Chapter 164

Sword Sea.

The sword energy contained in the Hundred Swords spread in all directions, creating a sea of swords. To the eyes of an outsider, it showcased overwhelming power.

'The Sword King is insane. He's gotten even stronger...!'

Behind Seong Jihan, Kim Dongwoo, watching from the Korean camp, unconsciously trembled. Despite being a Diamond-level warrior like Sword King, the difference was staggering.

This is why I can't muster the motivation to work hard.'

Kim Dongwoo justified his own laziness while watching Seong Jihan charge into the sword sea.

"Is he trying to die by going in there...?"

"I know right. To think of going into that sword energy, his body will probably get ripped apart immediately..."

Among the Korean representatives, Kim Dongwoo and Lee Yoongi were on the stronger side, and they saw the Sword Sea unleashed by the Sword King as a perfect and overwhelming skill.

The surging sword energy that looked like waves...

Just touching it seemed like it would shred their bodies to pieces.

But that was the sword sea from their perspective.

'Surely, there's a weakness here.'

Seong Jihan, possessing the Martial Soul, could quickly discern gaps to penetrate the sword sea.

While they may have looked to others as places with dense sword energy,

'The might of the hundred swords isn't uniform.'

Was it because of insufficient mastery?

Outwardly it looked like sword energy that overwhelmed the world, but in truth it was ragged.

Perhaps aware of this himself, the Sword King had arranged the most complete swords on the outer perimeter of the sword sea, emitting a fierce aura.

'But the inside near Sword King is weaker.'

A false exterior and weak interior.

That described the current state of the sword sea.

Zzzt!

Seong Jihan's body shot forward like lightning and penetrated the exterior of the sword sea.

Upon seeing this, the Sword King sneered at first.

"Good, you've come to your death yourself."

Even if he managed to break through by surprise at first...

How could he resist once buried in this sea of sword energy?

However, contrary to his expectations, Seong Jihan...

"No...."

While maintaining his domain, was repelling the sword's energy.

His force, fused with his martial power, further enhanced his Martial Soul to manipulate even Sword King's sword energy.

'As expected, the Sword King can't fully control this power.'

What was the point of boastfully naming it the Sword Sea when he couldn't even control it properly?

Seong Jihan chuckled and quickly closed the distance with the Sword King. The world filled with sword energy was no longer a hindrance to him.

"This guy...!" The Sword King opened his eyes wide. His sword energy was being taken over and manipulated by the opponent. What kind of mockery was this?

And...

Swish! Swish!

The sword energy controlled by Seong Jihan became the vanguard, breaking through the Sword Sea. The Sword King's face contorted.

'I can't stop him with sword energy...'

He had used the wide-ranging sword sea to prevent Seong Jihan from escaping, but...

Now his dispersed power was unable to restrain his opponent instead.

'I need the full hundred swords to work.'

Swish!

The sword sea instantly shrank and the scattered energy gathered back into swords, unanimously flying at Seong Jihan.

Realising the futility of the sword sea, the Sword King had swiftly shifted his stance.

However, converting to the hundred swords took time.

"Want to get hit once, Yoon Sejin?"

So he allowed Seong Jihan's approach.

"You dare speak my name...!"

"We're not in-laws anymore, are we?"

As the shadow sword Eclipse stretched out towards the Sword King...

Clang!

The azure sword Ganjang, which had disappeared by splitting into the hundred swords, revealed its form once more.

Unlike usual, the transparent form of the sword, still incomplete due to the sword energy not fully gathering, but it was enough to block the attack from the Eclipse.

"That's right, you're just an enemy to be torn apart!"

And next to Ganjang, the crimson sword Makya swiftly stabbed towards Seong Jihan.

Clang! Clang!

The clash between the twin azure and crimson swords and Seong Jihan's Eclipse occurred dozens of times in an instant.

'Indeed, he's strong.'

Although he easily broke through the Sword Sea, the true strength of the Sword King was elsewhere.

