down diagonally.

Movements like shadows.

However, I shifted my toe by 1mm.

In that instant, all the enemies’ trajectories were disrupted.

“Wh-what?!” One of the spearmen shouted in surprise.

But the answer was a sword strike that returned after accurately piercing the enemy’s heart.

Five spears.

Five hearts.

Everything vanished along a single line.

“How?”

“The sword is so slow…?”

Questions rose from everywhere.

The sword was slow.

However, no one in the Demon King’s Legion could withstand that sword.

With the current level of the Demon King’s Legion, they wouldn’t understand.

The will I contained within.

The certain death that meant anyone who entered that trajectory had no choice but to die.

-Screech!

“Kiii!”

Monsters burst out from among the flustered Demon King’s Legion.

Beings that remained only with the instinct to kill and eat humans.

But with a sword strike swung as I took a step, dozens of beasts collapsed simultaneously.

It was as if my footsteps were severing the battlefield.

“Surround him! Attack from all sides!” An officer of the Demon King’s Legion commanded.

-Dash!

Hundreds of troops belonging to the Demon King’s Legion rushed in at once.

“Roar!”

In the air, a Wyvern breathed fire.

On the ground, the giant beast Tyranox struck the earth.

“Boom!”

The entire village shook because of it.

Yet in the middle of it all, with my head bowed, I simply touched the tip of my finger to the sword once.

Silence.

In that split second, the sword swept through the air.

“Thud.”

At first, it was one.

The Wyvern, split in half, crashed to the ground.

Following that.

“Thud, thud, thud, thud!”

Dozens of troops fell, cut in two before they could even take a single step.

[Sword of Will (9)]

If they rushed at me all at once, I would actually welcome it.

This was because I had the Sword of Will, which could be used ten times.

Although I couldn’t exert the power to cut down a forest like in the past, it was suitable for cutting down many enemies in close range.

“Scatter!”

Realizing this, the enemy troops began to disperse.

Those fools didn’t know.

They didn’t know that the Sword of Will I just displayed was a limited ability that could only be used ten times, and only nine times from now on.

If they had recognized that and attacked, I would have faced a difficult situation, but it seemed the Tower wasn’t completely heartless.

– Tatap!

Conscious of the Sword of Will, they kept their distance and attacked with time intervals.

Along with that.

-Shhh.

A fog filled the surroundings.

It was a blockage of vision using magic and unique abilities.

And that.

‘…It’s troublesome.’

It was highly effective.

It had to be, since what I was controlling now was the aged body of Kasnar.

Not only did I lack the ability to respond to such visual obstruction, I couldn’t even grasp anything through sound because of the friction noise of wings echoing around me.

A place where both sight and sound were blocked.

It was a difficult task to prepare for an enemy’s surprise attack that could spring out from there at any moment.

No, based on my experience, it wasn’t that difficult.

However.

‘The consumption of mental power is great.’

Killing someone (even if they are a member of the Demon Clan who deserves to die) and fighting causes mental fatigue in addition to physical exhaustion.

In fact, that was the most important ability for me right now.

It had to be, considering what kind of output an aged body could produce.

And what kind of power a sword that wouldn’t be strange if it broke right now could exert.

What I had to trust was the Karma engraved on this body and my mental power to handle it.

However, if I were to expend my mental power in this state, achieving my goal of annihilating the Demon King’s Legion would become impossible. 

My task was to face the enemy while minimizing the consumption of my mental power as much as possible.

That was the challenge I faced immediately.

And I closed my eyes.

‘I will not be deceived by what I see.’

I blocked out what was seen, and even the sound.

Why?

If I can’t see or hear, how am I going to fight?

The answer was.

State of Selflessness

Forget myself.

Forget the enemy.

The goal is one.

Cut the enemy.

Change myself with only a single will.

Therefore, the current me transforms into a sword to cut the enemy.

When I closed my eyes, the battlefield was already under my control.

-Whoosh!

The enemies’ attacks, swords, and weapons flew in.

Spears aimed at my entire body.

But when my footsteps turned half a step, and I pulled the sword from hip height while bending my waist.

-Splatter!

Everything was sliced through.

“What?!”

“Is this a human…?”

“I can’t believe it!”

The Demon King’s Legion.

