Capítulo 164: Chapter 164
The sea of swords created by the Sword King's 'Sword Ki' seemed overwhelming to everyone watching.
'The Sword King must be crazy. He's gotten stronger…!' Dong-woo, who was watching from the Korean base, couldn't help but tremble. They were both Diamond Warriors, so how could there be such a difference?
'This is why I can't bring myself to put in any effort.' Dong-woo justified his laziness as he watched JiHan rush into the Sword Sea.
"Unbelievable… Does he want to die?"
"Right? It looks like he'll get cut apart the moment he enters…"
Dong-woo and YunGi were among the strongest Warriors on the Korean team, and they both considered the skill they were witnessing to be capable of overwhelming the world.
The Sword Ki surged like waves, and just touching one of the blades looked like it'd be enough to rip you into shreds, but that was only from their point of view…
'It's definitely weak.' JiHan, who had Martial Soul, was able to exploit small pockets of safety within the Sword Sea. Anyone else would've just seen a dense sea of swords.
'His power isn't uniform across all of the blades.'
Was it because the Sword King lacked proficiency in the skill? It looked overwhelming at first, but his Sword Ki was inconsistent. It seemed like the Sword King was aware of it as well and had placed the best swords on the outermost edge.
'After the first few swords, the ones inside, near where the Sword King is, are weaker.'
Strong on the outside, weak on the inside…
BZZT—!
JiHan shot through the blades like lightning.
The Sword King scoffed at first when he saw JiHan dash into the swords. "Good. He's freely walking toward his death."
While JiHan was able to surprise him a bit and break through the initial layer of swords, there was no way he'd be able to endure attacks from every direction once he entered.
"What the…?"
Contrary to his expectations, JiHan managed to maintain his own space and push back the Sword Ki with his Martial Soul's Absolute Domain. As it turned out, Martial Soul could even suppress Sword Ki.
'It's even more clear now that the Sword King doesn't have perfect control over this power.' That being the case, why had he given a grandiose name like 'Sword Sea'? JiHan smirked and began to quickly close in on the Sword King. The blades no longer hindered him.
"This bastard…!" The Sword King's eyes widened. It was unbelievable that the opponent could control his Sword Ki. Just what kind of mockery was that?
BZZT—!
The Sword King's expression twisted in frustration as JiHan broke through the skill by turning his own Sword Ki against him.
'I can't beat him with Sword Ki alone…' He had used the Sword Sea to prevent JiHan from escaping, but that'd only dispersed his power and made him unable to restrain his opponent.
'I need the 'Hundred Swords' to defeat him.'
Swoosh…
The Sword Sea rapidly diminished in size as it gathered into flying swords again and shot toward JiHan, but that took time.
"Sae-jin, ready to take a hit?" JiHan asked as he closed the distance again.
"How dare you call me by my name…?!"
"You aren't my brother-in-law anymore, so who cares?"
As Eclipse moved toward the Sword King…
Clang—!
Gan Jiang, the blue sword which had spread into a hundred swords, reappeared. Although it looked translucent and not fully formed because the Sword Ki hadn't completely gathered, it was enough to block Eclipse's attack.
"That's right. You aren't my brother-in-law anymore; you're just an enemy that has to be torn apart!"
Next to Gan Jiang, the red sword, Mo Ye, swiftly stabbed toward JiHan.
Clang! Clang—!
The twin swords clashed against Eclipse dozens of times in an instant.
'As expected, he's strong.'
JiHan had easily broken through the Sword Sea, but the Sword King's true strength lay elsewhere. He'd been chosen by the SSS-rank Gift, 'Twin Sword Peak', and trained since he was in Bronze, swiftly using it to defeat every opponent he'd faced in one-on-one fights.
Even if JiHan had memories of his past life and Martial Soul, he couldn't overwhelm the Sword King with swordsmanship alone due to the difference in strength.
'If he drags this out long enough, his 'Hundred Swords' will attack me as well.'
Gan Jiang and Mo Ye's semi-transparent forms meant that the Sword King was still maintaining the 'Hundred Swords' as well. If they attacked him from behind, then it'd be over for him.
[Master, it's hard to hold on any longer. This cursed World Tree's power is weakening me. I could break at any time,] Ariel complained.
'Right, this won't do.' His goal was to recreate the wooden sword and land a hit on the Sword King, so…
'I'm going to use everything I have.'
Nameless Divine Arts Shadow Secret Technique: Dark Shadow Ascension.
BOOM—!
JiHan's sword swelled up in an instant and exploded forward. It was the same technique that caused an overwhelming shadow sword to soar into the sky, but it looked a bit different.
[Ugh… Seriously…!]
It could've been due to the Life Energy JiHan was forcibly fusing it with, but green lines ran through the giant sword. It was clear that the Life Energy was weakening the technique.
"This…!"
BOOM—!
The Sword King quickly crossed his swords to block Dark Shadow Ascension, and the green cracks running through Eclipse widened as the shadows noticeably weakened again.
The Sword King twisted his lips into a smile. "Pitiful. Your sword's in that state after being blocked once!"
"Really?"
"Yes. It'll explode soon!"
Paf—!
As the Sword King said, Eclipse couldn't withstand the internal pressure and burst apart in an explosion of shadows and Life Energy. JiHan's attempted use of a great technique had backfired on him.
On the other hand…
Thump—!
