blueteamnovel Chapter 123
Chapter 123
Shing.
The object Derrick had handed him was a masterwork sword, shaped like a gladius.
Where it had come from, Ihan couldn’t say, but it was undoubtedly forged by a legendary smith. The instant he gripped it in his hand—
Hum.
“What did he just give me?”
The sword resonated.
This phenomenon, known as “sword resonance,” could only occur with weapons imbued with spiritual energy by a true master. Such masterwork blades were treasures, rarely found outside the royal vaults of kingdoms.
And now, one of those treasures rested in his hand.
“....”
Unmoved by excitement, Ihan instead took a moment to familiarize himself with the blade. He swung it lightly in the air, testing its balance.
Whoosh. Whoosh!
Each swing grew faster, accelerating until—
Swoosh!@@@@
The blade’s motion left only afterimages behind, its edge blurring into faint streaks of light.
Whooosh...!!
Dust scattered from around him as Ihan achieved a seamless connection with the sword.
Watching this display, Maximus commented:
“Impressive. Did you suppress the sword’s resonance?”
“Letting a weapon wail on its own is a disgrace. It’s not my will if it cries out like that.”
“Exactly! No one should ever be controlled by their weapon, no matter how great it may be! There are so many fools in the North and Central regions who fail to grasp that, but you understand, Lee Hyan!”
“It’s Ihan. Whatever. I’m using this blade now, so if you’ve got a problem, speak up. I can fight barehanded if you prefer.”
“Haha, of course not! If anything, this makes it more interesting. And besides—”
Thud.
“It’s only fair I use a blade as well.”
Maximus raised his right arm and stretched his hand outward, as if awaiting something.
“....”
“...?”
“Ah, hold on a moment. It seems to be wandering off somewhere.”
“...Whatever it is, hurry up. This tunnel’s collapsing.”
“Just a minute—no, two minutes. Ah, here it comes!”
After this absurd comedy, Ihan finally understood what Maximus had been waiting for.
Whoosh!
A crescent-shaped polearm, known both as a halberd and a battleaxe, flew through the air and landed in Maximus’s grasp.
Thud.
It was no ordinary battleaxe.
It was significantly larger and longer, with a spear-like tip that made it versatile for thrusting as well.
Its radiant material glimmered under the light, revealing it to be just as much a masterpiece as Ihan’s sword.
Hum!
The resonance of the weapon was unlike anything Ihan had ever seen.
“What’s this? Do Northern weapons fly through the air now?”
“It’s a form of sorcery. They say it links the weapon to its owner’s body.”
“That’s a tempting feature.”
Automatic retrieval?
Ihan thought to himself how convenient that must be.
However—
“What a shame. That convenient weapon is about to get smashed today.”
“Let’s see about that.”
The two titans now wielded weapons.
It was akin to arming wild beasts with firearms—except these beasts were also sharpshooting experts.
And as anyone would agree, the moment an animal smarter than a human gets hold of a gun—
Crack! Crackle!
It stops being a mere creature and becomes a force of destruction.
++++
The sword and the halberd clashed.
By logic, the sword should have broken under the weight of the halberd. Yet, defying all expectations, the sword withstood the immense force effortlessly.
Similarly, the halberd, far too heavy to swing swiftly, moved faster and lighter than even a bamboo staff.
A spectacle of impossible strength and skill.
Boom! BOOM!
The sound of their weapons colliding resonated like something far beyond steel.
The sword sought to cut through the halberd, while the halberd aimed to shatter the sword.
Each strike cleverly targeted vital points—neck, chest, shoulders—seeking to pierce or sever.
Slashing, striking, breaking, stabbing.
The exchange was deceptively simple yet unimaginably intense.
Who could hope to intervene in such a duel?
[keee!!]
[kiee!!!]
[kaaa-!]
But of course, there are always creatures too ignorant to value their lives.
Sensing the death of their Mother Worm, swarms of Mini Worms emerged, flooding toward the perceived enemy who had slain her.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands...!
Where had they all been hiding?
Their sheer numbers, nearing ten thousand, were terrifying. Drawn by the scent of their mother’s blood, they surged forward, seeking vengeance.
But—
Slash!
They picked the wrong moment to intervene.
They should have waited until the fight was over.
Splatter!
[!!!!?]
The worms began to die—not just die, but be utterly annihilated.
It wasn’t that the two warriors deliberately targeted them.
Neither Ihan nor Maximus paid any mind to the worms. They had no attention to spare for anything other than their duel, where even a moment’s lapse in focus could mean their own demise.
Thus, they ignored the worms entirely.
And yet—
Slash!
[...k...ee...?......!]
Those foolish enough to lunge at the knights were caught in the aftershocks of the battle, their bodies cleaved in two or pulverized outright.
Splatter!
The more ferocious the clash became, the faster the worms perished.
The shockwaves from the swords swept through them, while the pressure from the strikes crushed them into nothingness.
[KEEEE!!!]
A particularly massive worm let out a furious roar, seething with rage.
It was enraged that such lowly prey had killed its siblings and mother. In its wrath, the giant worm began devouring its own kind—both its dead siblings and the remains of its mother.
Crunch, crunch!
Cannibalism.
The survival of the strongest.
For monsters, nothing mattered beyond growing stronger—even if it meant consuming their kin and parent. They lived only to grow and to take revenge.
That’s why they were humanity’s greatest adversaries.
CRUNCH!
The worm grew rapidly.
Its growth defied reason. The creature, which had been merely three meters long, swelled like a balloon, becoming larger, more ferocious, and far more grotesque.
A Sand Worm, the terror and scourge of the desert.
Except now, it had far surpassed even its desert kin, growing to over 100 meters in length—far beyond anything seen before.