These killing machines, who wouldn’t even blink at most things, shouted in horror.

It was inevitable.

The place where I walked only the halved Demon King’s Legion remained in that spot.

“Thud, thud!”

How long did I continue the massacre within the state of Selflessness?

“Clang!”

Finally, I was able to face someone who blocked my trajectory.

-Slide.

I opened my closed eyes.

State of Selflessness was good for massacring low-level enemies, but it wasn’t such a good choice when fighting someone who had reached a certain level.

“You are…?”

In front of me stood a familiar being.

Three meters tall.

A demon whose entire body was covered in obsidian-like scales.

‘Black Flame Lizard Captain, Kazarak.’

Amusingly, he was one of the officers of the Demon King’s Legion who had been under my command in the past.

The demon was growling while carrying two greatswords on his back.

“I am impressed. For a decrepit human to cut down our elite soldiers.”

And he was structured quite similarly to a human.

Admiration for an enemy.

Bushido, or something of that sort.

“But that ends here.”

“Thump!”

He lowered the two greatswords he had been carrying to the ground.

The role of an officer in the Demon King’s Legion was simple.

Send subordinates to exhaust the enemy, and when they judge the enemy is tired enough, step forward and take all the credit for themselves.

It was a meat-shield strategy born from being in a world of survival of the fittest.

And that strategy was quite effective.

“Whew—”

I was getting out of breath.

Sweat soaked my entire body as if I had been caught in the rain.

No matter how deep one’s Karma was, there was such a thing as a limit.

On the sword made of glass.

“Crack.”

Cracks were forming.

In this state, facing an officer of the Demon King’s Legion like Kazarak was bound to be difficult.

No, to express it more accurately, it could be called the realm of the impossible.

But.

“Step.”

There was no stopping my footsteps.

Even if I was slow, I would approach my goal.

That was my will.

“Die!”

Two greatswords struck down toward me simultaneously.

“Rumble!”

The movement that tore through the atmosphere seemed to be accompanied by thunder.

But I just bent my waist deep and drew the sword toward the floor.

“Boom!”

The two greatswords shattered into pieces, and through the gap, the tip of my sword pierced Kazarak’s throat.

“You still… have many openings.”

Formidable power.

But in the moment before unleashing it, a momentary gap was created.

As I mentioned a moment ago, he was under my command.

Because of that, I knew his strengths and weaknesses clearly, and thanks to that, I could thrust my sword into the momentary opening.

-Stab!

The old sword pierced his heart.

“Gurgle… Kill… him.” Even in the moment of death, he gave an order.

“Screech”

“Kiii!”

Following that order, every member of the Demon Clan and beast from all directions rushed in.

-Crackle!

Eventually, the old sword shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the impact.

Kazarak had ordered the attack on me knowing that fact.

Because a swordsman who has lost his weapon is not very threatening.

But he didn’t know.

Rather, right now was the most dangerous situation.

“Scatter.”

I wasn’t commanding the Demon King’s Legion.

“Soar.”

My will dwelled in the fragments of the sword that had shattered from the impact.

[The number of uses for the Sword of Will is decreasing at a rapid pace.]

Although I didn’t use the Sword of Will directly but the number of uses decreased.

It had to be.

“Hummm!

It was because I had granted my will to the scattered fragments of the sword.

And that.

“Pierce them!”

-Papat!

The fragments of the sword, connected to my will, flew out in all directions.

And.

“Thud, thud, thud!”

According to the will containing murderous intent, they mercilessly pierced all the rushing members of the Demon King’s Legion.

A single fragment didn’t just kill one.

The fragments that pierced through heads, hearts, and vital points continued on to pierce even the enemies coming from behind.

And not long after there was only one thing left breathing in the area.

Me.

The old swordsman Kasnar had annihilated hundreds, thousands of troops of the Demon King’s Legion.

And in that moment.

[You have annihilated the Demon King’s Legion.]

[This is… an immortal achievement that cannot be accomplished!]

[The challenger Kim Si-won has achieved a myth level, surpassing the existing limit of difficulty, the Anomalous rank.]

[Kim Si-won’s challenge will be passed down as a Myth of the Tower.]

[As a result, you are appointed as the Conqueror of the floor, delegated with full authority over the 50th floor.]

I heard a message that even I had not expected.