Trained in the SSS-grade gift 'Twin Sword Mastery' since the Bronze era, his dazzling dual sword technique had conquered all enemies who faced him one-on-one.

No matter how Seong Jihan had memories from a past life and gained the Martial Soul now...

With the current difference in power, he couldn't overwhelm Sword King's techniques.

'And if this drags on, the hundred swords will arrive.'

The semi-transparent Ganjang and Makya...

Indicated that part of the hundred swords were still maintained.

When he could barely defend against the twin sword assault already...

If the hundred swords encircled him from behind as well, it would certainly lead to defeat.

[Master, I can't hold on much longer. This damned power of the World Tree is weakening Eclipse.]

'Right. It won't work.' Hearing Ariel was struggling as well, Seong Jihan made a decision.

The purpose of this battle was to land one hit with the wooden sword he had constructed, no matter what.

'Now, I'll pour everything into it.'

Nameless Divine Arts, Dark Shadow Technique - Dark Soul Vortex

Boom!

Seong Jihan's shadow sword swelled in an instant, exploding towards the front. The overwhelmingly powerful shadow sword energy, the Dark Soul Vortex.

But this time, it was different from usual.

[Argh... for real...!]

Perhaps because Seong Jihan poured abundant power of life into it, within the swollen Eclipse, there were numerous green lines drawn. The power of leaf that seemed to weaken the unified power of the Dark Soul Vortex.

"This is...!"

Thud!

The Sword King hastily crossed his Dual Swords to block the Dark Soul Vortex. Inside the swollen Eclipse, the green cracks became more pronounced. Simultaneously, the shadow energy noticeably weakened.

The Sword King twisted the corner of his mouth.

"Pathetic. Blocking it once, and your sword looks like this!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. It's going to burst soon!"

Boom!

As the Sword King said, the swollen Eclipse couldn't overcome the internal cracks and burst completely. Within it, green cracks spread in all directions. At the same time, the shadow energy and power of life extended outward.

Despite using a powerful technique, Seong Jihan found his sword shattered. In contrast,

Thunk! Thunk!

The Sword Sea disintegrated, and some parts of the Hundred swords, which had targeted Seong Jihan, had pierced his body.

"As expected... Even if you resist, this is what happens!"

Three piercings in the chest, two in the abdomen, and one in each arm. The Hundred sword had pierced him. It was clear; the Sword King had emerged victorious.

The Sword King raised his eyebrows, preparing to taunt Seong Jihan, but then he paused.

"Huh..."

Suddenly, his smile vanished.

Around him, the shattered shadow energy and disintegrated life force floated aimlessly.

"Huh..."

Slowly, the Sword King dropped his twin swords.

"Wait... where is this?"

* * *

=Ah, ahh...!

=The Sword Sea has been breached, but as expected, the Sword King with twin swords is formidable!

=Player Seong Jihan! You're facing the top Warrior, but the Hundred Swords is gradually forming behind you. It's dangerous to delay any longer!

=So that's it! He used a big technique, but...

=Ah! The sword can't extend further, and it explodes!

=And at the same time, swords have pierced Seong Jihan's body!

The Korean commentators lamented in disappointment.

-Is it impossible to beat the 1st place after all?

-Still, he did well. Right?

-When he entered the Sword Sea, I thought he might actually make a difference.

-Even just breaking through the Sword Sea was a task. He did his part.

As the match unfolded, the viewers had mixed feelings, half expecting this result. The Sword King's status within the warrior class was apparent.

Seong Jihan had done well, and even though the outcome was somewhat expected, it was still an admirable performance.

"Uncle must be in pain..."

Yoon Seah, watching the match, wore a pained expression as she observed Seong Jihan pierced by the swords.

She used to nag Seong Jihan about using a BattleNet connector with sensory reduction features, but he always brushed it off since he never took a hit anyway. However, today, he's going to feel some real pain.

She wasn't at all regretful about Seong Jihan not being able to feed the leaf of the World Tree to the Sword King. After all, she didn't expect her uncle to gain an upper hand against her father.