In its sudden growth, it had surpassed the strength of its mother.
At this moment—
Crackle!
Lightning surged from Ihans sword, mirroring Maximus’s Thunder Strike.
Hence Maximus’s exasperated reaction.
He may have stolen Ihan’s techniques, but Ihan had clearly done the same.
But Ihan refuted the notion.
He hadn’t “stolen” the technique, per se.
“I just figured out the principle. You press down hard on the handle to create artificial friction, then use the sword’s resonance to generate lightning. That’s it, right?”
“....”
“I knew it. It’s a simple principle. It just requires insane grip strength and some finesse to pull off.”
By adding a bit more force and ferocity, Ihan could completely replicate Thunder Strike.
“See? It’s so basic that it’d be embarrassing not to figure it out.”
Ihan shrugged, as if to say it wasn’t theft if the principle was so obvious.
“...Hah.”
Maximus let out a dry laugh, the first time his trademark cheer had faded.
He was genuinely at a loss for words.
‘If it’s so basic, why has no one else figured it out?’
Even when Maximus explained it to knights in the North, they either failed to replicate it or accused him of mocking them. Yet Ihan had cracked it almost immediately.
But what was more infuriating—
Whoooosh!
“Thanks, though. I think I’ve got it now.”
“....”
The technique was no longer Maximus’s.
In Ihan’s hands, it had evolved. It now fit him perfectly, like a custom-made suit.
What Maximus lacked, and what Ihan possessed, was freedom of thought and creativity.
Crackle!
The lightning spread across the sword, illuminating the dark underground chamber with a brilliant blue light.
Fwoosh!
Through his battles with the Ghost King, Ihan had awakened the Plum Blossom Swordplay.
Through his fight against Tristan’s knight Veil, he had grasped Sword Threads.
And in his duel with the Marquis, he had unlocked Arahan.
And now—he was about to create something new.
At this moment, Ihan unified all his insights and breakthroughs into a new, groundbreaking technique, spreading a unique energy through his sword.
What he demonstrated was the swordsmanship of the Namgung family, renowned as champions of Anhui and famed for their Changgung Mu-ae Swordsmanship.
However, Ihan had no interest in ostentatious names like "Emperor's Blade" or "Thunder King's Strike."
Thus, the name he chose for his technique was—
“Mu-ae Sword (無涯劍).”
The Infinite Horizon Sword.
The azure energy emanating from his blade resembled the vast blue sky, its brilliance gradually enveloping the entire sword, forming a chakram.
The chakram, or sword circle, began to rotate faster and faster.
As the intensity of Ihan’s aura grew stronger, the rotation accelerated further—wildly, dangerously—!!
Amidst this display of extraordinary technique, Ihan asked casually:
“What do you think? Not bad, right?”
“...W-Who’s the real genius here...?”
Maximus, known for his unshakable steel heart that never faltered, found himself stammering for the first time.
It might have been the first time he felt not just awe but reverence for another person.
...Was this what others had felt when they looked at him?
“Ha...! Hahaha! HahahaHAHAHA!!”
But soon, Maximus burst into a booming laugh.
He was terrified.
For the first time, fear gripped him—the fear that he might actually die if he took that strike.
It was a sight and power that far exceeded his imagination.
Yet, despite the fear—
‘Ah, how joyous! I am truly fortunate!’
Maximus felt an overwhelming sense of euphoria.
He was grateful for everything.
Grateful for being born with such exceptional talent. Grateful for being able to stand before an opponent like Ihan.
Grateful to fight someone of this caliber.
And so, he resolved to give everything he had.
Whooooosh!
An ominous energy began to gather around the tip of Maximus’s halberd.
If Ihan had used Maximus’s technique as inspiration to create a new one, Maximus had done the opposite.
By absorbing Ihan’s Muscle Arts, he had learned how to push his body to its absolute limits, unleashing his full strength without restraint.
With a body and talent blessed by the heavens, forged through endless struggle, Maximus had finally gained the means to extract every ounce of power from himself.
Even if the strain risked tearing his body apart...
‘What does that matter now?’
It didn’t.
Crunch!
The halberd’s spear tip groaned under the pressure.
Maximus’s overwhelming energy, reinforced by Layered Energy, continued to build.
Crackle!
The Thunder Strike, which had once felled the Frost Giant, evolved into something even more destructive. The spear tip began to distort, resembling a jagged horn of pure power.
If it needed a name—
“This is Sky Breaker.”
“...You’re no better than me at naming things. Truly uninspired.”
“Simple and straightforward—what’s wrong with that?”
“How about Heaven Shatterer instead?”
“...That’s even worse.”
“...Fine, you’re just a glorified cultist anyway.”
“?”
The two warriors would have liked to study and analyze each other’s techniques a bit longer, but unfortunately—
RUMBLE!
In ten seconds or less, the underground world would collapse completely, thanks to their earlier chaos.
Thus, their conversation came to an end.
But even without words—
Whoooom!
Whooooosh!
Their final exchange would be carried out through the collision of their blade and spear.
Some might question:
Why risk their lives in a duel without fame, glory, or applause?
They would answer similarly:
It doesn’t matter.
Such things are fleeting, mere illusions scattered by the gossip of others.
What mattered to them was the present—
This precious moment of fighting someone who made them feel alive.
“───.”
And so, these two men devoted themselves entirely to the fleeting present, living this moment with no regrets.
Perhaps that was why—
FWOOSH───!
—they could smile, no matter the circumstances.
Amidst the collapsing earth and falling rocks, the blade and the spear clashed, and in that moment, an impossible sight appeared in the underground world:
A bright, clear sky.
The ‘Azure Heavens (蒼天)’ illuminated the subterranean battlefield.