Chapter 72

Chapter 72 Graaawwrrrr——!

A sound resembling a giant tiger’s roar exploded from Leonard’s blade. It shook the air violently as waves of wind shot out at even intervals.

The first was a breeze.

The second was a whirlwind.

The third was a gale.

The fourth was a tempest.[1]

The maelstrom of winds blew away the fire advancing toward its caster. Even before it could reach him, Fire Wave fizzled out pathetically.

Techniques that involved casting wind from a sword were very rare in this world.

“A magic sword?! That has to be at least a Class 5 wind spell!” Conrad shouted, eyes shooting open in shock.

Just as the boy was about to swing his sword, he tilted his head and thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let people think what Conrad had said.

“As expected of a magic swordsman. You have a good eye. But do you think that’s all this sword can do?”

“What?!”

After leaving Conrad shaken with one sentence, Leonard swung his sword, creating a small tornado that flew toward his opponent as if to swallow him. It was clearly a wind spell. But it wasn’t a spell that Conrad couldn’t handle.

“Rise! Earth Wall!”

A thick wall shot up from the ground, stopping the tornado in its tracks. Since the tornado wasn’t a solid projectile, it wasn’t very effective against a physical barrier.

After casting a simpler spell, Conrad cast a two-part compound spell, creating another wall. He then began to shape it into something else.

“Fly! Kill him! Ground Spear!”

After weakening the tornado, the walls morphed into long, sharp stakes resembling spears. They shot forward, and unlike the first attack, they were impossible to block with wind.

But unlike the wave of fire, there’s space between each stake.

In an almost suicidal move, Leonard leaped forward into the barrage of spears. Flying through the air, they nicked strands of hair, ripped his clothing, and made all the hairs on his body stand on end.

But that was all.

Not a single one hit their target.

Five Elements and Six Divinities Art

Lunar Turtleback Art

Water Current Step

Leonard weaved through the Ground Spear barrage like water, like a salmon swimming against the current.

“You slippery little eel! Try dodging this!” Conrad shouted shrilly, and a lightning net tens of meters long appeared in front of Leonard’s path.

Chain Lightning, a Class 5 lightning spell. The spell was typically used when fighting a large number of enemies, but it could also be used to stop an opponent from advancing. Conrad was adaptable when it came to the spells he used in battle, as a magic swordsman should be.

But just because he’s using lightning doesn’t mean I can’t cut through it, Leonard thought.

If a person was careless when cutting through lightning, the electricity would travel up their sword and shock their brain. A weak energy shield could block lightning from reaching the skin, but if electricity penetrated the body, it would be fatal. The nerves would go haywire and burn up, blood vessels would contract, and muscles would rip.

But this didn’t apply to Leonard.

Five Elements Sword Qi

Flying Crimson Sword

The sword energy in his blade glowed a brighter white as White Tiger Qi filled it.

There was nothing better at cutting through lightning than the sharpness of metal qi. After all, based on the overcoming reactions of the Five Elements, metal could cut wood, which lightning was considered to be.

With a swing, Leonard’s Flying Crimson Sword knocked away the Chain Lightning and tore through its intricate weaving, causing the net to convulse a few times and collapse. Sword energy possessed denser power, which was why the net had been no match for the sword even though it was a Class 5 spell.

My sword energy may have trouble handling a Class 6 lightning spell... but elemental advantages can be overcome with the output of power anyway.

Fire could be put out by a toss of water, but if the flame had become too big, a toss of water could make it worse. Metal and lightning had the same elemental relationship.

“You used Anti-lightning this time?! No, that’s not it. Is your blade enchanted with Antimagic? What an incredible artifact!” Conrad exclaimed.

“Why, are you jealous?”

“Obviously! I’ll make good use of it once I kill you!” As he gazed at the sword, the fear in his eyes was replaced by a greed that was several times stronger.

Christopher Conrad was a man who had spent his whole life overcoming his limits out of desire. After being suppressed for so long, his true self came to the surface.

“No matter how great an artifact is, if it’s used by a squirt like you, its power will no doubt be limited. But I’ll make you use the artifact to its limit until it breaks down.”

“So it’s a battle of endurance,” Leonard concluded.

There was still a large distance between them. Even as he cast spells, Conrad kept moving back to maintain a distance between him and Leonard. If it was something he was doing instinctively, his intuition was nothing less than outstanding—because if he came within reach of the boy’s sword, the duel would be over.

But Leonard didn’t try to close the distance.

This is a chance to test the training I did in the Magic Tower.

He swiftly analyzed the spells that Conrad was preparing.

Lightning Spear, Acid Rain, Paralyze, Poison Mist, and Gravity Ball... I believe.

It was a complex collection of spells ranging from Class 3 to Class 5.

Other than Lightning Spear, they were spells that would reduce the opponent’s fighting capabilities if they simply grazed the target, and they weren’t direct attacks.

Acid Rain sprayed acidic liquid.

Paralyze made the muscles freeze up.

Poison Mist created toxic smoke.

Gravity Ball concentrated gravity into one spot, which could completely throw off the trajectory of precise attacks. It was a versatile Class 5 spatial spell.

I’ve faced all the other spells before, but Gravity Ball is a first. I suppose it’s time to learn.

The concept of gravity was something he’d learned in this world, so he didn’t know much about it.

To think that there was a force that pulled everything in the universe downward rather than pushing down from above... It was the complete opposite concept of pressure, but it manifested in the same way.

“Now! Why don’t you struggle until the very end!” Conrad cried with a triumphant expression on his face. While Leonard was lost in thought, he had finished preparing his spells.

He was ready to create an explosion of magic with Class 5 mana mastery. Even an Eighth Degree External Force Tier explorer would be torn to shreds in the face of his overwhelming firepower. They would drown in acid and poisonous gas and then be paralyzed and toppled by the force of gravity. There was no easier way to kill a person.

Crash!

A spear made of lightning shot forward in a straight line, marking the start of Conrad’s chain of attacks. It aimed precisely at Leonard’s heart. The biggest advantage of lightning spells was their speed, which allowed them to hit their target almost as soon as they were cast. If a person reacted after the spell was cast, it would be too late.

So, Leonard moved half a beat early.

Boom!

Lightning Spear struck the blade of his sword. Meeting the skill Flying Crimson Sword, it shattered and dissipated.

The downside of lightning spells was that their path was fixed. Unlike fire, water, and earth, lightning would disperse if left alone, even before it was cast. So, it had to be held firm until it hit its target, which was why it was necessary to apply a principle that put it on a fixed trajectory.

No matter how fast an attack is, if the opponent predicts the path and timing, it becomes pointless.

It wasn’t enough to be fast. To some extent, the purpose of speed was staying a step ahead of the enemy, so an attack could only be guaranteed to hit the target if one stayed two steps ahead.

And Lightning Spear was behind him.

Five Elements Style

Vermillion Bird First Form: Blazing Explosion

Immediately after Leonard dodged, the explosion made Acid Rain evaporate, and Paralyze simply didn’t reach him. Neither did most of Poison Mist. With his near-invulnerable body, the small amount of poison that reached him was little more than steam.

I purified the Fifth Shadow’s augmented poison energy in just a few seconds, so of course a mere Class 4 spell won’t work on me.

After breaking through the cloud of poison without a hitch, Leonard was now face-to-face with the final spell, Gravity Ball. As soon as he stepped within its range, he felt his center of mass shift. He was tossed to the right when he should have been firmly on the ground. Then he was pulled to the left. It was hard to control his own body.

So this is “gravity.”

As he physically experienced this new concept for the first time, he was secretly impressed.

Very interesting. If one can use this force freely, they will not even have to keep their feet on the ground.

It was possible that legendary Lightness Arts such as Void Steps and Heavenly Ladder, which not even Creation Realm masters could use, were techniques that employed gravity.

I should ask Russell sometime.

Leonard couldn’t ask Esther about intricate applications of space-time magic, but the Archmage, who had just become Class 8, had been studying it for a very long time. He was the perfect fit.

Leonard stopped and shook away all his thoughts. It was time to cut through the jet-black sphere floating in front of him, Gravity Ball. He couldn’t even sense it.

I wonder... which of the Five Elements would gravity be classified under?

It was his first time facing this phenomenon, so he couldn’t get much help from his memories as the Sword Emperor.

Russell had described gravity as the force nestled in the heart of a star, pulling all things toward it.

So, is it considered part of the earth element?

Leonard had the feeling that applying the destructive concept of wood depleting earth also wasn’t quite right in this case. If he used an element that had a productive relationship with gravity and was caught by the rebound, he would leave himself open and defenseless to Conrad’s next attack.

He didn’t want to use a protective energy shield or sword energy in front of everyone unless he was in serious danger. That would be the worst-case scenario.

One Origin Five Elements Cultivation Method

Five-Star Splitting Sutra: Nothingness

As the Five Elements Sword Qi spilled into his sword, Leonard manually removed the elemental attributes from the energy, refining it into a null state. He would not apply a destructive elemental relationship, or a productive one. He would cut through this unknown using only his sword.

For a swordsman, there was no experience more thrilling than this one.

To cut.

He swung his sword once. That was all it took.

Boom!

He split the Gravity Ball perfectly in half, making it pop like a bubble and disappear.

He had cut through gravity with a mere swing of his sword. Searᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Where there was a will, there was a way. For a moment, he was one with his blade.

“What?!” This time, it was Conrad’s turn to be shocked. Just as he was about to take a step back, Leonard suddenly dashed toward him, sword raised.

Sparks flew when the two blades clashed. Their two differently colored sword energies tore into each other before knocking their opponent back.

Conrad was the first to retreat. He took two steps back, and his opponent took one.

A Tenth Degree External Force Tier magic swordsman had been overpowered by a rookie explorer whose strength was registered as Second Degree External Force Tier.

“Fending off spells is fun in its own right... but just as I thought, I think I’ll prefer a swordfight.” Leonard held out his sword and taunted, “You’re a magic swordsman, so you know how to use one, right? If this is all you have, I’ll be very disappointed.”

“D-Disappointed in whom now?”

The blow to his pride pressed down Conrad’s fear, which had been about to bubble up again.

Conrad circulated the power bestowed upon him by his Tier and sent it all through his body. First, his muscles and bones were enhanced, and then his nervous system.

Boom!

He kicked off the ground and sprinted so fast that he surpassed the speed of sound and even caused a large shockwave. His processing speed accelerated to tens of times its usual rate, making the world slow down.

Two swordsmen locked eyes.

That was when Conrad realized that Leonard was able to keep up with his pace.

This is insanity! And they’re telling me he’s only in the Second Degree External Force Tier? No, that can’t be. This son of a bitch was hiding his true power just like Marianne!

Conrad was lucky he realized Leonard’s trap. He began to regard the boy with more caution.

Conrad was nothing less than a genius. Everything from the tip of his sword to his body was constantly adapting, and he tossed aside the basic forms and stances, propelling forward using the War Sword Style, aiming only at Leonard, his target.

Conrad’s swordplay was as unpredictable as a sword, and Leonard felt genuinely disappointed when facing him.

What a waste... To think that Conrad was living such a pathetic life with this kind of innate talent.

If only Conrad was a regular swordsman and not a magic one. If only he wasn’t constantly wandering through the entertainment district. If only he had put in sincere effort to hone his skills. If only such a divine talent hadn’t been wasted into such poor swordsmanship... Leonard thought of many “if onlys.”

Conrad was a step above the Twelfth Shadow even without basic sword skills. He spent all his days chasing women and guzzling alcohol without fail, yet he was more powerful than an elite member of a secret squad.

However, there was a flash of metal between his barrage of attacks, and Leonard’s sword buried itself into Conrad’s right eye. If Leonard had pushed a little more, he would have reached his brain, but shockingly, Conrad had reacted by putting up an energy shield and survived.

He couldn’t save his eye, however, which was already cut in half.

“Gahhhhh!” He screamed in pain and loss, staggering as he gripped his bloodied face.

“This is no fun. Let’s end it,” Leonard remarked.

Conrad’s life would end here.

1. Each one represents a different Greek wind god, which Sea Districts 2-5 are named after, but it does not correspond with their district number. In order: Zephyros, Eurus, Notos, Aiolos. ☜