So, she never thought that the explosion of the Dark Soul Vortex was a part of Seong Jihan's plan.

[Wait a moment... Jihan... Why is my sword...]

Until the Sword King, with a blank expression, called Seong Jihan by the affectionate name "Jihan"...

=... The Sword King's condition is strange.

=Uh, the sword stuck in Seong Jihan's body has turned into smoke and disappeared!

=Sword King, while calling Seong Jihan's name, is holding his head...

=What on earth is going on?

"...Dad?"

Without anyone realising, neither the commentator nor the viewers who were watching understood what was going on.

'Alright.'

Seong Jihan watched the Sword King's change with a calm face.

'If directly hitting him is impossible...'

Seong Jihan twisted actualizing the wooden sword into another method.

Exploding the Dark Soul Vortex with the power of life to indirectly affect Sword King.

This was possible because he had understood the principle of the wooden sword to an extent.

'It was a risky move, but it seems to have succeeded.'

Seeing the hundred swords stabbed into his body disappear, Seong Jihan slowly opened his mouth.

"Ito Ryuhei, aren't you going to kill me?"

"Why would I... kill you?"

"We're enemies, aren't we? You're the representative of Japan, and I'm the representative of Korea."

"I'm the representative of Japan? What nonsense are you talking about?"

The Sword King, angered by Seong Jihan's words, then held his head again.

"Uh, wait... Ito? What is Ito? Shizuru..."

Confused, the Sword King Yoon Sejin seemed to still be under some spell, maybe due to the indirect explosion of the power of life.

In such cases, another purification method should be used.

"Inventory."

Step by step, Seong Jihan opened his inventory and took out a leaf from the World Tree. Slowly regenerating his body, he approached Yoon Sejin.

If he just feeds him this, it'll be over. This troublesome brother-in-law should regain his senses.

'I'm sure he'll find his own way to Korea, but I'll have to tell him not to bring Ito Shizuru's head...... for now.

It's better not to complicate things by telling him to come after killing her. That might cause more trouble.

"Brother-in-law, eat this."

"What is this?"

"It prevents your head from hurting."

"Ugh... Shizuru... told me not to..."

"Seah is waiting for her dad."

As the Sword King struggled with his confused mind, when Seong Jihan mentioned Seah's name, he bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed.

"Right... Jihan. Thank you for taking care of Seah all this time. I'm grateful."

"It was nothing. The kid grew up well."

"Hehe... Okay. You said this will... make it better...?"

Seong Jihan tried to hand over the leaf from the World Tree.

Just before the leaf touched the Sword King's hand, a flash! The Sword King's body turned into light and disappeared.

It was a phenomenon that occurs when logging out.

"Uh..."

Seong Jihan blinked his eyes.

It was almost done.

The situation was 90% resolved but...

He had missed it at the last moment.

***

Japan BattleNet Center underground parking lot.

-Anomaly detected in the Sword King's BattleNet Connector. The Sword King has logged out. And... the connector won't open!

"Stay still!"

Ito Shizuru hastily parked her car and, unlike usual, shouted loudly.

Clang! Clang!

Wearing heels, she ran towards the BattleNet Center.

"...Seong Jihan!!"

Sharpening her sword, she shouted Seong Jihan's name.

For just in case, insurance was prepared for the Sword King's BattleNet Connector. She never dreamed it would activate because of Seong Jihan.

"I will definitely kill you."

Now, rather than coveting Seong Jihan, Ito Shizuru was determined to eliminate him.

"Mi-Miss Shizuru!"

"This way!"

Guided by the Japanese staff, she approached Sword King's BattleNet connector.

Boom! Boom!

From within the isolated connector, massive vibrations could be heard.

It looked like the Sword King could burst out any moment.

Seeing this, Ito Shizuru gritted her teeth.

"Everyone leave. I'll handle this."

"Ah, understood...!"

And...

=No, no...

=We can't see the Sword King...

In the second round, the Sword King did not participate.

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