The Hundred Swords had partially reformed and pierced JiHan's body.
"As expected… Even if you mess around…!"
It was undoubtedly JiHan's defeat since he had three swords sticking through his chest, but as the Sword King tried to mock him…
"Ah…" He suddenly stopped smiling. The shadows and Life Energy around him had already dissipated and…
"Huh…?" The Sword King had a dazed look on his face as he dropped his swords. "What…? Where am I…?"
= Ah…!
= The Sword Sea was breached. As expected, the Sword King is still strong!
= JiHan is competing on equal terms with the top Warrior… but more swords are forming behind him. It's dangerous to drag things out…!
= That's why he used a big technique…!
= Ah! His sword couldn't extend further and exploded…!
= Ah! Look! Seven swords just pierced JiHan's body!
The Korean commentators took on a sorrowful tone.
- So it's hard to beat the one at the top.
- He did a good job.
- I thought he actually had a chance when he entered the Sword Sea, hahaha.
- A Platinum being able to go through the Sword Sea is already impressive, and he's done more than enough.
The audience watching the game also showed disappointment, but they half-expected the outcome. The Sword King was overwhelmingly strong, after all, so it was already a great result.
"Ugh, Uncle… It must hurt a lot…" Sae-ah looked sad when she saw JiHan getting impaled by the swords. She'd told him to use a Battle Net connecter for the pain reduction function many times, but he'd never listened and always said he never got hit anyway.
There was no doubt that the swords piercing his body were quite painful.
'I should tell him to use a connector next time.' Sae-ah didn't seem too disappointed in JiHan's failure to force-feed the Sword King the World Tree's leaf. She never expected JiHan to be able to beat her dad yet to begin with, which was also why she never imagined that JiHan had exploded his sword on purpose.
"W-wait… JiHan… You… Why are my swords…?" The Sword King looked dazed and casually referred to his brother-in-law as 'JiHan'.
= Something seems off about the way the Sword King is acting…
= The swords piercing JiHan's body turned to smoke and vanished!
= The Sword King's calling JiHan's name while grabbing his head…
= What's going on?
"Dad…?"
While the commentators and the viewers were confused…
'It worked.' JiHan calmly watched the Sword King change. He hadn't been able to recreate the wooden sword and hit him with it, but…
'If I can't hit him directly, then I'll just hit him with an explosion of its power.'
He'd fused Life Energy into the Dark Shadow Ascension and made it explode, indirectly affecting the Sword King. It'd only been possible because he had a rough understanding of how the wooden sword worked.
'It was a gamble, but it seems to have paid off.'
JiHan slowly opened his mouth as he watched the swords stuck in his body disappear. "Brother-in-law, aren't you going to kill me?"
"Why would I kill you…?"
"You're the enemy. You're a member of the Japanese team, and I'm on Korea's team."
"Me? Helping Japan? What nonsense are you on about?!" The Sword King got angry at JiHan's words before bringing his hands up to his own head again. "Uh. Wait… Ito? Who's Ito? Shizuru…?"
The Sword King fell into confusion again. Maybe it was because he was indirectly exposed to the Life Energy, but Enchantment still seemed to be somewhat in effect.
If that was the case, Jihan needed to use another method of purification.
"Inventory."
Tap, tap— JiHan took the World Tree's leaf from his inventory and walked toward Sae-jin as his body regenerated.
Once the Sword King ate the leaf, it'd be over, and he'd probably return to his senses.
'I guess he'll come back to Korea with his Sword Flight… As for Shizuru, I'll tell him he can spare her for now.'
It would be a problem if he ended up getting Enchanted again.
"Brother-in-law, eat this."
"What's this…?"
"It's something that will make your headache go away."
"Ugh… Shizuru's… Telling me not to go…"
"Sae-ah's waiting for her dad."
The Sword King, who was struggling with his thoughts, bit his lips so hard that they began to bleed after he heard Sae-ah's name.
"Yes. Brother-in-law, you've been taking care of Sae-ah. Thank you."
"She grew up well on her own."
"Fufu… Okay, so I just have to eat this…"
Just before the Sword King could grab the World Tree's leaf…
Flash—!
His body vanished in a flash of light… The same flash of light that happened when a player logged off.
"Huh…" JiHan blinked.
The plan was 90% complete, but then it slipped away before his very eyes.
* * *
Within the Japanese Battle Net Center's underground parking lot…
- A problem has been detected with the Sword King's Battle Net connector. The Sword King has been logged out. The connector isn't opening at all!
Shizuru hurriedly stopped the car and yelled. "Leave it alone!"
Tap, tap—
She ran toward the Battle Net Center in her heels.
"Sung JiHan…!!" She screamed JiHan's name and ground her teeth. She'd tampered with the Sword King's Battle Net connector as a form of insurance, but she'd never dreamed that JiHan would trigger it.
"I will definitely kill you." Rather than turn him to her side, she was determined to see JiHan die.
"M-Ms. Shizuru…! Over here!"
The Japanese staff members guided her to the Sword King's connector.
BOOM! BOOM—!
The isolated connector vibrated with violent force, as if the Sword King was going to burst out at any moment.
Shizuru clenched her jaw. "Everyone, please leave. I'll handle this."
"U-understood…!"
Meanwhile…
= Wh-what…?
= The Sword King is nowhere to be seen…
The Sword King ended up not participating in the next match.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder